Put on your dancing shoes

I just ordered my first pair of dance sneakers. I know I can't keep dancing in my trainers, but these shoes are expensive, so they better be good. It's a good investment though, I really enjoy the dance classes. Last Friday I attended a latin dance night, and I was jaw-to-the-floor impressed by how amazing some of these dancers are. I even got asked to dance by one of them, and it was fun, too. Just a bit embarrassing when I figured out (halfway through the song) that I was dancing salsa and he was dancing bachata. Oh well.

Line came to visit last weekend. Else was supposed to come, but she came down with the flu, and didn't feel like travelling halfway across the country. Understandable. So Line spent the weekend here, we had a great time shopping, eating, laughing, and painting the town. Can't wait to have my next visitor! Company somehow makes this tiny appartment seem bigger. Homier.

This weekend I'm attending two birthday parties. Next weekend there's one. After that, UKA starts. Lots of fun, lots to look forward to :) But, I kind of wonder when I'm going to be able to have a quiet weekend. You know, when absolutely nothing happens, you haven't got a single invitation to anything, and you're pretty sure you're going to die from boredom, and you wallow in your bed watching bad TV, or read. I'm looking forward to one of those too.

Busy bee

Remember how I suggested that university is relaxing and that I have a lot of free time on my hands? Yeah.. Scratch that. It's all picking up speed now, excercises for group sessions, obligatory reading, obligatory assignments, work experience. I check it's learning daily, I read Shakespeare sonnets at night before I go to sleep, and I worked 5 hours on an english proficiency assignment on Sunday. Still, this is nothing compared to what's to come. And as if school wasn't enough, I'm now attending lessons of salsa, hip hop, lindy hop, boogie woogie and swing. But you know what? I love it. I've been spending the last 2 years in some sort of intellectual drought. I'm learning stuff again, and it's wonderful!

What's not wonderful though is the economical life of the average student. I've never noticed until now how quickly money just fly off into different directions, and you never see them again. And life in Trondheim does demand a few extra expenses, such as clothes to fit the climate. I have invested in not only one, but two pairs of rain boots, and I am now ready for autumn/winter in Trondheim. From what I've been told, I'll be walking in slosh the next months. The weather these days is insane. One minute you look up and you see clear skies and a warming sun. The next you're drenched from rain, or swept up and landed somewhere in outer atmosphere by one of those aweful coastal winds. But like my grandmother said: "Det finns itte dårlig vær, bære dårlig klær". Tssh.

Over to something much more pleasant than Norwegian weather: the programme for UKA09 (Norway's longest and most eventful festival) was released today. Over 3 weeks (almost all through October) of beer and fun and good music. You'll for sure find me attendig the Postgirobygget concert, the October fest, 50's night, the "Trønderfest", and last but not least, the Aqua concert! Among other things, the 3 weeks are packed with entertainment, art, culture, courses, not to mention great sporting events (e.g. the Norwegian Championship of Rock-Scissors-Paper takes place during UKA). UKA is a big deal, it stirs up the city every other year, and I'll be around for at least 3 of them!

I got curtains! They're a lovely purple colour (which now has turned out to be my theme colour), and way too long. But I think I solved it rather fancily; I tied them all up in buns at the bottom and it looks quite good, if I might say so myself. Now I just need some cushions and a table cloth. And a night stand. And a few other things. And I should go to IKEA to get these things pretty soon, this week actually, becaaaauuse... I get my first visitor this weekend! Else arrives some time on Friday, staying until Sunday. Yay! We're gonna have so much fun! :)

Getting started

The first two weeks of uni are over, and I very much appreciate the fact that it's 6pm. on a Wednesday, and I'm not getting ready for a party. It's been great fun, I made a lot of good friends, and a part of me wishes I could keep it up all through the year. But. I also spent too much money, slept too little, and I'm afraid if my liver could talk, it would yell some pretty offensive stuff at me. So I'm glad I can finally relax, take it all in, and start my studies for real. And so far I'm doing pretty good. Despite the late night partying, I still managed to get to every class (even the ones at 8am) these past weeks, and I did all my obligatory reading. I'm done buying my books (which I got fairly cheap, I bought most of them second hand). I've got my time table more or less down (see bottom of this post), and I'm getting to know my way around school. I've paid my bills, bought my bus pass, got my insurance, and just this afternoon I sat down and made a 5-week-menu. Impressive, huh?

The best thing about being a student in a city more or less run by students, is that the offers on just about anything is amazing. For example, I'm going to dance Lindy Hop tonight. Lindy Hop! And tomorrow's Salsa, next week is Hip Hop/Street. This is all part of the student athletic association, and you pay ridiculously little for a membership and the access to over 50 different activities (from soccer to paintball to golf to karate to dance), as well as their gym where you can go spinning, running or join an aerobics class. 550 NOK (less than $100) a year! Lovely.

