Reflection

English has for a long time been one of my favorite subjects at school. I’ve been interested in both learning to write and to speak this language, because I’ve seen how important and necessary English actually is.

I am grateful of all the years when English was a part of my schedule at school. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to choose this subject for next year. I’ve put my priorities on physics, chemistry, ToF and R1 - and there were no more room for choosing English. When that is said, speaking or writing English will not be over for me. I love to travel to other places, and abroad, English is the key to communication. Almost everywhere you go, you will find someone who speaks a bit English. It’s not for no reason it is the worldwide language.

In ten years I see myself in a gorgeous penthouse apartment on 5th Avenue in New York, with an excellent job and a perfect husband. If not, I will probably live in an enormous castle in the middle of Paris, where I have people cooking my food and doing my laundry. HA-HA, that was a joke. There’s no wrong in having dreams, but this joke seemed very ungrateful and superficial, neither of the things I wish to become. My future is still a blank page in the book of my life. I am not stressed about hurrying to write something down either, because I don’t know what the future holds for me. I will probably study for a while, hopefully as long as possible. We’re lucky to go to school, not everyone has the same opportunities as us to learn. Nevertheless, my goals for the future is to expand my horizon, discover new cultures in other countries and simply get more life experience. Some of these goals I may achieve through my education, which I hope will find place out of the borders of Norway.

I have enjoyed this year with you as a teacher and with our class. I can tell you that I have learned grammar and poems, but at the end of the day it shows that what I’ve learn the most about, is myself. I have learned what my negative sides are and what my positive sides are. I am aware of what I need to work on and what I need to improve. So, despite the fact that this really is my last year of English, I know one thing for sure:

This is absolutely not the last time Karoline is having an English conversation or reading an English book!

My Friend's Birthday

Chocolate cake made by me

The result of five hungry ladies.

Happy 17, dear!

Me and my friends have a "tradition" on pushing ourself on the birthdaygirl on her birthday. Therefore, whatever her plans might have been, we're all always coming for a little celebration, and to eat cake. Lots of cake. May 7th, we went to Thea's place, to celebrate her 17 years. Happy Birthday!

Nothing Beats May 17th

It beats Saturday. It beats my birthday.It beats New Years Eve. It beats Easter. It almost beats Christmas Eve. Which day am I speaking about? May 17th, of course!

May 17th is the day of pride in Norway. On this very day, in 1814, Norway got its own constitution. People in Norway, wheter you live in the northern part or the southern part of the country, are used to celebrate this special day. In Sarpsborg where I live, a parade is arranged every year, where people, mostly children, are walking a special route in the town center. People are used to dress up. Some in a special suit we call bunad, and others puts on a nice dress or costume. Unregardless what you wear, remember always to carry a flag in your hand. My May 17th 2010 in pictures:

At the beginning of the day I met some of my friends in town.
Since Greåker vgs doesn't have their own group in the parade, we joined St. Olav. I found it weird how everyone were so excited about finally 'not having to do the parade', while my friends and I found it sad - We want to walk in the parade, not watch it!!!

Some elders might even not have the oppertunity to walk the parade themselves, therefore the windows along the streets are filled with:Old people cheering with their flag from their flats. This sight made me smile, so I had to take a photo.

When the parade was over I went back home to make a cake:And then I left for Thomas' place, and stayed there for the rest of the evening. People as Ane, Elise, Sven, Anette, Henning, Ronja, Lars Ole, Marthe, Martin, Henrik and Susanne were there too.I spent a very nice evening with fabulous people! I had a great day, and unfortunately I will be extremely tired at school tomorrow. May 17th 2010 is over, only 365 days until next time...

The Notebook

Today I want to tell you about my favourite film. The name is The Notebook, and I have never before seen a movie that made these kinds of impressions on me, like The Notebook did. The power of the film, the story, is increadable, and I wouldn't expecty being this overwhelmed by simply "a film". The Notebook is a romantic drama film, directed by Nick Cassavetes. It's based on a novel with the same name, written by Nicholas Sparks. The film was first released in the United States in 2004. The plot of the film surrounds the characters Noah and Allie, a young couple who fall in love in the early 40s. The story is narrated from the present day by an old man, telling their story from the past to a fellow patient.

