: The past two weeks + Christmas

The past two weeks have been quite interesting, actually.

Last Monday: I finally got my fiber-connection! I was up at midnight because I was watching NASL4 (Starcraft II), and I was a bit distracted by that so I forgot to check exactly at midnight as I had planned (just for fun). But at about 1pm I started hooking stuff up, and, after a bit of messing around with something that didn't quite get set up right because I misunderstood it, it actually worked. Of course, the first thing I did was put it to the test, and started a bunch of downloads while still watching the NASL4 stream. I think my download speed in total was about 3MB/s, and the stream was still going with no interruptions. The stream was only in 480p, because I wasn't subscribed, but still. It's fucking awesome! =D

Saturday: The rest of the week wasn't very eventful, just me enjoying the fast connection, then on Saturday was Yrjan's 30th birthday party. The day was pretty awesome over all. We started off at Peppes, as suggested by Hallgeir. I think there were 15 of us in total there. Hallgeir, Shawna, Rune, Terje and me at one end of the table, and Yrjan's family at the other end, with Yrjan and Tonje in the middle. Hallgeir, Rune and me did our usual thing, of course. While everyone else just ordered something simple from the menu, we did our usual "Über Complicated Order Process (TM)", creating our own monster-pizzas. The guy who took our order was actually laughing at the end because of how ridiculous it was. =P

After Peppes we went directly up to Huset, to where the party was gonna be. There was still quite some time left before the party was actually supposed to start when we got there, but we passed the time by playing with balloons. Yay! The party itself was actually quite fun. As probably everyone who knows me even remotely know, I'm not a party person. I don't drink, and I don't like drunk people. I don't dance, and I don't really "let go". But I still had a lot of fun just being with people, and enjoying the music. That's pretty much all I really did all night. The party was cut a bit short, though, which unfortunately meant that Yrjan's Hardcore-medley wasn't played. Oh well. He made it available to us the next day, so at least we can listen to it anyway.

Part of the reason why it was cut short was because one of us got way too drunk. Not the kind of way too drunk that he started causing trouble, fortunately. But it was still pretty bad. I think the security-guy threw him out, but I'm not sure. Whatever the case, he started walking around aimlessly, and  ended up being picked up by the police who escorted him back to Huset and told us that he was not capable of taking care of himself. So we decided that, even though there was technically still an hour and half left of the party, it was best to take him back home. And as everything had sort of died down, I guess partially because everyone was worried about this guy, Yrjan decided there was no point in keeping the party going.

The ride home was weird. This guy was so out of it he couldn't really sit up, so I sat behind him and held him up most of the way, so he wouldn't lean on Rune who was driving. Then when we got back to Dokka we ended up sitting with him for, I think, about an hour, to make sure he was okay. When I talked to him a couple of days later he couldn't really remember anything that had happened. Weird.

And yes, I have intentionally avoided mentioning his name. 

Sunday: Saturday was also my grandmother's 70th birthday, but she had decided to celebrate it on Sunday. There's really not too much to say about this day, really, but I did spend most of it at their place, with them, my aunt's family and my uncle's family. It was a pretty good day. =)

As you might know, if you've read my previous entry, it didn't end so good. After I got home I had a sort of breakdown, and ended up writing that thing. Part of me wants to go delete it, but... I don't know. I get like that some times, and this time I was able to get it out. In a way. So, yeah. I think I'm gonna keep it there. I just want to say, though, that I don't feel like that all of the time. I feel lonely most of the time, but not that... Extreme.

Monday: When I left the house on Monday, I had planned to only be away for a couple of hours. That didn't really happen. I started off going to an appointment I had with a kind of personal trainer type lady. I had been there once before, but all we did then was talk about my situation, my condition, and my illnesses. This time we went over different exercises, setting up a program for me, one that I can do at home, or just about anywhere. Most of the exercises are ones I've tried before, but with her instructions I discovered that I had done almost all of them wrong in one way or the other. They all felt so much better doing them how she told me. The only exercise I had done right is one that I feel it's difficult to do wrong; Push-ups. She was actually impressed by how good I did them, so hey.

