It’s November! I’m sorry, again, for not writing in so long. October just went by so fast! Here’s what I’ve been up to:

1. I went to Shanghai to see Isaac’s family

For the National Day-holiday, me and Isaac went to see his family in Shanghai. We had a wonderful and relaxed family-weekend. Here’s a pictuer of me and his two younger sisters, Morley and Tori, we found some fun «hats» while shopping:

 2. I got a new room mate

My original arrangement (that a Chinese friend of mine would move in) fell through, so I’ve been without a room mate for a few months. Then, a couple of weeks ago Cici called me. She had seen my add at an expat site and wanted to take a look at the place. Ten days later she moved in. She’s from Southern China and she just arrived in Nanjing for work. So far we get along very well!

3. I got a 2^nd job.

As I was not getting as many classes a week as I had hoped for at my first job, I found a second one. I still work at the first one, but I also teach Oral English at some middle schools now, grade 7 and 8.

It reminds me a lot of when I was first in China. Just like last time I don’t have a text book to teach from, just like last time I have so many students that I unfortunately won’t be able to learn all their names and just like last time I feel less than qualified for the job.

At the same time it is completely different. I have a list of topics given to me by my employer, I only go to the school for my lessons (so no office time) and I’m so busy with Chinese lessons, the other job and friends that I just barely have time for lesson planning. I definitely got what I asked for a mont ago!

4. Nanjing had a jazz festival

We did not go see the opening concert this time, but we went to some smaller concerts the first weekend of the festival and saw Ryan McNally Quartet (Canada), Mellow Motif (Thailand), Yuichiro Tokuda (Japan) and Stephan Köning Quartet (Germany).

5. I turned 21

Thank you to everyone who congratulated me on facebook! I can’t access it, but I do get notifications when people write to me. I had a great day. In the evening we went for dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. We had them put out tables on the side walk (we can do that cause we’ve got guanxi), it was great to enjoy one of the last autumn nights warm enough to sitt outside with good friends. And afterwards we went to Isaac’s place and played Apples to Apples. Cuty even got me a birthday cake with 21 candles ^^, (Thanks to Lynnea for the photoes!)

6. We went bowling as another bible study social

No more explaination needed, really. The extended cell group went bowling. Next social will be an advent one!

All in all, it was a good month and it was especially good to see how God came through for me with the things that seemed difficult at the beginning of the month!

This year my bible study decided that once a month we will do a «social» rather than our normal discussion group, and I’ve been appointed «socials coordinator» (sounds fancy, doesn’t it?). So Monday 6 of us went climbing 紫金山 (Purple Mountain).

Purple Mountain is a mountain in Nanjing city. Because of all the trees it has cleaner air and bluer sky; it’s even possible to see clouds (and where the line between cloud and sky goes..). This time of year the osmanthus-trees are in bloom as well, making all of Nanjing, and especially the mountain, sweet-scented. Still, it’s when I’m in a place with clean air that I notice how unclean the city air is. And from the mountain you can see the pollution as a mist covering the city. Rosie says the pollution was worse four years ago though, so there is hope.

Here is the group as we set out. Usually Chinese mountains have stairs leading all the way to the top, and Chinese mountain-climbing usually means climbing stairs. This is also true for Purple Mountain, but Nick knew a better way to the top that involved fewer stairs and more paths.

We took a bus from where we normally meet for cell group to the mountain in the afternoon. Climbing it took a couple of hours, and then we had Chinese-style green-bean-popsicles while enjoying the view at the top before we headed back down. We followed another path going down and while we were walking the sun went down, making it more difficult to navigate. We might have been slightly lost at one point, and at that very point it was threatening to rain as well. But we prayed and the rain stopped and finally we reached civilisation again after a rather long descent.

Next we met up with some more members of the group and had dinner outside on an alley close to university. I’d say we managed to make the most out of the pleasant Nanjing autumn weather, which is important when autumn only lasts for about a month.

Here are some more pictures:

Us climbing:

At the top:

Nick and Isaac; Nick is Isaac’s new flat mate.

Us enjoying Chinese snacks..:

Doesn’t green-bean-popsicle look tasty?

