Ever since I registered at facebook less than two weeks ago, this blog has been neglected more or less... Think it will continue to be like that also, only with random updates! But last weekend I was in Helsinki, and that deserves some comments. First, it was really strange to be back there, but in the same time great!

 

The main reason for going was a board meeting in the Nordic Centre Youth, but I went a day in advance and spent the night in Pasila!! Now, there is three male Hanken students in our apartment, and they've received my newspaper the last mounths since there was something wrong with the distribution. Well, got the last issue back... Some more news from Pasila is that Jakub now got a German girlfriend, convinient since I then could borrow his room. Vojta also had a friend on visit, so more people to hang around with. Otherwise, we made pizza, ate it and went out on thursday. Not to a great place, but it was really fun dancing:-)

 

During the meeting we also visited the national museum, and I think maybe I learned more about Finnish history during those hour than the semester in Helsinki... May have been something about the focus during the exchange...

 

Well, well; Pictures are coming up!!

Først, god påske til dere og (som skrev kommentarer her på forrige post)!!! Er jo fortsatt 2. påskedag, så burde være lov å forsatt ønske god ferie..

 

Selv om ferien strengt tatt er på avlutningens rand, i morra er det tilbake til studiene. Kom til Bergen i dag, og som seg hør og bør regner det tungt over byen nå. Tror ikke det ble noe av den turen jeg vurderte tidligere i dag gitt... Ellers har det vært en trivelig ferie på Jæren, selv om ikke alt blir som en har planlagt:-/ Men mye sofasliting, masse god mat (og godt drikke), tur til Finnøy og mykje annet rart har vel ført til å at jeg skal begynne studiene med godt mot i morra:-)

 

Odd holder på å tape i Drammen mot Strømsgodset, er dårlig avslutning på ferien..

Fredag.... Feriemodusen er godt igang!

 

Denne uka hadde jeg store ambisjoner om å lese masse, men det gikk vel mer eller mindre skeis når jeg tenker etter. En måned med mye aktivitet, og ikke minst de siste to helgene med landsmøte og vårslepp tror jeg tok knekken på enhver deltager og ihvertfall jeg har kjent at søvnbehovet har vært stort og kroppen ikke helt i humør til å studere. Men har da klart å bla meg igjennom noen kapitler i bøkene.. og innleveringa i prod.øk er levert!!! Drømte i natt at jeg hadde bytta om oppgavene og levert feil oppgave, men tar det bare som et tegn på at ferie er en bra ting:-)

 

I går var vi på Odd Norstoga konsert, var fantastisk!!!!!!! Han er bare så morsom!! Han driver og reiser rundt på soloturne for tida, så spelar og synger og pratar - meget verdt å få med seg! Selvfølgelig litt skuff at han ikke spilte orda du gav meg, men det at jeg og Rebecca fikk gaula høyt til Frøken Franzen så de som satt foran oss nærmest holdt seg for ørene veier opp for det... Dessuten har vi nok finni ut at han som student ikke opplevde kvalitetsreformen, men sangen hans om studentlivet i bergen er nå bra for det:-)

 

Så, hva skal denne fredagen brukes til?

- har lest igjennom spaca til folk for første gang på en måned. Greit med litt oppdatering på hva folk tenker:-) Tror nok Signhild vinner prisen for flest oppdateringer!

- tenkte å stryke klær i dag, en aktivitet jeg sjelden gjennomfører

- bla meg igjennom det siste kapitlet i pensum i prod øk

- vaske leiligheten til påske, alltid ålreit å komme tilbake til et reint reir

- pakke for ferien, tror jeg tar den store kofferten så slipper jeg å tenke

- spise opp alt som ikke holder seg til over påske i kjøleskapet

- se på TV, hekle sjal og drikke te (litt folkehøyskolemodusen)

- se i veggen

 

Velvel, i morra bærer det til Jæren for ferie og avslaning. Glede mæ:-)

 

 

I helga var det landsmøte i SP, som alltid en bra begivenhet å få med seg. Politisk var det kanskje ikke de største sprella, men landsmøte fikk nå diskutert Telenors samfunnsansvar og kutting av klimautslipp med minimum 30 % i tillegg til de "obligatoriske" resolusjonene om Trillemarka, landbruk, statskjerka og regionreform. Må SV og AP bli mer like oss!

 

Istedefor å skrive i det lange og det breie, oppsummerer jeg helga med noen stikkord...

