Home again

Home at last, after a looong trip. I quite enjoyed Amsterdam this time, spent a day there cruising on the canals and visiting shopping streets and the Van Gogh museum, which was good. :) Had a good trip although I didn't converse much with the ppl sitting next to me, i was sick and actually managed to sleep for the first time ever! I give my new neck-pillow all the credit for that. I never knew that these simple inventions would be so useful. mmmm :)
Now I am home and do nothing but play playstation, watch tv and eat a lot.. I'm gonna get really huuge I fear if I don't exercise some. Oh well, it's only the 2nd day home and I suppose I should get well before I start freaking out about such things. today: SHOPPING!! Finding nice stuff and having parents pay... :) I like b-days. Whee!
Shout out to my Norwegians: Give me a call!

Update

It's been a little while, I suppose it's time for a small update along with some photos..

Lately I've been working more than usual, just to fill my vacation with something.

My birthday was spent bbqing for the first time ever.. usually the only outdoor activities that can be undertaken on my bday is skiing, ice skating etc. So it was really cool. We even had some nice weather. After my birthday Elisabeth stayed with me for a week, so we were 3 ppl sharing bedroom. Actually that's a real holiday feeling, ppl staying over. :) Manuel has been living with me since 29th of November, and is leaving after I leave. It's only 4 days till I leave now! whoa... this last week I've been working and partying on alternate days, it's been pretty full on but with much fun. :) Weird to think that at home it's cold.. it's gonna be real nice to get home now. Spend some time slacking and eating well. Still lots of adventures to come! Thought I'd throw in a picture of the cold as house where I live now.

It's absolutely freezing, and it's summer!!! Gosh. I am really not sure how long I'll be staying in this house. The people are nice but a bit sensitive to noise, and the walls are thin as paper. hmm... In any case I'm not moving till summer is gone. I'm a bit lazy. Gonna go rest a bit now. More pictures later, k? tired. Hope u all are enjoying summer/winter, work/holiday/studies, looking forward to Christmas/CNY/some other obscure holiday, and so on.

My Back... grrr

It's so much stress moving into a new place!!! I've bought so much furniture and stuff. Getting the bed was heaps of hassle, and it's hard as hell so my back is hurting.. grrrrr. I'm going to sell it, first chance I get. hopefully I can live with it for a while...
Other than that, i'm kinda settled in my new place now. Will post a picture soon. We haven't got internet at home yet, something that I really miss, I kinda feel cut off from the world now. was getting really excited about myspace music, it is possible to find almost anything there! Hopefully we'll get the account up and running soon...

Happy Birthday Jojo!

Joanne is turning 21 today. I wish u a wonderful magical day, with lots of fun and games and prezzies. :) Too bad I can't be there to celebrate with you...
Gonna miss living with Jo next year. We'll have to be good at keeping in touch, have lunches and dinners together!

HUGS and Love

My Job

The before and after shots:

BEFORE:

Even after I have cleared away one load, it looks like a bomb has hit the laundry. Lately this has been the rule, I leave it nice and tidy, only to find it back in WW2 state after 16 hours. I suppose it's quite demotivating... The only motivation given by the housekeeper is that sometimes she doesn't complain about small things like placing the bathmats in the wrong place or mixing the coulours of the bath towels... This person must have a very exciting life.


AFTER:

After I've spent 8 hours washing, drying and folding this is what the laundry looks like.






And this is what the linen cupboard looks like:

A brother's love

After 4 years of not talking to my mother, my brother showed up at my grandmother's funeral. I don't know how much to write about this... I was really disappointed when my mother told me how he behaved, and even now he won't talk to her much, it's all cold and he still treats her as though she's stupid and second rank. I just get so angry.. I haven't talked to him for a long while, and now I don't know what I would say if he called. Which he will on my birthday, so I had better come up with something. Most likely it won't be nice though, I really do not know what to say! I've been extremely patient with him these years, but after going to a FUNERAL and behaving like a first class ASSHOLE I'm not sure whether I should consequently call him my half brother. Some bad genes must have come from somewhere. And the whole situation is hopeless, it doesn't help for me to be shouting or to stop talking to him, I've been trying to be diplomatic and solve the issue, but he's really not nice about it.

My mother really is better off without him, she doesn't need someone screaming and shouting that she is stupid every time she needs help with something. I think the only reason why she is trying is because of the grandchildren. But if they're going to grow up being as block headed as their father, what good are they to the world.

Myspace

I got a myspace page. It's kinda cool, there is so much one can do with it! So to check out some music that I'm listening to or whateva, go THERE !

http://www.myspace.com/tina_si_nte_heimesia

rain

Soundtrack: Anneli Drecker - All I know

I must admit, with so many people gone I feel quite lonely, even though I am spending time with the people that are here. I think I handle leaving much better than being left. Today I've been dining out with Anette and Marita, it was quite nice to be in all Norwegian party again, chattering on about food, alcohol quotas, dialects and so on... :) After that I've been stuck here in Stafford, mostly glued to the screen. Living with Loïc is quite different from my previous flatmates. I quite understand it though, it takes time to get out of a routine where one only need think of one self, into having to be considerate to flatmates. It'll work itself out, I'm just pmsing and don't want to do additional shopping or dishwashing. Probably spoilt by pampering flatmates and stuck in old routines.. I want to move out. Into the new flat, away from the ghosts of Stafford. Move on.

Freak accident - not for the faint hearted

I have a friend at home that always manages to get hurt in really weird ways, that shouldn't really be possible. Now, I have the deepest sympathy for her...
Yesterday when I got home, about right after I wrote the last post, I was a bit wobbly on my feet so I fell down, and as I was trying to lessen my fall my grabbing on to the bookshelf my right arm was pierced by a knitting needle... It was kinda groce.. It was going more or less right through the upper part of my arm (thankfully it cleared the bone so it just pierced the muscle), and you could see the other end sticking out under the skin on the other side.. Pulling it out was a not so pleasant experience. I have drawn wisdom from this incident.
1: Drink less
2: Never leave knitting for ages without finishing.
Joanne, when you return next year your scarf will be waiting for you. At last.

Partynight

Keane - Everbody's changing

Drunk happy tina: I wentout today with Mark and Kristof, if was nice but quite different from what I am used to.. I miss Manuel, I'm not used to going ut without him now.. what ami gonna do next year..? Miss miss.. it was a good night though with the guys, met up with Anette and her flatmates at the end, so I finally got to meet the guy that I'vee heard juicy details about, hehee. I guess I'll be ok next year, but I will really miss living with Jo. She has been the one constant thingin my welli life since I got here, now Iwon't see her that often.. *SIGH* "Everybody's changing and I don't feel the same. " Come summer!

Holiday

Today was the start of holidays. Where is the super-summer that the weather people were predicting?!! The weather forecast says that it will rain for 4 days straight, until next weekend and maybe more.. Gosh, I'm bored already. Work yesterday was dynamite, I suppose that's the way it will be all summer.. *sigh* Gonna work my ass off during the next two weeks, thank goodness I have a job otherwise I'd be in big trouble.

Stafford is quiet, both my flatmates left this morning and Loïc moved in while I was sleeping. I want to move now...

I finally got a permanent address here in welli though: I got a Po Box. :)

Departures of another kind..

My grandmother has finally departed this world, after having a heart attack about 3 months ago that took most of what strength she had left in her body. I was getting so sure that I would get to see her one last time before she died...I was wrong.

The last time I saw my grandmother was actually over 2 years ago, during the summer of 2004. It seems like such a short time ago... all the while I've been jet-setting around the world, I've forgotten about time in Norway. It is as though time there stands still and now I realise that it doesn't.

I will remember her as a strong woman, the one she was before my grandfather died, a terrificly scary woman.. Hehe. We didn't get along very well when I was a kid, as I was stubborn and refused to do things that she told me to do as long as I did not see the point in doing them. When I got older, our relationship changed, the woman had changed, she was happy to see me when I came to visit and we had some nice times together. I'll remember her fondly.

..

Had a small get together for Geeta yesterday, as she suddenly decided to leave earlier.. *grumble*. Doesn't fit my shedule very well. Got my last exam this year on Friday. Gosh, then it's back to the books for another 3 days... feels a bit strange. Hopefully I'll learn something about time management before my education is over..

