10$ an hour please

BuddySchool has really taken off for me. I upped my price (from $8 to $10) and still I seem to be attracting new students. I have given over 50 lessons (most of them in English, but a pair in Spanish) and am making a bit of money in the process! Not too shabby! It is really nice to be able to buy a bit of food at the grocery store etc. and not have to wait for Lars to come home to go shopping!

So far I have interacted with the following students:

• Filip, Poland
• Gil, S. Korea
• Raimundo, Brazil
• Marco, Spain
• Sergei, Russia
• Kenny, S. Korea
• Gertraud, Austria
• Natalia, Israel
• Yasuko, Japan\Italy
• Sofi, Turkey
• Nico, Spain

I also had a couple of people contact me (as I have detailed previously) from Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Slovenia...but nothing really ever came of those advances.

This week I have had a lesson with Sergei (Russia, 25 yrs) everyday, and he is delightful to talk to. We have very intellectual discussions based on art, culture, history etc. It is safe to say we are learning a lot from each other. We also take some time to read some goofy top-ten articles that he finds online, for example, Top Ten Irrational Fears or Top Ten Most Controversial Magazine Covers.

I was teaching a student named Gilmyung from S. Korea quite regularly on the weekends. I didn't look forward to these lessons as much because a) they were on the weekends, b) we had agreed on a much lower price ($7\hr) and c) we met in two hour sessions. Not exactly an ideal way to spend a Saturday or Sunday morning, if you get my drift. Gil is a nice guy though, and I do want to continue helping him. He actually teaches English but finds it important to keep his idiomatic language up to date and uses me as a resource when his textbooks fail him. Lately we haven't met that much because I have been a bit busy on weekends...doing OTHER things than working. Part of my decision to quit Norwegian class had to do with creating more time during the day to offer lessons, and it has really paid off. Sorry Gil, ... maybe we can catch up again when I am back in the WA and we are then 16 hours apart instead of only 7!

Another student who I haven't told you much about is Nico. He is a 30 year old Argentian born man living in La Palma, Mallorca (Spain). We have also met quite a bit lately as he is frantically preparing for the IELTS (English proficiency test) that he is taking tomorrow. It has been a lot of fun talking with the students from Spain that have authentic Spanish accents; it is much easier for me to recall my long lost Spanish skills when I hear a native speaker. I think I am also a suitable teacher for Spanish speakers because I understand why they make some of the mistakes they do, or why they ask some of the questions they do.

Did I mention I have also been meeting with an Austrian grandmother? Her name is Gertraud and she is 61. She is the sweetest lady, and although she has a thick accent (think female Schwarzenegger) she makes herself easily understood. She is visiting the U.S. this summer (N.Y., New Orleans, Chicago) and is hoping to improve her speaking skills a bit more before she makes the flight in August.

Man this site was really a good find. I feel so lucky to have stumbled across it! It has really kept me quite busy, especially in the last couple weeks. Today, for example I have 5 hours of lessons! That's $50 right into my depressed Wells Fargo account! Whoo hoo!

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REAL kebab

According to my Iraqi friends most western cultures have got the kebab all wrong! They say that most of the kebab shops around town actually serve shawarmas. I understand their frustration, but I also understand where the confusion comes from. Kebab in Iraq refers to some meat mixture on a skewer or a stick, and it must be grilled, just like those tomatoes above. A döner kebab however (means rotating kebab in Turkish) is actually much more similar to what is sold to many drunken partiers around 3 a.m in the morning...and it is basically the same as a shawarma, at least to my insensitive eye. So as I said, it is easy to see why non-Iraqi can lump all these delicious variants of meat, veggies and tortilla\bread\pita into one scrumptious category.

Luckily for me, it was important to my friends that us non-arabic speaking folk understood the delicacy of the Iraqi kebab. Last Wednesday we were treated to an evening in the park filled with kebab eating, random Arabic lessons (did I mention I am learning Arabic? haha), bike riding, a spontaneous game of soccer and a lot of good laughs.

