Why sustainability?

As mentioned earlier, I have recently started an online course called Sustainability, society and you.

Environmental sustainability is something I have been interested in for a while now. I think I really started to think about it when I lived and worked as an au pair in England 7 years ago, as the family I worked for was very environmental conscious, so of course that made me think about it.

The main reason sustainability matters to me is because of concerns for the future.

There is currently 7 billion people living on our planet, 100 years ago it was only 1.6 billion! If the world's populations keeps increasing at this rate the world will run out of food and fresh water. It would be nice to find ways to make sure that doesn't happen.

However, as I have learnt more about the environment and climate change I have realised that sustainability isn't just something for future generations, it is something we should be concerned about now.

The thing that worries me is how people refuse to acknowledge the issues the planet is currently facing due to pollution and industrialisation. Even if you don't believe in climate change, what would be the harm in trying to live a more sustainable and environmental lifestyle?

Sustainable choices

Today I started a new course on Future Learn, it's called Sustainability, society and you. The course is just in its last week at the moment so make sure you sign up quickly if you're interested. I'm not sure I'll be able to finish it before it finishes but as I think it's an interesting topic I decided to at least have a go at it.

As you can probably imagine sustainability is a topic with a lot of different opinions, and this course gives you a lot of food for thought. I am still in the week 1 section of the course and there was a poll with 3 questions to answer, as well as giving reasons for your choices. After submitting my choices I was able to see the poll results. Not surprising, the votes were almost tied on every question. There was only one result that surprised me, which I will tell you about in a little bit.

The questions were as follows:

1. Which is better for the environment - incineration of waste, or disposal via landfill? 

This is the question I struggled the most with. Incineration or disposal via landfill of waste? It's a tricky one as, like everything, both have pros and cons. In the end I chose incineration.

• Incineration can reduce the amount of waste in landfills by about 85%
• Reduce toxic leakages from landfills into soil
• It can make people lazy and stop them from recycling since it's all going to be burned anyway, and so it can lead to a waste of important and finite resources
• Incineration can generate electricity and heat
• Even though the modern incinerators use filters and processes to remove many of the harmful particulates and toxins from the hot flue exhaust gasses, they still don't filter out the smallest particles, which can cause health problems

I think the best is of course to reduce our waste, then incinerate what is possible to incinerate, and the rest gets recycled or goes to a landfill. It wouldn't be the most pleasant job to sort through the trash before it gets incinerated but at least it might "rescue" some of the important and finite resources. 

Or maybe people could get a separate bin for incineration? Just like we have a bin for recycling, garden waste and trash here in the UK we could have a 4th one for incineration, with a leaflet telling us what can go in it, like they do with the recycling bin. That way people will still hopefully recycle as well as reducing waste to the landfills.

2. Which do you think is more sustainable? Drying your hands with hot air dryers or using paper towels?

Another tricky one. 

I know paper towels are often more hygienic but I'm not sure about the environmental benefits. At first I wanted to say paper towels as they can be recycled, but then I realised they can't be as they will be dirty after use. 

I did end up saying hot air dryers are more sustainable. However, I do think that mostly applies if you're using a sustainable energy source to power it, like solar or wind power.

3. If you have the option of using a dishwasher, do you think it is more sustainable than washing up by hand?

Now, this is the one that surprised me, not the question but the poll results. Apparently more people think washing up by hand is more sustainable. To be completely honest I did believe that myself a few years ago, but think about it;

Washing up by hand usually means that you use more water. I don't have a dishwasher at the moment and I do find that, to avoid my kitchen counter looking messy, I do the dishes very often, thereby wasting a lot of water by filling the sink up every time I do the dishes. If you have a dishwasher you can put more dishes in it than you would leave on the counter (as they would be out of view) and it would only use one cycle of water for each time you used it.

The main reason people think washing up by hand is more sustainable is because the dishwasher uses electricity, but these days you can get very eco-friendly dishwashers, just remember to check the rating before you buy it. You can also power your home with sustainable energy and save the environment and your money that way.

What do you think? Which is more sustainable?

- Incineration or landfill? 

- Hot air dryer or paper towels? 

- Dishwasher or washing up by hand?

Right to brag

Tell us about something you (or a person close to you) have done recently (or not so recently) that has made you really, unabashedly proud. - The Daily Post

I am incredibly proud of my little sister Caroline for having the courage to follow her dreams.

