I rule!

[pengolodh_sc]

Today I had an exam again, in the subject "Projecting of Fishing- and 
Workboats". The exam was oral, rather than written, and consisted of 
two parts. First, we had to present the project we had done - we were 
two groups, each group doing a written project designing a vessel, 
and the project counted 50% towards the final grade. My group 
consisted of me, Marius and Solfrid. After this, there was an 
individual exam for each student. 

Of course I have tried reading for the exam the last few days, but 
it's been so damned hot (26-27 degrees centigrade) that all I have 
read has melted and run straight out of my head again. So today, at 
12 midday, I appeared at the meeting-room at the second floor at the 
Centre of Marine Technology, more than just a bit nervous. The 
presentation took one hour, and went as well as could be expected, 
although we did get a nervous feeling when we noticed just how 
dwarfed our reports was by the report from the other group. The 
nervousness only increased when we spoke with the other group, and 
realised that they had completed linedrawings with ShipShape (tm), 
and all sorts of things - I myself had hoped that we could have 
achieved a bit more on our project. Nothing to be done by that, 
however - all we could do, was to present the project as it was, 
though it paled in comparison to that of Group 1 - but Professor E. 
informed me that the other group had produced the best project he had 
ever seen in his long time as a professor.

Anyway, after the persentation, my group was up for the individual 
exams, and I really did not feel I was in control of the subject. Of 
my group, I was the last to go, with Solfrid going first. Both Marius 
and Solfrid said they were really unhappy about how things went when 
they were done, and the last few minutes waiting to be called in were 
of the nervous sort. Then Professor E. poked his head out the door, 
and I walked in to an uncertain fate.

I go in, and as instructed seat myself at the end of the table there. 
I was then asked to draw two pieces of paper from seventeen on the 
table (one for each chapter in the curriculum) - I did so, and got 
the numbers 6 and 9. what doe it mean? The professor also is curious, 
and strives to find out what no. 6 was (with me thinking to 
myself: "If he, the Professor, doesn't know what no. 6 is about, how 
am I supposed to remember anything?"). Then he finds it: ship-boards 
hydraulics and deck-equipment. "No! I don't know that chapter!" was 
what I thought. A small core of panic makes its presence known. 
Professor E. starts by asking what factors are used to dimension ship-
borne hydraulics on fishing-vessels, and I respond, using a trawler 
as example, explaining that first you shoot the trawl (set it out), 
but that isn't particularly demanding, but hauling it, while it gets 
ever heavier is a strain, and recovering it is the big factor. As 
this part goes on, I realise that, contrary to what I expected, I am 
doing OK. Questions go on, and I miss only a small bit on one 
question.

Then: No. 9. Turns out it is about propulsion-machinery, and that was 
one of the topics that was my responsibility to write about on the 
project - the questions were easy, and Professor E. and the censor 
felt compelled to stop me talking, so they could ask questions from 
other areas in this chapter. The 15 minutes pass quickly, and I am 
sent out while the Professor and censor discuss our grades. At this 
point I fully expect to get a C - a C in Norway is the equivalent of 
the upper quarter of a US C and the lower half to two thirds of a US 
B, while a Norwegian B covers the upper half of a US B, and the lower 
quarter to half of a US A.

Some minutes pass by, while I gather the others - we are seven in 
total. We are then called in, and the censor takes a sheet and starts 
reading: (names) (mumble) (mumble), Solfrid G.: C, (mumble) (mumble) 
Marius L.: C, (mumble) (mumble) (somebody gets an A) (mumble), 
Christian S.: B! Now that shocked me! I had the feeling that the 
report was less than perfect, to say it mildly - I expected the 
reports was around C or D - and I managed to lift myself to a B! 
After this announcement I was free to go home and relax - noting in 
passing that Marius and Solfrid were not particularly keen on 
discussing the report with me all of a sudden.

Presently I am watching the Royal Wedding on TV - after Nidaros 
Cathedral Boy-Choir sang a Norwegian version of "I Was Glad" (same 
text as used for English coronations, different melody), the choir 
Schola Sanctae Sunnivae walked through the cathedral, singing "Lux 
Illumit" - very, very serene. And Princess Märtha Louise looks more 
like a queen than any Queen Reignant, Queen Consort, or Queen Dowager 
I have ever seen - this gown is far more beautiful in my eyes than 
the one worn by HRH Crown Princess Mette Marit when she married HRH 
Crown Prince Haakon (even if a fashion-expert commented that it made 
her think of Princess Leia from Star Wars). 

Best regards
Christian Stubø