Exist

Me and Precious on Zimbabwe evening, Friday 28th

Dancing/swimming/films/Zimbabwe evening/concerts/going to Harstad this weekend... I've had three days of going to work late because I've known I'd work late, but those mornings have been used sitting still, reading books, reading blogs, and not doing a whole lot.

Maybe tomorrow I can edit more of my photos.

From tomorrow I'm starting Sober October, which is slowly turning into Detox month for me. I will write something about this, but in general, for one month (October) I am giving up

alcohol

meat

shaving

make-up

hair-spray and anything related to fixing my appearance

I'm still figuring out why. I do like challenges though...

Energy/relax

Repeat, repeat, repeat. Then, repeat.

Cabin trip

 Walking up mountains

 Writing your names in the mountain book which is on every Norwegian mountain

 Watching the great sea, the big ocean, the North Atlantic from yttersia

 Wearing lots of clothes, scarves as hats etc

And doing silly things for no apparent reason

Except for watching the great sea, the big ocean, the North Atlantic from yttersia, all the activities mentioned above are mandatory on a Norwegian cabin trip. Often combined with consumption of alcohol.

I've had a really lovely weekend at the cabin trip with the student newspaper that I'm volunteering for. There are, as usual, a lot of international students there, and we had lots of good conversations and confused card games (with three sets of rules) and general loveliness. After living in England and being a foreigner, I seem to have acquired a need to communicate with other foreigners and international people. So interesting.

Tonight = candles, tea and watching Pirates of the Caribbean with my mum (that's right!).

Next week is going to be even more busy than this one! 

I'm heeere

Dasha, Precious, me, Munya (photo by Temmy)

Sunday: Meet youth delegates again, then Nesodden + grandmother + dog + wine + food

Monday: Repeat Sunday, just the other way around

Tuesday: Meeting at Red Cross HQ, bring youth delegates to Tromsø in the evening

Wednesday: Fix things for youth delegates, show them around Tromsø, go to cinema with Christine

Thursday: Run back and forth between tax registry and Red Cross all day to fix stuff for youth delegates, crack my tooth in the middle of everything and need a dentist appointment, go swimming, call lots of volunteers for an Amnesty charity thing in October, see Ida, stay out late

Friday: Want to sleep, but work, planning the welcome party for the youth delegates, then cabin trip with the student newspaper all weekend

.....

Doing mostly nice things but
Sleep
Want

Last night

We went to Presis and had tapas to celebrate Karoline's birthday
(photo by Cathrine Hindenes)

Just like we did last year. Those tapas are so good you have to close your eyes and just savour the food for a moment. Amazing.

Now I'm off to Oslo a couple of days!

Party tieeem*

Look, I have matte grey nails, it's amazing. I have also washed my hair.

How did it suddenly become Friday? On Sunday I'm going to Oslo to a) see my grandmother, b) attend a work meeting and c) pick up the youth delegates from Zimbabwe and kidnap them back to Tromsø.

Today I'm going to celebrate Dixie's 26th birthday! My one British friend in Tromsø moved to Hammerfest (further north. Colder and more reindeer, can you imagine?) a few months ago, but is here this weekend to see people and celebrate her upcoming birthday. Congratulations to Miss Dixie Hadfield!

*yes, I can spell. I just choose not to.

Mark Reads The Two Towers; Shelob's Lair

It's finally here! Explanation:

Back in January, my friend Ingrid introduced me to the wonderful Mark Oshiro of Mark Reads/Watches (and recently, Plays).

Since then, I've spent many, many, many hours going through his reviews on Harry Potter, American Gods, The Princess Bride, and most importantly, and most shared with Ingrid: The Lord of the Rings.

In May he started doing these videos for charity, where he will read fan fiction, bad fiction, or anything he has read before. In June he started selling them for $25 each, because they were so popular, and he has quit his other job to run his sites full time.

I sneakily discussed this with Ingrid, asking what she would like him to read. She came up with Shelob's Lair, which is a horrible, scary chapter in The Lord of the Rings.

And here we go! Happy Birthday Ingrid! Her birthday isn't until November 8th, but that is details.

Films I've watched the past week that have been a bit strange but very very good as well

The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr West in the Land of the Bolsheviks
(Необычайные приключения мистера Веста в стране Большевиков)(wiki)

Run Lola Run (Lola Rennt)

The Piano (The Piano)

Family, family

 Dad to the left, old farm building being brought by man in tractor, to the right

 Dina getting chocolate from her great grandmother, look at her shifty eyes

 Brother visiting from Svalbard

Sister and grandmother being serious cats.

This has been a massively family-themed weekend. My sister, her fiance and my niece came up from Setermoen, my brother came down from Svalbard (Longyearbyen), and our grandmother visited us even though she lives quite close.

