We suck

Ok. We suck at updating our blog.

But I'm sure it will get better once we get to Argentina, because we should have a lot more to tell. For example, here is a summary of what I have been doing lately: waking up, studying, eating, going to sleep. You see..? not that interesting.
Apart from the fact that yesterday morning I got to ride in a police car.
Yeah, we may or may not have parked our car in a zone where they at 6 (!!) o'clock in the morning started setting up a market, and therefore got our car towed. The police drove us to the place it was parked and I can now for the first time say that I have driven in a police car! (totally worth the fine, right Alejandro?)

However we did also just have a really nice visit: Ida&Simon were here in Spain!
I can mention some of the highlights:
- when an old man started yelling at Ida&Simon in Spanish (or rather, Catalan) for kissing on a bench
- when Alejandro started yelling back at the man
- when we found a swedish street musician
- when the police came and chased away the street-sellers (this was more sad than a highlight, but still, there's something fascinating about a lot of people running with all their merchandise on their back.. I'm sure the people running would disagree with me)
- when Ida&Simon be-friended a girl in a disco so that she could sleep on Simon's shoulder instead of alone on a bench
- when we realized we could order pizza on the door
- when Alejandro&Simon came back with a pedestrian sign
- when someone said "cheers boys" instead of "cheers guys" - no names need to be mentioned
- when we discovered the game Junglespeed

I'm sure there were more, but that's all I remember for now.

A great deal of exciting things happened before November too btw, but that will be too many updates at once. I should however mention that I'm gonna be an aunt! juhu!! :) My sister is il tempo pregnante.

All I need to do now is pass a grammar exam in a language in which I can't speak in past or future - and then it will almost be xmas.
Then I need to take a multitude of injections to get me ready to go to South America.

the 18.of January 2010, I, Ida and Kjersti (the newest edition to our travelgroup) will take off! :) jiiiiiiiiiha

Aachen gefällt mir!

The last months have been pretty intense. A lot of stuff going on, from the day me and my German friend started driving towards Italy and until now, just finishing a great weekend of reunion.

Italy was amazing. We spent 16 days driving, enjoying, singing, speaking bad Italian, driving, visiting, stretching our legs, sightseeing, swimming, driving, eating and loving… And it was also a lot of people to meet on our way thorough the upper part of this beautiful country. First we met Cecilia in Milano, then Fabio in Genoa, AK and Alex flew in and we met them in Pisa, then it was Matteo in Roma, Thommaso in Ancona, Marco, Fabio (again) & Sivia and Gaspare + more in Dezensano del Garda. And on the way back we met up with Anna, Katha, Jitske, Ruth ++ in Austria. Everything about the trip was amazing, thanks to everyone who was a part of it, and a special thanks to my German friend, who - through it all, managed to live with my attempted sing-along to every single song that was played on the radio, in English or in Italian – egal!


Then, after some days in Germany, I flew home to Steinkjer and stayed there for a month, this was in September. The plan was to work as much as possible and then at the same time help out with the renovation going on at home. I ended up only working – and not helping. Unnskyld pappa! But it was very nice to be at home for a while, and now I really look forward to going back for Christmas and seeing everyone again. Can’t wait!

Then, the last weekend of September, we went to München and the Octoberfest. We drove down, again (and that will be the last time in my case – small cars and crazy huge autobahns don’t belong together I belive, cause somehow the cars always end up in a freaking STAU; other places known as a traffic jam). In München we met AK and Alex again, our other half, and also Marco came driving up from Italy.

Monday, the 28th of September I started my language course in Düsseldorf. Düsseldorf is a big city in the eyes of a girl from Steinkjer, and this gives a small reminder of that the girl will be totally lost when she gets to Buenos Aires in January. Hopefully Anne Kristine gets to see some shit going down in the dangerous ciudad of Barcelona, and therefore can take good care of both herself and the Steinkjer-girl when they meet the reality of Argentina face to face (diversion comes to an end, finally, and probably YOU – Alejandros grandma, who of course is a passionate reader of this blog, are very happy about that). Ok, so the language course was to last for one month and by doing a placement test I got to start in Module 2. While staying in Düsseldorf I lived with a woman named Ruth (by her parents I belive), in a nice area 15 minutes walking from the Altstadt. I never walked. I like public transportation. After a month of visiting Aachen in the weekends and getting visits from Aachen during the week I was suddenly done, got a grade that here in Germany is called “Sehr gut / 1,3”, and then I moved to Aachen.

The 23rd of October I was officially an inhabitant of Aachen. And the same day Bente came to visit. Thank you Bente!


