Prestekragerommet

Culture shock...

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 22:01:00 +0000

...believe me, it's not fun.

Det finnes tre ting som ikke kan skjules: Kjærlighet, røyk, og en mann som rir på en kamel...

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:06:00 +0000

-arabisk ordtak

Fineste paret

Takk for

at du ikke alltid er enig med meg,selv når jeg vil du skal være det

at du lar meg gråte når jeg trenger det, og kjefte når jeg må det

at du tar deg tid til meg, selv når du har mye annet å gjøre

at du tror på meg, selv når jeg ikke tror på meg selv

at du ler, selv om vitsene mine (av og til) er dårlige

at du hører på meg, til og med når jeg snakker tull

at du synes jeg er fin, til og med når jeg er småsyk

at du er tålmodig, når jeg trenger litt mer tid

at du tenker løsning, når jeg tenker problem

at du er ærlig, selv om det ikke alltid er lett

at jeg passer perfekt inn i armkroken din

at du kan snakke med meg om troen din

at du liker meg akkurat slik som jeg er

at du vet at jeg liker deg også, akkurat slik som du er

The war in Somalia

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:56:00 +0000

I read my daily dose of news today and came over an article about the war in Somalia. Honestly, I didn't even know there was a war in Somalia. But the fights there has killed around 20 000 people, and hurt even more - physicaly and mentaly. The war is between the islami al-shabaab-warriors and somalian forces with support from The African union AU.

1 of 10 children born will not live to see their first birthday. And 30% of the population does not have access to clean drinkingwater.

They actually don't know how many children that are victims for these war actions. Somalia is said to be the most dangerous place to live, especially for children.

The article I read was about a eight year old boy that got shot in the face. He was walking home with his mother from a marked in the somalian capital Mogadishu. The mother was hit in the palm of her hand, and then the bullet went into the little boy's jaw, nose, and mouth.

Two months later his nose is just a small hole. His mouth is always open because he has no upper lip, and his right eye is gone. He can hardly speak.

Underneath a picture of him playing with his toy-helicopter it's written that playing with his helicopter helps him keep his spirit up.

Often I just jump over those kind of articles. But that picture of him sitting there with bandages all over his face, playing with his helicopter - it just pierced my heart. This is a little boy. He is as real as you and me.

These are real people.

I don't know what more to say. My head is full of thoughts, but I can't get them out.

My heart goes out to Ahmed, and Somalia today.

How you know that it's real love...

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:31:00 +0000

Espen sent me this saying: "Welcome to the rest of your life"

Her: "Why don't we ever go to the theatre?"

Him: Hello?

Shoot!

Girls night out

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:40:00 +0000

Maries nr.1 girl Rose is in Slovakia this weekend. And of course we had to show her a good time. So for the first time since we got down here, we went out. Three somewhat crazy girls coming together, this just had to be good. And indeed it was.

Met up with some people from class and chatted for a bit. Then we had to check out a real slovakian disco. With our chicken dance, macarena, salsa, and what not, we certainly showed those slovak people how it's done - norwegian style.

At 3am the feet of those not used to high-heals were screaming for mercy, so we headed home.

Wandering home from Maries place all by myself I was feeling grateful. Grateful for a lovely evening, good friends, and of course my boyfriend Espen. I miss him a lot.

I took one for, ehm, well...me? today...

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:44:00 +0000

This morning a song was stuck on my brain, "I hurt myself today" by Johnny Cash. Little did I know that it would become true this very day.

Yesterday I poked my finger on purpose. Today it was not on purpose.

I was making lunch for Gina and I, and had to cut the rolls (rundstykker). I wanted to do it the easy way, the way my mother does it. She just holds the roll in one hand, and cut it with the breadknife with the other hand. I'm not my mum.

I cut my finger. And I actually noticed that it was cutting my finger, but I didn't stop at once. Guess I was to bewildered at the moment to stop cutting. So I cut my finger, I cut it deep.

