Murmansk

I am now back in Tromsø after spending the week-end in Murmansk, Russia, and I have to say that it has been four extremely interesting days visiting our neighbours in the east.

My image of Murmansk before I went, was that it would be a very grey, cold, and boring city. And yes, it is grey, but it is by no means as cold as I feared, and it is certainly not boring!

No one in Murmansk live in regular one-family houses. They all live in five to ten-storyes appartement-buildings, and these buildings all look grey and tired from the outside. This is because it is the municipality's responsibility to renovate them, but they never do. In this way, Murmansk looks like a very grey and tired city at first glance.

However, once you get to know the people, Murmansk comes alive. The reason I went there was a meeting in Save the Children, and because of this we got to meet and work with some of the children that are participating in one of the projects SC are starting in the city. Meeting and getting to know these children was really great, and it made the trip so much more special and interesting.

But there is no doubt that crossing the border between Norway and Russia means crossing one of the borders in the world where the social differences from one side to the other is the biggest. And the system is also very different. We got our passports checked three times on the three hour bustrip from Murmansk to the border, every time by a serious military guy with a gun. Some of the cities are very strictly military cities, where noone is allowed to stop, and in some cities one is not allowed to take pictures. In other cities you are allowed, like in Nikkel and Murmansk - and here are some examples

Dear TromsBuss

Let me make a suggestion.
Take a look at the schedule of the incoming planes to Tromsø Airport.
I am sure the number is not astronomical.

Take a look at the times they arrive.
Then take a look at your flybuss-schedule.
See anything that doesn't match??
Exactly!!!
There is no flybuss for the plane that comes in at 1 am!!

I am pretty sure that I speak for almost everyone who was waiting in the 50 m taxi line for over half an hour Monday night when I say that it would be a good idea to do something about that...

Train-question

After taking a fair amount of trains recently, I am left with one question:

Why is it always my train that has to stop and wait five minutes for the train going the opposite direction??

Enjoying the Last Days of Vacation

There are many Excuses to Drink..

(advertisement seen in the streets of Windhoek)

Ooops, I did it Again...

It seems like I never learn..

Finally, the sun and summer temperatures have decided to find their way to Os also. And in true Norwegian summer spirit, I find my bikini and go to lay out on the veranda at the first hint of sun. That is how the Norwegian summer works. So now I have spent a few days just sitting out on the veranda, trying to read in the great, warm sun. It has been great! But too bad that I forgot that thing called sunblock - again! I am now so red that I can barely sit, and I shouldn't go out in the sun again today. But how can anyone sit in when there is weather like this??

The thing which is quite strange to think about is that only a couple of weeks ago I was in Khorixas, where 20 degrees felt really, really cold. It is winter in Namibia now, and people were wearing their jeans and winter jackets - which are just as thick as Norwegian winter jackets (boblejakker på godt norsk!). People were talking about how cold it was, and the funny thing is that I, too, would disapprovingly shake my head and complain about the temperatures being low. It really felt cold!! And here it feels really hot! Strange.

Snapshots from the Khorixas Album

Me and my host brothers Dion and Dannie


















Me and 2-year-old sister Mercy posing in traditional Damara dresses
















Donkerhoek and some of the children there



















Khorixas:

















... and the "Norway Boys":

Back on Norwegian Soil

For those of you who were starting to wonder whether I had been eaten by a lion, I can assure you that I am back home safe and sound. Back home in Norway, that is! And even though I have had a good time and experienced a lot during my seven weeks in Namibia, I have to say that it feels extremely good to be back home too.

Matt, the American Peace Corps volunteer in Khorixas, asked me the day before I left; so, what will you tell all the people at home when they ask if Namibia was as you expected it to be? And that was not an easy question. Because it wasn’t really as I expected it to be, but then again, I can’t really say exactly how I expected it to be, either.

To put everything I have experienced this summer down on paper would be impossible. And for that matter, I don’t think I have realised everything I have learned yet, I guess that comes with time and distance. But what I do know is that I have learned a lot; about Namibia, about other people and cultures, and not to forget – I have learned a lot about myself.

Of course I have experienced both positive and negative things during the last seven weeks. I have seen things that made me cry, I have heard things that left a big lump in my troat. The words “extreme poverty” and “living of less than a dollar a day” have become painfully real to me. Because even though they have tried to hide the extreme poverty in areas called Donkerhoek (The Dark Corner) outside the towns (out of sight, out of mind?), it is there. One of the UN’s millenium development goals is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger within 2015. There is certainly a long way to go. The people in Donkerhoek have never heard about the UN. They live in sheds with no electricity or water, and struggle to get one meal a day. Seeing this, the millenium goal seems so far away. I don’t see how it can be obtained. But I certainly hope that there is a way.

