Tomato Soup and Tsunami Advisory

Today I washed my hair in tomato soup. It was disgusting, and the entire shower turned out light red. I’m not trying to dye my hair pink or anything, it was a desperate attempt to get the green tint out of my normally blond hair. I googled it (it’s amazing how you can google anything), and I found a lot of people suggesting tomato soup. I went to a pool (and hot tub) party on

Sunday, and when I looked myself in the mirror Sunday night, my ends had turned green from the chlorine. I’ve heard about it, but I’ve never had that happen to me before, so I had no idea what to do, so I googled it. This morning I found myself in the shower with a can of tomato soup and a can opener, and a few minutes later I found myself pouring tomato soup in my hair… And all of a sudden I panicked! My hair had turned pink, and I decided that a few green ends were better than my entire hair turning pink. So I washed the tomato out right away, resulting in… The green ends still there. Well well – this is the kind of problems we’re facing out here. Pool parties lead to green hair. I guess I can live with that.

Yesterday there was another potential problem (or rather disaster??) facing us. Because of the Samoa earthquake a tsunami advisory was issued for Hawaii. It was in effect for a little more than an hour, but was cancelled again, but I still had to promise my mom not to go to the beach… Even with a potential tsunami on its way the beaches were still crowded with tourists enjoying their vacation and most surfers refused to get out of the water. We figured that we’d be fairly safe up here on the eight floor. At least as long as our apartment is still standing…

Sunday morning we had our Graduate Student Organization Welcome Picnic. I think it turned out a success. Since we have had our almost unlimited budget cut to zero, we had to be creative, so for the first time we had a potluck this semester. We had about 30 graduate students showing up, from almost every corner of the world, so the buffet turned out really interesting. There was homemade

sushi, a Slovakian mango cake, BBQ pork, pasta salads, cookies and lots of good stuff.

Back in Paradise

Here I am – back on my favorite Island. Well… That’s an understatement – this place is probably my favorite place on this planet. What can I say – it’s Hawaii. And to all of you guys back home: Yes – you really should envy me my paradise – so get your ass out here and come visit!! The sooner the better. I’m only here for nine more months.

I got back two weeks ago. Susanne and Hallvard (my new roomies) had all ready found our new place, moved in to the apartment and cleaned the entire place, so all I had to do was unpack. So so nice! It’s such a hassle to spend the first weeks in a hostel trying to find a place, and the best part is that I absolutely love my new home. It’s very close to our old place, literally just two blocks down the street on the corner of Kuhio and Kaiulani. This also means that the beach is only 100 meters from here and from our lanai and from my bedroom window I can see the ocean in between theHyatt towers, but it really would help if somebody could maybe tear the hotel down. To say that we have ocean view – or even partially ocean view – would be an overstatement… But hey - I can see a small fraction of the ocean from my bedroom window – if it’s not exactly what can be categorized as ocean view, it is at least a small view of the ocean. And I’m loving it.

But that’s not the only thing I love about my room. I’m in love with my walk in closet, my air con (and even better - I just figured how to work the air con remote control), I love my big soft bed, my tiny TV and the fact that my (master) bedroom is quite big and has hard wood floors. But it doesn’t end here. The building is secured with a security guard guarding us day and night, we have a swimming pool (we figured jumping from our lanai on the eighth floor would be a bad idea, nevertheless very tempting), we have parking (I’mseriously considering buying a car, or rather… I’m seriously tryingto figure out how to afford buying a car), we have a big lanai (Hawaiian for balcony), and we have a washer and a dryer and even better – a dishwasher, a living room with a dining area and a very decent kitchen. I even bought a bread machine on Amazon, so lately I’ve been baking bread on an almost daily basis, and we get to eat real bread with real fibers, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, instead of the soft white stuff Americans call bread. Well… I guess my recent obsession with the bread machine deserves an entire post to itself. As you can tell – I love my new home – and I should not forget to mention the most important accessory that came with the place: Susanne and Hallvard!

It’s time to sleep. I should post some pictures – I’ll take some and update the blog tomorrow. Sweet dreams…Zzzzzz……….

By the way - check out Susanne and Hallvard's blog for a video of me giving a tour of the apartment when I walked in the first day I was here: http://honolulusoghawaiivard.blogspot.com/

The Revival of the Revival...

