The year-end blog (TL;DR Overall Rating 6/10)

2022 was a crazy year all over the world. It started with the war between Ukraine and Russia in February. This was followed by the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in the summer, and massive protests in Iran against oppressive rules on women in the country. Finally, the year ended with a controversial Football World Cup in Qatar, and more political tensions in several places - Peru, Serbia/Kosovo, and China (COVID protests and China/Taiwan tension). A few countries also went through sovereign debt crises this year, Zambia and Sri Lanka being notable examples. A few others are expected to follow this year. 

Moving away from all this craziness, this blog is a wrap-up of 2022 and will contain some of my intentions for the upcoming year. 

Looking back at 2022, I had set out 4 goals in my "The Late Year-end Blog": 

1. Watch Liverpool play - Still TBD but managed to see Hearts of Mithlodian vs Aberdeen in Edinburgh, thanks to my buddy Joseph. Hoping to tick this one off this year. 
2. Watch a cricket match at Lord's - Also TBD but I have tickers for England vs NZ in September 2023. 
3. Explore UK - The list is a tad bit short in this department but plenty of time to do more over the upcoming year. I managed the following places so far:
1. Cambridge
2. Edinburgh & Glasgow
3. Brighton
4. A trip back home - After 3 years, I went back home to meet my family in India in April. 

Additionally, there were quite a few notable events over the year that definitely deserve a mention: 

1. Wimbledon - I watched Carl Norrie play on the center court in round 3. I also saw the Women's singles semi-finals (Rybakina vs Halep and Jabeur vs Tatjana Maria) and the Mixed Doubles final. It was an amazing experience and a lot different from my Roland Garros experience back in 2017. This is definitely something I'd love to go for again. 
2. Travels - I ended up being on the road quite a bit. Sort of compensating for the absence of it during the pandemic times I guess. I've written about it in the "Travel Diaries: 2022" already. Hence, will skip this part. 
3. Life in the UK - This has been an overarching theme this year. No month has passed without me learning something new about how things work here in some form or another. It has taken a lot of effort and a kind of re-wiring of my brain to slowly get settled in this new environment. I believe this trend will continue and probably accelerate over the course of 2023. 

Intentions for 2023:

1. Driver's License - Hopefully, I'll manage to get a British Driver's License this year.
2. CFA Level 1 - I feel like it's time to invest some time and effort into upgrading my professional skills. Hence, I have decided to attempt CFA Level 1 exam. 
3. Sports - This year, I'm planning to attend the following events:
1. Tennis - Vienna ATP Open, Wimbledon (Conditional on getting tickets)
2. Cricket - England vs New Zealand ODI at Lord's 
3. Football - Hopefully 1 Premier League game this year. 
4. Life in the UK (Year 2) - I'll keep it short. I plan to see more of it, learn more about it (as if my school textbooks didn't have enough) and try to enjoy it more than I did over the past year. I feel like I've found my footing here a bit now, and I plan to make more of my London life this year than the last.