Far vel, Peter

Second friend out. I didn't cry yesterday, but now that I'm alone I found it appropriate to howl a bit while blogging. So my life shifts again. It's going towards the end of the trimester, and people are leaving one by one, some for good, some for summerbreak. I have no idea when or where or if I ever see Peter again. This weird German guy that Manuel dragged into my life. I'll miss you, brother.

Happy Birthday Regina!

My little cutie had her birthday yesterday, and amidst the blogging I forgot to create this post. BUT: here it is! Happy birthday, dear! I remember last year I was travelling home, and rang you up when I landed in Singapore. This year I'm not going back till December! Anyway, I hope you had a marvellous day, ate lots of cake and don't feel guilty at all about it. :) When I come to Singapore in January we should do an extended photoshoot, dear. I couldn't find a single one from last year with only the two of us! Ok, I'm feeling really bad about not sending you presents yet... I promised so many times to do it that I really feel all rotten on the inside, but really, I have had a lot on my mind and shedule. I hope both you and Feli can forgive me for that... *sigh*
LOTS OF LOVE! *muakz*

don't make plans

Today is Gyu Fawkes day, and yesterday there was a huge pyro-show in the harbour. It was great, almost as great as the chinese new year show last year. Or rather, equally beautiful but shorter.


Yesterday we also had our "last" party here in Welli, or rather, one of them, I suspect. We went to a huge houseparty in Thorndon, a costume party with the theme: Circus. It was wild. The house was HUGE, and they had a dancefloor surrounded by a balcony.. the rooms were lit with strange coloured light and all over there were circus posters, stands, signs.. they even had a smoke machine for one of the rooms. Talk about going all the way.. hehe. Must have taken them ages and cost heaps. Anyway, stayed there till 3 and then went to town. It was a quite late night, already started to dawn as we went to bed.

Lilya 4-ever

Sukk. Busy day today... probably tomorrow as well. I've been running ard, trying to get things in order... I'm so preoccupied with organising everything, when really there is no need to. Guess I always get a bit on the edge whenever my world is shifting. Today I watched one of the saddest movies ever... It was about a Russian girl, who was left by her mother and got caught up in human trafficing. Made me feel really sick.. I still have this feeling and I don't know how to escape it. It really happens, all over the world, right in our neighbourhoods..

Flat # 2

I've finally found a place to live. It's at the top of the cable car, a nice as room with windows and plenty of sun. The house is old but the atmosphere is quite nice, I like the place. Anyway, it's an open lease, which means that I don't have to stay there forever if I don't like it. But so far it seems great, the girl is quite nice, and I'll be living with Loïc as well. :) Wuhu! Finally! I don't care that the toilet is crap and the bathroom a bit dodgy, I've had muuuch worse: Recalling the first flat I shared with my X... the bathroom didn't have any light, the sink didn't have any pipes which meant that the bathroom constantly had about 2cm of water (we had "toilet shoes", haha), and no heating in the floors either. This is a lot better than that. I'm happy with my choice today.

Good day

Soundtrack: Kings of Convenience - I'd rather dance with you

After yesterday's sorrows, today proved to be a muuch better day. :) Actually I should have been studying hard out for my exam, but somehow I don't have the proper drive... It'll be fine though. Tomorrow should prove a more effective day (just keep saying that, Tina...)

So instead I spent the evening making Lasagna for my friends! Wuhu! And niice icecream with explicit sex talk afterwards... We know how to party.. lol Oh my god, !xobile

Oh well. better try get some sleep.

P...M...S?

I'm just sad right now.. sooo tired, had a hard night at work. Last night, Manuel decided to have a party, because he finished his last exam. (whee! Good on u manu!) Anyway, I was royally stressed out and kinda ran away from the whole thing... I had a crap as day yesterday. I had to get up at 2 to look at a flat, which prooved to be crap as usual, and because I didn't sleep enough I was too tired to study after I got back and decided to sleep. Woke up at 7pm and didn't get to do any studying again because of the party, on top of that all the ppl were giving me a hard time for working, saying that I was boring and that I should call in sick, and saying that I should give a fuck about this exam.. I am so stressed about this exam! the lecturer has a way of twisting the words in the questions so that I don't really know what it is he is asking for.. it is making me unsure and I cannot bring my dictionary because It doesn't do any good anyway.. So I ran away from the party. the whole day was whasted... Mark has left me in the search for the apartment.. I'm sick of the whole hunt now and will put it on hold till tuesday. I don't have time for this shit! Ahh....

On a brighter note:
I have confidence in this world now. It came to me on the bus. I suppose it was almost like a religious thing... suddenly, watching a traffic light on victoria street, I felt at home again. Not in Wellington(although this does feel like my home right now) but in the world. The world holds my soul at the moment, and I feel confident that anything I need will be given to me at the appropriate time, although I won't necessarily recognise it at once.. Sometime I miss having a religion to cling to, but then I have one of these moments, and it comes to me that I do have a religion. I do have a set of beliefs, I do believe in things that cannot be proved, but still it feels sooo obvious to me. It's good to have a purpose.
No regrets.

10 Things to appreciate on a rainy day

1. I don't have to go out if I don't want to
2. I can sleep till 5 ish
3. Having beers in the morning after a long night of work
4. Two wonderful flatmates
5. Being given the perfect opportunity to stay indoors and STUDY!
6. I will save money because I don't want to go shopping
7. Lots of friends live in the same building
8. If I get bored I can actually tidy my room
9. Croissants and cheese
10. I don't have to work tonite

Flat

I wish I could find a flat soon! I'm getting a bit tired of searching for a flat. I now know how to decifer flat adds:
Magnificent views = on top of a steep hill far away from supermarket
Large windows = Freezing in the winter
Suitable for up to 5 tenants = 3 at most!
Preferred tenants: Young profs = Old geezers with snug jobs
People have this image of what a student is like.. loud, messy, destructive, lazy... I don't really want to lower my standards, just because I'm now a student. I know I'm being demanding, wanting a mint flat without moist damage or shit-coloured walls, but I guess in reality we've got to be quite lucky to find something that will suit everyone. I passed on the one I liked cuz Loic didn't like the rooms. Ok, so one of them didn't have a door.. so what. I saw potential in that flat.. Just keep looking then. I've spent several hours flathunting this week. Maybe 2 hours revising for my exam... It's no good.

Goodbye Lene...

Gosh, what an unproductive day it has been today.. We had Lene's sendoff yesterday... :'( Wasn't feeling that great this morning. It is the official start of the leaving-season... ***SIGH*** She's the first one out, going travelling with her family for some days and then just coming back here for a few hours before leaving, so won't see her again in NZ. I'll miss you, babe. All the good times. Memories.

I miss myself the way I used to be at a certain point in time. At the same time, I do not wish go go backwards.. Strange dilemma. Have been working both Friday and Saturday night, now it's Sunday morning, and I'm chillin' with some beers before heading off to bed soon. Been a quiet night, thank goodness. Today there was a bunch of us who had like an official sendoff dinner for Lene. Damn, I hate these dinners. Novembers suck. This year I'll be saying goodbye to 4 friends: (cronologically) Lene, Peter, Elisabeth and Manuel. I hate saying goodbye to ppl. It's been a year and a half already, and I still miss the first people to leave Welli after getting to know them. All the small memories from when Feli and Regi were here... As I was sitting on the bus yesterday I was thinking about how different places in Welli reminds me of different ppl. I'll list them for you :)

Circa Theatre, Downstage and Bats Theatre: Felicia and Regina
The church on Dixon/Willis: Feli
The church on Church St: Regi
Espressoholic: Jo, Feli, Regi and Kuni
The Malthouse: Kunihiro!
Lambton Quay, outside Supré: Go
My room on 3rd floor in Vic house: Trong. (I miss u as a neighbour, Trong!)
The bench outside Pipitea/Havana: Anette
The Norwegian Consulate: Lene
The water purifier in Vic House/every shoe shop: Joanne
Strawberry fair: My girls ;)
Civic Square: Geeta
Shitty Okey's/the couch: Manuel
The bench on Manners and Willis/Lyall Bay parade: Peter
The bench in the Botanical garden: Elisabeth
Michael Fowler Centre: Travis
Te Aro: Tarz

There's more but I should go to bed.
Mmmm, memories. I carry you all in my heart.

2000 words in 12 hours.... a bit drained and terrified that this is a shit essay... Exam tomorrow! Whoa.. wish me luck... Tuesday! Can't wait for tuesday... maybe finally some shopping??