And as you all know by now, I know how to bleed. So our kitchen was quite a mess, especially our sink. And a bit of our couch as well, because I had to take a picture of my injury of course.

So now I have one blue -, and one deeply cut fingertip.

19 november, Far sin bursdag...

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:46:00 +0000

I går skulle jeg har ringt hjem til Norge, til far. Gratulerer med dagen skulle jeg sagt. Gratulerer med 61 års dagen. Så skulle far sagt at det var kjekt at jeg husket på ham, at han satte pris på det. Like etter hadde han spurt meg hvordan jeg hadde det. Far sa alltid at han hadde det godt når jeg hadde det godt. Vi hadde ikke snakket lenge, for det er dyrt å ringe utenlands. Dessuten så likte ikke far å snakke i telefonen, og det gjør vel strengt tatt ikke jeg heller. Men han hadde alltid tid til en prat med meg, telefon eller ei. Det var noe av det beste med far, han hadde alltid tid. Tid som han ønsket å bruke på, og med, familien sin.

Gårsdagen ble en vanlig dag for meg, selv om jeg hele tiden kjente meg hakket tyngre til sinns fordi jeg visste at det var fars bursdag.

Sorgen er der enda, men den er anderledes.

Jeg tenker ofte at jeg hadde trengt far her. Samtidig så ser jeg jo at jeg klarer meg, og det er godt. Skulle selvfølgelig gjerne hatt far her, uten tvil.

For jeg savner far, jeg savner far så fryktelig.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.

In this world you will have trouble.

But take heart!

I have overcome the world." John 16, 33 NIV

I took one for the team today...

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:33:00 +0000

In biology practical today we needed blood. We were making bloodsmears to look at in the microscope. Eight people in the group, we needed eight drops of blood.

A fellow classmate volunteered. Shaking like a leaf he poked his finger with the needle. Turnes out he didn't bleed well. He had to force out the blood, and still there was to little. He poked his finger again and again to see if he could get more blood. He couldn't.

Patience not being a good quality of mine, but knowing bleeding is, I asked for a needle of my own. Our teacher ran (!) to find me a needle (my fellowstudent had used all the other needles).

I disinfected my finger and grabbed the needle. Tried to pierce the skin gently, but desided that the best thing would be to just poke it with force. And so I did. The needle went deep.

And it bled. Not only where it should, but all over the place.

After donating my blood to everyone who was in need, the bleeding wouldn't stop.

So the teacher found me some sticking plaster.

Now the tip of my finger is blue, but it's ok. I took one for the team.

Takk lillebror

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:21:00 +0000

Some days ago I got a note in the post telling me a package was waiting for me at the post office. It was from amazon, and I could not recall ordering anything from amazon lately.

Today I went to collect my mystery package.

When I got home and opened it, and realised what it was, I was touched. It was a birthday present from 'lillebror' (littlebrother - who is 14 years older than me).

It was a book called 'Life & Times of Michael K'. The present was perfect. I've missed having something other than school-stuff to read. And I know that when my brother recommends a book, it's got to be good.

But the best thing was not the book, it was the little note on the paper with shipping information. It read:

Gratulerer med dagen! Gaven blir litt forsinket pga fraktid, men dette er den beste boken jeg vet på engelsk, og jeg håper at du får glede av den! Hilsen lillebror.

(Happy birthday! The present is delayed because of delays with delivery, but this is the best book I know in english, and I hope you will enjoy it! Best regards, littlebrother.)

Tusen takk lillebror. Jeg er glad i deg.

Inspiration from Rocknrolla

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:48:00 +0000

I love the movies made by Guy Ritchie. He is such a good director. My favorite one at the moment is 'Rocknrolla'. Gina and I have already lost count on how many times we've seen it. Yesterday I bought the soundtrack, and before we went for our morning jog today we were listening to "be my rock n roll queen". And for you who have seen the movie, you might remember when it is played. And as you can see, seeing Marie lying on the floor kind of inspired me. No garbage lids around, I had to use a lamp. But you get the picture.

