Elisabeth's thoughts and musings

Intermediate life stages...

2009-09-07T18:29:00.004+02:00

Finished my master's a few months ago, after a long gestation period, and did for the next few months take extra shifts at two different jobs, while looking for work I'm actually qualified to do - all the while working on a translation project that just fell into my lap...

Yep! My life was floating around in one of those areas of life where nothing in the future is certain, and the next, unforeseeable thing that happens is around a corner and the wall is too high for me to throw a peak over the fence instead of waiting for the turn in the road...

BUT I now have a job that I love, and which is very relevant for my studies and my interests and my background...

Thank you, Lord, for providing for me in incredible ways... That turn in the road contained a better job than I dared hope for, and I am incredibly grateful for it! I am blessed with an amazing heavenly Father!

Summer evening musings...

2008-07-06T00:15:00.003+02:00

Long summer nights call for thoughts and musings… walking home tonight from the train, through a Bergen teeming with life and happy people, with Brian Adams in my ears (oh, how I LOVE my iPod) I couldn’t help but feel almost melancholy from the beauty of it all. As I’ve moved, just a few days ago, out to one of the most charming areas of the city, to a tiny apartment that I share only with my own thoughts, I have a new path to tread on my walks home.

And it is beautiful. As I come around a big bend in the road, I get a panorama view of how the slanted rays of the evening sun turn the sea golden, and the lush greenness of summer Norway is at its most becoming. I can’t help but to think, in such moments, that if the earth can be as incredible as this, what will heaven be like? God has promised us a place where everything is made new. A place where He has removed everything that is pain, sorrow and darkness on this earth, where everything will be joy and peace, and all our thirsts will be quenched. It fills my heart with both a longing, but also with a gratitude to Him who created such beauty for us to live in and enjoy even now, before heaven! It makes me think of a few verses from the Bible, and a description of heaven:

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.”
Revelations 21, 3 – 6.

Princess (Un)Tidy?

2008-01-28T13:46:00.001+01:00

Well, after the longest blog break ever - 6 months - I thought it was high time to update a little.. It will be brief, however, due to lazinesss and a slight lack of time.. Who can be bothered to read whole novels on other people's blogs, anyway?? I thus decided that this post would consist of mainly photos, showing a little of what the past few months have contained for me.. As most of you probably know, I spent quite a bit of time during the fall at my parents', while doing my fieldwork for my master thesis.. Staying at my parents' automatically includes walking responsibilities with our little dog, and we also got to spend some quality time in front of the fire place. Having a warm, fuzzy little dog fall asleep in your lap is an amazingly tranquil feeling!

Other than travelling back and forth between Bergen and Oslo, which is what it feels like I spent the entire fall semester doing, I did do some fun things. And this spring semester in (at the moment) cold and rainy Bergen, will be spent writing my master thesis, which means I'll basically be looking like this until the end of June.. - sigh -

I must admit that I'm longing for Bergen to look like the next couple of photos, come May and June, which are the most beautiful months of the whole year in Bergen. Although I won't have very much time to enjoy it, being stuck in front of the computer with my thesis... So, as a slight comfort and for a bit of motivation during these dreary, grey winter months, I leave you with these images of better times. These photos were taken in May last year, during an amazing walk up Fløien...

Alive and kicking!

2007-07-27T01:12:00.000+02:00

After a major drought, this will, unfortunately, merely be a tiny drop of water in the parched landscape of my blogging life, as I still don't have the time to write very much. Nor the inclination, if the truth is to be told. This summer vacation is also a kind of a vacation from the internet, which I am finding much more pleasant than I first expected. My abstenance is self-chosen, so those who might think I am suffering from a lack of internet connection are sadly mistaken. Abstenance from the internet is not equivalent to abstenance from my computer, however. Let it suffice to say that my nerdy side is getting amply fed by hours spent in the of Age of Empires... The weather hasn't exactly allowed for too many outdoor activities. Bergen, being true to itself, lives up to its reputation of wetness.

Besides devouring Jan Guillou's spy/crime novels about Carl Hamilton, playing the Age of Empires and having occasional cousin slumber parties (and other parties) with Mari and Gunhild, my summer is work, work, work... See one of my first blog posts ever on this blog if you are curious about my thoughts concerning my job. I still work with selling souvenirs to tourists at Bryggen in Bergen. (A UN-protected World Heritage Site, as a matter of fact.) But enough with these ramblings... I am getting too tempted to write a proper (proper means long) blog post here, but my intention was to just let potentially worried readers (whether there are any at all is less important) know that I am not dead. Nor is this blog.