The crime rate is also high, and as a response to this there were always guards with guns in the grocery store, in the pubs, everywhere. I guess they were there to protect us, but I always found it a little uncomfortable. And one thing I think I could never get used to is the lack of freedom I often felt. I am used to being able to walk home alone at four o’clock in the morning, or go jogging by myself in the woods. Now I couldn’t be outside after dark, not unless I had someone go with me. In Khorixas that was OK, because I always had someone to walk with, but in Windhoek it was more difficult. To walk around in the centre by myself was OK, but I tried not to go outside downtown. And I couldn’t take a taxi alone either, so I was pretty much stuck in the centre or at the guesthouse. The fact that I couldn’t go out alone after dark made me feel that six hours were cut off my day, and I didn’t like that feeling. This has really made me appreciate the freedom I have here in Norway, a freedom which I always used to take for granted.

But I shouldn’t only focus on the negative side, because I have experienced a lot of great things this summer also. One thing is the culture, all the music and dancing – that will bring you in a good mood even if you’re having a bad day. I have met a lot of really nice people, and the hospitality and friendliness that I met from people was amazing. Namibians might not be rich when it comes to material things, but they are certainly very rich in culture, hospitality and friendliness. And my host family was great. It was so nice of them to take me into their house for a few weeks, and they not only took me into their home but also into their family. After the four weeks I spent up there I really felt like one of the family, and it was sad to leave. The children were a wide range of ages – 2, 8, 18 and 20 – so they all had different interests which meant that I got to experience a lot of different things. I can’t wait to see them again when I go back this winter.

And I have also met some other amazing and inspiring people who have started many interesting projects for children from poor or troubled areas. Since my project is about sports for development, I also wanted to talk to people who have started other sport projects in the country. And it turned out to be quite a few. I met a woman who had started a weekly football tournament for several hundred kids to keep them away from doing “not-so-good”-things and give them confidence and organization skills. I met a guy who had started an organization that imported thousands of broken bikes from abroad so that people could learn mechanical skills and open small businesses, in addition to exercising and improving their health. I met someone who had started an organization that focused on young kids who had come in trouble with the police – and which also organized sports events to keep these kids out of the streets. And I met many more. And to see what these projects do for the kids - how happy they are when they are playing, and how much they appreciate having something like this to do – that is a great sight. I know that sport is not a miracle cure that can fix all the problems in the world. Not by a long shot. It doesn’t end poverty, hunger, criminality or conflicts. But it can certainly be a helping factor in some cases. And it gives the kids something to do, a free time where they can think about something else than all the difficulties at home. Sports can’t help them all. But it can help some. And that’s important too.

Off to see the Elephants

The days just seem to fly by here in Namibia, and today it is just a week untill I leave.. I don't know how the days manage to go so incredibly fast, the days just never seem to have enough hours.. Since I got to Windhoek I have gotten a lot of interviews with different organisations and people working with different sports for development projects here in the area. There are a lot of interesting projects and facinating people with many great ideas! Yesterday I went to a huge football tournament that one American lady arranges for over 500 kids every Saturday!

Otherwise I have gone shopping for some really nice souvernirs, and although my bargaining skills are not the best, they are improving - and I actually made a deal I was quite proud of yesterday. I am now planning to buy an African drum, but a friend of mine is going to help me with that, since he said that they will ask much more from me since I'm a tourist. So now the only problem will be actually getting the thing on the plane.

And from tomorrow I decided to take a few day's vacation, and go on a safari up to the Etosha National Park. It is a camping safari, and I have to say that I wonder how it is going to be sleeping in a tent, since I normally sleep with two duvets, two blankets and a sleepingbag - indoors! (people told me that it would be cold here this time of year.. but I don't think I managed to imagine quite how cold...) But I have survived quite a few camping trips in Iceland, and surely Africa can't be colder than that! Anyway, I can't wait to go up to Etosha, and I really hope to see some Elephants, Giraffes, and Lions - oh, and not to forget the Meerkats, of course!

I hope you are all enjoying the summer!
I am going to try to stay in a safe distance from the lions.. I'll tell you how it went on Wednesday!

AUCH!!!

Those four last posts were things I have had on my memory pen for a while. Maybe not so interesting, but since I had already written them, I decided that I might as well publish them, too.

Things have changed a little bit since that last one was written. I am in pain. IN PAIN!! And I only have myself to blame... You see, I decided that the lemon blonde hair was not enough. I needed a tan. So this morning, I took my book with me, put on some SPF 10 and sat in the garden for a while. The SPF 10 did not do the trick. At all. Result: One red lobster in pain. AAAAAAUUUCH! OK. Enough complaining.

Windhoek is treating me well. I am doing some interviews, some shopping, and hanging out with friends. And now I have to go. I have to prepare some questions to ask at the Ministry of Youth and Sport tomorrow. Wish me luck :)

Lemon

Just as I suspected, my skin refuses to get any kind of tan - even if exposed to the strong sun of Africa. (Well, that is not quite true. I have discovered that one part of my body actually gets a tan. I have a tan line from my sandals. But somehow that just makes it look like my feet are dirty. ) I have a sneaking suspicion that none of you will believe me when I say that I have spent 6 weeks in Africa. You will all think I decided to do my fieldwork on football in Siberia instead.

