Berlin, Norway, Books and Work.

I finally consider summer to truly be here. Not because of the weather, but because the last exam results are in and the spring semester can finally be called a closed chapter. I've already had the time to squeeze in two vacations, even though one was more of a work thing and quite exhausting. Pictures from both will naturally be presented in this post!

Sadly, my reading was slowed down significantly towards the end of the semester. I'm slowly getting back to it though, in particular by the help of some fantasy. I haven't read fantasy in years, but a friend recommended some books to me on the basis of our mutual appreciation of George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones (2nd season please come quickly). The series in question is Joe Abercrombie's The First Law trilogy, and I have so far read the first book and a third of the second. It's both interesting and amusing. Abercrombie is not hiding the fact that he is borrowing things from all over the place. Some things are actually taken directly out of of Martin's books, some from traditional fantasy, and others from our world. A group of mismatched people setting out on a mission, a center land threatened both by forces from the South and from the North; racism, colonialism, cultural differences, south/North oppositions - you have it all but it does not feel old. I'm reading these books on my Kindle, which suits me fine since they are something like 600 pages each and I prefer not dragging books that size around in my bag.

I really have the impression I read something in French recently. But what was it?

But yes, we went on an unplanned vacation to Berlin. I fell in love with the city and got very much inspired to learn German. Of course, I bought at least one book and a magazine. I thought I'd keep it quite simple and got myself a Marian Keyes book. I'm really looking forward to reading it- whenever I find the time. My two summer jobs - Old Church Slavonic text analysis at the University and Oslo Tourist Information - are proving quite time-consuming. But in July, everyone I know leaves Oslo (including myself - going to Sweden for a couple of days), so then I will have somewhat less to do.





Not only have I finally visited Germany for real, I have also seen the postcard version of Norway. It is somehat odd to have lived in this country for four years without having seen the fjords, but getting to said fjords is a rather expensive affair. It is not when work pays for it. So with a group of 10 people from the tourist information I went on a tour called Norway in a Nutshell. The schedule was very tight, but as you can see from the photos you get to see some quite spectacular scenery (the funniest part of which is that you actually find houses in some of them!). Of all the things we did (various boats, trains and buses non-stop for 2 days) and I would say that that bus trip out of Bergen among the mountains through countless tunnels (which is, as a matter of fact, how you travel across Norway) early in the morning was the most impressive by far. Quite appropriately, most of the members of the group fell asleep :-)

Syttende mai.

The other day was the 17th of May, which in Norway is a serious business. It's the Norwegian National Day or Constitution Day and it's celebrated rather violently compared to many other countries. This is just going to be a photo post, showing the national costumes Norwegians wear on this day. In general, people are rather happy if it's not too hot on the 17th of May since a big part of them walk around in many layers of wool. These costumes cost thousands of euros and each region has its own costume.

For those who party on this day, the festivities start at like 10 in the morning. The 18th of May is an ordinary working day, so it's a good idea to already be hung over by the evening, with the hope of having recovered in the morning.

There are plenty of flags on the 17th of May.

(I was trying to take a photo the girl with the bonnet in the background...)

Norwegian women - dying for attention?

Someone made me aware of the fact that it was impossible to comment on my blog without having some sort of account, but now anonymous comments should also be possible. So go ahead, leave a comment!

---

Lately in Norway two rather... colourful women have shown up. They express what is seen (from a mainstream point of view) as outrageous opinions and I must admit that they are pretty courageous. Of course, they get picked on quite a lot, but what better way to get attention when you have no real skills?

First out was a charming lady named Nina Karin Monsen who is against homosexuals, non Christian living, etc. She claims that all children are born religious and that keeping them away from God (through, for example, god awful homosexual parents) is a sin. She actually got a 400 000 NOK (44 000€) price for her "contribution to a freer debate" in Norway, and she calls herself a "philosopher" and an "author", although judging from this review, she really is neither. (The title of the review is "Awarded impartiality" and it mainly deals with how incredibly poorly written her book is.)

Now, in Godless Norway, claiming that standardized Christian families is the norm and that all the rest are sinful libertines (or something like that) is most likely just going to make people laugh. However, for me it is quite offensive that she got such a large sum of money for something that anyone could have put together by just deciding to go against all modern day values in an open minded society. If it had been a well written, well presented - I saw her on TV once, she couldn't discuss or present anything in a coherent, concise way for the life of her - I would have been able to accept it. But dammit, we were better at these things in high school when we were assigned "opposite opinions" (from our own) and were made to speak against abortion or for death punishment, etc.

I do wonder how she would have been "greeted" in Sweden. I really, really doubt she would have gotten anywhere there. Norway is more conservative than Sweden, for those of you who thought the Scandinavian countries were all just one big country.

That's today's first outspoken Norwegian woman, let's continue with the second one.

It was actually today that we got the pleasure of discovering yet another such lady. Not the same opinions of course, this one is not really that blatantly religious and intolerant, but the idea is the same. Perhaps she also wants 44 000€ and decided to just change the message a bit? Her name is Hanne Nabintu Herland, she is Norwegian but grew up in different parts of Africa, and she is a [something] in Religious History with a focus on Islam. Do just click her name to see the picture, that alone would make most people a bit scared.

So, what is she talking about? Well, she completely understands why Norwegian men prefer Thai women or Russian women to Norwegian women; those women like sex and know how to cook! Let's take some quotes from the article (she said these things at a Christian meeting...):

"It's about time to give up the feminist struggle. There are so many horrible Norwegian women. Sometimes women should just be quiet and do what the man tells them to."

"Other cultures are better at training the women to satisfy the man sexually. Men need their sex, and women should take care to satisfy them."

Let's just say other religious people do not really support her whole heartedly, but at least a fair share of men who read that article of course thought she was spot on!