The life of a journalism student

Last year I had to write a news story for my Journalism module and in my opinion that is one of the hardest assignments our tutors could give us. I spent hours trying to figure out what to write about, and all the time my tutors would tell me that is was a good idea but not a news story. I think we all can agree on that journalist students have cried enough during different assignments, as it is difficult to for us to write about something that has not already been covered. One of our tutors told us during our first year that we have to predict the future in order to write our story. I don’t know what others are thinking, but I sure can’t do that.

As I’m sitting here and trying to come up with a great idea for my dissertation, I started to walk down memory lane and realised that as much fun I’ve had and how interesting my lectures have been, we have all had two difficult years as journalist students. It is not easy to have people answer our questions, because it seems like when we contact professional journalists they “forget” to answer us. At least that is what we think. In general when we’ve tried to contact people and we say that we are students, it is very difficult for us to get answers. I don’t know why that’s the case, but I feel like expressing my feelings towards this matter and remind anyone who is reading this that we are all or we all were students at some point looking for help. I believe that everything is easy once you get a foot inside your dream job, but the journey to get there is hard. I believe we are all looking for the perfect place to walk towards that dream, and when you do find it, then trust me, it is the luckiest day of your life.

I am looking forward to the day that I get hired to be a journalist, as that is my dream. Right now I am just writing my thoughts and expressing some frustration, but some day I am sure that all the hard work will be worth it. And who knows; perhaps some day we can predict the future.

Fairtrade as the new world brand

Fairtrade is a fast growing mark in the world based around that developing countries should get a better deal through the use of the Fairtrade mark.

The Fairtrade Foundation is the national independent verification initiative set up by the main development agencies such as Oxfam, WDM and Traidcraft Exchange in order to licence the use of the independent consumer label in the UK.

This is known as the Fairtrade Mark and is developing fast in this country and the world.

Norway, for example, is one country where the Fairtrade mark is quickly rising and more products are becoming 100% Fairtrade.

Mike Hickie, the supporter service volunteer, said: “We are a small but growing team struggling to do a huge job on an extremely limited budget. With such restrains on time and resources we have reluctantly decided that it is necessary to focus all our efforts on the specific requirements of independent labelling.”

From 1998 to 2009 the Fairtrade products estimated in the UK retail sales has grown from £16.7 million to £799.0 million.

Because Fairtrade is relatively a new concept, many people has never heard of this product and don’t know what it stands for.

Joachim Eikeri is a consumer who has heard of mark from Starbucks, and he says: “After asking Starbucks one time what Fairtrade was, I started buying Fairtrade products as I believe that what they are standing for is very good. I have great faith in Fairtrade.”

According to their webpage, in 2008 70% of the UK population recognised the Fairtrade mark, which is 50% more than in 2002.

Hickie is also aware that people may not know what Fairtrade is and what is stand for, and he says: “In order to have a positive impact on the lives of thousands of workers and farmers throughout the world it is essential that we concentrate efforts here.”

In order to do this he is saying that because they don’t have the advertising budget of the major brands it is a challenge, but by writing articles for magazines, promoting media coverage and co-ordinating campaigns to promote the awareness they are getting closer to spreading the knowledge.

In Norway people are slowly recognising this mark as well, as products such as Cadbury, Nestle and Ben & Jerry’s are Fairtrade products.

Kjell Steinar Wibe is one consumer in Norway who has been aware of this product for quite some time and has great believes in how this is developing in both his home country and in the rest of the world.

Øya, av Victoria Hislop

Alexis har alltid fundert på hva fortiden til sin mor er, og alt hun vet er at hun vokste opp på en landsby på Kreta før hun flyttet til London. Alexis bestemmer seg for å dra til Kreta på ferie og oppsøke plassen der moren bodde for å se og lære mer om hennes fortid for å selv forstå seg på sin egen framtid. Sofia, som da er hennes mor, gir henne et brev før avreise som Alexis skal gi til en gammel barndomsvenninne.

Etter en lang reise ankommer Alexis Kreta og den lille landsbyen Plaka, og der møter hun morens venninne Fortini. Alexis får bo hos henne og hun lærer fort at byen ligger bare et steinkast unna den lille forlatte øye Spinalonga. Spinalonga var Hellas tidligere koloni for spedalske og Alexis begynner fort å forstå at denne øya har en spesiell rolle i forhold til morens fortid.

Mens Alexis bor hos Fortini får hun høre historien om sin mor og sin oldemor. Hun får høre om familier som ble rammet av spedalskhet og hvordan de igjen ble revet fra hverandre da de spedalske måtte flyttes til Spinalonga.