To much energy anyone?

Good thing we went for a heavy jog today. Pushed ourselves to the limit. It felt really good. It sure is nice having faithful training partners. We have a lot of fun running in the forest. Indeed we do.

The crew

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:50:00 +0000

This weekend has been awesome. Marie has blogged about it, so if you want to know more you can check out her blog. I will just say that the crew, well, we know how to celebrate that midterm is done. And we all passed everything. So this has been a weekend with no studying, but with loads of fun. It has been wonderful.

And as you can see from the collage, we have gotten the coolest t-shirts ever. Only thing missing is our german, but she went to germany for the weekend.

I love these people. Don't know what I would do without them really.

PS: The background of the collage is part of peripheral nerveous system.

Welcome to Slovakia...

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:57:00 +0000

So yesterday night at about 1am I was going to bed. I turn on my nightlamp, and it goes *poff*. So I figured it was broken, and found another lamp. Turnes at that one didn't work either.

So I put two and two together and figure the plugs aren't working.

I tried all the different plugs around the apartement. None of them worked. They still don't .

Funny thing is, we have electrisity because all lights not plugged in anywhere is working fine.

Typical that this would happen when there is a weekend followed by two days of holiday.

*update an hour later: I fix. I am officially miss fix it!

Warning! This gets personal...

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:00:00 +0000

Gina and I just got back from the supermarked three minutes away. We needed some fresh air, study break, and a few things from the store - one of them being o.b. Turnes out they didn't have o.b., not where all the sanitary pads were at least. I gave up hope until I came to the desk. Then I saw the o.b. behind another desk, among all the special liquor, the flamable stuff and so on.

I really needed those o.b. so I just did my best to communicate with the lady behind the desk, speaking slovak as best I could. She stood up, and told me to come with her. She waved me over actually.

Turnes out you have to get behind a huge metal chain (the lady unlocked it for me), and get the o.b. from behind that desk yourself. And then you walk back to the first desk, where all the other people is lined up waiting just for you.

Why not just shout out; "Hi, my name is Tonje, and I have the period"

Fun.

Extensor digiti minimi...

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:52:00 +0000

...is a slender muscle of the forearm, placed on the ulnar side of the extensor digitorum communis, with which it is generally connected.

It arises from the common Extensor tendon by a thin tendinous slip, from the intermuscular septae between it and the adjacent muscles.

Its tendon runs through a compartment of the dorsal carpal ligament behind the distal radio-ulnar joint, then divides into two as it crosses the hand, and finally joins the expansion of the extensor digitorum communis tendon on the dorsum og the first phalanx of the little finger.

I think it is a really cute name for a muscle. To remember it I can just think of Mini-me in Austin Powers.

Reason I am writing this is beacuse today we were looking into the mucles of the upper extremities. And when I say look into, I mean look into. I officially had my first meating with the dissection room today.

It answered to my expectations. A steril room in the basement with tiles (fliser) all over the place. Three metal tables, some benches, and on every shelf there was a jar with a body part or organ in it. The jars that facinated me the most was the one with brains in, and the one with heads. On some of the heads the skin of the face was still intact, with eyelashes, wrinkles, and what not. And it stank of whatever it is they use to preserve the bodyparts, it could almost burn away you nosehair. You get used to it after a while, but I can assure you that our labcoates was thrown into the washer as soon as we got home.

But it was fun. Marga said it oh so well: "I like it. I like it! I like it when we can touch it"

I got some good news today as well. Since the only subjects we are done with this semester are biophysics and first aid, those are the only ones we're being examinated in after christmas. Luckily for us the first aid exam is on this side of christmas, so if I'm lucky I can come home on a little vacation after my exam in biophysics. That would be ever so nice. I just have to pass all my credit test first so that I can come home for christmas.

