Sunniva in Norway

Mamma

2012-02-12T14:11:00.000+01:00

Today is Norwegian Mother's Day. That's right, we have it on a separate day from all other countries. Anyway. Hei mamma, jeg ville bare si det igjen: at jeg er glad i deg.

Jemma Green; TBA

2012-02-11T23:16:00.000+01:00

Knowing Jemma right, she won't like any of these photos, simply because they are of her. Maybe the ones where you can't see her properly... Anyway. Jemma shall be here, with me, in about 19 hours. Before then, I am going out, getting back home, sleeping, tidying the house, hopefully getting some work done on one of my projects, and driving my mum to the airport.

Bleh, concert photos

2012-02-11T10:10:00.003+01:00

Was at Driv on Thursday to take some concert photos for someone else,
and was reminded that this is totally not my thing. The bands were good, though.

Red Hand Day

2012-02-10T07:55:00.000+01:00

Temmy, Jens Johan Hjort, and Therese
In addition to collecting money, we're collecting red hand prints for the Child Soldier Campaign. Wednesday we went and got a hand print from the mayor of Tromsø.

The Phantom of the Opera is here

2012-02-09T07:55:00.000+01:00

Does this look small? It's a cinema screen, I promise.

Karoline and Christine (Christine)

I envy your smartphones, just a little bit.
I feel like I'm reversing through time here on my blog; it's only a few days since I managed to upload all my photos from the past few weeks, so there's a bit to update. Anyway:

In January, Karoline, Christine and I went to see the recording of the live show of the 25th anniversary of The Phantom of the Opera (bam! lots of of!). It was absolutely spectacular, all except the chandelier scene, which seems to have been hampered by health and safety rules.

This version has not only a handsome Raoul (which immediately threw us into a dilemma, because we're usually all over Phantom), but also a great finishing number with Sarah Brightman and four or five previous Phantoms singing the title song.

If you get a chance to see the entire show, please do. Here's the Sarah Brightman bit, anyway.

Monday, 30th Jan

2012-02-08T07:55:00.010+01:00

Here we go: some shoddy, handheld Northern Lights photos. I got a text about the Aurora when I was at my parents' house, and had to make do without my tripod. Shame. It was amazing this particular night though - you can see the yellow and red at the edges, which is quite rare.

Here's hoping it will keep, or come back, for next week, when I get a visit from my English friend Jemma. Fingers crossed.

Stigma seminar, 2.-5. February

2012-02-07T07:55:00.068+01:00

Xenia, one of our seminar leaders, getting into serious mode

Always lovely Carlos and Xiomara

Polina, the leader of leaders, with a tag on her shoulder saying Katrina (after the hurricane)

The second adorable Russian Oleg I know, must be something about the name.

Staying at the restaurant for four and a half hours on Sunday evening... I love these people.

Sad goodbyes.
The course this weekend was amazing and exhausting and tiring and educational. It was held completely in Russian and translated by wonderful Lucy and Irina into English as we went. I soon remembered what a huge cultural difference there is between Norway, Russia and Colombia. One of the reasons will be that Norway has gone from being an incredibly poor country with hard lives by the coast to becoming a discustingly rich oil nation where we take a lot of luxuries for granted. This weekend, it was obvious that the Russians and Colombians are a lot more used to having to work hard to get results/what they want.

We had to go through a lot of challenging excercises. Challenging, because they meant we had to work as a group, fail and fail again, and think outside the few rules we were given to complete a task. I think we all grew from this. Norwegian Red Cross courses tend to be either practical or theoretical, punctuated with games and icebreakers (especially in the youth section). There is a definite aim to have fun while learning. In the Russian Red Cross, there is a definite aim to learn through tough experience, then have fun outside the seminar room. This took some time for us to learn, and led to some disagreements and discussions.

I still think (as I told them, and was told off for) they were a little bit too strict. A lot of their approach was very effective, their lectures very interesting, etc, but maybe we could find a happy medium between the Russian and the Norwegian way? They were very clear about the distance that needs to be kept between the leaders of a group, and the group members. This is something I completely disagree with. One of the reasons I enjoy the Red Cross Youth so much is that it's a very open organisation. I know the leader. I know several of the people on the national board. That's not because I'm a very influential person who knows a lot of important people, but because everyone is at the same level. At camps and courses the leaders will sit down and eat with the rest of us, and not want to be made a big fuss of. And even more importantly: You're allowed to criticise them. You're allowed to write an evaluation after the course, or just tell them that actually, you wish they'd done this particular activity another way. We can have constructive discussions and make our entire organisation stronger and better. This was what was lacking from this weekend.

Don't get me wrong, I've learned a lot. Especially about myself (more about that later). I just wish I was allowed to criticise without being told I'm threatening the leaders' position by trying to make them equals with the group.

There we go, rant over. We had a good time at Egon Restaurant on Sunday after all this, and no hard feelings on any side. Just not completely soft feelings either (I'm aware that is not an actual expression).

In February I'm not buying

2012-02-06T16:12:00.000+01:00

... anything for 10 days. Largely helped by going on a four-day course with the Red Cross where they cover all meals, I'm still working on not buying anything from the first to the 10th of February. Thinking this will save me about 150 NOK, that is what I donated to the current Red Cross fundraising action.

We're collecting money that will be given to the rehabiliation of child soldiers in Liberia: Canadian Red Cross, British Red Cross, Norwegian Red Cross.

I try not to do this too often, but here we go: Please donate, you too. Just go without that extra drink, or maybe avoid buying a new cd/dvd/book this week and give 50 NOK (5-6 pounds) to help someone else. Follow the link below, fill in your name (where it says "navn" and the amount you want to give, and there we go (never mind filling out all the details they ask for).

Innsamling: Rehabilitating Child Soldiers - Røde Kors i Norge

Tired Red Cross Face in Bad Lighting

2012-02-05T23:09:00.000+01:00

High five. Extremely challenging weekend, both seminar/excercise-wise and language-wise. Happy ending, in love with more than half the group (platonic love, at least mostly), my head is spinning with собака and estoy llena and all the other Spanish/Russian words we've been throwing around this weekend (in addition to English and Norwegian ofc.).

Triple Trouble

2012-02-03T12:51:00.000+01:00

1. Triple Trouble Pilot
2. The best laser eyes from season 1
3. Triple Trouble Season 4, ep. 1

Yes, it's silly. It's supposed to be. Made by my friends from media - maybe this explains where I got my odd sense of humour from. Also - I'm an extra in the new season, at about 9 minutes in.

Two things

2012-02-02T10:56:00.000+01:00

1. I'm mad at Firefox for getting me to download the new version, then after downloading and replacing my old one it goes: ah, you can't use this version with your version of Mac OS. Then replace new version with old, then Gmail goes: ah, can't figure out why you're using an old version, I will now only work in Basic HTML mode. I think I'm going Opera soon.

2. Going to Haraldvollen for a Red Cross Youth (Murmansk) seminar on stigma. Should be good, should be lots of language confusion and long days and for some reason, this is my idea of an enjoyable weekend.

See you on Sunday!

Like mother, like daughter

2012-01-31T10:31:00.000+01:00

Anna

Dina

Red Cross

2012-01-30T18:11:00.000+01:00

Darina

Temmy

and Xiomara

I also have a photo of Dixie's hand. We went to Flyt, I ate a hamburger, chips, and about twentythree meatballs, and didn't feel hungry for another twentyfour hours. We talked about sleeptalking and sleepwalking and whether we shouldn't all just film ourselves in our sleep, but also travel and language (as always) and presents and food and the United States.

After the meal, Dixie and I went out at midnight (on a Saturday, remember) handing out safety alarms to all the drunk girls we could see. The Red Cross were handing them out before Christmas, because of a series of rapes that were happening in Oslo. During Christmas there were one or two (they're not sure how to classify one of them) rapes in Tromsø, which has made my parents more fearful of my safety than ever before. I have one of these alarms in my handbag, it's just one of the ones that make a high-pitched noise when you pull out a pin, but at least I have that if I'm walking on my own in the dark.

There's been a bit of controversy about these (and remember, they're only recently becoming normal in Norway) - whether they make you feel too safe, so you walk more on your own than you would otherwise, whether they take away the focus that should be on sexual harassment in people's homes/families, and a lot more. I think they're very important, though. Knowing that I can use my alarm if anything were to happen means that I won't let the fear consume me - which would be silly, seeing that assault, or rape, is not very likely to happen in Tromsø, even if it has happened.

Let's leave that discussion for another day. Dixie and I went out with about 150 safety alarms, strolled up the high street and back again, and came back with four alarms that Dixie kept for her friends. And as always, I'm of the opinion that as long as no one gets hurt, if we only help one person by doing this, it's worth it.

This started as a cheery post, and ended on a more serious note. I'm sorry, lovely Red Cross Youth people, I did have a splendid Christmas Party meal with you lot.

Guess where?

2012-01-29T16:45:00.000+01:00

Bookshelves covering an entire wall? Yes, please.

I've just come back from my sister's, been at the Red Cross Youth Christmas Party (yes), and am now sitting in my parents' living room pretending to apply to jobs. No, that's not true, I've applied to two. Should have done more. Yet there are books to read! Interwebz to gawk at! And most importantly, even more photos of my niece to edit.

Above are my parents' bookshelves, including the "photography shelf" that my dad and I share. It's got photo books and all our cameras on it. Photography and books and films and a photo of Dina, this is all I need.

I also have a cat. Happy days.

Rules or Resolutions or... Guidelines, if you prefer

2012-01-26T07:55:00.000+01:00

I've never understood New Year's Resolutions. It seems to me to be very similar to the Sunday chant of "I will never drink again" - something you desperately feel you will keep in the moment because you know it would be better for you, but you either can't or won't keep it up.

