And then that was the end of 2009...

I know, I know, it's been forever since I last blogged. You know I have half a blog sitting in the drafts that I started when I came home a few weeks ago, then I realised I had work to be doing so forgot to finish it? Yeah. Even my next door neighbour is nagging me to write another blog :p

So I figured, what better way to start again than to write a nice year's summary blog, rather than chatting about how much has happened that I don't have time to tlak about?! So I shall, and shall do it in simple bullet form, otherwise it's just going to get messy, isn't it? I've got 45 minutes until I go out to this new year's do, including makeup time, so I'd better crack on with things that have happened or I've learnt this year...in no particular order:

1. A year goes past REALLY quickly! Deary me, it genuinely doesn't seem like a whole year has passed since that first university holiday where I spent most of the time on msn to these new exciting people that I was desperate not to lose, just in case they didn't really like me at all and it was all just friendliness out of circumstance. I needn't have worried, because I haven't lost any of them and love them all even more now - but that holiday WAS an odd one. If only I'd thought to start working a little earlier, those first college exams might have gone a little smoother...but anyway. It seems like no time since I was watching the last Big Fat Quiz of the Year, and here it is again.

2. I had my first experience of having to tell someone how I genuinely felt about them. May not sound like a big deal, but it was massive for little ol' Sturge here. While perhaps it didn't end how we might have initially expected, it made me realise how easy it is to 'fall in like' with someone that is meant to be a true friend for a long time.

3. Trashings are hilarious. Having made it through my first year exams I was introduced to the old Oxford tradition of trashings. Basically, they're a big celebration for each person that finishes their last exam of the year, and in Jesus college that means every year, and in style! As you re-enter the college your friends are waiting to greet you with multiple buckets of cold water, ready to soak you through to your exhausted, exam-weary, skin. After then adorning you with various items of fancy dress, you are presented with a bottle of champagne, which has been being shaken for at least the last 20 minutes,whose cork you pop, aimed at the second quad clock. You hit the clock, you get a first (simple as that, so the myth goes). Drink the rest of the bottle of champagne, and you're off...

4. Oxford is beautiful in the snow, especially at night. When it started snowing at 11.30, the night of the 1st of February, we all ventured out in the snow, and down to the Narnia door, where C.S.Lewis apparently got his inspiration for his famous stories. The lion door-knocker, the fauns carved into the porch and the lamppost all whispered tales of years of winter and sons of Adam as the snowflakes fell in a flurry around us.

5. Writing a blog is difficult in term time.

6. It was finally time to grow up with God this year. At 28:18, the Salt&Light family of churches' summer conference, I found myself for the first time without a group catered for my age group. No longer a school-goer I was thrown in at the deep end of the grown-up seminars and main meetings. No messy games. No electric guitars. No simple and basic encouragement to live my life for Jesus. I was now in with the deep and meaningful preaches, alongside parents, preachers, ministers, theologians and BIBLE COLLEGE STUDENTS. I know.
I won't lie, I was incredibly intimidated at first, and shut myself off from what was being taught a little bit to start with, because clearly it wasn't aimed at me? It was aimed at adults. But 2 days in it hit me that I was out in the real world now, and that God isn't just about me anymore, and that those events aren't just there for me to refresh myself on how much God loves me. It fired me up to go out and live God's word, to tell people, to live justly and to remember God as a constant in my life rather than a summer fling. It really opened my eyes, and gave me a heart to see my friends saved.

7. It is really funny to be put in a position of authority above people of which some are only 2 years your junior. This is what I experienced as a leader on the Hebrides expedition I helped NAYC (Northampton Association of Youth Clubs) with this summer. It was an amazing trip, and having been twice before I knew how to encourage the young people, and how they might be struggling, which I thought was a really good thing. The only trouble came for me when a week in they all suddenly realised I was only 19, and that really I was just one of them, but who got to stay up a bit later ;) Perhaps I wasn't asserting my authorty enough?! Actually, I came to realise that it was much more important that I could be there for them as a friendly face than that they revered me as one in a position of authority. There were four other REAL grown-ups for that ;) (of which Rhoda was one: she is a real grown-up when she has to be).

8. I've been made aware (notably from some of these points already) this year of being a grown-up. Not much else to say, because I'm clearly not really, but with the big 'two-oh' looming a mere 3 months away I might have to face up to it at some point. I now have to cook for myself [half the time], and know how to do my own laundry...and organise my own time, and drive, and...ok, maybe I need to face up to some of it fairly soon. I don't pay a mortgage though, or gas bills. So I'm ok for a little while...