She has just finished a year as an exchange student at a high school in Wisconsin. I remember thinking about doing a year abroad when I was her age but I wasn't brave enough to travel alone until later. Caroline decided a long time ago that this was something she wanted to do, she worked hard, saved her money and did it!

In Norway she would still have one year left at school, but in America she was a senior and so she also got to have an American graduation ceremony, with the cape and hat. I wish I had been there to see it. Even at university level Norway doesn't have the whole hat and cape thing (Only a couple of them have started doing it in the last couple of years, by student request), so it was also a special experience for our mum and her husband who went to the ceremony.

She is now doing a coach trip from LA to New York to see more of America before going back to Norway. How I wish I could join her!

Writing fiction?!

Wikipedia

I've just started an Open University course through Future Learn called "start writing fiction". 

I used to love writing when I was a teenager, I always wrote about 10 pages more than I had to on story writing assignments at school. I still have some of the stories I wrote, although looking at them now the writing style is very childish. The stories themselves are fairly good, just needs a bit of a polish.

The first writing assignment on the Future Learn course sounded simple enough; write two paragraphs between 50 and 100 words, one with 1 truth and 3 fictions, the other with 1 fiction and 3 truths. I think I spent between half an hour to an hour trying to write the one with 3 fictions! I have gotten so used to writing the truth on this blog I don't know how to write fiction anymore! So of course I am really looking forward to getting back into writing fiction through this course.


Can you tell the facts from fiction?

1 fact, 3 fictions

I remember when I went to school; in every new class we had to sit down in a circle and every person would introduce themselves to the rest of the class. I loved it when I had to repeat the name of all the people introducing themselves before me, I was usually within the 5 first people so I didn’t have to repeat many names. Although I did struggle remembering the names the year I was an exchange student in China, they were just so different from the names I’m used to hearing.

1 fiction, 3 facts

Sometimes it can be quite nice working shifts. Like now, I’ve got 4 days off in a row, that doesn’t happen very often. I can go shopping when the 24-hour supermarkets are almost completely empty, I can go to the zoo, or the Blue John Cavern, or Chatsworth and other places when children are at school so it’s nice and quiet. In addition, daytime TV shows are the best!

Finally studying! For FREE!!

A couple of months ago one of my friends on Facebook posted about MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), a website offering FREE online courses! Of course I had to check this out since I've been wanting to study for ages, but either not knowing what I wanted to study or just not had the money to actually study a chosen subject.

I got a bit too excited about all the interesting free courses and signed up for 5 at once! Normally each course is only supposed to take up a few hours of your time each week, I have been stuck inside on my laptop every free minute I've had! So take it from me: don't sign up for more than one or two courses at a time!!

Although studying has been taking up most of my time for the past 4 weeks, I am absolutely loving it! It's been really nice to have something to do other than veg out in front of the TV when I'm at home.

The great thing about these courses being free is that if you find that the course isn't for you, or that you don't have time to finish it, you haven't lost anything. You haven't wasted a chunk of your money and you haven't wasted time because time spent learning something new is time well spent.

We are never done learning.

I only signed up for one course at first, one that didn't offer a certificate of achievement. I just wanted to see if I was even able to study at home on my own. Then, after I had spent one day doing the first module of that course, and loved it, I signed up for another 4 starting the next week... A tad too ambitious, but when I saw a course I liked the look of I just wasn't able to leave it and wait for the next time it would start.

I am now in the last week of my courses, I need to finish them all by Tuesday. So far I have finished 3, I've only got 2 left, the "problem" is that I've got 2 weeks of catching-up to do on both and they are the toughest ones, I think anyway. I still love them though.

The courses I signed up for are:

• Fairy Tales: the origins and evolution of princess stories - Finished. This is the one I started with that offers no certificate, very interesting
• Climate Change - Finished
• Writing for the web - Finished
• The art of photography
• Food, nutrition & your health

They are all very interesting subjects, I might write more about some of them in a separate blog post.

Take my advice though; although I know I will be able to finish all 5 courses before Tuesday I would (hopefully) not sign up for 5 at a time again, I need to limit myself to 1 or 2 so that I can also have a social life as well as be able to have some "me" time.

We can never learn too much.

The courses might not offer academic credit but it might help you find out a bit more about what you like, what you might want to study for academic credit, what you might want to work with... Or it might just be a bit of fun learning.

It shouldn't be this difficult...

