A list of the "important" things that happened this week:

• Got tan (I know it´s hard to believe but I forgot to take photo so proof will follow if it stops raining and I can fry myself a little more)
• Baked two carrot cakes (yummy)
• Bought new phone (yes I have joined the masses and is not an owner of a "smart-phone". Can someone please tell me how to hang up when you call the wrong number????)
• Talked with Radu in San Francisco (short but very happy conversation due to the fact that I could not hang up my phone - read point above)
• Bought two tickets to the Døgnvill festival in Tromsø in August (when I was sure I had gotten  tickets for the Bukta festival that will be next week)
• Changed the delivery time next week for the dog 3 times to make sure I could go to Tromsø and take part in Døgnvill next Thursday (did I mention that Døgnvill is in the end of August???) 
• Ended up getting a ticket for Bukta next week just because of all the hassle even though I´m not sure I want to see the bands on.. (I would feel bad about the dog staying in the kennel if I was home but I didn´t dare to call and ask if I could change the appointment a 4th time) 
• Met VERY cute blonde guy in the local store. 
• Got a (hopefully) very good birthday present for two of my childhood friends. (Hipp hurra for Even og Svein Egil!!)

And perhaps the best thing: 


BOUGHT AN APARTMENT!!!!! :D :D :D


(but it´s an HABO-apartment so all the members of HABO has a "buying-priority" and I have to wait another 10 days for possible HABO-members to decide wether they want it or not)

So ist das Leben...an Bord

A normal shift on MS Nordnorge is 22 days long and I normally disperse my energy to last "perfectly well" for 22 day but nothing more. 

The 21st day at work I was asked by the hotel manager if I could work another four days. I immediately thought "sure" (for some strange reason) and now I´m sitting here just done with my last day. I have to clean my cabin soon and then I will end the day with a visit in Ishavskatedralen for our Midnight Concert excursion.  

Working these extra days have been tiring but also good. I´ve gotten to know some great passenger and I´ve enjoyed the beautiful landscape. Today however it became pretty clear that I need to go home and rest soon. 

I managed to print the daily program in 700 and some copies. Do you think the two pages came out on the same sheet? No page one came out in some 400 examples and day two in another 300. Luckily the printer ran out of paper before ending the print. Do you think the pages were sorted in a pile of page 1 and then page 2? Oh no, they were in chronological order so I spend 30 minutes sorting them out and printing 20 pages at the time over again. 

Ahhh! 

Despite the mess there were quite a few other fun events today. In the afternoon the ocean was very calm and suddenly I saw harbour porpoises (a small whale) jump in the water. I ran to the microphone and announced it. Later on I got message from the bridge that they had spottet a minke whale on the port left hand side. I announced it and the following never fails; people of all ages and physical conditions start running like they were 5 years old again. A few minutes after the madness  I got another call from the bridge that the whale had now change course and could be seen on the starboard right hand side. I of course started laughing and barely managed to announce because I could hear all the people standing on deck 5 above my head run like crazy to the starboard side. 

And since I´m writing about funny announcements there was an episode on Sunday. We´re approaching Vardø and just passing an island called "Horn Island" (Horny island). This island happens to be the Eastern most tip of Norway and I thought it would be nice to tell the passengers about it. My boss was joking about it the whole time and we were both unsure which exact island it was and I ended up calling the bridge while Eskild was making comments in the back ground because of the name "horny". By the time I  pressed the button on the microphone we were all giggling and laughing. You can imagine how professional this announcement was. In fact I had to apologize in english a couple of times before trying to compose myself and finish. It was a failure. By the time we made it to the German part I was grunting from laughter and gasping for air so I let go of the button and ordered Eskild to leave the office :D :D After 3 minutes I tried to finish the German bit but everything came out in a high pitch voice and with a few more grunts. 

Later that day I talked to a Norwegian lady traveling with the ship. She was sitting in the bar while I tried my best to tell everyone about the horny island. She said that they all started laughing and that the bar was grunting with me. 

Now that makes me happy! ;) 

In general there´s a lot of laughter on board and even more madness. Here are a few photos proving that statement ;) 

I´ve loved and I´ve lost

One thing that brings happiness in my life is being able to feel gratefulness towards those people who have ill treated me. 

Because of you I am a wiser and stronger person!

only time will tell how the marks imprinted will affect future decisions
I hope for the positive
but sometimes I fear the worst  

Elisabeth gjør ting hun ikke kan - lage mat

Da er jeg over halvveis i frituren min. Det er tid for oppsummering og refleksjon. Hva har man gjort og hva burde man ha gjort annerledes? Neida, riktig så nøye er jeg ikke. Det slo meg likevel i dag at jeg ikke har gjort noe som helst. Antall grønnsaker og generell matbeholdning i kjøleskapet tyder på at jeg har vært hjemme hos mor og far for å spise middag oftere enn planlagt. Så hva gjør man da? Jo man setter i gang med kokkelering i stor skala. Selvfølgelig skal det innrømmes at jeg er hverken spesielt gla i å lage mat eller god til det. Likevel ble det relativt vellykket:

Verdens merkeligste brød! Ja her får du oppskrift så skal du se at det faktisk stemmer:

50g gjær

2ts honning

6dl vann

200g hirsegryn

200g bokhvetekjerner

100g svisker

600g søtpoteter, dampet og avkjølt på forhånd

5dl vann

200g solsikkekjerner

100g linfrø

100g sesamfrø

50g psyllium husk (loppefrø)

200g bokhvetemel

200g kikertmel

200g maismel

1ts knust fennikelfrø

2ts hav- eller steinsalt

litt nykvernet sort pepper

kokosolje

1. lag surdeigen ved å røre ut gjær og honning i vannet. 

