So, due to slacking a bit with the workout routines before leaving the US, and seeing other people in my life succeeding (or nearly succeeding) with their fitness goals, I got inspired to turn this blog temporarily into a "Workout Diary" type of thing for the next few months. I don't have much time right now (bedtime is here), but I'll post my route for the last run I had while visiting Molde a week ago. If you click on the map, it takes you to Google Maps and you can explore the route further (if you're that interested).
In the last month, a lot of people at Augustana who have recently returned from a study abroad experience have expressed in a number of ways their affinity and appreciation for the American culture and its comforts. I happen to be of the same mindset, but on the other side, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you some of the things that I happen to miss about Norway and, in particular, Oslo. Then maybe I will get the peace of mind from my homesickness long enough to do my homework for the day.
The Ocean
South Dakota is notoriously landlocked, which for a guy who's lived his entire life only a few minutes from the ocean tends to lend itself to claustrophobia. The ocean also represents so many other qualities I couldn't live without for longer amounts of time, like the philosophical substance of it, the smell of salt water, seagulls, islands with picnic and swimming opportunities, beaches, watersports, the feeling of waves, and the sound of the water.
The big city
To most other nationality, Oslo has a small town feel even though it's got 700,000 people living there. I miss the subway, ironically, and I miss not being dependant on a car to get from A to B (or C for that matter). The freedom of complete movement comes with a city totally interconnected through a public transportation grid, or a more condensed area.
The movie theatres
I know, I know. US movie theatres have seats that recline and free seating order, more buttery popcorn and more fountain drinks to choose from. But take Oslo's Colosseum Kino, the world's largest THX movie theatre, which seats 1,158 people (a staggering 2,100 before the fire of 1963), for example. Now, that's a movie theatre! Fully electronic ticketing systems (purchase online, print the tickets at home or at the theatre), overly stocked candy stores and kiosks (with Norwegian chokolate, hey), and the subway taking you to the front door whenever needed, that has any of SD's movie theatre experiences beat. Gotta love the reclinable seats here, though.
Norwegian culture and language
Sure, Norwegian has fewer words and phrases for expressing exactly what you mean, but at least it sounds cool and demands more tongue artistry of the speaker. Norwegians, while maybe shy and even arrogant and rude to begin with, open up like a Pandora's box of joy when they feel comfortable enough. Norwegians in general play few mind games, calling it as they see it is a fundamental Norwegian trait. No BS, as you would say. That's refreshing. Drinking culture is a chapter by itself, with their vorspiels, nachspiels, and general drunken craziness way into the wee hours of the morning. Vikings party hard by nature.
Exotic Foods
And with this, I'm not just meaning that I miss kjøttkaker (meat cakes), mackerel in tomato sauce, liver patè spread on bread, Pizza Grandiosa, or even my beloved chili nuts. I mean all the truly exotic foods you can find in Oslo. On top of my long list is the indian food (best: The Zaika Restaurant), closely followed by thai (best: Jaja's Restaurant), and of course, Turkish kebabs in pita bread (best: Vinny's Kebabs and Bislett Kebab House). My mouth is literally watering right now, that's how much I miss all that stuff. It's a given though, that no country does Tex-Mex food (of course) as well as the US.
Tiny Grocery Stores
Yes. I love Wal*Mart. And I always will. But, this must be said, Wal*Marts have no personality. Now, in Norway grocery stores are still only about food, and thus significantly smaller in size. They have a much smaller selection for each food type, but this is something Norwegians are fine with - the choice happens to be between cheap and regular priced items of the same (approximate) quality, and hence less time is spent choosing between millions of brands for each bread you're buying. The country has only a few chains of grocery stores (Rema 1000, Rimi, COOP, Bunnpris, and a few more), but given the country's size, this suffices plenty. With small stores, and this is what I kind of miss, you can go right in and come right out in a matter of minutes, still having bought what you wanted, and without walking forever from the soaps to the vegetables. Grocery shopping isn't really a pastime in Norway, that's all.
No worries, I'll probably think of more later. And I'll give you the equally long list of things I think are better in the US of A, as well.
It has, once again, been ages since I posted anything to this blog. My other blog, The Snowclone, has gotten a few more posts, probably because I just add whatever's not that interesting to that one. I do intend to blog a little more, though, so please keep me to it. I'll try.