Talking about the sun - I have to start studying for my credit test tomorrow. Dovidenia!

Midterm is almost over, just one to go!

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:24:00 +0000

I can't believe it. Three weeks of hard work and a lot of stress is almost over. Just credit test in slovak language left. And today we got our results from credit test in latin, and I passed it. I was so shure that I had flunked it, but turned out I didn't. And yesterday we had our last seminar (test) in chemistry for this semester, and altogether we had to have 10,5 points, and I had 12,5. So I am really happy right now. I've actually passed everything. Unbelievable.

At the same time I'm feeling kind of drained at the moment, because it has really been hard work studying for all those tests. My shoulders have been sneaking up underneath my ears these last few weeks.

Yesterday, Marie, Gina and I had to celebrate the fact that midterm was almost over yesterday. So we went for a 52 minute run in the forest. It felt so good to finally get out of the apartement, away from the couch and all the books. Just running around like crazy people.

It was raining dogs, cats, and elephants, but that just made it even better. We had to run across a field, a very muddy field. While we were running on the field suddenly my feet felt extremely heavy, I could bearly lift them. Then I heard Gina laughing and Marie brething quite heavy. I turned around and saw that their shoes had an extra 10 cm sole of heavy mudd on them, and so did mine. No wonder my feet felt heavy.

So Marie learned her lesson. Next time she will bring her keys, identity card and a spoon (to get the mudd off).

Talking about midterm I just wanted to share some pictures with you from the last few days. Even though it has been hard work, we also know how to make it a bit more fun.

I have the best flatmate ever. She cooks the most delightful meals.

Here she is making lasagne, in the middle of the week.

That just makes my day.

We (Gina) made buns the other day.

The dough was forgotten though, because we were studying.

And it grew an it grew...

But the buns were nice.

Welcome to the everyday life at Stokka/Salen.

Late evening; I'm in my PJ's, my "lodder" that my mum knitted for me (love them!),

and my favourite hoodie. Problem is that I am trying to do a lot of different things at once

- getting dressed, skyping, studying, etc. And sometimes I don't get it all right.

This is my little "nurk". Look at her sleeping.

You could just eat her up!

We both have a tendency to just fall asleep in the couch now and then.

Reading is hard work you know.

And especially for you Tarja; my SHOES!

The last few days Gina and I have been thinking about all the weird things it is possible to miss from Norway.

Here are a few of them:

yeast
sauce (they don't have that here)
notebooks
liverpaté (the one thay have is...well....)
jam
vacum cleaner (that does not fall apart)
coffe machine (that makes coffee in under an hour!)
correction tape (tabbelakk)
coffee
pens
stuff for cleaning (like a good mop)
less coins (we are drowning in cents here)
butter for cooking - or a good oil for cooking (the ones they have here is just torture to use beacuse it is popping all over the place)
Mackerel filét
Water (a lot of kalk (don't know what that is in english) in the water here)
Sun light soap for the dishes
Public toilets with a key so that you can lock it
Public toilets with toiletpaper inside the booth, not one role of paper for everyone - outside the booth
Dust remover for clothes
smågodt!
norwegian TV
dark, FIBROUS bread
milk

But most of all we miss people back home.

I, of course, miss Espen a lot.

I miss having him here. Coming home and finding him in the couch studying or something made my day. Just him being here really. Luckily it is just 37 days, 6 hours, 07 minutes, and 28 seconds until I come home for christmas.

I am really looking forward to that (If you didn't get that).

I never showed you this picture.

I love it.

Espen bought some new footballshoes when he was here.

He was so exited that he had to wear them INSIDE because they were so awesome.

And just for your information, I have a really happy boyfriend these days,

Chelsea being in the lead of premiere league with their 30 points and all.

And off course because Ålesund won the cup.