Ragnhilds gjestfrihet (+ lene og Marit sin!!), internettløsfri sone (kampen mot teknologien), medisin på bussturen, gravlegging av gubbeparti, "søvnløs omsorg", slaps og glatte forhold inkludert en tur rett i bakken, Ivar og fela, Hammer, tomt for blandevann, 5-manns band, tørre kjeks, folkemusikk, Terje på fest, Anja som pressefotograf, Kiwi, snill optikermann, tur til Maihaugen jeg aldri rakk, Lars med sprudlevann, office-installasjon, moro på bakerste benk, trivelig landbruksrådgiver, stor bunadsfaktor, Monrad og munnharpa, rødvin på bunadsskjorta (og andres dressjakker), Såkornsfond, Lillehammer taxi (som alltid visste hvor den nedlagte jakt og fiske butikken var), avlyst birkebeiner, masse swing, svimmelhet og reinlender, kjendiser, "skal du tisse eller bæsje?", ++++ masse, masse mer!

I går var jeg i Oslo på jernbaneforum 2007, som vanlig en artig opplevelse. Mens Torstein syns det var bedre å være på konferanse enn å sitte og svette på fylkeshuset, hadde mannen foran meg pliktoppfyllende tatt toget til konferansen - faktisk helt fra en eller annen stasjon svært nærme oslo. Imponerende...

 

På en måte kan en si jeg juksa litt den ene veien siden jeg flydde til Oslo, men flytoget er faktisk et tog det og. Hjem igjen derimot tok jeg Bergensbanan, igrunnen ganske greit. Og det er stadig underholdning på slike strekninger... Like etter Lysaker klarer 1 av 6 fra If Skadeforsikring, som tydeligvig skulle på en eller annen "faglig" tur, å søle hele pepsi maxen sin utover golvet. Det ble grundig besvist at toget ikke står vannrett på skinnene (rant i alle retninger) og at dopapiret ikke egner seg litt opptørking. Heldigvis fant noen smarte ut at de skulle gå i kafeterievogna, hvor det viste seg at de hadde mer robuste servietter.

 

Videre var det et faktum at en knippe 7-klassinger kom på i Oslo og skulle til Voss på klassetur. Å si at folk fra sjuende som tydeligvis ikke har vært på en slik type tur er rolige ville være å overdrive, men for min del gjorde det ingenting. Det gjorde det derimot for dama som kom entra toget på Geilo. Uheldigvis klarte en av de små å miste en halvspist rundstykke (med skinke, ost og det hele) ned ved siden av sete til dama, og skal love deg hu sparka den og kjefta tilbake. Akt 1. Dama prøver å konversere med sin mann om barnebarnet Andreas i Oslo som er så flink å spille hardingfele (med vestkantsdialekt). Akt 2. Videre gikk dama vekk en stund og kom ivrig tilbake og kunne fortelle mannen om at det var ledig seter i barnevogna (og ingen barn), men mannen glefsa tilbake at han ikke gadd å flytte alt pikk-pakket, så det var slutten på den visa.

 

Her kommer en liten oppsummering av konferansen:

- Dagens offensive mål: Are Kjensli, adm dir i CargoNet vil har 600 meter lange godstog hver andre time i hver retning på Bergensbane

- Dagens minst forberedte: Steinulf Tungesvik (som måtte hoppe inn for en syk Liv-Signe)

- Dagens kritiske: Gunnar Apeland, adm dir i NLF (Norsk Lastebileierforbund) mener debatte om gods fra vei til bane er tullete.

- Dagens omfavnende: Einar Enger som mener Gunnar Apeland har flere gode poenger

- Dagens offensive: Irland bruker 34,3 mrd euro de neste årene på samferdselsinvesteringer - tilsvarer cirka 280 mrk NOK

- Dagens tørre: Kanten av osten vi fikk servert til lunsj

Ja, denne helga var jeg hjemme på fylkesårsmøte i Telemark, forøvrig et godt møte med en artig fest, og reisen fram til åstedet gikk etter planen. Vilanden svikter sjelden er etterhvert mitt motto, og det gjelder å utnytte det:-)

 

Tilbake igjen ble det derimot verre. Det skal sies at jeg var noe småsjuk allerede før avreise, så egentlig burde jeg vel holdt senga i Bergen. Men det er jo kjedelig det og.. Så jeg dro til Telemark på fredagen, og etter møte på lørdagskvelden følte jeg meg meget lite pigg og gikk tidlig til sengs. Søndag opprant og dagen starta med dobbelt norsk på fem-mila i VM, det er jo ikke annet å si enn at det var stas. Videre var det buss til Torp rundt 12.45, det var fult på flyet fra Skien, så måtte krype til korset og kjøpe billett fra Torp.

