Mission Impossible I

Aaaah, you know that feeling when you finally get to sit down on a Friday night, put your feet up, and just relax? That’s the feeling I’ve got right this moment.

Yes, it’s been a hectic week so far, but the last 24 hours were by far the worst. Remember last time I had an assignment to write? I started writing it at 11pm the day before it was due, and it worked. I got it done by 3am, and when they gave us the marked assignments back on Tuesday, I found that I’d gotten an A-! That pleasant surprise aside, let’s return to the second essay I had to write. It was for the same course, which I feel I’ve got the hang of, more or less. Unfortunately for me, this second exercise was more demanding than the first one’d been… I sat down with my notes, books and cup of coffee before 8pm (or 20:00) the day before it was due, so I felt confident that I’d have finished writing the essay by 3am this time as well. However, the more I studied the essay question, the passage in the book we were supposed to analyse and the terms we had to apply, the more I despaired, and the easier I got destracted. But as usual, after I’d scribbled down some rubbish in the first paragraph, the sentences started flowing more freely, and this would soon prove to become my next big problem. The essay was supposed to be about 600 words long, and at a point where I wasn’t even close to finishing, I had written close to 1100 words… So I just pinned down my remaining arguments and then started trimming the text (more like butchering it, in fact). When I felt confident that I wouldn’t get penalised anymore, I shut the computer down and went to bed. This was just before 6am, and I think my flatmate got up right after I’d turned my light off.

I woke up at 11am this morning, feeling rather rested, so I got up and had breakfast and all those things. Then I looked over my essay again and managed to make it about three words shorter, so the final count was 706 words… Desperate to get rid of the essay I went quite early to uni and handed it in before 3:30, when the deadline was 5pm. Mission accomplished!

I then went into town and treated myself to a frappucino (it has been such a lovely day here!) and went to the supermarket and got some groceries and loads of coffee (I have to write another essay during the weekend).

So after a long week where I’ve been stressing every single day about these essays, I am now one down and one step closer to the Easter break! When I got back from the supermarket I cooked tea, a stir-fry which I’ve been craving for ages. I opened a bottle of wine, a rosé, which I just got from the supermarket as well, and enjoyed my dinner while listening to music. The perfect Friday night, if you ask me.

Surprise, surprise

Sometimes everyday-life becomes extraordinary. Like today.

I had struggled my way 3/4 through another Wednesday, which is the only day of the week when I have to get up early, because I’ve got my first lecture at 9am.

I had one tutorial left, which would make up the eighth hour I spent at uni in a single day (continuously). I was so tired, and just wanted to go home and get started on my English assignment which is due in on Friday. Not to mention that I was starving. Anyway (I get easily sidetracked), there I was, in my Media 101 tutorial, suffering silently and begging for it to end. I must admit I wasn’t being very social with the two other people in my group (we were supposed to analyse the music video for Michael Jackson’s ‘Billy Jean’), Alex and Natasha, but eventually we started talking. After some time talking about how we didn’t understand what we were doing, Natasha asked me where I’m from, and I told her that I come from Norway. She wanted to know if I spoke Swedish, and I said ‘No, I speak Norwegian, but I understand Swedish.’ She then informed me that she’d lived in Sweden for two and a half years and only returned to NZ just over a year ago. When she asked me where in Norway I’m from I used the same point of reference that I always use, which is Bergen (I ask the questioner: ‘Have you heard about a city called Bergen? You do? Yeah, well, I come from a small island just south of Bergen.’). Incidentally, this girl had heard about Bergen, and when I mentioned it, she tilted her head, and asked me in a doubtful voice if I happen to know a girl called Anette Loland (Løland). Instantly, I knew that the name was familiar, and after two seconds of twisting my brain I knew where I’d heard it before: She was in a newspaper back home before I went on my exchange to NZ in 2007, and the article was about how terrible EF (the organisation we both travelled with) had been at looking after her while she was on her exchange to NZ. When I read the interview way back in 2006 I got a bit scared by the news, so I contacted her to get more details about what had gone wrong, and was even invited to talk to her face-to-face (which I didn’t). So when I’d remembered all this, I told Natasha that we’re not exactly friends, but that I know who Anette Løland is, and I’ve been in contact with her. We were both quite astounded at this; that we would meet by chance, and actually have a mutual acquaintance from Norway!