So long, my friends! In the immortal words of Arnold Schwarzenegger: "I will be back!"

My sunny Sunday!

2007-04-16T12:10:00.000+02:00

This is pretty much going to be a photo report from the simply glorious Sunday I had a couple of days ago. It was the warmest spring day of Bergen so far this year, and I feel like I did it justice!

I started the day with a hike with one of my best friends, Anette, going up to Skredderdalen - a really beautiful place, where we sat down to eat our lunch close to a little dam. We'd brought sandwiches, coffee, Oreo cookies, chocolate, apples, bananas, and Anette had even brought some Easter marsipan eggs! What a lunch for a hike! A duck couple found us quite quickly after we sat down, so we fed the female some Oreo cookies (we'd already finished our sandwiches, so the cookies were all we had left). The male wasn't too interested, perhaps he felt too proud to take charity food or something, but the female liked them very much, as she kept coming back for more after taking a little swim. I think she must've come back maybe four or five times! We also had some apples, but they didn't want those, so we ate them ourselves. Actually we shared one, and you'll see photos further down of the ingenious way Anette solved that without a knife!
One the way down we went by Fløien - (see photos from my previous posting)and the weather and the forest and everything was just incredible!

Then, as we got back down to the city, I realized I wouldn't have time to go home and freshen up, I would have to go straight to the concert held by my teacher from the folk high school I went to five years ago. And so I did, and it was great, too, seeing him and several other people from my school again - so that's what the last photo is from. We stayed to chat after the concert, too, so I wasn't home until about nine o'clock, in a very hungry state, but very happy after an amazing day!

Pretty neat, using just a Tupperware box to split an apple?!!

A very pleased Elisabeth, enjoying sunlight and fresh air, beautiful Bergen, good company and some well-earned cooffee!

See how beautiful the forest was, with the sun peaking through the tree trunks everywhere? With the greeen mossy grass covering the rocks and tree stumps, creating a very Norwegian troll fairy tale atmosphere...

And back down in the city, Anette and I walked by a tree that we just had to stop and take a closer look at. It was so beautiful and romantic, with a little bench placed right underneath the tree, and a tiny pond right next to it, filled with white flower petals floating on the surface of the water!

Robert, and

me and a couple of school mates. It was great catching up again after a long time!

Breath-taking Bergen

2007-03-28T13:24:00.000+02:00

Okay, so in order to end the month-long drought on my blog, I thought I'd just show you a little something from my hike up the Fløien mountain in Bergen yesterday, in the gorgeous evening sun. One of my flatmates and I decided to take an afternoon/early evening walk, and decided on Fløien as a suitable mix between a work-out and enjoying the spring sun. It was amazing! There was nothing but Kodak moments the entire way, both up and down the mountain! When descending we got to see the sunset the whole way, and it was just like a movie sunset. Regrettably, the batteries on my camera died halfway up, so I hardly got to document anything at all, but here's a little taste, anyway... Enjoy!

Princess Tidy: Ruling queen of procrastination

2007-02-24T14:46:00.000+01:00

This is what I'm doing, (can you see the procrastination in the vacant stare in my eyes?) when I really should be a busy little beaver, typing away on my computer to finish a writing assignment which is due Monday... Monday morning. But alas. 'Tis not happening yet. I have sent a couple of long overdue e-mails to a couple of friends abroad, one in Israel and one in Ethiopia. Lucky girls out on adventures in the big world, while I'm stuck here in grey Bergen, doing school work on a Saturday. (No, whether I have myself to thank for having to spend my Saturday doing schoolwork is besides the point, it is not the issue at hand - so leave it be!)

Oh well. I suppose I should get started now. Just felt like generously pouring out some of my thoughts and frustrations into the great void of the www...

Here is what I should look like about 5 minutes into my writing assignment:

However, I expect the realistic thing will look a bit more along the lines of this:

And more Veggie Tales!

2007-02-13T13:29:00.000+01:00

Just another couple of good links to click on, especially if you don't really know what Veggie Tales are all about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lItP3wXzhbo&NR

http://www.youtube.com/watch_fullscreen?video_id=LiBACkvosq0&l=203&t=OEgsToPDskJjpmZbX9Ji6WLrFVDaHWdH&fs=1&title=Veggietales%20-%20Dance%20of%20the%20cucumber

Veggie Tales!!!

