Wish me luck! See you

Since he is here I dont want to spend all my time blogging, I just fellt I should tell you guys merry christmas and all that before I leave for Norway also! So, merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Here are some Photos of my and Sigbjørn in Eindhoven:

Before going “home” to Eindhoven after the summer vacation, I decided to visit Jonas in Germany. I was there a few days and I got to experience some nice German culture, meet some new people and Mikes dog.

If you are not familiar with it, the beer I have here is a really good one, made from wheat. They drink it a lot in Germany and German speaking countries. And I think it is my favorite one!

These are all very typical weizenbier drinking positions. If you see a German in any of these, you can be sure he/she wants a weizen!

And almost before I came back to Eindhoven, we went for another trip to Germany. Hehe. This time Dusseldorf with me, Katia and Jutta. I think we were driving someone to the airport, or maybe picking up someone. It was a nice daytrip, with nice weather and heavy German food.

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After some days back in Eindhoven, Mathilde and Alex showed up! It was really nice to see them again, and Manickam. He was here the whole summer, because he had to work.

In this picture we are biking home from the first day of school. And Mathilde bought a banana plant that needed transport. She is really fond plants, and I think she will have a beautiful garden later on!

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In the evening of the first day together we made a nice dinner, talked about our summer and catched up. It was really nice!

I think it was me who made the dinner actually. Im not a great cook, hehe, but I made vegetarian pasta since Alex doesnt eat meat.

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Hehe, this looks strange I know. From the first day of school and then the next day in France. Im sure there is a good explaination, but I cant remember if we only had the friday of school then weekend afterwards.

Anyway, Mathilde took me along to France that weekend, to see here family and friends. It was a really nice experience, since I had never been to France before.

I call it a flea market, even though there are new things in the streets also. And every street was full of people buy and selling things for really low prices. Ive never seen anything like this before. And I heard that there were maybe 2 million people there every year.. After the “shops” close, the people have dinner and go out to the bars! So during the night we were walking around with Mathildes friends, and it was insane.. Definitely something I recommend people to experience during their lives!

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Quite early when we left the apartment for going out, I managed to loose Mathilde in the crowd.. Hehe, it was impossible to find her, even though I heard later that she was just 20meters away the whole time, looking for me. Well, I found a few of Mathildes friends in there, and I hanged with them. Really cool guys!

This picture is from when we found eachother again I think, hehe. After that the night just became crazy. Going to all kinds of people we didnt know and just started speaking with them. At that time I was with Max from France and Kyle from USA, and when we meet some new people Max was from “Canada MATE!”. Hehe, really funny night.

Haha, I never thought that French maids actually excited, but I found out the morning after the crazy night. After sleeping on this wooden floor for 3-4hours we got woken up by what I think must be the loudest vacumcleaner in the history. It all was saved by the coffee and croissants they had bought for us!

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Here are the housemates after having a nice dinner and some alcohol. Mathilde signed out quite fast, hehe, and Manickam came after. In the end it was me, Alex, Katia and Jutta dancing and singing in the livingroom table! Great evening!

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Well, how to explain this.. I think Ive talked about it before, but I feel I should say it again, hehe.

Every year when the first graders and had their introduction week with the school, the second and third graders organize the “intro-games” in a park close to school. Here you go in groups from post to post, and every group has their team leader from the second or third year. And as a team leader you also have to participate in the games! Hehe, its great fun! And you do things you wouldnt normally do, but heck, you have to be a bit crazy once in a while!

One evening I was invited for dinner at Katias and Juttas place. They have a really cozy terrace. And were very happy with their new apartment.

I cant remember what we ate, but something Austrian maybe?

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Haha.. Now this is something to document. This is probably the last thing I would eat, even if I was starving! I couldnt stop laughing when I saw this.

They also had hotdogs there..

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Manickam finally got his ACL reconstructed. He had been walking around with a torn one for a long time. So after school I went to visit him in the hospital, so it would be so boring to lay there.

