9/11/2011
9/10/2011
Summer=Autumn=Winter=???=rain
You wouldn't believe what I am going to tell you now but I can guarantee that it's true. At least according to the news and scientists. Well. This summer was the coldest of the last 18 years in the UK. It seems that I picked the right summer to be here.... I have probably never seen that much rain in one summer during my whole life, that I saw here. And now, as September began, locals told, that it should be nice.
Well. It's pretty warm in here. And humid. When I went to the leisure centre on Thursday it felt like I was exercising in sauna. It was so wet and hot. 19 degrees outside (in Fahrenheit it makes 68 degrees - yes I have learnt to calculate temperature into Fahrenheit - double the celsius temperature and add 30). And then there is a hurricane rushing towards UK. It's called Katie and it hasn't hit any land yet- it was formed across the Atlantic and in the beginning was supposed to hit USA but then changed it's direction and is heading here now. Probably will get here tomorrow night. They promised 50ft waves in the seaside and 80mph wind (35 m/s). I have never seen this strong wind. Should be interesting.
So much of the warm September.
Right now I have almost no plans (except Cardiff in the beginning of Oct and hopefully Scotland in the beginning of November). I guess Scotland will stay my last big trip in this country. I'm not bothered enough to travel around too much and I also want to save some money for Estonia. I'll probably still go to Cardiff couple of times and Bradford once, too, but I think that's about it. Only local trips to Bristol, Bath, Weston.
I just borrowed some books from library and will start to remind all the psychology stuff because school and my research is not far away any more. Today, when I wanted to borrow the books, I found out that the system had changed into automatic. So- I lent books through a machine. I have never done anything like this before and it worked fine. I didn't even need any assistance. And also in the shop- I paid in cash into a machine- self-service one. I wish Estonia had developed so far that all the shops have self-services and libraries too. (Actually I think the university library is self-service, or am I wrong?)
I got myself new trainers so now I'm gonna work out nicely. Also the guitar.
Work is the same as usual.
Last week one of my co-workers told me that I am always so happy and enthusiastic and she didn't understand how I can be like this. So I explained her that in this job most of the people are too frustrated about the rules and health and safety and paperwork that they simply don't have time to smile. Or they just aren't bothered enough. But I am here for the residents and work with them all the time and if no-one else is happy then there has to be at least one. And if I'm not happy and smily all the time then who else will be? I make other people happier and try to bring some sunshine into the people's lives. That's what I'm here for.
Being unhappy or just boring means that I'm not giving my best for my work to be good.
And also, I can't bring my personal life into my work. So, when I go to work- the moment I step into the house, I leave my personal life issues behind the main entrance and they will stay there until I go out from the house again after my work finishes.
It's nice to hear from people that I'm different from all the volunteers that have worked here before because I'm so happy and enthusiastic all the time. It makes me try even harder :)
I just watched new Dr. Who episode and ate some mushroom sauce with potatoes and Estonian spices. I am satisfied and will be lazy today.
Maybe I'll do some more things tomorrow, but it depends on the weather.
The blackberries are now completely ready and apples should be ready, too.
I will go and pick some tomorrow.
But right now I'll start reading one of my psychology books and will try to educate myself.
Good night.
Well. It's pretty warm in here. And humid. When I went to the leisure centre on Thursday it felt like I was exercising in sauna. It was so wet and hot. 19 degrees outside (in Fahrenheit it makes 68 degrees - yes I have learnt to calculate temperature into Fahrenheit - double the celsius temperature and add 30). And then there is a hurricane rushing towards UK. It's called Katie and it hasn't hit any land yet- it was formed across the Atlantic and in the beginning was supposed to hit USA but then changed it's direction and is heading here now. Probably will get here tomorrow night. They promised 50ft waves in the seaside and 80mph wind (35 m/s). I have never seen this strong wind. Should be interesting.
So much of the warm September.