Natasha’s mother works with STS, another exchange organisation, and apparently they had had Anette stay with them for a while after she’d been neglected by EF and needed a new place to stay, so they were like good friends and everything! We couldn’t stop laughing at the ludicrous fact that this was happening; it felt surreal and, like Natasha put it, ‘It was a stab in the dark’ when she’d asked me the question in the first place, because, I mean, what are the chances of something like that actually happening?

I definitely think we can call that kind of discovery an ice-breaker. We had something in common, so when the tutorial ended, we walked up the road together and conversated like old friends.

Thanks, Anette, I owe you one.

Mad World

”I was so free. The world was my playground, the soil my arena.”

- Cameron Duncan, ‘DFK 6498’

Tonight, Wellington will be my playground. You’ve got to make the most of the time you’ve got when you’re young. Sooner or later it’ll be over.

”If there is one thing that I’ve learned from all I’ve been through, it’s that you only regret the things you didn’t do. No regrets, guys. Not tonight.”

- Cameron Duncan, ‘Strike Zone’

High Country Weather

Alone we are born
And die alone;
Yet see the red-gold cirrus
over snow-mountain shine.

Along the upland road
Ride easy, stranger:
Surrender to the sky
Your heart of anger.

---

James K. Baxter

Welcome to Pandora!

You know it’s been a long day when you finally get home, put some relaxing music on and pour yourself a lovely, warm cup of tea, before you realise that you’ve forgotten to put the teabag in.

Also – Dear Wellington, you know that I love you – but sometimes I marvel at your ability to produce rain from a sunny sky. Next time, if you’re going to make it rain, how about a heads-up? Thanks. Much appreciated.

Now, back to business. Figuratively, not literally. Because I do actually have more pressing matters to attend to than my blog (I know, believe it or not), but that’s just gonna have to wait. Because I haven’t updated my blog in a week, which is completely and utterly unacceptabe. So my sincerest apologies. OK, now that’s over and done with, what to say?

Ah, yes, how could I forget. I was planning on making a blog entry dedicated entirely to that day, but I guess it slipped my mind: My little excursion to the Karori wildlife sanctuary last Sunday. Wow. What an adventure it was. I felt like an explorer way back in the 1500’s, setting out to discover new land.

Armed with a map and my camera I set out from my flat at noon, and started climbing up the Wellington hills (what a mission!). The physical hardship of my trip almost got the better of me, but I refused to turn back. After all, I was on a mission. So I kept on walking, and eventually ended up at my planned destination, after only two minor detours. The locals gave me a map to follow, and told me a little bit about the local wildlife and fauna, and mentioned that the ancient reptiles would be out sunbathing that day, and then they sent me on my way into the bush.

After I’d trudged along for some time, and listened to strange birds calling and been viciously attacked by an insect which decided to settle down in my hair, and fed some of the curious wee birds (shh! don’t tell anyone) I came to a crossroads, where the tuataras could be found. Here I sat for some time and studied texts which I’d brought with me from my own universe, and listened to the strange yet attractive sounds of the forest around me. I then arose and started searching for the reptiles which had been spotted several times while I was nearby. At first I was unsuccessful. But on a second walk around the perimeter, I discovered first one. Then a second. Then a third. Deciding that my goals for the day had been met, I set out on the easier walk back to the entrance to this magical world, where I exited, and then found my way back to my flat without encountering any obstacles.

Since then, I’ve been forced to remain in the universe where something called ‘university’ plays a major role, and I’ve dedicated my life to the fulfilment of the tasks that the university so generously hands out. Indeed, I am even doing that today, but I had to take a short break and travel back in time to my own, private ‘Pandora’.

If you enjoyed it less than half of what I did, that’s good enough.

Only one more day to go until the weekend. I’m so excited.