When I was done, I went to my grandparents. Their fiber-connection was getting activated that day, and I had to set everything up for them. I figured that because I had already set up my own only a week earlier, I could do this pretty quickly. But... It wasn't that simple. I set everything up the exact same way I had done here, without doing the same mistakes I did here, and everything appeared to be working... Except it didn't. I went over everything several times, and couldn't find a single fault in how it was set up. So I had to call Telenor's fiber-support. Turns out the problem was on their end. I'm not quite sure what was wrong, but the guy did something and suddenly everything worked. So, yay for that, or something.

Not too long after that was fixed, Thor Idar called me. He lives next door to my grandparents, and he couldn't get his fiber-connection up and running either. So I went over there, looked over what he had done and fixed what he had done wrong (in his defense, they had gotten the fiber-modem a lot earlier than everyone else, because their old one was broken, and he couldn't find the manual for it). And of course, it still didn't work. So he had to call Telenor as well. I'm convinced the error was the same as at my grandparents, but the guy Thor was talking to couldn't figure it out, even though I explained what the guy I talked to had said (something about reactivating the connection). So the call ended without anything being fixed, he just said that they'd "look into it". A while later he got a call back, and just as he picked up I looked over at the modem and all the right lights were lit. So, yay for that too.

I stayed at Thor's place for quite a while after that, until about 10pm I think. We watched some Starcraft2 streams and VoDs, and just talked about random stuff. Which is something that I don't think I've done with him before, come to think of it, not like that. Rune and I have days like that quite often, but I've never really had that close of a connection with Thor. I really don't know why, because he's a really great guy. =)

The rest of this week I haven't done much. I've mostly been sitting here at home. Monday night was a terrible night, for no good reason. I went to bed a couple of hours after I got back from Thor's place, so at about midnight. But about three and half hour later I woke up feeling like I hadn't really slept. And I could sort of remember going in and out of sleep all that time, kind of like when you have fever dreams. It was really weird. I couldn't fall asleep again either, so I got up and stayed up until about 10am, then I finally go a few hours of real sleep. But I was completely knocked out for the rest of the day when I got back up. Since then I haven't done much.

Plans for Christmas: First of all, I have decided that I'm not gonna bother with any weight loss stuff during Christmas. I'm gonna do what I can to stay where I am, and not go crazy on the candy and stuff like that, but I'm just gonna skip working out completely. I don't have the energy for that anyway. When Christmas and new years is over, then I'm gonna try to get back on it.

On Christmas Eve I'm gonna be at my grandparents. I can't remember the last time I was there on Christmas Eve, but it's been quite a few years. When my dad was still alive, we used to alternate between being at his place or moms place. Then after he passed away I've spent every Christmas Eve with mom. This year, however, mom has decided to run away from Christmas. Basically, she decided that Christmas Eve without any small children (everyone has other plans) was a bit too sad, so she and her boyfriend are in Gran Canaria right now. And I don't really blame her. I think I was the only one who would've been with them if they've stayed here, so... Yeah. I wasn't looking too much forward to that either. At least there will be more people at my grandparents place, as my aunt's family will be there too.

Some time after Christmas Eve I will have a LAN. I haven't really set a date for it, because it wasn't really planned. Or... I had planned to throw a LAN, but then Marius and Veronica beat me to it. And I had originally planned to go to their LAN. The problem is, they live 15 minutes, by car, away from everything. And since I don't have a car of my own I can't get up there, or back down, own my own, nor do I have anyone I can trust to help me with it when I want or need it. I have nothing against neither them nor being at their place, but it makes me feel a bit trapped because it's so far away from everything. Hopefully I can change that before next year, but I'll talk about that a bit further down.

