Life is short

They say it takes a minute

to find a special person,

an hour to appreciate them

a day to love them,

but then an entire life to forget them.

Bosvegas, AECC and life in general

After six weeks in Bournemouth, more spesifically Boscombe (apparantly the more dodgy place in town), it might be an idea to indulge people in my life here.
It is kind of surreal to picture myself here for five years. But at the same time it's a very good place to find yourself for such a long time (and time flies!). It feels as if I have known the people here forever at the same time as it feels as I only arrived yesterday.

So what has been going on since I got here?

The first week we were just settling into the house, Thomas, Ida, Hanne, Ane and I. The first days were spent cleaning the house, because it was dirty! But it was nice team-work:) And I couldn't have got better housemates!

During freshers week we had parties, we went to the beach and did a lot of fun stuff inbetween the classes and sleeping. Bournemouth has such nice beaches, they go on kilometer by kilometer. I have even been swimming in the sea, and it wasn't too cold!




Here are two of my housemates (three if you count Thomas' head).


Other things I have done:
- I have found a church - citygate church - where I will join a cell group, and I've already made some good friends there, Basia and Sophie:)
- I have joined a roing/boat club (!) and if I'll stick to it we're going on competition the 22nd November.
- Learnt all the bones in the body and actually find anatomy very interesting:)

something new

It's been over two months now. Sometimes you are able to be greatful for all the things you have got, but other times you cannot leave the feeling of overwhelming grief. Before the summer started I was planning on writing this blog thanking all the people I've met throughout the year and thanking them for having made this year what it became. I think I still will write this post, but for the moment I just need things to be, because He has set the right time for everything.
I bought a new CD of hymns that our crownprincess has put together and one of them is called 'the sorrow and happiness', how they follow eachother. they really do. now, I am leaving to start something new, something I have been looking forward to since May when I was accepted to AECC. In 9 days I will be moving to Bournemouth, which for some time seemed, not scary, but sad. I wasn't sad about going there, but I was sad about leaving Kristiansand. but now I am very ready to get started. Two months at home working in the same place as the three previous summers and not seeing many people your age can make you feel trapped. Now I'll face life again with all its challenges and joys.

Sigrid

Veit ikkje heilt kva eg skal skrive..alt er så tomt..
Ferien begynte med ein 'roadtrip' til Nord-norge saman med Hanna, Siri og Randi Helen, og dei fyrste fire dagane hadde me det veldig fint. Køyrte gjennom dei svenske skogane, besøkte Juhls sølvsmie i Kautokeino, fekk sett helleristningar i Alta før me møtte Jostein, Roar, Torill-June og Marius og sov i lavo med dei og var på Nordkapp med dei.
Men så tok den fine ferien ei heilt anna vending..

Ann Kristin ringte og fortalde om ei bilulykke i Nordland. Sigrid var tatt bort frå oss. Vår kjære, kjære Sigrid! Eg kan ikkje forstå det. De skulle på 'roadtrip' til Nord-norge akkurat som oss og ha det så gøy...
Det er så tomt no..eit stort tomrom som ingen andre kan fylle. Eg hugsar alle dei gode minna frå Ecuador og GUS, og kan berre ikkje tru at det er sant..men det er jo det..me kan aldri meir ha ei heil teamsamling, eg kan aldri meir ringe deg eller besøke deg..eller høyre den sprudlande latteren din. Du spreidde så mykje glede!
Må berre tenke på at du har det godt no, at Far passar på deg hos seg. Men det er like ubegripeleg fordet.
Saknar deg, Sigrid! Du kjem aldri til å bli gløymd, var så utruleg glad i deg!

library communities and birds

Once again I find myself in the library together with tens or maybe hundreds of other students. You feel somewhat isolated from the world outside, but for me there is this sort of sense of community in here. All of us who spend hours and hours in here have one common goal, to pass our exams (and hoping to excel in them as well:P)
We don't know eachother, we don't talk to eachother, but we see eachother.
Sometimes, though, small things can happen that increase this feeling of community. Yesterday, a bird flew in the window and couldn't get out. Everyone looked up from their books and for one brief moment we smiled at eachother and exchanged a couple of words about the bird. In that moment, just after the bird had found the right window to get back out again (happy ending), there was a funny noise, and everyone started laughing=) This was one of those moments that gives you some more energy and inspiration to keep on reading.


