Hello everyone!
Quick little update here!
Just heading out to the Raslatt beach as I like to call it... technically speaking it is just a nice little grassy area right outside my building... not very beach-like at all actually...
Everything is great in Sweden, this week we have had such nice weather!! A lot of sun and a lot of blue skies! My freckles are blooming and I think that I even have a bit of colour! We have spent many evenings here playing volleyball, lying in the sun and having bbq's...so beautiful!
Have been sticking close to home these past couple weeks, might head off somewhere next weekend, but who knows? Just paid off my Adventure Norway trip, that is going to be SO much fun! White water rafting, hiking, bridge swing...will be an adventure that is for sure!
Any good stories to share? Well, my ankle is still quite swollen (okay, back story: last weekend played football and rolled it...and then foolishly kept playing...and then on Wednesday someone accidentally kicked it...so now it is swollen again) but I am not a limper, so that is nice!
Oh! One more thing I almost totally forgot! People that are reading this from Canada: have you heard of the word 'foment'??? Because I sure hadn't until coming here! How sad, the Canadian girl is getting English lessons from people who have learnt english as a second or third language...so sad!
Haha, oh well! Well that is my update for now, off to the beach!
xoxo, Des
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Because it has lived life intensely
the parched grass still attracts the gaze of passers-by.
The flower merely flower,
and they do this as well as they can.
The white lily, blooming unseen in the valley,
does not need to explain itself to anyone;
It lives merely for beauty.
Men, however, cannot accept that 'merely'.
If tomatoes wanted to be melons,
they would look completely ridiculous.
I am always amazed
that so many people are concerned
with wanting to be what they are not;
What's the point of making yourself look ridiculous?
You don't always have to pretend to be strong
there's no need to prove all the time that everything is going well,
you shouldn't be concerned about what other people are thinking,
cry if you need to,
it's good to cry out all of your tears
(because only then will you be able to smile again)
-Mitsuo Aida
the parched grass still attracts the gaze of passers-by.
The flower merely flower,
and they do this as well as they can.
The white lily, blooming unseen in the valley,
does not need to explain itself to anyone;
It lives merely for beauty.
Men, however, cannot accept that 'merely'.
If tomatoes wanted to be melons,
they would look completely ridiculous.
I am always amazed
that so many people are concerned
with wanting to be what they are not;
What's the point of making yourself look ridiculous?
You don't always have to pretend to be strong
there's no need to prove all the time that everything is going well,
you shouldn't be concerned about what other people are thinking,
cry if you need to,
it's good to cry out all of your tears
(because only then will you be able to smile again)
-Mitsuo Aida
Ze Update!
Woke up this morning to the sun shining and the birds chirping...looked out my window and saw the forest and I was sort of reminded of home a bit. The birds really reminded me of waking up at the farm early in the morning, I have always liked that feeling. It is a great way to wake up!
Well I was just in Frankfurt this weekend with Spencer and it was great! Frankfurt was an okay city, saw some pretty interesting buildings and hit up some really nice little cafes. The weather was touch and go, Saturday it was sunny and almost t-shirt weather at times (sometimes the wind was a bit chilly) but Sunday was off and on rain storms and in the evening was my first thunderstorm of the year! I was really excited about that, thunder and lightening are my favorite! The airport is fairly intense, very strict about the one bag policy (everywhere else I've traveled to so far lets you have a carry-on and a purse or whatever, not here though!), which was unfortunate. My boots the day before had started leaking (which was lovely, walking around with a permanent puddle in your shoes!) so they were still damp so I had to put them in my backpack, which means I barely had room to shove my handbag in there too! But I did manage to do it...
Today was International Day at school, Canada didn't have a booth (boo Canada! Dropped out on the last minute... wish I would have known, could have helped out!) so I helped Shan out with her Aussie one... yes, it made even MORE people think I am from Australia (half of everyone already thought that), especially now since there will be pics of me posing with Shan at the Australia booth! Hahaha, oh well. Was a great time today though, learnt a bit more about a few cultures and universities and ate a lot of TASTY food! Still quite full actually!
Speaking of food actually yesterday we threw a surprise supper for Basti at Shan's house (was his bday the day before) and it was a really great time! We did it in the hallway and sat on pillows and everyone brought some kind of finger food and it was so delicious! Basti was quite surprised...he was told that a couple people were going to Shans to have pancakes...so he came over with a pack of eggs!
Well that is all for now, must go and be studious for a while...hockey game on tonight, go HV71!
Monday, April 7, 2008
The stars in the sky...
So yesterday Shan and I played tennis...and let me tell you, what a riot that would have been to watch! For one thing, I have never played before, so that just added to the excitement. We probably played the worst game the sport has ever seen! Once we began we realized that our 'steal of a deal' rackets were indeed child sized and that our 'steal of a deal' tennis balls were the worst pieces of garbage ever...they didn't even really bounce! Sad, I know. But we gave it a go anyway...and like I said, I didn't watch but I imagine it must have been outrageously ridiculous. Near the end we were able to get a rally of about 4 shots going...which was pretty impressive by our standards!
So last night I learnt something AMAZING! Well, technically I am pretty sure I learnt this fact in about Gr. 5 or something, but it had slipped my mind...in Australia they have different stars!!! Last night on the way home from a friends Tim, Shan and I were walking down the beach to the bus and I was pointing out constellations and they didn't know them and so I was amazed (because they were simple ones like the big dipper) and they said they had different stars! How exciting! And! We can sometimes see Mars...but they can sometimes see Venus! Just wanted to share my amazement with the world...
