Home!

Ahh... I seriously think that every Norwegian should live on the crowded East Coast of the US for a while - just so they can truly learn to appreciate the space, solitude, silence and sheer serenity of the Norwegian mountains. Or cities, for that matter. I have not been home long enough to go crazy over the small conveniences we lack over here (such as 24-hour grocery stores, cheap food delivery and peanut butter) and can still appreciate the small happy differences. The picture below, for instance, is the McDonald's restaurant in Bergen. This has to be the best-looking McD in the world...

As for the mountains, they are as gorgeous-looking as ever, and with only one week gone of my vacation so far, there's been quite a lot of hiking, tenting, fishing, boating and general enjoyment of nature. I also have several dozen moskito bites - which serves as proof that I've been spending quite some time outside - plus a decent tan that is way to uneven to be fake.

My sister is still very pregnant (and ready to be over and done with the whole pregnancy thing), so there is no auntie Linda yet. I did get some practice, however, when we visited Toralf's family - after a week, his 2-year old nephew was getting quite good at saying "tante inda!" (I bribed him with chocolate to be my friend... worked like magic). The first day after we got home, there was a "Happy 2nd birthday" party - with about 45 guests, of which 15 were in the age between 2 months and 11 years old. You can say I got the crash introduction to the family....

All in all: very much enjoying some Norwegian down time :o)

The countdown continues...

Ok, da er det offisielt kun en uke og åtte timer igjen til flyet går. Det er to dager i DC og fem dager i New York, fire og en halv arbeidsdag, fem vekkerklokkevekkinger, fire frosne ferdigmiddager (jeg har stort sett sluttet å lage mat hjemme og har kastet meg på mikrobølgebølgen - relativt sunt og god variasjon i utvalget, men det smaker litt av plast...), syv netter med bråkete aircondition, fire friske spaserturer til jobb, to femtimers bussturer, et par små shoppingrunder, en avskjedsfest for danske venner, åtte-ti overfylte subwaytog, minst fire security-sjekker på flyplassen, en fotballkamp mellom Sogndal og Glimt (dvs. Vestlandet mot NordNorge...), fire-fem kopper Starbucks-kaffe, fire-fem kopper kjip kontorkaffe, minst ti telefoner fra stressede studenter som venter på oppholdstillatelse i Norge, to-tre rulleskøyteturer i parken, kanskje et blogginnlegg til - og så er det jammenmegta og hurramegrundt FERIE!! Det er helt klart noe i det faktum at i en relativt avlslappet studenttilværelse ser man slett ikke så mye frem til ferie som man gjør som hardtarbeidende lønnsslave...

Ellers veksler det mellom hetebølge og syndeflod, noe det visstnok skal fortsette med helt til september. Vi er lovet 30-32 grader helt fram til neste torsdag, så overgangen til det norske (og spesielt vestlandske?) sommerklimaet kan bli temmelig bratt.

It's a bird! No, it's a plane! No, it's...

I was 8 years old when I convinced my parents to give me my own key to our house, so that I could go directly home from school rather than go to the nanny. Why? There was a Superman movie on TV (we only had one TV channel at the time, and this was before the age of our VCR, so it was kind of a big deal) . And during my formative teenage years, I loved, loved, loved the TV-series "Lois and Clark" and had (and I say this with only a mild embarrased blush) a poster of Dean Cain in my closet. I have owned several clothing items with the infamous "S" logo (including undergarments) and have been known to take an extra look at members of the opposite sex if wearing the same logo. Yes, I guess it is fair to say that I have had a crush on the Man of Steel for quite some time.

So - expectations were undoubtedly high for the new Superman movie. Could the young Brandon Routh live up to the legacy of the previous tight-wearing superheroes? Could the movie manage to bring back the magic of memories past? My own personal superman somewhat reluctantly agreed to come with me (I promised not to drool openly) and for 2 hours and 38 minutes we watched the cape-clad hero struggle with familiar issues like protecting his supersecret superhero identity, dealing with his hidden-yet-not-so-secret love for Lois Lane (now a mother), fighting the arch enemy, Lex Luthor, and saving Metropolis and the world from their oblivious fate of heading towards certain destruction.

And the verdict? It was fun. And at times it really did revive the old feeling of being lost in a universe of superheroes and supervillains. Sure, it is a little odd that the man himself looks much younger now than when he left the planet five years ago (young Brandon actually looks a lot better as Clark Kent than he does without glasses), and if I had it my way, Lois would dump the geezer so she and Superman could live happily ever after and spend their evenings flying around in the clouds. The ending is beyond cheezy, but I don't want to spoil it - you'll have to see it for yourself. As for me, although I was very happy to have enjoyed a fresh refill of
Supermanliness, I was even more happy to go home with the less cape-clad but much more approachable superhero of my own - and I suspect he is a better kisser, too.