the way i see it

Is pizza a vegetable? Why we think Americans are crazy

2011-11-22T09:19:00.000+01:00

There's no doubt Norwegians grow up with the impression that Americans in general are all a little bit "crazy". They carry guns with them everywhere, they have more people in prison than any country in the world, they eat french fries and burgers at school instead of homemade healthy food, they shoot the thief instead of calling the police and they have a school massacre so often people just go "Oh well what else is new" whenever there is a new incident involving a gun. Then came Bush, which didn't make things better...

Why this impression? Because some of it is true, of course, but it's not close to as bad as the impressions we get from the one and only source; media, and I'm one of those lucky enough to have learned that Americans are just as different as other places and do not deserve the bad reputations they have around the world - actually they're nicer and more fun than anywhere else I've ever been. And after all - I have survived my three visits there so far and didn't end up getting shot as I thought I would - and there was no bomb on the plane. Pre-judging? Who, me?

But let's face it, some of the reasons why this country makes no sense sometimes, to us Europeans that is, and that makes us think "WHAT??!?!?!", is of course thanks to media as mentioned but also...A CRAZY government and a political system that seriously BLOWS MY MIND.

Just like many other places, there is no real democracy in the US, cause if there was things would for sure be different, and the "freedom of speech" is not as free as it used to be, since you could for instance get arrested if you speak up about the meat industry in the South. Don't you believe me? Watch the movie "Food Inc".

There is no doubt Obama has a difficult task. He wanted to do many things, maybe too many, cause it's not like it's easy to make things happen over night in a country with 300 million people, where each state has its own saying when it comes to law and order, and where people cried "Change! Change!" some years ago and then when realizing what this change involved, (actually having to do some cuts here and there along with other things) went "Oh really... no thank you I don't think so. I want my money and freedom". A contradiction? Well - I'm glad I'm not in Obama's shoes, it's a bit difficult to have "change" without "change"....

One of the things he wanted to get rid of was the horrible food kids eat at school, and together with the agricultural department he tried to get rid of french fries, pizza and too much salt in the lunch students get at school. BEST OF LUCK. How do you change a country where the weapon industry and the food industry have the power to fully control the country either you try to make it healthier or safer?? Even in Norway, a small country where we fully trust the government compared to the US, the agricultural industry has so much power that the information we get about meat is not even close to true - something most people don't know.

Still, the US somehow manages to stick out when it comes to hilarious views, and here's the most recent decision: PIZZA IS A VEGETABLE

The House of Representatives have now passed a bill that abandons proposals that threatened to end the reign of pizza and French Fries on federally funded school lunch menus. Why? Cause the food industry was afraid the new rules would force the producers to change the products so that students would have trouble swallowing the food... Of course, it could not be related to the frozen pizza producers being afraid of losing an important business.

According to spokesman for the American Frozen Food Institute, Corey Henry, "It's an important victory," (Reuters - "House protects pizza as a vegetable" An important victory?! That's what people say when they have achieved something big, like closing down the Guantanamo or pass a bill saying that men and women have equal rights. But FROZEN PIZZA???

My condolences to the millions of children that will continue to suffer from unhealthy lunches at school, in a country where nearly one in three (!) children now is overweight or obese. I don't think the number will stop growing with this recent - fantastic bill.

My favorite comment from readers having said anything about the article from Reuters is this one;

"Actually, tomatoes are technically considered fruits…therefore, pizza is a fruit. If you’re going to encourage childhood obestity as least have your semantics down."

Yes! And so is Chili con Carne, Spaghetti Bolognese and a burger at McDonalds. I mean, they all contain tomatoes, don't they???

Foggy morning!

2011-11-11T12:41:00.003+01:00

It's been foggy lately. A fog that lays like a blanket over the sea, that you get out of once you reach a certain altitude beyond sea level. Yesterday morning I had a feeling it was extra thick cause while I was still laying in bed I could hear boats using their foghorns several times within a short while.

Eventually I got out of bed to check out if it really was as foggy as it sounded like. Looking out the window I couldn't see ANYTHING. Holy crap no wonder the boats were lost, I can't remember I've ever seen the fog this thick at home before!

To give an example of how bad it actually was, this it how it looked like once the fog suddenly disappeared about an hour later.

November Sunrise

2011-11-10T09:43:00.005+01:00

Watching the sunrise when I get up in the morning is definitely the thing I miss the most when I'm away from home. I find it incredible that although I've seen the sun rise the exact same place my whole life, I find it just as fascinating every morning. It never gets old.

RIP Hickstead

2011-11-07T23:00:00.002+01:00

What an amazing amazing AMAZING horse that was - and what a brutal ending to it all.

US impressions

2011-11-02T18:20:00.037+01:00

After receiving a couple of questions from friends about whether I will ever blog again I realized it's been too long since my last blog. I don't even have an excuse for it as I could've written a lot about all the different impressions I have after spending a couple of months in the US. So I figured either I start blogging again, or I quit. And having had my blog since 2006 a part of me simply can't just let it "die", hence I chose to finally continue and do so by "summing up" my impressions from California the last weeks - nicely organized by headlines and different categories.

Climate:

It's not a coincidence that this is the first thing I feel like mentioning. Coming from the Western coast of Norway (read: constant rain and wind), the climate in California is SENT FROM HEAVEN. Sunshine every day except 3-4 days with rain, for almost 3 months, is simply unbelievable for a viking. You can actually plan ahead if you wanna go do something outdoor, and you don't need a plan B every time (in case it starts raining, snowing or hailing). I can hardly remember what a cloud looks like!

Note: Being from the cold North I see how different my opinion of what a summer is than Californians. Already a couple of months ago they started talking about "how we have to enjoy the last days of summer cause there won't be many more days like this". Are you kidding me? The temperatures you get in October are higher than the ones we get during a nice summer in Norway...

Indoor heating:

Yes this one actually does require its own category. Californians have NOT understood the concept of having it cozy and warm indoors and tend to not be aware of what every Norwegian knows: The sun is NOT always warm.

During summer the sun heats up the houses enough to keep them warm during the day. However, Northern California actually does get colder when Summer is over and the sun "stops working" as I like to call it. It's logic that when the sun barely manages to keep you warm when you go for a hike - obviously warming up a whole house is too big of a task for it... In spite of this no house in California has heated floors or heated bathrooms. VERY hard for a Norwegian who is used to the bathroom being the warmest room in the house - here it's just as cold as any other room.

I also realize that although I should be more used to colder temperatures than Californians, this does NOT include indoor temperatures and I constantly get comments like "shouldn't you be used to the cold" and "it clearly must be colder in Norway". Well yes OUTSIDE it is - do not judge me on my ability to manage cold houses and cold floors!

My demand for comfort has resulted in these 2 little guys having been my best friends during my stay:

1. My houseshoes

Dear dear houseshoes - what would I do without you... These little companions have been keeping my feet warm every day since I arrived. They have also caused a little drama once in a while when they "disappeared" (meaning I didn't remember where I put them). Thank you for the comfort - it was worth all the funny looks I got along the way.

2. Mini heater

I love you little heater. Thank you for keeping me warm during the coldest days. At least my legs - as you're not the biggest heater around. Your effort was priceless though, and that is what matters.

Fashion:

Or not fashion. That is the question. Fashion in the US (that is in general - not the kind of fashion we see in magazines from New York and Hollywood...) is WAY different than in Scandinavia. I feel like an outsider as soon as I put on a pair of ballerinas, something that is considered CASUAL in Europe. Or wear a skirt? Or tight jeans? It's like it's written FOREIGNER all over me as soon as I put on a freaking scarf, even made of cotton!

Things I brought to California that I have not used ONCE cause there was not a single occasion for it during 3 months:

1. Big earrings - would stick out big time, I hardly see anyone wearing earrings at ALL
2. Blazer - maybe if I went to a high-rent club in downtown SF but going to a pub in California wearing a blazer would be a disaster
3. Classic skirt - nope, wouldn't work, I would look like I belonged to the British Royal family (or tried to)
4. Pumps - seeing that ballerinas already makes me look like I'm going to work, I wouldn't even think of wearing pumps going out...

The fact is that in California, all you need is 4 things that you can wear at any occasion:

Flip flops
A North Face fleece jacket
Bootcut jeans
A hoodie that shows which college you graduated from (this concept is something Norwegian teenagers haven't understood, as they go and buy hoodies with "UCLA" written on the chest trying to be fake-college-students. Yes we do love America).

I'll admit I've adjusted and "gone casual", not to stick out TOO much. Although I do have my "Scandinavian moments" now and then and when I saw 2 Swedish girl in the movie theater the other day, (Scandinavia was written all over them) I had to say to myself "WHAT has happened to my style!" as I looked like just another Californian in my comfy jeans and fleece. Nothing bad about it - but oh do I miss dressing up a little once in a while without having to attend Obamas dinner or something to justify it.

Driving:

I don't even know where to start. As if it's not hard enough coming from a country with only 4,8 mill people and goats, cows and deers walking around on the roads - growing up driving on an island with only 17.000 people, no traffic lights and an average speed limit of 60 km/h (37 m/ph) makes it even worse.

Driving in California is CRAZY. My first time driving on the freeway was a nightmare and I was sure the scary Highway Patrol was going to pull me over for driving too SLOW. Making such a sharp turn that the GPS fell on the floor didn't make it better and I've never been more close to FREAKING OUT in a car... "East or West? East or West!? DO I GO EAST OR WEST?!"
Good thing the gas is so cheap here cause once you take the wrong exit on the freeway there is no way back, you can't just turn around and you don't even have time to think which direction to choose cause traffic is moving so fast you will either cause an accident or get honked at if you slow down. And before you know it you're in an "exit only" lane and you have to exit even though you don't really want to... I seriously don't know what I would've done without a GPS and since I'm now what I would call an "experienced driver" in the US (to be Norwegian...) the poor woman talking to me doesn't have to say "recalculating" every time I refuse to go on the freeway.

On top of the traffic being crazy in a country with 300 million people, the rules are of course different too, just to make it even more complicated. My favorite is the four-way-stop intersections which make no sense to me. This is what I would call an "intersection-party" where you meet up with other drivers and you get a chance to waive to each other and smile about who gets to drive first... First come - first served, you better pay attention cause if you are 4 cars running into the intersection at the same time it's a whole little game going on!

US size:

Everything´s bigger in the US! This is TRUE. It's possible to find stuff in a normal size, but why would you wanna pay MORE for having a smaller product if you could pay just a little extra to get the product that is 3 times bigger? Hence peanut butter, jam, milk and juice are all HUGE and no wonder they need big fridges over here... And if you go to "Costco", a supermarket where EVERY product is gigantic, you won't find any normal sized product. I mean, what kind of Christmas tree do people have to have these christmas balls on them??

Tiny houses still have a giant truck outside making the house looking even smaller (and then on top of it 4-5 cars) and the caravans people use to go camping here are so big I bet you would need a bus license to drive them in Norway...

I'll admit I've asked myself many times by now, WHY everything has to be so much bigger here than in Europe. Take for instance a washing macine - why do you need one that is so big that you could live in it? it's not like Americans have more clothes than we do? Do they?

Europe:

The US:

Media:

Not much to say other than that I thought European magazines were bad. Kate Middleton has been pregnant at least two times during the time I've been here and the rumors are always headlines on the front of the magazine. Where do they get this info? Do they really just make it up and expect Americans to believe it simply because they don't expect the readers to know how to check British newspapers?? They even know the sex of the baby - simply amazing!

Bedding:

It looks nice bud it's a total chaos. What is UP with all the layers??!! Talking about getting lost in your own bed - it's impossible to find the way out once you get stuck inside either layer 1, 2, 3 OR layer 4 not remembering which one should be where. And making the bed has gone from slightly boring to extremely boring. What an ordeal!

Shopping:

Are there ANY shops in the US where you cannot become a member to get a certain amount of discount?? I hardly doubt it. If I said yes to all the offers I've gotten since I came I would've had 20 memberships by now! "Would you like to get a 15% discount"? No I'd rather just pay full price...

Europe certainly has something to learn from the US when it comes to service though. Going shopping here, either it's for food or fashion, is the same - excellent service anywhere (and if not you get bad feedback at "Yelp"). I'll admit it took me a while to get used to this, as vikings are not known for talking too much to each other and going to Safeway really can be too much for a Norwegian... Being asked FOUR times during your shopping-for-food trip questions like "How are you today" and "Are you finding everything alright" as well as "Is there anything I can help you with" can make any Norwegian go crazy and a little voice in me sometimes wanna scream "No I DON'T want your help, I am NOT fine cause you and your colleagues keep disturbing me and all I'm trying to do is to buy cheese but it takes me FOREVER cause you have TOO MANY of them". I really should have a sign on my back saying "I'm Norwegian - don't talk to me". But I've learned and politely say "I'm fine thank you, how are you?" instead. Of course, by the time I reach the "How are you" part, the person who asked me in the first place is gone. Excuse me didn't you wanna know how I am????

Being Norwegian:

Being Norwegian in California is nothing but hilarious - simply because of all the different comments you get. My favorite is when people hear that I'm foreign, then guess where I'm from because they can't place my accent.

"Are you French?"
"No."
"Are you Australian?"
"No" (thinking: You've clearly never heard the Australian accent...)

No one guesses Norway, of course, and the look on some peoples face when I say that is PRICELESS, as well as the sound of the "Oh..." that then follows, which discloses that they have NO CLUE what to say (probably because they have no idea where it is). I appreciate the effort though, and keep getting entertained by people trying.

In any case Norwegians should be careful with judging too fast. First of all Norway is NOT that important, secondly we do believe that Washington is a city on the East coast and not a state on the West coast...

Why Norway is different

2011-07-26T11:36:00.006+02:00

It is always easy to look back on things that have happened and find things that could've been done better. Experience is after all how we learn.

Friday July 22nd was the worst day in Norway since World War II. One man managed to do something that caught us by surprise, choosing the most defenseless victims, on a place no one would imagine anyone could start a massacre. Still our police, never having faced a situation like this ever before, and with limited resources, managed to handle the situation the best way anyone could expect them to.

Foreign newspapers choose to focus on whether or not the police could've responded faster than they did. We choose to honor them instead for doing the best they could under exceptional circumstances and focus on how we can react even better if something similar should ever happen to us again. I have yet to see anger towards the police, I have yet to see anger towards the government, I have yet to see the need for revenge among my people. Now I see why Norway is different - I hope it never changes...

April Morning

2011-04-04T20:29:00.008+02:00

Christmas highlights

2010-12-29T09:31:00.006+01:00

I love love love love love LOVE snow!!!!! We had a white Christmas for the second year in a row - highly appreciated! I'll honestly never understand how anyone can stay indoor when you have snow, sunshine and only 5 hours of real daylight to take advantage of. A big thank you to friends that have kept me company outdoor some of the days during Christmas - none of us regret it!

First cross-country skiing this Winter, at home with Ingunn on Christmas Day. We walked through the tracks in the forest - it was simply amazing to see all the snow on the trees.

On Sunday Ingrid and Arnfrid came with me to Røldal, a ski center 2,5 hours away. The snow report promised 20 cm of fresh snow but I forgot to check the temperature... It kept dropping as we got closer and this is what the dashboard showed when we arrived (the clock is 1 hour too fast - we did NOT arrive an hour after it opened). We didn't look forward to get out of the car...

Freezing cold with more than - 20 °C in the chair lift but already sunshine (and realizing it even warmed).

The positive side of a crazy amount of minus degrees: Extremely light powder feeling like silk.

Me and Arnfrid - HAPPY!

Arnfrid not able to hide how cold it is standing still...:)

Ingrid and me in the chair lift - almost the only time we were still at the end due to the FREEZING cold...

After sunset we realized how much the sun actually warmed and we left half an hour before the chair lift closed cause it was just too cold. The car didn't even wanna start at first...

Driving through a cold Winter Wonderland on the way home! Trying to take a picture while driving without taking the eyes off the road = this was the only one out of 6 that was usable...

Yesterday - last day this Christmas with sunshine and - 10 °C in the mountains at home. Arnfrid, Åsta and me went cross-country skiing in the afternoon.

Cold but beautiful sunset.

The sun disappeared on the way down and made it so cold my hair froze...

Thank you King Winter - I LOVE YOU

Merry Christmas from Norway

2010-12-23T22:26:00.000+01:00

"Handicapped" - broad interpretation

2010-12-18T00:03:00.008+01:00

How to legitimize sitting on the "reserved for handicapped" seats in the bus:

Definitions:

1. "Reserved" - something that is set aside for use by particular people
2. "Handicapped" - someone physically disabled in one way or another

Interpretation (broad):

3. The word "reserved" clearly shows that once you fall within the category of those the seats are reserved for, you have the right to sit on those seats more than others.

4. The word "handicapped" in this context clearly refers to those people having a physically disadvantage that makes them being in need of a seat more than others. What kind of handicap - is not specified, except a few symbolic examples including being pregnant (which is not a permanent handicap at ALL and opens up for a broad use of the seats).

Apply the law to the facts:

5. I carry a HEAVY North Face bag and so big I didn't even know where to put it. Just as being pregnant probably makes you feeling a bit "overweight", the North Face bag certainly makes me feel like that sometimes. Also - a bag that size and weight is something that makes me more "handicapped" than the other "normal" passengers on the bus, NOT carrying such a heavy luggage. The other passengers are thus more capable of either standing, or finding another seat further back.

Me, on the other hand, in my opinion falls within the category of being "handicapped", if so only temporarily. The picture of the mom carrying a child supports this interpretation, as carrying a bag clearly is more heavy than carrying a baby... Hence I sat down on the handicap seat without feeling guilty, and had enough space for my bag. Luckily no other person "more handicapped" than me showed up; in that case I would have to make an evaluation on whether I felt that person was more qualified to get MY seat.

I doubt anyone would - my bag was heavy.

The US is making fun of Norway! Really?

2010-12-15T08:48:00.030+01:00

(foto: Jacques Hvistendahl - Dagbladet).

Whereas some Wikileaks documents show information that actually IS of importance, I did not expect that to happen once they found something about my dear little Norway. And I was right. So far I think the documents showing how Norway chose American military aircraft instead of buying Swedish ones have created the biggest headlines and discussions - just another little fight between big and little brother in Scandinavia. Nothing too important.

Recent documents however, disclose that US diplomats make FUN OF NORWAY and these are the headlines all over today. WHAT are we going to do?!

