Books

So, it's been a month since christmas and 10 days since my last post on here.  I still haven't really figured out what I should talk about on this blog, so I guess it's just gonna be random things that I feel like talking about. And at the moment  that would be books.

I've always liked reading but there's always been times when I didn't read that much. Right now is definitely not one of those times. It all startet when I got two books for christmas that I had wanted to read for a very long time: Divergent by Veronica Roth and The Fault in our Stars by John Green. Now, you should know that I had just finished A Dance with Dragons, the last book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, the day before christmas. And, if you haven't read any of the Game of Thrones books, you should know that they are very good but also incredibly long. It feels like it takes an hour to read one page because the writing is so small and the language isn't easy to understand for me either. And then each book's like a thousand pages. I don't know how long exactly, but it took me quite some time to read all five books that have been published to this day. So I've gotten used to reading those kinds of books that take like a month to read when I started reading Divergent the day after christmas. And because Divergent is nothing like any of the asoiaf books, it took me only one day to finish.

I literally couldn't stop reading because unlike asoiaf, the story develops quickly and really gets you hooked. Plus, I'm a huge fan of The Hunger Games and after a thg-freakout (I read all three books twice in a week after seeing Catching Fire the movie) came a thg-depression because I realized that even if I read the books a hundred times, the story would still be exactly the same and I would still crave more. And I think that Divergent is as close to The Hunger Games as any book will ever be. I can't say I liked it as much but it does have that uniqueness that I liked so much about The Hunger Games. The story is really original and unlike anything I had ever heard before and it's just one of those worlds you can get lost in and always wonder what your place would be if you were part of it. And as much as I like reading those cheesy romantic novels from time to time, there's nothing better than getting lost in a completely different world just by reading about it.

Except, maybe, there is. Or at least there's something that comes pretty close. Because after finishing Divirgent, I opened up the other book I got and thus probably began the most emotional day ever.. I immediately fell in love with John Green's funny and at the same time very touching writing. The Fault in our Stars must be the most beautiful story I've ever read, so full of emotions and so so so sad. That book broke my heart again and again until I was just sitting there, sobbing and reading. And I felt so ridiculous when we went out for dinner that day and everyone was asking about my puffy eyes. But if only they knew.

It's not like I've never cried about a book before, trust me. I cried my eyes out for Johanna Mason and Peeta and Katniss and I think I cry a lot in general, whether it's because I'm sad or happy or angry. But I've never felt so helpless. I mean, to be honest, I knew from the very beginning of tfios that there won't be a happy end. But you can't really do anything about it. So you just cry.


So, after reading those two books, there was no going back. I obviously had to read Insurgent and Allegiant as soon as possible. And of course All of the other books by John Green followed. And I have to say I liked them all. I didn't really like Allegiant that much. Again, everything was happening too quickly and without a warning. John Green was awesome as always. But I might have made a mistake there (of course I couldn't know this) because I read Looking for Alaska first and was so disappointed that (SPOILER) Alaska dies and was really afraid that all the John Green books would be just about people dying and other people being sad. But John Green is not like that and the other two books were brilliant and not sad but still thought-provoking.

So I can now tell you what I've been doing the past month: I read. Divirgent. Insurgent. Allegiant. The Fault in our Stars. Looking for Alaska. Paper Towns and An Abundance of Katherines.


And today I was standing in a bookshop because I had to buy a new book but I really didn't know which one because there's exactly three books on my to-read-list and exactly zero of those were available. I had ten minutes in there because I didn't want to miss my train and, obviously, ten minutes is not enough to decide on a book. After taking out and then putting back about five books again and again, I went for the one closest to me and here's what it said: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.

We'll see.

Getting fit for the new year!

So, a while back, my mom bought a cross-trainer. And now that thing is standing in our living room, where I have to look at it every day and it practically screams at me: "WHY ARE YOU NOT EXERCISING?! YOU ARE GONNA GET FAT! AND THEN I'LL LAUGH." Because the thing is, I used to play handball but then had to quit because I hurt my shoulder and so on. And this just meant that I went from doing quite a lot of sports to doing nothing at all. And of course, my body didn't take that very well.

And then my mom bought that cross-trainer, as if to say "well, Karin, maybe it's time to start doing something for your body again" (I think she mostly bought it for herself, but still). But that still wasn't enought to actually make me get on that stupid thing. I was doing a really good job ignoring it. And then the new year came. And  my sister started to go on the cross-trainer. And my boyfriend started to go jogging almost daily. And one of my favourite youtubers Louise from SprinkleofGlitter started #GlitterGetsFitter. And I actually started to consider not hating that cross-trainer as much. And then, one day, I actually got on that thing. And was super proud afterwards.