Instead, I've always (and by always, I mean the past few years, obviously) made tiny resolutions throughout the year. With the fear of sounding smug, it works a lot better. And to be completely honest, they're usually just guidelines. If I fail at one of my resolutions, I can go "meh" and try again next week. I tried making a list of what resolutions, rules and guidelines I'm currently following to some degree or other.

1. Don't buy new clothes, only second hand and vintage (since September 2008)
2. Don't buy clothes at all if you don't have a steady income
3. Give to charities monthly, and avoid buying one luxury for that amount of money
4. Yet indulge yourself now and then (hello pretty, new Moleskine diary)
5. Make an effort with your hair (silly short hair needs styling)
6. Wear nice clothes, even when you are home, alone, and no one will see them
7. Smile at people you think you might know, on the bus, on the street, in a shop, because if you do know them, that's good, if you don't, they get a smile from a stranger
8. Save money for travel, monthly
9. Travel
10. Have dinner with at least one other person every week to avoid becoming a lonely mad-woman
11. Stop drinking at midnight
12. Only buy clothes that will make people go "wow" or "ooh" or "can I stroke your arm, it looks so soft"
13. Never wear shabby clothes outside the house
14. Reply to all emails from Couchsurfers, even the weird ones
15. Learn, no really, learn conversational Spanish

I could probably think of fifteen more. But these'll do written down. If I just keep the rest in my head, it's more acceptable if I fail at them. A lot of the ones above are ones I am constantly working on, hoping that someday it feels completely natural.

Sun-day

2012-01-25T07:55:00.023+01:00

Just past midday, first sunset

Tora enjoys being photographed almost as much as my mother

Best chocolate ever: Toffifee.

Foreigners + fires = ...

Breath-taking sunshine. At least when you're not used to it.

At Saturday, on the Sun-day, I woke poor Tora up early after a late night. We packed some sun-buns (doughnuts, really) and chocolate and cameras in our bags and walked to a beach near the southern point of the island to meet up with a bunch of insane Couchsurfers who'd been there since 11 am. They'd made a fire and had a proper barbeque in the freezing cold. Tora and I came, saw the sun, had some chocolate and sun-buns, talked to the others, then left as soon as we could. It was nice, though. Sun. Still happy about it.

Sol, sol, sol

2012-01-24T16:20:00.000+01:00

Monday, 23rd January, ca. 12:15 (second sunset)

I got slightly teary-eyed (slightly, mind) looking through my sun photos from yesterday, and my sunset photos from Saturday. Ridiculous? Maybe. Saturday was the Sun-day (confusing in English, I know) in Tromsø. The day when the sun returns after two months of absence is fantastic. It's impossible to explain the feeling of joy, happiness, exaltation everyone living north of the Arctic Circle experience in January (or February in Svalbard, poor souls) when the sun comes back. My German friend was sat on the bus Saturday noon, and was astonished by how everyone started shouting and pointing and smiling at the short glimpse of sun.

I've seen the sun during the polar night, since I've been to Germany and Oslo during the period, but still, nothing beats seeing it in Telegrafbukta with Tora on Saturday. It's so orange and bright and dazzling.

Another grand thing about Tromsø is that we get two sunrises and two sunsets at the end of January. The sun can be seen on the left side of the mountain above, then it disappears behind the mountain, just to reappear a few minutes later on the other side of the mountain.

Talked to an American on Sunday, who was saying Tromsø was dark. "But.... The sun is back! It's light! So, so bright!" was my stunned response. It's all relative.

Apologies for my absence

2012-01-23T22:57:00.000+01:00

I've had a Tora-face and a film festival to deal with all at once.

Tired & No Glasses

2012-01-17T23:10:00.000+01:00

... and blue nail polish.

Just finished the first official day of the film festival, after watching six films, the last one in 3D, I'm pretty knackered. I decided that wearing contact lenses for the first time since last April would be better than trying to balance the flat, cheap 3D glasses on top of my own glasses.

I look into mirrors and my face looks empty.

Prejudice? Go on, then.

2012-01-17T07:55:00.065+01:00

Play, by Ruben Östlund

One of the reasons I love TIFF: The films always make you think. They usually show one or two more commercial films (although, I think the most mainstream film this year is the new Wuthering Heights, and that won't even be showing in regular cinemas in Norway. At all.), but mainly, the programme is a wonderful mix of international films (i.e. not from the US) that demand something more than a popcorn-eating, dumb audience.

I won't try to comment on every film I'll see - I've already got six tickets just for tomorrow. Play needs a statement of some kind though. Or maybe I just need to make a statement about it.

It is a film about something that did actually happen.

" Play was inspired by actual events that occurred in Göteborg, Sweden from 2006 through 2008. A group of black boys, ages 12 to 14, robbed other children on about 70 different occasions. Ruben Östlund's producer, Erik Hemmendorff, showed him a news article about it, and the idea for the film was born. "
xoxo Sweden

A group of black kids, as they say, go up to younger white kids, ask them to see their phone, and starts a whole scam about how a phone exactly like that, with those scratches, was stolen from their brother the previous weekend. The whole film is about this one incident, where the robbers take their victims further and further away from town, intimidate them, joke with them, make them do whatever comes into their mind at the moment... As the title says, it's just play. They're obviously bored and in need of entertainment. They know everything about racial prejudice and political correctness, and use this to frighten the younger boys.

It's a very well made film. The camera stays still while the characters move in and out of the frame, making you guess what's going on, but you're never quite right.

A lot of people have called Ruben Östlund racist after watching this film. But as one character explains (spoonfeeds) us at the end of the film: Who cares what race the perpetrators are? We care about the act of stealing and conning people, not the race. If you can't say that someone has done something wrong, in fear of being non-PC, what can you do?

I'm noticing my incapability of discussing this without making a long essay. Other people have written better, longer articles about this film and the issues around it: Mark Adams and Leslie Felperin.

What I wanted to say was: If you get a chance, watch this. I know it'll be in Norwegian cinemas in a few weeks. Probably not in England, though...

Baby, baby, baby

2012-01-16T11:41:00.000+01:00

Please zoom in on this and look at Dina's face. Priceless.

I usually only post adorable photos of my niece. At the moment though, as I'm editing photos from early 2010, I keep finding pictures like this one, where she's making faces at the adults who try to take adorable baby shots with her.

Books! Books!

2012-01-13T12:34:00.000+01:00

En,

to,

tre!

The only thing I bought in Oslo.

The first book was a Christmas present from my grandmother, probably helped a little by my mother. I was disappointed when I saw she'd given me a P.D. James crime novel, until I read the title and the blurb inside. It's a Pride & Prejudice sequel, which happens to be a murder mystery. How awesome is that? My only problem with P.D. James is that she doesn't believe in the Oxford comma, and I do. It is incredibly entertaining, anyway.

The second book is actually the TIFF catalogue 2012, with extensive blurbs about all the films they're showing. I'm a volunteer this year (surprise!) as I was in 2008. I've already done my volunteer work, and all next week I shall spend in the cinema, watching strange European indie films. Already started on Wednesday with a volunteer screening of A Declaration of War, fits exactly with what I expect from my festival films.

The third book is a perfect little Moleskine diary. Say what you want about the hipsterification of Moleskine books - the same you'd say about Macbooks - I like them because they are actually really well made, and fit my needs perfectly. This is a diary with the week on the left page, and lots of space for notes on the right page. I always scribble all over my diaries, because I use them as notebooks when I don't have anything else with me, so this is just ideal.

I've had a Moleskine notebook before, and I have to say, they do really have something in common with Macbooks. They are slightly too expensive for what they are. They've suddenly become incredibly cool, and lots of people seem to be buying them just because it's the thing to do. I'm attracted to both things because of their design, but also because they keep longer than the alternatives. And there's a certain strange love you feel for both when you own them - I've read long articles discussing why Mac users love their machines so much, compared to PC users, who just like their machines and think they're quite all right. No one has found an answer as far as I know. It's the thing that makes you stroke your laptop or your notebook when you put it away...

Or maybe I'm just odd.

Heeei Oslo

2012-01-12T15:48:00.003+01:00

Mormor, trying out Anna and Erling's iPad

Hello, antique/fallen off a lorry-stuff/second-hand shop in Markveien

And hello Maja! In a slightly shabby curry place with very good food.

Bam! Sunshine! So confusing for a Northerner.

You can't appreciate the immense beauty of sunlight on a tree trunk
before you've lived without it for a month or two.

Hei Silje and Line, getting ready for a night out.
Line is probably my oldest friend, we've known each other since we were ten.

Oslo was a good mix of being with my family, seeing old friends, seeing Maja, who is the only person from my England studies I've seen after leaving Falmouth, going out, staying in, drinking, eating, being slightly bored and very entertained.

Happy birthday, Freya

2012-01-11T12:02:00.000+01:00

June 2010, Falmouth, Cornwall

August 2010, above Tromsø

May 2010 (?), Falmouth, Cornwall

Gratulerer med dagen! Happy birthday! Hurra for Freya, my lovely English past housemate and friend. I miss you and your Cocoa Pops breakfasts, your dance moves in the kitchen, your constant Eddie Izzard-quotes, your obsession with language and spelling mistakes, your Cornish pride and jokes, your fantastic hugs and cuddles, your oddness, quietness, loudness, and everything else that makes up your beautiful being.

Why travel?

2012-01-09T23:40:00.001+01:00

New York, november 2009

1. To see family and friends, and also: experience other things, like Oslo's fantastic vintage shops with woolly cardigans (a most amazing invention) of every colour, people who dress both practical and pretty at once, and enjoy an ice cube machine refrigerator, which is also full of wine and tons of food, and maybe, maybe, there was a lynx walking outside one night.
2. To come home to family and friends, and experience the old things anew: Being able to go plane-bus-shop-meetfriend-home-walktotown-gym in less than two hours, because Tromsø is so perfectly tiny, a shower with water that keeps warm even when the washing machine is on, a laptop that is noone else's, and being able to wear ridiculous clothes because they are warm without anyone glancing at you twice.

