My new brother

Petra and Paul at their wedding

My new brother and I

Pet and Paul

My siblings!

I have always wanted a brother. Ever since I was about three or four I wanted to adopt a Chinese baby boy, or at least have my parents adopt him so I could have a little brother. Pet and I would sometimes sit and think what we would do if we had a little brother. I think we would have spoiled him totally with all that we planned to do. When our good friends Annie and Gigi got a little brother we spent so much time with them, that he was like a little brother to us. Sadly, they moved away, so we had to give up our "little brother".

Last weekend all that changed. My sister got married on Sunday to Paul. I think if I had to find my own brother, I would have chosen him. Good choice Pet, and thanks for finally giving me the brother that we've always wished for! :-) Welcome to the family Paul!

Klausie boy

I found out yesterday that our budgie died on Friday. He was the best bird one could ever want. Whenever you were sad he would fly over and give you a kiss and whistle to you. We got him when he was a chick and therefore he really didn't know how to "speak parakeet" but only spoke in our language and whistled the way we did. He could speak in 3 different languages: English, Chinese, and Russian and he was working on Spanish and Danish. His favorite phrase was "I love you! God loves you too!" Often when we would be cooking in the kitchen Klaus would be sitting up in the window, whistling and saying "God loves you!", he also might say a cheery "Ni hao me!" or "Martina!" Sometimes he would get phrases mixed up and say "Merry ChrisKlaus" (instead of Christmas). When Petra or I would practice our instraments Klaus would love to sit on the ground and talk to our tapping toes, sometimes jumping on our feet and riding up and down as we tapped to keep in time. He loved to fly over and see what you were doing and maybe get a snack of fruits or veggies (red pepper was his favorite). He always had just the right things to say to cheer you up, and always knew how to make people happy.
I think that even if I have other pets, I will always remember my dear Klaus and think of him. I hope that soon all of us will meet together in Heaven where we will never part again. That is a day to look forward to!





"How lovely are Your dwelling places O Lord of hosts! My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. The bird also has found a house, and the swallow a nest for herslef, where she may lay her young, even Your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. How blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You." ~ Psalms 84:1-4

Night Visitors

Last weekend I went to the Heiberg's house with some of my friends from the Witness For Life group that arrived in April. Allie, Shannon and Ricky are all students from America who are here for the leadership course that we are having now. We headed out on Friday evening, and we had an awesome weekend hiking, and spending good quality "chum" time.
On Saturday night Ragnhild (a little homeschool friend from Fredheim) came over for her birthday and wanted to spend the night in the Heibergs Stabbur with me. A stabbur is a storage house that many Norwegians have on their property that is standing on poles so that mice and rats cannot get into it. Many Norwegians use the stabburs into guest houses, and the Heiberg's stabbur has some very old beds in them that are only about a metre in length.
I have always wanted to stay out in the stabbur, so when Ragnhild asked me to join her out there I jumped at the chance. We chatted for a while before going to sleep. I didn't see a lock on the door, but I didn't think that there would be any problem because the Heiberg's house was just across the lawn. I drifted off to sleep very comfortably situated in my bed hoping that nothing would go wrong.

For the past year at EBS I've been getting up whenever God wakes me up to read my Bible and pray and Saturday night was no exception. I woke up at 2 o'clock to see what new things were in God's word for that night. As I was peacefully reading I thought I heard footsteps. I brushed it away thinking that it was just the wind and it was all my imagination about the footsteps. I did however turn from Ezekiel to something a little more calming in the Bible. But for some reason I thought I could still hear footsteps. Then I heard scratching on the wall. My room at EBS has mice in the walls, so that was nothing new, but I thought it was odd because the whole point of stabburs is to keep mice out. I rolled over and tried desperately to quiet my imagination, but somehow it was getting a little more difficult for me to concentrate. Then I heard Mimi barking, and more footsteps, now I was sure that someone was in the stabbur. Visions of crazy rednecks in the backwoods of Norway drinking in "empty" stabburs rushed through my mind. I tried to see if Ranghild was awake but she was still sleeping peacefully. I was trying to figure out what to do. Since I was acting "big sister" to Ranghild I could frighten her about the situation, but now I was sure that people were in the stabbur. Then the door creaked open, and a form paused at the door. I am sure that if I was not trying to be brave for Ranghild's sake I would have either screamed or fainted... or both. Then three people came running in with sheets over their heads and yelling


and to my utter relief, I recognized... Robby, Shannon, and Ricky!

