The demise of my mother tongue

-Not to be confused with my mothers tongue...which I believe is in perfect condition.

It has come to my attention that I am slowly and painfully losing what was once known as my native language. Ever since I spent my eventful and highly interesting year abroad (more specifically the land of fat people and hamburgers), Ive had problems with the Norwegian language. I keep forgetting the most elementary grammar and spelling, and find myself writing English words in my otherwise Norwegian sentences at lectures. Of course it doesn’t help that the PowerPoint presentations are written in English, but the professor tends to speak Norwegian. -Well except for the Scottish dude we had a week or two ago who couldn’t pronounce the letter P without making fart noises with his lips. It was hard to concentrate on the subject matter, and I honestly don’t think I can remember anything of those two lectures.

But today I hit rock bottom. I was attending a Norwegian ecology lecture with English slides. I was being a good student, taking notes and trying to hear through the mumbling of the professor, when I tried to write a sentence that included the Norwegian word for pocket gopher. Of course it would have been a lot easier and quicker for me to just copy the slide and write “pocket gopher”, but I decided to write it in Norwegian: “Mulvarp”. I was staring at this word and thought to myself that something was wrong with it…but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what it was. It wasn’t until my friend, who was sitting next to me, pointed out the missing “d” in the word that I realized I had spelled it wrong. He then proceeded to ask me if I was dyslexic. -Which I have never been, but was silently wishing for at that moment. Now, if you are English and reading this, you are probably wondering what the big deal is by spelling a word wrong. But the thing is; this is a word Ive known the spelling of for years and years…ever since I was a little girl watching cartoons with the little pocket gopher and his buddy Tiger. I realized at that moment that I have to do something. I am not exactly sure what that something is, but it has to be done. I have had too many incidents like this one the past 6 months to just ignore it. How to change this trend though, is to me a mystery. I am reading novels in English these days, my University textbooks are written in English, slides at lectures are in English, most of my emails are in English (except for the ones to my Norwegian friends of course), this blog is English, the movies I watch are English/American, so are all the TV shows…Am I losing my ability to communicate with my fellow countrymen/women? The thought is frightening.

I guess if it gets any worse, I can always move back to the States…

The Glasses

For those of you who've been nagging on me to get glasses; let the party begin! Yes you read it correctly! I finally got my glasses today. I was a bit surprised though to learn that my vision is just minus 0.5 on both eyes...I thought it was worse. But thats a good thing, so Im not complaining. And I love glasses! What a fashion statement you can make with a good pair of glasses! Woohoo!

Anyways, here they are:


Do I look intellectual?

The Hurricane Aftermath

Originally posted: September 26th, 2005

Current Mood: thankful

Have you ever sat down and really thought about your life? I mean, really thought about it? Where you’re going, what you want to do, what you don’t want to do and how you want to do the thing that you want to do? *phew* lost my breath there for a sec…

Lately I’ve been thinking about life…and how every decision you make affects it.-And how easily everything you have can be taken away from you. My plans for this year or for the rest of this year anyways, have already been altered…And there wasn’t much I could do about it. I’m not going to bore you with the details, but I had planned to follow some classes at the University, which got cancelled and now I don’t really have any classes I can take….not this semester anyways. But in a way this might be a good thing. I’m going to fall even more behind on my study-schedule, but it will give me more time to earn money…which I btw spent too much of in NYC. I’ve never been more broke than I am right now. Gosh, I had more money as a 6-year old than I have now…I had a savings account back then. Aaaaah the good old days. Pony tails, no hair on the legs, no worries,- well apart from worrying about the fraggles and whether they would make it back to Fraggle Rock before the mean Gorgs caught them…scary bastards. But my point is; I’m broke. So no school this semester gives me more time to save up some desperately needed money.

However, if I hadn’t gone to the US last year, I would have started my Masters degree right away and I would probably have been done with my education by now…looking for a real job.

I have to admit I’m content with my choice of spending that year abroad. It was good for me, both as a person and education-wise, and let’s face it, it was the best year in my 20-something life yet…but I can’t help thinking “what if” sometimes…

It also makes me wonder about faith vs coincidence. When something happens in your life, was it meant to happen? Or did something go wrong? Were you supposed to be where it happened? I remember reading a book by Stephen King on the issue…It was called ‘Insomnia’ and it had an interesting view on everything. Of course this is King so in his mind coincidence is two invisible bald midgets running around cutting in people’s auras with scissors…but the idea was that faith has a road laid out for us, and coincidence comes along and changes the paths we follow. So in a way we’re all meant to be something, but the choices we make affects what that final result will be. I think I like that idea. It’s comforting to think I have a purpose, and yet nice to know that I myself can decide what that purpose is,- by the choices I make in life. Did I lose you yet?