In January, I'm not buying

2012-01-04T07:55:00.009+01:00

These flowers for morfar,

but giving the sum of 600 kr to the Norwegian Cancer Society, by my grandmother's wish.

Right, I'm off!

2012-01-03T13:48:00.001+01:00

Fantastic claw-like icicles that have formed outside my door.
Just to prove that I live somewhere cold.

Tonight I'm going to Nesodden with my family, tomorrow is the memorial service, Thursday through Monday is meeting with Maja, meeting with Line and Mette and other childhood friends, celebrating my cousin's 15th birthday, strolling through Grünerløkka's hipster vintage shops, and spending even more time with my family - happy days and sad times all mingled together.

Unemployed: Day One

2012-01-02T20:40:00.000+01:00

That's right, my dears.

I quit my job as a post-lady. Since we got rainy weather every day in October, and since we got snow every other day in November, it just wasn't any fun any more. It wasn't a dream job in the first place, but in summer it was all right, and quite nice on the occasional overcast, 15-degree Friday (no advertisements on Fridays). As autumn/winter came on though, I started dreading going to work. I've had that once before, and I hope I won't have it again.

My plan is to have January off, and then get a job come February, or March at the very latest.

I know. I'm very lucky to live in a country where I can just quit my job without having another one lined up already. Yet - isn't that the very reason I should? When your mother said "think of the children in Africa, starving to death" she didn't mean you should starve to death because others do. She meant you should eat as much as possible, because other people can't. And I'm well aware that in most other countries, at the moment, especially in Europe, young people can't get work. That doesn't mean (as I have heard people argue) that I should stick to a job I'm unhappy with.

So, let's agree, I'm very lucky to be able to do this. I've still been saving even more than usual this autumn, never buying anything expensive, because I knew I would want to do this. At the same time, I know people who earn less than me who have bought holidays, cameras, musical instruments, etc. - for as much, or more, as my monthly house rent.

My plans for January:

Go to Nesodden/Oslo for my grandfather's memorial service, and stay on for almost a week to see my friends and spend some more time with my family there (3.-9.)
Apply to the Red Cross Youth Delegate Exchange Program I want to go on
Apply to tons of jobs
Be a volunteer (and get a festival pass to watch 6 - six- films daily) at the Tromsø International Film Festival (17.-22.)
Meet up with all the Couchsurfers who come to Tromsø in January to look for Northern Lights
Plan some photography projects
Do some photography other than "look at my food and my niece"
Go to Bardu and take more photos of my niece (and spend some time with her as well)
Arrange the Red Cross Youth Christmas Party (yes, I know) (it's on January 28th)
Take my brother out to BlåRock and get him a pint on his 18th (the 30th)
Do stuff I never get around to doing because I always blame work and being busy

Sooo, yes. I have enough to do, I think.

I'm sorry if this post comes off as a little tetchy. It's just that I've discussed this issue with a lot of (international) people before, and I want to prove that I've thought about this, I've got plans, and I've been very good with saving up money the past six months.

Wish me luck!

Three last photos of 2011

2012-01-01T21:56:00.000+01:00

I only took three photos on NYE. These three. Christine, Karoline and I had dinner with Christine's parents and their friends (all the garlic bread in the world, not kidding, still full 24 hours later), and then I scooted off to Vijitha's party to see the mountain fireworks and discuss music until five o'clock this morning. Yawn.

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T23:59:00.013+01:00

December 2009. Not New Years Eve. And not midnight. #picturefail

New Year in Norway is one hour before New Year in England, logically enough. Anyway: Happy New Year, everyone. Here's a big, sentimental end of year hug to all of my friends, wherever you are. Tromsø, Nesodden, Copenhagen, Jo'burg, Falmouth, London, anywhere else in the UK - I love you all.

And I'll try to take some good New Year's Eve-type photos tonight so I have something to put on my blog next year.

Christmas Table

2011-12-31T15:24:00.000+01:00

Ida explains something Very Important which we've all forgotten what was.

Viktoria looks more and more elegant every time I see her.

This is the nice photo of Christine and Karoline, let's not talk of the other shots.

Serious drinking photos were taken. Also: some sneaky advertising for Mack, our local brewery.

About the title: English people have Christmas parties, the Norwegian equivalent is called julebord, which is literally Christmas Table - because we usually sit down to eat before we drink and dance and act silly in front of our colleagues. My group of girl friends usually go out sometime around Christmas for our own julebord - I just found it silly to call it a Christmas party when it's not a party at all. We went out for dinner at Lotus, and then later went out to a few bars, before Viktoria (good, sober person) drove us (me, at least) home.

We're all completely different. If we'd met outside of school, I'm not sure whether we'd all have become friends. Now we are, though, and I really appreciate them.

Peppercakes and cakemen

2011-12-29T07:55:00.014+01:00

Last Thursday, my paternal, Northern grandmother and I met up for serious Christmas baking

We made tons and tons of kakemainna, translates directly as cakemen - originally they're supposed to be the shape of men/women, we chose stars and hearts and angels and Christmas trees.

Then: gingerbread. Which we call pepperkaker = peppercakes.
No one knows why, since there are two teaspoons of ginger and 1/4th of a teaspoon of pepper, or something like that.

Holly leaves or Christmas trees, not sure, I'm only here to make, then eat them.

My Northern grandmother has recipes and a recipe book from about seventy years ago, I'd say. This year, we were being fantastically experimental by using a new recipe for kakemainna, although it was from Eide Handel, an old grocery shop in the middle of nowhere, that my grandmother helped start back in the early fifties or thereabouts. We knew we could trust them. It went very well, we speed-baked for three hours, and ended up with way too many cakes/biscuits/what to call them. Om nom, Christmas all the way through January.

Oh, and Merry Christmas

2011-12-28T21:58:00.000+01:00

Christmas Eve Morning (makes no sense in Norwegian either)

Enjoying it while it lasts: Dina jump-hugging me, following me to the bathroom, taking my hand, and playing "Aunt Sunniva": pretending to write something on the laptop and answering phones (the day before she was sat on my lap as I was on Facebook/skyping/phoning my grandmother, her great grandmother).

She knows how to charm her way into my heart, that little one.

Family values

2011-12-27T07:55:00.026+01:00

The Johansen siblings and the Haug Freitag siblings all together, most of us looking intelligent (?)

Mats, Helena and Elisa, my half German cousins

Mats and his dad

Onkel Klaus and Tante Mette (my mum's sister)

One pre-teen...

...and one emo-teen. Not really. Helena will be 15 in January, and I will be at Nesodden for her birthday.

While we were all together in Germany, the grownups thought we'd better take another photo of the grandchildren. The last time we had an opportunity to do this was three years ago, and the time before that... I was 15, so I'm guessing seven years ago (I'm excellent at maths, you see). The previous photo has my brother wearing black eye-makeup and a massive black emo-fringe at the age of fourteen, I think he was happy to get another chance this time.

Just to clear up if anyone is a little confused: My grandparents grew up in Trondheim, in the middle of Norway. They then moved around a bit before they settled at Nesodden, just outside Oslo, where my mum and her sister grew up. My mum married a Northerner and moved up here (although we did live at Nesodden from I was 9 to 13). My aunt studied in Germany, married a German and moved down there. The past ten years or so, my grandparents have lived just across the road from my aunt in Margetshöchheim, Bavaria, in winter, which is why we were there now. In January we are going to Nesodden to the Norwegian memorial service for my late granddad.

Some good things in Germany

2011-12-26T16:40:00.001+01:00

Sitting on the train at 4 in the afternoon, seeing the sunset. Sun. Setting at 4.
Amazing for someone living above the Arctic Circle.

Cake. Pudding. Pie. Croissant. Bread Roll. Crumble. Cookie. Biscuit. German Bäckerei/Konditorei = hello.

Glühwein (mulled wine/gløgg) at Weihnachtsmarkt Würzburg. Weihnachtsmarkt Würzburg itself.

Adorable old houses, clearly decorated to look more adorable.

Lots of time with my family, here: dad and sister.

Norwegian Christmas Films and Other Oddities

2011-12-23T08:33:00.001+01:00

Today is Little Christmas Eve in Norway. There's a show on the national broadcaster called Kvelden før kvelden, The Evening Before the Evening (sounds much better in Norwegian), where they talk and make Christmas food and show little snippets of this and that and everything is very cosy. Noone ever really watches the entire thing - it's made to be on in the background, as all Norwegian families will be decorating their Christmas trees, packing their last presents, etc. At 9 pm, however, the entire nation (or at least 25% of it) sits down to watch an old, English sketch, that hardly anyone in England has heard about (although, it is made in Germany, so you're excused, I guess):

Except for the poor souls who lived with me and Maja last year, of course.

The Norwegian tv-Christmas is probably the most rigidly controlled tradition we have. Everything must be shown at the same time every year, at least on Little and proper Christmas Eve.

At 11 am on Christmas Eve, we all watch this beautiful Czech version of Cinderella:

I could only find a French trailer, sorry.

And there are heaps of other films. Snekker Andersen, Reisen til Julestjernen, lots of Disney shorts. The last film I'll show you though, is the most adorable Swedish animation, called Karl Bertil Jonsson's Julafton, which airs at 5:35 pm (told you we were strict):

I haven't actually shown any Christmas films of Norwegian origin, because I prefer these three. Snekker Andersen and Reisen til Julestjernen are also very sweet films, that mean a lot to people (I think SA airs at 9 in the morning and RJ at 1 pm).