The evening of February 29th was a dark and rainy one. I stepped out of the Dolly Dimple's garage complex, and stopped to look back at the building I had loathed for so long. I was done. It was over. I mused that the rain was the heavens crying, but that this time the tears were happy ones. I had just turned in my key card, my headset, and signed a couple of forms. As I left the premises, I didn't feel a single hint of the sadness I usually feel as something ends. My second, and not to mention very last, period at the pizza company's customer care center had come to a close, and I really couldn't care less. The second time around I hadn't really gotten to know that many at the office, and the really good friends from last time had all quit themselves, long before me. I had gotten Simen, a friend from high school, and Thomas, my at-times-deadbeat brother, a job there, but I reckon I'll see both of them frequently in the future as well.
What have I done since then? Well, enjoying the freedom, for one. And then I've gotten much more time to work out, especially since I got Simen to join, and now the two of us work out regularly at the local gym. Which feels good, and combined with eating properly (yes, I can do that too!) I've actually started to see some results, on the scale (and maybe otherwise? I don't know, it's still hard to tell). My practicals at the nursing home (for my R.N. thing, remember) ended the same day Dolly Dimple's did, so now I have sweeeet late lectures and almost no HW. Feels good. At the moment, Alicia and I are looking for a new apartment, which is proving less easy than initially thought. We'll get there, though, we just have to find the right one. And then hopefully I'll get a new job, hopefully at a hospital in Oslo, and then everything will fall into place.
As for jobs, Alicia just got one, too, with a little help from me. It was a breakfast server/room service attendant position at Norway's one and only 5-star first class hotel, starting at 6 am and catering to all the most needy of rich guests the capital has to offer. She loves it, though, and it's just so cute to see how amazed she is by making $25/hour. That's Norway for you, high wages by international standards, but not that high when spending them in the same country. I'm so happy for her, and she absolutely deserves it. I have one hard-working, talented girlfriend! :P
Now all that remains is to find a job for me, settle in the eventual new apartment, and wait for spring. Man, that'll be sweet. Oh, and by the way: Go Obama '08!
We're Dealing With Food, Not Missiles Here, Governor!
We ponder and talk about so many things during a week. The weather, food, travel, business, news, television, music, education, and even sex. But one sure favorite that hits home every time, because of its sheer proximity to who we are and how much time we spend on it every day, is work. We all have the perfect life carefully plotted out in our heads, or at least the qualities which to strive for, be it love or money, picket fences and dogs or visiting every one of the world's continents. And a commonality for most of us is that right now, right as we're sitting here browsing the web and reading blogs or cruisin' Facebook, is that we haven't really arrived at that 'ideal' point in our life yet. We're on our way, slowly progressing towards whatever we are sure will make us happy, whatever will complete us.
Personally I feel like I'm just getting started on that very journey towards what I want out of life. We all have to start somewhere, and that usually means getting a job which requires no real qualifications, skill, or previous experience. And if those jobs didn't exist, there wouldn't really be any place for people like me to gain that said experience most other careers have as a prerequisite. Last summer I started working for a pizza company here in Oslo, and the job turned out to be well paid too. Dolly Dimple's ("The taste that gets you hooked") Pizza is one of Norway's two big pizza distributors, and puts up a real fight in the competition for that coveted number one spot as far as quality and service goes. And service, well, that's where I come in. I work at the customer care center, and thus the phone, headset and computer are my primary tools in keeping the pizza hungry satisfied.
People are weird, weird creatures. Every, single day of our lives we stress that each and every one of us is special, equal, and that we should be treated the same way, without fault. If you are a teacher, stay at home mom, or a firefighter you're a hero, and if you happen to be a Wal-Mart clerk, a gardener, or a mechanic, you're a hard-working person just as deserving of the world's perks as anyone else. But this is where our society's bigotry and hypocrisy starts to shine through. If you ever find yourself to be working in the service industry, you might as well wear a hat saying "Lower Than Dirt" or "Kick Me in the Face, I Really Like It".
Dolly Dimple's has a lot of great customers, from all walks of life. But polite, cautious and considerate as Norwegians usually are known to be in person, they really can't handle ordering things over the phone. Like when you flip a switch, it would seem that most people think that when they dial the number to the pizza place, the person they're about to be connected to is the most lowly, abominable piece of undeserving trash they could ever find themselves having to talk to. They're sure people who work at customer care centers, people like myself, couldn't get any other job if they tried ever so hard, and that the dimwits and morons who take their pizza orders should count themselves lucky to be earning money (and not begging in the streets or selling magazines to passersby) at all.
