Movie Reviews (1)

"Life as We Know It"
starring Katherine Heigl & Josh Duhamel

E E E +

I saw this film Oct 16th with Kirsty. I had been wanting to see it for a while, and I was not disappointed. It is one of those easy-going films that makes you smile. Like any films of this sort it is a bit predictable, but none the less worth seeing. In short it is about a man (Eric) and a woman (Holly), the best friends of a couple with a daughter (Sophie). They are the selected God parents for Sophie, so when the parents die in a car accident, Sophie and Eric are put in a difficult situation. Their best friends wanted them to raise Sophie together, and the problem is: they cannot stand each other.

Interesting fact: "Sophie" was played by tripletts Alexis, Brynn and Brooke Clagett.

Trailer


"The Social Network"
starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield & Justin Timberlake

E E E

I went and saw this film with movie buddy Kirsty on 24th Oct. I had seen the trailer previous to going, but wasn't sure quite what to expect. I found it fascinating because the film is about something current, on-going and unpredictable. Facebook has made Mark Zuckerberg to the youngest billionaire on the planet, and this film shows the details of how it all happened. Saying that, one should bare in mind that according to Zuckerberg, this film does not portray his side of the story. So if you do see it and decide you don't like the founder of Facebook, try to give him the benefit of a doubt. Obviously an added bonus for me personally was the rowing scenes of the film. Two of the main characters row at Henley Royal Regatta. Henley is the place I have been to for rowing training camp two years running now.

Trailer

Birthday party with the Morgans

Today Kirsty's sister Emma turned 30. Yesterday the whole family and me went out for a really nice pub lunch. It was a wonderful, cold and frisk "almost-winter" day. The sky was blue and a lot of boats were out sailing. To top of the day she shared the news that her son Oscar is going to become a big brother :)
Today I ended work a bit early, went to gym and then hurried home to join "the tea party". This tea party included a beautiful set up in the garden of candles and decorations. First there was all sorts of pick n' mix food like chicken, burgers and vegetables. Then following the food there was cake, cookies and sweets. So happy I went gym before that so I could eat all that without feeling too guilty.

Some pictures.

"The King's Head".......................................... Emma and her son Oscar


Beautiful day :) ................................................."Tea party"


Me&Oscar........................................Bobbie in her dress....................................Kyle&Kirsty

Challenge!

So today I decided to try the gym challenge. I didn't do if officially, with a member of staff writing down my results, but will do that next week. The challenge is to do 2km rowing, 3km running, 5km biking (can take 2min rest in-between).
My results were:
Rowing: 7:53.4min (rate 25)
Running: 17:57min
Biking: 8:27min

Total time: 34:17min
- Are you up for the challenge?

Also, I wanted to share an article with you which was published in the October edition of "Rowing & Regatta" (the national rowing magazine published by British Rowing). It is the first time my rowing club: University of Essex Rowing Club has been given so much space.
Notice that none of the text below is my own.

"Essex University
is not exactly famous for rowing but its recent progress under the tutelage of Antony Moule, British Rowing's Coach of the Year for Education Development, just goes to show that being at a less well-resourced club doesn't have to restrict your progress in the sport. Politics student and Boat Club President Ben Toocaram explains why small can be beautiful.

This year [read last year] we have 31 members - an all-time high. We do the head circuit in the eastern region and we gained our first BUCS points this year. One member, Emma Nilsson, got bronze at the British Indoor Rowing Championships - that was a real milestone for the club. And at the BUCS Regatta we got further than ever before with some of our boats making the semi-finals. Being a small club also means that boys mix in with the girls and we have a lot of fun on the social side.
Antony has really given the club direction and made us believe that we can improve and go further. Just because we don't have the funding and resources that other universities have doesn't mean that we're never going to get anywhere. As well as the two coaching session a week, he gives a lot of his own time to repairing the fleet and taking us to competitions. He's really focused on Emma and what she can improve on and it's resulted in her being third best in the country. But, because it's such a small club, everyone gets good, individual coaching. Antony knows exactly where you're at and what you need to improve on.
We row on Ardleigh Reservoir, a 20-minute bike ride from the univeristy - a good warm-up and warm-down. It's another great asset as we have a three-kilometre stretch of water to ourselves, which is quite a rarity for a club. It means you don't have to go a mile down the river before you can start rowing properly."

These were the pictures published to go with it:

Ben Toocaram (left) with the Essex University men's senior eight at the Head of the River this year - award-winning coach Antony Moule is on the right.

1. 2.

1. Members of the Essex University women's squad preparing for a 'Lycra social'

2. Colchester United Fotball Club's mascot taking part in an erg competition at the Essex University Fresher's Fair

Yawn, Zzzzzz

Oh my God! Why am I this tired? I go to bed in a decent hour (11pm), sleep until 7.30am and at work all I do is to sit still! I am so tired that I constantly sip on my waterbottle to force myself to stay awake. The problem with drinking water all the time is that I constantly need to run to toilet (which I suppose also helps me to stay awake). Today has not been as bad as some other days as we went out for lunch to a nice restaurant to celebrate a birthday. Was really nice to get to go out with people in the office. I had boiled veggies, salmon, potatoes and really yummy sauce.

Love,
/A tired Emma in the corner of the office

Life is a train journey

So all the miners managed to get out. I followed it as much I could. It was truely amazing. I hope you managed to watch it at somepoint throughout the day.

