The effect of snow on people is quite interesting. Especially here in dark Norway. November is traditionally the most dreary month because it is just getting darker and darker and there is usually no snow. But when it snows, everything changes. Suddenly, it appears to be much lighter outside, and going outside isn't just something to get through, it can suddenly become this wonderfully aesthetic experience. Children (and older children :P) play outside and the trees are really pretty.
So pretty and white and pure *sigh of contentment*
But snow is just solid water - why do we love it so much and wish for it for Christmas? To many people, it is an essential part of spreading Christmas cheer. But it also means slippery roads and pavements - so it is best to wish for snow when you have no place to go (let it snow, let it snow, let it snow). Some people celebrate Christmas in places where there is no chance for snow, like Australia or Texas, USA. But here in Norway, snow is a part of the weather report that we enjoy talking a lot about. Especially those who like to go skiing. The amount of snow in the mountains during the winter also affects the price of our electricity, and is therefore discussed thoroughly.
I expect most of you know what snow actually is - ice crystals formed in the clouds which don't melt on the way down. Every natural snowflake is unique, but in a lab it is possible to make two identical ones. For chemists and biologists, one of the most interesting properties of water is that the solid is less dense than the liquid. So then you get an isolating layer of ice on top of lakes, and fish can survive on the bottom. Another interesting property is that if you exert pressure on ice, it melts. That is part of the reason that ice is so slippery - especially on skates.
I mostly enjoy the visual aspect of snow - I don't particularly like to walk on slippery roads. But when there is new snow on the trees and the ground, every sound is muffled, and each step either sounds crunch es or creaks, it is absolutely wonderful. Sometimes it feels as though I have stepped into a magical land - Narnia or something like it. I am dreaming of a white Christmas - are you?
It is nearly Christmas, and you know what that means...children going from door to door singing (not necessarily beautifully) Christmas carols. In addition, the Christmas songs are taking over the airwaves, so that every time you turn the radio on you get 'Driving Home for Christmas', 'All I Want for Christmas' (with Justin Bieber singing this year, just as a treat), or (horrors of horrors) 'Twelve Days of Christmas'. I'm not saying I'm opposed to Christmas carols, they do get you in the Christmas spirit (whatever that is). It's just that I get a bit fed up with listening to the same (old) unoriginal songs over and over (and over, and over, and over....you get it) again.
So this year, what about the old boring Christmas carols with a twist on them? Youtube has this audio transcription tool which quite often does quite a bad job of transcribing the things that are being said in the video. This can often turn out really funny, like in this video, where these two guys (called Rhett and Link) sang some Christmas carols, uploaded them to youtube, and then used the audio transcription to make a new video with the new lyrics. Among the things the poor lover gets during the twelve days of Christmas are experienced ranch hands and two fertile doves (I can't stop laughing). It is quite hilarious, on the whole.
I hope this will brighten up your December day (if the Christmas lights aren't helping), and I'll be back later (when one of my two exams will be done - yay!).
I did it! I read fifty (yes actually 50) books this year! I planned for this to happen, of course, but I am kind of amazed that it did anyway. I'm not huge on self-confidence, as you can probably guess.
So now that I have read all these books, and I also have a lot of books, I have been thinking about what I should do with all these books. I mean, put them in a bookshelf, obviously, but how? A lot is too relative, so I tell you what, I'm going to count all the books in my bookshelf here (The books that are not notebooks, reference, or school related. Basically the books designed for cover to cover reading) (I have more books, but they're not here). Just hold on for a second...
112. So then I, as the sorting and collecting kind of person that I am, unavoidably start thinking about how to sort and organise all these books. For as long as I can remember owning more than one shelf (80 cm long) full of books, I have been organising them alphabetically by the author's last name, like a library. But there are so many ways to organise books!
My books, sorted by colour. Isn't it pretty?
After I moved here, I decided to try a new way that I had seen on (wait for it...) the internet. I sorted my books into two categories - series and singles - and sorted the singles by colour. Not very systematic, I know, but I don't have that many books, so I can find the book anyway. The series then followed, in the order I preferred relative to the size of the bookshelf and the colour scheme. I am pleased with this sorting, and I also find it aesthetically pleasing (I know - I'm such a girl).
But there are many alternatives to these two ways of sorting books. I could organise them by height, or number of pages, or how well I liked the book, or publication year, or genre, or themes, or any other criteria you could possibly think of. I think the most fun would be to have a system that only you can understand. For example, you could group them according to what they meant to you, whether they (in your head) relate to each other in any way (across the usual boundaries) or just your personal preference.
Advent has just started, and there is snow on the ground and a calendar waiting for me in the corner. So I will go now, and open today's package. I hope your December has been nice so far.
It is amazing how our bodies react to pain or the anticipation of pain. I often hold my breath if I know something is coming. This can be quite inconvenient if you, like me, have a sensitive scalp, and you volunteer to sit and let your hair be yanked in all directions hour after hour. At the end of the day I wondered why I was so immensely tired. After a couple of days being really tired, I finally figured out that it probably had something to do with the constant pain I had been experiencing in intervals the past couple of days. Nothing bad about the hairdresser - she is trying her best. But it is, of course, difficult to put long hair into rollers without hurting a very sensitive scalp like mine.
I find that pain drains my energy and ability to concentrate or even think straight. No wonder I got depressed when I had constant pain so intense I couldn't think - for two weeks. I am surprised I didn't go insane! So, to humans (at least me), pain is debilitating. You can't function properly. For example, when I broke my arm (as you have probably guessed, especially when I tell you that the constant pain and the arm-breaking were separate, I am quite accident-prone), I couldn't walk much. It is a bit strange, but I guess that's how we are built.
Animals are often better than humans at tackling pain. They have other priorities, I guess. Whereas pain puts us (at least normal people) out of control of some of our body functions and sometimes creates bad reception for our thoughts, some animals can run with a broken leg or act normal when injured if it is necessary. But then, maybe it's just never that necessary (like life or death) for the modern human to have to control pain that way. I don't know.
