The curse

Wow... I really haven't been writing much, have I...? The typically horrible exam-period is here, and has been eating my life for a month and a half!

I was really dreading my first exam - with good reason! So much detail to get through -in so many different political and organisational areas.. The second course on economics, and the later microeconomics however, is right up my alley!! Partly because I've been through some of it before, and ofc because I like it! It feels awesome to be ahead for a while.. -who knows: it might end up saving my ass for the semester! :p
-A short lived pleasure however, as I flunked the first exam by just a few points, and just re-did it about a week ago.. Did I tell you I was sick to the core of school? It's all a curse..

Finally I only have a group-project presentation on Tuesday
-Then it's summer- sambatime (and a last exam) in Brazil on Wednesday!

Marias Kesamrolls

Here's my favorite recipe for sweet rolls -put together from 2-3 different ones in experiment:

8 dl milk

100 gr yeast
3 ts bakingsoda

2,5 dl sugar

0,5 ts salt

100 gr melted butter

200 gr kesam (vanilla)

1,5-2 kg flour

- Some cinnamon and suggar for sprinkling

I've discovered the importance of activating the yeast - if I have no fresh yeast, I'll soak the powdered kind in just a little (ca. 1dl) body-temp water and a teaspoon of sugar, and let it sit until it bubbles and smells -yes; urgh.., but it makes a difference! I also let it sit for a good hour to double the size

After rising, I'll roll it out to a square -about 1 cm thick, and smear a layer of regular butter before sprinkling the cinnamon and sugar evenly on top. Now; in stead of rolling it up to the swirl-technique, I fold the square double, and cut about 2 cm broad bands. These, I simply tie around their own axis as a regular pretzel-like knot - I think they look better, and it saves me time! 

YIKES!

Alright, back in business!! I'm absolutely horrified that I didn't get anything done while I was at home, but I did get quite a lot done last week, with a 5 hour long session with the girls -delegating, discussing and doing some heavy preparatory Q&A's, as well as meting the project-group of planning executing a presentation.. Unfortunately not enough though...
- The first exam is closing in like a wall of YIKES! I can't wait for the 4th of Nov. -being done with this subject (that is if all goes well!). It's a good thing I've got my girls -don't know if I'd get there without! So bear with me on the low activity here.. all will be better after Friday!! - Can't wait for my Amanda, Gudrun and Stina to come over for the annual x-mas prep -weekend! ♥

Yup! I had a busy week...

Right.. I haven't been updating much, but I've been busy, and on the go since I got home..
I got to Stavanger on Wednesday morning and had a few hours to kill before getting on the boat home, so I went to a lecture on psychiatric disorder (which would've been very interesting if I could follow better), but after a long night on the train - getting only about 3 hours of shut-eye, that was a challenge to say the least! - From the boat, I went straight to the hairdresser before visiting grandma's. Since then, I've been back and forth between my friends, Ann Iren's and some auntie-time, and family rounds.

Yesterday, Kennet and I were at my dad's house for loads of food and too much energy! I mean, those little trolls are just so energetic and restless, it's both

Trying to hold plastic toy-containers as quadruple eyes
-not as easy as you would think!!

exhausting and hilarious! And they always love being photographed, so we had an unreal session filming them having trouble lining up for pictures -just cracking up (workout of the week)!



I also collected some really nice yarn as my step-mom won't be knitting as much and was clearing out the stockpile. So I got some good merino wool for baby-something knit project for Ann Iren's doll-face girly.

Tonight we'll be at grandma's again, and tomorrow her and I are browsing the shops - hoping to get some ideas for X-mas!

Comments...

So, I didn't look for, or realize the option before, to open for comments from everybody (non-users).. I fixed it now, so comment away!

Home sick...

Phew! Yesterday we had one of our compulsory activities at school - a discussion on the oppression of women and minorities, feminism and the politics for equality... a mouthful to say the least! I can't really say I had any new revelations or hear any new arguments as such.. but I was actually a little surprised - in lack of a better word - that everyone in the group, with a majority of girls, were against gender quotation in the employment market; at least in the long run.