Right now I have almost no plans (except Cardiff in the beginning of Oct and hopefully Scotland in the beginning of November). I guess Scotland will stay my last big trip in this country. I'm not bothered enough to travel around too much and I also want to save some money for Estonia. I'll probably still go to Cardiff couple of times and Bradford once, too, but I think that's about it. Only local trips to Bristol, Bath, Weston.
I just borrowed some books from library and will start to remind all the psychology stuff because school and my research is not far away any more. Today, when I wanted to borrow the books, I found out that the system had changed into automatic. So- I lent books through a machine. I have never done anything like this before and it worked fine. I didn't even need any assistance. And also in the shop- I paid in cash into a machine- self-service one. I wish Estonia had developed so far that all the shops have self-services and libraries too. (Actually I think the university library is self-service, or am I wrong?)
I got myself new trainers so now I'm gonna work out nicely. Also the guitar.
Work is the same as usual.
Last week one of my co-workers told me that I am always so happy and enthusiastic and she didn't understand how I can be like this. So I explained her that in this job most of the people are too frustrated about the rules and health and safety and paperwork that they simply don't have time to smile. Or they just aren't bothered enough. But I am here for the residents and work with them all the time and if no-one else is happy then there has to be at least one. And if I'm not happy and smily all the time then who else will be? I make other people happier and try to bring some sunshine into the people's lives. That's what I'm here for.
Being unhappy or just boring means that I'm not giving my best for my work to be good.
And also, I can't bring my personal life into my work. So, when I go to work- the moment I step into the house, I leave my personal life issues behind the main entrance and they will stay there until I go out from the house again after my work finishes.
It's nice to hear from people that I'm different from all the volunteers that have worked here before because I'm so happy and enthusiastic all the time. It makes me try even harder :)
I just watched new Dr. Who episode and ate some mushroom sauce with potatoes and Estonian spices. I am satisfied and will be lazy today.
Maybe I'll do some more things tomorrow, but it depends on the weather.
The blackberries are now completely ready and apples should be ready, too.
I will go and pick some tomorrow.
But right now I'll start reading one of my psychology books and will try to educate myself.
Good night.
9/05/2011
Bath
This weekend I had a small daytrip to an old Roman city called 
bath which is about 45mins away from here. I went there with one of my co-workers and another co-worker of mine showed us around because she is local.
Bath is as big as Tartu (by the amount of the inhabitants) and is an old Roman city. It's got really nice architecture dating back to Victorian age in most cases and actually to old Roman empire when Romans were ruling UK.
The city has got old Roman Therms in it- where Brutus used to go to take baths and talk to all the other aristocrats.
We also went to a Sally Lunn's bun cafe where they made really nice bun sandwiches and I bought some home with me, too. The buns are really soft and got loads of holes in them and are really nice. I loved them.
The whole day was really nice and I would like to actually live in Bath if it wasn't that crowded with tourists.
I heard that Johnny Depp has an aparement in Bath. Unfortunately didn't manage to spot him there....
bath which is about 45mins away from here. I went there with one of my co-workers and another co-worker of mine showed us around because she is local.
Bath is as big as Tartu (by the amount of the inhabitants) and is an old Roman city. It's got really nice architecture dating back to Victorian age in most cases and actually to old Roman empire when Romans were ruling UK.
The city has got old Roman Therms in it- where Brutus used to go to take baths and talk to all the other aristocrats.
We also went to a Sally Lunn's bun cafe where they made really nice bun sandwiches and I bought some home with me, too. The buns are really soft and got loads of holes in them and are really nice. I loved them.
The whole day was really nice and I would like to actually live in Bath if it wasn't that crowded with tourists.
I heard that Johnny Depp has an aparement in Bath. Unfortunately didn't manage to spot him there....
9/04/2011
Videos from families evening
I know I already uploaded one video of the songs that I performed at work, but I thought I should also upload the rest of them. So that everybody could judge me on how good/bad I was.