I though I had finally found something I wanted to study. It was an online study with the Open University, which isn't really what I wanted, but I figured that even if I went to a "proper" university I would have to do a lot of work on my own, so I have to to just make myself focus and study.

Then it came to the payment options… Let me tell you, studying in the UK is NOT cheap!! The full cost of what I was thinking about studying would come to over £15000 for the whole degree.

First I tried applying for a tuition fee loan from Student Finance England. They would not approve my application as I have not lived in the UK continuously the last 3 years and I am not from an EU country (the EEA countries were not included in the countries eligible for a loan).

Then I tried Open University Student Budget Accounts, they would also not approve my application, there was no explanation but I'm guessing it's because I don't make enough money so that maybe I wouldn't be able to pay the monthly instalments.

The last thing I looked at was support from Norway. I have to be in full time education to be eligible for that…

I guess people just moving to the UK just can't get a part-time education unless they have heaps of money to spare.

It is tempting to go into full-time education just so that I can get financial support from Norway, but I'm just worried they won't approve me either for some reason or other. Moreover, just the idea of studying instead of working when I have been working for so long is terrifying!! 

I don't know what I'm going to do, but I feel like getting a good education should't be so expensive that people struggle to get one!

More Moving Drama

A few weeks ago Joe and I got a letter through the post from the letting company basically saying that when our contract runs out in October we have to vacate the premises as the owners of the property wants the house back. 

As my friend Nicky pointed out; maybe this is why I've been feeling like this is temporary and I haven't really decorated the place, although the latter is also because of a lack of funds and inspiration. Maybe I somehow knew something like this would happen, or it might just be because I've been moving around so much in my life that I struggle settling down in one place, maybe it's a mixture of both...

Of course Joe and I were both upset by this as we had hoped to stay longer, but I am focusing on the positive side of things. The gas and electric bill is already quite high at the moment, of course since it's (supposed to be) summer we don't really have lights or heating on, imagine what the bill would be like come winter! It's a big old house and the few times we have had the heating on in the evenings there hasn't really been that much of an improvement. Even when it's nice and warm outside the house remains quite cold. I'll admit I kind of miss the properly insulated Norwegian wooden houses, maybe I should have one of them built in the UK?

I have decided to not worry too much about anything regarding the move until the end of August, but there are of course things I need to do and think about before then. I need to make sure I save money for a deposit and first month's rent for a new place. I spent a lot of money furnishing the place we have now so of course my savings are much lower than when I first moved back to the UK, and if I can I would like to not dip into them but rather use what I'm currently earning, which isn't much even with all the overtime I've been getting.

When I decided to move back to the UK I did think about moving somewhere other than Chesterfield, but, while I was still in Norway, it was rather difficult to look for a job and place to live in a different country. Should I move to a different part of the UK when October comes? And if so where? I need to decide this before the end of August so I know where to look for a place to live and whether or not to hand in my resignation and look for a new job elsewhere… Having to look for a new job again is probably my biggest worry about moving somewhere new, what if I can't find a new job?! As I noticed with this place, getting an application approved for a house or flat is difficult without a job.

I'll admit I have been thinking about being an au pair again. It is just such an easy way to start out somewhere new. Not that I really want to work as an au pair, but I don't really want the job I've got now either; it's a means to an end. If I work as an au pair again I will have a job and place to live and I can use the money from it to take an evening class and get a qualification in something that I can use to get a job after I've been an au pair. Not that I know what that something might be mind you…

If I work as an au pair I could also take driving lessons in the evenings. I have decided that it might be time to get a licence, I can manage without one, and I don't mind not having one, but there are so many more opportunities for everything if I have one; more jobs I can apply for, I can get in the car and drive somewhere for a day/weekend/week, and I can get in the car and visit friends without worrying about bus and train times. It would probably take me 20 years to be able to afford to actually buy a car though. I will probably get a licence for an automatic if I get one, I know, I know, if I get one for a manual I can drive both, but with everything being on the other side of the car and all the rules and regulations etc it would be nice to make driving just that tiny bit simpler! If I want to I could always get a licence for a manual once I've been driving for a while and have gotten used to it…

Anyway, I'm getting a off topic...

Another thing I have to think about regarding moving in October is the furniture I've bought for this place. Oh, the furniture!! If I get a new place I need to get someone with a van to move everything for me, if I decide to work as an au pair I need to sell it all, it's a heap of hassle either way!