Dette er en meget rørende bok hvor vi som leseren får et godt innblikk i hvordan familier måtte leve med tragedie, krig, kjærlighet, tap og lidenskap og hvordan livet som en utstøtt var. Victoria Hislop bruker et nydelig, men enkelt språk når hun beskriver følelsene til menneskene vi leser om og hvordan det var å leve på øya. Hun har flettet sammen historie og det vanlige hverdagslivet i en fantastisk fortelling, noe som gjør karakterene og boken svært troverdig og gripende. Dette er absolutt en ’pageturner’ og ettersom du leser vil du vite hva som skjuler seg på øya og hva som er dets hemmelighet. En bok jeg anbefaler på det sterkeste, og som er både lærerik og passer for begge kjønn.

Lion King - The Musical

Ida and I have been talking about seeing this musical for years, so of course we had to see it now that she is finally in London. I have seen it once before with my parents and my brothers, but I did not hesitate in saying yes when she asked me if I wanted to see it again.

Everyone knows the story about the little lion cub that runs away from home and experiences some great adventure before returning home to fight for his family and his country. I really love the film, but the musical is a completely different experience of this well known story.

It starts with the powerful song “The circle of life” and it is sung by the person playing Rafiki. She has the most amazing voice I’ve ever heard, and it really is the perfect start of a perfect evening.

The cast of this musical truly is talented. The children playing young Simba and Nala are very gifted to be so young, and because they are young there are four different boys and girls playing these characters on different nights. I think that is great considering how young they are, but what a start on their career. As I have seen this musical twice, I have seen it with two different Simbas and Nalas, and I was not disappointed in either of them.
The music if very powerful throughout the musical and the voices singing has a magic that you can only find here. My personal favourite is when Rafiki is singing “He lives in you”. It can bring out a tear in the most sceptical person. (See youtube video below)

What is Lion King without Timon and Pumbaa? Nothing, and of course they brought some humour and charm to the show. Next to the goose bumps you had the chance to laugh, and that really means that this musical has everything.

I would recommend Lion King to everyone, young and old, boy or girl. I can guarantee that you will not be disappointed. The cast, the sets and the special effects truly are breathtaking and I promise that it will be a night to remember and that you will be able to feel the love that night.

Ida in London

On Sunday my friend Ida came to London to visit me. Finally! We have been talking about this for over two years, and now we are having so much fun! She also came with her friend Tove, and she is just lovely. She has never been to London before, so obviously the first attraction to see then is Big Ben and London Eye!

Big Ben is the clock tower that is featured outside the Houses of Parliament. It is perhaps the most famous feature here, but we must not forget that there is more to the Parliament than the clock Ben. The Houses of Parliament houses the House of Commons and the House of Lords. In the House of Commons it is where members of Parliament, known as the MPs, meet to propose and discuss new legislations. This is also where they meet with the prime minister to grill him about issues that concerns them.

After this little lecture it is time to take a look at the London Eye! It has been a very famous landmark since the year 2000, and an extremely popular tourist attraction. It is 135 meters tall and something you should not miss if you’re visiting London. The tour takes about 30 minutes and cost about £18, and even though the queue can be long it is worth it. You get a great view of the city and you can take some fantastic photographs. Ida and Tove sure came out with a big smile on their mouths.

Following seeing the Parliament and the Eye, Kjell Steinar and I thought it would be nice to take the girls to Chinatown. They have many restaurants there with great Chinese food, Asian supermarkets, and you almost feel like you’re in China with its Chinese street signs and red lanterns. In many cities Chinatown is rather big, but in London it is really just two streets. But the atmosphere is good, and in the evenings it is quite a lot of people visiting. Kjell Steinar and I found this great restaurant that we thought we’d take Ida and Tove, but when we came there we saw that it was closed down. I could not hide how disappointed I was, because that restaurant had great food and memories, but we tried another one and we were not disappointed. The food was great, and so was the service and it was not expensive. The Golden Pagoda is the place to eat in Chinatown.

What comes after a day of sightseeing? A day of shopping. Both Ida and I love films so I thought that the shop to take her was HMV. Here you can buy very cheap films as low as £3 and find other great deals. We all ended up leaving some money at HMV. We were going to go to Oxford Street, the one street that everyone has heard about in London, but on our way we found many shops we had to go in to. If you like shopping there is never enough time to visit everything, but some shops that we ended up inside of was New Look, Top Shop, Guess, Mango and the list goes on and on with shops you should visit. We also ended up in Carnaby Street, which is this cure little street where you can shop ‘til you drop; Miss Sixty, Diesel, Levis and G Star just to mention a few.