The only thing I still have on my list as of now, is going to IKEA to buy a few more things, a night stand and a box to have my books in and stuff, maybe this week. One of my new acquaintances is going and she has access to a car! Hooray! This weekend I'm going back home for a quick visit, going to a goodbye-party for one of my friends who's moving to England. And on my 7 hour bus ride I have more than enough time to read what I need in my new fascinating books, like "An introduction to linguistics and fonetics". It's gonna be hard to lay down The Time Traveler's Wife, the book I'm reading at the time. It's fantastic, I love it. Anyway, I need to get some food in me, my 5-week-menu informs me today is vegetable soup. Yum!


My time table so far:
Monday:
8.15 to 10.00: Pedagogy, lecture
Tuesday:
8.15 to 10.00: English Proficiency, lecture
10.15 to 11.00: Literature: Drama and Poetry, study group
Wednesday:
DAY OFF!
Thursday:
9.15 to 10.00: English Proficiency, study group
4:15pm to 6.00pm: EXFAC, lecture
Friday:
10.15 to 12.00: Literature: Drama and Poetry, lecture
(Every two weeks:) 12.15 to 2.00pm: Pedagogy study group.

Sounds great? I guess I should mention they expect us to be doing school work 40 hours a week.

Learning disabilities

I'm a student. I'm tired. I have been to parties two nights in a row, and I have about 10 more to go. Initiation week, or buddy week (fadderuka) is a very illogical phenomena. 7000 new, confused students are grouped and assigned buddies and basically get drunk 13 nights in a row. And you go to school. Your brain has to deal with a frightening amount of information every day, everything's new, and you'd think you would want to be awake, alert, and concentrated during this important phase of the school year. But no. Party time! This is only my second day of going to bed at 2am and getting up at 8am, and I am exhausted. This insanity will continue the rest of this week, this weekend and all through next week. Don't get me wrong, I love it! It's a great way to meet people, most of them are very nice, it's fun, and you get to know the city.. I just wish I didn't have to be in a class room at 9.15 in the morning. But I'm here for school, I can sleep in a week and a half, this is a once-in-a-life-time opportunity. The normal, boring life of a student will come soon enough. Cheers!

Goodbyes and fresh starts

I'm not good with goodbyes. I always cry. Leaving Dallas was hard, knowing I wouldn't see any of them for at least another year, some of them maybe never again. But I had 4 amazing weeks in the states, I'm so glad I went. A big thanks to Mary Grace and her family and friends for making me feel so welcome. The last few days were spent enjoying the sun, drinking margharitas, packing, planning my homecoming and the following move. I left the Delatour house at 6.30am on Wednesday and said goodbye to Mary Grace, Janina and Ann Elise at the airport. 24 hours, 3 flights (Dallas --> New York --> Reykjavik --> Oslo) and hardly any sleep later, I was home. Else picked me up at the airport, and had me home by 4pm Thursday. Thank you! I had a quiet night with my friends planned, some wine, crackers and cheese, but we ended up going to a concert (Postgirobygget), and it was great! I surprised myself by staying awake the whole time. After almost 40 hours on the go, I went to sleep for the last time in my room. Friday I moved.

I am currently sitting in my new, tiny, studio apartment in Trondheim. I've spent the weekend moving in, buying appliances, carrying boxes, despairing over lack of space. Now I'm pretty much all set, I have what I need, now I only have to worry about the small stuff: pillows, table cloths, curtains.. Personally I'm happy with how it all turned out, I'll post a picture when I'm done decorating. I said goodbye to my family today, they spent the weekend here, helping me out. I couldn't have done this alone, I have the best family in the world (love you, miss you!). That makes me even more sad to see them go, but it's time for the little birdie to leave the nest. And I'll go home for a visit in a few weeks.. Now I'm just starting to get excited about starting school. The start-of-year ceremony is on Tuesday, so I have tomorrow to get to know the city a bit, apply for a part time job, and buy some of the stuff I need. And to get a good workout, it's been ages.

Of the 156 000 people living in Trondheim, 30 000 of them are students. And I can hear them, see them, smell them, coming back from wherever they spent their lazy days of summer, getting ready for a new year of learning. I like to think I'm one of them.

Tomorrow!

On Sunday, I quit my job. At 7am I was done. No more flipping burgers and serving hot dogs, no more cleaning toilets and floors. It's an absolutely amazing feeling. On Monday, my dad, my sister and I packed a lot of my stuff and went to Trondheim. We carried it all up to the 3rd floor and into my tiny appartment. Then, we went to IKEA. I looove IKEA. Now, all I'm missing is a sofa, a TV, and I wouldn't mind some extra space, but other than that, my new home is starting to become just that; a tiny home.

I go to America tomorrow. HAHAHA, TOMORROW!! I can't believe it. I'm packing, and as usual I'm packing way too much, but I'm almost ready for 4 incredible weeks. In New York I'm staying here: Millennium Broadway Hotel New York

What's going on?

And I say, Heeeey ey ey ey Heeeeey ey ey. I said hey. What's going on.

For some reason I haven't written since I came home from Iceland. Maybe not enough interesting stuff have been going on, while I've been busy planning the stuff I'll be doing. It's all approaching rapidly. I cross the Atlantic ocean in less than a month. Before that time I have to have mye entire life packed into cardboard boxes. Ugh.