So, there will be one LAN down here at my place, and another LAN at their place. Not an optimal solution, but it'll have to do. The ones who are coming here are Rune, Yrjan and Thor Idar. Yrjan and Thor for the same reason as me, I think, as they're both still without a driver's license even though they're both very close, and Rune because... Well, it's not my place to say. Or something. So, yeah. There are room for more people here, so if anyone else wants to come just ask. =)

Next year: Back in September I was told that because of the type of financial support I'm getting, I can get back most, maybe all, of the "income tax" I pay off of it. So I sent a complaint to Skatteetaten back then, and last week I finally got a letter from them. It said that my complaint had gone through, and that I would get money back. It didn't say how much, though, so I'm not making any concrete plans yet. But if I get anywhere near what my dads cousin got, she was the one who told me about it, then I have decided to finally start working on my driver's license, for real. I did have a couple of lessons back in 2006, but I can barely remember any of it. Because I was still suffering rather severely from my sleeping disorder back then, I wasn't able to continue them. Also, my mom was paying for it back then, and her economy wasn't the greatest. 

For the longest time, I flat out didn't want to get a driver's license. The thought of getting behind the wheel of a car and be responsible for what happened scared the life out of me, and actually still do. But the past few years it's become more and more of a pain that I don't have it, and during the past year and a half it's been really frustrating on several occasions. But in my situation there hasn't been any opportunities to get started on it. There's no way to get financial support from the state, unless you're a single mother living in no-mans-land or possibly if you only need a little bot of help to get finished. I don't have any relatives who can afford paying it for me. And I have no means of saving up the money on my own when I am unable to have a normal job. The only way I could get that amount of money is by winning it. And... Yeah. That's not gonna happen.

Anyway. I still don't know how much I'll get, so I'll have to wait and see. And, referring to the statement above about hoping to "change that before next year", even if I do get enough, I don't know how long getting the license will take, particularly considering I have to start from scratch. So I don't know if I'll have a driver's license before next years New Years LAN. But I hope I will.

I do have a second plan with that money, if I get the amount I hope for. Before starting the driver's license I'm gonna get myself a new desktop computer. My laptop is ok, but it overheats like crazy, and my old desktop is a pile of junk. And I know what you're thinking; Wouldn't it be smart to finish the driver's license before wasting the money on other stuff? And you're probably right. But. If I get that amount of money, then I'll surely get about the same amount again when it's time for the next tax return, because I've had the same type of financial support. And now that I know about it, I can hopefully fix it in time, and not have to send a complaint several months later to get it fixed.

So yeah. That's one thing next year hopefully will bring. But I still have to wait and see exactly how much I do get, so... Yeah.


Aaaand... That's the end of this way too long blog post. Now I gotta go sleep. 

: Summer.

So far this summer I have done next to nothing. I've stayed at home for the last month, not wanting to really go anywhere, and not really having anywhere to go either. I've also been waiting for something, but this something keeps getting postponed, and although I know that it's no ones fault, it gives me the feeling of knocking my head against a wall. A very solid wall. On wheels. Or something. It keeps moving back, but it wont let me through.

Anyway.

Earlier today my mother called, and asked if I wanted to come visit them for a while, at Strømmen. She's heading in this direction tomorrow, and thought maybe she could pick me up before she went home. And as far as I know, absolutely nothing at all will happen around here this week, so I figured why the hell not. At the very least, it'll be a change from just sitting here alone, staring at the screen day in and day out (and occasionally working out). In addition to visiting my mother and her boyfriend, and my sister, I'll also be able to visit my brother, and possibly a couple of friends. So, that'll be good.

Speaking of working out, btw; Progress on the elliptical machine has been very fast. The first couple of times I used it, I felt like I was in a torture machine. I guess I just wasn't used to it yet. I couldn't go very fast, and certainly not for long (with exception of the second day, which I guess was some sort of energy-boost fluke?). It has gotten easier and easier, though, and I've certainly gotten more used to the way I have to move on it. The first times I used it, I felt like I was gonna fall over when I got off, no matter if it had been 5 or 15 minutes. Now I can go 25 minutes and still have my balance intact. But, I'm still only on the lowest resistance level, having attempted a couple of sessions on level 2 (and one very poor attempt at level 3). So I still have a long way to go. And as far as weight loss, which this machine is supposed to be very good for... Well, it did go down a bit. Then it went back up. So, who the fuck knows. At least my general physical condition is getting better, that's ultimately what matters. 

