A day I deserved !!

Chaos!! That's all what I can say about my time management and my report writing. My results seem to be popping up but not really very prominent, may be really good when I leave from here. That's sad and happy feeling. I have heard to gain sometimes you have to loose. What did I loose? Not much, just on night's sleep. But that was worth it I should say. I could loosen myself and have a nice small picnic on Saturday. I should say Sweden is really a very safe country. My Thursday night in the lab was not a bit scary or worried situation. The online music and the coffee machine kept me alive throughout the night. That was my first coffee in my lab. That does sound weird but sometimes you have to keep away from your favorite drinks and food.


Just imagine, you are the only person in the lab and the corridor lights go of suddenly. Oops that's not a really good sign, but it does happen especially during weekends and nights because of the concept of timer associated with the switches. Taking care that I do not dose off during early hours of the day I had a small walk in the corridor and a shadow was walking towards me from the other end of the corridor. I thought it was my last breath but once it came into light I discovered it was just another crazy head who wanted to start the work in the middle of the night. So that proves I am not the only nut and also that sometimes you need to confront the situation just to avoid any misconceptions. Even phobias under expert advice can be got rid off in such a fashion. I tried to overcome my phobia of bats by looking bravely at their images but that wasn't too much of a successful story. I just had a bad landing on my wrist when I jerked out of a nightmare.


About Saturday, it was just a perfect weekend, a much deserved day when after two months you know you have some successful results. The trip started with a not so long drive then to a small castle with a Swedish guided tour (I did not catch a single word tough) and a small shop with many fabulous glass articles. My most liked one was the glass painting on the plate. They looked really very elegant with some modern art and a city painted in them. That does require a lot of patience, to paint every detail with a very nice stroke. Just wonder how much time it will take to paint a canvas, if you have your course work and other daily activities to be taken care of?

  
Wonderful glass paintings may be they are looking for a house 



 

A time journey to the olden golden days of the glory


Waiting to be in Skövde

......Namita......


Parting days

It just seems like it was yesterday that I moved out of Skovde, but it's been over two and a half months and it's time again that I return back. At times I ponder over the dilemma of the human mind. For instance take my situation, I never was so sure that I will be comfortable outside Skovde, but now I am just fine with the not so new environment and I have started liking Uppsala as well. Now I want to come back to Skovde and start my semester but I am felling dejected to leave Uppsala. I have so many fond memories with my new friends and my really comfortable lab environment and the lab group. Three of my friends have already left for a short vacation before they start their semester. May be this is called as the journey of life. Move forward with the fond memories of the past. I forgot to mention I had volunteered for the group lunch this Thursday and to my surprise it wasn't so bad after all. I tried not to lose my patience and I succeeded a bit in it.


Not just my lab mates but also my neighbors have left. It was as if get one free for the other. Two partings over the weekend. The only choice when I now come back home is glue my eyes to the computer. Since that's not so much characteristic of me I think really like a peanut. I try to browse the internet without much success. But I discovered some really good and some really nasty stuff yesterday. It depends how you want to use your skills and brain. Not that always some educational stuff has to be read but also some good general knowledge and entertainment can be found. For instance if I hate to plug the headset to listen to the radio I can just get it over the internet and let it sing over my laptop. Even I save up some money by watching the online movies and cartoons during my leisure time. May be online stuff will soon pick up speed as against the programs with strict predetermined time.

Over this Friday I was supposed to click some photographs for my report. I have shot dozens of them but only a handful seems to be of any help to me. When I tried to get help over the internet I was surprised to see really helpful tips over this issue. May be I should have referred to them as a homework before breaking my backbone on Friday.

                                           
Developing skills in the lunch room!!            Top view of blue bottle         

                               


The broken link                                    Getting hold my life!! 


Gear up for the semester!!

Namita



Cheer them up!!

It was a party time for me and my colleagues. It seems that I am having a lot of party time in here, but that's not true I work out my experiments during late during the weekdays so, no worries that my work is affected or so. Some of my friends tried the real hot and spicy red Indian chilly and they had a nice tasty tongue affair setting them on fire. It took almost fifteen minutes for them to normalize back to room temperature. I didn't have the spirit to eat the chilly raw, but they had the real spirit.  Its sports time again. Now it's time for a sports team spirit and cheering up the players for their tough task.


Everyone is really enthusiastic about the Olympics. That's what I am doing since the Friday evening. At times I feel the warm blood rush through my veins when I see the different Olympic events. They are nostalgic, just making you remember your school and college sports events. I was just reading about some of the players and their sports life. They have real dedication and perseverance for the sport. No wonder when they win a medal for their country they cry tears of joy. I tried a couple of them in school but never wanted to pursue them as a career. I never could stand the long practice sessions and the tiring and equally boring warm ups.  Especially if I have to get up early during the monsoon or the winter it's a strict NO. The most mental torturing event is the strict diet regime. I wonder how the youngest of the Olympic players as teenagers controlled their taste buds demands. The games are much safer these days. Even for a single muscle injury you have immediate medical attention. But that wasn't the case when gladiators were competing. The worse situation was during the lion or an alligator fight. It was a do or die situation.