It is hard to put all the sadness, happiness, love and anger into words, but I believe these pictures speaks for themselves about how beautiful the film really is... A while ago I ran into, quite randomly, a new film's which is soon coming up in cinemas. It's by the author of The Notebook. I wonder if this one will push The Notebook down to second place on my list. Take a look at the pictures from Dear John: Well, to not seem like a total girly-film girl, I may add that my previous favourite film actually was an action thriller film...

EDIT: Simen kindly gave me the download of Dear John, and I loved it! Despite that I have already seen it, I'm almost sure I will go see it again when it comes in cinemas here.

Loving Paris

If there was one city in Europe I would die to visit, it would definitely be Paris. I had never been to France before and during our winter holiday, my family and I decided to go there for some days. Everywhere I hear people brag about Paris; how nice it is, how beautiful the language is, and how delicious the food is. It was one question that had been on my mind for a long time, and I was about to find the answer myself; Is Paris as nice as everyone says?

A trip to Paris mainly consists of visiting La Tour Eiffel, Sacre Coeur, Champs Elysées and the other famous tourist attractions. Our trip was no exception, but Paris is so much more than some buildings and a street. The mood in this city is like no other place I’ve ever seen.

If anyone would ask me the question I was wondering at first; Is Paris as nice as everyone says? I would tell them; No, it is better.

To Read English Literature or Not To Read English Literature, That is the Question...

Of course reading English literature is important, but how necessery all of it is for me, am I not so sure of yet. Nevertheless, reading English is important - to a certain point.

This spring we read an English novel at school. I read Matilda by Roald Dahl. I've already read it in Norwegian, but there's no doubt that I definately prefer the English version. If i am reading a book, i choose to read it in English, because i want to read the original text, not a translation. I've seen from earlier times that norwegian translations aren't always that good.I like reading English, and I like reading nice books and funny texts. However, (Astrid and Sven; kill me for saying this) I don't see the use of reading sonnets and works by Shakespeare. Of course I know that his works are a huge part of the English history, but I, personnaly, don't believe that this knowledge will benefit me later. If I could choose, we would have read more recent English literature, instead of something that happened a long time ago.

I have read The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, both in English. I loved reading them, and I would rather read more of these types of books instead of old sonnets. To not seem totally negative, I may add that I really liked all the short stories we have read so far these terms!

Dear Mr. Smith, 15.06.04

Mr. Geoffery Smith
Manager of BlueSky Hotels
California
United States

Dear Mr. G. Smith,

Three weeks ago, I booked a hotel room for two weeks at your hotel resort in South Nilandhe Atoll, The Maldives. The costs were not low, but the pictures made the place look like paradise. My family and I were looking forward to our holiday, and the happiness was too good to describe.

When we first arrived the hotel, a slightly unexpected sight struck our eyes. The resort was not as the pictures online, and the ocean was not as close the resort as written in the hotel description. Starting off our holidays quite bad, we decided to put the negative attitude behind us, for the stay to be as pleasant as possible – for us, for other guests, and for the hotel staff.
Entering our future home for the coming two weeks, the hotel room, we saw that the bad shape of the main building was not the only unexpected negativity. The toilets were not useable, and it was not possible to take a shower under hot water. I am normally not a high demander, but I feel I have the rights to express my complaints when I have put this amount of money into our stay, and small things we take for granted at a five start resort are out of order.

When we thought the bad things were about to come to an end, the opposite happened, and there were more surprises to come… We discovered the first night that that the AC was not working. My daughter woke up in the middle of the night caused by breathing difficulties. I checked the thermometer in the room. It showed 39 degrees C, inside. At a warm place like this, in a room supposed for four people, is it extremely uncomfortable to sleep with no air conditioner.

Returning Norway after two weeks of disappointments, I noticed that an extra charge of 900$ had been charged from my bank account. This unexpected expense was from watching cable TV, which neither my family nor I had been doing during the stay. This was the final happening that made me write this letter.

