The Academy Awards

Yesterday was the 83rd annual Academty Award. It is set in Los Angeles. I live in Sweden and that leaves a time difference on 9 hours. Red Carpet started at midnight then the awards started an 2.30 am and ended at 6. Me and my friends had been looking towards this night a long time, and at nine pm we met up, prepared ourselves wih anything we could want at 3 in the morning. This includes: Grilled chicken, garlic bread, brie and crackers, candy, chips, Ben & Jerry's and chocalate pudding. Nothing could stop us from having a great time toningt, we were prepared for anything. We thought.

What we did not see was Filip & Fredrik. These two are rather famous TV people who are pretty funny at times. Tonight, they were not funny. They were supposed to comment on the awards, but I think they missunderstood their task. They commented all the time. Not only during commercials, but during speeches and performances as well. They just kept talking. We could have tried to find a live channel online, but that would have left us with a small screen and bad sound which is not really preferable either. And you shouldn't need to watch it online when we have a channel airing the awards anyway. Maybe the awards was not a success, but I can honestly not say, since I couldn't hear what was going on.

The night was at last saved with the prize for Best Actor went to Colin Firth, since I loved the King's Speech and I love Colin Fitzwilliam Darcy Firth over all. His speech was great, and he is adorable.

Oscars

In less than a week it is time for the 83rd Annual Academy Award. Since movies have in the past years fought it's way up to be among my top 3 interests I am super-excited. So are my friends, especially one of them (you know who you are). We are counting down days until the 27th and we are really trying to find a way to watch it live. Since the time difference between Los Angeles and Stockholm are 9 hours, we can't really watch it at someone's house if they don't live alone. We are working on a solution.

I have never managed to see all of the nominees for Best Picture, and I wont manage this year either but hopefully I can come close. So far I've seen Toy Story 3, Inception, The Kids Are Allright and The King's Speech. The King's Speech was amazing, every second of every scene. Sadly, the most anticipated movie among my friends won't premiere until 14th of March. Yes, I am talking about Black Swan. We will try to see True Grit this week, and that leave me 5/10. Half of them. Me and my mom have decided to see Winter's Bone next week and I guess that is better than never.
I also love James Franco, which is another reason I will really try to see the awards since he is co-hosting it with Anne Hathaway. I also will try to see 127 Hours when I have time.

Of course, some could claim that if I really wanted to see the movies I could simply download them, but I have been told that at least some of these titles should be enjoyed in a cinema and I trust this judgement.

Melodifestivalen

Eurovision Song Contest is a concept known to most europeans, but the term stops to exist outside the European continent. ESC is a competition where countries send a song and other countries can vote on which one they liked best. Of course, the song the country are going to send have to be chosen.

In Sweden, we have Melodifestivalen. Or Song Contest, or Swedish Song Contest, or the Melody Festival. Choose the one sounding the least ugly. During the five weeks the Swedish champion will be chosen this topic is the only one covering the news. Or the only news people care to read. If you ask any teen on the street about a major news event this weekend, they will say:

"Well, Eric Saade are going to compete in the final round in SSC"

and not:

"Well, I think the political movement in the Middle East and North Africa is most interesting. It will be exciting the see what will happen i Libya in the future"

My family spent Saturday night like every other average family in Sweden did. We ate Tacos for dinner and then parked ourselves infront of the TV watching which song was the least bad. And anyone who knows my mom, knows that neither Tacos nor watching TV is a common thing in our house. But, with a 7-year old sister there was nothing else we could do. She had already early this week decided that every family member should stay home and watch "Melodifestivalen" together. It is obvious that Eric Saade is going to win all of it, but more on that later.

Last Day + HP

Today I had my last test. History Paper 3 Higher Level. It went OK. I won't dwell on it anymore. At least I am done. 14 papers in one and a half week. Not bad.

I have borrowed an english edition of Hary Potter and the Philosophers Stone by a friend. The only copies I have is in swedish. I though that it would be a good idea to start reading them with my 7-year old sister. That will be great, practicing english at the same time as reading the greatest children's book ever written. We read the first chapter today, or, well, I read it aloud but tomorrow we decided that she should read at least a couple of pages to me. Practicing both reading and pronounciation. It funny though, because I think I am the one enjoying reading it the most. However, she listened closely, was very focused and I think she enjoyed it as well. She also laughed a little and I think she will love the story when we have read more.

Day 4+5

Day 4 and 5 have been very nice. Thursday started with a biology test in the morning, which hopefully went allright. Then, me and five other girls went to Kungsträdgården (King's Garden), rented skates and went ice-skating for an hour. It started to lightly snow and it was a very pretty picture. We then went to home one of the girls to drink hot chocolate and eat cinnamon buns infront of Disney's Mulan. It was awesome. To then finally end a very good day watching the King's Speech at the cinema just makes it so much better.

Day five started with a blizzard. And a really bad one. When I had gotten out of the shower this morning I had recieved a text saying: ALL THE BUSSES ARE CANCELLED. And really, every bus in Stockholm was cancelled. No joke. And since basically everyone is dependent on the bus system everyone was now isolated. Luckily, my dad has a truck. A Dodge truck. Getting to school was not a problem for me. However, 85% of the school took the day off. So did the rest of all the students in Stockholm. So, I had a Swedish test, my dad picked my up (fortunately, out schedule looked exactly the same today) and I went home. I then had sushi with some of my awesome lady-friends.

Now, my right arm hurts really bad, that might be because I am right now sitting very uncomfortably to type, but also since I have written 11 tests this week.

