weekend getaway - Oslo

My christmas present to Husband this year was a hotel-dinner-show package in Oslo. We don't have to go to Paris or London to get away from it all, I reasoned, we can just go to Oslo and it's much cheaper.

So on Saturday morning we boarded the 11:17 train to Oslo. Though only an hour and a half away, I could feel the stress and tension slide away as the train traveled through the snowy landscape. In Oslo we wandered from the Central Train station along the main shopping street. I needed a new pairs of winter boots, as the zipper on my old ones finally busted. It being January, winter shoes were on sale at 50% off in most stores, so I had no trouble finding some nice boots. Behind the parliament building we found Halvorsen's Cafe, an Oslo establishment, 130 years old, and renowned for their delicious cakes and sandwiches. This is also where Irene was apprenticed until New Years. We had coffee and cake and then found our hotel, right behind the Grand Hotel of Obama peace prize fame and checked in. The room was small but cozy. After resting and showering we wandered back out onto the evening streets, looking for the little Thai restaurant where I had planned to eat Dinner. The Thai Orchid was a true "hole in the wall" with very little atmosphere (plastic table cloths, flourescent lights) but I had read excellent reviews on the cuisine which is why I had chosen the place. It did not disappoint. The food was delicious and and perfectly cooked.

After Dinner we went to the Oslo National Theater where we saw an impressive performance of Jesus Christ Superstar. The setting was modern. Jesus' disciples were transvestites, street people, hookers, the and freedom fighters with machine guns. These provided associations to the Palestine/Israel conflict, along with posters saying "tear down the walls"  during the entry into Jerusalem demonstration. Judas was excellently played, both the interpretation and the acting was outstanding. When you compared it with the interpretation of Mary Magdalene you saw that Judas tragedy was that he was not changed as a person through his contact with Jesus, whereas Mary was transformed. Jesus was played by a rock singer who presented a very distasteful Jesus (I believe that was intentional), his best acting was during the suffering of Jesus. Perhaps because he is not an actor and this part is where he could draw on his own experiences as a heroin addict, and survivor of drug induced psychosis, and 2 overdoses, one intentional. I find it interesting that the work on Jesus Christ Superstar coincided with his process of finally becoming completely drug-free.
 

We went to bed early and slept late (for us - which means until 7:40). Had a sumptuous breakfast in the hotel: whole grain bread, lots of fish, lean sandwich meats, cheeses, fruit, vegetables, yogurt with muesli, nuts and dried fruits, eggs and bacon, the works...

Back through a quiet sunday morning city. We visited the new opera building, where walked up to the roof from which you can look out over Oslo harbor and the inner city as well as the hills beyond though these were shrouded in mist today. It makes you feel on top of the world. We took the 11:37 train back to Stange where the girls and Irene's friend Desiree have been holding down the fort during our absence.

It was a great weekend, but now that I have written this I have to buckle down and get back to work, preparing for my nursing practice.

In the bleak midwinter...

...frosty winds may moan
Earth stood hard as iron
Water like a stone.
Snow had fallen snow on snow...

Since the snowstorm of Christmas night, we have been in the gripps of a cold spell so severe, it makes you wonder what the fuss about global warming was all about. This morning for the first time in 3 weeks we are seeing temperatures warmer than 5 (F) - and not a whole lot warmer. Temps around here have been down to 25 below zero some places.

Husband has been sick again. He called me on Saturday morning (I was still at work) because he had the sore throat from hell and a fever. In spite of running temperatures of 103 - 104 all weekend, he insisted on going to work on Monday. A co-worker who happened to come by to inspect the boars found him sitting in a pen.

- "are you sitting there?"

- "I guess so"

- " are you sick"

- " I guess I am"

- "I'll help you finish up. How far have you gotten?"

- "I've finished feeding"

- "yes, I can see that." (the boars are all busily eating at their trouphs) Have you cleaned the pens?"

- " I think so"

But it didn't look like it. Husband couldn't remember what he had done or how he had come to be sitting in a pen about half way down the row. Back at home, after finishing up the chores together he took his temperature: it was 105. Fortunately the experience convinced him that some sick leave was in order, and he is now, after a couple days of R&R, back at work and cycling none the worse for wear, other than clogged sinuses.

Two weeks of school have passed in a flash. I have decided on a subject for my final paper: awareness in anesthesia and what can be done to relieve distress connected with such an experience. On monday I start another 12 weeks of practice nursing on the anesthesia unit in Hamar. My self confidence is at an ebb right now. My age is against me, and my academic results are no more than average - how easy will it be to get a job as nurse anesthetist? Actually there is an opening now in Elverum for the spring. I intend to apply, but hold no great hopes out. My resolution to have a positive outlook is a bit frayed at the edges. It started out okay, but after the first week of school I found my motivation slipping and my temper flaring at the least provocation. Working out seems to help - surprisingly. I dragged myself to the gym, sat there peddling the stationary bike to music and cursing to myself for wasting an hour on something that just made me feel more exhausted, and all my muscles hurt, but afterwards, miraculously my good humor and positive outlook had returned. For a while.

New Years Day - 2010

Standing at the bedroom window last night watching the fireworks I started thinking about new years resolutions.

Two things come to mind that I want to carry over from 2009 into this new year.

One is that I have reconnected with several friends from long ago – people I have had no contact with for 30 years or so. This has come about through Facebook. It is interesting to see what has been happening to old friends. To see whether there is still a connection of interest. Facebook has the potential to be a medium for contact. On the one hand it offers a window into somebody's life. On the other it offers a forum for real personal interaction. Of course it can also just be about «fake contact», meaning that although you are friended on Facebook you don't actually have anything to do with each other. So I hope to carry on last years resolution to nurture contact with friends, though I realize that it will have to be a bare minimum until school lets out in June.

Second is that after Father's death I began working with anthroposophy again. It started with me and mother reading for Father before and after the funeral. When I got home I started reading my book of Steiner lectures on Life between Death and Rebirth. Then someone told me about the website called rudolfsteineraudio.com and I began downloading lectures from that to listen to while doing housework and walking the dogs. I feel like there is a whole community of the dead with whom I can stay connected through anthroposophical reading. It used to be something that I wanted to do for myself, for my own spiritual development. However I was never motivated enough to get off the ground. A good novel is so much more interesting. I guess Father being so close has made me more aware of the other friends and relatives who have passed on in the past 15 years or so. In my imagination the spiritual world has become a populated place, where close friends and family members wait to hear from me. I want to thank Father for helping me become aware of them.

Yesterday I was saying that New years eve is the day when you grieve over mistakes and lost possibilities in the year that is past, and dread the year to come. ("gremmer deg over året som gikk og gruer deg til året som kommer"). My third new years resolution must be to regain and maintain a positive attitude. I know that my negative attitude is the result of stress, pressure and exhaustion. Healthful eating and regular exercise will contribute towards making me more resistant to the negative effects of stress, I think. I also learned the value of good planning and scheduling when I had my home exam. Sticking to my motto for my 50^th birthday: «live slowly» will I think also help. I say «Living slowly» in the sense of not rushing through things, but rather enjoying in the challenges and tasks of the moment. I came to this motto when wrestling with the problem of growing older. How can I assure that when I look back on my life in 10 or 20 years I will not find it to have been all a waste. My theory is that it is not so much a question of how much did I accomplish, as how did I accomplish what I did? And so I decided to quit rushing and start dwelling in the present.

So these are then my New Years Resolutions:

1. to cultivate my relationships with friends and family, living and dead.

2. To regain and maintain a positive outlook.