25-12-2007
Christmas Eve 2007
Though this, technically speaking, is a traveling blog, I figured that writing a few words about Christmas Eve wouldn't hurt.
The preparations for Christmas Eve started the day before, when we finished all our food and present shopping. I was responsible for buying a Christmas tree and in many ways I guess you could say that I failed, because I ended up buying a fake tree. My plan was to buy a real tree, but they were so brown and ugly, not to mention horribly expensive, that I discarded that idea and went for a fake one. All in all I think it worked out well, even if I was a bit skeptical in the beginning.
Finally the Tree started looking like a Tree with capital T!
We were all set for Christmas!
When I woke up in the morning on the 24th I got my Christmas stocking filled with candy, so I smiled from ear to ear. We proceeded to eat a great breakfast, before we settled in front of the TV and saw Love Actually. A perfect start to any Christmas!
After wiping our tears away from the movie, we headed over to Cafe Amadeus (an Austrian cafe) and had a couple of glasses of Prosecco and a very tasty piece of topfenstrudel together with Stocki (In charge of the Austrian tourism board in Beijing).
Now it was time to get everything ready for Christmas. Steffi was in charge of the food and setting the table and I was in charge of ... eh ... The Christmas tree and the drinks... Oh and the music!
I'm sorry, but you have to be Norwegian to figure this one out... Though the last window should give you an indication of what I consider good Christmas music ...
The table and tree looked very nice ...
We ate a very tasty 2 course dinner ... we had planned a dessert, but due to a large amount of schnapps, dessert was made redundant =) We were simply in such a festive mood that we didn't have time to slow down for more food.
Before we could open our presents, we pulled out the guitar and played ... no, not Sabbath (though it was tempting), but a few Christmas Carols ... Though I'm not singing on the clip (because I'm concentrating on the filming) I can promise you that I sang as soon as I turned the camera off ;-)
With the carols out of the way, we dove into the presents.
When we staggered to bed at 3 a.m. we had enjoyed great food, sung Christmas carols, played guitar, danced and had copious amounts of alcohol ... it was in other words just like Christmas should be!
24-12-2007
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas!
I hope you have a sensational Christmas, filled with gifts and great food, but most importantly a fantastic time together with your friends and family ... I got my Christmas stocking this morning, so I'm not complaining at all!
I just saw Love Actually today and I feel totally inspired by Billy Mack, so get into the Christmas spirit with him:
05-01-2007
New Years in Norway
After a very enjoyable time in Austria it was time to head to Norway for a quick tour of the country. Steffie and me had quite an itinerary ahead of us for the weeklong stay. The fun started in the Oslo airport; we met Stein (childhood friend, currently working in London as a cinematographer) who landed 15 minutes after us. 
After the obligatory round of hugs, we headed straight to Asker with the AirportExpressTrain, where we were picked up by Gunn a broker with Lange Maritime. She took us to their hangar filled with boats, amongst them a brand spanking new Ovni 395. It was love at first sight. This is the kind of boat I’ll be sailing around in come 2010. We spent a good hour looking at the boat, before we were dropped off at the train station and headed in to Oslo.
We were met at Oslo central station by my cousin, Christer, who drove us back to his flat. There he proceeded to treat us to a great pasta meal with a fine bottle of red wine. While we were eating, Torstein, (the guy I went to Tibet with) showed up. I hadn’t seen him since July, so it was great to catch up. We headed down to a pub at Grunerløkka, ironically the same pub that I was drunk out of the country from, before I went to Australia to go to filmschool. We enjoyed a few beers, played some darts and pool, before we headed back to Christer’s flat and crashed. It had been a long day for all of us.
Early the next morning we took a bus out to the airport and caught one of the first flights to Stavanger. We took a bus to Madla, where my aunt Annicken picked us up and drove us to my grandfather Armand’s house. It was great to see him again and catch up, even if it had only been 3 weeks since I saw him in the Caribbean.
