Favourites and not-so-favourites

Performing at a poetry slam - who would've thought that a year ago?

5 best things with RCN

• The people (it's cheesy, but true) - I don't think people here are better than anywhere else, we just think we are (ehum...). Also, we live together, so we know each other very well, it's a tight community
• The opportunities - here and afterwards
• The multicultural environment - I can't stress this enough
• The acceptance - you can be whoever, and it's perfectly okay
• Late nights and early mornings with people you love, watching the sun over the fjord, listening to music in Swedish/French/Spanish/English

5 worst things

• The food... 
• Waking up an hour too early due to other people's alarms 
• IB crashing with RCN life crashing with Uni applications and job applications and... the stress, I mean
• Having to stop yourself from saying what you think in order not to annoy other people with your opinions (even though you think you're right, but they think the same thing)
• Lack of sleep

3 weirdest things

• Fiskekake
• Birthday traditions
• Other traditions

3 things I look forward to...

• Getting first years
• Summer break
• Time with only my co-years (boy, do we have plans)

...and 2 things I don't

• Second years leaving
• First year exam

4 best experiences so far

• Kayaking PBL
• Ski week
• European show
• First year show

6 things I've learned

• Spanish (phrases)
• That failing a test isn't the end of the world...
• ... just as well as acing one isn't the ultimate goal
• Life is short and meant to be enjoyed, as much as it can, but also made use of. Balance is key, I guess
• Being on time isn't that important (depending on the occasion)
• There's no such thing as calm on a campus with 200 teenagers

1 thing I've taught

• The meaning of the world "bullshit"

Easter Break and countdowns

Another picture of amazing views with nice weather - contrary to popular belief, we do have that, although not as often as the pictures indicate

The last few days we haven't had any school, since it has been Easter which is a Norwegian national holiday. My family visited, so I had a few days off campus, with home cooked food and lots of rest (and card games, yatsy and hiking). School will start again tomorrow, but today we have had sun and heat (about 20 degrees in the sun, which is practically summer here) and although I had a lot of work planned, some of it was put aside to instead enjoy the nice weather. I normally like this place quite a lot, but I like it the best like this - the weather makes everyone come outside and do things and the whole school seems to vibrate with energy.

On top of that, so many countdowns have started now. 18 days till first year exams (!!), 33 till second years graduate and 46 till last day of classes, then summer break and then back to be a second year. I'm excited for many of the things happening, but at the same time it's scary and melancholic. I will miss the second years so much - how can you not after living together for a year? - and I don't know whether I'm ready to be a second year myself yet. That remains to be seen.

A monster of a lab

Two weeks ago we enjoyed the sun, today it's raining

Sometimes, I overdo things. This weekend, I wrote a Chemistry lab report of 18 pages (18!). Perhaps a tad bit too much, but most of the tables, graphs and images were highly relevant so what can I do? Why did I decide on Chemistry to begin with?

School here is speeding up, slowly but surely. Suddenly I realize that most of my days, evenings and weekends are dedicated to studying (or, oftentimes, doing other things while thinking about studying). We have first year exams in a few weeks (I'm scared to count the days, to be honest) and in most subjects we've started on IA's, not to mention that we have started our EE's as well.

The saddest thing is that this is the time to socialize as well. In just a few weeks (again, I try not to count) our second years will leave and we don't know when (or if) we will meet again. I'm so fortunate to have met so many fantastic people but it's disheartening to know that many of them I will only meet during the one year we share this place.

In an hour or so, I will take part of a student council meeting as an actual member for the very first time. Exciting and a tad bit nerve wrecking, but I'm sure it will be fine. In no time, it will be this time next year and we will be handing it over to a new group of excited first years.

My maths books are calling (no better way to procrastinate than to write a blog post?) and I should get back to it. Life is busy.

Holi and College Hoodies

Yesterday our school, belatedly, celebrated Holi, a Hindu celebration of love and colours. We covered each other in paint, fjord water and mud, the idea being that once we were all coloured we were equal (although they phrased it in a more beautiful way when they explained). It was cold, funny, amazing and just great. It's the things like Holi that make me happy to be at a place like this, where I get to experience such a variety of cultures.