And if I do decide to stay in Chesterfield; do I find a place on my own or share again? Do I share with Joe again? If I keep the job I have now I will probably have to share with someone as I can't really afford a place on my own. Relying on overtime is a bitch.

Okay, so maybe the not worrying about anything until the end of August wasn't exactly true….

Exercise studies..?

I have been thinking about studying again... I am a lot of the time really, I just find it hard to actually decide on something. I mean, how do you know what you want to do the rest of your life, or not necessarily the rest of you life, but next year, or 5 years from now?

Anyway.

There was a time last time I lived in England that I was exercising almost every day, for a couple of hours each day. I loved it! I was also thinking about maybe studying to be a fitness instructor, but I talked to one of my fitness instructors and I just thought it seemed like a bit of a hassle. Then there was the part about standing in front of a bunch of people and telling them what to do..! It all seemed a bit scary.

When you think about it though anything you have to learn kind of seem like hassle to learn until you're actually doing it. Once you're actually learning it it seems so simple (hopefully)! When I heard about all the things I had to know for the office part of my current job I was really worried, then I started learning it and I couldn't believe how simple it all is!

I have been lazy lately. I went running almost every night for a while when I was in Australia, but since I left the family I've just not done anything at all. I get some exercise at work, but it's more heavy lifting than any proper exercise. I really want to get back into shape. Not to lose weight or anything, that's never been my goal, but just to get fitter and feel better about myself, it is nice to be able to run 30 metres to catch the bus without getting out of breath.

So what I am thinking at the moment is this: Once I move back to Chesterfield I will start exercising again, maybe get some of my friends with me. I'll see how I feel about it after a while, and then I might take a class at the college that I've seen: Level 1 award in Exercise Studies, even if I decide not to take the class I will keep up the exercise just for myself. If I do decide to take the class I will see how I feel about that and if I like it and decide to pursue a career in exercise I will go on to get a YMCA qualification or an NVQ or something.

I don't want to say; THIS IS WHAT I'M DOING, that way I'm just setting myself up for disappointment if I back out. I am just going to take it easy and do it step by step, see how I feel about it after each step. I still need a job to finance it all first.

My friend at work, who is planning to go to Australia this August, is a personal trainer and she loves it, she wants to keep working with it and maybe one day open her own gym, and I think she is part of the reason I started thinking about it again. She also has a blog, check it out - Fanny Ronkainen.

The basically obscure meme

Another meme from Sunday Stealing

1. Do you notice a person's eye colour? I usually do as I'm talking to them as I try to maintain eye-contact, but I often forget the eye colour, unless it's quite special...
2. If you could get a tattoo free, would you do it? What would it be? Yes, I would get a small pink breast cancer bow.
3. What kind of smoothie sounds really good right now? The one I usually make; frozen tropical mix, blueberries, avocado, banana, egg, hazelnuts and orange juice. The last few times I've also put some passion fruit in it.
4. Have you ever fired anyone? No, but I think I might have contributed to someone getting fired or leaving, I don't like it when people don't do their jobs properly and so I will tell the manager about it.
5. Did you like swinging as a child? Do you still get excited when you see a swing set? I did, not sure if I get excited but I do like to get on them if they are proper "strong" ones.
6. If you could have any pet in the world, illegal or not, what would you get? A tiger! They are so beautiful and majestic, but since they are illegal I will settle for a regular house cat.
7. Have you ever watched the Superbowl all the way through? I've never watched it at all.
8. Which continents have you been on? In a few weeks I will have been on all except South America and Antarctica.
9. Why did you name your blog whatever you named your blog? I used the name Lilly on the blog for myself as I didn't want to use my real name, so I named my blog "The Lilly Pad" as in lily pad; my own personal space.
10. Longest plane ride you've ever been on? Flying to Australia, I think the last flight was 14 hours!
11. If you had to move to another country, where would you move? I am moving to another country! The United Kingdom.
12. How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? He would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
13. How did you spend Valentine's Day? I was at work and then I was at home relaxing and playing with my new camera. Valentine's Day
14. Do you eat enough vegetables? Probably not, which is a bit rubbish of a vegetarian...
15. Do you like horror movies? What about thrillers? I used to love them both when I was a teenager but now I seem to scare a lot easier, I could still watch them though but I need a safe pair of arms around me.
16. If you could change your natural hair colour, would you? To what? I liked my hair in the summer when I was younger, it went a nice golden colour. Now it's usually just mousy brown, so I guess I would change it to be that golden colour again maybe.
17. What subject would you take if your were forced to take a free class? I would love to study but I keep changing my mind about what all the time, at the moment I'm thinking maybe a health and fitness class.
18. Do you use a reusable grocery bag? When I remember to bring one with me yes. I used to always keep one in my bag, but now I keep forgetting to put it back in after I've used it.
19. City or nature person? Nature. Cities can get too busy for my liking.
20. Do heights bother you? Can you look out the window on the top floor of a skyscraper? Heights doesn't really bother me. I don't like it on top of a cliff because there's the chance I can fall over and die but I don't mind looking out of windows of a skyscraper.