According to the former American ambassador in Oslo Norwegians are:

- boastful moralists
- in lack of good working moral
- blame others
- not capable of dealing with criticism
- Norway is a "loose canon"

In a report from 2007 he states that Norway's abundance of oil revenues contribute to a "depending culture reflected in lower work ethic".

Of course we depend on the oil! We would be completely lost without it - we barely have sun to grow vegetables! But wait a second - who was the first country out of recession again last year? I don't even remember if we HAD one - did anyone say anything about a financial crisis? Guess that didn't help our self-confidence. It looks like we just spent some of the money we saved when we found oil - instead of spending TOO MUCH like someone else did and creating a crisis all over the World.

Norwegians also, according to US diplomats, "sincerely believe there is something inherited good about being Norwegian, and that Norway plays a special role in creating World peace."

Well of COURSE! We host the Nobel Peace Prize! And last year we gave it to OBAMA cause suddenly we decided "becoming US president" to be the only criteria (we also realized it would be the only way to ever get Obama to visit Norway). And it's not like it'll be the 100.000 US soldiers that will solve the problems in Afghanistan, it's the 1,5 soldier WE have down there and it'll actually solve all the problems in the WORLD. Also because of our support to Palestine - who cares if the US prefers Israel? We don't, cause we decided to be objective instead of basing our decision on the old testament in the Bible!

The ambassador was also starting to get pretty fed up with the traditional Norwegian saying: "It is typical Norwegian to be good". WHAT?? I don't see how ANYONE could be fed up with that being brought up everywhere? If I was a politician I would make sure to bring up VANCOUVER also, just to annoy them even more and remind them of how many medals we got compared to the US considering we're 4,8 million against 300 million. We will live on that for the next 1500 years and NO the fact that many of them were related to cross-country skiing is NOT an excuse.

And what do they mean we don't handle criticism? We handle criticism JUST FINE -after all you get a warning from "Wikitravel" when reading about Norway and get adviced to not EVER bring up the subject of whaling - as this is a sensitive issue. At least we warned you! Whaling in Japan is awful though - we just cuddle with them and give them a litte shot (being the size of a bike - only taking a few hours to actually kill the whale) so it's all fine. We always know the best - deal with it.

("cuddling with the whale")

Another thing Ambassador Whitney thought was concerning was that Norwegians seem to believe that we've had a peaceful relationship to Russia for 1000 years. He is surprised few Norwegians remember how Soviet invaded Finland in 1939, and that Norway's border at that time was with Finland and not Russia.

I'm sorry - what?? You lost me. I was born in 1981 so clearly that must be why this was new to me. And what was that - an American speaking about geography in Northern Europe?? Find New York on the map first - then we'll talk.

But let's be serious...it shouldn't be TOO BIG OF A SURPRISE that we're made fun of. After all we're just living in our own little bubble in the North surrounded by policemen NOT EVEN CARRYING GUNS and although we don't matter we think we're the best in the World - I LOVE IT! At least we have self-knowledge - it's not like we're not aware of it and not capable of making fun of ourselves.

And - is it REALLY a surprise that the most powerful countries in the World look at us as a little iceflake that doesn't matter in the big context? Honestly, anything ELSE would be a surprise the way I see it. After all this is what Americans were shown back when our defense minister stated how Norway is behind the US in the fight against terrorism:

The Daily Show - "War on Tjerror"

God bless the Daily Show - I'm pretty sure Ambassador Whitney watched it too. I also bet he was jealous of Norway having a female defense minister - that even snowboarded. I mean - how many countries have had female defense ministers that SNOWBOARD???

(foto: Signe Margrethe Dons, article)

The only possible future candidate must be Sarah Palin being from Alaska, but if she ends up as either foreign or defense minister one day the US will have to adjust the title to "random minister" since she has yet to give a better answer than "well we have to fight against that" on how to solve problems and not at least understand that "foreign" has to do with stuff happening OUTSIDE the border.

And not at least - how many countries have a population, that when voting on the question: "Do you agree with the characteristics made by the US?" have 72% answering YES? The number 3872 means everyone voted by the way - cause that's how many people we are.

I love our problems - I'd rather have the WHOLE WORLD making fun of me instead of dealing with what other countries struggle with. I also love that statements made from one ambassador and maybe a few diplomats have become "the US" in the poll.

Possible violation of environmental law?

2010-12-14T17:03:00.001+01:00

Santa Claus is fired!

2010-12-10T08:45:00.032+01:00

I'm happy Norway isn't the only country that is easy to make fun of - it's payback time!

Background:

When I lived in Bern I don't know how many times I had to listen to how "Americans are so much more laidback and relaxed" than the Swiss, (which is probably true since the Swiss are "one of a kind" and live in a country where EVERYTHING is a big problem) but I got to hear it wasn't likely to be any better in Norway.

This got even worse when Norway's coach on the national speed skating team, who happened to be American, made some sex related comments to one of the girls on the team during a dinner in 2009 (or to be more specific; he supposedly made a "joke" about how she could give him oral sex - I don't know but if I had a daughter I wouldn't want her to have a coach talking to her like that). He got FIRED. "That would never have happened in the US". Really? After reading the news today I have another impression - seems like it doesn't always take that much to cross the line over there either so I would be careful with throwing stones in glasshouses...

Introduction:

John Toomey, having worked as Santa Claus at a shopping center in San Francisco for 20 years, just got fired because he made a naughty joke to an old couple who obviously didn't deal very well with it. Ho ho ho - are you serious?? The way I see it there are at least two problems here:

Problem 1:

If you're an OLD COUPLE, sitting down on SANTA CLAUS' lap, what do you REALLY expect him to talk about? How he's flying around with his reindeers dropping presents down all over the place? Or how he is entering through the chimney at Christmas night? Or maybe he should've asked them what they want for Christmas, then repeat it REALLY loud, so that the parents could hea....wait a minute...crap I forgot! There are no parents listening!

Problem 2:

One thing is a couple running to the management telling about their HORRIBLE experience after a dirty (but innocent) joke, there are a lot of oversensitive people in the World, but what's up with the management? When the guy has worked for TWENTY years without getting any complaints, could it be that the COUPLE was exaggerating? It's not like he tells dirty jokes to little kids - which actually WOULD be a problem important enough to deal with.

Summary:

I'm surprised they didn't sue him for sexual harrasment. After all it's the US - where I'm sure you could sue someone just because they stared at you for too long and made you feel uncomfortable.

Conclusion:

This is what happens when Santa Claus tries to integrate outside his territory, obviously he should've just stayed in the North where his reindeers don't have to fly around in the AIR due to lack of snow for the sledge... The Norwegian Santa, or "nisse/tomte" as we call it in Scandinavia, is just a grumpy, old man dressed as a Norwegian farmer, living in the BARN. And if you don't give him a bowl of rice porridge on Christmas Eve, he'll get FURIOUS. I was honestly afraid of him when I was a child, especially since we actually do have a barn at home.

Finally

2010-12-08T12:18:00.002+01:00

I've checked the skiinfo page EVERY day lately waiting for the snow - THIS MADE MY DAY. Not at least seeing that the ski resort closest to home is where it snows the most at the moment.

About time! I almost got concerned seeing it snowing "everywhere" else instead of in the ski resort that traditionally tops it all - so far it's not leading this year... Enough snow for Christmas would be a nice present!

Guess I forgot!

2010-12-07T12:27:00.005+01:00

Another great lunch! That's what you get for being so tired when you come home that you don't even empty your purse. I think I offically hate this can opener so much I wanna jump on it and throw it in the nearest bin...

Can opener - ME: 1-0

I now have an alarm on my Iphone going off at 8.30 pm with the following text: "Can opener" - something that puts me in the group of people at LEAST 40 years older than me. Having someone else to blame for my problems would actually make me feel better...

Don't eat tuna on a Monday!

2010-12-06T12:31:00.013+01:00

Words cannot describe how proud I was this morning when I remembered to bring a can opener for lunch to help my little tuna fish find its way from the can into my salad.

Well that joy SOMEHOW disappeared when I sat down to have lunch, waiting for that moment to come where I would feel it was totally worth dragging an oversized "taking up 1/4 of the purse" can opener all the way to the law faculty, and instead found out that it was totally POINTLESS since the stupid can had a PULL TAB anyway.

So much for the effort!! Someone should come up with a law making it mandatory for ALL cans to have a pull tab - it would definitely make my life easier.

Hope you appreciated the trip, CAN OPENER - it's not like it'll happen again.

And FYI: You've got a size problem - at LEAST 3/4 of you is useless.

Sunday Snow!

2010-12-05T09:26:00.000+01:00

From Sunday Sunrise to Sunday Snow. I'm pretty sure I get just as excited waking up to see there's snow outside as I did 20 years ago - except that 20 years ago I would already be outside now playing around. Instead I'm sitting inside and drinking coffee while looking out on it. But it's a good start to the day in any case!

Btw: Please snow more - there's a loooong way to go before I'm satisfied. Can't WAIT for it to be Christmas holiday...

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!!???

2010-12-02T17:27:00.006+01:00

You should think England, Australia or the US would be one of the countries to host a World Cup in the years following. But no. RUSSIA is hosting the World Cup in 2018. UNBELIVABLE - followed by Qatar in 2022. QATAR?!?! And do they even play soccer in Russia?!

As if it's not enough that they will host the Olympics in 2014 - seriously what is it about organizing all these big sport events in countries not knowing what "human rights" and "freedom of expression" means??!! What a CORRUPT WORLD we live in - I've had enough of the "It's good for the country to have the whole World looking at them". Really? What good came out of China having the Olympics?!

This is actually just what I needed to go from having little interest in soccer to have NO INTEREST IN SOCCER. I'm sticking to Winter sports.

What? Cold in NORWAY?

2010-11-30T08:30:00.012+01:00

I just loved the headlines that met me when buying coffee this morning. Screw Wikileaks - WE HAVE MINUS DEGREES TO DEAL WITH!!!

Ok so it's been way colder than it normally is in November, and I'll admit - 11°C this morning made me check the thermometer TWICE to be sure. But, it's still Norway, and it's only thanks to the Gulf stream (that apparently is NOT working at the moment) that we have the mild Winters we have up here.

But you can't blame the newspapers for finding stuff to write about...and making it look as dramatic as possible. Today's headlines make it look like World War III has started:

COLD SHOCK - now it'll get even colder
THE ICE TRAPS - this is where you have to drive carefully
THE NIGHTMARE - blast explosions in cabins

Wow! I hope we make it to Christmas!

So to sum up: Be careful driving and put on even more clothes. I'm so happy they're looking after us! (I didn't get the thing about explosions in cabins so clearly I don't have to worry about that).

Considering the freezing temperatures we have in Norway these days it's pretty ironic to see what the Telegraph is writing today about polar bears having to carry their babies on the back because of ice MELTING.

Due to longer distances and more time in the cold water combined with less food, the little polar bears simply don't have a sufficient layer of fat to deal with the icy water for longer periods. I guess Norwegians freezing and polar bears melting is the reason why we should use the term global "change" and not global "warming"...

The Telegraph article:

Polar bears spotted swimming with cubs on back

Sunday Sunrise

2010-11-28T09:32:00.002+01:00

Beautiful sunrises and days without any sign of rain are definitely the positive sides of a freaking cold November! Now all that is missing is snow...

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

2010-11-24T20:31:00.006+01:00

Every day since 1995 NASA has selected a picture of the Universe to publish on their website. Yesterday they chose a really cool video from a photographer in Norway showing the amazing Northern lights; "Aurora Borealis". He's used a technique called "timelapse", something I've never heard of but the result is amazing. Altogether he's taken around 3000 pictures, and the video consists of pictures taken in the North of Norway from January until April 2010. I can't believe I still haven't seen this phenomenon with my own eyes. It's about time I head North...

Here's the link to see the video:

Astronomy Picture November 23

Best news of the week!

2010-11-21T21:27:00.003+01:00

Prince William and Kate are FINALLY engaged!! To understand how big this is I think you have to not only come from a country with monarchy, you have to be a royalist as well. And since I'm both, it should be no surprise that I was thrilled to hear the news!! Congratulations Britain with finally having a royal wedding coming up, and someting positive to look forward to in between the economic concerns these days. Among the royal families in Europe, the British is of course the most famous one and I can only agree with the words of the reporters commenting on this all over Europe: THIS is HUGE!

Congratulations also to Prince William - in my opinion he couldn't have found any better girl to be the future Queen and to make the British royal family popular again. Kate and William have been my favorite royal couple for YEARS now and along with all other royalists in Norway I'm extremely excited for their wedding coming up in 2011.

How we transport cars in Norway

2010-11-15T12:45:00.011+01:00

(Foto: Geir Lyngstad)

News from the countryside of Norway are often entertaining, but this tops most of what I've seen the last weeks. According to the article from NRK, the road was "highly trafficated" at the time being. Although I totally see the madness in the situation, I don't think the roads in this part of the country are EVER highly trafficated.

Or - maybe this actually does qualify as "highly trafficated"? After all we live in a country not that populated - and to be fair you CAN spot a car coming in the opposite direction...

Love at first sight

2010-11-12T09:39:00.001+01:00

Last night I ran into an amazing little teddybear in a parking house that immediately got my attention. And I was NOT the only one totally charmed by the little miniature - people just flocked around him. No wonder - HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE SO CUTE??

I'm not even a fan of small dogs (since they bark too much and are completely useless in my eyes if you want a REAL dog - meaning one you can actually take hiking). But this one was an exception, I just couldn't take my eyes off it and wanted to put it in my bag so I could bring it home... Fur soft as silk and it doesn't even shed!

LOOK HOW CUTE I AM...

You could buy a car for the price of it though.

Cold autumn morning

2010-11-10T18:42:00.021+01:00

Today was just one of those beautiful days. With a temperature of - 1 °C, sunshine, blue sky and no wind I would not have been able to concentrate for the rest of the day if I didn't go for a walk this morning. I don't regret it - it was the best start to the day. Click on the picture to enlarge it and you'll see there is no movement whatsoever in the water. Amazing reflections.

It'll be a snowy winter!?!!

2010-11-08T19:17:00.013+01:00

I LOVE WINTER - as long as it doesn't consist of rain and + 10 °C - which it usually does on the westcoast. However, today my mom told me there's a saying that if the first snow arrives before the leaves are gone - it means it'll be a really snowy Winter. Considering the snow CHAOS we had recently, the chances are pretty high for that to happen, especially when I found this picture on my phone taken 2 weeks ago.

If this turns out to be true - I'm BEYOND excited for Winter to come and end up being like it was last year when I missed out on it living in Switzerland. Powder, minus degrees and cross country-skiing at home - I CAN'T WAIT. So I really wish for all plus degrees to go away in December and NOT show up again until March, cause that's what a real Winter in Norway is supposed to be like in my opinion.

Now that I've written this I'm sure it's gonna be the opposite. Or that the forecast from the Russian researchers turn out to be true. According to them, the slow speed of the Gulf stream indicates that Europe will have its coldest Winter in 1000 (!) years.

Hello ice age.

Fur industry in Norway

2010-11-02T09:14:00.002+01:00

The picture people don't wanna see.

There are few things that makes me more upset when it comes to animal rights than the fur industry - and today I've reached the point where I can't keep my mouth shut anymore. The fact that there is not ONE good reason for having it makes it even worse. I am confident most people don't even know how the fur gets from the animal and into a coat or turns into a stupid scarf only retards bother to put around their neck (seriously, who WEARS an animal???). But what you don't know won't hurt you.

However, if you've bothered to find out - the choice is not that difficult anymore. A couple of days ago activists in Norway disclosed awful conditions on Norwegian fur farms - showing videos with pictures that makes you feel sick. Animals suffering, eating each other, having diseases, nerve problems and you name it.

Here is the link to the video that once again has heated the discussion around fur farms in Norway: New discoveries

This is the leader of the whole fur industry; Bertran Trane Skadsem.

If there is any job I wouldn't have (even if I was paid a billion dollar), it would be his. And it's nothing but hilarious that he says he doesn't BELIEVE in the pictures - how embarrassing is that when the pictures talk for themselves. Even a camera team from one of the biggest TV channels in Norway was there when they shot some of the pictures - and from what I have seen earlier on in the fur industry I was not even surprised from what I saw. But what can you expect, it's his job and it pays him - obviously he couldn't care less cause when you're the LEADER of a fur industry that in itself is disgusting (regardless of methods), you're already not capable of being objective. These people couldn't care less about animals suffering, cause if they did they would have other jobs. I will NEVER understand how people can watch an animal spend its WHOLE life inside a small cage and justify it. I simply don't get it.

Cause the truth is, how can you have a fur industry in a HUMANE way? There is not even a single reason why we need to kill animals to wear THEIR fur just to look "good" - simply reflecting upon it makes you realize how messed up it is.

And how can Norway be so far behind when it comes to animal rights, when we claim to be the best country when it comes to whatever? Bullshit!

Switzerland: Has stopped fur industry
The Netherlands: Fox breeding is prohibited. Fur industry proposed prohibited.
Austria: Fur industry is prohibited
Sweden: Has stopped fox breeding.
Denmark: Has stopped fox breeding.
Northern Ireland: Fur industry is prohibited

Norway: Still fur industry, still slaughtering seals, still whaling...

It's completely unnecessary and it's something that belongs way back in history, and not in 2010 when we know what we know about animal psychology and that a pig is smarter than a dog. No one would ever accept their dog to be treated the way these animals are treated. But of course, a little dog is way cuter.

Expecting the fur industry to agree with what is now disclosed, is the same as expecting that the meat industry in Norway accepts facts from cancer organizations all over the world showing the connection between eating meat and certain types of cancer. That will NOT happen cause it's all about the money. Who suffers? People not being informed. We think we're informed in this country, but the truth is you only get the right information if you LOOK for it. You don't get it from the government.

Apparently our labor party is threatening to close down the whole fur industry. If they had the guts to do that we would have one thing less to be embarrassed about in Norway and one thing less to be questioned about when being abroad trying to give a good impression of your home country. I don't believe it before I see it though.

Mahatma Gandhi once said: "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

Just looking around in the world on how we treat each other is evidence enough that he was right.

My life the last weeks

2010-10-26T09:31:00.000+02:00

Did anyone say global warming?

2010-10-22T12:35:00.012+02:00

Dear Winter,

although I love you and the amount of snow you bring with you every year - please show some respect and leave Autumn alone for another month or so - at LEAST. Cause as you see from the chaos that has been on the roads the last couple of days, we are NOT READY for you quite yet. In the meantime - stick to the mountains, as I don't mind you covering them with powder. Make them ALL white by November please, and I'll come visit you!

