So I thought I would use my blog to reflect on the year that is about to end, and what a year it has been. 2010 will take some beating, mainly thanks to the fantastic people I met this year, and the friendships which will last for years to come. So here, briefly, are my 10 highlights of 2010. (Apologies England, most of these things take place outside of your great country)
10) Christmas at Home
So after 2 and a half months in Spain Christmas could not come soon enough, however I didn't quite get home the easy way. After a bus, a train and 3 lines of the Madrid metro system I made it to Barajas Airport with plenty of time to spare. I checked in, got through security and duty free without much fuss and made my way onto the plane bumping into 2 fellow assistants along the way. All was going great until we came into landing. "Ladies and Gentlemen we are about to come into land, unfortunately Liverpool Airport is closed due to adverse weather conditions, so is Manchester, so we are landing in Doncaster" So 14 hours later I made it back home after 3 hours in Robin Hood Airport, a night in a very nice hotel with free breakfast in Rotherham (courtesy of easyjet!) and a coach back to Liverpool - I said I didn't do it the easy way! So despite that little hiccup Christmas 2010 has been great. I celebrated little sister's 18th, celebrated Christmas Eve, Day and Boxing Day with the family and met up with friends in Liverpool (and Leeds!) I also caught up on things I missed whilst in Spain - Topshop, Sky TV, Everton FC, Tescos and Curry.
9) Villefranche
Food, Drink and Sun - Perfect combo. Me and the mother jumped on Easyjet to Nice and spent a few days in Villefranche lying by the pool or on the beach and eating plenty of good food. My first real beach holiday in quite a while and it was great to be able to speak a bit of French again!
8) Kleve and Palencia - revisited!
One of the best things about spending time in Germany and Spain due to Term/Year Abroad was the chances I had to go back and visit some old friends from school exchanges. First stop was Kleve in May to stay with Nike and to see Kim and Linda. Kleve hadn't changed at all. We went out on a cocktail night, cycled (!!) home and spent the next day wandering round Kleve and watching some football. Kleve was where my love for the German language began so it was fantastic to return. Then in November it was Palencia and Irene's turn. Again nothing had changed, amazing really considering how much I think Liverpool has changed since Irene and Nike visited in 2006 and 2007. Palencia involved seeing Jamie Cullum live in Valladolid and a night out in Palencia with Virginia, Alba and Andrea. My trip to Palencia was fantastic as everyone really noticed how much my Spanish had improved - something I have worked so hard on!
7) Modern Languages Ball (and the Azucar Aftermath!)
The Modern Languages Ball brought to an end a fantastic second year at Uni as well as my year as Slapsoc Presidente. Second year was fantastic and that was largely thanks to the group of people sat on my table that night. Snape and I go way back, and I had been friends with Simon since first year, but getting to know Chloe, Phil, Nikki and Emily over the past year has been so much fun... fracasos, awkward salmons and spanglish included and it all kicked off in Barca, which I'll talk about later. So after all the organising the ball all came together pretty well and the Azucar night which followed made it all the better. Serious amounts of Wine, Tequila, Rum and Mojitos were consumed and all and all it was a great night.
6) Lourdes
Fantastic once again, as it is every year, so I wont go into all the details. I had worried I wouldn't make it this year, but even if it involved a 12 hour turnaround before leaving for Germany when I returned it was definitely worth it and I am so sad that I won't be able to go in 2011... Easter at home, and the week after Easter working will be pretty depressing to say the least! But 153 I love you deep down in my heart - and I'll be back for 2012!
5) Huesca
So far so good when it comes to Huesca. It had a lot to live up to after Dortmund but I would say it is doing okay! (As you can probably see in the rest of the blog) Thanks to Mateo Poder, Jose Escoces, Nadine and Robinho, The Flatmates and everyone at Sierra de Guara for helping me to survive the first few months! The weekend trips to escape Huesca deserve a mention too, Zaragoza, Madrid, Teruel, Manresa and Palencia - it's been fun so far!
4) The Circus Otley Run
So after months of dreading and weeks of stressing with mountains of work my final weekend in Leeds until September 2011 arrived and as sad as it was to leave Kensington Terrace we jointly celebrated my leaving and Em's 21st in style. So dressed up as circus acts, along with half of Beverley, Dan, Helen, Anna, Rosie and Charlotte from home and all of our Leeds friends we managed half of the Otley Run and then the short trip back from Hyde Park to our house. There were so many tears but so many laughs at the same time. I still miss Leeds and especially my 6 housemates, my life isn't quite the same without wine time, Take me Out, assault courses, baking and a different DVD every night and I was dreading the following months that were to come in Germany, as I genuinely did not want to go... luckily it wasn't quite as traumatic as expected!
3) Barcelona
Well Barcelona really did set the standards for 2010. The Slapsoc trip went without any major fracasos (apart from the pigeons and Simon being told he was gay on various occasions by random Spaniards) and it was a fantastic few days. We started as we meant to go on by spending most of day 1 in an Irish Bar and the highlight of that day was a certain Chilean decking it in the middle of Plaza Real (spelled the Catalan way but swerve that). The early morning flight and lack of sleep didn't put Chloe, Nikki, Phil or I off and while the others slept we started on the cheeky bebidas, watched a bit of football including Jermaine "Legend" Beckford's last minute goal to take the Leeds v Spurs game to a replay, and had some rather nice Chorozo sandwiches... BOMB.... the rest of the trip involved Razzmatazz, Parc Guell, monuments, the magnificent Camp Nou (much better than the Bernabeu!), the wrong empHASis on the wrong sylLAble, cashing some comedy gold and so much more....
2) My Birthday
My birthday could only be beaten by the place where it took place. I had not really been looking forward to turning 20 or to celebrating my birthday away from home for the second year in succession but it was so much fun. It began with a German conversation exam (which me and Kathy aced... obviously birthday luck!) and from then on in it was celebration times.... that evening Alex hosted a wonderful birthday party for me, we started with a BBQ, continued with Caipirinhas, Cake, Sparklers, a Watermelon and of course one last visit to Eastend. It was a great way to begin my final week in Deutschland and I still have all of my birthday cards in various languages, so I will never forget my 20th birthday!
1) Dortmund
2010 will only ever be associated with 1 thing - Erasmus in Dortmund. My three and a half months in Dortmund was not only the best thing I did in 2010 but quite possibly in my whole life, and it will take a lot to beat it! I had been dreading it, but I really did have nothing to worry about and that was thanks to the fantastic people I met. (You know who you all are!) Never did I expect to have so many friends all over the world but now I do and I think a few trips to Greece, Poland, the USA, Brazil and Korea (and Southampton too!) will have to be on the cards over the next few years! But not only did Dortmund introduce me to my Mensa Madels and my friends from every corner of the world but Dortmund also proved to me why I love Germany so much, and why studying German at Leeds and having this opportunity was the right decision. I made some fantastic German friends who I will be back to visit as soon as I get the chance. I didn't travel as much as I have done in Spain, but I don't mind, it gives me a reason to go back... even to NRW where I pretty much visited every city with my Semesterticket! So Germany.... it may have been difficult during the World Cup and Eurovision, but I love you really.... and I'll be back very soon.
....and that was 2010.... Happy New Year!