I have decided!

I am going back to Chesterfield. I did think about going to a different part of the UK, just to see somewhere else, but I miss my friends in Chesterfield, and I know Chesterfield, it's easy to get to other places from Chesterfield.

I had put up a profile on Au Pair World, and I did get some interest, I was in dialogue with one family that seemed very keen and only wanted me to work for them for 3 months, but once I decided I want to go back to Chesterfield I didn't see the point of waiting another 3 months, I would have had a job and a place to stay but I would be in the same situation again once I actually went back to Chesterfield. I hated to turn the family down but from their profile page I know they had received some other applications as well so I hope they find someone perfect for their family

I have been busy updating my CV and general covering letter the last few days. It will be interesting to see if anyone contacts me at all while my address is still Norwegian and I've got a Norwegian phone number... I have written on them that I'll be back in Chesterfield at the end of March though so hopefully someone will be in touch.

I am also thinking about some things I might want to study part-time, but I'll write more about that in a different post...

As for a flat to rent... All the ones I see online are available now, so I think I might wait with that until right before going back, maybe set up a few viewings for when I get there, at least I have some friends I can stay with for a bit while I sort it out.

I am hoping I get a job that's permanent and full-time, just so that I know I have a steady income, because I have plans for if I do! Now, I will of course make sure it's a job I can live with doing for a few years before I take this next big step, but I'm thinking I might get my first ever loan, a mortgage to be exact! I will rent first of course but I would love to buy a house, somewhere that is actually mine, that I can redecorate and do whatever I want with without having to ask a landlord. But that's way into the future. First I have to get a job!

I am so excited about moving back, I wish I was moving tomorrow!

Sign language

Ever since I lived in England and worked as an au pair I've been wanting to learn British Sign Language, especially Makaton. I used to watch a program called "Something Special" with the youngest girl I was looking after, and I did use some signs with her before she could speak and it was really fun to see her actually learn them and sign them back to me, like for example "finished" when she was finished eating.

I had forgotten most of the few signs that I learnt while I lived in England, except for please and thank you (Never forget your manners!), and I've been wanting to learn some more for a while. I know I won't be able to use the signs in Norway since the sign language here is different, but it will open up more windows for me if I get to move back to the UK, and allow me to get to know more people.

It is a shame though that sign language isn't the same all over the world, it would have been cool if it was, then everyone could have sign language in school and that way you could talk to people all over the world even if you couldn't speak or write their language! Of course it's not really doable since a big part of sign language is lip reading, so everyone would have to mouth the words the same as well. There is also the "problem" with for example holding up two fingers both for two and to because they rhyme, you can't do that in a different language because those words aren't the same. But one thing that is doable is to have sign language in schools, so if you didn't want to learn French, German or Spanish or anything like that you could choose to learn sign language instead. Is that a thing in any countries? I've never heard of it being like that in Norway anyway...

There is actually a British guy at work, L, and he grew up in a deaf home! He learnt to sign before he learnt to speak, so BSL is his first language, English his second. So the last few weeks he's been teaching me some sign language. I don't know much yet but I know how to sign "how are you today?", "what's up dog" (just because of the fun factor), and a few other short phrases and words. It's really fun to learn something new, maybe it'll even come in handy in the future.

The hard part is actually mouthing the words with out making a sound. Usually I just say it out loud while I sign, but to make sure I will make myself understood to someone that is actually deaf I will have to be able to make the right amount of facial expression and mouth movements.... So when I try to sign without speaking I either hold my breath or I'm kind of whispering it. I can understand why some deaf people make sounds while they sign even if they're not saying the actual words since they don't know what they sound like.

Do you know any sign language And if so, which one?

Is this what they call homesickness??

