Exams And Other Things

A lot of things have been going on lately, and it doesn’t surprise me.  Around this time every semester, stuff hits the fan.  Today was no exception.

I set my alarm for 6:30 AM in order to get up early enough for some studying before my written Norwegian exam at 9 AM.  At 8:02 AM, I woke up.  Dammit…  Took a quick shower and rushed out the door without any breakfast.  Rushed to the culture center for the exam, then remembered I needed to go check out a Norwegian dictionary (no English allowed) for the test, so I ran up to the school, then back down just in time to make it for the exam.  I walked in to get my seat, only to be told that our exam was moved back to the main school building because of a listening exercise included in the test.

So all four of us in our Norwegian class (Hope, Anjuli, Kelsey and me) went up to the school and asked around until we found out our room.  After about fifteen minutes, we realized no one was coming to give us our exam.  Checked some more rooms, and nothing.  I guess there was a mistake, and it was the Introductory Norwegian course that was supposed to change spaces, not us.  Finally, they arranged a new room for us to take our test, and we began about thirty minutes late, but were given more time on account of the confusion.  The exam was much easier than I thought it would have been.  It was certainly easier and fairer than our second midterm exam was.  I finished with plenty of time left over, so I relaxed downstairs while I waited for the others to finish.

What followed was five-ish hours of waiting for the oral part of the exam.  We did some good studying, and a lot of goofing off.  It was nice to spend that time with my buddies.  I hope I didn’t annoy them too much.  The oral exam went pretty well.  I was worried that I would have to talk about a political party in Norway, but ended up telling the fairy tale “De Tre Bukkene Bruse” (The Three Billy Goats Gruff).  I knew that the teacher and evaluator would have heard that story a few times today, so I decided to switch it up a bit.  I gave all of the goats names (like Carl) and made them eat the troll instead of poke his eyes out and get fat in the pasture.  I thought it went well.

Did some grocery shopping for some much-needed food (these cupboards were bare, for sure).  On my way home, I cut through the elementary school playground, which was not a good idea.  As you can see by the pictures, the weather here has not been ideal.  These pictures are actually a bit old.  We don’t get this much sun anymore.  It snowed a little while ago, and it’s been rainy recently, which means lots of ice and some really slick slush.  I must have tripped on something in the schoolyard, but whatever happened, I ended up face first in the semi-frozen mud.  It didn’t hurt too much, and it was dark, so no one saw me… I think.

But the day has been all gravy since then.  I only have one exam and a paper to write, then I’m done for the semester.

Thanksgiving/Birthday:

I had the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving, which was coincidentally my birthday this year, with a bunch of international students.  We had five whole turkeys and gallons of mashed potatoes and gravy.  Tons of people brought dishes to share as well.  I had four cans of cranberry sauce, thanks to my mother who so kindly sent them.  Tusen takk!

I won the big side of the wishbone after an epic battle with Janys.  She didn’t stand a chance.  It was great to share my favorite holiday with so many people I know.  It was a nice piece of home.

Damn.  I’m 22 aren’t I?

Years For Beards:

We’re continuing to write articles for my little group project, Years For Beards.  It is a music review site, and so far it’s doing pretty well.  Things are slow with most of us in exam mode, but we’re still pumping out articles.  At least one a week.  Click here to go there.

Milk A Fat Guy:

I started another website (bringing my total number of domains up to five, I believe).  This time, it’s a comedy site.  I have these comics that I made sitting around, and I wanted to share them with people.  The name comes from an inside joke.  Dan gets it.  Like Years For Beards, I’m looking for people to make content for the site along with me.  I’ve gotten generally positive feedback on it.  New strips are ready to go up soon (possibly every Wednesday, but maybe every Sunday).  The comics will probably be aimed toward an older audience (above 18).  I think Corey might be joining me to make some strips.  I hope he does.  Click here to go there.

Support Your Scene:

I tuned in to Support Your Scene this past weekend and had a chance to talk with Ashley for the first time in a while.  Support Your Scene is a radio program on WSUM that focuses on music local to the Madison area.  This Sunday, from 1 PM to 3 PM Wisconsin time, is Ashley’s last show with Support Your Scene.  She’s been a great host, and I’d like to formally thank her for getting me into WSUM.  I will, and do, miss you, Assley.  Check out her last show this Sunday.  Click here to go to the WSUM site, where you can listen to our live stream. I’ll be back this summer with my show, Bridges and Balloons.  So look forward to that in 5-ish months.

