Gathering those loose ends

I'm adding a lot of people on Facebook these days. I know it'll probably be another one of those places that has a lot of fans, only to disappear in a couple years, never to be thought of again. But for once I want to try to keep in touch.

On there I'm not apples, I'm the real me. So if I've added you it means I care. At least a little. As a general rule I only add people I've met and want to meet again, so my circle of "friends" has been rather limited thus far.

Now is not any different - I'm adding the people I once knew, and hope to know once more. Or at least talk to once in a while. That includes people from home, family, high school, Uni, flatmates, Amnesty, Uganda, work, you name it.

There are plenty of people I can't find, not all are on there, but no matter. It's fun seeing what those I do find are up to these days :)

Caught on Film

I couldn't get out of it. For some reason they'd already made up their mind about having me, my room and my apartment in their film.

I did some walking, some talking (some talking while walking), messed up some lines and was even allowed to stare at the beyond-yummy cameraman/director since I had look straight at the camera all the time.

I can't believe thousands of people will now see how bad an actress I am!

Yikes!

How do I get out of having the University of Bergen (UiB) and the student organization (SiB) come filming this apartment for some sort of publicity stunt tomorrow?

Apparently they want to talk to me.
And preferably some flat mates.

I really don't want to spend the morning cleaning this place (cuz it really needs some cleaning).

Any ideas?

Alfred is dead!

To: All students
From: IT Department, University of Bergen
Subject: Alfred is dead

Alfred the server is dead and cannot be brought back to life.
All services have now been moved to different servers.

In the mean time we're having fun
shovelling snow!

Email from Uni / Student Council

TOMORROW - Friday May 30th - our dear Martha in the Social Sciences canteen celebrates her 50th birthday.

The Student Council wishes to honour Martha on behalf of the social science students - and we hope YOU want to show up if you're still in Bergen.

SHOW UP
outside SS at 12 tomorow.

- To join us honour Martha.

The Student Council will bring a gift - if anyone wants to bring a cake or anything else you are more than welcome to do so.



I'm so glad they send out things like this to remind us what's really important. Exams? Hah! Who cares - most of us won't find proper jobs for a decade anyway (that's provided we've finished studying by then).

Happy b'day Martha - don't know who you are but apparently the others love you!

My Tuesday Morning

7:00 In bed
I'll get up... soon...

7:30 On the floor
I'm up! I'm up!

7:35 In the bathroom
BANG!! <-- Thunder 7:40 My room
Lights blink, it's completely dark outside for a couple minutes

8:06 My room
Leaving for my lecture, starting at 8:15

8:13 On the bridge
Wait a minute... [slowing down] Wasn't there something about us not having lectures one of these weeks?And was that the week we were writing our paper? Because that is this week. Which might mean there is no lecture today.

8:20 Lecture hall, Social Sciences building
Door is locked. No lecture today? Crap! I woke up at 7 for no reason??

8:21 Lobby, Social Sciences building
I was supposed to go to the library to get a book that's waiting for me, and I was going to buy a book I need for my paper. But nothing opens until 9. I'll go to the computer lab and check out when the library and the shop opens. I didn't bring any books since I was going right back home to work on the paper.

8:25 Computer lab
As always it takes an eternity to log on..

8:30 Computer lab
A very long eternity...

8:32 Computer lab
No one else can sign in either...

8:35 Different computer lab
I'm all alone here. Let's see....

8:40 Same different computer lab
Nothing works!! What do I do now, just sit here?

8:45 Still same different computer lab
Hmm... I got a two week old paper I can read...

9:03 Hallway outside computer lab
Finally it's 9!

9:05 Ground floor of building containing library
Library opens at 10. Good thing I got to check out the opening hours at the computer lab first. Not!

9:15 Book store
Got the book!

9:45 Back home, online

• 05.02.2008 Logon problems. Due to power outage there are problems with logon to My Space this morning.
• My Space is temporarily unavailable. Check your e-mail and My Space.
• All central systems have been stopped.
  - All central IT systems have been down due to power outage, email is still unavailible.

9:50 Back home, still online
This means I can't find out if today's lecture really was cancelled, I can't see if Thursday's lecture is cancelled and I can't find the paper I'm supposed to be writing.