I had my first "I want to go home" thought yesterday.

I don't think it was anything in particular that brought it on. It was more of a realization that I don't have a proper places to live, I don't have a job, and although I still don't know what I want to study I know I can't do it on the visa I'm currently on.

So I feel a bit lost at the minute, and I know I have to find a job so that I won't have to spend all my savings, but it's going to be hard to get a job because I can only work for a few months. The jobs that will be okay with me just working for a few months are jobs I don't want to do. But I guess it's only for a few short months so I shouldn't worry about it.

I also realized something else when I had my "I want to go home" though. The "home" I thought about was England. Not any particular place in England, but England none the less. Even though my family is in Norway, it is England that feels like home to me. Maybe any other place in the UK would be good too, but since I've only ever lived in England I wouldn't know.

I want to go back, study, get a job, "settle down". That doesn't mean stop travelling by the way, but having a home to come back to. I want to live life the "ordinary" way. The way most people do.

I've never felt this way before. I've wanted to go back to England, but never this strongly. I don't know if it's homesickness or just me wanting to start my life. Because I don't miss any particular people or places (a whole country can't be called a particular place, can it?). Well, I do miss people of course, just not enough to make me want to go back to them.

People think I live such an exciting an fun life and that I can do whatever I want, and yes; it is, and I can, it it is also really stressful and even boring at times. I don't regret doing this at all, it's a great experience and I wouldn't be without it, but maybe it would have been enough with 6 months?

If I had just worked for 3 months, or not worked at all, just travelled, I would still have had time to see all the things I want to see here.

Not meeting anyone to "distract" me would have helped too of course, but where is the fun in that? I have done the whole "I don't want to meet anyone because I'm travelling", and it's not fun. Even though things are the way they are with TP, and it probably won't work out between us, if somebody offered me to go back in time I would do it all again.

I like Australia. I like the people, the weather and I like being here, but I don't want to live here.

I could of course book an early ticket back home, I have enough money for it. But. I still haven't see everything I want to see here, and I would kick myself if I didn't see it, and I have also already booked my ticket to go home in July.

I will enjoy the rest of my stay in Australia, but I am also looking forward to leaving.

London, America and the police.

I'm thinking about maybe moving to London.

I mean, I'm still staying here in Australia until my visa expires in July, hopefully. But for some reason I don't want to move here and live here for the rest of my life, but I wanted to do that when I lived in England (I left because I wanted to travel more first). Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Australia, especially the weather, but not as much as I loved England. Not yet anyway.

I also want to go to America before an eventual move to London. But I only want to go to America for a long holiday kind of thing. I don't know how long a holiday visa lasts in America, but I'm hoping for at least 3 months. My friend Anne and I are already talking about a road-trip for when I go over there. And I've also talked about meeting up with another friend (that I met in Sydney) in Hawaii, or going there together.

But yeah, London. I don't know why London, as I don't actually normally like big cities, maybe a I'll choose a different UK town, but London would be easiest.

When I lived in England i kind of wanted to get a job at a hospital or police station, not just because of the good looking doctors and police-officers but you know, that helped.

I started thinking about working in a police station again today. I don't want to be a police-officer or anything, that's way too scary, but maybe get a job in a research or administration position. Support staff in other words. So that I can help out without risking my life. When I say it like that it kind of sounds a bit selfish. I think that's one reason for my attraction to police-officers, they risk their own lives on a daily basis so that we can be safe!

So at the minute I'm looking at what kind of positions there is at a police station, and which ones I think seem interesting. I was thinking that when I "finish" with Australia and America then I could maybe start studying to do one of those positions, if I find one that sounds interesting. Maybe study for it in the UK so that I know that the studies will be approved there.

But, like I said, I've got plenty of time. I'll probably change my mind about it. Or if I decide to stay in Australia then of course I could just study for it and get a job here!

I think part of the reason for me still liking the UK so much is because it's free to go to the doctors there. For someone like me, that can't really be bothered to go to the doctors, the fact that it's free makes me go where there might be something wrong. It's also a place I wanted to go to for about 10 years before I actually went, and since I wasn't disappointed when I finally went there it just made me love it even more.

There is also a LOT of the UK that I haven't seen. I think I wan't as "stressed" about exploring the UK because I could stay there for as long as I wanted, and even if I did go back to Norway it's only a 2-hour flight away.

So, anybody know of any good support staff jobs?