But all the exams tell me that a year in Kristiansand is soon passed. I have really become fond of this city/town with its small white houses and paths for biking.
I find new roads and paths all the time, and I keep on thinking "why haven't I taken my bike to check out all these places earlier?"
On Sunday I took a different road back home from the meeting than I normally do, and I found a green lung right behind an apartment building and a nice path leading to another road that I haven't walked before. As I took the road I got to another park behind a church. Towards the horizon the sky was all pink and purple from the sun setting. In that moment, everything was beautiful. The sunset resting over the city with the tower of the cathedral coming up taller than the rest of the buildings. It was one of those moments when you wish you had brought a camera.

I'm in!!

Just thought I had to let everyone know that I got an answer from AECC on Friday. They accepted me to the college!!! So in September I'll start on the chiropractic foundation year:D

Thoughts

I dreamt last night that some of my best friends from udub came to visit me here in Kristiansand as a surprise, and I was really surprised. It's when you have these dreams that you are disappointed when you wake up, and you just want to go back to sleep to spend some more minutes with the familiar faces you miss so much. But you don't realise that you miss them until you see them. Or hear them.
This has been a strange day. For some reasons my moods (yes, in plural) are changing all the time. One moment I can feel sad for no reason whatsoever. And then that's forgotten and I'm just tired or I'm actually happy and can enjoy the nice May weather. It's strange to feel out of yourself. It's hard to explain.
Have you ever had those moments when you feel that you can look at everything you do from the outside and not really be present in the moment. Everything goes by as if you aren't there. And there is this feeling of emptiness.

I guess it's just phases that we as humans go through. Not every day can be filled with sun. Today it was also the first time I actually realised that I don't know what next year will bring. My whole life I have known at this time what to do next year, but now..I don't know. Of course I know that I will either be in England or in Bergen, but I don't know which it will be. Additionally, if it's Bergen, then I have no plans for what to do after Christmas. Normally, I have the whole year planned, but now I have nothing planned. In some ways it's nice because I really have to trust God, but in other ways..well, uncertainty is mostly confusing. It is not me not knowing at all what the future brings. I have never planned years ahead, and I have never really known what to make out my life, but I have always known more than three months ahead approximately where to be the next semester. I just need to relax, I guess, because there is nothing I can do before I get replies to the applications I have sent different places.

nothing and two birthdays

I thought I'd try to just write a blog without attempting to write about anything specific and see where it would lead me. Today two people that I love very much have their birthday, my room mate at UWC, Natalia, and my mom. If I'd had a nice picture of Natalia and me on my computer I would have put it here, but the time we spent together was when I still had my old camera (meaning not a digital one).
I wish I could have been in Colombia with her now..

My mind is really empty at the moment, so I'll just post some more pics from last weekend's 'expedition'.


På den ytterste nøgne ø

i fyret med raud/svart-kvitt funksjon







moro med kamera

Last weekend I went on a trip to Lindesnes, the southern most point of Norway. We were living on a camp ground that is owned by the family of a friend. We went to the light house on day, and in the evenings we had bbqs and played games. I'll just post some pictures from the trip.
lovely hamburgers

having fun with the camera

here we are at Lindesnes Fyr, those of us who are going to the North Cape (the northern most point of Norway) this summer

chiropractor

So, hopefully in six or seven years I've become a chiropractor through AECC (Anglo-European College for Chiropractic). Hopefully!
I really hope I'll get in because it is a very good school. And I hope to get in this autumn. Originally when I figured out I wanted to become a chiropractor I thought I had to wait another year to begin, but then after corresponding with AECC I realized that I can still apply!
I really hope to get in, but I guess if it turns out that I don't get in, then that was not the plan for next year. But I am so determined so I know I will get in someday. I will work my way!

Peace

It's strange how you one moment can be so certain of one thing, before everything gets crushed beneath your feet and you feel completely messed up and confused. This is how the time after easter has been. But now I have found peace. I know that I want to become a chiropractor. It's the right thing for me!

I have actually never been so certain of anything before as I am now. And I have got it confirmed several times already. For the first time in my life I actually feel that God has told me that the path I'm about to start treading is the right one.

Easter and other thoughts..

After at least ten days of Easter holidays it's time to reenter the life as a student and try to get something useful out of the day. Not that I haven't been doing useful things while on vacation..I have been out playing in the snow with my little cousins twice, been skiing thrice and I've been working at the nursing home four days. And it's been wonderful, at least those days that I spent outside trying to catch all the rays of sun that licked my face. But everything has an end.

I don't know why chiropractic sounds tempting. Or I do. You get to work with people. You learn about diseases and how to set diagnoses. You learn about medicine and the body. Summed up. It's very interesting. A bit more interesting than sitting in an office all your life translating things, that other people already have written, into another language. It's not even your own work. And the pay is lousy. No offence, it is an interesting subject to study and the work is nice as well, but I can't imagine myself spending my whole life on that.

