Training course for trainers, yeah

 My dear Dasha was with me all weekend

 My youth delegates from Zimbabwe as well

 Sometimes we were sleepy

 At other times, full of energy (or at least, pretending)

And half the time, we were playing games and getting to know each other better

Again, I went to Oslo this weekend for a course on how to hold a Red Cross Youth course. I thought I'd be exhausted from not sleeping much the previous week, not to mention from being fed up with the Red Cross taking over my life. Quite the opposite happened! I was again working with the Youth, which has always been my thing, and in addition to that: I had no responsibility for the course. I could just participate and learn and have fun, and not worry about people missing their flight or getting lost or getting mad at me.

I had a remarkably good time, let's hope this sticks to the two next weekends, when I'm attending/arranging courses in Tromsø with/for the Red Cross Youth.

"This blog has been deleted"

was the message that met me when I came back from Oslo this weekend. Why? There had been unusual activities on my google account, apparently. I managed to reset the password and my blog and everything looks normal, so I have no idea what happened. I'm sorry if you found my blog gone for a while! As a comfort, you shall have photos from Oslo soon.

Sober October is Over

Once again.

Did I get thinner/happier/more balanced/better skin/whatever from doing this month of giving up things?

Not as far as I can tell. But I know it was good for my body to stay off alcohol. I know in the long run it will be good for me to get used to eating less meat. I know that my hair is happy I didn't spray it down with chemicals, and I know that I don't look too bad without makeup. People still talk to me and give me hugs quite voluntarily.

Now: Easy does it. I went to the Wine Monopoly (this is Norway, go read about it) for the first time in months (I can't remember the last time, even before Sober October) and I was struck by how every other customer in there was a drunkard. This might have something to do with it being seventeen minutes before closing time (which is at 6 pm, we're still in Norway), but still, it was a fairly strong reminder of what alcohol can do to you.

Ahead: I'll remember that you don't have to drink in all social settings. I'll try not to be the one pressuring others into having another drink, and another, and I will try to be sober without feeling brave, and tipsy without getting drunk.

As for the rest, I'll keep doing it all (make-up! nomming meat! wearing perfume!), but again, hopefully in moderation.

Auntie Sunniva, again

Dina looking clever

This is how my sister let all of Facebook know that she's pregnant again, so I assume I'm allowed to share it. She put her daughter in a jumper that says "big sister" and posted a photo of it. Both of my parents mentioned it off-hand last Sunday, after they'd been to see them for the weekend.

All the applause for getting a new niece or nephew, all the sadness for my planning to travel after this person's birth, so I won't be around as much to begin with. Then again, I get to be cool travelling auntie (I choose to forget that her other aunt will stay in the Antarctic six months, and her uncle lives at Svalbard OH WELL).

Tromsø

 View of the early afternoon moon from my dad's office (about 3pm)

View of the north end of town from my dad's office

Mostly because he works in the city hall, a few floors above the mayor, doing property planning stuff, and the new city hall is all made of windows and hardly any solid walls.

Also, look, more winter, more darkness early in the afternoon.

Dropp Bomben

 Dasha and Precious in the library this morning

Precious, Dasha and Therese in the library, no mayor yet

This week is the big activity week for our Nuclear Weapons Campaign in the Red Cross Youth - so I apologise in advance to all my Facebook people and others who must endure me going on about it. I normally try to keep the Red Cross down on my personal Facebook account, to not be that annoying person who only posts about one thing (I also limit my toddler photos, much more than you can imagine) and nags everyone to join everything.

Now though. Please go to www.droppbomben.no if you're Norwegian/have a Norwegian post code, or go to www.icanw.org if you're from anywhere else. We need as many signatures as possible for our petition against nuclear weapons. The Ican website is amazing for giving lots of information about the issue, so I don't have to repeat it here.

A trip to the printers

Finished product

 Becoming finished product (the paper to the right has print on it)

 People wearing winter clothes, to assure you that we do have winter

 Scrapped newspapers, with mistakes and such

Either a) an amazing rollercoaster for mice or b) a machine that carries the newspapers from place to place

On Friday, we went with the other volunteers at the student newspaper to the printers, to see how and where they print our newspaper. It's the same printer that does the local papers, and some regional prints of national newspapers. It's such a massive machinery, so much paper, so much work going into making these flimsy dailies - and our fortnightly newspaper. That aside, I just want to be a tiny mouse and go on the amazing rollercoaster.