I so wish I could call this post the revival of the Aloha Blog, but I've all ready done one of those revival attempts and named a post that. I should be the first to admit that it was a terrible attempt, however, the intentions were good, and that's what really counts - right?? Here's the thing. I'm so unbelievably bored that I've decided to do a second attempt to do a revival of this blog. I'm not sure how it's gonna end up, we'll just have to wait and see about that. That's not the whole truth. I'm even more bored than that. It's somehow embarrassing, but the truth is that I'm so bored that I've begun to stream the entire Paradise Hotel Denmark show. From the beginning...! The worst thing is that it ended months ago and I know who will win and what's happening (I was bored so I googled it...) and I'm still watching it. That's the evil of extreme boredom - Paradise Hotel Denmark!!

Here's the thing... It seems as if fall has come to Norway today. Today is August 3rd. I think it's too early, but then again, I remember living in Oslo and thinking fall came way to early every year, maybe this is just the way it is in this country?? Native Norwegians - please help me out on this one... Is this normal??? Anyways - I ABSOLUTELY HATE IT. The good thing is, that it reminds me of why I'm living on the other side of the globe in sunny Hawaii. It reminds me of why I should never go live in Scandinavia again. The thing is - I tend to forget about it! Being away for so long makes me forget how terrible the scandinavian weather really is, and after a while, I'll actually start fantasizing about moving back here. I've been lucky enough to spent some time in Stockholm this summer, and for a while I really thought I could live there. It such a beautiful city. It breaks my heart, but I'll have to admit that Stockholm is more beautiful than my favorite city, Copenhagen.

But days like these reminds of why I should not move back here. This kind of weather affects my mood instantly, I'll feel depressed and alone and all I wanna do is hide in my room and feel sorry for my self. I literally feel that the quality of my life is so dependent on some decent weather. I need to see the sun once in a while, and I should not live in a country where the sun rises at 11 in the morning and sets again at 3.30 in the afternoon the entire winter. I know it's very different from person to person how the weather affects you, I just know I should live in a country which is warmer and sunnier than the Scandinavian countries are. Somebody PLEASE STOP me if I ever start thinking about moving back here...

Back (at home?) in Hawaii

I’m back in Hawaii. Maybe I’m back home in Hawaii. I’m not really sure where home is anymore. Can you have more than one place you call home? I know I have. When I go to Denmark I go home to Denmark. When I go to Oslo I go home to Oslo. And when leaving both of those places I fly home to Hawaii. The weird part is that I feel more at home in Oslo and in Hawaii than I do anywhere in Denmark. I’m Danish (and I do feel Danish) but I feel more at home outside Denmark than I do whenever I’m in Denmark. I used to live in Copenhagen, and every time I go there I expect to be going home, but lately I’ve been feeling as a stranger whenever I get to Copenhagen. I almost don’t recognize the city anymore - so much have changed since I lived there. I feel like I should feel at home in Copenhagen, but when I get there I feel like a tourist who doesn’t know how to get from The Central Station to Strøget and doesn’t have any Danish currency. But it’s my favorite city. I love Copenhagen and I still think it’s the greatest city in the world. However, I do feel much more at home when in both Oslo and Honolulu.

To follow up on the previous post… The flight here went pretty well, and my new favorite airline is KLM. The service and the food was so much better than that of United Airlines, Lufthansa and American Airlines. I hope I’ll never have to fly anything else than KLM now. On both of the long flights I was lucky enough to have an empty seat between me and my neighbor passenger. Well - I guess I can’t thank KLM but rather the financial crises that!
As predicted I was taken aside in the customs in SFO and interviewed in a small dark room. This happens every single time I’m entering the US, and in details I’m asked to account for why I visited the US in… 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2003, 2001 and finally 2000. Why don’t they write it down and put it into my file or something?? The first few times it happened I was totally paranoid thinking that they were not gonna let me in, now the only thing I care about is whether or not I’ll make my connecting flight. This time the police officer even looked at me and said: This happens to you every time – right? I confirmed while thinking that I must look like I’ve tried it all before. They always accept my explanations and I always have to run through either LAX or SFO like crazy to make my connecting flight. I made it, and when my luggage actually showed up in Honolulu I was happy thinking that the trip couldn’t have been any better.

