An end, a new beginning...

When does one year end and another one start? Is the year over at New Year? Does it end when school does? Does it end when school begins? OR: Does it end, and open for a new beginning, when there is a big change?

I started of my life at RCNUWC as incredibly lively, ready for challange and new experience and friendships. I was very easy-going and outspoken, and probably quite offensive as well, with my honesty(I'm sure I still am.). Being here and getting to know other cultures has just made me realize that I DO offend people, and that I will probably continue to do so. Changing is hard, and sometimes we get so lost in our quest to change and please others that we lose ourselves and give up, and that doesn't help anyone. So I'm sorry, guys, I'll still seem like I don't listen to you, and I'll still be inappropriate. But just test me: I DO listen, and I will continue with the honesty.

I've had a tuff year. I've had more family issues than anyone deserves, and I've fought(sometimes desperately) to keep my head above water and to be able to live here, while being pulled by my family from "home" and China. So I lost some spirit, was very down for a long time, but I'm more up and running now, I promise;)

Dear second years: I already miss you. For me, this is the beginning, the end, and everything. You left so quickly that I barely had time to say goodbye, but fortunately I know I'll see many of you again(one good thing about having a parent that attended a UWC).



Jacob - Remember how you were ALWAYS the only second year with all the first years, unless Gustav was present? Well, this just tells you how much we'll miss having you around. We'll bring a Danish tuborg to a couple of parties as a memory of you.





Gustav - How come I love the Danes so much? It must be your clean, charming hair. Thanx for the waterpipe, you won't be easily forgotten with that travelling around the college. We've had great times, and we'll continue to have them. I'll let the picture say more than... well.

William - min solstråle! Thanx for a great year, sixth roomie:) I'll miss having you around at all the most awkward hours. I'll see you in Denmark, eyh?


Vasco - Elsker deg og! Du har alltid vært der for meg, jeg vil alltid være der for deg;) Don't worry, I'll come down to Portugal, and we'll go out and rock the socks of all those Poruguese people. That's a promise. But you'll drop by here, right?

Marta - Thanx for the pants, the advice, the love and the endless nights. You've left me alone in this mad house, but don't worry, I will keep it up. But just note that I hear your voice sometimes here, saying "Oh God". You know what I'm talking about;)

Pheak - It's been great. There's always tea for you in Norway.

I'd mention all the rest of you as well - you all deserve a mentioning, but I wrote in your yearbooks, eyh? Hashem, Sophie, Mariam, Lorena, Veiko, Tenzing, Simon, Erik, Maciej, Jon, Poleo, Moshe, Roosa, Tiina, Dandago, Inara, Anna, Bobby, Karl Oskar, all randomly jumbled up in my head, I could go on forever, mentioning you all, but an era is over. The campus is alarmingly empty without you, but we'll be ready for the first years. We'll try to welcome them as well as you welcomed us, but until then - take care, we've had a great year. And there are many more to come. There's an open door for you here next year, and after that there'll always be an open door wherever I am. Enjoy your freedom, you have a new battles to fight, new horizons to explore. We'll come back to Flekke for another year, we're not done here yet.



Now, I'm ready to start anew, you go and "ta verden med storm". We'll take care of this world for now. And hey - many of u rn't escaping moi this summer. So 'til I see you again: Bon voyage!

All and nothing - www.ungdommensgulating.com

Where to begin? Well, many things have been going on in/and outside the bubble lately, some have been good, but most have been rather unfortunate. Let's start with easter, shall we?

Coming home as an eighteen-year-old has its advantages: I started the week off with going out and partying as much as I could -without having to consider my mum's reactions to it. It was actually great to be back in Bærum again, believe it or not - but being back with both parents was not as pleasant. I stayed back home until LATE wednesday night, which means I left my mum alone at home during easter and her birthday, but on the other hand I had stayed with her in Bærum for five days while my dad and my sister went to my uncle's cabin. At least I saw her some... But I am oh, so tired of them not communicating very well, and being torn between them and myself(though it does sound strange)... I honestly don't think I am handling my life very well at the moment, but hopefully, things will change once the storm has passed.

Bergen: When I arrived in Bergen early on saturday morning, it was snowing. SNOWING! IN BERGEN! After a three week period with sun in Flekke and Oslo, I arrived in Bergen to see it snowing, carrying my immensly heavy suitcase having fooled my self in to thinking that I would get some homework done during the holiday. A cute guy helped my with it to the dock, so "ikke så galt at det ikke er godt for noe", and I met up with the people who'd been to Prague there, and the sun actually came back during the day, but in Flekke there was still snow...







I had a wonderful saturday night with Elisa, and slowly campus started filling up after easter - even though I spent the last two days of my holiday in my bed recovering from it. Apparently things happened on campus that weekend which were tragical to the school(to say the least), so the following wednesday two students were sent home. It felt quite empty and uncomfortable on campus the following days - and campus was rather divided. I just wish we'd got to know about them leaving a bit before they left, oh, well.