 

Jeg ankom flyplassen der nede og ante fred og ingen fare, fikk spist litt mat og satte meg på gaten. Så, ti minutter før avgang får vi beskjed om at flyet er innstilt. HJERTELIG TAKK SKAL DERE HA!!! Samme dagen var det og avslutning av vinterferie og samtlige avganger fra Østlandet til Vestlandet var fulle. Dvs noen av de viktige kundene (de som bedriften betaler for) fikk ombooka billetter via Stavanger til Bergen. Vi andre fikk et alternativ: Buss! Var ikke annet enn å gå på med friskt mot, men etterhvert som det kom for en dag at bussjåføren skulle kjøre riksvei 7 framfor E134 fordi han var anbefalt det kjente jeg at det kokte litt innvendig. Humøret var heller dårlig da vi ankom Bergen 01.30 om natta etter en reise på 9 timer. I tillegg spredte sykdommen seg i kroppen..

 

Våkna i dag til morran med gjenklistra øye - det var et faktum at jeg for første gang siden barneskolen har fått øyebetennelse. Siden jeg sjelden er sjuk, så har jeg heller ikke tatt bryet med å bytte fastlege til bergen, så da bare det avgårde til legevakten. Og der er det jo ikke akkurat kø.. Tror jeg var heldig som slapp unna med cirka 3 timer, men etterpå var jeg et par ulike dråper rikere og verden blir sikkert litt finere snart.

 

Men jeg tar allikevel meg den frihet å skylde det hele på Widerø!

 

Well, another weekend in my life is going towards the end. As many of you know, I spent it in Glasgow, which was really nice. We had some good discussions, eat good food, drank beer etc. Even so, not everything during the weekend went as planned. So here some insights from some typical days in my life.

Friday morning I had a plane from Bergen at 10.40. Since it wasn't that early, I decided to join a bierstube on thursday evening, which resulted in a bad headache friday morning. But that didn't stop me and I was on the airport in farely good time before the departure time. But in the que for check-in, I got a really bad feeling through my body, felt the stress arise.. I HAD FORGOT MY PASSPORT! (I was going to Glasgow = Great Britain = no Schengen). So I called Anne Linn in panic, but she was already off to the reading room. Fortunately, Ingrid had joined me at the party the day before and she wasn't in the best shape = she was home in her bed. So she had to drag herself downstairs and put my passport in a taxi. Which brought it safe to the airport, and I reached the plane with a five minute margin. Thank you Norgestaxi!!

So, then the stay in Scotland went well.. But sfter several weeks of sickness, my cell finally died. "Fortunately", my plane is delayed (several hours and the time is now 23.40) and I've had good time to find å new one. So bought one that I will recieve on friday.. (5 days without a cell!!!). It was probably all too expensive also, but I really don't care anymore.

Well, as told my plane is late. So an hour ago or so they started to hand out some food things (to get free food), but I didn't manage to get one because I lost my boarding card. So typical! But a security-man had found it and I got it back. But at that point the person with the food was gone.. so typical! So now I'm really tired, hungry and without a cell.. A brutal world.. I'm really looking forward to my bed no, that's for sure! And if anyone need to call me the next days, I suggest that you rather come to a visit..  

Well, the updating has been slim lately. Maybe because I'm starting to get into my regular day-time routines and there's not that much to write or because I'm been busy (as always some may say). Well, haven't been that busy, but had a round-trip which started about two weeks ago. First I went to Kolbotn (outside Oslo) for political training of candidates before the election this fall, afterwards I went to Trondheim for student gathering in the Centre Youth. It was a great weekend, and Storås is really a recommended place if you want to drink beer, dance and  have fun. I also managed to drop by Ingeborg and Einar which I haven't seen for almost one year. A late pizza delivery made that I almost lost my bus to the airport, but everything worked out well. Even thought the bus had some problems because of all the snow. But it managed and we happily entered the airport:-)

 

From Trondheim, I went home for some meetings. First I was in the comitee for infrastructure in Telemark and the day after in the local council. The last one lasted until 23.30 in the eveing, allthough we only had 5 issues. Some politicians just speak to much!! But we survived that meeting to and the day after I went to Bergen again, stayed there for a few days before I took another trip to Oslo. We had a meeting in the international commitee in the centre youth, but we also had time for some cinema. We saw "Little Children", a movie about the "sucessful" life in the suburbs. A quite good movie actually. The most funny part with the movie was the Norwegian translations:-) But at the moment I don't remember them..