Wide awake

It's 8:15 am now, and unfortunately I'm wide awake. I have to sleep soon! I've slept about 4 hours the last two days... It's quite worrying. Work last night was quite interesting.. I had to kick someone out, and there was HEAPS of work to be done.. I don't really think about it, but I basically go for 8 hours doing physical labour.. Which to me is quite all right. Think about all the ppl all over the world who do physical labour, and if they're lucky they get paid $1 a day.. I'm working with a Somalian guy called Dayib. I really like him, he is nice to talk to, and he tells me about stuff that I'm curious about. He came here from Somalia about 2 years ago, and I'm learning lots of stuff about Somalia, about how he views his religion (it is Ramadan now), just things that you wonder about but don't talk about. He is a very strict Muslim, which to me is a bit frightening, but it is also really interesting to learn what it's all about, and he doesn't seem to hate people that are of different religions (not that I think that Muslims do, it's just an observation). I'd like to go to Africa sometime. It's nice to meet new people.

I'm sooo busy right now, so I'm sorry to all of yous who are trying to get me on MSN, trying to arrange lunch, trying to talk to me and stuff. I've got a test today, a huge test tomorrow, one essay due by Friday, another essay due on Monday and an exam on Monday. It's a lot... Come Tuesday morning after work, I'm finally going to be able to relax again. Gotta go and try to sleep now. Hopefully I can.

Drowning in assignments

Soundtrac: Technohead - hippie

Today I spent the day in Petone, doing field research for my hostel-assignment. Damn, that place felt lonely.... longing for something that it didn't have. I just wanted to go home after 2 hours.


: the view from... close to the place where I'm building it. This is Petone. The city centre, anyway.




It was a gorgeous day, however, and I actually found a suitable spot to plot my environmentally sustainable hostel. Whay!


This is a sad promenade... it's almost as thought the town has lost something that it once had, and is longing for it.


So, after wandering around for a total of 4 hours, I feel like I know what I need to know about the place. I don't know why ppl would want to come here though, even though there is an absolutely awesome hostel, the town hasn't got much to offer. Strange choice by the lecturer...





I want to go back over there!
Welli, my babe, I'll never leave you for Petone.

Quiz-night

Guess who won the international student's quiznight? that's right! I, Elisabeth, Manuel, Christiaan and Loic .Haha, it was good fun. We had an awesome team name: the Hoff. In the end we came in 8 points ahead of the second team (and yes, there were more than 2 teams..) Manuel even won us two mugs of free grog, and Eli almost won us two more. :) After that we went home and I baked too many buns... We still have some, they're not doing too ok. :D

Good news!

Soundtrack: Snap - The Power

I've got a job! I'm now working two nights a week at the YHA in Wellington, as night manager. It's not at luxurious as it sounds though.. most of the workload is doing the laundry, and then on top of that I'm responsible for about 300 sleeping ppl, secruity checks every now and then, late comers and check-outs in the morning. I think that two nights a week is quite appropriate, possibly I'd go mad if I had to do more laundry than that. On the good side, I get to walk ard with a walkie talkie and feel veery important (snort). ^_^ Oh well, we'll see. Maybe I'll try to get another job on top of that, preferably during daytime. But hey, I'm saved! No more saving (although I really should be concerned about my spending anyway.. heh).

bored

Yesterday we had dinner with all the Stafford-people. 'Twas nice to just sit and talk shit for hours while waiting for food.. We were supposed to meet up with Loic and some ppl, but since it took 3 hours for the food to be served we didn't make it. Oh well, it's not the last chance. Tuesday is the international quiz night again! the goal is to do better than last time!
It's been a while since I was this bored... It's Saturday and since I'm sick I decided to stay home. So, I thought it would be a good idea to call up some friends at home maybe, but guess what. No one in Norway is at home today. Not even mum!

I surreder. I'm gonna read the last chapter of marketing that I wanted to read in bed before falling asleep.

a HUGE pep talk to myself (and to you guys as well)

Make promises to yourself that you can keep, and keep them. Be true to yourself. Start where you actually are today, and take it one step of the time. Don't make plans that are unachievable. don't pursue visions and ideas that will in the end lead to unhappiness. Work hard to reach goals that you perceive as important for your development. Cry whenever you feel the need to, there is no point in holding back. Don't be afraid to show your friends that you care for them and love them. Don't think that love is something that is reserved for everyone else but you. Let go of your fears that are keeing you back. Live in the moment, look to the future, remember the past. Don't compromise your own needs to accommodate the needs you believe that other people have. Don't rely on other people for your happiness. Believe in karma, live by the golden rule. Good things will end, but good things will come. Don't keep yourself down. Everyone chooses their path in life, don't depend on someone else to find your path. But don't be afraid of walking where other people have walked before, if you're going the right way, any path is the right one. Live where happiness lives. Treasure small moments, but don't get caught up in them. Laugh when you say hello, cry when you say goodbye. Follow your instincts. What you need will be given to you when you need it. Trust life.

Travel itinerary time

I finally got round to ordering my trip next year, and already stuff was almost booked out... thank goodness that I had the sense to do it now and not wait. So, not confirmed yet, but I'll probably be going to Germany for a week to see Manuel's place n surroundings before heading for Singapore to see my friends(!) and then onwards to Melbourne and then back to good ol' Welli. It's a familiar route, but I really don't mind seeing Melbourne again, I'm thinking of doing the last year of my studies there even. Ugh, so much planning!!!

Other than that: It's SPRING!!!

Late Happy B-day, Feli!

As usual I'm a bit late, and you'll have to wait for the stuff to reach you.. have faith! Have patience! I did not forget!

I hope you are having an awesome time in Korea, dear! :) Can't believe how fast time has flied since we were all happily living together in Vic house..

Big Birthdayhug from Tina.

Cape Palliser

Soundtrack: Red Hot Chili Peppers - ...

I have news: I am NOT going out at all this weekend. Quite frankly, I'm too tired today, have had a long and eventful day. We (Me, Manuel, Peter and Lene) went for a daytrip to Cape Palliser, and had a joyous picnic among the seals. It was totally awesome, and once again I've managed to get a sunburn.. whay! This summer could prove to be quite a challenge for me I think..
Have to sleep now... sooooo tired. Couldn't sleep last night; heat, nightmares, strong winds, high heartrate... weird combination. Hopefully tonight I'll fall asleep witout complications. And tomorrow: More national parks! workworkwork! last day of the "holiday!"

Felicia!

I DID collect stamps! And glittered images, and notebooks, and stickers of various kinds, and napkins, and phonecards, and little stuffed animals that can clip onto stuff, and paperclips and hats and keychains (!), and Marbles!! yeah, and ponies, and ROCKS (I still do, actually lol), and those cards that you get when you graduate at home (russekort), and the kinder-surprise toys, and pencils/pens, newspaperclippings of my fav band, pins, postcards and letters from my 1000 penfriends haha... and magazines.. and I'm sure that I'm forgetting already lots of things that I tried to collect but never worked out. That's insane... my whole childhood I've been collecting useless stuff. No wonder my mum is begging me to throw away stuff every time I'm home.
It is actually quite nice to look back at my childhood and realise that I've been confused the whole time, it's not new at all!

Which is worse? not being able to verify, or verifying a negative?
I'm glad that some stories have a happy ending.

I'm starting to worry that my nightly trips to the botanical garden and the waterfront are not too safe ventures.. I'm good at worrying nowadays. I worry about the wellbeing of my friends more and more, even though it is not beneficial in any way. I worry that they might not eat properly, that they're depressed with schoolwork, that they make it safe home from town in the weekend...
I'm worried about my grandmother, whether she will stay alive until I come home, and then if she does get better I am worried about how I can make a difference in her life, improve her quality of life. It's quite a selfish thought to just think that she will be at peace when she goes, something should be done to make her feel at peace before she goes. And I don't know how I can do that from here. I used to be good at writing letters for her and I always remember to send her cards for xmas and stuff, but then it was brought to my attention by my uncle that she never reads them, and she never opens her mail. Since then I kinda gave up, and now it may be too late. Creative thinking - - creative thinking. No use in embracing all this negative energy, I'll let go


I distinctly remember giving this advice to a friend some years ago: The world will take care of itself if only I let it. Why can't I embrace that thought right now? Getting out of town next weekend will be good. I need to wash off all this noise and stuff, will be awesome I think.

boing whee

Soundtrack: Prodigy - out of space

uh oh... it seems I've lost my landline. I guess I do need some time away from the city... Today it seems that my brain is separate from my body, at least they cannot co-operate for long stretches of time. Strange... usually this happens when I want to get away from something or a situation.. Yeah, I think I do. I'm not comfortable in my head at all today, there's too much BS going on and I don't have too much control, which is probably why I just wish I was somewhere or someone else. I should run away from home :) Too bad I'm not dressed well enough to do that.

