literally, wow
another 'what a year' kinda year.

this year began in germany, make its way to iceland, back to the comfort of my home country, and it'll end here, where i'm sitting in front of my laptop writing this blog post,
england

what an adventurous year indeed.

last new year's eve, i didn't know where i would be next new year's eve
this new year's eve, i'm not sure where am i gonna be on the next one either
life's pretty unpredictable isn't it? or at least my life is.

so almost 12 months ago, i was crying at the train station in fluent german (if there was a language of crying, it would be german), hugging all my friends and family, saying goodbye

almost nine month ago, we boarded a flight and went on a 28-hour journey to an isolated island and spent wonderfully snowy two weeks in iceland

then i went trough the teenage stage of i-don't-know-what-i-want-to-do-after-high-school for a while, applied to loads of random courses

six months ago, i decided i would go to leeds and spend at least nine months of my life there without knowing any other human beings in the country, let alone the city

almost four months ago, i left my hometown, once again, the only difference was that it was all by myself this time. me and only me.

then i found myself in a strange new country again. at least this time i we spoke the same language, most of us did

i had a terrible month with horrible flatmates, tears and hatred were involved, as well as unexpected friendship and help offered by people i barely knew. they had my appreciation.

and i couldn't fit in, all the crazy first years who loved clubbing, drink cheap alcohols and getting wasted. a place where people just used the fully-equipped kitchen to heat takeaways and frozen meals.

i didn't tried to change myself to fit in, or even if i did, i quitted quite soon. i was staying close to my true self, my values and beliefs.

i stopped eating meat, and gradually buying cheese and dairy products

i pushed myself out there and tried whatever i have always wanted to try. i got into salsa and i loved it. even better than that, i found green action, a societies full of like minded people, vegetarians who care about environment, who do yoga and meditate, who were open-minded and accepted each other for who we are

a month ago, i had a new group of friends and became friends with a lovely spanish girl with her love for vegetables and good taste in music

i seized every opportunity that interested me. i went to a bakery and filmed how their sourdough bread is done. and somehow ended up as a volunteer baker there.

i start making connections with people in leeds, and i started loving it a bit more everyday.
i love the independent food businesses here
i love the good bread from leeds bread coop and all the people behind it
i love the mouthwatering vegan cakes from that old chestnut
i love noisette bakehouse's inventive desserts
i love belgrave street feast
i love falafel and hummus at humpit
i love briggate farmer's market and the 1£ cake on sale at the end of the day
i love cool people from green action

at the end, it really is all about people and not places.

though there are things i still hate, the lack of parks and life in student halls
i do believe that 4 months of experience in halls is enough, let alone a year
so no more halls next year, no. more. with an exception of edinburgh's first student housing coop which won't be the same as any other halls anyway

so, as a part of my end-of-the-year ritual, i'm having a social media cleanse/diet/fast whatever you call it. basically i won't go on Facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest etc. etc. on christmas day, boxing day, new year's eve and new year. and no internet at all on christmas, nye and new year.

with one exception (every rule has an exception, of course) of communicating with my family back home.

i don't know just yet where 2015 will take me, or where on earth i will be next new year's eve. but i'm pretty sure it's gonna be just as adventurous as this one.

have a holly jolly christmas xxx