Chapter IV

This is how it begins

Hello from Leeds! I've been here for 4 days now and things are starting to settle down. I've explored the uni and city a little, met a couple of new friends and basically familiarising myself with the surroundings. It's been pretty alright and I'm starting to get used to the changes (:

Induction for school starts on Monday and I'm super psyched (: I'm ready to just go ahead and start school now. Just going back in time a little, on my flight here, I caught Soul Surfer and it was such an apt film to start off this new chapter (: It was a true story about a teen surfer called Bethany Hamilton who despite losing her left arm in a shark attack, courageously overcame all odds to become a champion surfer. It was by no means an easy road and tough doesn't even come close to describing it but she soldiered on. There were hurdles along the way of course, heaps of it in massive proportions yet her determination to get back on her board refused to give in. (: 

I've been having nagging doubts of what ifs, will I, can I, because I know that law school's gonna be rough but this film has inspired me a little. Haha. I will have to grit my teeth and see this through. (:

Okay! On a lighter note, here are a couple of pictures from around uni (:

 Business school. Isn't it pretty!

 The new Law building (:

I must say that despite the cranky weather sometimes, Leeds often has amazing skies and you know how much I'm a sucker for them. (:

That's it for now. Swedish phrase before I go,  'Sommaruppehållet är slut nu.' which means the summer break is now over.

Give a shit

that's how it starts.

Give-a-shit. Now that's what we call creative marketing and getting something useful out of this social slang that is sometimes frowned upon ;) The message behind the campaign is quite ingenious though and I agree, that if only everyone gave a shit about something, it'll make everything that much better in it's own little way. I just feel that if you gave a shit about something, it will affect (subconsciously or not) your actions in some way or another. Doesn't matter how small it is, Rome wasn't built in a day nor was it built with one giant slab of stone. So pick a cause, and give a shit. (:

So the 12th of August marked my last day at Legal Aid. It has been an amazing run and I've learnt so much this past year. I am sometimes still quietly amazed at how everything turned out. I  remember going for the interview at Legal Aid hoping for an internship but came out with a job instead. From meeting clients/applicants to court experiences and to drafting tons of legal documents, it has been such a fruitful year and made even more memorable by the colleagues that I had. Nothing else I can say but that I've been truly blessed. (:

In the blink of an eye, it's now less than a week to departure and just over 2 weeks to the start of school. I was supposed to leave on the 15th but pushed my flight up by a couple of days to give myself slightly more time to settle in (: I, am so.damn.psyched :D Haven't had much time to read up as much as I wanted to though, as I have been helping Monica with the new Frejadesigns site. (Really excited for the launch!) but I'm still catching a few pages everyday and despite English Legal and Constitutional being awfully stiff and boring at times, I still like it. (: (:

Fees have also been fully paid, accommodation settled, registration has all been done and I've even gotten my timetable (: I only have lectures Mondays to Wednesdays! This gives me a bit more flexibility to find a job which I'm glad for since I've been told it's not easy to find one.

SO EXCITED TO FINALLY START LAW SCHOOL! :D

Alright, need to get back to packing.

Swedish word before I go, studenthem which means the dorms or hall of residence (:
Jag kommer att bo i studenthem means I will be living in the dorms.

Hej då!

Summer has set in. ♥

Sunshine, freedom and a little flower.

Right in the eye of summer (: June came and went, then came July; and now it's almost on it's way out! Time has this tendency to fly right by you just when you're trying to savour the best of it huh? It's now just slightly over 50 days to England and I, am fucking psyched. (: I can't wait to get started on assignments and term papers, getting involved in the Innocence project, studying in the library, getting pumped up on caffeine, the cold frost in the early mornings and everything that has to do with being a law student in England. Haha... my tone might change a few weeks into school as I start to grumble about having to wake up at the ass crack of dawn and having to make the long trudge to class, but I'm fairly certain the thrill of reading law will last for a long time to come. ;)

