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!