So I decided that at least I have to make use of the sun for something - and that is to get my hair blonder. Therefore, my brother Dannie and I decided to do a little myth-buster, and see if there actually is some truth to the good, old lemon trick. So we squeezed a couple of lemons in my hair and made a couple of highlights in Dannie's. And it worked! Well, Dannie's hair didn't really change at all. But my highlights did! Some of them actually turned platinum blonde!

And that will be my evidence of having spent a month and a half in the sun. That, and the sandal tan-line, off course.

Separated at Birth?

Now in these World Cup times, I was talking to my football fanatic neighbor Philip. The subject of Sweden participating in the World Cup came up, and he asked which famous players plays for Sweden. I listed up the ones I knew, ending with Zlatan Ibrahimovich. Then there was a little pause where my neighbor just looked at me before he said "Yeah. You actually look like him".

Well, I don't know MJ, do Zlatan and I make it to your look-alike-list??

Jump, Shake your Bootie

The first days I was here, at the preparation course for the Norway Cup project, I learned a new game. It was called "Jump, shake your bootie", and turned out to be very useful when I have tried to learn a little bit of Namibian dancing.

The dancing here is just incredible. Dancing is such a big part of the culture, and almost everyone dances wherever there is music - which means basically everywhere. And it is just amazing to see.

So I decided that I also wanted to try to learn to dance the way they do here. And this involves a lot more flexibility than I am used to, and yep, also a lot more bootie shaking! But I just can't help trying to dance when I hear this music. And my attempts are always met with laughter and applause, and I just try to convince myself that they are laughing with me and not of me. I undersatnd that even if I try to do like thay show me to, my dancing just looks very, very stiff to them. "Why aren't you people more free?" they ask me. Good question. I didn't find an answer.

I have decided that learning by observing is probably the best way. And the posibilities to observe are many. At the break time of a football tournament, the boys will put on some music and have kind of an impulsive dance show on the side of the field. I think you would have to search long and hard to find 15 year old boys in Norway doing the same. At the youth hall there are often traditional dancing competitions, and even the smallest social gatherings seems to involve music, dancing, and singing. At the preparation course when the boys were asked to show us some traditional dancing, they didn't hesitate for a second. When we Norwegian people there tried to come up with some dance to show them, we had a hard time coming up with any. And when I ask the boys what they'd like to know more about Norway, they always respond that they would like to know more about Norwegian traditional dances..

Unfortunately, I don't think my learning by observing method has made me a much better dancer. But at least it has given me a lot of fun, and let me see some incredible dancing skills!

A Lesson in Namlish

Even though English is the official language of Namibia, it is noone's actual mother tounge. Actually a school here in Khorixas has a poster on their door saying:

"Don't be ashamed if you make mistakes when speaking English, it is a foreign language!"

At home most people speak one of the bezillion tribal languages, and often they don't start to learn English before they start school - when they have to learn it because all lectures are given in English. Therefore, the level of English varies greatly.

There are a few phrases here that everybody use when they speak English, though, phrases you don't normally hear an English speaker use. Therefore, we can call the language Namlish. For an already language-confused Norwegian, Namlish can be a bit hard to follow at times, at least before you recognize the pattern.

The thing that has been most confusing to me is the use of the word "must". "Must" is used in every context, and covers pretty much everything from can, could, should, will, have to, and do-you-want-me-to. While I always think of must as in "have to" (Norwegian "maa"). So, on my first day when my brother asked me "must I save some of the dinner for you Hanna?", I just said "oh, you don't have to if there is not enough"... But later I realized he was actually just asking if I wanted some dinner.. I did want some dinner!

The one thing I find most funny, though, is this: time apparently has a different meaning here, and the word "now" means more like "in a couple of hours" than "right now". So what is very funny to me is when a person is telling me they'll be back in a little while by saying "I am coming right now" just as they turn and walk away from you. I am still working on getting used to Namibian time..

And when I come back home, chances are big that I will end every sentence with "neh?" or "man!"

Gotta go! See you later, neh?

Beautiful like a Macaroni

Last night, while I was out playing pool with my brothers for the last time in a few months, I recieved the so far strangest compliment of my life from some guy in the bar.

"You look beautiful like a macaroni".

"Ehm.. Thank you. I think.."

My brother Dion had to explain some cultural differences to me. That has started to become a habit by now. And apparently, macaroni is something most families in Khorixas only get to eat for their Sunday dinner. Therefore, it is something special for them. Rice, too, is apperantly pretty special, therefore "beautiful like a rice" would also be a big compliment. So thank you. I think.