So I've come to a roadmark where I don't know which turn to take. Should I continue on the bachelor degree I've started? Or should I start aiming towards an education in chiropractic? The latter would mean that I have to spend five years either in England or Denmark, but I will be able to work with people for the rest of my life. Am I willing to do that? The other means that I will spend the rest of my life in an office, but I will be able to spend most of my time as a student in Norway with the exception of next year. Am I willing to do that?
Oh, big dilemma!!

I just have to think, talk and pray about it. And apply for all things possible..= a lot of work. But that's what I gotta do when I don't know what to do with my life..

Faste/fast

I dag er starten på ei 40-dagars periode med bøn og faste i Salem, menigheiten der eg går. Til vanleg er det jo ei 40 dagars faste frå fastelaven til påskedagen, og eg vurderte om eg skulle gi avkall på noko i den perioda, men så langt kom eg aldri, og no har me snart nådd påske. Men då det no har vorte sett i gang ei slik periode i Salem tenkte eg å slenga meg på. Det eg har tenkt å gi avslepp på i fyrste omgang er internett. Nærmare sagt bloggar og msn, og berre 15 minutt om dagen til å sjekke e-mail og facebook. Eg vil framleis måtte bruke internett til skulearbeid, så det er den unødvendige bruken eg vil kutte ut.
Det er difor eg skriv her, for det betyr at eg ikkje kjem til å oppdatere bloggen min på 40 dagar!

Just in case people who aren't Norwegian read my blog I'll write a short note in English as well.
Today the people in my Church has entered a period of 40 days in prayer and fast. During the fast I have chosen to give up internet (meaning blogs and msn, and only 15mins a day on e-mail and facebook alltogether( can't shut out the world completely)). Because of this I won't be updating my blog in 40 days!

Everything - Lifehouse

One of the things I do when I'm online is watching videos on youtube, and today is no exception. But for some reason I decided to check if there was anything interesting on Godtube, where I very rarely check into. And I found this video set to the song "Everything" by Lifehouse. I have listened to Lifehouse for three years now, but it was only this fall that somebody told me that it's a Christian band, or at least that the lead singer is a Christian. Just knowing they were an alternative rock group I have never listened to the lyrics as if they were written by a believe. I've always liked the lyrics and the music, but it only now that I have started putting some more meaning behind it. Like in "Everything".

Find Me Here
Speak To Me
I want to feel you
I need to hear you
You are the light
That's leading me
To the place where I find peace again.

You are the strength, that keeps me walking.
You are the hope, that keeps me trusting.
You are the light to my soul.
You are my purpose...you're everything.

And How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?

You calm the storms, and you give me rest.
You hold me in your hands, you won't let me fall.
You Steal my heart, and you take my breath away.
Would you take me in? Take me deeper now?

And How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
And how can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?

Cause you're all I want, You're all I need
You're everything,everything
You're all I want you're all I need
You're everything, everything.
You're all I want you're all I need.
You're everything, everything
You're all I want you're all I need, you're everything, everything.

And How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
And How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better, any better.

And How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?

Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't understand how I can have been listening to this song without realising that it's a love song to God.

Valet i USA og andre merkverdige ting

Tenkte eg skulle skrive eit politisk innlegg om presidentvalet i USA. Eller kanskje ikkje.
Motivasjonen til å skrive på bloggen denne gongen er vel at eg er lei av å skrive essay om presidentvalet i USA og då er alt anna betre, men så mykje politiske synspunkt vert det ikkje denne gongen heller. Som de kanskje ser så skriv eg denne gongen på norsk, noko som er grunna at folk kanskje blir lei av å berre lesa engelsk, dersom nokon les bloggen i det heile. Eg likar å tru at eg har mange internasjonale venner som les bloggen og at det difor er lurt å skrive på engelsk, men eg tvilar i grunn på at det er noko særleg mange som gidd å sjå det eg tenker på. So time to write in Norwegian, det er tross alt det eg er best på.

Veit ikkje heilt kva eg skal skrive denne gongen for alt som skjer går i ein rundgang, eg står opp, går på skule, les, et middag og så er det anten korps, cellegruppe, pubquiz, Salem eller venner. Det som er nytt då er at eg har slutta i KBB (det eine korpset) og begynt i Blæsen som er studentkorpset på UiA. Blæsen er mest for moro så det er ikkje like seriøst som KBB, noko som nok opp veldig mykje tid. Eg hadde bestemt meg for å halde fram der, men så fekk eg det plutseleg for meg at, nei, eg skal ikkje fortsette, dersom eg gjer det kjem eg til å slite meg ut. På cellegruppa har me prata om tilskyndelsar - det at Gud kan sei noko til deg - og det trur eg faktisk den tanken var. Eg vart i alle fall utruleg letta etter at eg endeleg hadde tatt den avgjersla.