On a very different note; It has now been 7+ months since my ex and I broke up. I can't say that I don't miss her, we did spend more than a year together after all. And she was my first girlfriend. I'm not even gonna use the modifier "real" there, because there really was no one before her. But, I have accepted the fact that I won't get her back, and that she has moved on, quite a while ago. So, what has been bothering me more and more the last couple of months isn't so much that I miss being with her, but more that I miss being with someone. I miss all the things that being with someone I love brings. I miss being close to someone... It really is no fun going to bed every night and have nothing to hold but my duvet. I feel like I'm right back to where I was before I met my ex, except that now I know what I'm missing.

That pretty much sums it up, I guess.

I hope something good happens soon.

But for now, I'm going to my mother place, and will probably be staying there for a while. I have no idea how long. I really hope that I'll have something else to do next week, but that's not up to me. If not, I might just throw a LAN again when I get home. It's been more than month since the last one (which was awesome, btw), so it's about time. I might even invite some more people, but that means that all games that require a constant connection to the internet (like Diablo III) will be basically unplayable, due to my amazingly crappy connection. So, anyone want to come? =P

: Status: Unconfirmed.

The last few days have been a bit weird. There's something in the back of my brain, gnawing at me, but I can't seem to focus on what it is and deal with it. Hopefully I can pry it out soon and exterminate it, as it's taking away my ability to concentrate. It's even difficult to write without getting distracted. But I'll try. 

Confirmation Yay 

I don't know if "confirmation" is the actual work used for this type of ceremony in English, and I don't feel like looking it up right now. But whatever the case, I was visiting my mom this weekend because of my sister, Silje's, confirmation. A civil confirmation, not a christian one, which I was very happy and relieved about. It was a very nice event in many ways. The actual ceremony was not boring, which surprised me. I don't think I've ever been to any confirmation ceremony before, neither civil, christian nor other, at least not that I can remember, but I've always imagined it to be dreadfully boring. And I guess that if it had been christian, it probably would have been.

My sister Therese, me, my half-sister Silje, my brother Stian, and Silje's half-sister Marie.

The best part about the whole deal, though, was after the ceremony, at the party. No, not because of the food or cakes (although both were delicious), but because we got to meet people from my sister's father's family (yeah, she's actually my half-sister), that I barely get to meet anymore. Now, I, being my usual halfway introverted and socially awkward self, didn't actually talk to too many of them. But it was still nice. I sort of wish more of the people from their family had been there, though, but the place was already rather full. 

Confirmation Boo 

I must admit, though, that part of me is feeling... Slightly pissed off at the whole confirmation thing. Or rather, slightly pissed off at my ex-step-father's (my sister's father) influence back when I was supposed to have been confirmed. You see, back then, he was so strongly against a civil confirmation that he convinced my mom that I couldn't have that. And I absolutely refused to do it in church, as I am as far from a religious person as you can get, even back then. My other sister didn't get confirmed either, for the same reason. My brother was fortunate enough to live with our father when it was his time, so he got to choose what he wanted, and got his civil confirmation. 

And yes, I'll also admit that the main reason I'm slightly pissed off about this, is because of the money I didn't get. There wasn't really much else I cared about. I didn't, and still really don't, know what a civil confirmation actually involves. I didn't really feel any peer pressure or social stigma from being one of the few, if not the only, person not to get confirmed, as at that time I was already more or less an outcast. It's really mostly the money, and the party, that I didn't get that really annoys me about it. As well as the fact that my ex-step-father really shouldn't have had any say in the matter. The fact that he now let his own daughter get the confirmation she wanted, while also making me (as mentioned) happy and relieved, makes me even more pissed off about it.

Oh well.


I guess I should add some questions to the end if I ever want some response on these blog posts.

What's your opinion on confirmations, both civil and christian (or other)?
Should step-parents have much influence on children's lives if both real parents are still involved?