But I do know that I have found the most effective way to torture me - yank at my hair. Or maybe just make me feel pain at irregular intervals and watch how eventually my brain and body will have too little oxygen and I will slowly but surely stop being able to form complete thoughts and descend into depression and even madness...
It is uncomfortable to think about these things in our comfortable world. But remember, people are being tortured right now. Maybe not exactly as above, but yes, torture. And it is just HORRIBLE. So I had a tiny, mild experience of the suffering this can cause (extremely teensy-weensy), and I don't like to think of it escalated. NOT AT ALL. We should all stand up for human rights and end the use of torture, NOW. Amnesty international says that torture is still prevalent in a lot of countries in the world, and you can help them in their work to uphold human rights by for example donating money. Human rights need to be defended. We can't just sit back and think that everything will turn out alright in the end, because no one really cares about your opinions and convictions unless you act on them.
I don't quite know why this blog post turned so serious, but there you are. Serious blog post is serious.
Actually, most things in my life are fine now. I don't worry much, and sometimes I feel just like Charlie in the video above - I want to shout out to the world that everything is fine (as he does at 2:20). But, as always, if I want to, I can think of things that aren't fine. If I start worrying and stressing, for example about exams, I usually tell myself to stop worrying, and then I take a snack or bite my nails anyway. I know I shouldn't, but does that mean that I don't do it? Of course not.
Today, when fishing around the internet for a good blog topic, I typed 'random' into google, and found this website called random website. Of course I had to check it out, and after a few tries, I found a site full of pictures. A picture from that site made me think of Charlie's video (above). In the picture there is a sign that says "In Heaven everything is fine". It made me smile, and I don't really know why. Maybe it has something to do with the guy painted above the text, or maybe the text resonated with something in me.
I guess I wish that everything was fine all the time. Normality and stability every day. But that would be boring, and nothing would ever change, so I guess a good and comfortable mix would be the best. The comfortable and the disruptive in a nice balance, where the comfortable would definitely dominate.
I feel like I am partly trying to convince myself that I have nothing to worry about, and I feel that I am lying a bit to myself (and you). But right now I'm genuinely not feeling a lot of worry going on. I don't know if I should be worrying, but I don't care. I don't like worrying, so I'm not going to. And that's final. (Do you hear that, me? I mean it.)
It's that time of the year again. The time when everyone around you are sick, and you go around hoping that you won't be. But of course, you're not let off that easily. Of course you feel that slightly unpleasant feeling that something is coming. Then you begin coughing, and there is no way around it. You're sick.
This time around, I actually took my own advice and took a day off from school to get better early on in the process. I hope it has helped enough, so that I don't get really sick.
My doodle, made this evening.
When I am home and I can't be bothered or I don't have the energy to do the things I should do, I can get bored. Then I sometimes want to draw, but I have no idea what to draw. Solution: Doodle! So tonight, when I got bored, I just opened my notebook and doodled a whole page full.
I think our doodles say something about us. Or rather, our favourite doodles say something about us. I sometimes try to do vines, but it's just not my thing. I really like tedious, perfectionist work, so my favourite doodle is forms filled with lines at approximately the same spacing, as you can see.
I'm not quite sure what a love for vines or snakes or knots (like Vihart) say about us, but I think my doodle describes me quite well as a person who likes order, precision, and perfectionism.
My new notebook. It's puuuurty :)
Also, my new notebook is really pretty, don't you think? It shuts with a clasp and has a lovely cover, and the pages have colour on their edges (like the gold on Bibles). I expect it to be filled with my ramblings (and doodles) at some point in the future, but it is quite thick, so I think it will take at least a year. Unless I write more and more and more, like I have done since I started keeping a notebook with me at all times (which is also since I started this blog).
It was a bit strange for me actually filling up my old notebook, because earlier in my life I have just loved my notebooks as books and never really written a lot in them. Maybe it is a mark of growing up that I now finally fill up my notebooks and finish my pens.
Nowadays I often wonder what it is that makes a place a home. Is it the memories? The people? The books in the bookshelves? The pictures on the walls? The walls who have heard and seen so much? Or maybe the cheesy one - home is where the heart is?
My childhood home has recently been sold, my grandparents' house will soon be sold and pulled down, and I have moved away. Sometimes, when I think about it, I feel that I don't have a physical anchor in the world. Like a place which I can come back to and which doesn't change too much. But, I guess, that is too much to ask of life. I am a control freak. I don't particularly like change, to put it that way. I usually stick to activities, people and places. But life is always in motion, and change is natural. I'm not saying that the change itself is necessarily natural, but the fact that things change is thoroughly natural.
Geranium bohemicum
Literally grows from tragedy
Today, in the biology lecture, we learnt about succession in nature. The directional change of an area's environment, for example a forest growing back after a fire. Change happens in a certain direction until it reaches a final or equilibrium state. But even then, it fluctuates. So change is extremely normal everywhere. Even disturbances such as flooding or forest fire are normal. If the equivalent happened in our lives, we would say it was a disaster or a catastrophe or tragic, but some organisms rely on these disasters to survive. Maybe I and many others could learn from this. We could choose to focus on the good things that spring from the hard times and tragedies, like the beautiful geranium 'Orchid Blue', which has seeds that only flower after a forest fire (or high temperatures). It literally grows from disaster. So instead of being sad about the recent fire, we can marvel at the beauty that sprouts after tragedy has struck.
Change is inevitable and natural. And as someone once said - it's not about how you are, but about how you take it (it sounds better in Norwegian...I'm not that good at translating). And in a way, all our lives are built around change and changes. We grow up, we become older, we experience new things, we change in response to other people, and other people change in response to us. We live in a dynamic world, but still some of us (for example me) manage to get stuck in a fantasy that stability is the most natural thing and change is something strange and something to be feared. I think a good idea is to meet the change and be proactive when approaching it, instead of hiding in the shadows and wishing it would go away. And oh, how I wish I would follow my own advice.
I think I need a little more brio in my life. Some zest in the things I do. I am really feeling the autumn coming with shorter, colder days, and after a busy weekend catching up with old friends and getting new ones, I feel I need something that will energize me. Enthusiasm in what I do is often essential to give me that extra push through the boring everyday tasks.