My mommy and me

When reading up on feminism the past week, I've kinda been missing home -hearing my mom and brother in my head all week have just triggered the home-sick bone. Good thing I'm going home on Tuesday for a week!

Won't see my mom and step dad 'till Christmas though... but I've gotten pretty used to it, living away from home - you never know when they go off around the world, so even when I go home I may just as well not see them.

My mom and grandma

However I'm sure I'll be busy enough,
getting around to friends, my dad's house and the kids, grandma, etc.. Time never seems to stretch enough when I'm home; especially when I have to get some studying in as well.. It'll be a full program as usual -Yay!

Let the shopping begin!

Gift in process, so I won't quite reveal it! 

I figure it's about time to think about Christmas- presents and projects!! I've started a couple of knitting-projects, as well as collecting some may-be-gifts / may-be-mine shopping finds.. And this weekend, I made a few potential gift boxes. for easy wrapping - on with the workshop!

But I've only just begun! ...and I need tips and hints both from everyone, if I'm going to finish early enough to get it all home before I leave for Brazil!

I'll be posting my own wishlist here in a while (still having trouble remembering what I've thought of earlier...) - perhaps you'll get some inspiration from that!

I've had one suggestion from my Amanda for these braided head-bands, which I might do a couple of.

So, I'd love to hear some more wishes and wish-lists, so the shopping can really begin!!

We have the world!

Today we got a fantastic world-map we ordered on-line at www.kartbutiken.se, to hang on the living-room wall! It's only a poster format, but I'm going to make a stick-frame on the back, and make it as a paper-canvas and perhaps also polystyrene, or something like that, so we can set pins where we've been! I'm loving it!

Awesome!!

Pancake question!

I love the always returning, funny looking last pancake of the batch - they always form a good figure..

What does this look like to you?

A last taste of summer

Best cinnamon rolls I've made so far!

It's just amazing to me we've hit October, and we still have a few summer-days left now and then! Not trying to rub it in anyones faces (well OK.. just a bit..), but it really does amaze me how we haven't really had real autumn- weather yet! We've actually had a smaller heat-wave this weekend, setting in at about 20*c at the highest.

Well, we managed to make the best out of -presumably- one of our last real summer-days yesterday: I spent the afternoon baking awesome cinnamon- and chocolate rolls, and we had sweet juice and rolls in the sun with my cousin; in town to visit old friends.

I've also had a bit of a shopping spree the past week (Yay!) I got really cheap new shoes at a store called Belle Shoes, which I think is a Chinese brand...


- I've seen rumors around the web of them not being of much quality.. but hopefully they'll at least last the season, and if they do they're the best 299sek I've ever spent on pretty wool- lined leather shoes!  

 ...oh, also got these cute old spools as well as a beautiful old wash-board at a retro-shop in the neighborhood. SO cute! Now all I need is a sewing- machine! ..and sewing- skills...

Speaking of...

...flights! I've got mine booked, and I'm heading to Brazil for Christmas! Who'd 've thunk it?
Normally I'm very much set on staying home for the Christmas holidays - especially since I'm very seldom home as a student. This year however, pretty much my whole family will be just scattered all over the place, so when my mom and step-dad invited us to Rio to spend the holiday with them and his family, coming down from Seattle and Portland, I got in! Another unconventional holiday for me; but I'm sure it'll be exciting. I'll have to get to see the huge Christ the Redeemer statue, hopefully get to do some samba dancing, and definitely lie in the sun with some ice cold Coronas!

Love it!

Speaking of Christmas; has anyone started on gifts yet?

I got these gorgeous bags at Beyond Retro, and I'm thinking one is a potential gift, so I've kind of started (I just might end up keeping both of them though... ;) I've also started a couple of knitting project, hoping it'll finish in time..

Any wishes or tips? Please leave a message!

Enjoy the flight!