As a guest at your hotel, it is my job to give you my opinions and experiences from the resort, whether it is negative or positive. Our entire stay at your hotel was unpleasant, and the costs were far more that what it was worth. I do not expect a lot of money in return, but I think it would only be fair to cover the expenses I never should have had to pay in the first place, as the cable TV. I hope you understand my views upon this case, and I would not have written this letter unless I found it necessary for both of us.

When all of this is said, I will not exclude that South Nilandhe Atoll is a fantastic place. We were extremely lucky with the great weather, the food was delicious, and the service was extraordinary. Some improvements are still to be made, and if it turns out in success, I will definitely stay at your resort again. I wish you and the hotel all the best for the future; this place has great potential.

Yours sincerely,
Karoline Kroken,
Norway.

Shakespeare - "The Greatest Dramatist of All Times"

I was given the honor of interviewing the known to be "Greatest Writer of All Times", the one and only William Shakespeare. To avoid looking like a complete moron, I had been doing some research of the British poet, dramatist and actor. (Google my precious friend, he never fails.) Mainly I already knew most of the answers to the questions I would ask, but however, I was curious to hear the answers from him.

Since Google obviously didn't exsist on Shakespeare's time, I'll allow myself to imagine that he arose from the dead to answer my questions. Nice guy that Shakespeare!

How was the family situation when you grew up?

- I was my parents' third child of eight in total. We lived all lived together at a place called Stratford-upon-Avon in Great Britain.

Which school did you attend to for your education?

- In 1553 they esablished a new school called King's New School. The curriculum was strict and the school gave lessons as latin grammar and classics to offer the students a comprehensive education. To be honest, the question of which school I was thinking about going to wasn't even a question, since this school was only a half a kilometer from my house.

You got married quite young, would you mind telling me about it?
“Young? I was a man in his best age!” he says and laughs. – Well, when I got married I was 18 years old. The woman I married to, Anne Hathaway, was 26 years old. Some might say we rushed into marriage without knowing what we were doing, but Anne was already 3 months pregnant with our lovely daughter Susanna.

Susanna wasn’t your other child, could you tell me about the others?
- My daughter Susanna was my first child. She was born the early spring 1583. Nearly two years later was Anne pregnant again, this time with twins!

You have a great number of written works, how many are there?
- I have written 38 plays and 154 sonnets in total. Quite a large number, if I can say so myself.

Thanks a lot for the interview; I appreciate your kindness to take some time to answer my questions. As an end I would like to ask you a question. A question I am sure I am not the only one curious of the answer. Of all your plays and sonnets, which one is your favorite?

- You are certainly not the only one to wonder, and this is an interesting question. Well, many may think that perhaps “Romeo and Juliet” or “Hamlet” would be my favorite play, because those are the most known ones, but personally, I adore the comedy Taming of the Shrew. I can tell you that I really enjoyed writing this comedy, but I would like to make no more comment on this question. Thank you.

William Shakespeare. 1564-1616

Cupcakes

Ingredients
2 ¼ cups flour
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla/chocolate
2 large eggs

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (It makes about 180 degrees Celsius.)
Mix the flour, sugar, baking soda and the salt in a large bowl. Add milk and vanilla/chocolate.
Add the eggs to the batter and stir around.
Use a spoon to pour the batter into the paper liners until 2/3 full.
Bake them for 20 to 25 minutes. A trick to check if the cupcakes are finished: put a toothpick down the center of a cupcake, if the batter does not follow, the cupcake is well enough baked.
Cool the cakes for 5 minutes, and then make the frosting on top.

Frosting
100 g butter
300 g icing sugar
1 tablespoons cocoa/strawberry/vanilla (choose your favorite)
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
Mix it all together, and put them on the top of the cupcakes.
All pictures taken by myself.

Brick Lane

Monday November 30th.

Today, we saw a film at school named Brick Lane. The film, finding place in London, is directed by Sarah Gavron. The story is adapted from the novel, also named Brick Lane, by Monica Ali. The movie was released in November 2007, and the actors starring are persons as Tannishtha Chatterjee, Satish Kaushik, Christopher Simpson and Naeema Begum.