Lately I have had this feeling that I want to create something - be creative. But I have so much to do, and I know that ideas don't come unless I invite them in. So I just go around trying out different mediums to express myself creatively, and try to feed my addiction to creating. It is a bit weird to have these periods where I just want to create something all the time, although I have few ideas, just a nagging feeling.
Random bad drawing of a giraffe
with broken legs (I'm bad at drawing legs)
in front of a Kilmanjaro I wish had that much snow on it's peak.
The original random line became the giraffe's back and neck.
I feel like when I suppress my need to express myself creatively long enough, it just bubbles to the surface like this, giving me this distracting need to do something - anything - creative. As I said, I don't have many concrete ideas, but often, if I just start creating something random (like drawing a picture of a giraffe eating from a tree in front of Mount Kilmanjaro - from one random line), it's like I unclog the pipes, and the creativity starts flowing again. Not very well at first - frequent blockages are usual - but creativity, like so many other things, improves with frequent usage and practice.
I would really like to keep my creative side honed and ready on demand, but so often I don't have the capacity and energy needed. It's yet another facet of my life that I have to fit in and balance correctly with all the other important things. But my comfort is that I doubt I can destroy my creative side. It will always be there, just sometimes buried deeper than other times. The tubing will there, it just needs some periodic maintenance or a thorough cleaning to work again.
Books read: 45
Pages read: 12971
PS: Since I write this blog partly (or maybe mainly) to keep my creative side awake, I will be posting some of the written things I create here. Mostly, poems go on this blog, while photos go on tumblr. My output for the latter isn't very big, so don't expect much original content over there on tumblr (but you can still find funny, pretty, nerdy, book-related, nerdfightastic, and wonderful things here.)
Since I got back to Trondheim this autumn I have taken up dancing again. I dance swing, a type called 'fastingswing' or 'folkeswing' in Norwegian. I think it's really fun, and also, it gives me a great workout. The thing that surprised me, though, when I started dancing, was how many boys there were. Last time there were approximately ten more boys than girls.
So the question that pops up in my head is: when did boys start to like dancing? I turns out it's generally a couple of years after they start university. Most of the boys I have talked to while dancing are in their second or third year at university or above that. In comparison, many of the girls are in their first year and have already discovered couples dance.
I, and many other girls, have a general problem when dancing a partnered dance. I love to have control. I want to lead and be sure of what I'll be doing next, but that is not how it works. Quite often guys smile and say that I'm bossy, or 'you tried to pull my arm down in the turn' or 'wrong way' and other things of that sort. At the same time, I have heard that it can be quite difficult for boys (at least in the beginning) to adapt to being the leader and deciding everything. As a girl, the best kind of guy to dance with is one who is strong and confident, so that she feels secure, while a guy, I suppose, would prefer a girl who was good at following him.
It is quite interesting how society has created a set of values where girls are taught to be independent and have control, while boys sometimes miss out on this lesson for some reason. But when it comes to being on the dance floor, I find that I really prefer following, and I have the most fun when the boy I dance with is a confident leader. Sometimes it is really nice to just leave that responsibility and desire for control in the changing room and just enjoy myself for a few hours.
So put on your dancing shoes, get out there and have fun! If you're a boy, practice your leadership and gain confidence, and if you're a girl just leave all the worries by the door and practice trusting your partner. And above all: enjoy yourself!
I am studying biology, and I am just finished with a module about ethology, which is the study of animal behaviour. Within this topic there are several topics, but one of the weirder ones are the ones about social and sexual relations when it comes to mating. Even though monogamy is the rule (at least traditionally, in the western world) among humans, that is definitely not the case among animals (I am going to draw a line of distinction here, because that is comfortable to me. I know that humans are a type of animal, but I decide here). In this topic, I have been introduced to not only monogamy, but polygyny, polyandry, and even polygynandry.
These are different social and sexual structures within populations of animals (and often humans as well). We are all acquainted with monogamy, or rather, as in today's society, serial monogamy. This is quite uncommon among animals, but some birds have this kind of relationship, and one of the reasons is that the care of their young takes a team effort. But then we have the other types of social and sexual relationship styles.
The most familiar of these is polygyny, or polygamy, which it is often called in humans. This is where one male has several female partners. This is quite normal, and in the species who have this, the females are often (but not always) left alone with the care of their young. The opposite arrangement also exists, where one female has several male partners. This is not very common, but in species with reversed gender roles, this can be quite common.
But the REALLY messed up thing in nature is polygynandry. Both females and males have multiple partners, but it's not a 'group sex' type of thing. In the example we studied, there were sophisticated social structures around this. One female had one to three male partners, and each of the males had one to three females total. Then there was the business of rank within the three males who had the one female, and to me, it just looked really complex.
So yeah, nature has a lot of weird things going on. And I haven't even touched upon the matter of homosexuality or strange ways of reproducing or weird courting systems and performances. But I will say one thing: birds are so much more diverse and interesting than I thought (most of the examples we had were from birds). But just remember that among humans, you find societies with monogamy, polygamy, and polyandry, so it's not just really weird (even though polygynandry is not the norm in any societies of humans that I know of, so to me, it is really weird).
I am sorry if this was a bit long, but I am trying to make up for the fact that I haven't written in a while (not really, it just became long). Here is a funny song about animal sex to make up for it.
Have you ever picked up the book behind a film you have watched and not nearly enjoyed it as much as you could, because it is spoiled for you? Well now there is a solution for you! Read it First is a website which promotes reading the book behind the film before seeing the film. For now, the only thing it offers is a weekly newsletter in which you get information about upcoming films and films currently in the cinema which are adaptations of books. You take a pledge, either to read the book before watching the film whenever humanly possible, or the 'light' version where you just pledge to want to know which films are based on books.
The best reason. And it's true for me as well.
Did you know, for example, that Die Hard by Bruce Willis is based on a book? The book is called Nothing Lasts Forever, and you can read about it and three other books behind films in the newest newsletter from Read it First. On the Read it First site you can also find some good reasons why you should read the book before watching the film. One is that the enjoyment per money spent is higher on a book than on a film, but personally, I like the one on the picture the best.
