Helt ok

I`m sitting in the office at Hald.
I`m reading in a magazin from NMS Agder.
I`m reading stories about Laos.
I`m reading about girls, 6 and 9 years old, being left by their parents, but who have found Jesus.

Odd Nordstoga and Sissel Kyrkjebø`s song; jul, jul, strålande jul sings from the computer.
My body is in Norway, but my heart is in Lao.
I` m reading about the people that I know so well.
I`m reading about the prayer meeting at 5.30 am, which I used to attend.


I miss Lao, and I probably spent 6 of the best months in my life there.
Only regret is that I didn`t use the opportunity, whilst being there, well enough.

FRP

Earlier this fall, we had an election of state in Norway. FRP came very close to winning, something that in itself is scary (my opinion). Today VG writes an article about something a member of FRP said about Prince Haakons trip to Africa.
I quote: "Da kronprins Haakon var i Botswana nylig, la han ut bilder på Facebook. Frp-politiker Roger Madsen mente kronprinsen ikke bør besøke afrikanske land - fordi det bare finnes halvaper der."

It`s in norwegian, but what is says, is that the prince shouldn`t travel to africa, because there are only halfapes/halfmonkeys down there.
The man has the right to have his own opinions, but still...
How is it POSSIBLE to say something like that. How dumb... can you get?!


I LOVE it that Prince Haakon and Princess Mette Marit are travelling around the world, fighting poverty. The Prince has said it himself, our times biggest challenge is poverty.
I admire the royal family in Norway. How they stand up, acknowledging aid and fighting poverty as something that works!!
Look at NMS and their work in Lao. Since they started working in Lao, many schools have been build and restored. A lot of wells have been build, giving women a opportunity to get water without walking for hours.
Grownup people have learned to read and write, which they use to learn more about growing and runing a farm.
AID WORKS. We need to help our neighbours, also those on Norway in need.
What we DON`T need, is people calling africans halfmonkeys.

Don`t come here and call my friends halfmonkeys!!!!!!!

Kirk Franklin

All I say is; Concert with Kirk Franklin
So humble, so focused, so real, so true. He gave God the honour from the first second. What else can I do, then admire and join in that praise.
Btw, Afroamericans have the most awesome attitude :D I love it :D
Watch the vidoe. On of the best songs, made by Kirk Franklin

Hei og hopp, vesten er en flopp

Last weekend I attended a confrence called Global Leadership Summit.
During the summit I heard about an organisation called Kiva.
Kiva works with microfinance, and the way they do it is remarcable. They are partners with existing organisations that does microfinance, and the way Kiva work is that they provide lenders to the organisations, and the organisations find people who need small loans to start a small business to provide themselves at their families.

If you go to Kivas website www.kiva.org, you can provide a person with a small loan. You search between 183 countries and 200 000 people, and look at their stories. They tell their story through Kiva and the partner organisation. And if you find out that this is a person you want to help, then you can loan them some money. And on the same web site you also check up on the loan you gave, to find out how much they have payed back to you. The money you provide goes straight to the loaner, and the money gets payed straight back to you. 98,5 %of the money being lend out, gets payed back.

This organisation is one of the best I have ever heard of. Check it out, and be amazed!

Btw, did you know that almost all the money in the norwegian budget, marked for Aid, is not really marked for aid. they are meant for emergenzy fundings. And did you know that immigrants in Norway work, earn money, and send more money home to their families every year, than the norwegian aid budget. How sick is that!! Norway as a state should give more to the pour!!
Amen!

A church in change

Watch this inteview with Bono, from GLS 2006. He really smacks the church on the backhand.
BUT.. Take a look at the third video, from GLS 2009.
Here he talks about a church that has changed. The global church has acknowledged its responsability to fight poverty!! Churches all over the world has gathered millions upon millions to fight poverty. A church in USA gathered on christmas day at once over 500 000 dollar, as a pure gift to fight povery!!
Since 2006, 2 million africans have gotten medical treatment for HIV/AIDS. The fight is on!!

Eg er glad

Things are going really well these days.
I`ve just come back from leading a practice for a young worship band. It is so inspiring to see development and to see the band member getting better and more confident for each week. And I`ve only been helping them for three weeks. So yeah, after coming back from practice now, I feel really good!
Otherwise my foot is getting better, so I can work more and more and more out.
Volleyball is a winner, and being able to hit that ball is one of the best things I can do in my life.

But if could have done anything else right now, I would have been back in Lao, working in the church, through Hald. I miss it so much. Reading the blogs of the this year students is so inspiring!

At the same time, knowing that for each person in norway dying of the swineflu, 1000 kids in the world are dying of starvation. At that is only from starvation. Then there are Malaria, diarrhea, AIDS, catastrofies, bad water, general health etc etc etc.. Then we have the 100 million kids living on the streets of the world..

In other words.. I AM PRRRRETTY LUCKY.
And my job this year, is to spread that message, telling the youth of norway how fortunate they are, and how ignorant the people in Norway are. In stead of being gratefull and humble for actually living in Norway and having too much food on the table, we want more and more. And there we have the peoples parti in Norway saying "Everyone shall get more" (alle skal ha mer).
Again, I`m ashamed by the west and our egiosm!!

Ene klassa jeg hadde i Laos. Disse er blant de få som får lære engelsk fra barneskolen av, og dermed får et helt annet utgangspunkt i livet.