On most days people at the very least find the decency to present themselves when connected to the customer care agent. But that's certainly not a given. Every day I get dozens of calls where all I get when saying my obligatory "Hello, you're talking to Christian" is "A huge pepperoni pizza, and I want it NOW! Get a move on!!" But that's a mild and reasonably well mannered person compared to other calls I have gotten. Consider this one, for example:
Me: Hello, you're talking to Christian. Man: Oh, yeah?! I don't give a flying f**k! I want my pizza!! Me: Okay, sir, then I'll need your phone number where you can be reached. Man: I don't wanna give you my f**king phone number! Write down my name instead! Me: That's not how it works, sir. We need a phone number in order to reach you, as well as register your order. Man: That is a F**KING LIE!! Get off your F**KING fat ass, you stupid f**k, and get your supervisor on the phone RIGHT NOW!! ME: One moment, sir.
Other examples, of course, include more extensive name calling, yelling, screaming, death threats, and even threats of violence and other charming human aggressional behaviors. But I could care less for the verbal abuse, it's actually the more subtle stuff that gets to me. People take their pizzas more seriously than anyting else, for some reason, and when considering it from the outside in it's actually immensely ridiculous. And it's the pedanticism and pettiness of it all that amazes me, and to some extent even fascinates me. Every day I (not a chef or even a deliverer) get yelled at by extremely angry people, who for some reason actually get worked up over something as trivial as not getting tomatoes or having to pick off the mushrooms themselves. Wake up and smell the coffee (or pizza) here, people!! It's JUST pizza. If I just denied you a liver transplant or amputated your legs for the kicks (no pun intended) of it, I would understand. But pizza?! Really? Could someone please realize that when people are starving to death every single second, wars are claiming lives every day, animals are going extinct, global warming will erase future generations' knowledge of snow, and women are being sexually assaulted every day, you have to be a simple-minded, egotistical, self-centered douchebag to ever throw a tantrum over not getting onions on your pizza? My goodness, have some decency. The people you're talking to are hard-working, great, clever people who try intensely to do their job and make sure you get what you ordered, and the pizza you ordered is not a new lung or anything but a simple meal. We're dealing with food, not missiles here, governor.
To begin with, I have to admit a defeat of mine. I might have (okay, you know this, because you have it right here on the blog, so I won't pretend it just 'might' have happened) audaciously claimed that I would write one blog post for every day of this very month. And I failed writing more than three, hahaha.. Oh, I don't care. That was an unrealistic goal, and would've made for an incredibly boring reading for you, the reader.. So, in effect, I actually did us all a favor by being lazy (or busy, or both). See how I just gave it a positive spin? :P
What's up with me nowadays? That is a hard one to answer. I am conflicted, like the rest of humanity, and I have so much going on on various fronts I have no idea how to make it all mesh with my schedule and succeed in everyday life at the same time. My cousin was born a few weeks back, and I still haven't found the time to come see the baby. I have two finals (not just one like everyone else in my class, because I didn't take the last one in March) that I need to study (a whole lot) for. I need to work 3-4 times a week, mostly 7 hours shifts, and at the same time find the time to study. I have to get in touch with Hawai'i Pacific University very soon, because I intend to attend summer school there beginning in the end of June. I need to pay bills, buy groceries, update Facebook and Blogger, schedule doctor's and dentist's appointments, send 2 packages to the US, and I have to do laundry and keep in touch with my amazing sunshine, Alicia. Getting my gym membership, school attendance, and finding time to being social is just an added nuisance on the list of stuff I have to do before the beginning of June.
So, that was a pretty stupid question for you to ask, huh? Now you got my whole present-day status, and I don't mean the one tiny sentence you get to squeeze in on Facebook from time to time. You just got the big lowdown, haha..
Anyways.. I wasn't planning on writing this much, but it just pours out of me when I get started. Now I'll finish this with a picture special, from May 17th.
See? I keep my promises! I told you I would post something every single day for a month, and this is the second one…! I never lie (which is, by default, a lie, but nonetheless). Here goes.. hm, a slice of bread? Never mind.
