For unto us a child is born!!

Christmas!! Today I will let the scripture talk...(I'll write in Norwegian, but read Luke 2 and Isaiah 9,6)



"For eit barn er os født,
ein son er oss gjeven.
Herreveldet kviler
på hans aksler,
og han kallast:
Underfull Rådgjevar,
Veldig Gud,
Evig Far, Fredsfyrste."
Jesaja 9,6


I dei dagane lét keisar Augustus lysa ut at det skulle takast manntal over heile verda. 2 Dette var første gongen dei tok manntal, og det hende medan Kvirinius var landshovding i Syria. 3 Då fór alle heim, kvar til sin by, og skulle skriva seg i manntalet.
4 Også Josef drog då frå byen Nasaret i Galilea og opp til Judea, til Davidsbyen, som heiter Betlehem, for han høyrde til Davids hus og ætt, 5 og skulle skriva seg der saman med Maria, som han var trulova med. Ho venta då barn. 6 Og medan dei var der, kom tida då ho skulle føda, 7 og ho fekk son sin, den førstefødde; ho sveipte han og la han i ei krubbe, for dei fann ikkje husrom nokon stad.
8 Det var nokre gjetarar der i området som var ute på markene og heldt vakt over flokken sin om natta. 9 Med eitt stod ein Herrens engel framfor dei, og Herrens herlegdom lyste kringom dei. Då vart dei gripne av stor redsle. 10 Men engelen sa til dei: «Ver ikkje redde! Sjå, eg kjem til dykk med bod om ei stor glede, ei glede for heile folket. 11 I dag er det fødd dykk ein frelsar i Davids by. Han er Messias, Herren. 12 Og det skal de ha til teikn: De skal finna eit barn som er sveipt og ligg i ei krubbe.» 13 Brått var det ein stor himmelhær saman med engelen; dei lova Gud og song:
14 «Ære vere Gud i det høgste,
og fred på jorda
blant menneske som Gud har glede i!»
15 Då englane hadde fare tilbake til himmelen, sa gjetarane til kvarandre: «Lat oss gå inn til Betlehem og sjå dette som har hendt, det som Herren har kunngjort for oss.» 16 Så skunda dei seg dit og fann Maria og Josef og det vesle barnet som låg i krubba. 17 Då dei fekk sjå det, fortalde dei alt som hadde vorte sagt dei om dette barnet. 18 Alle som høyrde på, undra seg over det gjetarane fortalde. 19 Men Maria gøymde alt dette i hjartet sitt og grunda på det. 20 Og gjetarane vende tilbake. Dei lova og prisa Gud for alt dei hadde høyrt og sett; alt var slik som det var sagt dei.
Luk 2,1-20

My christmas journal

I've decided to do something new thise year since I haven't gotten around to the traditional christmas card writing.. in stead I'm going to make a journal over the 'happenings' of this year's holiday. As I, for the first time this year, have broughg no books (that are in the curriculum that is), I find myself with an abundance of time which I can spend on blogging. Another thing which might add to that is that I've gotten a new digital camera, and why should I take pictures if I'm not going to use them?
Just a small picture to show those who haven't seen me in a while that I still look like me:P
Maybe that means that I have to write some more about me... there's not much to say, I'm done with my exams for this term and I got back home yesterday, which is lovely..or...at least quiet..


The 'Advent Star', the star that shines from the first of December till 13 days after x-mas day. And it lights up windows throughout the country and reminds us what time of year it is. It isn't real advent before the star is put up.


And with christmas come all the christmas preparations.. cookies to be made, rooms to be cleaned...and brass, copper and silver to be polished! That is what I have been doing for the last couple of days, I've been polishing these yellow-coloured metal items. I don't understand where my mom finds all these things cause they must appear from deep inside drawers and should never have been allowed to see the light of day, at least not my fingers. But they all get so pretty and shiny afterwards;)


(hope these pictures aren't as dark as they appeared on our desktop screen..they looked much better on my laptop:s)




For those who believe that during winter time in Norway it is dark 24/7, that isn't so. But it is true that the sun doesn't shine everywhere, and this is about how much sun I can expect to see during this break. It is full daylight, but we're missing out on the rays from the sun because of the mountains. So the only sun I will see is when it touches the mountains on the other side of the lake.

