tea for one

I’m so excited right now I don’t quite know what to do with myself. I’ve got a flat! At least it seems like I do. During the mentor’s training, when we were out eating lunch one of the girls suddenly asked if anyone needed a flat and I stuck my hand in the air and shouted ME ME ME! I just went to look at it, and said I’ll take it.

It’s small - 27 square meters - and it’s just down the road from where my mum and dad (and I, for the time being) live, but still, it would be my own place. It’s got a really big walk-in wardrobe, a nice bathroom, and the rent is cheaper than any student’s flat you could find. Barring incidents, I’ll be moving in there no later than November 1st.

Wooo!!!eleventyone!!

Do you know how many new students there are on the A-level this term? One hundred and sixty-freakin-nine. One hundred and sixty-nine people! AND there’s a back-up list with thirty people on it. That means that I might have to hold meetings with sixty students the first few weeks, before people start dropping off. Standing in front of sixty people discussing phonetics in English… The mere thought of it makes me shudder.

I have come to the conclusion that the whole phonetics-and-grammar-at-the-same-time thing may not be all bad, though. If anything, it should mean less silences in the meetings - if they have two difficult courses, chances are better they actually have things they need to discuss.

One hundred and sixty-nine students. And I’m going to be standing in front of all of them on Monday. 

That nervousness I talked about yesterday? Was not helped by discovering that the new A-level students will be having the phonetics module and the grammar module running alongside one another. Great. That won’t make my job more difficult at all, no. I mean, sure, in our meetings we spent the first ten weeks talking pretty much only about grammar and the next five weeks talking pretty much only about phonetics because they were the toughest modules, but I’m sure these new students won’t feel the same way.

*headdesk* 

Two days’ training for the mentor’s job are now complete. On the plus side, the training was fun and there were some really great people there. We had a good time. On the downside, well… You’d think I’d feel calmer now, right? More prepared, knowing what to expect?

WRONG. I think I’m actually more freaked out now than I was before, because now, I suddenly realise how much there is you have to keep in mind. You have to be a leader, but under no circumstances can you act like a teacher. You can’t answer questions from the students. You have to be loyal towards the department, not responding to criticism about the lecturers or their way of teaching. You’re supposed to make sure it’s a relaxed atmosphere where the students can fika and get to know each other a little better, and at the same time keep it enough focused on the studies that they actually benefit from it.

I think the hardest part for me will be to avoid taking on the teacher role, not getting to explain the stuff I know when they don’t, partly because I did that last term. As a student it was okay for me to clarify the things I understood when others had a harder time of it - because that’s what SI is meant to be; students helping out each other. And I was just one student among others. Now, I’m suddenly going to be on the other side, and I can’t do that any more. That is going to be tough.

Because there will be questions, oh, yes, there will be. And I will have to answer them with, "Do you have any ideas?" and "Does anyone else know?" and then "Can you maybe find anything about that in the coursebooks?" when the person who asked doesn’t have any ideas and no one else does know. And then it’ll get quiet. I’ve been there. I know how it goes, and I know I’m going to have to learn to deal with uncomfortable silences.

Tomorrow is my first staff meeting, on Friday we’re going to sign contracts and stuff, on Monday I will meet the students for the first time and then later that week I will have my first meeting. I’m three parts excited, and seven parts wondering why on Earth I thought it would be a good idea for me to do this.

Just imagine on Sunday night. It’s going to be ten parts wondering why I’m doing this and freaked out of my mind.

Last night was the 25th x 4 birthday party in Ystad, and man, did we have a good time.

Looking back at the evening, I realised a few things. One: when I have been drinking it is apparently very difficult for me to be in a picture without making a silly face, which usually means opening my mouth wide enough that you’d think I was trying to break some kind of record. Two: my top was really low-cut. *hides* There was some serious boobage going on at one point. Three: I cannot (and will not!) be held responsible for my so called dancing when the band are playing AC/DC, and especially not Back In Black. And four: Bon Jovi really DOES rock on occasion. *makes horns*

It was a really great night. Food was yummy, band were awesome, and company equally so.