2007-02-12T00:03:00.000+01:00

If you want a good laugh today - especially if you're in kind of a silly mood, then these sites are something you really should check out!

- http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Silly+songs+with+Larry

- http://www.bigidea.com/music/veggietunes/sing70s07.htm

- http://www.bigidea.com/music/veggietunes/sing70s09.htm

- http://www.bigidea.com/music/veggietunes/sing70s08.htm

- http://www.bigidea.com/

Though mainly the first ones, the top four. For those uninformed - Veggie Tales are American kiddie movies, with vegetables playing out biblical stories, to explain them better. They are absolutely hilarious, and very much worthwhile to watch! (However, I have to admit there is a teeny tiny chance that those of us having fond childhood/younger days' memories of these may find them slightly funnier than uninitiated people...)

Enjoy!
- PT -

Princess Tidy back on track!

2007-01-30T13:10:00.000+01:00

All righty then! After several weeks of blog break, I'm back. I am not caving in to the pressure of the harassment going on in the commentary to my previous post, mind you! This post has been on its way for some time. However, blog postings cannot simply be pressed out, there has to be time, occasion and inspiration for them to happen.

School came back with a big bang, full speed ahead from day one after the holidays, and continues that way. Fortunately, my social life has amply compensated for the tediousness of school, as that, too, has been full speed ahead, or should I say full weeks ahead, so far. Which is very nice and highly appreciated. One example of a cool thing I've done recently is from Sunday 21st (a little over a week ago). After having started the day with Sunday school in Salem, several friends and I went hiking up one of the seven mountains surrounding Bergen, Løvstakken. Bergen has, as you may or may not know, had snow for a little over a week, and the weather that day was absolutely fantastic, sunny and with snow everywhere, making everything light and bright and beautiful!

Here I am with one of my friends, on the first photo, and it's the Ulriken mountain you can see in the background. The other photo is taken from higher up the mountain, so it's an even better view of Bergen and the mountains, bathed in sunlight and snow. We went all the way up to the top of Løvstakken, where we sat enjoying the beautiful moutain and the sun, drinking cocoa and eating our sandwiches. It's incredible how good brown bread and goat cheese tastes when you're eating it outdoors! It's highly recommended, people! Later the same week (last week) I went for a good walk out to Sandviken with my cousin Mari, and we took the Fjellveien back home - everything in gorgeous, sunny weather, with a great overview of Bergen covered in white, shimmering snow.

Other new things I have done... I started taking Pilates classes with my two flat mates. We just started last week, so tonight's our second class. We thought it would be cool to do something toghether, and since all three of us liked the idea of Pilates, we signed up for it together. It is so nice! I could definitely feel the effect of all the stretching in my muscles, and still it's quite a calm way to excercise. And it's not a super easy thing, in case anyone might think so. There's actually a lot of technique to it, with how you use your breathing to activate and time your other movements, and even how you just breathe. So it's got a lot to do with concentration also. But I really liked it, so I'm looking forward to doing it tonight!

In occasion of the Pilates, we've also all three of us felt inspired to buy a fitness ball. So now we each have our own fitness ball, with which we bounce and sit and roll around our tiny appartement. It's amazing how much fun and entertainment it's possible to get out of such a thing as a gigantic ball!

Well, for today, I'll have to say - th-that's all, folks!

Ode to Jafet

2006-12-07T01:07:00.000+01:00

This furry, friendly face is our family's dog, Jafet (or in English; Japeth). Make no mistake, this is no poodle, but a first class cross-breed between a small schnauzer and a bichon frisée. (Result of a happy mishap between my aunt's dog Noah and their neighbor's dog...) He is exuberantly pleased whenever I come home, to the extent that he jumps, leaps, licks, barks, runs laps in the living room, runs laps around himself, around me, and around anyone else happening to be present. If everyone could get such a greeting at least once a day, I think the world would be a better place.

Happy hearts!

2006-11-13T15:08:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, on their one-year anniversary, my dear friend Anette was proposed to by her boyfriend Rune, and I got a happy happy happy sms from her saying "He proposed!!!! :) :) :) :)" Congratulations, you two!!! So here's a little photo of the future Mr and Mrs Stølås! For a detailed description of the proposal (which was done in a very cool way, btw), see Anette's blog - link on the righthand side here. Definitely worth a look - but it's in Norwegian, so only Norwegians will be able to read it. For the rest of you, you'll just have to trust me - it was very cool! Anette - I'm looking forward to meeting up for dinner later, getting all the details! ;) I'm so happy for you!