Jean Claude brought a six pack of beer to a gathering hosted by our Muslim non-drinking friends. Hilarious. Surprisingly, he wasn't the only one to indulge.

The weather has been a bit schizophrenic lately..bright sun turns into rain showers with the turn of a hat. At least we got a sweet rainbow out of the deal. I'm going to miss these people.

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Grilling with Greta

Everyone has some long lost relatives somewhere in the world, but not all of us are lucky enough to know about them, much less visit them! An old high school acquaintance, Greta Stickney, has been in Norway for the last couple days or so visiting some relatives she has never met--her great aunt's son's mother's cousin's goat's BFF, if you get my drift.

Thanks to the social networking site that is Facebook we saw we were both in the area at the same time and we met up for some catching up this past Saturday. We had a coffee @Poesi (single latte with Irish Cream syrup for me, a iced soy milk latte for Greta and coffee of the day for Lars) and enjoyed the nice weather and the high tempo atmosphere that has been Hamar recently. There was a music festival in our little city which meant the streets were even more packed than they are on a normal Saturday, with lots of choirs from all over the country being tourists in their own country.

Lars took off for his soccer game and Greta and I made our way to the lake to do some more grilling that I have become so fond of. It was strange and memory-unlocking to reminisce about our mutual employment at Mitzel's, high school and our shared hometown.

While we were sitting enjoying our hot dogs, we watched one of the proud choirs march by and heard one of them yell out that they would trade a song for a hot dog! I am not sure they expected me to accept their offer...but I did, and spontaneous lake-side singing is what resulted.

Lars has another away game today which means he will be gone for almost 9 hours! What to do with all that alone time...girls lunch? Sounds good to me! Which leaves me with just one question...if you don't have a pitcher big enough for some home made sangria, are you allowed to make it in a bowl, punch-style?

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Hip hip hurra!

The 17th of May (syttende mai) is a magical day in Norway, celebrating the day in 1814 when the Norwegian Constitution was signed. Lars and I spent it in good company sitting around in the sun, snacking on tasty foods, watching parades and doing a lot of mini-Norwegian flag waving.

Lars and I were woken up around 7 in morning to the sound of marching bands beginning the celebration in the streets around our apartment. We made some delicious breakfast and made our way into town to enjoy the day.

We met the crew in the city center and milled around a bit before heading to get our first ice cream of the day. It is typical on the 17th to eat multiple servings of ice cream (especially if you are a kid), and the average Norwegian eats four hot dogs, or pølser!



Here is Lars getting into the spirit on the way to our next stop on our personal 17th May parade:

Even dogs were all dressed up for nasjonaldagen!

We probably spent almost three hours sitting outside on the second level of Stallgården (a restaurant\bar with outdoor serving) in the middle of Hamar. I love holidays where sitting around with good friends is the most important thing to do!!

After our stay at Stallgården we grabbed a quick hot dog and made our way down to watch some more parades. Then we went our separate ways...but only to change out of the fancy clothes for a grillfest at Sondre's place! Lars and I grabbed our shish-kebabs and some champagne and pedaled our new-to-us bikes along the lake to eat an incredible meal with Sondre and Martin.

The view on the way home was incredible. Hip hip hurra!!

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Eurovision 2009

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Eurovision Song Contest, let me fill you in. Here is some information straight from Wikipedia:

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition. Each country participates via one of their national EBU-member television stations, whose task it is to select a singer and a song to represent their country in the international competition. The Contest has been broadcast every year since its inauguration in 1956 and is one of the longest-running television progammes in the world. It is also one of the most-watched non-sporting events in the world, with audience figures having been quoted in recent years as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally.

This year I was a much more active fan than in past years, which I suppose is to be assumed since I am indeed at least slightly European by this point. Saturday night we had friends over and watched Norway's song absolutely CRUSH everyone! The performer, Alexander Rybak, accumulated a total of 387 points which was 169 more than the second place country Iceland! he also shattered the previous record of 292 points from 2006. It was pretty awesome to watch.

And while the song has therefore been played out quite a bit, I still think it's a cool song. I also thought Iceland, Turkey, Portugal and Armenia's entries were good.