Eg likar volley

Me like :D

SKAMFULLT 2

For hver person som dør av svineinfluensaen
har 1000 barn dødd av fattigdom.

(Tekst og foto: www.nyhetsspeilet.no)

Svineinfluensa i perspektiv

Tall kan brukes til å forvrenge sannheten like mye som å bringe den frem. Jeg har fått denne informasjonen tilsendt fra en leser som ønsker å være anonym. Her er viktig informasjon til alle som lurer på hvordan nyheter vinkles i media.

Ifølge Dagsavisen 12/10-09 var det inntil sist helg minst 4.525 mennesker verden over som døde av svineinfluensa. Hvor lenge siden er det det første tilfelle av døde?

I følge Dagsavisen 27 / 04-09 var det da en drøy uke siden Obama besøkte mexico og de første utbruddene skjedde og den første som døde var en antropologist.

Det er nå da ca. 6 måneder siden svineinfluensaen brøt ut.

I følge UNICEF dør det hver dag 25 000 barn på grunn av fattigdom. De dør stille i noen av de fattigste landsbyene på jorden. (Kilde: globalissues.com, facts and stats)

La oss sette det hele i perspektiv: Gjennomsnittlig er det litt over 754 mennesker døde av svineinfluensaen pr. måned over hele kloden. Tilsvarende er det 750 000 barn som har dødd pr. måned i samme periode.

Det hele vil si at for hver døde person av svineinfluensaen er det ca .1000 barn døde av fattigdom!!

Lille Norge regner med å bruke 650 millioner kroner på et massevaksinasjonsprogram. (Dagbladet 26/6-09)

På verdensbasis, hvor mange kroner benyttes ikke til å kjøpe opp svineinfluensavaksinen? Hvor mange barn kunne ikke vært reddet og pengene brukt til å skape et bedre samfunn?

SKAMFULLT

"Det produseres fortsatt mat nok i verden til å forsyne hele menneskeheten. Derfor er sultproblematikken i første rekke et fordelingsproblem. Det viktigste enkelttiltaket mot sult er å løfte fattige ut av fattigdom." (FN)


This says EVERYTHING about the west! We`re a bunch of egoistic bastards!!
Picture is taken from strommestiftelsen.no

Food corner

Now, the recipe for a great student dinner, at a really low price!
For thos who remember, this is something I started writing about when I was in Laos.
hopefully, I will continue during the next months.

You need.
0,5 kg minced meat.
1 kg pre boiled Potatos
0,8 kg Tomato sauce with basil flavour
1 Red pepper
2 small boxes ofPineapple in pieces.
+ Other spices

Fry the minced meat. While you do, cut the potatos in small pieces and put them in a casserole. Add the sauce, pineapples and the red pepper. When the meat is done, put the meat in the casserole and heat everything together.

Dinner for 5 grown people in maximum 45 min.
I got the potatos for free, and the pasta sauce I bought with discount. So, this meal costed me 60 kr, and I have dinner for at least 2 more days.
How great is that?!

Inspiration

I`m mandal.
I live my life here. I work, I exercise, etc etc etc..
But what about poverty? What about all the people I really want to help, but I can`t reach them myself, `cause I`m in Mandal. Don`t missunderstand me. I love Mandal. I feel more and more at home here.
Working at the school, playing volleyball, jogging in furulunden, cooking my own food, visiting friends in Kristiansand.. My life is great.

But I have a desire to help other people.
I read the blogs of the students at Hald. How they are out in the world, just like I was a year ago, living and serving in an other country.
But what about me ?

My duty is to spread a message. Spread a message about Hald, about poverty, about the state of our planet, about what you and I can do to stop and turn into a positive direction.

Btw, it doesn`t help that Norway gives more money too emergency help, that to long term reduction of poverty. They money that is ment to be used for that, goes to other kinds of crap. Norway, get a hold of yourself, stop and think for a moment! We need to do something, and we need to DO IT NOW!!

Back to spreading a message.
My point is: When I read those blogs, and I live my life in beautiful Mandal, when I read the bible, when I look at Rob Bell`s nooma movies... I get inspired.
I`m filled up with expectations and antisipation to my work. To tell about Hald and our common goal. To fight povery and help people to help them self.

The view from my livingroom one morning last week!

On my own

Finally.
For the first time in life, I`m living on my own.
I don`t count last years six months in Lao as living on my own. `cause then I had my amazing team mate Kristian living in the same building!
I`m living on my own. All my 80 friends from school have abandon me here in Mandal. At first I was shocked by their betrayel! How could they do such a thing? How could they leave me here, all by myself. Yeah, sure.. they had to go to their new homes for the next 6 to 7 months, but still.. some of them could at least have brought me with them. But noooo, they had to go alone. No one cares for the sorry ass ettåring Eirik!!

But you know.. I`m fine with it. I`m doing great on my own. I was very exited to see how it would be, living alone in a city where know the names of maybe 5 people, exept the teachers.
But I`m doing really good. They days seem fly by.
I work
I exercise
I eat
I sleap
I play guitar
I pray
I read

Life is good. Yes, there will be times when I will feel more alone then ever. But to quote a good friend of mine: "God has given me peace here. I`ve settled down".