I can tell I was not half as nervous as I thought I would be, but this could also be due to the pint of Guinness that I had on that evening. Anyway, the evening was nice- St. Michael's Singers sang, I did my performance, Iain (my guitar teacher) did couple of songs. There were some professional performers who looked like they had stepped out of the eighties- everything about them was from this era. Though- to me they seemed to be the typical old-people's performers, so I wasn't too fond if them, but as the residents loved them, it was all good. I also saw one of my co-worjers wiwho is usually just running around the house in his domestics apron, wearing a glittery costume and doing disco and dancing around. Had a great laugh about it.
Ate a hot dog and some cake this evening. The food was really nice. And it was a nice evening. Got a wine from the activities leader also for my performance. Nice....
I can tell I was not half as nervous as I thought I would be, but this could also be due to the pint of Guinness that I had on that evening. Anyway, the evening was nice- St. Michael's Singers sang, I did my performance, Iain (my guitar teacher) did couple of songs. There were some professional performers who looked like they had stepped out of the eighties- everything about them was from this era. Though- to me they seemed to be the typical old-people's performers, so I wasn't too fond if them, but as the residents loved them, it was all good. I also saw one of my co-worjers wiwho is usually just running around the house in his domestics apron, wearing a glittery costume and doing disco and dancing around. Had a great laugh about it.
Ate a hot dog and some cake this evening. The food was really nice. And it was a nice evening. Got a wine from the activities leader also for my performance. Nice....
Cage The Elephant - Ain't No Rest For The Wicked
They sound a bit like The Red Hot Chili Peppers, don't they?
Anyway, I love this song.
9/02/2011
8/31/2011
Fun, fun, fun
If sex between three people is called a "threesome" and sex between two people is called a "twosome"..
...then why is "handsome" still a compliment?
...then why is "handsome" still a compliment?
8/29/2011
Elbow - One Day Like This
Singing along to this song at the Reading fest was just brilliant!
The unbelievable day at the Reading festival
I just got back from Reading festival today and am completely exhausted. But I am happy and satisfied. More than that! I am thrilled! I saw so many so brilliant bands and had such a great time that it just tightens all my muscles when I start thinking about it.
My day started really early - I got up at about 05:30. Packed my bag and started cycling to Weston. When I got to Banwell I discovered I have a flat tire and couldn't cycle on, because the tyre started coming off. I called John and he came and picked me up and took me to the train station. He also promised to fix my bicycle. Bless him! I've got such nice co-workers!
When I got to Reading I walked to the festival area and got my wristband. Then I got myself a festival-hat and walked to the main stage. It was pretty early and there was about an hour 'til the first bands came on the stage, so I had some lunch and explored the area. At 12 o'clock I went to the Lock up stage to see the first band which was called Fighting Fiction. They were pretty good and I think I might add them to my music collection. They did indie-rock kind of music. They were on stage for about 30 mins and then after a short break came Spycatcher. They were really cool. The singer swore a lot but encouraged the audience, who in most cases didn't know any lyrics, to sing along or at least hum along. I liked them, too.
Then after they finished I went to NME/Radio 1 stage to see a band called Best coast. They weren't too good. I guess I'm not into females singing too much, so I wasn't that happy with them. They were indie-band but all the songs seemed too similar to me.
After they finished a band named Cage the Elephant came on the stage. I had had a listen of couple of their songs previously on Youtube so I knew they would be good. And they were good. I knew some of the songs from radio (e.g. Ain't no rest for the wicked). The singer danced on the stage (looked a bit drunk, to be honest). He did crowdsurfing and the audience went wild. I was in the beginning of the performance quite in front of the crowd, but because of my camera I had to back off. When the singer started to surf the crowd, then some people from the audience did the same. So there were about 5 people altogether in one place on top of people. And the people tried to surf towards the singer and hug him while surfing. It looked painful for the singer because he was upside down in the audience sometime and was just twisted all the way. The security did their best to try to get him out of the crowd but it was complicated. When the singer finally managed to come out of the crowd he climbed one of the barriers which fell down under his weight. Crazy! But I loved it. And the songs were good. Definetely a band to go to my music-list. After Cage the Elephant I decided to have a break and eat something and then I discovered that CTE is doing singing in the signing tent. So I went there and got the autographs from the whole band as well! Hehe, brilliant!
