Homeward bound.

One of the nicest songs by Simon & Garfunkel. (Well, more Simon than Garfunkel.) Have I mentioned that I'm going home this Saturday? ;-)

Speaking of home, one of my cousins in the Philippines has just traveled off to the States to work, leaving her home and her (actually our) family behind. This is the very first time she's been abroad, and I can just imagine what she's feeling right now. According to her itinerary she's supposed to have arrived in Oklahoma yesterday. Haven't heard anything from her, though, but I bet she's excited - and at the same time sad for leaving behind the people she's been with all her life. So the US is going to be her home now; for how long I don't know. I expect it to be a few years at least. It's a strange feeling to leave all the people that you love behind, but it is for the best. In her case she's going to have an amazing job with amazing opportunities and a way to support the rest of her family back home. I'm extremely happy for her and also very excited to she how she'll adjust to her new job.

Leaving home is just a question of time, really; it is inevitable, it has to happen sooner or later - either with respect to job opportunities in the case of my cousin, school, getting married/living together, or do charitable work in another country (as in the case of Kim). Some do it earlier than others. Many of my acquaintances outside of Norway were (and perhaps still are) gobsmacked that I've moved to Oslo away from my parents. Somehow they appeared to believe that I moved out just because I didn't love my parents anymore - WHICH IS AS ABSURD AS IT GETS!!! Maybe it's just a culture difference and/or a difference in viewpoint; but the thing is that I LOVE my parents so indescribably much, and my moving out doesn't change that at all! I know they didn't mean it in an offensive way, but it was a little insulting to me at the time, because the main reason was that I wanted to get as good an education as I possibly could here in Norway, and Oslo was one of my top choices. You have to do what's best for you - i.e. be a little egocentric. (There isn't anything wrong with that!) And as for leaving friends and family at home, yes, that is inevitable, but you do gain independence and you do get to know tons of people in the same situation as yourself wherever you go. Many of those people I've gotten to know here are what I'd consider very good friends indeed. (Here's out to y'all!)

My intention for writing this is not to provide you readers with an allusion to anyone in particular - I'm not trying to offend anyone at all. What I'm trying to say is that despite the fact that you leave people you love behind, you still gain a whole lot. Life is all about sacrifices, but you have to make them in order to achieve your goals in life - your goals. Moving out is by no means an indication that you are "a lost soul", for the lack of a better term; it just opens up a greater range of opportunities. Though I do miss home a few times (hm, understatement? :-P), I don't regret moving out at all.

Man, that was deep. I'd better continue packing now.

Diapers, Oreos and raisins to the world,
Elise

Ps.: Mahna mahna. (Translated with the appropriate intonation: "May the Force be with you." And I ain't talkin' about just any Force... yaknowumsayin'?)

"We've got lumps of it in the back..."

That there was a quote from "Life of Brian", the part before Brian is given his cross and the (poof?) Roman soldier and a stuttering Jew and another slightly more strange Jew are having a conversation.

Only two weeks until I'll be on my way home... Man, I miss it more than ever! And listening to Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" or Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway" doesn't make it any better. Just reminds me of ISS... Which reminds me of home... Which reminds me of salty air, sea, people dressed in manure-reeking overalls, tractors and cows with attitude. Don't know if I've written this earlier, but the cows back home aren't exactly what you would call discreet. When you drive past a field where a cow is taking a leak or crapping, they stare at you in a way that you know can only mean "Hah! You can't stop me! This is a free country! I'll take a leak/crap whenever I want! I'm a free cow, doggonit!"

Sudden flashback to the infamous "Herbal Essences" cow... *shivers* Permit me to gently shove that thought aside.

Hm, and again I'm struck with that "I-wonder-what-people-are-up-to" thought. That "Time After Time" song always makes me wonder about that. But as I've already elaborated on that in a previous post, I won't go into detail.

Meanwhile... (Oh noooooo!!! Not another friggin' YouTube vid!!! Everybody hide!!!)




"Where's the boss?" - "Oh, boss is, eeeh... Oh. I boss."
"You are a jideous orangutan!"
"Jaloooooou... I am English... Jaloooooou..."
"Don't jit me! Always you jit me!"

*giggle*

Off to make tea and catch up on reading "Wuthering Heights". In a while.


Tea for two... No, make that one...,
Elise

Berserk on YouTube... :-S

Going a little bit retro today. I'm sure you remember these characters:


(Fireman Sam! In Norwegian!)



(This is in English... Couldn't find the Norwegian version of it. Still funky, though!)



(Portveien 2!!!)



(Heee... Smitt og Smule!)



(And then there's of course this one...)



(The Barne-TV intro of my childhood... A bit cheesy, perhaps; and the use of black background isn't exactly fun either, but hey, it's from the 80s!)



(La Linea!!! Notice the oh-so-Italian hand gestures when he falls into the water!)


(The show that made train rides and train stations more fun than before. For me at least. R.I.P., Sverre Holm!)



*Sigh* Memories...

Happy weekend!
Elise

* * * * *

EDIT: Aaand here's the Christmas intro for Barne-TV... Those were the days... *Sigh* (#2)

I shouldn't really be here, but I am...

Huh? Self-discipline? Never heard of it. What's that?

In the midst of the vortex otherwise known as "vigorous essay-writing", I suddenly felt the urge to post something...

Title: All I wanna do is have a little fun before I die... (Sheryl Crow) a.k.a. Waiting for Sara's professor to arrive a.k.a. I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille.

(Hope you guys don't mind me posting this...)

Oh, and good luck on your essays, people!


And gallantly she chickened out (Monty Python, fyi),
Elise


Ps.: Yes, I'm still homesick...

(Taken from the attic living room at home. Not the best pic of a sunset, neither is it the most spectacular sunset I've seen from this spot, but it still makes me homesick. Sigh.)

DeviantArt.

One of the best websites ever if searching for contemporary art! Stumbled over these gorgeous pictures just now:

Silence of the Storm by *angelreich

Structure of Simplicity by *angelreich

Am reminded of Jæren when I see these pics...

I miss the sea! I miss taking walks on the beach and taking pictures of the scenery; I miss having strong salty wind blowing in my face and hair; I miss hearing the seagulls shrieking; I miss seeing trees standing crooked because of all the wind, I miss that wave rock (at Ogna beach there is a huge boulder which has been carved into a wave-like shape by the ocean over presumably several thousands of years) where me and my best friend and her sister used to sit when we were younger and stare out towards the ocean and just talk. I MISS JÆREN, DOGGONIT!!!

Getting homesick,
Elise