The more I looked into the different articles the more I learned about the Olympics culture, mascots and the different host countries. Mascot designing is also very interesting. Every time there is a different mascot. That's a lot of brain work as well as creativity involved in it. My guess is kids would be best at this work. They have all sorts of real good innovative ideas and also the most fantastic designs for the aliens. Having tried my patience at animation I have to admit you need real brains and a good mood to get the best design. If you happen to be in an angry mood your cartoons are all angry looking demons. Last night I watched "The Little Mermaid" and I should admit the detailing of the ocean floor was to the maximum. I just wanted to throw a tantrum on Friday as my results were not coming up. Maybe I should have a bit more of tolerance power.



.....Namita....

Why only me?

At times I wonder why only me? It can happen at some other times or may be not all the accidents in a single day. Last evening I actually knew the practical meaning of research. I was on the wrong path, my biggest blunder I did not refer back to my problem to be solved. That was a learning experience, but I lost my time and also felt like a stupid, rather the most stupid student. The only way to make up or it was to redo the entire work.

It is so unfair especially when you plan a great day to work and hope for he best results. Morning I discover that my sample vials have just vanished into thin air, then I have to redo the experiment while consumes half of my day. There is no way except to redo if I go wrong. The next blow is when you discover your other set of experiments will take the rest of the day and at the end of the day it is none of the results are visible.


Just to take mind off the entire trouble when I plan to go shopping it starts thundering and pouring. My aged brain didn't think of carrying an umbrella as well. Now the situation is like that I cannot work in the lab, nor can I move out and take care of my shopping or laundry. Just stuck up in the middle! How I hate this situation. I just decide to sneak out and then it pours heavier and worsens my mood. I think it will feel better if I go and scream out in a bit of isolation. That should soothe my brain I guess. May be a cup of coffee with some chocolate muffin is the perfect snack for this evening.


The only happiest incidence was the group lunch; since I did not cook nothing went wrong. I should say it was lucky for my colleagues that they were not left hungry. It is the only time when we all take our brains off the lab work and chat about horses, bikes, snakes and a lot of things including sports. This sure is a way to know more about the things around you and also about what your friends are good at.


I think eventually I will have to copy some nice recipe some day. That sure will be a great tension for me. I never ever understood why we place so much of emphasis on eating tasty food. Why can't we just have a carbohydrate, a protein and fat capsules like we have for multivitamin and calcium? It will save much trouble of trying to grow food, harvest, store, buy and most of all cook food. May be more research should be made on this crazy idea so we all have a much simpler life or may be we shouldn't have any taste buds so what ever and however it is cooked it will not be a great problem to eat. The wild animals are never so choosy about their food then why should we be?

 
What do eat ?                    I like this wild diet

...Namita... The greatest wild eater

Just opposite

Wondering why I was late this week? It's my not so good friend the sun who is troubling me over and over. It is thirty degrees and it really makes me drained out. It feels like more than forty in India. Everyone is so happy that it is sunny and not snowing and try to be out as much as possible and I try to be indoors always trying to shied myself from the radiations. I think I already have too much of tanned skin and then why to tan it up again, but here everyone thinks it feels good to tan it up. It actually surprises everyone that I like it when it snows. May be we all desire for the things that we never have. The northern most part of Sweden happens to have extreme cold during the winter. Many think it is a sort of punishment to survive there during the winter. But since I have always seen the sun and no snow I think it is a good experience to experience all the seasons. That's when you can actually admire the nature truly.


 Even some of the cosmetics have some tanning properties in them. But most of the creams that I use are pigment lightening agents in them, just to retain my complexion. No just this but even the lactic pins vary from country to country. That's really annoying when you have to plug an electrical appliance got from other country. I was biking for two consecutive days to find a cable that was compatible with European electrical system. Now that's quite annoying. A close elative of mine used to travel a lot and every time he travelled he used to cay the different adaptors with him. He had more than four different types of them nicely displayed like antiques. There was a universal adaptor but it was costing a fortune and then there was no student discount as well. I think it will be a better marketing strategy if all the stores have some minimal discounts for the students.


It was an unlucky day for me. I am here working all the while and my experiment doesn't work at all. May be that's why the term re-search has been formulated. You keep digging for the root cause of the problem. I always just remind myself to have some patience. There is a wise note: There is dignity in simplicity and success of perseverance.


Enjoy!!

......Namita..


Just opposite

Wondering why I was late this week? It's my not so good friend the sun who is troubling me over and over. It is thirty degrees and it really makes me drained out. It feels like more than forty in India. Everyone is so happy that it is sunny and not snowing and try to be out as much as possible and I try to be indoors always trying to shied myself from the radiations. I think I already have too much of tanned skin and then why to tan it up again, but here everyone thinks it feels good to tan it up. It actually surprises everyone that I like it when it snows. May be we all desire for the things that we never have. The northern most part of Sweden happens to have extreme cold during the winter. Many think it is a sort of punishment to survive there during the winter. But since I have always seen the sun and no snow I think it is a good experience to experience all the seasons. That's when you can actually admire the nature truly.