The real blogg n'rolla

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:38:00 +0000

I have so much to blog about at the moment. I'm producing blogposts as pearls on a string. I hope you are enjoying the sneak-peek you get on my life here in Slovakia.

Today has been a good day. Doing the dishes this morning I felt happy and full of energy, and believe me I haven't felt like that for some time.

I also found out that I passed my medical biology credit test. Really happy about that.

After school Gina and I wanted to reward ourself. And as you might know I love shoes, so we - Marie, Gina and I- wen't down town to get me some nice winter boots. John Garfield is the brand. I LOVE'em!

Down town there was a big marked or whatever, going on. They were selling lot's of cool stuff, but they also had a little music show. I actually filmed it, so you can see it at the bottom of this blogpost.

Market!

my girls

The man is playing jew's harpe (munnharpe), and you can hear Marie saying: "Ey, its actually possible for him to say something about those few notes that he is playing"

I live in a interesting contry.

Hellooo anatomy of upper limb

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:20:00 +0000

With the anatomy of the skull, credit test and all, behind us, we are now ready to dive into the exiting anatomy of the upper and lower limb. Weird and geeky enough, I'm not being ironic when I say that it is exiting. Because this time we will not just learn about the bones, we are also learning about the muscles. That means that next week we will not only need our labcoates, we will also need gloves. Why? Because we are going to dissect!

Actually we should use gloves touching the bones as well, because they are really greasy. You need to wash your hands several times before they feel clean again.

Here are some pictures from todays anatomy practical.

Gina studying the bones of the upper limb

This is the scapula. (shoulderblade)

And here they are, all lined up, the bones of the upper limb.

From the left: scapula (shoulderblade), clavicula (collar bone),

humerus (upper arm), ulna and radius (lower arm).

And just for your information, we have to learn

- not only the bone itself -

but also the names of all the parts of the different bones.

Lucky us.

Deoxyribonucelic acid (DNA): The basis of life

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:35:00 +0000

On wednesday I had a credit test in latin. It didn't go that well, but I hope and pray that I will pass it so I don't need to do the retake.

Today it was credit test in medical biology. The two themes was "Chemistry of the molecules of life" and "Molecular basis of proteinsynthesis and DNA replication". Hopefully I passed it, I think I did. I have a better feeling today than I did yesterday at least.

Because yesterday I think both Gina and I felt we were on the verge of crazyness. Once in a while one of us would look up from our books and papers and say something like: "I'm going crazy! It's to much information"

No matter how well prepared you think you are for the amount of work there is at medical study, you will not fully understand before you experience it. And this is just midterm!

Luckily for us we have friends that have been trough this and they tell us that the first semester is the worst. The second semester you just have to get through. And after that it gets better.

But for now we just have to dive into our books. Look over all our papers. Study our ass of really. Just doing our best, and get through this one way or another.

Next week is going to be a bit better though. We only have one credit test, and thats in Slovak language. On tuesday its seminar (test) in chemistry. Talking about seminar in chemistry I just have to mention the chemistry professor we have in those classes, he is kind of scary. He is a really nice man most of the time, but in class he will come up to you, be all in your face (sometimes he even lies down over your desk) and ask you a chemistry question. If you say you don't know he will tell you: "You are a university student. You have to have an opinion" And then he waits untli you get an opinion. After you've said something, he will either say: "No" or he will say "Yes. But WHY!". Takes some time to get used to that type of teaching.

On monday we're having practical in biophysics (like always), but we are having one of the most dreaded professors. If you don't know the answer to one of his questions, or if it takes you to long to give him an answer, he kicks you out of the practical.

I must say I don't really know what to say, or how to feel, about that. Can't do anything about it really, just need to make shure I know what he is going to talk about so that I can answer when he asks me a question.

As you might have understood after reading this, the teaching here is not the same as it is in Norway. But most if the time the teaching is good, especially the practicals. I figure the professors have done this before, and students have passed, so I just need to adapt.