Talking about books, I find reading a very slow process these days. I just never find the time or motivation to sit down and read, even though Paper Towns is so far quite interesting, even though it is not quite my normal type of book. I don't know why I don't want to read, but it may be because of tumblr. Or other major distractions on the internet. I found this on tumblr, and it pretty much sums up the reasons why I can't get much work or reading done these days. I spend a LOT of time on tumblr...not good, not good at all.
People often ask me why I re-read books. I mean, I have a good memory, so a year after I read a book the first time, I could probably remember most of the plot points, the names of the characters, and also probably the tone of the book. But still, I enjoy re-reading books. I usually wait at least one year between each re-read, but still, I go into the reading experience knowing what lies ahead.
For me, re-reading a book is kind of like talking to an old friend again after a while apart. You rediscover small things, you see things that you didn't see earlier because then you were just focused on the story and the suspense drove you on. Sometimes you even discover new facets of the book or maybe appreciate more fully the effort put into writing the book. Maybe you see new literary devices or the long lines in the narrative become clearer.
Anyway, reading a book you liked again makes the world of that book spring to your mind, and you can re-acquaint yourself with the characters and the world they live in. Usually, the experiences of reading a book the first time and the consecutive times I read it are quite different. Since I know what is going to happen and how, I can read slower, appreciating the language and imagery. Another huge plus is that I can usually put the book down easier if I've read it before. And, of course, if you own the book, re-reads are completely free! (The poor student speaks again.) I also have a 'rule' that I re-read series of books or books I have borrowed from the library or friends when I own them or the whole series.
But, of course, there are some books that are good to re-read, and there are some that aren't. A huge criteria is that I liked the book the first time I read it (unless, of course, I am giving a book a second chance). Another is that the story has enough nooks and crevices to discover new things, or that it is written in a way that makes me want to read it to experience the emotions again. Another criteria may be that I liked the characters, or maybe that I want to read a book to investigate some of the minor characters that I might have missed in my first (or even second) read.
At any rate, I value re-reads. I think it adds to the experience of the book and I have a great time revisiting old favourites. When it comes to re-reads in my fifty books challenge, I am following the rules laid down in a post on a forum called Your Pants, which allows me to read the same book up to five times a year. I will probably not read any book five times this year, but I might read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows twice (that is, once more this year). So re-reads are cheap and good fun (I think), so think about picking up a book you liked but haven't read in a while for your next read. Good reading!
The image of you that will live on in me
will not be complete.
The sad memories will shrink
into nothing and disappear,
but the happy memories will expand
and become happier,
bathed in a golden glow.
You will always be happy and healthy.
Nothing can mar your delight
in the warmth of the sun
or the smell of the mountain
on that perfect summer's day.
The laughter and smiles,
the happy times,
the wonderful hikes,
the things that you taught me
about the value of nature and life
will live on in my mind
and shape me as I go on.
So hush;
lay yourself to rest.
We both know
all the words
that should not be said.
But you have made my life
more perfect.
Credit goes to Terry Pratchett, for this wonderful quote. (Otherwise, this is written by me.)
This is going to be a post all about my first couple of weeks at university. Deal with it.
This isn't my first time being a first-year student at this university, so much could potentially have looked like a re-run of my first fortnight at university ever. But it hasn't. There have been different activities and different people, and, since I already know the town, and also some people, pretty well from before, it has definitely been different.
So I want to tell you about some of the new things that I've been doing. For instance, I have bought my first university textbooks in chemistry and biology. I know, buying books. Nothing new. But these are HEAVY books. I mean they were almost killing me when I carried them home. I wondered whether I would ever get the feeling back in my little finger (I did...I mean, I knew I would, but I was quite amazed at how mutilated my fingers looked when I got home). I haven't really gotten started on reading them yet (shame on me), so I can't say whether they're actually heavy to read, too.
Another interesting thing that has happened, is that I have bought my first bicycle, and I am cycling back and forth to the university campus. This is the first time I can say I have been cycling to school (that's what people call uni here...school. I guess they just like to linger in the past, or make it seem less scary. 'I'm going to school' definitely does sound less scary than 'I'm going to uni'. Back to the story!) It has been going quite well, apart from a few minor glitches, and I'm getting over my fear of speed. I love my bicycle, it's a silver ladies' model with raised handlebars that make it possible for me to sit (almost) upright. (I'm sorry I can't show you a picture - computer problems.)
As a first year student at this university, I have been assigned some buddies or mentors who have studied a while in a similar programme, and they have been organising activities for the first-year students. Yesterday, I jumped into a lake in my underwear three times and had a good mud-bath/romp afterwards, among other more and less embarrassing things. All this was on a trip organised by the mentors for the first-year students to a student 'cottage' in the woods outside the town. I had a lot of fun, and I was very happy when I could wash off the mud and sit in the sauna for a while.
Now I'm looking forward to daily life starting and getting into new routines. I'm looking forward to read and learn new things, as well as re-reading the Harry Potter series (I've lost count of how many times I've read it already, but I love re-reading it), and reading the rest of John Green's books. And, of course, I am looking forward to getting to know my new friends better, and in general having fun.
This was one of the ten word (or less) scripts which didn't make the cut when
I decided what to make Hank Green say. All the people who bought his new album, Ellen Hardcastle, early, got to send him a script that he would later make into a video. I will alert you to the video where my script has been used (when it is made). In the meanwhile, I'll just share some more of my ten word scripts.
I am considering writing the title of this blogpost all pretty on a piece of paper and stick it on my wall. I really like it, and I smile every time I read it. Today, I went over some of my old poems to find some good phrases, and I came across these:
"All things join, in time, nature'c climb and decline."
"Nature rolls like waves - ever changing, always the same."
They are a bit rewritten, but they both come from this poem, which, I realised when I reread it, I am really pleased with.
Then we have my dad's favourite (he says it all the time):
"I used to be indecisive - now I'm not so sure."
I really love this one too, I've sort of grown up with it. Every time we couldn't make up our minds (or kept changing them, both of which happened (and happens) frequently), he would say this. Or, he would say, in a sing-songy voice: "It's make-your-mind-up time!" Ah, the nostalgia!