Oh, and on a completely different note, Dawn? Thanks a lot for reminding me about the Slapsong. It’s been on my head nonstop for the past few days, and I can’t just go around singing "You just got slaaaapped!" in public. It’s getting as bad as it was with Where There’s a Whip, There’s a Way.

…

I got a tip last night to watch ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’. I just did, and I have only one thing to say: full frontal nudity for the win! God, I love Jason Segel. 

You know how sometimes I bombard you with loads and loads of quotes from shows I like and you all sit on the other side of the screen saying, "Oh, for the love of God, stop"? This is one of those times! Yay! See, I’m catching up on How I Met Your Mother, watching episodes I’ve somehow missed and episodes they haven’t shown here yet, and sweet Lord of the Rings, how I have been laughing. (Dawny, and anyone else who follows the show, there may be spoilers up to the third season finale.)

Ted: Do you have a cold?
Barney: Do, I’b fide. *blows nose extravagantly* I’m fine! My nose is just overflowing with awesome, and I had to get sobe of it out.

Barney: *sick in bed* This is a low moment for the Barnacle. I should be off, playing laser tag right now, but instead I’m… *turns away, pitifully* Don’t look at me, I’m hideous!
Robin: You just look like a regular guy.
Barney: Exactly! I’m a Ted. Look at me, I’m wearing elastic-waist fleece pants.
Robin: And isn’t it more comfy?
Barney: *ashamed* Yes.

Robin: You’re not having ice cream for dinner just ‘cause you’re sick.
Barney: But my throat hurts!
Robin: No!
Barney: I hate you!
Robin: Oh - *makes to leave*
Barney: Don’t leave me. *grabs her*

Robin: Man, I love Bruce Springsteen! He’s like the American Bryan Adams.

*general screaming upon waking up in close proximity to one another*
Barney: I can’t believe we just - you and I - what have we done?
Lily: Nothing! Nothing happened - we just went to sleep. *is relieved*
Barney: Just went to sleep - I don’t sleep in the same bed as a woman and not make a move! How could - you! You spooned me against my will!
Lily: Hey, it takes two to cuddle!
Barney: We - we redocorated my place. We stayed in on a Friday night to watch Letterman and then slept together and didn’t have sex - oh, my God, we’re in a relationship!
Lily: That’s what you think a relationship is?
Barney: You were supposed to be the vaccine, but you gave me the disease. You gotta go!

*on Marshalls’s date*
Robin: Ted says she has the Crazy Eyes.
Lily: What’s that?
Robin: Apparently a thing that women has that guys can see and it tells them that the girl is crazy.
Lily: Ooh, kinda like how you never want to date a guy with perfect fingernails?
Robin: Jerknails. Exactly. 

Ted: Barney, I’m giving you nothing to do so that you can work on your gambling problem.
Barney: Problem? Hey, Superman should really do something about his flying problem. Please! It’s not a problem if you’re awesome at it.

Marshall: Why can’t two guys, who are friends, go to brunch?
Ted: Brunch is kinda -
Robin: Girly.
Marshall: Girly? Breakfast isn’t girly. Lunch isn’t girly. What makes brunch girly?
Ted: I don’t know. Nothing girly about a horse. Nothing girly about a horn. But put them together and you get a unicorn.

Marshall: It is not a date, okay? It’s two bros, taking in a Broadway show.
Ted: You bros planning on getting dinner before?
Marshall: We might grab a steak, yeah.
Ted: Mm-hm. Where at?
Marshall: … Café LeAmour.