I actually went to school today. Believe it or not. Me, the guy who's been having issues (multiple, I tell you) for a month now, preventing me from attending the crucial med lectures I always forget I love. First, there was the issue of being thrown out of my house, a topic which I'll surely revisit one of these days, and then, of course, there was the magic of Alicia's visit and the subsequent delightfully distracted mind. But the point is, as I'm getting to, that I indeed did go to school today, and I actually did so after staying up all -ALL- night and day before this. And I discovered that, after the sleep deprivation had made itself known and the drunk phase (yes, there is such a thing) had worn off, I actually felt more imaginative and lucid than before. During this.. let's call it Awareness phase, I did in fact make a few fascinating observations (and a few that questions my theory of a heightened awareness), that I will outline for you here.
The smell of freshly grilled chicken is amazing, and I could probably donate an appendage (take a finger, please, or better yet, the appendix) to have some if I was isolated from this delicious bird for any amount of time.
Walking around fast, in scrubs, just looking serious and like you're rushing to get somewhere important, is the coolest thing ever. (btw, I used to do that when getting lunch in the hospital cafeteria in Sioux Falls. People stopped and just gazed admiringly as I rushed past, hahaha..)
A new nickname could very easily be born whenever I become a doctor. Seeing as my blood is almost pure diet Pepsi, or Pepsi Max as Norwegians call it, some coworker should mention "Mr. Pepsi Max is coming" or something, one day. And that's when I will reply "Hey! That'll be Dr. Max to you!" and thus a new nickname will be born. Dr. Max, how cool is that?
When I don't sleep, my mind makes up connections in my head that sounds good at the time, but that any sane person would immediately dismiss as jibberish.
That was basically what I had before I ran out of steam, and got home to take a nose dive into the pillow, which will be my home until House MD (which ROOOCKS) comes on at six.
BTW: During our medical ethics lecture today, the professor had an example of tough choices made by people concerning loved ones. A girl, 8 years old, had developed kidney failure, and her parents were asked if they wanted to test if they could be possible donors. The dad agreed to be tested, and then came back to the hospital afterwards to learn the result of his tissue matching. The doctor told him he was a very good match, and that he would be a perfect candidate for donating his kidney to the sick daughter. The man, however, had declined right then and there, and refused to do it. The doctors, puzzled, asked why he then had gotten tested, and why he now didn't want to donate to save his daughter's life. The man went on explaining that he just didn't "feel comfortable" having one of his organs taken away, and that the decision had been made even before the biopsy. He just wanted the result of the match to have been negative, so he could feel better about declining any donating, a 50% chance of feeling better about the decision he was going to make anyways. Now, if you ask me, there should be a law ordering family members to undergo unharmful and unproblematic surgery if their family member is in need of a donatable organ, but no, this guy actually got away with not saving the life of his daughter when he could/should have.. That's just not ethical. If you could, you should, because family comes with a lifetime of responsibility.
Since I've been more than a little abscent from this blog lately (read: this past year), I have decided to start taking this literal vent more seriously and make myself write more. To start things off, I will take some advice from another blog I stumbled upon the other day, and sit down every single day for the next month and write up a post right here. And just so we're clear on the rules, this one will count as number one, and every post from now on containing more than a picture will be a consecutive post. Contents or length don't matter, as long as it's done every day and they contain little tidbits conveyed by the alphanumeric alphabet.
Easter came and went. This year, apart from a delicious and ooooh so bad Easter egg filled with too much (hm, lying) candy, Easter didn't get the usual significance it should have. Sure, I watched the gruesome (Easter themed) movie Passion of the Christ, but on the spiritual/religious side, that was as far as my efforts went. I didn't go to church, but then again that part of Easter isn't mandatory, and really shouldn't be either, but I somehow felt I should have. Alicia and I went to church the Sunday when she was here, which was nice, so to some extent the church-going for this year has been done, at least when excluding my Christmas visit. And sadly, the extent of my church participation is actually typical of the average Norwegian, all citing 'personal religion' and 'a personal relationship to the higher powers', and thus eliminating the need for a church to pray and worship. I'm of that opinion myself, to some extent, but when I visited the main city church with Alicia a couple of weeks ago, and when going to church with the US family in December, I definitely felt a calm, a warmth, and a peace, that I think is the reason why people do go to church. Churches have remained important to people throughout the ages, and are still so today, and logically I think there must be a reason why so-called educated and modern people seek out a building topped by a cross every Sunday, and sit there for an hour or more listening to one person. And thus I think houses of worship must serve some purpose, fill some important voids, in people's lives, that they can't have filled at home, no matter how good their relationship with the Almighty might be one-on-one at home on their bedside. I will, is what I'm trying to say, take my religion more seriously, and try to attend church more often than I have so far. Who knows, maybe I'll even enjoy it?
