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Before waking up

Byrichard

Before waking up I found myself catching a plane to an airport before catching a small private plane to somewhere in the mountains where I went skiing. I was going home but for some reason I was late.

I was telling myself that I had to get back to one place to get my luggage before going home before realising that I didn’t. I decided to rush for the plane, dropped by my room, and threw a cursive look before running back to the small private plane, asking whether I was on the first flight before the plane took off.

For some reason, it had to taxi along some mountain roads and almost hit some bowling balls on the tarmac. Quite a confusing dream to have had.

I usually have strange dreams as summer starts trying to get in through the curtains. It’ss the fourth or fifth day of sunshine in sunny London.

Another day of sitting in the sun whilst waiting for night to fall to continue working on the dissertation.

Last night I spent at least an hour going through some of my notes. Highlighting relevant bits and thinking about how to structure the introduction.  Now it’s another 15 days of such effort or more.

The deadline is still over a month away but it’s better to do as much as possible now to relax afterward… or at least not panic.

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Airport security can be fun

Byrichard

When you fly a lot you get used to the antics of airport security. Sometimes you see people get angry and flustered by their stuff being searched. Sometimes I’ve felt that way as well.

Today was amusing. My bag went through the x ray machine and since it was so full of books dvd and more they wanted to look inside. No one else was passing through at the time so I joked about how they had to keep busy. One of them joked about having to find something to confiscate to keep himself entertained. Shame I had nothing of interest.

I chatted about the DVD in my bag and about a series related to the first one and it was generaly quite friendly.

Hey, when you’ve flown five times in two months you’re bound to be more relaxed about certain aspects, especially when you’re in no rush because you gave yourself enough time.

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Wait in Terminal

Byrichard

Wait in terminal

And so the weekend came to an end. It began on Thursday with a trip around Malmo and dropping into two or three bars and a night club. Discussions were had and dancing took place.

The first day was about getting back up to speed with the friend and keeping to the promise that I’d made about coming to Sweden would come to fruition.

I was in the city of Malmo, across the Oresund from Copenhague, Denmark’s capital. It’s on the southern tip of Sweden. It’s a city of around 500,000 people.

We went to two bars before dropping into l’étage. A nightclub that wasn’t that busy. We met a few people of which a fashion student. I was interested in what she had to say but this was cut short by the boyfriend interrupting to speak about football.

The night ended early and I was exhausted.

The second day was more relaxed consisting of a meal at a restaurant I had been to previously where the food was good.

On the third day, we visited the city of Copenhagen. I had already been to the airport but it’s nice to visit the town and notice some of the atmosphere and the architecture.

There’s a circular ice rink where people can come and ice skate in a square. It’s some grass in the middle so it’s circular. Some people were enjoying the ice.

Back in Malmo we had some dinner before passing by a night club where we stayed till closing. It felt relaxed, consisting of a corridor and three rooms. One part was the restaurant, another the dancefloor and the other a room with table tennis. It lasted till three am and can’t think of any conversations

I flew the next day and I was writing this entry on my phone it seemed that we were chasing the sunset back to London. Those sunsets are always enjoyable and colourful.

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Looking forward to Sweden

Byrichard

In about 23 hours I’m going to be ready both physically and mentally for a trip to the city of Malmo in Sweden. There I expect to find a city I have already been to twice in the past. It is there that I may find a cold wind, blankets in the piccolina Piazza… Lilla Torg and enjoy pear cider.

I take the tube towards central London and the bus from there to Stansted. I board a plane that will fly for around 1hr and 20 minutes, land in Copenhague, get to the train station, catch the Oresund train across to the city of Malmo and look at the big waves in the sea below the tracks. It’s a short enough trip.

I haven’t spent more than five weeks at a time in the same place since the beginning of the academic year. I love traveling and seeing other countries and their cultures. It may be the last time I drop by for cheap since the friend will be moving from Sweden within a short amount of time.

Three nights in Sverige

It may be time for me to learn some Swedish other than “what are you doing” or “you are cute” and learn more relevant sentences.

Thursday will make these decisions for me.

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I’m dropping by Sweden for the weekend

Byrichard

You should always visit friends in their country of origin because it’s fun. Within a week I’ll be in Sweden enjoying Swedish hospitality. I booked the flights today so within a few days I’ll be flying off once more. It’s not that being in a country for too long bothers me but simply that this opportunity won’t last very long.

I liked Sweden the previous two times I’ve been there so I’m going again.

It’s a bit of a misnomer because although I’m a full-time student I only have 2hrs a week of tuition with the rest of the time left for dissertation work, work experiences, and of course the technology module.

I’ve been listening to this week in media, power user tv, Net at Night, and This week in tech for several months by now, therefore, it’s part of my culture to think about tech.

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New York

Byrichard

10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80. The doors open. I walk forward a little more, a picture is taken, go up another 6 floors and I’m on an observation deck.

That’s the experience people get as they go up to the observation deck of the empire state building. It’s amusing because although the view is great it doesn’t feel that high, probably because the structure is so massive compared to other parts of the world.

What you see are many buildings, some sticking out by themselves and others clustered together. There are a lot of sky scrapers although it’s hard to see them with the haze.

When down at ground level you see the valleys or canyons of buildings. Structures are tall requiring you to look up more than usual to see the top. The streets are long and straight making it easier to see for miles. The taxis and buses are numerous. The emergency services always have the lights on which is different from other countries I’ve visited.

During my time in New york I visited a number of sights around the city. I went to Ellis Island, Statten Island and Liberty Island. Manhattan itself is an island connected by several famous bridges and a number of tunnels.

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Third day in New York

Byrichard

Today I’m going to Statten Island in New York.

It’s the third day I’ve been here so far and I’ve already visited the UN, Battery Park, Central Park, Times Square (at night), and other locations.

I transited through Amsterdam from London, stopping there for a few hours. The flight was aboard a 777. I watched both Tsotsi and The Devil Wears Prada.

I have another seven days here and it should continue being good fun.

When I have a little more time I’ll add some pictures for people to view

On being an Resident assistant

Byrichard

Being a resident assistant is a great job at the same time as it’s a lot of responsibility. It means that we have access to every room in halls for a few hours a week although in reality we’re only allowed to go from one room to another. We have to go around making sure that everyone is ok. We check that all kitchens are in a good state and that people are not unhappy.

What becomes a challenge is asserting authority without getting everyone to hate you. On the one hand, you’re a third year, which means you’ve had a lot of parties already and you’ve been weathered into uni life and on the other, you’re still in need of social interactions.

I went to my first lecture and I remembered how much I hate being in a classroom surrounded by so many people. It was a documentary module and this should be fun. We’ve got a week to think of a topic to research and carry on. In a few days, I’ll be going to America and I’m looking forward to it more and more. I’m excited about traveling to the Big Apple, seeing all those tall buildings, and more.