Your fan in the North,

Klara

Snow chaos in Norway

2010-10-21T08:15:00.003+02:00

This is what met me when walking to the bus this morning. A white (but thin) layer of snow all over the place. I wasn't surprised though, as already 3 days ago the news told us we would have snow on Thursday.

However, after spending ONE HOUR trying to get into the city center with the bus (normally it takes 20 min) I asked myself: Was I the ONLY one that read those news?!

It's my first autumn in Norway in 3 years - and I think I had forgotten all about how CRAZY it gets here EVERY year when the first snow comes. HOW is that possible in a country stuck closer to the North Pole than any other?! Should think it took more than 3 cm of snow to turn a city UPSIDE DOWN.

What makes it even more hilarious is that Norwegians make fun of England every time THEY get surprised by a snowfall, but the truth is that in the country where we're said to be born "with skies on our feet" IT IS HARDLY ANY BETTER.

Below is a copy of the current headlines from the biggest newspaper we have on the west coast. Title: "Stay at home!"

...and the current headlines from the newspaper at home with the title: "Morning traffic chaos"

Are you kidding me?! Although snow in October is unexpected, it's not like it should be a surprise since it's been repeated on the weather forecast every day this week - and honestly it's also what everyone's been talking about lately "Did you hear it's going to snow on Thursday?! In October already??"

Then - when Thursday comes: "IT'S SNOWING! THERE IS SNOW ON THE ROADS! DON'T DRIVE - DON'T WALK - DON'T GO OUTSIDE! SHUT DOWN THE COUNTRY!"

Should think we lived in Greece.

Sock missing

2010-10-10T20:55:00.011+02:00

There's nothing like putting on some warm socks on a cold autumn Sunday morning. Normally I just pull out a random pair of socks from the drawer while still being half asleep (even though I have like 4 pairs in the bathroom downstairs but never remember I need warm socks before I'm upstairs). Today I accidently found my dad's old ski sock and was thrilled by discovering what I would call a little "treasure" since it's way longer than the other socks and also has a cooler design.

However, I only found ONE and quickly concluded my parents would get concerned if I called them in Germany to ask where my dad's other woolen ski sock is, especially with "hundreds" of other socks available... Refusing to let the missing sock ruin my excitement I walked around with 1 sock for like half an hour - I'm sure the warmth of it compensated for the naked left foot anyway and since the design hardly can get more Norwegian than this it felt good to wear it after being in the US for almost 3 weeks. Of course I could've put on a sock with a different design, but I didn't have the heart to split another pair and leave one alone... In my defense all these brilliant ideas ran through my head after waking up way too early on a Sunday after a birthday party the night before...

This was probably the most exciting thing that happened today in between studying - except that it's the 10.10.10!

"What did you do on 10.10.10?"
"I wore one sock for half an hour"

I'm pretty sure my next blog will be about me finding the missing sock. It SHOULD be about my visit to the US but that has to wait since it requires way more time to write than some nonsense about socks. I'm surprised how much I'm capable of writing about a sock and God knows I'd wish I could transfer my writing "skills" about nonsense to my thesis and write down just as much in a few minutes on that...

What a great weekend!!!!!!

2010-09-06T23:06:00.018+02:00

I am blessed with so many good friends!! And finally having the time to hang out again with the ones I have in Norway is without doubt the BEST thing about being home this autumn (and of course family but family is after all what I visit every time I go home anyway). This weekend two friends I studied law with in Bergen, Karine and Ingvild, flew in from OSLO to visit me on this little island "in the middle of nowhere" - I am beyond grateful! Although only Karine is a true "Eastender" and actually from Oslo while Ingvild just moved there - VERY important detail that she had to correct a few times during the weekend - you don't wanna be taken for being from Oslo if you're from the westcoast!

Amazing as it sounds they actually flew directly to the island where I live (yes it has an airport and yes it is very cute and yes the only destination is Oslo). It is the FIRST TIME I have someone to pick up there so I was ready with my Iphone as soon as I saw them and finally got a picture after I had to tell them to STOP and start walking again (cause the Iphone camera is soooo slow)... Karine was already laughing as they arrived - because of the size of the airport compared to what she's used to in Oslo I thought.

However, the reason turned out to be the amazing vehicle pulling the plane: A TRACTOR. Welcome to the countryside! That is actually funny. But very creative!

We had a fully booked weekend with a program to follow - already sent to both of them as requested. First stop on Saturday was the local museum cause they have an open day once a year to show how people used to live in the old days, baking old-fashioned style, old-fashioned candies etc.

This is actually an old woman from our neighborhood at home. She's 87 and makes the best "potato cakes" - a really thin cake looking like a pancake. My mom buys those from her every once in a while.

Here they baked a cake called "lefse" though, which is a traditional Norwegian flatbread.

In the room next door you could buy some with freshly made butter. They tasted SO good...

A guided tour through the city center was mandatory. I don't know how many times I thanked the "Weather Gods" during this weekend for giving such a good first impression of my hometown! Or as my dad so nicely put it: "You're getting a wrong impression of this island..." I was afraid I had to make a program only consisting of "indoor activities".

Saturday night we went to a dress-up party a friend of mine organized to surprise her husband, Matt. He came home waaay earlier than planned - certainly not an easy person to surprise! After spending 10 minutes hiding in a room with 10 other people we could FINALLY go upstairs and surprise him. Karine dressed up as a man, Ingvild as a burglar (although later on she turned into being "French" since someone thought she dressed up as that) and me as an extreme environmentalist.

The backpack has a chair attached to it that I used to sit on. Theory: If everyone brought their own chair it would be more environmental. Or something like that. I was bummed after about 2 hours...

Organic red wine. Mandatory when being an extreme environmentalist - as well as environmental discussions.

Ingvild and me captured by Karine while waiting for my mom to pick us up. A fun night!

Sunday we went hiking in the mountains. Sunshine on a Sunday in this town means a LOT of cars...I'm glad we came as early as we did otherwise I wouldn't have known where to park...

Hiking a route I had never done before made us discover this little "pond" - amazing colors and no wind and I am still annoyed that I didn't bring the SLR camera to capture it with a wide angle...

On the way down we finally found someone to take a picture of the three of us together! Again: What a great weekend... Thank you Ingvild and Karine for flying all the way from Oslo to visit me -it was a pleasure and my parents agreed!

Since I had half a bottle of red wine left from the party my mom asked if she could have some. Of course I said yes, thinking it would still be a glass left for me. Also - I thought she was joking when she said "I think I'd like some mulled wine tonight" since we only make that at CHRISTMAS. Turned out I was wrong, it smelled mulled wine all over the house and this is what was left of my red wine...Merry Christmas! :)

Who cares?! Norwegian headlines in a NUTSHELL!

2010-09-03T12:00:00.012+02:00

The BIGGEST newspapers in Norway have so little to write about that headline news normally involve the following:

1. Some news about an animal
2. Some celebrity (yes we are still talking about the biggest newspaper" in the country)
3. Some news from the US that not even Americans have heard about
4. Where the sun will shine (and only if it shines in the East, cause even though the newspapers have claimed to represent the COUNTRY they seem to forget that we have something called North, West and Southern Norway).
5. A disease you could have - with symptoms - just to scare the hell out of people.

Headlines now:

CARPETS! You should think it had been a hostage situation where 10-15 people have been killed - or that someone was planning a terror attack in Norway. But no! It is a HYSTERIA about gifts that our ministers have received from ministers from OTHER countries - are you KIDDING ME?! While people die in Pakistan, starve in Africa and more and more Norwegians become overweight every year - THIS is the most interesting thing to make a big deal out of??!!

The carpets could be worth more than they have been taxed as!! It could be corruption! Our foreign minister might've broken the LAW!

Seriously - I couldn't care less. Keep your gifts! Keep your carpets, your Swiss watch or whatever! Although I'm a law student and probably could interpret the law of corruption in the same way as this Professor they asked to do that (imagine if the newspaper could disclose that the ministers had committed a CRIME - would probably save their weekend!) - IT IS ALLOWED TO USE YOUR HEAD AND NOT ONLY THE LAW. Did Switzerland get any benefit in return for the Swiss watch the defense minister gave to our defense minister? Hmm....let's think....NO. Comparing keeping a WATCH (I don't care what it's worth - she hasn't sold it has she?!) as a present - to a company that pays money to do business in Africa is the same as comparing downloading music to robbing a BANK.

Reading about these gifts has not made me think any less of any of our politicians. It has made me think only one thing and that is:

I'm ashamed of how PATHETIC the newspapers are and I feel SORRY for the journalists. How AWFUL it must be to have a job where you try to make the life of OTHER people worse.

The loooong way home

2010-09-01T21:01:00.017+02:00

It feels like forever to drive anywhere on this island - not because of the distances but because of the SPEED LIMITS that seem to have decreased every time I come home - this time it was the last part before the city center because "sometimes someone crosses the road" at ONE specific place (and rarely...). The speed limit is now 40 km/h - meaning BIKING is faster.

So although it's only around 4 kilometers back home from work, it takes around 7-8 minutes to drive so I'm normally home by 7.10 in the morning. The bus however, takes HALF AN HOUR. Why? Because this island - as the rest of the country - has so few people that the ONE bus going in a certain direction has to make sure it covers ALL the possible bus stops "along" the way (along the DETOURS I would put it). Also there seems to be a new detour added every time I take the bus (which is only in emergency cases) - as I found out this week when I had to take the bus back home instead of driving two mornings in a row - only to be reminded of:

1. How INCREDIBLY long it takes on the bus
2. How much I appreciate having access to a car

I also found out how it is to take a bus OUT of the city center at 7.10 in the morning and was thinking "I am going to be the only one in the bus " on my way over. I couldn't be more wrong. The same phenomenon happened both days.

All the people are heading for MY bus! Who takes a bus going my direction at 7 in the morning?? The reason why there's a finger covering half of the picture is because I pretended I was typing a text message on my Iphone. It's only OK to take pictures of people walking towards a bus 7 AM if you're in London and the bus is RED.

I could easily divide the type of people into two categories.

1. Students
2. Workers

Not only by the way they looked, but also when listening to what they SAID. Since students are always tired that early they say NOTHING, whereas the workers talk TOO MUCH since they come with the boat from ANOTHER island and thus have been awake way too long and feel the need to talk about every Norwegian's favorite topic: THE WEATHER.

Conversation overheard the first day:

Man 1: "So it's a good thing it's raining today, was afraid I had to water the flowers!"
Man 2: "Yes, it's been almost drying up too much lately..."

FYI: It's been raining for a WEEK.

Conversation overheard today:

Man 1: "It looks like it could might be some sunshine later on today!"
Man 2: "Yes but the weather forecast showed rain today as well - it'll be sunshine the rest of the week"
Man 1: "Well you can't trust the weather forecast."
Man 2: "No I've found out the best thing is to simply look out the window"
Man 1: "I couldn't agree more. Who needs weather forecast anyway - it's always the same".

The worst is that I've had conversations like this myself - you gotta love Norwegian irony! This is where the bus had its first stop - only a few hundred meters up the road outside my old high school and whereh a bunch of students got off. At 7.15! I'm still wondering what they're doing at school that early.

Although it's difficult to see - this is where the bus passes the area my middle name "Gullberg" comes from. It's the first time I see it on a screen - awesome - last time I took the bus it wasn't that "high-tech"!

The NEW detour....of course, I should've guessed. This is the industry that keeps this island alive - building platforms for the whole world - AKER SOLUTIONS.

Everyone entered through this "gate". That and a big fence around the whole area makes it look really important and I was totally fascinated. This is where the rest of the bus got off - except ONE man who looked weird at me for taking a photo of the gate. Is there anything wrong with taking a photo of a gate - I could be a tourist!

He went off at the next stop though - Thank God, so that I could take a picture of the empty bus without him thinking I was completely insane. It all makes sense to me now - all it took was 2 stops and the bus is how it normally looks like - EMPTY - even though the bus ride has barely started.

Driving by my old elementary school is not a detour since it's necessary when going in my direction. No stops here.

Driving through "Heiane" on the other hand is what has made this busride so much longer than it used to be. What's the point of driving through this area 7.30 in the morning? The only ones working here work in the shops and they open at 9 and since no one lives here it's not like anyone gets ON the bus either...

After passing through this area it goes pretty fast though - mostly because all you see when looking out the window is TREES.

Finally, half an hour (feeling like 2 hours) later: MY bus stop - all decorated by teenagers having the need to express modern "art". At this point all that is left between me and my bed is several hundred meters of walking - don't think a bus gets you to the front of your house unless you live in Switzerland.

A barn. Getting closer.

Home. FINALLY. 7.40 - 40 minutes after I got off my night shift - I feel lucky to normally have a car! This beautiful picture was taken by accident when I tried to lock the Iphone. Don't get me started on touchscreen - I am retarded in using it...

Hipstamatic!

2010-08-29T14:45:00.003+02:00

Finally a cool Iphone application! I've fallen completely in love with this one - called "Hipstamatic". It makes the pictures not only square but also a bit dark in the edges giving them this old-fashioned look.

A weekend on the Norwegian countryside

2010-08-23T20:10:00.029+02:00

I'm about to spend my first autumn in Norway in THREE years and already fear I'll drown from rain since I happen to live on the west coast. But although constantly being restless and missing Switzerland, I've decided to make the best out of it and give the impression it's all "charming" to live in a town that is so small you have to travel 2 hours (by car AND boat) to fix your broken headphones.

FRIDAY: Kings of Convenience on Fitjar!

Kings of Convenience are Norwegians and have a lot of fans here (me being one of them!) but they're even bigger abroad. Needless to say I was THRILLED to find out they were visiting the Northern part of this island (FITJAR!) celebrating the municipality's 150th anniversary. After touring Asia and the US they came all the way to an island OUTSIDE an island - only accessible by BOAT. Actually the fact that they were visiting "Fitjar" is amazing itself...here's the local "welcome" sign.

And this is how the "gig" looked like from the sea when we came with the boat. The little black dot to the right is the stage.

Fitjar is a really small municipality so they had taken the library outside for the occasion. These are the only books they have. In the background the "security" guys - just in case someone swims to the island without a ticket.

Someone tried to sell this radio. The clothes belong to those that arrived on the island illegally.

The awesome bar. Lamps stolen from grandma and a barn in the background. You don't find this in Oslo.

...and of course bathroom facilities for both sexes. Men pee in the sea to the right, women to the left.

If you go to a concert with Kings of Convenience you're lucky to see them on stage. Almost 100.000 fans on facebook and all of a sudden they were playing soccer RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. I was concerned one of them would break the leg.

Finally the concert! It's not raining - people are just wearing rain clothes for fun. If I had a camera and not only my Iphone Kings of Convenience would've been in focus and not all those stupid enough to go to a concert in the middle of nowhere. And no, it's not "Where's Willy" - he just looks a bit like him once he puts on a beanie.

See what I mean?

Awful weather at the end - it's the LAST time I bring my Iphone on anything outdoor in Norway - it almost died due to heavy rain and a completely disorganized boat transport back to "main land". 1,5 hours in line waiting for 2 boats to transport hundreds of people while it was POURING + a typical situation where I have ZERO patience = I could kill anyone jumping the line. I was wet to the bone. But I saw Kings of Convenience playing soccer so it was totally worth it. Especially since my Iphone finally has recovered and is working again after it spent 2 days in a bag of RICE.

If you haven't heard them - it's about time: Click here!

SATURDAY - Gardering!

On Saturday I did more gardening than I've done in YEARS. Although I'd like to say that my motivation was helping out in the garden, I'll be honest and say that it was realizing that one of the millions of rhododendrons my dad has planted was hindering the sun from shining on "my" favorite apple tree. Problem rhododendron to the right - favorite apple tree to the left.

I went to check where my dad was and found out he and my brother in law were busy cutting wood.

Perfect. Already in a "cutting mood" so I mentioned I wanted to do something about the apple tree/ rhododendron situation. He answered something I interpreted as an approval - which lead to the following scene of crime only a few minutes later:

My mom's reaction - (although happy): "Look at all the burgeons! Your dad will cry when seeing it!" In other words - no time to lose and I brought it all down to the "plant cemetery" below our house. What you don't know won't hurt you.

My mom caught me in action on my way though...I don't think I look guilty at ALL.

And in any case the "before" and "after" pictures I took - in case I had to prove to my dad how much it helped - support me.

BEFORE:

AFTER (click to see damage already done - totally legitimizes my crime):

BEFORE (take 2):

AFTER: (take 2):

Ok so the rhododendron has looked better...but the apples are out in the sun. After cutting and removing an abundance of small apples hindering the ones with a potential to grow I was so high on gardening that I continued with picking what was left of the raspberries. The flower to the left is in the picture to make it all look really idyllic but the truth is it took forever to get HALF a box (mostly because of few left), then I had to clean them afterwards only to be reminded of how many blind passengers hide inside raspberries. Pictures lie.

My mom: "You've picked more raspberries!"
Me: "They're for smoothie, not for jam".

SUNDAY - Open farm day!

Just to make sure the weekend was as "farmy" as possible I decided to join in when my parents took two of my niece and nephews to an open farm day across the fjord.

Of course my main motivation to spend an entire Sunday on an old farm was hoping for cool motives to take pictures of. Then - the closest I came was this ancient shale wall with a gate so crooked it ruined the symmetry. Seriously - they managed to get all those shales straight but the GATE all messed up?! This was one of the two pictures I took.

The local shop with two women discussing which of the 3 knitted cardigans to buy...

Subsidized piglets that will all end up on someone's plate for Christmas. I wanted to set them all free.

The person responsible for me taking pictures of everything - my dad. Always a camera nearby. This is the other picture haha.

Since a farm day is first of all for CHILDREN there was an abundance of activities for THEM and not for ME. So when I saw a bunch of kids making wooden nest boxes together with their parents it was my chance. Not only to pretend I was a child again, but also to prove I am SUPER AUNTIE and so I offered to make one together with my niece. Wood all ready, only thing to do was nailing so it couldn't be too difficult. I saw my dad taking out his camera again and thought "perfect - it's going to look like I'm an expert on nailing". Then all he did was VIDEOTAPING IT only to disclose how LOST I am in nailing a stupid nest box. I blame the noise - it was IMBERABLE - how does ANYONE teach sloyd!?!?! If I wasn't busy nailing I would've done exactly like the little guy to the left - high five.

