Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Shopping in London

I spent the day with Ingvild and Marjana at Hyde Park and Oxford street. It was a sunny, warm and windy day. The flowers were so lovely and smelled so good!

Dancer and Ingvild at Hyde park

Marjana and Ingvild: best friends

Dancer and Ingvild at Hyde Park


Dancer a nd Ingvild

Marjana and Ingvild in the Nostrils of the disembodied horse

After hanging out in the park for a while we went to Primark on Oxford street and had a shopping frenzy. I had had a bagel with cream cheese and salmon for breakfast at the cafe where Marjana works. It was so filling that I didn't even get hungry until about 4 pm when we came out of Primark. Ingvild knew of a place further down Oxford street with fantastic belgian waffles with chocolate. The girls were going on to McDonalds for some real food but by this time my feet were screaming for a rest. I saw a Starbucks across the street and went there to sit and wait for the girls with all the shopping bags in a corner beside me. It took them a while, as the first McDonalds was closed for improvements and they had to go on to the next. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep waiting. All in all it was a nice day. I got some presents to bring back for husband. Looking forward to early bedtime tonight. Tomorrow early I get on the train to Cornwall to visit Irene over the weekend.



I was going to get this for Husband, but unfortunatly I didn't have enough money on my credit card.

This however, is what I got for myself: a rabbit onesie!

Sightseeing in London

In spite of sleeping in a new place and as a result not very well, I woke up at 6:30 and couldn't get back to sleep. Of course that would have be 7:30 in Norway, and I can't for the life of me sleep later, no matter how little sleep I have gotten. Anyway, when Ingvild woke up we went out for breakfast - mocha and chocolate croissant at this eastern cafe just around the corner where Marjana works. It was such a pleasant place, cheaper than chains like Starbucks or Costa. The profile is environment friendly (napkins of recycled paper, organic food). Also the food has an eastern twist: they serve bagels with halloumi and hummus. You know how some places put a cookie or piece of chocolate on the saucer with your coffee cup. This place put a piece of the most delicous turkish delight on the saucer.

The gate of the Knights of Saint John

The priory garden

The priory church: still used when the Queen gives awards, such as knighthoods.

The grave of a Knight of Saint John in the Crypt under the Priory Church

After breakfast we went out sightseeing. Also just around the corner from Liberty Court is this gateway. Turns out it used to be part of a priory of the Knights of Saint John, and there is a little museum there describing their origin and history. The knights of Saint John were divided into the Knights Hospitaller, who ran hospitals in Jerusalem and other places in the Holy Land, during the crucades, and the Knights Templar, whose mission was to protect the pilgrims. I was especially facinated in the description of how the Hospitaller Knights worked: for example cleanliness, fresh air and prayer were the foundation for nursing the sick: basically the same principles that were reinvented by Florence Nightengale 800 years later.


Ingvild's University seen from the square and up close. This is where she is studying Journalism this year and hoping to study Sociology next year. The place where her future is being hammered out.





Our next stop was to see the Uni where Ingvild goes to class. Considering it was spring break, it was full of students revising for exams. There was WiFi there as well so I got caught up on my ipad. We were starting to get hungry now, and had talked of going the the Indian Tapas restaurant Imli, but Ingvild knew of a Chinese restaurant that she recommended. We went there and had the Chicken and Prawn Satay. It was delicious, filling and cost under £8 per plate. Not bad at all.




Outside the Museum of Natural History. It has the most amazing architecture. Like a cathedral or palace. I suppose one could call it a place for the worship of the natural sciences


Here's Ingvild in the main hall, where the biggest dinosaur is exhibited. Amazingly the museum is free.



Dancer catching up with Charles Darwin.

After lunch we went to the Museum of Natural History. There we mainly spent time in the dinosaur section. We tried to see more, but were by then totally overwhelmed with impressions. We had to take refuge in a Starbucks on the way back to Liberty Court to have a drink and rest our feet and ears. For me London is like New York - or really every other big city I have visited: Lots of friendly people, cultural and historical places of interest, theatre, ethnic restaurants, opportunities for shopping... Everything within a hop, skip and a jump. And yet I find it hard to get used to the noise level, the crowds, and the close quarters. Once again I am reminded that though a city is fascinating to visit, I am a country person at heart.


London

I am visiting Ingvild in London for a couple of days. Left home yesterday on the 7:15 train to the small airport of Rygge outside Oslo, from which only Ryanair flies (I think). You gotta love Ryanair. My ticket Oslo/London/Oslo only cost like 150 kr (about £15 or $30). Course you have to pay extra to check a bag - it came to about twice the price of the seat, but still a cheap flight. You can sit where ever you want in the plane. It's like boarding a bus. You get on and find a seat. The atmosphere is very laid back.

Liberty Court: the student housing where Ingvild lives

I can't believe I did a "Bridget Jones" at the airport: the gate area where I was supposed to board from was closed when I got there so I found a quiet corner and settled down to watch an episode of the office on my ipad. Didn't notice that this was a 40 minute episode instead of the usual 20 minutes. Suddenly I hear my name being called over the PA system: "will Gudrun Lillekroken please come to gate 7 immediately as the gate will be closing in 2 minutes".

Ingvild at her laptop, combined workstation and source of R&R

I love England. It is the home of my imagination - or something. I learned so much English history at school as a child, all my favorite books as I was growing up were set in England or written by English Authors, and the world they opened for me was one of magic and imagination: Winnie the Pooh, Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, as well as the books of Frances Hudson Burnett, George Macdonald, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen...I had read the complete plays by Shakespeare twice by the time I was 12. On the train from Gatwick to Victoria Station we pass a suburg called Croyden. Here I saw rows of houses joined together exactly as I imagine in C S Lewis' The Magicians Nephew, where Digory and Polly crawl along the rafters in the attics trying to keep track of which house they are in.