Mette picked me up in the airport. I guess that’s one thing that makes me feel like coming home… My good friend picked me up and drove me back to my place. And before I’d made it back to Waikiki both Susanne and Hege had called to ask if I was back and how the trip went. Thanks guys! You’re the ones who make me feel at home so far from home!
Having showered we went out for a drink at The Big Kahunas. (The Big Kahuna means The Big Wise Man in Hawaiian). When the waitress arrived at our table 10 minutes later with a fish bowl (a huge blue drink in an actual fish bowl) from some guys at the neighbor table I instantly knew I was back in Hawaii. It’s tough to be three blond girls partying in Hawaii…

When I finally lay down to sleep around midnight I slept until 8.36 the next morning which is quite impressive taking the time difference and jetlag into consideration. I must have been exhausted. The next morning I woke up to a beautiful sunny day and 25 degrees Celsius. It was like spring had arrived during the night. Being back on the beach in my bikini felt almost surreal after a month in the snow in Scandinavia. It felt soooo good… (Except that everybody’s so much more tanned than I am! That’s the downside of going home for a month – you loose your tan!) The first day back in Hawaii was spent on the beach with a book, on a booze cruise with plenty of mimosas, and on a restaurant with good friends. It does feel good to be back. Home.

Denmark and Norway

I’m in Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. I’m waiting for my 11 hour transatlantic flight to San Francisco. From there I have another 6 hour flight to Honolulu. I’m on my way home to Honolulu having spent a month of winter vacation in Denmark and Norway.
I keep asking myself why Hawaii is so far away, why I had to choose to live in the most isolated group of islands in the world. Well – I guess it’s worth it. Worth the long, long flights. I know I’ll feel different about this flight tomorrow morning when I’ll be back on Waikiki beach with my friends. I’ll soon have forgotten how terrible I think it is to sit squeezed in between strangers in a small airplane 10 km. above the ocean for 11 straight hours. If I manage to get through customs without too much trouble I still have 6 more hours from San Fran to Honolulu. Most people think that when you’ve made it all the way to LAX or SFO you’re practically there. Surprise! You’re nooot… Don’t get me wrong. In the end I still think Hawaii is worth the trouble, and I also don’t wanna scare all the potential visitors away…
However, I do have one piece of advice to offer to everybody thinking about taking this trip. Do not start out with the worst hangovers ever when you board the first flight! Talking from experience I’ll promise you that hangovers are not going to make the 30-hour trip more pleasant. Especially not when you’re seated next to an 85 year old American man who insists on sharing his entire life story with you together with his famous cheese cake recipes. And when the children’s seat placed in seat behind you prevents you from laying your seat down. And when you have a nine hour layover in Dallas Forth-Worth Airport before boarding the transatlantic flight, hangovers, no badass hangovers, are a really bad idea. It’s actually rather simple. Simply do not go to Mooses on Tuesdays when flying out on Wednesdays. We all learn by our mistakes… I hope! Except from the fact that I have a sore throat and feel rather sick I think this trip will be more pleasant. No hangovers or long layovers. At least not if I make my connecting flight in San Fran. I tend to have trouble getting through customs; they always pull me aside into that small room and interview me. I’m always shaking thinking that they’re not gonna let me back in to the US. I think I’ve been in and out of the US too many times on too many different visas. It makes going through US customs very interesting…
I could go on and on about airports, flights and airlines forever, but I guess it’s really not that interesting for most people. Having travelled quite a lot the last few years I have come to feel very strongly about certain airlines and airports. And US customs for that matter. Let’s try not to dwell on that…
I’ve spent an entire month in Denmark and Norway. Two weeks in Denmark and two weeks in Norway. That’s the great part about being a student – my winter break is 5 weeks and summer break is… almost three and a half month I think. I get to go home and say Hi to family and friends – and not to forget… Celebrate Christmas in Denmark with my family and eat traditional Danish Christmas food, and go to Norway for skiing. This was my third year in a row skiing. I’m beginning to get impressed with my cross-country skiing skills. You have to bear in mind I’m Danish! Having grown up in Denmark I have absolutely no basis for skiing skills. This time I didn’t even say: “I’ll NEVER go skiing again” one single time during the entire week of skiing. I’m quite proud of myself. I’ll usually say (or rather… shout that) at Magnus at least once during a week of skiing. The funny thing is that I’m really serious and I mean it when I say it, but I’ll always end up putting the skis back on. But this year went very well, the weather was beautiful and I really enjoyed being in the snow. Even though the temperature difference was… Overwhelming. Leaving Hawaii the temperature was about 30 degrees Celsius, arriving at the cabin in Norway the temperature was minus 18 degrees Celcius. That’s a difference of almost 50 degrees! However, I had a really good time skiing in Norway and it was so good to see everybody again. Check out the pictures! I guess we’re boarding now. You’ll hear from me again when I’m back in my favorite island.