The sotry is about a woman, Nazneen, who grew up in Bangladesh but moved to London, in Brick Lane, at the age of 17. Her marriage was arranged, and her husband was twice her age. Her sister stays in Bangladesh, and the two girls keep exchanging letters where they write about their life. Later on, a young, handsome man appears in Nazneens life, and they are having an affair.

The film deals with hard and important problems as religion and politics, and some of the plot keywords are words as immigrants, Muslims, Allah, letter writing, longing, distance, fear, arranged marriage, drowning, England, Bangladesh, 1980s. The film has won several awards, especially for its direction and actors.

I have to admit I was looking forward to watch Bend It Like Beckham, but Brick Lane was no disappointment at all. I liked the movie, especially with the setting and the sound tracks. I know now that watching a movie at school isn't simply for relaxing, and I guess my teacher always has a point of showing us such movies. To learn, of course. I also think I get more value of a film when I am working on it after I have watched it. Then the main themes will be clearer, and the messages from the director will not be so well hidden anymore.

Reflection, My Year So Far

The English lessons at Greåker vgs these months have been different than what I was used to from last year. I can see that the requirements are much higher, and the demands are visibly increasing. I have found it hard to analyze some of the texts we have worked on, especially to figure out the main themes. It's hard to find out what the author actually wants to tell us. Blogging is something I have never done before. I have read several blogs earlier, but never really published my own texts on such a webpage. It has been a bit weird, I think, but still a lot of fun. It sure is a different way of learning English!
I think I have decided to go the direction of science subjects next year, which means I will probably lose the English lessons, something I find quite sad, actually. I think it is fun to learn other languages, especially when you notice how useful they are.

To improve my English I can write more, read more and do more tasks, but to be completely honest - I think the best way to learn the language is to go to the country and live there for a while, whether you are going to school, or simply staying there for holidays. A friend of mine is thinking about going abroad next year as an exchange student. I envy him for his guts to do such thing. I bet he will have a great time, and come home as a perfect-speaking Englishman! Personally I would really like to go to the USA, but at this moment I don't think I'm ready to travel alone around the world. I hope, in some years, that I will go abroad and learn the English language. Maybe for studies during my education!

Hated by a Car

Today, as every Sundays lately, I've been out driving. My driving-theory teacher told me that the best drivers are the ones who start as early as possible. With thought of my (fairly bad) conditions in relation to cars, I think I really need the time...I didn't know before that is was possible to feel hated by a car. It hates me so much I'm sure the car does everything on purpose, simply to be mean and cause me problems. The clutch is an annoying and frustrating unnecessary detail, I think. It has gone so far that when everyone says the word 'clutch' it gives me the chills. My knowledge about cars and engines, mainly traffic in general is a bit low. (I figured that knowing all the signs unfortunately didn't make me the perfect driver. Sigh...) So I thought it would be the most safe for me (and for others) to get some more time [read: some more years] of practice before I throw myself out in the big, dangerous road.
The week of blogging I had to do has already passed, and to my surprise it was more fun than I expected.

This is probably the official end of this blog for now. (If my teacher doesn't give me more tasks.) So everyone: Take care and drive safe(!!!), please.

Rome Wasn't Build in a Day

I have been thinking that maybe we should be a little more patient. Generally, I mean. Things take time, and we just have to deal with it. The English proverb "Rome wasn't build in a day" is telling us that things actually take time, and we have to be patient. Whether it's homework, reaching a personal goal, a sport, etc. It takes time for something to become good, or really great. And when I thought about it, I found out that maybe it will be better if I put some more time and effort to it, than if I didn't. So we shouldn't expect to accomplish something or achieve success immediately.

A Watched Pot Never Boils

It has been two years since I celebrated Christmas. Last year I spent the holidays abroad, in Asia. It's now the end of November. Christmas is right around the corner. It is going to be soon, which I indeed know very well, but somehow it still seems like forever to wait. I am still as excited as a little child for Christmas. It is, with no doubt, my favorite time of the year. Snow. Family and friends. Presents. Santa Claus.