 Even some of the cosmetics have some tanning properties in them. But most of the creams that I use are pigment lightening agents in them, just to retain my complexion. No just this but even the lactic pins vary from country to country. That's really annoying when you have to plug an electrical appliance got from other country. I was biking for two consecutive days to find a cable that was compatible with European electrical system. Now that's quite annoying. A close elative of mine used to travel a lot and every time he travelled he used to cay the different adaptors with him. He had more than four different types of them nicely displayed like antiques. There was a universal adaptor but it was costing a fortune and then there was no student discount as well. I think it will be a better marketing strategy if all the stores have some minimal discounts for the students.


It was an unlucky day for me. I am here working all the while and my experiment doesn't work at all. May be that's why the term re-search has been formulated. You keep digging for the root cause of the problem. I always just remind myself to have some patience. There is a wise note: There is dignity in simplicity and success of perseverance.


Enjoy!!

......Namita..


A day trip

Finally I am out of the lab, may be I was a bit too hard on myself. So I am on a short one day trip to one of the beautiful places in Sweden, Stockholm. I say it as one of the beautiful places and not the most beautiful place as I have not started Uppsala sight seeing and not completed Skövde as well. But now with the bike already in a ready to go state I am always planning a visit. The cheapest and the most convenient way to visit the city is with a map in your pocket and a tourist guide book. The first destination from the city terminal was Stockholm tourist center. The Stockholm card is so easy that you just have to forget about paying any cash for the visits in different museums and public transport. It is not just the places that I enjoyed but also the trams, a boat ride and a just for fun metro ride. May be next time I should plan a three day tourist trip with a youth hostel booking. It is really economic and convenient. A single day isn't enough to cover the entire city.


You think of toys, public transport and animals or any other thing and you have a museum or a zoo ready for it. On my short list was the Vasa museum, the museum dedicated only for an old ship and all its sailors. The time you enter the museum it takes you on a time machine tour, you are transferred decades back and you start feeling a part of the ship. The sail, shoes even the serving spoons are preserved; not to mention the skeletons and the statues. With the perfect light settings you feel that some one is staring back at you from the ship.


Then came the time for the merry-go-round walk in the zoo. But it was worth it as the aquarium is a not to miss trip in Skansen. The saying that all that glitters isn't gold holds true even for animals. The striking colores of the frogs and spiders in the perfect micro environment was a sight to see. Even the most delicate of the sea animals were happily thriving in the tanks. It felt as if I was in deep sea. We won a lottery during the zoo visit. I won it during the second chance, but I am might happy about my small momentum of Stockholm. Oh I wish there was more time for me to discover the entire city. But one thing I have experienced is that without a map you are lost in the city. Unlike Skövde the city is quite confusing with the same numbered buses having different destinations.


I believe that if I start describing all my adventure it will be more like an essay and surely blogging isn't to make you feel bugged up. My only job is to make you curious and visit Stockholm. If you are in Sweden and don't plan to visit Stockholm before you plan your departure then I think you are missing a really good chance. Maybe I have some more luck to visit all the places.

                
Start of the trip                  The momemtum                 Vasa sailing


    
The owly story                       The end of the trip :(

Cheers,
Namita....


Similar days

It's so nice to find out the cause of the problems at times. It feels more like a victory, better than getting the results at times. It actually reduces the wok. I am happy that I actually found out what the cause of my wrong results was. So now I have to devise some new strategies to get my things working. It feels good for the brain exercise. Exercise reminds me of hiking and biking. I did not go too may places for hiking but now that I have secured a bike I will surely visit the places. I get to see too many motor bikes and also people carrying their bikes on their cars. That is a funny sight. Sometimes the bikes are high on the car top like a crown at times dangling at the back of the car. But I should admit it is a great exercise. It did make me pretty starved on the first day. I realize that wearing a helmet always to much safe. When I bike at high speed I feel unsafe and feel that I may hurt myself if at all I fall off. Maybe the more secure you are the more you care for yourself. Here the cycle lanes are different so there is actually nothing to fear, but still. But now on weekends it will be much better I suppose. I can do my shopping errands without bothering to drag the heavy bags.


When I had to walk I always saw the cars ferry their boats, water bikes, and all water vehicles on and behind their car. May be the cars were used more for the transportation of the vehicles rather than for a drive. Last night I saw a cruise, although a mini one. At times my lab seems to be a perfect messed up house. The labcoats lying on the benches, the references al messed up in the pile. At times hunting one piece of the most wanted note is a task in itself. But then if this is how great brains work. Since today I am alone in the lab it is my experience and my brain that I want to put the most at task. I am the only soul moving here, and hope that I do get what I desire to. At these times I always remember my time in Skövde. How we were being watched up at every minute, so that we achieve perfection. May be this is what I helping me to sustain in this lab. Oh I forgot to tell you my photography skills are getting great. Can you guess which the bridge is and which is the reflection?

    
Which side up?                 Lonely like me !!                Great going

Happy summer!!

....Namita.....


