2007 - here we come

Turkey in the oven? Check. Ironed dress? Check. Not burnt dress while ironing? Check. Hair and makeup? Check. Money to get a taxi home in the wee hours? Check. Party spirit? Well, not really, however for tonight (and tonight only), I'll ignore the grudge I usually have towards New Year's Eve and give it a go. You never know, it could actually be fun.

Have an absolutely fantastic New Year, guys! There are 365 days just waiting for you to fill with happiness and laughter, fun and excitement, tears and joy. Wishing you all the best for 2007.

The road to happiness?

"Hei, jeg er hun sprø venninna til (...), notoriously singel, og håpløs med gutter. Blir du med og tar en kaffe, og da mener jeg selvfølgelig en øl, etterfulgt av enda en, klinings, fylleangst og du ender opp med å blokkere telefonnummeret mitt."

Hehe...don't ask, I wouldn't go for that either.

Lights out

I live on the top floor at all the roomies have windows facing the street. As a result it is very easy to see who's home and who's not. I love walking along the street next to the church and see all the lights flashing, knowing there'll be lots of happy people to chat to when I get in. We're back to the flatmate-issue and I think I'll have to conclude with the fact it would've been boring without them. Trude reminded me yesterday how great a flatmate can be (ingen over, ingen ved siden), and I am forever thankful.

Nevertheless, for the weekend (and NYE) the roomies have gone missing in action and left the big city for a rather small, but very idylic (at least in summertime) town in the southern part of Norway. A whole weekend to myself, not to mention the year's biggest party night. Not that I'm looking that much forward to it actually. After the New Years Eve of all Eves in 2003/2004 in Sydney (think singlets and flip flops, not a winter jacket in sight, four million people out in the streets and the most spectacular fireworks ever), I doubt anything can beat it (I know I should be trying, rather than boycotting the night and giving up).

New Year's Eve is a weird day, everyone has hopes to it, which they should as it's the start to a new year, and it's good to have hopes to the new year, however, it also ends an old one, and if that hasn't gone exactly as you wanted/wished/preferred it's kind of too late to do anything with it then. Luckily there's a new one coming up, so you could always try to make that better, but I hate leaving things behind unfinished. Not that I din't fulfill this year's resolutions, of course I did! Can't remember if I had any, actually. Must have been something with travelling...

But you know the usual ones always pops up: stop smoking (not that I ever have), exercise more, eat less junk, earn more money, learn Mandarin/Russian/Urdu, make friends, improve life etc, etc, radarada. Rubbish. A friend said he had to start the new year in the arms of a girl, and that of course also brings out the inevitable question of your martial status. Are you single at the begininng of 2007 as well?? Jesus, woman! Hmm...well, still got a few days don't I?

Lights on!!

30 - 2

21. 22. 358. 3. 45. 7. 16. 50

My sister turned 21 today. Hooraay! My parents have been married 22 years. It's the 358th day of the year. I got 3 bottles of wine for Christmas. My auntie lives 45 kilometres out of Oslo. I've been 7 times to Australia and I've got 16 countries to visit before I am at 50 in total. Mongolia, the Soviet Republic and Marocco is included. Bahrain is not.

Numbers are quite cool actually, and can mean a lot, or nothing, to people. Triskaidekaphobia is the name for the phobia for number 13. 420 means peace, man to some people and nada to others, the speed limit in Norway is 100, it's 37 years since the coup in Libya and number 9 is the "luckiest" number.

But what's 30 - 2? The scoreboard after the Heia Tufte-gang played some favela-team in Saõ Paolo? The middle temperature in Oslo during August? Bad boys in my life vs nice boys in my life?

It is two life saving numbers. Number of heart compressions followed by number of breaths. And you should exercise these number if someone you love/hate/don't know/etc/etc fall over with a heart attack. It actually came up during our Christmas lunch today somehow, because at my cousin's school they've given every 7th grader a practice-heart-lung-compressions-doll, where the kids promise to teach their families the procedure and through word of mouth the mouth-to-mouth-method shall become widely known in Norway, and hopefully prevent the large number of these kind of deaths. I reckon that's a pretty good idea. You try and remember it too.

My personal favourite is 13.

Que bueno, voy a ir a Nicaragua

Yess! I am heading to Nicaragua!!! If I didn't have ears I'll promise you my smile would've gone all the way around my head. I am going to Nicaragua! I get to travel!! You get an interesting blog to read! Win-win! Absolutely fantastic! I'm pretty excited, and my last few days at work has been, naturally, awesome!

I also have awesome flatmates, we had a great dinner last night, and I've already gotten some good gifts for Christmas. So must've done something good with the carma. Discussed it with Kristoffer and William last night, what religion carma belonged to, but don't really think we came to a conclusion. It's awesome when it does your good at least, and I'll keep being nice, that's for sure.