Dinnerparty and picnic.

Soundtrack: Yo Yo Ma: Bach - 6 suites for unac. Cello

Funny how so much of and average person's social-life relies on food..

Monday we had a huge dinnerparty here, something that was just going to be the three of us flatties plus three more ppl turned into twelve people during the course of the evening... And still we would have had food enough for at least five more people. Talk about overdoing it. It was nice though, getting a bunch of current and old flatties over.


Then on Wednesday I had my first picnic this year (weird eh.. considering we're eager picnicers) with Peter at Lyall Bay. He is a nice guy, reminds me a lot of René for some reason, so naturally I adore him. :) It was nice to sit at the beach, listening to the waves and talking about all kinds of stuff. The consequence: I've got a sunburn! It's not even spring yet! Something tells me that my SPF 130 will come in handy this summer.. ahem.
Today I've actually done some work. I know, it's pretty unbelievable, but I've been industrious and have been able to start my first assignment and am well on the way. Yay! Can't wait for Mozart on Saturday!

what really matters in life

I learned an important life lesson today:
Never try to swallow your spit before the drink when you already have started the process of drinking.... Just do it all in once.
What happens is:
You confuse the two processes because they feel like two separate processes, when in fact they are two consecutive parts of the same process. The result: Wrong pipe. This can be very embarassing when carried out in a computer lab full of people who are there DURING THE HOLIDAY writing away at essays when they could have been at home in bed sleeping. Not to mention the fact that you have to go all the way to the toilet to get paper to wipe all the energy drink off the computerscreen...


My grandmother is on the mend again.. which feels a bit confusing as I've already invested quite some time in feeling down and being unfocused on my work. I still don't know how things are though, whether she is really on the mend or just hanging in there. Time will show now I guess.

...

I just wanna whine and whine, but who cares.. probably no one even reads this shit. Seems like everything I touch turns to gold these days, and all the while I'm just thinking what's the point of it all? Everything comes to an end. I'm tired. I sleep so much these days, and still all I feel like doing is sleep some more. I want to socialise, but can't think of what to say. I'm starting to hate people who say "Hey how are you" but actually don't want to know. And I hate myself for feeling down when all I really want to do is to be happy and do silly things like I usually do... I'm sure my friends find me super boring like this, heaven knows I find myself boring. Just as I found my groove again life happens.


I'll get through.
I'm gonna climb that tree in the garden some day soon. Maybe spring is not so far away, then the roses will start to bloom.

My grandmother is dying. My mother urged me to call home today, and she sais that my grandmother is sick, and won't make it this time. My grandmother wants to die.

It is breaking my heart that I can't be there to send her off, my insurance company won't cover the cost because she is 79, and they only cover grandparents that are under 75. I'll dump them next year and find someone else I think. Wankers.

I don't expect much from anyone. I know that it's weird to have your friend feel down without being able to do something about it, that's just life guys. Please don't walk on eggshells around me though, I don't wanna feel like a freak, I hate it how people can act like grief is an unnatural thing. Expect me to be a bit unstabile for a couple of days at least...

God reise, Mormor. Hils til Morfar.

I found it again

sometimes it feels as though I'm losig myself, but the storm is now oficially over! My calm is back. No more uncertainty, no more homesickness, no more sleepless nights. YES!I'm back in the game.

Drunk Happy Tina is at large again!

u guys would not believe this... or maybe you would. I decided that it was time to go, bcause I'm kinda loosing mysekf here, And Kristian insists on bringing me home! It is very nice of him, I think at home noone would careif a girl decided to go home alone. He walked me all the way hoe, like, 2 km(!) from shitty okei's to staffor, which was lucky or I would end up doing something that I really wasn't up for at all, I am sure. funny,.. I could get used to the courtesy of the foreigners, I quite like it, iin fact.
Had a good day, had Icecream wiht Anette, and then a reallu weird start of teh night, was going to go to Tarz' place but just couldn't find my way!! It was far off, I suppose it would have been better to start thgerem rather than to try and find it after drikign... I must say, this catholic church nxt to stafford, it si ringin the bell evry hour, and I'm beginning to like it. I know now when It's fullhoiw, because the bell is ringing. :)
Es friert mich.. Jtzt geh ich ins Btt.

natta. Gla i dåke alle. Klem Tina

Soundtrack: Imogen Heap - Hide and seek

What is it about some people that makes them want to create an environment of uncertainty and disharmony? I am always trying to understand the motivation behind people's actions, but sometimes I am at loss.. I had an incident yesterday that felt really degrading. I didn't even know until I woke up this morning that I cared... but sometimes things happen that I don't understand and that I can't find any logic in, no matter how hard I try. Usually I am reasonably able to put myself into other's situation...

Overslept this morning, BUT, I didn't do it on purpose! First time this year. Goodness gracious me, what have I become..
Drifing back and forth these days in all things, such as my perspective on the world and myself, the aftereffect of lots of mixed up feelings about all sorts of stuff and persons, I'm a thoroughly confused girl this weekend I think. Desto more exciting. Come 5pm tomorrow I'll not only be confused, but also bruised al over if all goes according to plan. Nothing like shooting the crap outta your friends and some random people to keep sane from time to time. (Paintball). Going to my friend Tarz' party tomorrow I think, kinda feel like catching up with that lot.

I will go photoshooting on Saturday! The weather WILL BE NICE! My poor neglected camera is screaming for attention..

gurker och fogelbaisa!

I am sure now that I'm fire. Earth stabilises me, air gives me power and water calms me down. Really.. I was feeling all wired up yesterday, and went down to the waterfront to calm down (as usual... some ppl must think that I live down there). There I had this epiphany.

Just finished my essay 2 minutes ago... still feel sick after the weekend... now have to hurry down, hand it in, hurry back home and write my german assignment.. *sigh*
Being lazy is sometimes a real curse.

ET sais: "oouch"
I totally agree.

Another day... and another one tomorrow.. and so on

Soundtrack: The Doors - Yes, the river knows

I'm all alone, but I'm not lonely, because I'm in quite good company. I realise that my life is lived through music... for example: Today i woke up to the dance-beats of Alice Deejay- Better off alone. I Walked to school listening to Air - How does it make you feel. I Walked into town listening to Røyksopp, and got partially stood up by my friend Peter (although not really) listening to Sigur Ros. Went shopping with Jo thinking about Jazzanova's mix of Fat Freddy's "Flashback". I was drinking with Geeta listening to the new Black Seeds album, and have been studying with the Doors. Now Jim is getting older, and his voice more rusty, and I'm getting slowly more tired after this weird day.

I am still painfully homesick, my heart is bleeding for some strange reason, I don't have that much waiting for me at home but obviously a part of me still belongs there. Isn't it funny how we all move in cycles all the time? We're kinda predictable.. We're sad, then we get happy again, and then back down.. and up.. I'm homesick now and so on but I know that I'll be back to happy go lucky come the end of the week or maybe next week. Why does this knowledge not allow me to skip to the happy go lucky part?? Urettferdig. I don't feel lonely... In a way I'm just missing a small piece and have to find it again. I should go down to the water... that usually helps.
I know some of the things that I miss: I miss seeing spiders in the basement, and saving them from the wrath of my mother and stepfather who would kill them without a second though... I miss being able to see Deneb at the night sky, using the arrow in big dog to find it.. I miss some of my favourite trees, the hill, some things that never change and make me sure of the certainty of life... My parents... the moonlight (This city is too bright, it doesn't go proper dark in the night)... Rain and wind, when the weather is absolutely dreadful but I know that I'll be warm inside the house... The midnight sun in the summer and the northern light in the winter... blablaBLA. Listen to me going on and on. I miss the grey book!

Cravings..

It is incredible how much sweets a woman can eat at certain points of the month! Just today I've gobbeled my way through some bee balls, a small package of m&ms, a milo bar, l&p (about half a litre), almost a whole package of pods and quite a few starburst fruit burst caramels.... I now feel quite sick. I think I have managed to calm down the beast inside that keeps screaming for more sweets, and finally can rest a bit. Trying to write my essay, and I'm slowly making some progress... I even get writer's block writing this entry right now, sure sign to get back to work!

