Tag Archives: studying

Tropical weather in Gothenburg

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The weather today has been weird to say the least. It has been extremely hot and the humidity must have been at least 110%. It has been sunny but it has also been pouring and lots of thunder. And its’s been back and forth between these conditions all day. Around 28C and right outside my window at its hottest it was unbelievable 40C! That’s right in the sun, but still. It’s been sticky inside but nothing I could do about it, opening the windows would only make it worse. I remember my first summer in this apartment three years ago. It was barely possible to be in here because it was like a sauna. I haven’t felt that at all this summer even if once in a while gets pretty warm outside. Maybe they improved the ventilation?

I’ve been inside most of the day, studying. I didn’t do more than yesterday, but not less either, so I am satisfied with my accomplishment. It was actually hard to quit when I needed dinner. That’s good! For once I am following my study schedule and I actually think that I will check every box on that paper (one box = one problem/one old exam/one theory question, a total of 63 boxes) before I will take the exam for the fourth time. Go me!

I did a lot of theory questions today and realized that I have never been in class when they talked about them. Both my first year and this year I didn’t have them among my notes. I never miss a class, but those two I have missed were the same both years. Not particularly good.

I didn’t do much more than that today, I put all my recyclables in the recycle room in the backyard, I did the dishes, watched a couple of Revolution episodes, shopped for groceries, and cooked dinner. Mashed sweet potatoes and meatballs, yummy! I have a very hard time right now figuring out what to eat. I get stuck in patterns and eat pretty much the same thing for a month before I go on to the next. Lack of money is mostly behind that, but I tried to think before I went to the grocery store today. What do I want to eat? I remembered that I loved semolina porridge when I was a kid and decided that that might be a good breakfast (the last couple of weeks I’ve only had scrambled eggs) right now. And to put fruit and berries in it will make it a little more healthy. I look forward to tomorrow’s breakfast! Let’s hope my tastebuds haven’t changed…

Today I also got an email from CSN telling me that I will get money next year!! The bad thing is that I will get it in three lump sums (swe=”klumpsummor”) instead of every month. It probably won’t be a problem, but I am gonna have to think through exacylt how much money I will have after rent and food. But it will feel pretty awesome to have 50 000 kr in my account! The only thing missing now is that I have to decide what I am gonna do the first two nights before I get my room and how to get from LA to SLO. No biggie!

Laundry and study

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My second Saturday this weekend is over and I did get a lot of things done actually. I did laundry, I studied for quite a while and I even cooked dinner when I wasn’t planning to. I also had time to watch the last couple of episodes of True Blood and a few of Revolution. And of course a bit of GW2 playing! Tomorrow will probably be a similar day, but hopefully with more studying (I did two problems and six theory questions today, it’s not too bad!). Goodnight!

Test tomorrow

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I could let you think that the lack of posts the past couple of days has been because I’ve been studying, but it wouldn’t feel right to do that. Yesterday I was actually out drinking a little bit. Probably wasn’t the best of ideas two nights before a huge test. But I seriously haven’t been feeling the urge to study. I’ve gone through all the old tests (not solving the problems, but remembering where to find all the equations in the books and in wich order they all come). I’ve read through all the theory questions and written new summaries of all the different types of problems, and I feel like that is what I can do with this motivation (or lack of).

I am disappointed in myself, this was supposed to be my triumph. 75% of school, so I would have had more time to focus on this stupid course, but no. I’ve done everything but. When I was in London i secretly gave up. I have been trying since, but not wholeheartedly. And I will not be disappointed when I don’t pass this one.

I will go there tomorrow, do my best, and hope for problems that I know how to solve. I am really good at some of them (I actually solved one of them yesterday without the answer key), but the problems are random, and so far I’ve been in extreme unluck. So maybe this third time will be right!

Even if I don’t pass I will be so relieved to be done with this stress. I am gonna try to do a little almost every day of the summer, get deeper understanding of the subject, and try again in the end of August.

 

I didn’t study much today, but instead I got some visa preparations done. I paid another stupid fee, the one called SEVIS (or  I-901). I have no idea what it is for, but $180 is now gone from my bank account… I have been looking into when i should go to the US Embassy. It would be awesome to go on 1st class by train with my brother when he is working on July 22nd. But Chad isn’t in Sweden 22-23, and I don’t want to spend almost two days in Stockholm by myself. So I asked him when he could join me. So maybe 11-12 of June. Or my third option, going with the 5am train on the 11th, go to the Embassy at 9:30am and go back home in the afternoon. It will be a tough day, but I think that is the easiest option if I don’t have any company.