That aside, summer thus far has been pretty awesome (: Our trip to Bangkok and Koh Tao was a blast and we met some cool people too (and lots of crazy english lads :D). Managed to get my Deep Dive and Night Dive certification this time round and clocked another 9 dives in my log book so I must say that I felt pretty damn accomplished. Haha.. It's a pity though that I did not get to see any sharks this time round. Though I did see a couple of huge rays. OH! We saw a ginormous school of barracudas! It was awesome! I managed to spot my favourite yellow box-fish a couple of times too (: With that, I don't know when I'd be able to dive again but I hope I'll be able to make it to PNG in the near future because Paul's pictures look fuckin amazing. Anyway, a few captured moments of our summer trip:

Of fire stunts and pretty sunsets (:

♥

Koh Tao was amaaaazing. For 5 days, we did pretty much nothing but dive, hang out, read, eat, sleep, rinse and repeat. (: Waking up at 630am for the morning dives was an awesome way to start the days and I miss it soooooo damn much already.

The topic of life as a dive instructor came up on a few occasions as we lamented about how awesome it must be, to wake up every morning knowing that you will be doing a job that you love. Yet I thought it must start to feel different, once that hobby becomes an obligation of sorts.. Since with a job, comes responsibilities and rules that you probably never really had to give much thought to when you were just diving for fun. It's like married life, you know. Once the kids (jobs) come, there are just some things that you can no longer freely do, because you have the responsibility to make sure your kids (students) are taken care of. Hah.

Then on our very last night, while talking to sneaky about working as an instructor, his story of going from feeling like the luckiest person in the world to constantly having to reinforce to himself the notion of "Luke! You're so lucky!" made me laugh because while I could totally relate, it also made me think back on a post I had previously wrote, about how sometimes, contentment can so easily become such an inadequate sense of satisfaction. Which, can be seen as a natural progression since we're constantly being exposed to so many different aspects of life that we can't possibly expect our sense of contentment to remain static for an extended period of time. I guess if one were to live life fully, it would then mean that contentment would never suffice?

Right... pardon my ramblings. Anyway!

Audeee and me.

Did my first couple of dives with Audeee and she, is super cool. Haha (:

So after we bid Koh Tao a sad sad sad goodbye, we headed back to Bangkok where Maine and Manda attempted to buy half of Bangkok back with them. There were many moments of "It's only $5! I might as well..." Haha. Though I have to admit that there really were a shit ton of good steals.. If I had not been on a budget, I am pretty sure I would have gone bananas too. (:

Got my visa settled the moment I came back from the trip too! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it gets approved soon. That would be an awesome awesome birthday present ;) and yesss I'm turning 24 in a couple of days! It's a travesty, I am almost a quarter century old now... to think I feel like I just turned 16 yesterday. Haha.

Alright, swedish lesson to end this off.



100 days.

to England and to Law School (:

So that's how it officially stands, 100 days. I'm pretty sure it's gonna be the longest 100 days of my life. Haha. Anywho, sorry for the lack of updates the past week. It's been a lil dreary and hectic with the combination of work, tuition, attempting to read up on law notes and happenings within the family. My social life has pretty much become non-existent the past month or so. (not that it had been very colorful to begin with. But you get what I mean.)

What's been new? Well, we made history by winning the 19th League cup, that's one. Then we lost the Champions League cup to an exceptional team, that's two. Haha. Broke my heart because I honestly thought we had a good chance there. We started off alright and despite going 1-0 down, Rooney hit back with a stunning goal so hope flared. Yet when the second half started, they played with such exceptional skills and class that the result at the end of the day was really quite inevitable. Well, we tried. I didn't think we tried hard enough, but such is life eh. Gotta take the shit with the roses. (my saying. heh.) We still capped the season with a 19th, so that's something to cheer about (:

I can't wait to catch a live game next season ;)

My visa's been giving me a headache though and I'm really really hoping that all goes well for it. Was supposed to go down to the embassy on the 6th to submit all my docs but there's been a hold up with the school releasing our CAS to us, which is also incidentally the most important documentation required. Hah. So the 6th is a bust. 