Birthdayparties galore

Soundtrack: The black seeds - cool me down


So many birthdays have been celebrated the last few weeks... Jono.. Renaye, and this weekend we celebrated Manuel's birthday. I baked my very first cake here in New Zealand, felt good to finally do some baking! Ophelia did an outstanding job, I think we're getting to know each other now and cooperate better. It was an absolutely fantastic evening, with everyone in a good mood, having a great time. We first had a kinda big party in our flat, before we went pub/clubhopping. Nice. I bought the new Black Seeds album yesterday, when we went to the warehouse to get some equipment for baking. It's nice. :) next weekend I'm looking forward to some R&R when some ppl go for skiing. That'll be good, the plan is to finalise (or as good as) my assignment on impacts of tourism on the environment in Milford sound. Sounds nice, eh? I like the new tourism courses, they are challenging and I feel that everything is useful knowledge. Not just blablabla, like some courses are.

The wind has been really strong today, the whole house is shaking. Today I haven't even been out of the house.. We had some nice Mascarpone thingy, a desert made by our fabulous new flatmate! We've watched fight club, all huddled together in front of the comp. Just like old times, but with new ppl. Times change.

Fun link of the day: Peter Crouch in action

Sunshine - At Home.

soundtrack: basshunter - boten anna

What is it about summer and warm weather that makes all Norwegians celebrate shit music? Every single summer there are some hits at home that would NEVER make it if the weather was crap and ppl had time to actually listen to the songs, like the basshunter song "boten anna". It sucks. And it is kinda provoking that such crap should generate money for the creator. Argh.

I am sucked into a vacuum, I'm tired every day and don't have much energy. I need some rest for my soul... or something.. I dunno.

What a weekend!

Friday night was totally awesome, we went to a birthdayparty on the tenth floor, and then went partying. On saturday we started partying early again, as we were going to the ALL BLACKS GAME!
It is acutally not so hard to get excited about the all blacks, and I must say that going to the game was the absolute highlight of my weekend. Going out afterwards was soo tiring... SOOO many people in town! So stuffed, so... tiring. But the game was awesome. I thought we had bad seats, but actually they were quite nice. We were behind the goalpost with excellent view of the big screen, so we caught most of the action. YEE!

Procrastination...

I'm back to my familiar pattern of procrastination... I realise that the word procrastination is so long just because then it takes longer to write it, and that helps the actual cause, muahhah. Uploading pictures to my photoblog... commenting on other ppl's pictures... worrying about talking too much in tutorials.. gazing out the window at the harbour... searching on TradeMe... Yep. I'm back.

*Grunt*

Drunk Ha tina: ppymuahh hAhh hahh haaa..
Why is it that y can get along with someone soo much better when hy r not living together anymore??? I dunno.. I had a good night, which usually means: I drink, I dance a lot and at the end I get my kebab at cuba kebab, all good (all though they gave me carrot instead of onion today, randomm). Good luck bar is cool. I like it. I met sooo many ppl going home today, and then in the end it was onlly 2 ppl?? maybe it was the big kumara, we passed it on the wahy.. lost some ppl there I think.
Jonno's b-day today, great cake! yum!













Wo ist Peter? We tried to find him but nooo. I found Frank though. :) Tired..
Gonna sleep now.

LOOOVE

stuff

I'm confused. I just wanna drown myself in schoolwork, and not have to think about my life. There's been another shift in the world, a new trimester, a new war in Israel, new people coming into stafford house and old people have left. New lecturers, new assignments, new feelings and old feelings, all mixed together in a huge bowl that just makes the outcome of the dough hard to predict.
Maybe weekend drinking has lost it's charm to me? I wasn't enjoying myself that much yesterday, apart from the fact that I met Peter for the first time in almost two months. It made the whole night out seem worthwhile. I was feeling sick, and in a sence nobody gives a shit. If you are the person bringing others down, everyone just wants to get rid of you as soon as possible. I have seen this happen before with others, so I just took off before anyone had a chance to be brought down by the fact that I wasn't feeling good. I'm not used to all this selfishness... I feel myself slipping, that I'm developing into a new person, and I'm not sure that it's the person that I would like to become, and I'm afraid that it is not possible to change the current and float the right way. I'm going to have to try, that's for sure. But right now, drowning in schoolwork seems juuust fine to me, not having to deal with all these decisions, not having to work hard to maintain my moral, my essence.

Soundtrack: Nina Simone - Night song

Yesterday was a veery cultural day for me.. I went to two exhibitions and one concert! The day started at about noon, when I met Trav to go get tickets for the symphony orchestra. After that we decided to go see the Constable exhibition at Te Papa, a british landscape painter. After that I was on my way to the family store to look for some bedside drawers, when Manuel texted me and asked whether I wanted to go to a photo exhibition at the Wellington city and sea museum. So I thought, hey why not, I'm on a roll here. On my way there I bumped into HGL on the waterfront. Still hot.. *sigh* Gonna be a good trimester ^_^. My last cultural thing was the symphony orchestra, which was absolutely GREAT. They played music by Schnittke (some contemporary composer I have no knowledge of), Beethoven (Piano concerto no 3, beautiful) and finished with Shostakovich (which was powerful as hell, I was completely blown away!). While I was sitting there being entertained by New Zealand's finest, All Blacks kicked Wallabies' asses!

After all this culture, I met up with Annika, and went partying! Yeah! After my bad night on Friday, it was good to have a "normal experience" again. Everything is restored to normal. We got in about 4, and Olivier and Manu made food. How awesome is that! I didn't have to do anything at all!

NOW, I have to get into study mode, as Trimester 2 starts in 14 hours! I passed all my courses, AND managed to keep the dreaded first C away. Pretty happy about that. My first A+ is secured, danke schön. My hair is bright red again. Well.. I think that's enough information for now.

sunshine, blue sky and grey harbour? have to check it out...

Went out partying yesterday, such a random thing. Renaye called asking for Manuel, and before I knew it, I could hear myself say: wanna come down? Weird... I don't know her well at all, but I guess it was just meant to be that way yesterday. I miss girls.. Joanne has been gone since TUESDAY, I haven't even seen her since Manuel came home. He insists that she don't like him. And so, just to get some girly company, I invited Renaye and her bottle of wine to come visit. We decided to go out, since it was girl's night at Blend. It was wicked fun, apart from a few things: Renaye called her bf, she was drunk and he was not, they ended up havin another argument (oouch..), Ronny was hitting on Philipp's gf even though we established that she is a full blown bitch... they should be perfect for each others then (OOUCH...) (I am soo mean..), apart from that everything was great. :) I have decided not to ever drink cheap champagne again, though.

Living with Manu is Awesome though! Today he made breakfast! Just like that! I couldn't believe it...

I had my first tattoo removal session yesterday. It hurt. N i feel like I'm betraying my cute little basilisk... *sigh* I guess that time of my life should be coming to an end.

Dad's home again

Dad went home last Sunday, and now I'm bored as. We managed to do alot before he went though, but didn't get to see the south island. Next time. :) This time I got to do some of the things that I wanted to last time I went north: We went to Taupo, where we went on the Jetboat at Huka falls (awesome), we went sailing on Lake Taupo, we went to Waitomo Caves to see the glow worms and the stalagmites n stalactites, we went to Rotorua and didn't do a thing there *lol*. YHA rotorua is bad.

Got to see a lot of Wellington as well, we spent quite a few days here, I was sick the first couple of days so we didn't do a lot then. I've had an awesome time, it was so cool to show my dad around, now he knows what I'm talking about when I'm speaking of stuff ard here. :)

goin' travellin'

My dad arrived at 20th of June, and I've been doing my best to take him around Wellington, although I've been sick as and the weather has been pretty bad. It's been ok today though, but I'm really sick... trying to be brave, and not to be too much of a drag. Tomorrow we're going travelling north to Taupo, Rotorua and Waitomo. It'll be great! hopefully I'll be a bit better in the days to come, and hopefully the weather will clear up a bit as well. we were going to go to Kapiti Island today, but the weather wouldn't allow it, and I was sick, so we're going to rebook it for another day. It should be a cool trip as well, if we can pull it off before my dad leaves.
Please, let me get well before long!
So far we've been all around Welli, up to uni and all round town. It feels a bit crazy to have my dad here, like another world meeting my world... It's pretty cool though. Now he can see all the things that I've been talking about. :)

Moving date: 3rd of July!