You may read this and wonder what this has to do with hurricane Katrina or Rita…and it doesn’t really have anything to do with it…not directly. But that disaster has made me think…about how short life is, about how coincidence can kick you in the ass when you least expect it, or even when you do expect it, and about how important it is to live your life as best as you can, and be as honest as you can to yourself and those around you.



Life is short and full of surprises. Im gonna try living mine to the fullest.

The Trip Home

Originally posted July 28th, 2005

Current Mood: relaxed
Current Music: Kaiser Chiefs - Oh My God

I finally got my butt home to Norway. Parents were pleased, boyfriend was pleased to be home again, dog was pleased…I am pleasssssget me back to NYC! No seriously, its nice to be home…but I miss New York.

The trip home was kinda stressful. We ordered an airport shuttle to come pick us up at the apartment in Queens. He was supposed to arrive 1:40pm, he showed up around 2:50…not even an apology…then the ASS (pardon my French) takes a HUGE detour all the way to the Bronx instead of taking the Queensboro Bridge over to Manhattan… When we kindly pointed out the detour he got upset and started arguing with us...telling us that he had to pay a dollar and fifty at the bridge. We then told him that the bridge is in fact free… His response was the following: “Well, yes the bridge is free, but that means it will be full of cars and long queues.” Since our apartment was located at Queens blv (which ends at the bridge), we could tell him that it was in fact not “full of cars and queues”, it was actually pretty empty that day….Geez what an asshole that man was. He picked up a couple of more passengers before he took us to the airport. Fortunately we always schedule more travelling time than we need, so we managed to get to the airport in time, but some of the other passengers he picked up were in a serious hurry…

The flight itself was very comfortable. SAS has comfortable airplanes between the US and Europe. Each passenger gets their own TV screen with movies, computer games and a radio, and they feed you at constant intervals, so the trip flew by in no time (pun intended). (I should get a free plane ticket for that kind of commercial).

When we finally reached Sweden, we were told that our next flight from Sweden to Oslo was delayed, so we were suddenly in a BIG hurry when we arrived in Oslo. Since Oslo was the first time we touched Norwegian ground after having been abroad, we were required to pick up our luggage and take it through customs, and then check it in again…Now imagine doing all this in 7 minutes….The luggage had to be checked in at least 20 minutes before our next flight was supposed to leave…and we had about 27 minutes. Impossible you say? We got our bags last but still surprisingly quick, basically ran through customs (you should have seen the looks on the faces of the Customs Agents…), fortunately we were not stopped…They probably saw our filled-to-the-point-of-exploding suitcases and decided it was too much work and no glory. From the customs area we ran around like confused rats in a maze at the main floor before we realized that the check-in area was upstairs. Once we got upstairs we came to the check-in area only to notice that the line was a mile long. What to do, what to do? 30 seconds to go and about 10-15 minutes of queue…We did the only thing we could do; play German tourists (no offence to Germans out there) and run to the front of the line. I was batting my eyelashes as hard as I could and my boyfriend was playing as desperate as he could and it worked! Our bags however were each at least 20-30 pounds overweight…He weighed one of my suitcases which was about 80 pounds heavy…almost 40 pounds too heavy. I gave him my Im-just-a-poor-very-broke-student look, and he let it pass. Phew!

Ok, so now we have checked in our bags…again, and we have about 20 minutes until our next flight is about to leave. So we hurry through security and out to the gate only to get the following message when we get there: “Flight number [thisandthat] from Oslo to Bergen is unfortunately delayed an hour due to some complications with the crew” Aka ‘we don’t have a damn crew for you ‘cause they are still in the air on their way from another part of the country.’ (!!) I just wanted to cry…

But a bottle of Fanta and a few book chapters later, we were on our way to Bergen. Finally!

It was a real treat to sleep in my own bed that night, after having been a year away from home…

New York City

Originally posted June 26th, 2005

Current Mood: blue

Some folks like to get away, take a holiday from the neighborhood
Hop a flight to miami beach or hollywood.
I’m taking a greyhound on the hudson river line-
I’m in a new york state of mind.

I've seen all the movie stars in their fancy cars and their limousines,
Been high in the rockies under the evergreens,
But I know what I’m needing and I don’t want to waste more time-
I’m in a new york state of mind.

It was so easy living day by day
Out of touch with the rhythm and the blues,
But now I need a little give and take,
The new york times, the daily news...

It comes down to reality-and it’s fine with me ’cause I’ve let it slide,
Don’t care if it’s chinatown or riverside,
I don’t have any reasons, I’ve left them all behind-
I’m in a new york state of mind.

I am going to miss this city...

The Big Apple and the Hairy Pancake

Originally posted June 18th, 2005

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: "I predict a riot" by Kaiser Chiefs

I just have to share this with you guys.