All this just to show you that Norwegians can be incredibly traditional when we want to - they tried removing the Cinderella film (which is badly dubbed, by one Norwegian man, and you can hear the Czech voices in the background) from Christmas Eve one year, and there were so many protests they had to put it right back into the program.

In December, I'm not buying

2011-12-21T17:00:00.000+01:00

Sorry about the lateness of this post, about three weeks late, I'd say...

In December, I'm not buying presents for any of my friends, especially not if they live far away. The three exceptions are Ida, Ingrid and Cecille, because, well. They are some of my closest friends, and except for Cecille, they live here and I can just hand them their presents.

I am buying: Three calendars from the Red Cross Troms, at 50 kr each, and in addition to this, I've donated to Kirkens Bymisjon. Kirkens Bymisjon is a charity connected to the Church of Norway, which offers a Christmas meal for people who are alone at Christmas, or who can't afford a Christmas dinner. They do meals all through the year, but right now their slogan is "Gled en som gruer seg til jul", which doesn't translate well, but basically to please or give happiness to someone who's dreading Christmas.

Hei morfar

2011-12-20T23:32:00.001+01:00

My sister and our grandfather in May 2011 (we'd had some wine)

Mormor og morfar in May 2011

Morfar at Tenerife, showing me around the island, December 2008

My favourite photo of morfar, summer 2010

50 years ago, when Eva and Torstein became Mr and Mrs Haug, look at the handsome young couple they make.

As you might or might not know, I've just been to Germany to see my family. My maternal grandfather, Torstein Haug, passed away (although I prefer to say died) on Sunday, December 11th. My brother wrote some very well chosen words about it. Every time I've tried, it's just come out as rambling nothings. So, here are some photos instead. My morfar (=mother's father) was such a strong, big man, it seems impossible that he could be weakened by cancer. When I was a little girl, with a little girly voice, and he was a big strong man with a strong, deep manly voice, neither of us could understand the other. As I got older, I would casually drop words like "EU membership", "nuclear power industry", or anything to do with politics, into a conversation, and just listen to him discuss the issues with himself.

He died the day after we got to Germany this time. He was in a coma the day we came, but I put on a nice dress for him anyway, because I know my morfar likes girls in pretty dresses. A few days after, my family went out for a meal, and I couldn't finish what was on my plate, and I felt bad, because my morfar would give me a talk about not wasting food, and make me finish it. He hasn't seen me drive yet. I haven't told him that I got an A on my last exam.

And even now, I am constantly rediscovering that he is gone. And I have fought and fought with myself to write this. Just to let you know what's been going on, and to get a chance to say something, if not as eloquently as my brother. But also to say, hei morfar. Jeg er glad i deg.

First Christmas Card arrived today

2011-12-09T18:19:00.000+01:00

Keep'em coming, English folk! Norwegians don't do cards as well as you guys.

Now I'm off to the airport, off to Germany, which I will tell you about later. Family stuff.

For Emma

2011-12-08T23:47:00.000+01:00

To the left: normal size pesto jar. To the right: fantastic size pesto jar.

That's a lot of pesto. Om nom nom.

December, happiness

2011-12-06T22:12:00.000+01:00

Sunday at Dixie's: Look at her Russian doll Christmas figures.

Today: writing Christmas cards...

Sunday, just after arriving from Oslo, I went to Dixie's house for a little bit of English Christmas feeling. We had mulled wine, mince pies and ginger bread, and watched Love Actually. Perfect. Then Monday I went to Ingrid to watch Princess Mononoke, and we had cookies and gingerbread and the Norwegian version of mulled wine, which contains no wine at all and is rather sweet and you put almonds in it. Nom nom.

December is full of Christmas already, just as it ought to be.

Three portraits, quickly

2011-12-05T00:22:00.000+01:00

Me, taken by Mats (but with my camera and my settings, so according to my tutors = taken by me)

Alexa (who had several gorgeous dresses from her grandmother, jealous = me)

Mats from the West Country, with one of the most amazing accents ever.

Just came home from the communication course in Oslo, these photos were the ones I picked from our photography course on the Saturday, the only ones I've edited so I could put them up at the moment.

Bedtime now, tell you all about it tomorrow, or when I have time, we shall see.

Evil Santa Claus

2011-12-03T10:10:00.000+01:00

"I am an evil Santa Claus. I will hide presents where noone can see them"

Please click on that photo to enlarge it. I've got two of these, which makes them even more frightening (according to Freud/the Uncanny, anyway).

Last year we celebrated Christmas at Tenerife, and my mum and I went to this fantastically cheap-looking shop to find Christmas decorations. It was all glitter and extravaganza, awesome. After we picked out the least garish decorations, and as we were paying, the man behind the counter leant down and fetched something. Here, this is for you, he seemed to say, with a friendly smile, as he plonked it into our shopping bag. Completely free of charge. When we came out of the shop and had a look, we saw these evil Santa Clauses.

I think we left all the other decorations behind... But I wanted these. They're the only decoration I have in my new flat. Evil Santa Claus can sit on the North Pole of my globe and be evil.

Ah, but wait

2011-12-02T07:55:00.000+01:00

Posing in my post uniform, yes, it's that early. I had to hide my tired face.

I forgot to say, I've actually got two more calendars. That is, I forgot them until yesterday morning. One, with little nisser on it, is the Red Cross calendar, where you support the Red Cross with £5 and every day there's a prize draw. My hope is to win the £700 travel gift card.

The other one is, as you might have noticed, this book: The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaarder. It's a children's book, with one chapter for every day of advent, with lots of references to the Bible, to Norwegian folklore and European Christmas traditions. I'll read one chapter every day at breakfast, like when I was little, absolutely love it.

Best advent calendar. Ever.

2011-12-01T07:55:00.000+01:00

An old one we've had for ages and ages, this year with something different hanging on it:

Tea. I get one teabag every day of December.

When I was little, my sister and I would get tiny tiny presents every day in our advent calendar. We'd get two stickers, or a hairband, or a notepad, and the next day a pen, on Saturdays we'd get chocolate, on Sundays, we'd get chewing gum to make up for the chocolate's effect on our teeth.

The past few years I've had a mixture of random chocolate calendars and random gift calendars, like last year, when my lovely housemate Maja made little gifts for everyone in our house, every day until we left for the holiday.

I don't really care what I get. I just like having some kind of calendar to remind me that Christmas is coming, and get one tiny thing to make me happy every day. Tea calendar is perfect.

Every day I'm Red Crossing (again, again)

2011-11-29T21:32:00.000+01:00

Monday: IHL course (International Humanitarian Law)
Tuesday (today): Not actually Red Crossing much, wrote the minutes from our last standgroup meeting
Wednesday: Russia group meeting + IHL course part two
Thursday: World AIDS Day
Friday-Sunday: Communication course in Oslo (where I won't have time to see my Oslo-friends, sadly) (but I will meet the youth delegates from Zimbabwe and Nepal! They're in different parts of the country, while we have the Colombians) (So excited)

Good times were had by all

2011-11-28T23:03:00.000+01:00

Friday, the day before the Christmas party, I went to Cathrine's for cheese and wine night.

And crackers and ham and grapes night.

Ida was there, lookin' all right, with baubles in her ears.

I drink wine rarely, so when I do, I pick the nicest looking bottle. Never ended up with anything too bad.

Cathrine and I trying desperately to look relaxed.

This might sound odd (it does to me), but I feel like I've become more resilient when it comes to alcohol. After not drinking for eight weeks straight... Unlikely. It might just be that I had tons of cheese on tons of crackers. I like to call it the high carb high fat diet, unlikely to make you healthy, but much less hungover.

Christmas party

2011-11-27T15:00:00.000+01:00

Renate's beautiful shoes

Yesterday was my work Christmas party - the Norwegian Mail (sorting + delivery part of it anyway), Tromsø, have their Christmas party at somewhere called Ølhallen (Hall of Beer). Classy? No. On weekdays, Ølhallen is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m... That should tell you all about it. It was nice though, we had lots of Norwegian Christmas food, free drinks (not always a clever idea with Norwegians), and I got to know some of my co-workers better.

The best thing was my shoes though. I'd invited my landlady over to my flat earlier that day, to have a look and see how I've furnished it. Seeing my party dress all laid out, she offered to lend me a pair of shoes that would go with it. We have the same shoe size. Amazing. I have to give them back today...

Feeling slightly reduced after two nights in a row of drinking lots of wine. Copious amounts of tea seems to be the remedy.

Exam done!

2011-11-24T21:27:00.001+01:00

Me, failing at thumbs-up, but winning at everything else

That's right, I got an A. As a combined grade for my essay and my oral exam. For the first time in years, studying hard really paid off. Well done me, pat on shoulder, go on with my life, back to work as a post-lady tomorrow morning.

Winter and dark times

2011-11-23T16:46:00.001+01:00

Sunday, around midday, outside my bedroom window

On Monday, suddenly every other house in Tromsø had their fairy lights up for Christmas. It confused me all through my work day, because we're still in November, but it's not mid-November or any special occasion to put them all up now.

Then I realised, Monday was the official start of Polar Night, in Tromsø. What we have is more like polar twilight, but it doesn't sound near as hardcore. The Norwegian name for this time of year is mørketid, meaning dark time, which just sounds more awesome translated into English. We've entered The Dark Time... Which will last until January 21st, which is known as The Sun Day (soldagen).

It's getting darker and darker every day now. We have something like dawn at eleven o'clock, and something like sunset at one o'clock, but the sun never climbs above the horizon. I'm happy that the residents of Tromsø start their fairy/Christmas lights early - it's more to light up the Dark Time (loving this translation) than to celebrate Christmas. And, remember, the reason Christmas has been placed in December, is because it's in the middle of Dark Time.