*Barney thinks everyone is talking about sex with Robin* (Yes, I realise you most likely have to see it to find it funny, but seriously, I died a little during this exchange.)
Ted: So, tell us. What was it like?
Barney: What?
Ted: Penetrating that barrier! You and I are the first ones to hit it! Well, not the first ones, certainly, but the first ones at this table.
Barney: I - I - I - I - *eyetwitch*
Marshall: Although I’m gonna be hitting it pretty soon.
Robin: Yeah you are. *grins*
Lily: Yeah, and when I hit it I’m gonna go nuts! It’s gonna be all night, and I think I want a clown there.
Barney: *chokes on drink*
Robin: You know, I’m a little bit scared of clowns, but for you I’m there.
Barney: What are you talking about?!
Ted: The big three-oh! You know my thirtieth birthday is this Friday?

Ted: I’m gonna go through all my old stuff, and I’m getting rid of anything I have no use for anymore. Barney, you want my Xbox?
Barney: *gasp* Ted, she has a name!

Barney: Question one: Ted, do you want to move in with Robin?
Ted: Yes.
Barney: Wrong! The answer is: "No, I secretly want to stay single and spend time with my awesome friend Barney". Question two: Robin, do you think you can score someone hotter than Ted?
Robin: …
Barney: Correct! The answer was "awkward silence".

*on Robin having had sex with Barney*
Lily: I can’t believe you did that, that is so gross! Was it amazing?
Robin: What? I - Lily, I really don’t want to talk about this.
Lily:  I know, but - it’s Barney, it’s just hard not to be curious. … Did he have, like, devices and stuff?
Marshall: Lily, come on.
Lily: Hot wax?
Marshall: Stop it.
Lily: Did he tie you to anything?
Marshall: That’s enough!
Robin: What’s wrong with you?!
Lily: Sorry! … Is he all smooth down there?

*on Marshall crying in front of his boss*
Marshall: I don’t know what happened. There’s just something about being yelled at like that, like I was being scolded by my dad, and suddenly - suddenly I was a little boy.
Robin: Is "boy" the right word?

Robin: I mean, what kind of lawyer does this guy have if he has to take care of the kid all the time?
Lily: A - good one. He won full custody.
Robin: He won? He won?! … Oh, God, getting the kid is winning, isn’t it?

I extracted the words in a syntactic tree using the leaves() function.

AND I drew a graphical representation of a syntactic tree using the draw() function. I win.

Oh yeah. This weekend is going to be the LAST weekend of Python and NLTK.

Stupid airlines. Stupid flights. That is all.

Actually, no, it isn’t. Can you believe that to fly to Edinburgh and back I’d have to pay 3500 sek? It’s robbery! And made of FAIL. It’s all a conspiracy, I tell you. But airlines, YOU WILL NOT THWART ME.

Because evidently, I’m a spamwhore these days. 

Okay, I adore Morris. I really do. He’s the sweetest thing, he’s really smart, and he’s funny. But after an hour and a half of this? I kind of wanted to strangle him.

Look! It’s a whining puppy! 

Notice the sound that actually sound like ‘mum’. Yes. He was crying for my mother who was gone shopping. Apparently, I’m not enough. Pfft. 

I love the Olympics. I think they might be turning me violent, though. All right, yes, there have been other occasions where I have had reason to worry about the violent thing - mentally yelling ‘Take that, bitch!’ at the woman I passed on the bike comes to mind - but watching boxing yesterday I felt that I was a little too into it. I was sitting there going, "Yeah, hit him! Come on! Hey, that was totally a clean hit! Oh, come on, he should have gotten a point for - ooh, nice series."

It’s like I don’t even know myself.

I’ve also been enjoying the handball games, although watching Germany lose to Iceland hurt a little. Iceland are the reason we aren’t there, and I want them to FAIL MISERABLY. Ahem. Also, I love Germany’s coach. He’s got this immensely impressive walrus moustache that makes me giggle every time I see him.

Football and swimming are also fun, but, the real must-watch stuff doesn’t begin until next week. Athletics! Even though we are kind of short on stars this year, I love it. It can be athletics tiem nao, pls?

…

Aw, there’s no tuna in the house. I was looking forward to my egg-and-tuna lunch. It won’t be the same with mackerel.