good for you

Games being cancelled can be annoying. Today my university volleyball team was playing away - at least that's what we thought. Walking back to halls, along the south bank of the Thames, I met two runners headed in the opposite direction; the second of whom was an overweight woman. As I was trying not to stare at her, I thought, "good for her." Now, I must confess that wasn't the first thought that crossed my mind when I saw her, but in my defence it didn't take me many seconds to change perspective.

I spend far too much time worrying about what people think. Chameleons may look cool at first glance, but who wants to be one - or have one as a friend for that matter. Last week I read my friend's post about being a hippie, and it really made me think.
http://ispeakinglish.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-want-something-more.html

Ever since I was a young kid I've wanted to be the stressed out, successful businessman on the London Underground; complete with suit, briefcase and shiny black shoes. Sometimes I forget what I really want theough, this post reminded me. I used to dream of moving to Africa, somewhere kids don't have the opertunity to go to school - and to change that. I wanted to found and run a school that was active in the community, and not only teach text-book stuff that most of the kids there never would need anyway. I didn't want to just be a teacher, I wanted to make a real difference. This may all sound like a huge cliché, and I have come to doubt that I will live the majority of my life in Africa. Yet I don't want to give up on my dream. I really do want to make a difference. My biannual depression is caused either by being over-, or under-worked. Either way life seems very dreary and pointless. I've stopped believing in merely surviving today in hope of a brighter tomorrow; ironically tomorrow turns out to be yet another today.

Sermons sometimes annoy me. Especially those in which the preacher endorses a multitude of professions for Christians. It is not that I don't believe in the principle, but I disagree with the limitations. Even if the list expounds upon the holy trinity of "doctor, nurse and teacher," the general message is still the same: A good Christian should work with people, and preferably in a role that provides the opertunity to offer others advice. Now, if this actually was the case, surely hairdresser would be on the list. After all, it is far easier to have a personal conversation with someone running hot water through your hair and lathering in shampoo, before cutting it; than with an authoritative superior telling you all the ways in which you need to change your lifestyle, while sitting on an uncomfortable wooden chair in a sterile white room. Or how about working at an airport - that's certainly a place in which you can make a difference for stressed out people.

The job you have isn't important, what you make of it is. I want to be involved with initiatives that give my life purpose away from work. Reading Chelsea's blog also made me realise that I need my life to be fulfilling, and to have have purpopse now - while I'm studying. If I can't both study and be content; maybe I shouldn't be studying. I'm determined to make it work.

memories last a lifetime

Despite my Christmas Diaries attempt this year, I have failed to mention something I've done almost every day this Christmas. My present to my dad this year was Ticket to Ride, the award winning board game, Deutsche Spiel des Jahres 2004 und so weiter.... To make a long story short we've played it at least once, twice or three times most nights ever since. I must confess that at the game disappointed me at first. I'd played it a couple of years earlier in Norway - at least that was what I thought. The game I'd bought my dad turned out to be an American version, not the European one I'd played before. Now, that may not seem like a big deal to you; but that's forgetting that Europe is far more interesting than America in every concievable way... A couple of nights ago I figured out the way in which the creators have weighted the various missions. As it turns out two missions come with an extra bonus. With this in mind I'd like to announce my first blogotition (blog-competition): Which two missions in the US version of Ticket to Ride come with an extra bonus, and how big is it? A blog post will be dedicated to the person, first answering correctly.

I just booked a flight with Ryanair. You may be wondering what got into me - well I must confess I gave in to their low prices. As long as one can travel without checking in any bags Ryanair tends to have far superior prices, and considering my strict student budget - well you can figure out the rest. Despite all this I am left in a great mood. I'll be flying to Billund, Denmark, to attend the Nordic Volleyball Championships at Vejlefjordskolen, just outside of Vejle. My best volleyball memories ever are from playing in this competition, winning one silver, and three consecutive gold medals. Although not eligible to play, just thinking about the competition leaves me smiling to myself as I write. Oh, those good times!! Some memories last forever...

cornered on the tube

Two men in dark suits stepped into my carridge of the circle line train while I was on my way to volleyball practice. I glanced twice at the second of the two men, trying to make out the writing on the badge he wore on his suit. I could make out "Jesus Christ" in bold white letters on the dark background, but no more. As if noticing my lingering glances he looked at me a couple of times; whilst I desperately tried to look away with a preoccupied frown. The last thing I needed now was for this guy to decide that I was the perfect prey for his outreach program. Desperately, I tried to look calm, as if oblivious to my suroundings with the music from my MP3 player buzzing in my ears. Although I was staring at the tube map, spread across the wall of the carridge I saw him look at me again, out of the corner of my eye. Then it happened, as I had dreaded, he motioned toward me, getting his companion's attention. Discreetly the other man turned his head and shot a glance in my direction; I might not have noticed had he not already been the focus of my attention. I was praying for the train to arrive at my stop, but before I'd even finsished that though, the man took a couple of steps toward me - his intentions were clear. I took the left earplug out of my ear and braced myself for the inevitable "are you saved?"

Instead his asked me "do you play for imperial?" I was caught entirely off guard as I stammered a yes of some sort or other. It turned out that they had been looking in my direction because of my imperial college shorts, kneepad and tyrifjord volleyball klubb jacket with its norwegian logo; one of the two men was norwegian, and the other played volleyball - sometimes things aren't as they seem.

time is overrated

The clock is ticking, but time is standing still....

My friend told me that her clock had stopped working - but it was still ticking. From time to time, we all want time to stand still. There is quite simply too much to do, and too little time.