Day 2+3

Tuesday I had only two tests, on in the morning and one after lunch. That maight not seem bad but the problem was, one of those two tests was a math test. I. Hate Math. If it was possible to kill a subject, mathemathics would rest on the bottom of the ocean with several bleeding wounds, wearing a shirt saying "I Hate Twilight". My first test was english which went good. Then the afternoon session came and when I opened the examination paper I wanted to cry. It was brutal. But I held in my tears and sat through the entire session trying to solve equations and remember how to find area under a curve.

This morning started with another math test. I did not want to cry today which means at least it most have been better than yesterday. But i am not sure, maybe my mind have been hardened. Afternoon was biology x2 which went both good and allright. I then went home making a delicious Chai for myself.

Day 1

Day 1 of the two weeks of Mock exams is over. I'm exhausted both mentally and physically. Having written 4 papers today, my brain feels like mashed potatoes and gravy. After my third paper my hand felt weird, I can't really explain how it felt. I also strain all my back-muscles while I write which means that I feel all creepy in my back and neck muscles At least I am completely done with psychology, and I only have paper 3 of history left.
Someone said today that revising the day before your mock test defeats the purpose, since this exam is to see where you are at the moment. I have been thinking about this, and I plan to do something in between. An hour of math after dinner and then looking through english notes in front of the TV will be enough.

Since I'm still living at home and go to school I sometimes forget that I'm an adult now, according to the law. But sometimes there are these few events that remind that I am not a child anymore. Like when I voted last fall. Or when I started my own savings-account. Or when my mom's friends asks if I want a glass of wine. Or today, when I recieved a letter from the bank with the statement of earnings and tax deductions.

There is however a difference from being an adult on paper and in reality. I have no idea what to do with this letter, luckily my mom is an expert.

Friday

Why are Fridays so fantastic? There are several factors. First of all you know instinctively that now you have two school-free days in a row. Which means that you have two automatic sleep-ins. And by having sleep-ins it means that you can stay up as late as you want Friday AND Saturady night, and spend them however you want. Some of the activies widely practised by teens and young adults are:
Clubbing
Partying
Movie-Nights
Surfing the web
Making movies (yes, this has happened)

Now we still have winter so the nights are dark and cold and overall scary, but during the summer the nights are the most wonderful thing. Many nights have been spent outside without even realizing time passes by. It is not until someone says "Look, the sun is coming up!" you notice you've been up all night. Can you guess that I miss summer? I miss summer like the sun misses the flower (Yes, A Knight's Tale reference).

Another reason I love Fridays are that my school schedule is really great. I start 8.30 am in the morning and I get out of at 13.00. That means that have basically the rest of the day to spend. Today I was practicing driving with my mom, since I haven't gotten my license yet. I'm working on it though. Kinda.
This weekend will be spent with my math book in my right hand and revision guides in my left. Mock exams are starting next week. That is tests from 9 am to 4 pm, Monday to Thursday. Friday I only have a test in the morning. It will be both exciting and brutal.

school, gym, studying, soccer

Yesterday was a long day. Luckily I have sleep-ins on Wednesays otherwise I don't know how I would have made it. Class started at 9.40 and the school day ended at 13.30, so usually it is a short day. However, I then went to the gym for an hour, showered and then went back to school. You might be wondering why I would do something that stupid, but the school is actually a great place to study, and the gym is only two minutes from school. After I got some work done I went to Kristineberg to play some soccer with the girls I coach. Which was fun but I can't really remember I used to be like some of them when I was 9, throwing around the ball when the coach is speaking, bouncing it and stuff. Staring out into the blue and then not knowing what to do. Or talking very indiscreetely to a friend. I actually love coaching and all the girls are really great players, but sometimes I wish they could actually listen to what I say.

I probably was just like them. Or probably even worse.

I then got home at nine pm. Exactly 12 hours after I left the house. Exhausted. In the future every Wednesday is going to look like yesterday. If this is what it means to be a grown-up, I rather pass and catch the next ride to Neverland.

teaching

Sometimes I consider being a teacher. Maybe being a high school teacher could be fun. To be a collage professor must be fun, especially if you teach at some of the major universities. During this weekend I helped my brother's girlfriend with some biology, and it was so much fun! I could have spent hours going through genetics with her, luckily she didn't have to go through that.

Today, I teached students a year younger than me. They had english and since I didn't have class at that time I helped out with essay structure and IB stuff, since their original teacher is new to the IB, and that I am certainly not. I was extremely nervous, my biggest fear was that they would start a war or just being out of control. Of course that was just foolish thinking. When I realized they were all listening closely to every word I said, I realized another terrifying fact. What if they thought I was stupid? Or if I said something terribly wrong? However, I think that I did a good job and I think that I managed to create some kind of impression that I am the older, wiser and cooler senior. Everything I said was relevant to their english course and I even made them laugh sometimes. And except for the above fears it was a lot of fun actually.

Yesterday the TV-series "Klass 9a" or "Class 9a" premiered on SVT1. I did not watch it and I do not plan to but I saw the old season from three years ago. This time they are focusing on the teachers instead of the students, which I personally think is great. When I read about the show in the paper all those memories of terrible teachers came back and I think that is what makes me want to become a teacher from time to time. Because I think I could actually make a great teacher.

But when I'm done thinking that I can change the entire swedish school system by myself and save all the high school students from getting bad grades I return to my original plans. Which I am not really sure about either, but more on that another day.