Between then and now I have a few things going on to keep me busy: This Monday I will see living rock'n'roll legends, I was finally able to get myself a ticket for the big AC/DC concert in Oslo. I'm hyped about it, it's supposed to be a great show. So Tuesday I'm afraid I'll be busy trying to recover my voice. And then it's back to work for a week, my second last week of work before I'm done. Ahhh.. Done.. Sounds so good.

And then I have a week of packing, suitcases and cardboard boxes, everything I've ever owned. Arrangements have to be made for moving all of this the 260 miles to my new home. I'm spending a day with my sister in Oslo, a few days with my best friend at her cabin, and after my last week of work I'm gonna try to get a few things settled in my appartment. And then I'm off. Wow, sounds like even less time said like that, but I'm not panicking yet. I don't have time.

Oh, I almost forgot, something interesting has happened over the last few weeks, that's part of what has kept me busy too, my sister's confirmation was on Sunday! It was the nicest ceremony, with lots of food and cakes and gifts and speaches. Absolutely lovely. And we have enough leftovers to make it through the rest of the year. My mom did a great job, despite all the fretting and near hysteria. It turned out great.

And another thing that's been keeping me from the computer the last weeks; the Twilight saga. Freakin' Twilight. It is absolutely addictive. Not necessarily a masterpiece in literature, but most certainly a pageturner, and I can't seem to put the books down for any length of time. I guess there's a reason close to 50 million copies of the books have been sold. Anyway, I'm a good way into the 4th and last book, and boy, oh boy will it be good when I'm done, so I can focus properly on anything else than Edward Cullen, Bella Swan and Jacob Black..

SO, that was a little update. I'll be sure to post some pictures from the concert next week.


Today's thought provoker: A quick google search of the following words, "Twilight Saga" gives 18 600 000 results, while a search on the classic "Dracula" produces 13 300 000 results.

I'm not homeless! Woopdidoo!

I spent 5 days in Trondheim. They were mostly filled with warm days, blue skies, happy people, bbq-ing in the park, shopping, ice cream, one good and two bad movies, walking, talking, laughing. The good stuff you often do when you go to a great city visiting someone you haven't seen in a while. Who cares if the last two days were cloudy/rainy, and included an 8 hour bus ride home. Not only did I enjoy myself immensely, find two new dresses for the summer and read a good book. In these 5 days I also decided where I'll be spending the most part of the next 5 years. I've known it would have to be Trondheim for quite some time, but this weekend made me even more certain in my choice. I love this city. I love how it's big, but still kind of small. I love how they've kept a lot of the old buildings, and I love the gorgeous cathedral and the univeristy. I love how almost half of everyone living here are students, and I love how I'm gonna be one of them. On Sunday I signed the contract on my very first appartment (not counting the one in Barcelona. That was vacation.). The 1st of July I move in to my not-so-big, but pretty cheap and oh-how-incredibly-well-located appartment, and I'm happy.

Oh, hello springtime! Long time no see, come on in! Sit down, take a load off, stay a while, would you like a cup of tea?

Spring. Primavera. Frühling. Printemps. Vår.
/sprɪŋ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation noun: the season of the year following winter and characterized by the budding of trees, growth of plants, the onset of warmer weather, etc.
One of the few words that sound just as beautiful in every language.

The entire northern hemisphere is waking up, and so am I. I was out running this morning, after work. Usually after work I have problems staying awake while driving home, but today I had so much energy, I ran for a whole hour, and even after that I felt I had more to give. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and I was smiling. It is absolutely remarkable what a bit of sunlight and a few extra degrees in the air can do to you.

I have some rituals when the seasons change: The first day of the year fit for a barbeque, I clean out my warderobe, putting all of my winter clothes and jackets and shoes waaaay in the back, and all the shorts, t-shirts, skirts and dresses are put in the front. I make a new playlist on iTunes and my iPod with light, relaxing, music that puts me in the right "waiting for summer" mood. I make a list of what books I'm going to read over the summer, and then go online and order the ones I don't have. This summer I'm only gonna read light, entertaining stuff, in fear of having to read only heavy, classic English literature the next 5 years.

You see, I've just sent my applications for university. A masters study in English, with teaching and a second language (Spanish). If I get in, and I'm being positive, thinking I will, I'll be moving a 5 hour trainride away come autumn. A trainride I'll be doing this coming week to visit my friend who already lives there. The city's beautiful at spring time, people are smiling, the guys are wearing T-shirts, and the beer tastes better.

And in a few weeks time, as the spring unfolds in full bloom, I head off to Iceland. I have been promised to see geysirs. Geysirs! And the blue lagoon! I'm absolutely extatic about going, and I'm going to stay with the fabulous Hulda and her family. So nice of them to let me stay. I miss Hulda. We're gonna cry about missing Barcelona together, and make plans for next summer.

Pictures and detailed information on Linn's upcoming travels will be blogged about. Have no doubt about it.

I've previously blogged about my affection for quotes and how they often portray my feelings much better than I can do with my own words (http://linnterpretation.blogspot.com/2009/02/and-i-quote_19.html), and wouldn't you know! Some genious has poetically described spring
as well:

"Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush"
- Doug Larson