Christmas Wishlist

2011-11-21T22:57:00.000+01:00

Mostly because this is the easiest way to reach my family all at once.

1. Something from the Red Cross Shop, Gimedhjertet (give with your heart)
2. Something from any other similar shop, give me some trees in Kenya or a goat in Kathmandu, go on.
3. Giftcards from H&M, Løiten Lys, G-Sport, XXL.

4. Moomin mugs! I dropped mine as I was packing my stuff to move to Ryavegen in July... Poor Snufkins.

And then... Nothing else. Or, English people: I'm fond of Christmas cards. Hint, hint.

Random photo of a cake

2011-11-21T22:20:00.000+01:00

Just to tempt you, there we go

My mum makes a very good chocolate cake. And she makes an amazing chocolate frosting cream type thing to put on top. When I was younger, she'd save some frosting for me so I could eat just that... I think that's what I'll want for my birthday in March. (Did you read that, mum?)

Anyway. Hobbes and Locke and Rousseau are having fun in my head at the moment, maybe I'll dream about them tonight.

Active Choice-day

2011-11-20T16:55:00.000+01:00

Xiomara from Colombian Red Cross and Torill from HivNorge

Sofie, always turning away

Lucy & Dixie, insisting on looking silly when I focus

Yesterday was the long-awaited Active Choice-day (in English!) at the Red Cross house. We wanted to attract international students, and although the advertising for the day could have been better and we could have had more people, the day itself went really well (well planned, Dixie!).

Starting out with some icebreakers, we continued with a presentation about Active Choice (=sexual health) in Colombia, and learned some of the games they do with students there. There were some games going on while Dixie and I had to taxi down to the pizza place, because their delivery service didn't start until way after lunch time. After lunch we had a condom-course, and the best part of the day: a talk by Torill from HivNorge, about HIV/AIDS in Norway (surprise, I know, considering who she works for). The only thing is that she was kind of preaching to the converted, since we were mostly Red Cross Youth people there. She said, and I agree, that there should be more talks about HIV/AIDS in schools, young people need to know more about it, that it exists in Norway, and how it can, and how it can't, transmit.

Looking forward to December 1st now.

I wish I could just memorize this song for Thursday and get an A

2011-11-19T23:31:00.000+01:00

... But I doubt it.

Look!

2011-11-18T22:19:00.000+01:00

I got a package in my mailbox the other day, just getting it, without opening it, made me so happy.

I did open it, though. Look at this adorable letter from the adorable Jemma.

And pretty things for me! And something else for someone else, which will remain a secret, until Dec. 24th, at least.

I didn't start reading my philosophy on Wednesday, like I promised. Instead, I went to see the film Drive, with Ryan Gosling (yes) and Carey Mulligan (yes) and a strange mix of soothing, peaceful images and violence (...yees...?). Recommended.

I've started reading philosophy again now though, and dear me. It's so much. My head is so confused with all the information I've been cramming into it today, about Kant & Aristotle & Descartes & Hume and about fourteen others. I wish this philosophy class would get marked on our participation at seminars instead of an oral exam, but there you go. By Thursday I need to be up to date on the difference between the mechanistic and teleological view of nature (just translated that myself, so it's probably called something else in English).

Of course it's all gone by this afternoon

2011-11-16T16:29:00.002+01:00

I've never been so happy to see rain in my entire life. Much better for post delivery.

Snow, properly now

2011-11-16T07:55:00.010+01:00

Sunday was a rainy, soggy, windy day. My dad drove me home in the evening (after watching both parts of Pride & Prejudice + two episodes of Downton Abbey with my mum), saw my bike on the porch, and said: "Do you still need your bike? Or do you want me to take it home?" Of course I replied that I might still use it, seeing that the roads were still bare and winter still seemed far away.

Woke up eight hours later to a completely snowfilled landscape.

Not fun for postal workers, looks nice though.

Viktoria's Birthday, or A Selection of Gorgeous Girls

2011-11-15T22:37:00.000+01:00

Ida looking fantastic as always

Me, just having realised it's harder to hide your unwashed hair when it's this short (look at my sad face)

Birthday girl herself, look at her happy face!

Charlotte (who I realised I've know longer than any of the other girls around the table)

Christine, Christine! I can't say her name in English without singing Phantom of the Opera-tunes

I promise, this is the last birthday celebration in a while. I do have photos of a very tasty chocolate cake from my mum's birthday celebrations, which also coincided with Norwegian father's day this past Sunday. Soon I'll be telling you all about my dreary life again. Or maybe write something clever philosophical. Next week is my oral exam in philosophy, so before then I should have read some 200 pages on the subjects we've covered... I'll start tomorrow. Promise.

And then it was Saturday

2011-11-15T08:08:00.022+01:00

I got up at 8:45, went to town and met up with this birthday beauty again

Brought some old clothes to Rådstua

And sold clothes at the "Fiin-loppis" (Vintage Flea Market)

I was fairly unprepared, in addition to not actually wanting to sell my nicest second hand dresses, so I didn't sell much. Ida made a bit though, I managed to get rid of a hideous bag, and I scored a new top by swapping one of the ones I was selling with one of Ida's. So it wasn't a total waste... I also had a good time, managed to be at a vintage flea market without buying anything, and got some quality time with Ida. Happy days.

It's Friday, Friday, etc

2011-11-14T08:08:00.008+01:00

Ida's birthday party (her actual birthday was Saturday), I'm the early nerdy type, as usual. I get more cupcakes.

Cathrine & Christine - from my media high school

We were having a media party in the corner, while the journalists (who work with Ida) were in the kitchen

Ida & me

Seeing that this was my first big party since Sober October (and actually, since mid-September), I think I did rather well. I had a grand time, drank a bit, was in a very good mood, and got up early o'clock the next day (more about that in my next post) without too much dizziness. And again: Happy birthday, Ida, you gorgeous creature.

Everybody and their mums' birthdays

2011-11-13T15:44:00.000+01:00

Viktoria and me, posing awkwardly

Christine enjoying her carrot cupcake while wearing her crown

Ghost plate & blackcurrant cordial

Tuesday: Invited Christine to what she thought was just a normal girl's night, when in fact we were celebrating her birthday. She brought carrots as snacks, then Karoline showed up with a massive carrot cake, and Viktoria came with carrot cupcakes. All the vitamins for us!

Wednesday: Invited myself to Ingrid to finish her chocolate cake from the weekend. Sadly, they had managed to finish the cake without me...so Ingrid had just baked another one. NOM.

Thursday: ...No cake.

Friday: Ida's birthday party, lost count of the number of cupcakes I consumed.

Saturday: Went out for Chinese with my family, then home for chocolate cake to celebrate my mum's birthday again.

Sunday morning: Father's day (in Norway) = homemade buns and chocolate cake and normal cake.

November 7th to 14th shall be known as Cake Week henceforth.

Babies everywhere!

2011-11-09T22:41:00.000+01:00

Unimpressed baby is unimpressed

Well, at least children. On Monday, I went to see Hanne, our previous youth coordinator in the Red Cross Youth (North) - who's left us twice now to have babies. I was there to take photos that might hopefully be used for Christmas cards, etc, of her two children. There are so many photos on my harddrive right now, just waiting for me having a few hours off the Red Cross and all the birthday celebrations this week, to see if there's anything usable. The little one, Elias, was very unimpressed by the lady coming to photograph him. He wasn't in a bad mood or anything, just completely disinterested, and not wanting to smile. His older brother Sindre preferred running around, hiding from the strange lady, to sitting down and being photographed. I think we managed to become friends in the end. We'll see.

Gratulerer med dagen, Ingrid

2011-11-08T23:17:00.000+01:00

December 2005

December 2005, can you believe how adult she looks at 16?

August 2005 - before we started different schools, after three years of seeing each other every single day

17.mai (Norway Day!) 2006. Yes, that is snow on the ground. And ice cream in my hand.

Happy birthday Ingrid! One of my oldest friends. The other one is Cecille, the girl in the middle of the August 2005 photo. We have so much history. We learnt the Elvish alphabet (the Sindarin version, I think) together when we were 14, and wrote each other letters in Norwegian, but with Elvish letters, from 2006 to the present day. There's my biggest geeky secret out. We walked around my parents' new house before it was finished, and dreamt of having boyfriends we could hold hands with instead of each other (on the 17.mai-photo it's happened/is about to happen for both). Recent years we've bonded over Neil Gaiman (or me pushing his books on her), Studio Ghibli films, having lived in England, cake/chocolate and endless conversations about books (girl works in a book shop! So jealous).

Tomorrow I'm going to visit Ingrid, to celebrate her birthday and eat more cake. It's birthday week in Tromsø, apparently! Anyway. Love you, Ingrid. I hope we eat cake and write Elvish for years to come (at least 80 more!)

Weekend in Sandy Bay

2011-11-07T22:44:00.000+01:00

Pimm's & Lemonade & All The Fruit I Could Find

Mamma with her first bag of seigmenn (jelly men covered in sugar. NOM) since... forever.

Ciderrrr

My beautiful rose bush, taken home to my parents' house for winter.

A buttercup we found on our Sunday walk - November 6th, north of the Arctic Circle.

Stuff you find when you're tidying away old school books.

Sandy Bay is the literal translation of Sandvika, where my parents live. I spent most of my weekend there, only broken by four or five hours on Saturday, when I went to excercise at my new gym (Sats! I love having a gym again), home to Ryavegen for a) a shower and b) wrapping birthday presents for five wonderful people, four of whom have birthdays between November 7th and 14th.

That Pimm's up there? It marks the breaking of my alcohol fast! No alcohol between September 18th and November 3rd. It was good. Even better was all the fruit, to be honest. I am now determined to put fruit in all my future drinks, whatever they be.