They took out a piece of the tendon to the semitendinosus muscle, and use it as a new Anterior Cruciate Ligament. While the knee heals the muscle grows out again pretty fast, and doesnt give any big problems with activites while healing.

He was pretty happy that he got the operation!

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Well, now I have to stop blogging, Im so hungry… And I just got invited to a dinner for tomorrow, but I have to buy more fish at the openmarket first, hehe. I think it is a good deal! So that was the first part of these pictures, I think there will be three parts.. There are so many pictures! I hope you enjoyed them!

See you!

Me and Sara found out that we wanted to go somewhere on the Sunday, but we didnt know where we should go.. So we met up at the trainstation at 10 in the morning, without a clue to know where we should go, and we decided on Utrecht after some minutes. It was a really good idea. Because its probably one of the nicest cities in the Netherlands. And usually you need good weather to really enjoy a city the first time you see it. But it was sooo foggy! For me it just gave the city a sort of mystical atmosphere, and I really enjoyed that.

Here are some pictures!

Ive also been training quite a lot since I have the time for it. Me and Bojan have a nice plan together. Monday: Ring training, and I have orientation running every second Monday. Wednesday: I do my survival training with All Terrain, and he boulders. Thursday: We do a WOD (workout of the day), a crossfit concept. Or we dont follow the crossfitters totally, we make our own. Ill give you an example further down the page. Then there is the Saturday or Sunday, were I go strength training in the sportscentre.

The ring training is just something we wanted to do, and its really cool and it gives you great stability and strength in the shoulders and core. It is mostly upper body exercises, but we do lower body in other ways. We would like to be able to do the same things as the gymnasts, so we do partial repititions (reps) of many of the same things.

Here is one of the first WODs we did:

” Axels WOD

Do 10 rounds for time!

6reps    Weightened ball (3-5kg) – “Throw-up and slam down”
6reps    Swedish bench – “Clean and jerk”
6reps    Parallel bars – Dips (Start on one side, and finish on the other side)
6reps    Rings – Hanging leg raises
6laps    Wall to wall – Sprints
20reps   Body Squats

This is 1 round!”

We were 4 people, and we all did it within 30-45mins. And im not gonna say which times exactly, hehe. But it was a great workout, and a cool thing to do together with my friends. We all were so exhausted after it.. So me and Manickam went to the market to meet Sara and buy some nice food:

You dont see it so well, but we have a pigs leg each, hehe. Eating it like the boars leg in Asterix and Obelix.

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Ohh! And this morning I found out that the Dutch Santa Claus had been here! We must have been really nice this year, since he came so early, hehe.

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There were 4 of our shoes in front of the fireplace filled with marzipan, chocolate and candy. Such a nice surprice! And he was nice enough to put a napkin in it before the sweets were put in, hehe, it wouldnt be so nice to eat without.

Thank you Sinter Klaas!

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And yesterday evening I was at Florians house for a traditional German christmas movie/drink; “Feuerzangenbowle”.

The movie is from 1944, and is about a gang of old guys who want to go back to school. And one of when actually does it. I makes a fool out of the teachers and the old school system. Its a very funny movie (i think), with very traditional German (which is hard to understand, hehe).

When the old guys look back at their schooldays, they are drinking “feuerzangenbowle”. And when you watch the movie, you also have to drink it.

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It is made with red wine, fruits, cinnamon and other spices over the fire in a pot. Then when it has boiled for a while you can place a big sugar piece laying over the pot. You pore rum over it and set it on fire. While it is burning, the melted sugar drips into the mulled wine and mixes.

Its actually really tasty, but it is also very dangerous! Just after 1 cup you can feel the alcohol a bit, hehe.

Here are a few more photos from the database, hehe:

Well, that was it for now! Bis dann!

Ahh, I can finally relax. It feels so good to be done with the exams and the stress for this period. It is in between these periods we really do stuff together, and enjoy the student life. We have already started the next school period now, but we can relax at least a week or two before really going hard at it again.