2. Så tilsetter du hirsegryn og bokhvetekjerner. La blandingen stå og gjære et par døgn i romtemperatur.

3. Den andre eller tredje dagen blendes svisker og søtpoteter med vannet og deretter blandes og røres alle ingrediensene sammen. Aller helst skal de eltes 10-15minutter i eltemaskin (funket veldig dårlig for meg da jeg bare har en foodprocessor men ha litt tolmodighet og ta det i bolker så går det helt fint)

4. Ha deigen i to 2-liters former smurt med litt kokosolje. Gi brødene 45 minutter i en ovn på 100 grader C, og sett deretter opp temperaturen til 180 grader C og stek dem i ytterligere 75 minutter. Pensle overflaten av brødene med litt oljeg når du skrur opp temperaturen. 

De ble herlige tro det eller ei! :D 

Oppfinnsom kyllinggryte som kom i ovnen før jeg innså at jeg kanskje burde ha brunet kyllingen litt i panna før jeg satt den inn. Jaja kyllingen var mør som varm ost (???) og grønnsakene så lite "al dente" som mulig. Noen som vil ha??? Mett ble jeg i alle fall.

En STOR porsjon frokostblanding ble det også. NAM! :D Og flaska ved siden av har jeg fortært alene som trøst for at det snør... huff.. ja det snør.. er det noen værkyndige der ute som vet om det er et godt tegn for en varm sommer?? 

The Midnightsun

According to the "almighty" Wikipedia, the 22nd is the first day of Midnight sun in Harstad. Other internet sites claim it to be the 24th of May so I make my own rule, saying that tonight is the first constant day, day in Harstad.

For me, the 23rd of May has been a very lazy and sunny day. I have been enjoying most of it outside in my comfortable armchair.  I did a bit of planting (Hopefully there will be rosemary and sugar peas growing in my kitchen soon) and I even got some knitting done. What a great way of spending the day.

Though, the best part perhaps, has been sitting on the window sills looking at the beautiful view from my window, while listening to wonderful music. I´m very lucky, having two sets of corner windows in my apartment. Here is the gorgeous view from my apartment right now:

Makes it hard to say "good night" Firstly because it makes you want to stay awake and admire and secondly because sometimes you´re not totally sure what time of the day it is.

I remember a story from Svalbard about someone that fell asleep in the afternoon and woke up the next morning, got ready to go to work and headed there just before 8 o´clock, only to realize that in fact the time was 8 in the evening and not morning... ;)

Summer workout / competition

We have started our summer work out / competition again. It basically involves walking around deck 5. Last year the goal was 100 laps and the price for one lucky winner was a bike. Who do you think won the bike?? ME! YAY! :D
This year we can win a pulse watch if we walk 100 laps and a bike if we make it passed 200. Making the two numbers should not be a problem and as a bonus you get lots of fresh air and stronger muscles.

I walked my first 15 laps yesterday and the view was just as beautiful as last year. In fact, this exercise did more for my mental health than the physical throughout the summer of 2011. I will not get into the details of why, but I will simply show you the sights that I´m so lucky to be seeing as I walk round and round and round ;)

Sailing Harstad - Tromsø

I am a fan of couchsurfing and since February 2011 been letting people surf my couch. If you don´t know the idea behind, it simply means letting strangers traveling to your home town stay on your sofa. In return you get to know people from all over the world that you might never have met otherwise. Of course you can sleep on strangers´ couches when you travel but I haven´t dared to do that yet. (might sound a little strange I know)
While on board last time a French man contacted me. He and a friend were on their way to Harstad with his sailboat and they asked me for some advice on where to go out while in town and if I wanted to meet them. I wrote down a few names of bars and said that I could come because I was at work and then thought I would never hear from him again. I was wrong.

A few days after returning home he wrote me again and thanked for my help. He mentioned that he was coming back to Harstad because he needed to sail up to Tromsø to pick up some things before returning to Harstad again. He then invited me to come along. Of course I could not let the opportunity pass so I said YES!

Here are some photos from the journey.

Leaving Harstad

One of the many beautiful sights during the voyage 

Rice and vegetables, easy cooking while on the go

Still, it tasted great

Passing Gibostad

Captain Damien and his smelly cheese 

If it hadn´t been for the frozen fingers, this could have been any sunset in the Mediterranean 

Rystraumen, the strongest tidal current along the Hurtigruten stretch. 

Me in control of the boat. Damien is tilting the camera!! 

Docked in sunny Tromsø

The boat!

According to Damien, I was a sailing talent. It was fun trying to figure out how the wind affected the sails but also challenging at times. Most of the tour we had very little wind and though the weather was wonderfully sunny, it was freezing cold. Even 5-6 layers of clothing (mostly wool) could not keep me warm. Still, my conclusion is that I´d love to sail again. Maybe somewhere warmer though.. :)