This is a picture from the party on Saturday, one of them that is. Saturday was wiiicked, we started off at 7pm with a bunch of tequila shots, and kept on prepartying through the all blacks game. We won! Anyway, after that, at about 11pm, George took us all to a house party. Which was wild... we stayed there for a while, and then ended up somewhere else. Good luck? yea, goodluck bar. nice. I stole my first ever beerglass here in Wellington, which was an event.. heh.

Last night we went out to send off Jason, he is leaving to go back to USA soon. I don't know him that well, but we have had some good times. :) I am still completely blown by the fact that he proposed to his girl.. He got her up on stage, played "Little wing", and then he got down on his knee and asked for her hand... what a cutie pie.

hrrm

I seldom edit what I write when i'm drunk, but last night, I think drunk happy Tina had a small visit from drunk mean Tina, and what would to me read: "I hate you", would to others read: Ai heeeit jo... As in Jo, which would be bad. I do not hate Jo, I am just going nuts over my flatmate as usual. My other flatmate, that is. here's the rest of the post, intact, untouched, as it was at 2pm this morning.

It is sunday, I'm all dressed up, I look fabulous, I am drunk again, and I am freee from exams and I have just attended the last gig of Jason. And what do you know, he proposed to his GF tonite!!! on stage!! It was soooo romantic... *SIGH*

Cuba Kebab! Why are you closed!!!? wgat am I gonna eat now!? Ronnny ate the rest of the noodles, I heeeeeeeit hiimm!!!! stuppid mæn! fan heller, kann ikkje venta te eg e kvitt han, jævla parasitt! han ete meg ut av huse! eg kan ikkje bejynna å sei k0r masse han irritere meg!! AAAAARGH! EGO EGO EGO!!!!

It was a good nite. i hope I get some pictures from Renaye.

I love you all. all of you, who are reading this! I love you. I am onsly writing this becayse I am drunk, but it is true, you are my friends and I love you, I could not live without you. *BIG HUG* from tina.

Respect to Ghana

I am done with my exaaaams!!!
And on Tuesday my dad comes to visit me!!!
So much to plan, so much to do, so little time, so much fun!
Had a good time yesterday, watching rugby and partying like hell. It was good as, after all this time, I really needed to let my hair down and have some fun. Good ol' fun! Now it's time to start organising, getting ready to move out, that is, maybe clean my room? After all, my dad is coming so it should look nice. Even though I know he doesn't care about mess. So, I have booked the places for Kapiti island, I have booked an appointment to have an assessment for how much it would be to get my tattoo removed (yeowtsch), and the next step is to book time for dinner at Hede's for me, Jo and Manuel. Our date, the three amigos, the three musketeers.. (a lot of good things come in threes!). I want our flat! but I guess we won't get it before the last week of June, or first week in July. Ah well, MY DAD IS COMING TO VISIT!!!!

Oh, and R-E-S-P-E-C-T to Ghana! I lost $80 on you guys, but it has taught me an important lesson: NEVER underestimate the opposing team. I wish them good luck in the WC. (Oh, sidenote: I may have lost $80, but Pun, Trong's flatmate, he lost $1000. *edited: a couple of hundred* That has to hurt.)

days go by

I've been shot down, my daydreaming doesn't make sence to me anymore. I have to find a new set.. Thank goodness that HGL will be back in my life before long. HGL! Brace yourself my dear friends, once again he shall be in my thoughts, and probably on my blog-pages.
I'm feeling bad cause I haven't been to the gym for ages, and I feel all fat and ugly. Of course that is the normal, but not gymming does not make matters any better. I have to get back in the game.. This job and the flu has kept me from my beloved gym-room. I've been ignoring calls from my job both today and yesterday, my conscience is horrible because of it, so probably I'm working tomorrow *grumble* Would much rather like to stay in and study, but alas! I have to be a good girl and go to work, since they are being slow in finding someone else.

The HANDBAG

Soundtrack: Bodyrockers - I like the way you move

Okay, this deserves an entry.
It's been a while since the Hurricanes vs Crusaders final, but something happened on the following morning that has gone down in history here in New Zealand. Tana Umaga and Chris Masoe from the Hurricanes were out at a pub, and apparently Masoe got annoyed at this guy and hit him. So, in comes Tana, heroicly, beating Masoe around the head with a woman's HANDBAG, to try and calm Masoe down. The result: Masoe started crying, and they were both kicked out of the pub. (for more detailed description of the incident, click HERE.)

Well, this was random enough in itself. However, the story does not end there. The woman's phone was broken, and Umaga replaced it. So, the co workers of the woman persuaded her to sell the handbag and the broken phone on TradeMe. She sold it for $22.750!!! The auction had over a million page views, and over 3000 unanswered questions, HAHA. The story has been all over the news for the last few weeks. There has been no official statement from Umaga.

My my my. These rugby guys of ours. I am glad that the All Blacks' season is back, this year I'm catching one of their games when they come to play in Wellington, All Blacks vs Springbooks. Wuhu!

Ok, let's just get this tag out of the way!

I got tagged by Feli. So, here it goes!

Instructions: Name 20 people you can think of at the top of your head. Don't read the questions before you write, and tag 5 people to do the survey.

1. Joanne
2. Trong
3. Ronny
4. Manuel
5. Peter
6. Kristof
7. Gøril
8. Vanessa
9. Renée
10. Odny
11. Wenche
12. Felicia
13. Regina
14. Joe
15. Anette
16. Diego
17. Geeta
18. Katherine
19. Patrick
20. Chandra

Questions:

1. How did you meet #14?
He was mine and Joanne's random flatmate this trimester, who sadly moved out very quickly cause he got a job as an RA. Nice and random dude.

2. What would you do if you had never met #1?
I'd be flatting with someone completely different, and I would only have guy friends! whaah!

3. What would you do if #20 and #9 dated?
What would I do?? I dunno... tell Renée's boyfriend!

4. Would #6 and #17 make a good couple?
Ooh... I have NO idea. Could try? Hehe

5. Describe #3.
EEeeeeeeeh... not much to say, so won't say much. That simple.

6. Do you think #8 is attractive?
Haha, yea, she's pretty nice. ;) She's taken though!

7. Tell me something about #7.
She's a little fire-cat, I met her at my folk high school. She's fun, kinda crazy danger chic, but I like her a lot. Currently she is studying to be a journalist, or something of that kind.

8.Do you know anything about #12's family?
Heeps. ^^ She lives now with her mum, dad and a younger sister, I met them all when I went to visit her in Singapore earlier this year. Her dad scares little kids when the mums are not watching! I was hoping for some "live action" when I was living with them, but he behaved quite normally. hmpf. I guess you could say that Kwee is a part of her family as well.

9. What is #8's favourite?
Animals!! of all kinds! Furry and nice little friends. :)

10.What would you do if #11 confesses that he/she likes you?
I would be a little confused I think. She's quite fond of men.

11. What language does #15 speak?
She speaks Norwegian and English, as far as I know. I don't know whether she can speak any other languages.

12. Who is #9 going out with?
Happily living with her boyfriend for years, Christian.

13. How old is #16 now?
I think he is 30 or 31... not too sure. That is his physical age.

14. When was the last time u talked to #13?
Ages ago!! How is Europe?!

15. Who's #2's favourite singer?
UUuuh, some boyband front figure I imagine?? hehehe

16. Would you date #4?
HAHAHA. Before I got to know him I would have! Nooo, I'm just kidding. He is really nice, I probably would not date him though. He is like my brother, it would be too weird.

17. Would you date #7?
I'm more into guys... anyway, she's taken.

18. Is #15 single?
As far as I know.

19. What's #10's last name?
Askeland! How are you Odny? haven't heard from you for a long time now!

20. Would you ever consider being in a relationship with #19?
Hard to say yes... but hard to say a definite no too. He is a really nice guy, a bit shy for my part though.

21. What schools did #3 go to?
I don't know much about him.. he's at Vic uni now though.

22. Where does #6 live?
He lives with my course coordinator in Wadestown!! Normally he lives somewhere in Germany I think..

23. What's your favourite thing about #5?
He is really nice, on the surface he seems like this really dodgy guy, but he has got layers. And he is amazing at getting beer.