After I got the autographs I went back to the same stage. I saw a little bit of the band called Warpaint. They were quite enjoyable.
But then- after they finished Panic! At the Disco came on stage. The crowd went mad, it was so cool! I was jumping around and humming along to the songs (I didn't know the lyrics) and when they were playing "Nine in the afternoon" I was sooo happy! finally a song I could sing along to! Cool! They played for about an hour. I decided that I have to download more of their songs rather than just have this one song.
After P!ATD finished I went to the Main Stage to get the best view by the time MUSE came
on the stage. I saw a band called INTERPOL and they were pretty good. I just saw couple of songs but I enjoyed it. And during their performance there was a big whole rainbow reaching exactly from the lefthandside to the righthandside of the stage. Beautiful!
After Interpol, a band called Elbow came on the stage. Well, I was amazed. They were so good! They involved the audience all the time- encouraged us to raise our hands and wave and hum along. And the music was enjoyable. I just closed my eyes sometimes and listened to it and swayed in the place I was standing. A beautiful evening. It was sunset also at
the same time. Lovely! Definetely a band I will download now. Out of all the bands that I discovered, Elbow was sure as hell, the best one.
Then after they finished, there was a half an hour break. During that break I managed to talk to a girl in front of me so that she let me stand next to her (there was a barrier in the middle of the crowd and I was standing on the second row after the barrier and was worried about the camera, the place was really good- not too far from the stage and still far enough to survive the crazy crowd). So I had a perfect location to see the next band.
There were curtains on the stage to prevent us from seeing the stage before the main act c
ame on the stage. And then when it got dark enough it started. Firstly we saw some figures on the curtains and the band playing. Well, the band was called MUSE and the figures were the ones they have on the "Origin of Symmetry" album cover. Then the curtain was lifted and the crowd went wild. MUSE was really really brilliant! I loved every second of their performance. The quality of the music was really good- they are amazing when playing live. The show itself- well, there aren't enough words to desribe the brilliance of it. There was a hug
e screen behind the band where all kinds of figures, patterns, videos were shown. They looked cosmic, matrix, amazing! There were lazers, fire cannons, steam cannons, fireworks, lots of lights, special effects. It was just lush! It seemed like a big cartoon. And the crowd sang along to all the songs. It takes more than just words to describe the feeling I had while MUSE was on the stage. Ahh, just fucking amazing. I sang along to as many songs as I knew. And the most interesting part was that in lots of cases you couldn't guess which song the band was going to play the next because they made jamming for the introduction! And oh yeah, Matthew Bellamy smashed one of his guitars
during the performance. And the guitars they used, had lights on. One of the guitars looked like a piano. And in the beginning of one of the songs he sang into a rupour. And he played piano and everything! Just lush! I would go to see them again anytime. They were just amazing!
After they finished all the crowd went to the campsites. As I wasn't camping I went to the cinema tent. It was the Lock-up stage and we had to sit on the ground. It was dirty and covered with trash. But all the people were just sitting there and wathing the movie called "Inception" (didn't lik
e it at all) so I just sat there and tried to sleep a bit. But it was too cold so I couldn't sleep much. I felt like a homeless person. After the cinema tent finished with the program at around 3am we were all kicked out of the arena so my only option was to try my luck and go to the train station in the hope that it will be opened. And it opened just as I got there. Loads of people from the festival were also there, sleeping on the floor. The station looked like a shelter for homeless people- everybody were dirty, had big bags with the camping stuff with them, the place was covered with mud and everybody were just sleeping there. Quite an amuzing view. And I was one of them. T
ried to sleep a little bit, but it was chilly so I gave up after half an hour. My train from Reading to Bristol was at seven so I had some breakfast in the station and drank some tea and then just sat and waited. I was cold all the time and shivering.
