We are halfway through 2021, how has it been so far?

Hi guys, I wrote a piece right at the very beginning of the year discussing ten things I was hoping to do in 2021; okay I know it has only been half a year so far but given that we're already in mid-June, I thought we could take stock and see how good or bad this year has been coming along. Obviously, the world is still in the middle of a never-ending pandemic, let's see how the first 6 months of this year has matched up to those expectations that I had at the beginning of this year. 

1. Celebrate the inauguration of President Joe Biden

Verdict: Yes, but that was an easy one. 

I wanted to start the year off with something that was easily achieved, so as to avoid disappointment. Would Trump's supporters have been able to attempt some kind of coup to sabotage Biden's inauguration and subsequently his government? There was a lot of talk but it was all hot air in the end, we're about 6 months into Biden's government and we've actually heard very little from Trump since he has been forced off social media. I am a bit surprised as I thought he would have fought a bit harder to make his voice heard through other means and via third parties - to be fair, he has done a bit of that but it was nothing like when he was firing off several ridiculous tweets a day. It does look like he is a broken old man and I know it is in bad taste to kick a man who is already down but it does please me to think about him sulking in Florida, still brooding over how he lost that election. Of course, America remains deeply divided and I don't expect Biden and Harris to heal the nation, given the mess they had inherited. But at least 2021 feels a lot better than 2020 with Trump out of the White House. It's not even that I like Biden that much to be honest, but it is pretty hard not to be a better president than Trump. It's nearly impossible to be a worse president than Trump - I would like to see Biden do well though, rather than simply be the guy who won by simply being the alternative to Trump. But yes, that's at least one out of ten items on this list that I have achieved pretty early in the year, though admittedly this was a very low hanging fruit compared to the other goals on this list - perhaps this was a reflection of just how pessimistic I felt back in January! 

2. Go skiing this year 

Verdict: Sort of. Kind of. I actually managed to do so locally in London!

In hindsight, this was hopelessly optimistic. I was hoping to either escape the Alps in the spring to go skiing but that was impossible due to the lockdown or perhaps even fly to somewhere like Chile to ski there around July, but again, that's just not possible given how the borders were effectively closed and it wasn't permitted to go abroad for a holiday until the 17th May. I did manage to ski on a few occasions in London though when it snowed heavily in January but no, it's hardly the same compared to a real ski resort. In a ski resort, you ascend the mountain with the help of ski lifts then gravity does all the hard work as you ski down the mountain. In London, I have to climb back up the slope with my skis around my shoulders - it takes me about 90 seconds to ski down the hill and ten minutes to climb back up. Still, skiing is skiing and a skiing holiday is much more than just the sport: it is to experience proper winter weather and we did have that in London this January - so I think I will give this half a tick here, as I think it would be mean to say "no no, it never happened at all."

3. Enjoy the Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Verdict: Yes it happened! 

It's not like I actually went to Rotterdam to see the event, but I suppose this was more like a barometer to see if things were slowly returning to normal in 2021 or not. This is a major music festival that takes place every year and for the first time since Eurovision was first held in 1956, in 2020 the event was canceled due to the pandemic. Whilst I am a major fan of Eurovision, this was a chance for us to see if there was a way for us to organize major events like these whilst adhering to social distancing and all safety protocols rather than just canceling it. And credit to the organizers, it worked and the event brought so much joy to the fans of Eurovision. Though the one person we have to really feel sorry for is Dutch singer Duncan Laurence, usually the previous winner of Eurovision plays a major part in hosting the event and passing on the trophy to the next winner but he tested positive for Covid-19 just a few days before the event and had to go into self isolation. Ouch. And one of the favourites, the band from Iceland Daði og Gagnamagnið couldn't perform live because one of the band members tested positive after arriving in Rotterdam, hence they had to watch the whole event from their hotel room in Rotterdam and they still finished 4th despite the organizers having to air a video of their rehearsal. Despite all the small problems, it was still a huge relief to so many people to have Eurovision this year as it was a sign - a signal that things were returning to normal, albeit slowly and we can hope for things to keep getting better!

4. Go visit my family in Singapore in 2021

Verdict: Not happened yet and highly unlikely. 

I'm not sure what I was thinking when I added that to the list but this was never going to happen this year. I was counting on there being some kind of vaccine passport and I have already booked my appointment to get my second dose of vaccine on the 23rd June. I was hoping that countries would start welcoming people who are fully vaccinated to visit without the need for quarantine and to be fair, some like France and Iceland have already done that. Will Singapore follow suit? I doubt it somehow, it seems highly unlikely given that Singapore hasn't been coping well with the pandemic this year. A new outbreak coupled with a slow rate of vaccination means that it is highly unlikely that Singapore will open up to international travelers anytime soon. So no, I am not expecting this to happen this year. I am not willing to quarantine that long upon arrival in Singapore, it would just drive me crazy. Personally, I think the rules are too blunt - visitors who are fully vaccinated should be tested regularly, a few times a day if necessary (with a lateral flow test) and if they do test positive, then boom - they go into quarantine at once. But as my recent trip to Portugal demonstrated, yes it is possible to have a system where you will test the tourists regularly, without assuming that everyone has the same risk. 

5. Enjoy the Tokyo Olympics. 

Verdict: Yeah, it does look like it will happen!