Now, I'm gonna sit down by the fire...



...and start on this book.

Ecuador

It's funny how one thing can lead to another, especially when you're online looking for something and then something else will turn up. I was in such a mood for a couple of minutes that I really missed my udub-peeps and I did the classical thing...searching for UWC USA on youtube. But what turned up was a movie about a guy-a quiteño- who is an alumni from the school, but now he was back in Ecuador. Just listening to the Spanish and watching Ecuador was enough to make me miss the country. I don't miss Ecuador very often, but now I really noticed how much I would like to go back, how I feel that it is my country. It is a country where I have lived and that I know.
So here is a movie just to show how beautiful it is..and if you speak Spanish, listen to the song:) I'm not born in the country, but I still feel at home there.

All I want for Christmas...

It is only fifteen days till Christmas Eve which was the best day of the year when I was smaller. Now, Christmas Eve isn't that important to me anymore, but the whole holiday season is what matters. Just being able to get a break from school and go home to see family and friends. It is about two months since last time I was, which isn't that long considering that for several years now it has been almost five months between each time I've been home.
All I want for Christmas this year is snow, I wanta white Christmas. Last Christmas was spent with my wonderful Ecuador-team, Joel and Jon Petter in the jungle, la selva, and it was the best vacation ever(!), but it wasn't Christmas. Well, Christmas Eve actually felt very much like it would have been at home with the exception of not being with family, but at that point last year, the team was my family.

But a white Christmas would have been amazing, because you don't see much snow in Kristiansand. I preferred New Mexico, where there was some chance of snow, and at least no rain.

Yesterday it was the 'julbord' with the translators (the first and third year of the bachelor degree), which is a nice party where everyone dresses up and eat heaps of Norwegian Christmas food. It was delicious...food you only get once a year..mmm...and you get to talk to people you haven't met that often. Afterwards we went out to this place called kick, the music was unfortunately not the best, but it was fun anyways! I haven't gone out much lately, and the last couple of weeks I have only been reading, which means that I haven't done anything on weekend nights, which is kind of boring. But I decided to take this weekend off to relax which is one of the best decisions I've ever made. Now I'm fresh and ready to face the books again tomorrow:)

So, I was supposed to write about Christmas, but I think I rather need to make myself some dinner...
Ok, more Christmas to come in future posts, maybe when I've gotten home and the peace of Christmas has settled and I can feel the fragrance of pine and gingerbread cookies in the house;)

Lester B. Pearson

"How can there be peace
without people understanding eachother
and how can they understand eachother
without knowing eachother"


I think this is what Lester Pearson said in his Nobel Peace Price speech, and this has become some of the foundation of and reason behind the united world colleges - UWC.



For one and a half week now I have been studying for my intercultural communication examination, and in the book I've been reading, I saw this quote and it reminded me (as almost everything else in that book) of my experiences at the college.
I realised how much I miss spending time with internationals and not only Norwegians. Spending those two years at the United World College of the American West has taught me so much and it is first now when I'm actually studying the subject that I pay attention to this. It is funny how I can read examples of experiences that the author has had and say that I have been in the exact same situation. I can read about stereotypes and think that this is how I have perceived people from different cultures as well, and I nod when I read about how stereotypes are washed away when you get to know people on a personal level and see them as exactly what they are, individuals with their own ideas - not solely reflecting their cultural background, but their own thoughts.

In about a year's time I will be in England, again experiencing the beauty of international living. I must admit that I have become very fond of Norway again and only a month ago I had no need to go abroad in very near future. I could even now say that I wouldn't be sad if I were to stay in Norway for the next couple of years either, but reality is that I am going to Exeter (probably)so I just have to start looking forward to it. So, that is what I have been doing the last month - adjusting my mind to the idea of going abroad again, and now I have succeeded:-) yeay!