E: Norwegian reunion

I'm back - safe and sound - after more than 21 hours of travel after a long flight (12h+) from Hong Kong and 4-5 hours of wait in Amsterdam. Oslo is pretty though; warm and welcoming with its greenary and people.

I have gotten all my stuff (luggage, excessive baggage sent from Australia and my belongs I left in Oslo) and unpacked a bit in the Christian student complex I spent my first two years in the Norwegian capital.

My dad happened to be in town today as well, and we met up for dinner and grocery shopping.

I seriously think about all my friends in Australia, but seriously enjoy being back and finally seriously would like to sleep.

More extensive updates will be arriving as soon as sleep, rest and time allow.

E: King Hong Kong

Hong Kong is mighty. Nowhere on earth do you find 7 million people + tourists stored on such a little landmass. In downtown (north on Hong Kong Island + Kowloon), skyscrapers are more common than regular houses.

The flight in yesterday went smoothly and gave me a chance to prepeare a bit with a Lonely Planet guide and seated next two a Chinese guy from Hong Kong (who I met on the shuttle from Freemantle (Perth)). I checked in and had a peak at the Temple Street Market.

Today I've been hiking most of northern Honk Kong island and seen most sites there are. The peak gives excellent views. And the lightshow was quite cool.

There so many impressions not too mention pictures to be shared, but I will leave much of it until I get back. For now I can say that people are polite, the city is fairly quiet for being so massive and congested. It's extremely hot and humid, so any place without air condition would be a killer.

I am doing well, although it's hard to be without the woman in my life and my friends in Melbourne.

God bless from an internet cafe on Nathan Road.

E: WA is going on

Western Australia (WA) is almost one third of Australia, and area covering about half of Europe (own estimate). The sunny capital is Perth. And it's from its pleasant suburb of Freemantle these words are being typed.

Yesterday's goodbye was tough, particularly parting with my outstanding girlfriend, Darshini. I have had a really good time in Melbourne and will miss my friends.

After arrival yesterday, I had a look at the city from King's park before dark. Afterwards I spend some time online working, eating, SMS-ing and talking to Darsh. I went to bed early, to rise at 7:30 this morning for exploring more of central Perth before heading down to Freemantle. It has gotten dark here as well, but I managed to get by most of the typical sites of the suburb - which is a very pretty one.

My plan is to take the ferry to and cycle around Rottenest Island tomorrow during the day. At night I will visit the weekend markets of Freemantle. Saturday I leave for Hong Kong.

I might get up for the world cup clash of Australia vs Croatia 3 am (Perth time).

E: Bye bye Melbourne

10 hours before my flight, I am about to go to bed for the last time in Melbourne for a long time. Perth awaits for three days before Hong Kong occupies the reminder of my overseas stay away from Norway. The last days have been hectic with last soccer match, farewell, saying goodbye to a range of friends, packing and getting ready for take-off. In spite a really study-savvy semester, I have enjoyed my time here and feel somewhat unfinished with leaving. More updates and the promised pictures will be coming.

For now, you will have to enjoy the clips below until I got more blogging time on my hands.

Thanks to all in Melbourne for making this stay so enjoyable!

E: Online clips 11

Before you go on enjoying today’s clip selection, I want to note that these excerpts are carefully chosen after watching many a terrible uploaded video. So you better laugh or appreciate these ;). Your particular taste (if different from mine) or mood might deter the sensation.

First off is a worst-case-scenario for both a reporter and a potential world record breaker.

Second is a clip from the most fascinating part of a rugby international; the pre-game intimidation.

Third up is slamball, an intensely bouncy version of basketball. It’s looks awesome, but I doubt it will become a major hit.

Fourth is a compilation of various interesting dance scenes.

Fifth, an example of how a race is not over until you passed the finish line. Or as my soccer coach would say; the game is not over until the final whistle blows. Poor guy. See the demonstration of cockiness.

Finally, if you have some time on your hands, and are fascinated by complex domino effects, you should watch these interesting constructions of tiny balls, wagons, hammers and other artifacts causing a stream of actions and reactions.

See all past entries here.