Apparently we were having English drinks weekend, because we also had a few bottles of Weston's and Severn cider. When it comes to drink preferences, my mum is (and to some extent, I am) very English. Tea, tea, cider, more tea, Pimm's, and another cuppa.

I've had so much food and drink I am about to burst. And I had the oddest dreams last night... I blame the gluttony! First world problem if there ever was one.

Surprise, maybe

2011-11-05T18:08:00.005+01:00

Q: Guess what I did yesterday?

A: spent a whole lot of money at the hairdresser, first getting this cut, then buying proper salon shampoo. Because it works a lot better for my hair.

Gratulerer med dagen, mamma (hjerte, hjerte)

2011-11-04T18:02:00.000+01:00

My mum and me in Germany (Margetshöchheim/Würzburg), May 2011

Hurra! It's my mum's birthday today. I'm going home to my parents soon to drink tea and be astonished at the amount of food in their fridge. And eat a lot of the food. And surprise them. And give my mum something small and nice for her birthday. Glad i mammaen min.

Quick shot

2011-11-03T19:51:00.000+01:00

Of me as I was yesterday, drinking "Heisse Zitrone" (Hot Lemon drink) and eating an entire Milka bar, both which were brought home from Germany by my mum. Thank you mamma.

Sober October is ober?

2011-11-02T16:39:00.000+01:00

First sober party, Oct 1st: Ellen, Gabriela, Siwi, Lourdes, my teetotal self being awkward

(photo totally stolen from Gabriela Grud)

So. If I stay sober until Saturday, it'll be seven - 7 - weeks since I had my last drink. I wanted to say seven weeks since I had a drop of alcohol, but that would be lying. It's been Sober October, not Teetotal October (nothing to do with catchy names. At all). I've tasted other people's drinks. I had one sip of the wine my brother brought back from Germany (my family was finishing it, I "had to"). But that's it. Nothing that would bring me even close to the "can I drive?"-limit.

Have I learned anything? I have had the opportunity to think through my drinking habits (more Northern European binge than Southern European savour), and watch while the people around me change as they drink. Sometimes, they become incredibly stupid. Sometimes, annoying, obnoxious, tiresome, or annoyed and tired themselves. And sometimes they have a fantastically good time, dance without restrictions, make new friends and find everything amusing (especially repeated jokes that make sober people bang their heads against a table).

I've been out four out of five weekends in October.

It's been good to have a break from my usual habits. It's been important to realise that I do and say exactly the same stupid things when I'm sober - I'm a person that can act stupidly from time to time, and I can't blame the alcohol. It's been good to let my body rest and have Sundays where I'm a fully functioning person. I'm going to start drinking again this weekend though. Maybe slightly less than before. Probably sometimes more than I should. But hopefully with a better perspective.

In November, I'm not buying

2011-11-01T08:08:00.043+01:00

A subscription for this newspaper.

Last week I got a call from Aftenposten, wanting to hear how I enjoyed my three week free subscription to their newspaper. I replied I liked it very much.

A-man: ... You probably realised we had an ulterior motive behind giving you this free subscription?

Me: Yes...

A-man: Good. Well, we want to offer you Aftenposten from now until Christmas for only (some price I can't remember). It's a fantastic offer! Etc.

Me: Ah. Well...

A-man: Or, do you find you haven't got the time to read the entire newspaper every day?

Me: In fact... yes.

A-man: Well, we have this offer, where you can get it for seven weeks, and only get it on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, for only 299 (34 pounds).

Me: (showing a great amount of willpower) No. Sorry, I'm not interested.

I decided to save money for food instead. I also knew I had "In November, I'm not buying" coming up - and I've already given 200 NOK to the TV-aksjon (almost like Red Nose Day. This year the money went to clearing anti-personell mines, so so important) which will come out of my next phone bill.

So what should I do with my no-newspaper-subscribing money? I went for Save The Children this time.

87.5% of my money goes to Save the Children's work with children, 12.5% to administration. I think they could do better, but it's still pretty good. Whenever you want to donate money through some organisation, I recommend looking for something like this at the bottom of their webpage. If you can't find any information about how they spend their money, they're probably not spending it that well.

So, yeah. That's left me feeling smug for another month. Keep in mind that I'm still buying stuff I need, and stuff I want. I've just decided to get better at helping others as well.

This month I will be getting an expensive haircut, I will buy new salon price shampoo and conditioner, I'm going for the Body Shop body butter, and, since Sober October is now officially over, I'll probably spend some money on drinking/going out, etc. I can still afford to donate 30-40 pounds to charities though.

Tomatoes and the Red Cross

2011-11-01T07:55:00.000+01:00

I just needed to share these. Top photo: The Red Cross Tromsø has just gotten one of these fancy screens that they can update with what's happening, what rooms are booked out for which activities, etc. This says: What's on in Tromsø Red Cross: Friday: Morning Coffee. Saturday: Coffee break.

Bottom photo: I've found a way to make tomatoes taste nice! As my sister says: They always look so yummy in the shop, all shiny and red and plump. Then you taste one and you go "bleeeurgh".

If you heat a little oil, and maybe some garlic (because garlic makes everything perfect), and then throw the tomatoes in at full heat for one or two minutes, then toss them onto your food and eat them quickly, they're perfect. Warm and juicy and not soggy or squishy in a bad way.

That's me being weird for the day. That was also one of last weeks more healthy meals.

Mentions of random occurrences

2011-10-31T07:55:00.001+01:00

Got my homemade (collaboration between my parents) table + mittens (only my mum) the other day

What have I done the past few weeks that I haven't mentioned?

I got beer spilled all over me when I went for a meal with my work. And I'm doing Sober October, fun times. I got a free brownie dessert + a free (alcohol free) drink to make up for it though (it was the waitress' fault).
I thought, hey, it's been a long time since I had any bruises/accidents, then promptly fell down a hill and scratched my knee, bum and elbow all at once.
I bought a massive woolly jumper last Saturday. And a big, though not massive, woolly jumper this Saturday.
I'm currently writing the essay for my philosophy course, which accounts for half the grade. Me being as bad at oral exams as I am, this essay better be good.
I have half a plan about what to do after Christmas. Which I need to think more about.
I have remembered that I know five - 5- five! people with birthdays in the first half of November, and I better get them something nice.
I have decided to not give English people Christmas gifts. Unless they live in Norway. Which they don't. You may get a card, but sending something from Norway is going to cost twice the amount of the gift...

Food, again

2011-10-30T10:10:00.001+01:00

Finnbiff, reheated for the second time, this time it became soup

The past two weeks I've been eating a lot of leftovers. Yummy ones though, so I don't mind. My mum sent with me a mountain of finnbiff (reindeer + mashed potatoes + cream + spices = awesomeness), and even with the help of Ingrid I couldn't finish it in one go. Mum also gave me leftover paella, and this week I've had leftover Colombian rice pudding, which I heated, removed the raisins (why raisins, why?) and turned into Norwegian rice porridge, twice.

This whole leftover food thing has me eating better than when I cook for myself.

Colombian night

2011-10-29T21:49:00.000+02:00

Kiira (Finnish), one of the lovely ladies by my table

Elena (Russian), another one

Jon Einar and Brynjar, I think (Norwegian), representing the male sex at our table

And last (of the people I managed to photograph) Darina (German), who made this a difficult job by always twisting around

Xiomara (you know by now, I'm sure: Colombian).

Carlos was as difficult a subject as ever, so he doesn't get to be in the photo.

Carlos and Xiomara had prepared so much food. It was incredible. They also had a short presentation about themselves, the Colombian Red Cross, and Colombia in general, trying to entice us all to go there. No need to win me over, I've been wanting to go to Colombia the past four years at least, with the Red Cross Youth Delegate program they're a part of.

The food would be reason enough to go there anyway. I had two full, massive plates of arepas, Colombian rice pudding, meat, paella, and more arepas. Om nom indeed.

This was on Monday. I only just got the photos off my camera and onto my laptop... My Red Cross weeks seem to come in waves, this was a very heavy one. It ended with the quiz on Friday though, where my team won! Which means we get to go and have pizza at Yonas, a local pizzeria, on Tuesday. The Red Cross seems to be feeding me lately...

All the tea in the world

2011-10-28T17:48:00.000+02:00

London, December 2009, I think

I have to remind myself not to complain about the cold weather. Cold is much better than wet, especially when you're outside all day. Cold or wet, every day when I come home I remove my socks, get my newspaper, make a cup of tea, and curl up in my bed. Happy days. Even if I have to leave the house again in thirty minutes, I try to do this.

Time? Hah.

2011-10-27T17:53:00.000+02:00

This week has me red crossing all over the place.
Monday: Colombian party (I am today finishing some left over Colombian rice pudding om nom)
Tuesday: Day off (= exercise + ex.phil. reading)
Wednesday: IHL (International Humanitarian Law) meeting where we had an American woman who's worked with the UN and several NGOs talk to us
Thursday (today): Korspåhalsen workshop: Kors på halsen is a Norwegian Red Cross site/phone number where young people can call in and talk to adults about anything. "Kors på halsen" would be the equivalent of "cross my heart", etc.
Friday: Red Cross Quiz night: Youth against "adults".

I've got some photos from Colombian night, they're still on my camera, waiting for me to have an afternoon and some energy to upload and edit photos. Coming soon.

One year ago

2011-10-26T16:50:00.000+02:00

25th Oct 2010 - happy internet day

One of the best things about blogging is being able to see where you were one year ago - almost to the day. Last year, my housemates and I had lived in Tregenver Road 21 only a few weeks before we got internet. I was so happy I took this jumping photo as a way of showing it. Then Jemma and Tony came to visit, and had to endure all of us just sat in front of our laptops in the living room, being very bad hosts.