 

Well, the last week I've spend in Bergen, trying to study a bit. Just got to know that I can't take my exam in macroeconomics before this fall, so are a bit angry for that. Don't feel like taking extra study credits this fall, really want to take it now!! BUt can't cry over spilled milk.. On wednesday (the big valentine day), me and a friend (yeah, a girl) went to the cinema and saw "Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan" - that's a crazy movie and some of the scenes are really absurb! Anyway, funny.. Yesterday, I think it was the big forgetting day - first I forgot my schoes when I went to the gym, aerobics without schoes is not recommended. And afterwards, I forgot my umbrella at the gym, but called then and will pick it up tomorrow. Today, I forgot to get up and missed a lecture.. Have to admit the lecturer is not that interesting, so maybe it wasn't a big loss:-)

 

Mari: Pictures from the student gathering is coming up:-)

 

Ja, i dag begynner dagen med telefonmøte med diverse utvalgte i Telemark Senterparti. Tror jeg etterhvert kan introen på Telenors konferansetelefon elle noe utenat... Alltid trivelig å høre "Welcome to the Telenor Conference System" fra den trivelige dama. Temaet for denne dagen er mye rart, blant annet Telemarkskanalen og veipakke for øvre og nedre og andre deler av Telemark. Av det bedre presseoppslaget diskutert så langt er det følgende:

 

- Høyre skal redde Kanalen

http://www.varden.no/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070129/NARINGSLIV/101290129/1096/_

Ja, lykke til! Må jo si at jeg er enig i at Kanalen må reddes. Vedlikeholdsbehovet er jo mildt sagt stort.. Derimot er jeg litt usikker på fremgangsmetoden. I følge oppslaget skal stortingspolitiker Øyvind Halleraker ringe fylkesordføreren i Telemark. Ja, hadde det vært så enkelt så hadde nok Gunn-Marit fått fryktelig mange telefoner....

 

 

The time just flies away at the moment, and I have no idea where it disappears. Probably into some more read pages in my studies or some more resolutions written in the politics. Anyway, today it's been a political day, and I'm finishing with a telephone meeting! Wellwell, tomorrow studies and this weekend; Party at our place!! Even some friends from home has arrived:-)

 

Actually, the reason for blogging was last weekend, when I was on Iceland!!! We had the top meeting for NCF there, and it was great. Really fine country, recommend everyone to go there. For instance, the blue lagoon was NICE, hot and cosy:-) Otherwise, I felt like landing on the moon when we arrived, so flat and with vulkano rocks. Really special!

 

The travel letter from Iceland (unfortunately only in Norwegian):

 Torsdag 18. januar var det 5 spente Senterungdommer som møtte opp på Gardermoen. Målet for turen var Island og Nordiska Centerungdomens Forbunds toppmøte som ble arrangert der 18. – 21. januar. For de fleste var det første gangen på Island, mens Hilde som erfaren Norden-politiker dro dit for tredje gang. De øvrige i denne fortellingen var Anja (president i NCF), Arnstein (styremedlem NCF), Alexander (internasjonal leder og presidiemedlem UNR) og Tone (politisk nestleder).

Turen begynte bra, Anja lærte til og med hva en concealer er i løpet av tax-freen. Etter ankomst Keflavik bar det av gårde i minibuss til den blå lagune. Anbefales på det sterkeste og Alexanders stadige utrop som ”Ååhh, happy day” og ”Dette er gay paradise” illustrerer vel det meste. Videre gikk ferden til Reykjavik hvor vi ble innkvartert hos en trivelig, gammel mann, fikk i oss et lass med pizza og avholdt dette arbeidsårets tredje styremøte. Neste blir for øvrig i Helsinki 13. – 15. april.

Fredag overrasket med kuldegrader og mer snev av vinter enn noen nordmann har sett i år. Temaet for årets toppmøte var høyere utdanning i Norden og vårt første møte denne dagen var med University of Iceland. De har 2/3 av studentmassen og har et mål om å bli blant de 100 beste universitetene i verden. Lykke til sier vi!! Videre møtte vi representanter for studentforeninga og en utvekslingsstudent fra Norge som fortalte om livet på Island. Han var godt integrert og snakka språket allerede, ikke annet enn imponerende. Men fortsatt er det altfor få unge som reiser på utveksling innen Norden eller til Norden. Vi lekker som en sil med utvekslingsstudenter som vil til varmere strøk for å studere, og har stort potensial på å markedsføre oss i utlandet.