I have been living here for two weeks now. And this far I think Aachen is a nice place. I’m doing a second language course here, and today was the first day of Module 4. Apparently I wasn’t smart enough to learn the language in one month, so I’m hereby giving it 5 more weeks. But then it better be fluent.

The 30th of October people began running down the door of a local restaurant here, when we managed to convince an incredible amount of Erasmus friends from the sadly passed year in Trondheim to come to Aachen for a Reunion. Most of them stayed for the weekend… others stayed for a week. It was perfect!


Btw I realized yesterday that even Aachen is a big place for a Norwegian contry-side-girl, when a robbery took place right in front of my eyes in the local supermarket. I was about to pay for my bags of soup and paprika when this woman shouts something, I guess it was “Help… thief… stop him… please!” and then 3 women (working in the supermarket) jumps him while he is running for his life, they hold on as long as they can, but he’s to strong, and suddenly he’s gone… Then I paid and left. Somehow I’m getting there, BA, here we come!

But first, Barca!

-Ida-

Vivo aquí

I finally got around to uploading some pictures of the apartment where I live. Enjoy! :)

Entrance area:


A shy Alex at the kitchen table:


More kitchen:


Livingroom:


Where you will be sleeping if you visit us:


Guest bathroom:


An office, which all serious students need ;)


Our bedroom:


Our bathroom:

Vikingfestival på Egge, July 2009

This time I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...









I want to thank everybody who came! It was awesome! Hope to find you in a tent in our garden again next year!

-Ida-

The beginning of the update...

Only the educated are free.
Epictetus (55 AD - 135 AD)

In June we were one weekend in Germany for Jakobs, Simons brothers, Abitur.


Jakobs band, check it out...
http://www.myspace.com/accordonbleu



-Ida-

Hey big crowd of people following our tiny footsteps in excitement as they place themselves upon new locations on this shrinking surface of the world!

I’m very much aware of the fact that I’m embarrassingly slow, I apologize to you all!

I also have some new contact information, aquí tiene, bitte schön:
+ 49 15773518999
Mariahilfstrasse 35
52062 Aachen

An update on my vagabond-life the past months will follow very soon…

I miss you Anne Kristine, and the Moholt-life with you!

-Ida-

Estoy embarrazada

(for the Spanish speakers out there): No, I`m not pregnant.
I am however language confused and embarrassed.

For those of you that don`t know, I`m living in Spain now, and I`m spending my days studying Spanish in Barceloooona.

I had to do a placement test to get into the language course, and as my pen failed me I had to ask to borrow a pen. But the woman only spoke Spanish and not English (something that is too common in Spain..grr) so I had to ask her in..."spanish".
I said: "necesito un penne"
Thinking it meant "i need a pen"

It meant "i need a penis".

She couldn`t help me with that.

Stay tuned for more embarrassment to come.

PS. my new contact information is:
0034 645 574469
Puigcugull 103, 1-1
17244 cassa de la selva, girona, spain

Besos
Anne Kristine

A blast from the past

Reading Ida's blogging below (highly recommended btw) I felt
a) sad cause Ida is done in Trondheim, and Moholt is not the same without her
b) sad cause I JUST realized that so am I!
c) a need to give a small update on my own life

First of all, I found something that reminded me of my US days.
They think that it's crazy how we publish a list over how much people earn, pay in taxes and has as fortune every year? well, take a look at what they publish:
www.familywatchdog.us
City: State College
State: Pennsylvania
---> and get a list over all the sex offenders that were my neighbours when I lived in State College. (I lived next to the big golf court)..I bet my mum is glad she didn't see this map while I was there!

Although I haven't escaped to quite as exotic islands for my summer job as Ida and Simon I have managed to do some travels myself lately.

At the end of the semester I travelled to Barcelona to pay my lovely boyfriend a surprise visit. I randomly showed up at a bar where he was meeting his sister
and finally got back at him for his Sula-visit-surprise last christmas!

A week later I jetted off to Latvia and Lithuania with my mum and brother to visit my dad who had arrived a few days before. It was fascinating and very different to visit these countries. We spent most of our time in the country side, and it still shocks me that I saw an old lady with a scarf on her head on the back of a horse plowing the fields, aka Norway 1950. I also got to try some delicious Lithuanian food (that I will not try to write the name of) Sheborekas and Schaslikas.
I'm a 100% sure that that's not how it's written, but who cares, it was delicious!

I'm back in Trondheim and working now, but i'm already planning a trip to the big city of Steinkjer for the Viking Festival in just a few days.