Leirskole has started - I'm skin diving with all the kids, and it's actually a lot of fun. The kids were quite easy to please and they "warmed up" after a while. This picture is from the training - above water in the hot pool

On friday Henrik, my wonderful swedish neighbour who lives down stairs, was told that he'd be expelled. For having too many absences. Now: first we get to know that two of our friends are expelled. Two days later anotherone is supposed to be expelled as well. On wednesday Alistair sent out an e-mail and put up a notice on the notice board about the considerable amount of absences the first day after easter, and all students with an "excessive amount" had to have a talk with him - and just after that Henrik got to know that he'd be expelled. What is an excessive amount? What about the students that have more absences than Henrik? Why did he never get a final warning? Where was his advisor? Why was his House Mentor not more involved in this? Are we Nordics to be sent home more easily just because we have the prospects of a good future even though we're at home and not here, and because our governments will continuosly send money here anyway? WE NEED CLARITY WITH THE RULES. Where did the UWC spirit go?

These are just some of the questions we asked ourselves during the weekend when John told Henrik that he'd be expelled, when Henrik felt highly unwanted and wouldn't want to stay here even if he could, when he changed his mind and appealed it, when Reidun was expected to talk to his parents without knowing much, when we all supported Henrik and felt insecure about our own positions here, and we saw him leaving, and taking the spirit of the college and maybe some of our friends with him... It was an exhausting weekend. BUT - his personal appeal to John went through. Not without conditions(gaaaah, we're all gonna die making Henrik go through this... Haha, he'd probably like it better at home than right now), and he has to prove that he is worth being here. I know he is. Unfortunately, we were all in confusion about whether it was actually right to support him in the first place, from an objective point of view - can one ever be with people one lives so closely with?

It was a weekend of Nordic unity, campus 'unity'(at least quite big parts of it), tears, frustration, uncertainty, anger, hysterical laughter and lots and lots and lots of tea and starshine... The weather, ironically, was beautiful leading up to the weekend and during it. We spent some time on the rocks under the stars, in the dayroom(s), cooking for goodbye and in smoker's corner. It will be unforgettable, and no one knows what will happen to the trust and unity at the college. We WILL fight for it, though.

Now? It's thursday, and we've known since tuesday evening that he can stay. Last night, it started snowing. Honestly - looking at how hard Henrik is working to stay here, and how hard we are working for him staying here, I actually feel like I'm slowly but steadily getting my academical life back on the right track myself. I still have some parts to catch up with, I still have work to do... I'm getting up in the morning, I'm doing most of my homework(but I still have to do what I haven't done) and I'm working hard on getting Gulatinget together.

Gulatinget - The program is amazing - but the audience could've been a lot bigger. Let's pray for good weather and a nice crowd. I'm not religious, but after all the praying people did for Henrik, and how unbelievable we thought it was that he'd be given another chance - it seems like it helped. So - SUN and CROWD for Gulatinget, and it'll be all good.

Well, another rant is over, more is coming. Have a good day!

"The best things come from nowhere
I can't believe you care" - Guillemots

Here comes the sun, little darling...

So, it was time for making a roompage, and unfortunately - from lack of inspiration, we ended up taking pictures of all five of us together in a tree. I had bits and pieces of that tree everywhere for ages afterwards... It became a massive photoshoot with individual pictures, group pictures etc... It's amazing that it ever went through as the room wasn't too friendly at that point, but it did work as a kind of therapy. In the end we all do love each other, eyh?

So, spring has arrived to Flekke. Maybe not for good, but at least we have had several days with SUN here in the little land of Flekke - and it has done us good. People are "vårkåte", "yre" and generally a lot happier than just a few days ago. Suddenly people I don't think I've seen in months keep appearing, and it makes us all more social, friendly and caring. I don't think anyone can love spring more than people in Norway after a long winter.

The Africaribbean day and show turned out very nicely, even though my skirt was too short and steps a bit off beat. I joined in two dances and a Bob Marley Medley, and it was all worth the long hours of practise - it was a great show. Dandago, Jonathan, Jodi-Ann, Mame, Chalanie, Kopano and many more - so many people worked hard for this day to be a success - and so it was . The dinner was amazing - I wish the immigrants in Norway consisted of more African chefs, 'cause now I looove African food! Today, the day after, our wonderful africans made a beautiful and delicious meal for everyone who participated in the show - and I had a wonderful experience.

Saturday night was a good one as well - the sixth cabin party took place, and it was all a lot of fun with Mame and Chalanie as Dj's. Quite many teachers showed up this time, there was no shuttle so many people walked, and generally the party kept a good atmosphere the whole night through. We did crazy dancing, moderate(from my part, as Marc didn't bring the wine I bought from him) drinking, fun singing and crazy discussions. The night ended with three good friends falling asleep to sex and the city in the day room, after a beautiful walk home under the stars. I do love Flekke. I just wish I would focus more on academics. *sigh*

One last thing before bedtime - look at what I spotted outside the cantine the other day! Spring is here, and so are the flowers - look at them, aren't they adorable?

