I'm just going to start this one off by saying WHERE THE HECK HAS THIS YEAR GONE?!
I think we can all agree that for the world, this year was an absolute disaster. Whilst some people argue that bad things happen every year and there's worse things happening around the world than a few celebrities dying, i'd just like to politely shut you down by saying they weren't "just celebrities". Many of them were role models, icons that many people looked up to. Alan Rickman was a phenomenal actor, and I was genuinely upset when he left us. Victoria Wood, a comedian showing us that girls can be hilarious too. Prince and Bowie, 2 artists proving that being quirky and different isn't something you should shy away from. Gene Wilder! I must have watched Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory a billion times when I was younger. And of course, champ himself, Muhammed Ali, one of the most celebrated sports figures of the 20th Century. Then, when all things seemed calm, the past week seemed like the grand finale after we lost even more legends; Rick Parfitt, George Michael, Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds all left us within a few days. For some reason, I think Harambe's death will be the most remembered. Don't even get me started on the politics. Brexit and Trump? I'm just going to leave it at that or i'll be here for hours. So yeah, that sucked big time.
This year has also brought us the Mannequin Challenge, the Rio Olympics, another wonderful series of Sir David Attenborough's Planet Earth and the short-lived craze that was Pokemon Go. 2016 for the world has just been the most bizarre year yet.
But selfishly, for me, this has been one of the most exciting years yet.
It was the year that I finally moved out of my family home...to Australia. It was there that I met the most amazing people from all around the world and will hopefully have a bond with them for a long long time. I cuddled koalas, swam in the Great Barrier Reef, I got drunk (a lot), fed kangaroos, held a snake, climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, gained an appreciation for Crocodiles, learnt to surf, went to the Grand Prix..blah blah blah. I wouldn't change anything about my 5 months in that wonderful country. I miss it every single day, but I know i'll be back at some point in the future.
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| Australia. |
I got home and had a bath (sitting in a seat for 24 hours makes you v v stinky), and I just remember sitting there thinking, 'what do I do now?' it was such a weird feeling and to be honest, I felt a little lost for a few days.
A week later we had a BBQ at the house and invited everyone round. It was so great to see everyone again and everyone kept asking me how it was, but how do you put something like that into words?
About a month later, I went to Spain with my family, where I actually got a proper tan for the first time in my life. After settling back into work and having a busy few weeks seeing everyone, it was nice to have a week of just relaxing, however I did get to knock another thing of my bucket list that i've been wanting to do for years; parasailing!
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| Back with all my friends & fam. |
September saw me move up to University and experience real student living for the first time (in the UK). My housemates, Sian, Ellie, Erin and Sophie are luckily very easy to live with (i've heard a lot of horror stories about housemates from hell, and these girls are nothing like it). Most night's we'll get snug in the living room and watch a good film or TV Show. But we also have our nights out, where some overdo it more than others!
I also ventured to London with Viv to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. It was amazing. Watch it now. We also made some good use of our free Merlin Passes and went on the London Eye (another ticked off my list), Sealife Centre and London Dungeons.
For Halloween my Dad (a zombie), Emma (a mash up of the characters from Stranger things) and I (Harry Potter post-war of Hogwarts), went to my cousins for a mini-party.
Then in November I finally got to take Emma to her 16th birthday present (almost a year later). The Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studio Tour. A few days earlier we'd been to see the midnight showing of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, so when we walked in and saw they had props and costumes from those films too, we were in our element. Of course, every student gets a wand, so as a "little" extra, she picked out Newt Scamanders wand for me to buy her.
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| Such Potterness. |
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| I miss it already! |
So just like Kylie Jenner, this year I realised a lot of things.
If you're feeling bored and want more reading, here's what i've been up to all year in more detail;
January/February/March/April/May/June/July&August/September/October/November
2016, you've been an absolute rollercoaster ride. Here's to a more positive year for the world and to seeing what 2017 will bring.
Annabel