The burning world that Ida referred to in her last entry is calling us, and it seems the fire is in Argentina. We have found the organization we want to work for, and it seems we have also found an apartment for Spring.
Did we tell you about our plans by the way?
Ida will spend fall in Germany, and I will be in Spain (these countries are chosen completely by random, and it has nothing to do with two hot pieces of boyfriends whatsoever!) and then we'll meet in Argentina in January for a semester of taking South America with storm! :)

That's all for now,
we'll keep you posted!

Summer in Frøya

Frøya: Freyja (sometimes anglicized as Freya), cognate to Sanskrit Priya, is a major goddess in Norse Paganism, a subset of Germanic Paganism. Because the documented source of this religious tradition, the Norse Mythology, was transmitted and altered by Christian medieval historians, the actual role, heathen practices and worship of the goddess are uncertain.

but it's also an island...

Frøya is the westernmost municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Fosen region and it consists of the island of Frøya which lies north of Hitra, as well as a number of other small islands.Facing the ocean are the fishing communities of Mausundvær, Bogøyvær, and Sula, with Mausund being the largest of these with a population of approximately 270. The main island of Frøya is fairly open and has no natural forests. The largest villages on the island are Sistranda in the east and Titran in the west. Frøya is a member of the International Island Games Association.

* SUMMER *

We (Simon and me) applied for several summer jobs; one of these had its location in Frøya. After waiting and waiting and waiting for an answer we concluded with the fact that we were not going there this summer. A couple of day’s passes and then my phone rings, the woman tells me that we got jobs for the summer IN FRØYA! Man, everything suddenly changed. After one day of thinking about it and making a list (haha) we called back and told them we were up for the challenge.

The next step was to find a place to live, but for some reason this was IMPOSSIBLE. After calling the entire list of people, some even twice, we started wondering if it’s possible to live in a tent one whole summer. Some days later I saw in my notes that one guy had recommended calling the hotel, because he thought they rented out small “brakker” as it’s called in Norwegian. I called the hotel and this really friendly lady said that “yes, of course, it’s a deal”.

Then the semester came to an end very fast and it was time to move. We cleaned out our rooms in Moholt and put all the stuff in the Taxi (a big one), and got on the boat to Frøya. Arriving in Sistranda witch is the “city-area” in Frøya, basically containing a Bunnpris, a Coop, a Library, a Bank and a Policestation – where the main activity probably is answering stupid questions from tourists, it really felt like this was the right place to spend the summer.


So we got of the bus close to the hotel and went to get the key leaving the backpacks, a couple of boxes with kitchen appliances, some plasticbags +++ at the bus stop. After seeing the “container/dumpster” we were supposed to live in the two following months, we started wondering where to put our stuff.


The next day we started working, and everybody was very helpful trying to help us find a new place to live. After a day of earning a wage we continued the search of a new residence by asking people in the supermarket and at the police station :P After no luck the entire day we returned HOME to our container, though dropping by the hotel first to talk to the woman again. She turned out to be the answer to our prayers. She said her boyfriend was selling his house in August, and that we could have it till then, and we are only staying out July, and HAHA. She said we should go and see it before we decided and that it was a little bit more expensive than the container. We really didn’t care at that point because we were so desperate, and the price she gave us was still cheaper than Moholt. For that reason we didn’t expect much, but because of the fact that it was a HOUSE, a house – just for the two of us, we decided right away. The next day we were the proud “owners” of this baby:





So now we spend our days working…

Relaxing…


Fishing…


Hiking…


Cooking…


Baking also actually… (who knew you had so much time on your hands when not having a TV or internet)


Doing laundry by hand… haha


...and having fun!





I mean... we do this in between having supercool friends visiting, traveling to exotic countries as Germany and small endangered cities in Norway like Steinkjer. This makes the time just fly by, and we can see the end of summerjob-heaven already. When come to think of it is not that bad really, because then one week of Trondheim is following, continued by some weeks driving around Italy…

I believe I saved myself the last year. This means the burning world is next on the list.

-Ida-

Lofoten, a little bit delayed...

After returning from the US we slept for a couple of hours and then got on the bus to Lofoten. Now, sitting here in Frøya, thinking about the last three years, with ESN being basically the main focus in my life - pretty melancholic. Anyways, that Lofoten trip was my 4th and last.

Starting of on the bus again like always, struggling to find a comfortable position.

…somehow easier this time though.

Frederik and Asta are taking over the steering wheel from the fall on. That is a very qualified group of people right there, and it’s with a good feeling we can let go of it.