Then, of course, we have the one related to what I'm studying:
"Nature is an awe-inspiring, perfectly organised mess."
It pretty much sums up what I feel about nature, and, of course, I love nature for being like this!
And, to show my love for books:
"The best way to travel is by reading a book."
Of course this is true - at least it's the easiest and cheapest way, but the real thing is often more appealing to the senses.
Then, of course, the cheesy nerdfightery one:
"Love your neighbour - reduce worldsuck!"
And last, but not least, we have the one I turned into my tumblr URL:
"My home is where my bookshelf is."
So yeah, I have a tumblr now. Go check it out if you like nerdy, funny, and beautiful stuff (this is what I think (and hope) I will post).
Books read: 39
Pages read: 11013
PS: and now (10.10.2012) the video has finally been made, so I can reveal what made the final cut. Check out the video below.
Aaaand I'm back! In Trondheim. I found out through facebook that I came here exactly one year (on the day) after I came here the first time. So I'm back to studying again. And I have the feeling that the beginning of last autumn is just going on repeat right now. Of course it's not exactly the same, but I'm a first year student again, and I have moved into a new place, and I have to fix almost all the things I had to fix last time. Also, like last time, there will be books to be bought (yay!), reading to be done (mmu (that's my dissatisfied noise :P)) and new friends to be gotten. But there are some new things too. Meeting old friends again and not being confused about locations and directions. I am very happy about those two things.
I realise that coming to Trondheim is a bit like coming home. I really like it (for a town...I generally don't like towns and cities), and it feels like "my" town. I am looking forward to going to the university again, visiting my old friends, getting new friends, going to the same places I went to before (my 'old haunts' :P), and learning new things again. Have I mentioned that I love learning? Sometimes it is strange to thing about, but I just really love filling my head with new stuff and understanding new things.
I don't know exactly where this blog will go from here. I could write about my life, but that would probably be a bit boring. I can try to muse over topics that appear in my head (like I (tried) to do before I went to the Caribbean), I could write about books (I can try, at least), or I could do a mixture of life, musings, and books. Let me know (in the comment section - I promise I read all your comments (there aren't very many, usually)) if you have any good ideas or want to see something specific.
I think I will continue writing anyway, and I hope you will enjoy it.
Summer holiday in Norway for me consists of going to the family's cottage and spending lazy days there, reading, swimming, and relaxing. Tomorrow morning, I'm finally heading out to the cottage. It means a whole week without internet access, hot water, drinking water from the tap, or electricity (except for the little we can get from our solar panel for lighting). I think it is delightfully primitive. The cares of the world seem to just melt away, and you are left with peace and tranquillity.
Dragons...they are just amazingly awesome
Of course, as the book person I am, it leaves me space and peace to read and enjoy my books. I came back from England 15 books richer, so I'll be reading and reading and READING. I have just started checking out more fantasy (after I so thoroughly enjoyed The Lord of the Rings), and I have just begun exploring the world of Pern. So far, I like it very much, but I have only read one and a half chapter. But, at the same time, it's about DRAGONS, so how could it NOT be good?
I have recently read Looking for Alaska by John Green, which I liked very much. It considers deep questions concerning the meaning of life and other such things in a way that teenagers can grasp and understand. I absolutely loved the characters - really quirky but at the same time realistic. I have also read Blankets by Craig Thompson recently (in fact, yesterday), and I absolutely loved it. It deals with some of the same themes - growing up, love, insecurity, religion, the big questions of life - and it is a wonderful graphic novel. Both books are highly recommended reads. (And for those of you for whom this might hold merit: Blankets has been observed on John Green's bookshelf. You don't believe me? Here's proof!)
So now I'm going to go and enjoy the Norwegian summer while reading more good books (at least I hope they're good...). I hope your summers are equally wonderful, and that you get enough time to sit down and read a book of your choice in peace and quiet.
And then I'm home again. I must say, it is pretty weird. Everyone speaking Norwegian, people driving on the right-hand side of the road, Norwegian spreads, and in general, food. It sure is good to be home. At the same time, everything is just the same as when I left, so it is almost as if I never left. Yes, it has changed from winter to summer, but it is still the home I know and love.
I had just come home and settled down when tragedy struck. We listened to the radio in disbelief on Friday the 22nd of July. A huge bomb had gone off in the centre of Oslo, in the area where the government have their offices. The blast could be heard all over Oslo. Windows were blown in many blocks away. In the words of the media, the area looked like a 'war-zone'. Just as the horror of what had happened to our peaceful country and town was sinking in, reports started coming in about a possible shooting somewhere else. At Utøya, a man dressed as a policeman had gone into the summer camp of the labour party's youth. When he was in their midst, he had begun shooting around him, killing with a purpose. It turned out that this man had also set off the bomb in the government area in town.
The streets of Oslo were transformed into a sea of flowers under the memorial march
Most people were in shock. How could this happen to our peaceful country, in the middle of the summer holiday? Why would anyone do this? As the death toll started growing beyond anything that has happened in Norway since World War II, shock turned to disbelief and grief. The Norwegian people went out to show their support and stand together in the face of tragedy. Yesterday, a rose march was planned, but too many people turned up to show their support of the victims and their families. The Prime Minister, luckily unharmed by the bomb, addressed the crowd, and the marchers went home again, decorating the city in hundreds of thousands of roses as they went.
As shocking as this is, I can't say I haven't been expecting something horrible like this to happen. But at the same time it is horrible when more than 75 civilians are killed in one day in peace-time. Many of my friends have lost their friends and family members. As far as I know, none of my friends are harmed. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the people who are affected by this. I pray that peace and love will prevail, and that this will lead to an even more united, but at the same time open and including, Norway.
This is going to be the last post about my time in St. Vincent. I know it is overdue, but at least now it is here. The last couple of weeks in the Caribbean, Kristina and I did some sightseeing, so that I could experience the must-dos of the island.
One day, we went to Kingstown to visit the botanical garden and Montreal garden. It was wonderful. The botanical garden had a wonderful alley, see picture. At the top of the alley, there was a space where you could get married. How amazing would that be? It was very well kept, and it was lovely.