9:51 Still online
Maybe I'm psychic but I actually downloaded the assignment last night.



I really should have taken the big bang in the bathroom this morning as a sign not to leave the house.

Passwords

How to make a new password for your University network account:

The following rules apply when choosing a password:
1) The password must be at least 6 signs, only the first 8 are used.
2) A word consisting only of lower case letters is not allowed.
3) A word consisting only of upper case letters is not allowed.
4) A password consisting only of numbers is not allowed.
5) Your account id cannot be part of the password.
6) Your account id spelled backwards cannot be part of the password.
7) Your name cannot be part of the password.
8) Your name spelled backwards cannot be part of the password.
9) the signs ',",: and ; cannot be used in the password.
10) You cannot use your current password.

...talk about taking precautions...

Argh...

Tomorrow I'm going to Bethlehem to do an exam in macroeconomics.

Today I've been drinking lots of tea to stay warm and awake while studying. Tea goes right through me, more so than alcohol, which means I've been running to the toilet all day.

Now would be one of those times if it hadn't been for the fact that my new roommate (a girl, moved in yesterday) has decided this is a good time to occupy the bathroom. She's in the shower.

And I need to pee!!

My semester

I'm doing three courses this year; Administration and organization, Geography and Anthropology.

A&O started in January, Geo will start in February and Anthropology in March, a nice spread. Even exam dates are spread out with one week in between each.

My only problem is that I find Geo interesting and I like the books. Doesn't sound like much of a problem, I know, but add Anthropology which I also like, then A&O which I seem to detest. Not the subject as such, but the books. Actually, I'd probably hate the subject if I understood what I was reading...


Instead of doing as the professor said at the end of my last A&O lecture: "For next time, read the book by Scott, will you?" Yes, sure, I'll read a book I don't understand when I've got plenty of books I do like that I have to read. That's my excuse, I have to read all the books anyway so I might as well read the ones I like first. But that way, which has been my way the past four semesters, I end up being behind the rest of the class from the second lecture on.


Reading itself isn't the problem, taking notes is. I could read all the books just fine, but that way I wouldn't remember anything when it was time for exams. Which is why taking notes is the way to go. Taking notes takes forever, especially when we have to translate terms from English, terms which seem to exist only in that field of study and not in an ordinary dictionary. Language tends to complicate things, because;

1) All books and articles are in English.
2) Lectures are in English because there are foreign students.
3) Lecture notes by professors are in English
4) Exams are in Norwegian.


I clearly don't mind English. If I did, this would all be in another language. It's when we're learning something in a different language than the exam and have to find the correct terms with which to translate all English terms, by ourselves.

We had that in Psychology a few years ago too - going to seminar groups or even the exams, finding questions about something we'd never heard of before, only to realize afterwards we knew what it was, we'd just never heard of it in Norwegian before. Especially annoying since a lot of words cannot be found in an ordinary dictionary, some not even in the dictionaries made especially for that field of study. Which is why the lectures are usually the way to learn the terms in Norwegian, now that's impossible since also lectures are in English.


IT'S FRUSTRATING!!


Maybe I should tell someone at the Uni instead of just complaining...

Important message from the Uni

For a period, starting August 21st, The University pages will be down every morning from 5:55am to 6:00am, due to necessary maintenance. The students will be notified when this period is over.


As if we're up at 6am?!?

Lectures

ECON210 Welfare and Economic Politics
Tuesdays 12:15-14:00 (22.08.2006 - 14.11.2006) NB: every second Tuesday
Fridays 12:15-14:00 (25.08.2006 - 08.09.2006, 22.09.2006 - 17.11.2006)
Venue: L. Meltzers hus, Biggest auditorium

ECON230 Macroeconomics II
Mondays 08:15-10:00 (21.08.2006 - 04.09.2006)
Tuesdays 12:15-14:00 (29.08.2006, 26.09.2006, 10.10.2006, 24.10.2006, 07.11.2006, 21.11.2006)
Fridays 08:15-10:00 (22.09.2006 - 27.10.2006, 10.11.2006 - 24.11.2006)
Venue: L. Meltzers hus, Biggest auditorium

Fredag 10:15-12:00 (03.11.2006)
Venue: Dragefjellet (Law department), Auditorium 3

ECON240 Statistics and Econometrics
Wednesdays 12:15-14:00 (23.08.2006 - 06.09.2006, 20.09.2006 - 22.11.2006)
Venue: Realfagbygget, Auditorium 1
Thursdays 08:15-10:00 (24.08.2006 - 07.09.2006, 21.09.2006 - 23.11.2006)
Venue: L. Meltzers hus, Biggest auditorium



Is it just me or does this seem rather confusing?