On top of that, myself and the other organisers just sent off the orders for college hoodies, something we have been worrying about for weeks to no end, so it's nice that it's - almost - done. Next week, the Queen is coming and the week-and-a-half-later, we have Easter Break. Work is piling up but the weather is great and the campus has come alive again.

Spring forward

The view is beautiful from the Upper Road

Spring has finally arrived in Flekke and we're making the most of it. The motivation that has been lacking the last two, rainy weeks is back and I'm loving life right now. I even went for a run - those who know me knows that I hate running (I've done it probably five times since August) but in the sun it was amazing and I had a smile on my face the whole time. I've written a song, read about the Cold War and sent important emails.

The nice weather also makes me remember all the things we did last fall, back when it was still sunny and light. I really look forward to when we can jump in the fjord again, walk outside without shoes or just study outside without a jacket. Spring makes me very grateful for the winter - without it, this wouldn't be nearly as wonderful (especially since it's probably only a few degrees in the shade).

Happiness

What makes you happy?

The last few weeks have been like most weeks are here - busy but mainly very happy/nice/interesting. The pressure of IB is starting to get to us first years, but so far it's manageable. Terms like EE and IA are starting to make sense to us and this week we got our first grades. Mainly, I'm happy with them.

Things that made me happy the last few weeks:

This girl, my now nineteen years old roomie <3

Harry Potter marathon all night and most of the day with this girl and two others (who were mysteriously missing at this point)

Pancakes and fruit salad for breakfast a normal Friday

Studying not so much, but I've been postponing this lab report for two hours already so I better get going.

Gender Week "An expectation I don't like"

"Girls are bad at sports" - me

"Women are supposed to be beautiful" - L, Sweden

"Men can't have long hair" - M, Bolivia

"Women are submissive" - C, Norway

Me, throwing an idiotic gender expectation out

Let's talk about gender. Let's talk about how I'm supposed to be different than you because I'm born a different sex. Gender is not sex.

This week, we're organizing Gender Week at RCNUWC. If you want to take part, take a picture like the one above, trashing a stupid gender expectation. I'm so excited for everything that's going to happen, from swap-clothes-with-a-friend-dinner to Open Mic to Vagina Monologues. It's going to be great, I think, and so far people I never thought would show interest have, which makes it all the more interesting.

What gender expectation don't you like?

"How long is forever?"

"How long is forever?"

"Sometimes, it's just one second."

-Lewis Carroll

I just read a blog post on the Swedish UWC page from one of my second years. They have 87 days left here now, is that so much more than I have? I find it strange, that though I came here only a few months ago, we don't have that much time left at this amazing place. I want to cherish it and make it everything it can be, because if I blink, if I look away, if I get too caught up in unimportant things, I'll suddenly realize that time has passed faster than I thought and that I've lost the opportunity of my life.

Last weekend, the Swedish to-be-second-years found our first years out, more or less. I can't believe that we're going to take over responsibilities more and more until suddenly we're the ones greeting a new group of scared and excited first years. We'll give them our lacking knowledge of the place, we'll be expected to be able to answer questions about nothing and everything. Are we ready? Maybe not, but I'm sure we'll do it. 

Denmark House 2013-2014

Ski week

There are many things that sets this school aside from other schools. Some of them are quite obvious, we live here, for example, but then there are other things which also happen to all students at the school at one point or another. Last week, one of those milestones happened to all of us first years - ski week, or maybe more correctly, Friluftsveka ("Free-air-week" - week to do outdoor exploring). Unfortunately, we didn't have enough snow to go downhill skiing, but plenty enough for cross country skiing and hiking. The view was great and it was really inspiring to see people who had never seen snow a couple of months ago skiing like they'd never done anything else. I think that's one of my favorite things about UWC - that people aren't afraid of trying.

Hiking

With this view, I understand the Norwegians' love for cross country skiing

We're doing it!

Greek, Italian and Brazilian enjoying the snow and sun

Estoy Cansada

We've had spring weather the last week
(picture from UWCRCN Facebook page)

This should ideally be a very long blog post about the many things that have happened and caused me not to write anything for a while. MUN, First Aid, my birthday, Lunar New Year, and so on. However, I don't have the time to write a very long blog post, so a short one will have to do.