When we are on the subject of strange compliments, there is one more that I just haven't gotten used to. "Oh, you legs look so fat!" "Oh, you look really fat in that picture!" Ehm.. thank you?? Dion comes to my rescue again. According to him, if he told a lady that she had become fat, she would be happy all day long. Apparantly, if people loose wait, there will be rumors that they have gotten HIV, and therefore, nobody wants to hear that they are thin. I can understand that. But it still feels a little bit strange to hear people telling me straight out that I look fat today..

Otherwise, today I left Khorixas, and I am going to spend the last two weeks here in the capital, Windhoek, except for a little safari trip or two. It was really sad to leave Khorixas, and especially my family who has been great! It was probably good that my friend Eric came to my house at 8.30 this morning saying that he had found a car that would take us to Windhoek right now, even before I was finished packing, so it wasn't much time to feel sad and dreading saying good-bye. I don't think it really hit me before I was sitting alone in Windhoek this evening, that I don't get to see them again for months. That's sad!

I must try to look at the bright side! here in Windhoek I have hot water, and tomorrow I get to take a warm shower and wash my hair. I never thought I could be so excited about hot water!! I can count on embarrasingly few fingers the showers I have taken in the last four weeks.. Besides, getting back to more familiar food is also on the plus side. And now I am just babbeling. I hear my bed calling me. A bed with a duvet and pillow, no more sleeping bag for a looooong time :)

And, as you see, I am back in a place with internet connection. tomorrow I will see if I can get to post the blogs I have saved on my memory pen each time I optimistically went to see if the internet place was open..

A few Words from Khorixas

Just thought I'd write a few words from Khorixas, Namibia! The place where I have access to internet is also the place where they have examinations these days, and therefore - not so much internet for me. And now that I suddenly got to use the internet for a few minutes, I have experienced so much that I don't even know how to start putting it down on paper.

So now I have been up here for almost two weeks. It's strange - in one way it seems like I have been here a lot longer, but in another way the days go really fast. I have decided to stay here for about two more weeks, doing some more interviews and hanging around, and then go to the capital, Windhoek, to do a few interviews, go to a fund-raising sports day, and hopefully have time to go on a little safari-trip somewhere.

Khorixas is a nice place, and the people are very nice. I live with a very nice family, and have four host siblings. The two oldest boys brought me on a sightseeing trip in the area a couple of days ago, and that was a lot of fun. I have also tried to learn a little bit of their traditional dancing, but without very much success I'm afraid. Another thing I am not doing very much progress on is to learn a few words of the language they speak here - because they have a few clicking sounds that are just impossible for me to pronounce. I had my brother record it into my cell phone, so when I get home I let you hear and you will all probably understand why... Otherwise I have started to do some interviews, and I have followed the Norwegian girl who is a sports volunteer here to some of her work. Tonight she has her good-bye party, and she'll be leaving on Sunday. That will be sad!

Well, there is a lot more things I should have written, but I am running out of time right now. Ciao!

Summer in Norway...

Ready (?) for Take Off

Day of departure is sneaking up on me, and the "joy" of packing is almost over. The packing has mostly been carried out like this: making a list of things I think I need to take with me (and forgetting half of it of course), then starting to sort things into piles on the floor (piles that don't have any kind of categorization or make any kind of sense of course), and then standing in the middle of all those piles, just looking at them not knowing where to begin. The other problem is of course that I have decided to bring very little.. And knowing myself, this is going to complicate things even more, because I am just not made for packing lightly. But I am not made for carrying superheavy backpacks in warm weather either, so this time I have to be good..

The worst thing is that I have this terrible feeling that I am forgetting something.. The visa-application was approved in record time, I now have a host family in Khorixas and a lift from the airport, and I have "enjoyed" my last bottle of delicious, "raspberry"flavored drinking vaccine, but STILL it feels like I am forgetting something.. Oh well, I am counting on that it is just a stupid feeling, that things will work out very smoothly once I get past those off-sick/striking security-check people (wow, maybe I won't be body searched this time!) at Gardermoen.

Even though I am a little nervous about the whole thing, I am also - believe it or not - quite optimistic that this will be a really good experience. I have heard so many positive things about Africa, about Namibia, Khorixas, and the people there, and also about the amazing desert-scenery in Namibia. I think it will be a great experience, and the six weeks will probably fly by. I just wish I could go now. It's all this waiting that is just starting to make me nervous.

But I have found out that there is an internet place in Khorixas (although the net apparently is a little unstable, as the internet usually is), so I am going to update my blog as often as possible! My blog will as of now and for a couple of months turn into a travel-blog, or a travel-diary. And I'll be very happy if you send me e-mails, comments or sms's :)

Au Revoir Tromsø

Summer vacation arrived early this year. Early exams, great sun, and shorts-and-singlet temperatures tricked my brain into believing that it is a lot later than the 14th of May. The result is that I am walking around in a summer-vacation-mode which seems impossible to snap out of. Even the fact that it has now started snowing outside can't change this great summer feeling..

I left Tromsø four days ago, and it it strange to think about that I'm not going back there for like four months. But there will be a lot of stuff happening in those four months!