The last on and a half week since school ended, I`ve checked out Bergen. Bergen is an AMAZING city. It rains a lot, but still.. The people makes every raindrop worth it, and the city has its own incredible charm.
I`ve been home to visit my parents. As always, they`re greast. I also got meet a lot of my many siblings, as well as a few friends.
In other words. The last week before I returned to Mandal was really good.

Utstilling av fantastiske union suits. Modellen ansikt er sladdet, fordi her søkes det ikke menneskers ære, men fremstilling av en fantastisk drakt!

Gutta rocka på skoleavslutninga.

Kinasjakk :) Kristian er ganske flink :)

Håpløst

Det er flere titalls organisasjoner som prøver å bekjempe fattigdom. Også en haug av enkeltpersoner gjør en innsats for at andre mennesker i verden skal få det bedre!!
Hva hjelper det om vi legger ned uttallige mengder arbeid, tid og penger.. Når den gjennomsnittlige person i Norge gir totalt blaffen. Nordmenn har det siste året brukt 7,5 milliarder kroner på godteri og snop ( www.vl.no)!! Tenk om vi hadde bare brukt halvparten av disse pengene på å hjelpe andre mennesker, i stedet for å trøkke i oss kunstige stoffer som i stor grad bare er skadelig.

Jeg blir oppgitt, og det virker håpløst. Jeg er jo som alle andre, så jeg bare påpeker et problem som jeg er en del av. Men jeg er villig til å endre meg, og prøve. Men rike, snobbete og bortskjemte nordmenn, som vil ha mindre skatt og enda mer penger.. Bryr de seg?

"Godene i verden i dag er ufattelig urettferdig fordelt. 20% av verdens befolkning bruker 86% av ressursene. Det er nok mat i verden, men likevel sulter flere millioner mennesker. Hvorfor er det slik?"
"U-landsgjelden fører til at pengestrømmene går fra fattige til rike land. Dette hindrer utvikling, fordi penger som skulle ha gått til skole og helse heller går til å betale ned gjeld."
"For hver krone vi gir i bistand, får vi fem kroner tilbake i gjeldsbetjening. Dette legger enorme byrder på økonomien i fattige land og forhindrer utviklingen i disse landene – slik som å sørge for at folk får nok mat, et helsevesen eller utdanning."
Changemaker.no

Oslo eier

Hey, My name is Eirik, and I`m writing this post from a school computer. Wanna know why, `cause my computer got stolen in Oslo, last weekend.
Go Oslo and the Norwegian crime rate! :D

But, It`s all good. I lost a lot of pictures and different stuff, and that`s what upsets me. Money and computers doesn`t matter. And I`m glad that I`ve comed to a point where money and things aren`t that important! I call it; "a step in right direction"!!


http://e24.no/makro-og-politikk/article3275688.ece

Sverige topper listene med sitt syke skattetak, på hele 56,7% i skattefradrag.
Det syntes jeg er drøye greier, mens kanskje logisk siden Sverige har relativt mye statsgjeld.
Men... Norge som er gjeldsfrie og et verdens desidert rikeste land, vi vil ha mindre skatter!
Jeg har en ting å si om Nordmenn.. De er så til de grader EGOISTISKE. Si at en nordmann lever 80 år, og gjennomsnittlig jobber man 40 av disse 80 åra. Resten av åra får vi penger opp i fanget, og lever det glade liv (flertallet hvertfall).
Jeg får inntrykk av at nordmenn bare vil ha mer og mer, uten å gi noe tilbake. Kortere arbeidsdager, mer lønn, mindre skatt etc etc. Føler det sier seg selv jeg. Norge og nordmenn kan kaste seg i en vegg, og banke vett inn i huet på seg selv!

http://www.bt.no/meninger/kommentar/En-koselig-liten-boble-928023.html

Her blir forresten Norsk politikk og valgkampen EID EID EID, av en fransk journalist!
Utrolig morsomt å lese!!!

Dett var Dett :)

Hey, my name is Eirik and I am 20 years old.
Oh yes, I`ve finally grown up. The years as a tenager are over, and I`m 20.
The sunday was AMAZING with: horror movie in the addic, 4 hours of sleep, church, muffin, ice cream, hugs, presents, cudling, guitar, volleyball for 3 hours, many phonecalls with Trygve, messages and really good mood all day!
Hurray for all who remembered me. You guys are great!



During the weekend, we also had visitors from last years class. They came to share their experiences with this year students.
I got to meet a lot of friends again. I realize more and more how great last were, and how lucky I am. But the students this year, are also very very good people. Hard not to like them!!



Presents
- Hugs and messages
- Squash racket
- Movies
- ice cream
- Cudling from Silje
- coffee cup with winnie the pooh pictures :D )
- vanilla smelling candles? :O

And so much more!!!

jada

http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/klimatrusselen/artikkel.php?artid=578208

Heia Norge som miljøfyrtårn :D
Heia AP og norsk politikk
Heia alle de som sitter på rævva i Oslo og tror de gjør en god jobb, når de bæsjer på leggen daglig
Heia de som sitter i Oslo, og IKKE bruker det de har mellom øra

Heia verden som dreper seg selv :D
Jeg er glad!!

BAH!!!!!!!!




