A stomach in tangles
It is funny to see how you handle it; when things you're counting on just doesn't happen.
I was definate that I would get a room at Trinity Hall (campus). I even booked my plane ticket accordingly. So when I got an e-mail that the lists for rooms were out I wasn't even very nervouse. People kept saying; first-years were prioritated, so were international students. No problemo.
Then I couldn't find my name on the list. Why? Because it wasn't there.
First there was chock and a slight panic.
Then there was anger.
Then I realized I didn't even wanna live in Trinity Hall. It was just the safe option.
But who was I kidding? I wouldn't have liked it there. With all the freedom I've had this last year I wouldn't have been happy living in a place where "No boys in the room after 8pm" and "Alcohol or intoxication is not allowed" are two main rules of life. I am not a baby anymore...
So now I am homeless but happy. And dead nervouse for what's to come. I might (keeping all my fingers crossed) have chance for a really good room (friend who might be moving to Belfast). If that doesn't happen I'll just have to swallow my pride and go to Dublin a week early and sort it out over there.
Lesson learnt? Don't count on anything... and make it happen yourself.
I have a stomach in tangles....
On the new job...
There is always a certain thrill in starting a new job. No matter if it's your dreamjob or not, the first couple of days there will certainly be things to keep your mind busy; new colleagues, new routines and new tasks. In the beginning you wish for everything to run as smoothly as possible, but as times goes by, I at least start wishing that things will go a little bit wrong, just for the challange! And a bit of change of scene.
I started my new job last Monday. It's office work, and I've already figured out that this will not be my choice of career. I hereby declare: I will NOT work in sales when I grow up. Quite usefull to be making a bit of money now though...
On my freetime I'm trying to melt the fact that I'm about to be a student at Trinity College, Dublin. There are a lot of fibre in those news- they're not easily digested! It is slowly getting through to my brain that I actually got in, and I'm crazy happy! Actually crazy happy.
(Just found out Trinity is ranked 70th best university in the world. Nr. 39 in my institution. Not to bad.)
I've got some dates now for those who are interested. I leave for Dublin on the 24th of September. I start Trinity on the 1st of October. I begin classes on the 8th of October. Three exciting Mondays in a row.
Other not-so-new news is that two of my best friends are coming with me to the Green Isle. Naomi and Fia are as tired of Stockholm as i am and they can't wait for a pint of Guinnes in the right company. They're going to go for work and pleasure, their personal adventure. I am thrilled of the company of course!
I am enjoying my time here in my hometown even more than I thought I would. I did not remember I had this many friends and how charmingly wonderful they are! It's work and play for me right now. That's kind of all I'm doing; besides dreaming of Trinity of course.
(Just found out the nickname for a TCD student is a Trinnehead. Trinnerhead!?)
I had myself a nice weekend. Friday I went to a fancypants restaurant with my family. My dad got a giftcertificate some time two years ago and it took us sometime to use it. But it was a fun experience in the art of cooking, or the art of serving. Everything they brought out was a masterpiece and I almost didn't want to eat it (almost). A shrimp here, a dash of sause there, a piece of bread artisticly cut. Also it was an experience observing the waitors, they moved as in a ballet and on stage (perhaps theye were).
Afterwards I had a beer and a night on the town with some friends. Maybe not as sophisticated, but definitely as fun!
Saturday it was all about my mothers birthday. I got a rare chance to hang-out with my lovely (but oh so occupied) sister (or, it might be me that's occupied...) when we went gift shoping in town. Came home with a big pink parcel.
Then there was dinner with some friends and a relaxing night with Jossan watching a rather good Irish movie (anyone surprised?).
Aoch.. the boss just caught me writing. Not so good! I'll be back....
I started my new job last Monday. It's office work, and I've already figured out that this will not be my choice of career. I hereby declare: I will NOT work in sales when I grow up. Quite usefull to be making a bit of money now though...