From the botanical garden we took an overpriced taxi to the Montreal garden. It is a privately owned garden, and it was absolutely enchanting. There were wonderful flowers everywhere you looked, and cute walkways to experience it all. Most of it was pretty jungle-like, but some parts were manicured and beautiful in that sense. I absolutely loved it and went wild taking pictures of all the wonders of nature.
My last weekend, I decided to visit some waterfalls in the area where I was staying. I went with some friends to a waterfall called Trinity falls. It was quite a long hike, but we found provisions along the way. There were a lot of ripe fruits growing along our route. We found oranges, grapefruit, and mango, and we also bought a pineapple from a farmer we met along the way. The picture shows me holding the almost invisible (or almost eaten) pineapple. It was a bit smaller than I give the impression of, but it was very nice and juicy.
I find water very interesting. We are dependent upon it to survive - our bodies are mostly made up of water. It also makes for interesting visual experiences, and there is something attractive about water falling down a hill or a cliff. It is almost dreamlike to capture in a photograph, but it is the basis of life on this planet. It is everywhere, but at the same time, it captures our interest and draws us to the places where it behaves unusually (i.e. falls down vertically). Clean water is beautiful, not only when it falls down a sheer drop, but when it comes out of our taps or when it saves a baby from dying.
But there are people who don't have access to clean water. In East Africa, there is a drought right now. And instead of just sitting at home enjoying the fact that we can drink the water that comes out of our taps (and the fact that we have water coming out of taps in our homes), we can do something to help other people to enjoy these privileges. If you want to donate to help in the East Africa crisis, you can go here. If you want to help creating a stable and safe water source for communities in developing countries, go here. This organisation works to help children, and therefore also works on creating clean water sources. Water is vital for our survival, and everyone should have access to it.
The day after I had visited Trinity falls, I visited Dark View falls. This is closer to where I was staying, and a wonderful quiet haven. The falling water seemed dreamlike and magical when captured with a camera. It seemed like a beautiful veil, fit for the princess of the forest, from a forgotten fairy tale.
I have a feeling most of you didn't understand last week's blog post. I made a promise to myself that when I finished my challenge of reading 30 books between Christmas 2010 and Christmas 2011, I would write a very silly story incorporating all the titles of the books I had read. So that was last week's blog post, and you can check it out here. Now that I have completed my challenge, I think it is time to reveal to you all that I have had another reading challenge going for a while. I want to join many other people in trying to read 50 books in 2011. So I will be removing the book I read in 2010 from my list, and I will count books and pages read from January 1, 2011.
A beautiful morning in the whole of the nation, the hobbit awakened the princess. Diaries written that day tell that Matilda, the princess, decided to have a day of naked liberty in the park. Everyone thought it was a good idea, and also an event furthering the education of little Tree, which is what the twits of the town of the two towers called the mayor's son. The mockingjay was singing in the treetop, and the hunger games, a game to see who could eat the most, was well under way.
The big, fat general, or the BFG, as the fantastic Mr Fox had called him, was the judge of the competition, together with a golden mare. The general was wearing clothes the colour of magic, and was high on juice from the night before. The winner of the competition was therefore chosen by a horse, and the life of Pi (so called for being small and round) just became more interesting. Horsefeathers! he exclaimed as his hair was catching fire and he stood there with his prize. The fellowship of the ring (the fire brigade of the town) rushed him to the seventh well, which was the closest. Harry Potter and the deathly hallows, the master potter and the gardeners of the town, stood watching as all this was happening, ready to continue watering the plants (and guests), as they had been doing, without fault, for the last 3096 days.
The father of the princess, who had been researching fantastic beasts, and where to find them, was on his way home again. On his journeys he had met Charlie, and the great glass elevator (a fantastic transparent beast who was hovering behind him), and another Charlie, and the chocolate factory (a strange, multicoloured animal which regularly defecated the most wonderful chocolate). The return of the king was accompanied by the sound of music from an orchestra conducted by the great Gatsby, the best conductor in the country. The ceremonial 13 little blue envelopes of the city (for wealth and stability) were presented to the king, and the celebrations continued into the night.
In just a few hours I will be leaving St. Vincent. When I say to people here that I am leaving, I sometimes get the question: "Are you happy?" I am taken a bit off guard by this question. What does that really mean?
Am I happy to be leaving this wonderful place with all its abundant nature? Am I happy to leave the people here, that I have gotten to know quite well over the past three months? Am I happy to leave the horses, who have been some of my best friends here? No, no, and no. Of course not.
But then: Am I happy to be going back to a place where I understand what most people say? Am I happy to be going back home? Am I happy that I will meet my friends and family soon? Yes, of course.
I think what the question really asks is whether I am content with leaving at this time. And after having thought a bit about it, I think I can quite firmly answer yes. This has been a wonderful experience, but now I have had my fill. I miss home, a culture that I know, a language that I understand, my family, and my close friends. Of course I will miss this place, but in my heart there is a feeling of 'rightness' about going home now. The place here, the horses, the nature, and the people I have met here will always have a special place in my heart. I will treasure the memories and return to the blogposts I have written about this adventure often (especially during winter, when the days are short and cold).
But my adventures aren't over. Life is in itself an adventure, and next in my life comes a three week stay in England. I also have some things to write about that I have experienced during the last couple of weeks here, so look forward to some more pictures and magical moments. For now, enjoy this film about my everyday life here (I do the voiceover, hope you like it).
Before I came here, I found out via wikipedia that the language spoken in St. Vincent was English. Then I came here, and I realised that I couldn't understand anything. Here at Richmond Vale Academy, most people speak Spanish. I don't speak Spanish, so I was lost at mealtimes, and any time I was with Spanish-speaking people (all the time, in other words). And the locals here speak what is called 'Broken English'.