Men eg må vel koma meg tilbake til primaries og caucuses og electoral college. Det som er positivt no er at eg faktisk forstår kva electoral college inneber. Eg har jo tidlegare budd i USA, og eg var der då presidentvalet i 2004 gjekk føre seg og såg statane på storskjermen som vart blåe og raude etter kvart som kvar stat hadde fått svara på the popular vote. Men om eg skjønte the electoral college systemet? Nei, absolutt ikkje. Men no gjer eg det:) Så no er eg klar til å reise tilbake og følgje med på presidentvalet til hausten og faktisk kunne delta i debattane, for no forstår eg det.

Det gjekk plutseleg opp for meg at det faktisk er ei moglegheit for at eg er der borte då, men eg kan nesten ikkje skrive noko meir om det no sidan saker og ting er veldig usikre. Men eg ser fram til å kunne få klargjort litt om hausten.

AmE versus BrE

The differences between British English and American English are becoming more and more frustrating, especially since I've made the choice to write in British English after having spent two years in the US. When I started at UWC I was determined to keep the English form which I'd used ever since elementary school, British English. But after a while I got tired of changing neighbor to neighbour and harbor to harbour when I took notes off the black board, which gradually caused me to adopt the American form of English. For about two years now I've been writing in AmE, but decided to go back to BrE when I started my BA in English-Norwegian translation. Most of the time it works fine, but sometimes going over from realize to realise and color to colour makes me having to put an effort into remembering those changes. But that is only half of it. Changing a letter here and there is not very demanding. What causes the frustration is when words don't have the same meaning or when the words for one object are different.

Here are some examples:
In England they mostly use lorry instead of truck.
In stead of writing riding comfort you should use driving comfort.
An American ton and a British ton is not the same unit, nor is a billion the same.
One billion in the US is a thousand million and one billion in Britain is a million million.
In Britain you change the tyres of your car and not the tires.
To change almost every z to an s is also quite annoying. You shouldn't write
nationalization, but nationalisation, not realize, but realise.
If this isn't enough you have the different things describing a car. You have the boot, the bonnet and the bumper of a car in England, but in the US the car has a trunk, a hood and a fender.

I could keep on going for ever, but it doesn't really lead me anywhere. Conclusion is that I just have to learn to cope with these words, memorise (not memorize) what the differences are and be consistent sticking to one form throughout a text.
Now I just have to decide which accent to work on..

things that are underestimated

I was planning to write about things of which the value is underestimated in Norway:
- garlic
- chili
- quesedillas

People in Norway are scared of these things, at least the two top ones, the latter one is rather unknown. Garlic.Oh, no, I'll get a bad breath. Yeah, that's right, but the extra flavour that it adds to the food is worth it. Chili is too hot/spicy!The Norwegian tongues aren't used to anything a bit more spicy than normal pepper, and not too much of that either. Spicy food is just so good, and the chili is really healthy too. Your metabolism goes faster and there are so many vitamines in the chili, especiall C-vitamins which is so good for you if you're fighting a cold.
Today, I made myself a quesedilla with both garlic and chili. I can't remember having seen a quesedilla since I left the US, and that's a shame, because it's such easy food to make, and it's not terribly unhealthy either.

But now over to something that annoys me.

I'm reading for my classes in "vitenskapsteori" which reminds me very much of the course "Theory of Knowledge" in the IB-curriculum. Sort of nice since it sounds so familiar. The lecturer is better too than the ones we had in UWC, so it's quite interesting actually.But that's besides the point..
I was reacting to something I was reading by Torsten Thurén.

"We may imagine the strong believing Christian who sees everything that happens as a sign of God's goodness. His atheist friend will protest:'But look at all the evil and cruel in the world.' The believer will answer:'That's the punishment for the wickedness of humans.' 'Yes, but imagine all those innocent, think of all the children who are suffering,'the sceptisist protests. The believer answers:'These are trials that have been sent to us from God.'"

I disagree in that the evil things happening in the world is God's will, and I am a believer. I don't think He wants innocent people to suffer.That children should grow up on the streets without parents, struggling for survival.I don't believe that God is punishing us by leading us into wars. That the droughts and the flods are sent by Him to punish us for the cruelty performed by humans.
I believe in an awesome God who wishes the best for everyone. A good father who sees to our needs. But I also believe that there are forces which are evil, but these are separated from God. That is why we need a God. If there was no darkness to fight against there would be no need for a good, omnipotent God. And I think that although God doesn't want us to suffer, he can't stop people from harming themselves. We have our own free will, and we are easily deceived. But God is not the one deceiving us.
God is good!