My summer vacation started out great when I spent three days at Berit's place in Oslo. Next week I'm going to Trondheim to celebrate 17.mai and do some serious Namibia-shopping on the 18th. Then I guess Namibia is next up on my summer plans.. I am experiencing a strange mix of feelings about the trip - a good portion of excitement and curiosity all mixed up with a big dash of fear. Lately, though, the excitement and curiosity part is starting to grow bigger, especially after recieving two big envelopes filled with Namibian tourist phamplets in the mail. My new brilliant plan is to finish all my interviews in record-speed, and have as much time as possible to go on safaries and do some tourist stuff!

Sweater, anyone?

I am not happy with our washing machine.

We have had some minor disagreements all along, since I am secretly suspecting it of shrinking my jeans ever so slightly. However, last night it was time for the big confrontation:

It definitely shrunk my lambwool sweater! A lot!

I mean, even the washing maschine should understand that when I put it on the gentle cycle, 30 degrees, it is supposed to do exactly the same as if I had put it on the wool-programme. Hello!

But, I guess I have to face facts, the sweater is no longer possible for me to wear. Some serious stretching changed it from a tiny size 10-year to something more close to a size 12-year, but at soon 25 that doesn’t do much good for me. So I figured it is probably best to see if it could be useful for anyone else, and therefore:

A now amazingly tight and tiny, but still nice and warm, beige lambwool sweater up for auction! So if you know someone who knows someone who.. Or if you are looking for a cheap gift for a nephew or (maybe preferably) a niece – look no further!

The bidding starts at 10 kroner! 10 going once– 10 goin..

Did I hear 12?

Sunday Hike

Yesterday, Kjersti and I let thesis preparations be thesis preparations, and decided to spend all day outside. It is simply impossible to sit inside when the sun is shining, there are no clouds in sight, and the temperature is climbing towards the 20 degree mark. So we decided to take up the søndagstur tradition from the fall.

Goal of the day: top of the Fjellheis mountain. The Fjellheis goes there, but costs 85 kr to take to the top, and is free to take back down. Translated into student language: you walk up, and you take the heis down.

The hike up is steep, but not too long. Within an hour the goal was reached, and along the way we got to take some breaks and take pictures of the people who were not quite as sporty as us (look right):

From the top of the mountain, the view is fantastic. And I also got to work on my sunburn that is supposed to be the base color before heading off to Namibia (so actually I could call this thesis preparations after all!), eat some ice cream and a hot dog, and just relax. What a perfect day!

And after a Sunday hike, what could be better than sitting outside at Driv in the sun, drinking a glass of ice cold coke?

Sommer og Sol

Looks like the summer has already come to the Paris of the North! The sky is blue, the sun is shining, the seagulls are singing and the ice cream is waiting. I spent May 1st (Labor Day) sitting outside Driv eating the first softis of the year and working on my sunburn, and it felt great! I think I might have to reconsider winter being my favorit time of year..














OK, now I'm off to sit on the veranda of the Peace House to read a little. My sunburn is not quite there yet.

Schweiz - Suisse - Switzerland - Sveits

Last spring I got a letter from Leoneck Hotel in Zürich, telling me that I had won a free week-end at their hotel after participating in their online puzzle-quiz. I was so excited - since Zürich is one of my favorite cities, and since this is the first time I win anything else than a lottery - and determined to use my free voucher even if the plane tickets would cost more than the actual hotel would have..

So after Easter I headed for my favorite country Switzerland. There I met Giulia, my friend from Italy who went to the same high school as me in the US, and who I hadn't seen for three years. That was great, and we had a lot of fun in Zürich!






I also decided that Switzerland is a country I have to go back to. It is so beautiful, and so facinating. And since they have four official languages, I have decided that it must be the perfect place to go and learn one. After listening to people speak and trying to understand signs and restaurant menues, I realized that learning a new language is necessary. And since they have every sign in at least two languages, La Suisse is the place to be. They even have both French and German subtitles on the movie at the same time! But language is not the only reason I so desperatly want to go there. It is so beautiful with the Alps, warm in summer and lots of great snow and ski slopes in the winter. And the people are so friendly and helpful! Watch out, Switzerland, I'll be back!

Looking Scary

I read somewhere that someone claimed that ”it is better to travel than to arrive”.

What? WHAT?? I seriously couldn’t agree less. And here are just a few of the many reasons why:

1. All the carrying and running around with heavy baggage is reason enough in itself. I have never been good at packing, I’ll be the first to admit that. You never know what you might need, or what you might want to wear, and it’s better to be safe than sorry. Usually I am sorry anyway when I try to lift the backpack, but by that time there is no more time to rearrange or take stuff out. So, by the time I get to deliver my baggage at the check-in after changing trains and walking up and down stairs in the amazingly warm airports, I am warm, my shoulders hurt, and I am tired.