It's been a while since my last blog because I have not been feeling tip-top (and still don't). Yesterday (Saturday) I went back to Colchester to help out with the come-and-try session for the rowing club. Roughly 40 new people showed up to try this splashy, blister-creating, sometimes miserable but yet strangely addicting sport. So great to see that many people showing interest. Today I have no plans besides relaxing, do some cleaning and walk the dog Bob.

Some life philosophy...
I basically see my life as a train journey. First 15 years of my life was on a one course with no possible side tracks. Choosing the IB was choosing a certain track. Going to the USA was yet another track and so was my undergraduate at University of Essex. I am now standing at another cross road. What am I going to do when this internship is over? The possible paths I see before me are:

1. Internship + working in Australia for roughly 6 months.
2. Apply for job and finally get my own place (although, in Sweden or England I don't know). Not sure what type of job. All i know is that it cannot be purely office based!
3. Continue working at Hornbach and then go travelling.
4. Masters degree. I have some new interesting ideas on this option. However, I'm not going to give away too much yet. I will share more when I know how things are progressing. But lets say, if this would work out it would be somewhat of a dream come true!

Until next time...
Love Emma

Some interesting news

I'm not sure why the actual video does not show up in my blog. But anywho... this video makes me smile. Trust me and click it!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6zu8D05ECY

Furthermore on the news front, I hope no one has missed that the evacuation of the miners in Chile might be starting tomorrow (Wednesday). The men has been trapped for roughly 70 days, which is a world record. And considering the circumstances, apparantly they are in good physical health. Lets see how they are psychologically though! This truly is a fascinating story, which I am sure Hollywood will buy the rights to within a year. Hear my word, this story will be on a big screen near you within 3 years time!

In case you for some reason have lived under a rock (not as literally as those poor men, but still...), here is so you can update yourself.

Swedish speaking:
http://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/nyheter/utrikes/article7943163.ab

English speaking:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCGPNk3-TZA

Buzzzy Beee

It's been a few days since my last blog, as my sister was kind enough to point out. I have just been busy, that's all. I spent the week at work and at the gym. Not very exciting or interesting. The weekend was interesting on the other hand. I had taken friday off work to go back to Essex University. Went to the new, amazing gym, had lunch with my friend Rob and then went to town with Rike and Emma to hunt for a pair of nice going out shoes. In the end I choose simple black pumps. Can't go wrong with that. Friday night we went out dressed in our lycras, as is tradition in the rowing club. If you don't know what a lycra is, look at the picture below.Saturday was Fresher's Fair, which is when all clubs and societies at the university set up a stall and advertise their clubs. UERC was very succssful and got 107 people to sign up that they were interested. It's going to be exciting to follow them and see how everything goes this year. Just feel sad that I will not be able to be as involved I wish I could be. Adult life is no fun :(


Today (sunday) I went back to Ipswich with Kirsty and her boyfriend Kyle. It was fantastic weather so I could not resist going out for a run. And I'm glad I didn't. It was seriously an amazing run. Rougly 20 degrees, blue sky, and bright sunshine. Music in my ears and my legs running long and strong with no effort at all. This is a rare but amazing feeling. Then in the evening I was happy to finally have a skype conversation with mini Nilsson. Apparantly the body pump classes we take in Sweden and England are just the same with the exact same music, and we happen to love the same exact song (this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtyYcn0iApw).

Finally I want to share another youtube clip with you. Aiden Grimshaw in X-factor. This song was just so well done. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwfNexdaIdU Hard song to sing and I love the way he did it!

Dangerous Ipswich

I would say the greatest down side with my life here in Ipswich is that I miss feeling social. At work I sit in a corner, then I go gym, then home to eat, watch tv and finally bed. Where did the fun never-ending social days of a uni student go? My bike is my new friend. I'm going to call it Squeaky, cause thats all it does. Squeak squeakeidi Squeak! Sure it does break, but when it does, everyone within a 2 blocks radius will know about it! It seriously must be fixed.
I'm a real bike geek now btw (my parents are very happy about this). I wear helmet, reflective jacket and have both front and back lights. The roads here in Ipswich are seriously dangerous. For you to really get it, let me paint you this picture...
I haven't used a helmet in Sweden since I was about 13 years old. I lived and biked around in Colchester for three years. After two years I bought a helmet. I never used it. After having lived in Ipswich for a few days I got myself a helmet and I have used it religiously ever since!

ps. Also, I wrote wrong in an earlier message. I'm not going back to Essex in two weeks time, but this coming Friday.

Wonderful Weekend, Wonderful People

Yet another weekend has gone, another great weekend! Saturday morning I got on the train to Colchester. By 11am I met up with Lizzy for some shopping. Found a really pretty dress and some tops that I just couldnt resist. We then went to the newly build Essex gym... and OMG! I felt like a kid in a playground, so ecstatic you would not believe it! I exercised 1,5 hour with the biggest smile on my face. We then got ready and met up with the rowers for a mini-social in the Student Union Bar. Great to see so many showing up. Roughly 15 people.

I spent the night on Emma's floor (another rower).

Sunday morning I could not help myself, but simply had to go back one more time to that amazing gym. After gym met up with some people for lunch in the very-different looking SU bar. Completely new menu and I choose to get a really yummi mediterranean sub. Following lunch I went with Rob to dear old Tesco and then back to see his new place.
I was back at the house in Ipswich around 7:30pm and now just enjoying a relaxed evening and early night. I hope your weekends were as good as mine!