RingRing

Now I am going up North in Namibia, and I might not be able to use the internet so much. But I would be very happy to recieve some sms's at my new Namibian number: +264813217560 :)

Stuck in Windhoek

I almost have to laugh. Seems that I'm experiencing Murphy's law of travelling or something. I didn't mind staying 24 hours in London. Not at all. It was great. But then when we finally got on the plane that would take us to Joburg 24 hours late, I got sick. And getting sick on a plane is not a good feeling. It's kind of a claustrophobic feeling. Cause there is nowhere to go and always a line for the bathroom.. The only similar experience I have had was getting seasick in Iceland. Terrible. Well, we finally landed, and had to pick up our luggage and check in to the Windhoek plane. Then I herad that passenger "Berttness" should kindly report to the baggage reclaim desk. So passenger Berttness kindly did, only to find out that our bags were still in London. Filling out all those forms and arguing to get a refund (we finally got 35 puonds for buying deodorants and stuff) made sure that we also lost our plane to Windhoek. Luckily the nice rebooking guy in Heathrow had seen this happening, and also booked us into a later plane "just in case"... So we finally got to Windhoek, where it is nice and warm and sunny, but we have to wait here till the bags arrive, because they don't deliver to Khorixas off course... Turns out they don't deliver to Windhoek either, so we'll have to go get them at the airport. I just called South Africa, and the bags at least made it there and are heading for Windhoek this afternoon. So if all goes according to plan (haha) - we'll pick them up together with the rental care tomorrow morning, and I will test my "driving on the left side"-skills up to Khorixas :)

London Calling

Yesterday the winter decided to come back to Gardermoen. Our plane was not prepared for that. So it was delayed. When we finally took off, we realized that this was going to be a fight with time if we were going to make the plane from Heathrow to Joburg. We lost that fight. We were delayed in every possible way: Since we took off late, we had to get a new landing time, and had to circle over London for half an hour. Then when we finally landed, there was no space to park, and we had to wait for the stairs to be driven to the temporary parking spot. Then we had to take a bus to another terminal at the totally opposite end of the airport. At this terminal they were very strickt at the security check. When we finally got through, the last plane "to that part of the world" tonight (as the airport guy put it), had already left.

But all is well that ends well. All these dalays made British Airways give us new tickets for tonight, and a hotel in London for last night. And since we had all day today without nothing to do, what else could we do than get on the tube and explore London?? Since I have wanted to go here for quite a while, I was everything but sad to get an opportunity to spend a day here (almost) for free! Unfortunately our suitcases were stuck at Heathrow, and I don't relly have room for anything more in my carry-on, so shopping was not really an option. Still, it was a great day in London. But now we'll soon be on our way back to Heathrow to be sure to make tonight's plane to Joburg :)

Ready or Not.. Here I Go

Can't believe how incredably fast the days have gone lately, and suddenly it is time to go back to Namibia! With limited time for preparations, I have been running around looking for my summer clothes the last couple of days, and I now hope that everything is in the suitcase... I don't really feel ready to go, but it will probably feel better once I've started the long journey towards southern Africa. Weather reports online told me that it was 43 degrees in Khorixas yesterday... But luckily the forecast says it will go down to only 37 next week! Well well, it will be nice to get some weeks with lots of sun so that I can hopefully tackle Mørketid a little better when I get back.. Knowing the internet situation there, I might not be able to update the blog for a while. But watch out - suddenly I might find a place with internet that works, and write a few lines letting you know what's going on in Namibia!

Career Options

"Peace Studies? Oh! How interesting.. But tell me, what kind of job can you get after studying that?" There it is again. The Question! The question that I have gotten so many times, but still dread more than any other question.. Because what job can I get really? Time flies uncomfortably fast, and I am getting painfully aware of the fact that I only have like 6 months to find an answer to the big future-career-question. But, as always, if Plan A is difficult to come up with, why not start with Plan B? That's what I did. If I cannot decide what peace-related job I could have a chance of getting, why not choose a completely different career plan? So I have come up with a Plan B. And C. And maybe even D.

Plan B came about in the least expected circumstanses. In the changing room at Kraft last year, Kjersti and I was talking about my towel, which I told her had one of my favorite celebreties printed on it. She thought I was talking about Kristofer Hæstad (no no no), but I was of course talking about Harry Potter! However, with this misunderstanding the brilliant plan of "The Celeberty Shower Company A/S" was born! Wouldn't you like to be able to order towels with your favorite celeberty on?? If you have any special requests, just let me know, and it might even make it to the first big kolleksjon..

But such a risky Plan B also requires a Plan C.. What if celeberty towels for some mysterious reason is not a big hit? Well, I have a plan. It is called "Pink Tomatoes", and is a t-shirt store combined with a cafe that serves the best hot chocolate EVER. Also this plan came about under strange circumstances, as I was making food for old people in Iceland and spent my days without understanding what anybody said, except some Icelandic words that sounded like, yep - pink tomatoes. Therefore, the first one will be opened in Reykjavik.

If all my creative skills fail me, however, I just recently discovered a third option. Holding my lectures for Save the Children, I discovered that the prosentage of cute, young, male teachers in Finnmark is relatively high.. So maybe a school career in the far North wouldn't be such a bad idea.. After all it would be a good thing also for my huge student loan.

Well well.. Other career suggestions greatly appreciated!

Dream

I overslept this morning. My alarm clock went off. Since I'd been wide awake from 4am to 6am, I figured I deserved to snooze at least once. The alarm went off again. I turned it off, ready to get out off bed and get ready for school. I just needed to close my eyes for a moment. Then I thought about getting dressed, putting my make up on, prepare my lunch, and go out the door. When I was on my way out the door, I opened my eyes. I was still in bed. It had all seemed so real. Creepy!

Christmas Card

I wish you could all see Tromsø today. It's beautiful. Cold, snowy, and sunny. It is on Sundays like this that I really don't like being a student. Because Sundays like this should be spent climbing a mountain, not inside a reading room trying to meet a research paper deadline. Somehow I have this fancy idea that having a job enables you to take weekends completely off. I guess I could now that I'm a student too, but in exam times like this it would be a day off with a side dish of guilt feeling.

I also wish that I would have taken my camera today. I looked at it as I left my room this morning, and thought, neh, don't need it.. Then I came out and realized that if I had brought it, I could have posted a great christmas card this year. But, since I didn't bring it, you'll just have to close your eyes and imagine the most beautiful winter landscape you can think of. And that's the christmas card from Tromsø this year.