2. Then, after standing in X number of unending lines, there is the actual plane. I don't know who have designed the interior of those things, but they have forgotten one little, important detail..: People have legs, and there should be room for them!! So after finding a somewhat possible position to sit in, I often fall asleep, my neck goes into a funny position, and when the plane lands I can't move either my legs or my neck.

3. Last, but not least, the hassle of security checks. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the necessity of security checks, and I am actually glad that they are there. What I am not so happy about is that all people that work in them seem to think that I am the walking image of a security threat. I always beep when going through, and not just once - but several times.. Which means that I have to be body searched. Not fun. In the south of Europe you get just one chance, and if it beeps, you're right off to the body search. In Oslo, on the other hand, you get several attempts, but that didn't help me the last time. In the end they didn't find out why I beeped, but luckily let me through anyway..

So I have to say that I think arriving is A LOT nicer than travelling. To reach the hotel, put all the baggage down, take a shower and go out discovering a totally new place - nothing beats that!

Meerkats

For the last few days I haven't really wanted to go on fieldwork this summer. I don't get answers to my e-mails with the millions of questions I have about my trip, I have no idea where I am going to stay or when I am going to go, and May is getting uncomfortably close. No, the last few days I haven't really wanted to hear the word "Namibia" mentioned at all.

But today, my package from Amazon came, including a travel guide to Namibia! And what do I see on the cover? Nothing else than my alltime favorite animal - the Meerkats!

I choose to take this as a sign that it'll be a good summer in Namibia after all!

Solution

As I was writing the previous post, the solution to my "problem" kind of jumped into my head. Maybe my brain is finally recovering from Easter vacation..

Weather

I don't think this is quite fair.

I left Tromsø almost two weeks ago, after sitting in my room writing exams and looking out on the fantastic weather with the sun shining from a cloud-free, blue sky for over three weeks. Since noone has invented something that makes exames write themselves yet, I had to stay inside even though I felt like I should be outside.

So when I came home for Easter vacation, I told my parents that I was going to have a nice, well deserved break from everything called school, and not open another book until Tuesday after Easter, but rather spend a lot of time outside getting a tan.

Then the sun magically disappeared.

Although I didn't get to spend a lot of time outside, I kept my word and didn't open a book all week. Not a school book at least. But yesterday I found out I'd probably better get some reading done for the oral exam. And guess what happened?

The sun is again shining, there is no cold wind, and not a cloud in sight! Humf!

(Let me just point out something very important: I am complaining about the school work, not the weather. Even though it is a little annoying not being able to be out there, I wouldn't want the sun to disappear!)

Arctic Dogsledding

Volunteering for the Peace Centre seminar provided unexpected possibilities. I got to go dogsledding for the first time!

About 80 dogs were waiting unpatiently to take us around Kvaløya in the beautiful Tromsø evening. I cannot figure out how they could be so excited and filled with energy at the thought of being allowed to run for an hour in the deep snow pulling a sled with four people in it, when I hardly had the energy to sit still and write an exam. I seriously wish I had some of their energy! But if it requires copying their eating habits - a mix of chicken and fish apparently - I am not quite sure... I'm working hard on coming up with an alternative plan on how to get the same amount of energy..

Anyway, dogsledding was cold but fun, the Paris of the North showed itself from its very best side, and wine, traditional sami food and choclate cake around the fireplace in the Lavvo tasted great!

Coffee Overdose

I'm writing about vicious circles in my exam. And I have just discovered one personally. Couldn't sit and write the exam because I was so tired. Had some coffee to wake up and concentrate. Had a little more coffee. All the caffein kicked in at the same time. I cannot sit still to write exam.

Humf!

Dødball Season

Now the sun is shining, the snow is starting to melt, and spring is here again. Spring is a great time of year - it is the start of the dødball-season! I can't help but think about all the fun times running around the soccerfield in Lillehammer last year, trying not to get hit by that little tennisball and make it to the base in time. The laughs, the discussions, the cheers, the sports-injuries..
Dødball is great fun!

For those of you not familiar with the concept, let me fill you in on this great activity that we rediscovered last year. Dødball is kind of a Norwegian version of baseball, that kids usually play in every school-break at elementary and secondary school. So last year a group of us decided that dødball is also a sport for students, found a soccer-field in Lillehammer, and - voila!

Now I hear that there is a dødball-reunion coming up. I wish I could be there, but I can't. You guys have to make this an annual happening.

I'll make sure to do a strong comeback next year.

I Work Best under Pressure

I work best under pressure.
I work best under pressure.
I work best under pressure.
I work best under pressure.
I work best under pressure.

If I just say it enough times it will come true, right? RIGHT??

I Need:

1. Inspiration.

2. 3000 words for essay. Preferably about collective narratives, peace education and/or history.

3. An invention that would make the day last for 48 instead of 24 hours every day until Friday.

If you have any ideas, please don't hesitate to tell me.

Always Look at the Bright Side of Life...

Tra la la la la la..