A great morning

Today I am a ghost wandering in the lab. It seems that I have lost all my sleep, I barely sleep these days the maximum of two hours or so. The only reason I go back to my apartment is for fetching some frozen food, which I have boiled over the weekend with some salt, soya sauce and pepper. May be I should shift my cooking to lab and try to fetch whatever sleep I get in the resting room. There is a small room with a bed in it so if one is not well or is really stressed out then you can just have a quick and cozy nap. I think every office and a college should have such a place, so that students don't struggle to keep their eyes open.


Last night I just tried to grow some sort of nasty modified bacteria and I bet research is lot of patience. It is so stressful to get the results and that funny thing just refused to grow. If it had been mice then making it eat what you want is easy. I worse of the cases an IV works best. So now I am clue less what is stopping the bacteria from growing. There is a really very funny cartoon just behind my working bench. It is what can be a devastating thing for a smaller group of bacteria. May be a similar situation happens when we walk in the jungle. Joe Johnston tried imagining just a situation and directed ‘Honey I shrunk the kids' way back in 1989. It still is a favorite among the kids. Talking about the movies there are many bollywood (Indian Hollywood) movies played in South Africa. Many of my neighbor students hear to the Indian music I play and ask me to what new movies are released. They recollect seeing action packed Indian movies in their childhood. They even remember their names.


 

I did say about the cherries and I can play no more pranks trying to make my friends eat red yet raw sour cherries. Now they are really red and taste yummy. This is what I like most in Sweden. Apple, pear and cherry plants almost everywhere. I had my eye on one of the cherry plant near the main entrance of our school. Last weekend I had been to museum and a bell and old ammunition. The firing stuff now can't even blow up a balloon which a toddle was trying so very badly. The park just opposite to the road was having a real sad look with no one to visit it. The water fall was so soothing to the ears that it felt better to listen to it rather than to listen to music. Some things are just so unpredictable over here. The pedestrian road crossing in the city center always have a small rabbit pet shown in it. But I have never seen any on have a rabbit or a hare as a pet. Strange things!!



                 
The empty park                      Blow it up                Only allowed to cross with a rabbit


Have a great day..
..........Namita........


Work = enjoy

It's over three weeks that I am in Uppsala and I am not able to move out in the city. It's only the right turn that I take from my apartment, the road that leads to my laboratory. But I have absolutely no problem with it. Just because I like to work in the lab, more than that the anxiety of getting the anticipated results keeps me going on and on. It's now I know why Sweden is called the home for all. I see so many scientists from all over the world. All their superb work and thinking makes me think I am a fool and at times I feel like running out from here. One thing I have realized that I need to be good in maths if I have to continue my career in biology. At times I fear I may over dose with the antibiotics. Good that bacteria and plants don't squeak like the mice. Being a workcoholic makes things worse for me. I want the results and when they don't turn up I get depressed easily, but now I am learning to be have more patience. I guess it will take me some more time before I learn to figure out what permutations and combinations I can use to get my experiment running.


I make so many silly mistakes at times, just unbearable for me but my guide is quite cool about it. May be he is confident that next time I will be more careful with the things, but it's the work that I loose. When my gel fell on the floor I was almost on fire. My 3 days of work was on the floor lying by my footsteps. Not less than 24 hours ago I set my gloves on fire, happily did not invite the brand alarm.  It's a long time since I started working all day long and in spite of having my breakfast, brunch and lunch I am always hungry. My snacks weigh more than my reference file. Mostly the noodles make up my evening snack. My misconception that I may shed off some weight is wrong. I walk, work and eat almost the double of my requirement. May be it has to do something with the summer.


My other adventure was shopping in the city. My though that the shops open in the mornings on Saturdays as in Skövde was wrong. Until noon I was wandering around but nothing but the birds made a great time pass for me. Some kids were feeding the birds and it was so lovely so see them run behind the birds. I hear that peacock's are best chasers with their long outstretched neck and pointed beak they can make you run for the safety of your thigh muscles. I am on my way to the jungle trip. Good there are no big cats and poisonous snakes in Sweden.

   
The right road                 Summer swim                   My favourite quaky


New experiences !!

It's so many days that I actually got time to blog. I am bit puzzled by Uppsala city and also still not able to adjust too much to it. The place is quite big and really one needs lots of stamina to walk the entire place. Skövde is a nice and cozy place where all the necessary stuff is near-by.  Here I have to walk for more than half hour at full sprint speed to get to my laboratory. That's only the one way trekking time. It's more than the schedule exercise for me. But then that's the way things are here for me. Till date I am making new discoveries daily.


The language slang is very different in northern Sweden. So I ultimately keep my little bit learned Swedish in a lock. I always converse in English. If anyone talks to me in Swedish I just raise my hands. There is good bus service over here, rather I was amused to see the bus designs, and some are with the connectors. It was not until I got lost and was really drenched that I decided to board the bus. Luckily I happen to remember the bus stop where I needed to get to. That sounds so stupid but not really when you discover that you are lost and are on the centrum, a bit far away from your apartment. But that was fun in its own way. The weather is just unpredictable; mornings you have the bright sun and evenings it starts pouring down and gets cold as well. I hate the sun but neither do I love the rains. On my route I find a small jungle and I manage to get some four legged animal stare at me. I am not that good with sheep, lamp and goat, take whatever you want. My walking route is a great place for snail lovers. You will find a snail every 5 cm, not small but huge ones. I was nice to watch them first but the day they started coming on the cycle path it was a mess. Good they do not have any back bone to break. They are just smashed into jelly. At times it's so annoying to walk that I actually feel like kicking then back into the grass. Their population density is so high that I have stopped picking up the wild berries as well. May be that's the same condition in Bellingen.