The main focus of my post this time wasn't really the individual's practice of religion, believe it or not, it was more my time management skills. This last break has thrown me totally off my normal schedule, and turned my day upside down. On a normal day last week, I'd wake up around 5 or 6 pm, have dinner by 10 or 11, and stay up until 7-8 am. And have I corrected this incredible, yet so comfortable schedule by now, you ask? Hardly. Actually, as we speak (and I type), it's 4:30 in the morning, and I have school at 9. I suck. The hard thing about having to change schedules like that fast is that you either have to stay up all night and all day to pull it off, or you have to accept having a 7 hour day before forcing yourself to go to bed again. And obviously none of the alternatives are very comfortable, so I have resisted until now..
Don't worry, I won't let this ruin anything big, I just enjoy imagining being on break for longer than I should sometimes.
Haven't you had the feeling that some situations, periods, and days might have benefited from being underwritten and exclaimed by the joy of a fitting song? With the advent of mp3-players in every pocket, this is not such a far-fetched idea, so then you'll probably follow me when I here decide to list exactly which songs go along with my life nowadays. Feel free to (illegaly? of course not) download them and give them a listen.
Everything - Michael Bublè.
Boston - Augustana.
Too Good is True - Rascal Flatts.
Summer Breeze - Jason Mraz.
Better Man - James Morrison.
Love Soon - John Mayer.
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison.
Looking Back Over My Shoulder - Mike and the Mechanics.
Baby Cakes - 3 of a Kind.
Only You - Josh Kelley.
Sleep All Day - Jason Mraz.
There it is, seasoned by the sugar and sweetness of my life nowadays. :D
Hey, I know I should be updating this more frequently. That's why I, until the second med exam is over (see the sidebar for exact time left), will use my cell phone to update you one my everyday escapades. Check it out, and we'll talk later.
Have you ever thought about how sweet life would be if only you had the power to direct it like a movie director? I have, and it would be so much better than this periodic crap. I am not saying I'd want to write the script or anything, that'd take away the spontaneity I love about life, but the power to manage certain situations a little better would be great. My brother wants a tattoo nowadays, and that's when I'd go "Yes, that's good, but try it again and this time you feel like tattoos are a bad idea. Action!" Or say my professor in bio was an arrogant, cranky man-bitch, just hypothetically of course, and that's when I'd exclaim, in the middle of his spiteful conversations, "Aaaaand CUT. This isn't working out. Could we get the professor's stand-in out here? And, stand-in, your motivation is that you love me as a student and appreciate all my efforts to do well in your class. Aaand ACTION!"
That would improve my days significantly. A normal day includes so many situations where I'm just going along, doing my thing, and then suddenly life jumps up and bitch-slaps me in the face. Being able to say "stop, rewind, play it again, and this time I'll be prepared," would be fantastic. It's still my life, but most of the time I don't seem to have any control over the direction of it.
Oh, I suck bigtime. Kristin, Ashley, Ambie, and I went to coffe shop again tonight, which is somewhat out of the ordinary since we usually go every Thursday only. The thing was, though, that after a little more than an hour there, I mess up totally. We were leaving through the front door, outside of which a group of people were sitting, talking. I pay no attention to the group walking past them - it was dark and I get a touch of tunnel vision when leaving places, just wanting to get home as soon as possible - before someone in the group suddenly says "Doctor?" in our direction. I totally blank out on the first time she said it, and the second time I stop and turn around. For what wasn't more than a few seconds, but felt like minutes, I stare blankly at the group, not recognizing any of them. They're all quiet now, and there I am, staring. And not recognizing anyone. I turn away again, thinking it was probably not meant for me, but then the same girl takes off her hood, and says it again. "Doctor?"
Puzzling. But then, suddenly I get it, it all comes back to me. A few weeks ago, I met this girl in the ER, an EMT student, and we spent the whole day telling internal jokes and cracking each other up. And one of these had to do with calling each other 'doctor' in a British accent. And I had just then blanked on the whole thing. After telling her I'd call her and that I still had her number, I got in the car and felt like the biggest, most socially awkward idiot on the planet. I suck.