I should be used to the Uni's way of making everything as complicated as possible but I never seem to be quite prepared. I was planning on putting together a schedule of what a normal week would look like, but by the looks of this it seems there will be no such things as a normal week.

Looking closer, I can see I'll be starting at 8:15 three days a week. I can already say I'll be missing a few lectures this autumn... Not on purpuse (never on purpose), but if I have to get up at 6:30 I know there will be times I fall asleep two seconds after I turn the alarm clock off...

I just love sleeping too much...
Gotta find someone who can help by kicking me out of bed.

Email from the professor

Someone (yes, a man) attending the econ 110 class borrowed some books on game theories from me. The person now blushing has to come and return them.

Uni Loo Lecture

Computers?

The net is not working. Again. So I'm at the computer lab. Again. But I won't go on about the printers this time. Or the people using them. I hate them. But they don't care.

Anyway, the Uni pages say the system went down after the power went out yesterday afternoon. But the net hasn't been working where I live since Saturday - didn't turn the computer on till 8pm so I don't know how long it's lasted. Horribly annoying when we're told we have to check our email every day for important notices. When the Uni uses the net this much for anything and everything, they should be able to keep it up a little better than this.

Then again, there is the horrible thing about never knowing if it's your computer, your connection or the whole system that isn't working. I hope it's the whole thing cuz that means they'll fix it. If it's just me, no one will know. Like in June when my net didn't work for a week then this guy came and said I'd disconnected the network. Apparently I'd done that, without knowing how to, in the middle of the night, while sleeping. I don't think the network here likes me. It tried to kick me off when I first came here a year ago, saying I had to get rid of the bug in my pc and kept sending emails all the time. Then I fixed it but it came back. We have to have antivirus and the Uni provides one (that totally sucks) but naturally I can't download that one when the net doesn't work.

Shall I continue?

What to do, what to do... There was something i was going to say but I can't remember what it was... I'm gonna print some more pages then go read. I have an exam this Friday and it's not like "40% of your grade" as I heard someone say on an American college show. Our exams are 100% of our grades. So I better study. And have lunch. I didn't have breakfast.

Oh that's true, I was gonna say something about the professor and his butt but I'll get to that later. Stay tuned!



Edit: I just found out the 'yesterday' the net went down was Friday. So it was still working 6 hours it stopped working and it was not working 12 hours after that. I'm confused.

Computer lab part deux

I just printed a 42 page document. Then I had 15 sheets left to print a 14 page article. But it was somebody else's document and it wasn't just a little text, it was a full page of dark grey. Now I have 13 sheets left and 14 to print.

Oh and I found the thing where you can see who's in line for the printer. I cancelled mine from this computer but I don't have access to any of the others so I can't cancel those. Can do that from the printer itself though...

I need a white sheet...

Computer lab

I'm at a computer lab printing things. That's ok, I like printing things. What I don't like is when a million others are printing their things and your never know if it's your stuff or somebody else's coming out. You put in a sheet of paper and out comes... economy? development? globalization? maths? confirmation of plane tickets? Then you're standing there waiting, this isn't mine, that isn't mine. Whoever it belongs to isn't coming to get it. Cancel the job? Hope the next one is yours?

Put in a new sheet of paper. Nope, not mine. If you had an unlimited supply of paper in your bag, this might not be a problem. But most of us aren't walking book stores and we don't have unlimited of supplies of paper in our bags. You can risk, as I have, that you suddenly don't have enough paper left to print what you were actually going to print. Sometimes they don't put out anything we have to print for a week, then everything comes the same day. Today there's a bit and it's messed up (messy professor) and I have to cut and paste and change the font a bit. Which I really don't mind. As long as I get to print it.

Now ssssh we have to work!