We had some groups of local schoolchildren visiting a while back. We were showing them around and teaching them about the animals and the gardens. When they came running towards the horses, they would often shout: "A wanna ride a harse!" We thought that was a bit funny. The way they talk here is really difficult to understand. They speak fast, and slur the words together. There are certain sounds they just don't pronounce, like 'th'. 'The' becomes 'da', and 'birthday' becomes something along the lines of 'bird day'. The slogan for one of the political parties in St. Vincent the previous election was: 'We naah tun back'. This was printed on T-shirts (with this spelling), and I didn't understand what it meant before I said it under my breath to myself. It is really strange (and a bit funny) to read these obvious spelling mistakes, since I notice them easily and get irritated if I am at home or on the internet. Here, though, it is mostly just funny. It is really difficult to learn the local language, so the only thing I can actually say (and understand) is 'me na no' (I don't know).
Now, on to something else. These flies have been flying around and landing random places. They are connected in pairs by their bodies, so I have been calling them double flies. It is like I am almost constantly seeing flies having sex, and also having sex on me (in my hair, on my skirt, etc.). Frankly, it's a bit irritating. But it's also fascinating. Especially how they can survive and navigate (if they do so at all), being connected like that. And also what the point of this connecting thing is (how it works). I guess biology is the right field for me, since I'm asking these questions all the time. I love being curious about nature!
Now that my stay here is nearing its end, I have realised that I have learned a lot about what constitutes good leadership.
Jack (on the left) and Darling grazing together
In the herd here, there is one mare, Darling, who is the lead mare. In a way, I see her role in the herd as a 'queen'. She is a fair and just leader who leads by example. She is acutely aware of her surroundings at all times and is always the first to investigate something new or scary. She will almost always be the first to notice an open gate, and to notice when my focus is lacking when I'm working with her. She is not dominant, and the others freely choose to follow her. To be elected a leader like that, a horse has to follow the rules of the herd and apply them correctly to increase their rank. In this way, the horse earns respect from the other horses in the herd, and the herd has a say in the forming of the lead horse. Through good leadership and effective pecking order, every horse knows its place in the herd. This creates harmony, security for the individual, and a unified group, working together in the best way according to each horse's ability and personality.
Pecking order is a kind of chain of command, supporting and educating all individuals, from the strongest to the weakest. It is the framework of the herd, and comes from the fact that horses are social animals, and also prey animals. Because of this they need someone to follow when danger is at hand, so that the whole herd can work together and stay safe. One of the rules in the horses' code (like 'the code' at sea) is that if a horse cannot find a leader to follow, it is its job to lead. (see Naked Liberty by Carolyn Resnick, p.171) A horse feels more secure and safe when it is following a leader, and the best partnerships humans have with horses come from the human proving itself as a good leader to the horse, and the horse deciding to follow and trust the human.
Dictatorship is definitely not good leadership. Dictatorship in a herd would not work at all, and that style of leadership (the dominant style) would always be questioned. The only male in the herd here, Jack, is a dominant horse. He is not as respected as Darling, and is actually number three or four in the pecking order. His leadership is often challenged by the younger horses, and he can get a bit violent with them.
Sadly, though, this is the kind of leadership we often find in leading positions in corporations today. Selfish leadership where rules sometimes are made up along the way, and very few of the workers would choose to follow the boss if given the choice. Leadership is not earned, it is acquired through pushing oneself on and up, often at the expense of others. Good leadership makes people want to follow and please the leader, while dictatorship pushes people away.
I have also realised that the kind of leadership found in lead horses such as Darling, is the kind of leadership you have between dance partners. The man leads, but the intention and goal is that the man and the woman move as one, in harmony. They are partners, but it is clear who is making the decisions. When I dance, I love to really let go and be led. It is such a wonderful feeling. This kind of dancing partnership is therefore possible between humans and horses, and it is really a magical thing.
I am very thankful that I have witnessed such a great example of good leadership here. I will carry this experience with me, and in the process of becoming a better leader myself, I will be on the lookout for good leaders to follow, because in that position I feel more secure and I have the freedom to become creative.
Recently, the horse team (Kristina and I) had an 'open weekend', as it is called here. Really just a mini-holiday or a long weekend. Our open weekend lasted from Saturday the 28th of May till Tuesday the 31st. We decided to go to Union, one of the southernmost of the Grenadines, which are all the islands in this country except the biggest (St. Vincent, where I live). There are around 30 of these smaller islands called Grenadines, and many of them are uninhabited. Not quite your idea of a desert island (with one palm and white sand), but really small nonetheless.
We (A friend from the school named Maria, Kristina, and I) decided to take the slow ferry from Kingstown to Union, which took us approximately four hours. It was nice, and I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out that the ferry was Norwegian! Many of the Norwegian signs had not been removed, and through a little detective work we figured out that the ferry had been in use on the west coast of Norway, maybe in the Bergen area (in the 60's and 70's I would guess). It was very interesting to see signs telling us not to smoke and where to eat in Norwegian. I spent most of the trip lying down reading The Two Towers, because I was exhausted from our two hour long shopping spree in Kingstown (I hate shopping (when it's not for books), and especially when it's hot).
The next day, after a bad night's sleep in a bedroom that was either full of persistent mosquitoes or far too cold with the air condition on, we got a ride to the island 'next door' with one of Maria's many contacts on Union Island. The ride was fun, but a little scary (and quite bumpy), since we were brought across the sea in a tiny inflatable dinghy. On Palm Island, we met another of Maria's contacts, who showed us around on the island. He worked in the hotel that owned most of the island, and also for some of the rich people who owned private holiday houses. I really identified with him, and to me, the houses we walked past seemed like a totally different dominion, and I felt like I didn't belong there. I was peeking in the back window at a world of long baths in private pools, champagne in the morning, massages and golfing. And I really felt that I had no right to enjoy the paradise for free. We had lunch with another worker, who made a wonderful lunch of lobster and lots of other super-delicious things. We discussed politics and talked about the way of the world. Then we enjoyed the white beach and the warm, clear water, before we headed back to Union Island on the worker transport boat.