A weekend at the Gold Coast and Byron Bay.

The family and I drove down to the Gold Coast on Friday. The father is starting his job away on Monday, and we were going whale watching at the Gold Coast on Sunday (today) so we figured we might as well make a weekend out of it.

We had an apartment booked at Mermaid beach. As we left home early we got to Mermaid beach at around 10am on Friday. The place we were staying at was very close to the beach so we walked there after we had gotten all our bags out of the car. The weather was really nice, and since it was early on a Friday, and most people were at work, the beach was almost empty! Which was good because we had a lot of the beach to ourselves, but bad because I didn't get to see any hot half-naked guys!

I actually knew about the Gold Coast a Mermaid beach from when I was looking to study in Australia. I remember looking at a map before I applied to Griffith University, I was thinking about Bond University and I could see on the map that Mermaid Beach wasn't far away from it. I remember the name just because it has Mermaid in it.

In the afternoon/early evening we went into town and to Surfers Paradise. We didn't really go on the beach as it was quite late and chilly by the time we had stopped by all the shops and got there. But we went to this arcade thing there instead, Time Zone I think it was called.

On Saturday we all went down to Byron Bay (back to New South Wales!) to meet one of the mother's friends for lunch. Almost as soon as we crossed the border into NSW it started raining!

I wish it hadn't been raining as I could have stayed outside and enjoyed the sight of Byron Bay a bit more then, but at least I got some photos.

Did you know that the lighthouse at Byron Bay is the easternmost point of "mainland" Australia? I didn't get a very good photo of it as I wasn't told about it until after I'd taken some pictures, so I didn't zoom in on it, but it's in the picture, if you look closely you can see it in the background.

While we were in Byron Bay the whale watching people called and told us that Sunday's trip was cancelled. They were expecting the same weather as in NSW and 4meter swells. At least since it was the arrangers that cancelled  we get to re-book it for later.

I think this picture turned out quite good despite the clouds... or maybe because of them...

Gold Coast skyline on the was back to the apartment.

So instead of whale watching, this morning we went to a shopping centre, Harbour Town, in the morning before we made it back to Brisbane. I've actually been looking for some board shorts for a while and I found some perfect ones at the shopping centre!! But they were too small, and they didn't have a size bigger... So I wasn't too happy about that as there are hardly any places selling board shorts for women! Well, not the longer ones that I want anyway.

It's a shame we didn't get to go whale watching today, although when I saw the lightning and heard the thunder when I woke up, and later saw the sea, I don't really mind. At least we get to re-book it! It was also a bit nice to get home "early" and relax a little bit. And at least I got to see some places I've never seen before!

Spiders!

When I was studying music I wanted to do one year here in Australia but I was too scared of all the spiders that I had heard was here. The reason I came here now is because I decided I wouldn't let the fear of spiders keep me from doing what I wanted. 

That doesn't mean I'm not still terrified of them though.

My host family has been telling me about the spiders that they get here. Sometimes they even get into the house! I'm NOT looking forward to THAT!!! I have also had to look at photos of them on the internet so that I will know what type of spider it is, although I don't get why, I don't care whether it's poisonous or not, I'll run as far away from it as I can anyway! 

Blimey! You've got some giant spiders Australia!!! 

We're planning to go to Australia Zoo or something next weekend, and my host family was saying that they will take me to see the spiders there... No thank you!! 

Not a big fan of spiders!

So, Australian spiders: please stay far away from me while I'm in Australia. Pretty please. Oh, and don't bite me if you have to come close to me. Thank you.

Dancing on the ceiling!

I've been granted a working holiday visa to Australia!!! And I've booked my plane ticket!

So, yeah, I'm not going to study after all. I don't know what I want to do with my life, so paying loads of money for an education I'm not even sure I'm going to use seems a bit wasted. But on my WH visa I can study for 3 months, so I guess if I find a short course I want to do I can do that. Anyway, I'm going to Australia! It's actually happening!

I'm not sure if I should just bring a backpack, or a smallish suitcase. A backpack would probably be easier in a way I guess. I just need to find out what to pack (dreading that). Maybe I'll have to buy a new backpack, as the one I've got isn't very big... I'll have to think about that and see. I don't pack much compared to many girls, but it's still going to be hard to decide what I'm going to "need" and not.

I'm thinking about finding a job before I go there, like as an au pair or something, because then at least I have a job to start with, and then I guess it will be easier to find the next place to go and the next job when I'm there.

