So what`s going on?

Ok, hi to everyone! This is just me playing with my new computer trying to figure it out. Which is great cause now I get to explain what`s going on and why on earth am I in Norway of all places??Geez.. Huge plans of travelling the world and doing some volunteering changed to an endless (well, only 2 years) line of reading and partying, again. But here goes, lets see if I get this to work.. Technology nowadays, you know..

Ok, so this is Tromsö to anyone who hasn´t been here. It´s beautiful without snow and I tell you that with snow it´s like a dream.. Well, not all the time of course, today just happened to be one of those days that keep the spirits up, get back to you on that one later.

This is Line. She´s from Norway and she´s been in the army. Line is a tough social worker who would probably never say no to any kind of challenge. The guys are finally starting grasp the fact that "I´ll beat you in running contest anytime!" is just not something you can go around saying to Line. Or of course you can say it but it´s just not true so there´s no point in going on about it! Yup, Line posesses a quality that we in Finland like to call "sisu". You go girl! Line will undoubtedly become a Master of Tough Peace.

Best traits: sarcastic sense of humor and incredible ability to run fast and for ever. Maybe there´s something she´s not telling us? Could it be..?? Does she have a secret identity, like Superman? Saving the world during her spare time? Have to get to the bottom of that one..

This is Silje. She´s from Azerbaijan/Thailand/Norway and she´s what I would refer to as a pearl among us. I have strong suspicions of her actually having been pocahontas in her previous life. We were born on the same day and I think we are the only virgos in our class, be that a good thing or not. But pure and innocent in any case=) ..? I actually turned 25 this year (one year ahead of time) because we wanted to celebrate our 50th birthday. I was thinking of saving may 24th birthday to after I´m 35.. Anyway, it is officially hereby proven that the 9th of september is a good day to be born. Silje is gonna be a Master of Peace and the Universe.

Best traits: likes to wear furry clothes and has a boyfriend who makes the most delicious cheese cake.. mmm.. He´s a keeper!!

This is Jamppa. He´s my fellow Finlander and he´s a guest star among us. He is our only exchange student. I think it´s unfortunate that he isn´t doing time with us for the whole two years cause he´s out on parole in a month or so.. I guess we should all just try to be happy for him instead of wallowing in self pity.

Best traits: being Finnish. Jamppa has a fabulous sense of humor that sneaks up on you when you least expect. He´s the type of man who only says something if there actually is something worth saying. Go Finland!!

This is Berit. She´s from Germany but she´s been living in Peru and Sweden cause she is smart. (I think anyone who has been working in an embassy is smart and supercool!) She is living with a "host" family and I have some suspicions of her actually being an exchange student for rotery or AFS.. That´s why she spends so much time in Oslo. Not because of a "boyfriend" but because they have meetings with other exchange students.. Berit is already a Master of Peace and Calm Negotiating.

Best traits: is the only one besides me from our whole class who knows Swedish (apart from Hanne of course=)) and speaks a creative mixture of Swedish/Norwegian/English/German so that almost anyone can participate in the conversation!

Just a little pre-exam remark. We are in the middle of our oral examination as we speak. Now to all of you who have never experienced an exam like this, let me elaborate. We go and defend our paper that we struggled with for 10 days to our professor and an other brainiac. Some of the lucky ones are actually already done, leaving us unfortunates who have our time tomorrow to wait in agony for an other 24 hours. Dude, how unfair is that?? You get all your friends coming out of "the room" all exited about the fact that they have been pronounced smart and your suspicions of your own brain capacity just expand and expand.. wow.. Hey, but I`ll let you guys know how I did! Maybe. Later!

This is Teresa. She´s from Oslo and she thinks logistics is the coolest thing ever. After Oslo. Teresa is afraid that me and Scott are going to sell her as soon as we get to Gdansk in November. She´s probably right.. She has a strange (no sorry, now I´m showing my culturally challenged side again. What I mean is "different") sence of humor and our conversations tend to end up with a lot of "what?" "come again??" and "forget it!" remarks. For the time being T lives with us in the Peace House and eventually she is going to turn into either a full-time nerd or a Master of Peace and Capitalism.

