dream country

Yesterday, I moved back to my home town for the summer. Today, I decided it was time to check my weight (because I don't have a weight where I live in Bergen).

Well, holy crap, I somehow managed to gain 5 kilos in three months. Fine, I've been lazy and gorged on unhealthy food, but I've done that before and gained max one kilo.

Strangest of all, I can't really see where I've gained weight. My trousers are slightly tighter, and I can perhaps see that my belly's a bit bigger, but that's not enough to warrant five kilos!

So I'm puzzled, but have decided to cut down on the sugar, eat healthier, and get more exercise; all in an attempt to get back to my ideal 60 kilos.

*sigh* I hate that the metabolism slows down the older you get.

Originally posted at auromheim.net

I really wish getting up at 7am after a weekend of sleeping in didn’t destroy half my brain. I shall attempt to cure it by a big cup of cinnamon tea.

I’m moving again. This shall be the third apartment I live in this school year, but I think I’m staying put in this new one for a while.

You see, up until recently, I was pretty satisfied with the place I lived in. It was cheap, and close to both school and city centre. But now I’ve grown tired of roommates who can never seem to do their dishes, and neighbours who smoke right outside my window and steal my umbrella. Other reasons (that I’d rather not publish, though they’re not as serious as I just made it sound) have made me even more grateful to the two friends of mine I’m moving in with.

They live in a big apartment with a balcony overlooking Bergen. It’s gorgeous, but also really expensive. The two of them have been paying the rent for three rooms since before Christmas, so I think I’m doing them a bit of a favour moving in there.

I’ve previously balked at the idea of paying 4600 NOK a month in rent, but now I’ve come to the point where I’d rather pay extra to live somewhere nice with people I like spending time with, than somewhere cheap with people I hardly ever speak to. I’ll just get a job, and the money won’t be such an issue.

Moving in there on Sunday. Can’t wait.

Else, this weekend was spent locked up in my room doing laboratory logs. That, and watching Deadwood.

I started watching this series last autumn with my friend Kristine. She then went ahead and watched an entire season and a half without me (boo!), but now I’m catching up, thanks to teh boyfriend. And yay for that: the series is awesome. I can’t quite put my finger on why - but I think a lot of it has to do with the great acting. There’s not one mediocre actor in the series, and especially Ian McShane (Al Swearengen) and Robin Weigert (Calamity Jane) impress in every singe scene they’re in. My favourite character, though, is as always the sidekick: Sol Star, played by John Hawkes.

Misogyny is rampant in a series where more than half the female characters are prostitutes. This does however not annoy me, as it makes the series realistic. Misogyny, as well as other types of prejudice, was the norm back then. I love the series’ realism. And it does have some tough women - my favourite being Trixie.

So now I think I’ll give up organic chemistry for the time being, and finish season two.

Originally posted at auromheim.net

I went to the doctor on Tuesday, told the nurse behind the counter what I wanted to check, including iron deficiency. Then I get called in to the doctor, and he proceeds to tell me that they don’t DO blood-tests there. You see, since I’m a student, and don’t have an appointed doctor here in Bergen, I went to the emergency room. And apparently they don’t do blood tests unless it’s an emergency. I kind of feel the nurse could’ve told me that before I went in. Anyway, the doctor tells me it’s probably just stress, I leave, and have to pay almost 300 NOK ($60) for something I knew before I went there in the first place: I stress too much.

So, yeah, I still have no idea if there’s anything physically wrong with me. But I won’t be going to the doctor again any time soon, as something I’ve done this past week has helped immensly. I got up at 7am on both Thursday and Friday, and though I felt a bit tired in the morning, it was nothing like the bone-weariness I’ve felt before. I’ve had loads of energy, and been in a generally much better mood. I think it’s due to a) the onset of spring and the longer daylight or b) the fact that I’ve started taking vitamins.

On Friday, I was up early, around town all day, and went to a pirate-themed party at night. I didn’t feel tired for a second. It was fantastic.

Originally posted at auromheim.net

Last fall, my then-roommate managed to come home from a night out, start boiling eggs, and fall asleep with them still on the oven. And he managed to do it twice. The result was a flat that smelled like burnt eggs for weeks; it also hightened my fear of fire. You see, we lived on the third floor, my room was at the end of a narrow corridor, and we didn’t have smoke detectors or fire escapes.

I have this nightmare of being trapped by fire, unable to escape. It comes from a true story I read once of a girl who was trapped in a car after a crash. A fireman was witness to how she watched fire closing in on her, and then she caught on fire. He was unable to help because his fire-extinguisher was empty, and the fire truck was too far away. The girl survived.

My imagination is very good at putting me in that kind of situation, and especially when I’m just about to go to sleep. When I still lived in the above mentioned flat, I had problems falling asleep some nights.

To put it simply: I am, despite the bad isolation and messiness, extremely happy to be living somewhere else now.

Originally posted at auromheim.net

I finally managed to wrap my head around stoichiometry, so things are looking up in Chemistry. Yay!

Still, I feel my life is spinning in every direction, and I’m slowly losing control. I’ve missed two lectures this week, due to sleeping in, and I’m emotionally everywhere at the moment. And still I’m having a great time. I love living in Bergen, and I enjoy attending Uni - the only thing I dislike, actually, is the location of the apartment I live in. It’s too far away from the town, so that if I plan on doing anything after I finish studying for the day, I don’t have time to go home and eat dinner. Which again takes its toll on my economy.

The economy, which, incidentally, also is all over the place at the moment. I’m currently considering buying a printer. I still haven’t gotten past the previous half-year’s mindset, where I could use all the money I had, cause I worked and lived at home, mooching off my parents. Sooner or later, though, my limited funds are going to sneak up and hit me (hopefully knocking some sense in while they’re at it).

Till that happens, though, I’ll be eating out and going to movies, or, like today, going to a dance performance.

I’m really looking forward to it. It’s the Norwegian national company for contemporary dance, Carte Blanche, that’s performing. I’ve seen them twice before, and been blown away both times. I just love contemporary dance. The techniques, the emotion expressed, and just the way it’s so removed from the stilted style of ballet (though I like ballet as well). I miss the lessons we had in this style at secondary school, and I’m currently kicking myself for not enrolling in contemporary dance classes here in Bergen.

I think I’ll do so after Christmas, when, hopefully, I will have moved out of the faraway apartment. God, am I looking forward to that!

(New layout, by the way. It’s not mine, it’s a theme. I’ve given up on webdesign for the time being.)

Originally posted at auromheim.net

I sort of started Uni today. Sort of, as in, I had my first lecture in the very cool Science building, but the term isn’t actually starting before next week. One-week Maths course, yay!

It was, well, strange. A whole new school-situation (my dad would jump in here with “it’s not school, it’s university!”), and the social aspect of it all is rather stressful. There’s been no group-work or anything yet, and I am not good at just walking up to people and saying hi. Not good, as in, I can’t for the life of me do it ever. Bah. Seemed a lot of the other students felt that way, though, so it’s not so bad. Yet.

The eternal pessimist. *raises hand*

I like living in Bergen, though. My room is really nice (I have a stunning view, will post pictures), and the flat is great.

I’m halfway through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for the second time, and will attempt to write a coherent review when I’m done. For now I’ll say: too much death. But I liked it.

Originally posted at auromheim.net

Today, I’m halfway to forty.

Also: no longer a teenager.

*eats cake*