Havet stiger. Millioner på millioner av mennesker kommer til å måtte flykte fra hjemmene sine. Og i tillegg til alt, har vi ikke nok mat til å fø verden sånn den er nå, også skal vi få enda flere millioner som ikke klarer å fø seg selv.
mmmm, jeg smiler av skrekkblandet fryd med tanke på hvor dumme mennesker kan være. Meg selv innkludert. Kanskje gjøre noe med forbrukerkulturen vår snart?Jeg har ikke lyst til å miste den naturen jeg har rett utenfor døra hjemme.

Teaching is fun

Now, I`m sitting in the computer room at school. I`m teaching the Act Now class about blogging, how to use it, about the use of pictures, ethics and so on.

The class is exellent, and being a teacher is very easy now. A little bit different to teach here and now, then to teach English in lao, like I did 7 months ago. Being able to make myself understood during teaching, strangly make things easier :)

For de som vil lese på Norsk, minner jeg om oversetteren min. Merk teksten, kopier og lim inn i oversetteren nede til høyre på siden. Velg språket NORSK, og trykk GO. Da blir det oversatt :)

Living at Hald is easy. My work is challenging, variable, fun, not longlasting or boring.

I think I`ve out myself in a Prrrretty good position for the following year. If only the sivil service

system good be more easygoing and not that difficult, everything would have been perfect. But it doesn`t matter. I truly have got everything I need :D

The work I do as ettåring at Hald, consist of:

- Being a runners boy for the teachers, helping them to prepare classes, and sometimes be a part of the teachin.
- Work with the school envornment.

- advertising the school

- +++++

Now I have to move on with my teaching.

God bless no stress!

Der ja :)

It's been a long, long time since last time I wrote a post to this blog.
Since I'm back at Hald, I've decided to write in English again. In case some of my many foreign friends would like to read some of the stupid and meaningless things I hope to write here :)

Yeah, so I'm back at Hald. As a member of the staff, under the fine title; Ettåring.
A lot of things has happened since I started to work, about two weeks ago. Most of our students have arrived now (miss a few, due to visa problems). And what a group of people!!!

It is strange how fast 80 people can become friends, when we come from so totally different settings, cultures and backgrounds. Some speaks english perfectly, other hardly know how to say yes and no. But the manage. The communicate, they learn, the become friends, they make memories and experiences for life. I can't help but to think that God has something to do with this. Say what you want.. But this is NOT normal:P Haha..

I've also found out that I am somewhat not normal. I'm still 19 years old. I've got a job and I can tell older people then myself, what to do and how they should do it. And guess what, I don't like to have that kind of controll over people. To be an authority is strange. And at the same time.. I'm back at Hald, I have 80 students around me, I've got many good friends here.. But I'm not a student. I'm not part of the group. I know it, they know, and it shows. But still, I wouldn't be any other place.


Btw, election 09 is coming up. Anyone else then me, that are scared of the possible outcome of this election. Seriously, the norwegian politicians don't have their feet on the ground. What happened to thinking and the use of our wonderfull thing called brain?


Summer updates:
I've worked at a nursery home for old people.
I was at Skjærgårds, a christian music festival, where I worked a lot
I went to Berlin with the best gang ever, and saw U2 live. Only real free time all summer
I worked more at the nursery home
I attended Ten Misjonsfestivalen, as a leader, and worked there as well.

Sooo, this summer.. I have worked a lot. Not that much spare time. But what a SUMMER :D:D

Oh yeah, I got baptised this summer:)

Connect 09/10

Breath of life

Jeg sitter i stua og tenker.. (litt risikabelt i grunn)


Jonas G Støre (utenriksminister) mener FRP sin utenrikspolitikk vil gjøre Norge "utrygt".
Michael Jackson er død, som jeg forresten er ganske lei å høre om.. Jeg har hørt rykter om at 12 pers har tatt sitt eget liv fordi de ikke kunne leve uten "kongen av pop".
107 personer har dødd i India fordi de har drukket hjemmebrent..

Noen som har tenkt over at media sjeldent frembringer "gode" nyheter?
Snakk om oppmuntring og friske pust i hverdagen!


Heldigvis vet jeg hvor jeg kan finne mine friske pust!

Bilder

Her er bilder fra siste dagen på Hald.
Berre så dykk veit da!

Btw.. Året var knall! :D

Ferdig

Da var jeg hjemme i Romedal igjen.
Et fantastisk skoleår er ferdig. Kan ikke gjøre annet enn å takke!! Takk.

Btw, så skal jeg fortsette å blogge. Så bare å lese.. om det faktisk er noen som gjør det?!

Update again

Mye som skjer for tida skal jeg love dere

Tar vi det i punkter? JA:
- Sene kvelder
- God undervisning
- Reklamestunt for skola
- Trening
- Afrika kveld
- Sør Amerika kveld

Det er under en uke igjen, til vi er ferdige. Jeg sitter på en lørdagsmorgen, kl 11, og skriver innlegget. Skola er nesten død, for alle ligger og sover etter en sen natt.
Regner med at det kommer til å fortsette sånn de neste dagene, noe som bare er koselig.

Mye blandede følelser, når jeg tenker på at skoleåret snart er over.
Men nyter dagene, og koser meg maks!

Btw, jeg var på Kjeragsbolten forrige helg. SYKT bra tur. Knallbra vær, bra folk rundt meg, koselig biltur.. dagen kunne ikke blitt bedre!!

Fra turen. Her er det ca 1000 m rett ned. Utrolig bra tur, og det hele ble toppet da vi kom i kontakt med en basehopper som hopper fra der vi stod. RÅTT!