Norway: Alexander Rybak, Fairytale



Iceland: Yohanna, Is it true?



This has absolutely nothing to do with this year's competition but I wanted to share it anyway. This is one of the many reasons why I love Eurovision!

Ukraine 2007: Verka Serduchka, Lasha Tumbai

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Get packing!!

Well, it's official---I bought a ticket back to the good 'ol US of A. I will be leaving Norway the 18th of June and enjoying the Pacific Northwest until November 2nd. In that time I am expecting a lot of reunions, family dinners, weddings, laughs, dancing, and kayaking and outdoorsy time--not to mention, hopefully a lot of working--I really need to make some money STAT!

Money actually determined when I was buying my ticket back, to be honest. Last summer I worked for this org. called Washington Business Week and I am on board again for the camp on PLU's campus June 21st-27th. It is the only job I know that I have for sure for the months I am back, and it will be great to have some quick money in my sad, hungry bank account. Plus, this is what we did last year at WBW camp:

It was fairly awesome, and a fun way to make some money. The worst part of the job was chaperoning a high school dance and controlling teenage hormones. But really, I think I am up for that again!

Leaving June 18th, coming back November 2nd. For now, the plan is to tie up some loose ends around here, savor my time with Lars, and enjoy what I can of the Norwegian summer and friends here before I have to get packing!

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Teacher, don't worry, this is the love

I have to say that I am really fortunate to have stumbled across this BuddySchool site where students have been contacting me to take English lessons. It has been a fun and slightly lucrative process. I have been regularly giving lessons to Filip a Polish boy who wants to live in the U.S. two hours a week. Gilymung (or Gil for short) and I have been meeting for four hours of idiomatic English on weekend mornings for me, and evenings for him in Korea. I talked a couple of times with Raimundo from Brazil who is an author, a pilot and working on 'green energy'--a huge blimp that floats and uses high winds to create power. Lately I spent a few hours with Marco, who is from Cadiz, Spain but is now living and working in London as a handyman.

I have been contacted by a couple new students as well: Yasuko from Japan, who is a divorced woman living in Italy and working as a translator there, Natalie a Palestinian, and Sergei a Russian both of whom I expect to be scheduling lessons soon.

Overall, this has been a great experience for me. I have the opportunity to make a little money, talk with people from all over the world and be exposed to all different types of personalities, learning styles and world perspectives. Yes, I am in love with this site and what it has presented to me.

It seems that there have been a couple different kinds of love floating around the site however. If you remember I described an interesting message sent to me from "Antigone", from the island of Cyprus. I have received a new one that even tops this man's advances, this time from an 18 year-old Saudi Arabian. He wrote me weeks ago asking for a lesson, but then it seemed he wanted to be friends more than anything else. I thought I made it clear that I am using this site for business, not social networking of any kind. But suddenly with his last message it became even more clear about what kind of "making" he was hoping for:

baby .. Your are free nice girl . If I saw you picture..? ? become crazy .. you lips and eyas and hair .. Ohhh my gud ..My hope make with you making love ..Teacher don't worry this is the love. I am waiting you reply "

I am choosing to reply with no reply on this one. Obviously he didn't get it when I lied to him and told him earlier that I was MARRIED when I got a drift of the crush. Some people just don't give up!

But that's the risk putting yourself out there on a site like this. Luckily there is no specific or personal information listed (don't worry all you parental types out there) so I don't have to worry about the few too ripe apples in the bunch.

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My team?

Here is a team picture...of the team I am more or less not a part of. So so sad. What a bummer. I am officially not allowed to play without a work permit.

No fun, no fun at all.

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A day for savoring

If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning, torn between a desire to save the world and a desire to savor the world. That makes it hard to plan the day. E.B. White

The second day of Kelly's visit was easily chosen as a day for savoring. The plan was to share as much of Hamar as I know it as possible. After packing a backpack full of treasures our first stop was to Poesi for some coffee. Kelly enjoyed meeting Jon Ole, just as everyone else has that has ever met him has, I would guess. Then we headed up to Maxi, the biggest shopping center in Hamar, so that Kelly could purchase some more Norwegian souvenirs.

