Easter part 2

After my stay in Sevilla I went to Malaga with my Japanese friend. I stayed in Malaga one month in October November, so that’s how we met and she also stayed at my flat during Las Fallas. We saw the procession there too.

I wanted to see Alhambra and get new memories of it, not those of a horrible trip with my father. I went there alone because me friend had already been there three times. It was very nice, I needed to see some nature again, so I walked around and smelled the flowers. After my short stay in Malaga I went to Barcelona to meet my mother. I came early and got time before some friends were arriving.  My mother got there the next day so we ate dinner together after tying to buy tickets to the Barca game. It would have been cool to see.

With my mother we saw La Sagrada familia, which I saw three years ago so it was almost as i remembered it. We visited Parc Güell and Las ramblas and the Gaudí houses. When we arrived in Valencia we were both really tired. But we managed a little shopping trip and La ciudad de las artes. She really wanted to see the university so we did and took some funny pictures. And I wanted her to see the beach and try the Valencian paella.

When I met her at the airport I started crying I was sad and happy at the same time, and I ended up laughing butt he tears didn’t stop. It was weird. I didn’t cry when he left, but I was quite sad. I always leave her and I feel bad that I don’t study my whole bachelor in Norway. I constantly seek outwards and don’t feel comfortable there. But I’m giving it another go only a different university and city this time, maybe it’ll get better….

Education is the best!…or is it?

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the educational systems in different countries. In Valencia I’ve met Germans, French, Danish, American etc who’ve told me about education in their countries (mostly because I’m asking). In nearly all countries you have to choose one thing, if you decide not to continue you have to start from scratch. In Norway, if you study humanities or social science, you get one year in the middle of your bachelor to choose a different subject. And the first semester of your bachelor you study philosophy, ethics and academic writing, to prepare you for studying at a university. I did this semester in Mexico. I’m so lucky! But still I think Norwegians don’t appreciate the great system we have, we always complain. Nothing is ever good enough. I’ve had the chance to study so many different things and still I’ll get a bachelor in the end. And we pay almost nothing for our education. Of course Norway is an incredibly expensive country. Our money goes to housing and food. I don’t come from a rich family, though people think everybody from Norway is rich. I work every summer holiday to get enough money. I’m neither lazy nor snobby. But I do live better here in Spain than in Norway.

Another thing that irritates me is the bad reputation the Waldorf Schools have. People say the strangest things: that we can’t write, we play with dolls without faces or with rocks. I didn’t know that in most countries they can’t go to high school through the Waldorf system, they have to take public exams or go to a public high school. I went to a Waldorf School in my city Stavanger, and I wouldn’t change my education there for the world. I’m so happy that I didn’t have to take a year over again at a “normal” school. If you’re wondering what a Waldorf/Steiner school is you can google it, it’s too much for me to explain in just some sentences.

Those of you who do get to have an education, please be grateful because not everybody is as fortunate.