Another awesome flatmate has offered me a date for NYE, so can't say she isn't awesome either. Stian (not flatmate, yet still in the circle of trust) mentioned that one of my previous blogs written at a rather early time of the morning (or late, glass is half full/half empty) contained at least four "awesomes" in every sentence. Fairly enough noticed, however, it might have been the wine speaking. Now I've been at Kristine's making gingerbread cookies, which was pretty awesome (allright, Stian, mocking you), however, a large amount of sugar in my bloodstream might be doing the talking now.


Congratulations on your licence, Marco. Buckle up.

United we stand

It's now been more than six months since I realized Norway was the place to be (or at least where I could get a job), and I moved to Oslo. I lived for two months at a student housing outside Oslo CBD, but has since August lived with Kent William, Kristin and Kristoffer. It might have been a good time to evaluate the household, however (and this despite my blog being absolutely no-findable if you search Google), I'm not a fan of saying too much in public about people I live with. Even if it's all good and glamour some people don't like to be analyzed in public. Which is fair enough (however, ask me, and I'm happy to give you all the goss)...

Anyway, why this come up today is because we are going to have the annually Flatmate-Goodbye-Before-Xmas-Party. We've bought awesome food, wine and sweets and are just going to have a great time together tonight.

But to the phenomenon of flatmates. I've had 10 in total. Ten different people I'd known for less than 15 minutes when we agreed to live together. It is actually the perfect recipe for a total disaster. However, with the exception of one (and you know who you are, our feelings were mutual), it's been a ball. I've lived with some of the best people roaming this earth. Two of them are now happily pregnant with a total of three kids. One is married, one engaged. One is on her way to become the next Secretary-General of the UN, one will become a High Court Judge, one the CEO of Nintendo and one a top designer. These are some amazing, fascinating and at some times very frustrating people I've had the privilege to live with.

All I can say is that I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I. I'll go home tonight and be nice to my roomies. They've deserved it. Merry Christmas to you all: Shabana, Nina, Trude, Stina, Cassidy, Ivy, Magnus, Kristin, Kristoffer and Kent William!

Where there's smoke there's fire

The weather has finally become so freezing I breathe frost smoke when I walk. About bloody time.

And when there's frost smoke it's nearly minus degrees, which means nearly snow. And when it starts snowing it will make my day even more fantastic than it already is. If it starts snowing I recommend that you hang out with me, I might turn out to be very nice and give you gifts (ethical ones) or bake cookies. You never know.

"Det snør det snør, tittelibom, nå snør det mye mer enn før, tittelibom og huttemegtu."

I still got to decorate my gingerbread house.

Gifts that are good for you

No, not giftcards to the gym or a cookbook with healthy food. Gifts that are good for the inner you. For your carma. Gifts that don't pollute the world with chemicals, plastic, toxins or Britney Spears' voice. Ethically correct gifts. We are talking goats and chickens, massages and computer help. In six weeks Norwegians have bought 5.885 goats and 5930 chickens for people in developing countries. You then get a card which says "You've got a goat for Christmas" and whoever you give it to knows you've done soemthing good for the world. Goooood carma.

It was the world's Buy-Nothing-Day the other week, however many chose to ignore this (yours truly included, although I didn't even buy close to what I had planned), and last Saturday Norwegians used their creditcards threemillionthreehundredandfiftythousand times.

In one day.

I love Christmas, and like getting presents, but only things I can use. Pots, pans, cutlery, steak knives and drink bottles are good. Plastic dolls, clothes that don't fit or in hideous colours, decorative stuff that's not really decorative, Wii or Playstation 2 are a waste of money (at least on me). Then I'd rather have a goat.

Anyway, what I am getting at is that Dagsavisen today had a list of environmentalfriendly gifts that people will appreciate. So I thought I'd make a Christmas-gift-list using those suggestions:

- Babysitter: Jeanette, Shabana or Ivy, three of my good friends who're all pregnant. I'm happy to babysit your offspring next year.

- Jogging company: Kristin, flatmate. I'll happily jog around Frognerparken with you. No, not really. It will be a pain in the arse, I hate jogging, but I'll still do it.

- Crash course in the use of a mobile phone: dad

- Crash course in the use of a computer: dad

- Hair cut: No one would want this from me.

- Foot massage: I wouldn't give that to anyone.

- Wash of the house: mum

- Romantic night: The man of my dreams.

Enough said. Twelve days til Christmas.

Cannot find server

"Cannot find server," or "Finner ikke server" as it is in Norwegian, must be the most annoying message my computer can display. Sometimes I've just been too quick to click on the Internet button, but most time it's because the connection is stuffed or the network is down, or some other thing that makes me incapable of doing anything useful, and leaves me sitting with Solitaire or the Paint program. Not a recipe for a productive day at work.

I've chosen to rename my blog "Finner ikke server" because it is so beyond Guatemala it's time to think a little different. This blog isn't just my travel diary anymore it's a summary of the weird and wonderful things that goes on in Oslo and Norway or wherever I happen to be.

