Wii, what??

Imagine two grown up guys, having just been at work all day and now ready for a quiet night in front of the telly. Imagine them not sitting still chilling out, but rather boxing like crazy with two white remotes in their hands. Ducking, hitting an upper-cut, round-punch, knock-out - OUCH!! Yep, that's appearantly what the new Nintendo (?) Wii play console will do with your flatmates. William and Kristoffer were testing out Wii last night and the boxing match just looked ridiculous. For Kristin and me it sure was more fun watching them than the actual game. Anyway, this interactive (can't believe I actually write about computer-games) game really wants you to participate but when I later beat William at both tennis and bowling, the two sports I definitively suck the most at, I realized it just ain't realistic, nevertheless, made up for ten minutes of kinda fun on an otherwise quiet Wednesday evening.

You gotta love the warning at the start of the game "Please make sure there are no people or objects around you that you can bump into." What is this? Subliminal exercise-messages? Actually sponsored by the Heart&Lung-foundation? Maybe even McDonalds? You never know in these times when even sushi at a London restaurant will knock you off your feet.

December 1st tomorrow! Better wrap the calendar-pressies.

Test

Dette er en test. I x-plore der jeg jobber er vi relativt avhengige av at når folk søker på Google etter for eksempel frivillig arbeid vil våre hjemmesider komme høyt opp på lista. For hvor ofte blar du lengre enn side to når du gjøre et Googlesøk? Det var det jeg tenkte ja, du kommer neppe lengre enn side én. Men, ihvertfall, vår nederlandskfødte-engelsktalende-australiaboende sjef har skikkelig peiling på Google og søkemonitorer og får oss i x-plore dermed nesten høyest på lista uansett hva du søker på som gjelder frivillig arbeid og Work & Travel i utlandet. Bloggene deltakerne våre har kommer også bra høyt opp. Hvorfor? Fordi websidene er tilpasset etter hva søkemonitorene leter etter. Bloggene er for eksempel oftest skrevet på norsk, men er tilknyttet www.travellerspoint.com, som er en internasjonal side og som får mange treff totalt. Så da vil summen av at du søker etter norske sider og bakgrunnen travellerspoint har tilsammen gjøre at woopti, der kom våre deltakere høyt opp på lista. Siden jeg har skrevet min blogg på engelsk (og den dermed blir en av mange millioner engelske blogger på blogspot.com) skal man søke sinnsykt spesifikt for å få den opp. Men, nå prøver jeg med et innlegg på norsk bare for å se om det gjør noe. Om det er det lille som skal til for at redaktøren i National Geographic får øynene opp for min blogg og tilbyr meg jobb som freelance reisejournalist. Man kan jo alltids håpe, og når jeg allikevel sitter her (fortsatt ganske sur over den meget lave dørvakta som ikke slapp meg inn på Bjørungs), kan jeg like gjerne teste ut halvgærne internetteorier. Eventuelt bare gå å legge meg. Det var neste punkt på lista. Og dette blir siste blogg på norsk.

God natt!

Paypack time vol. 2

Sometimes you pay back money you owe (like what I owe the government). Other times you pay back because you are jealous or someone has done you something wrong. My crime this time was being nearly 6 foot tall, and totally intimidating the 4 feet 8 inches bouncer at the nightclub we usually go to. I'd been having a good night with some friends and was ready to continue the partying into the wee hours, just to be stopped by this short ass wanker pointing at the sign saying the age limit for this particular party spot was 23 years of age. The only reason is of course they want people with money, and somehow thinks older people have more money. Total ¤/#&%" (there was another word there for a short time until I realized my grandma reads the blog). I haven't had a problem getting into clubs since I was 17, so obviously slighly pissed off for getting my night cut short by (haha) an equally short guy.

Luckily, I'll be old enough eventually, he'll stay short forever. Karma getting right back at'ya!

Buy-Nothing-Day

I am usually very good at remembering things. For yonks I used to remember silly and insignificant details like the actual time difference between Bergen and Oslo is 22 minutes, and the tallest mountain in Australia is 2228 meter high. However, now, when it comes to important things I should remember I have to make lists. And one list that is rather important in the upcoming month is whoever is on my Christmas-present list. Don't worry if you're not there, I'm not that good any more at getting fabulous presents, but I do find a good one now and then (it was probably not yours anyway).

Tomorrow is the world's Buy Nothing-day, which I (slightly worn down by guilt) will spend doing all my Christmas-present-shopping. It's not because I don't support a less consumer-focused society, it's just because it's my first free Saturday for more than a month, and my last free Saturday until Christmas.

Anyway, if you believe you should be on my Christmas-present-list and doubt you are there I'd recommend you sending me a rather nice email with some kind words, followed by some flowers and chocolate (preferably anonymously to my work so they all think I've got tons of admirers), promises of that you will remember my birthday which often drowns in the aftermath of gingerbread-biscuits and Christmas-lights, and I'll consider getting you something you need for Christmas. Or, to quote the ultimate chick-flick and feel good movie, Love Actually, "I don't want something I need, I want something I want."

That's a great start to Buy Nothing-Day.

One month til Santa's coming. Hohoho...

Payback time

We have this system in Norway where you can borrow sh**loads of money from the government to study and get a degree, but they don't prepare you for the day a letter drops down in your mailbox and says "GET ON WITH IT, MARIA, YOU'VE SPENT ENOUGH OF OUR MONEY ON WICKED HOLIDAYS AROUND THE WORLD, IT'S ABOUT BLOODY TIME TO PAY BACK." As you can imagine, a great start to the weekend, and now I better apply for some more work if I want to become debtfree before 2026.

Donations are accepted.