"Where we are from"

2006-11-06T19:33:00.000+01:00

The poem is written by my friend Tanya Edwards, from Australia. We went to a Missionary Kids' boarding school together, Vavoua International School (VIS) in Ivory Coast. I was there for grade 9 and 10, Tanya had been there for many years already when I came. We were in the same class, and for quite a bit of my two years there, we were also roomies. This is a poem she's written, published in a booklet in Australia in 2003 (copyrighted). It's posted on my blog with Tanya's permission, and I want to thank her both for sharing the booklet with me, and for letting me put this poem on my blog. I think this poem mirrors a lot of the essence of how it feels, what it really is, to be a MK, a Missionary Kid:

"Where we are from"

I left again!

We all left, again!

Not once, but, again!

It is the way of our lives to be nomads,

To wander under the stars and sun.

To never be quite sure of our home,

But lucky enough to call everywhere home.

Scattered to the east and west,

Scattered to the north and south,

Are the people we call friends.

Our accents accentuate the fact,

That we are from nowhere but everywhere.

Our ideas show to the world,

That we are not from a specific culture.

We have hours of fun,

But don't spend a cent.

Our laughs rattle the sky all day,

And our tears cloud the dark night.

Our sense of humour is lost on others,

And theirs is added to ours.

We stick up for the defenceless,

And we fall for them too.

Hugs are often,

As we know their importance.

A goodbye and see you tomorrow is a relief,

And a goodbye and hope to see you in the future is our grief.

But no matter the bad or good,

Thank you God for making me a MK.

Inadequacy in blog post management

2006-11-05T18:43:00.000+01:00

As I find myself not to be enough of a computer expert (or something like that) to be able to figure out how to write next to the photos without it being written almost vertically instead of normally beside them (I only managed for the top photo), I deemed it necessary to write some explanations in a new post. Hopefully you'll bear with me, and if you don't, well, never mind. ;)

- The second photo from the top down is of giant balls of cotton, not huge cauliflowers. Ivory Coast used to export lots of cotton, before American cotton farmers got so subsidized by their governement that they could dump the prises and squeeze the African cotton farmers out of the competition.

- The third photo is just a crowd of happy people in a market place somewhere.

- Photo number four is a line of enamel basins standing in line for the local water pump - a quite usual sight. I've helped get water from a similar pump myself, and I've carried the enamel basin on my head like other African women do - though I have to admit my basin was quite a bit smaller than the regular 60 litre size that most women would have.

A recommended web site if you're at all interested in what's going on in Africa today is BBCs excellent Africa News site: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/default.stm

More photos from amazing Ivory Coast

2006-11-05T18:32:00.000+01:00

Dried out trees in a river - can you see the little man in his carved-out tree trunk canoe?

Amazing Ivory Coast

2006-11-05T18:11:00.000+01:00

A photo from my beloved Ivory Coast, taken by the famous "The World Seen From Above" photographer Yann Arthus Bertrand. This is a tree that has been struck by lightning, fallen down and then has burnt, leaving an amazing pattern on the ground. For those not informed - I grew up in Ivory Coast, because my parents were missionaries there. Between the ages of 2,5 and 16 I lived in Ivory Coast for 10,5 years altogether, interrupted by two stays in Norway of 1 and 2 years, ages 6-7 and 11-13. A lot of numbers and ages, but those are the basics. Ivory Coast is a beautiful country in West Africa, currently sadly troubled by a civil war that has lasted for some 4-5 years now. I was fortunate enough never to experience the war, we'd gone back to Norway for good in 1998, when the country was still peaceful; one of the most prosperous and successful in the whole region ever since independence.

The world...

2006-10-28T15:02:00.000+02:00

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour."

-from William Blake,
"Auguries of Innocence"

"When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty."

-John Muir, Travels in Alaska

Housewife material?