English

Hey

Just want to remind everyone that they can read my blogg in English.
I've installed a translator, from norwegian to english.

And I will continue to write blogg, through summer as well!!




We only have one week left in school. It's pretty sad and scary that the school year is soon over.
Soon we will part, and there is a great chance that I won't see all of my fellow students again!
Don't know what to think or feel, but I DO NOT look forward to next thursday!

Asiakveld :D

Åjada, vi har hatt en kveld med full fokus på vise litt asiatisk kultur!! JEG ADVARER MOT STERKE BILDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Etter mye øving, to fulle dager og sene kvelder, hodevri, latter, mer hodevri, latter, stress og enda mer latter.. ble vi ferdige med opplegget, og kvelden ble slik:

Først ble alle gjester hentet med Tuktuk. Tuktuk er taxi fra Laos og Thailand, men vi gjorde vår egen vri! Vi brukte pappesker, malte litt på pappen, ropte tuktuk, mens vi henta folk frem og tilbake!
Etter at alle gjestene var ankommet, og et liten åpningstale, ble maten servert. Tibetansk momo, nepalsk suppe, thai suppe, vårruller og riskaker sto på menyen, og det hele falt i smak!
Etter maten hadde vi underholdning. Innslag som Dragshow, drama/sketch, sang og dans førte til mye latter, litt flaue blikk over noen gutters overraskende femininitet, og god stemning.

Shyam med nepalske klær.

Jeg viser dette fordi jeg er SIKKER på min egen seksualitet, og fordi jeg mener at jeg ikke er mann, før jeg viser min kvinnelige side!

Det hele var en knallbra kveld, som ble avsluttet med utfordring for fysisk fostringsklubben!
Det er en klubb som går ut på at alle i klubben kan utfordre andre medlemmer til fysisk aktivitet, til alle døgnets tider. Jeg utfordret til bakkeløp 00.00, hvorpå øyvin utfordret til noen ekstra drag, da vi egentlig var ferdige.
Det hele har tatt helt av, noe som er sykt gøy!

Men og min teamkamerat, Kristian, under en kveldstur i vakre mandal!

Tang og Tare

Jeg kom på en ting, ift mat jeg spiste i Laos.
Jeg spiste en suppe, lagd på Tang. Tror det var en japansk rett. Skjønner ikke helt hvor ingrediensene kom fra, siden Laos ikke har en kystlinje.. hmm, kan det være mulig at man importerer Tang fra nabolandene??
Btw, suppa var ikke noe særlig. Det er ikke ofte jeg ikke liker mat, og jeg klarte å spise opp. Men jeg gikk for noe annet neste gang, for å si den sånn!

Er på Bryne nå, og har vært her i snart en uke. Har hatt fri siden 17 mai helga, som jeg feira i Romedal. Uka har gått med til informasjonsarbeid. Kommer et dypere innlegg om det senere!

Klem:)

Kristian har stort hode, og små føtter:)
Fra andedammen på Bryne

NMS kveld

Jada jada jada, en ska'tte seia vi bære driv dank på skola, ama!

Forrige uke, torsdag kveld for å være mer nøyaktig, holdt klassa mi fest for NMS sine medlemmer i Mandal. Det skortet ikke på underholdning, og kvelden ble en stor suksess.
Med innslag fra alle team nettverks utvekslingsland (Laos, Thailand, Brasil, Madagaskar, Kamerun og Norge) pluss en utrolig bra andakt fra Noro, på Norsk, ble hele opplegget toppet med innslag fra misjonskamaratane.

Kollekt ble tatt opp, og mye penger ble gitt til NMS sitt arbeid den kvelden. Utrolig bra.
Vi som har det så sykt bra i Norge, bør kunne gi litt av vår overflod og rikdom til de som ikke har så mye som vi.

Den helga her har jeg vært hjemme, pluss en tur til Trondheim. Broren min hadde avslutning på skola, og da var det stas å reise opp å se hva som skjedde.

Nå er jeg tilbake i Kristiansand. Kl er 05.13 og jeg venter på bussen til Mandal kl 07.00. fiiiint.. btw, jeg kom med nattog kl 04.00....Fra Noro sin andakt på NMS kvelden. Imponerte med stort der, i tillegg til at det var på norsk

Klassa til Trygve. Måtte forære dem et bildet. Virka som en god gjeng!

Domkirka i Kristiansand kl 04.15. Samme fontene som fra turen; Kristiansand, iført crocs og kamera.

Mens jeg venter på bussen til skola.

.

Hey all my friends that dont know how to read Norwegian.

From now on, I will write in Norwegian. But I have installed a translator, so you can understand what I'm writing.

Me from Laos :D

En helg med Team Nettverk

Forrige fredag var det klart. Fokus og Act Now folka dro på krussetreff, og Team Nettverk ble igjen, klar for en helg med mye jobbing, og mye morro. Og mye jobbing ble det.

Vi startet fredagen ca kl 9, og avsluttet 13 timer senere med is og kaffe i stua. Gjennom dagen hadde vi spikret sammen et konsert lignende tema, som vi skulle fremføre to ganger i løpet av helga. Thaidans og Thaiboksing, gassisk salme, boyband med god og seriøs tekst, samt ekte norsk folkesang, med trampe og klapperytme. Det hele slo utrolig bra an, og vi samlet inn mye penger til NMS sine prosjekter i Laos. KONGE!!

