What I had expected

I had expected nothing and I have expected it all. I did my best to live my moments here as pleasant as I could but I do have several things I would do in a different way. Hmm, maybe that sounds a little too rough. What I really mean is there are some things which I would have done but time did not permit it. Come on, tell me how an asshole I am for saying what I just said: I did have 4 months at my disposal but 4 months are not an eternity.

The Internship

This was the reason I came back to Bucharest. Going back home for the internship was something which I simply had to do as there was no way of sustaining myself financially in Aarhus. I had my internship at Eau de Web and this internship might have been (more than a tad) lifechanging. The expectations I have had in regards to the internship were not fulfilled and I am more than happy for this outcome: I simply realized web programming is not something I should completely focus on. I also want to give huge thanks (and hugs) to all the people at the company for the way they treated me and their cooperation. I know I can sometimes(often..) be a very-hard-to-cope-with person but they adopted me fast and I am glad to say I have made some very good friends over there. Whenever I will get the chance, I will most definitely pay them a visit after their work schedule to grab a beer/juice and have a talk.

The Love Life

I am even more in love than I was when I arrived and the only thing that makes me sad is that I had to leave. It’s such a pity I did not have more time to spend with my girlfriend and this is one of those moments when I regret over-sleeping instead of waking up at the right time and meeting her.

My Friends

I have made some acquaintances and have lost some friends but let’s face it, if one loses a friend, that was not a friend in the first place so he didn’t lose anything. As a genious once said, shit happens and there is nothing we can do about it.

Miscellaneous

I saw a lot of movies at the cinema (Please, for Christ’s sake, don’t make me list them all…) but the last one was the one that left a mark on me: Alice in Wonderland. The mark it left was not due to the movie itself but to the place I saw the movie: the Samsung IMAX in a Romanian Mall. Having a 25 metres by 18 metres screen, it was the best 3D experience I have ever had at a movie. There was a downside however since it can’t all be perfect: the subtitle was 2D and although I don’t need subtitles in order to watch a movie, once you have them on the screen, your eyes are used to move and read. No, you can’t read a 2D subtitle with the 3D glasses if that’s what you are asking. My eyes still hurt after this experience…
Oh, did I mention I have to wear glasses? Yeah, I went to an eye doctor and it seems I have to get myself a pair of lenses/glasses with the following attributes: -0.5 for one eye and -0.75 for the other. Therefore, if you see me on the street, wave to me and I ignore you, try yelling.. you might be more successfull

Pool

I played a lot of pool. And when I say a lot, I actually mean A HELL OF A LOT! In Victorian terms, that’s equal to a number close to 200 games in 4 months. My best score was on the week before now when my friend started the game, didn’t pot any ball, it was my turn and I potted all my 8 balls in the same series of shots, making this my best achievement so far. Wish I had a place to play some good pool in Aarhus (yeah, the price is also important).

Epilogue

That’s about it. I’ll probably just post this article as soon as I get home and now I’ll finish my battery playing some Dirt2 or something. I forgot to put my headphones in the hand luggage and I can’t watch CSI: NY Things are worse though: I forgot both my toothbrushes back home (the one I have at my home and the one at my girlfriend’s place). Guess I’ll buy one more and make this a premiere: having 3 toothbrushes and yellow teeth at the same time. Hurray!

I find myself in between job, internships and freelancing and I have to prioritize them as needed but I assume it’s going to constantly be a temporary prioritization.

And just when I thought I managed to regulate my sleeping hours, this shit happens: after waking up at 6:30 in the morning and going to bed at 12:30 in the night, I wake up at 2 AM being more awaken than I ever was. Might be because of all those tiny details that cross my mind every now and then.

Hope it’s gonna get warmer in Bucharest when I get there. Not that I would be hot or anything…

Denmark, see you on your national holiday, the Ascension day, on the 13th of May.