Winter winter winter

February 2012, not unlike October 2012

Winter is properly upon us now, and I'm realising I should have bought new winter boots a long time ago. I'm also volunteering for another festival, Insomnia, as a driver, and will be driving people and equipment around town tomorrow morning. Sceptical. All the warm clothes.

A few weeks ago

 I went to visit my dearest

 Who has the most amazing hair, only surpassed by her mother

And I sat inside in the sunshine and pretended it was warm outside

We watched Pippi in the South Seas, (childhood memories!) and when I asked Dina whether she wanted to sneak up on people like a goshawk, she replied yes, although I'm not quite sure whether she understood what she was agreeing to do.

Wintertime

Good job, Tromsø. You managed four months without any snow at all.

Of course, on Saturday, we drove further into the country, away from the sea, and they get more snow there. Still.

It's gone now, but the damage is done, we're in wintertime.

Kråkesølv

 Failure in normal portrait

 All right band photos

Skredder by Kråkesølv (love the video. love her back muscles)

Kråkesølv is a lovely Northern Norwegian band (not as far north as us, but still) with texts that are both written very well, and written in Northern Norwegian. I interviewed them and photographed them for the student newspaper in Tromsø (which is far better than the Falmouth one) last week. All the likes.

Global Dignity Day

 Vijitha (who dragged me into this) telling the teenagers about the day

 And telling her own dignity story

 My class made this massive dignity chart, very proud of them

Håkon, the coordinator, with Vijitha, the head facilitator, after finishing at Breivang

About the day: Global Dignity website, Global Dignity Wiki, Norwegian Global Dignity website

Vijitha (a wonderful Red Cross person) called me last week to ask if I wanted to be a volunteer facilitator at Breivang school on Global Dignity day. I probably wouldn't have volunteered without being asked, but being myself (more about compulsive volunteerism later), I couldn't say no. The concept has seemed a bit wishy-washy to me before, but learning more about it and going through the material with the teenagers today, I really liked it.

It's just a discussion about what Dignity means, but it leads to a whole process of thoughts on how you act towards people, how much your self respect has to do with how you treat other people and how you are treated by them in return, and so on. It's something we'll be working more on in the Red Cross Youth as well: How little effort it takes to make someone else happy, or less lonely, than before.

Thank you, Vijitha!

---

Yes to candles, tea with honey, toddies, woolly socks and a reason to stay inside, even on a lovely day.

No to having a cold. Bleurgh.

Autumn

Look, look, we still have no snow. And we're in mid-October already.

Children

My co-worker's three-and-a-half-year old

Children are so much harder to take nice portrait photos of, but so much better to take good photos of, because even when they act for the camera, they don't understand exactly when the photo is taken, and you get more interesting photos.

(Also, children are adorable and I love them and there will be more photos soon)

Because things

I'm perfectly fascinated by rivers, like this, Målselva, close to where we go to autumn and winter camp. I realise that in this photo it looks very similar to a fjord, maybe especially when you're not used to such things. The river is different in that it's always flowing, and it's smaller, and it's just completely different because you know it leads somewhere - an odd statement perhaps, since the sea can lead you even further. I'm not even really sure of what I'm trying to say, except that I like rivers, as they are different from my daily fjord.

 When I came home from the autumn camp on Sunday,

I wasn't prepared for my sister and niece still being there, happy surprise!

Dina is "reading" The Forgotten Affairs of Youth, which I think is very fitting for a two-and-a-half-year old.

Always surprised by how sophisticated and clever children can be. Today I was photographing the daughter of my workmate, and she was also very well reflected and perfectly aware of everything that was going on, even if she's only one year older than my niece.

Sober October, etc

Being able to pick oranges straight off the trees in Spain, thumbs up for vegetables

So, I said I'd write a bit more about this month, and seeing that we're now a week into it already, I should see to it. I am going to go one month without

• Alcohol
• Meat
• Shaving
• Make-up
• Hair products (excepting shampoo/conditioner)/Blow-dryers/etc

And you are probably wondering why. I have gotten quite a few questions about this, and I have replied with quite a few answers. I have abstained from all these things before, and I've managed it quite easily, which is the main reason I am doing all at once now: I love challenges, and I need to challenge myself more every year. Since 2008, I've had the ongoing challenge of buying only second-hand clothes. After living in England, I've tried giving up different things for Lent. And now, I've found that autumn is the perfect time to give up some things, for different reasons, so why not throw it all into one month of detoxing?