On my freetime I'm trying to melt the fact that I'm about to be a student at Trinity College, Dublin. There are a lot of fibre in those news- they're not easily digested! It is slowly getting through to my brain that I actually got in, and I'm crazy happy! Actually crazy happy.
(Just found out Trinity is ranked 70th best university in the world. Nr. 39 in my institution. Not to bad.)
I've got some dates now for those who are interested. I leave for Dublin on the 24th of September. I start Trinity on the 1st of October. I begin classes on the 8th of October. Three exciting Mondays in a row.
Other not-so-new news is that two of my best friends are coming with me to the Green Isle. Naomi and Fia are as tired of Stockholm as i am and they can't wait for a pint of Guinnes in the right company. They're going to go for work and pleasure, their personal adventure. I am thrilled of the company of course!
I am enjoying my time here in my hometown even more than I thought I would. I did not remember I had this many friends and how charmingly wonderful they are! It's work and play for me right now. That's kind of all I'm doing; besides dreaming of Trinity of course.
(Just found out the nickname for a TCD student is a Trinnehead. Trinnerhead!?)
I had myself a nice weekend. Friday I went to a fancypants restaurant with my family. My dad got a giftcertificate some time two years ago and it took us sometime to use it. But it was a fun experience in the art of cooking, or the art of serving. Everything they brought out was a masterpiece and I almost didn't want to eat it (almost). A shrimp here, a dash of sause there, a piece of bread artisticly cut. Also it was an experience observing the waitors, they moved as in a ballet and on stage (perhaps theye were).
Afterwards I had a beer and a night on the town with some friends. Maybe not as sophisticated, but definitely as fun!
Saturday it was all about my mothers birthday. I got a rare chance to hang-out with my lovely (but oh so occupied) sister (or, it might be me that's occupied...) when we went gift shoping in town. Came home with a big pink parcel.
Then there was dinner with some friends and a relaxing night with Jossan watching a rather good Irish movie (anyone surprised?).
Aoch.. the boss just caught me writing. Not so good! I'll be back....
TCD
I got into Trinity Collage!
Midnattsloppet
It is a grand feeling running alongside 17.000 people. Massive.
I prepared for the Midninght Run (Midnattsloppet) by eating ravioli and drinking a lot of water. But that wasn't needed. You don't need a Power Bar to do the 10 km of the Midnight Run; you have 17.000 people to get you there. And then there's the cheering crowd, the music, the fire works and the adrenaline to push you that last bit.
It's a good goal, keeping you jogging through the summer and I felt like I could do well. Getting to the start was amazing, everyone in the same red shirts and the music pumping. I am rather happy with my race, 10 km in 55 min and 33 sec, I'm okay with that (I beat my uncle and that was the main goal haha).
I am going to try and sleep now. The results for Trinity are out tomorrow (I hope, they keep changing) and I am nerveuse to the point of shaking. I do not do well with big emotions when I'm tired and no matter if I get in or not there will be BIG emotions tomorrow. Also nicely coinciding with me starting a new job tomorrow (and a rather serious one too, office work gah!) have to be on my best behavior, we'll see how that goes.
Oh well, tomorrow all will be revealed...
I prepared for the Midninght Run (Midnattsloppet) by eating ravioli and drinking a lot of water. But that wasn't needed. You don't need a Power Bar to do the 10 km of the Midnight Run; you have 17.000 people to get you there. And then there's the cheering crowd, the music, the fire works and the adrenaline to push you that last bit.
It's a good goal, keeping you jogging through the summer and I felt like I could do well. Getting to the start was amazing, everyone in the same red shirts and the music pumping. I am rather happy with my race, 10 km in 55 min and 33 sec, I'm okay with that (I beat my uncle and that was the main goal haha).