Two years ago I was pissed off at Talk Talk, and rightfully so - since that year, we spent about six months without internet, constantly waiting and getting new dates for when it would be in place.

Three years ago (to the day!) I was contemplating cutting my hair short. Just like I'm doing now. Fun.

Mozart vs Mujuice

2011-10-25T23:05:00.000+02:00

My mum is one of the ladies in red, the one to the right. Hallo mamma.

Both Thursday and Saturday I had this multi-musical experience. I went to the church first, where my mum (and a massive choir and a little orchestra) was rehearsing Mozart's Krönungsmesse (Coronation Mass) for the church's 150 year anniversary. Even when they were rehearsing, and constantly interrupted, it was absolutely beautiful.

Then I went on to the Insomnia festival to listen to hard electronic music. Awesome.

This is also a hello to my mum, who's combining a work trip with going to Germany to visit her parents (hello family in Germany too. Love you). I promised I would post every single day in case she got homesick.

One more thing: I'm reading a lot of books about Tromsø at the moment, and there's a couple with lots of photos of people and happenings back in the day. Today I found a photo of a male choir in the church, taken from about this point of view, with the exact same background, only about 80 years ago.

Insomnia (festival)

2011-10-24T07:55:00.039+02:00

Light! On the floor! Moving! - I get excited easily.

Solar Bears

The Amplifetes

Bernt Simen Lund Commission, or Skulbru/NASRA/Østgård/Horne/Lund

After I moved back to Tromsø, I've met acquaintances who have lived here a while, and as I exclaim how much stuff is happening in Tromsø, they look at me in wonder. When I lived here, I didn't realise either. There's a festival every other month or so, dedicated to all kinds of music, film, and other cultural experiences. There's even ¡No Siesta, Fiesta! : Tromsø Latinfestival. In addition to this, there's always concerts, talks and other happenings, and I'm loving getting into it all.

This weekend however we had Insomnia, a festival for electronic music. And I volunteered (more about my addiction to voluntary work later). It was great fun. I met lots of random people I might never see again. I also met people I already know slightly, and got to know them better. More importantly though, I worked as a driver, and for the first time in my life, I had to drive a car with an automatic gear system. Yes. So sure it would be difficult, but it was amazing and simple, and I'm completely sold.

Culture

2011-10-23T10:10:00.000+02:00

Aftenposten's culture part. Love.

Solbær/blackcurrant-toddy.

The beginning of my cultured Friday breakfast.

When I told the government and the Norwegian Mail online that I was moving (i.e. had moved, two months before), I got tons of offers on "cheap" and "free" stuff. The only one worth having was a three week free subscription to one of Norway's largest newspapers, Aftenposten. This happens to be the only newspaper worth reading (i.e. not tabloid) on a national level. Their journalists seem to really care about language. One of the places I want to work when I grow up, is Aftenposten. Happy days.

Then: Emma's letters have a tendency to get here on a (often wet) Thursday night. It's happened twice now. Fridays are my late morning breakfast days (I can sleep until 8:30! Joy! Happiness!), so I make sure to save her letters for that. I sit there with my tea, orange juice, yoghurt, and toast, and read her letter as if I was some Austen heroine. I've told her to make sure she, or someone we both know, elopes, or loses all her/their money, or at least that she comes up with something that can make me choke on my toast, upset my tea cup, and run outside for a long windswept walk (the latter was Emmas suggestion).

Fantastic.

Frost

2011-10-22T12:24:00.000+02:00

After a week or two of rainy rain weather, today the sky is clear, the sun is bright, and there is frost on the ground.

Today I'm catching up on my emails, looking for available jobs, editing photos, listening to music, and general internet stuff updating. Busy days.

Dude, snow

2011-10-19T07:55:00.000+02:00

This is going to be my snow-marking post.
Let it be writ that, in 2011, Tromsø had snow on Saturday, October 8th, but that it melted before it hit the ground. On Friday, October 14th, it snowed enough to halt our philosophy tutor in his talk, and it stayed on the ground for about two hours.

Now... I will check this again, six months from now (April 2012), and I can almost assure you we will still have snow.

... Still getting used to living up north.

Couchsurfing, again

2011-10-18T07:55:00.002+02:00

Awesome American Couchsurfer. Awkward photo smiles.

CS continues to be great fun. I've met a French guy too, who might be staying for a while. I'm trying to get photos of everyone I meet, so in the end I'll make a little CS album of awkward photos.

Jonas Bendiksen/photography

2011-10-17T07:55:00.028+02:00

Private view-lady enjoying her champagne

Quick shot of 1.5 of Jonas Bendiksen's photos from the project Satellites.

Thursday was the opening night of Polar Fokus, with Jonas Bendiksen's two projects; Satellites, and The Places We Live. Go, read about them. I saw Jonas Bendiksen talk about these projects in London last November, and I absolutely love both of them. I prefer Satellites, visually, but they're both really inspiring. Friday I went to an event at Verdensteatret where Polar Fokus had organised for four different photographers to come and talk about their work. I mostly went for Jonas Bendiksen... Sadly, he was the last one, and I had to be picked up by my sister to go to our parents' house. The other photographers were all right. Jonas Bendiksen though, he makes me want to do something.

I've talked to so many people this weekend about how I need to sit down and sort out what I'm doing. Start a project, or start trying to get my work published, or just do something related to photography. I really do need to do that.

Dinamor, family weekend

2011-10-16T13:21:00.001+02:00

On Friday night I went home to my parents', to spend the weekend there with my sister and my niece.

Sister and I went shopping on Saturday, I bought this pretty but blah-tasting cupcake.

Our grandmother came round, wearing a very fashionable (but too low cut, she thought) top.

Dina got new boots. I'm not sure whether she cares about shoes in general,

but boots are the most amazing things you can wear, according to her.

"Dina...can I have a hug?" ".... JA!" And she runs over and hugs me. Heart: melted.

Ok. She does like other shoes as well, then.

I also went to a photography talk, went for dinner with my work colleagues, and met the American couchsurfer again, but mainly it's been a family weekend. All the food you can imagine. Still full. Still more food to come...

Curly curly

2011-10-15T11:18:00.000+02:00

I've been too busy meeting more couchsurfers, going to photography exhibitions and talks, red crossing, and playing with my lovely niece to post anything on here. But anyway. Here's my rag curled hair from the other day. Shame I'm cutting it off soon.

What's this? MORE BOOKS?

2011-10-11T07:55:00.027+02:00

... Yes.

They belong to the library, though. Justification, right there.

I wish this was a book about Hüsker Dü. It's not.

I'm trying to educate myself a bit more about my hometown, Tromsø. Happily, these books actually seem quite interesting, with lots of old photos and stories about the Pomor (Russian) trade - and the Husker Du? (Can You Remember?) book is just a pamphlet of interviews with people who remember Tromsø in 1898 (when we got electricity) and 1905 (when Norway's union with Sweden ended), and it's full of amazing stories from way back when.

Also, aren't the Tromsø books in the middle photo amazing? The reindeer on the front is our municipal... Not sure what to call it. It's like a coat of arms, but for our little region. Here's an overview of all the municipalities in Norway and their corresponding "coats of arms". I just love the simplicity of putting that on the cover, and nothing else.

Saturday nights (becoming a theme already)

2011-10-10T20:51:00.000+02:00

A bad quality shot of some very lovely 50s DJs at Bastard Bar.

Saturday (after stroking the backs of my new books lovingly) I went out to Verdensteatret to meet Bick, an American couchsurfer. Apparently he'd wanted to go somewhere, googled "Nice places to go in October" and ended up with Tromsø. Amazing. It was great fun, I hope this streak of meeting nice people continues! I sat and talked with him and his friend Kristin for a while, then Morten came and joined us, and we went on a little tour of Tromsø nightlife... We went to Amundsen to ogle at the drunk, dancing people (been one of them myself before, ahem), to BlåRock to sit down and chat and talk about music, and then went into Bastard, mostly to show our American how tiny it was. Randomly, they were having a 50s evening with lots of people dancing swing, so we stayed there and watched them and listened to music and tried dancing once or twice ourselves.

And on the way home, I saw some of my first Northern Lights of the season.

Still managing Sober October! Just need to be with interesting people and do interesting things so I don't fall onto eating everything in sight.

Autumn food

2011-10-10T20:36:00.000+02:00

Om nom Norwegian Porridge & homemade blackcurrant saft (cordial)

Lately I've automatically just made warm, hearty food or soups without even thinking about it. All my planned meals become noodle soup, porridge, red lentil soup, vegetable stew, etc. As the winter winds set in...

Books by the dozen (book swap)

2011-10-09T10:00:00.055+02:00

Loved the cover, didn't take it home

Same same. Didn't have the faintest inclination to read it, I'd only want to look at the cover from time to time.

I think I managed a good mix of read-before, never-read, read-another-book-of-same-author,

childhood memories, photo book, Norwegian, classics, other cultures, etc.

Nom nom books. *giggles*.

I brought 13 books to the book swap, where I was given 13 book tickets to pick up whichever books I liked. I gave one to Ida, one to my mum, and I left with eleven books. I then went to Fretex, the Salvation Army charity shop, and bought two more books to make up for it. Happy now. Books in order of the last photo:

1. Jean M Auel: The Clan of The Cave Bear (I've read this yearly(ish) since I was ten, and thought I had a copy at home, but haven't been able to find it in a while).