9.Going on field trips is one of the most fun things you can do not very long before exams. And Oxford exams are one of the scariest things you can do. Well, they're not, but the fact that you can't have water at your desk just un-nerves me, so if you're sat in the middle of the hall it's a LONG walk to get a drink of water in the middle of an exam. But anyway, that wasn't the point. In 5th/6th week of the summer term (Trinity) all of the first year biologists went to Pembrokeshire in Wales for a field trip, spending days in and around the estate we were staying in. Genuinely, it was so much fun, and was a great chance to get to know some of the other biologists. It's one of the things I really like about my course, is that actually you DO get to know other people on the course instead of just being college-based in your friendships. I cemented some really awesome friendships there, and had a really good laugh as well as learning so much about how to go about the practical side of what I'd been learning. It inspired me that actually THIS is what I'm good at and am passionate about; exams are all very well, but out in the field is where it will matter for me ultimately. And that made me very happy!

10. Oh goodness, I went to South Africa this summer! Wow, how had I passed by that one? So much has happened! Indeed, with my parents and sister we flew out to Johannesburg and spent two weeks in Pretoria with the family we have out there. Aside from the fact that it was an aamzing chance to go all that way, it was so good to spend some real-life time with our family (who we obviously don't see very much). It was so good to get to know our cousins, who are the same age as me and my big sister, but have only spent relatively few hours with to get to know. The slightly tipsy karaoke was a step in the right direction to rectifying that ;)
But as well as that, we got to go on safari (twice in one weekend away) and go zip-wiring through a gorge, stroke lion cubs, visit some classic South African attractions and soak in the culture. Oh, and see Harry Potter and the half-blood prince for about £1.30 each. Score.

11.How many more should I write? By the way, you're not all still thinking I managed to write all this in 45 minutes, are you? Of course not, even a year's worth of essay practise can't make me write that quickly. I'll let you decide for yourself how far you think I got.
Anyway. 11. 2010-the year of the bicycle? I was thinking that 2009 could be classed as that, but having only spent 1 term bicycle-bound it can hardly count - so 2010 shall be it for sure. Having succumbed to the Oxford tradition of travelling everywhere by bike I don't know what I did without it. Well, I walked, clearly, and didn't live a mile out of town. There we go - that's that point about this year, I now ride a bike. With a helmet. My lazy, car-driving days are almost behind me. (If you believe that you'll believe anything tbh...)

12. I think twelve is a good number, as it's nicely related to the twelve days of Christmas, which shall sadly soon be over. Christmas was lovely this year, and nicely spread over several days so as to see all relatives possible, as is often the way. Having my big sister not come home until Christmas eve was quite odd, as I'm used to at least a week's worth of 'it's nearly my birthday!' and 'I'm so excited about what I've got you, I want to give it to you now!', so it did seem to happen all of a sudden. Not that it crept up on me, I'd already celebrated Christmas once, in Oxford, but it was a very different feeling. Like we'd suddenly moved on a bit as a family, and that 'home' isn't actually home for all of us anymore. The food was good, the presents were good, the tv was good (I mean - Time Lords?! Galifrey?! NO WAY?! Love that.). General result of a christmas really, and already it's a week ago.

So, where now? A new year (a new decade, even), a new start. Well, it could be, or it could be a continuation of all the good things this decade has been. Why would I start afresh on things that went so wonderfully well? I'm sure I could make resoultions about working more, being sociable at college or with home friends more, about keeping in touch with old friends more, or making new friends. I could make resolutions about reading more for pleasure, about giving more time for myself, or about spending time making the most of the culture of Oxford and seeing all there is to see. Essentially, by doing that I would be asking for 48hour days, and we know that's not realistic, so I'll perhaps not make any of those resolutions but just bear them all in mind. I think this year I do need to make better use of my time, especially as I have a research project to research and write, second year finals to sit, and only five more terms of my degree left. But that also means only five more terms with everyone I've gotten to know at university. And, devastatingly, only two more terms with one of my closest friends and flat mates, who is going on her year abroad next year.
This coming year will be precious, as by this time next year it will be gone.

And finally, to conclude, may we all reflect on the year 2009 - the year Delirious? did their final-farewell tour. Epic.
From their wembley performance ALL those years ago- one of my many favourites, Sanctify: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br9aBsq5gro