Of course the only picture he managed to take of me is just before I gave up. My face says it all and even my niece looks bored - I FAILED. At least I'm responsible for 2,5 nails in that nest box and in my defense it did NOT help that all the other kids nailing (or HAMMERING) had dads nailing 10 times faster than me. How can I compete with that - I haven't nailed for years!

PS: I didn't blur the faces of the other kids because they were ugly. After studying law for too long at least I know it's not allowed to publish pictures of anyone's child without the permission of the parents - regardless of which country you're in. I don't think too many people on facebook are aware of that law though.

Last but not least - not a proper farm day without a dog show. This is still practiced in Norway if you have sheep and I have to admit that the two boys impressed me (and the dogs) when they finally managed to lock the sheep in. I was a bit skeptical as the situation seemed to be a bit out of control at some point.

I'll admit that I was the one being most impatient by the end of the day when we stayed another 1,5 hour ONLY to find out if we won the 2 quizzes we took part in. I already knew we wouldn't win the family quiz with ridiculous questions like "How long does an earthworm live"? EARTHWORMS - are you kidding me?? Or "How many milk farmers are there in this area?" (My answer: Too many.)

That was a LONG blog. Now be glad that has more to do with the amount of pictures than the amount of words.

Shirley, where are you?!

2010-08-20T01:10:00.006+02:00

Why does every junkmail-"person" think my name is Shirley?? I don't know how many junk mails for SHIRLEY I receive EVERY day but it's a LOT.

My favorite is the "I'm worried about you, Shirley!" This one comes at least once a day. Definitely the highlight.

Shirley, you out there somewhere? Dr.Franklin is worried about you!! And to be honest, I'm starting to get worried about you as well - I even got an E-mail from your DAD!!

Irish Viking? I don't think so.

2010-08-18T11:57:00.009+02:00

I just noticed this pub when I was in Haugesund last week, a "city" about an hour away. The Irish Viking!! Something is just not right in that sentence and it's the word "Irish". What is an IRISH viking?! Everyone knows that vikings are from SCANDINAVIA, meaning you'd better have some Norwegian, Swedish or Danish blood in your veins to be allowed to call yourself a real viking and referring to what you could call a violent past. The Irish beer drinkers and Riverdancers are certainly NOT vikings, it's not like I would call myself a Native American after painting my face red and blue and run around in the forest...

And although the very polite and friendly vikings pretty much robbed and raped all of Britain, including Ireland, this is certainly not a good enough reason to call any Irish a viking. Not at least since just before almost conquering Ireland, the BRITS came and took over! How is it possible to be conquered by THE BRITS?! With their "oh I'm so sorry!" every 10th second they were probably the easiest target for my forefathers and probably said "Do you want a cup of tea?" when being attacked by Häger the Horrible... In other words, kind of embarrassing for the vikings to give up Ireland to these polite tea-lovers, but also just another proof there's not enough nordic blood left in the Irish to be real vikings. Nice try though!

Thank you!

2010-08-15T18:24:00.004+02:00

Just how STUPID do those sending out junk mail think people are?!

Wilhelm was here

2010-08-03T18:05:00.014+02:00

This is what could suddenly meet you in the bathroom when your 3 year old nephew is visiting. You may still use the bathroom, just go to another one upstairs to wash your hands. Of course I was too lazy to do that, so I washed my hands anyway and all the toys smelled like soap. My revenge.

The only toy left not stinking like soap was this one...

...so naturally Wilhelm didn`t want to speak to me for a while after finding out.

Then, just before leaving, my brother decided to have a make-over and my sister in law was so embarrassed by his new look that he was placed in the passanger seat.

Needy and greedy!

2010-07-23T09:09:00.004+02:00

I thought buying you in the supermarket the other day was a good idea, thinking "you taste better while still alive and also look better than inside a box after being cut into pieces". Well it turned out be the opposite! Seriously, you are more demanding than a crappy IKEA plant and the attention you obviously need is beyond having a fish in an aquarium. And there's a reason why I don't have a fish in an aquarium.

So please tell me, what is REALLY your problem since you seem to slowly die of boredom, regardless of what I do? Let's look at several factors, only to find that you have NO reason to complain.

Not happy with the climate? You're INSIDE! The kitchen holds an average temperature above 20 °C so you should be fine and the lamp located JUST above your "head" should make up for the lack of sun (today you even got some sunshine after 1 week without, I don't see any reason to complain).

Not happy with the country you're in? Well you're still in Europe, meaning Greece or where ever it is you come from is NOT THAT FAR AWAY. And if you look around you'll see that you share a household with several members of the Orchid family doing just fine - meaning that immigrants from Asia and South America integrate better than you do! Also, as if that wasn't enough, it was written on you that you came to this island from a farm only 3 hours South and you looked FINE in the supermarket.

Not enough water? You're getting water ALL the time - ever since you came into the family I'm constantly dehydrated cause I have to SHARE with you every time I drink! I can't even enter the kitchen without you staring at me with a look that is distracting me from all other activities and I've even started drinking milk, juice, tea and coffee instead so that I don't have to feel bad not offering you some. But in spite of drinking like an alcoholic you look just as miserable and dry the next time I see you and I'm honestly starting to wonder if you suffer from DIABETES. How you survived at all in Greece where it hardly rains is a mystery.

Are you lonely? I'm aware that you were surrounded by several other oreganos in the supermarket, but seriously...even PUPPIES manage after a couple of nights on their own and you should maybe try looking at the positive side: You don't have to fight with basilikum, coriander and all the other plants you were surrounded by, discussing which of you fit into most meals or whatever other "important" topics you have on your agenda.

I've done EVERYTHING for you and you still make me look like a failure. I don't know what is worst; that you have turned me into this awful person not even capable of keeping a SPICE PLANT alive (no offense), or that you make me wonder if I'm about to go crazy cause I realize I spend too much time worrying about you and ask myself what it is I'm doing wrong.

Tomorrow I'm gonna put a box of dried, cut-into-pieces oregano next to you so that you see what your destiny could've been like. Maybe it'll make you appreciate your situation more.

Cellophan is for FLOWERS

2010-07-19T17:42:00.024+02:00

On Saturday it was my parents' anniversary. They have been married for 45 years - or as I would put it: an eternity. Also called "sapphire anniversary" - so of course I had to buy a little present since they have put up with each other for that long.

So I decided to buy them a small gift, and did what I always do when I buy something for the two of them: Try to figure out what I think they should get rid of in the house cause buying them something new to replace it with is the ONLY way to do that when you have parents that grew up in World War II and can't throw away anything before it falls apart by itself. This time I saw the possibility of replacing the awful wooden paper towel stand in the kitchen with a new one, especially since the kitchen just had a makeover and the "color" of the stand no longer matched. I found a nice white one with a little heart on top of it and told the lady in the shop it was a present.

"Do you want it to be wrapped in cellophan?"

I honestly didn't know what she meant by that, but it sounded really nice and fashionable and the shop itself is somewhere the presents are always wrapped more nicely than other shops so I said "yes". Then she starts wrapping it in TRANSPARENT plastic and all I was thinking was "wow it's not a flower - are you gonna put something on top of that cause the whole idea of wrapping a present is that it's supposed to be a SURPRISE". But no.

So instead of looking like a normal present, it looked like this...

...and all I could do was to put it in a bag and take it home realizing that although it looked really nice, it was kind of obvious what was inside. However, once back home it turned out I didn't have to worry about the surprise-part at ALL. Cause my mom wasn't sure what was inside of it (obviously I handed it over to her - knowing that my dad couldn't care less about kitchen decor) and had to guess at least a couple of times before asking: "Is it a paper towel stand?"

When I suggested she should open it to find out, she refused to cause it LOOKED SO NICE...

I'm probably never gonna say yes to cellophan EVER again unless I buy flowers. Not only does it disclose what's inside, the receiver of the gift also refuses to unwrap it - hence the whole point of buying a present is GONE.

PS: For anyone thinking that flowers would be more appropriate as an anniversary gift than a kitchen paper towel stand, of course they got that as well. After all that's what you have an older sister for, with a decent income and the possibility to buy NICE flowers instead of those TWO roses I would've been able to afford on a student budget in this overpriced country. I will buy flowers for their 50th anniversary. Wrapped in cellophan of course.

The "It's Not That Bad" syndrome

2010-07-16T11:57:00.035+02:00

When you live in Norway, you suffer from a syndrome called the "it's not that bad" syndrome. This is a survival mechanism to make people survive all the months of awful weather, either it’s 60 days nonstop of rain on the West coast or a Winter temperature so low that you can bring boiling water outside and make it SNOW in the East. In the North the sun is gone for two months, so they don’t even see what the weather is like.

This is how a person suffering from the "it's not that bad" syndrome looks like:

A classic symptom when suffering from the "it's not that bad" syndrome is that no matter how many weeks of bad weather you've had, you somehow forget after two days of sunshine. If there is a whole week of sunshine, you can hear people everywhere, especially women in their 60’s say: "Oh yes the weather's been great for weeks now! It's almost a bit too much!" While laughing. Classic.

Another symptom is that although the average temperature in July has been 15 °C and the raincoat never dries, there is a defense mechanism switched on as soon as you hear ANYONE complain about it. A typical reaction would be something like this: "Well now you have to remember that we had a beautiful spring (of course this is beautiful in the context of how it normally is) and some really nice days in May and June!" Classic.

The third symptom is, if the weather has been REALLY bad for WEEKS and even the hard-core "Western" people start getting a bit sick of it, to look at positive things not having ANYTHING to do with the weather. A typical comment is: "In any case we're lucky to live here on the West coast. The beautiful nature, the fjords, the ocean and a mild climate." Then, if the bad weather continues even longer, followed up by the sentence: "In any case a high standard of living allows us to travel to warmer destinations to have some holiday.” Classic.

Then, you have the other type of Norwegians. Those that went abroad for a while and unfortunately got cured from the "it's not that bad" syndrome while being there. Cause the thing is that when you have lived abroad, and especially if you come from the West coast, you find out that it's actually NOT normal that it rains every second day throughout the whole year.

You also find out what having "four seasons" REALLY means, and that although this is THE thing to highlight back home as positive about the climate this was all a lie cause either you go home for Christmas, Easter or Summer the weather is exactly the same; 12 °C and rain. Meaning there is only ONE season and that is AUTUMN.

You find out that the phenomenon "tropical night" (that is a night where the temperature doesn't go below 20C° / 68 F°), which occurs seldom enough to end up in the news every time, happens on a regular basis and is NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL. You also find out that Wikipedia only describes the phenomenon in two languages; Swedish and Norwegian and that something you thought was known Worldwide only exists in Scandinavia cause we were the only ones who bothered to define it in the first place.

You find out that during Winter it's actually cold, and during Summer it's actually warm and it even repeats itself every year. During Autumn it's actually dry enough to go hiking and during Spring you see that the climate is actually building up for Summer instead of jumping forth and back between Winter and Autumn.

Last but not least, having lived in a landlocked country, you find out that although it's amazing to finally see the ocean again and feel the fresh wind in your hair, it would be nice to have at least a couple of days where you can step outside the door without thinking "So if I had a wig, would I lose it?"

This is how a person looks like once cured from the "it's not that bad" syndrome.

A classic symptom to have when you are cured from the "it's not that bad" syndrome is to constantly complain about the weather and constantly refer to how much better it is anywhere else. Needless to say, this is frustrating to people around, that simply don't want to know about other places and prefer thinking it's the same everywhere. It gets even worse when the person cured from the syndrome starts questioning the logic behind how two days of sunshine can make up for three weeks of rain. Classic.

Another symptom is that you couldn't care less if there were warm and sunny days in April, May or June. July is supposed to be the warmest Month of the year, and it's FIFTEEN DEGREES. A typical statement would be something like this: "Actually there are places where they have warm and sunny days in April, May and June and STILL July is warm as well". A typical defense reaction to this reaction is: “Well do they have the same social benefits as we have in Norway?” knowing that the answer to this question always is “No” since NO other country has. Classic.

The third symptom is that after several weeks of bad weather you realize that you've completely lost the defense mechanism your fellow citizens still have, and that looking on positive things having nothing to do with the weather is of no point cause IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE WEATHER. A typical statement is: "What is the point of being surrounded by beautiful nature and fjords when the weather is so bad that the boat could sink and you could get blown over to England if you hike a mountain?"

Of course the typical reply is: "Well if that happens at least the social state pays for it!"

CLASSIC...

Moose on the loose - AGAIN

2010-07-14T10:13:00.009+02:00

Yesterday there was a "moose on the loose" in Norway again, creating headlines all over the country. In a "city" (it's not likely it would qualify to be called a city in any other country than Norway) in Eastern Norway a moose stormed not one but THREE shops - among them a flower shop - before it disappeared.

The owner of the shop tells about dramatic minutes following the sudden appearance of the crazy moose, forcing her to run towards the bakery next door with the moose following her. After running THROUGH the bakery she ended up in a supermarket where she could hide in the bathroom while calling the police. Also at the bakery the moose managed to create a complete chaos, before it continued to the supermarket where it turned things into a mess. Then - it vanished.

The manager of the supermarket describes the episode as a "once in a lifetime" experience and claims to have had no visits like this earlier on. Several witnesses claim to have seen the dramatic episode reporting of people screaming "Moose! Moose!" as the panic was spreading.

This once again heats up the discussion in Norway on whether citizens can feel safe. Is the moose turning more and more violent? Is there a need for a moose-law allowing the police to be armed whenever there is a call related to this obviously unstable animal? Can a moose be prosecuted for trespassing and would it in the case of a trial be in a position to be convicted or is there a lack of "intention" and thus guilt in the "crimes" committed? And last but not least, is the moose getting too much media attention, causing a copycat effect?

Earlier episodes involving a moose supports a reason to be concerned. In March a man in Northern Norway pulled over to take a leak when a moose for no reason came up to him and kicked him in the face. The police still has no indications to what the motivation behind this "blind violence" was.

In January a moose jumped through the window of a nursing home. Luckily the patient's room was empty at the time of the break-in but the moose continued and ran into the room of an 86 year old woman who managed to get out with the moose remaining inside. Although unarmed, the moose after being locked inside the room was shot when police arrived.

The question could also be asked as to whether the phenomenon from 2002 again has occurred when several moose were seen drunk in Southern Norway.

In the South-West of Norway we have yet to see the more and more feared moose. There is however reason to ask if we should be worried now that we have a bridge on one side of the island and no longer only ferries...

Finally a reason to watch soccer - Viva Espana!

2010-07-12T11:34:00.027+02:00

Not being particularly interested in soccer and not even having a national team in the World Cup it should be needless to say I haven't had ANY motivation to pay attention to all the madness that has been going on the last month. But God knows I tried!! Especially as long as I was in Bern. I even did my best to find a team that I wanted to support.

Result: I supported almost ALL teams playing in the whole cup.

Why? Because while everyone else had a specific reason for the team they cheered for, my choices where (as usual) not very well reasoned and therefore changed along the way. A lot.

1. Switzerland

Since I was living in Bern and also living with 2 Swiss I felt a strong need to support Switzerland. Then, the first thing they did was to win against Spain, thinking they had won the whole World Cup. This resulted in 200 million cars driving around with people honking their car horns the rest of the night and newspapers suggesting this day should be the new national day (!!??). Too much noise - Switzerland lost my support.

2. Denmark

So I changed to Denmark. Since Norway sucks in soccer this was the closest I came to home, at least it was within Scandinavia and we had the same king some hundreds years ago. Also Denmark is FLAT and unlike Sweden and Norway don't have anything to do in any Winter sports so I feel sorry for them.

3. Australia

Not surprisingly, Denmark wasn't doing too well in the World Cup (I heard, of course I didn't watch) and thus it wasn't fun to support them for long. So I changed to Australia. Why not? Whenever I think about Australia I think about Billabong, surfing and kangaroos, and this was something new. Also they produce Tim Tams; amazing cookies.

4. New Zealand

However, after a while I found out by accident that NEW ZEALAND was in the World Cup. New Zealand! Finding out this Australia lost my support within a few seconds. I don't know anything about New Zealand except that there's a lot of sheep and half of the island has a landscape with similarities to Norway. But it's kind of cute that they participated. New Zealand was my team.

5. England.

New Zealand wasn't doing too well either - they should probably stick to cricket or rugby or whatever they play down under. So I found out it was about time England got my support and almost felt bad I didn't give them my support earlier on having lived in London some years ago and being a big fan of the excellent British humor (again - very relevant in a soccer tournament). Also, England is after all a "football nation", they don't have any mountains or anything else to contribute with within sports (do they?). BUT - they disappointed and even got tied by the US. How embarrassing is that England!!!!

6. Holland

Naturally, in the final there were only TWO teams to choose between and since one of my best friends is Dutch I decided to support Holland. I even watched the last 20 minutes thinking I should at least watch the END of the World Cup. Of course none of the teams managed to score, which forced me to watch ANOTHER 30 minutes. Long enough for me to realize that the Dutch were not playing nice at all - and that Spain had a lot of chances. Slowly, my support started going in the direction of Spain, and I was actually happy when they FINALLY managed to score after what I would call 120.000 missed chances.

7. SPAAAAAAAAAAIN!!!!!!!!

Then - as every online newspaper in the World started having headlines with pictures from the World Cup champions, the video with Spain's keeper Iker Casillas appeared EVERYWHERE. Why? He kissed his girlfriend, a reporter from Spain, on direct TV. SOOOOO CUTE!!! Finally something interesting related to the World Cup - hot keeper kissing his girlfriend after victory! I'll be honest and say THIS is the only thing I will remember from the World Cup, and also that if I knew about Iker Casillas it would've been a reason good enough to support Spain aaalll the way and watch more games than I did. Of course I found out this AFTER the World Cup is over... Spain - you officially have my support from now on - at least as long as Casillas is playing!!

Teams that were under consideration but din't qualify to have my support:

8. Brazil

Brazil is a cool country with fun people knowing how to celebrate and enjoy life. Also, I know they're excellent in soccer and play fair and thus would be a good team to support. But, always having been this "soccer nation" - they've won enough and it would've been boring to support them.

9. USA

USA being the country where I have the most friends coming from (except Norway) was constantly under evaluation to be supported. However, I came to the conclusion that they wouldn't be able to handle even getting CLOSE to the final. The Americans went from "World Cup? What World Cup?" to "USA IN THE WORLD CUP!!!!" almost over night after first tying England then winning against Algeria. Not good for them - Uncle Sam already has way too much self confidence and any victory would make them go INSANE. Stick to American football, baseball and cheer leading - soccer belongs in Europe (where it's about to become a religion anytime soon).