Best traits: Teresa is an actual computer nerd and she likes playing wierd "conquer the world" games on her flashy new computer with fellow conquerors Stian and Scott.

This is André. He´s from Norway and he´s very military. André has started getting acquainted with his feminine side. He noticed this when he found himself getting emotional during a movie. He also found himself from our "girls night out". He´s a good man for us peace-people cause he´s the only one with a car. We´re such a bunch of hippies.. André is already a Master of Peace and War.

Best traits: Apparently shares my passion for spinning (why else would anyone get up at 6am to go to class??) and isn´t scared of "relaxing" sunday hiking trips. He has a soft spot for hunting and rifles.

This is Kjersti. She´s from Norway and she has a cool helicopter/bicycle/shower-fixing boyfriend. She made super suspicious-looking peace muffins for my birthday. I naturally thought something on the lines of space-peace-muffins (wow!) but Kjersti is a propper girl, so they weren´t space but scrumptious! She is a resident of the Peace House and I think she might just become a Master of Peace and Motherhood.

Best traits: Likes chatting with me on msn from the neighbouring room and has the most contagious chuckle ever! She tends to get the hick-ups relatively easily.

This is Stian. He is a communist and he is waiting for the revolution with unimaginable enthusiasm. I heard some details of post-revolution life and unfortunately most of us here in Tromsö and you guys reading this will be eliminated. Basically anyone who is bourgeoisie or wears glasses.. so watch out! Stian is a keeper. He makes good food and has helped build a water system in Mexico. He´ll tell you colorful stories from Mexico anytime. Stian lives in the Peace House and will some day become a Master of Peace and Maoism.

Best traits: has the ability to recognize a facist miles away and doesn´t think highly of christmas. And he shares my warm feelings for documentaries and tagliatelle.

This is Hanne. She´s from Norway and she is probably the sweetest/cutest person I´ve met in a loooong time. She has a tendency to get confused quite easily resulting to her eyes turning into the size of two main course plates. This usually leads to the tone of her voice turning more serious and the sentence we all know so well: "I´m confused..". I do believe that Hanne will eventually become a Master of Peace and Sensibility.

Best traits: Hanne does a wicked Swedish act, quoting typical Swedish sayings like "jätte bra!" in an authentic tone. You can undoubtedly find her from Lahti during the ski-jumping season clattering one of those annoying cow bells.. you know, somebody´s gotta do it, right?

This is Scott. He´s from the States and he enjoys reading sensitive litterature especially on the beach (yes, that is "the color purple" he´s reading..). He creates the right kind of atmosphere with various types of waterweeds. He lives in the Peace House and is ultimately going to be a Master of Peace and Sensitivity.

Best traits: is fascinated by small Scandinavian things like reflectors and matavfall. He is also an anal retentive brusher (talking about teeth, hope I used the term correctly..)

This is Rachel. She´s from the States and she´s a bit.. mm.. restless sometimes. She´s gonna cook for us soon, next week if everything goes well. Hot dogs, or so I´ve heard. After these two years here in Tromsö, Rachel is going to be a Master of Peace and Rock `n´Roll and/or Children.

Best traits: crossed eyes and ability to snakke norsk fluently. And can´t believe I almost forgot the most important one! Rach can actually cry like a baby.. to an extent that it´s actually a bit freaky..

And then there´s me, the devious mid (oh, funny mistake! I meant to say mind but mid is fine too=)) behind all of this. Who am I? What kinds of qualities do I posess? Is there any chance of me becoming a Master of Peace and something? Well, that´s something we´ll just have to find out won´t we?

Now, I added this photo just in case you guys feel like there´s been confusingly many separate individuals introduced. Just to put things into context, here goes. This is us, almost all together, the Peace People.

Just to pop the bubble that I may have unintentionally created when introducing everyone, we don´t actually lead a glamorous life and we don´t look too hot most of the time. There´s one simple expanation for this: location. The weather here is just pathetic sometimes and we have to be prepared to dress accordingly. I actually thought I was the only one to own a rain poncho from people under 50. But I met my match when I met Stian.. He has a green one as we can all see from the photo, I have a red one. Too much info?