  

I haven't seen much of student life in Uppsala as yet. The summers are there and most of the students are out on their vacations or for a job in some other place. In a way the city is emptying out. Maybe Sköde must be half empty by now. I really miss being in Skövde. The mid summer is making me feel so fresh. I wake at 2.30 daily, courtesy Mr.Sun. May be this weekend they have a small show about traditional farming in Sweden and I think that will add a bit of spices to my stay in Uppsala. Come on; please keep me updated about the happenings in Skövde. Happy midsummer !!


   
Attention !!                     Slimy berries                       Hej Mr Slug !!


Moving around !!

It is time for me to relax a bit. I planned to shop for some cotton stuff to keep me cool from this heat. At times I feel that the heat is too intense and I should sit down in the shower during the entire afternoon. To my surprise I got to see a XXL mega size T-shirt and jeans. Not that it was meant for some one to use but it was an advertisement. Great brains to attract small brains like mine! The advertisement industry is a place where you can actually give way to your creativeness. No full stop to it at any point. There was a Barbie doll dress designing competition. A serious stuff where there are judges from the fashion industry and one after the other is eliminated. If you have an advanced and a happening thing going on you are in or else you are out. This is the rule all over the world for all the things. Be it software, education or medicine. Just a rush!! So I decided to crouch on the sofa and relax before I start my packing. It was then I knew about the most energetic person; Granny D.


At the age of 85 and above she walks the USA right from skiing and going around in the dessert. I guess that is really a great spirit for that age. For me walking down the town in this summer is a task in itself. The only thing I think of is having a cool refreshing energy drink and some good massage. What joy if it is accompanied by some aromatherapy? You think I am having a fantasy? May be yes!! But even the sight of fresh flowers soothes my nerves and muscles. Nature has its own way to refresh our minds. That's why sometimes it is recommended to do gardening in the leisure time. The not so bad thing in it is the deafening sound of the mowers. The really intelligent thing that I observed over here is that the public gardens are always colorful with different flowers. Potting the already flowering plants gives you a variety of flowers to see within a short summer. It is said each flower has its own significance, but my guess is it depends upon person liking as well. What if someone likes lilies more than a rose?


One weird thing that has happened is I get hungry very soon. Usually summer time not everyone feels the appetite. For the past 3-4 days I just sleep and eat. Not just small snacks but complete meal. I better start jogging when the sun is down or I may have to buy the XXL jeans and T shirt for myself.


I am leaving right now but will always miss the summer in Skövde. But that doesn't stop me from writing my experiences. Who knows what I have in store for me? I guess that will be a nice experience and more add to my experience about Sweden. But Skövde will always remain my home sweet home.

                                            
 
My  future..nej               An ever laughter smile !!            Adding color to life. 


...Cheers...
Namita


Perfect celebration

It was a perfect Friday. A short celebration of the National Day! All such celebrations make us really feel proud of our nation. I always get a self realization of my duties towards my country. Saluting to my flag is something that I really missed. But no worries! Sweden now being my home for more than five months I do realize that I feel for it no less than what I feel for India. May be when you are away from your home you realize its real importance. I may sound too sentimental but then that's me. The best and really energetic part of the ceremony was the parade and the dance. Different dance forms actually made me tap my feet. I remembered the International dinner; full of dance trains. I guess dancing burns your calories very quickly and also make you feel happy. No wonder all the dancers had the perfect smile and perfect the physic. I guess I was not that lazy about having doing a regular work out. The parade was other thing that I had to strain my neck with. The officers were really tall for my normal eye level vision. So I had to look up at them. The same goes with military officers. When I was traveling down to Gothenburg I looked like a tiny tot in front of them. I was nowhere even near their chest height. The different flags had their own significance and also they were caught differently.  Its ten years since I have actually held a flag. I was the school caption and had to lead the entire school to the local municipal office where the entire town used to have a common flag hoisting on independence and republic day. We had to gather there by eight in the morning and then after the function had the entire day to ourselves. Since it is a happy occasion sweets are distributed to children and the entire town celebrates it like a mini festival.


I wasn't able to catch all the words but some how I could get a jest of what the announcements were about. The one song I liked particular was the ones sung by the children. None were shy rather they were eager to sing it out. They actually had lot of confidence. When I was in my school, I acted in a couple of plays. I always had a terrible start, but once through I was very comfortable with it. May be this is a way to encourage social contacts. I see that student social life is excellent over here. There are various groups as per the disciplines and also there are group parties. It's not just me but many praise the student as well as community social life in Sweden.


Last time I had promised to share a secret with you, not a really good though. I will be out for my summer. In a way I get to see more of Sweden but less of Skövde. May this is life. You gain and loose at the same time.

     

Happy summer !!!             Time to pack back pack !!


