On the move again!

So this is my 3^rd year in Edinburgh and so far I have lived in 3 different flats…

1^st year I was staying at Student accommodation through the University, which although it was VERY expensive, was a good way to get to know other students from different countries and on different courses! It was definitely worth the money, cause I still keep in touch with some of the people that I met there, and would totally recommend it to anyone going to a new country for studying.

2^nd year I was renting with a close friend (that I met in 1^st year’s flat). Even though it might not have been the best neighbourhood, it was a beautiful flat and a fantastic year! A lot of great stuff happened that year, the best of course being that I met my better half! J

3^rd year came, and I moved into a shared flat with this nice girl from Tajikistan. Compared to 2^nd year though, this flat is never going to as good and even though my flatmate is extremely nice, there is just something missing…

Well, something is gonna change! My better half and I have come to the decision that it is time for us to get our own place and so we have decided to do just that!

Excited? Yes VERY! Nervous? A wee bit I guess… But I have no doubt in my mind that it is going to be FANTASTIC! J

The whole thing about packing and having to move all my stuff is not really an appealing thought.. I have so much stuff and I have no idea where it all came from, because when I came to Edinburgh I only brought one suitcase and a backpack.. Oh well, you have to take the, in this case, VERY good with the only kinda bad! Woohooo!

Soo… For the last 3 weeks we have been flat-hunting, which has been exciting and at the same time very stressful; especially when viewings that we had booked got cancelled, cause the person before us took it!! But Friday was a VERY good day for us! We went for a viewing in the evening and the flat was lovely, and to make the situation even better, BOTH of us loved it! Luckily the landlady thought that we would be the perfect tenants, so we GOT IT!! J

So if references and everything else goes fine, we'll be moving in around mid-March! J

Nice isn't it?? I'm really looking forward to getting all of our stuff moved in and starting this exciting new chapter!!

Knit-aholic!

Hello, my name is Vanja, and I am a knit-aholic! Hey Vanja....

Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a wee bit; but sometimes when I get started I can't seem to stop! As soon as I finish a project I want to start a new one! However, sometimes I get out of the mood and don't knit for months...

This last year I've really been in the knitting-mood and I wanted to post some of my projects! I haven't taken photos of everything I've made, like for example the approx. ten pair of slippers I've knitted in 2012 and then one special photo that I can't publish, cause it's a gift that can't be revealed quite yet! But at least here is a taste:

Jumper for the little princess, Navia yarn - made Summer 2012

 

Matching hat, Navia yarn - Summer 2012

One of the 4 hats I made as Christmas presents (2 were purple where this one is maroon, Navia yarn) - Christmas 2012

Jumper for my better half, so that he can stay warm during the Scottish winter! Navia yarn - Summer 2012

Another jumper for gumma's princess, Navia yarn - December 2012

Jumper for me, purple and black Navia yarn - Summer 2012

Blue bolero for me, made with mohair - Summer 2012

Thin jumper, Navia yarn - December 2012

My most resent project, purple and black with Sirri yarn - January 2013

Crochet baby blanket for Emma's little Benjamin, Navia yarn - Summer/Autumn 2012

For little Benjamin, Navia yarn - Summer/Autumn 2012

Although the price for knitting-needles in Edinburgh is less than a 1/4 of the price in the Faroe Islands, the yarn is more expensive.. Or at least the type of yarn that I like; and if I had had access to it here, I'm sure that I wouldn't get any university stuff done, but would just be knitting!

Soo,, what do you think? ;)

Another Year Commences!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

My new year's eve was mostly spent with the lovely little family of my best friend :)

There was sushi, cake, champagne and other lovely things to indulge us with and we even lit fireworks with gumma's little princess! All in all a very nice evening which will be remembered!

Soo,, thinking about new year's resolutions I have to say that my biggest one is to be able to speak more Spansh! I am still making an effort to learn it and my vocabulary is slowly growing..

The Spanish in-laws will hopefully be coming to Edinburgh for a visit in April, and since they don't speak a word of English, I will need to know more than simple formalities if I wish to be able to communicate with them...

I am using podcasts from iTunes and a course on the Rosetta Stone program to learn, but the Rosetta Stone program has a annoying amount of repetitions which are driving me crazy... But I think I will just have to endure cause I believe it to be beneficial in the end!

So all you lovely people out there! How did you greet the new year and what are your new year's resolutions?? :)

Discipline! - It's JKCC time!

All this demanding coursework at the end of the trimester, is really getting to me! It's making me go crazy, impatient, emotional, depressed, angry, sad and you NAME it! I'm not all that fun to be around these days.. I could really slap NAPIER across the face, for putting deadlines in the same week!
The only upside I can think of, is that Friday next week all of my assessment will have been handed in and demonstrated, and all that's left is only one exam! Still the work has to be done before the fun can begin!

That's the thing about being on a Computing course,,, you don't just hand in your program but you also have to demonstrate it and explain your code... Hrmf!

Oh well... I've just done one demonstration right now - which I passed - and instead of going home on this cold Thursday evening, I've decided to stay at the JKCC (Jack Kilby Computing Centre) to work work work...
And even though I don't have to go to uni on Fridays, I've decided to kick myself in the bum tomorrow morning, and getting my ass to the Kilby!

So to all of yous struggling at the end of the trimester, YOU CAN DO IT! (or you have to at least try!)

Alone - Good or Bad?