Flash Flood and Finals

Yesterday was crazy. Living here I’ve experienced quite a few flash floods before, but the one that hit Oahu yesterday was nothing like anything I’ve seen before. In one hour we had 100 mm of rain. By comparison, in Denmark it usually rains 450-850 mm annually. In twelve hours yesterday it rained 350 mm which is more than it usually rains in Denmark in six months. And I thought it rained a lot in Denmark!!

At 2 a.m. the rain and wind woke me up the first time. At 4 a.m. I was wide awake again, and around 6 a.m. I finally gave up on sleeping. I thought I would do the last desperate studying before my finals yesterday, but soon I discovered that we had no power. And since I’m on the 10th floor no power means no water. And no elevator… On Kuhio the lights in the intersection were out, and the police had to direct the traffic. However, the power returned by 8.15 a.m. and I was happy to be able to get in the shower before a long day at the university. Well, I could have spared myself the effort… Walking the 100 meters down to the bus stop I was literally soaked. The umbrella was useless because of the heavy winds, and when the bus finally came I had mascara running down both cheeks and I was soaked all the way to my underwear. No fun when you’re on your way to two final exams, and you have to be at the university for at least 10 hours, and there’s heavy air conditioning inside. I walked around the entire day yesterday thinking that I smelled like a wet dog… When I finally made it home by 8 p.m. there was a glass of red wine and tacos waiting for me…Thanks Hege! Exactly what I needed! I was supposed to go to Susanne and Hallvards for juling and bollefest, however, I was too exhausted and fell a sleep on the couch at 9 p.m. while watching a rerun of Grey’s Anatomy…

Anyways, I think both of my finals went pretty well, and now I have five weeks vacation! FIVE WEEKS! And that just for Christmas! Five weeks is what I had annually while working in Oslo. Next summer I’ll have 3 and a half MONTHS of vacation… Nice. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to work. Studying suits me pretty well…

I have 6 days left on the Island before I leave for Scandinavia. Tonight two of my friends have rented a mansion out in Hawaii Kai, and they’re hosting a biiig pool and Jacuzzi party. I think 75 people have been invited, I can’t wait. I don’t have to worry about studying for any finals or getting up in the morning for a change. I’m exited.

I was planning on spending the last six days before I return to Denmark on the beach trying to get a nice tan, however, it doesn’t seem like the weather agrees with me on that idea. I might return home as pale as the rest of you guys – haha…
Gotta go. I’m off to Ala Moana for some Christmas shopping!! See you soon!

The Revival of the Aloha Blog

The Aloha blog wasn’t dead if that’s what you thought… It just went into hibernation for an extended period of time. For many good reasons! Since you heard from me last time, lots of things have happened, and I’m not sure where to start… Let’s try to go with it in chronological sequence.
I think the first thing that happened was Maria visiting from Canada. She was here for five days, and it was great to see her and have the chance to show her around in Hawaii. We rented a car one day and did a circle island tour. We were lucky enough to see a big sea turtle on Laniakea Beach on the North Shore, we got to swim in a waterfall, we ate garlic and chili shrimps at the shrimp wagons, relaxed at Waimea Bay, and went for a walk on the beach where Lost is filmed. We also did some scuba diving and got to see 20 dolphins swimming in front of the boat. On her last days here we went to Hanauma Bay for snorkeling.