This weekend was a different one. Instead of the tedious same-ol' slacking I get around to usually, I basically decided in the matter of minutes I was going to go on a road trip. Road trips are fun, I love 'em, so I had no problem figuring out if I was going to tag along with my friend Markus to someplace in Iowa or not. Off we went, and you know what? I was driving the whole way.
Christian's driving. I know, it's scary, it might even be nightmare-inspiring, but I have surprising news. I'm not reckless at all. Nor am I a bad driver, by any standards, I gotta say, I actually think I might be the born driver. Smoothly turning corners, heeding (most, so far) traffic signs, traffic lights, laws and regulations, heck, I even got traffic ethics down. I'm amazed, and so are the people who see me drive (not too many yet, but hey, I can claim it). The trip to Iowa this weekend was completed after only 2 night and one day session of real driving, which I find incredibly sweet seeing as I'm not wasting any time getting that licence. All in all, counting a pretty large detour on the way back, I actually drove 676 miles this weekend (for those not up to speed on the idiotic US system: about 1090 kilometers). And this fantastic distance (about the distance of Oslo-Trondheim-Oslo) included city driving, highway driving, interstate driving at about 75 miles (120 km) per hour, and multiple complicated car and trailer passings. I won't lie when I say I'm quite happy about this weekend's outcome, which puts me at about 18 hours of driving total, including the one (first) time I totally freaked out my dad driving on what normally were slow, boring roads...
Back in Soo-Foo (that's what all the coool kids call Sioux Falls) I find myself more relaxed than after a typical weekend. I break out in laughter over the smallest things, like today when my psychology prof (a guy with glasses and a long, long beard) exclaimed that "about 2/3 of my students don't want to talk to me", or my chem prof who suddenly started talking about "diabetics who go crazy and start spewing out formaldehyde everywhere". No one is laughing except me, but I honestly couldn't care less. I feel so happy I start laughing at whatever I can, and apparently find funny stuff even in places where the jokes are few and far between. A little crazy, yes, but me-sa no care. Happiness has never been negative.
Time is standing amazingly still nowadays. You see, we're on winter break, and I'm actually trying to have money to buy food and clothes the next four months, thus giving up my dream of wasting money on whatever "break" longer than three days that comes along. Sure, my initial (money-wasting) impulse was to pack my bags and get on a plane to Arizona for the week, but then I soon came to my senses. Well, 'senses' might be an overstatement, because it actually took the message from my bank in Norway telling me I barely had enough money to pay my skyrocketing tuition fees to change my travel-obsessed mind. Thus, while my friends are off skiing in the Black Hills ski resorts, roaming the beaches of Jamaica and partying it up in Kansas, I'm here at three o'clock at night chillaxing with a few episodes of Scrubs and updating you on Blogger. I'm not complaining, if there's something I'm an expert at, doing absolutely nothing and enjoying it would certainly be it.
I don't deal well with alone-time, though. Thinking is probably the biggest danger of such moments, and I've had plenty of time to do it. Here are a few of my realizations:
Hawai'i Pacific University is a fairy tale made up by my previously mentioned travel-obsessed mind. This means that it would probably not be either a good career choice, nor a place I could genuinely live without losing my edge/focus.
I DO need to get away from Sioux Falls and this college, though. But where would I go? I need either a college that would accept the high school credits Augustana has accepted (to finish in three years), or a college that's such a stepping stone for my career that it doesn't matter if I would have to go an extra year.
Does it matter if I spend 7 instead of 6 years becoming a doctor? Does it?
Do I absolutely want to become a doc? Or could acting/directing/screenwriting be something I would enjoy just as much? Or would I not be happy unless I could develop a god complex or help people? And can I actually make it? Fear of failure lingers in the back of my mind, with a fear of making the wrong decision (oh, it's just my life).
Certainly a lot of important questions, and I have no one to discuss it with. But I'm a formidable conversational partner to myself, so I think I'll figure something out. Tips accepted, though (write me a comment).
On a completely different, everyday type of note; I haven't moved yet. I was supposed to, but then plans tangled and schedules broke, and here I still am. But I'll probably get out of my private dungeon this week sometime, so watch out for pics.