So.... Here I am in my room in this lovely flat that I moved into just 1 month ago... I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised at how well everything worked out! Originally I wanted a flat by myself, but ended up in a shared flat... And yes, I have indeed heard some of the horror stories about people who move in with complete strangers... And I didn't even meet my flatmate before I moved in, because she was on holiday in her home country (Tajikistan)! Sooo I was hoping for the best, but dreading the worst...

Well,, she's back and has been for about a week and I am very happy!! Everything has worked out perfectly! We get along great and now I even have someone to watch the Xfactor with! Hehe

I actually thought that's what you have partners for, but no,, not my boyfriend! He won't watch it with me because of all the adverts and talking in-between the singing! I really can't blame him though, cause there are SO many adverts!! Grrrrrr...

Tomorrow is Monday and thus the beginning of week 8 of Uni... It is truly unbelievable how fast the weeks fly by... The coursework is starting to pile up, cause typically the module leaders choose the same week for hand-ins in every module.. What is that all about?!

Next week I indeed have two hand-ins and therefore haven't done much else this weekend than sitting by my laptop with Visual Studio as my best friend ... + Listening to my Disney playlist on Grooveshark! :)

My better half has indeed abandoned me for the next two weeks.. He went off to Spain to see his lovely family and I am left all alone.. I am really happy for him though and I can't wait to go home myself! But also I can't help but be a bit grateful, cause him being away for 2 weeks forces me to be a bit more disciplined about Uni-work, without any distractions! Well,, a good friend is coming to see me in a couple of days, but one should have a break every now and then right? ;)

Soo I think that it's actually healthy every now and again to just have some time by yourself,, provided that the time is being spent productively!

Oh well,, back to the programming... I've got 3 more hours until the Xfactor starts!!

Learning Spanish!

Sooo, one of my big projects is to learn Spanish… Reason being of course that mi novio is a hot-blooded Spaniard! Hahahaha ;)

When I was in school, eight years back, and had the option between Russian, Spanish and French, I choose French.. Hrmf!! Oh well, I don’t really remember that much of French either, even though I had it for two years, so probably wouldn’t have been any different if I had gone with Spanish..

Even though I really want to speak the language I’m finding it difficult to really engage in it,,, or rather to get really passionate about learning it…

I try my best though, and at one point I even had post-its all over that flat with Spanish words for all the different object.. Like for example: enchufe for socket, puerta for door, espejo for mirror and so on..

Now that I think about it, that was a really good idea, and I still remember all the words on the post-its… Hm.. Note to oneself, put up post-its in my new flat – when I finally find one!

When I was driving home from work this summer, I did indeed listen to podcasts, and I kinda still remember the intro to every single podcast: “Hi and welcome to Discover Spanish! My name is Johnny Spanish and I’m here in Miami Florida with Christina. Hola Johnny!“… Even though the intro was “only” for around 20 seconds it felt like 2 minutes,, and it was getting on my nerves! Hehe! Oh well, you have to take the good with the bad I guess.. :p

Well,, my next method for learning is to have mi novio teach me a new sentence every day.. Also whenever we say a number, it has to be in Spanish! Buuut we’re horrible at remembering to do the number thing..

But it’s like Johnny Spanish says in the podcasts: “The trick to learning Spanish is to practice a little bit Every Day” (said with a fake overenthusiastic voice).

Even though I'm progressing at a very slow rate, it's better than not progressing at all..

When I finally go to Spain I will at least be able to say some basic things..

Hola, me llamo Vanja. Encantado de conocerte! Cómo estás? Muy bien gracias. Soy la novia de Francisco. Tengo veinticinco años! Soy de las Islas Feroe.

I do know some more words and sentences, but am really looking forward to the time when my vocabulary has grown to the stage that I can communicate in this lovely language! If not fully then at least partially :)

August is festival time!

Being back in Edinburgh is great! And not just because this is where mi novio is ;)

Edinburgh in August is very busy and there is so much going on that it is overwhelming! There are shows every day for basically the whole month, from early afternoon till late evening. There is everything from Poetry Readings to Cabarets.

I went to around 15 shows, all of them being free except for one, which was a comedy show with the funny Dylan Moran, and it was absolutely great! Living in Edinburgh, where Dylan Moran lives as well, I’ve just been waiting for the opportunity to go to one of his shows!

The other shows were mostly comedy shows as well; however we did go to two cabarets and one play/storytelling.

I have to say that some of the shows were brilliant while some were absolutely horrible - and I do mean truly horrible! It was a comedy show (!) with this guy that was the worst thing I've ever been to... However, I was nice to the guy anyway,, gave him a tip at the end, where he gave me a kiss on the cheek and said "Did you like the show?"; I put on a fake smile and lied through my teeth saying "Yeah, it was fine", and then went running for the closest exit!

On the one side I really enjoy the August version of Edinburgh, but I have to admit that I was relieved when the festival was over. Not that I was that much among the crowds, but because one of the reasons that I love being in Edinburgh, is that even though it is a big city, it doesn’t feel as busy as some other big cities do.. I like that it’s kinda cozy – for lack of a better suited word (but I'm guessing that you know what I mean).

The festival was great though and it's definitely worth coming to Edinburgh in August - just in case anyone is thinking about coming to visit! :)

Indeed my mum did come to visit for a few days in August, and it was great to show her around the city that is starting to feel like a second home to me!