Since my father was still in the Caribbean, we had his apartment to ourselves. After getting set up there, we headed into town on a little walk-about. It was nice to see Old Stavanger again and walk around in the shopping streets with no cars. 
Living in Beijing you get used to being surrounded by a constant traffic of cars and people, not so in Stavanger. At 4 pm we went to my mother and ate a delicious pinnekjøtt meal - traditional Christmas food from my part of the country. Afterwards we celebrated a mini-Christmas, because I had brought gifts for my mom and she in turn had a stack of good books for me. In the evening we met Peri, because he was graciously letting us borrow his parents car. They were away and awesome as they are had agreed to let me borrow it. We were relatively early in bed, because we wanted to get up early the next day to take advantage of having the car.
Our first stop the next morning was Byrkjedal. We had a look at the candle factory and enjoyed a mini-breakfast consisting of a lapp and a lefse: Delicious. This was followed by a drive through Gloppedalsura, and then down to the beaches. Most people don’t think that Norway has nice sandy beaches, but we do, we have 100’s of kilometers of them. We stopped at Bore and went for a nice walk in the surf, or as was the case this day, the lack of surf. The beach visit was followed by a drive to the islands outside Stavanger, where my father is building his new house. The islands are connected by underwater tunnels, so getting there is both easy and fast. After a quick look around there we headed back in to Stavanger and hung out with my grandfather for a little while before we went and had a staple Norwegian meal: Dolly Dimples.
After dinner it was time for a party, but first we needed to prepare. My father’s apartment wasn’t too warm, so Steffie and me carried my father’s expensive living room chairs into the warmest room and enjoyed a nice glass of red-wine: the warmest room being the bathroom.
Espen, a buddy of mine, and his girlfriend Irene were throwing a party where all my friends would be, so after getting ready we crossed the bridge and joined in on the fun. It was great to hang out with everyone. Glenn showed bad form and showed up with a Christmas present. Not having anything for him … I felt like an idiot. It was good to hear that he had done the same to everyone else and had not received anything from them either. I guess he can only look forward to next year when everyone repays the kindness. Steffie and me snuck away for a little while to go up on the loft, where I have all my things stashed. I showed her some of the things I have laying up there and even took the time to play her a little tune on my guitar. The party lasted in to the early hours and was a nice way to say farewell to Stavanger, because the next morning we were off to Finse.
We were a little bit worried when we showed up at the boat terminal, because there was reportedly a storm blowing exactly on the route we were going to Bergen. It worked out OK, because we were taken off the boat and driven in a bus on the worst stretch, along Haugesund. 
Steffie found out that being hung-over and eating shrimp cocktail sandwiches doesn’t mix well with big waves. She was a bit green and didn’t really feel well until we got to Finse. In Bergen we made the transfer from the boat to a train, but had time to spend a a nice hour with Benedicte, who kindly bought us a cup of coffee. It was really nice to see her again in Norway, last time we saw her was in Beijing in the summer. She will soon be on her way to work in South Africa for 6 months, so I felt quite jealous.
The train ride to Finse is one of the nicest ones in Norway, unfortunately it was pitch black outside when we went, so we couldn’t see anything. We did notice that the closer we got to Finse, the more snow covered the ground. I have to mention that the only way to get to Finse is either by train or by ski. In the summer you can also walk or bike there, but it is impossible to get there by car or bus.
Stepping off the train at Finse station felt great … and very cold. There was quite a lot of wind and it was snowing heavily. We headed in to the hotel lobby and waited there until my brother came running down from the ski-lift. He got us kitted out with proper winter gear. I borrowed clothes from him and Steffie from his girlfriend Judith. We headed up into the slope and hung out there. Several of Martin’s good friends were there: Joachim, Tonje, Tine, Trond, Knut, Ozzy. In short a group of people that would make the stay very memorable.
For those of you that don’t know this Finse is where they filmed the snow scenes for the beginning of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Finse is also where the people that go to both the Arctic or Antarctic come to prepare, because nature is a bit unforgiving at Finse. I love it. As a side not I can say that my family has quite a history with the place: My grandfather met my grandmother up there, so if it wasn’t for Finse … well, I wouldn’t be here today!