At the Big Buddah on top of Purple Mountain:

Nanjing:

Plus, so far my working schedule is not very busy. My school is an "English training-school" that parents send their kids to after normal kindergarten/primary school-time, and these classes often start up slightly later then the normal school-semester does. So I expect to be more busy at work by the end of the month, and in the mean time I’ll try to enjoy the extra free-time.

I know that too much free time hardly is anything to complain about. Especially when I know that most of my Chinese friends don’t have time to do much besides their work. But I can’t help but feel restless at times. The thing is I really wanted and expected to be busy with work this year, but after two weeks I’ve only taught four classes.

I think God is teaching me a few things about patience. I know I’m not very good at waiting for Him. When He’s shown me glimpses of what He’ll do for me in the future, I just want to skip the process and jump straight to the person I will be and the roles I will have then. Yet the process is important in it self. We spend most of our time waiting, it’s what we do while we wait that’s important.

So I’ll try to spend my extra free-time on doing something nice for the people around me that are too busy to do it themselves.

I have appreciated the classes I’ve taught so far, by the way. The kids so far have been between 3 and 5 years old. Apart from the couple of months I spent at a centre for autistic children as a volunteer for Amity through Hald International Centre a year and a half ago, I’ve never worked with kids before. So I don’t know too much about how to teach them English. But so far I’ve enjoyed our time together and even if I still have lots to learn I can tell that the class I taught Thursday went smoother than the one I taught a week earlier, which is encouraging.

Other than teaching and studying, I’ve been re-reading Shane Claiborne’s book The Irresistible Revolution. It makes me inspired, uncomfortable and wanting to make radical changes both in my life and in the world in general for God’s kingdom. But I realise that God’s kingdom is closer when we do small things with great love than when we try to make small things great. (http://www.quotedb.com/quotes/1865)

I’m also reading Joshua these days. Here’s a quote I read this morning:
Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled. (Josh. 21:45)

The Israelites had to wait for 40 years before they could receive their promised land. I’m sure I’ll be able to wait a few weeks for more work.

I’m sitting in my apartment listening to the rain pouring and the thunder roaring, and I’m happy I can stay inside the rest of the day. I really enjoy rainy days, as long as there’s nowhere I need to be and I can simply stay inside, reading, writing, listening to music and drinking tea.

This week I’ve been cleaning the apartment (which was in a better condition than I feared; I’ve only seen one live cockroach so far and there was only a thin layer of dust and mold covering the floors, tables and cupboards. No flooding, no cockroach colony, no rotten food..) I’ve also been catching up with friends; playing board games and Wii, teaching/learning the Norwegian birthday song (with actions) and hanging out.

It’s good to be back; it’s good to be home.

This time I know where I’m going. I know my apartment, I know the city, I have friends there and I have seen my workplace. In many ways I’m prepared for another year. Of course there are situations to come that I can’t prepare for, but such situations occur whether in China or in Norway.

In a book I read this year (unfortunately I couldn’t find any name of an English translation, but the Norwegian title is Et hjerte større enn verden), Magnus Malm describes among many things our fear for the future as one of the hidden, unseen, unreachable concepts that we humans try, with out much luck, to control. Loosely translated, he writes that the future simultaneously fills us with hope and resignation, expectations and panic.

He goes on to describe how Jesus, in the sermon on the mount, repeatedly refers to “our Father, who sees the unseen” (my translation, look it up in Matthew 6) He writes “the unseen is not emptiness. Neither is it a hiding place for hostile forces waiting to attack me. Even if there are evil forces in the unseen, there is also someone stronger than them. Our Father is in the unseen.”

I like to think that God, my Father, who is love, is in the future. It takes away the feelings of resignation and panic and leaves my heart filled with hope and expectations.

I came across this quote a while ago:

Saying good-bye to people you care about is supposed to hurt. And I read in a book the other day that “it’s OK to feel pain”. Isn’t it strange that I needed to read that in a book to realize how true it is. But the pain of leaving is mixed with the joy of going and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m exited about another year in Nanjing!

Here are some pictures from a night mum and I walked “the Costal Path” along the Oslo fiord by Åsgårdstrand. We were babysitting Frodo the dog.

Proof that I was actually there: (me at the infamous Bergen Brygge)

Tasha entering the fish market:

Inside the market: (notice the dried fish at the left. It reminds me of dried duck in China)

After catching the scent of fried fish inside the fish market, we became hungry and decided it was time for lunch. What better than a “fish burger” by the seaside? We did, however, leave the market to find food. Norwegian tourist prices are a bit too high..