I am going to try and sleep now. The results for Trinity are out tomorrow (I hope, they keep changing) and I am nerveuse to the point of shaking. I do not do well with big emotions when I'm tired and no matter if I get in or not there will be BIG emotions tomorrow. Also nicely coinciding with me starting a new job tomorrow (and a rather serious one too, office work gah!) have to be on my best behavior, we'll see how that goes.
Oh well, tomorrow all will be revealed...
Miracles of Lapland
I have begun to look at the year in a new way. For me it doesn't start and end with the finish of December; that's when you're right in the middle of things. No tough decicion making, at least not if you're pondering school and uni, by then hopefully things are set.
For me the year turns in August, the end of summer. This is when you make the critical decitions. This is when things happens. New things! And it is always with the trip.
Third year now, me and two friends set of for Lapland at the turn of the year. It is to get away; to get time for thoughts and analyzes (bigt or small). It is to take a little time for myself and to spend with my two best friends. It is to find something else, to get away from the everyday, to bring life back to the simplicity of only being, walking, eating, breathing, sleeping, talking: No phone, no news, nothing pulling you away from now. It is for the beauty of nature; because it is so beautiful (on a sunny day it's almost painful) and the pureness of it. It makes you feel clean even if you haven't showered for a week and your avarage hiking is ten sweaty hours per day. Sitting on a rock, looking out over the mountains, scented by sweat and mosquito repellant, singing to yourself and your friends, laughing at nothing until breathless. That my friends is my definition of being happy.
And then there is the adventure! Testing your body and your strenght. How far can you go? On how little fuel? With the right company and encouragement you can do much more than you think. And that's a nice thing to discover. It is all team work.
First day. Getting off the train (after 18 hours), and getting on the bus for another two hours we encounter Mr. Happy Busdriver (Kjelle) and he brings our spirits up despite heavy rain. Getting off the bus we wait in a littlle mountain cottage for an easing in the rain. We take our chances and get soaked but manage to get a bit into the mountains before succumbing to the weather and getting the tent up.
Second day. Opening the zip of the tent we discover more clouds but also the fact that we can see the mountains around us, the fog has lifted. After our first hiking breakfast (porrige of course) we get our things together and set out to discover Lapland. We discover signs of nightly visitors and after a bit we see a pack of raindeer run along the mountain side, a nice welcome. A bit down from all the rain, we look up to see an amazing rainbow and the day just got better with sunshine and marvelous views. We get a fair bit of hiking done. Getting lucky and meeting a sami (North nomading people, keeping the raindeer etc) and we buy some smoked char (röding) from him. Delicious!
Third day. Sunny, sunny weather and we're dancing with joy. Moving fast in the morning and taking a long break around noon. Laying in the sun by a wonderful, tiny stream, washing our faces and charging our batteries for the big climb which is the next hurdle on our hike. On the way up the view is amazing and we set up the tent on a beautiful mountainside. Picking blueberries and cloudberries (hjortron) for snacks.
Fourth day. Quite a long way to go if we are to stick to the plan and getting to Kebnekaise (tallest peak in Sweden, 2111 m) on schedule. We strap on our back packs and walk, bad weather and just encouaring words to keep us going. When we set up tent we are happy with ourselves, we are just down from Kebnekaise and the weather reports looks favourable to climb it the following day. We're all a bit nerveuse.
Fifth day. Alarm set for 5.30 AM. Weather beautiful. We set out at 7AM with one bag of water, warm clothes and some food. First two hours are quite easy, moderately hard climbing and high spirits. We take turns to carry the bag. The slopes are tricky, starting to climb something that seems lika a tiny, little climb and it just goes on forever, everytime you think your almost up it just goes on. After four hours we are at the top of the first peak. Quite tired but in good spirits. Here we encounter "the demonic-pessimistic couple" who scares us half to death saying stuff like: "You have to bring 7 liters of water per person or you'll thirst to death" (we had three liter to share) or "You have to have special shoes or you might just fall off the cliff and DIE". We did our best to ignore them and kept going (a bit more nervouse). Took a breake in the valley known as the Coffee Valley, before the last big climb to the top.
