LONDON SNOW

Når jeg var hjemme i Norge, begynte det magisk nok å snø på julaften, og hver dag jeg brukte der ette det, var det et tykt lag med hvit snø på bakken. Når jeg da kom tilbake til London, var alle sjalu på oss norske som hadde hatt snø i julen, siden de hadde ingenting, eller på pittelitt selv. Men denne uken har det snødd annenhver dag, og når jeg ser ut vinduet mitt nå daler snøen ned. Den eneste forskjellen er at "snø" her, er ikke den samme opplevelsen som jeg hadde i Norge. Der var det nemlig Disney-eventyr lignende, med et tykt hvitt lag og solen som fikk det til å glitre. Her viser det bare så vidt, fordi det dekker ikke mye, og det er borte igjen etter noen få timer. Været gjør det og nesten umulig å få tatt fine bilder ute, og jeg som har så mye å vise dere! Ja, jeg lengter etter sol og palmetrær, men jeg lengter også etter den tykke nydelige snøen, hvis vi først skal ha snø, for dette er det ikke...

When I was back in Norway, it magically started snowing on Christmas Eve, and every day I spent there afterwards, there was a thick coat of snow covering the ground. When I then came back to London, everyone here envied us Norwegians, because there had been either none, or just a tiny bit of, snow here. But this week, every other day has been a snowy one. The only difference is that "snowy" here, is not the same snowy I experienced in Norway. In Norway it was Disney-fairytale like, with a thick white layer, and the sun making it glitter. Here it barely shows, because it does not cover much, and it goes away within a few hours. This weather also makes it almost impossible to take photos (the photos underneath are from back home), when I have so many things I want to show you! Yes, I do long for the sun and palm trees, but I also long for a thick white snow, because this is not it...

Photos from back home

Dress: Jane Norman

Location: Vangen, Haugesund

Photography and Editing: Anne Marthe Widvey

MUA: Anita Fosen

LEARNING ARABIC

Jeg har lenge vurdert å skrive et innlegg om journalistikk studiet / alle fagene mine, men jeg vet egentlig ikke om noen er interessert, eller om det er noe spesielt dere ønsker å vite? Så jeg tenkte jeg skulle begynne med å skrive om en av mine fag, som på mange måter er det mest interessante; arabisk.

Når jeg skulle velge min "optional module", trykte jeg impulsivt på "arabisk", for 20 ekstra studiepoeng. Mens nesten alle vennene mine valgte et annet "språk", "shorthand", bestemte jeg meg for å prøve ut noe jeg lenge har ønsket. Mens jeg bodde i Qatar fristet alltid tanken om å lære arabisk meg, men jeg kom liksom aldri rundt til det. Når jeg kom tilbake til Norge, hadde ikke akkurat skolene mine slike språk å tilby, så etter en stund glemte jeg det litt ut. Men da jeg så det brede utvalget av språkene som tilbys på Roehampton, tenkte jeg at jeg bare måtte dra nytte av det!

Jeg antar at det å lære et nytt språk aldri er lett i begynnelsen, i hvert fall var ikke det tilfelle for meg. For min første time kjente jeg ikke noen andre som hadde valgt arabisk, og jeg visste egentlig ikke vet hva jeg kunne forvente meg. Jeg var fortsatt blond da, og når jeg gikk inn i klasserommet følte jeg at jeg ikke hørte hjemme der i det hele tatt. Min klasse besto nesten bare av arabere, som enten kunne alfabetet eller språket litt allerede. Og der kom jeg, som følte meg stolt over at jeg kunne noen få fraser som "velkommen"... Så ja, de første ukene var litt vanskelige, det å lære et nytt språk med et helt nytt alfabet og en ny måte å skrive.