When I now had time to do something more with my day, I took the task of making a wheel for a “spin-the-wheel” game. It was organized by Sara and it was for Kines birthday present. Or she doesnt like birthdays, so it was a tribute party to Kine, hehe. Here are the process pictures:

Picture 1: Me and Leonie started with an old unfixable bike, and tried some different approaches. And decided in the end to use the original idea, hehe. Then we dismantled it and washed it down. Picture 2: We sprayed on a white basecoat and let it dry over the night. Picture 3: The next day I started painting it with the colorcodes I got from Sara. Picture 4: The painting was done (took some time, hehe). Picture 5: Decorating the wheel with some of the things for the old bike.

Then we started playing! We had a stack of cards for each color of the wheel, and a strip as a stopper. It makes a lot of noise, but it is just funny. And some of the things on the cards were hilarious.

Here, Julian got the task to spoil his teammates by commanding others to do things for them. He chose Tombra to wash Kristoffers hair, while Hortensia had to give him a foot massage. And from what I heard, Hortensia really doesnt like feet, hehe.

Of course you can refuse to do the task, but then you get 15 “coins”, and you have to drink 4 sips of your beer/wine each coin!

I have organized a bit of social events myself also since the last update.

Some days ago we had a “wine and cheese” evening at my place. Everyone brings 1 or 2 items each, and we put it all together on the table and share. It was very nice! But Im pretty sick of cheese and salami now, hehe.

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Some days after the exams I booked the sauna for everyone in my class.  Not everyone could make it, but we very nice and relaxing time in there. Going in and out of the sauna, with some showers and cold baths in between. And you just feel like a new person when you go out in the fresh air afterwards.

I think this could be a tradition after the exams!

We also had a movie night at my plass some days ago. I wanted to show them the movies “Clerks” and “Clerks 2″. They are a bit vulgare, but with the right mindset you can laugh until you cry!

It was a bit of a mix-up with the evening, because I had organized a movie night, and Mathilde had organized a dinner without telling eachother. But it worked out perfectly, and they joined for the second movie.

Other pictures:

Now Im going to have lunch, and later on I will go to the gym with Manickam to “pump up” a bit, hehe. I dont know what the evening has in store for me yet, but Mathilde has some French people visiting, so Im sure it will be nice!

Bisou!

So if i pass the one today… then im free! Wohoo!

Wish me luck!

So I’ll start with the Dutch Design week. This is Sara and me just entering the Design Academy Eindhoven. It was a huge exposition, so I didnt get to really have a look at all of it. But I have some pictures of some of the pieces.

I dont know if I told this earlier, but to get around to all the places in the program, you can rent a bike or take the free “taxi” (with funny sculptures on the roof). Its a really good setup of the whole week!

Here are pictures of some of the students at the academy. Then photoshopped themselfs to fit the “standards” of the perfect proporsions.

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This is what it looks like inside a macintosh. I really liked the idea, but it didnt seem to get so much attention at the exposition.

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I dont really know the “story” behind the money, but it looked good enough to spend, hehe. Perhaps is this the future?

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A project I really liked was: http://www.wouterlancee.nl/pages/visual_confession.php , he tattooed his “sins” on his back (without inc). And he documented them while they disapeared. All the pictures are on his website, there is also a video documentation.

In the end of the exposition there was a voting wall for the projects. With a huge difference in votes.. The winners got a scholarship or something like it. Im not quite sure. But as I said earlier, you didnt get to see everything with the same amount of time. There was really to much to see, so much in fact we went home afterwards. We could have gone to see much more!

After a hard workout with the all terrain crew, we went to the sauna. We have so many people joining the survival training nowadays, that the trainers have split it into groups of advanced and beginners. So this training was max testing, that means 6 exercises = 1round, and we had 1hour to do as many rounds as we could. I managed 4 rounds, the best one did 7 rounds. One exercise could be to climb around the bridge without falling into the river, or climb down a rope on the other bridge, down to a tractor tire, then you had to go through it and up again, without falling into the river. Hehe, its a really good workout! Its preparing you for survival runs and is great fun. The next survival run we go to is the Dinxperloop in December: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18MC9a60yTk then it is the Beltrum survival run in January: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrZzAtW9MYg&feature=fvst . I will tell you more about All Terrain later on.