MUN
Model United Nations, where all the first years become delegates of one country or another in a certain committee, where we argue and declare war (ideally not, but with a bunch of creative teenagers what did you expect?) and hold speeches and most importantly speak in third person. In the three days we did it, I went from hating it to loving it and now I'm a little bit sad that we won't get to do it again.

First Aid
Three days of learning about accidents, what to do and what not do to, trying to make sense of "situations" with loud music and lots of fake blood and meanwhile enjoying ourselves immensely.

My Birthday
I know that I've said it before, and I'm likely to say it again, but my roommates are absolutely spectacular. On the evening before my birthday, they organised a dinner with them and a few of my friends. The food was great and I really enjoyed it. After that, they blindfolded me, took me on a short trip outside and into the day room where a bunch of people sang for me in English and a few other languages, such as Norweigan, Spanish and Arabic. On my actual birthday, they made another cake and we had a cozy time in the room. Luckily for me, we had this day off so I could sleep in rather than go up early for classes.

Lunar New Year
The school celebration to this happened to coincide with my birthday. It was celebrated with a nice dinner as well as an evening show. Against better judgement, I participated in a play about the Zodiac that explained why certain animals represent years.

So many days and I will never be the same

So many days

And I will never be the same

All the people that I've met I never thought I'd find

So let them begin, the memories

-Anna, Leticia and Jasmine, So many days
(Click on the first line to listen to the song)

Ro, you chica loca

A girl who doesn't believe in snow but is kick-ass good at writing songs

That would be me

My crazy Norweigan (see post a few days ago)

Midnight adventures

"I really like this picture. I look crazy, but I really like."

Socializing, Studying, Sleeping (and Sports)

The  moon last Tuesday morning

I remember right at the beginning of the school year, we talked a lot about balancing your life here. Oftentimes, three S's were mentioned - sleep, socialize, study. The second years all insisted that it was impossible to manage all three, especially if you wanted to add the fourth - sports. Naturally, at the time, I thought they just didn't try hard enough and of course I would manage. Let me tell you - I don't. Whenever I finally go to bed (late, later, latest) there's always something I've missed out on. Either I didn't study for the quiz the day after, or I did but I missed a nice gathering, or I went to TSK but then I didn't go to bed until very late. Somehow, no matter how hard you try, 24 hours isn't enough to get everything done.

Then, in the weekends, I sometimes expect that I'll miraculously will be able to do everything I didn't do during the week. I plan on reviewing and doing past papers, on having tea with most people and going swimming, never mind actually getting some sleep in. I never succeed with this either, and this Sunday, as usually, I have a long list with things I have to do. MUN paper, Feminist Club and some climbing.

One might think that this would be stressful, and I suppose that in some ways it is. I never feel like I've done enough, I always want to work just a little harder, talk just a little longer, sleep just a little deeper, but there's not enough time. However stressful it is, it's also the most fun I've ever had. I've learned more about life in these five months than I did in the seventeen years before I came. I've learned that it's short, and it's fragile, so never put things off, always enjoy yourself and don't worry too much because as long as you do your best, you'll have a great time.

A post from a crazy, wonderful Norweigan

 (Listen to this while you read)

This post is from wonderful Amalie, my Norweigan co-year.

Hello Anna's blog readers! I live in the floor above Anna (Denmark House 204) and I am often in her room, not only because it's close to mine but also because of the amazing people living in it ( Denmark house are full of them) :) 

Apart from visiting Anna's room I generally like everything about this place and I am very grateful to be here. 

I especially like to be in the art room because it is always people there playing Spanish or Icelandic music which inspire not-so-artistic people like me who take art and kind of suck. Anyway, it's kind of nice to be surrounded by all these movie stars, geniuses, dance talents and artists because it make this school unique and totally different from all my previous schools (Norwegian school system...just saying..).
 I am not really a blog person so I think I will end it here, but keep reading about our exciting life here in nowhere (Flekke, Fjaler, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway).

XOXOXOOXOXOOXOX Amalie without an U

Merci!    