24. What do you think of #13?
A little cutie, a tortured soul sometimes.. I hope she is enjoying her time in Europe now, and will be able to relax more upon her return that what she did before she left.... she has got an amazing capacity to stress. It's a gift. She is selfless, her heart is true, and she will always be a beacon of light to her friends.

25. What do #4 and #19 have in common?
They like movies, they both live in stafford... they are both foriegners and they both like beer.

26. What special qualities does #17 hold in your life?
She is a good friend, and always has something nice and encouraging to say no matter what's up. She is incredibly optimistic, which smudges off on other ppl. Which is nice. :)

My gosh that took long!!

Now, the day is mine!
I tag Regina, Renée, Geeta, Gøril (make use of your space!) and Wenche!

Meditative tapes

Soundtrack: Thomas Dybdahl - make a mess of yourself

My friend Diego gave me these soundfiles to help me sleep and to help me concentrate on my studies. Apparently they are sounds that activate your brain in different ways... I've allways been a bit sceptical to tapes that are supposed to enhance this and that, and hypnotice you into sleep and all kinds of crap. However, I am going to try it tomorrow to get through a chapter that is hard and boring. And tonite, I'm gonna try the sound-sleep one. Hopefully, they can do no harm. So, Jo: If I am being unusually odd the next couple of days, call a therapist or something. Hopefully I won't be brainwashed into joining an UFO sect or something....

weekend

Soundtrack: Gurtz - Caviar

I guess this has been an eventful weekend. When broke one's expectations go drastically down, and therefore everything is appreciated a lot more. I did a psychology experiment on Thursday, which gave me two free movie tickets! wuhu! So on Friday we went to see X-men 3. I thought it was pretty all right, it was good fun. Not too much of a story line, but who cares. :) Effects were great. Then on Saturday, Travis was kind enough to lend me money to go to the LOTR exhibition in Te Papa. Yay!! It was pretty awesome, I must admit that I could have spent a lot more time gawking at the drawings and stuff, but since I'm also bringing my dad there, I will do that next time. ^^ I loved all the costumes! Sooo pretty lah... Thanx Trav! Must see the movies again soon. :) Holidays! When my exams finish, I will do that.
On Wednesday (just the day after tomorrow), my paycheck will arrive. No more money worries! ahh.. thank goodness for that. I have to get better at saving money in the first half of the year... this thing happened last year as well. Not good.

cut, burned and bruised

dishwashing

I've been working for 8 hours today. And we didn't have that many customers. tomorrow will be hell, there are over twice as many customers... *SIGH* As grateful as I am for the opportunity to make some cash, I don't think I will want the ongoing position. Mopping with a mop that was introduced in the 60's is killing my back. The growing piles of dishes are bringing me down. Yes... I think I can't go on with this job. I just hope my first paycheck will come quickly.

Better get some rest so I can do some last minute mugging up for my exam tomorrow.

hurricanes lost...

As it was so eloquently put in Wallace and Gromit: the bounce is gone from my bungey. The hurricanes lost yesterday. It was very foggy, and not so good to see what was going on on the field, but they lost none the less. We were watching it at the loaded hog, with some ppl, quite a nice little bunch of staffordians and some Germans on the side, hehe. After the game Trong got us some beer because he had put money on the Crusaders to win by 1-7 points.

I've been daydreaming almost the whole day. Tucked safely inside my own little world where everything that I want is within reach.. It's comfortable, but a bit unnerving as well, as I have an exam on Tuesday. Right now I'm downloading heeps of german music, my tactic is to listen to stuff with german texts tomorrow.

The Dishwasher

I woke up. I went to school. I went to student job search. I applied for a job. I got the job. I worked from 7 till 10pm and I will work four days next week! YEE!!! Job!! Money!! No more despair, I can pay my bill and everything, I don't have to fret about my money! Ahh.... Such a relief. I am the new kitchenhand at portland hotel thorndon. It's not a lucrative job, but at least it brings home some cash. I'm quite high today.

Apart from that, I'm hooked on pride and prejudice... I've been watching it three times already! Man... it's becoming an obsession like harry potter.. help! I can't go back to the elizabethan time, and I can't live such a life, with all the beautiful words, and I can't find a guy like that! Not this lifetime at least! What am I going to do?!

It's such a beautiful movieeeee....

I took Manuel's advice and went out for a walk to get some fresh air. Nothing like a walk to clear your mind, get things sussed in the brain. It's time to take control of my life. I've switched off my cat, from now on it's my own job to bring the cash. I shall go to student jobsearch tomorrow and get a job of some sort. At the same time it struck me that my exam is in only four days.. time to take action and rehearse some German. If my test today went crap, it's only because I didn't study enough for it. Hard cold fact. I have packed up my moon piece, from now on I'm wearing the dragon around my neck for a while. No piece can help bring beneficial change, that is my job as well. I have to change things around.
For now I'm gonna give a f that I'm getting red spots all over. At least they treat me well, they don't itch that bad, and in fact most of the day I don't notice them at all. Just give it some time and see if there's a change. At least if I die my parents can sue the doctor that "treated" me.

nothing.

Everything is going wrong nowadays. I'm feeling pretty low at the moment. I'm sick and I spent $60 that I don't have on a doctor's appointment and medicines that didn't fix anyting at all. My money will take forever to get here, and even when I get them I have to wait another half week before I can access them because my netbank sent my visa card to the wrong address, it was sent back and now they're saying that IF the card comes back to them they will send it to the right address... *sigh* I got a B+ for the easiest assignment this year, and I did bad on my test today. so good bye to the only A+ that I ever had the chance to get. The worst of all is that most of these things are not only probably, but most likely all my own foult. I don't know what it is that I've got, but I know now that it isn't scabies, and it's not an allergic reaction because I haven't been eating anything unusual, it's probably not bedbugs because I have steam washed my entire bed, and still I'm getting red spots everywhere. I've done so much for nothing. I'm really tired. I feel like a song by Nick Cave. I'm going to bed and I'm staying there untill June.

OVEN!!

Soundtrack: Underworld - you bring light in

We finally got the oven! So, the whole afternoon has been devoted to baking various things. It feels so great to have an oven! Being able to bake! But now we realise how small our kitchen is... We have to find a better place for it than the table. Big decisions.

Our oven and the first produce. :)

The sophisticated bunch: Eating homemade pizza on the floor, listening to Chopin and discussing German composers.. hehe.

My crew. My lovelies. Cleaning up all my mess that took me two and a half hour to create. you gotta love 'em.

essay again

soundtrack: Fat freddy's drop - flashback (jazzanova's breathe easy mix)

I'm trying to write my essay. I have two days to do it. So what do I do? the last half hour or so I've been taking pictures of my eyes, trying to determine what colour they are. And I have reached a conclusion. The more light that shines on them, the more yellow they are. So I thought I'd just put that on my blog, just so I can have some feeling of accomplishment today too...

Looks like it's gonna be a really calm and uneventful weekend. not entirely though: My hopeless flatmate did the dishes yesterday after cooking, even though I did not ask him to. I think Manuel has a positive effect on him, because every time Manuel is here, he behaves totally different. Hmm... strange. I've already started packing. Can't wait for my dad to get here!! I talked to him yesterday, he's booked the ticket, n he's arriving on the 20th of June, exactly one month from now! I wanna plan a nice little itinerary, so that he gets to see a lot of nice stuff. Definitely gonna take him to Rotorua to see the Geysirs, and he wants to see Hobbiton. ^_^ ooh! Let time pass quickly!

flatmate blues

These days I'm spending and increasing amount of time being annoyed by my flatmate. He's like a brain tumour. So... this post is going to just be a rant about him, be warned, if you cannot be bothered, DON'T read on.

He is like a piece of furniture, always at the same place, which is here (snarl) and always saying the same things over and over and over.... "are you going out?" "Hello?" "what are you making?" "did you go shopping?" grrrr.... Why is it sooooo important to know at all times who is in when you're not even going to talk to them!? every - single - time.. Can't you see that when I'm putting on shoes I'm going out?! YES, when you have four bags of food, you have gone shopping!! C-O-N-T-E-X-T

He never contributes ANYTHING to this flat! he eats and eats, but can NEVER buy bread when we're running out, he NEVER shops! He just sits there, expecting to get everything in his lap! He uses our stuff without asking, taking it for granted that we want to share shampoo and body soap with him. What's that?? I am still not over it, and he still steals my body soap!!!
He can't clean! He can't cook! He destroys our frying pan by using a fork in it, he destroys my strainer by leaving it in a pan with water so that it rusts... He just can'd do the dishes when he's done eating, he does them half way!! AARRGGHHHH!!! He cant even take out the friggin trash when it is sitting on the floor right in front of the door! NOT ONCE has he taken out the trash unless I specifically told him to. And he is TWENTYFIVE!!