But why have I chosen to rename it with the one message I hate the most? Because it's an invitation to innovative thinking and creativity. It's requires problem-solving and brain-activity. It could be the small gesture of just re-booting the modem or pull out all the cords of the rooter and stick'em back in, but it could also require a call to Elkjøp's Help Hotline. And if nothing works you'll have to figure out something else to do (Solitaire doesn't count, it is so boring you might as well put your screensaver on "a travel through space" and start counting the stars). But you might get something else done you wouldn't have done otherwise.

"Finner ikke server" is a reminder of the fact that things don't always go as planned, or as you prefer/wish/want. Sometimes things screw up, and you just got to live with it. But, as with the internet-connection, if somethings don't go the way you want, you just got to work with it, get over it and move on. It makes you feel better trying to figure out a solution to a problem than sitting down, frowning and eating a family-sized block of chocolate (I've tried it, and it doesn't do the work).

But all this cheer-up-chat isn't meant as a pep-talk to myself, there is nothing to worry about. It's just interesting to think about how you are doing sometimes. Sit still. Close your eyes. Play some nice music or be in a quiet room (not like me, who sitting in the kitchen with the fridge trying to exceed a space-rocket when it comes to making sounds). And think. Is there anything that's not good? Is there anything you want? Or don't want? Are you ok? Are you happy?

I'm bloody fantastic.

Frost smoke

A.k.a. "frostrøyk". It's basically when the air that comes out of your mouth when breathing freezes as a result of the temperature. Certain privileges comes with frost smoke. If it's frost smoke temperature outside and you come in, someone will almost automatically ask if you want a hot cup of tea to warm up. And it's also a good indication that Christmas is near.

Earlier today I ate this year's first bowl of porridge and drank "gløgg". These things are nearly too weird to try to explain Aussies, but porridge is rice porridge, you chuck lots of cinnamon and sugar on it and hide one almond, and whoever gets the almond gets a marzinpan pig or other kind of chocolate if no one likes marzipan. A few years back my grandfather accidently swolloed the almond, however, refused to admit that he had done so, and we'd eaten all the porridge and couldn't force the maarzipan on someone who clearly said they didn't deserve it. We ended up rock-paper-scissoring on who should get the goodies.

Back to the smoke. For the second night in a row I've walked home across Youngtorget trying to breathe frostsmoke (it's a good feeling too, not just an invitation to hot tea and xmas parties), but failed. Today has been freezing, but still, pathetically enough it being December 7th, the air has refused to freeze. Strictly to avoid this blog becoming P.C. and all, but I seriously think global warming has something to do with it. I had a quick read of some of my previous blogs, and one about me getting my licence said, and I quote "I will this summer, and now it's official, so you can all make fun of me if I don't get around and do it." I don't take it back, please feel free to mock me, by all means, however, I believe I now support the environment by not driving. I bikeride.

An issue in the papers this week has actually been about cyclists and whether they should ride with a helmet or not. It's a dumb discussion really (of course you should ride with a helmet, it's your brain all over the sidewalk there), but they've nearly come to the conclusion don't ride with a helmet! Because you get more reckless and actually has a bigger chance of getting run over. I would say four units of alcohol would make you reckless and increase your chances of getting hit, but what would I know?? It is also suggested cardrivers get less thoughtful and are more inclined to bump you off the road if you have a helmet.

Not sure what the world has come to really. Don't protect you and you are screwed, try and protect you and someone will screw you...

Back to the frost smoke again. It is cold when your eyelids freece, and they do, a few times every winter. It just has to be really, really cold. I failed blowing frostsmoke on my way home tonight, but I will try again tomorrow. It has to become winter sometime.

I did come to a few conclusions though:

1. famous people can be mean and make fun of where you work.
2. famous people can be nice and make up for it by buying you beer.
3. I want to go to Nicaragua.

Someone might say conclusion number three isn't a conclusion, but it is. I really want to go to Nicaragua. I will start lobbying at my work tomorrow.

Someone might say conclusion number one and two aren't conclusions. But they are. It depends who makes the rules. And on my lonely planet, I make them.

Dancing bosses, green dresses, it's that time of year

Last night was the annual Kulturstudier xmas party. At my interview for the job back in July my bosses told me they were good on the party-side and there would be lots of Friday-drinks-after-work and stuff. It hasn't. But yesterday at the xmas party everyone relaxed even more than what we do at work, drank good red wine and swung around to xmas carols and alike. The whole of Kulturstudier is jampacked with adorable people, so it was pretty fun! I also met the man of my dreams. But he does't know that he fits the description yet.

Other than that the week has been packed with about 50 hours of work, not much exercise, a madrugada trip to Oslo Airport to ship an Aussie back home and a Maria Mena concert. I won tickets to this Norwegian singstar and immediately thought of giving them to my flatmate Kristoffer (who has a secret crush on everyone named Maria) as a calendar present. Unfortunately he got sick, so ended up heading off with Kristin instead. But it was a good concert, and although I might wouldn't have paid to see her, it was fun to watch her sing. Because she's definitively not bad at it.

Today I've bought all the gifts I did not buy last Saturday on Buy-Nothing-Day. But I'm not sure if it's any more politically correct to buy stuff on Sundays.

P.s. dad, you get an awesome present!