God cares

I was just reading on the news about wage abuse in China. For some reason the fast food chains think it is perfectly reasonable to pay their employees way below the minimum wage to work part time in their companies. McDonald's for example pays the student workers 4 yuan ($0.52) per hour. The minimum wage for Guangdong province is 7.5 yuan per hour ($0.95). Even though this is still extremely low, McDonald's pays 40% less than that minimum wage. I couldn't help thinking of some over sized executive sitting in a plush chair in his office deciding what kind of wage to give to the poor starving workers in China. As I read the article my pulse started beating fast with indignation.

I started thinking about all of the students and workers in China who are suffering from injustice, and I realized that this problem is not only in China but around the world. What about those people who have never had warm clothes or the feeling of a full stomach? Will they ever understand what it is like to be comfortable? Does anyone care that these people are suffering? As soon as I thought that, I knew the answer: God cares. He sees when injustuce happens, He hears the cry of His children that are hungry, that are suffering, that are needy. He cares. He has a special reward for those who have suffered so much in this world. Thankfully this world's long history of unfairness will very soon be over, and Jesus will soon come in the clouds to take His suffering children home to a beautiful kingdom prepared for them!

My birthday weekend

A few weeks ago my family came over to Norway for my birthday. We had a really awesome time going to Beitostolen, skiing, building a snow cave, jumping off the roof into the deep snow, going to the Heiberg's house, snow "swimming", lip syncing Christmas songs late at night, touring around some Oslo museums, and generally spending a great time with my favorite people!

Three tramps revisited

Mom, Petra, Tee, and Dad and the lovely snow

Berit and Mom

Dad and the ice

Yes, Robby really is in mid air

Deep in thought

Adventures in Norge pictures

Adventures in Norge

Driving over to the Heibergs house last Friday I wasn't sure how the weekend would go, but judging from my previous experiences of spending time with Robby, I knew that it would be an adventure.
We arrived on Friday afternoon to spend an great hour studying about the Crucifixion for Sabbath evening worship. After supper we just relaxed by the fire. There is nothing like a warm fire, a dog sleeping at your feet, and good company when snow is flurrying outside.
Sabbath morning, after a good personal worship, Robby and I decided to start making breakfast. Robby's dad is an awesome cook, and we had the professional chef of EBS Robert visiting too. Therefore, Robby and I thought it would be a good challenge to cook the whole weekend for them! We started off by making potatoes and scrambled tofu for breakfast. It turned out quite well, but we started cooking when we felt hungry which is a big mistake, because it was not finished until much later when we were well nigh famished! After breakfast we had a home church with much singing and reading from the Pilgrim's Progress. That is one of my favorite books and we had a great time each reading different voices for Christian, Pliable, Help, Evangelist...
After worship we bundled up and went on a hike up a logging rout. It was a little icy down and I ended up sitting down and sliding most of the time. Most enjoyable.
When we got back, Robby and I started making Indian food for lunch/supper. It turned out very well; even the great chefs went for seconds :-).
Saturday night Robby and I decided to make smoothies for Werner and Robert. We made three different types of smoothies and they had to guess what the ingredients were. Some of the things that were in the smoothies were: lettuce, strawberries, almonds, raisins, rice, fennel, tomatoes, blueberries, garlic... and GINGER! Robby and I liked them all, but I think that the apple juice, rice, tomato and garlic one was a little hard for Robert and Werner to take :-). Needless to say was that all of the smoothies were vitamin rich and very healthy.
After all of the smoothies I decided that our teeth needed to be cleaned quite thoroughly. I have been in a bit of dental with drawl since I haven't been working at my dad's office, so Robby generously agreed to be my patient as I flossed his teeth! He then decided to floss my teeth. I felt quite well flossed afterward, and I enjoyed my time doing dental hygiene again.
Sunday morning was absolutely beautiful, so not wanting to waist the gorgeous day we threw our boots in the car and drove to a mountain that you can see 1/6th of Norway! It was quite windy and the snow was blown from depths of about five centimeters to a meter. We hiked for about two and a half hours to get to the top, but halfway up we realized that we tragically forgot any kind of power food. It was quite a vigorous hike, and both Robby and I run out of energy very quickly, but sheer stubbornness got us up to the top. It was well worth it once we got there. There were some clouds, so we couldn't see the whole view, but it was amazingly beautiful with the white topped peaks and the dark green fir trees dotting the landscape. Those who have never been to Norge I would advise to quit reading this blog, buy a plane ticket and come over here and experience it yourself! It's simply awesome!
As expected the weekend was delightful, enjoyable, pleasing, fun, satisfactory and... and an adventure!