After seven hours we were at the top. Crazy happy and dancing with joy! Naomi wrote her name in stone and I built a cairn (röse) of stones to mark my being there. It was a big moment eventhough the sky turned into fog on us and we could hardly see eachother and no view. It's supposed to be spectacular, but you can't control the weather.
The climb down was tiresome but rather eventless. After 13 hours and 23 minutes we were back in camp. First new years resolution I ever kept.
In numbers: Kebnekaise is 2111m above sea level. We started our climb at 780 m above sea level. We climbed a total of 1331 altitude meters (not including going down and up again). The distance from our camp to the top was 9 km. We walked a total of 18km (back and forth).
Sixth day. And on the sixth day we rested. Took a shower (needed) in Kebnekaise mountain station and massaging our feet. In the afternoon we walked a couple of km and set up camp close to a beautiful river. Picked as much blueberries as we could eat.
Seventh day. Beautiful weather and setting off towards Nikkaloukta (from where we would take the bus to Kiruna and the train home). Walking in a moderate pace and enjoying the scenery and the weather. Setting up tent by a beautiful lake.
Eight day. Waking up to heavy rain and gathering all our stuff and clearing the camp soaked us to the skin. Didn't mind much since there was only a 6 km walk to Nikkaloukta where we dryed off over a cup of coffee in the little mountain restaurant and then taking the bus to Kiruna. A couple of hours to spend, looking at the renowned church and eating a very longed for pizza (nice with something that isn't in liquid form, even if Naomi is the queen of drying food and making lens soups).
Ninth day. Home at 12 AM. looking through the mail and the worries of everyday come back as a coat I hung in the closet for a week. On Monday I'll know if I've gotten into Trinity Collage and I am nervouse. New job too, for a month, start Monday.
Got a hug from my mum. We're having a family dinner tonight. My sister asked me if I wanted to go to the movies with her. I'm having breakfast with my Bengan tomorrow. Not to bad to be home after all.
And the adventure isn't over; tomorrow me and Magnus are running the Midnight Run through Stockholm. Ten km and another chance to see what my body can do.
The year has turned.
For me the year turns in August, the end of summer. This is when you make the critical decitions. This is when things happens. New things! And it is always with the trip.
Third year now, me and two friends set of for Lapland at the turn of the year. It is to get away; to get time for thoughts and analyzes (bigt or small). It is to take a little time for myself and to spend with my two best friends. It is to find something else, to get away from the everyday, to bring life back to the simplicity of only being, walking, eating, breathing, sleeping, talking: No phone, no news, nothing pulling you away from now. It is for the beauty of nature; because it is so beautiful (on a sunny day it's almost painful) and the pureness of it. It makes you feel clean even if you haven't showered for a week and your avarage hiking is ten sweaty hours per day. Sitting on a rock, looking out over the mountains, scented by sweat and mosquito repellant, singing to yourself and your friends, laughing at nothing until breathless. That my friends is my definition of being happy.
And then there is the adventure! Testing your body and your strenght. How far can you go? On how little fuel? With the right company and encouragement you can do much more than you think. And that's a nice thing to discover. It is all team work.
First day. Getting off the train (after 18 hours), and getting on the bus for another two hours we encounter Mr. Happy Busdriver (Kjelle) and he brings our spirits up despite heavy rain. Getting off the bus we wait in a littlle mountain cottage for an easing in the rain. We take our chances and get soaked but manage to get a bit into the mountains before succumbing to the weather and getting the tent up.
Second day. Opening the zip of the tent we discover more clouds but also the fact that we can see the mountains around us, the fog has lifted. After our first hiking breakfast (porrige of course) we get our things together and set out to discover Lapland. We discover signs of nightly visitors and after a bit we see a pack of raindeer run along the mountain side, a nice welcome. A bit down from all the rain, we look up to see an amazing rainbow and the day just got better with sunshine and marvelous views. We get a fair bit of hiking done. Getting lucky and meeting a sami (North nomading people, keeping the raindeer etc) and we buy some smoked char (röding) from him. Delicious!