Men det som er utrolig gøy, er at det bare tok noen få uker, og så begynte jeg faktisk å forstå mer og mer. Plutselig kunne jeg lese hele avsnitt på arabisk (uten å forstå alt av det selvfølgelig, men likevel), og jeg hadde lært meg å skrive alle bokstavene (hver bokstav har fire ulike former). Jeg kunne presentere meg selv, og jeg tenkte på hvordan det ville være å komme tilbake til Qatar og å kunne snakke arabisk med folk der. Fordi, selvfølgelig, er det en av de store grunnene til at jeg valgte å ta arabisk. Landet som alltid ser ut til å ha noe å gjøre med valgene i livet mitt, landet som introduserte meg til arabisk språk og kultur. Jeg kan ikke vente med å komme tilbake der i påsken, og prøve ut ferdighetene mine. Akkurat nå, er den eneste ulempen med arabisk timene mine, at det får meg til savne Qatar så utrolig mye. أفتقدك قطر

I have considered writing a post about my journalism course/ all of my subjects, but I don't really know if anyone is interested, or if there is anything specific you would like to know? So, I thought I should start by writing about one of my subjects, which in many ways is the most interesting one; arabic. 

When choosing my optional module, I impulsively ticked for "arabic", as an extra 20 credits. While almost all of my friends chose to take another new "language", shorthand, I decided to try out something I had wanted for a long time. While living in Qatar, the thought of learning the arabic language always tempted me, but I never got around to it. Coming back to Norway, my schools didn't really offer other languages than german, french and spanish (how I wish I had been better in spanish!), so after a while I kind of forgot about it. But when I saw the wide selection of languages offered at Roehampton, I thought I just had to take advantage of it!

I guess learning a new language is never easy in the beginning, at least it was not the case for me. For my first class I did not know anyone else who had chosen arabic, and I did not really know what to expect. I was still blonde back then, and when I walked into the classroom I felt like I did not belong there at all. My class consisted almost only of arabs, who either knew the alphabet or the spoken language already. And there I came, who had previously felt good about myself because I knew how to say a few phrases like "welcome"... So yeah, the few weeks were a bit though, learning a new language with a new alphabet and a different way of writing. 

But the fun thing is, it took a few weeks and then I actually started to understand. I could read whole paragraphs in arabic (without understanding all of it of course, but anyway), and I knew how to write every letter (every letter has 4 different forms). I could introduce myself, and I imagined how it would be coming back to Qatar and being able to speak arabic with the people there. Because, of course, that is part of the reason why I take this course. The country that always seems to have something to do with my life choices, the country that introduced me to arabic language and culture. I really can't wait to go back for easter, and try out my skills. Right now, the only downside about my arabic lectures, is that it makes me miss Qatar so incredibly much. أفتقدك قطر

SUNDAY INSPIRATION: REALISTIC

“2015; 

1. Sleep earlier, rise earlier - get off your phone, set a time, create a habit.

2. Read more - and not just shitty fanfics. Read them too. But read. Read classics, read newspapers, read magazines, read fictional books, read joke books. Just read.

3. Stay away from people who do not deserve you - you are worth a lot more. Fuck their shitty opinions.

4. Eat well - and I don’t mean diet. I mean, eat well. Eat healthy, indulge every once in a while, but don’t go overboard. Eat for your health and not for society.

5. Create a plan that will be enjoyable for exercise and just do it - no fucking around this year

6. Study well - an hour every single day. Just one hour of uninterrupted, that’s all it will take. Apprendre et travail dans Francais - Je ne sais pas si ce est juste, pardon a mon francais suiveurs

7. Pamper yourself- give yourself one hour. One hour a week to unwind. To week to wash your hair, leave in your conditioner, soak your skin, have a face mask, shave your legs, light some candles, drink some tea, put on nice smelling lotion and comfy pajamas, put on some nice music and sleep well.

8. Put in an effort - doing your hair nicely, putting on that clean change of clothes and a simple coat of mascara has a lot of power to make you feel a hell of a lot better

9. Learn new VOCAB - because why the fuck not? Write down your new words that you learn while reading, use them in conversations; expand your vocab, because when you are sitting in the exam room, you’ll be glad you have.

10. Plan an outing once a week - have something to look forward to, to be excited for. Experience new things.

11. Set small goals - 3 small things to do every day, and don’t sleep till you have them done. 3x365 knowledgeable achievements will be worth it - trust me

12. Meet new people - don’t be so quick to judge. 

13. Love yourself - I’m still trying to figure this one out, but I’m beginning to feel like I am worth it. 

14. Art - practice makes perfect. Work, and when you can’t work, learn. Discover artists and their pieces, their inspirations, their style. Document it. There is always something to do to improve, whether it be through practice or research.

15. Stick to these goddamn goals. 2015 will be the shit if I make it.”

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