 
It has been two wonderful days here in London, and I can guarantee that there will be more. 

The ultimate packing list a la Johanne

This summer I went on this amazing trip with my best friend Johanne. We travelled for four weeks together before we met our boyfriends in Los Angeles, and spent the next three weeks with them in America. We experienced so much and we have memories for a life time, but we also learned quite a lot during those weeks. How and what to pack is one thing, and Johanne has this amazing packing list on her blog. I thought this was worth sharing with people, as it really is the ultimate packing list. I could not agree more with what to bring. So please read the list on this page and print it out:

http://www.comewhinewithme.com/2010/09/my-travel-ultimate-pack-list.html

My mom has always told me that the most important thing to remember when you’re travelling is your passport, money and credit cards. These are always the first that goes in my purse as I am terrified to forget it. Also, for me it is viral that I remember my iPod and iPod charger as I get easily motion sick and this is my best medicine. Remember to always charge it the night before you leave and then you’re set for your trip.

When you travel long distance the planes almost always have your own personal TV screen where you can chose to watch a wide range of different movies. I think it is brilliant that they have this, as there are always some children on a plane and this keeps them busy for a period of time.

If you are planning to go on a trip for a long period of time, it is rather difficult to know what and how to pack. This sure was a problem for me, as I have never packed for seven weeks in a backpack. But Johanne and I came up with something smart as we were planning our trip; we packed clothes that we were not worried about and that we could just throw away as we bought new clothes during our trip. I bet that everyone has some clothes in their closet that they don’t really use anymore, but you can’t seem to throw them away. These are the clothes that you bring on such a trip, as you would not be sad if they get broken or something. When I bought a new top I threw away an old one, and like this my backpack would not get overfilled. When I came home to Norway after these seven weeks I don’t think I had any of the old clothes that I brought with me that I had already planned to throw away. So if you’re planning to travel, then I hope these tips were helpful. They sure helped me this summer.

Universal Studios

This summer we were four friends travelling in the USA, and the first stop we had in this amazing country was Los Angeles. And when you’re in LA you drop by the remarkable Universal Studios! You can spend the entire day here, and it is fun for children in all ages.

 

We lived down town LA, and after a short underground ride we were at our destination. And first stop in Universal Studios was the Studio Tour! I would recommend that this is the first attraction you should do, as this is a very popular one and the queue can be very long. But trust me, it is worth it. Once the ride has started you get to go behind-the-scenes where Hollywood movies are made and experience movie sets from some of the greatest and most known films today. You drive through old New York, see the set of The Scorpion King, you see cars explode from The Fast and the Furious, you encounter a real dinosaur from Jurassic Park, a shark attack before a lovely ride through Wisteria Lane, but be aware as psycho is just around the corner. And this goes on and it is so fascinating. Especially when you drive through a set from War of Worlds where they had destroyed a 747 to build that scene.

But this isn’t everything. Once you’re finished here there are several park attractions where you can scream and have some fun. After all, Universal Studios is all about having fun.

One ride that I found very fun was the Jurassic Park ride. Here you come face to face with dinosaurs, a 15-meter long T-Rex before you plunge straight down a 25-meter death-defying raft plunge. That was so much fun, and it is the largest decent I have ever experienced in a theme park.

Another ride that my friends took and not I was the Simpsons Ride. It is a digital projector and I would not recommend this one if you get easily motion sick. My friends had a lot of fun though, and they would recommend it if you like this kind of ride.

Revenge of the Mummy was great fun, but it ended so quickly. The ride is in the darkness, and you get to experience special effects and unexpected twists. The only thing I have to say about this one is that when you thought the real ride was going to begin, it ended. But still, it was fun and unexpected.

The park also have several shows, such as Terminator 2 in 3-D where there is real live actors as well as an on screen show, and WaterWorld where you will get wet if you’re in the first 10 rows and feel the heat from the explosions. If you feel like relaxing you can listen to the Blues Brothers or sit in many of the restaurants around the park.

 You could also meet some of the stars from different movies, such as the mummy himself, or Donkey from Shrek and many many more. A small trip to Notting Hill isn't so bad either. This is a place where you can easily spend the whole day, and it will be worth it. It is fun for everyone, and this is a day I will remember for a long time.

 All of the pictures are my own