Søndagen hadde vi misjonærstand i Søm Kirke i Kristiansand. Der viste vi bilder, enkel informasjon og fortalte om landene vi hadde vært ute i. NMS driver prosjekter i alle landene, og utrolig artig å kunne fortelle folk om arbeidet vi har vært en del av. Det sies at det største gledene man kan få, er av å hjelpe andre. Og det stemmer så til de grader. For en glede jeg får når jeg tenker på pengene som ble gitt, som kan gi unger i Laos rent vann, utdannelse og mye mer.

I løpet av helga ble det også en tur på meg og Øyvin i kristiansand sentrum. Turen gikk under navnet: Kristiansand, iført crocs og kamera!

Søm kirke i Kristinsand

Cecilie, Øyin og Hanne funderer over malerienes betydning

Mok lærer unger litt Thaiboksing

Fontene ved domkirka i Kristiansand. Fra turen: Kristinsand, iført crocs og Kamera

"It is Finished"

"It is finished". These are the last words of Jesus, before he died on the cross. When Jesus lived on earth, he had a mission. He had a calling from God. God shaped him, and let him grow through temptetion, he was sick, and it stands in the bible that his face was of a nature that people didn't like to look at him.

Jesus was a man on earth, who had a calling from God. He answered, and the result was forgivness and mercy, and an open way for us to heaven.
I believe that every man has a calling from God. God has a mission for us on earth. Some missions are ment to last your whole life, other are ment to last for exampel 6 months.

Last Sunday, I sat in the church in Laos. I had just sang the blessing song (velsignelsen) together with Kristian/Bon Lai. As I sat there, I was filled with a peace, and I felt it through my whole body. It was finished.
My time in Laos are over. I returned to Norway yesterday, after 6 months in a culture, country, people and church, that are different from everything I knew of, in Norway. I had my work there, I had my life there, and I looked at everything in Laos as my own. But.. My mission was finished, and it was time for me to come home, and I felt peace. I was ready, as I feel ready for the next step in Gods plan for my life.

In the writing moment I sit in the living room in our house in Norway. Outside the temperature is below zero, which is very strange for a person that has lived with sun and 20-30 degreeds for the last 6 months. It's 9 o'clock, and almost everyone in the house are sleeping. The differences are huge, but I feel I am where I am supposed to be for the moment. Just want to say "Thank you" to the people in Laos, to Hald for sending me, and to God for showing me the way.

A picture from last trip in Laos. Just to see the difference between Norway and Laos

The view from our porcht this morning. To sit and write this, with a cup of coffee and a glass of water from the spring, is something I'm not used to. But it was nice to come home, and see that everything is the same, and that I fell right back into it.

The last two weeks

WOW.
That's the word I want to use about the couple last weeks. They have been just amazing.

To make it short:
- Mukhdahan, Thailand. Vacation the, and we lived with our mentor, Atle and his family. We got to see the opening of a new church, feed monkeys with Hanne and Cecilie, and get more friends in Thailand. Two thumbs up!
- Missionary Meeting, Thailand. take care of kids, relax at a nice hotel, get to learn a lot about God, from Aril and Lotta Svartdhal, and get to know the missinionaries better. Again, two thumbs up.
- Bangkok, Thailand. Two days with shopping, eating ice cream, taking taxi, never get to a fully silent place, spend lots of time with Hanne and Cecilie, go the the movies with the gang (Hanne, Cecilie, Kristian, Mari, Silje, Else). Very nice, but more than enough with two days!
- Savannakhet, Laos. Two days with teaching bass and music to the youth in the church there. Very very speciall and blessed time, for reasons I'm not allowed to write here. "Then I would have to kill you". Special time, but so blessed, and I am very very glad I got the stay there!
- Vientiane, Laos. Came back on Saturday after ten hours on a bus. The church on Sundag, where I showed my pictures from the churc in Laos, to the youth, and singing velsignelsen. Definetly going to miss that church, and its people. Eating dinner with deth's parents and Salome. Ahan sep lai! Very tasty food!
- Today. Visiting the river where the youth will celebrate Lao New Year, whitch we will not be able to attend, something I am very sorry for. But no problem. Very beautifull river though. Buying more gifts to bring home, and going to a worship and blessing of a new born boy.

This country, this city, this church, these people.. I can't explain how good they are, and how much everything means to me. I can only say thank God!!

My bisarre food experiences

Being in Laos is both a challenge, and a delight, when it comes to food.
Mostly, the Lao food is really spicy. And then I mean, REALLY spicy. That has given me a few times of stomachache. But when the change of tasting some new food, and try new thing, a happily take some hours with stomachache as a result! No problem.

Lately, I've eaten three things that is no so normal to eat in Norway. Those thing would be: Rotten fish, some kind of rat, and DOG.
Without any fuss, every meal was very very good. And non of them gave me trouble with my stomach. So, I would gladly do it again. And for the record, Dog was the best. It was amazingly good food, and I recomend it to anyone who gets a chance to eat it!!

Here we are eating the rat thing, with fish, rice and wegetables. Really tasty everything. This is Salome and his sisters:)

That is the rat thing. You can se the foot, and the tail streching over the back. It tasted a bit like beef. Really good, but strange to chew on a foot like that:P

Here is the dog's nose. It was the football team that ate. They barbequed the dog, made sauages from the bones together with some fat, blood and spices. We ate everything with mint leaves and rice. All in all, a fine meal. A meal for kings!!

