Motgangs-supporter

Vi Rosenborg-supportere blir ofte beskylt for å være medgangssupportere, som holder med et lag som bare vinner og ikke vet hva det vil si å støtte opp når det går i motbakke. Dette fikk vi til de grader motbevist i fjor. I år har jeg tatt mine evner som motgangssupperter et skritt videre. Men denne gang for et annet lag.. (Jeg må på dette tidspunktet understreke at jeg på ingen måte har sviktet Rosenborg). Under snøstormen på Alfheim i går var det en stemning på tribunene som fikk til og med en svoren RBK-fan til å hyle "Heia TIL" og håpe at stemmen, sammen med de over 6000 andre, ville nå fram til banen gjennom vindkastene og hjelpe Tromsø til å berge plassen i Tippeligaen. For min nye posisjon som motgangs-supporter for TIL har også rent egoistiske baktanker.. For at TIL holder plassen betyr flere gode kamper i byen, og ikke minst besøk av Rosenborg til våren, slik at jeg kan dra på Alfheim og stille meg sammen med borte fansen!

Nok om det. Kampen i går var en opplevelse av de sjeldne. Det er ikke ofte man får oppleve en fotballkamp i ekte snøstorm, der arrangøren må plukke fram en orange ball, og kampen må blåses av med jevne mellomrom for å få måket linjene fri for snø.. En opplevelse man bare får i Tromsø vil jeg tro. De to timene på Alfheim inntullet i alt vi kunne finne av vinterklær, ga begrepet vintersport en helt ny mening. Men det var verdt det. TIL ser ut til å berge plassen, og gullet er tilbake i Trondheim, der det hører hjemme...

Halloween Party

On Saturday there was a great Halloween party at the Peace House. And yes, among many others, a couple of vampires did show up. So I guess we do exist... And I have pictures to prove it!

Vampires - do they exist?

In these Halloween-times, Norwegian newspaper focus on extremely important issues, like "do Vampires really exist"? The researcher Dagbladet had talked to (OK, it isn't only newspapers that use their time and effort wisely...) said that vampires are mathematically impossible. If not, we would all be one. Personally, I don't think we should draw any such firm conclusions yet. Let's wait till after Halloween, and then we can discuss it, OK?

Blog Power

Just two days after I wrote my previous post, King Winter did decide that it was time to come to Tromsø. I believe the decision was made after reading my blog, of course. I love winter. The snow makes everything so much lighter, and the cold is so refreshing. At least if it doesn't get any colder than this.

Because of all the snow, I now have some entertainment here in the city library. I got a desk right by the window overlooking a steep down hill, and from the looks of it - the winter came a little suddenly on people in Tromsø this year. Most have not yet found their winter shoes or brushed the dust off their "walking on slippery snow and ice-skills", it seems. No serious falls yet, luckily, but quite a few funny walking styles and almost-falls have been spotted. (Man får ikke mer moro enn den man lager selv, sant...)

Ok. It's time to stop writing unnecessary blog posts and close the internet here now. I must go back to staring helplessly at the computer screen trying to write a few sentences on my research paper. No luck so far. I wish wasting time could be a full time job. In that case I wouldn't have to worry about not getting a job once student life is over..

Change of Mind

As I headed up to Kirkenes on Monday to hold lectures for secondary school students about Operasjon Dagsverk, I was very curious about two things..
1. What could I possibly do for three whole days + an evening in Kirkenes??
2. Would I be able to hold a lecture about Nepal for a bunch of people without fainting or forget everything I was supposed to say?

After having spent a few hours in Kirkenes on my way to and from Murmansk a few weeks ago, I have said that the only thing that could make me concider living there was if I was very newly married or desperately in love. This tiny city where a Latte is still presented as a "nyhet" and every cafe seems to be closed after 9 pm (exept Ritz, which apparently is the place to be) just didn't seem like the place for me. Spending three days there was not really on top of my priority list. But things change. Kirkenes is also a town where the winter comes early (yes, I count that as a positive thing!). It is the place where I first saw a submarine. And it is a place very close to Finland, which means I had the opportunity to stock up on my favorite chips (with dill). It is basically a very koselig little town. And last but not least; it is the home of a lot of really nice people! I met so many nice people during these three days, and it really confirmed my opinion that: it is not the place that is important. It's the people. I was almost sad to leave Kirkenes last night!

The other issue was the speaking-in-front-of-a-lot-of-people-about-a-topic-that-I-don't-know-too-well issue. Scary. Definitely scary. Monday night I considered locking myself in some room in Tromsø airport, and accidentaly miss my plane. But I didn't. I had put too much work into holding presentations for our poor mirror to chicken out now! And after feeling uncomfortably many nerves on Tuesday morning, I held my first presentation - and found out that it was actually kind of fun!!

And last night, as I went on the plane in Kirkenes, I felt the great, familiar smell of winter. It was great. Can't wait till King Winter decideds to make an apperance in Tromsø too :)