PS. Anna is very grateful for parcels (especially food ) :P :P UWC Red Cross Nordic, N-6968 Flekke, Norway


Fun fact: Amalie is Ei lama backwards and it means a llama in Norwegian (in wrong article)

MUN, TSK, IOP and then some

This week it has been sunny and with the snow this place is as beautiful as ever

IB is full of abbreviations. We have TOK, EAC's and EE's, not to mention ROP, OTC and FOA's. In some ways I think UWC's are even worse, because we live at the school, so every aspect of our lives at the moment is named by IB students or teachers. It takes a while to get used to all these different abbreviations and remember exactly what each of them means, but surprisingly it actually stops being confusing.

Anyway, this week is full of abbreviations on my behalf. This Friday, the position papers for MUN (Model United Nations) is due. While I'm excited for the actual thing (basically two days of all the first years and some second years acting out United Nations) the writing part is a little bit exhausting, and a great bit confusing. (Related abbreviations: SPECPOL, MUN, PBL)

On Tuesday I have my IOP (Individual Oral Presentation) for Swedish Lit. I actually happen to like holding presentations, but it's never the less a little bit intimidating to realize that what I do now will be 15% of my final grade. Hopefully it will go smoothly, and then I'll be done with 15% (not really, but a girl can dream).

Naturally I, most like everyone else, have a few things I'll try to improve this year in terms of how I live. My main goal is to try to go to TSK (don't know what it stands for, actually, but it's the gym here) at least four times a week, as well as go swimming Tuesday mornings. After another fifteen minutes or so in the library, trying to work on the two above mentioned things but mainly - sadly - procrastinating, I'll go back to my room and get ready for TSK. I'm already tired, but since that's a constant state of mind at this place I can't let it stop me.

To the best roomies a girl could have

I'm back at the end of the world (or the beginning or middle, who knows?) that is Flekke and it's great. I've missed so many people and seeing them again after a month is priceless. I read somewhere that no hug is better than a I've-missed-you-hug, and I find that truer than ever.

The beautiful girls in the picture above are my roomies, the picture a bit nicer than the ones I normally post since it was taken during Christmas Dinner by one of the teachers, when we were all dressed up and ready. Having room mates is incredible, and hands down one of the best parts of this place. It's hard to describe the special kind of relationship which you develop after a few months in the same room. I feel like I've known them my whole life, and whether it's watching Walking Dead in A's bed or teasing M for whichever reason (although to be fair, it's the other way around just as often) or drinking chai with H or mate with R, the four of them are the best room mates anyone could wish for. Whereever we go after the year we share in DH 102, I know that I will always have you. <3

Crazy busy and procrastinating

I have a feeling that few places are as busy as this place right before winter break - possibly this place right before summer, but I wouldn't know yet. I've been sleeping less and less and doing more and more things, fun and otherwise, the last week. Tomorrow after classes we will finish packing, clean our rooms and houses and after dinner we're leaving, not to come back until last year. About a fourth of my time here is gone, and I've started to feel like home here.

Things I've done
On Friday after classes I went skiing with around ten or so other people. It snowed over 40 cm the day before, so the snow was amazing and we had a lot of fun. In the evening, we had a café to honour Nelson Mandela, with songs, dances, poems and it truly was beautiful. I'm amazed by the talent and engagement of this place - the whole thing was put together in a matter of hours.

Saturday I realized that I still had a fair share of school work to do, so most of the afternoon went to that. In the evening we had christmas dinner and took a lot of beautiful photos. After that, my roomies and I went crazy in our room, singing and filming and just having a great time.

Sunday evening there was a christmas café where me and a huge group of people sang christmas carols. I then stayed up way too late, studying, only to wake up early for a special breakfast.

Since then, I've been studying, cleaning, talking and laughing and yes, stressing quite a bit but also enjoying myself.

The last week-and-a-half

I think she believes in snow now

Enjoyed Yemen and Indian Chai

Had the best snowball fight of my life

Made a snow angel while dressed in skirt and tights

Made - and ate - Swedish and Yemen Christmas candy

Sang ABBA-songs in a medley in European show

Made hundreds of Swedish "Köttbullar"

Got a cold (like everyone else here)

Had two maths tests

Played uno with people from everywhere

Fell in love with this place over again

Was sleep-deprivied as well as overslept

Accidentally ended up in a Swedish table

Discussed Palestine-Israel conflict, segregation at the school and nuclear power

Wrote a song

Drew a self portrait

Made peanut butter cookies and mud cake

Cooked Tikka Masala which was approved by Indians

Put up Christmas decorations

Laughed until I almost cried

Thought I would blow up the Chemistry lab ("shakey shakey")

Talked about the past, about now and about the future

Dreamed about my future, and the future

Time

The concept of time is very relevant. In different countries, a certain time means very different things. My Swedish friend and I will always be at the very least on time for everything, while our South American room mates feel like a time given to meet is anything within fifteen minutes of the decided time.