So last night I learnt something AMAZING! Well, technically I am pretty sure I learnt this fact in about Gr. 5 or something, but it had slipped my mind...in Australia they have different stars!!! Last night on the way home from a friends Tim, Shan and I were walking down the beach to the bus and I was pointing out constellations and they didn't know them and so I was amazed (because they were simple ones like the big dipper) and they said they had different stars! How exciting! And! We can sometimes see Mars...but they can sometimes see Venus! Just wanted to share my amazement with the world...
Catching Up...
Wow! I am incredibly sorry that it has taken so long to write another post! Really, from now on I am going to be trying to update this more frequently...time just goes by so fast here!
Well, it is April and I look out the window and all I see is clouds, rain and cold...and they are predicting snow for this week! I am ready for Spring! Although, to be fair, when the sun is shining, it is great because the days are so much longer now, which I am into. We had to change the clocks last week because of daylight savings...which was interesting, you go into a building and you are never really sure what time it is, because you don't know if they have changed the clocks or not!
Went on a cruise to Helsinki last Tuesday, that was a ton of fun! Although the senior citizen population to students was quite high we still managed to cause some chaos and have a lot of fun! On the trip back from Helsinki a few of us really wanted to do some karaoke, and lucky for us there was a karaoke hour! So we went to the 'fun club' and settled in for a fun hour of karaoke...only to discover the entire bar was probably about 55+ and the 'karaoke' taking place was old finnish songs, that couples were getting up and dancing to! You don't waltz to karaoke! Nevertheless, about halfway through the hour a few of us were called up to do our selection...Wonderwall by Oasis, which shook things up a bit! The best part was that one of the older couples got up and was dancing to it! Too funny.
On Friday was the much anticipated 'Pink' party...for which I actually went to a store and purchased pink! It was a great time, everywhere you looked in China you were blinded by a pink outfit...I hope to NEVER see that much pink at one time ever again! Linda, Shan and I even decided that we should have pink drinks!
Then bright and early the next day, Linda, Yulisa, Shannan and I journeyed off to Göteburg! (To say this word you have to picture yourself as a jolly plump man with a curly moustache, it is really the only way to properly say it...and it is sort of pronounced Yotebory) There was a mild intention of doing some sight-seeing, but the interest to shop much outweighed these intentions! We did however see the Opera house (which I would NOT include as sightseeing...there was absolutely nothing exciting about this building, regular buildings in the streets were much more amazing!) and made a trip to see the famous statue of Gustav! The weather was not sight-seeing weather so we were more than happy to spend our time inside the malls, checking out the new spring fashions! I found this amazing black dress, that I am very enthused about wearing!
What else can I mention about life currently? Shan and I are planning a games night couchland for tomorrow night at Sockertoppen, one of the many exciting events we as Culture Section Chiefs plan! It should be a great time, hopefully people show up! Well we always have our friends that we force to come to every event we plan...they are so nice! Haha.
Well, nothing much else to report right now, really hoping for sunshine, but we will see! Off to Frankfurt this weekend, so expect an exciting story soon! xoxo.
Well, it is April and I look out the window and all I see is clouds, rain and cold...and they are predicting snow for this week! I am ready for Spring! Although, to be fair, when the sun is shining, it is great because the days are so much longer now, which I am into. We had to change the clocks last week because of daylight savings...which was interesting, you go into a building and you are never really sure what time it is, because you don't know if they have changed the clocks or not!
Went on a cruise to Helsinki last Tuesday, that was a ton of fun! Although the senior citizen population to students was quite high we still managed to cause some chaos and have a lot of fun! On the trip back from Helsinki a few of us really wanted to do some karaoke, and lucky for us there was a karaoke hour! So we went to the 'fun club' and settled in for a fun hour of karaoke...only to discover the entire bar was probably about 55+ and the 'karaoke' taking place was old finnish songs, that couples were getting up and dancing to! You don't waltz to karaoke! Nevertheless, about halfway through the hour a few of us were called up to do our selection...Wonderwall by Oasis, which shook things up a bit! The best part was that one of the older couples got up and was dancing to it! Too funny.
On Friday was the much anticipated 'Pink' party...for which I actually went to a store and purchased pink! It was a great time, everywhere you looked in China you were blinded by a pink outfit...I hope to NEVER see that much pink at one time ever again! Linda, Shan and I even decided that we should have pink drinks!
Then bright and early the next day, Linda, Yulisa, Shannan and I journeyed off to Göteburg! (To say this word you have to picture yourself as a jolly plump man with a curly moustache, it is really the only way to properly say it...and it is sort of pronounced Yotebory) There was a mild intention of doing some sight-seeing, but the interest to shop much outweighed these intentions! We did however see the Opera house (which I would NOT include as sightseeing...there was absolutely nothing exciting about this building, regular buildings in the streets were much more amazing!) and made a trip to see the famous statue of Gustav! The weather was not sight-seeing weather so we were more than happy to spend our time inside the malls, checking out the new spring fashions! I found this amazing black dress, that I am very enthused about wearing!
What else can I mention about life currently? Shan and I are planning a games night couchland for tomorrow night at Sockertoppen, one of the many exciting events we as Culture Section Chiefs plan! It should be a great time, hopefully people show up! Well we always have our friends that we force to come to every event we plan...they are so nice! Haha.
Well, nothing much else to report right now, really hoping for sunshine, but we will see! Off to Frankfurt this weekend, so expect an exciting story soon! xoxo.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
