Bieber Fever

As Bieber Fever sweeps Oslo, I ask myself; "why have I grown another appendix?". The two are, of course, unrelated, but they are also both current bits of information.

But of course I am fully aware that I haven't actually grown another appendix, having had mine taken out at the age of 14 or 15, but it certainly feels like I have, and that it's got some -itis going on. On Sunday I drank rather a lot of wine, and have been in serious to moderate pain ever since. My stomach also seems to have ballooned to twice it's normal size. I'm not sure why this is happening, but I'm fairly sure it's related to wine and cannon balls. When I say cannon balls, I mean cinnamon rolls.

Anyhoo... Got myself a new ring at Copenhagen Airport today. A gift to myself if you will. Well, nobody else is buying me gifts, so why the hell not!? It's yellow and cream and diamond coloured, but all retro and stuff. It is also my plan to get a pair of retro spectacles, a bit like my dad has. I've realised I'm a lot like my dad. I have his memory (could be literally coz he doesn't remember anything either), I'm easily distracted, and there are also other similarities that involve clip-on mobile phone cases, and then the spectacles. I think it will make me look rather intelligent, something I probably don't at the moment. Maybe I should dye my hair brown as well. Anyone have any thoughts on this matter?

Good grief, the neighbours here in Oslo are being rather loud this evening. SHUT THE &!%K UP!! People are trying to blog in here!!!! Jeeeez. Sorry for swearing.

And maybe a suit. Should I don a suit too? I bet then the air stewardess wouldn't ask me what seat I'm in when I board the plane first. I can feel a challenge coming on... How exciting!! I could become all professional and stuff! I have another, air travel related, challenge that I failed today. I extend it to you also. When coming in to land at any destination during daylight hours, you must spot a golf course. That's it. Easy peasy. But today, coming in to land at Oslo, I failed. It was a dark hour indeed. Well, 10 minutes anyway.

Here's a picture of my new ring. Stop it, it's not rude.

And here's a picture of a Justin Bieber, because it's apt. There's no picture of my regrown appendix, you'll be pleased to know. Unless my regrown appendix looks like Bieber. It's quite possible.

Take care,
Kajsa.

P.S. There's a girl shouting at a guy next door but I think it's over t'internet.

Atmospheric Pressure

It's that time again. Blog-time. Like hammer-time, only less fun.

I was going to go to sleep, but the heat is making sure that's not possible. So I may as well bore myself to sleep by writing a blog. About babies and dates. Unrelated to each other, just for clarity. Actually, I'm also going to talk about penises, something that Norwegians seem to be obsessed with. At least when creating statues. Outside my workplace here in Oslo are some statues - naked statues. Ha, I wonder if anyone would find it funny if I dressed on up in an Abba outfit or something... Anyhoo, penises outside the window. And on Monday I went to an apparently world famous park, where there were LOADS of statues. Statues of naked people, doing all sorts of weird stuff. Like this:

Isn't it awesome?! And there's a famous one of an angry baby but I didn't take a picture of it coz everyone else was and I didn't want to conform. However I did take a picture of the piece de resistance, this phallic symbol:

You can find out more about the park and the statues here: http://www.vigeland.museum.no/en/vigeland-park/bridge You might not want to, but I don't care if you want to or not, I'm giving you the option at least. Jeez.

Just to clarify, no actual person or persons has shown me their penis here in Norway. And there are clothed statues available for viewing as well.

So, onto the date. I went on a date this week. My first ever date with a Swedish guy. Exciting eh? That's it, that's all I have to say about that.








Only kidding!! As if I'd leave you in suspense like that!? I'm not that cruel.

Right, so, we met near my house, said our awkward hellos and decided to go to a cafe/bar up the road. We walked up to the bar and umm-ed and aaah-ed about what to drink. At least, I did. My date promptly asked what the best white wine they had was and I thought "how sweet!". But no, not sweet. My date then proceeded to order a glass of said wine, pay for it, and go and sit down. Without a word to me. Without waiting for me to get my drink. Without offering to get me a drink. Actually, I don't really mind him not offering to buy the drink, but surely it's common courtesy to wait for your date, especially if it's your first one with this person, while they get their drink? I was flummoxed. So when I got home (after having down about a third of my cider because my date decided it was time to go and there was no way I was wasting £2.50) I decided to ask Google about date etiquette in Sweden (he was Swedish, after all). Yes, yes, I know I'm Swedish but, as previously mentioned, this was my first ever date with a fellow Swede so I wanted to know if it was a cultural thing. Here are a few snippets I found:

