Fallen Earth

In November last year I wrote a novel called ”Fallen Earth”, but I left the last 20 pages of it unwritten. I wrote about 200 pages, and then I just stopped. Well, thanks to Kei, I am finishing it now and I am going to publish it in Indonesia with her help. I am almost there now, just a few more pages and I can call it a wrap. It will be an important lesson in “letting go”. I am a perfectionist and 6 months ago, I would never consider publishing it because I thought it was not good enough. It is not about making it perfect, but it is about finishing something that I’ve started which is very difficult for me. I am ready to accept it like it is and actually get it all done for once. Thanks Kei!

Speaking of, only 9 days until I go! How exciting is that? A whole new world is opening up for me and Kei. I’ve been to Asia before, but I expect Indonesia to be a lot different from China. When I was in China, I thought like a westerner and I acted like one too. I was seen as impolite and rude by most people which surprised me, but it’s just so different. I learnt a lot by being there about other cultures and ways to do things. When I get to Indonesia I will be more aware of how things are. I will still be myself, but I can use my experience from China to make it a better experience for myself and Kei. I guess the most important thing I learned from China was to not assume anything. Assumptions always lead to trouble. I somehow assumed that in big cities like Shanghai that things would be like in western cities. How wrong I was.

This will me my last “normal” day at work for a while. For the whole of next week I will have RAS (Remote Access Server) training. I’m really looking forward to it as I get to learn a new skill which will be very useful in my work. RAS is basically all about connecting remotely to computers and do troubleshooting remotely. The only drawback of having training next week is that immediately after that I will be away from work for 3 weeks and would have forgotten a lot when I get back. Oh well I will deal with that when it comes. Have a great weekend everyone!

These shoes were made for walkin'

As I was walking on Sunday I realized something. I love my shoes. They are so comfortable to wear and it doesn't matter if it's winter, summer, spring or fall, these shoes will not let me down. I don't think about it, but these particular shoes have been walking through some exciting places.

They have been walking through the streets of Dublin, Ireland (which is where I bought them). Then they went on walking through the snowy streets of Liverpool, UK before they walked in the more snowy landscape of Tromso, Norway. Not long after that they were walking in the busy streets of Shanghai, China... The hills of Chaohu, China... The cold streets of Beijing, China... Now they are back in the UK, walking through the rainy streets of Manchester. They have even been walking through the airports of Copenhagen, Denmark and Paris, France. Soon they will be walking in the streets of Jakarta, Indonesia.

It's amazing isn't it? And they almost look as good as when I bought them, still as comfy as ever. Yes, I love my shoes. If there was one object I could take with me on a deserted island it would be those shoes. Keep on walking, you'll never walk alone...

Better become a Norwegian really quickly

Hmm, they must love ice cream here in Manchester, because the ice cream truck is driving by each day. In Norway it was once a week or something like that. Well, not for me… I’ve started a new and moderately healthy lifestyle. I’ve reduced my 1 liter of diet coke a day to a small glass during lunch (it is free so it would be rude to pass that up). Only 1 small cup of coffee every day and tea without sugar. I’ve replaced my diet coke at home with orange juice. I might even think about starting to exercise.

The Norwegians sure are fast eaters. I noticed it everywhere I go. In Norway, Dublin and now the UK. They just eat like crazy. I really struggle with that because I’ve always eaten quite slowly. When I was in China, people told me I ate fast. They have noticed that the Norwegians eat fast here, because we only get 30 minutes lunch, while the Dutch get 45 minutes for example. So this means I have to pick up the pace and become a Norwegian or I will go hungry. Mind you, they have free tomato soup in the vending machines, but that is for emergencies only.

I’ve noticed how similar Manchester is to Dublin. I’m not talking city centre because I haven’t been there yet, but the area where I live. It’s strikingly similar to where I lived in Ireland. They even have a “main street” here like I did in Swords with all kinds of stores. I’m surprised that the number of pubs aren’t that many though. In Ireland there were full of pubs everywhere, but here they are sparse.

I’m really tired now. I think it has to do with all the traveling I’ve done in recent month. I don’t know what day it is really. It will take a couple of weeks to get used to it. These last 2 nights, I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night. I have some trouble sleeping, partly because it’s a new place, but mostly because I miss Kei. It’s hard to concentrate at work, but I can do both, thinking about her and do the job required. Luckily the training is quite easy for me coming from a call center/IT background, so not much concentrating is needed.

Kei called me again today. She has a great time in Thailand, but she also has trouble sleeping. It’s hard being so far apart. I called her hotel in Thailand later on just to say hi. It became a longer talk than expected. My phone bill will be a bit larger than usual, but it’s worth it just to hear her voice and laughter. She bought us matching watches, one black and one yellow. Can’t wait to see it :D. She has taken over 100 pictures so far, so I have much to look forward too.

Committed

I really don’t know what to write about today. I’m sure I will think of something to tell while I write this. I spoke to my buddy Knut today. He’s currently in Xi’an in China teaching English. Me and him used to work together in Ireland, but we haven’t had much time to talk recently. I’ve noticed that I haven’t been able to keep close contact with my real-life friends for more than maybe a year or so. Of course, maybe if I hadn’t moved around so much in recent years, then maybe I would have kept them closer. I wonder if my online friends will outlast my real life friends? Some of my real-life friends have now become my online friends. It’s kind of funny how much closer I am to my online friends than real-life friends; maybe it’s just a phase.

Tomorrow Kei will leave for Thailand for a vacation and I will leave for England to work on Sunday. Our picture project will continue in our respective countries though. It will just be new places, but we’ll stay the same, committed to each other. Just hope the cell phones work in these countries so we can text each other. I don’t know what my internet situation will be when I get to England, but I hope it’s immediately available. I wish to keep on blogging on a daily basis.

I have nothing more to write, really.

Happy birthday little sis!

Well today is my little sister Elin’s 20th birthday! I wish I could be there with her, but even though we are in the same country, we are still a couple of hours away by plane. So here’s to you sis! Hope you have a wonderful birthday!

Oh, another little thing happened today. I got offered a job here in Oslo! They called me this morning to let me know they are offering me a full position at their company. I think I was in shock, because I don’t remember all the details, haha. But I was clear enough to ask if I could have a couple of days to think about it because tomorrow I will have a phone interview with another job which is located in Manchester, England. If I get that job as well, I don’t know what I will do. I have to make a list of pros and cons I guess. Anyway, there’s no pressure on me for that phone interview now, because no matter what I have a great job!

I’m looking so much forward to this weekend, my birthday is May 7^th, but May 5^th I will go out and celebrate my 30^th birthday. It will be great! The funny thing is that my friend’s girlfriend is also 30 on May 7^th so it will be a double birthday party! Well if this post is overly positive, it’s because I am extremely happy right now. I’m flying over here. It’s funny, but if I hadn’t got a thought last year about going to China I would have never been so happy today. It’s a funny world, hehe.