Maria left a few days prior to Halloween. Hege and I had decided to invite people over for a Halloween Party, one thing we forgot to discuss, however, was how many people to invite to the party… By accident we invited around 60 people, and by accident… everybody showed up at some point during the evening! In addition our neighbors across the hall had a party going on, so we decided to open the two doors and make two big parties one humongous party. It was good fun, and everybody had dressed up in crazy costumes. At one point it kinda got out of control, and I though I would make people leave. I also thought people were not gonna leave voluntarily, so I started yelling: Get the F*** out of here… NOW! It actually worked… Although the next day I started wondering why I hadn’t just asked people to leave in a friendlier way… Well – it seems as if nobody really took insult… I still have some friends left; what's more, the apartment is still in pretty good shape.

A week following Halloween Christer came all the way to Hawaii from Norway. He was here for two weeks, and I think we got to see and experience a lot of what Hawaii has to offer. We pretty much did all the stuff you’re supposed to do while in Hawaii. Here on Oahu we went to North Shore to see turtles and surfers, Kayaking in Kailua and Lanikai, snorkeling in Hanauma Bay, hiking the Onomana ridge, Pearl Harbor, Waikiki Beach, Muse on a Tuesday for $1 drinks, Chessecake Factory, we watched hula in the sunset, watched baseball, went to down town and china town, Aloha Tower, Ala Moana Shopping Center, etc. But I think the best part was the trip to Kauai – the oldest and northernmost of the Hawaiian Island. I’ve been there three years ago with Sisse. It is called the Garden Island for good reasons. The Island is extremely green… Also for very good reasons! It rains a lot over there, something we also got to experience. We had rented a convertible Mustang (niiiiiice!!) and more than once we had to stop and put the cover back on, so we wouldn’t get soaked… (However, we discovered that if we drove really fast we didn’t actually feel the rain. That theory, however, only applied until it was raining a certain amount of rain, and we couldn’t go any faster than we all ready did…) While on Kauai we went on a boat trip where we were lucky enough to see humpback whales, dolphins jumping in front of the boat and we got to snorkel with turtles. We also did a trip to Waimea Canyon (Grand Canyon of the Pacific – check out the pictures) and hiked the beautiful Na Pali coast.

Christer left two weeks ago, and because I practically did not do any school work while he was here, I’ve pretty much spent the last two weeks catching up on papers and exams, and in three days this semester is officially over! I’ve got my last two finals on Thursday, so I’ve spent the last few day writing papers, doing presentations and studying… If you wanna know anything about The Implementation of Fiscal and Monetary Policies in the US or The Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 – just let me know… I’m the one to ask!!
I’ve started the countdown… In only 9 days I’ll be on my way home to Denmark to celebrate a traditional, rainy Danish Christmas, and I’m so exited… I cannot wait to see family and friends; I’ve been feeling a little homesick lately. I’ll be home for an entire month, and I’ll make sure to spend time both in Copenhagen and Oslo besides my parents place, so I’ll get to see everybody. I just can’t wait!

Now I have to go cause I’m heading over to Susanne and Hallvard to watch julekalender… We’re watching a Norwegian julekalender called Nisserne på Låven (I think…!!) It’s kinda hard to get in the right kind of Christmas mood while there’s 25 degrees Celsius outside (I’m not complaining..!) however, Susanne is making an excellent effort by baking rolls with chocolate inside and serving hot chocolate every time we come over. Gotta go!!

A day in Hawaii

Here’s my day:

Got out of bed this morning at 7.15am. Or rather…. The alarm clock went off for the first time at 7.15 and after hitting the snooze button three-four times; I might have been out of my bed by 7.30. Jumped in the shower, defrosted a sesame bagel for breakfast, and walked the ten minutes down to the dive shop. I got my gear together. (I’ve been diving so many times now, that they have started letting me have all kinds of fancy gear I can’t control… Last time it took my a while to figure out how to get air in and out of the BCD, and on the first dive today down at 35 meters, I had absolutely no idea how much air was left in my tank, cause I’m too blond or whatever to work the dive computer they insisted on giving me. Even the dive instructor couldn’t figure out how to reset the dive computer, so he just told me to stay close to him, and for the rest of the dive I was just kind of… hoping that I wouldn’t have to use the out of air signal…) (And I didn’t – by the way!!)