Go fishing in Norway - fish like a viking!

2010-07-10T09:08:00.005+02:00

Why fish from a boat when you can fish from a kayak? In Scandinavia we're vikings - or we used to be once upon a time and like to refer to it now and then to make the impression we're still tough and wild. This means that the risk of getting a halibut weighing 44 kilos/97 pounds on the hook is no problem - even if you're in a kayak. On top of getting a work out session for free you also end up in media - as goes for a lot of people having fished big fishes from awkward places and sometimes with their bare hands (again: vikings). It shouldn't be a surprise that it's "all about fish" in the North. And potatoes.

This guy only used half an hour (!) to get the halibut INTO the kayak. Nice. I would've spent exactly that amount of time and more to make sure it did NOT get into my kayak. Probably also to make sure I stayed in the kayak myself.

Then, after struggling to finally get this monster into his kayak - he still wasn't satisfied.

"It was really difficult to paddle with the halibut in the kayak..."

In my opinion this shouldn't be a surprise when looking at the size of it, as a kayak is meant for ONE person. However, the difficulties of paddling didn't stop him.

"So I sat on it and locked it with my legs..."

??

Naturally, the reporter asked if he had the habit of SITTING on the fish he fishes.

"No, only the big ones. A while back I sat on a wolffish."

???

Someone please give this guy a canoe - he obviously needs it. Not at least considering the fact that the halibut he got on the hook is small compared to how big they CAN be. He should try getting one of these on the hook, then RIDE it to the shore. That would be awesome.

Main article from VG

USA - always the little extra

2010-07-08T16:56:00.012+02:00

Today I tried to find an address to a friend in the US having an upcoming birthday. Someone told me to use addresses.com, which was great cause I found the address easily, probably because she's not exactly from the biggest city.

However, although the name of the webpage is "addresses", it turns out that you get a WHOLE lot of other information as well...

You don't even have to click on the "View details" option before it flashes:

"Get more info - including criminal records, address history, bankruptcies, lawsuits and more".

Wow. Hello privacy! Although tempting, I didn't click - honestly just doing that would almost feel like a crime as only the POLICE in Norway has this kind of information. I'm realizing that the kind of details we managed to get out of internet back home some years ago when checking guys before FB came ("google him - are there any pics?" and "check tax record to see which year he's born in!") is NOTHING compared to this. I'm also realizing what is meant when people say you can get just about everything you want in the US, as long as you pay for it. Even someone's criminal record.

Now I wonder how dating works at all. What if you're going on a date with the perfect guy, then you look him up to find out he has a criminal record indicating you should not even show up for your own safety. And with 300 million people to choose between, there must be a high risk of not always checking the right person - (HOW many John Smith's are there in NY??)

Or even if the person doesn't have a criminal record, a conversation starting with "So about that bankruptcy..." or "How is the lawsuit going?" must be a nice start.

On the other hand, maybe it could be good to know if the guy you're seeing has been previously convicted of stalking - God knows there are more than enough crazy guys out there acting normal in the beginning only to turn out as psychos...

Freedom for WHO??

2010-06-24T01:06:00.002+02:00

Sun + sea + snow + mountains = I need it all

2010-06-16T20:24:00.010+02:00

(Romsdalen, Norway)

After several years of listening to me complaining about the weather and repeating how I'm "never going to live in Norway" friends & family back home have found out that I'm not exactly a fan of the unpredictable climate in Norway... Although amazing when sunny during summer when it never really gets dark, and even more amazing when cold and covered in snow during winter - never knowing whether you will at all get a proper summer (it could be an average temp of 25 °C or 12 °C and both would be "normal") or whether you will get a winter with snow is something I don't handle very well compared to my fellow citizens. "Predictability" is a lawyer's favorite word - in my opinion it covers the weather as well.

After studying in Bergen for 5 years I got fed up with both rain and mild winters. At one point it rained for 70 days non-stop... Naturally I had high hopes for Switzerland, having a continental climate which I thought would give at least enough sunshine and plus degrees to make up for not having a coastline, and not at least an awesome winter and the Alps nearby. After several friends saying "How are YOU going to survive without the sea? You grew up next to it!" and me answering every time (sounding very convincing) "Oh it's ok - the nature is awesome and the mountains kind of make up for it". Which is sort of true, cause I didn't miss the ocean during winter since it's too cold in Norway then to enjoy it anyway and since I had the possibility to go snowboard = I was fine.

Now, however, after God knows how many weeks of a cloudy, rainy weather with 14-15 °C and HIGHER temperatures in Norway (!) I've had enough. I am in lack of sun, I MISS THE SEA, the wind and the sound of waves. Naturally every time you move somewhere you ask yourself "Could I see myself staying"? Regarding Switzerland I've gone from being totally positive to totally skeptical. For every day that goes by without sun, without temps above 20 °C and without a possibility to wear summer clothes in June (that I brought since I was moving 2000 km SOUTH) - the more I have the need to get out of here. I've also reflected over whether I'm too fussy when it comes to where I wanna live cause at the moment it feels like nothing qualifies. Although I haven't been that many places and therefore don't have much to compare with - I just wanna live somewhere you have proper seasons clearly indicating which season you're in.

"You can't have it all" they say. Maybe it's true. Norway has both awesome mountains + sea (even amazing beaches) but a climate that puts a limit to it, Switzerland has amazing mountains but no sea nearby - (5 hours by car from Berne = disqualified) and whatever country has proper summers (like Italy in the south) has no mountains nearby to go skiing on the weekends. Impossible or not - it doesn't change the fact that I DO want it all! The more I realize how much I miss warm temps and sunshine when summer's arriving, the more I realize that although I love skiing I'm not a 100% Norwegian viking.

In any case, all I can think of these days is that I'll be in Norway and by the sea again in less than 2 weeks. Praying for a warm summer!

(Jæren, Norway)

Recycling in Switzerland - what a hassle...

2010-06-02T09:34:00.006+02:00

I have NEVER seen a more complicated way to recycle paper in my life. The most amazing thing is that people actually DO it here - I seriously doubt it would work in ANY other country, Norway included. Either it's a small piece of paper from a chewing gum or a newspaper, you have to bundle it together!! It's amazing - even recycling looks nice in this country, probably you get fined if you do it wrong, I wouldn't be surprised. If you put your trash bag outside on the street (special blue ones of course - you cannot just use an old plastic bag, you have to BUY special ones and they cost a fortune) on the WRONG day, the trash bag will be "investigated" to see if there is any recipe or bill that could tell who it belonged to! No kidding! My neighbor last year had to pay 80 CHF. It's CRAZY - I thought I came from a rule-oriented country until I moved to Switzerland.

So, since I am following the rules, I've already bundled paper together and found it a waste of time EVERY time I've done it. To make it all fit (it can't look too bad either, cause then they don't pick it up, and if they don't pick it up - you get fined!) takes a while...

...and often ends like this a couple of times before you get a hold on it...I'm far away from an expert...

...finally ready to look nice on the street outside the house for a few hours!

This makes me miss the Norwegian recycling system a LOT, simply because it is TEN THOUSAND times better. Every house where I come from has 3 big trashes outside; one for paper, one for whatever can't be recycled properly and one for food if you don't have one in your garden to use for growing plants (we do). All you have to do is carry it to the street like once a week so a truck comes and pick it up. Swissency?? Not when it comes to trash, Switzerland - you have a loooooong way to go!!!

22 years in school

2010-05-30T12:36:00.005+02:00

I just found out that I've spent 22 years of my life IN SCHOOL. That is sad. Even more sad is it that I spent those 22 years in school only to spend almost the rest of my life at WORK and the only thing that will make me not working for a while is getting pregnant and have children. For a minute I was considering to just move into the bushes somewhere, live in a cave and be self-supportive in food. Then I came back to reality after reflecting over the fact that it'll be a bit difficult when being vegetarian - although I eat seafood. Also I would probably end up in media being the weird, self-supportive crazy Norwegian living isolated from the world growing carrots and potatoes somewhere. Blah. Maybe I should become a hippie.

Boy racers and butterfly swimmers

2010-05-22T20:20:00.023+02:00

Sometimes guys just don't get it. I'm aware of the fact that guys and girls don't think in the same way, but seriously - don't guys have a MOTHER? Why does it seem that this mother often has forgotten to tell her precious son what does (and more importantly what does NOT) impress a girl?? Today I was once again reminded of a couple of things that REALLY annoy me about the opposite sex - yeah I know I shouldn't generalize since only a certain type of guys fall within this category but it's just TOO tempting sometimes.

BOY RACERS

The "dictionary" definition of a boy racer:

"A level headed young male between the age of 17-25 who sensibly makes modifications to his vehicle to improve performance. The use of offensive stickers, spoilers borrowed from British Airways, clear tail-lights that give you a headache and practical rims that cost more than the car are all well implemented by the boy racer. Boy racers are also known to drive recklessly, as doing so clearly helps in impressing the opposite sex and compensating for sexual inadequacy. The effect that this has on sensible motorists and elderly pedestrians is generally not taken into consideration."

Choosing a sarcastic definition was not a coincident. I don't know how many times I've asked myself why some guys have to turn up the music when passing by girls, and even more why they have to accelerate with so much NOISE - and keep pushing the gas pedal and the break at the same time - when standing STILL?!!?

Here's what I am thinking EVERY time a car like this passes by - including today:

1. Your music is AWFUL. Just because YOU think it's cool to break the sound barrier with a bad remix of Lady Gaga doesn't mean that others wanna listen to it - although it seems like you think you're entertaining the whole city. I hope you get hearing impaired by the age of 40 cause my eardrum almost exploded when you passed by.

2. So you obviously think you impress girls walking along the street with constantly pushing the gas pedal while waiting for the green light? Are you kidding me?? All we're thinking is "I know you think you're impressing but you're actually doing the opposite - go impress your fellow mates who made you think this is cool in the first place". As if not the annoying noise is enough you ALSO think that just because you're in a car with 3-4 of your likeminded mates it's OK to shout whatever to girls passing by and point, laugh or whistle. I bet you don't even know how to approach a girl when you're alone.

3. Last but not least: Please don't shift gear too quickly - so that you can make as MUCH noise as possible while accelerating. Seriously? Acceleration? So you think we're thinking "Wow you just speeded in 1st gear so that it sounds like you drive much faster than you do - that is awesome!!" I didn't even know what the word "acceleration" MEANT before my brother got this new car some years ago and had this need to show me how FANTASTIC the acceleration was. I was not even close to being as enthusiastic as him. I have no problem with pleading guilty for lack of knowledge - I've never missed the word "acceleration" in my vocabulary. "Speed up" and "speed down" work just fine.

My definition of a boy racer:

"A guy that is too immature to own a car".

GUYS IN PUBLIC SWIMMINGPOOLS

Today I went swimming again - and for once it was NOT crowded in the little public swimmingpool around the corner. So it started out perfectly - the pool was almost empty and yet divided into different sections depending on whether you want to breastswim, crawl, swim fast or slow. I shared one section with another girl - we were both happy breastswimming back and forth with 2-3 guys crawling in the section next to us. Then! Of course, even though it was only 30 min left before closing time - this typical "I'm too good to swim in this pool but let's do a few laps'"guy shows up, jumps into OUR section and starts CRAWLING. Splash splash, making waves so big you swallow half a liter of water if you accidently reach the surface for some air as he passes by. Eventually the girl went over to the other section - I refused and got this "no way you're chasing me away - I WAS HERE FIRST" feeling - also thinking that since we're now only TWO people in a whole section it SHOULD be fine.

What does he do? Starts BUTTERFLYING!!!! For crying out loud - this is NOT the olympics and NOT a private pool! A big guy swimming butterfly = taking up the whoooole space - it could might as well be a WHALE swimming next to you. So I had to give up and join the girl in the other section where there were 2-3 other guys crawling around as well. I'm sorry guys but swimming pools would be SO much more practical without you "whaling around" - today was not the first time me and fellow females had to abide macho swimmers.

Constitution Day in Bern - not quite the same

2010-05-20T09:42:00.009+02:00

On Monday it was the 17th of May = Norway's Constitution Day. It is a BIG thing in Norway, everyone walks around with flags, singing, waving to the King and the Queen (at least in Oslo), eating at least 2-3 ice creams and hot dogs while wearing national costume and being as patriotic as possible the whole day.

Everyone has their own traditions on this day, but among young people it's common to gather together at someone's place and have breakfast. Breakfast because the program outdoor including children's parades (and an abundance of Norwegian flags) starts pretty early. It is maybe the day I'd wish the most that I was in Norway. Or at least that I was somewhere else than Bern! There wasn't even a program here - probably because you can count the number of Norwegians living in this city with the help of your 10 fingers - (probably also because Bern is one of the smallest cities in Switzerland and shouldn't have been the capital in the first place). And it didn't help that both Geneva and Zürich had more or less a program for Norwegians - although everyone has the day off in Norway this doesn't work abroad so I was forced to stay in Bern.

So my day started out a bit differently than it would if I was at home... Instead of having breakfast together with friends or family I had pancakes with Maple Syrup "on the go" (= didn't even have time to sit down because I was in a rush). Although the reason for this was partly because we were out of bread and milk and partly because there were some leftovers from the day before, I still felt that I had to apologize to my country for having such a NOT Norwegian breakfast. I'm sorry Norway.

A highlight of the day was meeting Silje for a coffee and later on Janicke when reading together in the library, two Norwegians also studying in Bern. Me and Silje had our own little "celebration" inside a bakery - with cappucino and an amazing raspberry pie. Once a Norwegian always a Norwegian - just talking your own language and say "happy birthday" to someone makes a little difference.

To make up for the lack of Norwegian celebration and lack of Norwegian food, I actually went to the supermarket and bought fresh salmon to have for dinner. Although I started out the day in a very non-Norwegian way, at least I ended it with fish and potatoes. A meal can't get more Norwegian than that.

Canon EOS 7D - I want this camera

2010-05-16T13:20:00.010+02:00

My analogue Nikon F80 SLR has been a faithful friend for many years now. I've been one of those hesitating to give up on the 135-film, the magic that comes with it and the possibility of blowing up your pictures to poster size. When I worked in a camera shop some years ago and the digital world was about to take over I thought that I would stick to my beloved analogue Nikon until the professional digital SLR's were cheap enough for me to buy. I don't think that's gonna happen.

After taken 4-5 films in Switzerland this spring I sadly have to admit 3 things:

1. It is ridiculously expensive to develop a 135-film after the digital cameras took over.
2. The quality of the photos is just SAD.
3. I am affected by the digital world and find it a hassle to actually use analogue SLR when everything's changed. I've become lazy.

So since I had another day where I was just daydreaming about all the places I wanna go and have a really good camera with me, I surfed the internet for a little while before I found this one from Canon. Although I've been a Nikon fan for years (it's kind of either Nikon or Canon, almost like N'Sync or Backstreet Boys back in the 90's), I have to admit that Canon is taking the lead when it comes to price and quality - and megapixel. Although the number of megapixel itself doesn't matter for the quality of the pics, it still does to me since I wanna have the possibility to enlarge them.

Here's what I love about Canon EOS 7D:

- 18 megapixel
- 8 fps (frames per sec - perfect for sport shots)
- ISO up to 12800
- Dust & Weather Resistant
- 19 point AF system (auto focus)
- robust magnesium body

Just thinking about going snowboarding, hiking, roadtripping or whatever with a camera like this in the backpack makes me sick of living on a student budget. Can't wait to finally have my own digital SLR one day - a good one!

Deleting old E-mails

2010-05-13T18:05:00.022+02:00

I have an E-mail problem. Thank you Iphone for making me realize that I can't have 2672 E-mails in my inbox...it is just not very practical with a cell phone that somehow synchronizes my hotmail account with the mail-application and although I have read through and deleted the E-mails on my Iphone just to get rid of the number of new E-mails it just fills it up again so that it looks like I have new E-mails in my inbox ALL the time.

So yesterday I started. As I'm deleting I'm discovering a lot of things I had forgotten about from my student years, and also that my life could've been a LOT different if I had made other decisions. Here are a few examples:

1. Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia

I have several E-mails from Bond University and had totally forgotten about the fact that I almost had my exchange year outside Brisbane. Then professors convinced me to choose Europe instead and to learn German, since apparently there was a need for this (yeah right) and going to Australia would just give future employers the impression that you spent your 5th year of law studies surfing instead of studying. So, instead of living next to Surfers Paradise for a year I ended up far away from the sea AND mountains in sad sad SAD Saarbrücken in Germany only to find out that Germany is a country I could NEVER live in and that my aversion towards the EU just increased. May Norway never ever join.

2. Mammoth Mountain

Another thing I had totally forgotten about before I found E-mails from a friend of mine already back in 2004. We were seriously planning to be ski bums in Mammoth Mountains for 2 months during the winter and planned to save up some money the autumn before. This was - it probably still is - a very popular place to go for Norwegians for a couple of months as it was supposed to be really good snowboard parks and snow safe. I can't believe we never did this, it's one of those crazy things I'd wish we did before growing up and becoming all reasonable and responsible thinking everything needs to happen in the right order and before you know it you have a family and get convinced it limits it all. I refuse to believe growing up has to be that boring and if that means my children will turn into being just as restless as me (or worse) - then so be it.

3. Sailing

I had a seriously short period of being really into sailing. Partly because the city I studied in is on the coast - as most cities in Norway - and partly because I grew up on an island and simply love boating. It is so me to get really into something, starting to learn the basics, having the goal of sailing regularly but then ending up only going like 2-3 times or something. Sailing turned out to be WAY more complicated than I thought it would be and all the things you had to do with the sail to make the sailboat go in the right direction somehow took away my motivation when I realized I didn't have enough time to learn it. Honestly I think being responsible for driving a boat with a certain size is so scary I think the best solution is to just convince whomever I'll end up with one day to take care of all the technical stuff and I'll just help out with whatever is needed.