Fredag kveld ble vi invitert på coktail av den islandske utenriksministeren. Hun kunne ikke komme, men helseministeren var på plass – en meget trivelig dame som nesten ble den nye lederen av det islandske senterpartiet i fjor. Som hun selv sa passe det seg ikke at hun sto for coktail siden hun hadde ansvar for helse, men delta kunne hun jo. Dama har forresten et imponerende bildegalleri, så hvis du går inn på www.siv.is og klikker deg på engelsk, pictures og politics får du nok se noen kjente fjes.

Lørdag ble selve toppmøte holdt av stabelen, og det var stor stas da vi fant klubba som ble brukt under NCFs repskap på Island i 1977. Presidenten følte seg svært komfortabel med den i sin hånd. I løpet av toppmøte fikk vi oppdateringer på medlemslandenes politiske diskusjon og det som kanskje er mest spennende for tida er det finske valget i mars. Videre ble det vedtatt 8 resolusjoner, alt fra digitalt TV til entreprenørskap via felles personnummer i Norden og et sterkere Midtensamarbeid i UNR. Møtet tok også for seg hvordan en skal øke utveksling på lokalt nivå i organisasjonen og resultatet blir blant annet en manual for å søke samarbeid (og penger).

Lørdag kveld var det tradisjon og tro kulturbidrag, og vi norske prøvde å ofre alt for å gå av med seieren, dessverre nok en gang forgjeves. Men det kan jo hende at Arnstein i rosa nettingstrømper ga oss noe goodwill til neste gang. Vi gjorde uansett en god profil i Sing Star senere på kvelden, og Tone sjarmerte minst et medlem av den svenske riksdagen.

Kort oppsummert er vel ikke annet å si at vi gleder oss til repskapet som skal være i Stockholm 9. – 12. august. Da har Senterungdommen en større delegasjon, som betyr at enda flere får oppleve politikken og det sosiale i den nordiske dimensjonen.

 

Well, I guess it doesn't come as a surprise, but since I'm back in Bergen; It rains. We are actually about to break a Norwegian record when it comes to how many days in a row it rains. The record i 86 days (probably held by Bergen itself) and I think we have reached about 76 here now. A good thing is that I'm only been here for 5 days:-)

 

But on tuesday I tried to buy an umbrella. Me and Ingrid was on the way home from the gym and of course it rained outside. So I went by a store and bought a brand, new umbrella. Worked fine the first metres, but when I passed the fish market some kind of a storm went by and ruined the whole thing. Pang, Pang, pang!! didn't even have the time to react. So no more umbrella for Anja.. Raincoat is probably the best choice from now one!

 

Well, well.. have to run! Tonight me and Ingrid is having another go on the gym and later I'm going to see the prime minister hold a speech. Hopefully, he has something reasonable to say:-)

Yeah, so has 2007 started and the holiday is moving towards the end. My computer hasn't gained a lot af attention during the vacation, but I see that as a good sign that I have other things to do. But at least now I will post a blog.

 

I've read several blogs today about the year that has passed and the year just started. For many, it seems like it's time for reflection (just like reflection assignment?). Well, the year that has passed has in most ways been great. Of course, I still haven't found the one and only (for me) and we're now one person less on my home farm, but except from that I've experienced another great year. The year started in Vienna and ended in the most rainy new years eve in Skien ever. A lot has happened between. I've lived in Helsinki for almost 4 mounths and had a great time, I've travelled to some new destinations (e.g. Salzburg, Åland, Switzerland, Canada and St.Petersburg), I've been the maid of honour in a wedding and elected president in a Nordic political organisation. In addiotion to a lot of other things, I get kind of stressed thinking about it.

 

Well, the year that is coming up won't be less stressful. Gonna finish my bachelor and start my master (only problem: which one?), it's election year again (local ones - my favourites) and still I have this president job to fulfill. But hopefully, it will be ok this year too:-) The first thing to do is to move back to Bergen and our great, cold appartment on sunday!

Yesterday, me, Vojta and Christan went to a Christmas concert with a choir in the Temple Church (for those who don't know; the church is built in stone and gives a perfect acoustics), and it was really nice. Of course, everything was in Finnish so did not understand that much.. But at least, some of the old traditional Christmas song was played. Like my favourite; Deilig er Jorden. I was nice to experience some "high" culture after the Christmas party on saturday. We did not come home until 6.30 in the morning, so the party was of course good. Actually, we found out that we spend more than a working day at CASA that night when it comes to hours (at least us that went to the sits first).  