2006-10-24T21:23:00.000+02:00

This evening I have spent most diligently, washing the floors of the whole apartement, including my room, and also tidying the latter. It was a deed of nececcity, but let's not dwell on that. The point is that I now, in my lovely clean and tidy room, am sitting down doing something I haven't done in ages (and should have done a long time ago). I am mending holes in a couple of sweaters of mine, where the seams have opened themselves up in very unpractical places. (Not that it's ever practical that seams open up, no matter where on the clothes it happens...) For instance on the lower arm, so that you find yourself sitting in class, looking down at your arms and suddenly discovering, to your own surprise and slight embarassment, and your classmates' subtle amusement, a gaping hole in your sweater staring up at you. And if you don't believe me, here's proof of my housewifely pursuits:

Late evenings, student life and the radio

2006-10-24T11:39:00.000+02:00

After two days of not being home all day, today will be yet another, although not quite as extreme as the previous two. And today I started the day with a workout! I was at the gym at 08.15!!! Yes I know, I'm so good. No need for flattery, people!

Oh well... Exams are, as I've mentioned, approaching, and the level of stress and reading intensity is on the rise. Yet again. Some times it feels like being a student is about self-punishing. I mean, you do have a freedom that you don't have when you work - for instance, the world did not come to an end simply because I overslept and missed the lecture yesterday; the nuisance of the consequences was mine alone. A missed lecture is missed knowledge, but fortunately they'd moved into things I'd already studied in another course, so I guess I was kind of lucky after all. But, digressions aside, back to my point. The so-called freedom of being a student is (in my opinion) tainted by the fact that whenever exams are coming up, and really through the rest of the year as well, one is never really finished with one's work for the day. One can always do more, and this is my eternal challenge.

Another constant challenge is getting to bed in time. I never do! And I honestly and sincerely try to, my intentions to do so are the very best, but I hardly ever succeed. Which yesterday morning's occurrence proves. After staying up very late every evening since last Thursday, and still managing to get up in good time, it caught up with me yesterday. My alarm clock was set for 08.20 (not exactly overwhelmingly early), as I had a lecture at 10.15. I do remember making good use of the snooze function on both the alarm clock and my cell phone. (I use both as alarms, to be sure to get up. Fat lot of good that did me...) The problem is that the cell phone alarm is quite easily turned off, and the alarm clock stops ringing after half an hour of snoozing... End of story is that I wake up with a start at 11 o'clock, jumping out of bed the second it strikes me what time it is, realizing that I've missed that day's lecture. I tell you, it's a nasty way to start the day, not to mention the week!

However, I did have a fun weekend, so in a way, I guess it was worth it... Spent the weekend with friends, from Friday night, at a birthday party and sleeping over at my cousin's, having a nice long morning with her on Saturday, and then going to church in the evening. Then we went to this girl's place, with some people we didn't know, and socialized well into the late hours of the night (or early hours of the morning, depending on how you look at it). Sunday morning I went to church, and afterwards I hung out with my friend Anette. We watched the Shakespeare comedy "Much Ado About Nothing", (highly recommended, btw), and made svele - a Norwegian thing. They most closely resemble American pancakes, but they are bigger, and fluffier, and are usually eaten with the afternoon coffee which is such a nice part of the Norwegian food tradition. We had them with blueberries Anette had gotten from her boyfriend's mother, and lovely cups of steaming coffee. Yummmmm!
Then later in the afternoon I met up with a couple of friends to have dinner at Egon, (a restaurant), and afterwards we went home to one of them to watch the soccer match between Bergen's team Brann (GO BRANN) and Trondheim's team Rosenborg. Unfortunately and very sadly, Rosenborg won 3-1, and this most probably lost Brann the first place of the cup this year. Incredibly annoying, but there you go. Nothing more to do about it but to hope for better things next year...

Yesterday I went straight from school to dinner with Anette at Brød og Vin (like last Monday), and then on to church at six thirty. From 8 o'clock to 9 we were answering the phones for the radio show the church broadcasts every Monday evening, receiving the requests for songs, and greetings to be read on the radio, and then passing them on to the radio host. It was great fun - I'd never done it before, but Anette asked me to help her out - so I hope to get the chance to do it again. I felt very business-like, very secretaryish. "Radio Gnisten, you are speaking with Elisabeth".

All righty, radio shows aside... My reading of James Ferguson's articles on the Copperbelt towns of Zambia, previously Northern Rhodesia, is being neglected, and I should go fulfill my duties as a mature and responsible student. Or at least pretend to do so.
Have a good one, all!
PT

Time is money - what is a samurai sword?

