It’s too bad, really. I’d actually managed to forget the password even. My tiny Acer netbook stopped working way around two months ago, and I’m still using a borrowed, huge laptop, so writing isn’t something I do a lot at the moment either. But! I’ve decided to study in Norway. Well, decided and decided. More like ended up with, but I’m quite satisfied. I’ve applied the University of Oslo, and get to know if I got my spot at the university on the 20th of July. I’m in Venezia, Italy, at that time, but it should work out just fine. I’ve had so much vacation this year that I’m not sure if I’ll be able to handle one more year of doing nothing.

I have more than one Plan B though, but I like Plan A – actually studying – much better. With plan A I’ll probably be going back to China next year as well.

In the mean time, I’ll be enjoying the summer, the sun, my part-time job, the trip abroad and my wonderful books. Pride, Prejudice and Zombies is a whole lot of fun. <3

Before people knew a cellphone, an email or a text was. While the internet was pretty much fiction. Much before everyone got obsessed with the media and technology. When it was still much too common to not finish any kind of high school at all! In fact, when a lot of young men left home shortly after secondary school to become sailors, and the females were much more embarrassed to discuss any kind of behind-closed-doors activities to their girlfriends. When you could still have basically no education at all and still not be doomed to work in a seriously low-wage, awful job for the rest of your way too long and boring life.

Back then you could actually become somebody, even if you didn’t have both a BA and an MA both finished at expensive prestige universities. Or at least a BA. Nowadays, you can hardly even get that permanent job as a check out girl without having finished high school.

The days very days my grandpa and dad keep whining about. Everything that proves to me, is of course that they’re both getting old.

All honest, I think the education is fantastic. I have just no clue of what’s supposed to be so incredibly good about a world without easy self-publishing, the internet, cell phones, an overload on information and easy access to education. I’m just a bit angry at myself for not having good enough grades. I completely messed up my last year in high school and now I probably won’t get accepted into SOAS – the School of Oriental and African Studies (in London!). Their Chinese BA requires AAB, and the way I understand it, my grades are unfortunately more like ABB. I seriously hope I’ve got it all wrong.

But no, I haven’t quite given up on studying in England yet. I want to Chinese in England, even though I have a Plan B in Norway ready just in case. I’m still the dreamy kind. And dreaming is still free, even though school fees might not be.

That’s all I seem to do, really. Maybe we should add eating cake to that list. Cake, more cake, and chocolate.

I’ve become incredibly unhealthy over these last few months (read: the last year and a half). So unhealthy that I’m starting to whine about getting fat. Not that I am, but that I might become so if I don’t stop. Not thinking of stopping either though. But once spring arrives, which will probably not be before early-to-mid April, I can start taking my regular walks again. There’s this beautiful, large forest only a couple of hundred metres away from our house, so it’s not like I’ll be lacking places to wander off to. Walking ought to help. Exercising more than that? Probably not. Not my thing.

I’m bored with winter, and in general too, since I’m only working part time at the moment without taking any classes. It’s beautiful and white, but so incredibly long! Norway usually has around a half year of winter, which hardly leaves any space for the other seasons. There’s five months of snow, ice and minus degrees every single year. I want the world to change to spring already.

In the mean time, while waiting for spring / summer, flowers and warmth to come back, I’ll be obsessing over pearls, jewellery and shoes – just planning what I’ll do AFTER summer, when my university studies begin.

Maybe I should take my chances and keep wearing my leather jacket this winter? It’s not at all as cold as some people like to think. But wearing a leather jacket in minus 15 degrees Celsius – do I really want to try that? Especially since I have a tendency to only wear singlets and t-shirts beneath along with a scarf. I’m just not a sweater person.

I guess the leather jacket will have to do until the next salary though, so let’s just hope the temperature doesn’t drop to less than minus 8 during the next half month. I have to start planning things like this better.