I am missing five things to bring to the embassy (I hope I haven’t forgotten anything); Proof of Fiancial Aid (which I will get from Chalmers tomorrow), SEVIS reciept (which I will print tomorrow), Confirmation of appointment at the Embassy (I can’t get this until I’ve made the appointment), Extract of the population register (I will have to call Swedish Tax Agency tomorrow and ask them to send on to me, and a printed photo. I am waiting for someone with Photoshop to fix the background. It’s not that much left until I have a new USA Visa page in my Passport 🙂
I really need to go to bed now and read through some of my notes again. I am surprisingly calm about tomorrow. I remember getting all hyped up about exams two years ago…

Stress

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I wish I could fastfoward my life three weeks, maybe four just to be sure all of this is over. I have so much going on and it’s not doing me any good. This stupid test on Monday for one. It’s Friday tomorrow and I just started… It doesn’t feel too bad though when I did half a test today. A lot comes back when I reread the old exams and theory questions. But I am still not expecting a grade.

The thesis is not going so well. Our examinator and supervisor at Chalmers are very negative towards our report and seriously can’t say anything good about it, except that it was a bit better since the first draft. It sucks! I hate this project. We got confirmed that we can have our presentation at Chalmers on June 3rd though at 2pm. That’s something. Now we just have to book a room and talk to Veidekke and ask them if we can give the presentation in the morning the same day.

My visa application is confusing. I have a very nice picture that would look good in my passport but today I got paranoid, what if it isn’t and I go to the embassy with it and get neglected? I took this photo myself, but I seriously don’t want to pay a fortune to go to a photographer. I am concerned about the small shadows in the background and they might go away in photoshop. So will try that and then go to a photo store and ask them if it is an okay photo for a US visa. It hopefully is, I am looking straight forward, I have a neutral and not an exxagerated expression, white background. But slanting shoulders and small shadows in the background. I don’t think the shoulders should be a problem, what if I looked like that? Maybe I have to walk crookedly at the embassy. And then there’s the problem of when I should go to Stockholm. I need to book the appointment very soon in case the spots run out. I want to talk to my brother and see if he works on SJ a day when I am off work. I am not sure he knows in advance when he works. But I will ask him. Otherwise paying a shitload of money on a regular train or taking a car and stay the night with my uncle and cousins. Or convince my dad to come with me again. Unfortunately I can’t get it with a weekend this time since I am working. Complicated! I also have to make 100% sure what I need to bring to the embassy. It can get nasty otherwise…

My new visa picture(?) to the left, and old one to the right (taken by a photographer).
AlexandraBemmVisa 2013
I think this should be okay with a lighter background and no shadows.

My last stress thing is that I start working on Wednesday and I will work every day until our presentation. That will be fun. Long nights or early mornings at Chalmers!

The awesome summer weather is making sitting inside all day miserable. This morning at 7am it was 20C outside, that is ridiculous!! And by the afternoon it was way warmer. I really hope it will be a nice summer.

I have tried to study today, but procrastinating is at its best during exam times. I have calculated an estimated sum of what I will earn this summer and it’s not too bad. The total for three months will be about 60 000 SEK, which is what I earned during the whole 2013. But the taxes are much higher here. But I won’t have any trouble with rent or living expenses at least. Great!

 

I need to go to bed now, read a little fiction, and get up early to continue with this nightmare of studying I am living right now…

A signed contract

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It’s official, I am an attraction operator at Liseberg! I am so excited about this job and I start in less than a week, I can’t wait!! Today was actually my first workday, three hours paid introduction evening. I was there one hour earlier to sign my contract and fill out some forms and get clothes, my card, name tags and locker. I guess I haven’t thought about how the people at Liseberg looks like in many many years because I was surprised when I saw the clothes I got. They were red instead of an ugly shade of purple/green like I remembered. Good!

At 4pm we were 8 girls and we did some group exercises and got lots of information. It was interesting and I ammore excited about the job now. I think I ended up in a very good department at Liseberg. I’ve met a few of my new co-workers, but I am in the pool (is it called that?), so I will be moving around and work where I am needed instead of being in the same area.

At 7pm we were done and I headed in to downtown to vote in the upcoming EU election. I don’t care about politics, but I don’t want one specific party in there so I voted for another.

Back home, had a skagentoast for dinner and then I studied for a couple of hours. I have now rewritten all the teoretic questions so they are understandable. Now I just have to read them through several times a day and start solving the problems and go through old tests. I don’t think I will pass it on Monday, but it will help me when I redo it for the fourth time in August. That time I will be serious about it!!

Liseberg Alexandra