Exam is definitely not going as planned. I just can't get my mind to work today, and when I can't think, it is a little bit difficult to get anything useful down on paper. But instead of complaining about my exam writing (or lack thereof) I decided to try the "think positive tecnique" and focus on something better.

For example, this seems to be the "week of free food". Very convenient for a limited student economy. Redd Barna-Boss Bjørn-Richard has just recently experienced Lånekassen's limited generousity himself, and therefore gave Rachel and me all the leftovers from dinners and lunches at the Redd Barna region-meeting we went to this week-end. So now our fridge and freezer is full of salat, bread, pais, chinese chicken+curry and rice! in adition to that, we also got to go to a three course dinner at a fancy restaurant with all the Redd Barna people on Saturday. And because we're volunteering for the Peace Centre Seminar this week, we get three free lunches and another fancy dinner on Thursday. Yeah!

Positive thing nr. 2 - the sun is (almost) shining again. After a couple of weeks of bright sun and blue sky it started snowing yesterday. But now I can see some blue sky again!

Oh, and I have found a new favorite actor. He's finnish, and he's called Jasper Pääkkönen. He plays Matti Nykänän in the new movie, and he's oh so cuuuute..

Last - but not least - I have now in some miraculos way overcome the technical obstacles and fixed my blog so that everyone can write comments on it, not just fellow bloggers.

I expect results!

Flatpakker er Ikke Helt som Alle Andre Pakker

Yes!

Good news: My new bed arrived from IKEA, and I no longer have to sleep on the floor

Bad news: It arrived in the form of a “flatpakke”; in other words IKEA assumes that I will be able to put this thing togehter all by myself, only with the “help” from their so-called directions in form of a 8 page long pamphlet with drawings of smiley people guiding me through the bed-building process step-by-step, picture by picture.

Uhm. Well. With my practical skills and my limited faith in this much-to-be-desired pamphlet, the result turned out to look anything but what page 8 suggested. And sure enough, the bed ended up crocket, with one side like 10 cm longer than the other. And of the 11 screws provided by IKEA, 8 are happily unused and along with 16 of the 24 wood-nails still sitting in the plastic bag they arrived in. Luckily, this is a very low bed, so if my masterpiece falls apart, the fall won’t be too dramatic. Well, take a look for youtself..

However, various interior decorating shows at BBC has taught me that the “finishing touches” makes all the differece in the world.. Hence (my favorite word in these exam times..):

Well, I guess even the finishing touches can’t cure everything..

Favorite Time of Year

I love winter.

Not exactly Tromsø-winter, with slippery roads and more rain than snow. No, not that kind of winter. But winter with lots of snow, a few degrees below zero, and nice, bright sunshine. Exactly like it has been for a couple of weeks.

I don’t know why I like this time of year so much. It might be that coming from a cold place like Os, I can handle the cold a lot better than warm weather. Or it could be that the snow makes everything so nice and bright. Or, I have to admit, it could be because it is the season of ski sports.

Actually, I am a little sad today, because I realized that the ski sport season is coming to an end. Most sports had their last world cup competition this week-end, and they won’t start again till late November. That’s an awful long time to wait!

But I think it might be a mix of all the above mentioned possible reasons that makes me love winter so much. So sitting here sick of stress-reading for thesis and exams, I have come up with a plan! After I am done with my master degree next year, I am taking my long-planned and needed year off, and moving to winter-wonder-land!

You'll find me somewhere in the Alps, enjoying the sun and skiing while trying to learn some French!

Nissetufser og Slemme Slabbedasker

Ah, jeg har akkurat funnet ut at jeg ikke er den eneste som irriterer meg over lettere udugelige oversettelser på norsk TV.. Dagbladet meddelte nettopp at TV3 har hatt en litt uheldig variant på Oprah show før idag - der de har klart å oversette Crystal Meth (som visstnok er metamfetamin) med det heller ukjente narkotiske stoffet Krystallmetadon. Hadde visst skapt et rush av seerprotester..

Jaja, men så leste jeg videre da, på alle kommentarene folk har lagt til saken. Og der var det jo gullkorn på gullkorn, og jeg lo så tårene trillet. Tror min absolutte favoritt må være:

"I've got the car up front. Let's go!" eller på "godt" norsk: "bilen har framhjulstrekk, vi går!"

Men når jeg leser videre er det definitivt ikke lett å bestemme hvem som fortjener bestemannstrofeet. Du kan jo lese selv og bedømme.. http://www.dagbladet.no/kultur/2006/03/15/460798.html

Et par nye slagkraftige kraftuttrykk har jeg i hvertfall lagt til i ordforrådet. Din nissetufs! Din slemme slabbedask!

No vart du skræmt no tenkje je...

Priorities part 2

YES! Sunday I got to do all the laundry that needed to be done by hand, and has piled up for months.

Exam times are good for something!

Language Lesson

Lesson in Norwenglish (part 1):

kitchen benches= kjøkkenbenker = kitchen counters.

just in case anyone else is also confused..
I suspect that Norwenglish lessons part 2,3,4,5....173 will follow shortly. At least after a quick look at my exam paper. It is slående to me that språk can be so confusing.

