christmas wish list 2007:

non-realistic wishes:
sufjan stevens (the man, not the music)
a bigger apartment
a cleaner apartment
around the world travel ticket

semi-realistic wishes:
sufjan stevens (have to keep the hopes up)
extended norwegian visa
ability to speak norwegian
stress free holidays
for my christmas tree to live
full-time kitchen worker

realistic wishes:
yet again, sufjan stevens
joni mitchell cd
bird by bird by anne lamott
ugg boots
season 7 gilmore girls
season 2 prison break
anti-wrinkle eye cream
vintage material

(what are your wishes?)
merry christmas!

christmas is here. erika from america, helina from estonia, and me - little american lyndee, went in search for a christmas tree on saturday. and we found it! helina made a great slide show of it and soon i'll post a picture of the final product. we "trimmed the tree," ate pepperkaker (gingerbread cookies), christmas bread, and made homemade hot cider. an enjoyable day.

i'm baaack (again)

adventures in scotland.

little happenings, lots of joy

hmm... which one of these doesn't belong?

istanbul

i'm sitting in the office - getting ready for an open meeting with tjebbo. he was a teacher on my dts and is one of the reasons i decided to stay in norway. right outside of the office is the walking street, cafes, and the mall. they have set up a big stage and are showing a football (soccer) game live, right outside. our hometown team (which sucks, by the way) is playing an important game, so the entire town has come. too bad it's right outside where we are going to have our meeting. it will be a long night.
i've been in ethiopia and turkey the past week. what a trip. kristin and i went to visit missionaries sent out from ywam skien. we ate cheap food, laid in the sun, wore funny missionary clothes, talked with lots of people, i cried, met with old friends. i think it's so easy to lose focus about why i am here, why i do what i do. i met with many people who have given up almost everything to be on the mission field. what have i given up? i live in one of the richest countries in the world, voted #1 place to live, and i have everything i need and much more. i don't have to worry about unclean water or even having water. i have heat in my house. i have friends and people like me because i am a christian. i forget all that sometimes. i saw reality in africa, if even for a week - child labor, abuse, lack of food, and poverty. i am doing this - mission work - because there are people who need to know. i might live in a wealthy country, but i have a responsibility not to train people just to become youth pastors or good church members (no offense to anyone who is one of these). if i don't see people with a passion for giving everything for God, i'm pretty sure i've failed. so much to be done.

on a lighter note, i'm so happy for this week! lise and elise are here - 2 of my students from last year who are both very good friends. i'm so excited to spend time with them. they make my heart glad. and... next week i go to scotland (and it's christmas time at starbucks!)!

reign and rain

i'm trying to download "reign over me," which i've thoroughly enjoyed during the 48.07 seconds i've seen. the website refuses to give me any more than that. dang.

i went to bergen this weekend. the city of rain held back its heavens for a few brief hours. i saw brann play football on a large screen with at least 50,000 other people (i watched the game with that many people. brann didn't necessarily play with all those people. grammar was never my strong point.). we drove 8 hours to see them win the gold. and they lost. dang again. but i did get to have a lovely indian spice chai latte at deli de luca.

speaking of stinking english... i was teaching the other day and one of the students asked what type of bible i use when studying. my reply? "the new international virgin."

i'm going to sweden to buy cheap food on wednesday, going to ethiopia the next week, and scotland the week after that. and i'm feeling tired.