My biggest blessing here in Lao

The title says "my biggest blessing here in Lao". Being here in Lao is for me the biggest experience of my life. I get to live away from home for the first time, I get to eat a lot of good food, I get to work with nice kids, I get to work with deth`s parents, I get to have Kristian/Bonlai as my partner, I get to attend a very good church, I get to experience poverty, I will soon get to see NMS` projects here in Lao. But biggest of all, I get to live and be friends with the Lao PEOPLE.

They are so amazing. Where ever you go, they meet you with a smile. They are helpfull. They are kind. They are not rich. They er humble, and that is only a few of their qualities.

Here`s a story that proves the qualities of Lao people.
On friday I attended a wedding for a guy in the church. And as always, I do my share of helping out with cleaning and stuff. But before I started to help with the disches, I left my camera bag by some tables, a little bit out of sight. In the bag I had my camera (Nikon D40), passport, driver liscence, visacard and some money. When I finished the cleaning and went to get my bag, it was gone.
Not to worry, the bag, with everything was found the day after. Some kids had taken it to play, and one of the fathers took the bag with him home. But, the cool thing is how the people in the church helped me. I started to look for my camera,and within 5 min, everyone left at the church were looking. They called everyone they knew had gone to the wedding, even though it was late. They didn`t hesitate. We gathered and prayed together. And on my way home from church, I got three phone calls, from people saying how sorry they are, that they will pray, that they hope it`s not stolen. And the day after, when I got my camera back, many people came up to me, saying how happy they were and that they had prayed a lot.
The way the Lao people backed me up with wishes, prayers and thoughts, show me the quality of the people.

I thank God that I am so lucky to live with them, and to have them as my friends. When I leave Lao, the people is what I`m going to miss the most. They truly are my biggest blessing here in Lao!!

Teaching English in Laos

My maintasc here i Laos is to teach English
The teaching is both fun and challenging. Escpecially since the kids here do what ever they want, when ever they want. And even though their mainteacher sits right by their side, they act like what we in Norway would call spoiled little kids. And the teacher, he does nothing, until its like chaos in the classroom.And even if I can get them to sit down, they are on it again, after five min.

But...
I like it. Teaching them new words, see the expression on their faces, when they understand what I want them to understand. I don`t care if they are noicy, shouting to each other or just walking between each other. I don`t care. Just to see them understand, just to be able to talk a little bit more english with them, for each week. It`s worth every minute in that classroom.
And it gets even better. When I say, in lao language, that I won`t be back until wednesday next week, and they get sad.. That tells me, that even though they`re not always paying attention, they like having me as their teacher. And they are learning more and more.

By learning more and more, for each time they study, they open up new ways trough their lifes. In a couple of years they can speak english well enough to go to the university. Then they can get a good job, feed their family, and help bringin Laos out the ditch the country is in. For those who don`t know. Laos is on of the worlds poorest countries. Last time I heard, it was the worlds 3. poorest country. if that is true, I don`t know, but still. It`s country in desperat need of educated people. And I am helping kids to be able to get that education. Maybe there is a light in the end of the tunnel for these kids. How blessed am I to help them get there??


But, I have managed to make a tiny tiny tiny kultur mistake with the teaching. The humor in Norway is based a lot on irony. The humor in Laos is NOT. So with me using kind of norwegian inspired humor in my teaching, has resulted in the students looking at me as strict and not so very happy.. Ended up with one of the other teachers at the school telling me to smile more. A bit difficult to smile on commando, but I`m doing my best:P

Dangerous, or not?

Today Kristian (Bonlai) and I (Sing) have helped a girl in the church with som painting.
The working conditions wern`t the same as in Norway, but no problem. We got the work done, and the result was really nice. And to see the face of the girl we helped, when we were finished, that`s the best payment I could get. I really feel that helping other people like that, gives me such a great plesure. Simpely put, it makes me happy!!

But she did make us some food. To eat taco for the first time in Laos (had eaten once, in thailand), was something I would miss for the world. :)

I`m glad to be in Lao, and experince different conditions and settings.
And btw, though we were a bit scared, we went to it, trusting God would take care of us. And here I am, sitting and writing this so you can read about my life.

Our friend ownes here own coffee an silc shop. There she sels the citys best and cheapest coffee, and her silc is amazing!!

Trip to Bangkok

Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, was not ready to be taken by the three vikings
Ingrid, Kristian and Eirik. We came like a storm, and we swept the city without hesitating.
But first off, we took the night train from Nong Khai to Bangkok. The train was Amazing. The style had a hint of retro 70 style, with faded lime green color on the walls inside the train. The train was a smart construction in it selves, and before I knew it, they had made all the chairs into beds. I had the top bunk, and were thrilled when I found out that my bed was exactly my length, 190 cm. The night was good, I slept well, a little cold, but all in all I was very satisfied. The shabby train with retro style and really small toilets had found the way to my heart, and it was with grief I left the train the following morning.

We went to Bangkok with many objectives, and one of them was to be hosted by Hald students; Silje and Else. They welcomed us with bread and Nugatti. OH JOY:D They were, trough the whole weekende, excellent hosts. And it was very nice of Mari, their room mate, to let us use her bed. You guys made everything so great.

