2010 in retrospect

There are special programs on television that capture memorable moments of 2010...

There are just a few more days left of this year...

So, I decide to introspect on this year too. 

Increasingly, the 365 days seem shorter every year. Time seems to fly faster. 

I can remember January of 2010 so vividly that I cannot believe in 5 more days, it will be January of 2011.  phew! 

2010 for me was full of sports, visitors and some travels :D

For a few months, we were regular visitors to the local government office to request for invitation letters for our friends and family. We are now fully aware of the formalities required to be done to invite someone over from India for a short visit :)

Our guest bedroom was finally put to it's intended use.

• Sharmila came for a quick overnight stay with us first sometime in May.
• Vinod uncle and; aunty followed as they stopped over to spend time with us en route to India.
• Jaishree (and Sharmila again) came over to watch the F1 in Hockenheim and travel around a bit.
• Ankura and our friends here spent the summer in Santorini and Athens.
• finally, in September Mom-Dad came over on their maiden trip outside of India. 

It was great to have everyone over. The worst part were the "good byes." (I hate good byes)
Despite that, the ease of it all made me feel very connected with my friends back home all over again. Thanks to new technology, well paying jobs and cheap flight tickets, the world does seem like a small place. 

Although FIFA dominated global sports scene in 2010, we managed to do more than just that.

• A visit to and tour of Wimbledon Center court: Need to get back there to watch a match
• A visit to Lords Cricket grounds. I'm not sure if I'd sit through an entire match. I am a Tennis and live Football fan instead.
• French open finals, Roland Garros, Paris. Although I missed watching Federer play, was great watching Nadal. It was too short a match.
• F1, Hockenheim, Germany. Was a good one time experience. I don't think I will do this again.
• Plenty of public viewing of 2010 FIFA world cup matches. Germany's position kept up the good spirits. This time I had the German flag, a hat with the red, black and gold and also the Wuwuzela. Was a lot of fun.
  
• German Bundesliga (Hoffenheim versus Bayer Leverkusen), Sinsheim, Germany. Watching a football match live for the first time. Enjoyed it despite the freezing temperature. Wish the Hoffenheim supporters were more alive.
• Manchester United versus Arsenal, Manchester, UK. The ManU supporters were really really alive. The sound was almost deafening. It wasn't a great match for ManU but the experience of it was really good.

V writes more in detail of his experiences.

Our travels took us to (business+personal): 

• Sweden: Stockholm, Kiruna, Abisko
• UK: London, Manchester, Liverpool
• USA: Atlanta, Orlando, Miami
• Greece: Santorini, Athens
• France: Colmar, Riquewihr, Paris 
• Germany: Loreley, Bacharach, Treiburg
• Belgium: Brussels
• Switzerland: Zurich, Zug, Engleberg
• Turkey: Istanbul

We watched the following concerts: 

• Alice in Chains, Wiesbaden, Germany
• Mika, Wiesbaden, Germany
• U2, Frankfurt, Germany
• Robert Plant, Paris, France

As we pack our bags (yet again) to leave for India and welcoming 2011, some key incidents of 2010 stay in my mind:

• I got stuck in Atlanta due to the Icelandic volcano. I return to Germany via Rome combining a flight and train journey to get home. 
• As Parisians got on their roads to protest the increase in retirement age and as their gas stations shut down, we took the chance to drive to Paris (via Belgium) to watch Robert Plant live :D, and so mom-dad could experience on of the most charming city of Europe. 
• Flying over the Arctic circle to Abisko and spending a night in Lapland in the peak of winter was something!! 
• I achieved a goal I had set for myself - get my parents to travel abroad and see some places. Feels good that I could.

When de-centralised is more sustainable

A month ago, there was a power outage in my apartments building for a hour, two days in a row. Coming from India, a power outage like this is insignificant to daily life.

However, in Germany, it was significant.

• I (obviously) could not watch TV
• I could not connect to WLAN and work on my charged laptop
• I could not cook myself some food for myself
• I could not heat food from the refrigerator
• I could not even get my car out of the parking garage (because the gate was stuck)

A couple of days back, when it was -7 degree centigrade outside, the centralized heating system was down for a few hours.

• I could not take a shower
• The room started to become cold

I thought to myself, in India, having the LPG (liquid petroleum gas) alternative along side electricity proves to be very effective.

There is always a back up. One or the other would work - keeping centralized systems up and running on a constant basis takes up quite a bit of resources and effort.