I will answer Steph Ango’s 40 questions to ask yourself every year as my 2024’s year review. This is my first time trying this, and I hope it will be enjoyable and help me gain more clarity about what I need to do next year.

What did you do this year that you’d never done before?

Giving a talking in english to a broader audience.

I was invited by Andy Pavlo to give a talk on OpenDAL at the CMU-DB Database Building Blocks Seminar Series – Fall 2024.

I'm happy that I accepted it and completed it, though my accent is quite poor, causing YouTube to fail in generating the subtitles. I had to transcribe them myself and upload them. I realize that I love the experience, and I will look for more opportunities to practice my English speaking.

Did you keep your new year’s resolutions?

I hope my family will be healthier this year.

Sadly, we failed at this. I don't know why we keep getting sick all year. Is this what they call "getting old"?

I plan to dedicate more time to caring for my family,

Better than last year. I played a lot of Diablo 4 with my wife during every season. We also play many Vampire Survivors alike games. We even plan to build one next year; we'll see.

exercise regularly at the gym

Not great. We haven't managed to exercise even after moving to the new house. Another reason is that we’re often sick and frequently visiting the hospital, which makes it really difficult for us to stick to our plan. Perhaps we should look for easier and more casual ways to stay exercise.

ensure we get to bed earlier.

Emmmm. I tried.

This year, I want to go to Europe with my wife and see the world together.

I promise I'll go this year!

Did anyone close to you give birth?

Two of my closest friends had their child this year—I'm really happy for them.

Did anyone close to you die?

No. Really a good news.

What cities/states/countries did you visit?

Oh, I finally realized that I've never been outside Tianjin and Beijing! I must take a trip this year.

What would you like to have next year that you lacked this year?

Health. Hoping my family can have a year without frequent hospital visits.

What date(s) from this year will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

September 30.

My small family (my wife and me) and our two dogs finally moved into our new house after spending an entire year decorating. I'm really happy about it and deeply grateful for my wife's efforts.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

• Elected as an ASF member in March.
• Recognized as a Microsoft MVP in June.
• Nominated as an Apache Iceberg Committer in July.

What was your biggest failure?

I overestimated my energy and time.

I started many programs but did not continue them halfway through:

• paimon-rust: I attempted to rewrite paimon in rust but couldn't make progress as I became increasingly busy.
• hudi-rs: I want to contribute to the hudi-rs project and eventually become familiar with hudi, but I lack the time to do so.
• crabml: I contributed to crabml for a while but didn't continue working on it and instead switched over too quickly.

What other hardships did you face?

Spending too much time on easy tasks.

It's becoming increasingly obvious to me that I spend too much time on easy tasks. I stay busy replying to emails, addressing github issues, and reviewing pull requests. However, the more time I dedicate to these straightforward tasks, the less time I have to focus on truly challenging ones.

Next year, I should shift this trend and adjust my approach to handling work: focus on addressing the core issues rather than constantly replying to emails. I need to prioritize meaningful tasks instead of keeping myself busy all day.

Did you suffer illness or injury?

Yes, I have to go to the hospital every two weeks.

What was the best thing you bought?

I bought a Logitech MX Master 3S this year. It's truly an excellent mouse, and I highly recommend giving it a try if you're looking for a new one in the upcoming year!

Whose behavior merited celebration?

SpaceX for Starship.

Congratulations to everyone at SpaceX! This year’s achievement is truly remarkable and a testament to your hard work.

Whose behavior made you appalled?

Trump launches his own $TRUMP meme coin.

Where did most of your money go?

House Decoration.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?

OpenDAL has been used in over 512 projects on github! I expect this number will increase to 1,024 within the next year.

What song will always remind you of this year?

Cats ‘s Memory.

I watched a live performance of Cats with my wife and found it deeply moving.

Compared to this time last year, are you: happier or sadder? Thinner or fatter? Richer or poorer?

• Happier
• Fatter
• Poorer

What do you wish you’d done more of?

I wish I can do more on RBIR: Rewrite Bigdata in Rust.

• Work on iceberg-rust, paimon-rust and hudi-rs. Finally, make Rust the core component of the open table format.
• Bring more Rust projects into the ASF Incubator and make the ASF more rusty.

What do you wish you’d done less of?

I wish I were less busy with simple yet time-consuming tasks.

How are you spending the holidays?

Playing games with my wife.

Did you fall in love this year?

Yes, every year since I met my wife.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Well, there's someone I dislike, but not to the level of "hate.”

What was your favorite show?

The Cats!

What was the best book you read?

没钱上大学的我只能去屠龙了

What was your greatest musical discovery of the year?

Ariana Grande's "We Can't Be Friends”

What was your favorite film?

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

After watching this, you will undertstand why I love Ariana Grande's "We Can't Be Friends”.

What was your favorite meal?

New Year's Eve dinner with my wife.

What did you want and get?

New PC, new keyboard, new mouse.

What did you want and not get?

A car.

What did you do on your birthday?

Have dinner with my wife and play some games.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

No illness has occurred among my family members.

How would you describe your personal fashion this year?

Cozy.

What kept you sane?

Coffee and the company of family.

Which celebrity/public figure did you admire the most?

Andres Freund

This guy saved the world by discovering XZ Utils backdoor.

That's what I aspire to do: make a difference in the world.

What political issue stirred you the most?

The Russo-Ukrainian War.

Who did you miss?

My stepmother—perhaps my relationship with my father would have been better if she were still alive.

Who was the best new person you met?

Fokko Driesprong.

I met Fokko in the iceberg community, and he has been incredibly kind and helpful. He contributed significantly to the iceberg rust project in various ways. I'm glad I had the chance to meet Fokko this year.

What valuable life lesson did you learn this year?

Health is the most important thing.

What is a quote that sums up your year?

"Look, a new day has begun," the closing line from the song Memory in Cats.