I had the weirdest day earlier this week. I was feeling a little claustrophobic in the apartment, and decided to take on Manhattan by myself for a couple of hours. I left the boyfriend at home and decided to do some birthday shopping for various family members. After a couple of hours shopping, I decided to go to Central Park to relax a bit…work on my tan, which is non existent at this moment in time, and do some people watching. I love watching people…just sit on a bench and watch people and their weird habits. Kids with ice cream all over their faces, upper west side ladies with their poodles walking by, tourists with big cameras on their bellies…they all belong in the park.

Anyway, I was on my way to that part of the park where they shot the kidnapping scene in Ransom (the movie with Mel Gibson). I can never remember the name of that area, but it’s a big open square with a fountain in the middle. Check out the movie if you don’t know what area Im talking about.

As I was walking down the stairs on one of the sides, I noticed a film crew at the bottom. I didn’t want to disturb them, so I decided to sit down on the stairs and wait until they were done filming. The crew consisted of 3 camera men, a director and what appeared to be a woman dressed up as a pancake or a gingerbread man. I could only see her from behind, as they were filming her towards me…meaning they probably got me in the background…She was buying a soda from a hot dog vendor, and they did a couple of takes. I noticed she had this long black hair attached to the top of her suit, and she kept waving it away from her eyes…it looked really uncomfortable in that suit, and it was a hot day.

After a few takes, they finished up and left the vendor, and as they were walking away, that’s when I saw the man. He had been standing behind the vendor out of my sight…Dressed up as a HUGE pink penis…with the balls hanging down in front of him. He had to lift up the balls when he walked, so that he wouldn’t trip on ‘em…and he could hardly walk…he was more jumping forward. You should have seen the penis walk…Anyway, that’s when I realized that the woman was NOT a hairy pancake…

I will never look at a pancake the same way… The worst part is that Im probably IN the freakin’ movie! The next time you find a hair on your pancakes…think of me.

After this whole Woody Allen typed porno movie was done, I walked over to the water line and sat down on a bench. Here I managed to be asked out on a date by a Upper East side art critic…we are talking major snob…in his late 40s, early 50s…wearing a white shirt, khakis and a straw hat…those of you who know me knows how weird that situation must have been…There I was sitting in my black baggy pants and a psychedelic tee…with my messy hair do…and this veeery slow talking middle-aged gentleman approaches me and starts talking about art etc. I was flattered, but surprised that this guy would even find me slightly interesting…I looked like I would feel at home on a skateboard…and this guy would probably feel very at home on a yacht or maybe a golf course. Anyways, like I said, I was flattered, but politely declined his offer to take me to an art museum, and he walked away pretty quickly after that.

It was getting late and I decided to walk down to Times Square and take the subway home. It’s a fairly long walk…but I was in walking mood. When I reached the Ed Sullivan theatre and David Letterman, I noticed another film crew with some spectators in the alley where Hello Deli is. Of course like a moth to a flame, I had to check it out. It turned out they were filming a spoof for Letterman’s show. The movie: Full Throttle with Herbie the love Bug is coming out soon, and they were filming something that was supposed to be a crime scene. Apparently Herbie was stolen and smashed and a police officer was talking to a young woman. I have a feeling this young woman was Lindsey Lohan…but I have to admit I’m not sure. I know she is in the movie…and it makes sense that it was her…But I can’t be sure until I’ve seen it on Letterman. She was a lot skinnier than how I remember Lohan…but we’ll see. It was fun to watch anyways. I will know Tuesday next week.

Holy guacamole! This entry turned out a little longer than I had planned…but it all happened in one day…one afternoon actually. I think its safe to say it was an eventful day…It just shows how much you can actually bump into in one single day in the big apple. I’m gonna miss this city…

UPDATE: They never used the spoof on the show...so Im still not certain who the young woman was.

The Trip

Originally posted June 14th, 2005

Current Mood: still melting
Current Music: Mean Mistreater - Accelerators version

Ok, I said I would get back to my trip, so I should probably tell you about it now, before the heat melts away the memories I have. So warm, so very very warm...

First came LA. Lala-land is big...very big. As we were flying over the city before finally touching ground, buildings were all I saw...buildings and concrete as long as my lenses could focus…I should probably tell you that Im slightly nearsighted…but lets skip that. LA is fvcking big. That’s all you need to know. (Did I just cuss?). The flight from NYC to LA was bumpy with a lot of turbulence, so it was nice to finally get out of the flying tin tube and onto the ground. The bags were collected quickly, and we (which would be my boyfriend and I) were on our way to the hotel. We knew little about the hotel, except that it was located in Hollywood right next to Manns Chinese Theater, you might know it as the theater with all the celebrity footprints and handprints on the sidewalk…geez…you should think celebs had enough common sense to stay away from a newly cemented sidewalk! Anyways we got to the hotel and were blown away! Great hotel! Im pretty sure I almost walked straight into Macy Gray in the lobby one night…she looked the same and sure sounded the same. Pretty lady.