Kent =D

The plan for the weekend was to go skiing with KRIK at Hovden, which I was really looking forward to. Two whole days with snow,activity, fun and getting to know new people.But, here I am, still in Kristiansand. I'm not packing as I was supposed to be doing right now because I've gotten sick:-( And that really sucks!Bye, bye thought of getting to know more people.Bye, bye snow. Bye, bye slopes..sob.. BUT last night I was at a concert which must have been this month's pinnacle! KENT!! For those who don't know KENT, look them up on youtube or something, they are fantastic. Those who say there can't come good music from Sweden, you are mistaken! Kent must be my absolute favourite. The lyrics are fantastic and the melodies are beautiful. But here are some pictures from the concert, and maybe I'm gonna succesfully upload a video from the concert too;)

It didn't work, it took far too long...but I recorded one of the best songs on their album "Du & jag døden", meaning "You and I death". But the song is "The man in the white hat".

I really don't know what's happening to me, but I'm in this period of missing udub and then I found this film online. It's made of one of the art students in my class and I think she is a great artist (and also a wonderful person).

mi oración

Señor, te pido que me llenes con
un amor por ti que sobrepase mi
amor por algo u otra persona.
Ayúdame a respetar y apreciar tus
leyes y a comprender que están
allí para mi beneficio.

This is Kristiansand

Mette, this post is dedicated to you since you're probably very curious of what is going on in Østerveien 25 now when you're gone;) (For us who aren't as lucky being allowed to spend five weeks in Mauritius). Just have to say that the apartment is doing well, and the microwave is working;)

So, what's going on, really, in Kristiansand? The weather has turned from cold and wet to just wet. Rain every day. I'd heard that Bergen is the city where you always should have your raingear with you, but apparantly this doesn't only count for Bergen, but for Kristiansand too. This morning I put on my rainpants and rain jacket as I normally would. Since it's dark in the mornings you can't really tell whether the weather is wet or dry. Today I had bad luck. When I'd gotten out the door I realised that it wasn't raining. But my luck turned. After a couple of hours at uni the drops started falling and by the time I was done it was pouring. So, I didn't bring my raingear in vain. I don't understand the abundance of water. We should be able to transfer some of the rain we get up here to some dry area in Africa or something where they could have taken use of it.

Mostly,though, there isn't that much time to spend thinking about the weather. As a new year's resolution, as probably half the rest of the country and probably a quarter of the rest of the world, I've been planning to start to work out a bit more regularly than before Christmas. I wish it was possible to store time in reservoirs as you can with water, because time is something that for me goes and doesn't come. In many cultures the aspect of time is circular meaning you will never be able to run out of time because it will always return. Everything is a cycle, what has happened will happen once again. If a summer has passed it's not important because the same time next year there will be a new one. But in our western culture where we look at time as a linear thing, we measure it and look back at the past and into the future and it's harder to live in the moment. Even if you do live in the moment, the moment flies by so fast. I don't get hold of my time because there are so many things to do, so many people to spend the time with and not enough time.
At the same time, in eternity what goes on now doesn't really matter. This is nothing compared to eternity. With a shift in focus, focusing on what is not in this world, but on what is really important in life, what counts in eternity, maybe time here will be less important. With a focus upwards. With a focus on God who is our Saviour. It is easy to be lifted up when you go to a meeting and hear a wonderful speach, but when you get back to the stress it is easy to forget what you heard on Sunday. Maybe that should be my new year's resolution in stead. In stead of working out everyday. I will remember our Creator and remember that this is just another stage of eternity. He sees us and if I have time for Him, He will always be there because he has an abundance of time for every one.

Update...?

Well, not really...I could come with a relatively long update, but this isn't the time for it...or it might be the time for it, but I don't have time for it. Actually, right now I should be in bed, but then I felt that it is such a long time since I've updated my blog, so though this is just a lot of BS just so that I can say that I have updated lately, it is an update...
That was a lot of words just saying the same all over...

Oh yeah, I can put in some pics from the weekend down in Kristiansand (cause I've been back for a week and some days now, and the weather is crazy).


And this picture doesn't give justice to the weather, because it has really been quite terrible. Blizzards, rain, slush...it's just been wild:P Where I come from the weather is normally a little more stable than what it is down here, but it's on the coast so I shouldn't expect anything else.

Today my I was up at the pub-quiz, and my team came third!!!(out of 35) A good start:) yeay!