A cousin sent the link to me, and I just had to repost it. I got so nostalgic! I absolutely loved the muppets when I was a kid. And that video made me giggle.

Mahna mahna.

My last blog host deleted my previous layout on a way too short warning, and the back-up I have is outdated. Annoying. So, I’ll have to (part-wise) create a new one.

I’m also going away on a 10 day vacation trip to Egypt, so I won’t have any time to work on it for a while. I can’t express exactly how much I’m looking forward to it. Sun! <3

In the mean time, my previous blog posts are hidden. :)

chidarling.ipublish.no

When I was tiny, somewhere on pre-school age, I was completely convinced the wind spoke to me at times, leading me to places and thoughts. Well, and that it was living in the large willow in a nearby park. My grandma even wrote a poem about that. Crazy kid? Well, I guess. Now that I think of it, it was kind of nice to feel guided by the nature. Especially since I’ve always thought most religions are more like really violent, sexual and kinda gross fairy tales. I’d much rather believe in Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf, although I had to admit I don’t exactly see what kind of religion one could make out of that. Back to the red line, aka main forest path, (if there actually is one) feeling the wind and hearing it through wind chimes and leaves rattling still calms me down and makes my imagination spin off like a crazy butterfly.

When it comes to dreaming, I’m a god-damned professional. I’ve read some place (read: in a Norwegian popular science magazine) that you have to practise around 10 000 hours before you really, really become good at something. And what is that? Around 416 days (and a half)? One year and 7,3 weeks? Feel free to correct if your maths is better than mine.

I betcha I’ve day dreamed a whole lot more than that. Actually, I don’t bet. I know. It’s more like 16 years, and I’ve been both dreaming and daydreaming. Which makes it almost constant, really. I could say it’s been almost 20 years, considering I’ll be 20 on Thursday (the 27th of August!), but I really don’t know or remember much about the first 4 years of my life. Except that I loved cats, burned my hair down – accidentally – on a candle and thus had an awful boy-short hair cut, had a wild imagination and a bad taste in clothing. Have to mention my dresses got much prettier when I reached 5.

I’m think I’m still dreaming, really. Maybe I will let the wind lead me properly some day. Like that brilliant lady in the movie Chocolat. Well, not counting the ending of it.

]]> http://www.chidarling.com/2009/08/dreaming-is-free/feed/ 1 http://www.chidarling.com/2009/08/links-love/ http://www.chidarling.com/2009/08/links-love/#comments Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:09:01 +0000 Chi Darling http://www.chidarling.com/2009/08/postitem_119164/ I’m not much online at the moment. Partially because my dearest main laptop is on the verge of a breakdown, and also because it’s summer.

Uneventful days like these usually makes me think more than I should. There are times when I could use a proper off button – or at least a way to put my brain on pause. I’ve been going over education and job possibilities recently, and I get more and more confused. Eventually, I’ll manage to decide. I’m just hoping it’ll be soon. Before the next school year if I’m lucky. I’ve already written a bit on the topic.

• Vagaries of Fashion: Harmless Fun or…Gasp! The comments are also worth the read.

• Girly – a rather weird, although entertaining, comic.

• IKEA Hacker. Sometimes great, sometimes not-so. Consider it inspiration.

• How to Shoot Great Travel Photography.

• The Photobooth Blog. Inspiration at a high level, intriguing and not to mention – it’s the most comprehensive photobooth resource on the internet. Major plus in my book.

Well, favourite pair to look at anyway. Last time I wore them, I got huge blisters on my heels and toes. Pretty doesn’t always equal comfortable it seems. I only wore them for four hours, and I actually took them off and walked around in my socks on my way home. Running around in socks on the Shanghai metro is something I’m never doing again, ever. But at least I took socks with me that day, after all, walking around barefooted in a huge city is out of question (and way not a good idea).

They were quite cheap, as I recall, and from Naturalizer. Bought them on Shanxi Lu in Shanghai.