Anyways, last week Smallville's episode number 100 aired, and I was along for the edge-of-my-seat ride. As forewarned, someone Clark loved was supposed to die, and in an intricate twist I ended up being wrong about the character in play. Clark showed Lana his abilities in the Fortress of Solitude, and wrapped the whole spectacle up with compacting a piece of coal into a diamond and popping the question. But, as we know by now, people who know the secret have to disappear somehow (Chloe excluded so far), and Lana was no exception. Rattled by Lex' insinuations to learn Clark's secret, she fled his mansion and embarked on a fast paced road chase followed by the Luthor, and after few minutes found herself dead in her own car wreckage. Clark, desperate and heartbroken, appealed to Jor-El (the heartless spirit-like biological father from Krypton) to let him make things right, and subsequently found himself in a "Butterfly Effect"-like reliving of the day. This time he manages to save Lana, but doesn't propose or tell her the famous Secret, leading to their inevitable breakup. The whole thing seems to end quite well, all until the final scenes are unearthed. Jonathan Kent, Clark's adoptive dad and my all-time favorite TV dad, has just been elected senator of Kansas, and finds himself in his barn where Lex' dad Lionel pays him a visit. As bastardly evildoers go, Lionel proceeds to threaten Jonathan with a picture he somehow shouldn't be in possession of. Jonathan tells him off, before landing a perfect punch that has Lionel flying across the room. Exhausted from the energic punch and anger, he staggers out of the barn, while Lionel takes the picture and leaves. Jonathan is standing in the middle of the yard when Clark and Martha come driving up to him, and get out of the car. Something is obviously wrong, Jonathan looks weaker than ever. Clark and his mom run over to him, just in time to catch him as he collapses where he stands. There, in Clark and Martha's arms, Jonathan takes his last, loving look at his family before he passes away.
Sad, sad, and I had a heavy feeling in my whole body when it was over. Of all the people, so totally undeserving. No offense, Lois Lane, but when she was electrocuted in the middle of the show, I actually hoped it would be her that was taken off. Anyways, my disturbingly sincere interest in the show's characters aside, it was a good, well made episode. I'm a big fan of John Schneider, so not having him and his good-hearted character in the show anymore's going to be hard.
I discovered the funniest comedian the other day, actually, and he's one of very few that can make me laugh so much I cry. His name's Dane Cook, you should check him out (funny clips are located at www.comedycentral.com).
What else can I tell ya in this big update? Well, by now you probably know that my birthday's coming up, so in order for me to make it easier on you, I have made a wish list with amazon.com, where the gifts you buy are automatically shipped to me. Easy, huh? Check it out here. I think that's it, folks, for now, and I'll tell ya how my moving is going ASAP. :)
For those of you wondering what's influencing me nowadays, take look at the TV-show Scrubs.
I have a couple of contemporary joys nowadays. I'm working in the international office here on campus, for the director who's gone on a trip to Norway and who won't be back until February. I've been sat to make him websites (3 to be exact), on the topics Studying Abroad, the organization "South Dakota Sons of Norway", and lastly a webiste where guests can sign up to join some events the school's hosting in Norway. All great fun, but not nearly enough to fill 80 hours of work (equaling 2 weeks of 9-5 working, and 2 credit hours on my report card). Hence (and I sincerely hope my boss doesn't read this, but I'll tell you nevertheless) I get a lot of time to listen to music and surf the triple w's. Fun, and somewhat repetitive and boring when I don't have anything to do, but a good way of getting those precious two credits for internship work.
I moved, too, I haven't told ya that, to the north side of campus (where all the "big kids" live), and to a residence hall that's so-called "unassisted living", i.e. party-hardy and with more responsibility left up to the individual. Joy. My room's a little small and dungeon-like, though, even despite the fact that it's on the 4th floor (the very top, my "penthouse", hahaha). A friend of mine, Landon, is moving next week, to Honduras to join the Peace Corps, and that's when I swoop in and take over his room. It's bigger, in better shape, and actually square. It even has a little 'balcony', a wide ledge on the top of the roof accessed from the window, where you can sit and ponder life's big issues (like I need more of that) while taking in the flat, South Dakotan landscape and the sunrise. I'll post pictures on Saturday, after moving in.
What stories make up a life? And are some stories more important than others? This fall I began a journey into the world of biology comfortably back in the US, after a year of nursing in Norway. In this blog I intend to share all the little intricacies of my life with you, and you have the option of reading it or not. But prepare to be captivated. Maybe even mesmerized.