Oh, and wish me luck for the test I’ve got tomorrow! It’s about Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night and either a sonnet or a ballad. Fingers crossed, everyone.

O, sleep, where art thou!

Yes, I have been neglecting my blog. And yes, I hate myself for doing so. But how would you feel if you discovered on Tuesday that you were supposed to start studying Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night on Wednesday (the next day, indeed), knowing that you had not managed to get hold of the play, much less read it? And then there’s the assignment which is due in on Friday and you haven’t started writing it yet… The constant worry about finances, struggling to read through Atonement for the first time, whereas your fellow students seem to be finishing it off for the second time, you have a million e-mails to reply to about insurance and other equally important matters, and as this is slowly starting to come together one of your lecturers decides to give you an in-class test next week which calls for preparation from your part.

How I’ve even managed to breathe is beyond me. But as it is, I have somehow managed to read all of Twelfth Night (using a very handy internet transcription of it), I wrote my essay for the assignment last night (quite literally so), sorted out some issues regarding the internet and the most recent phone bill, found out that the useless insurance company in Norway compensated the loss of my phone (giving me a lot less than what it was worth, those bastards), I ordered a book I only recently discovered I need for one of my courses and am reading through Atonement as fast as I can, using every spare minute I get to read a line or two.

Initially, things seemed set to become nasty last night, when I received an e-mail from Sydney saying that I had to take some papers to uni about my insurance, about how to get it approved and by doing so get a reimbursement from uni (I had to pay $520 for their own insurance in addition to the one I’ve already got with If… because I didn’t have all the papers they needed, and this is what I’ve been trying to tell the insurance company, but they just tell me that I don’t need any more papers than what they’ve given me, so it’s a hopeless situation really).

Then there was the matter with the phone bill. Apparently, I was expected to pay for some calls from the flat which I had most definitely not made (one of the calls from the flat which I was expected to pay for had even been made while I was in Queenstown in the South Island), so I rang up my leaseholder to explain the situation to her and ask some questions about the rocky internet connection as well, which disappeared altogether last night, just as I needed it the most for my essay writing.

After some trying and failing I managed to connect to the internet using the ethernet cable, but I couldn’t use the computer at my desk then, so I disconnected and sat down to write my essay. At which point the clock rounded 11pm. I was so glad I’d been clever enough to get two cans of Red Bull from the shop just down the road (which I’ll never be coming back to, by the way) earlier that evening, because there’s no doubt I wouldn’t have made it without those. To begin with everything felt so hopeless. I had no idea where to start, what to say, how to say it or how much I could say about each point on the “check-list”. After I managed to scramble myself through the first paragraph, however, it started running more smoothly (or maybe I was just so tired I didn’t care or realise what I wrote any more).

I forced myself to stay awake, having more Red Bull and Coke in the space of 4 hours than I’ve had in the last two months all added up. At about 3am I declared my work to be finished. Instead of jumping straight into bed I then connected to the internet again and checked my e-mails. How clever of me. After half an hour online I decided to go to bed, but when I lay down in I felt so strangely awake, so I figured I might as well read Atonement. So I read for about 30 minutes, before almost falling asleep with my face in the book. That was when I turned the lamp off and went to sleep. 4.35pm. Five hours later I was up, having breakfast. Time to go over my essay again, to see if what I wrote in the dead of night makes any sense at all. I really hope it does.

Seeing celebs syndrome

After the whole affair with having one of the actors from Once Were Warriors staying at my flat, I think I’ve been having a tendency to see celebrities everywhere (of course they are not really celebrities, I just think they look so much like one or several).

So there I was, sitting in the library yesterday, reading my book. Every now and then I’d look up to have a squiz at the people walking past, and then – BAM! – there was this guy standing not far from me, checking out a book at the scanner. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. I didn’t find him very attractive or anything like that, I just found him so fascinating! Because, frankly, he didn’t look like just one celebrity, but like three, all at once! After a couple of minutes of hard thinking about which celebrities he reminded me of, I came to the conclusion that he was a very strange-looking but intriguing blend of the three (very popular) male actors Ed Westwick and Penn Badgley (from Gossip Girl) and Robert Pattinson. Some of the resemblance to especially Ed Westwick derived from his style of clothing and hairstyle, I think.

