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2010…in a nutshell!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!Despite being the official first year of the new decade, as well as the first year of the second decade of the new millennium (phew!), 2010 has been seen by many as a flop! I too must agree with this, as whilst I thought a completely fresh start would offer much opportunity for me and others in terms of life and the world, there really was not much going on for me. I remember seeing at the beginning of the New Year many people creating facebook groups and writing status’ claiming that 2010 was gonna be THE year! But was it? I remember people saying ‘I can’t wait for the summer…roll on summer 2010, WOOP!’ I remember getting nothing but rain, drizzle, a lukewarm weather and no good films on at the cinema. How disappointing!
Despite these discouraging proceedings that we encountered in 2010, I must admit that it has indeed been a great year for Britain (and the world) with much benefiting our society in much greater and more significant terms that having a hot summer.
Here is my review of 2010;
It was in 2010 that we had our first ever hung parliament, where we had two political parties governing our country - Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. If I had to choose, I would pit myself as a labour supporter as they seem to work more for people in mine and my family’s situation (ethnic minority, low income families). But, Nick Clegg did lead me on with the promised abolishment of university fees (WOOP!) but what happened with that?! Uni fees are now going up to nearly £10,000 per year! WHAT?! I definitely do not condone the violence and rioting that the student protests brought around in November, but can you blame them? We uni students are angry! Grr!
June welcomed the 2010 World Cup in South Africa where I (again!) caught the World Cup fever! Rushing home in the early evenings to catch my friend Maradona skipping up and down the pitch and showing much affection to his players! Classical! Despite the disappointing performance England gave (Rob Green….why?), we saw a change in the ideologies of many people which is just beautiful. I must say that I was very proud of the many African countries in the World Cup who did very well. Ghana, to name one, came extremely close to winning the Cup and ended up repping for the whole of Africa and all black communities during their match against Uruguay. I remember rushing out to the shops before the match to see a black guy driving the 145 London bus from Leytonstone Station to Dagenham ASDA, with a Ghana flag placed in the window. That’s it! Rep your country! That’s what I like to see! I myself am Jamaican, but Jamaica cannot play football for toffee, let alone good money so we were not seen at this World Cup. Our department is in athletics…but I will let you know how we do come the 2012 Olympics! Regardless, Ghana…well done! (Asamoah Gyan…you did good. It wasn’t your fault).
In September we had the famous (or infamous…you decide!) Papal visit. During these few days I found myself wanting to convert to Roman Catholicism from the strong sense of community and pride that I felt from the fellow Catholics I saw on TV. However, my two years studying the patriarchal and radical views of the RC church in A Level Religious Studies stopped me from turning up to mass at the local Catholic Church in the borough of Barking and Dagenham!
On the 16 November, I was travelling home from university on the Jubilee line where I saw a row of commuters reading the Evening Standard. I noticed the repeated pictures on the front of the papers of Prince William and Kate Middleton posing with the title “Royal Engagement”. I rolled my eyes and carried on my way. I mean, yes, congratulations to them and all, to be honest I couldn’t care much. Yes, thank you for the bank holiday day off that we shall all get on the 29th April. And yes, I will most probably be one of the billion people gathered outside Westminster Abbey to see the long awaited wedding dress. But, did we really need the repetitive documentaries about their relationship and of the relationship between Princess Diana and Prince Charles?! Every channel would have another documentary with so called “friends” of either Wills or Kate (yeah, sure…”friends”! You mean, out of work journalists that are just revelling at the news!), talking about their private life. I had one woman trying to convince me that Prince William and Kate sit in on a Saturday night watching X-Factor!! …Jog on mate!
The 2nd of December saw England lose to Russia to host the next World Cup. I have to admit that I was very upset myself. As I am prone to catching the World Cup fever, to have my country or even home town (London…ZOOP!) host the World Cup would be A-MAZING! The funny thing about this all was that the next day I saw on the news that a Russian woman had been fired from her job in politics after being “suspected” and accused of being a Russian spy… *rolls eyes* Now, I don’t know whether they had significant evidence against this woman (probably not) or if England are just sour because they lost to Russia to host the 2018 World Cup (probably yes!). You decide!
All in all, I believe that even though last year did not bring me a job or a great win on my scratch card…it was a great year for us as Britons. Nearly a whole month into 2011, I have a job (woop!) and an optimistic feeling inside me that it is THIS year that will be MY personal year to shine!
So peace in the Middle East and God bless! That is my 2010 in a nutshell!
By Katrina Smith-Jackson
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