: That's life.

I usually try to avoid writing more than one blog post (on the same blog) in a single day, as I don't want to "overexpose" my blog. Usually this is not a problem, as I usually write three to five posts spread over a month, but right now my brain is working overtime, causing me to lose sleep again, and I just have to write it down. I'll probably wait until tomorrow morning to actually submit it, though.

Diabetes

Days like today (technically yesterday), while very nice for my overall life, is not very good for my diabetes. I spent a lot of time out of the house today, walking around, talking with relatives and stuff like that. Basically being my somewhat crippled form of social. But as a result, my rather strict eating-routines have been severely disturbed today. Last time I went to the "diet-adviser", that I go to about once a month due to my diabetes followup program, she told me that I had developed a nice rhythm in my eating habits, but also that I still ate a bit too much every time I ate. So she gave me some new advice, which was basically; Eat even less every time I eat, but also eat more often for a while. The goal, she said, was to make my stomach used to smaller amounts of food at a time, and eventually get back to the old rhythm with the smaller portions. I guess it sounds more complicated than it is.

The problem with this is that it makes my life very... Strict. While it's usually advised that people eat every three-four hours, I now have to eat every two-three hours. And when going out or visiting someone, that's quite a hassle. Today, when I was down in Dokka with my grandmother and some other relatives, I started getting hypoglycemic (low blood sugar, resulting in shaking, feeling ill) because I hadn't eaten in such a long time (which really wasn't more than about four hours, but considering the small amount I ate...), and I ended up buying an ice cream to at least get some sugar in me. And then I was invited to dinner at my grandparents', which is nice, but they were so vague about when that I again went almost four hours between meals, and again almost got hypoglycemic.

I need to make some sort of system for when I get in situations like that.

Exercise

So, April haven't been a good month for walks. Either the weather's been awful or I've been sick. Or it's been easter. So yeah, I haven't really been able to follow up on all those long walks I had in the end of March. But I'm starting to get into a nice habit of other types of exercise, that aren't weather- or health-dependent; I've started using the ancient exercise bike that I got from my grandparents, and I've started doing push-ups. The exercise bike isn't the best thing around. The speedometer/timer-panel has broken off, so I had to tape it back on, and the gear-thing is really weird, so it's really difficult getting it to a resistance that feels ok. But it's good exercise, I'm completely exhausted after 5+10+10 minutes on it. The push-ups aren't something I thought I'd be able to do, but after trying it only from the knees up, instead of full ones, I figured it's better than nothing. I can do about 3x8 of those right now, up from 3x5 when I first started.

Weird things.

I've also gotten these weird things, which I don't know if actually helps in any way. I do feel it in both my hands and arms if I use them for a while, so I guess there it at least some benefit to it. Or something.

Love-life

I don't want to talk too much about this yet, but I have met someone that I really like. Or, I haven't actually met her yet, but I'm hoping that it won't be too long until I can meet her. But I've been talking to her on and off for quite a while, and even more the last few days, and... Yeah. She seems great. I'm looking forward to finding out where this goes. Hopefully it actually goes somewhere. =)

I am a bit concerned about the age-difference, though. She's almost ten years younger than me; She turns 18 in a couple of weeks, I turn 28 in September. But... Yeah. I don't know. Hopefully, I'm worrying about nothing.

Apartment

It's getting there!

I'm still working on getting my apartment ready for LAN's again. Now you might think that it couldn't really be that much work, that it couldn't possibly actually take this much time... And you're right, it really shouldn't. I've been working on it for about two and a half months in total now (or maybe closer to just two), so I really should be done with it by now, several times over even. But it's not as simple as that. First of all; My apartment was in a very, very, very poor state when I started working on it. I had tons of junk that I had to throw away, as it was useful for nothing except wasting space. And I still have stuff that I need to throw away, only I can't without paying for it. And I don't have the money to pay for getting rid of trash. 