I'm getting 4 nights free at a hostel in Sydney when I arrive in Australia, and I also get a trip to Blue Mountains. It's all booked through Kilroy travels. I'm also thinking about getting a bus pass, so that I can just jump on a bus and go wherever I want to go. I almost wish I had a licence so that I could just rent a car and drive myself, but I guess this way is better for the environment and also I might meet some cool people, and it's probably cheaper as well, since I don't have to pay for the rent of a car and gas money and stuff, and I don't have to get a ridiculously expensive licence.

I'm really excited right now, and I'm looking forward to July which is when I go.

Anyone got any suggestions to where I should go and what I should do while I'm in Australia, or what I should pack?

Obviously I've already decided I'm going to see Uluru and dive into the Great Barrier Reef.

Second thoughts

I have been having second thoughts about studying accounting lately. I was never sure that I wanted to be an accountant, but I really want to study, so I just picked something I thought I might enjoy...

Maybe it's just nerves. But at the same time I don't want to get a huge loan that will take me years to repay. Not if it's for something I don't want to do. It would be better to study something that I can use in a lot of jobs. Like when I got my OCR in England: That can come in handy in any office job, and it was only part-time, and not very expensive.

I still want to go to Australia, and I WILL. But I might have to find something else to do. Maybe be an au pair again. It's how I started out in England. It's a great way to get to a country, because then you've got both a job and a place to live.

It's a little bit embarrassing as well. I have to quite a few people that I've been planning to go to Australia and study accounting. So telling everyone that I won't do it will be hard. But I think I have liked the idea of it more that actually wanting it...

I don't know. I'll have to think about it a little bit more before I make up my mind. But if I decide I don't want to study then I need to let them know at Griffith so that they can give my place to someone else.

What's most annoying about all this is that I really want to study, and get on with my life, get a proper job, instead of just working in pubs and shops all my life. I'm not saying that to work in a pub or a shop isn't a proper job, it's okay for someone that wants to do it, and that likes to work with people, but for me it's just not the right job.

My random thoughts of the day.

In my last post I wrote that I have just finished reading "Where Rainbows End" by Cecelia Ahern. The book made me want to be a hotel manager. I have thought about this before and have gone away from the idea as I don't actually like working with people.

If you've read my earlier posts then you know that I'm actually going to Australia to study accounting (if I can get the loan), so why am I suddenly talking about hotel managing? Well you see, the thing is, I haven't actually decided what I want to do with my life, I just found out that I don't want to work in crappy jobs for the rest of my life. So therefore I'm getting an education, and I thought why not accounting? Every company in the world needs accountants, which means I can work in which ever country I want as long as my degree is accepted there. There is also a good chance of earning quite a bit of money by being an accountant which means I might be able to repay the loan I have to get before I'm 500 years old. So I'm thinking if I ever find out what my dream job is (if it's not accounting) then I can study part-time while having a proper job.

I'm also going to start playing the lottery (no chance of winning it if not). So if I win a million or two I don't have to get a loan for my studies, I can get a licence and I can travel the world.

Money isn't everything, but it makes everything a lot easier.

Giving myself a headache

I've spent today trying to get in touch with the people that I need to talk to about getting financial support. As I've written before there might be a problem about my general admission. I need a general admission to get financial support. So on my next day off I will need to go to my old school again and get some sort of signed document saying I've got a general admission because of me being over 23 and having worked for the last 5 years.

The thing is; this 23+5 general admission thing looked even more complicated when I went online to have a look at it. Apparently I have to have had a specific type of work maybe, and a set number of hours that I must have spent studying some subjects... I don't know. I just hope I get it so that I can get financial support and go to OZ next summer.

So even though I've gotten accepted to the university, there's still a lot of hard work left before I can be 100% sure that I'm able to go.

And also, even if  get financial support, I still need to buy insurance, visa and plane tickets and also sort out a place to live when I get to Australia.

Wish me luck.

Tears of joy

I'm sat here with tears of joy streaming down my face at the moment. I'm so happy!! I just got my acceptance to Griffith university! I can't believe it!
There's still a lot to do. I have to get a vis and a loan and loads of other stuff but right now I'm just so happy just to have got accepted!
I got a day off tomorrow, so I'll start getting all the other thing ready then, just so that I'm finished with it as soon as possible, so that everything is in order and I can go next summer!

I can't believe it! I really got in!