 

Well, since I was not productive at all yesterday today I really have to write my assignment. And it will be finished today!! No matter what... Tomorrow, we will have Pasila farewell dinner in our appartment - looking forward to that:-)

Yeah, today I had my second and final exam at HANKEN, now there is only on reflection paper again to write. Was suppose to write on it this afternoon but in the struggle between some sleep before tonight's Christmas party and writing, the bed won. So tomorrow, I will start writing again. The motivation is rather low though, on friday I'm moving home to Norway again and I would rather spend the last days sightseeing, sosializing and buy Christmas presents. Hopefully, I'll managa both:-)

 

The last week has been busy and actually I've been present at school every day. Not bad, not bad.. On monday, I had a meeting with my professor in Strategic Management, wasn't too well prepared, so basicly all the questioned I should have asked have come to me afterwards. But then I can write about that in my assignment. On tuesday I went to a lecture in Intercultural Communication Skills. I don't take the subjetc, but the students had made movies about cultural changes and since there was many exchange students involved it was very funny. The Spanish people had also brought some Spanish omelet, nam nam..

 

On wednesday, we had Swedish exam, both written and oral. And I now officially have a diploma that stats I'm at a CEFRS level B2 in Swedish, whatever that means. Before the exam, HANKEN Lucia went by and sang for us. Later in the afternoon, we went to the senate square to watch the real Swedish-Finnish Lucia. It's was raining heavily and rather a cold experience. But at least we saw her:-) Afterwards, when buying Gløgg to warm up the lady thught I was Finnish because I said kaksi instead of two. Mingling in with the locals:-) In the evening, me, Anna, michael and Christian went to Kungliga Klubben for a christmas party. Turned out there were other people I know there too, so extra fun! Saw some of the the day after when I stuck my nose inside Svensk Ungdoms gløggparty for an hour.

 

Thursday evening, me and Maren (+ others) was invited to Sudheera's place for some Indian food. We were in the same strategic management class togehter at HANKEN. The food was delicious and a not too spicy for me. It was made like this on purpose.. A really nice evening. Today, I had my exam in Business Environment Studies, think it went ok. So today, another Christmas party, with a sits this time. My second last sits in Finland..  

This weekend, all the other Pasila-people went to Stcokholm to explore what is known as the capital of Scandinavia. Well, I didn't join, not because I don't like Stockholm, but there has been a lot lately and I was just looking forward to relax one weekend, sleep until twelve and so on. And I wasn't completely alone in Pasila either, both Vojta and Viktors was here.

 

On thursday, I went with Maren to the ballet to see "The nutcracker and the mouseking", really nice. I have never seen it before, and I always love to see new things; the story was really cute. Allthough, I had some problems following eveything that happended, we pretty much sorted it out after a while. The dancers wasn't at the same level as in St. Petersburg, but I thought the level rised during the performance. All in all, some well spend time. And maybe the Christmas spirit came a little bit closer?

 

On friday, I slept until the afternoon (I don't remember the last time!), and afterwards I worked with some political stuff. For instance, the NCF home page. That one is gonna kill me one day, the system never does as I request and now it just looks bad.. But I've made a new album, and will fill it with pictures when I have time (latest at Christmas). If you want to have a look, the page is on www.ncf.to. Later in the evening I made dinner for Vojta and Viktors. We had chicken made with vegetables in the oven and baked potatoes. For dessert I made brownies and served it with ice-cream. Pretty good meal:-) At least we were full afterwards.. Later, we watched a movie, Amercian Pie 4; the naked mile. Allthough, it has some funny elements it is not nearly as fun as the first one. But you couldn't expect more from a number four in a row either.

 

Saturday arised and I countinued my homepage work. Consentrated mostly on Telemark Senterungdom's page this day. Still there is some adjustments to do, for instance to change the headings on the meny in the right order (still don't know how to do that). But you can watch the product so far: http://www.senterungdommen.no/category.php?fylkeslag=set&categoryID=9084. In the evening, we went ice-skating. Vojta had never done this before, but he was quite good for his first time. I only saw him fell once!! Afterwards, Vojta made dinner for me and Viktors (eating, eating, eating); Gulash with typical Czech doomplings (written like this?). It was really good!! And for dessert we were served a kind of pudding with vanilla taste; also really good.

 

Afterwards, since I never tried it before, we played some Power Revolution (or what it is called, it's a football game). I understand why people get addicted to this kind of game, but still it's not in my nature to play on a computer the whole night. So went to bed quite early, even though my precious Norway lost 5-0 to Latvia. A shame that will of course be played a revence over.

 

Today, the others are back from Stockholm, but they seemed tired so think everyone will sleep for a few more hours. I will try to do some schoolwork today, for instance start on my last paper on HANKEN. I'm seeing the end of this assignement semester now:-)

Nå begynner jeg kanskje å føle et lite snev av julestemning etterhvert; åpna seks luker i julekalenderen som kosta under 1 EURO, men allikavel har ganske god sjokolade, har snart ingen forelesninger igjen og bare en eksamen og to oppgaver og i morra skal jeg og Maren se Nøtteknekkeren:-) Har aldri sett den før, så blir bra!

