So here I am, back in Norway yet again. I've just spent almost the entire month of December back home for the holidays and it was a much-needed break. I can't remember having such a good time at home in a long time :). I did miss college though, and that was nice as well. I expected to come back all recharged and with everyone in a good mood, but unfortunately that's not how it is. Everyone is just a bit off, myself included. I'm not sure if it's exactly homesickness, but that's a part of it. The rainy days, schoolwork, and headaches are also a part of it too. I'm just not sure, I feel like I'm in a bit of a slump and I just want to curl up in bed all day. But I know it'll pass, I just need some time to get readjusted. A good weekend of World Today and Snikkarbua and a party is probably just what I need to get back into the whole UWC mood.

Speaking of the World Today, I'm a bit worried about it. World Today is this presentation and debate that a group of us put on every Friday. We try and keep it about contemporary and controversial issues, so sometimes it gets pretty heated. This Friday, we're doing one on the execution of Saddam Hussein. I feel like the only person on campus that supports the use of the death penalty. I get quite sick of this sentiment that here, we are all just so liberal and humanitarian and we're going to save the world and so on. It's a bit of an elitist philosophy, I think. But anyway, many people here feel that the world is "above" the death penalty. But I think that as a responsible member of society and as a human being, you have to think long and hard about issues rather than making flash judgements based on what seems to be the most moral solution. You cannot know what you would want to do to a person who masscred say, your family. Or in this case, you cannot know what you would want to do to a person who terrorized your entire nation, killed hundreds of thousands of your own people, and led a harsh and unjust regime. You simply cannot understand that unless it has happened to you. And when I try to empathsize with that, the only conclusion I come to is that sometimes, the death penalty is unavoidable. Also, prisons are for rehabilitation, therefore I don't see much point in wasting taxpayer dollars to keep someone in prison who has no chance of rehabilitation, no chance of change. I'll admit it's a difficult issue and that there's more to it than just this, but I just feel very alone in my opinion at the moment.

Saw a bit of snow today, but not really enough to be anything. Snowed all around the campus though. I'm enjoying the cold, to be honest. It's refreshing.

I'll write again soon.