Third day. Sunny, sunny weather and we're dancing with joy. Moving fast in the morning and taking a long break around noon. Laying in the sun by a wonderful, tiny stream, washing our faces and charging our batteries for the big climb which is the next hurdle on our hike. On the way up the view is amazing and we set up the tent on a beautiful mountainside. Picking blueberries and cloudberries (hjortron) for snacks.
Fourth day. Quite a long way to go if we are to stick to the plan and getting to Kebnekaise (tallest peak in Sweden, 2111 m) on schedule. We strap on our back packs and walk, bad weather and just encouaring words to keep us going. When we set up tent we are happy with ourselves, we are just down from Kebnekaise and the weather reports looks favourable to climb it the following day. We're all a bit nerveuse.
Fifth day. Alarm set for 5.30 AM. Weather beautiful. We set out at 7AM with one bag of water, warm clothes and some food. First two hours are quite easy, moderately hard climbing and high spirits. We take turns to carry the bag. The slopes are tricky, starting to climb something that seems lika a tiny, little climb and it just goes on forever, everytime you think your almost up it just goes on. After four hours we are at the top of the first peak. Quite tired but in good spirits. Here we encounter "the demonic-pessimistic couple" who scares us half to death saying stuff like: "You have to bring 7 liters of water per person or you'll thirst to death" (we had three liter to share) or "You have to have special shoes or you might just fall off the cliff and DIE". We did our best to ignore them and kept going (a bit more nervouse). Took a breake in the valley known as the Coffee Valley, before the last big climb to the top.
After seven hours we were at the top. Crazy happy and dancing with joy! Naomi wrote her name in stone and I built a cairn (röse) of stones to mark my being there. It was a big moment eventhough the sky turned into fog on us and we could hardly see eachother and no view. It's supposed to be spectacular, but you can't control the weather.
The climb down was tiresome but rather eventless. After 13 hours and 23 minutes we were back in camp. First new years resolution I ever kept.
In numbers: Kebnekaise is 2111m above sea level. We started our climb at 780 m above sea level. We climbed a total of 1331 altitude meters (not including going down and up again). The distance from our camp to the top was 9 km. We walked a total of 18km (back and forth).
Sixth day. And on the sixth day we rested. Took a shower (needed) in Kebnekaise mountain station and massaging our feet. In the afternoon we walked a couple of km and set up camp close to a beautiful river. Picked as much blueberries as we could eat.
Seventh day. Beautiful weather and setting off towards Nikkaloukta (from where we would take the bus to Kiruna and the train home). Walking in a moderate pace and enjoying the scenery and the weather. Setting up tent by a beautiful lake.
Eight day. Waking up to heavy rain and gathering all our stuff and clearing the camp soaked us to the skin. Didn't mind much since there was only a 6 km walk to Nikkaloukta where we dryed off over a cup of coffee in the little mountain restaurant and then taking the bus to Kiruna. A couple of hours to spend, looking at the renowned church and eating a very longed for pizza (nice with something that isn't in liquid form, even if Naomi is the queen of drying food and making lens soups).
Ninth day. Home at 12 AM. looking through the mail and the worries of everyday come back as a coat I hung in the closet for a week. On Monday I'll know if I've gotten into Trinity Collage and I am nervouse. New job too, for a month, start Monday.
Got a hug from my mum. We're having a family dinner tonight. My sister asked me if I wanted to go to the movies with her. I'm having breakfast with my Bengan tomorrow. Not to bad to be home after all.
And the adventure isn't over; tomorrow me and Magnus are running the Midnight Run through Stockholm. Ten km and another chance to see what my body can do.
The year has turned.