2006-10-17T12:07:00.000+02:00

Time is something I lack these days. Anyone recognize the feeling? Time to do things that are fun, simply because they are fun, without having to squeeze them in between all the "serious" things I have to do, school especially. I run from one thing to the next, all the while feeling that the last thought I thought never really got the chance to sink in before I had to hurry on and leave it behind.

Yesterday I had dinner with some friends at a restaurant (it was so cheap, and so good, I can't believe I haven't tried it out before - Brød og Vin!!!) after school, before I was going to meet some other friends for the rest of the evening. We were talking about exams; that I have three exams spread throughout the semester instead of at the end of it, and how I wish I had better time to let each course and the curriculum really sink in somewhat further, allowing the ideas to ripen a bit more in my mind, before having to press out all kinds of high and intelligent thoughts in an exam. And then the guy, Håkon, said that "a good thought needs ten years to be thought through". Good thinking, Håkon! Wish my professors thought the same thing, and allowed us at least a couple of more weeks between each exam...

However, I can't complain too much, I had a very good weekend! Friday evening my flatmates and I had a great time together at home, with all sorts of good things to eat and drink. Then Saturday I read a novel, and in the evening I went to church. It was a good meeting, and afterwards Cecilie and I went to the café in church. We hung about for a while, but couldn't really spot too many acquaintances, so we decided to go home and watch Kill Bill instead. And so we did. And what a cool movie! Yes, there's fountains of blood and gore enough to fill a swimming pool, but the music, and the use of sound, and the colours in the scenes! Even a cartoon part! I just sat there, completely fascinated by the different pictures created by the scenes' colour compositions! I seriously expected to not like the movie at all, it being known as such a guy movie with blood and samurai swords and all - what an awesome surprise! :)

Both Cecilie and I were extremely pleased with the fact that we don't have to wait for the second one to come out on dvd - it's already there! All we need is the time to watch it - which we definitely will! Then, when I told my friend Anette about all this, she was very eager to join in watching the second one, as she, also, has seen only the first one. So I guess an all-girls evening watching Kill Bill 2 is coming up, hopefully some time in the near future. Sorry, guys, you no longer have monopoly of Kill Bill!

Well, the books are calling me again, they're beginning to feel neglected, poor things. So - later, all!
PT

Exams, sore muscles and the Kalela dance

2006-10-09T16:37:00.000+02:00

Well, good people!
The odorous exam has been survived, I've even got the results for it, and I must confess that I am not entirely displeased with them!
So, with that announcement out of the way, I feel an urge to bemoan some rather sore muscles, particularly in my shoulder and stomach regions... The thing is that last Saturday morning, at 11 o'clock, my friend Anette and I went to work out at the gym! And we had a good work out session, too, duly proven by my still rather sore body. Working out on a Saturday morning makes one feel very good about oneself, as weekends generally are seen as a time for relaxation. Marvellous athletes that we are, we chose revitalization instead of relaxation.

And yes, if you wonder, I still feel good about it - why else would I write about it on my blog??? This is what blogs are for; instead of going around bragging about your accomplishments, you can quietly disclose the details of the said events on your blog, hope that someone reads it, and then they can compliment you on your fantastic achievements. Isn't that a lovely concept? I think it is.

The elation of completed exams didn't last very long, though. We are already back in business, with lectures and readings at full speed ahead. When checking my student e-mail account this afternoon, after class, I got a rather nasty shock; my professor asked me to prepare a presentation of a 44-page article for Wednesday morning (we have class at the horrid time of 08.15 every Wednesday)! Which has not been discussed in class, which is terribly long, and which I haven't read yet! Oh, freedom, where did you go? How can it be that you have left me this soon, after our few but wonderful post-exam days together?

Oh well, as Leonard Cohen so precisely puts it:
"There is a crack in everything,
that's how the light gets in."

I guess my best option is to attack the challenge of the work load head-on. That said, I suppose I'd best get back to my article on the Kalela dance in Zambia (or, as it was called back in the olden days when the article was written, Northern Rhodesia), and see if I can get anything sensible out of it to present to the rest of my class.

Until next time, take care, God bless! PT

Oh glorious procrastination...