Music:

I’ve been spending a lot of my spare time working on music, like I always do.  Recently, however, I have been happier with my music than I had been earlier this year.  Corey and I are working closely on some stuff for Pushmi-Pullyu and K. Wilhelm that is turning out great.  I’ve also created the first few [praw] tracks that I’ve been happy with in a long time.  I have decided to keep working on music for the rest of the semester and avoid releasing anything until I get back to the states.  In the past, I would have released a lot of stuff in this 10 month time, but I’ve decided it’s best to wait a bit and make some more cohesive releases.  Expect a big party when I get back home.

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I’m sure there are things that I had wanted to say, but it’s getting pretty late (2:34 AM).  Now that exams are coming to an end, I’ll be able to post more.  Keep in touch – remember, you don’t need an account here to leave a comment.

First Snow

“What the hell is that…?”

That is basically what was going through my head this morning when I woke up. I was told that Norway would not really get snow until maybe as late as February. But here we are, the 3rd of October, and there lies a thin layer of snow on the ground. My only consolation was that a steady downpour of rain was slowly melting the snow.

The snow took several hours to actually melt, but the rain is still falling. Having talked to a few other people, it is going to be like this quite often now until the actual snow starts in earnest. Snow during the chilly nights; thawing during the day. I guess I can live with that. I am from Wisconsin, after all. I was just a bit shocked to see this today – the leaves just started really falling two or three days ago.

After getting over the fact that I would be cooped up in my room all day, it was actually kind of nice to sit on the balcony and watch the rain. It is not often that you get a chance to witness three kinds of condensation in work at once. It was foggy, snowy and rainy. Perhaps it happens more often than we think, but it was nice to notice it.

I am becoming increasingly surprised with how much of a day I can waste and how quickly, at that. A nap, a meal and a few episodes of MythBusters, and eight hours have already passed since I woke up. Without being able to really do anything out side of my dorm, I am finding it a bit difficult to get anything done inside my dorm. And it surprises me that I feel so much “cabin fever” today. Normally, I have no problem being alone. But lately, I have wanted less and less to be by myself.

I guess lately I have been feeling an exceeding amount of loneliness. I feel a blatantly unfounded sense of being left out. And it bothers me a bit, not so much because I know that I am wrong, but more because of these angsty teenage feelings. I am better than that kid stuff… I have friends both here and back home, so why would I feel this?

Perhaps the worst is that these feelings manifest themselves in strange ways. I can sometimes get an odd feeling in groups, which is the exact opposite of how I am used to being. Even worse are the dreams / nightmares. Always of things I can not have, in an emotional sense more than material; they usually start off amazing, with a sense of elation, only to end in a deafening sense of rationality. It is a sinking feeling waking up to that.

But enough of that unwarranted depression….

There are a lot of things I can occupy my time with, even if I have difficulty doing so. I have this next week off. Unfortunately, my trip to Amsterdam fell through – we could not get tickets soon enough to make the trip very affordable. I will instead maybe take the train or bus out to some place in Norway that I have not visited (which would be any place in Norway, basically). Probably, I will end up sitting in my room or taking a walk, though. Hope and some of the other American girls are off to Ireland and other cool places like that, and later in the week, Marco and Jesus are going to London. Money is tight, though, so I am actually not too upset about not going anywhere – just a bit bummed. I am planning to save as much as I can for now, and instead, take some nice trips next semester when I have a better idea of where my money sits.

Thanks in large to conversations with Kelsey, I have started to pick up writing again. I am making my first true attempt at writing a book of some sort. A real book, not the things I have done in the past. It is going to be based a lot on my experiences here, but in a sort of bizzaro way. I can not imagine what people will think of my personal experiences here if they read what I have in store.

I am also working on more music, as always. I had a really great talk with Corey the other day, and we are finally going to try some true collaborative stuff now. We have some ideas and some sketches to go on. In the end, I do not know what we will have. But Corey is great at what he does – I have no doubts about his ability and drive. I am fairly confident that we will come up with something respectable.

I have been picking the tempo up with my label lately. The other day, we were approved for a Content Distributor account at mininova.org. We have had 480-some downloads in about a day with our first two torrents. I think it is already starting to lure in some new artists for the label.

And whenever all of the above fails, I guess I have this blog to turn to.