Now its time forme to have anatomy practical.

Talking about romance...

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:42:00 +0000

Today I was skyping with Espen, as I do everyday.

But because I have a credit test tomorrow we both knew that we had limited time to talk. So we had to choose our words carefully so that we didn't loose time on anything else than what was really important.

Feeling so in love I didn't want the skyping to end. But when we really had to go I felt like "this is to little time. Miss him so." Thinking that Espen was thinking the exact same thing, with all the love floating around you know, I said: "I missed you a lot today. Did i mention that?". And then I put out my sad little lip, looking so cute you have no idea, just waiting for my dear Espen to say some words of comfort and love.

He said: "You shouldn't do that with your lip. Birds might shit on it."

I've said it before, and I say it again: Romance is for sissies.

Those who challenge themselves, makes their own path...

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:03:00 +0000

-quote of Erik Lerdahl

I've been challenged by Marie to do two things:

1. Write down 10 things about myself.

2. Post a picture to represent a favourite memory. Explain.

I have a tendency to inform people around me about everyday life "stuff" I'm going to do, and in what order. For example I often say to Gina something like: "Now I'm going to pee. Then I will put on some warmer socks."
I have a tendency to speak before I think.
I know how to use my blond hair, curls, curves, and blue eyes to my advantage. Once it saved me from getting a fine from the spanish police. (But that's another story)
I have a really long tongue
I purse my lips when I concentrate
I NEED to have mye books organised after size, from tallest to shortest.
I'm addicted to shoes. When I'm about to get dressed in the morning the first thing I think about is what shoes I'm going to wear, and then I dress according to that.
Have a scar shaped like a jellyfish on my upper thigh which I got from a jellyfish in Greece.
Been bitten by a snake. It bit mye ankle that stupid thing.
When I was younger I was terrified of Chewbacca. Every night when I went to bed I thought he was standing outside my window, waiting for me to go to sleep so that he could kidnap me or something.

Choosing a picture was difficult. I have so many pictures representing wonderful memories. But at the end I chose a picture that kind of represent my summer of 09.

It's a picture of Espen from our hiking trip this summer.

No phone. No people. No time pressure. Just the silence of the mountains and the two of us walking together. Being together.

I challenge Espen and Tarja

Extreme makeover..

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:56:00 +0000

I've been geeking on my MacBookAir today (with help from Gina).

And my blog has gone through an extreme makeover.

I like it!

Yesterday I skyped with my sister Trude and her kids, and today I skyped with my other sister - Tone - and her kids. That made my day(s), because I've been missing them you know. Looking forward to christmas when I can give them all a good squeeze.

My nephews, nieses (exept Benjamin) and me on the roof.

Love'm!

Lost in translation nr.1

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:57:00 +0000

Being a student in Slovakia is hard work. But it can also be quite funny. Especially when it comes to languages. Many of our professors could really use an english course or two. And us students should probably spend more time learning slovak language. Since we are all struggeling with some language, it can get quite funny at times. And because I can't find no better use for these funny difficulties regarding languages, I will start with something new on my blog; Lost in translation.

Here I will share every little funny thing that in some way or another gets lost in translation.

Nr.1

Today I was reading medical biology. And in that subject we use a book written by our professor in that same subject. I was reading about Van der Waals interactions, and a sentense caught my eye:

" This perturbation generates a transient dipole in the second atom, and the two dipoles will attract each other weekly"

Personally I din't know that atoms kept track of which week we're in. But what I do know is that two dipoles can attract each other weakly.

First credit test is DONE!

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:36:00 +0000

For about 11 hours yesterday, Gina and I studyed for our first credit test. It was in anatomy. We were supposed to learn the skull, vertebral column and bones of thorax. It's a lot of bone structures, to say the least.

Gina with the os mandibula at her feet,

the top of the skull next to her, and

Gray's anatomy flash cards in her hand.

After some time we both were about to drown in papers, books, and parts of the skull.