2006-09-28T11:21:00.000+02:00

I have an exam tomorrow.
Yes, I know what you must be thinking. "What?!! What on earth is she doing posting stuff on her blog if she has an exam tomorrow?" Well, believe me, I'm asking myself that same question, but alas, without coming up with a very good answer... Except that, with my books in front of me, and my sexy little computer next to me, the computer won the battle for my attention. Thus, in an acute fit of boredom, I was too weak to resist, and the computer got my full attention for a little while. A comfortable moment of repose from the tedious theories of Clifford Geertz, Fredrik Barth and Pierre Bourdieu.

I have my cup of coffee next to me, and chocolate is within reach (the really dark, more healthy type - really, it is!). The rain is pattering gently on my window, (I live in an attic appartement with windows in the slanted ceiling, so I always hear the comforting sound of the rain), candles light up my room, and I've got my comfy trousers and my thick, woollen socks on. In other words; I'm all set up for a day of final perusals of anthropological theories and comparisons, before pouring out my wisdom onto sheets of paper tomorrow.

A curious little vocabulary tidbit: anthropophagic means cannibalistic.

Well, I suppose my little break has lasted long enough. I should get back to the books. I should. Although I have to say that they've never looked less tempting, and my computer never more alluring than right now... Still, I guess it's time to grow up and face my responsibilities.
But do not fear, I will be back with more of my amazing musings. In not too long, probably. I quite enjoy this blog thing. Getting to spill out my thoughts like this is in a way like thinking out loud, but with no immediate audience to cut me off or contradict me. Such an intoxicating illusion of power... But now I really have to leave before this goes completely overboard... (Too late, you might say, but let's be honest here; do you really care?)
Just know this: I will be back!

My favourite verses

2006-09-26T20:42:00.000+02:00

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7, NKJV.

What a thought, you guys, that God, the one that created everything, and without whom everything would collapse, He cares so much about each and every one of us that when we pray to Him, He answers our prayers! Maybe he doesn't always reply the way we want Him to, but we can be sure that He, who knows so much more and sees so much further than we do, knows what is best for us, better than we know it ourselves.
Some days, when life genuinely sucks and I feel like giving up on everything and everyone, this is the only thing that keeps me going.
I get to give it all to God, and say "God, life is just too much for me to deal with right now. I need you to carry both me and all the worries and thoughts I'm carrying around on my own at the moment, they're getting too heavy for me." Then I get to trust that He will do so, and that He is in control, even when I'm not. And I can trustfully, (even if it can sometimes be the hardest part of my Christian life) follow His plan for my life, because I can be sure that He will only lead me the way He sees is the best for me.

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Have a peaceful night! PT

Cousins, movies, new vocabulary....

2006-09-21T23:55:00.000+02:00

Mari and me, Easter 06. I spent quite a few glorious, but potentially mindnumbingly boring days at their house, mainly struggling with my bachelor essay, while Mari and Gunhild were writing two papers each, for school. But their dad had just bought a new digital camera, which we got a lot of fun out of... I'm telling you, bored, sleep deprived girls with a camera can result in an incredibly lame sense of humour... If it deserves to be thus labelled... And that way, mindnumbingly boring became hilariously distracting, with the lovely help and company of my two studious cousins... How far my essay got along during those holidays is another story, not to be bothered with in this forum.

This week's movie recommendation: Mari and I just watched "Thank You For Smoking"... For those of you who love arrogance honed to perfection - here in a lovely satire of the American tobacco industry and their mysterious ways in the world of lobbying - you are hereby promised chuckles, hearty laughs and snorts, for this is one masterpiece of an argumentation schooling: "If you argue correctly, you are never wrong!"

And I also learned a new English word today, which it would be criminal of me not to share with you; lackadaisical. What a mouthful! What a word! Simply marvellous! And its definition, (for you other ignoramuses) is this: "lacking vigour and determination; unenthusiastic".

For my French-speaking audience; Chers amis - Telles étaient mes réflections pour ce soir. Bonne nuit, tout le monde sous le beau ciel étoilé!

Family....

2006-09-19T18:34:00.000+02:00

This is my dear aunt Ingvild and my cousin (her daughter) Mari... They are the mother and sister of the girl who's with me on the photo posted on my second blog entry, Gunhild...

Friends!

2006-09-18T14:49:00.000+02:00

Hi. Just a short note to say that those of you who actually do know me from before, who stumble across my blog - please feel free to write me comments! I found out yesterday that an acquaintance of mine had come across my blog accidentally - quite surprising but fun! Use the opportunity to put in a little note, just saying hi or whatever, any small comment is most welcome; but first and foremost from people who actually know me. People who don't needn't feel quite so encouraged to write... ;)

Well, gotta run. Have already spent way too much time on internet today, wasting precious reading time at school... Procrastination always has been and always will be my nemesis...