E: Recent highlights

I am currently in Albury. Darsh and I came to the city, situated over 300 km from Melbourne just across the border to the state of New South Wales, to visit James and Carolyn, whose wedding we attended in the beginning of March. The ride, the city and the reunion have all been wonderful so far.

We will return on Saturday as it will be my final soccer match; a cup game versus one of the best first division teams (we are second division). It will finally be the time to show how good our last wins (8-1, 8-0, 5-0) have been. Another soccer-related happening was the birthday party of Alan, the soccer team’s goalkeeper, who celebrated his first 40 in Williamstown (June 3). He just started playing soccer about a year ago, but does really well. And he is a great guy whom I enjoyed celebrating.

Tuesday Darsh and I went to Sovereign Hill. The 25 hectare living museum is a fascinating tourist attraction 10 minutes from the city of Ballarat (1.5 hours by train from Melbourne) showing the beginning of gold mining history of the area (1851 onwards). Gold melting, digging and museum, candy making, musket firing, horse and carriage, theatre, actors in customs of the era with more. The whole park wash well followed-through and worth the money, but I would primarily recommend it to families or people with special interests in gold. Three-four hours is sufficient.

Two other events took place back on June 4. I have always been fascinated by Stomp – one of the coolest musical entertainers I know of. Their way of generating rhythms and beats on various trash, brooms and other non-typical instruments are amazing. Up till now, I had only seen them on TV, an exert from their show which started downtown New York and became a Broadway show. And what a show it was! I went in a group of ten and had a blast. Cameras were prohibited, but you can find some samples online: Kitchen and basketball.

Later the same Sunday, Jackie, my housemate, had her baptism in St. Judes Anglican church. Jackie shared her testimony and I liked how the whole congregation moved up really close to the bathtub-like place of the watery act of faith.

Pictures for most these goings-on will be available soon.

X: Joyous info/Lystige opplysninger

E-mail to the masses reveal various contents. The following unverified claims can, if nothing else, initiate in exciting mind activity.

* To write continuously for eight years, seven months and six days will produce sufficient energy to heat a cup of coffee.
* To fart uninterruptedly for six years and nine months will produce enough gas needed for an atom bomb.
* The power of a heart beat can squirt blood 914 meters (!)
* The body’s strongest muscle is the tongue
* Banging your head in the wall constantly will burn 150 calories an hour
* Right-handed people live, in average, nine years longer than the left-handed. Ice bears happen to be left-handed
* The orgasm of a pig lasts half an hour. Certain lions tries to mate 50 times daily. But dolphins and humans are the only ones who can have sex (also) for enjoyment alone.
* A cockroach can live nine days after being beheaded
* A flea can jump 350 times its own length. That equals to a human being jumping the length of a soccer field.
* Butterflies taste with their feet
* The urine of a cat glows in black light. More interesting might be knowing how this information came about.
* The eye of an ostrich is bigger than its brain. Starfish apparently don’t have one.

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E-post til masser av avsendere inneholder litt av hvert. De følgende uverifiserte påstandene kan i alle fall igangsette noen spennende tankeeksperiment – takket være Lone MH.

* Å skrive sammenhengende i åtte år, sju måneder og seks dager vil produsere nok energi til å varme en kopp kaffe
* Å fjerte uavbrutt i seks år og ni måneder vil produsere nok gass til en atombombe.
* Hjertet har så stort trykk under arbeid at kraften blodet pumpes ut i kroppen er sterk nok til å sprute blod 914 meter!
* Den sterkeste muskelen i kroppen er tungen
* En måte å forbruke 150 kalorier i timen er å banke hodet i veggen.
* Høyrehendte mennesker lever, i gjennomsnitt, ni år lengre enn venstrehendte. Isbjørner er for øvrig venstrehendte.
* Orgasmen til en gris varer en halv time. Videre; noen løver parrer seg over 50 ganger daglig. Og hannen hos pinnedyr kan ikke parre seg når hodet dens er fast på kroppen. Hunnen tar initiativet til sex ved å rive hannens hode av. Sist ut i reproduksjonshjørnet er at delfiner og mennesker er de eneste dyrene som har sex (også) for lystens skyld.
* En kakerlakk kan leve i ni dager uten hode før den dør.
* En loppe kan hoppe 350 ganger så langt som dens kroppslengde. Det tilsvarer at et menneske hopper lengden på en fotballbane.
* Havkatten har over 27,000 smaksløker
* Sommerfugler smaker med føttene sine
* Elefanter er de eneste dyr som ikke kan hoppe
* En katts urin lyser under svart lys. Mer interessant er kanskje hvordan dette kom frem.
* Øyet til strutsen er større en dens hjerne, men sjøstjerner ikke har hjerne i det hele tatt.