4. Diving

Another weird - and short - period of my student life. This was THE favorite subject for my friends to mention in whatever setting for at LEAST 2 years. I used to be one of those jumping into the sea holding my nose instead of being among those that just dove into the sea in an elegant way. Not acceptable when you come from an island. So I signed up for the student diving course, probably being the one with the least ambiguous goal: diving into the sea at summer. I learned pretty much everything except diving into the sea... Including taking off with the back to the water and rotating backwards from different heights, diving inward - meaning taking off with the back to the water and rotating forward (100% convinced I would hit the springboard EVERY time) and not at least how to turn around once you hit the water - so you don't hurt your back.
In other words: More or less useless stuff when all you wanna learn is diving into the sea. Although it was fun, warming up on the big trampoline every week was my favorite part. It all ended when my ears started hurting so much that my doctor convinced me I was allergic to chlorine. I can't believe I believed that. For the record I later on finally learned how to dive into the sea in a much cheaper way - practicing.

5. November 17, 2006 - Google E-mail Verification

I have a Google E-mail account??!! Or did I just create one to send an anonymous E-mail to someone. I know I've done that.

6. The storm January 14, 2007

Funny memory. The news told us this really big storm would come during the night and me and one of my flatmates in Bergen actually put the alarm clock on 4 am to wake up and check out how strong the wind would be! Needless to say we were extremely disappointed when realizing we could hardly hear it at all, and then the next day I got an E-mail from my sister with this picture as an attachment. Obviously the storm was a bit stronger at home, 2 hours south of where I studied. This is what met my parents when they wanted to go to church Sunday morning hahahaha...

7. Facebook Registration Confirmation

So I signed up for facebook March 27, 2007! Can't believe it's 3 years ago - and still I was already late compared to a lot of friends that had kept sending me requests. I remember I had some difficulties understanding what is was all about, and also remember talking with friends and saying things like "It'll be over in 6 months from now, really popular in the beginning then people will get sick of it". Instead it turned out to be something that has come to stay, and after being abroad and living in different countries I honestly have to say that not only have I found old friends thanks to facebook, I've also managed to stay in touch with several of them.

Turns out that deleting 2672 E-mails was a trip down the memory lane. I now have only 2231 E-mails left.

My assignment weekend

2010-05-08T11:57:00.014+02:00

I just finished an assignment (it's now Sunday night although I started writing this on Saturday whenever I got bored of writing) lasting from Friday until Sunday, and spent more or less the WHOLE weekend at the institute together with the others deciding to study there as well. I think my weekend can be summed more or less up in 20 "achievements".

1. Going to the Orange shop, the server for my cellphone, to ask if it is possible to go on the Internet with my new Iphone even though I only have prepaid. The guy behind the desk OBVIOUSLY did not realize he was talking to a female when he answered "Yes but it costs 8 francs per 8 megabite". When I asked if he didn't mean minutes, he just said "It's simply very expensive." At this point he obviously understood who he was talking to. Excuse me for not being totally into the high-tech language.

2. Constantly checking online news - perfect procrastination. Also a perfect way to once again discover that not that much happens in my little country.

3. Lost a bobby pin into the toilet. That had to happen sooner or later, as these little pins are everywhere. That is, when you DON'T need them. When you DO need one, you can never find it.

4. Tried to roll a cigarette. Failed. At least entertained fellow students at the institute also writing on the assignment late at night.

5. Tried to light the failed rolled cigarette just to check if it was working. Failed again. Almost put my scarf on fire and now have a nice little hole in it. Obviously I will never become a smoker. I now have a memory from the crazy weekend in May where we had an assignment lasting from Friday until Sunday.

6. Bought a new package of "Nespresso" capsules since we have Nespresso machines at the institute and it tastes waaaay better than the coffee from the pay-coffee-machine (+ cheaper). Once again managed to not buy anything else than capsules. Victory.

"One package of Roma espresso capsules please"
"Do you want a chocolate to go with that?"
"No thanks, only coffee."
"That's a shame cause we have this awesome trinidad chocolate that goes perfectly with this coffee"
"No thank you, only coffee for me." (THINKING: I already said NO, do you really think I'll change my mind just because you say the trinidad whatever goes well with the Roma espresso?? Is this because I'm a girl and you think I'm weak when it comes to chocolate? In any case I won't but it from YOU cause if I get desperate I'll buy a chocolate 10 times cheaper in the supermarket cause I'm a student...)

6. Ate a cracker while studying without removing the earplugs first. Not recommended. Major internal noise explosion. Major.

7. Had not one, not two, but THREE regular coffees that were leftovers from a seminar at the institute. That is on top of already 2 Roma espresso capsules coffees and I am expecting to be high on caffeine any time soon.

8. Checked online news for the 156th time only to find out that Denmark won against Finland in ICEHOCKEY. Sending my congrats to Denmark - condolences to Finland...

9. Had another take away pizza from the pizza place next door. Thank you Garibaldi for feeding us during assignments when we're not capable of taking care of ourselves.

10. Found out that the film music of Lisa Gerrard and Hans Zimmer are my favorite to listen to while writing an assignment.

11. Recognized an increased interest in how to promote investment in my own country while writing about wind power.

12. Started to wonder why Norway actually doesn't invest more in renewable energy - especially since it has the economy to do so and could be a leader within environmental production.

13. Got worried that I actually think about these political economy things, since I never thought I would.

14. Checked online news again. Found a quiz called "Economic history" and tried it. Got 8 of 10. In ECONOMIC history! I learned something!

15. Celebrated Martin in my class's birthday at the institute while doing assignment. Take away pizza and 4 candles on a 12-package of beer.

16. Handed in the assignment. Went directly to the movie theater to meet my flatmates.

17. Didn't find the movie theater. Walked in the wrong direction. Several calls and my flatmate finally walking towards me so I wouldn't get completely lost. Smallest movie theater ever located in an area you would never think there was one - to support the amount of time I used to find it.

18. Finally sat down in the movie theater and watched the Swedish movie "Together" and was happy that I understand Swedish and didn't have to read the German subtitles.

19. Decided that it's one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. Crazy hippie Swedes in 1975.

20. Went home with my flatmates. Realized I hadn't eaten since lunch. Cleaned the bathroom. Watched another episode of "How I Met Your Mother". Went to sleep.

Cigarette advertising in Switzerland

2010-05-07T17:55:00.008+02:00

When reading the local free newspaper "20 Minuten" on my way to school today I came across this picture advertising for a new "taste" from Kent, a tobacco brand. Even though I knew it is still allowed to advertise for tobacco in Switzerland, I was still surprised. Also because this has been prohibited in Norway for so long that I'm not used to see cigarettes advertised at all.

In Norway there has been a ban on smoking at public restaurants, pubs, etc since 2004. The effect is obvious, less people smoke. In Switzerland on the other hand, a ban on smoking inside pubs and other restaurants came last summer, and with a lot of exceptions like smoking rooms, smoking in special parts of the train station and different smoking laws among the Swiss cantons (since every canton actually has its own legislation - a bit like the US system). The concern among people here is of a much higher degree, with the main concern related to what the consequences will be for the service sector and owners of pubs.

People in Switzerland smoke a LOT. Whereas smoking in Norway has turned into something less "cool" than it used to be, it is extremely normal to smoke on a daily basis here and with this type of legislation it will not get better. If one puts a ban on smoking in ALL public restaurants and pubs, I don't see why the owners would have to close down. People would still need a place to go out! And advertising for something that is addictive and unhealthy? It is ironic that due to the law, written with small letters below the "Suprisingly vibrant taste" line, there is a warning about the damages. Warning about health risks and advertising for a new taste encouraging young people to smoke at the same time - could it be more contradictory?

The cute baby bears in Berne!

2010-05-03T20:11:00.003+02:00

The cute baby bears Urs and Berna playing around. Favorite activity: Try tearing apart EVERY tree.

WTO Agriculture and Norway

2010-04-30T22:08:00.008+02:00

(picture from innovasjonnorge.no)

I am at the moment doing another assignment, after finishing another week with a subject within the WTO. For once Norway was mentioned every day, and of course it was...AGRICULTURE. Needless to say, I have different views on the topic. Seeing how subsidies affect developing countries in practice, because developed countries simply hesitate to decrease the financial contribution to the farmers? Of course I don't support this distortion of natural competition in the world market. On the other hand, I am after all Norwegian, and knowing the landscape and how certain parts of my country depend on farming, it is hard to not support also this side. Just removing the subsidies and let the market develop on its own means going from being a country more or less self-sufficient in agriculture (when it comes to dairy products and meat at least), to depend on imports to the benefit of other countries. However, the farms and industries present today have been there for years, and how one should do this in practice I think is the hardest part. Also I know that Norway at least does not subsidize with the motive of distorting the market for competing countries, like the EU. I don't think one can understand why Norway subsidizes to the degree it does, without having lived there and knowing how important the agricultural sector is to the country historically. It was in the past mistakes were done, when starting subsidizing farming that was not at all efficient in Norway. Today, in 2010, it is hard to move away from a long tradition of agricultural production.

Now I'll continue my assignment and try to put my views on the subject in a more global political aspect.

I love spring

2010-04-24T09:59:00.007+02:00

Waking up to sunshine almost every morning and the temperature being more than 20 degrees every day for a week now (in April!) + hardly any days with rain! It's almost like being in spring-heaven when you come from the coastline in Norway! Temperatures like this in April at home would be fully possible, though it would be the exception. 10 degrees and rain on the other hand would be more likely. I love the sun too much to miss somewhere where it rains more than 220 days a year on average (south-western part) and where the winter lasts for almost half a year where it doesn't (eastern part). So I can't say I miss Norway at the moment, although I guess I'll miss the sea when it gets warmer. A river is just not the same, summer means salty hair!

Environmental contribution or not?

2010-04-15T20:57:00.005+02:00

Free coffee at Starbucks day! Together with several girls from my class I brought my mug and went. Not only during lunch, but also after the lectures were done in the afternoon, after all it's not every day you can get a Starbucks coffee (any kind!) for free (and it's expensive in Switzerland). For the sake of the environment the campaign told people to bring their own mugs and you would get the great offer.

However, after reflecting upon it I'm not sure if I actually contributed so much to these forests that are supposed to be saved! If it wasn't for the campaign, I wouldn't go to Starbucks today at all. Not tomorrow either, as it's not that often I go since I prefer regular coffee (and so does my wallet...). As this for sure goes for others as well, we have actually just emptied the coffee at Starbucks today without paying for it, and made them having to order more which includes transport, costs, pollution etc etc. Suddenly I feel more guilty than environmental!

PREGNANCY NIGHTMARE

2010-04-14T07:29:00.013+02:00

I just woke up from the most terrible dream I have ever had. EVER! I dreamed that a friend of mine told me about another friend of mine who had tried to get pregnant with his wife for ages without any success and that the woman they were using as a surrogate mother had changed her mind. Then, for WHATEVER STUPID REASON I managed to say that I wouldn't mind helping them, I must've been in a crazy "help the world and it's not a big deal" state of mind or something. Before discussing it with ANYONE I said yes and agreed to try to get pregnant for them (it's a bit easier in dreams I would have to say) and then after realizing what I had done and starting getting second thoughts I was thinking "well it's not very likely to become pregnant on first try anyway" before I took a pregnancy test and saw that I actually WAS pregnant and I wasn't even just a surrogate mother, the child was HALF MINE...(for the record, the dream did not go into details on how all this happened - thank god..)

I have until today honestly NEVER been more happy to wake up. It was an AWFUL feeling, I can't even describe it, a feeling of loneliness, helplessness, a mistake that I couldn't do anything about (since I am not pro abortion as the easiest way out of it...) and was stuck with this child, ALONE since I had to decide whether I wanted to really give it to them or keep it myself (also not very logical). Then, when telling 3 of my best friends what had happened I realized what I had done, and how my life would NEVER be the same again and all my plans for the next months were vanishing in front of me and I started picturing my future dates with guys in child-friendly cafeterias consisting of checking whether or not they got along with my CHILD instead of getting along with ME... I also remember saying to my friends something like "but it's only a couple of days every month it's possible to get pregnant, what are the chances of it working the first time...?!" and feeling amazingly frustrated that it was NO way back and that I didn't think twice about it. It was awful. I think I even considered moving back to my hometown in Norway for a little while and forbid any pictures to be taken of me or increase the privacy on facebook so that no one could see pictures of me until I had given birth and adopted away the baby. It was CRAZY!

So, today, April 14th 2010, was the BEST DAY of my life so far to wake up and realizing that what I thought was reality, only was a dream. All I was thinking was "I'm not pregnant! I'm not pregnant!" and slowly realizing that summer holiday would NOT consist of pregnancy checks at home together with my mother... It's not that I don't wanna have my own family one day but getting pregnant in those circumstances and at THIS point in life not even being done studying was a horrible HORRIBLE feeling and I think I know now how teenagers (or actually most of the time grownups) must feel when they realize that the prize of thinking "I'll take the chance" is putting you into a situation of difficult choices because you didn't do all you could to prevent it and have to change your life before you're ready for it. I think I'm still in shock.

Needless to say I will enjoy my freedom today. To the FULLEST.

Mountains High

2010-03-11T00:25:00.023+01:00

Sunday 28th of February 2010. The sun is shining, we are gonna go for one last ride before going for a beer and on the way to the top I look over the mountains from the lift and say "I think I am high on endorphins!" and you laugh of my sudden abundance of energy. That was how I felt. Everything was perfect. And when everything is perfect, nothing can go wrong. But you never came down with us.

People say you don't know what you have before it's gone. But I knew. From the first day I met you I knew I wanted to get to know you better and it was one of the best things that happened to me here. I was afraid to lose you even before I did, and every time you were talking about moving somewhere else all I was thinking was "as long as you stay the last months I have to be here I don't care..." Then you left. Just like that. And in a way I had not even thought as possible.

Friends tell me it's important to remember the good times. But thinking about the good memories doesn't take away the loss that comes when everyday life starts again. Whenever I missed friends at home, or was fed up, or was thinking about spring to come and outdoor activities I used to think "but now I also have Matt..." You saw me, and because of that I could be myself 100%. And me at 100% is something only my best friends can take.

Just when you had become part of my everyday life and friends you left. Just when I realized how much I needed you here. So I'm not ready to just think about the positive things yet, or to smile when thinking about the memories. I'm not ready to look out the window when it snows without starting to cry, or to not feel the emptiness of not receiving and sending ranting e-mails about whatever. I'm not ready to not feel anger on missing out on all that was to come, or not wanting to yell at you for leaving when you were just about to become one of my closest friends here. So even though I will enjoy life even more than I already did before knowing you, I am not there yet. I need to be where I am a little longer, cause I miss you too much.

No song could better describe how I felt that day than this one. The more I listen to it and allow myself to face the sorrow, the stronger I make the bricks in the wall I have to build to climb back up again. So this one is to you, with a big thank you for what you brought to my life and a promise that I will never ever forget it.

Delirious - Mountains High

WHAT A DAY!!

2010-02-19T23:59:00.003+01:00

Another 2 gold medals to Norway in just 1 day. Only the US has more, and they're like....300 million people or something?? It is allowed to be proud! YES we invented the skies and we PROVE it!!

Picture of the year in Norway

2010-02-19T08:50:00.006+01:00

This is the picture of the YEAR among journalists in Norway in the category "People". Funny, to me this is first of all a completely random picture. The only thing extraordinary about it is the fact that it's Barack and Michelle Obama (not that you can see it's her since only her legs are showing...). Secondly I would put the picture in the category "car" more than in the category "people". Whoever decided this probably also decided that Obama should get the Nobel Peace Prize..

My thoughts on the olympics so far

2010-02-16T22:32:00.006+01:00

1. In Scandinavia the Olympics is more or less about one thing: Who gets most gold medals, Norway or Sweden?? We are enemies like no other country when it comes to sports, and especially winter sports... Why? Normally I don't take sides, but after all I AM Norwegian, and in this case Sweden is ridiculously childish...the media is writing so much shit about Norway that there's nothing else to do than laugh.

What the pictures above and below say are simply Sweden - Norway 1-0, from yesterday and today when Sweden got even another gold medal so now it's Sweden - Norway 2-0. A prove that it is more important how much medals Sweden get, not how good Norway is doing it....Well we are better than you anyway Sweden, considering the fact that we're almost half the population! Stick to IKEA and Volvo!

2. We messed up BIG TIME in the first cross-country competition. What happened?! Switzerland won, with Dario Cologna, who seems to be in a good shape. I feel that I am part of this tribute, since his coach is Norwegian. Go Cologna!

3. What and WHAT WHAT WHAT are these pants the Norwegian Curling Team is wearing?!? Is this the olympics or a circus!?

4. Last, but not least. Aksel Lund Svindal. Switzerland took the gold here too, but Svindal is still smiling and giving interviews to the Swiss TV afterwards with his fantastic Eastern-Norwegian accent while speaking German. His attitude and positiveness makes him a Norwegian sports athlete to be proud of being abroad.

Sunglasses 2010

2010-02-14T19:08:00.004+01:00

Me and Samantha checking out the fashion of 2010 yesterday at "Fizzen", a shop in Bern. Apparently it's still fashion to have sunglasses that cover 1/3 of your face. Samantha bought hers, as she goes to India next week. I didn't, but at least this picture eternalizes how extremely cool we looked!

My Winter Wonderland from a satellite

2010-02-13T04:07:00.002+01:00

This is how Norway looks like at the moment. Covered in snow, white and beautiful.

Everything was so much more romantic before!

2010-02-12T00:25:00.009+01:00

I've been wanting to write this for a looong time but every time I remember it I'm involved in something and since that for once is NOT the case, I am going to take the opportunity.

When you come from Norway, you are pretty used to big distances. My country is 2500 km long, and when friends live 2,5 hours away they are considered living CLOSE. Having to drive or take the boat everywhere doesn't make it better, so naturally you get used to the fact that distances are distances, and I am noticing a big difference to what people at home think about distances compared to down here (Switzerland is as small as the county I come from at home....).

Still, I remember a couple of guys I used to hang out with some years ago back home discussing a third friends' new girlfriend, and whether their relationship would work out. The reason? She lived in another city. 5 hours away with a car. They kept talking about how inconvenient it was, and even though i didn't join the discussion it provoked me. So what? Move to the same city next year if it works out, go visit each other every second weekend. Make it work! During my studies in Bergen I had a friend that met her boyfriend on a skiweekend, both during their 1st of FIVE years of studies, in cities having 1 hour of flight between them in Norway. They visited each other for those years, today they are married and have a child. I guess they think it was worth the hassle it was being apart.