Learning about the amazing features that exits with Blogspot!!

Robby is giving me a lesson on how to put pictures on my blog. I am learning all sorts of amazing things that I had no idea existed on the computer. Technology is fascinating!

Mimi and Martine

Farmor, Besta, and Martine

Mimi and Robby

Winter weekend pics

Weekend of winter

This weekend has been quite adventurous.
After playing a postlude for church (Robby on violin, and me attempting to play viola), Robby and I headed out to Fredheim (an Adventist sanitarium in Kongsberg). We met up with Werner and Berit there and partook of our midday meal, then Werner, Frederick, Robby, Mimi (Berit's collie) and I went for a hike in the mountains. We hiked up to a look out on the top of the mountain. The wind was so strong I had to lean far into it to stay on balance, but the scenery was superb! Hiking through the snow was a bit of a challenge; the snow's depth was a little unpredictable, so sometimes I would be buried in snow thigh deep! Fantastic!
In the evening we participated in a music night for the staff and patients at Fredheim. Robby, Berit and I played a piece with violin, oboe and piano, and also a piece with violin, viola and piano. Berit, Werner, Robby and I sang a quartet as well. Berit is an excellent poet and composer, and we all enjoyed hearing her compositions in the concert.
After the concert, Robby and I went sledding with some of the kids from Fredheim. This time we didn't go 75 km/hr, but we did get up quite a pace. Usually the kids would drive, but after pressing to find if I had a drivers licence, they wanted to see if I could drive a sled. That was a wild ride. I haven't had that much practice with driving sleds before, so we had tumbled quite a bit by the time my turn was done! With much screaming of us girls and battered knees and rosy cheeks we had a glorious time!
This morning I went cross country skiing for the first time. I must say that it is now one of my favorite winter sports. What can be better than being on the crisp snow, hearing the birds in the trees, and breathing the fresh cold air, not to mention getting a full work out while you are at it. Those who have never tried cross country skiing are really missing out on an awesome experience!
Tonight we got two more inches of snow! This is the life!

P.s. Pictures will come later, I am still trying to figure out this "techno" stuff :)

Back in snowy Skotselv

I'm back in Skotselv for a new year of studying. Right now we are doing a health course at EBS. This semester I am trying to stretch my mental capacity with different memorizations. When I arrived in Norway to my shock and utter horror I found that my oboe music was not in my music folder. It somehow was left at home with all of the bustle of packing. Thankfully my dad found the music and it was sent post haste to Skotselv. Meanwhile I tried my best to play as much music as I could by memory (yes my music arrived safe and sound to my relief). I have also been memorizing a lot of anatomy for school, botany for my own knowledge, Norwegian to get around, and the book of First John for the fun of it. It is so nice to get back into studying again, even though holidays are never unappreciated.
Coming back to Norway hasn't been only studying though. Last Sabbath we got 15 inches of snow. Not wanting to waste the great opportunity of fun in the snow, a bunch of us went sledding with our sleds tied to the back of Robby's car. It was incredibly fun, and Robby and I got up to 75 km/hr! What an amazing feeling with the snow stinging your face and trying to hang on for dear life as you go whizzing past surprised pedestrians! After we had sledded for quite some time we were ready for a nice hour or two by the fire with smoothies and listening to the Desire of Ages read aloud. To those who haven't tried spending Saturday night this way, I would highly recommend it!
Next weekend I am planing on learning how to cross country ski! It's great to be in cold weather and snow again!
Happy sledding!