Regardless of how your culture views time, there's a very special outlook of it at a place like this. I think it's partly because everything is so close, and everyone is so close, but somehow time here is a moving thing, something which can go in many directions and at different speeds. Our Chemistry teacher compares being on time for anything with going by a train. If you're not there at the time the train is supposed to leave, it will leave without you. It's true for those classes, but in other occasions... Mostly, people leave their room, or kantina, or wherever they happen to be, at the time they're supposed to be someplace else. Everyone does it, or mostly everyone, so it never makes you late, it just makes everything later.

Then there's the fact that time flies. We've been here for three months now, and I sometimes still feel like the girl in April who went on an interview and felt as if the world would end if she didn't get in, or the girl in August whose stomach had constant butterflies, or the girl two years ago, who found out about this and thought it was the best thing she'd ever heard about. In many ways, three months is nothing. In other ways, three months is a whole lifetime. In three months, we have gotten to know people from 97 countries, learnt swears in way too many languages, heard stories about war and love and friendship and we have been bored, and we have been happier than ever before. Three months here is full of experience, and sadness and joy in a mixture so tightly tied together that it's sometimes hard to distinguish the difference between the two.

It's melancholy as well, we all know our time is short. Three months down.

Do you believe in snow? 2.0

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my Brazilian friend, who doesn't believe in snow, or rather, who didn't believe in snow, because this morning, we woke up and the grass was covered in white, cold powder. She later told me that she thought we had placed it there to trick her. An hour or so later, however, when we sat in our first class, we could see the snow falling and though some of us (mainly nordics) weren't that impressed, many people had never seen snow before and you can imagine the look in their faces as they looked out the windows!

Snowball fight! Probably the nicest one I've ever partaken in, but hilarious none the less

A new perspective on how beautiful it is here - the view from our bathroom

November Break, back to school and flying pigs

Physics lab called Flying Pig... somehow writing the lab report wasn't as fun as doing the experiment

It's been ages since I wrote something, but it's been november break and last week I didn't really find the time. Anyhow, I'm back now!

Being home was incredibly nice but also very weird. It didn't feel like I'd been away at all, yet it had been more than two months. I loved meeting everyone I'd miss, as well as enjoy Stockholm as much as I could. Things I previously wasn't too found of, like going by the metro or cooking, suddenly seemed so much better. On top of that, I didn't have much homework and so could get some sleep. Not that this has kept me from being tired again by now... sleeping properly (meaning more than max seven hours per night) just isn't possible at a place like this, especially with the IB.

Coming back was great, too. When I got to the airplane in Copenhagen, where I was transferring, I met lots of people from the school and talked to them through the flight as well as once we came to Bergen, since the ferry to the school didn't leave until a few hours later. Travelling from the airport to the school involves two bus rides, an almost three hours ferry trip and a 3 km walk. I left home at 8.30, and finally reached the school about twelve hours later, together with around twenty five other people who had been travelling in Europe or gone home over the break. I had a (stupid) plan to go to bed early, but decided on staying up and catching up with my roomies and friends instead. I hade cake twice as well as shared some typically Swedish candy.

This week as been sexuality week at the school. One of the EACs (Extra-Academic Commitments), GAS (Gender and Sexuality) put it together and it included presentations, gender-blind dates, discussions and "ask-a-gay"-session. On top of that, they had also put together a magazine with information about sexuality and gender. I really enjoyed it, and found that I widened my perspective quite a lot.

Friday and Saturday night we were lucky enough to have Alan Drop performing for us and the auditorium was full with people laughing and enjoying something out of the ordinairy. He also took the opportunity to try and embarrass his son, one of the students.

Next week will be busier than ever, since not only is school work starting to pile up but on Saturday it's European Day, with a bazaar and a show, among other things. I forsee little sleep in the future as well...