 

Dalana har vært på beøsk her siden i går, alltid trivelig med besøk:-) Siden det var Finlands nasjonaldag ble det ikke så veldig mye shopping og sightseeing, men vi var i byen i dag og gikk i fakkeltog. Er en tradisjon at alle studentene i Helsinki går i fakkeltog gjennom byen. Veldig mange folk der!! Litt skuffende for HANKEN sin del siden vi hadde bare to fakler på deling, men sånn blir det når flesteparten er utvekslingsstudenter og ikke vet helt hvor de skal møte opp for å fakler. Menmen.. var en trivelig opplevelse, ihvertfall veldig ulikt fra hvordan vi feirer 17. mai. Presidenten så vi og mens hu sto og vinka på verandaen.

 

Men det jeg egentlig hadde tenkt å skrive var en ønskeliste til jul:

I almost forgot, we went to a After-ski party the day before Lappland, which included a karaoke. After all, there was almost no people there and the song on the karaoke was bad. But still, I had fun:-)

Yeah, now it's probably time for an update againg, the last two weeks have been busy so the time for writing in my space have been non-existing. Schoolwork, trips, visitors and partying has stolen my time:-)

 

First, the weekend one week ago we were six exchange-students that went to Lappland to experience snow, cold and darkness. Unfortunatly, only the latter was present and the lack of snow was disappointing:-( We didn't even get the possibility to go to a husky-dog ride.. But at least we saw a polar bear in the zoo and our rental cars were brand new, ours had only gone 48 km!! So we actually drove around a lot, went to Happaranda, Sweden also where I've been before. We visited Santa Claus, which seemed like a nice man, bought a picture with us on it of course and I went to an exhibition to learn some more about Christman traditions worldwide. On sunday evening, we saw James Bond, which wasn't actually like the James Bond we know. So afterwards we burried our sorrows with cheap Estonian vodka, which showed out to not be the best experience. Just ask Piotr, he was all white the whole monday! But after another trip on the nighttrain, an old noisy one, we came home til Pasila again.

 

So followed to days with writing, writing, writing before a Polish party wednesday eveing (good food, warm gløgg made by Vojta and growded) before the frist Norwegian entered the state of Finland. Ingrid, my roommate in Bergen, Linn, my earlier roommate in Bergen, Ina, one from Skien studying in Jakobstad (more north in Finland), her roommate in Finland, Silje and Silje's friend Merete came this evening. Anyone followed? Anyway, first night we ate on Eatz, had some beers on the Australian bar and went to Onella. Unfortunalty, it wasn't that many people there but the lack of real discoteques in Bergen make everything in Helsinki ok.

 

On friday, shopping og sightseeing was on the program and in the evening Stine and Tellef also came to Helsinki. Friday evening, Egle's birthday was also celebrated!!! After a few hours of sleep, it was up again, and this time the trip went to Tallin. First, our boat was cancelled because of too much wind (should have read the signs), but we jumped on another one. It was the worst boattrip ever!! From the Norwegian delegation, only the girls from the Northern part of Norway (2) did not throw up. Otherwise, the rest of us had to give up for the storm outside. Everywhere around you was using their bags a lot!! But we finally arrived, did some sightseeing, shopping and ate at the Olde Hansa (Dalana joined us). I had saugages with bear, quite good! The trip back to Helsinki went well and in the evening we made a pre-party with the Swiss people (Christian had to friends to visit: Greg and Jonas) before we went out. First, we went to the icebar, where everything is made of ice and the temperature inside is about 10 degree minus. It was revealed that Jonas is pro-EU, so then Ingrid was pretty much occupied the rest of the evening:-) Even so, the evening must have been fun because we took the first train home in the morning at 06.07:-)

 

On sunday, everyone execpt Stine og Tellef went back to Norway and Jakobstad. We others stayed in the city, shopped, visisted the temple church (really amazing) and had dinner at the Zetor bar with the Swiss guys. I went home early to finish the second assignment for the day and luckly I made the deadline this morning at nine:-) Today, we've visited Suomenlinna and I got back my scarf back I lost on shopping on friday. Stine and Tellef left in the afternoon, and this eveing I had an entertaining dinner with Ellen, Otto and Julie. Tomorrow, Dalana is coming to Helsinki for one night and Maren is arranging a Christmas Workshop:-) Looking forward to it! Pictures is coming up..