2. Nils Vogel: De to første menneskene på Jorden var Hans og Grete (The first two people on Earth were Hänsel and Gretel) (A collection of quotes from children's school tests)
3. Karen Blixen: Babettes gjestebud (Babette's Feast)

4. The Idea Book (some Swedish concept book that's supposed to make you better at coming up with clever ideas)

5. Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca (much more frightening than you'd think)

6. Are Kalvø: Nød (Suffering/Need) (A book about charity written by a Norwegian comedian)

7. Hannah Green: I never promised you a rose garden (about a girl in a mental institution)

8. Paul Auster: Man in the Dark (Paul Auster = slightly meta/surreal, etc)

9. Astrid Lindgren: Alle vi barna i Bakkebygrenda (The Six Bullerby Children/The Children of Noisy Village)

10. Heinrich Böll: Som en klovn ser det (Ansichten eines Clowns/ The Clown) (Mostly got because my family in Germany live in Heinrich Böll-street.)

11. Haruki Murakami: Norwegian Wood (duh)

12. Milan Kundera: Tilværelsens uutholdelige letthet (Nesnesitelná lehkost bytí/ The Unbearable Lightness of Being)

13. Taras Kuščynskyj: Women (My version is untitled, but Amazon tells me it's called women. It's also worth about 60 USD, so, score.)

My heart warms when I look over at my window sill and see all those books lying there, waiting to be read... Books make me so happy.

Would you believe we had snow today?

2011-10-08T19:06:00.000+02:00

Café with mum, nice tea and even better cupcakes.

Café with Ida and Dixie, answering trivia questions from the newspaper.

This taken about one hour before there was snow in the air (that melted before it hit the ground)

I love going into the immigrant shops, feeling like a noisy ignorant touristy Norwegian. "Ooh, it looks different, I'll have it".

Lemon cordial in my new glass bottle.

And a candlestick holder (?) my mum got me at a charity shop

Good Saturday so far. I've spent lots of money on food, a little money on books, and gotten so many free books from a book swap I went to (more about those tomorrow) that I might just be sorted until Christmas when it comes to reading material.

Now to make lovely stir fry dinner, then head out to meet another CS-person. All Saturdays should be like this. Maybe minus the random snowfall in the middle of the day.

Couchsurfing, again

2011-10-07T23:34:00.001+02:00

Maria looking slightly sceptical as I push my camera into her face

I'm getting more and more into Couchsurfing. And I'm just staying in my hometown. Not letting anyone sleep on my non-existent sofa. Just meeting people for coffee or tea, which is one of the options you can put on your profile. Suits me very well.

Tonight I met Maria from Finland (a Swedish Finn though, so we could both speak our native language) for tea at Perez, where we spent a few hours talking about our respective countries' drinking cultures (similar: bad), haircuts, and jobs.

If you're sat at home now, slightly bored in front of your laptop... Try it!

STHAVDTD (praise of my parents)

2011-10-07T07:55:00.000+02:00

I haven't taken one photo this week... This, most recent, from Sunday 2nd. I went to my parents' again, was stuffed with homemade baked goods, watched The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (with Toby Stephens), drank all the tea in the world (just about), and played Scrabble with my mum. Perfect Sunday.

While, this week, my dad has been here three out of four days to fix my wardrobe doors. They are now fixed, but I have no photo of it. Thanks anyway.

What would I do without parents? I'd be a miserable, skinny (they also provided me with bread for the past week and a half) person without a desk, chair, wardrobe or tea. Love you both.

One Generic Norwegian Girl, At Your Service

2011-10-06T21:17:00.000+02:00

Note the tired look in my eyes, please.

Then: notice the jeans, long, tangled blonde hair, and windbreaker.

Added bonus: My Postal shirt. In XL or something ridiculous, since I only get leftover uniform clothes.

There's a reason I wear my own jeans...

There's no time of the week I feel more average than on Thursdays and Fridays, when I go to uni before work. Since I need to wear something that can turn into work clothes, I end up with the same uniform as every other girl on campus: jeans, a windbreaker, and tangled long hair (especially today. I'd set my alarm one hour late, thereby proving my hair colour is genuine). I find it entertaining that this outfit would have separated me from the crowd at Falmouth uni - there's too much practicality in it, and not enough frills, earthy colours or dreads. Although my hair did its best to create dreads today, after I forgot my hair bands at home when I leapt out of bed, crammed some Wasa down my throat and ran down to the bus stop. You wouldn't know it, but for a postlady, hair bands are an absolute necessity.

Sober October, just for fun

2011-10-06T07:55:00.000+02:00

After going to the Red Cross camp the other weekend, I realised I would have gone two weeks without drinking (Norwegians only drink (and then, a lot) at weekends) this weekend. And I thought, I can do better than that. I'll do Sober October! Not only because it rhymes. It definitely doesn't rhyme in Norwegian. Edru Oktober.

I like challenges.

I'll save some money.

I'll definitely gain some weight, as experienced last weekend, when everyone was drinking, and I was busy nomming up all the snack food since I didn't have a drink.

Oh well. Should be an experience.

Saturday nights

2011-10-05T07:55:00.000+02:00

Ellen (Netherlands)

Nikolai (Canada?)

Wendy (USA)

I went to a party at Gabriela's house - Gaby being the girl I met through Couchsurfing in August. She's gotten to know an impressive amount of people since she came, and invited everyone to her home. There was so much food. Empanadas, veggie lasagne, pancakes, brownies (oh, I ate so much), cheese doodles, saltsticks, carrots (which I had to bring out to not die from sugar overload from the brownies), chocolate cake, food, food, food. And a lot of amazing people from all over the world.

I've also started Sober October (more on that later), so I was drinking Fanta and having a genuinely sugar-filled evening. Om nom. I could hardly walk when we went into town later... But I had a great time, and I met some people I used to go to school with, some new people, and some of the people from earlier that evening. Good times.

In October, I'm not buying

2011-10-04T07:55:00.020+02:00

This lovely mascara. I've tried it before, and it makes my lashes look amazing. I always planned to buy a new mascara when I moved home, since my last one was bought at Penryn ASDA with Dominique in September 2008. I wear makeup (which to me means: mascara, and maybe some eyeshadow if I'm going to a party and feel like going to extremes) maybe once a week. It's not a significant sacrifice. That's Singer's point though: We buy so much (and I would have bought this) that doesn't mean that much to us. I found it on this site for NOK (Norwegian Crowns) 229. Google tells me this is the equivalent of 25 GBP.

Instead, I bought this, helping the Horn of Africa.

Charity, etc

2011-10-03T20:28:00.000+02:00

A few weeks back, for my philosophy seminar, we had to read and discuss this article by Peter Singer. Read it, go on. Some of you university graduates might already have been through this kind of stuff, but bear with me.
Here are some responses I found online, some fairly well written, some fairly angrily written (the badly written, I left out, you can find those for yourselves if you wish):
Greg Schaefer
Victor Khaze
Ryan Deschain

Basically. Singer is a utilitarianist (?) who thinks that as long as we can help others without sacrificing our own necessities, we should. In his article, he takes it much longer, by saying that we should give away most of our income, and only keep what we need to stay alive/keep our house, etc - i.e. relative necessities. He doesn't (as many of his critics seem to think) say that we must give away everything we own until we have nothing left. What he does ask us to, is to not buy new, expensive luxuries, while what we have is good enough. He also says, that, even though he'd like everyone to give away the money they would spend on this, he's impressed with those who give away as much (or little) as 10% of their income. Singer himself apparently donates 25% of his own salaries to charities.

The article isn't perfect in any way. It's a guilt trip more than anything. The extremes he takes it to means that many readers will probably shrug and never do anything. It doesn't take into account that the money we spend buying our luxuries might help someone keep their job by reaching their sales target. Some money has to be spent in the system we have now.

Yet I think he has a point. I've always given to charities, collected for charities, and worked for charities (mainly Red Cross but also others). When I think about what I've actually given the past few years though, it's hardly anything.

I've come up with a solution (for me). Every month from now on, I will decide to not buy something I want. I will then give the amount of money this object would cost, to a specific cause or organisation. My donations will mainly go to the Red Cross, because I know and trust them. I know the money will go directly to what I donate to. I just picked this information off Norwegian Red Cross' website today:

"This is what your donations go to: 90.2% to the cause, 4.5% to administration, 5.4% to collecting more donations"

I know that my friend Immanuel would say my donation isn't a moral action, because I enjoy giving. I also want other people to know that I give, partly because it makes me feel good about myself, and partly because it might inspire others to give some. I'm aware it might also seem provocative to some, but you know what, I don't really care. And as stated before: I don't care why people help others. Surely, the large corporations that donate to Red Nose Day or the Norwegian TV-aksjonen, do it partly because they get media coverage. And? The people who receive the charity couldn't care less.

What do you think?

Bread rolls and tea

2011-10-03T07:55:00.000+02:00

Nom nom. I got tons of bread rolls from my grandmother this week. I ate all these for breakfast on Saturday.

Christine, Ida and I had tea.

Me showing Morten how not to use flash and manual focus.

After yummy Saturday breakfast, I went to town and met Ida and Christine. I got my degree certificate, bought a cardigan at The Green Market, carrots at the Farmer's Market, and chaaai at Verdensteatret Café. We felt like ten-year-olds as the three of us sat down at the bar and ordered the same kind of tea as each other, then ran over to the side of the counter and filled our tea with honey and sugar.

Later on I went and taught Morten Nesse what not to do with a DSLR, since he's shooting an advert on his Canon 7D sometime next week. We also talked about freelancing, jobs, and how I'm so happy I get to drive a van when I'm distributing post - his girlfriend Amalie was a bicycle post-lady this summer, which sounds amazing in good weather, and awful in this kind of autumnal rainy, windy weather.

Sunday

2011-10-02T13:11:00.000+02:00

Going to my parent's again. Nom nom.

Look at me, all smug with my degree certificate

2011-10-01T19:07:00.000+02:00

I also look weird and slightly bulky. Ah well. I'm a graduate!