Here is Ingvild's room at Liberty Court. Mine is the blue pillow.


On this first afternoon I met some of Ingvilds best friends: Marjana and Tino. They are both really, really nice people. I got a glimpse of what student digs are like. An unassuming brick building. Each flat has several rooms of various sizes. In Ingvilds flat live 2 men and 2 women. The room is tiny, but with a nice view of a quiet courtyard. There are inspections to check that the students keep the kitchen and bathrooms clean. There is a guard/doorman/janitor guy who watches the comings and goings at the front door. Apparently the main manager is EVIL.

View from Ingvild's room.

On the way to the theatre Ingvild introduced me to London's cheapest meal: the meal deal from Tesco: a sandwich, choice of chocolate, fruit or crisps, and juice or waterbottle all for £2. The chicken ceasar sandwich was really yummy, the bread fairly decent. I chose sourcream&onion crisps and apple juice.

Dancer outside the Aldrich Theatre befor the show.

The musical we went to see was Dirty Dancing at the Aldrich theatre. I didn't know the show at all from before but it was great with lots of impressive latin/ballroom dancing and a good story of how naive and optimistic idealism wins the day (and hearts).


Monday, March 28, 2011

Radon Removal


This winter Husband decided to order a couple of tracefilm cannisters to be placed on the first and second floor of our house to measure the concentration of Radon for 2 months. You can get these for free from the municipal office. After 2 months we sent them in to the Norwegian office of Radiation Protection and a week or so later he got an email with the report. We had 1400 bq/m3 in the first floor living room, 1300 bq/m3 in the second floor bedroom. The average year-round levels were calculated to be over 1000 bq/m3, the equivalent of smoking 20 cigarettes a day. The Office of Radiation Protection recommends that levels not exceed 100 bq/m3, the max allowable limit (in new buildings) is 200.

We were sent a list of qualified Radon removers and wrote to the 3 that were closest to where we live. One replied that they were mistakenly on the list. They only measure Radon, they don't remove it. Another was book up for a long time to come. A third, who is actually the closest one, being located in the next county, came by with his radon measuring instrument to look at what could be done to fix things. He measured 2000 bq/m3 in the basement (good thing we don't hang out much down there), and said he would come back in 2 weeks to remove the Radon.

Two weeks later we hadn't heard from him, so we waited a couple more days and then called him up last wednesday. He said the fans he had ordered would be arriving the next day and he could come on monday at 10 am. He showed up today with a bunch of pipes on the roof of his van, and has been spending the day, puttering about in the basement. I think the plan is to set up a couple of fans in the basement that blow the Radon out through the pipes that he is going to feed through the walls of the foundation - hopefully away from any open windows.

He is coming back to continue working tomorrow, but I am leaving for England in the morning, so the rest of the story will have to come later. To be continued...

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Snowdrops


Remember my post 10 days ago. On monday the snow started seriously melting. Here is what those same views look like today.

Also I discovered the first snowdrops peeping up from among the lavendar.


Monday, March 21, 2011

Monday morning



Just came home from a milk and egg run. I have a night shift tonight, and husband had to get up early to get the barn ready for a new load of 44 up-and-coming breeding boars, so I got up together with him. I like to get up early before a night shift, because it makes it easier to take a 3-4 hour nap in the afternoon, which I find necesary for me to be maximally alert during the night. So we got up at 5:45.

Two of my egg customers from my previous job were coming off a night shift and I'd agreed to bring them eggs before they went home. Thus I started out the day making an egg run at 7:15. On the way home I stopped at Nøttestad (husbands former workplace) the farm where we get our milk, untreated, straight from the cooling tank. Though it was 8 am no one had started chores there yet. The cows get milked by robot so it's no big deal. I got this great picture of one of the barn cats presiding in the seat of the tractor, while one of the calves it trying to reach the load of carrots that will be their breakfast.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Red Cross


This morning I had an interview with the International Red Cross. They are looking for delegates for their Emergency Response Unit. The ERU goes out at short notice to disaster areas to set up a field hospital and tend to the injured, at the same time offering training to local health care workers to deal with the situation.

This is the third time I have applied, but the first time that they responded. I had a telephone interview last week and a face-to-face this week. In two weeks I will hear whether or not I am chosen to be part of the team. This has been a dream for years - to go out and work with disaster relief. It is part of the reason why I chose to study nursing and the main reason why I took anesthesia. Now the dream is on the brink of coming true.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Visit in Folldal

Birthday boys

We spent the weekend in Folldal, the valley where Husband comes from and where his parents and brother live. The primary occasion was the 8th birthday of Husband's nephew, as well as the 70th birthday of his father. However the weekend was overshadowed by the fact that Husbands mother was diagnosed with bone metastases of her breast cancer a few weeks ago. She is experiencing pathological fractures in her pelvis which cause a good bit of pain, as well as anemia due to impairment of blood formation. The prognosis is uncertain but definitly not good. She can get around the house with a walker, but hardly gets out of the house as steps are a real problem. This is all very saddening for the whole family.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Still a lot of snow

So we are in the first third of march, and everyone I know is talking about balmy temperatures and daffodills. Here, we still have a lot of snow. The way we notice that spring is coming is that even when it gets real cold at night, the sun warms up considerably during the day. You can see buds developing on trees and bushes. And then there is the bird song, and birds nesting...