This week, I really feel like school's taking off! We're already done with the first section of this term's course, we've gotten our semester-assignment and I need to work!! Right now I'm just taking a break, but I'm working on going through all my notes and putting them together, so I'll hopefully be able to sort out the mess both in black and white, and in my head! Time is starting to go by too quickly already...

The subjects I'm taking the this semester is a full 30 points, so I really need to stay on top of it from the get-go, I think. But it's still better than the system at my old school though, where you'd have all of the semester's content building up for two major exams; head to head. Now I'm glad I have a mid-term exam in November,

Wouldn't you just kill to have some Penelope skills??

as well as the assignment and an end-of-term exam in December before a final home- exam in January. It's a lot, compared to what I've been used to, but you definitely get the feeling of breaking it down more, which is good.

I'm also trying to land enough web-coding skills on the side, to hopefully launch my step-dad's website for his business for Christmas.

Home - where your heart is

Well.. yes, home is where your heart is.. but my new home is pretty friggin awesome all by itself!! When I first came in to see how much bigger it was, compared to how the pictures make it out to be, I couldn't stop jumping up and down for joy!

My mom and mother ''in-law'' were a great help the first week here, from the drive over, to shopping and company.. We had a great time getting to know the city; walking around all day and even a roundtrip on the city guide-buss!

Better late than never, ey? I wanted to get everything together before unveiling, so it took some time, but here it is; our awesome apartment! Starting og with a lovely little front-yard above...

Livingroom

Livingroom

Livingroom

Livingroom

Bathroom

Kitchen

Kitchen

Office / guestroom

Office / guestroom

Bedroom

Bedroom

The autumn leaves

It's blowing up for a chilly fall-storm today... Still ,I'm not admitting summer defeat untill I see other colors than green (right as I was writing this of course; on the way to school, I looked out and saw a yellow-brown branch on a tree..)!

Bergen last year, on the way to school...

  Oh well.. it's still pretty warm out (still 15 degrees cel. today -despite the winds), and anyways: I love spring! It's just as beautiful every year and makes ready for a new start.

Flees and tees

Still enjoying around 20 degrees of summer in Gothenburg! Today is quite whet, but still good temperatures!

Today, I should be dedicating the entire day for reading after taking almost all weekend off... Well, I got a good 4-5 hours in, so it's not the worst.

Saturday I didn't really do much..

Legg til bildetekst

we had a nice, lazy day followed by a movie in the evening based on real events - Tropa de Elite - about the corruption and drugwar in Rio de Janeiro. Absolutely recomendable and interesting, though gruesome.

Yesterday I went down to the big fleemarket in town for a little treasure-hunt!
I found a really nice, old yellow nighty, a polkadot spin-skirt and a few everyday tops, just because they cost me nothing upon the tha last hour of clear-out before closing-time.

The find of the day! Can't decide if it's a gift or keep.

I also got an old vinyl of the great whistler Roger Whittaker, some knickknacks and starters for christmaspresents, and last but not least a gorgeous 40/50 year old vanity mirror and brush!

Cluck cluck

Beurocracy! We'll go mental before we have anything to show for it! We've been working to get local phonenumbers and bankingaccounts, but good God what a chicken hunt. After a visit to the bank, tele2, and I don't know how long Hans spent on the phone with customer services on both ends, we still got conflicting messages of what we need to do...

Anyways, he finally got through phoneservice which is on the way in the mail, and we decided to just go with all-online Skandiabanken -which is easier than the girl at another bank's cashier with seemingly no clue.
-Pretty much like home in Norway, I guess.. You need a paper for this, and another paper for that, transcripts from this -but then so much is electronic today, so you'll have to hunt down the paper-transcripts like there's no tomorrow.. back and forth. Lucky for me, Hans Magnus doesn't take a break 'till it's done, so he got it all together rather quickly ♥

With the norwegian studentloan foundation, it's the same kind of problems, only it takes even longer... Today I finally got through to a caseworker, just to make sure the papers I sent in were adequate documentation for my spot at school, since the e-mail I got was an automatically generatet "documents recieved" message. The only responce he would give me was a sourpuss "your case isn't done yet -you'll know when it's finnished proccessing!" ..Ass..