Ha en fin dag!

Priorities

It is amazing how many important things that just have to be done when I have planned to use a whole day at home writing an exam. Stuff about which I usually think “oh, I’ll do it tomorrow”..

My hyper-effective-exam-writing-day Friday also included:
- Doing a huge grocery shopping trip to Spar (ICA would have taken too little time)
- Cleaning kitchen benches and floor, plus doing dishes
- Making one cup of coffee, and three cups of tea
- Going to the city library to check mail, newspapers, pay bills and write a blog
- Fold heaps of laundry very neatly
- Folding all the rest of the clothes in the closet while I was at it
- Watching Beverly Hills 90210 (that is a must!)
- Cleaning the bathroom
- Eating brownies and watching “Extreme Makeover Home Edition”

I decided to take Saturday off.

Wonder what “important” stuff I will have to on Sunday.

Reliable nose?

My watch broke today!
Hope my new way of telling time is reliable..

Terrible Timing

I am sitting here writing an exam about fieldwork in areas of conflict, but there are like a hundred thousand bazillion things I'd rather do right now. So when I saw Marjaana's idea about cloning, I realized that that would have been the answer to my problem. The thing is, that even though there is a hundred thousand bazillion things I'd like to do, as the sports nerd that I am, there is one that clearly tops the list: to watch the Olympics from Torino.. It must be described as painful to sit in my room staring at a computer screen, when the TV is 10 meters away in the living room and I know that if I just turn it on I could watch everything that goes on in Torino! Ahhh... BE STRONG BE STRONG!

So this is what I would love to be able to do: I would clone an extra Hanne that could work her butt off on the exam, while the real me could curl up on the couch with my wool blanket and a hot chocklate and some candy, and just watch sports all day! I seriousely think the Norwegians in the Olympics would have needed me to cheer more actively than this exam has allowed me to. They're not doing very well - gold medal wise. And the thought of Sweden beating us in that statistics..

Ouch!

A Good Trip to ICA

After helping the moving guys get all the furniture from our appartment, I was starving and just had to run down to ICA to get something good for dinner. Since I was tired after all the moving, I decided to go there just as I was; red in the face, my hair up in some creative ponytail-looking thing, and of course wearing my sweats that were all stained after lifting stuff. I told Rachel that she should consider going with me, because I was sure that when I was going to ICA looking like that - “Lasse” would for sure be at work for the first time in what has seemed like forever.. (For those of you who don’t know who “Lasse” is – you should read Rachel’s blog. But just to fill you in breifly: he is the most beautiful cashier in the whole wide word, except for his “twin” in Reykjavik maybe).

And I was right!! As we stepped out of the garage and peaked hopefully into ICA – he was there! Giggling, we quickly went and got what we needed (just painfully healthy stuff and kitchen equipment, of course!), and waited around in the vitamine department just long enough to make sure that a line developed in the other register, so that we could go in Lasse’s line.

Sooooo cute! I do believe that this guy has the coolest hair and the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. And we found out some new info on him: he has a nokia cell phone, drinks coke and has a big tattoo on his right arm. And we found out his name from the reciept...

OK, let’s just stick with Lasse..

A New Way to tell Time

I thought I had fighted off the cold that seems to be going around these days, but apparently I haven't been 100% successful. Some cold-symptoms are remarkably stubborn, although in a (even I have to admit) very strange way..

Last week I noticed that always like half way through the second set of lectures (14-16 p.m.), my nose blocked up. I noticed because suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe, and had to gasp the air in like a whaleross. This happened at pretty much the same time every day, and even continued on Friday when we didn't have lectures, and over the week-end. In the mornings I was fine, in the afternoons I had a cold. Strange. So if anyone is confused about when it turns 3 p.m. now that the dark times are gone and it is nice and bright out all the time - just ask me!

But I'd still prefer using a watch!

The Blog is Alive!!!

Surprise! A new update! I have heard that some people are losing faith in my blogspot, and threathen to stop check it if nothing happens soon. Well, we can't have any of that, can we!? So I decided to take a few moments of the precious time that would otherwise be spent on reading about the US's implementation of turtle and shrimp restrictions (yeah, I know - that was extremely hard to put aside, but everything for the revival of the Blogspot!), and write some highly exciting news here... But do I have any very exciting news to write? Not really..

I am just going to finish the shrimp article (which actually turns pretty funny when you have been at school for 8 hours, drunk X cups of strong coffee, and are a little bit over-tired), and then we are heading home to celebrate Valentine's Day with lasagne and Animal Planet.

Inspired by Marjaana's latest update, I have decided to live life on the edge a little.. let's try this:
I am a terror threat!!! Let's see if that causes any Blog-trackers to get on my case.. Maybe you'll read about me in the next issue of Newsweek!

But for now, back to the shrimp!