E: World Cup tranquility

32 teams from six continents are currently undertaking the world most famous sports tournament. In a month, 64 matches will finish before announcing the next world champion in soccer. My support goes to the Aussies and secondly the Swedes, although chances are microscopic that they will make it among the final four.

Even though soccer is the sport I have played the longest, I am amazingly calm about the cup. Explanations can be that I prefer to attend rather than watch sports, that Norway did not make it, or that there is a lot do and think about as I will be leaving soon. Qualified Australia has soccer fever, and many a person misses out on sleep as the games run in the middle of the night due to the time zone differences. My soccer team’s head coach for instance, watches all the games. So far I only watched the last 15 minutes of England – Paraguay, but will see Australia’s opening match against Japan tomorrow night.

In spite this feeble interest, I have found a few interesting feature with this year’s tournament. The first is the new ball. The Teamgeist (Team Spirit) design is said to be the roundest ball eve, with high accuracy in any weather and condition. Perfected shape and a reduction in patches can actually might make a significant difference. If nothing else, it looks pretty cool.

Another attribution to the World Cup is the Virtual Replay function available through Macromedia Shockwave. News sites like BBC and Dagbladet (Norwegian) provides highlights and goals from the matches in animated graphics. The reconstruction of the reality is highly accurate and can be viewed with different speeds from different angels, including from the ball itself. At first it seemed like a dull way of compensating for commercialized rights to broadcast match footage. Especially as the technology and footage availability have never been better. It also gives associations to the court room/crime drawings instead of pictures. But after using it for a bit, it can enhance the reviewing/analyzing experience – if you have the interest and have already watched the game.

E: Online clips 10

A bit of random clips this time.

Enjoy a trombone entertainer and watch a skilled camel jumper.

Take delight in a bit of coffee art and view a humorous blindfold tasting test.

Be amazed of how quick a woman can get changed and finally laugh with a German weather reporter.


Nine pages with past linked videos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9.

X: Friendship connection/Vennskapskobling

In recent conversations on friendship, I have formed a clear thought on its composition. When two people meet, I believe they recognize or form a connection that is clear from very initial stages. This personality tie will largely remain unchangeable between the two for good. Amount of quantitative and qualitative stretches together can strengthen and color this connection, but it will not change it. Time and actions are more a result of connection (the cause). The reason you like to be with certain people is not because of how much history you have together or what things you have done together, not necessarily even shared interest or opinions, but because how you are related. To apply it to the idea of being on wavelength or tuned in on the same frequency, I will state that we all have a fairly set frequency with which we explore the social world. This is shown in friendships that are kept at a distance and/or with little communication together. My friend Sigmund Augdal once formulated it very well: ”Our contact is not frequent, but good.”

This way of thinking of relationships also implies that there will be relationships that may be kept of tradition, duty or past where the connection was far from optimal from on or both sides. That can be the case for a class- or teammate. In the end, a friendship needs to give you more than it takes. To help or support someone in need can also be rewarding, though.

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Relasjoner har en klar komposisjon. Når to personer møtes oppstår det veldig tidlig en gjenkjennelse eller etablering av en sosial kobling. Denne linken, basert på personlighet, vil nærmest være og forbli uforanderlig for alltid mellom de to. Mengde kvantitativ og kvalitativ tid sammen kan forsterke og fargelegge forbindelsen, men ikke endre den. Tid og gjøremål sammen er mer en virkning av koblingen (som er årsaken). Årsaken til at du liker å tilbringe tid med bestemte individer er ikke grunnet tidsmengden sammen, hva dere har gjort sammen (eller hva han/hun har gjort for deg), og ikke nødvendigvis interesser eller meninger, men hvordan deres relasjon er koblet. Dette vil også vises i at vennskapet kan opprettholdes på tross av avstand og lite tid sammen. ”Vi har ikke mye kontakt, men god kontakt” er en velformulert kommentar min venn Sigmund Augdal en gang sa.