Red Cross...

Yesterday I spent most of my day on a trip to Sogndal. I have no impression on what the place is like whatsoever, because I spent my time there performing a piece of a play, and watching other performances by college students and others for the Red Cross. Problem was: I missed 3 meetings and my other service for nothing. We came and helped out at a conference for a lot of people, or so we were told, but in the audience we saw about five people. FIVE. It was far from worth it. I could've seen civilization, worked on my home work, done my service, been with my friends, got my things done... And instead it was a huge disappointment. WHY? Why do they keep inviting us to perform at different so-called events when they haven't got an audience?

Anyhow, next week is ski week, and it's gonna be GREAT! I can't wait...

Quote of the day:

"Richard had noticed that events were cowards: they didn't occur singly, but instead they would run in packs and leap out at him all at once."

Weeehooo!

Yey, my laptop is still not working, but my homework just caught up with me, I got involved with organizing the environmental conference our school is hosting in Gulatinget 27th of April(contact me for more info) and we started setting up "the mountain language" with STERK.

My 18th birthday was spent a bit differently than I had imagined when I was younger, but honestly, this was not bad! I went to severin's party the night before and got up early on the 10th, so in the evening I fell asleep around 8 and was woken up by birthday calls at twelve. A bit passed midnight I got a frantic phone call from Elisabeth, screaming: where the hell are you?, and I said that I was in my bed, of course. They'd been looking for me for quite long. I've never met ANYONE who're as bad at searching for people, I mean: what about checking my bed?? So they stormed in, blindfolded me, carried me to the Høegh and we danced for an hour or so. We couldn't celebrate in my room, so we had a nice little gathering in Anna's. (Nordics, Nashfa, Kristjan and Marc... Two other birthdays that night and host family weekend for many. It was crowded enough.) Rebecca and Ellen baked the most wonderful cake I've ever had, Ragga did the decoration of it and Anna was entertainment while they did it. Cute people, cute cards, long night.

When Marta and Sophie returned from their host families on my actual birthday, they baked me a wonderful cake(again, is it wierd that we gain weight here?) and made a beautiful card. My parents called, my god father called and everyone else called... I felt like a reseptionist, I think I spent half that day on the phone. I got a cute little present from Chris and Hilary, while as Reidun forgot all about it and yelled at me for having a messy corner instead. Oh, well, it felt nice knowing that I'm not a grown-up yet;)


There has been an interhouse competition(of which there will be posted pictures on facebook after a while) in Euro Vision(initiated by an Israeli, of course. I still haven't got a reasonable explanation as to why they're in it in the first place.). We ROCKED(even though we didn't prepare it very much we MUST've looked the craziest on stage, dancing wildly to "Wild Dancers") and surprisingly enough we got second place! Must say that the winners were the best in the spirit of Euro Vision, performing Congratulations by Silvia Night. Raine, you rock in those stockings and boxers! The crown fits the girl. The memory of Leif Erik in those white trousers dancing to Diggi-loo, Diggi-ley will stay with us forever, the memory of Adrian in that dress singing "Diva" will hopefully fade and the last words about the issue will remain as: Hard Rock, Hallelujah;)

Come to Gulatinget, it'll be great, we just need bands to play(for free) and a few politicians, other than that all is in place: we've got the UN, Cicero, Nansen senteret, people from the antarctica expedition, Natur og Ungdom and of course wonderful entertainment from all the nuts up here. It'll be great, it's free, so make sure to be there! We'll have stands on different issues, but Global Warming is the main thing, so come here, see what you can do, atract politicians and have a nice day!;)

second post

Hmm... We've just had PBL with First Aid and MUN. The week before my laptop crashed, and I was slightly sick, I stayed in the Care Center a couple of nights. So I'm totally out of it when it comes to school stuff, and my laptop has to be sent to Förde for further repair. The First Aid course was interesting enough, and MUN was fun even though I was sick. The people that visited us from Åsane Folkehöyskole were very cute and nice, and it was good to get my mind off from school for a while. I have no idea how to start again now though, with my laptop gone and all. Oh well, today is a normal sunday, I'll probably stay in bed watching something half the day and then go to TSK later if I can find the energy to. Cheerio.

First post!

Made several attempts at keeping up a blog here, but unfortunately I have kept having trouble with keeping it up and being able to log in to it. I've found it on the net, but had several problems with logging in to it. So here I am, starting a new one, most probably posting the old rants here later. So we'll see how this goes... And, ofcourse, those of you who operate at myspace as well might just find me there. Look at what I'm doing, I should be studying physics(i REALLY should be studying physics), and instead I'm restarting a blog at blogger... Long live inefficiency:p