I don't know if I said, but my brother is a chef's apprentice at Svalbard (which is far away and makes Tromsø look southern, warm and bright in the winter). He left at the end of July, which isn't that long ago, but he leaves again on Tuesday, and we shall probably not see him before Christmas.

Wednesday Morning (now we have rain)

 homemade bus shed

 homemade, tiny apples

home, home, home

Today is work, then home to see my sister and niece and my sister's man. Also my brother, who moved to Svalbard one month ago, and is now visiting us because he misses us so much. 

Sunshine (for once)

That's right. Instagrammary fun

Yesterday was sunny and warm, just like Sunday, just like we've not had at all this summer. I took lots of nice photos on my proper camera, and then a shitty one on my phone, which now looks old and slightly blurry, thanks to Instagram.

I was going to the cinema tonight, but I'm just going to go home and sleep for a bit, edit some photos, and do some general chillaxing that I haven't been doing for a while.

Now: Rain.

Instagramming it

That's right. My feet AND a cat, can there be more hipstery instagrammary goodness?

I got Instagram on my work phone, which happens to be an iPhone (what a luxury), a few weeks back. Then, last week, I figured out how it works. And today I realised there was probably an Android app as well, for my shiny second-hand HTC phone. 

Being a photography graduate and a relatively non-hipstery person, I think far too much about these things. Am I selling myself to hipsterdom just by installing the app? Am I going to turn into food-instagramming and spamming all of Facebook, Twitter and my blog with all my cats and Converse shoes? And most importantly, am I just pretending to be a photographer in the seventies, with my square frame and strange filters?

Answer: Naah. I don't even own any Converse. And only one cat, which owns me rather than the other way around. On the iPhone, I can't really see the point of Instagram, since the camera is actually all right, and the photos come out looking passable and postable. With my HTC though, the photos come out really badly, and I'm completely aware that I'm cheating to make them look more interesting/better, so I can post here while being far too lazy to take out my proper camera.

Most important thing about my new (old) phone: it has a Kindle app. I am currently reading Jane Eyre (yes!) while waiting for the bus in the morning, and my shoulders are not breaking from a heavier bag. THIS is the importance of having a smartphone.

Being healthy and all that

 At Åsfjellet, looking towards Tromsø island

 It's September and officially autumn, and everything is very beautiful (when the sun is out)

Including Christine, here on her way down

Today started with me being very lazy, sitting outside in the sunshine, finishing Good Omens and replying to Ingrid's letter. I would still be lazy if it wasn't for Christine inviting me to climb a mountain with her. It was really good, mostly because it was more of a hill, the weather was nice, and we had chocolate. The past month I've been far too relaxed about exercise, since my gym is now a 30 minute drive away, and everything is too far to cycle, and all these excuses are very convenient. I will try to change gears now, especially since we've got lovely autumn weather, which calls for climbing all the mountains and walking all the paths.

Also, I've now got a phone with a slightly less rubbish camera than before, which means that I'm too lazy to bring my proper camera, and you will get slightly more rubbish photos than before.

This week

I have

• been to a two-day meeting/seminar type thing, two hours away from Tromsø
• been paddling down a river in a canoe, as part of the meeting/seminar type thing
• had dinner with Viktoria
• gone to a free salsa-class and failed
• gone to a party for the volunteers of last week's festival
• held the second part of the Red Cross Youth introduction course
• been at work 12 hours straight
• helped my friend by recording words in Norwegian for his English-Norwegian program
• had dinner with Christine
• gone to a festival at the latin-festival in Tromsø
• gone to a free salsa-class and not failed as much this time
• slept
• slept
• not washed my hair in five days because of prioritising sleep

happy days. I'm enjoying this, but it's taking me some time to get into working + being social and having any energy left, especially since all the students have come back to Tromsø now and there are so many activities to join.

Now is the time for going to the gym, washing my hair, and going to my cousin's Hawaii party.

I've seen so much good, and so much bad, music this weekend. All the tales later, now I'm going to a work conference type thing.

Døgnvill

Going to watch these wonderful girls live tonight!

Still working, hello Syria

Me with Marwa

Last week, we made a quick decision and decided that this Wednesday, we would collect money for Syria, which the Red Cross has been doing all summer on their website. Sadly, it was cold and not that many people out, but we got some money, and I met Arne and Marwa, who are amazing volunteers, and we're already planning to do another collection this autumn.

Tomorrow I'm going to Døgnvill, another music festival up here, this one slightly more pop-based than Bukta. Now is sleepy-times.