The trip to Hawaii Kai where we usually dive is about 35 minutes, and the ride to the dive site from the harbor is another 20 minutes. Today we did the Corsair again which I think is always a success, and one the second and shallower dive I got to see tons of sea turtles and a huge moray eel… probably the biggest one I’ve ever seen, kind of scary… But no sharks… I wonder if I’ll ever get to see sharks!! When Christer gets here, I think we’ll do the shark encounter up at the North Shore. They put you in a huge cage, sink the cage into the water and throw out meet for the sharks to feed on. I’ve heard from many who’s done it that’ll you see many and big sharks! Can’t wait… Enough about sharks and diving, this blog has almost turned into dive blog… I never intended for that to happen!!

I was home in Waikiki around 2 pm and joined Hege, Per and Christina at the beach. I did bring my econ book, although I spend too much time chatting and floating around on Christina’s tube to understand any of the GDP and econ terminology I was supposed to be reading about. Well well… I’m not in Hawaii to study econ…. Or am I? Sometimes I tend to get all confused…

We left the beach around 5pm. Hege and I wanted to go running. Today I introduced Hege for the Diamond Head circle run, it’s 8,5 kilometers up and downhill, and we actually ran all the way and finished in less than one hour. We’re really proud of ourselves. And tired… hehe!

Tonight I’ve been so exhausted from all the wannabe holidaying, that I’ve been sitting in front of the computer on the lanai writing a few e-mail and now blogging. I never do homework after 7pm or in the weekends. That’s my time off. This semester is the easiest most relaxing ever… I only have classes on Thursday (occasionally on Fridays, and whenever I feel like it on Mondays. Buy I don’t really feel like it on Mondays, which means I only have to go the university once a week most weeks…. Niiiice!! I’m really enjoying it, cause I’m sure next semester will be a lot worse… It just gotta be!) It’s perfect timing, cause I got visitors coming up really soon. Maria is flying over from Vancouver the day after tomorrow – I can’t wait to see her! (I know I’ve been writing the same thing in every blog entry I’ve done since she told me she would come over, but I’m so exited!)

On Sunday we went to the Halloween store to get our Halloween costumes. I’m not sure why, but about a month ago Christina and I decided, totally out of the blue, that we were gonna dress up like insects. I have no idea why we came up with that idea. (We might have been exposed to a kaka roach or two??) Well, yesterday I was desperately running around the Halloween store to find my anticipated lady bird costume, and I found it! I can’t wait to Halloween to show off my costume… I almost told the lady in the store yesterday that I didn’t need a bag cause I would just leave it on. I came to my senses and didn’t. I brought it home in a bag, but now it hangs in my closet and every time I look at it I wanna put it on and wander around the apartment as a ladybird. I’d better not. There are probably around 200 hotel rooms that have a nice view into our apartment… I really should do my best not to walk around naked or dressed up as a lady bird!

Enough for tonight. Check out the nice (dive) pictures!

My Aloha life...

Today I did my last two midterms. That’s it. No more stress until finals begin in December. Both of them were multiple choice with a few essay questions. I think I did all right, it just nice that I don’t have to worry about them any more. I really don’t have too much school work this semester; I think next semester will be a lot worse though…

I’m sitting on the lanai with Hege, watching the moon and drinking red vine. Hege is going to Kauai for the weekend, so I’ll be here all by myself. I don’t have too many plans. Halloween is coming up, so Christiana and I’ll be going to Ala Moana to try on costumes on Sunday. We have decided that we should be insects… I’ll see if I can find a nice lady bird costume. Hege and I talked about hosting a Halloween party… The only thing is we don’t want to get kicked out of the apartment!

I’m a little bored these says cause lots of people are really busy with school and I wanna hang out and do stuff. Or maybe it’s just that the everyday has set inn, and nothing is new and exiting any more. That’s why I can’t wait till Maria and Christer is gonna get here.

Well – I’m exaggerating. It’s not like I’m not doing anything… I guess it just feels like that after a long day of midterms! Yesterday I did an Island Circle tour with Jonas and his parents, and tomorrow morning I’m going diving again. Yesterday we went everywhere… We started the day doing Tantalus drive, enjoying beautiful views of Waikiki and Honolulu. Next stop was Wahiawa Botanical Gardens and after that we had the best pineapple ice cream on the Dole Plantation. We also went to Haleiwa, Laniakea beach to watch the Sea Turtles, and Jonas jumped off the cliff at gorgeous Waimea Bay. We did the Waimea Bay waterfall hike, although there was too much water in the waterfall to swim in it. It’s ironic…. When I was there a month ago there wasn’t enough water in it to go swimming, this time there was too much! We had dinner at a really nice seafood restaurant near Kaneohe and drove home over the pali.