What is even more funny is that people were so much better at fighting for it in the old days, with way fewer communication possibilities. My parents wrote each other letters for years, even though they didn't live that far away from each other that was how they communicated back then and they had less public transports. Today however, we have Skype, MSN, Hotmail, Facebook, you name it... We can talk to each other every day if we want to, with a webcam, and for FREE. And still, people have become ridiculously lazy and want things to be as convenient as possible, the opinion seems to be that it's best to give up before trying, just because it's easier that way. But then also you don't know what you're missing out on, and what is the worst that can happen? That it doesn't work out - something that for sure happens a lot when everything looks perfect as well. It's not the end of the world, and it's something you learn soon enough that is part of life when you grow up and get to know new people. But something I could never live with, is later on having to think "what if".

Having been abroad for a longer period I've experienced it myself and also heard stories from others, and I feel guys are even worse than girls in staying in touch. But from living abroad and especially in Switzerland with 20% foreigners I've also met lots of friends having parents coming from different countries. In other words, at some point there was a distance until they decided to go for it and settle down together.

Of course it's not a dream situation, and of course you don't know if it works out. But what if you meet that right person, and just give up because of distances? What if everything feels right, but you let practical circumstances ruin it. Cause that's what it is. Maybe I'm too naiv for this world, but honestly it is not that often I really fall for someone and you can't control feelings or decide when or where it is best to fall in love. Practical details can be sorted out, love on the other hand not. In my opinion you can never know when you meet someone that could be right, and you will never know unless you go for it.

Who wants a long distance relationship? No one. But what is the alternative? To give up. If you could spend the rest of your life with someone because everything feels right but suddenly the distance makes it difficult, I would prefer difficult to get the rest of my life with that person instead of choosing the easy way out of it and never get it. Sometimes I am wondering if the fact that I find WHO I end up with more important than WHERE I end up simply makes me too romantic for the modern world. If more people followed their heart in today's society, I'm sure the percentage of people getting a divorce would be less than 50%....

Switzerland and the obsession with season food

2010-02-09T21:39:00.005+01:00

If you buy a fruit or vegetable in Switzerland that is NOT related to the present season, the following will happen:

1. The swiss person next to you will first comment something like "But it's not the season for that now."
2. When offered some (in my example it was grapes) the next thing that happens is that the person checks the top of the box and reads out loud: "Hergestellt - Süd-Afrika". In other words; imported from South-Africa. Logically enough, since there is SNOW in Switzerland at this time of the year.
3. The next comment will then be, of course, something like "Oh, they are produced in South-Africa."
4. I will look at the person with a face saying "and?" because of number 2.
5. The person will say "But it's not produced in Switzerland".
6. I will again look at the person with a face saying "and?".

This has happened two times already, at home, with my flatmates, and has lead to an interesting discussion with one of them regarding what I would call a "swiss obsession with season related food". Whenever you go into the supermarket in Switzerland, you see them all over. Season-salat, season-yoghurt, season-soup, season-this and season-that. According to my flatmate you grow up with this impression that you should stick to the vegetables of the season, so that you can buy the ones produced in Switzerland. Coming from a country in the North, where not that many fruits and vegetables can be produced not only due to the climate but also due to the fact that 2/3 of the country is mountains, this sounds BISARR.

Of course the vegetables and fruits of the season taste better, but it is as simple as this: I love grapes. And I love them in January, February, March and April, not only in August and September when the vineyards in Switzerland can deliver them to Migros and Coop. So thank you South-Africa, for exporting grapes to Switzerland to satisfy demanding people like me, that don't understand the concept of season-related food.

Tomorrow I will buy strawberries and sit down in the middle of the city centre to check if people passing buy look strange at me.

...where will I end up??

2010-02-04T18:29:00.007+01:00

I have the tendency to go by my instincts when it comes to thinking about the future. Taking the 5th year of law school abroad in Germany, then realizing that it didn't open the doors I hoped it would. It just opened the doors to work in Europe, with EU law, and that's not what I wanted so here I am abroad again, specializing in international trade law. I feel everyone has the specific goal, to work at a certain place or in a certain city. I don't have that. I just know what I don't wanna work with and where I don't wanna work. And as long as I can work with something I find interesting I am happy, and law is what I'm best at.

But law is also difficult to practice abroad, and it's hard to know what the best way to go is. So far I've talked to 4 professors and asked what I should do after I finish and 3 of them recommended me to go to the US and eventually take the Bar exam to be able to practice law - mostly because the US has the biggest amount of trade law firms. A country that I would say "I'm never going there" if someone had asked me 5 years ago. A country that I almost had an aversion towards before getting some great friends from there and realizing that it's not always the way it seems (seriously, I come from a country where the police don't carry guns - what do you expect after watching Michael Moore...). It's funny how things can change along the way, but it's also scary and whenever I hear the word "Bar exam" I see myself as a workaholic prioritizing my job before my family for the rest of my life - something that I would never be happy with.

Coming from Norway and saying that I don't have any need to move back home is like swearing in the church. If I had the desire to work in Norway I wouldn't take 2 international masters to make me able to work abroad. I love my country, but it doesn't mean it's necessarily the right place for me. Although there's no other place you get 5 weeks of holiday and 12 months maternity leave when that day comes it seriously can't be the motivation to stay somewhere... Choosing the right way to go with your career is extremely difficult, so I've found a middle way in just doing what feels right. As until now opportunities have come along the way and opened doors I didn't expect some years ago. When looking back there are a lot of coincidences that makes me where I am today, and somehow it all makes sense. It also doesn't mean that I couldn't move back home to Norway again, I just don't feel like it at the moment, especially after moving abroad and seeing the environment I grew up in from the outside. I am myself 100% maybe for the first time in my life.

So where will I end up? I have no idea. I love meeting new people, I love traveling, I love seeing new places. But I am also fed up settling down in new cities, in new countries, making an effort to get friends just to lose them again because they either go somewhere else or I do. I almost feel like a gypsy sometimes, always on the move. Today is one of those days I am fed up with that, and where I'd wish I would just find somewhere I felt like staying for a while.

Why I love winter

2010-01-31T21:53:00.005+01:00

Homemade cereal - cheap, easy and healthy!

2010-01-25T22:00:00.010+01:00

Cereals in supermarkets contain 3 times (at LEAST) more sugar than necessary, but also for sure also a lot of other stuff consumers know nothing about. Therefore it is not only cheaper but also a lot safer to make your own one. Actually half of the "nutrition" you get from supermarket-cereal is pure SUGAR and an amount of carbs the average human being doesn't need (because we rarely move anymore...). Seeing parents buy "choco pops" and other cereals for children I find extremely provoking, and I swear there will never be anything like that in my kitchen when I have my own family one day. Seriously, the ready-to-go food we are exposed to more and more every year makes me just more sceptical about which products you can trust, and it's nothing but logic that if you want to be sure; make your own food as much as you can in this fast-food time we live in...

So, since the recipe for this cereal is extremely good I thought I'd share it, as it's also not that complicated to make. I got the basic recipe from my flatmate in Bergen some years ago, and then added soyflakes and speltflakes so it contains more protein (since I don't eat meat, this cereal is actually a major source to protein). Even though it contains no sugar, it has a sweet taste, since there are 2 spoons of honey in it. Natural and good.

2 dl of soyflakes
2,5 dl of oat flakes
2 dl of 4-grain
1 dl of sunflower seeds
2 dl of hazelnuts

2 table spoons honey
1 dl raisins

Preheat oven to 225 C. Cut the hazelnuts in small pieces. Mix everything in a bowl, except raisins and honey.

Put the mix in the oven, put 2 spoons of honey on top of it. After a couple of minutes the honey has melted, and you can stir it around so it mixes with all of the cereal to make it all sweet. After some minutes the cereal is crispy (watch out as it easily could be in too long, been there done that...).

Take it out and let it cool before adding the raisins in the mix. Store it in tupperware or glass and voila you have a good breakfast that actually gives you nutrition and energy for the first part of the day!

NOAH - for animal rights - FUR

2010-01-19T06:29:00.003+01:00

This is a picture from the website of NOAH - a group for animal rights. Some people say it is OK if the fur comes from animals that lived in freedom until they died. Seriously? I wonder how much this fox suffered before he died. Human beings killing animals in order to look better. It makes me sick...

I'd rather be outdoor...

2010-01-17T10:50:00.007+01:00

When you come from Norway I think you get used to the saying "There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing."
The weather today is in my opinion not bad at all. But it's not good enough to go skiing, or to do anything outside, to just stay outside for a while since the rest of the week is spent inside anyway. I think spending time outside is my favorite thing to do, regardless if the sun is shining, regardless if it's raining, regardless if it's + 10 degees or - 10 degrees, that is after all the charm about being outside... And not being able to almost drives me crazy. Today it was supposed to rain, so it's ok, it would've been a chance to take. But I still miss what I don't have when I'm abroad and in an international environment; I honestly think Norwegians have a special relationship to spending time outside. And especially on Sundays. That is THE thing I miss the most when being abroad.

If you grew up surrounded by nature I think you could never be happy in a city if you don't get to be out in the nature once in a while....

Sea stars having groupsex

2010-01-04T19:44:00.010+01:00

Ever wondered how sea stars reproduce? Me neither. In any case this was today's headlines (!) when I checked the online local newspaper from home. Not only with a picture showing two innocent sea stars "caught in action" while trying to bring more sea stars to the ocean, but also followed by interesting facts giving you a whole new naughty impression about the cute little stars in the sea. It turns out that they are more than happy to have a threesome, and also a so-called sex orgy (the words of the newspaper, I am not kidding...) with up to as much as 10 sea stars participating.

However, it is far as "idyllic" as it might seem, as the sea stars have no problems eating each other during family gatherings. How sad.

If you have any further interest, you can just click HERE to see the sea stars in action, filmed in the ocean just outside the island where I come from. Though I do have to warn against disturbing pictures, as what starts out as an intimate moment between two sea stars turns into something less intimate and where you cannot any longer count the number of participants (it's not like they have only 2 arms each..).

It is in any case nice to see that I didn't miss out on anything important going on at home after leaving a few days ago.

The disadvantage of a new alarm-clock

2010-01-03T12:58:00.003+01:00

My new alarm-clock that I got for Christmas! A really "fancy" one, since the blue light flashes when it beeps! After using my mobile as an alarm (of course not right next to me) the last 4 years (old mobile..) with the same ring-tone every morning, this morning was the first time I finally put it away and used a REAL alarm-clock to wake up. This of course led to the fact that I did NOT wake up, since I was waiting for the familiar ring-tone to start as always, which it never did. Instead, I dreamed that I was looking for an alarm-clock inside a house (of course this was my own alarm-clock ringing...) for a looooooong time, until I finally woke up to realize it was MINE that was ringing...looking at the clock showing 9.15. am. Since I had adjusted it to 9.00 am, this means I was lying in my bed not waking up as the alarm-clock rang for not less than 15 minutes. My poor flatmates... Hopefully I will recognize it tomorrow, when I actually have to get up to go to Uni...

What happened to Photography?

2010-01-01T21:29:00.013+01:00

I love photography, always have and always will. For as long as I can remember I have had a camera with me whereever I go, if it is only to go to the supermarket or to a friend. You never know when the moment is there, and the times I have forgotten to bring my camera there's always been a moment I have been thinking "WHY didn't I bring my camera to capture this..."

To capture the moments and to see the small things. To me that is what photography is about. If you manage to capture the moment, you have succeeded, either it is children playing and suddenly smiling at you or if it is the sunset that has the exact right colors; only for a few seconds.

Today though, photography has changed. As I have taken photos since I was a child, I have followed the development. I remember my first "point and shoot" camera, I remember how it was to wait for the photos to return from the photoshop and I remember the AWESOME feeling of putting a white sheet of paper into the water in the darkroom and seeing the perfect picture developing after you have tried maybe 3-4 times to get the right film, the right shutter time, the right light etc...

What is photography today? It is completely digitalized. With its advantages, for sure, but the moment is gone. The hard work that lays behind the perfect photo is gone. The discussions and sharing of experiences within amateur photographers on how to get the right shutter to get a photo like THIS, is gone...

Today it's easy. You can try as much as you want, before you get the "perfect" picture. You can just check! Instead of using time on that ONE photo, to get that ONE photo perfect, to check the techniques you have to use and to do whatever you can only to get that one photo done, there is "click click click click click!" over and over again, a WASTE of moments, and then later on going through 20-30-40 or more pictures to see if any of them is good. The charm of photography, in my opinion, is GONE. You cannot compare a digital photo with an analog photo. It will never be the same, no matter what people say.

As I took a course in photography in London 10 years ago, I still remember the words of my lecturer the first lesson we had. "Whether or not you take a good photo, has not only to do with the equipment. You can take an excellent photo with a simple point-and-shoot camera." When someone tells me you need a certain equipment to take good photos, I get so upset that I honestly just want to scream. When I look back on photos I am satisfied with the last 10 years, the ones that are taken with better equipment are not necessarily better.

The truth is that what makes someone a good photographer is not how many thousands of dollars the person has spent on the equipment. And if you want good equipment, for sure the new digital cameras have made excellent analog cameras (having a quality on the photos that is still not even near the quality you get from digital cameras...) ridiculously cheap the last years. The 3 photos hanging on the wall at home, taken by my father many years ago with an analog and black/white film are among my favorite photos. There is nothing special about them regarding technique or anything. They are just somehow nice to look at, because he saw that motive. He saw it and so he shot them.

Photography is just about that. Seeing the things other don't see, seeing the world in another perspective. Things we pass by every day. Photography is still art in spite of the digital world taking over. At least that is not for sale...

Merry Christmas from Norway

2009-12-24T01:11:00.014+01:00

King Winter has visited my island and was very very welcomed. I love having some days off, I love being home with my family, I love the snow and the food and I simply love Christmas! Here's what gives me the most Christmas spirit, through my lens.

Snow snow snow...

...my father baking...

...little breads for Christmas breakfasts

...and the bigger breads with raisins

...Christmas lights watched from the dark and cold outside...

..preparations in the kitchen for Christmas Eve. (My father is not the only one cooking even though it looks like it...)

...last but not least - the Norwegian Santa Claus having a good time!

Frozen Rose

2009-12-21T11:27:00.005+01:00

Lucia Day - December 13th

2009-12-13T23:59:00.006+01:00

Saint Lucy's Day or the Feast of St. Lucy (Santa Lucia, Saint Lucia or sometimes Lucia for short) is the Church feast day dedicated to St. Lucy and is observed on December 13. Every year this is celebrated in Scandinavia, mainly in Sweden, with children in Lucia processions and the baking of "lussekatter", little sweet breads that are yellow because of safran as one of the ingredients. Even though being in the middle of exams it is a must to bake these breads and at least celebrate a little. It's only one time a year!

Receipe:

150 grams of sugar
150 grams of butter
5 dl of milk
50-100 grams of yeast
2-3 grams of safran
0,5 tea spoon of salt
2 tea spoons of cardamom
13 dl of flour

Melt the butter, add milk and heat it together until around 37 degrees C. Mix all the dry stuff (if dry yeast). Mix the milk/butter with the dry ingredients and make a dough. Let the dough raise until double size.

Shape little figures and put 2 raisins on every bread. Let them raise again for around 15-30 minutes. Brush the breads with egg.

Then put them in the oven for around 10-15 minutes on 225 C. Voila! So easy and sooooo good....

1 week left and I am home

2009-12-12T01:09:00.002+01:00

To make other people happy - it doesn't take much

2009-12-11T19:34:00.003+01:00

Yesterday we finished "Kris-Kringle" at the institute where I study, a game where everyone participating was a sort of "Secret Santa" for one person and had to give this person a little gift every day for about 10 days. As the days went by, I noticed that it made me even happier to figure out what I would get for the person I had to buy a gift for, than to receive a gift myself. Not surprisingly, I would say, cause if you think about it's a really good feeling to see that you made a person happy, and the times it really works is if you have put a little effort into what you would get that person. It's maybe also what I like most about Christmas, to see people opening up presents that I know will please them, not necessarily expensive but with a thought behind it that makes the person feel valued.

Earlier when I studied in Bergen me and my friends sometimes gave each other little presents now and then, especially during Advent which is my favorite time of the year. I forget it when I am abroad and I think the "Kris-Kringle" game reminded me of it. It doesn't take much to please another person, everyone deserves to get that attention sometimes.

In Norway there is a saying "Den største gleden du kan ha, det er å gjøre andre glad". I don't know if it exists in English, cause I couldn't find the source for it. But I think it would be something like "The greatest joy you could have, is to make other people happy". Very true.

Beautiful Bern, December 3rd 2009

2009-12-04T00:53:00.006+01:00

I miss my bike!! :(

2009-11-30T21:25:00.015+01:00

I came across this picture of my bike on my laptop and realized how much I miss it. I just love it and was satisfied with it from day one. And even though it must be around 8 years or something now it still looks good! (obviously I'm not a hardcore mountainbiker, cause then it wouldn't look that good...). But I feel completely lost without having it here, even though everything is nearby I want to go biking again and especially when winter is gone and there are mountains waiting for me everywhere. There's nothing like going hiking or biking in the nature. Scott needs to come back with me after easter holiday. Decision made.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T11:44:00.009+01:00

I am reading "textsfromlastnight.com" during the boring periods of class (an american website where people send in funny SMS's they received; many of them related to college jokes I don´t understand although I understand enough to ask myself if I would at all SURVIVE at a US college...), accidently volunteered to bake pumpkin pie for the Thanksgiving dinner we are having tomorrow and have started writing "z" instead of "s" when taking notes in class because all the Professors use American and not UK english.... As if the influence from the US is not high enough back home in Norway, who would've thought it would increase to this level when moving to SWITZERLAND......

In any case; growing up in a little Scandinavian bubble in the North: Although I am still afraid of America I think my "America-phobia" is decreasing. That's something. In any case having an above average interest in architecture I've always dreamed about having an American house one day (if I ever get to build my own), regardless of where I end up. Simply because they are awesome (watching 7th Heaven as a teenager is partly to blame for this) and the porch in front is sooo romantic...

Integration in Norway - Who is responsible?

2009-11-03T23:42:00.013+01:00

(photo from Aftenposten)

As a Norwegian living in Switzerland and also having lived in Germany 1 year (and London before that but I don´t know if 4-5 months should count..) I think I can say something about how it is to be a foreigner in another country. One thing that goes for wherever you go, in my opinion, (unless you go to a culture where people are completely open-minded and thrilled about your appeaance; in other words outside western Europe): Integration does not happen by itself.

