Final submission.

The past week has been all about saying goodbye. Once my final exam was handed in, I got packing, moved out of Pantycelyn in favour of Queensbridge, and hit the town. Now, that makes it sound as if I went all crazy, but it was mostly quiet drinks with friends. I got to say goodbye to Emily, a handful of hikers and people from my Taekwon-Do club, and my dinner dates. And almost as important; I got to eat my final garlic nan from Shilam. I went to my last session in the Taekwon-Do club, which ended with a rather smelly group hug. When I wasn’t out with friends, I went for a long walk in the Pen Dinas nature reserve, and soaked for two hours in my bathtub watching Big Fish.  In other words, a day well spent.

I won't miss the Pantycelyn kitchen.

Mike from the hiking club gave me tiny model of Sam from Lord of the Rings on the very last night. Apparently, these have been given out to people who wish to honour Torin and Jacques Lakeman, the two boys who were found dead in December. Torin was a former member of the hiking club, and many members spent their Christmas in grief. People are taking pictures of these figurines, and uploading them to the facebook group “Jactor Project”. I think Sam will join me on quite a few hikes in the future. He is currently living in my wallet.

After a rather sad farewell with Joe, Chris, Adam, Rowan, Ruairidh and Keleigh, I ended my final night in Aberystwyth, in favour for a 16 hours trip home to Ås and Marius.
  I went on exchange, hoping to decide what to do once I finish my bachelor. I want to do something creative with my life; I want to show people how amazing nature is. I want to make people appreciate he tiny details you don’t usually notice. But I still don’t really know where to go from here. First off, the military has to decide if they want me. If I get into the writers course in Bø, I’ll move there, sadly leaving Marius behind. If neither of the two happens, I don’t know. Perhaps a master’s degree in biodiversity at the university in Oslo? Or something else. Who knows.

But right now, there are other things to think about in the near future. I might join Ski Taekwondoklubb, though the mean height is about 1.50 and they use another style than I’m used to.  I have to get started on my new modules, in which I will have to write a lot of assignments. In March I’m going to Bergen on an ecology seminar. And I have to write some texts for my application to the writers course in Bø. If I get accepted, I will have to leave Marius, so I’m trying to be the a better girlfriend this semester. But I haven’t really left Aberystwyth, at least I haven’t left everyone. Ella has come here to Ås for a semester abroad, so I still have to use my English once in a while. Lina and I are taking her to Oslo next weekend.  

So, to sum it up.

-I kicked some ass pads (and get my ass kicked).

-I got to see some amazing scenery in Snowdonia.

-I met some of the best people to ever walk the earth.

-I became a better student.

-I might have come closer to figure out what to do with my life.

-I got to be young and foolish and live my life, in order to die happy.

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgFeZr5ptV8&list=PL65FRAiF2G3R5F8UwCZ0oEjcHjbenX6TU (I do listen to many different styles; this is just a few songs I’ve listened to a lot this semester. No worries, I didn't go all P!INK in Aber).

If Rupert reads this; thanks for always helping me whenever I had a question. I was gonna stop by your office before I left, but I didn’t get the chance. I was also supposed to print the following picture and tape it to Roger Santer’s office door. © Piled Higher and Deeper.

 

And I won't miss the tiny coins either.

 

Ten things I'm gonna miss when I leave

1. The Tae-Kwon Do Club
I always looked forward to sessions. I'm not perfect; I can't twist my leg enough to get a perfect side kick or do my press ups without standing on my knees, but finally mastering Saju Jirugi number 1 and 2, that gave me a much needed confident boost. I am going to miss all my friends from the club, and going out with them on Fridays. Somehow, it does help to know that they will miss me too.

2. The Hiking Club
The members are all so helpful, and by joining the club, I got to travel a lot more than I would have on my own. Okey, so I didn't get to Cardiff or any other large towns, but I got to see amazing sceneries. I also learned how to dress properly for hiking in bad weather. If I ever come back to Wales, it will probably be to go hiking in Snowdonia again.

3. School
Even though they demanded more from me here than back home in Norway, I feel like that was a good thing. I got to use when I had learned from Statistics, and learned how to write a really good report. We also had a few practicals where we actually went outside.

4. Having my own room
I love living with you, honey, but sharing 14 m2 with your boyfriend can be a bit crowded. Especially when you share the rest of the house with another 7 people. Having 20 m2 all by myself, and NOT living in a basement, that feels like heaven. I've never had a room this big before!

5. Speaking English on an everyday basis
I don't feel like I have gotten a lot better, but I have gotten more confident using it. Okey, so sometimes I forget a word, and I keep saying "cantina" instead of "cantine" (thank you, Star Wars), and pronounce Tae-Kwon Do like Tai-kvon-dough, but people know what I'm trying to say. Pronounciation is important, but no-one's gonna hang me for not getting it perfect.

6. Welsh cakes
Oh god, I'm gonna miss welsh cakes. http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/welshcakes_67264 But I'll make them myself when I get home.

7. Living litterally 3 minutes away from Uni
From my bed to the nearest lecture hall. It's been great. Now I'm back to waking up at 6:30.