We also hopped down to the grocery store and picked up some goodies to complete our picnic: bananas, iced coffee, ketchup, a one-use grill (the coolest invention ever) and some sweet treats for Kell to take back to Deutchland.

Then...it was lake time!

Our stomachs were begging for some nutrition, so we got to grilling up some pølser and gobbled down some bananers. The weather was insane--really sunny, but we also happened to be sitting under one small, stubborn rain cloud. It was a strange experience, but the cloud gave up before it could extinguish our engangsgrill or our spirits.

And then it was time for more exploring. We walked out to the Domkirkekodden, where I have been many times (although it never seems to lose its charm). That day was extra special as the sun really broke through the clouds and let the structure really show off. Plus I was sharing it with Kelly for her first time! Her enthusiasm is contagious!

Kelly loves the water as much as I do, so then it was back to the lake--to shores unexplored! We found these crazy rocks that look like they were from another planet. Standing and climbing on them really gave us the feeling that the world had been turned upside down or sideways (or something strange that we weren't used to). Kristi, my rock-loving friend--any explanations?

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Oslo, with a Norwegian and two Americans

The economic decision to quit class couldn't have come at a better time--this weekend a long lost high school bud

...Kelly Joines...

came to visit me for a few days!

Kelly has been living in Garmisch, Germany since December working at the American Edelweiss Lodge and Resort so it was easy for her to extend a long weekend up into Scandinavia. She arrived on Sunday evening and left early Wednesday morning. Oh the joys of living in Europe!

When she arrived, Lars and I were busy with other guests--Stine came with Uncle Jarle and Uncle Laffen... and Uncle Bonden was not far behind. We had a full apartment and a freshly baked chocolate cake to go along with it. Stine stayed long after the Uncle Party was over as she was planning on visiting a school in Oslo the next day. Kelly and I hopped on the train with her Monday morning and were set to visit the capital with a real live Norwegian as a tour guide.

While Stine went to meet with an employee of the school, Kelly and I visited Oslo's new and modern Opera House. The building has been said to raise the bar for Norwegian architecture, and while I didn't necessarily see much need for bar raising, I can't help but agree. This building is unlike anything I have ever seen! You can essentially walk on the side of the building and (it's like a big ramp) and onto the roof for a great view of the fjord, which we did happily. Watch this time-elapsed video to see Operahuset built in just three minutes and get a feel of what it is like on the tip of a Norwegian fjord. Both times I have been here I have been overwhelmed with this funny magical feeling: the light, the clouds, the breeze...it is a special place with a unique atmosphere.

We moseyed on, leaving the Opera House behind, grabbing some coffee, sandwiches and scones at a bakery and making our way towards the King's castle. Stine met with us just in time to help us help some fellow Americans from North Carolina with their city map and to witness Kelly getting tricked by some camera men with a 200 kroner bill and some fake poo underneath. We definitely all had a good laugh on that one--it was absolutely hilarious. Who knows--maybe I will be on Norwegian national television after all?

After the castle, it was time to make it to Oslo's biggest tourist attraction which I missed out on my first time in the city--Frogelandpark or Vigeland Park. The park is HUGE--it contains 80 acres, 212 granite and bronze sculptures, a fountain, some sweet gates, not to mention lots of cozy grass and arching trees. If you are interested in history (ehem Ethan, Tim) read some more on Gustav Vigeland, the man resposible for every single one of the 212 naked sculptures in the place! Genius!

As creatively inspiring and as historically impressive as the park was, we couldn't help but get a little silly\inappropriate...I mean, come on. You do know me after all, don't you?!

We reluctantly left the park and stretched the 3km walk back a bit, hopping into different stores and ziz-zagging our way back to the pier. We did some ferry and people watching, braved one last tram ride and just made it onto our train and back to home sweet Hamar.

Even though I have spent two full days wandering around this city and I have become fairly acquainted with some of the major attractions, I still feel like there is so much more to see! Cities (especially big ones) are so overwhelming. How does one really get to know such a big place?!

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