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!

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