Second; I'm not a fast worker when it comes to stuff like cleaning. It's not that I'm bad at it (although I'm not exactly good at it either), it just takes me a long time. And due to my general physical condition (which has been getting better due to exercising), I can't do it for very long at a time. I have to take frequent breaks, which often gets me derailed, and I end up only half-finishing something. 

Combining the poor starting state of my apartment and the fact that it takes me a long time to get things done means that, while there is overall progress, the things that I've finished must be redone several times, which means that the closer I get to finishing, the longer it takes to progress further. It's frustrating. But fortunately, there's a light in the end of the tunnel. I've gotten support from Nav to get my apartment professionally cleaned, once. To get me back to a starting point, meaning I can focus on maintenance rather than restoration. This is a one time deal, and I only get this help now because I never got anything like it back when my sleep disorder was an actual problem. Back then I was so out of it I didn't even notice how bad it was.

I do now, though, and this is the one big thing that's keeping me down at the moment, to the point that it's, indirectly, one of the main reasons why the relationship between Wenche and I broke. And... Yeah. I just want to get things to a point where I can feel good about having visitors. I mean, I don't really feel too bad about it anymore, but there's still a lot of improvements that need to be done. And until they're done I really don't want to have any LAN's.

Almost ready for LAN, but not quite.

The only problem now is that I have no idea when I'll get this professional help...

Well, that was a little bit about everything that's been going on in my life recently. I've probably forgotten something, but I think this is more than enough for one update. =P

: The irrationality of traditions.

I'm not much for traditions personally. I mean, they're neat, and might be fun to follow when possible, but I don't have any traditions that I try to cling on to, and follow no matter what. The reason simply being that most traditions either are, or more likely have become, completely irrational.

Many traditions might have a source with a cause. They started with a reason, and have kept on going for years and years, until no one remembers any more exactly why they do what they do, they just keep on doing it because it's how it's always been. This is very nicely illustrated in the 5 Monkey Eperiment. The problem often is that over the years, the reason for doing it have disappeared. And instead, there are an increasing number of reasons for not doing it. And still, people keep on doing what they've been doing, even though they most likely don't know why they were doing it in the first place.

Now, I'm not saying that all traditions are bad. There are a lot of very innocent traditions that are just for fun, or useful traditions that still have a purpose. And if you want to stick with those, while they're still innocent or useful, then by all means do so. There's also the option of adjusting outdated or harmful traditions so they fit in with how the world have evolved and no longer cause the problems they otherwise would in today's society. That's also perfectly fine. But you have to stop once in a while and think about what you're doing, why you're doing it, and how it affects the people around you.

The biggest problem is family traditions. Things that most, maybe even all, of the older generations within a family believes define their specific family, what they believe makes them special. And when I say older generations, I really mean anyone old enough to have the ability to form their own opinions about things. In these families, traditions tend to survive far longer than they should, because it's taught as a way of life to every new generation, the opinion that this is the way to do it has been imprinted in their minds long before they're able to form their own opinions about it. It's just how they live, it's what they are...

But at some point, someone has to look closely at what they're doing, and if there really is something wrong with it, they have to stand up and say "I'm sorry, but I no longer see the point of doing this. We're no longer preserving our family's identity by doing this, we're actually hurting our own by doing what we're doing". I really wish this happened more often, that people dared to stand up to their family authorities and question or change things that don't make sense, or are outright harmful. 

It's very sad, in oh so many ways, that people are willing to sacrifice the life-quality of others, even their own family, to preserve outdated and pointless family identities. And it's frustating to stand on the outside and watch it happen, and not be able to do anything about it...

This is a response to a family situation, which is why it ends the way it does...

: Netherlands, February 2-6, 2012

My mom, her boyfriend Hans, and me, went to the Netherlands for a few days.

Thursday, February 2nd

There isn't too much to say about Thursday, really. We arrived at Schiphol sometime around 21:30, I think, got our stuff, and met up with Aldert, one of mom's cousins. He had to go get the car and told us to wait inside, and that he'd come back inside to get us when he was at the pick-up point, or whatever it's called. Instead, we went outside, walked over to where he might park, and waited. Which in itself wasn't such a bad idea, as he did show up there. But... Damn, it was cold. Or, the actual temperature wasn't so bad, but the wind was just... Freezing.