Living in Switzerland there are for sure things I find better back home in Norway, there are things I do not understand are possible, there are cultural differences and there are historical differences. The other way around there are also things I find better here than in Norway, and not at least I think it is important to look at a country's history before you judge people for the way they are. Humor, to mention one thing, since Norwegians are pretty much sarcastic and ironic the whole time I sometimes have difficulties in Switzerland since that is not common here. It does not mean that the Swiss don't have humor, they just don't have the same humor and so I adjust when I realize that what I say is misunderstood. And why shouldn't I? Afterall I am the foreigner, and I am in another country.

Also you cannot fully integrate in a country without knowing the language, which is the reason why I chose to live in a shared flat with two swiss girls instead of in an international environment, not only to still work on my german but to learn swiss-german. Of course the Swiss talk high german to you when they realise you are a foreigner, but why should they adjust to me so that I understand them instead of me adjusting to them so a group of 5-6 people do not need to change their dialect when they speak?

As always there are huge debates in Norway at the time speaking about integration problems we now face. Being the country on top of UN's list of where it's best to live and with a 100% developed social welfare system, Norway is an attractive country for immigrants and who could blame anyone for wanting to have a better life, after all that is the reason why people have been immigrating for hundreds of years; Norwegians among them.

Yet I get upset when I read newspaper articles telling me statistics like immigrants having lived in Norway for 5 years and still not speaking Norwegian, schools in Oslo starting to have the sport classes at primary school with girls and boys separated, to read a huge discussion about whether or not it should be allowed to wear a niqab when you work for the Norwegian police force and not at least reading about foreigners travelling to Norway only to commit crimes we have never seen before not only when it comes to violence but the way of fooling naive people by robbing and fraud.

I also get upset when I read that it is not possible to integrate in Norway if you do not eat whatever kind of food, if you do not drink alcohol and if you do not put away your niqab. First of all I am a vegetarian, and although that means I do not eat ANY kind of meat it is still fully possible for me to live in Norway anyway. Second, I did not drink any alcohol during my first 2 years at the law faculty as an objection to the drinking culture the University had and coming from a Christian environment I wanted to state an example and show people it is possible to party without. I met nothing but understanding for that, and I was still welcomed to the parties. Thirdly, when it comes to niqab, one cannot judge Norwegians about their opinion about this without looking at history and the fact that Norwegians see niqab as a way of expressing that women are not as equal as men.

Welcome to my country, but ADJUST to the way it is and please try to understand that traditions and culture play a role in ANY country. We were one of the first countries to have equal rights between men and women, I don´t want ANY school to have separated classes for girls and boys, I do NOT want MY country to take a step BACKwards because people coming from countries being way behind when it comes to equality between men and women and not at least HUMAN RIGHTS in general move to Norway, and I do not want niqab in the Norwegian police force (actually neither did one female muslim police offier who dared to say that starting allowing niqab in the police force would put a pressure on whether to wear it or not...). Am I not allowed to say that?

Yes, I am. I am allowed to object when I feel values in my country being at risk, when I get the feeling that 4,7 million people should change hundreds of years of traditions and culture to adjust to 100.000 immigrants not being completely satisfied with the way we are living and the way we are running our country, when I see my country suffering from politicians that do not dare to be inbetween the left side being way to naive when it comes to integration politics, and the right wing side which is in my opinion way over the line in the other direction. If I decided to move to Turkey or Pakistan, should I start complaining about the islamic culture not only as a religion but as the basis for the laws and culture? 100.000 Norwegian moving to Pakistan saying "Excuse me but some of your traditions and laws disturb me as an immigrant so please change your culture, religion, traditions and laws?!" ME? Moving to that country?

Norwegians have always been and always will be naive. We are afraid of saying what we mean, because we are afraid of being called racists or breaching the Human Rights (which was one ridiculous argument in the niqab debate...). Well I am fully aware that I never have been and never will be a racist, and I welcome any foreigner to my country regardless of that person coming from Sweden, Poland or Pakistan. But I expect that person to make an effort to integrate, to make an effort to learn about my country's history, to learn the language and see the values of a modern society .

I do NOT accept that parents hinder their children from being in a Norwegian environment by keeping them home so they do not learn the language, I do NOT accept that foreigners come to Norway and commit crimes, and I do NOT accept that people criticize Norway and blames my country for being conservative and denunciating... It is a common fact that Norwegians have a rumour of being wasted when they travel to countries in Southern-Europe and act like idiots sometimes. Not feeling part of that I am still aware that some people think that when they hear I am from Norway. Who's responsible for that prejudgment of me? That person or my common citizens that made that impression? Or the fact that a guy hearing you come from Scandinavia think you are ready for having a one-night-stand just because that is a rumour Scandinavian girls have abroad? Who made up that rumour in the first place? It certainly did not appear by itself, just as there is never such a thing as smoke without fire. Why do I get more afraid when I meet a man with an African or Middle-East origin late at night when it is dark and no one is around, even though I have several men looking just like them in my class being great guys that I actually hang out with? Because I am a prejudging racist? Or because the 2 times in Switzerland until now and 2 times in Norway earlier I have got into a situation feeling really uncomfortable and having to get away all 4 times were with men looking like this? Is it then not natural that I get more scared when later on seeing people looking the same, being a girl, knowing that a lot of men in the world have a completely different way of looking at and treating women than people in Western countries do? Does it help to read in the newspaper that a girl in a city at home last week got raped by four foreigners INSIDE a disco while other people were dancing? Do I as a girl get a better impression of foreign men like this? And of experiencing that when I am out dancing with my friends at home men coming from cultures where they are not used to see girls dancing wearing skirts and sleeveless t-shirts think they can behave without respect for us because of that and think that just because we dress the way we have done for years make us easy going?

Why then do Swedes integrate in Norway without problems while Norwegians are skeptical and afraid of people coming from southern countries? Is it racism or is it simply a natural reaction to things you read, hear and experience? Have not the immigrants in Norway that really made an effort to integrate been welcomed by the society when doing that? Being Norwegian is no longer about the way you look, as in any country today, it's not about whether you have blond hair and blue eyes. I have a beautiful niece and a beautiful nephew adopted from Sri Lanka, and they have never been anything else than 100% Norwegian and have become part of not only my family but also my family history, even though their skin colour differ from ours. And it upsets me that neither of them will be able to go through life without experiencing being prejudged because of that skincolour, for a guy worse than for a girl, because of people reacting to their instincts and fear just the way I do myself sometimes, and also because some people actually do differ between races in the world STILL. But to look at the problem only from one side does NOT solve it and to only blame those people prejudging when the problem itself originates in impressions from other people messing up for those that cannot identify themselves with that and that

Being Norwegian is what you make out of it, and whether or not you are ready to identify yourself with the new country you live in. If you have lived in Norway for more than 5 years without learning the language, if you live there and only integrate with people from your own country, if you live there and criticize the culture, traditions, equal rights and the fact that everybody has the same possibilities, how can you say you're Norwegian?

I refuse to remain silent just because it is the easiest way out of it, since no one can judge you for what you did not dare to say. There is a need for a debate and an inbetween politic in Norway. If it continues the way it is today we will end up with a right-wing party at the time of our next election in 4 years since not talking about the problems make people just more skeptical and the fear of foreigners will increase. It IS already increasing, and that is a problem for the people that actually come to this country and make an effort to integrate and do well in doing that. Norwegians in general respect people for not drinking alcohol and not eating pork. So respect the Norwegian culture and that Norwegians in general actually do both of them...

Why I love Sundays

2009-11-01T11:54:00.017+01:00

Yesterday I got into a discussion about Sundays with some friends of mine, the fact that everything is closed and that you normally cannot use the washing machine this day in Switzerland (i.e in an apartment building with several apartments and a shared washing room). I had the feeling I was the only one actually seeing the point of Sundays being the way they are, with the others having arguments about supermarkets being open, Sundays being the perfect day for doing the washing etc. After I got back home I started reflecting about it and asking myself what the reason is for me hoping the concept of the Sunday as being "holy" doesn't go away.

In today's society people are always in a rush. Families hardly have the time to just socialize with each other the way they used to earlier before capitalism completely took over the world and made us worship materialism and desiring more money to buy a bigger house, a fancy car and ending up working so much to afford it that we do not even have the time to enjoy half of the stuff we own. Whilst the best things, the way I see it, namely just being together with your family, comes for free.

Sunday is a day where you are FORCED to do just that. In the US apparently supermarkets are open 24/7; you could do your grocery shopping 7 days a week. I don´t know if that means that all other shops are open as well, but if they are that makes it even less attractive to me. I could take any city as an example, but since I live in Bern I take that one.

Every day the main street and the shopping street is crowded. There are people everywhere, bumping into each other, running around, shopping shopping, rushing to work or from work and on Saturdays it is even worse cause people finally don´t have to work. Sundays on the other hand, is a day where everything is closed, and you can walk around in the city and just feel the calmness, see the nice buildings (which you normally do not notice because of the crowds in front of them), take a coffee, walk along the river etc. Since you cannot do your grocery shopping on a Sunday anyway, it is likely that you made an effort on your tight Saturday schedule the day before and did it then instead, so there is actually nothing else to do on a Sunday than to relax. You do not go to 1 of 2 Migros open and stand in the never-ending line of people unless you HAVE to.

What I remember from my childhood Sundays is that my parents did not do anything "house-related" except making dinner or my father made dinner while my mother went to church. Then either before or after dinner we would be outside either for a walk or inside playing games, read or socialize in other ways like having guests for coffee in the afternoon. And it still gives me a good feeling when thinking about it, cause it was one day a week where we did something else and where I saw my mother actually taking a day off from housework. In my family you do not clean the house on Sundays, you do not use the washing machine, you do not go grocery shopping (actually you couldn´t, but now you can because there is one shop open if there is an emergency) and according to my mother you should not even go fishing (so that the fish also get a day off...). You relax, and since it is such a strong tradition to not do everyday-duties, you do not even have a bad consciousness. To go for a walk or go hiking on Sundays is still a strong tradition in Norway.

For the society to go around some people do need to work on Sundays, we cannot just "stop". I am pretty sure though that those people as well value the Sundays they are off maybe even more than those of us that have the Sundays off every weekend. You could also argue that people should have the right to choose, and to do their grocery shopping on Sundays if they want to and go shopping and do the washing or whatever, or choosing to do the hiking or walking thing on Saturdays instead of Sundays etc. But is it realistic that we would manage? In this world where we are almost communicating with each other via skype even though we are in the same room, in a modern society where children sometimes simply wish more time with their parents for Christmas, are we capable of making the right priorities without any external help?

There is always the Sundays where you go to the train station or the gas station to buy the food you forgot to buy the day before and Sundays where you wash the clothes you didn´t have the time to wash during the week. But even though I think that is OK as an exception, that doesn´t mean I would prefer to have it as the "rule".

I believe in a day off, and I am a fan of the traditional Sundays. I prefer having to do my grocery shopping one of the 6 other days during the week and in the future cleaning my house on Saturdays so that I can spend the Sundays with my family and go for a walk either in the nature or even in the city to see it without people rushing around. Just as I appreciated it when I grew up, I think my children will appreciate it too one day.

How looking up a word easily gets annoying...

2009-10-27T18:05:00.006+01:00

After some comments from friends like "Is it possible that you haven´t updated your blog since September 13th?" this is just a short notice to say: YES it is....

And why? Honestly I haven´t had the time, and when I don´t find time to blog it means I´m quite busy... So I will try to update soon (although think I told a friend that 1 month ago), but "soon" is a relative term so...

To give a little update from my day today I can report that at the moment I´m struggling to find out what the word "imputable" means, and in the next sentence followed by "imputability". I know I´ve used the word before, but cannot remember what it meant... Without any dictionary available, THIS is how complicated looking up a word online can be:

1. Checking tritrans.net, a free norwegian-english dictionary. No results.
2. Checking freetranslation.com, another free dictionary with norwegian translation. No results.
3. Trying leo.org, a german free dictionary: Result but I don´t understand the GERMAN word.
4. Checking heinzelnisse.info.no, a free german-norwegian dictionary. No results for the german word I didn´t understand.
5. Finally google and typing in "definition imputability"
6. The result from thefreedictionary.com tells me that "imputability" is the quality of being "imputable".
7. Whatever! If you do not know what "imputability" means, it´s not likely that you know what "imputable" means either! So I search again...
8. ....only to find that "imputable" according to the-fantastic-freedictionary.org is "possible to impute"
9. SERIOUSLY?!! At this point I have already almost lost my patience and search "IMPUTE" hoping there is no such word existing like "imp" or whatever would come up next....

10. Finally! Impute: To relate to a particular cause or source; attribute the fault or responsibility to: imputed the rocket failure to a faulty gasket; kindly imputed my clumsiness to inexperience.

Too bad I´m so tired I cannot take this definition through the steps of "imputable" to get to "imputability" and probably will buy one of these online-dictionary-books since the free ones just don´t do it....

Sheep accustomation success!

2009-09-13T19:55:00.006+02:00

My 2 year old nephew realizing that the sheep on our neighbor farm are actually quite nice.

Why I stopped eating meat

2009-09-12T00:15:00.015+02:00

Since a lot of people ask me the question "Why don`t you eat meat?" I thought I´d list up some arguments.

1. On a world basis 18% of the climate gases come from domestic animal breeding. This is the 3rd largest source to emission, even bigger than the transport section.

2. Domestic animals and domestic animal manure stand for 58% of the climate gas emission of the Norwegian Agriculture.

3. In Norway 90% of the agricultural area is used as grazing land or production of animal food...

4. 10% is used to produce food for human beings directly as grain, potatoes, fruit and vegetables.

5. 70% of the agricultural areas in the world are used as grazing land or production of animals...

6. ....that means 30% of the agricultural area of the earth

7. 1 kilo of bovine meat (cow-meat) causes TEN TIMES as much emission of CO2 as 1 liter of petrol...

8. In Norway we eat more than 70 kilos per year (minus me and ca. 99.000 others...) per person, around 77 kilos (from where I have that number I don`t remember, in the magazine it only says "more than 70 kilos" so that is how correct I can be.

9. That is an enhancement of no less than 18 kilos, or 40% (!!!) per person since 1989.

10. Experts agree upon the fact that this cannot continue.

11. The meat consumption has increased along with the welfare in Norway.

12. It takes 9 calories to produce 1 calory of chicken meat - even more for pigs.

13. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) reported in 2006 that the global domestic animal sector every year uses 77 million tons of foodproteins through grains and vegetables to produce 58 million tons of proteins in meat...

14. This means: The domestic animal sector empties the nutrition on the way from the field to the the foodplate....

15. More than half of the people in Norway have meat as the MAIN ingredient in the dinner at LEAST three times a week...

16. On an average norwegian dinner plate the meat is the cause of between 97 and 99% of the climate gas emissions...

17. In Europe Norway is on the BOTTOM when it comes to the consumption of fruits and vegetables.

18. This is not a surprise since we eat so much meat there´s not the slightest chance you could manage to get enough of the other stuff your body needs so much more instead....

19. The biggest misunderstanding when it comes to vegetarianism is that you don`t get enough proteins....there are proteins in just about every product you put into your mouth and most people in the world today get too MUCH proteins and not too LITTLE...

20. This goes for vegetarians as well actually...

21. Do you manage to consume the required amount of fruits and vegetables every day? (750 grams - 450 grams of vegetables and 350 grams of fruit)

22. No? Ever asked yourself WHY?

23. In Norway now 1 out of 5 people is overweight.

24. In the US 1 out of 3 is overweight. 1 out of 5 is obese.

25. In Norway 1 out of 3 will get cancer.

26. Only 30 years ago the number was 1 out of 10.

27. According to the UN the number 1 reason why we have hunger in the world is the production of meat.

28. Every year people get SICK of eating bad meat, chicken and fish like E-Coli, Salmonella etc. Even some people die from it.

29. No animal gets sick of eating meat, heinous or not! Because their intestines are made for it.

31. If you ask a vegetarian what changed after the person stopped eating meat, there a few things that are repeated in general and that I can confirm after experiencing it myself: I have been less sick, I feel better and I have a lot more energy.

32. All human dietary needs can be met without consuming animal flesh or products.

33. Vegetarian diets are associated with a reduced risk for obesity, coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, colorectal cancer, lung cancer and heart diesease - "The American Dietary Association"

34. Vegetarians are less likely to be obese, 50% less likely to develop heart disease and 40% less likely to develop cancer.

35. Vegetarians live 6 to 10 years longer than meat eaters and have a stronger immune system.

36. 80% to 90% of all cancers (!!!!) can be prevented on a plant-based diet.

37. Animal protein causes people to excrete more calcium than normal through urine, increasing their risk for osteoporosis.

38. Norway is on the top in the world when it comes to the number of people suffering from osteoporosis...

39. Pesticides and other chemicals in meat are 14 times as concentrated than those in plants which contributes to 60% - 70% of food poisoning linked to meat intake.

40. These pesticides and chemicals come from the medications and antibiotics given to farm animals living in the overcrowded squalor and stress. Most meat in US slaughterhouses is never tested for drug and chemical deposits...

41 During the last 8 years there has been discovered about 22 serious cases in animal misconduction on Norwegian farms.

42. Meaning that the argument that everything`s so much better in Norway is not true.

43. Global warming: The UN Food and Agriculture Organization reported in 2006 that "Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today`s most serious environmental problems.

44. 1,4 billion pounds of fecal matter pollutes air, water and soil which contributes to the release of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane that are more voluminous than all cars and trucks in the world COMBINED!!!!

45. 2500 gallons of water are needed to produce ONE pound of meat. One acre of pasture produces 165 pounds of beef when it could procure 20.000 pounds of potatoes.

46. WORLD HUNGER: The World`s cattle population consumes a quantity of food equal to the caloric needs of 8,7 billion people - MORE than the entire human population!!!

47. When you eat ONE quarterpound burger up to 55 square feet of rainforest were razed to produce the burger.

48. Least but not last: Find 1 incentive when it comes to the physical human being that supports the fact that we should digest meat. While thinking about it, watch the video Are Human Beings Natural Meat Eaters?

(picture from happycow.net)

15 NOK for 2,5 dl of MILK!?!?!?!?!

2009-09-09T17:08:00.005+02:00

Sitting on the ferry back home from Bergen and am in the moment in price SHOCK. Just paid 15 NOK (about 2 euros) for 1/4 liter of milk. FIFTEEN NORWEGIAN KRONER.

This country is starting to get so expensive it`s ridiculous...