2015 is so old hat. Even more so that I'm writing this blog on January 1st, 2016 - having failed to blog at all throughout the entire year. I'm not quite sure what happened to this little project, but now seems like a perfect opportunity to revive it!
A rough start...
At the start of January I suddenly got cold feet about my time in Bristol. Faced with the realisation that April 2015 was my 2 year anniversary in the job, I fell in the trap of comparing my job so far with others that I graduated with. The end result was that I felt a need to jump ship. In any case, I completely bombed in the interview and performed so badly that it was actually a relief to get the phone call saying the job wasn't for me.
It was only a few months later that I had a wonderful experience which proved to me why I should remain in Bristol for a little while longer! I went to interview a Kindertransport child named Hella. She is now 90, and aged 14 she was packed on a train to Bristol to escape the advancing tide of the Nazis in 1939. It was a profoundly moving experience hearing first hand how she saw the Germans at Kristallnacht destroying Jewish shops, and how she learnt that her family had been exterminated in the concentration camps.
After broadcasting her story, we were able to reunite her with a childhood friend that she had not seen in close to 70 years - and it made me so happy that a simple radio broadcast was able to reunite these people in such a way.
Her story is online - I'd urge you to listen here: Hella's story
Apart from all the profound mush above, I really can say that work has progressed so much for me now. I've been let loose to do live radiocar reporting, more complex stories, and even reporting on the hugely *exciting* Filton and Bradley Stoke election count overnight. It does sound odd, but this year more than ever I feel more on a par with everyone else in the newsroom.
Continued housing woes...
I don't think any year spent in Bristol is complete without a house move. The latest episode came when I found out I was in an illegal sublet in Montpelier. After moving in to a house on the understanding that another tenant was the landlord, I was quite surprised to find that
a) another lodger and myself were paying rent for the whole property, while the "landlord" lived rent free and just paid the bills
b) the property was in fact managed by an agency who had no record of me living there
c) the actual landlord and the fake landlord were in cahoots with each other.
I ended up leaving what was a cold, damp, noisy and poorly maintained house for something so much nicer. After 2 years of living here, my luck came in and I moved to a beautiful flat in Cotham just 5 minutes' walk from work. In a similarly lucky twist, I have landed with some wonderful housemates, and for once I just feel so content at home. It's really a feeling I didn't think I would have in Bristol.
With thee I swing!
This photo, more than any others taken this year makes me tremendously happy. After a whole year of saving money wherever possible, I finally had enough to return to America, for the first time in 4 years. I had a 2.5 week epic voyage, starting in Chicago, then on to the Bix Festival in Davenport, Iowa. I then flew on to California, spending time in Sacramento and San Francisco, and finally back to New York City.
It was a holiday of "firsts". I met up with about 10 people that I had known online for many years, and finally having the chance to meet in person was just a wonderful experience. I even got the chance to visit the childhood house, and grave of the musician that got me into music of the 1920s, as well as the Louis Armstrong Archives in New York. I still cannot believe what an amazing experience I had out there, and I am quite keen to return - if not this year, the definitely next year!
And onwards
So, off we march in to 2016. I really am not sure what this year holds. I certainly predict more work related adventures, and hopefully a lot more musical ones too. I should very much like to get in shape this year, either by swimming or other means. I just hope that 2016 is as memorable as 2015 was, especially considering I will be reaching my first quarter-century.
"And I said to the man who stood at the gates of the year,
Give me a light, so that I may treat safely into the unknown"