On the ferry while writing this. Just left Aarhus and it’s snowing as hell. Come to think about it, I think it’s a lot better in hell in regards to the snow. Unlike last thursday when we had the first snow in Denmark this year(winter), the busses travelled fine and the only delay I have had so far are 5 minutes with the bus from skjoldhoj to downtown and 10 minutes late on getting on the ferry, because of the huge queue of cars which are going to Sjaelland.

As I said in the previous post, I am afraid. Not sure though what I am afraid of anymore but my heart is pumping as it never has. It might be because of all the chocolate I ate and all the coffee I drank but then again, I do that each day so it’s not a good enough reason. I was saying the ferry is packed. Fuckin’ hell, it is! I barely found a seat to sit on and write this complete non-sense! I keep on wondering how Romania will be like. Yes, it will be cold and dusty at the same time but that is not what I mean. What will I do there? Who am I going to go out with? Will I make new friends/accquaintances or will I start going out again with the people that used to be my friends? God knows…

I do know one thing though: no matter what happens there, I do have a lot of things and people to think about in Aarhus. I can safely say that Aarhus is my home at the moment and I am seriously considering finishing my bachelor degree in web development here. Screw Copenhagen, Edinburgh and any other towns, I just feel like Aarhus is the place for me to be in for the next couple of months/years.

Never thought I would say what I’ve just said. Nevertheless, life takes you to some situations and feelings that you were never accustomed to. It’s intriguing how things change in a matter of years, months or even days!

So, back to the journey! It never felt so nice to listen to Mourning Beloveth. Staying on the ferry with the headphones on my head while looking at the misty sea and the snow that hits the window is just marvelous. I’m getting more and more calm by every minute that passes and this is just wonderful. Funny enough, I just remembered that my luggage changed its lock code by mistake! It went from 0-0-0 (the classical combination) to a very odd 0-1-0. I found that by mistake but at least I did! Otherwise, you might see me opening my luggage with a screwdriver!

Ah.. Romania. Except my dear ones back there, there are a couple of things that I really really miss like the Timi?oreana beer, King’s Club, Fire Club, Revenge Club and whole lot of other shit. Ok, I will stop with the writing here for the moment. Last thing I want to say is that I have two friends who had the same route as I do (only they did not have to go to Copenhagen since they live there) and they missed the connecting flight from Prague to Bucharest. Czech Airlines assured their accommodation for that night and they got home the next day. I can’t say I want that to happen but seing Prague during winter might be awesome…

Oh, did I mention I’m going to Wien for my birthday? Hypocrisy concert!!

Back on the bus now. Well, I’ve been back on the bus for the past 50 minutes or so but I’ve watched a tad of “The Descent” and played some FIFA 10. It’s so strange to listen to Negura Bunget while seing this Danish snow on the window of the bus. Well, I met another Romanian who is flying to Bucharest but he will be flying with Malev and leave/arrive one hour after me. Meh, at least I will not be staying by myself in the airport.

Isn’t it funny how I always get in the mood of writing on the blog whenever I don’t have any internet access? Yeah, thought so…

It’s the first time I feel so afraid of flying. It’s not because of the snow, the take off or the landing. It’s more about the destination and the shock that flying brings into ones heart and mind. One minute you’re in one shithole, next thing you know, you’re in another one, waiting for the flight to your next shithole.

I don’t know how home is going to be like but I do hope it will be alright. I took all the books I have (either in .pdf or in .paper formats) and in case I am left out of things to do, I might as well start studying for the exams in January, right? Meh, I have to see how things are like though.

I had to pack more stuff than needed just to have the luggage more full. That’s embarrassing but I have no clue how that happened. I mean, did I lose some clothes since August? Did I drop anything anywhere and forgot to pick it up? Fockin’ hell, this is odd.