Red Cross/new job

Hello there Ida

And hello Magnus, at our stand at the University on Friday

So: Troms Red Cross have advertised a position as Coordinator for activities for children and youth, which I am applying for as I write this. Until they hire someone though, they needed someone to take on some of the responsibilites of Hanne, the previous coordinator, to let her start her new tasks in Communication and Market, and I got engaged for a two month period, starting on the Monday that Maja was here.

I'm writing the application for the proper job now, and it is been one of the easiest applications that I've ever written, since this job is something I know and care about. That said, I have no doubt there are many very well-qualified applicants for this job, and I'm constantly making plan b and c and d in case I don't get it.

Until October 12th though, I am the Coordinator for activities for children and youth in Troms district (the county), and so far I am really enjoying it.

Now excuse me while I go and listen to Calvin Harris' "We'll be coming back" one more time. Ten times today, at least.

Skarsfjorden, a second time

 I do love my Northern landscapes

 Islands. Fjords. Mountains. The Ocean.

Strange weather

August is, as always, the month for mountain-walking, berry-picking, and long drives to distant fjords. 

Yesterdays Singstar-business was a success, if you were wondering. We had to download some high quality songs to sing, and ended up with Bad Romance, Baby Got Back, Ms. Jackson and Call me Maybe. And both Christine and I got scarily high scores on David Bowie's Space Oddity.

Today I'm just listening to Calvin Harris on repeat.

Saturday

I've been very busy today, reading books, watching Hot Fuzz, reading newspapers and reading more books.

Now I'm off to Christine's for some serious Singstar-business.

Happy days.

Week-end, Maja gone

 This beautiful lady, here documented in Tromsø, August 13th 2012

This fantastically funny weather, with fog, then sun, then mist, then sun,

then low clouds rolling over the sound and more sun

Both left yesterday.

Today was the first end of a working week at the Red Cross for me, and time to stretch out and do nothing. While Maja was here, we went on a long drive to sit by a beautiful fjord, we went on a small flea market, we went out, we had reindeer, and normal burgers, and whale, we watched films, met people, and walked about. I had a splendid time with Maja here, I only wish I hadn't started a new job the very week she was here. I went to the hairdresser straight after work today, to cut my hair for the first time since last November (nine months, if you're counting), and as she blow-dried my hair, I closed my eyes and almost fell asleep. This evening I've been shuffling around the house, drinking tea, reading books and slowly regaining my energy.

Love my new job. More about it later. Sleepy filmwatching times now.

WHALE

We had whale on Tuesday, just for Maja.

Slightly charcoaled after grilling it to make sure it wasn't rare. Also, I have a job and more on that later but this is my reason for not posting. I have a job and a Maja, all at once!

Maja! Maja! Maja!

 Maja is coming to Tromsø todaaay

 Maybe we'll have some drinks,

 a barbeque at the beach,

and go on road trips to see more beaches?

Maja should now be on the plane from Oslo to Tromsø, and I will drive soon to pick her up from the airport. I have so many plans! And hopefully I'll have more Norway-photos of Maja after these days. All the photos I can find are from England, which of course is where we lived together, studied together and had parties and went for walks together. Happy days!

Skarsfjord BBQ

 Not on Kvaløya for once, this is on Ringvassøya (Ringwater (?) Island)

Tuesday gave us sunshine for the first time in weeks, 

and sunshine means that we need to go to a beach far away and barbeque there.

Dina

 "This is moon" "But he's a banana?" "No auntie, it's a moooon" 

 Mississippi Mud Pie, very very much recommended (dark, sticky chocolate cake)

Far too aware of cameras at this age

I went to see my niece last weekend, as planned. She is far too adorable and far too clever and we were playing all day long. I also got to spend time with my sister, playing a trivia game from 2006 - mostly with questions about who won So You Think You Can Dance in 2006 and so on, watching a film and making chocolate goodness.

Not throwing things away

 I struggled to throw away my mailbox sign. With an address I'm not living at anymore. I managed to in the end.

 These old jeans are never going

And I'm always shocked by how torn and indecent they are. This is the decent side.

I can't throw away things, unless they're really broken and unusable, and even then I find it difficult if they have some sentimental value. Like the jeans I got when I was seventeen, and used day in, day out until (and after) they started falling apart. I just wore tights under them to make them more decent.

The move was supposed to let me go through my stuff again, and throw out more and give it away to charities and suddenly become very minimalistic and own nothing. I'm starting to realise that this will never happen as long as I'm this sentimental. Next time I move, I'll hire my friend Christine to force me to get rid of more stuff. Until then, nostalgia reigns!

Rekvika

 far, far out on Kvaløya, looking towards The Ocean

 there is an old, half abandoned fishing village

 with snow on the summer mountains

 and apparently a previously international fishing trade

 the village: Rekvika

the island: Kvaløya (Whale Island)