The view from where we ate our lunch:

Some more pictures of Bergen tourism:

Norwegian woollen sweaters for sale, probably the most bought souvenir/gift from Norway:

More souvenirs..?:

After walking around down town Bergen for a while, and among other things visiting an art museum, discovering interesting street names and eating muffins at a café named Eat My Muffin, we went to take Fløibanen, which is a third major must-see attraction in Bergen; a “funicular” (a word I’d never heard before..) that takes you up on one of the 7 mountains surrounding Bergen city. There’s an amazing view over Bergen up there.

Tasha by Lille Lungegårdsvannet in the centre of Bergen:

The interesting street sign mentioned above; Nedre Hamburgersmauet (yes, hamburger means the same in Norwegian..). Other funny place names in Bergen include: Florida, Paradis (Paradise). Both are names of districts…

Beautiful Tasha enjoying her muffin:

Pictures from Fløibanen:

And at the top:

There is a troll there, of course:

We walked down to Tasha’s apartment, which is below Mount Fløyen. Pictures taken on the way down:

The next day we to a cable car up the mountain next to Fløyen; Mount Ulriken. After seeing a certain slogan in English on buses in the centre saying “You haven’t seen Bergen until you’ve been up Mound Ulriken”, we simply were unable to stay away. Tasha has been up there many times during her year in Bergen, but this was her first time to cheat and take the cable car.

Next time I’m in Bergen I’m definitely bringing hiking clothes so I can walk up/go hiking in the landscape up there! It really makes you forget that you’re 15 minutes from Norway’s second biggest city.

The weather wasn’t really too good for photos, but look it up! There were also sheep up there, adding to the charm:

That evening Pernille and Veronica came over for dinner. I had not seen them in a year, so it was great to catch up!

Puh, long post! Sorry.. It was such a good trip full of write-worthy moments! And it’s not over yet…

My excuse for going to Bergen was that Tasha and I had tickets to see Jamie Cullum at Sildajazz in Haugesund! But getting there from Bergen (or rather getting back) proved to be less that easy, as the last bus left at about 8 pm. So to make a long story short, we ended up renting a car and it became slightly more time-consuming and expensive then expected. (we even ended up getting a parking ticket, which really didn’t help..) 

But the concert was absolutely amazing and it was more than worth it! Want to say more to describe it, but words simply won’t do.. You should have been there!

Blissfully we drove back to Bergen, and we didn’t arrive Tasha’s apartment until 3:30 am. (That is, I fell asleep half-ways and poor Tasha had to drive with nothing but the sound of my iPod’s loudspeaker playing Jamie Cullum (of course) to keep her company).

The next day I met Johanne, another friend I haven’t seen in a long time, and in the afternoon I was on the train headed for Tønsberg after a great few days in Western Norway, filled with wonderful people, marvelous scenery and a fantabulous (it’s a real word, it’s on Wikipedia!) concert.

Finally, some scenery snap-shots from the train-ride:

 

Finse station; the train station between Bergen and Oslo with the highest altitude (at 1222 meters). Notice the glacier at the back!

I spent some days at the cabin with my dad and brother. The cabin is my summer paradise, close to the sea, mountainous beaches and forests. I’ve been there every summer since I was born, except one, and there are few places I relax as much as there. It was raining this time, but this is from a few summers back:

Mum and Audun own a boat, and I’ve joined them going out to islands in the Oslo fjord more than once this summer.

I love the Norwegian sea side, reading books, having pick-nicks, swimming in the ocean, lying on the sun-warmed mountain of small islands where the sound of seagulls is all that breaks the calming sound of waves against the shore.

Some pictures:

I’m home in Norway for the summer, enjoying the sea, the sun and the blue sky, but most of all enjoying spending time with my family and with friends I haven’t seen in a long time. It’s good being here.

This week, I went to Skagen (the most northern part of Denmark) with the family. Skagen, or “The Skaw“, is known for it’s sandy beaches, beautiful light, pastel colours and more than anything the Skagen painters.

We took a ferry boat there, and had a few great days with reading on the beach, swimming in the ocean and looking at galleries. Here are some more pictures:

I’ll post a few more pictures from my summer tomorrow