2017 was surely an eventful year. All kinds of things, good and terrible, took place around the world and on the campus of Wake Forest. We are now one month into 2018 and another school year has officially started. There may be lots of work and stress waiting ahead in 2018, but hey, there are also plenty of cool things that are worth looking forward to in the rest of the year. Here is a list of things that I, as a big sports fan and movie geek, am pretty excited about that can offer some extra excitement and entertainment during the school year.
5. The Winter Olympics
The first global sport event is coming in one week! Once every four years, we’ve got the chance to witness the world’s highest level of winter sports. If you love winter sports, you can’t miss this one. The 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea is going to be a remarkable one, at least for me personally. This will be the last Olympic for my favorite ice dance pair Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir before they retire this year. Nervous, excited and a little sad, I’m looking forward to a perfect ending to their already legendary career. Besides sports, the hostility between South and North Korea has long been on the headlines due to nuclear issues but recently it seems that these two countries are working to relive the geopolitical tension for a better and safer Winter Olympics. As an international relations major, I’ll definitely keep up with all the sport diplomacy and see how it goes.
4. A Royal Wedding and A Royal Baby
Several of my friends are studying abroad in London this semester and I can’t say how jealous I am. 2018 is surely an exciting year for the royal family and anyone who is traveling to London in the best ways: Prince William and Kate Middleton are expecting their third child in April while Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will tie the knot in May. The internet, no doubt, will go crazy over guessing the gender and name of the royal baby and the fashion world will be swept by royal wedding inspired styles. And who else is curious about the guest list?
3. TWO New Marvel Films
Having two new movies out isn’t a big deal for Marvel since the company has been releasing new films each year. But you know 2018 is going to be a big year for Marvel cause the third Avengers film “Avenger: Infinity War” is coming in May! And the popular character Black Panther from the previous “Captain America: Civil War” is having his own film out soon in February. Although I’m not a die-hard fan of Marvel anymore, I have to say that I’m very much impressed by the cast of “Black Panther”: Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya etc. How exciting is that!
Btw, just got an email from Student Union last week and “Black Panther” is in this semester’s film series on Feb. 16th. So if I’m not wrong, we may be able to watch it for free at the Grand 18! Hang on to more info!
2. New Seasons of Sci-fi TV Shows
Almost every one of the best Sci-fi TV shows on earth right now is releasing a new season in 2018. Anybody binge watched the new season of “Black Mirror” during winter break? Well, I totally did. But this time, we don’t need to worry about withdrawal. The second seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale and Westworld are all coming this spring, approximately April. And the two-hour series finale of my favorite show Sense8 is also said to air sometime 2018. So, grab enough snacks and here’s to a year of TV!
1. The World Cup!!
Words cannot express how excited and happy I am that it is finally World Cup year again! Many soccer fans, including me, has been waiting for this for four years since the last World Cup in Rio was over. Although, probably to the disappointment of many fans, a lot of traditional top teams such as Italy, the Netherlands, Cameroon, Chile (my favorite South American team) and the United States failed to qualify for the finals, there are still things to look up to in the upcoming World Cup. Iceland who surprisingly advanced into the quarter-finals of Euro 2016 by defeating England will make their first ever appearance in the World Cup. And Portugal will return after being eliminated in the group stage in 2014 with their newly earned title of European Champion in 2016.