My volleyball coach at the university wants me to join another team he coaches, London Lynx. The Lynx play in the English Premier Division, so this is quite an opertunity for me to improve. Practice is all about improving, but it is so much easier to improve if you are playing with people that are better than you. This is the case in all areas of life, it's one of the reasons I wanted to move to London and study at Imperial. Today I was supposed to bring £27 and two photos of me to practice. That was what my coach needed in order to register me for the Premier Division. Well, this moring came, but I still didn't have the money or the pictures. I got up a little before 11 am so that I could get free breakfast in the Willis Jackson common room. Practice begins at 12, and it takes 20 minutes to walk to the Ethos centre, so I figured I'd have enough time to get the cash and have the pictures taken on the way. I didn't leave my room untill 11.35, and somehow the picture booth I was convinced I had seen in the tube station, had vanished. Well, that was inconvenient, most inconsiderate considering the fact that I didn't have the time for this. I ran back to a photo shop where I knew I could get the pictures taken; but time was racing by - and the shop owner was not. He was dealing with the customers ahead of me so slowly, it almost seemed as if it was all planned as a cruel joke. Now, I must add that being late to volleyball practice is slightly more serious than it sounds. My coach hates people being late, and makes a show of demanding five push-ups for every minute you come late. Those of you that know me well realise that I am rather lazy, and not the biggest fan of push-ups around. Although I wanted to tell the shop-keeper to hurry up, I was able to restrain myself; settling with casting impatient glances at the clock on my mobile phone. As my pictures were printed out, I got ready to pay, only to realise that the guy was getting ready to carefully cut out the pictures, removing the white frame around them. I couldn't believe it! As I left the shop it was already past twelve and I still had to run from South Kensington Station to Ethos. One of my natural abilities I treasure the most, is being able to sneak around and seem inconspicuous, despite my height; arriving at least ten minutes late, I was somehow able to evade the fifty looming push-ups. In the end I didn't even need the pictures, I won't be able to register untill tuesday.

When I was in the picture shop I wished time would stand still. I wished life would go on, and leave time behind. I wished life would keep on ticking, without any clocks in the world moving. Time is something we all wish we have more of. I'm halfway to fourty, and my life has barely started!!! Yes you guessed right, time for a cliché. But seriously, if there was more time, we'd just make more plans - we'd be just as busy, we'd still be wishing we had more time. Besides, we don't want to give up the best excuse ever, now do we? "sorry, I don't have the time."

the second chance - at last

Today I watched Second Chance starring Michael W Smith. I don't really know what I think of it. First of all I must confess that when it comes to watching movies I am rather naïve, I'll fall for and enjoy almost any story line. So when watching the movie I wasn't really that critical. Although the plot is ever so slightly cliche, and the acting isn't the best I've ever seen - it was actually OK. As religious movies go it was actually quite enjoyable. The plot is predictable, but as long as you try not to think too much, you'll be OK. I must say though, that the message of the film is a good one, it runs along the same lines as "The Voice of Truth" by Casting Crowns. Although I find the song by Casting Crowns more compelling, Michael W and the crew do a decent job as well.

You may be wondering where I heard of the movie in the first place. Those of you that know me realise that in general I don't like Christian tv-shows or movies, such as 7th Heaven. Actually, I found the picture in this post while searching for something quite different. I was looking for an illustration of one of my earlier posts. This leads me to the second part of this blog "at last." Today I actually took a stand. Though most of you must be sick of hearing about my inability to make up my mind, I must add just one more thing. Today I walked over to my volleyball coach and told him about my situation. I don't know what he was thinking, but it turned out OK in the end, he even asked me to join another team he coaches... Now obviously this doesn't mean that I've made up my mind about everything ;p there is still a long way to go, yet I cannot help but feel relieved that I finally made up my mind about which road to take - and that I ended up taking a right.

volleyball and the tube

Whoever said that university life was hectic, sure is right. Add the buzz of a metropolitan capital to that and you've got my first week so far. Yesterday was the day i treated myself to the pizza hut buffet, which was nice enough, but also reminded me that stuffing oneself full of greasy food is rather gross. (By the way, gross is a word that makes me think of what the word describes just by looking at it; who came up with that spelling????) I also went to my first Imperial College volleyball practice last night. The gym in Wilson House was pretty crowded, but it was still great to be playing again! Half-way through the practice I was told that I hade made the team, which is great, but which also brings me to this next issue. You may remember that I wrote about taking a stand for what you believe in and living up to the consequences a few weeks ago. I also wrote that I needed to make my mind up about some core issues before I began studying; well, I didn't really. As I had predicted I was forced to decide last night. Sly as I am I managed to sneak away and evade the problem, but I'm going to have to face it, VERY soon.

At the freshers fair I realised that the people I had been looking for, the kind of people I want to get to know can be found in Imperial's clubs and societies. Having common interests is a great way to start off stimulating relationships. I guess it's kind of obvious that I'd find these people in the societies I am interested in joing. Obviously friendships are based on more than merely having things in common; some of the people i find the most annoying have one or more of the same interests as me. A place full of people with my passions and hobbies is a great place to start looking though.

After volleyball practice fate had something very specific in store for me. I experienced being stuck in the tube for almost an hour. Although this was really inconvenient and annoying, especially since I had to walk all the way home, I guess it's one of those things you just need to experience whilst in London. Because of the delay on the train I also got to know Owen and Pro from volleyball. I actually ended up showing Pro the way back to Imperial since we were forced to get off the underground earlier than we had planned (good deed of the day). Cyprus has been my dream vacation destination for years, so making a Cypriot friend comes in at a good second place.