The trip was as good as ever :) With crazy weather, changing from amazing sun to really crappy within minutes. We went hiking, went on a boat trip, some crazy people went swimming and we ate a lot of good food.





Then of course we put together the best party of the year, like always. But as also known; what happens in Lofoten stays in Lofoten. Except if your name is Elisabeth, then the reasonable thing to do is taking it to France.


The only thing left at that point was to get our buts home to Trondheim to do some studying (that’s what we are right? Students!), and the position search started once again…

For some reason you might think I think “I’ve seen this picture before”, but no people, it’s a brand new one, the open-mouth-while-sleeping-condition seems to be with me for a lifetime.

That’s it I guess, was a wonderful trip and I’ll try to remember it without mixing it into the three exact similar previous ones.

I would like to use this opportunity to thank all the amazing people I met over the three last years, THANK YOU! I believe I found myself somehow because of you guys…



-Ida-

The US of A

I know I’m super slow, but what to do? When you have to finish a degree, say goodbye to crazy many wonderful, amazing, beautiful people and move out of the best place anyone could ever live (I’m talking about Moholt studentby) all at the same time. Anyway, here it is for all you patient people (or AK, as still might be the only one reading this).

Part 1
As mentioned we flew over the big sea to bring AK back home. It was Simon and me, arriving Wednesday, and then we picked up Alejandro in the airport Thursday after a day of cancelations and confusion. No need to get into this, lets just say it was wonderful to be together again, the four of us.


We started of in New York. A beautiful place, I must say. Breakfasting in central park, overeating on doughnuts and bagels, drinking way too much starbucks coffee, and trying all the different brands of beer produced. I think we can conclude with the fact that it’s no wonder this place struggles with obesity, you see… everything is so damn good!


We did some shopping and sightseeing while the weather was changing a lot…


Among a lot of other stuff we caught up with some old friends…


Went to a standup show…


And a basketball match (New York Knicks vs Toronto Raptors)…


And we tried the hot dogs on Wall St.


After some days of living the American dream we finally caught up with the American way of thinking. As a result of this we realized that what we thought was minor problems before arrival actually are super important and far beyond our imagination (and once again, no wonder about that obesity problem when they tell people “potato chips beats depression”)…


During our days of sightseeing in New York we also stumbled over a…

This was pretty close to the Flat Iron Building, and also (in our concern) pretty hilarious. To explain in a graphic way, and to spare excess use of your imagination, I give you the video:

(And to the people in charge of maintenance of the streets in NY, I ask you to take care of this problem, I believe your inhabitants will benefit from this and you will see a lot more happy faces driving around).

HAHAHA!

Part 2
After 5 days in NY we got ourselves a car and got on the rout direction south to Washington. Here we stayed in a somewhat better facility than the one in NY. This was located a little bit outside the city, but they also served bagels with cream cheese for breakfast, in other words – I was still IN HEAVEN! 4 days we spent here, sightseeing, shopping and visiting museums and other fancy buildings.And not to forget fast-food places with bulletproof glass between you and the cashier.




Then, after a superfunny trip together, Alejandro had to get on a plane back to Europe :( We got to the airport just in time for a airportwoman to grab him and drag him to the front of the line. I don’t know, but I think she might have over exaggerated just a bit, and used the fact of us being slightly late as an excuse to touch a famous movie star from Spain. In the end he was safe on his way back home, while we moved on to another part of the airport to pick up Catherine who was flying in to spend the weekend with AK in NY while me and Simon travelled on to Williamstown, Temple and Boston.


Part 3
It was a little bit different to be just the two of us in the car from that point on (of course we missed you people). But at the same time rather wonderful to be travelling with a guy in totally control of everything and seemingly on a mission to show me everything that is needed to see in the area. The rest of the trip was completely wonderful. First we went to see Kelsey and Emily in Williamstown. They showed us their university – amazing place. And they also, unfortunately without any luck, tried to convince us to stay the night to join the big campus party that was taking place. Sadly we had to drive on the same day to reach Temple, a place Simon worked for one year, 2004/05, but also this place knew how to through a party, so no bad feelings.



We lived in Temple for 3 days, we got to live in the place Simon worked and everyone was very welcoming and we were invited to join them in the Easter activities that were taking place over the weekend. In between we also managed to go shopping and sightseeing in the area.



Monday morning we started the drive back to NY, stopping in Boston on the way including Hampton Beach to try out my new investment…


That was is I think, I mean… the short version ;)

Thank you guy’s soooo much for the amazing US-safari, I hope we will travel together soon!

- Ida -