I forhold til analogien om å være på bølgelengde og ha samme frekvens, vil jeg hevde at vi alle har en viss, nesten konstant, frekvens som vi møter den sosiale verden med. Dette tankeresonnementet insinuerer at noen vennskap opprettholdes av plikt eller tradisjon hvor koblingen egentlig var langt fra optimal. Dette gjelder for eksempel medstudenter eller lagkamerater. Når alt kommer til alt, mener jeg vennskap må gi deg mer enn det tar. Det skal sies at det å være til hjelp og støtte for personer i vanskelige tider defineres som avkastning i mine øyne.

E: Semester completed

My last academic assessment was confidently slid into the essay box around 1 pm yesterday; 5400 words over 25 pages on how media addresses injustice and contributes to alleviate suffering. My semester has caused a fair bit of mental distress. This is the first semester in my life I did not enjoy studying. My social life has been very limited and the workload unreal. But in retrospect most things seems worthwhile. Although my subjects required a threshold of academic competence slightly unhealthy than my starting point, and that I wouldn’t have done this if I knew in advance how it would turn out, I have gained a great amount of knowledge. Furthermore, I have formed an ability for studying continuously for weeks at the time.

I have friends of major capacity in life who have temporarily broken down due to work and stress overload. This hasn’t happened to me yet, but when visiting my girlfriend later in the afternoon, on my way to practice, I was suddenly struck by this exhaustion I would label study fatigue. It has been in my system for quite some time, but was no longer able to be kept in check. I felt tired and blank within for a bit and ended up not going to practice. Instead I was given dinner, a hot bath was prepared and a lot of comforting support and words from Darshini and the “host family” she stays with – the Milesis. This became a reminder of how I am human and cannot always be a 100% ready to go and that there are more limitations than time. I needed this night off to chill, recharge and be properly restored. Darsh and I also had some very good conversations.

Overall, the tougher something is, the better the sensation of completing something. There are many things left to do before I leave Melbourne on the 21st; lots of social events (dinners, trips, birthdays and farewells), packing, prepearing for Perth and Hong Kong, selling my bike etc. But these things will pass the burden of study pressure.

E: Academic competence

Yesterday at 4 pm 14 pages of double-spaced writing on what effects the civil war had on development in Afghanistan dropped into an essay-box a few blocks south of the main campus of Melbourne Uni. That marked the end of my 121-545 Understanding Development subject. Never have I spent so much time and frustration on 3000 words. But I’m happy to be home, and even if the content could be better, the structure fortunately made sense in the end.

The semester has reminded me of what study competence or capability really means. Diligence, discipline, research methods and ability to express oneself are helpful attributes. But competence has little to do with how information you could potentially cough up at any one point. It is mainly about knowing what is relevant or not. It has to do with a sense of perimeters of whatever topic of field you explore.

This is to me the main reason why I have been struggling so much this semesters. The work load and amount of reading and writing have been significant, but having to produce 16,000 words worth of essays in my second language in a few months is in itself not the major issue. Taking fifth year subjects as a fourth year student, has forced me to fill a knowledge gap before actually being able to synthesize in the subjects. And with development I started at scratch, joining a class where some have five years of development studies behind them.

To study is a socialization process from which you progressively gain understanding and insight. To skip a step or rush the process is paid for with reading and thinking in excess, having to familiarize yourself with the unknown outskirts (or should I say outback), before feeling confident in raising your centre piece. This excessive study work is what have taken so much of my awaken time these last months. The reward for aiming high is a greater percentage of wisdom and competence gain – which study wise is more important than a possible lower grade.

And the harder the work, the better it will be to get on a break. Monday at 5 pm is the final deadline for my last essay, which officially terminates the academic part of my exchange.