We then changed into tourists. We ate a good meal at a restaurant belonging to one of the nicer hotels that evening, and the next day we went on a sailing trip with a big catamaran round to some of the other Grenadines. During that trip, we had unlimited drinks and meals included. The first stop on the trip was Palm Island, and now we saw it from the other side. We were tourists who dropped in for half an hour to swim and enjoy the beach. On another island on the trip, we could have bought T-shirts with texts such as 'Sail More - Work Less'. One of the places we went to that day was Tobago Cays Marine Park. There, I got the opportunity of snorkeling with sea turtles. It was wonderful and magical. I saw big ones, smaller ones, and huge ones. One of the big ones had a 'pilot fish' - a fish (a sucker fish) that had connected itself to the turtle's shell. The turtles were grazing on the seaweed that grew on the sandy bottom, and they looked really peaceful.
I enjoyed the trip very much, and it was especially interesting to see the flipside of the commercial coin. To feel like there is a world where you are clearly on a lower rung of the ladder, and that I didn't belong at all, was an interesting experience to me. It was a bit strange to reverse it and to be able to jump up the ladder the next day, but I feel like I have gained a new perspective on tourism through this trip.
While I've been here, I've been trying to understand what sparked my interest in horses. I actually don't know the point it began, but I can name a few influences. I grew up in a town, and had little interaction with horses, but when I was around thirteen years old my family got a computer. On this computer was a film called "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron". This was one of the few films we had at home, so consequently I watched it a lot. I loved the film, and at one point I knew almost all the spoken words. It is a film about a wild mustang stallion who is captured by different humans (the cavalry and a Native American), and his struggle to be free. He is named 'Spirit Who Could Not Be Broken' by the Native American.
Around that same time I read Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. Thus the first few influential experiences with horses, even though they were fictional, were from the horse's point of view, and treated the horse as a thinking and valuable being. The combination of a free spirit and being bound in a herd is what has fascinated me when it comes to the horse. Also, I have always thought horses are beautiful animals, and as I enjoy art, I have seen them a lot in paintings. They are majestic animals, and there is power in a horse that attracts people.
From those early fictional experiences with horses, slowly my interest in horses grew. I sought out books and comics about horses (which were readily available and targeted at my age group and younger). I found books about horses in their wild state and became interested in natural horsemanship as introduced by Monty Roberts and Pat Parelli. I read books about this and became really interested in trying some of these methods out on a horse, but I didn't have access to a horse.
When I was 19, I decided to go to what in Norwegian is called folkehøgskole to learn natural horsemanship. This is a type of gap year school where you can go to learn something or spend time doing something you like. You could do anything from drama to skiing, natural horsemanship or gardening. I was lucky and found a school with a very good horse programme with few people and many horses. I learnt a lot about horses, and I was introduced to Stina and the Carolyn Resnick method by one of my fellow students.
That has led me to where I am today. Here, in this herd, there is a mare called Spirit. She is very sensitive and afraid of humans, and while I am here, she is one of my 'project' horses. That means I am spending time with her and getting lessons from Stina with her. I love it, but it is also a challenge for me, because when I am around horses that are afraid of me, I easily get afraid too. But she is a really sweet horse, and it is good to see that she functions very well in the herd. She is second in command, and is well respected by the younger mares. Jack, the only male in the herd, and Spirit have a close relationship. Whenever Darling, the leader, is not around, I often see Jack and Spirit hanging out together.
It is so nice to be able to see some of the friendly gestures of the horses, not only notice the bigger pecking order squabbles. I feel like I understand much more of how the herd functions and the language of the horses, just since I came here. This has come from a lot of observation when spending time with the horses in the first Waterhole Ritual, sharing territory. The horses give me more than I had ever expected. I understand the concept of real leadership - a leader who leads by example that you want to follow - much better now. The concept of teamwork has also become clearer to me, and I am constantly learning. I am very thankful for the journey I have had since those early introductions to horses. To think that a book and a film can have that big an impact on the direction my life has taken!
A while back, the banana field next to the horses' pasture was fenced in so that the horses could eat in there. We were told that as a part of our daily tasks, we were to check the fence every day to make sure that nothing grew on it or was otherwise hindering the electricity flow. So we started doing that. After a couple of days, we saw that the fence posts had started sprouting little green leaves. The logical thing to us was to remove them.
But apparently that wasn't the right thing to do. Stina explained that we had to leave at least some of the leaves to grow, or else the post would die. And then it would rot and fall down. It was also very important that the posts were put in the ground the right way up, or else they would not sprout. As I have said before: everything grows here. You can cut down a tree, cut it into 20 pieces, and lay the pieces on the ground, and after a week or two they would start sprouting, and you would have the beginnings of 20 clones of the chopped-down tree.
I have actually seen this happen (although not of that magnitude). The other day I passed the chunks still left from cutting up a big tree in front of the academy, and a couple of them were sprouting new tiny leaves. Big chunks of tree-trunk, sprouting just because they could! Wow. I love how the plant life here is always multiplying and so very alive. At home, in Norway, if a tree was cut down and left lying on the ground, I would be pretty surprised if it started sprouting leaves and making new roots for itself.
So instead of cutting off all the green sprouts on the fence posts, we now just prune them so that they don't interfere with the fence wire. So now, the fence posts look like small trees. Eventually, they might end up like the huge trees I saw once when I went to New Zealand. Really tall (and thick) poplar trees that are over 100 year old, which grew from fence posts in the Buried Village in the Rotorua area. Let's hope they don't, at least not in the foreseeable future. The more likely thing to happen, though, is that the fence posts will grow and bring the fence higher up. Then there would be a constant need to adjust the height of the fence.
I am once again in awe of nature. How marvellous! It's almost like magic: just break a part of the plant off and stick it in the ground the right way up, and you have a new plant! Just like that! If only it was that simple in every climate. But then, fast-growing things make for more things to keep cutting back from taking over. Good things never come without at least one disadvantage. But even so, nature is amazing and really awesome!
This is a quote from The Fellowship of the Ring (the first part of The Lord of the Rings)by J.R.R. Tolkien (found on p. 271-272). It's a song that is sung by a character in the book. When I read it, it really moved me. It was a strange feeling, because now I am not remembering - I am experiencing things that I will remember later. It made me think about how I have to remember to enjoy my stay here to the full, so that the memories that I revisit in the dark winter (beside the fire) will be bright and beautiful.