Oh, I promised you enlightenment on the Princess Tidy thing. Short version, here goes: The Japanese girl in my class came into the study room, stopped up by my desk and gave me a bemused look. Then she said: "You know, I have never seen anyone so tidy as you. Always wearing white, and pink, and you always look so clean. Tell me, do you wash your clothes every day?" Then she nicknamed me Princess Tidy... So there you are, mystery solved, and you can all sleep again at night, as I'm sure it's cost you a lot of sleep, going over and over in your minds what could possibly be the background for this strange nickname thing...
...all righty...
My books are calling me all the way from my desk across the hall, as well as the little ladies' room on the other side of the wall, so I'll be off. Have a good one!
PT

Back to the books...

2006-08-30T17:54:00.000+02:00

Hello all!

Well, summer's definitely over, and school started with a bang from day one! Keeping me busy, busy, busy with all the reading, and thinking all kinds of highly intelligent thoughts, now that I'm a master's student... At least that's how it's supposed to be, isn't it? Once you become a student at the master level you just know all the answers, and reading complex articles on anthropological theory is a summer breeze... Or is it? While you think of that for a moment, I think I'll go back to cleaning up my room, which is what I was actually doing. A literary piece of art of greater length than this may or may not appear on this page sometime soon, that remains to be seen. Until then, do take care!

-Princess Tidy-

(Now you just ponder a little on why that is my pseudonym for the time being - explanations might show up later, but at the moment, I can't be bothered.)

Ode to the tourists...

2006-07-17T00:59:00.000+02:00

I hereby wish to declare my eternal gratitude to my dear friend Anette, (to whose excellent blog there is a link on the right side of this page, btw), for helping me figure out a few slightly tricky matters in the layout of this blog of mine...

Now, with that out of the way, I also have to add the beautiful piece of information that I've got two weeks' holidays facing me, starting tomorrow!!! I'll visit Marit Skinlo at her parents' for a few days, then it's on to my cousin Silje's wedding Saturday July 22nd. Finally, I return to Enebakk with my parents for a few days, before work once again calls me back to Bergen. So, fun things lie ahead...

Work, as you may or may not be aware of, is at Schjøtt, one of the (better) souvenir shops at Bryggen in Bergen, in the center of town, where all the big cruise ships come in. This means that I get to speak French and English on a daily basis, along with whatever meager Spanish and German utterings and stutterings I can manage, to attempt communication with the surprising amount of Spanish and German tourists who don't really understand any English after all... Not to mention the lovely Japanese and Russian/Eastern European elderly, who seem to firmly believe that they don't need to speak another language than their own to get happily and easily about on the opposite side of the planet without their tour guide. (And believe me, there's always a tour guide, however absent they may be when most sorely needed to resolve any number of precarious situations that may occur in a little souvenir shop, due to misunderstandings, misinterpretations and an unbelievable variety of other kinds of mishaps!)

But I have to say that this is by far the coolest summer job I've had! I still haven't started counting the days left before I'm through; a point at which I've been by this time of the summer with all my previous summer jobs. My conclusion for today is that tourists can be incredibly (and mostly unintentionally) entertaining! No, I am not in denial, (just for the record), the nasty ones definitely do exist, but so far they are largely outnumbered by the sweet, pleasant and funny ones, and I can't see any reasons why it shouldn't continue that way:)
Good night, God bless!

2006-07-08T01:21:00.000+02:00

Well! Managing to figure everything out about this new blog here wasn't all that easy, it was actually rather complicated... the fact that it's now 01:18, and that my stomach is beginning to feel sadly empty and about to complain about it, probably doesn't help... But I managed to write some stuff about myself, and I also managed to get a picture out, so the main goals of my first blog session have hereby been achieved!
I do, however, believe that the session is coming to an end soon, as I can distinctly hear the fridge calling out for me from the kitchen for a little nighttime something to pacify my roaring intestines before attempting to get some sleep tonight... Which is sorely needed, considering that last night I only slept about three and a half hours.... So, good night all!

2006-07-08T00:18:00.000+02:00

well.. so this is it. my own, official blog... and i was never going to have one... well, there you are. i guess i'm not quite as impermeable to things i initially find stupid as i like to think. ...