This one is controversial - there have been a lot of protests from the Japanese locals to cancel or postpone the Tokyo Olympics given how infection rates in Japan are still rising; there are fears that a big influx of international athletes (along with their coaches and officials) will cause a major outbreak as well as introduce new variants to Japan. However, the contract to host the Olympics states that only the IOC has the power to cancel or postpone the event, if the host city unilaterally chooses to cancel or refuse to host the event, then it will be entirely responsible for the cost of cancellation. That's a bill that the Japanese government doesn't want to have to pay so it does look like the Olympics will go ahead. Of course, I want it to happen because I always enjoy watching gymnastics at the Olympics and I think the Japanese people are perhaps somewhat pessimistic - whether or not the Olympics will lead to a major outbreak will depend entirely on how strict your testing and quarantine procedures are. You can have the strictest of rules but they will only work if you enforce them without exception. They did so at the 2021 Eurovision song contest - quarantining the previous winner and the favourites from Iceland. Would they be willing to quarantine someone like Simone Biles if she tests positive upon arrival in Japan? Well, I think they will and thus there will be allegations of this not being a 'fair' Olympics if some popular and famous athletes are forced to withdraw from competition because they tested positive after arriving in Japan so if too many athletes tests positive, say if there's a major outbreak in the Olympic village - then who knows what might happen?

6. Visit my office in Tallinn, Estonia. 

Verdict: I've left that job! So I am altering this one to any trip to another country. 

My regular readers will know that I have recently left my old job, so visiting the Tallinn office is no longer an option for me. It's not that I'm desperate to visit Tallinn again anyway, I've been there enough times and it is a small enough place that I've seen practically everything there a few times already. So I shall alter this to being able to take a trip to another country and I have managed to go to Portugal this year for a short holiday, hence I am going to say yes I have done this. 

7. More travel for work in 2021

Verdict: We don't know yet but this is not very likely I'm afraid. 

My new job ought to involve some travel but a lot of it will depend on the rules permitting international travel and so I hope for the best. I will be fully vaccinated as of the 23rd June and if the company is going to pay for me to get tested in order to facilitate international travel, then that would be brilliant. I am cautiously optimistic that things will get better as we're already reaping the rewards of a successful vaccination programme already - our death rate in the UK is staying very low in the single digits despite the number of cases rising; that's because the older and vulnerable are either vaccinated/already infected and have some antibodies or dead. Over 150,000 people in the UK have already died from Covid-19 so there's this feeling that if it is going to kill you, you would be dead already as you've already had plenty of time to get infected. Somehow, we are going to learn to live with the virus and eventually get back to where we were in the past - with a combination of vaccinations, testing and safety protocols that will allow commercial activities to resume. 

8. Resuming my gymnastics training regularly. 

Verdict: Yes, that's been achieved. 

I didn't get to go to do any gymnastics training this year until the lockdown was lifted on the 12th April and on that very same day, I was already back at the gym. So I have had about two months of solid training since then, my skills and fitness are nearly back to where they were before the lockdown - the challenge with gymnastics is that so much of what I do depends on muscle memory and that goes when you take a long break from actually performing the skills. I am currently training three times a week though I expect that to go down to twice a week when I start my new job. I have had to travel to a gymnastics club much further away from where I live to get more training as there are very limited classes available at my local gymnastics club, but hopefully that situation will improve later on this year. Fingers crossed, there will not be any more lockdowns and it was the hardest part of the lockdown for me - to be deprived of my favourite sport. 

9. Resume my Welsh language meet ups

Verdict: Not yet but I am going to Welsh boot camp in August. 

I speak Welsh! Before the pandemic, I used to go to a Welsh conversation group in London - it's quite informal, we just all show up in a cafe in King's Cross during the weekend and speak Welsh to each other. English is not banned per se, but strongly discouraged as that would defeat the whole purpose of the meet up. I enjoy those meet ups as it is one of the occasions where I am totally taken out of my comfort zone: currently, Welsh is my fifth language even though I have studied it formally. Contrast that to Spanish and Italian, which are my fourth and sixth languages respectively - I have studied neither and have simply figured them out on my own since I speak French as a second language. Foreign travel is currently possible but complicated at the moment, so a Welsh boot camp in West Wales enables me to be in a place where I am forced to speak a language other than English and it will still feel like a holiday. So I am going to give this one half a tick especially since the London meet ups might resume later this year: fingers crossed, that would be so very nice.

10. Do more acting in 2021

Verdict: Nope, not gonna happen. 

Oh you can't even blame this one on the pandemic, to be honest I've not done any proper acting now for over 3 years and I've long accepted that there's just no demand for someone looking as old and bald as I am in the industry anymore. I have fond memories of when I used to be treated like a VIP in places like Germany but that's all many years ago and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to have done all that in the past. I'm now totally prepared to focus on my new job in finance and leave the acting to one side. Actually I've done a couple of auditions this year but I'm not holding my breath for anything major to happen. I'm realistic enough about this and I am not getting my hopes up at all on this issue. 

So if we count the 5 ticks and the two half ticks, 2021 has scored a 6/10 so far against my expectations at the very beginning of the year. 6/10 isn't bad considering that his pandemic is still raging on in many parts of the world including the UK where we're facing a fourth wave because of the Delta variant. This score may improve if I get to travel for work later this year and/or I get to do some acting in the second half of this year, but with both of those possibilities being rather unlikely at best, I am going to say that 2021 is going to score a 6/10 against my expectations and quite frankly, this isn't bad at all given how utterly dismal 2020 has been. That's it from me on this topic, what do you think? How has 2021 treated you so far? Has the first six months of this year exceeded your expectations or have you been disappointed? What are the things that have yet to happen this year y,et but you hope would happen before the end of the year? Would things get any worse, before they can get better this year? Please leave a comment below and many thanks for reading.