Well, anyway. Aldert showed up with the car, we drove to Alkmaar, and he dropped us off at his brother, Ronald's, place. It was already rather late, but we still stayed up a bit, talking to Ronald and Yvonne, and their son Myron. Aldert also stayed for a bit. 

We eventually went to bed. All three of us had to share a room, me in a single bed, mom and Hans in a huge blow-up bed. I have to admit, when I first heard that we had to share a room, I wasn't too happy about it. But, it was all right.

Friday, February 3rd

When we arrived on Thursday, it was cold, but no snow anywhere. At least not that I could see. When I woke up on Friday it was snowing heavily. More than what they're used to in the Netherlands, according to everyone I've talked to. Compared to what we get in Norway, it wasn't much, but this wasn't Norway.

Ronald had planned a walk in the dunes today. I wasn't looking too much forward to that, as we had gone for a walk in the dunes when we were there in September as well, and walking in the sand was a bit too much for me. But because of the snow, the walk was pretty nice this time. We also walked in a completely different part of the dunes, so it's hard to say what it would've been like with no snow, but still. I wasn't half dead when we were finished.

Snow-covered sand-dunes.

When we finished our walk, we went to a small restaurant nearby to eat some pea soup. It was good.

Pea-soup; Very good. Whatever that meat is; Not so good

Didn't do much for the rest of that day. I went up to bed shortly after we returned, as I was extremely tired, for some reason. I hadn't really planned to either, I was just going up to our room to check something on my laptop, and just sort of fell halfway asleep. Mom wasn't too happy about that, tried making a big deal of it, saying it was impolite not to come back down and tell everyone that I was going to bed for a bit. Maybe it was, but... Eh.

Came back down to dinner. Had some kind of traditional Dutch meal called hutspot. It's not that different from what we in Norway know as lapskaus, to be honest. Either way, it was very good. After dinner Myron, Hans and I went to the store to buy some stroopwafel-icecream for dessert. Stroopwafels are delicious, icecream is delicious, and stroopwafel-icecream... Is double-delicious!

I went back to bed not too long after that. Was still dead tired, even though I had a Monster. Made sure I told everyone this time. =P

Saturday, February 4th

Was woken up very early by an SMS from Chess, saying I had used 80% of my monthly quota of data-traffic when outside Norway. When we landed, I got an SMS saying that I could use no more than 80NOK a day, which was equal to 50MB, and that I'd get an SMS when that quota was used. As far as I had calculated, I was nowhere near that amount, and particularly not that early in the morning.

So I started checking things out, and it turns out the SMS I got when we landed wasn't even from Chess. Why the hell I got that SMS I have no idea. The actual price was 19NOK per MB, with a monthly limit of just under 500NOK, which is way too expensive. If I had known that was the actual price, I wouldn't have used my mobile net. Oh well. At least I didn't use it anymore after that.

Spent Saturday with Aldert, mostly at his place, but also went out to buy some typical dutch food to bring home, like stroopwafels and hagelslag. Unfortunately, we didn't plan ahead, and forgot to take out enough money before we went to the store. For some reason, Dutch stores doesn't take VISA. Who knows why, but it's damn inconvenient. Fortunately, Aldert's wife, Josée, came to the rescue and paid for us.

After we were finished in the store, we went to eat some herring. Apparently also typical Dutch? I don't know, tasted very similar to Norwegian herring, except for the pickles on the side. Either way, it's not something I'd pay to eat. Wasn't bad, but just... Not my thing.

Later we ate dinner at Aldert's. Something called nasi, which was basically some sort of rice and chicken thing with peanut putter sauce. I remember being very skeptical to the peanut butter sauce when we visited back in September, but it's actually very good. Weird, but very good.

Mom and Aldert, at Aldert's place.