I couldn't sleep in the train much either when I was there so by the time I got to Weston I was really exhausted. And then I collected my fixed bike from John's place and cycled home. It was a nice and sunny day and the cycle was enjoyable. When I got home I wasn't tired at all in the beginning but in about 5mins time I felt I could just fall into winter sleep. So I slept about 4 hours and then discovered that we have no heating and warm
water. Blimey.
And it seems that there is something wrong with the electricity, too, because Timi told me that I had used so much electricity that she couldn't believe it. But the thing is- I haven't used much electricity. I usually use it less than her.... Mystery. And I wasn't home all the time either.....
Tomorrow we will go to see our managers about it.
Because I'm still dirty and the only way to stay warm is to stay in the bed under the duvet or have loads of clothes on.
Anyway,
I love festivals! It was the best festival experience ever! I'm just so happy about it!
My day started really early - I got up at about 05:30. Packed my bag and started cycling to Weston. When I got to Banwell I discovered I have a flat tire and couldn't cycle on, because the tyre started coming off. I called John and he came and picked me up and took me to the train station. He also promised to fix my bicycle. Bless him! I've got such nice co-workers!
When I got to Reading I walked to the festival area and got my wristband. Then I got myself a festival-hat and walked to the main stage. It was pretty early and there was about an hour 'til the first bands came on the stage, so I had some lunch and explored the area. At 12 o'clock I went to the Lock up stage to see the first band which was called Fighting Fiction. They were pretty good and I think I might add them to my music collection. They did indie-rock kind of music. They were on stage for about 30 mins and then after a short break came Spycatcher. They were really cool. The singer swore a lot but encouraged the audience, who in most cases didn't know any lyrics, to sing along or at least hum along. I liked them, too.
Then after they finished I went to NME/Radio 1 stage to see a band called Best coast. They weren't too good. I guess I'm not into females singing too much, so I wasn't that happy with them. They were indie-band but all the songs seemed too similar to me.
After they finished a band named Cage the Elephant came on the stage. I had had a listen of couple of their songs previously on Youtube so I knew they would be good. And they were good. I knew some of the songs from radio (e.g. Ain't no rest for the wicked). The singer danced on the stage (looked a bit drunk, to be honest). He did crowdsurfing and the audience went wild. I was in the beginning of the performance quite in front of the crowd, but because of my camera I had to back off. When the singer started to surf the crowd, then some people from the audience did the same. So there were about 5 people altogether in one place on top of people. And the people tried to surf towards the singer and hug him while surfing. It looked painful for the singer because he was upside down in the audience sometime and was just twisted all the way. The security did their best to try to get him out of the crowd but it was complicated. When the singer finally managed to come out of the crowd he climbed one of the barriers which fell down under his weight. Crazy! But I loved it. And the songs were good. Definetely a band to go to my music-list. After Cage the Elephant I decided to have a break and eat something and then I discovered that CTE is doing singing in the signing tent. So I went there and got the autographs from the whole band as well! Hehe, brilliant!
After I got the autographs I went back to the same stage. I saw a little bit of the band called Warpaint. They were quite enjoyable.
But then- after they finished Panic! At the Disco came on stage. The crowd went mad, it was so cool! I was jumping around and humming along to the songs (I didn't know the lyrics) and when they were playing "Nine in the afternoon" I was sooo happy! finally a song I could sing along to! Cool! They played for about an hour. I decided that I have to download more of their songs rather than just have this one song.
After P!ATD finished I went to the Main Stage to get the best view by the time MUSE came
on the stage. I saw a band called INTERPOL and they were pretty good. I just saw couple of songs but I enjoyed it. And during their performance there was a big whole rainbow reaching exactly from the lefthandside to the righthandside of the stage. Beautiful!