He is always more than willing to eat/drink stuff that we offer him, but he never ever gives anything back. Manuel got him beer yesterday, and then suggested that he should get some wine for friday. His response: "I don't like wine..."
Enough. Enough! ENOUGH! ENOUGH! ENOUGH ALREADY!

I'm going insane. Being alone with him just makes me hate him more. Ok, I don't hate him, I just strongly dislike him. Give me the strength to put up with him for another month!

Oh, and happy birthday bloggie! 1 year old today!! :)

Happy 17. May, everyone!

Soundtrack: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson - Ja vi elsker dette landet

Another year, another 17. May spent away from home. Today's mission: trying to finish my essay, and trying to stay sober and stay away from parties. Missons complete: 0. Peter is leaving tomorrow, and showed up with a whole army of Germans, so again, Norway was invaded by Germany. On 17. May! ah, the tragedy.. Well, thei're nice ppl, so it's ok I think. At least I had a really good celebration, a couple of beers, and then to bed? My essay has now 1800 words, so it's ok. I did some good work today.

*pats myself on the sholder*

Well done me, and happy 17. May!

The Norwegian anthem

Earthquake

This time I'm sure I felt it. Last time there was a big one, I was asleep, and only dreamt of it... Just now, about an hour ago there was another big one north of NZ, but closer this time. Goodness... Mother Earth is grumpy.. all volcanoes are at level 1 alert... maybe I get to see an eruption while I'm here? We'll see.

Earthquake this evening

Soundtrack: Jaga Jazzist - Airborne

So, this weekend has been full of events as usual, and as usual, not many of these events have been related to schoolwork... I went for a party on Friday, it was the birthdayparty of a french girl who lives in Stafford House. We went with the group of people that we know but only hang out with sometimes, it was nice to get to know them better. It was really fun, I even learned how to scrum... hehe. Useful knowledge. On Saturday, the dynamic trio that will be united in a flat next trimester (me, Jo and Manuel) went out clubbing for the first time ever. :) We went to our former flatmate Joe's apartment to preparty, something that did not work very well because of the policies in Mckenzies... It's a pretty sucky hostel. After that we went to GoodLuck bar on Cuba, which was really good. It could have been an epic event, had it not been for Joe, who was so drunk that he couldn't stand on his feet... and decided to stand on Jo's feet instead, causing her shoeheal to break. Pretty shoes... all gone..


Then on Sunday, which actually was devoted to my essay, this random guy that I agreed to tutor that day called me at 2pm(and woke me up..) and insisted on meeting up at Kelburn library. I already told him that I might be too tired on Sunday, but I guess he took it as a joke. I realised that tutoring in Norwegian is a real drag, although it is not that difficult. I just hate having to talk like the TV-hosts do, it sounds all fake and disgusting, but that is the by-the-book way of talking, so no choice. He was doing pretty well though.

Today I've been doing some reading for my essay, and this evening I cut Manuel's hair. A task that was not as easy as it sounds.. We didn't manage to get a machine, so I had to do it all by hand. I must say, the result was not that bad though... I expected it to be a lot more shitty than it turned out... ^_^

NOW, I'm going to have a hot shower and go to bed early to be rested for tomorrow. Gnite!

picture

Funny how amazingly warm and fuzzy your brain goes when someone likes your work... so when someone contacted me on my photoblog and said that they wanted to use one of my pictures because it inspired him deeply, I couldn't say no. The result, a couple of days later is this:

For the original picture, click here.

Everything is in harmony in our flat now for once, cause now everything is sorted out. We know what's gonna happen next trimester, and everyone is cool with it.

So now I'm gonna go to bed all warm and fuzzy inside my brain, feeling completely unacomplished in my studying, and sleep tight until the morning when I have to get up early and have a marketing lecture. Must stop being lazy, or things will go bad...

fuzzy fuzzy fuzzy

satisfied spider

The spider has secured the web, caught the fly, now satisfied it can leave the web to collect dust and disappear.

sometimes it takes a lot of work not to hurt someone...

Soundtrack: The National Bank - blue as we like it

Lies are like spiderwebs. They spread out from the middle, and every single strand of it need to be attatched for the web to work. It's a fragile web, and a breath of wind can destroy it. It needs a spider to maintain it: the liar. The liar makes sure that all the ends are tied up at all times, and this can be quite a formidable task... At the same time the spider has to be careful, not to get caught in the web himself. So tiring... Even though the web that I spun today is quite small, I'm really finding it a task to maintain it. I have tied up the ends, but one end is not yet tied very tight, and I am afraid that it will break. I can't wait for it to get all old and dusty and forgotten.

hurricanes game!

Soundtrack: Björk - the pleasure is all mine

We went for the Hurricanes vs the Reds yesterday, serious fun! Facepaint and all.. hehe. We had a ritual here, painting our faces, and had to force Ronny to paint some of his face. No way was he going with us without paint! He came 'round. Then we went to the game and I got to see Nonu and Umaga live for the first time! Amazing fun! Thankfully the Hurricanes won, even though it wasn't a great game. My hottie, Nonu was playing so I was all happy. The guys were happy about the cheerleaders.. hehe. Something for everyone. After the game we went out for some celebrating. :) had a laaate as night, went to bed at 7:3o ish....

Oh and by the way: on thursday there was a huuuge earthquake on near Tonga, it was a 7,9 one and coastal communities up north evacuated their citicens... pretty weird. There was a tsunami warning, and because international media blew the news up, ppl were worried and left their homes. And lo and behold, now suddenly the government has realised that New Zealand would be sooo dead if there came a real big tsunami. No shit... there didn't seem to be much control here. My dad actually knew about this way before I did, probably cause I was sleeping, and just felt the tremours. I thought it was one of the regular ones.

The Gymoholic

As my funds are running low, I'm experiencing the same work-out curve as last year, when the whole walkaholic thing set in before exams... I'm addicted to the gym. I love the gym. I'm there wayy too much... Yesterday and today, and probably tomorrow too to keep Jo company. my my my... At least it is a somewhat healthy obsession, and hopefully this time I'll be able to see some progress. Since I started training last year in October, I can't say that the reflection in the mirror has changed much.

Been doing German all day, but mostly just for fun and I find that when I procrastinate in German I'm still learning, which is a somewhat dangerous discovery. Reading comics in German is still procrastinating.

I guess I should try to kick in the high gear tomorrow and start some essay, even though I've got a lot of time. Try to do better than last time. That is always a good goal.

a rare occurance: hangover

Soundtrack: Paul Desmond & Dave Brubeck - Take Five

On a tuesday. I am sooo embarrased of myself... Thus I decided to blog, displaying to the world just how embarassed I am and just to make it even worse so that I never do something this stupid again. I can't believe it.. I'm becoming more and more of a teenage drunk the older I get! Maybe it's like a last fling or something before I get too old to act this way. Maybe.. I just know that I'm having so much fun! What am I gonna do.... just keep on going? As long as my grades are ok? Study harder? And play on? Maybe...

Tina und Manuel: Comrades in booze.

Apologized to Jason today, just cause we were kinda abrupt and rude, barging in on him.. He thought it was hilarious. I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that some ppl have humour. And are not too sore about things. Haven't seen the others today. It was fun though, the night ended at about 3am.

Mental note: Never on a Monday.

Drunk happy Tina is typing again...Oh my goodness... Mauel shows up at 8:30 and says that I should come to this international party, and that it's the nast night with Ina an that she will be really sad If I don't come to the party.. So I guess I'm going to the partyright? Anyway, we make a total fool of ourselves, barging into Jason's flat and taking photos and all.... really bad.. Ina must be sooo embarrassed by us. (I'm sure she is). So we show up at the party, wayy too late just as I predicted it's a really sad party. We end up gettting whasted at some irish pub.... on a Monday.... it's getting worse. Jo, if I woke u up at 3am I apologize!

This is Me and Ina, she is embarrassed cause we just barged in on her guitar session with Jason O..... Poor girl...