I was so stunned by this guy’s appearance in the library that I couldn’t think straight, and when I eventually did, and pulled out my phone to get photographic evidence of this man’s existence, he had finished scanning his book was and putting it into his bag. Just as I had zoomed in and pointed the camera in his direction he turned his back on me and stalked off. I was gutted! I almost felt like running after him just to ask if I could take a photo of him and post it on my blog.

I do of course realize that I have to give you a closer description of what he looked like, so I was kind enough to google some names and find some photos to assemble a reasonable photographic description of what this guy looked like and what he was wearing.

So here it goes:

He had a very slick hair-do, just like Ed Westwick does in Gossip Girl. Greasy.

Robert Pattinson’s look in this photo along with the photo above pretty much sums up everything about the guy’s face. If you can imagine him having R.P.’s cheek bones, E.W.’s flat nose and haughty look, Penn Badgley’s mouth and questioning eyes (see photo to the right), you pretty much get the idea.

He also carried his head at a downward angle, just like I’ve noticed that Ed Westwick tends to do (I know, strange descriptions coming from me now, but I’m trying to paint you guys a good picture here).

The clothes he was wearing very much resembled Chuck Bass in Gossip Girl. Here are some photos that I found of clothes similar to what the guy in the library was wearing:

A blazer. Enough said.

Skinny jeans. Once again, enough said.

… I don’t know what to say any more. He looked like a runaway from the set of Gossip Girl.

Interesting, huh?

On top of the world

Apparently making an effort has its advantages. I had promised myself that I’d manage to read through all of last week’s assigned reading during the past weekend, but I procrastinated, and nothing happened… So today I pulled myself together and actually did it. From the very first moment when I woke up this morning, through to the afternoon lectures and for an hour after that I kept reading in my Cambridge Introduction to Narrative, and I had finished reading all the chapters I was supposed to have read last week, by 6pm! Now I have to finish Atonement (I love how I say ‘finish’, considering I’m only just over a quarter into the book) and consentrate on an assignment which is due in by 5pm Friday this week. Fortunately, I feel like I understand what I’ve just read about in Introduction to Narrative, which is what I’m supposed to apply in the critical exercise, so I’m not stressing about it (yet!). Other than that, I feel very organised and on top of things, and I’m very excited about how my interest in photography is on the rise again, after several months (in apparent) hibernation.

Tonight I made another fantastic meal (I know, I’m so high on myself, but I’m so proud of my achievements!). My cooking skills seem to be improving faster than I can keep up. Most of the time my conscious self has no idea what is going on, but my hands and body live a life of their own and prepare awesome meals night after night. Not that I’m complaining or anything. As long as I can cook something edible I’m happy.

Here’s a snapshot of tonight’s meal (sorry about all the food photos - if you’re keeping up with the latest from me on facebook you’ll probably have seen many photos like this one on there):

This meal is made even more divine if accompanied by a beer. (And a cup of tea, in case you were wondering what that other drink was.)

I’m so pleased with today’s effort. Time to sit back, relax, listen to music and read Atonement while enjoying a glass of ice-cold Coke Zero.

I’ve earned a chocolate fish

Today I managed to get some much-needed sunbathing done, while at the same time studying. I love my life.

I tried out another café today, and my god am I glad I decided to go to the one I did! It was such a nice place, and although it was really busy, I didn’t have to wait for long for my coffee or my food. The wee park where I sat and read my book after lunch was just outside the café, which is located in one of the fanciest parts of town, so that place is definitely one I will be coming back to.

On my way home I spotted this on a power line just up the road from my flat, and I just had to take some photos of it:

Aaah, students =)

*sulking*

I don’t want to be doing this:

When the weather outside is like this:

=(

Friday Night Lights

Here comes another update from my ever so exciting life down under, where the weather is nice and warm and the people are happy!