Ok, get to the point, right? We met up with a friend of mine the first day. She is from Philly, and we stalked her to LA…so she had to meet us. She took us to a famous hot dog place, Pink’s, great hot dogs, and a drive through Beverly Hills and Malibu. A great time was had by all. The following days were spent at various locations in LA; Universal studios (fun!), Long Beach (neat!), Santa Monica (ooooh pretty!) and some other places. We walked up and down Hollywood walk of fame quite a few nights, since our hotel was right there, had a stroll at Rodeo Drive (“pretty woman, walking down the street, pretty woman”- love that movie), bumped into a couple of celebs after the Batman Begins Premiere…Liam Neeson has that fatherly hotness over him, and Ive always had lots of respect for Sir Michael Caine, so it was kinda nice to see them in 3D. Both great actors.

After 4 days in LA it was time to move on. Next stop San Francisco.

I simply loved SF! I have to say LA lacks charm…LA is just a huge city with lots of buildings…SF has the charm. We went shopping in Chinatown, had a meal at a restaurant which started very nicely…We were just about to finish our nice Chinese supper, when a huge rat ran by us on the floor. I think its safe to say we didn’t finish our meal, and left the restaurant for good. Other than that we had a great time. Alcatraz was fascinating, the hills in that city are insane! How those cars get over those hills, is still a mystery to me. They can be glad they don’t have to deal with lots of snow during winter…The curved road on Lombard street is a classic, the cable car was too cute and the beautiful Exploratorium, which you might recognize from the movie “The Rock”. Lots of animal life surrounding it. I picked up a butterfly who just sat there in my hand, waiting patiently until I was done taking pictures of it. I could have done the same with the turtles, but I decided to leave them alone.

We also met up with a friend of mine in SF. She and her hilarious boys took us to Alcatraz. We had a great time and I have to thank the boys for their patience…I know grownups can be very boring while sightseeing…That’s why I plan on never becoming one.

By the way, I will always associate SF with Segway…I don’t know how many tourists we saw on segways while we were there…which reminds me. We got to try one while we were in Long Beach, LA.

Anyways, that’s it. That was the trip. And what a trip it was.

Btw, its really difficult to actually fall on a segway...

The Pimple

Originally posted April 29th, 2005

Current Mood: creative
Current Music: Dream on - Aerosmith

I have no idea why Ive created a blog...I think Im just bored...and I like to write..so why not?

I guess this will be the kind of site where I just ramble about...For my friends first of all...and anyone else who might be interested.

Anyways. The pimple.

I woke up this morning with a pimple. And Im not just talking about any pimple...this was the mother of all pimples. The kind you can see from the other side of the street, before you notice the person who sports it. Im talking about the face altering kind that creates an extra lookalike nose in your face. I dont get many pimples anymore...And when I used to get them, I didnt get any of this magnitude...but this sucker had super-size me written all over it. I had felt it coming last night...you just know its gonna be big when it hurts to smile. Twas one of those undergrounders you cant see, but you know its there. Anyways, I had covered it up with toothpaste the night before. They say its supposed to help. Im guessing the person who said that made it up, because he or she wanted to see how stupid and desperate people could get. And desperate I was...

So the next morning, that would be this morning, I got up and took a look in the mirror. There it was...And i was faced with the dilemma. Pop it now and get a nice red scab in the middle of my face, or cover it up with makeup and look like I have a huge wart in my face? I decided a skin colored lump was better than a big red scab. So I spent the next 5 minutes trying to cover it up. [Kanebo facial powder *jingle plays in background* Does the deed!]. I spent the rest of the day smiling at people who stared, aching to go home and pop it once and for all.

So now Im sitting here...in pain. The sucker popped...and there was blood...lots of blood. My wounds will take time to heal...but Im sure I'll be fine eventually.

The moral you ask? No moral...just buy Kanebo...and boykott any circus with animals...aaaaand you might want to ask yourself why on earth you read all this.

Live it up!
~Ski

Incase you thought I have two noses:

Starting over

Some of you already know that I used to have a livejournal, but I have to admit that I have neglected it recently...bad Ski, very bad. I have no excuse other than the fact that my life became a little too boring for my liking when I left the States. But with that said, I decided it was time to give it another try. However, new country requires a new layout of the blog, so here it is; My new Blog (taataaaaa! Trumpets are blowing out eardrums and people are cheering).

I was going to copy my old posts and put 'em in this blog, but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to paste copied stuff into this blog! I know Im pretty green with puters, but this is an issue Ive never had before...sooooo untill then I will have to deal with two blogs.

Edited: Yay! I figured it out! Im not completely stupid after all!!