 

Yesterday, I was invited to Maren's place for dinner. We were served Finnbiff (Reindeer with something else) with all the necessary ingredients. Afterwards we got both warm apple cake with ice and a Polish cheese-cake. DELICIOUS!! Even Karolina liked the food, although a Rudolph had to be killed to prepare it.. Have to reconsider my frozen packages of food now, it is really better with a real meal:-)

 

 

Home from a fantastic weekend in St.Petersburg (or Sovjet Union as Ingeborg would have said), a summary is coming here:-) (Write in English this time in case some of the other exchange student feel like reading it).

 

We went to St.Peterburg on thursday at 7 o'clock. Well, that will say twenty past because the German guys had overslept. It seemed like everyone else was out the night before, while I was writing assignments (typical in these days). Even so, the bus ride to Russia went well. We passed the border after a few passport check points (only one on the outside) and was in St.Peterburg aroung 16. Our hotel was a four-star outside the city center, build in concrete (betong) probably in the sixties and had a good strandard (Me and Egle shared a nice room with a fridge). It reminded me of a communistic headquarter and as Anna said on the way home one day: We'll see our beauty when it arrise!

 

Thursday evening we went to the city centre and me, Ellen, Sofie and Anna ate on a restaurant called Camelot which had a mideval theme. The food was good (but could have been more) and the chairs were high. Afterwards, we went on a boat trip on the rivers. Because of the dark outside, the fog inside and a lot of noise from the other participant, I did not catch too much of the guiding. But it was nice:-) After the boat trip, we went back to the hotel, eager to hit the night club. But since it was closed we went to the nearby store (open 24 hours), bought some russian vodka and had a party in Florian and Freddie's room.

 

The first part of friday was spent on the Heritage. It's an museum with art from all over the world. The museum consists of 7 buildings (included the Winter Palace) and consequently, we only saw some parts of it. We arrived to late after the first experience with public transport. Even though, you only can stretgh out our arm and someone will stop, you should calculate some time. Our guided tours had startet when we came, but after a shot while we found them again. The entrance to the museum was not that simple, because the cloak rooms were full and you're not allowed to were your jacket inside. But everyone could enter after a while:-) After the Heritage, we went on a road trip. We were suppose to visit Pushkin, but because of traffic jams (it is impossible to image if you haven't seen it!!) we didn't make it. So, a 5-hours trip for nothing was dissapointing.

 

Me, Jan, Daniela, Christian, Egle, Julie and Anna went to a chinese restaurant when we came back. Later we had a pre-party at the hotel before we hit the town. We went a bar called Fidel. A really great place!! They played a lot of good music, included ACDC, and we danced almost the whole time. When we were supposed to leave, Christian met a Swiss guy on the way out and I stayed behind with him. Resulted in a lot of chit-chatting with different people (met a Norwegian girl also), the prize of the drinks was increasing, Christian's jacket was stolen and the most expensive taxi bill ever. We were drunk and we were fooled. But at least we learned until next time:-)

 

The day after started harsh. Egle woke me up at 9.30 (we were leaving at 10), so the only breakfast I managed to get was a dry sandwich with ham and cheese. But I managed to reach the bus:-) The following program was a sightseeing trip for four-five hours. We saw a lot what is to be seen in St.Petterburg and of course my favorite was the Savior on the Blood Cathedral. It's just so nice!!! And I'd been looking forward to see it the whole trip:-) We also visited a souvenir-market where I bought some shot-glasses for my collection and a babuska (don't know how to write it, but is a lady with six ladies inside). The rest of the afternoon we spent eating lunch, doing some shopping (Christian needed a new jacket) and visit the black market. In the evening, we went to the ballet and watched Sleeping Beauty. Even though, it was long (more than 4 hours), it was great!! Jan also had some great comments during the show, so that made it even more entertaining. Spiderman:-)

 

The rest of the night we spent on KFC to get some food and at a club. Because of the food, we arrieved later than the others to the club and had to wait in line outside. It was freezing!! But we managed to come inside after a while and the club was nice. The only problem was that we always paid 100 rubles more for each beer, don't know if we looked rich or something. I didn't stay there until the end (as of course Julie did:-)), but was in my bed a quarter past six (included a trip to the shop and after-party). A good inwestment in sleep:-)

 

On sunday, our trip back startet at twelve. It went well, but was kind of boring.. Alway boring to travel home again. But Johnny Depp and a lottery made it a little bit more exiting and we were back in Helsinki around 8. That was most of the things happening and pictures will come up soon. There is just so many, so have to make a selection!