As the title suggests the weekend is officially here; I actually have Fridays off, thanks to my sweet lecture timetable. So I was looking forward to a weekend of chilling out with movies and food, but once I'd been to the supermarket this morning and gotten myself organized, I sat down and read the course outlines. Apparently I'm like 30 pages behind in reading (and that's just for one of the courses), so I figured I should get on with it straight away so that I don't have to spend my entire weekend studying. But of course I soon discovered that the reading material was written in letters as small as those you'd find in a pocket-sized Bible or something like that, and the text was so complicated I had to read the same sentence like 15 times before it started making any sense to me. So far I think I've read two pages in my Media101 Reader. Only 28 to go.

Luckily tomorrow's weather forecast is very bleak compared to what the weather was like today, so hopefully that'll encourage me to stay in and study and read my prescribed books such as Atonement, Northanger Abbey, and The Big Sleep, to mention but a few.

The buzz I got when I discovered that Eddie, who stayed at my flat two nights ago, had been in the movie Once Were Warriors, an amazing NZ film about domestic violence, is starting to wear off, but no doubt I'll treasure that fact for the rest of my life! I even have reason to believe that he was coming on to me during our breakfast conversation. I feel a little faint, I think I might have to leave this subject for now... (Did I mention that he's a former model?? No? Well, now you know.)

Last night I went and watched Avatar in 3D again. I couldn't help myself, I love that movie. Besides, being out in Wellington late at night is awesome, there are people everywhere! I wish I was there tonight, or, preferably, tomorrow night.

There's so much more to tell, but they are all such short, insignificant stories, they don't deserve to be put in this blog entry. I should rather make individual entries for each story, like anecdotes. Maybe I'll start doing that tomorrow (which is in 10 minutes, by the way). Time to go to bed. I've finished my cup of tea, and Queen - We are the Champions is playing on the iPod. The show must go on, but not tonight.

A student's morning

Since my last blog entry things have started happening. I had my first lectures at uni yesterday, the first one at 2.10 pm and the second one at 4.10 pm. They were ENGL114 and ENGL117 or, more commonly known as Introduction to Literary Form and How to Read Stories (I know, even the lecturer agreed that the name of the second one is very lame and misgiving).

I was very nervous at first, but a girl named Katherine started talking to me while we waited for the first lecture to begin, and as it turned out she is actually doing the same media course as me as well, so I know at least one person in two of my courses. Yay for me.

During the hour I had to wait for my other lecture to begin I went to the book shop and queued there for about half an hour before I even got inside. I only bought two collections of Student's Notes, so it felt a little like a waste of time, but I didn't have anything better to do, anyway. And I must say, it felt good at the same time, to be standing there in line with all those other students. It felt like I belonged there. I think this might become a very cool experience.

At the moment I'm sitting at my new computer desk having a cup of coffee and writing this blog entry. I went to The Warehouse two days ago and got heaps of stuff for the apartment. I bought a very cute 3 piece set consisting of a small, round table and two chairs, so now I don't have to eat my food either standing or sitting on the floor anymore. I also bought a bedside table, a wee bookshelf, the computer desk I mentioned before, and a chair for my student "office". Needless to say I feel very organised and at home right now. I have everything I need to make myself comfortable. (And study, of course.)

The only lecture I have today begins at 4.10 pm, and is the How to Read Stories one. I'm really looking forward to it. The lecturer was very inspiring and funny yesterday, and the course seemed more interesting than the other English course I'm doing. Yesterday the lecturer (James) started the lecture with a video from YouTube, about how to read a book. And guess what? It was a Norwegian video! It's funny, because when I went to high school in New Zealand one of my teachers at the school actually showed us the same video. I remember telling everyone that it was Norwegian, and that I could understand what they were saying (while everybody else had to read the English subtitles). And now the same video was being in shown in a lecture theatre at uni, in front of hundreds of students. I felt so proud.

We were told to buy the book Atonement as soon as possible, and to read it and re-read it even faster, because we are going to study it thoroughly in ENGL117. Starting like, next week. So I'm heading into town before going to uni today I think, to see if I can get it cheaper than at the uni book shop. I'll probably grab a coffee and lunch at the same time. Alas, that I have not lived in the city before. I love it.