corner view bergen, norway: the great outdoors

norwegians are hikers. the idea of nature as the source of recreation is firmly based within our northern souls. sunday walks are tradition, and although my family's lifestyle opens up for a bit more spontaneity as to which day(s) will be spent outdoors, this sunday we did what thousands of other norwegians did.

we discovered a new place none of us had been to before, and spent about 4 hours there, climbing, running, listening, smelling, looking, marvelling, getting wet and collecting treasures. happy day.

corner view participants around the world:

jane, ladybug-zen, ian, bonnie, esti, sophie, cele, modsquad,caitlin, joyce, ani, couturecoucou, kim, a day that is dessert, natsumi, epe, kaylovesvintage, trinsch, c.t.,jeannette, outi, schanett, ritva, dongdong, francesca, state of bliss, jennifer, dana, denise, cabrizette, bohemia girl, ruth, dianna, isabelle, amber, a girl in the yellow shoes, mister e, janis, kari, jgy, jenna, skymring, elizabeth, audrey, allison, lise, cate, mon, victoria, crescent moon, erin, otli, amy, ida, caroline, lisa, dorte, kimmie, la lune dans le ciel, nicola, malo, vanessa, britta, virgina, april, rebecca, b sunnymama, kyndale, samantha, karen, kristina, angelina

cross-cultural conversation

my post on things i've observed in blogland resulted in an ongoing email conversation with iris over at creative endeavours in a busy life (i like the way we say 'over at' - it's like a global neighbourhood). the subject is mothering in norway versus the u.s.
or, taken further, women's rights. she's put a post up based on this conversation - go read it here.
i spent several years at the university developing my interest and abilities in observing. inevitably, observing and questioning other's ways and habits makes me learn something new about my own ways and habits, whether on a cultural level or a more personal one. and i often find that what i'm left with, is a question of values; what do i, and we, as a culture, want from life and how do we get it.
i don't think neither me nor iris have concluded on anything yet - it's only observations.

thanks for the opportunity to observe a bit more of what's behind the blog screen, iris!

{observing self in mirror}

walk with me

the 'corner view; shopping' post made me think about my town from an outsider's perspective, and i realised that i'm not really connected to it the way i used to. it's only natural; i moved out of the town centre, had kids, then started visiting it less and less. i used to love it and i used to know every street and corner. a lot has changed since then. so, as a result of being very displeased with my corner view post, i started walking around again, seeing, looking, discovering, rediscovering. i need lots and lots of more time for that. it was fun, it was melancholic. maybe it will lead to some posts about my town - the open spaces and the dark alleys. for now, i invite you for a walk past a specific place i thought i knew well.

what you see here is the café that my friends and i used to hang out just about every afternoon and weekend back in the late 80's/early 90's. it was a place for artists, students, musicians and people from the sub cultural scene in general. i have no idea what kind of people that visits it now.

i took the photo from the tiny park across the street. the park was like an extension of the café; when it was cold and rainy, we sat inside, when it was warm and sunny, we sat in the park.

in the park there is a statue. i know, i've seen it a thousand times.

or so i thought.

but i never really saw it. probably because i didn't have children. how could i have missed this?

fooled by typepad

i had a small accident trying to add the typepad connect comment thingy (because typepad said i could, even though i use blogger), which resulted in the comment section being closed. i think i'm back to normal now.

today it rains

corner view bergen, norway: shopping

as i've said before, i'm not a big shopper, and big malls are like living nightmares to me. so this week's theme was a challenge for me. should i take pictures of what my town has to offer for someone into shopping? or should i take pictures of what i usually shop; groceries? or should i go shopping just for the occasion and then show off my finds..? (ha!)

so - i did a mix.

yesterday was workday in town for me, so i decided to take a walk during lunch to take pictures of our outdoor fish and flower market, but neither fish nor flowers were being very photogenic. they were having a bad fin and petal day.

before i got to the fish market, though, i passed the self service book flea market just next to where i work. i've bought several books there. pick your books, and drop the coins into a metal pipe mounted to the wall. you decide how much you want to pay. not bad, eh?

i work in a touristy area of town, so i also passed some souvenir shops. mooses and trolls in all shapes, sizes and materials, handknits, sami figurines - the regular stuff.

here i am bracing myself before entering the grocery shop in a smaller mall to look for some lunch. it didn't offer anything tempting, so i went to 'madam bergen' - one of our town's prides. a shop selling locally made fish products. it's now under threat of being shut down, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that people are shocked around here. i don't know how i can survive without these delicious fish, um, cakes. that's what we call them, fish cakes. of course they're not cakes, but they're shaped like it.

three of those eaten in the office, followed by a sticky coco/cream/chocolate dessert thing.

there are some things i do like to shop for, though. craft supplies and fabric ranks high up there. books a little further down - i prefer the library as i can just lounge while thinking of what to borrow. still - i accidently stumbled upon a book sale, and got back with these cook books and a street magazine (sold by drug addicts or recovering drug addicts, as a way to provide them with dignified income).

chicken, veggies and tapas. yum.

later that afternoon my husband and i went to this cool science center for kids to pick up a long wanted object for our son; an artificial habitat for ants. in the shop i found this beautifully illustrated book about darwin's life (it's darwin year this year), and discovered that it is both published and translated by someone i know. but i couldn't afford it, and bought a pocketbook about einstein instead. hopefully, that'll stop my son from asking me all kinds of questions about him that i, embarrassing as it is, can't answer.

they also had some really cool notebooks made out of old plastic lunchboxes, pencils made out of old newspapers and pencil cases made out of old car tires. but enough is enough.

so, all in all, i figure you guys owe me about 100 dollars. oh, i forgot; i bought a shirt and 2 pair of pants for my husband at H&M (as their linen pants ("with the extra button!") are the only pants in the. whole. damn. country. that fits him. or so he says) for his upcoming birthday. so, that'll be 203 dollars all in all, thank you very much ;)

and then there are other days