.........Namita..........


Lazy me!!

Sorry that I was late during this week. It was just that I had a hang over. An exam hangover. It went out bad, pretty bad. I was angry on myself. May be I had put in too less efforts for this course and now I am just praying that I clear it. I hate to redo the same things over and over. Same goes for reading the same course content. It feels as if I know the things when I actually didn't understand them. May be this is human nature to move on with the things. Now that I am free bird during the summer I try to catch up some of the movies and walk around to discover new shopping centres. It's hard to walk in the sun. Since it is my first time away from the equator it is more tough. Even having a short haircut isn't helping me. I feel on fire when out on the roads, a perfect grill condition. Not all will agree that they look forward to the winter. I walk for half an hour and doze for more than two hours. That's pretty bad!! May be this is the right time to plan for the summer but as yet things aren't working the way I had planned them for me. I also have my apartment to be cleaned up. It's a jeopardised state. I think that makes sense during the exam time. Once for all I am either going to fix up my computer or just dump it. It's such a non-sense. More and more viruses are catching up and I did not put an antivirus in it. I don't understand why should some one likes to create the virus rather than create a superb game out of their great thinking. May be that's an indirect way to secure a job for programmers. Once I am through with my reports I have to plan about what should I do . Ahh how can I forget my visa extension? I surely don't want to be deported to my home country.

Most of the students are moving out from Skovde and that's giving it a deserted look. Even the school is looking so hollow and really boring. The only thing I look forward to right now is the National day. Shouldn't it should be a happening day? A day to celebrate with carnivals and parades. Well let's see what's in store for the foreign students to enjoy. Most of them have the same problem. What to do during the long summer holidays? Some are planning for a job but lazy me I will like to move around the town and catch up with my hobbies.I have a secret to tell about my summer plan but not now, let it finalize. In fact I have a dying desire to tell it but just can't. That makes me so uneasy. May be next week is the perfect time for it. An adventure will be picking up wild berries and looking Newton's favourite fruit grow. It should be a nice experience to watch apples and pear fruits grow in the garden. But now I am planning where should I be during the National day. There are some air sports events in Stockholm in July where the dashing pilots are going to amuse us with their skills.




Gearing up to move

......... Namita.......

Time = money

The other day I was digging into my bag and found one Indian currency coin. It felt like ages that I haven't actually done shopping with any hard cash. Over here I just swap the card and I am done with paying my bills. Rather I hate to carry cash. I was just doing a survey of the currency exchange rate. I always like to search for such weird things on the net. I guess there is a bit of steady market now. I have heard people converse about the share market ups and downs. Which shares are going to fetch a good market price and so on. It feels as if a mini share market database is fed in their brain chip. I already have a problem with numbers, but seeing the traders juggling with numbers makes me very curious. I have my math exam on Monday and I am learning to operate the calculator rather than solving the questions and holy me I mess up the different ways into one to get a nothing close to answer number. In this play sometimes one can be very lucky. Just yesterday my friends were lucky enough to get a two way airfare at almost the half price of the scheduled price. Lucky fellows!! That reminds me of the internet banking facility. But I was denied that :(. It adds to a somewhat perfect life in Sweden. Just to get my account statement I had to walk for half an hour. Isn't that a waste of time when you can do the same job with just few movements of your finger tips? This is a job opportunity for so many computer programmers as well, so save the website from being hacked by the bad guys. Not just that I had to take a mini statement from my bank's bankomat. The other bank's bankomat did not support this system. They should be more co-operative.


As the vacation is approaching I am wondering what I will be doing sitting here for more than two months without any school. Traveling and hiking is a natural thing for my physic and so is sleeping. No idea who wins, I will be lazy or actively moving around. May be I will open up the map of Skövde that I got with the information brochure during the start of the course and move around. Having a bike of your own is really a good fun exercise. Back at my home country I did have one, but hated it as most of the traveling is by horse power bikes. The bike models in Sweden are really very heavy for my fragile figure. They swift sound that they make during the acceleration is really tempting. I just feel like mounting onto one and going for a long drive. Other than my visit to Vattern lake, I did not hop into the train and that is a weird feeling. Staying within an area of 5 km diameter. Even the thought makes me feel that I am living such a bore life style. Students have the right to have fun and enjoy their young age and what am I doing? Just school work! I guess time and lifestyle management is what is really needed as of now.


Wish me and my friends luck for my last semester exam. I did get the reward of working in a great team. We all could make it up and we were ourselves very happy with our achievements. We had started from scratch and cleared the group activity without any need for correction. Hats off to team work.



             
My favourite hat                 Team work spirit


Cheers
Namita :)


Who am I ?

