Mountains and babies

 A few weeks ago my mum and I took a roadtrip

 From Tromsø to Setermoen, to see my sister and her children

 Namely, Andreas, aged almost nine months

 and Dina, aged almost four years

 And let's have another photo of Andreas because of baby cheeks

What did we do? We bought food, we made food, we ate food, and then we played around and watched films and baked and sang songs and pinched cheeks. Oh, and we celebrated mother's day, so Dina and I both made cards for our mums.

Me looking awkward

but trying to look happy

Because I'm going to Spain in April! Oh, and to Germany. ALL THE TRAVEL and all for me.

So let's forget that my laptop doesn't recognize my external hard drive with all the photos I should have edited, that I am still paying rent for this house but will be gone one month, and that I could have used the money differently:

I now get almost one week with my grandmother in Germany, and then I get two and a half weeks volunteering with language practice with a Spanish family. I'm volunteering through Workaway again, and hoping that I have found another good family to stay with.

Until then... Work hard, buy less and save up.

Snow

 just for you

 just for show

...

A weekend at home

 Look! The sun! Still such an amazing sight.

 It was up for more than two hours

 During which I cleaned out my old room a bit

And realised how much stuff I've got from my Falmouth years

Now all the posts you get are one or two weeks old. This was the first weekend of February. After clearing out a lot of stuff, and giving bags and bags away for charity, I still have these heavy boxes with workbooks and notebooks and folders and paper from Falmouth. One day I will be brave, go through them and get rid of what I don't need, but you know how it is... I need memories. Even though I haven't really opened these boxes the past two years.

Happy (Norwegian) Mother's Day!

 Me and my mum sleeping in the sun in Skarsfjorden last summer

 My mum and me in Germany, May 2011

Nina (mum) looking at a glacier in Svalbard last July (!)

Today is mother's day in Norway, because we don't want to celebrate it with everyone else. So this is a celebration of my wonderful mum, whom I love so much that it gets gooey when put down in words. I am looking forward to not only this year's travels with her, but also to all the tea we will consume and films we will watch together. Mamma <3 p="">

Christmas presents

 Also known as mussels

 eaten by Ida

 fish soup, eaten by me

And a lot of other food (duck, more mussels anddd one more thing) eaten by Astrid, Christine and Cathrine. We've started a tradition where, instead of everyone buying everyone sort-of-all-right Christmas presents every year, we go out for a meal and spend our money on that. I love this tradition.

Sami National Day!

Alternative map of the Arctic, centered around the North, with place names in Sami

Today is the Sami National Day, which I am hoping to celebrate with the children in day care, but also by going to a seminar about Mining Activity on Indigenous Land, which should be interesting because they are also tying in Latin America and issues I've written about before. 

Sun and Red Cross

 Tromsø, 24th January

Frank-Gøran and Ingrid, Oslo, 25th January 

Did I mention that the sun came back over the horizon on January 21st? For the first time since November 21st? And I happened to be at the airport around noon the following Friday. I can't find the words to explain the immense joy within any northerner when we see the sun again.

Then I went to Oslo, to learn how to be a Red Cross Youth instructor (which I am, partly, already, but now I will be one officially). I met a lot of amazing people, photographed only two of them, but should be going back in March for the second weekend of the course.

Sunday

equals computers and photos and editing

And tea and food and catching up on all the things I didn't do all week.

Also, listening to travel podcasts.

Happy birthday brother!

December 2011, need to update our sibling photos

 

Today my baby brother turns 20, and what hits me is that I can remember when he was born, which means that we are both quite old. My brother lives far away, at Svalbard, so maybe we can celebrate our birthdays together sometime in March! Anyway. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TORE!

London part III (Abney Park Cemetery)

 I've told you before how much I like visiting cemeteries in different countries,

 And now I got to see a new one in London

With all the crawling ivy, fallen gravestones, and narrow paths through the woods that I could wish for

I was very happy about going to Abney Park Cemetery. I'm still interested in the gravestone at the top, seeing that the man had two wives, and that the second wife wasn't buried anywhere near that I could see. I will probably drag my mum and sister back there when we go to London again in May (yes, yes, yes).

London part II

 Then I had a Norweg meetup with Tora (who now lives in London) and Maja

 Before Maja left, and Tora came with me and Kayung to Brick Lane

Or, really, to this tea shop in Bacon Street (yes, really) which has the best chocolate cake and a badly trained dog which will eat said cake if you're not aware.

Oh, and in real time, I finished a very busy week with the film festival and work, and then continued with the work, and if all goes well I shall be flying off to Oslo today for a weekend of Red Cross Youth Instructor training.

London part I

 We met the gum painting man, also known as Ben Wilson, on one of the bridges (Millennium?)

 I finally got to see Platform 9 3/4, slightly underwhelming but still

 We went to the V&A and looked at old spoons, jewellery and all the skulls

 Seeing that we were with Falmouth people, we went to Loading, which has moved from Fal to London

Where there were games and laughter and almost all of the people (here Emma and Lucy)

New Year's Eve (Reading)

 Started out with baking cheesecake, brownies and gluten-free brownies

 And putting all the alcohol in neat rows

 Oh, look, I can haz friendz! I suppose Tony (Gale) should be credited for this photo.

 The party mood was high already from the beginning (Tommo and Jenny)

 Although it got better and better (the party mood, that is)
These were taken by Karla Smith and Tony Gale, I think (please correct me)

And we played this game

As you can tell, there were card games. There was drinking. There was dancing. There was hugging, probably some singing, eating of roast and drinking of Aquavit, and a little bit of fireworks seen at a distance. What really mattered was being back with my Falmouth crowd again, and it mattered so much to all of us that we arranged to meet up in London as well come weekend after... More to come!

I have been taking very few portraits of the people I've been with, and far more of food and games and ginger beers - all nice things but sadly not as interesting in hindsight...

Bristol part II

 After the M Shed, we went walking a bit in town, eyeing up this big silver ball

 Then went for tea with the Emma and the Lucy (here: Emma)

 Had tea from multifloral cups and pots

Had dinner, went to a pub quiz, came in second and got mulled cider for our 2nd price voucher

And then... we went home, packed, and left for Reading the following day. More to come!

(In realtime, I'm back in Tromsø, working daycare and volunteering at the Tromsø International Film Festival and watching films) (Also, I've spent too much time on this blog post because of our bad internet, so my excuses if there is some time before the rest of the photos from my holiday come up)

Bristol

 was our first destination in the land of Eng

 and my Norwegian mind was mystified by all the sunshine

 so we went inside to the M Shed, a museum about Bristol, here represented by milk bottles

 and a guillotine hand-crafted by a French prisoner after the French revolution

 but also Wallace and Gromit, who are apparently Bristolian (this doesn't come through in the Norwegian versions)

Real props from the Were-Rabbit, I was probably too excited about this

Maja and I stayed with Emma and Lucy, who have recently moved there, two nights before going to Reading and Karla and New Year Fun Times. More photos to come!

Narco Cultura

My housemates and I watched this film yesterday, as the beginning of the annual film festival in Tromsø. 

It's pretty strong. Please watch it if you get a chance.