After dinner we went back to Ronald's place for his birthday party. I have to say, Dutch customs for birthdays (and other similar occasions) is a bit weird to a Norwegian. Basically, everyone congratulate each other. Whenever someone new arrived at the party, they went around shaking everyone's hand (and did the kisses-on-the-cheeks thing), and congratulated them. Here in Norway, we really just congratulate the one actually having the birthday. The only time where people congratulate everyone, is when someone has been born, I think? Only thing I can think of.

I once again went to bed rather early. No wonder, as I was woken up so early by that damn SMS. 

Sunday, February 5th 

Got to sleep in a bit on Sunday. After breakfast, we didn't really do much other than sit around and talk, and get ready for Aldert and Josée's 25-year anniversary party.

At about 4pm, I think, we went into Alkmaar and arrived at the party. It was quite nice, despite the fact that I couldn't really understand much. Fortunately, Myron and Imara, Aldert's oldest daughter, sat down and spoke English with me for a while. It was rather nice. The only problem was that it was slightly cramped where we were, which made the noise-level a bit much for me. It's not that I can't handle the volume, it's just that with that much talking going on around me, I'm almost unable to focus on what the person I'm talking to is saying. Even if everyone else is speaking a language I can't really understand yet.

After a while we went into the dining room and sat down for dinner. I sat at the end of the table.

Left to right: Hans, Mom, Hans (oldest brother of moms cousins), Yvonne (Hans' wife).

Right to left: Ronald, Yvonne, Imara, Mirgina (the daughter of the oldest sister of moms cousins), Wesley (Hans' son), and Michelle (Wesley's girlfriend).

These are the best pictures I got of the people at the table. =P

In front of us, as we sat down, were a menu, with three appetizers and three main courses. I went with tomato soup for appetizer and chicken sate for the main course. The tomato soup was really good and spicy, probably the best tomato soup I've had. The chicken sate was also very good, although I think we ate almost the same thing at Aldert's place when we visited in September. It was basically chicken-pieces on sticks, with a "vinegar-marinated" salad and peanut butter sauce. Sounds weird, but it was really delicious.

I went more or less straight to bed after we got back from the party. Or rather, I went straight up to our room and changed back to regular clothes, and stayed there, in the silence, until I went to sleep. My head, and my ears, were really tired from all the background noise at the party. 

Monday, February 6th 

Once again got to sleep in for a while. Then had to pack after breakfast. Left Ronald's place at around 3pm, I think? Ronald drove us to Abcoude, to moms brother, Lex. He had invited us to dinner before we went back home. 

Ronald on the left, Lex on the right.

Had something called boerenkool-stamppot, which is some sort of fancy version of sausages and mashed potatoes. The mash consisted of potatoes, boerenkool and bacon, and was very nice. The sausage was delicious, very different from what we're used to here in Norway.

Also got to say hello to Saskai, Lex' wife, and their children, my cousins, Daan, Floor and Jeroen, before we had to leave for the airport. The oldest child, Charlotte, is on some kind of trip around the world or something? I think she's in Australia atm.

Got very disappointed when we got to the airport. Checking in and going through security went rather fast, despite the guy in front of us who had lost his luggage or something like that. But when we got past security, we ended up in some kind of really small area with no real stores, just a tiny tax-free kiosk consisting of just a couple of shelves, and some sort of cafe. Not the same place we were at in June and September. Huge disappointment, as I had planned to buy a couple of things there. Oh well. 

Future plans 

Mom and I have been talking about sending me to my great aunt's place for three-four weeks, hopefully later this year, so she can teach me the Dutch language properly. She lives alone in a place called Exloo, and she used to teach immigrants Dutch, so it will hopefully be a lot more effective than any of the trips down there so far.

We haven't talked to her about it yet, though. I'm first gonna speak with Nav and such, see if they have any objections to it, for any reason. I don't want to risk losing my money by going to the Netherlands for so long. I don't think it will be a big problem, though, as long as I keep working on my health while I'm there. But we'll see.


I'm pretty sure I have forgotten to mention quite a lot. But I forgot to write stuff down every day, as I had planned to, so... Yeah. =P

Also; Yay, a post with pictures. =P