Some random pictures (you get text when you hold over the pictures):

Anoter thing happening now is the Glow festival. It is light installations all over the city. Im guessing it has something to do with that Eindhoven is the city of light, hehe. This is lampscreens made by school children, with alternating colors of light in them. It gave a really good atmosphere when we had a coffee there. I will probably go one evening to see the rest also! Here is more info: http://www.gloweindhoven.nl/

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Since me and Sara planned to go the next day, we decided to play some billiards at “The Jack” in Stratumseind (the party street). It had a really heavily used table for us, hehe, it doesnt matter since it was for free. I like “The Jack”, they have a good atmosphere, and the music is so much better than all the other places in Stratumseind.

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After playing a bit (she won 2 of 4 games), we had to get some food, and stopped on the way home in a Turkish restaurant. It was a really nice one. I havent been to a Turkish restaurant before, so I got a new experience. And Im sure I will go again! We had “Lahmacun”. What the Dutch call a Turkish pizza. Yum yum!

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Now I have selected some pictures from the second year here, so next post will probably be about that.

See you!

We were suppose to have the exam at 09:00, but after waiting for 15mins, a teacher came to tell us that they made a mistake in the schedule, so we had to wait another 4 and a half hours! That was shitty.. Especially because most of us were really psyched up, stressed and ready to go! And another 4 and a half hours in that state is not cool..

The questions were formulated quite hard also. It was a multiple-choice exam so the answer could be everything. Questions with “always”, “most of the time” and “not” are easily overlooked, so you have to stay sharp when you are reading it!

It was about the anatomy, physiology and pathology of the cardiovascular system and the respiratory system. We also had diagnostic and treatment of the pathology of heart and lungs, and general training physiology.

Now, after 9hours, Im listening to “Stairway to heaven”, thinking what to do. We have another exam tomorrow.. So first Im gonna eat pizza with my flatmates, and some friends coming from France. Then Im gonna sit down and prepare! After tomorrow we only have 4 exams left.. And as it seems now I will have to prepare for the same exam that I failed today. I think in two weeks we can do the re-take.

Well, it was not a very happy blog today! Im sorry for that.

Another thing I have not yet written about (so much), is the Dutch Design week, I went another time, and I have some nice pictures and stories that I will give you when Im in a better mood.

Ill keep you updated!

After fighting a bit with Mathilde we decided which movie to watch, and then I checked my mail! There I had a reply from the Swiss clinic I wrote to earlier! Yohooo! The only thing I really have to take care about now is to learn how to understand Swiss, hehe. They wrote that it is a very hard dialect to understand when you speak “high” German. So I really have to step up my game!

Other things happening now is the Dutch Design Week!

Me and Sara went on the sunday to have a look at some of the stuff in the city. We only managed to see fractions of it! It is huge! And it is really well organized. You can borrow bikes, or take the free “taxi” around from the different locations. The main parts are around the station of Eindhoven, the “Witte dame” (city library) and at the old Phillips factory locations of Strijp-S.

We plan to see more one day this week, and the interest of everyone is quite large. Just this weekend two French guys slept at our place to see the happening.

Here are some picture of the Dutch Design Week. More will come later when I get to see more myself!

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Now I will watch a movie with some friends in the livingroom. I will update you when there is more, hehe. The exams are getting quite close, so I guess I will be quite busy in the library these days, with the exception of the Dutch Design Week.

Vi ses!

Behold! Exhibit A!

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Exhibit B!

Now that you have seen the evidence, you must accept the fact that they actually do teach the Dutch how to hill start.

Hehe, well it does make sense in a way. The Dutch are going on holiday once in a while!

Good night!