Chocolate-chip pancakes

We had these for dessert the other day.

225 grams all purpose flower
1,5 teaspoon bakingsoda
2 spoon sugar
1 egg
15 grams melted butter
3 dl milk
50 gr chocolate bits

(1 grated apple)
- Didn't have one, didn't need one -probably works though!


SO tasty!!

Comatose

We've had a pretty lazy weekend! Yesterday we had such good weather though, so we couldn't stay in all day - I got some sun, and got a good start on the books. Hans also finally got his new surround-sound system installed, so we're living it up on the tech-front.

I wanted to look around for a small commode after school today, but after a fruitless quick spin by Myrorna, I think I'll push that 'till tomorrow, when I don't have school...  I only had a 3 hour lesson today, so I got to sleep in again today, and got in a bit of reading before school; which is good..

As for my schooldays though.. I'm starting to wonder if I'm really ever supposed to get into a regular rhythm of sleep. I've been good at getting to bed early the past year or so (even though that doesn't  always mean I'll get to sleep early...), but every term - every year - and basically on any course and program I've signed up for the last 4 -going on 5- years, lectures have been late in the day; never forcing me out of bed early enough! Yes yes... I should be able myself, as the will is there... But I'm not able! When I do get a few weeks of normalized rhythm, I feel better than ever, but then suddenly I go back into my morning coma...

At least I'm not alone..!

Ikea hacker!

So.. having a retired landlord isn't too bad! She gets up super early, and hang our laundry yesterday for the 2nd time -Before, we were sure she did is as a protest to us being slow and lazy, but yesterday she came to make sure she didn't intrude :p I'm liking this life!


The other day I went to IKEA for a few things to hack:
A horrible dresser in the hall gets made-up into a pretty cross-period piece...
I also bought two simple (-and cheap!) Lack shelves, and turned them into a nice settingtable above the laundrybaskets in the bedroom. As these shelves are basically only filled with cardboard, I carefully sawed one of the shelves into to pieces, and used just a nail on each side and a whole lot of glue to put the table together! And it worked - looks perfect!

♥

Get your motor runnin'!

I am loving my 15min ride to school. I can relax, look around and start my note of the day. I found it makes bloging easier, when I note things along the course of the day...

Well today I had my first real lecture -great to finally get started! The lecture was good, and everything.. but for some reason, I had my mind set on finnishing at 4. Remembering I had a whole hour to go sucked harder than a Fish at Folsom. Especially when the only thing on my mind was food!

I'm in a pretty big class, but I've had some small-talk with a few nice classmates. Don't ask me their names... but they seem cool. They're also some of the round about 40-50% of the class who have studied at a uni before, so I'm sure we'll all find our "click's" soon enough. -I was considering going to a party tonight, put together by the student union.. As it's a huge event, it would suck to show up all alone though, and since none of the ones I've talked with were going, I put a stick in those weels and had a nice movie-couch night in stead with my hubby.

1st day of school!

So, I had my first day of school today, with introductions to the program, registration, a walk around our campus and met a few classmates.

There were a lot of swedish eyes around me; not really a course for internationals. I can't be sure, but I'll bet I'm the only non-sweed - at least from what I could hear. The class is in swedish though, so I didn't expect many either.

I'm able to understand and follow just fine - even with the dean talking with the tongue of a latina hopped up on E!! - Which I guess is a good start, as the swedish girl next to me were lost halfway through. But it'll take a little time for conversations to flow I think; especially adjusting my own language, which still switches almost from one sentence to another. I sound funny...

It's exciting and a little weird trying to get started somewhere, whithout knowing a single person, but I'm sure it'll pick up once parties and classes start up for realz!

Peace out

My campus building!

My new blog, for my new life

So, I just moved yo Sweeden two weeks ago, to join the University of Gothenburg for a second bachelor; this time on Public administration.

I'll be bloging about my new life here, spent with the love of my life - everyday stuff, hobbies and thoughts etc.

Stay tuned...