8. Spending money in the cantine
Usually, I keep thinking "No. No. You are not gonna buy that Danish. You're a strong, independent woman who can save your money and use it on proper food." Here, I have to buy the overly expensive food in the cantine, no guilt! At the moment, I have 65 pounds left on my card, which I have to use before the 21st. I've drunk a lot of smoothies lately.
  Even better, I don't have to cook the food myself (even though I like cooking, but it still takes quite a lot of time).


9. Spending money on take-away
I have never really done that before! I have ordered pizzas, but then I have picked them up myself. Since the cantine is closed for dinner in the weekends, I have ordered take-away a couple of times. I'm gonna miss the garlic nan-bread from Shilam.


10. And finally: all my friends

Recap

This is the day when I got all that stuff done that I haven’t had time to do the past week. I’ve done my laundry (much needed, according to my closet), went for a jog (much needed according to my heart and lungs) and got started on applying for a possible master’s degree in Sweden (much needed according to the deadline, which is on the 15th). And now I’m writing on my blog, trying to get everything up to date.

First up; my last day in London before returning home for Christmas! Milla and I checked out of the hostel, and went out to town for a few hours. She suggested we’d go to Camden Market, which I hadn’t even heard of. If I ever go back to London, I’m going back there! I just wish I’d had more time and possibly walked by myself, so that I could have used insanely amounts of time in some of the shops. They had all kinds of cool accessories, and I bought myself an earring from Virginia the Wolf, made out of the jaw of a rodent, and a tiny wooden turtle. At Kings Cross we finished off by buying some food from the food market.

My dad had said we ought to get to Heathrow early, as it apparently was very difficult to get around, but I think perhaps it’s been a while since my dad last visited, because there was no problem what so ever. I just checked which terminal to go to online the night before. The great thing about Heathrow is that you can take the tube all the way in! The not so great thing about Heathrow is that it is way too expensive. Kinda felt like when I looked at that coat at Harrods, which turned out to cost 3000 pounds. 

Back home in Norway, it was about 30 degrees less than in London. From being able to walk without a jacket, to almost not being able to walk at all because I didn’t wear thick enough socks, and my toes started hurting. It was -25 degrees in Alvdal this Christmas, so I only got to go skiing once.

My dad took a picture of me freezing.

In Norway, we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve, so we eat a fancy dinner and unwrap presents in the afternoon and evening. Even though it was just me and my parents, we had a nice evening. My mom had been very curious on what Dad had gotten her for Christmas. Apparently, it was the first Christmas in years when she didn’t know what he had bought. It turned out Dad had booked a weekend for them in Rome for Mom’s birthday, and she, of course, got super excited and happy. When there was only one present left, for me, she got out the camera and had me sit in front of the Christmas tree to film me. I had no idea what they could have bought for me that would make them so excited that they had to film it, but it sure was heavy. I was so happy when I found it to be a copy of Animal Earth, after all, Ross Piper had said the hardcovers were almost all sold out. I could not understand how Mom and Dad had gotten their hands on it, until they made me open it up to see a greeting inside from Ross. My first though was “Is there some kind of hacking system which scientists use to find the address and email of all students in Aber”, because I still don’t know how David Wilcockson and Roger Santer found out who I was and got my email when they asked me to interview Ross. It turned out that Mom had been emailing with him for weeks in order to get a copy of Animal Earth for me, and the book was probably one of the very last hardcovers left! He had even helped out by paying for the book. So if he were to pop by this blog at some point, I would like to say a big thank you. It really made my Christmas.

Sadly, I didn’t get to read much in either Animal Earth, or the book about spiders and the one about bees that I got from my boyfriend (tusen takk, kjære). Whoever thought up the idea of having exams in January must have hated Christmas. I felt really guilty for not studying enough, and once I got back to Aberystwyth, I more or less moved into Hugh Owen. I had three exams in three days, and I am still not sure if I passed Marine Biology. I’m crossing my fingers. There’s only one exam left now; ethology. But once that one is done, I have to hand in the key for my room in Pantycelyn, as the semester finishes the day after. I think I will book a hotel for a couple of nights, in order to say good-bye to all the great friends I’ve gotten before I have to leave. No need to say, that is something I am not looking forward to.

A thypical exam dinner.

It's amazing how creative you become during exams. All you need is nailpolish, a plastic fork and a pen.

Day five!

 

It’s been a short day today, as I’ve only been two places. First, I went to Portobello Road. This is one of the places I remember the best from the first time I was in London, and I had a lot of fun looking at the antiques and clothes. I ended up buying myself a scarf, a falafel and a travel map with rooms for tickets, passport and travel documents. The shopping ended with ice cream and earl grey at a café nearby, before I too the tube to the Southbank Christmas Market. I was low on cash and very full after my falafel and ice cream, but I still bought myself a polish hot dog, and donated some money to the tree of life and the fight against cancer. By doing this, I got to write a Christmas greeting on an ornament for the tree, and I dedicated mine to everyone with breast cancer.