Some Reflections on the Past Year

3 months 20 days

Merry belated Christmas everyone!! We had a great Christmas this year. Even though we didn't get to be home with out families or in Finland like we had planned, it was still great! We had our 2 friends YanYan and SingJay come over and spend Christmas with us and they had never really experienced a real Christmas celebration before... It was so fun because they were so interested in everything and loved the traditions that we follow every year. It was great! It was great because we didn't think we were going to have that great of a Christmas because we had some bad stuff happen before Christmas so we were pretty down. We didn't even get each other Christmas presents. But YanYan and SingJay were our Christmas presents! They were so nice and so excited about everything that we did to show them a traditional Christmas. We even woke up and they had left presents in front of our door. It was so sweet, I cant just imagine them giggling as they placed them there! The idea that they thought of us for Christmas was so great and the best Christmas present we could have asked for.

Its funny though, Christmas is a bigger deal here than I had thought. Not only do most people get Christmas day off, but they also have the next day off as Boxing Day. Then, this year since Christmas was on Friday, everyone had Sunday off and then, THEN!, this Monday (tomorrow) is Bank Holiday, so most people have that day off too! It's good though I think, it gives people time to spend with their families and to reflect on everything that has happened over this year, whether it be good or bad. Because as I believe, we learn from all of the events that take place, no matter if they were good or bad, we learn some sort of lesson. It's great though, because soon it is New Years! I always like New Years, Im not sure but I think it is fun to watch the year change over. And this year I think it is particularly significant. Not only is it the beginning of a new decade, but it is also an end to a year that was pretty difficult and hard for people to experience. With the economic recession and its overarching affects, the mood of this year hasn't always been the most uplifting. And plus!, we have seen the death of a lot of our (at least my) favorite celebrities. We had Michael Jackson, Natasha Richardson, Bea Arthur, Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Mays, Britney Murphy, and even Bill and Hillary Clinton's cat Socks... And that is just to name a few, I was looking at a list on CBS and they had 129 celebrity deaths listed. Yes, some of these people were obscure and I didn't really know who they were, but still thats a lot of people! And I know a lot of people will be critical of me, because I am talking about how sad it is that these people died when there are more tragic things going on in the world. And yes, I completely agree with them, there are a lot of tragic things going on in the world that attention needs to be be brought to. But, these people that I mentioned, it was their job to bring joy and entertainment to us all. I mean, some of these people I watched on tv or listened to their music as I was growing up. Particularly Bea Arthur and Michael Jackson, when they died I felt like part of my childhood died.

Well anyway, enough about my depressing comments about celebrity death! Plenty of good things happened this year. First, Barrack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States. And all I can say is THANK GOD! It is about time that we have a president that has some sense and intelligence. I think even conservatives can agree with me that Bush was just a plain dummy! Also, I graduated from Florida State University. And I didn't just graduate, but I graduated with good grades! A feat that my freshman year I didn't think was going to happen. Also, I made the biggest leap in my life and moved to London England to do my Master's degree. That's another thing, I was accepted to University College London. I remember thinking when I got the acceptance letter, I was like "are they sure they have the right person?!?!?" I knew the reputation that UCL had so I didn't really think I was going to be able to come here. But I was accepted, I did get my student loans, I did get my visa and now I am here! And I couldn't be happier. This journey has been amazing... London is a beautiful place, and I feel like it is helping me grow as a person so much. I'm being so cheesy lol. But when I start reflection on the past year when it is time for a new one to start, I always think to myself how lucky I am to have everything that I have. I feel like a really lucky person.

I welcome what next year has to bring too. I will finish my studies here at University College London and continue on to University of Helsinki. I know that it will be just as big of an adventure as this. Not only will I be going to another country, but a country that is pretty different than anything I have experienced before. I mean, it is India or China or anything, but it is a pretty different culture and a completely different language. Good thing I have been working hard on my Finnish. I have to decide what I am going to write for my thesis too. That honestly will be one of the biggest decisions of my life I think, because the success of my thesis will determine whether I get a job on graduation or not. Plus, I think I am going to try and learn Swedish when I am in Finland. I have decided that I want to be a Nordic specialist when it comes to international affairs. Hopefully, I can get a nice paying job at the State Department working with the Nordic countries, it would be fun I think. So, next year is going to be a big year too and I think it will be as fun as this year.

Well, I hope everyone had as good of a year as I did. I know this segment wasn't as much about our life here in London as the previous ones, but I wanted to take the opportunity to talk about everything I have been thinking about over this past year. And yes, London is still has amazing and funny as ever. Just yesterday, I was put into another funny situation here. Boxing Day is one of the biggest shopping days of the entire year for England. And on this day where all of the big stores on Oxford Street have big sales, the Hither Green train station was closed! CLOSED!! I couldn't believe it!!! Its okay, because all we had to do was take a bus to Lewisham and then hop onto the train to Victoria. But still, it would be like the authorities deciding to close down all of the interstates and major roads on Black Friday! Anyway, this is enough for now. Hope you enjoy! And once again, Merry Christmas and Happy HAPPY New Year!!!