Sometimes I wonder what I’m supposed to do here the next two years. But then again… This morning when I headed to Starbucks to do the final desperate readings before the midterm I looked at the ocean, and I got the chills… Just looking at it makes me feel happy! It’s right outside my door, it’s turquoise and beautiful, and I’ll never grow tired of simply watching it. I can wear flip flops 365 days a year; I only go to school once a week, I get to sit on the lanai and watch the moon and write in my blog every night. At least those nights I don’t go out – hehe… A beer is $3 and a tropical drink is $6! (What else can you ask for having lived in Oslo for almost two years??)…. I never have to set the alarm clock – except on those days where I choose to get up early to go scuba diving or go on road trips. Most days I’ll get up whenever I fell like it. I’m living the good life. I know it, and I do my best to really appreciate it. Soon enough I might find myself in some cold Scandinavian country divorced with two kids and a nine to five job... Arghh!!

What’s new in Hawaii?

I bought a tennis racket and six tennis balls. Now I’m searching craigslist for a tennis coach. (Where’s Magnus when you need him??) Or someone who wants to play with a beginner like me. Anyone interested – just let me know. By the way – the racket is pink! That’s why I bought it… I’ve also started running. The thing is I signed up for membership in 24hourfitness, but since the Waikiki club is being renovated I’ve found it hard to pack up all my stuff and work out in down town. Queen Kapiolani Park is right outside my door, sp I try to run 5 kilometers 3-4 times a week. 24hour fitness in Waikiki is supposed to open in the beginning of November – that’ll make everything a lot simpler.

I got great news….. Maria is flying out from Canada to visit! She’ll be here in a little more than a week from today and stay for five days. I’m really exited to see her and show her everything. And that not all - in three weeks from now Christer will be here. He’s here for two weeks, and the plan is to go to Kauai for a long weekend. Kauai is known as “The Garden Isle”, and I think it is the most beautiful of the 8 major Hawaiian Islands. I was lucky enough to go there with Sisse three years ago. This time around I think we’ll rent a convertible and stay in a nice resort hotel. I need vacation!!

I’ve got midterms coming up this week. I’ve already finished one midterm for my Org Behavior Class – I did pretty well on that one. On Thursday I got a two midterms – one in Economics and one on Business Law. It’s mostly multiple choose and True/False so I’m really not too worried. Also, I kind of made up my mind... I don’t have to be a straight A student this time – there’s so much stuff I’d rather do than sit inside and study. So I guess it’s ok if I don’t do perfect. It’s all about prioritizing really.

I’d rather spent my time scuba diving. I did four awesome dives last week, and Jonas and I are going out again this Friday. On Wednesday we did a wreck dive called The Barge out of Hawaii Kai, and on Friday we did a wreck dive in Waikiki called OY 157. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see any Sharks on The Barge, maybe next time. To Jonas delight we saw a spotted eagle ray, and of course… Lots of huge sea turtles! On Friday the OY 157 was maybe the best dive so far. The two wrecks were beautiful and we got to go inside one of them – twice actually. Lots of fish, sea turtles, huge moraine eels and eagle rays. On the second dive we came across the biggest octopus I’ve seen so far, I’ll upload pictures as soon as I get them from Jonas. Scuba diving really is tons of fun.

Saturday we went to Kualoa Ranch to do some fund raising for Danish Dynamite. It was my first time up there, and it was absolutely stunning. Lots of movies have been filmed up there, to name a few: Jurassic Park, 50 first Dates, Pearl Harbor, You, Me and Dupree, and the Lost series of course. The HPU cross country team had a race up there, and our job was to stand in the movie settings and make sure the runners were running in the right direction. Check out the pictures!

Sunday night I had arranged Sunset on the Beach for GSO. The films were really, really…. Really boring, but it’s always nice to sit one the beach, watch the sunset and a movie… I’m not complaining!

I miss all of you back home. Even though I’ve been really bad at writing personal e-mails I hope you all know that you’re in my thoughts every single day….