Mix-up

I just realized the last repetition lecture in ECON115 (Economy) is on the same day and time as the exam in SANT112 (Southern Africa class).

Does anybody know where one can buy clones?

My week

Monday
Got back to Bergen yesterday. First day of University, starting Development Studies. Since we were new, we were divided into groups lead by older students. They would be taking us around the city this week, starting out with a tour of the buildings where we'll be having our lectures and seminars. In the evening we went to two of the guys' place. Most people left to go to a concert, not having bought a ticket I stayed behind with another girl and three guys. After a while we headed down to the club aswell, losing sight of everyone we knew, I spent most of the evening walking around with this girl who kept wanting to go out for a cigarette. On the way back to my place around 2am I saw a hedgehog on its way across the bridge, probably on a way to a late party.

Tuesday
Woke up at 8:30am, sat up, thought 'No way!' and went back to sleep. The official opening of the Uni year was at 10, I hear it was fun... At 2pm I met the others in my group, sat around for a while before going to a bbq behind a club. It took so long for anything to happen, I decided to run some errands and get back home. Realized I'd forgotten the charger for my phone, called my dad to get him to send it. Early night.

Wednesday
9:15am, meeting for those doing Development Studies. Afterwards we all signed up for our subjects and for exams. Those who didn't have Uni email accounts sorted that out.

Thursday
Quick info meeting about a subject I'm taking, then at 15:30 we all met up, having been told we were going to solve riddles all around town. Not having a clue what was happening, we were lead into a club were we were told we were going to sing karaoke. Never done that before and so Danish band Aqua's infamous Barbie Girl was performed by the 11 of us. Next up, a pizza restaurant. There we picked a song, got each our balloon filled with helium and sang the best we could in squeaky voices. The next so-called riddle involved throwing soaking wet sponges on the older students following us around; points awarded when you hit the head or the ass... I don't know who won the whole contest but I know it wasn't my group. Some of the others went to go sit in a park, I went home before I joined them at a club later in the evening.

As for what really happened that evening, I'm not quite sure. I managed to lose my bag and my beloved shawl which I bought at a flee market a year ago. Some guys were talking to me, when the lights were turned on and the beer taps turned off, I went out with one of them. I'm not sure what happened. I'm not sure I want to remember everything. I talked too much about something I shouldn't talk about, he wanted to have a glass of wine and 'have fun'. I told him politely he'd have to find another girl for that. He said no, he would just go home. He seemed nice though. I went back to the appartment alone.

Friday
The superintendent came with a key for me, I called my phone and was told it was at the police station. Not feeling my very best, slept for a while. Never going out again.

Saturday
Went to the police station, was told it was closed during the weekends, come back Monday. Went to the shop looking for noodles but they were out. Not having eaten in 48 hours I still wasn't hungry but was starting to feel rather light headed, realized it would be a good idea to have dinner. Watched Analyze This again.

Sunday
4:45am. Dooooaaadooooaaadooooaaa. Fire alarm. Out of bed, out the door, wait for roommates, down the stairs. When we get to the first floor there are lots of people standing by the exit, most in pj's, some still dressed. When we moved in last year, the fire alarm went off all the time. They didn't hook it up to the fire station system until August 1st this year. After 5-10 minutes there are blue lights outside. A firetruck pulls by the door on the floor below us. Then another one. Two firemen in smoke diving gear rush through the door, another with 'ordinary' fireman clothes. They stop on the ground floor for a while before one guy comes up the stairs. Ten minutes later someone comes saying "527... 527!". Two women with a bunch of keys comes through the door.

After about 25 minutes the alarm stopped and we started going back to our appartments. 527 being three doors down the hallway from us, the smell of something burnt was heavy in the air as we walked back to our rooms. Going back to sleep took quite a while, that alarm stays in your ears for a while. Apparently I wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep. We still don't know what happened, just that a girl in a wheelchair moved in there a few days ago. We've been wondering for a year who came up with the brilliant idea of placing handicapped people in wheelchairs on the top floor, unable to move on their own, not allowed to use the elevator in case of a fire. The rest of the day has been spent finding exam dates, schedules for lectures and which books to buy tomorrow.

What a week...