We spent the first evening chilling out in my brother’s apartment that we shared with him, Judith, Joachim, Tonje, Tine and Trond. The more the merrier. The next day was the famous New Years ski jumping competition. I busied myself with my camera and took a ton of pictures, while others jumped to fame and glory. In the end Torbjørn a friend of mine from the Naval University jumped furthest. I still think that the coolest jumper was Mr. 80’s himself, a co-worker of my brother.
In the evening everyone dressed up in their finest clothes and headed over to the hotel. I used the chance to take some portrait pictures. I didn’t know it then, but amongst the people there was actually also Norway’s richest man: Olav Thon, though truth be told, I didn’t hang out much with him … we didn’t have that much to talk about ;-)
Dinner was awesome. Due to a large intake of wine, I don’t remember what we ate, but it filled me up nicely and since everyone was smiling and happy, it must have been great. After dinner we headed to the bar and enjoyed a few more drinks, before we put on our jackets and headed out to watch the fireworks in a blizzard. It was so windy and snowy that it took them 25 minutes to find and get the fireworks into the air. It felt nice and extreme. After yet some more drinks in the bar, we retired to my brother’s apartment for even more drinks. It was an excellent evening in all regards.
The next day most people headed back home. This meant that we finally had a chance to have my brother to ourselves. He had been running around like a mad man on the days leading up to New Years, so we had hardly seen him. It was good to finally catch up. He also took us ski sailing. Now it’s tough to tell from the pictures, just how bad the weather was, but let’s just say, if it hadn’t been for the fact that he knew it was us, my brother never would have taken people ski sailing. It was tough, but a lot of fun … I’m looking forward to doing it again.
Unfortunately the two days after New Years passed all too quickly and before we knew it, it was time to leave. After sad goodbyes, Steffie and me took the train to Oslo and boarded the plane to Munich. In Munich she headed back to Austria, while I continued back to Beijing. It was REALLY sad to part ways, but we had agreed that she would come and visit in March, so that’s less time apart than last time, so it’ll be OK. The most important thing is that the trip to Norway had been truly sensational and we are hungry for more adventures together.
27-12-2006
Christmas 2006 in Austria
At exactly 11:00 a.m. I opened my eyes and noted that I was fully dressed in bed. That the room was spinning indicated that I was in the preliminary stages of a severe hang-over. What was supposed to have been a quiet night out had ended with all-out drinking in my favorite Martini bar in Chaoyangmen. Normally this would not be a problem, as I could just close my eyes and continue sleeping. Not today. In 30 minutes I was scheduled to be picked up by Tine and go to the airport. As I had yet to pack, it meant that I was in a bit of a rush, not to mention that I should shower first, as I didn’t want to make a poor impression when I met Steffie in Munich. 45 minutes later I was in a taxi on my way to the airport, showered, shaved and with a fully packed suitcase. I even managed to squeeze in time for a bowl of cereal. Tine was not so proud of her packing when she later remembered that she had forgotten to bring her Christmas presents amongst numerous other things. This proved that it’s better to pack in the morning when you wake up, than at 5 a.m. when you get home from the bars. The flight itself was nice; I sat next to Sebastian a friendly German architect that helped me get over the hang-over with a few motivational beers.
Upon landing in Munich it was fantastic to see Steffie again. Though three months had been a long time apart, it was all worth it when I saw her again. We had a quick coffee with Tine, who was flying on to celebrate Christmas in Belgium, before we jumped in the car and drove to Carinthia in Austria, to the small village Finkestein.
I have to admit I was a bit nervous about celebrating Christmas with Steffie’s parents. Not because I thought they would be horrible, but because I really didn’t know what to expect. As it turned out it was wonderful. I received a warm welcome not just by her parents and brother Hannes, but by everyone I met in Finkenstein. Granted there are only 150 people living there, but I had the feeling that most people knew I was coming.
