It’s a Saturday morning in late August. There’s been a week or two of late summer storms followed by crisp autumn mornings. Then all of a sudden, you wake up to this…
Accross the street from our house
Two sisters (and one boyfriend) are visiting and while the coffee is brewing, there’s only one thing to do…
Ready?
Steady…
Go!
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,
we were all going direct to Heaven,
we were all going direct the other way.
– A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
The day my class graduated from Upper Secondary School in 2003, our teacher read this to us. It was the conclusion of a 12 year period of public education that started in blissful childhood and culminated in years of raging hormones, several identity crises, friendships and relationships formed and broken, limits challenged, journeys taken, experiences had and choices made.
Our class was a fairly mixed collection of people. We were the weirdos who had deliberately chosen the International Baccalaureate program; all classes in English, 20 final exams, advanced level maths (optional) and the dreaded Extended Essay (not optional). I only knew two people when I started; my best friend at the time and my best friend at present (both friends since aforementioned “blissful childhood”).
We have always been weird, and the freedom of being completely unknown by anyone went to our heads. We were surely responsible for furthering the reputation of “crazy IB people” in the school but we also had unbelievable fun, so we didn’t care one bit! Naturally we were not everybody’s cup-of-tea, yet we did attract a few other weirdos to join our group. But general oddness cannot hold you together forever, and alas, our group dispersed shortly after graduation.
Giggles in the classroom corner
Saturday was our ten year reunion, and when I arrived a bit late with present-best-friend, our two favourite teachers and half of our former classmates were already there. Incidentally, this was in the same place as we had our graduation party and it was like walking into the past. As we all hugged and smiled and said hello, I was astonished by how little people had physically changed in the ten years passed. As we sat down and started chatting, it became apparent that this to a large extent applied to personality as well. Unfortunately, not many from “our” group were present, but all the more chance to catch up with people we had co-existed with, but not really interacted all that much with due to above mentioned reasons.
Introductorily, we read aloud predictions we had written about each other ten years ago. Some hilarious, some far, far off and some scarily close to reality. Not mine – apparently I would be living abroad, working as a vet, but anyhow… As the hours passed we discussed and laughed about teachers and reading lists, rumours and reputations, old photos and of course ourselves and those who weren’t there – then and now. Although I say that people hadn’t changed much, there was one striking difference in all of us; we were all less self-important and had more self-irony. The atmosphere was relaxed, happy and amiable. All in all, a great night.
Even with the tons of schoolwork we reluctantly struggled through, our intrigues, drama and general teenage angst, I look back at those two years as the highlight of my public schooling both educationally and socially. But the intensity of that time, captured perfectly by the above quote, is forever gone. Thank goodness.
A couple of years ago, I surprised many by announcing my fascination for e-books. Since I got my Kindle I have even been known to choose it over p-books I already own, like the beautiful, unopened, cloth-bound copy of Little Women that stared reproachfully at me from my bookshelf while I was in bed with my leather-bound e-reader…
The truth is that I love conveniency and I relish multifunctional objects and I am absolutely dependent on technology, so my happiness was complete when I recently appropriated my first iPhone (the first smart phone to live up to my (read: Steve’s) high gadget standards). Before that, I was lugging my laptop, iPod, Kindle and stupid-phone with me every time I went to the library. Hardly convenient.
My next project is to go completely paperless and get rid of all documents and stuff that it’s not strictly necessary to have a hard copy of. But, when I got my belated Christmas present from my little sister in London last week, I must admit that I experienced a thrill that downloading new apps seldom results in. I even booked an extra bag to be able to bring the 16, yes, 16 items back to Prague.
I thus present my new p-apps:
Live Learn Love
Rate it or Hate it
School of Life
Happy Travels!
Travel journals are from teNeues, five-year journals are from Potter Style and the rest is from Knock Knock.
FYI: I think it’s a sin to throw away books, and I never-ever will commit that sin. In fact, I still have two massive hardback books that was given to a friend by Jehovas witnesses and that she wanted to throw out. I took pity on the poor things and will forever keep them in a box in my attic…
It’s been over two weeks, but despite surprising amounts of motivation in the final week of writing and a euphoric couple of days after, I have been unable to think about *it* since. I have hardly been able read anything, nevermind write a single word!
So what have I been up to?
Sprock 24, *it*, Westminster Abbey, Ida and tapas, my first homemade costume
Other than that, just trying to figure out what to do with myself now that I am not a student any more. Oh yeah, and I changed the background colour of this here blog!
I read a lot about social media. I also spend a lot of time on it, and I discuss it with people around me. Recently, I went to lunch with my husband and two friends (one who is not even on FB) and was surprised to discover that they were very protective of their online identity, proudly announcing that they were ungoogleable. Similarly, a friend was just added on FB by someone with such a limited profile she couldn’t even work out where she lived. Contrastingly, an old friend I was virtually reacquainted with recently shares so much and so intimately I sometimes feel like we’ve spent a few hours chatting over a bottle of wine after reading her blog. I think social media is great because I never liked chatting on the phone and I prefer doing business in writing. I will also admit that I thoroughly enjoy keeping up with friends and family without it necessarily being through direct contact.
This Christmas my FB news feed has exploded with pictures of beautifully decorated trees and toddlers in holiday bliss, my own included, which is probably annoying for many. In fact, I have a FB friend who has been known to complain about new parents’ over-sharing, particularly about nappy contents, and has lately decided to get back at them by posting pics of her cats’ litter box complete with feces. Nevertheless, I relate and thus enjoy (idyllic Christmas posts, that is. I too draw the line at poo, human and animal.)
In online media, the Christmas holidays is also a time for reviewing the year that is nearing its end. The FB timeline is great for this purpose, especially if you are like me and tend to share mostly good stuff. Scrolling back through 2012, I find remarkably little about my stressful and rather lonely spring semester as a distance student. Rather, I relive a fantastic trip to Rome with my bestest friends in March, family and friends visits to Prague and an unbelievably successful end to the semester in Copenhagen that started with an oral exam and ended with birthday celebrations.
I remember a looooong, isolated summer in Norway with very little money and a very hard-working husband. Nevertheless I was able to squeeze in a trip to Læsø, two fairytale weddings and a couple of trips to Ireland. Not to mention several happy days and merry nights spent with aforementioned bestest friends and family. This autumn’s thesis hardship and preschool adjustment drama all but fade, and into focus comes Matilda’s second and Steve’s thirtieth birthday parties and the highlight of 2012 – an intimate, literary gathering in the library of one of my favourite author’s, Gert Nygårdshaug.
Tantrums, viruses and bugs, stress and despair, shouting and crying, and the fact that I haven’t slept past 8 am the whole year (which aren’t apparent on FB), are but distant memories. On FB I only see how my darling Matilda has grown into a proper little girl this year. I see the three of us at playgrounds and restaurants and lounging at home and realise how lucky we are to be able to spend so much time together.
Granted, my FB profile might not give an accurate account of me and my life in 2012, but it is definitely gives me high hopes for 2013. I therefore wish you many likes in the new year!
Lambrusco Lunch with the sisters and the Ida’s in Oslo. Cheers!
Charlotte's Net 