Since then I've been exercising every time my sister has, which is great motivation. Everytime I come home and she tells me she was on that thing I feel like "I can't let her win. I can't!" And it works.

2014

It's 2014 now, everyone! And this year will be a big one. Just thinking about it scares me. This year I'm gonna turn 20. TWENTY! That sounds extremely old and extremely young at the same time. But it does scare me. Because once you're in your twenties, there is no going back. At some point, you're supposed to move out. You're supposed to know what to do with your life. You're supposed to be mature and know about paying taxes and doing laundry and cleaning your bathroom and all that fun stuff. And believe me, I'm not ready for that. Now, don't get me wrong, it's not like I've never done laundry or cleaned a bathroom before. But at least I could always complain and fight with my mom about it. Now, imagine you're cleaning the bathroom in your own apartment. That is crazy. You will actually have to do it properly because if you don't, noone will. And if you don't want to take out the trash, you can avoid it as long as you want, it won't disappear on its own. I mean COME ON! Can someone please invent a trashcan that empties itself? Pleeeease? That would make everything so much easier! But I'm getting off topic. Well, I don't really have much of a topic, I'm just introducing myself in a way, and if there's one thing you should know about me, it's that I don't like taking out the trash.

Another thing that definitely scares me is the fact that I'm going to start university this year. And I know that that's super exciting and all. But at the same time it's SUPER scary and sooo much work! Here's another fact about me: I'm extremely lazy. (maybe you've figured that out already with the taking-out-the-trash-thing, so good job) I don't like to work, let alone study. There's just so many better things to do with your life. Like watching TV. Or sleeping. Sleeping is like the best thing in the world. It's so peaceful. And relaxing. Studying on the other hand is not relaxing at all. Because when you're studying, you realize all the things you're supposed to know but just don't. And then you think about how that's just a small part of what you're actually supposed to know. And then you have a panic attack and need to sleep it off. And, to be quite honest, most of what I've learned in school to this day, I'm never gonna need again. Unless you would like to know what a fish looks like on the inside. Or how to do a whole bunch of crazy stuff with numbers. But I guess I never really figured out how all of that worked. But, what I'm trying to say is that you won't need to know these things in your life. And if you should somewhen, for some reason have to explain to somebody what an adipose fin is for, well there's still the internet. Aah, the internet. If I was as smart as the internet, I would not be scared to go to university at all. I'd be like "heeeere I am, idiots. I know everything you know and mooore. muahahaha". And then I'd get the best grades there ever were and become the new Einstein or something. But, disappointing as it is, I'm not the internet and will (with a 99% certainty, you never know) never be.

But here's the worst thing about university. There's so much pressure and at the same time no pressure at all. The problem is, I'm really good at procrastinating. I mean really good. Like I-won't-do-it-unless-I-absolutely-have-to good, there's-still-two-days-left-to-finish-this-300-page-paper-I-don't-have-to-start-already good, oh-the-exam-starts-in-five-minutes-maybe-I-should-start-going-through-my-notes good. And at university, you only have exams at the end of the semester. Which, in my case, means that I'm thinking "there's still enough time for this tomorrow or the day after that or the day after that" all throughout the semster until I'm like a week before the exams start and have another panic attack and need to sleep it off. I'm really really worried about this. Because you should really do good. I mean, now you're somehow at the point where your grades matter. Not that they didn't matter before. You did have to get through high school. But then they didn't matter as much back then because you knew that you just have to pass and if you do, you'll go to university and then, when you're looking for a job, the university grades will matter. At this point I should maybe mention that I'm from Switzerland and that our school system probably works somewhat differently than where you're from. Here you go to primary school and then you choose to go either to secondary school or to high school (something like that). And if you choose to go to high school, and you manage to finish high school, you are qualified to go to university. And if you go to secondary school, you either choose to go to high school afterwards or you do an apprenticeship. And then it gets all very complicated and I'm not going into detail on that right now. But, the point is that when you choose the high school path (which I did), you will not be finished with school and your education until you finish university and then you're like qualified to work in whatever job suits your subject. (This is really simplified, of course there's like a million different ways but that's like the general idea.) So, when I was in my last year in high school, all I had to do was pass the final exams. And, in our school, there's statistically speaking only one person that doesn't pass the final exams. So my aim was to be better than one other person in my year. And I always told myself "well, it's not gonna be you that doesn't pass, I'm sure there's someone out there who's even lazier than you". And that kind of worked out for me. I mean, I achieved quite good grades, and I'm very happy with that, but I think I could've done better if I had studied harder. So, what I'm worried about with university is that you're really supposed to do your absolute best because there won't be another chance. And I'm just a minimalist.

So, if you're still reading (if you are I LOVE YOU), here's what you've learned about me today: I don't like taking out the trash, I'm lazy, a minimalist and scared of everything. Well, wasn't that worth reading.