A Student

The past days I've been trying to figure out why I'm still registered at the Psychology faculty at the University of Bergen, and not at the thing I'm supposed to be registered at now. It said I would study the exact same thing as last year, which isn't any kind of correct. I paid the registration fee to the Student Organization and today it had finally come through, I'm registered in the right place (but at the Psych faculty aswell) and my loan has come through.

I read a bit more about it since now I'm able to see it 'from the inside', and it turns out that in two years, I'll most likely be heading off to South Africa, India, Peru, Ecuador, Uganda or China for a year. Those are the six we can choose from. Maybe my inexplicable dream of going to South Africa will actually come true? I'll have to stay here for four semesters which might be tough (I'd like to go abroad sooner) but the staying in one of those countries would give me the chance to see something completely different from what I'm used to.

I'm going to start Development Studies, starting with economy of countries in the south and geography. I realized that if I do this for three years and get a bachelor degree, I'll be 23 (almost 24) by the time I finish. That's not too old. After high school I spent a year in France not studying at all, then I had my one year course of psychology which I'd just like to forget all about. Now, two years after high school, I'm starting a bachelor degree. I just hope I can stick it out.

I used to worried about messing around too much, wasting time. But when I came home here this summer my parents told me what my classmates from five years ago were up to and I realized half of them actually live at home, having a job in town or somewhere close. Then I went to meet some of them and apparently I'm not the only one who doesn't know what to do with my life.

It's all starting over again.
I'll do it right this time.

Help!

Please pick one.

Bachelorprogram i administrasjon og organisasjonsvitskap
Bachelorprogram i antikke studiar
Bachelorprogram i anvend geofysikk
Bachelorprogram i arbeids- og organisasjonspsykologi
Bachelorprogram i arbeidslivsstudiar
Bachelorprogram i biologi
Bachelorprogram i estetiske fag
Bachelorprogram i Europastudiar
Bachelorprogram i faste jords fysikk
Bachelorprogram i film- og TV-produksjon
Bachelorprogram i fysikk
Bachelorprogram i geografi
Bachelorprogram i geologi
Bachelorprogram i havbruksbiologi
Bachelorprogram i helsefremmande arbeid
Bachelorprogram i historie og kulturfag
Bachelorprogram i human ernæring
Bachelorprogram i idéfag
Bachelorprogram i informasjons- og kommunikasjonsteknologi (IKT)
Bachelorprogram i informasjonsvitenskap
Bachelorprogram i informatikk
Bachelorprogram i informatikk-matematikk-økonomi
Bachelorprogram i integrert kystsoneforvaltning
Bachelorprogram i journalistikk
Bachelorprogram i kjemi
Bachelorprogram i kommunikasjonsteknologi og nye medium
Bachelorprogram i kulturformidling
Bachelorprogram i kvinne- og kjønnsstudiar
Bachelorprogram i litteraturstudiar
Bachelorprogram i matematikk
Bachelorprogram i matematikk og statistikk
Bachelorprogram i medievitskap
Bachelorprogram i medievitskap med spesialisering i praktisk fjernsynsproduksjon
Bachelorprogram i mellomalderstudiar
Bachelorprogram i meteorologi og oseanografi
Bachelorprogram i midtaustenkunnskap
Bachelorprogram i miljø- og ressursfag
Bachelorprogram i moderne kunst og estetikk
Bachelorprogram i molekylærbiologi
Bachelorprogram i musikk
Bachelorprogram i nye medier
Bachelorprogram i offentlig organisering og leiing
Bachelorprogram i pedagogikk
Bachelorprogram i petroleumsteknologi
Bachelorprogram i politisk økonomi
Bachelorprogram i prosessteknologi
Bachelorprogram i retorikk
Bachelorprogram i samfunnsøkonomi
Bachelorprogram i sammenliknende politikk
Bachelorprogram i sosialantropologi
Bachelorprogram i sosiologi
Bachelorprogram i språk
Bachelorprogram i språk og informasjon
Bachelorprogram i tannpleie
Bachelorprogram i utviklingsstudier
Bachelorprogram i visuell kultur
Bachelorstudium i geofag
Bachelorstudium i matematikk og naturvitenskap
Bachelorstudium i olje og gass
Påbyggjing i økonomi og administrasjon