There are SICK many parts on the skull.

Grooves, fossas, foramens, notches, bones, and I don't know what.

Gina is getting in touch with her inner skull

Here I'm studying the os mandibula. In my head I'm thinking:

"Do I have a life? Really? Do I?"

As the day, evening, and night, went by,

I think both Gina and I could feel the insanity rising to the surface.

Went to bed at 2am, up at 7am to study some more. Went to school - nailed the credit test. And I'm now just sitting here, doing NOTHING! What a feeling. I have to enjoy it as long as I can, because next week we have credit test in both latin and medical biology.

And yeah, I just have to mention one last thing. On tuesday when Espen left I was feeling really down. But I went to the postoffice to pick up a package. Turns out it was a birthday present from Ann Helen! It really could not have arrived at a better time. It made my day.

Norwegian coffee, Pondus (my FAVORITE comic strip), milkchocolate with non-stop (oh, the memories Ann Helen), cookies, and the best of all - a birthday card.

Thank you again Ann Helen. You know I love you darling.

And just now, the best flatmate ever is making homemade pizza. This is turning out to be a very good day.

A beautiful evening to wander about...

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:23:00 +0000

From the 19-27 of october Espen was in Slovakia. Thats why the blogging has been neglected you can say.

We had some wonderful days together. I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it was to have him here with me. And how awful it was when he had to leave.

I got used to having him here, but now it's back to the normal everyday life in slovakia, and skype. Luckily its only 50 days, 8 hours, 39 minutes, and 58 seconds until I come home for christmas. But hey, who's counting?

When he was here Gina and Marie joined us for an evening walk in the newly discovered hiking area in the neighborhood. It was such a wonderful evening. Lovely weather. Lovely people. Lovely lovely.

Love.

Our nature experience

My flatmate and me, BF 4evah lizm!

I just LOVE this face!

Marie, synonym for sunshine

The one and only.

Espen's favorite picture of me climbing.

I was stuck, and apperantly that was quite funny.

Where there is a will, there is a way.

Marie: "Is it a plane? A bird?"

Marie (so embarrassed): "Oh gosh, it was Espen"

I needed that little break from the everyday life down here.

Thank you. You know I miss you.

Christmas at tesco....in october

noreply@blogger.com (Tonje) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 15:15:00 +0000

Today Gina and I tried something new; taxi to Tesco. We had to buy a vacuum cleaner you see, and thats not easy to put on a bisyckle.

But about the taxi. First of all its a challange just getting a taxi, because the man who answers the phone does not speak english. So I just focus on saying what I know I am supposed to say, and hope that he gets it. It worked out today at least.

The taxi came, the driver was a "gangster-type" as usual, and we went. The driver was listening to some really bad rap-music with a lot of bad words (I will not write them here, you will just have to take my word for it: It was BAD!). But after that first song he put on Whitney Houston with "I will always love you". I had to bite my lip not to laugh. He also had four mobile phones all lined up in the front. Wonderbaum, black windows - the works. It was some ride. And it only cost 3 euro, he gave us a discount of 2 euro for some reason. It's all good.

At tesco we realised that in Slovakia, christmas is a BIG deal. You think its bad in Norway with the christmas soda in october and all that? Think again. I just wonder how it will be in december..

Tesco has everything you need. Even chirstmas trees. What's that all about?

Gina picturing her christmas stocking hanging beside her bed.

You could drown in all the christmas stuff - literally.

We had a lot of fun in the christmas section.

After reading for 6-7 hours every day the last week,

we needed some time off just having a good time - doing stupid stuff.

And by the way, I am seriosly buying those reindeer thingies to put on my head at christmas.

I always have to check out the childrens department

when we're at Tesco,

and today I fell in love with this Teddy.

But I wasn't allowed to take him home

since it would not fit in the taxi or something like that.

Luckely it's only two days left until Espen is coming, so I'll live.