"I slowly start to realize that a Swedish man on a first date is like a lost puppy trying to find his way. He knows not how to approach a lady, carry a conversation, or to offer to pay. "

"And also - for the most part "special treatment" of women is not appreciated. If a man runs ahead of a woman to open a door for instance this would be seen as patronizing. "

"Another thing in Sweden is that since men and woman are viewed equally the man is not supposed to pay the bill and such things during dates. Instead they always split (well not always but its common)."

Make what you will of that. I'm undecided, but leaning towards the please-don't-leave-me-at-the-bar-on-our-very-first-and-probably-last-date side of things.

And lastly, I found this: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070106084217AAJ71dz And I love it.

Night, night.

I don't know if this will work... But you'll never guess where I am!? I'm 34000 ft in the air (ish)!! First time using wifi on the plane. It's so exciting a little wee might come out. The view up here is spectacular. Unfortunately I can't upload a picture using my phone right now but I might share at a later time.

I could now tell you about my Eurobonus issue that I spoke about in yesterday's blog! What a grand idea!! So, I've been a Silver level member since working in Copenhagen last year and was very much looking forward to getting 50,000 points and receiving Gold status. I'm not at 50,480 points, but have not been upgraded!!!! I must say that this is hugely disappointing.it turns out that I need 50,000 points in one qualifying year, not in total. Now my spirit is crushed. I will never fly again. Oh, hang on...

The Runs

Dear Blog,

I ran today. Twice. And yesterday I ran once. It's my new old thing. From now on I will run to and from work, except when coming from, or going to, the airport. I run with a rucksack that carries my work clothes. I listen to music. It's rather therapeutic actually. Except when pedestrians and cyclists get in the way. And they certainly get in the way. People in Norway veer all over the pavement! They seem oblivious so anything going on around them. Yeah, yeah, I'm generalising obviously, and I'm pretty certain that it's not just Norwegians that do this. In fact, most people, regardless of colour or creed, are crap pedestrians. Just because you're moving slowly doesn't mean you shouldn't be aware of what's going on around you. Dem de rules. I'm a great pedestrian.

So, I said last time that I'd finish the list I'd made. But I'm not going to, because the rest of the list was boring. I'd like to talk about thinking. Or rather, I'd like to type about thinking. Next time you're thinking, think about what you sound like when you're thinking. Do you sound like you? The reason I ask is that recently it occurred to me that I'd started thinking in a Norwegian accent. Now, I can't actually speak in a Norwegian accent (in fact I'm pretty cack at any accent other than Irish, and some would argue - and lose - that I'm cack at that too), but in my head I have the perfect Norwegian accent. In fact, I sound remarkably like my colleague and friend, Kirsti. It obviously means we spend a lot of time together. So I'd like to challenge you to spend time with someone who has a strong accent. Lots of time. Let's see if we can become international thinkers. I say all this, and now that I think about it, the accent is nowhere to be found. Kirsti was away from work last week. Coincidence? I don't think so.

Did I tell you I've got a new flat? It's cool. Here's a picture of me in it:

Don't worry, Norway hasn't changed my face, it's just an effect on the laptop. Cool, eh?

Lastly, because I have to go to bed in order to get up at 5am to go to the airport, I want to tell you a disappointing story about the SAS loyalty scheme, Eurobonus. But before that.... tomorrow is 17th May. Do you know what that means? Norwegian Constitution Day. HUGE festivities, and I'm gonna miss them all! :( But it's going to rain, and I'm going home to see Bumble, and if I did go I'd feel like the loneliest person on the planet, so I'm good. Here's a picture of what it would have been like:

Pretty cool, huh?

So anyhoo, the Eurobonus thing... another time, I'm too tired and I'm boring myself. Probably coz of all the running. Or I'm getting old and decrepit. Meh, whatevs. See you next time!
(If you read it all, please leave a comment telling me what your favourite movie of all time is. Need some ideas for LoveFilm, who insist on repeatedly sending me DVDs.)

Laters,
Kajsa. xx (one for you and one for Bumble)