In Bangkok we did a lot of shopping. I bought clothes to almost 1500 norwegian kr. That is A LOT of money there, so I sent a whole new wardrobe, back home, with my sister. T-shirts from Bangkok are so nice. Can`t wait to come home to Norway and use them. A bit scary thought.. One of the things I really look forward to, when coming home, is to use clothes :S

We also got to meet the missionaries in Bangkok. And we also met some people from NMS, that were in a trip to Thailand, so check out the projects that NMS has there.

In Bangkok we ate some really good western food. Western food is exspensive in Laos, so it was nice to eat things like whopper menu from Burger King, Taco, and icecream from svensens. Bit strange to eat it, but good as well. Miss norwegian food, but Kristian (bonlai) and I have found our own ways of food i Lao. So we eat as much lao food as possible. Therefore, coming to Bangkok was a nice and well erned vacation.

My sister went home to Norway that weekend, and now I won`t wee her for another three months. But no problem.

The trip to Bangkok was good. The trip home with the train was also pretty nice. So shabby.. HAHA.
Bangkok is nice, but I got to say: I think Laos and Vientiane is better. Not that much peoble or traffic:P But anyway.. Thanks for a nice trip!

Pictures will come later!

Family visit and trip to Vangvieng

When I came home from Infield, my big sister Ingrid had come to Laos. So.. the vacation didn`t stop with Infield, I had one more week of fun and relaxing. All though I did some teaching during the week, it was mostly relaxing and hanging out with Ingrid :)

During the week we`ve done lots of different things. We started with checking out Vientiane city, where I live. There we did something I`ve did very little of during my three months here. We looked at buddhist temples. The buildings and the monks are fascinating, and it was really fun when we came to talk with one of the monks. He talked about being monk, why and how it was. Would it suprise you if I said that mane mane monks here have phones. Maybe it`s me not knowing, but isn`t that against the basic buddhist monk rules?!Buddha statue from a tempel in Vientiane

Btw, this week I reseved my christmas present from Norway, stuffed with the best things I could imagine. That made my day, sort of speaking:P

The gifts from home. Even christmas soda from Hamar:)

That week we were hit by a wave of sickness. I started at Khamla`s, and finished 6 hours later at my own bathroom. This is my first time in being really sick in Lao, and it was as fun as it always is when being sick. Both Kristian and Ingrid had their turns to the toilet during the night, and the following day became kind of lazy. But a couple of days later we where all fine, so me and Ingrid took a trip to Vangvieng. The place where we had infield. After a shaky trip with lots of loud Lao music, we arrived. We headed straight to a guesthouse, before we went to lucy cave. The cave was really large and beautiful, and in the end of the cave, there was a lagoon. Really cool:) Our guide was btw drunk, and his guiding consisted of spitting out the few english words he knew, in a very fast and direct order: oh yes very beautiful in cave, oh yes wow beer Lao! He made the trip memorabel, though in a different way. After the cave and some food we went tubing. This time, ass well in infield, the tubing became a cold experience, but man... the nature in Vangvieng is so beautiful, and just lying there in the tube, floating down the river. I wouldn`t miss it for the world.The lagoon inside the cave. Not the best picture, but anyway:)

The trip home from Vangvieng was also a experience in it self. We started out at 7 am with a local bus, and soon we were off. Here in Lao, the buses follow the time tabel, something we from Norway really appreciated. The first km we drove really slow, and the driver honked the horn all the time, in case anybody had forgot or missed the bus. It`s a good thing to do, but kind of enoying for the tired Eirik. The bus soon got filled up with shouting Lao people who seemed to be friends, but shouted to each other in a way I would look at as fighting. Well well.. The best part of the trip, besides to up and down, and going from side to side in the seat, was when the mother and her child in the seat in front of us, started trowing up. All over themselves and the seat. Just been sick myself, so the smell and the sounds were a bit disturbing. But as the tuff and hard viking I say I am, I stould (sat) my ground. So did Ingrid.

Well back from Vangvieng, we waited in Vientiane for some hours, before we met Kristian, and we were all ready for a trip to Bangkok. I will tell you that story later, `cause I`m still in Bangkok at Silje and Elses place.

Jul, Nyttår og Infield

The last weeks has been wonderfull here. In many ways, I`ve felt like a tourist in my own country. It has been kind of great to walk away from the normal life, since the normal life here consisted of way to much spare time. But now it`s getting better. Next week we start with teaching for both teachers and students at a school here. I look very much forward to that!

In the christmas we used a lot of time in the church here. The people are so dedicated, and the christmas is a time for charing the gospel. A combination of celebration for just me and Kristian, together with the church, made the christmas a memorabiel time :D

At new year the hald girls in Thailand came to Laos. The days went by with showing the girls our city, and celebrate the wonderfull new year. Pizza and free drinks (which we didn`t drink), icecream, laughter and smile made the evening perfect. We finished the night with a pretty nice praise night at the church. The norwegian expression "hæla i taket, og tenna i tapeten" fits very well :)

Infield was just PERFECT. So good to meet the other students and teachers again. Vangvieng with its beautifull weather and surrondings made everything even better. The teaching and the sociale aspect of it all, made infield something worth to remember. When the teachers and students left me and Kristian back alone here i laos, the left a empty whole.
Thank you so much for visiting us:)