Rain-rain go away little Jonny wants to plays. I guess all kids must be singing this song or a similar song in Swedish. The weather is not at all pleasant and actually it makes me confused. What to wear? A light summer jacket with a cap or a raincoat or carry an umbrella? I guess both wear a summer jacket and carry an umbrella. Saves you from both. It was a busy week and I had to reschedule my plans for the party. There's a secret to celebrate. Nothing just that the weather is good and I wanted to have a barbeque party in Bellingen. But it seems that the school has decided that the students should have a long party time in summer not anywhere before that. The results for the exams before Easter are just declared and there's other round of exams just popping up. It's better in a way that they finish once for all and I can plan a Europe trip. Sounds good!! A nice, deserved holiday. It's hard to digest that it's being more than four months that my school has started, it feels like only a month ago that I have landed in Gothenburg and then traveled to Skövde. That reminds me that I have to get my residence permit extended. I wish I can extend that for few years so that I can enjoy all cities in Sweden, especially the northern lights.


Days pass and so do habits. I am more on the internet these days. A bit of addiction I guess, or may be the only way to be connected back at home and with friends. At times I get up at immediately sit in front of the desktop. I wish there was a mini chat window in my hand, just carry it where ever you go. But that's making me loose my study time and also contributing to my ill health. The more I squat the more I am turning into an over healthy baby. I decide to change that, but just jogged for a day as my muscles kept aching and I am back to my bad habit. Maybe very soon the webpage will be filled up with more frequent blogs. At times I am really ashamed that how can I be so lazy and at times so choosy about certain things. The other day I chatted with my friend who also is an online social worker for the under privileged kids. She forwarded me a mail with just very contradictory images. We at times choose what to eat, wear, look, and also the bed types and all the luxuries. But some kids in this world have no choice. They eat what they get if any, wear the donated clothes and sleep on pavements when they are extremely tired from work or fatigue. I think that I am not contributing to the society. My future plans to become a scientist are more important or taking a week off from the entire year or not partying a weekend to help some needy is important. I think that I am getting such thoughts because I am feeling more matured human. Who knows?


                      
 Fatty stuff..                             The barbeque house


...Namita...

Real troubles !!

I admit I am a bit late this week. But it isn't much of my fault. I am having a feeling that I am a future predictor or a bio engineer. I am looking at all the weird protein and DNA structures with only alphabets to look and try to predict something very nice, but it barely happens. Had my parents known that ATCG alphabets are going to cause catastrophic effect of my psychology then I guess they wouldn't have bothered me too much for higher study. But that's not all. The computer softwares are all the more bad. I try to some result out of it but oops it's very bad. This week I had too much of mathematics for my little mathematic-phobia brain. The best solution to overcome a phobia is to face it and I am trying to do the same with the mathematics. Rather I am still on a journey to handle those nasty scientific calculators. I like to be perfect and at times I have to work in schools on Sundays and guess what I am the only person inhabiting an isolated room. At times I plan my meal here itself. This is the best thing I like in the school. You can refresh with a cup of really dark coffee. That actually gives me a kick when I am too exhausted to work This is much better option than trying hard to study when you are in your apartment.


I caught hold of an old magazine during the clean up. Fortunately for me some part of it was translated in English. I just went through it and was shocked to know about so many historical places around Skövde and also museums in Skövde. It should be a great experience to just visit them. Well the Gothia science park is holding some conference on this 20. Again it is about biology so it is a must for me to visit it. At times some students wonder what they are going to do during the long summer holidays. I will say enjoy the midnight sun and travel every nook and corner of Skövde. Who knows when you will get a second change after the graduation? Last night I was washing up my winter jackets; hopefully it did not shrink and it took quite a long time. Rather Sunday morning for it to dry. I am keeping a record on the sunset and sunrise time. I joined my friends to watch a late night movie and by the time the movie ended it was day break again. I couldn't figure out how I should prepare myself to go to bed. It's going to be worst during the peak summer and thick black curtains should fix up this dilemma. Most inconvenience is for the poor birds whose day starts just after a couple of hours of rest.


Did I mention about the barbeque? Well it is the best time to enjoy it. There are big family barbeques but I discovered a single time mini picnic barbeque. That's my plan to visit Bellingen with the barbeque and barbeque the chicken and fish, if I am lucky to catch some in the lake. The last photo is a bit confusing for me. I have never seen a house with stairs only half way, may be it is an outside staircase.


                        
What's the time?            Scratching my head    An escape or a ......??

...Namita :) ....


A kid at heart

Kids, oh nothing but lucky life. Just do homework and play. There weren't many video games when I was a kid. The other day I was in a kids shop looking up for some soft toys and my God you name it and you have it in store for the kids. The typical doll house and the vibration guns. It is a good practice to play games especially outdoor games when the weather is with you. I was playing badminton and sure it was a real relaxing thing. Fresh air fills you with fresh and new ideas. It's so euphoric. I couldn't stop myself and went for a short jog. Skövde is a place to be, a natural health consciousness arousing place. I overdid my physical work out and that really pained my muscles for not less than three days. To add up to the trouble I had my first skating lesson in which I barely missed hurting my backbone. Trying new adventures is always fun. I was a bit too early for the bank so I just stood there for a few minutes. There was some construction work going on and the big remote controlled machine was scratching the wall. That was really a sight for me to see a remote controlled machine. Perfect control!! I felt like the once upon a time kid and his machine has grown up only that the machine was now focused for more constructive work.