But, as said; A watched pot never boils. A watched phone never rings. A watched mailbox will never get any letter.

So, my conclusion for the time to pass by a bit quicker, is not to wait for it at all. Because if you don't wait for it, it will be here in a second...

Rainy Thursday Saved by Oreos

Thursdays mainly consist of hard work in French, English and especially math. It's almost funny how exhausted everyone are after Thursdays. The rain pouring down outside the window didn't make the day any better. However, the grey day was soon saved when I found some Oreos at home! I've never really believed that it helped whenever someone told me to 'go get some sugar' when I was in a bad mood. Today I can honestly say: They weren't joking. So, if you're ever in a bad mood, now for example? - Go get some sugar.

Knowledge Is Power

I've always heard people say that knowledge is power. I've listened to people telling me that I should work hard to become smart, so I'll get a great influence in the society. Knowledge gives you power. Power gives you respect. Get the picture? Sure...

One day I will definitely change the world! Maybe I'll solve the cancer problem, make world peace, and figure out how to reduce the global warming or save all the hungry children in Africa!

Well, one day... In the meantime I will start by finishing my homework for tomorrow. Let's save the world another day 8-)

Wish of the Day

I wish I could read people's minds

I wish I could fly

I wish I were able to speak every language of the world

I wish I could do magic

But right now, I just wish I had a private jet which could take me wherever I would like.
...The Maldives would be nice.

Living in Norway in this season of the year is just a bit depressing... The non-stop grey, cold and wet weather makes you want to escape to somewhere warm and exotic. Well, my mind will probably be the only thing escaping to another place now. Unfortunately.

Sweet Monday

On a regular Monday when probably most of you drag yourselves out of bed at 6 o'clock to be at a lesson two hours later, I am still having sweet dreams in my bed. Fair isn't it? On Mondays I don't start school until 12, and lucky as I am, I allow myself to sleep four extra hours! Oh, got to love Mondays! This entry is the first of seven entries I will write this week. This is task number 2; Blog for a week. Stay tuned!

Sudden End to Maiden Voyage - Hundreds Died

April 14th, 1912.
The British passenger ship "Titanic" went on its first trip on April 14th. The ship owned by the White Star Line got an unexpected and sudden end to its maiden voyage.

The ship Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic - caused by the water flooded through the bow, and 2.5 hours later the ship broke into two pieces, and sank. Titanic was the biggest and most luxurious ship that had ever been built. It was 269 meters long and had a weight of 53,000 tonnes. Generally, it was believed that the ship was unsinkable. The ship was travelling at 21 knots when the iceberg was discovered by the captain. According to him, it was already too late to stop at that time.

Injuries and deaths
The total amount of people on board, included both passengers and crew, were 2200. There were only lifeboats for half of them. A British passenger liner called "The Carpathia" reached the accident 4 o'clock in the morning on April 15th, just a couple of hours the ship had sunk. The liner managed to rescue 705 people, most consisting of children and women. However, the remaining number of people on board fell in the water and froze to death. The temperature in the water was -2 °C.

1.517 people died in the disaster of Titanic.

Gcina Mhlophe

Nokugcina Elsie Mhlophe was born in 1959 in Hammarsdale, South Africa. She is a woman with a lot of things going on- fighting for freedom, acting, poetry and writing are only some of her interests. In Africa, storytelling is an important traditionnal activity. Mhlophe tells her stories in four of South Africa's languages: English, Afrikaans, Zulu and Xhosa. Through charismatic performances, keeping history alive and encouraging South African children to read she does her most important work.

After meetings with legendary poets of African folklore and encouragement by others, Mhlophe began to think of story-telling as a serious career.

Gcina Mholphe has travelled around in Africa and other parts of the world to give storytelling workshops. A lot of her work has been translated into German, French, Japanese, Italian and Swahili. Currently, Mhlophe is resident in Johannesburg, and she is staying focused on making books available to poor South African rural communities. This she does by buliding libraries and fill them with locally and culturally relevant books.

Teacher Astrid; Instead of writing an interview, i chose to write a short text about her. Simply to get more flow in the laguage.