Then there's the trouble of having to submit my passport for the duration of the visa application which wouldn't be a problem if I wasn't intending to travel in July....... but Maine's back on the 28th (YAY!) and our summer trip's from 5th to 12th July. So yes.... pretty much fucked on that. If only I could keep to that appointment on the 6th.... then my visa might have been done by the end of June but the school's not cooperating with my plansssssss. Urrgghhhhhhh!! All these coordination is driving me nuts. Hah. 

In other news, very psyched for summer trip (: Can't wait to cliff jump, dive, read on the beach and spend some quality time with the girls before I leave (:

Today's swedish words:

A little lesson on adverbs (:

aldrig - never

alltid - always

antagligen - probably

bara - only

kanske - maybe

inte - not

ofta - often

redan - already

verkligen - really

snart - soon

Because right this moment,

I'm just a girl.

The country's in the midst of election fever the past few weeks and the question of one's party of choice never fails to come up in every single conversation. It might be too early to say, but in my constituency, I felt the choice was pretty clear. I have no impression, none whatsoever, of the opposition party. One would have thought that if you're going up against the PM, the least you could do was put up a good fight? Haha. I have to admit that I am not a staunch supporter of any party but neither am I anti-PAP. I simply voted for who I thought could better serve the needs of the constituency/country. In a nutshell, while I understand the arguments brought up by the Opposition, I did not hear any credible solutions to these problems that they found with the current government. It just seems like there was a lot of appeal to populist sentiments. I have to say that I believe and have more faith in PAP's policies, but also strongly believe that they can do so much better . And while there is indeed a need for opposition parties in parliament to act as checks against the PAP, at the end of the day, it's my view that they are still better equipped to run this country. 

Well, whichever party eventually comes into power, let's hope that improving the financial standings of the working folks and closing the widening chasm between rich and poor are some of the top few priorities.

On an entirely different note, it's 17 weeks to law school, to England, to a new chapter (: While I am extremely psyched for school, I am also very ... afraid. I know I shouldn't be and I'm in the process of overcoming this hurdle, but it's slow coming. Haha.. Anyway, I just bought my first 3 law texts for school yesterday! Interesting stuff and can't wait to get down to it once it arrives (: 

I think this change is gonna be good for me. Not just because I'm going to finally be able to do what I have been gunning for all these years, but also because I feel like it's a break that I desperately need. A time to be a lot more independent, to really stand on my own two feet. And for that, I'm excited. (:

One another note, it would also be good for me to meet new people. To let my heart be at ease, to concentrate on my studies, and not get sucked back into this mess that we sometimes call a casual...ship. Especially in the last few weeks where things between us have been swinging from one end to the other with barely time for me to catch hold of what's happening. You've been throwing me curveballs one after the next and while I threw some good ones back, I can't catch up. 

I woke up one Wednesday morning and wished so very hard, that things between us weren't so complicated. It kills the butterflies that I like, so very much, and it makes my insides clench and hurt. You asked me a question and I couldn't give you an answer. You wanted to know why but I said goodnight. I'm afraid to tell you what I really want because I somehow know that you'd only turn and run. I guess I've always known that at the end of the day, I'll never be what you really want. I would rather not take the risk of whatever it is that we have, falling apart. I would rather later, than sooner.

I wish there were a rulebook for intimacy. Some kind of guide to tell you when you've crossed the line. It would be nice if you could see it coming, and I don't know how you fit it on a map. You take it where you can get it, and keep it as long as you can. And as for rules, maybe there are none. Maybe the rules of intimacy are something you have to define for yourself.

Today's swedish phrase is a mushy one. Haha.

I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.

Jag är bara en flicka, som står framför en pojke och ber honom att älska henne.

Dude!

So the first post of 2011 and I'm blogging this from the bus.

Where I have a seat.

A seat that is meant for one.

But a seat that I am currently sharing.

With a lady that is clearly so smitten by my good looks and charm that of alllll the other seats she could choose from, she chose to squeeze in and sit half on my lap.

Well, I guess the words, 'personal space' do not exist in her world.