After Interpol, a band called Elbow came on the stage. Well, I was amazed. They were so good! They involved the audience all the time- encouraged us to raise our hands and wave and hum along. And the music was enjoyable. I just closed my eyes sometimes and listened to it and swayed in the place I was standing. A beautiful evening. It was sunset also at
the same time. Lovely! Definetely a band I will download now. Out of all the bands that I discovered, Elbow was sure as hell, the best one.
Then after they finished, there was a half an hour break. During that break I managed to talk to a girl in front of me so that she let me stand next to her (there was a barrier in the middle of the crowd and I was standing on the second row after the barrier and was worried about the camera, the place was really good- not too far from the stage and still far enough to survive the crazy crowd). So I had a perfect location to see the next band.
There were curtains on the stage to prevent us from seeing the stage before the main act c
ame on the stage. And then when it got dark enough it started. Firstly we saw some figures on the curtains and the band playing. Well, the band was called MUSE and the figures were the ones they have on the "Origin of Symmetry" album cover. Then the curtain was lifted and the crowd went wild. MUSE was really really brilliant! I loved every second of their performance. The quality of the music was really good- they are amazing when playing live. The show itself- well, there aren't enough words to desribe the brilliance of it. There was a hug
e screen behind the band where all kinds of figures, patterns, videos were shown. They looked cosmic, matrix, amazing! There were lazers, fire cannons, steam cannons, fireworks, lots of lights, special effects. It was just lush! It seemed like a big cartoon. And the crowd sang along to all the songs. It takes more than just words to describe the feeling I had while MUSE was on the stage. Ahh, just fucking amazing. I sang along to as many songs as I knew. And the most interesting part was that in lots of cases you couldn't guess which song the band was going to play the next because they made jamming for the introduction! And oh yeah, Matthew Bellamy smashed one of his guitars
during the performance. And the guitars they used, had lights on. One of the guitars looked like a piano. And in the beginning of one of the songs he sang into a rupour. And he played piano and everything! Just lush! I would go to see them again anytime. They were just amazing!
After they finished all the crowd went to the campsites. As I wasn't camping I went to the cinema tent. It was the Lock-up stage and we had to sit on the ground. It was dirty and covered with trash. But all the people were just sitting there and wathing the movie called "Inception" (didn't lik
e it at all) so I just sat there and tried to sleep a bit. But it was too cold so I couldn't sleep much. I felt like a homeless person. After the cinema tent finished with the program at around 3am we were all kicked out of the arena so my only option was to try my luck and go to the train station in the hope that it will be opened. And it opened just as I got there. Loads of people from the festival were also there, sleeping on the floor. The station looked like a shelter for homeless people- everybody were dirty, had big bags with the camping stuff with them, the place was covered with mud and everybody were just sleeping there. Quite an amuzing view. And I was one of them. T
ried to sleep a little bit, but it was chilly so I gave up after half an hour. My train from Reading to Bristol was at seven so I had some breakfast in the station and drank some tea and then just sat and waited. I was cold all the time and shivering.
I couldn't sleep in the train much either when I was there so by the time I got to Weston I was really exhausted. And then I collected my fixed bike from John's place and cycled home. It was a nice and sunny day and the cycle was enjoyable. When I got home I wasn't tired at all in the beginning but in about 5mins time I felt I could just fall into winter sleep. So I slept about 4 hours and then discovered that we have no heating and warm
water. Blimey.
And it seems that there is something wrong with the electricity, too, because Timi told me that I had used so much electricity that she couldn't believe it. But the thing is- I haven't used much electricity. I usually use it less than her.... Mystery. And I wasn't home all the time either.....
Tomorrow we will go to see our managers about it.
Because I'm still dirty and the only way to stay warm is to stay in the bed under the duvet or have loads of clothes on.
Anyway,
I love festivals! It was the best festival experience ever! I'm just so happy about it!
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