எனது ஆண்டு 2022

The year 2022 started very quietly for me. Unfortunately, the plan to celebrate New Year's Eve in London together did not work out. Thanks to Corona, well, I spent New Year's Eve alone at home, which was still very relaxing. I could watch the fireworks from my room and on the first of January, I discovered the Sky Garden. Beautiful view over all of London and by now Sky Garden is one of my favorite viewpoints, which I always recommend to others.

In early January, I finally joined the choir in my community, where I have been singing for a year now. I enjoy it incredibly and it gives me a whole different way to experience English culture. We rehearse every Friday and the rehearsed music is usually sung directly in the church service on Sunday. We either sing the morning service or the Evensong (evening service with a lot more music) every week.

In our choir, we also traditionally wear these robes for church services or other performances. At first, it was a bit unusual for me, but it's simply part of it here. Every choir singer, the conductor, and the organist wear the robes. Just like our choir folders.

Even this year, I had a lot of time to continue exploring London. London is big and full of endless possibilities. There are still many things on the list for 2023 that want to be discovered!

I am always impressed by the different architecture here. Old next to new, and construction of a new skyscraper is always underway somewhere.

In 2022, I finally got to host my first visitors. Many dear people came to visit me. I was able to show them the touristy London, but also my London. How and where I live, my favorite places, and/or hidden spots and tips.

In addition to all the visits I received, I also used my free time to do a bit of traveling. Unfortunately, not as much as I had hoped for, but maybe that will change this year.

The first trip of the year was to Margate. A small coastal town in the east of England.

Right after Easter, I had an unintentional overnight stay in Brussels. At first, it was very annoying (I showed up at work a day later), but on the other hand, it was also very nice. I found the little bit that I saw that evening to be very beautiful and impressive.

I also traveled to Rochester and Cambridge. Rochester is a very, very small city in Kent, it has its own cathedral and a castle, and can proudly claim to have the King's School. The second oldest continuously operating school in the world.

And Cambridge is always a must, and I try to go there at least once a year. Which is really doable from London.

In between, I also visited a couple of airports to fly back home.

Or like in summer, I went to Spain. I spent six days with Ainize and her family. That was a wonderful time and I got to know a small, non-touristy town and experienced many Spanish traditions, food, and a bit of sightseeing.

In the UK, I also saw Hastings and the Seven Sisters. Both are located on the southern coast of England. The Seven Sisters are seven cliffs along a cliff line, and you can take beautiful walks above.

Right after the summer holidays, the choir went to Exeter together. A small mini-choir trip over the weekend. We sang two Evensongs and a church service together. Besides singing, we had plenty of time to get to know each other better and also explore the city. I'm really looking forward to another choir trip this summer.

In October, I enjoyed the last warm autumn weekend and went to the Cotswolds with my colleagues. A very popular area with many small and old villages and beautiful landscapes.

Especially this year, I had plenty of time to explore London further. In 2022, there were no more Corona restrictions and everything was open. So I visited many museums, concerts, new places, but also musicals.

In August, I finally managed to visit the Harry Potter World at Warner Bros Studios. It's an incredible exhibition with lots of additional information and breathtaking life-sized sets.

In addition to musicals, I attended two concerts by the Leoniden. The band is from Germany and is already quite big and famous there. This year, they played in London twice, as they also want to perform abroad more often. The first time was in early March, and it felt so good to be in a concert atmosphere again.

We also enjoyed this atmosphere at the Pub in the Park Festival. This is a festival where different pubs, restaurants, beverage suppliers, and other organizers could present themselves. There was also good music on the side, and we could enjoy the evening.

But the last year was also somehow the year of the Queen. In early June, her 70th anniversary was celebrated in a big way. With a long weekend in honor of the Queen. Many events, parades, concerts, and we also sang in a few church services.

In early September, the news came that the Queen had passed away. I was on my way to a concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Unfortunately, it was canceled, but the orchestra played the anthem, which was very impressive. In the middle of the large concert hall, there was a very somber atmosphere and some people were crying. Very moving.
Afterwards, there was a mourning period of 10 days for the whole country, an incredibly long queue of waiting people that snaked through London (16 km and 24 hours of waiting) to see the Queen's coffin and say goodbye.

London is endlessly large and there are so many great places to discover. This year, I plan to take a closer look and explore different neighborhoods. Here's a little glimpse from last year.

What probably took up the most time besides the choir and exploring the city were my visits to musicals. By now, everyone probably knows that I simply love musicals. How perfect that I have the West End right on my doorstep. In 2022, I went to the musical 25 times in total and saw 21 different shows. They made me laugh, cheer, but also brought tears to my eyes. I'm always grateful that I get to experience all of this and can make theater visits a reality so often.

Despite all these wonderful experiences, there were still some lows. Sometimes, homesickness still arises, even though I feel very comfortable here now. I occasionally had problems in and with my flatshare in East Dulwich. Too many different viewpoints on living together can make things more difficult. After several conflicts, I had to quickly find a new room in a flatshare in December, and that's really not easy in London. The housing shortage is huge here, almost everyone lives in a flatshare, and it's incredibly difficult to stand out from all the other applicants.

In addition to all the stress of moving, it also got really cold in London and we had a lot of snow (at least for London standards). It was really cold. The snow stayed for a week and you could enjoy a real winter for once.

As the Christmas holidays approached, it was time to say goodbye to my old room. I really loved that room. It was a decent size for London standards and had a beautiful view of the Shard and another part of the skyline.

I would like to thank all the people, friends, and family who have always supported me on my journey here. Who are always there for me, catch me when times are tough, but also enjoy life with me and make it so much more beautiful.
And of course, to all of you who read my, now very irregular, blog. I will try to report more frequently this year on what I'm up to here.

I'm really looking forward to 2023 and I'm excited to see what this year has in store for me!