I arrived on the 23rd and already next morning it was Christmas. I received a stocking filled with Austrian chocolate and a book about Tibet written by Heinrich Harrer (Austrian mountaineer), the guy Brad Pitt portrayed in “7 years in Tibet”. After breakfast we headed in to Villach to look around and enjoy some mulled wine. 
We meet up with friends of Steffie and enjoyed a few beers,
before we headed back to Finkenstein to prepare for Christmas dinner. I had to wrap all my presents, because amazingly enough gift wrapping paper was impossible to find in Beijing. Christmas dinner was superb. We had Italian Bresaola with rucola and Parmesan as a appetizer, followed by an entire trout each as main course. We finished the meal with home made ice cream with honey, nut and raisins. Very tasty! After dinner it was time for presents. The Christmas tree looked really nice and to my surprise they not only had real candles on it
, but also suspended Chinese Candles off the tree that they lit up: A nice fire-hazardous Christmas tradition that got me in the proper spirit. Afterwards the family lined up and with Steffie on guitar they sang a few Christmas songs. I even added my feeble vocals to the singing. Then we dove into the presents. I was more than happy with my share and as if I’m not having enough difficulty learning Chinese, I got a Spanish course to top it off, so my linguistic learning abilities will be tested to the fullest in the coming year. 
Afterwards we enjoyed some cakes while polishing off bottle after bottle of delicious schnapps. I did not miss the Norwegian Aquavit.
The next day we had a late breakfast before we drove up on mount Dobratsch, where we went for a nice long walk in the snow. Contrary to what you may think Austria was not covered with snow and we needed to go to the top of a mountain to find 10 cm worth.
The weather was gorgeous and though the fog hung like a wet towel over the lower valley, it was beautiful up there. After our little hike, we returned home and had a traditional Swiss dinner: Raclette. The next door neighbor Hannes and Martina, Steffie’s best friend, joined in on the fun. I ate till I was about to puke, that’s how delicious it was.
The next day was unfortunately my last day in Finkenstein. We first had a very tasty lunch/dinner (lunner???) in the village restaurant.
It was funny, because everyone knew everyone there and though I didn’t, they were very inclusive. After another meal where we once again stuffed ourselves to excess, Steffie and me went for a nice walk to let the food settle. In the evening we meet all her friends and went eisstock schiessen … basically a traditional Carinthian game that resembles curling, but is slightly different. Needless to say it was fun. Especially since I wasn’t totally crap at it, though I suspect that was more due to luck and a few beers than actual skill.
The next morning we were up at 4:30 a.m. and started on our journey to Norway, where we went to celebrate New Years.
17-12-2006
2006 Christmas Greeting
MERRY CHRISTMAS &
HAPPY HANUKKAH
I hope you have a fantastic Christmas. May all your wishes come true. Eat like it's your last meal and drink like there's no tomorrow... In case you are wondering, yes the picture is from the Great Wall and yes, it was very cold ;-)
In terms of a message for Santa Claus this year ... I think the following clip by Craig Ferguson captures the essence of what I feel!
01-01-2006
2005 New Years Greeting
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
We’ve just clocked into 2006 and it feels good. Last year was a great year and if the trend continues, this year will be equally excellent.
I want to apologize to those of you’ve that have written me in the past two months without receiving an answer. I’ve been writing like mad on the feature film screenplay I received a grant to write, because I had a December 30th deadline. Needless to say I finished it on December 30th shortly before closing time, so it was by the skin of my teeth. I have already started working on new projects, so there will be no rest for the wicked.
Things are going well. I’m really enjoying myself here in Beijing. I’ve made many very good friends. I’m starting to get my head around the language and my writing is progressing really well. I can’t complain in other words!
Visits will be at an all time high this year. As I write Stein and Jeff are visiting … My mother comes a week after Stein leaves, my brother a month after she leaves, followed by Kjetil a month after my brother leaves. I’ll be a regular tour guide by the time the summer comes around!
I’m not going to bore you anymore! Have a fantastic 2006 and I look forward to meeting you for fun and adventures!