Anyway, Happy 2011 y'all! (: 2010 has been a bit of bumpy ride but towards the later half, it has been very well and eventful. Hopefully this means the good flow will continue on into this year! 2 weeks in and things are looking positive (:

I've spoken to my parents about school and after looking at the options, I've decided to go with Leeds. It's more viable financially and their merit scholarships are a great incentive for me to push myself. They have a really good pro-bono program too which is awesome since that was where a huge part of my motivation to read law stemmed from.
The last hurdle now would be the Visa issue so I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for that. Goddd I'm really really really psychedd to start school!!! (: (:

So in other news, my heart's been going a little stir crazy for the past few weeks. I don't quite understand this obsession but according to Kris, the oh so wise man, it's an unhealthy addiction that needs to kick the bucket. Easier said than done of course.

She is, for lack of a better word, amazing. She is smart and funny (although opinions vary) and has the best laugh that makes you want to laugh too. I guess I came to the realisation that I really really really like her. LOL. However, the past few days have been a bit of a train wreck and it's been making me go completely insane. I've fumbled, stuttered and spazzed out in front of her, losing a million points in the process. But... We live and learn right? And I'm determined to conquer this one. Lol!

I'm also taking a short trip to Cambodia with manda next week. After working through Christmas Eve and NYE, I thought it's a well deserved respite ;) it's gonna be my last trip until I leave for England though. Gotta save up as much as possible. I was telling maine that as long as I lay low for the next 5 months, I'd be on the right track :D
I gave a timeline of 5 months because well...... My partner-in-crime is coming back again this summer!!!!!! We wanted to do Shanghai/Taiwan together but with law school also comes some financial sacrifices so we'll prolly only do a short trip around Thailand/Malaysia in July (: Super psychedd (:

Lastly, was over at Monica's last night and Ulrika was in town (: she gives the most awesome hugs and we all know how I'm a big ass sucker for stora kramarrr! Anyway, I'm so proud of Freja Designs! Things are really starting to take off now and I'm so excited for them with the new stores and coming up with the various new displays. (: It's a bit of a mad house now but I have no doubts that she's gonna do great this year.

To end it off, swedish word of the day from Ulrika, ''Fy fan!'' ;)

--
Sent from my mobile device


"With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are
attainable."
- Thomas Buxton

Tall, Dark and Cool

and she walks, with just the right kind of swagger.

Slightly late, but Merry Christmas everyone! (: I hope y'all had good celebrations and received awesome gifts, I know I did! Got a few charm bracelets, charm necklaces, VS body mist (which smells heavenly, I must say.) books, prettiest stationery, IKEA stuff (you can't really go wrong when you give me IKEA products. Lol), vouchers and cuddly bears (: 

All in all, so much ♥

Still, I have to say that the best gift of all was my law school acceptances! (: I got replies from my first 3 choices now. So the next step would be to discuss it with my parents and decide on a school... If all goes according to plan, I will hopefully be England-bound September next year! I was soooo very very very psyched when I received the acceptances. I feel like it's bar none, the best thing that has ever happened to me this year and what a way to end off 2010 right? (: Now just wish me luck for the discussion with my folks ;)

Christmas celebrations were a bit more mellow this year. Had a julfika at Alexandra's on the 22nd, pot luck dinner on the 23rd at Willie's, family christmas party at my place on 24th and dinner with the swedes on the 25th. Heaps of good food, good gifts, good laughter and just a tinge of alcohol with lovely company = ♥ (:

I got Victor a christmas present too and he was soooooo adorable. Lol. He was really hyper, running around and making truck noises the whole time, yet still so gentle when it came to lil Sebastian (:

Before I go, Swedish phrase: 

Världens alla tomtar med en hel del röda luvor - All the world's gnomes with a lot of red hats.

God Jul och Gott Nytt År

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (:

‎"I know there's a bit of us that would like me to do a Hugh Grant in Love Actually (2003) and tell America where to get off. But the difference between a good movie and real life in that in real life, there's the next day, the next year, the next lifetime to contemplate the ruinous consequences of easy applause." - Tony Blair