The first two are obvious. Health! Environment (at least the meat)! Getting more out of my weekends! Yes. The last three are more an experiment to see how long I can endure without them, and a way of convincing myself that I do actually look all right without mascara every day.

All five are a way of having something to discuss with people, as well as making myself more aware of the norms of society. Of course I am hoping the side effects will be that I feel and look healthier, and get a better self image. And no matter what, there's always my last reason, the one I tell people when I'm tired of going into detail and they ask me why I'm doing all this:

Why not? I'm enjoying it.

Autumn Camp 2012

 Russian banners, German instructor on a Norwegian course translated into English - normal

 Seminars! Discussions! Elizabeth telling us how English police officers call you "darling" to disarm you

 Silje learning all about the Red Cross Youth

 Anton telling us all about Russian police officers (this became a theme, I don't know why)

 Munya photographing the ladies from Zimbabwe

The ladies from Zimbabwe being photographed by me

This weekend has been the end of a very, very long week. It was good, I met a lot of interesting people, got to talk more to the interesting people I already know, and ate a lot of nice vegetarian food. There were, however, also a few discussions and tears and issues (external, internal etc), and I'm very tired now.

Trying to take tomorrow off. Sleepy times.

But before that: Downton Abbey S0302!

(Hyde Park, London, May 2012)

Once in my life I need to live somewhere without seasons, so I can appreciate the changing of the seasons more. Not in the mood for autumn now.

Look what I've got

Five Russians, one of them Tromsø resident, and one Norwegian (spot the Norweg)

This weekend is the annual Red Cross Youth Autumn Camp, the past few years meaning that the Russians come to stay with us and do activities with us in Haraldvollen. We also have a fantastically diverse youth group in Tromsø at the moment, with our youth delegates from Zimbabwe, two girls that mostly speak Spanish and one or two words in Norweg/English, and several other nationalities and languages all mixed together.

This time is always very confusing, with a lot of people together and no truly common language, but I love it. I love trying to learn all the words in Russian and only remembering how to say please, I love learning about the Red Cross in different countries, and I love learning how to dance from the youth delegates. Nothing is perfect, everything is lost in translation, but you learn so much from it. Here's hoping it's a good weekend (I will sleep on Monday. I will sleep on Monday. I will sleep on Monday)

Harstad, you're looking fine

 Precious is on a boat (I mean ship) and she's happy

 Precious and Siren from Harstad, eager for their pizza

 Chicken! And sweet chili sauce! What every pizza should be like (we had gone hungry for a while at this point)

 Harstad is a lot like Tromsø in many ways, here's their cormorant

(we've got one too (ours is a restaurant) (and we have the proper birds as well))

 Harstad is a lot like England in one way, they have an old English telephone box

And hey, they've got mountains and stuff too.

Precious, Munya and I went to Harstad because it is part of our district (Troms), even if it's three hours away with boat. Or six hours away with cruise ship, which we slept on on our way there. We then wandered straight from the ship on Saturday morning into the hotel, got our hotel rooms ridiculously early, and went to sleep again.

We had a good meeting with Harstad Red Cross Youth, followed by pizza (because this is the Red Cross and this is what we eat).

Because there are no boats back on a Saturday evening, we stayed until Sunday and watched at least three romantic comedies in a row in our hotel room.

Then we went home and slept some more.

Of course, in the middle of all this nice social stuff and food and sleep, there have been problems and issues and discussions on different levels, and while my body came back from Harstad very well-rested, my mind did not. I've had to take some mornings off work to balance myself again, and as you can see, only on Tuesday evening did I have the energy to edit photos and do some blogging. I see this as a very good sign.

Zimbabwe evening

 Precious telling us about Zimbabwe

 Dancing 

Even more dancing

There was also food. And more presentations. And more dancing. And lots of talking to lovely people. I was very tired, but it seems like people had a good time, and that was part of the goal. Then, seeing as it was Friday, after clearing up, Precious, Munya and I went down to the Hurtigrute (Norwegian cruise ship) and found our cabins for going to Harstad for the weekend.

ÆØÅ

I've watched this video at least once a day the past week. And now once more.

Well, no

No editing for me today.

Last week was really stressful, and so is this one. My body has been able to rest, but not my mind. I'm dreaming about the Red Cross every night.

Blogging soon.