Now that the summer holidays are going to begin the assignments are piling up and that makes everyone work really hard. The computer block is the second home for most of the students. I pack up my lunch and snacks and try to work until midnight. It's no fun to stress out so much. Just to refresh the mind my F5 button for the brain is listening to music and playing some games on my handset. Since my fellow students are really hard working I have to get a hands-free. Sometimes I have to transfer the data in the computer and that adds to my USB and its cable. That sums up to having a wire's-mesh in my bag. It's hard to get one out without pulling out the other one. It looks and feels as complicated as life is. Patience serves the best to unsolve these problems. May be all students should have a compulsory course in stress management. That will surely lead to have more fruitful results for the students.


It's nice to have a hobby. That's my way to relax my brain. Some have the habit of stamp or coin collection and others like shoot. I meant my photography and not animal hunting. That's too space consuming with the bulky photo albums piling up and their maintenance as well. But now I store my cool photos over the internet which my friends can view and I can relax by not maintaining them. Just clicks and I know which photos to add and arrange them as per my wish. The same goes to videos and other scientific stuff. The online communities help a lot. Maybe I am becoming an internet virus beaten zombie.  

Namita... :)


Weekly errands

I was thinking why things are not the way we want them to be. May be this is life. It was a learning experience to correct my reports. Rather it was a good formatting exercise for me. Today I just got a chance to barely get out of them. Now I know Microsoft Office a bit more in detail. Sitting in the A block doing that was a pain in the back exercise. I just wish I had a laptop. But in a way it is good, I dedicate my time strictly towards my studies as against when I am at home. Yes I call my apartment as a home, may be because I want to have a feel good feeling when my friends are moving to their home country during summer. That reminds me that my post is yet to come from India. Daily I keep peeping into it to see if I have a message from the post office. Just disappointment pops up. May be I will get it this week. Hope so!! The last gift that I received turned up in a really battered condition. Yes a battered condition. Thanks that it was not a fragile gift, or else I would have taken the kids help to fix up the jigsaw puzzle.


This week was a pretty nasty week. Well nothing was working really fine. The store from which I get my regular fruits just has decided that I shouldn't be eating any more pears. The prices are just rising without the quality turning better. It was actually unwilling to pay for the semi dead pears. This really screwed me up and so walked for another fifteen minutes. This new store had better quality pears in lesser price. I think I have to survey the shops which store better quality products for the best prices. That will make me parade around Skövde. My next headache was finding proper fitting shoes. I like the designs but my feet was either too large or too small to fit into them. I always have to compromise on the designs. Ancient Chinese custom was to bind the girl's feet so that she can have beautiful lotus feet. I wish I could do that now to my over strong feet so that I get them into my favorite design shoes. Then there are some other forms of beautification like having a long neck in women when metal is wound around the neck and also scarification in men. I want to try a tattoo, not a permanent one. I need chance in life, it's inevitable for everyone. That's why I think I like to rearrange my room every single month. That adds a freshness to my over all happy mood.


A nice idea was passed to me for catching sleep with the early morning day break, a time and energy saving economic method. Just pull a dark colored cap over your eyes. I tried that out and it really worked for me although my bizarre biological clock woke me up. Good luck with sleeping.

  
....Namita.....


Sports

Hej, isn't it a nice warm weather? I am enjoying every bit of it, except for the too early day break for me. The warm weather added up to it with the declaration of my results makes me all the more very happy. Unexpected I managed to clear the papers with good points. Many of the students also got through it so it was sort of party time few days back. Now back to work, searching the books and the literature. You must be wondering that why I am writing about this. Well some students were unfortunate to clear the papers and they still have a bad mood about it. Just to cheer them up I will say work work and work and you will surely be successful. Many have already started their welcome summer work; they are changing their car types from winter tyres/tires to summer tyres/tires. The gardens are now being worked upon and new plants are planted so we all can have a colorful summer.


Many are catching up with their skating skills. I love this way of quick transportation and a good exercise. There are various types of skates. The beginners start off with a skating board; it's easy to jump off if you feel that you're going to have a head on collision. Then there are double wheel skates and then the most experienced go in for single central roller skates. The most impressive skating is figure skating. There are so many dance forms and skills that are being performed maintaining their balance on the ice with a single balancing support in the shoes. I remember watching an ice skating competition held in Gothenburg. Competitors of both sexes were equally flexible and God knows how they spun their body with so easy. If it was me then I would have suffered from vertigo for sure. But yes unlike my ice skating resolution I will try the double roller skating boots for sure. It's good to have accomplished new innovative skills. A way to relax and keep learning. Some research articles claim that the new skills can be acquired with greater easy in early ages than in older ages. So before it's too late I am going to learn newer skills. The NOVA just introduced themselves and their outfit was as vibrant as their activities


Day by day cooking is becoming a bore activity and my kitchen has a deserted look except for the empty but washed vessels. I am learning to cook macaronis and pasta. It's easy and quick to cook; rather stir fry and have a meal. At times only fruits, fruit juice and salad are good. I never had a weakness feeling rather I feel so energetic and full of spirits that I work from morning to night without feeling tired. I know it's too much too early but then everyone should plan a trip to any of the major cities in advance just to avoid any inconveniences.  


                                    
 Cute design                                   Deserted                                Bright side


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