So, going back to the flying part, here are some tips when you book plane tickets (just personal experience):

• they are always cheaper on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
• before buying a plane ticket, be sure to check more than one agency to see if there is any other cheaper combination. Ignore expedia, they are a piece of shit.
• think large so even think about buying both sides of the flight by yourself. Say you want to go from Aarhus to Bucharest, like me, there are multiple options: 1) go to copenhagen and then travel with scandinavian airlines, austrian airlines, malev or czech airlines (even finnair had routes this summer), 2) go to billund, fly to milano with ryanair and then to bucharest with wizzair, 3) fly from aarhus to london (ryanair) then from london to bucharest (blueair), 4) fly from aarhus to london (ryanair), london to milano (ryanair), milano to bucharest (wizzair). Any combination is possible but you have to take care when buying the tickets.

This would be about it. Hope I’ll have a pleasant journey and speak soon, guys. If I get the chance, I might post something on my twitter account. All the best!

Meanwhile, stuff has changed. I still feel a little bit like how I felt before my last visit to Romania in July this year (article about that here) but time surely changes things. To be honest, the only reasons I want to go back to Bucharest are my family and my friend. Yeah, you read it right, unfortunately it seems that I only have one friend left back home whom I can trust and whom I care about and I do that although he’s a bad ass ugly bastard. Other than that, I have all the reasons in the world to want to stay in Aarhus. I even got a double, 140cm wide double bed now so…

Comparing to last year, August – December 2009 was a lot better. I went out, I made friends, socialized, worked, programmed, made friends and learned how to live life at its fullest. I’ve learned to appreciate the simplest things in live and see good where there’s bad. This was about to cost me during the work upon the last project but since I promised to keep my mouth shut in regards to it, I will keep my word.

I’m 4 days away from being home now and I’m still wondering what to do till then. I am also wondering what to do in Romania but I can safely assume that my schedule is going to be easy to fill. Come to think about it, the first thing on my agenda starting now is a drinking session on my return to Aarhus on the 7th of January lol.

Last but not least, I would like to say that I hope you all passed your projects, exams and so on with high grades (or handed them in on time) and have a happy week until the Merry Christmas that is about to come! Oh, and if we haven’t spoken about this already or haven’t settled for anything and you want to meet for a mulled wine/beer/coffee/pool game, just drop me a line somewhere because maybe, just maybe, we can go out. Victor.. Out!

The road to Skagen was pretty fun since our talks were interesting, to say the least. Yeah, we gossiped, drank coffee, made fun of different countries but we deserved it!

Our first stop was at a gas station close to Aalborg where we bought that bloody expensive coffee and we tried to sit down in the gas station but we were not allowed to sit because we hadn’t bought the coffees from that exact same shop. Needless to say that out of 30 tables, only one was occupied… Yeah, it did feel like in Romania. After passing by Frederiskhavn and getting off the E45 highway, we stopped to check out some sand dunes and to see one of the best places for camping during the summer, on the beach, in Denmark.

And then, we got to Skagen. Honestly, I never thought the place could be so beautiful and cold at the same time. The wind was blowing like never before. I actually felt sorry for my hair since it hadn’t been washed for 3 days and we couldn’t take any perfect shots hehe Basically, Skagen is the place where two seas meet together and waves from both seas hit eachother. Well, that’s what the story says since we were not able to get all the way there because of the following wonder of the nature that keeps Romanians and Macedonians away from Denmark’s extreme Nordic point:

We did manage to take some pictures though and they can be seen below:

And a very short video with some stop-motion pics that my friend took with his brand new camera, a Canon 500D. Hope you enjoyed seeing these pics!

You might be wondering what’s the deal with the Anathema wanna-be quote in the title. If you want to find out the answer to that question, don’t worry, you won’t find it here. Not fully, anyway.

One of the best decisions one can make during his online interaction with other people is logging (archiving) all the small bits and talks with other people. When enough time passes by and you get to read those, it is easier for you to realize how you and the interlocutor have changed throughout a period of time. As lame as it may sound, it might be one of the few available sources for your own personal development: realize how you were like, admit who you are at the moment and define what your future destination is.

Life gives most people equal chances, you just have to realize when it is the time to take advantage of them. And I won’t miss them, that’s for sure. I just have to make up my mind: which way do I want to go? To the south or to the east?