Heaven is cheap enough

I'm dreaming of a white New Year...
I went for a roller blade this morning in a short sleeved shirt. In fact, I wished that I had worn some shorts instead of my jeans it was so warm. Just to let those out-of-stater's know, this is incredibly warm weather for Maryland for this time of year. Tomorrow's high in the forecast is an amazing 59 degrees Fahrenheit! Being a winter sports lover it is hard to believe that my whole "winter" break will be above freezing! Does anyone know how to sled in mud? Will it ever snow?
When I look around at the weather forecasts for other "cold climate" countries I find that they are in the same predicament. The ski resorts are suffering because tourists aren't very interested in spending their winter vacation looking at brown mountains. Will we soon see palm trees growing on Svalbard?

This would be a very depressing subject to write about except that I believe that all of these new developments in weather patterns show all the more how close it is to Jesus second coming. So many things have gone haywire in the past five years. People can't explain why there have been so many hurricanes, earth quakes, floods, famines, wars... the list goes on and on.
The Bible says in Matt. 24:7 "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places."

The good thing is that it doesn't end there. The Bible tells us not to be alarmed about all of this because once we see these signs Jesus will be following in their wake. We can read in Matt. 24:30 "they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other."
That is great news.

So even though I am deeply disappointed that we have no snow this year, it is all worth it for that kind of an ending. "Heaven is cheap enough"

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Maryland!
Our long anticipated flight home was delayed in Rekjavik because of a howling blizzard. I love snow, but when it interferes with my travel plans home, it is not appreciated. We were afraid that we would have to camp out in the airport all night instead of enjoying our nice cozy beds at home, but after six hours of waiting they boarded the plane and sent us on our way. Petra and I were met at the airport by three overjoyed people: Mom, Dad, and Paul. We have spent some wonderful days here at home enjoying family, friends, and mom's wonderful food. We were planning on going to Maine to spend Christmas with Paul's family, so we had our own family "Christmas" on Friday. Unfortunately my dad had a bad cold, and by Sunday he was still quite sick so we had to cancel our trip to Maine and just Pet and Paul went up.

Today, Christmas day, we have just been relaxing and goofing around with my mom and dad. I gave my dog Tinka a bath for her Christmas present (I don't think she enjoyed her Christmas gift as much as the rest of us; she was starting to aquire quite the scent!). I showed my mom and dad some of the pictures of my trip to Africa. I think they were a little homesick for the good old Malawi days, and they enjoyed seeing the African floura and fauna. My mom and I have been doing some cooking today too. I made bread and my mom made our traditional Danish Christmas meal of nut roast, potatoes, rodkal and of coarse risalamande. It is great to be back in a first-world kitchen, after cooking over the open fires in Tanzania. Nothing beats cleanliness and an electric oven.

I have missed my family so much these past months. Often I would sit and make up long lists of what I could do during Christmas, but now I don't really care what I do, all that matters is that I am with my family. It is so great to be back home. Have a great Christmas!

Content

I'm back in the land of gross consumerism from the poor, yet happy continent of Africa.
Believe me, it was total culture shock to walk down a crowded Danish walking street and see all of the stores with an endless variety of non-essentials. People bustled about the shops trying to figure out what to buy for Christmas for the friend who has everything. You could see them puzzling over whether to buy a silver plated toothpick holder or an electric knee warmer for their loved ones. There was no end to the foolishness.
The Tanzanians were so content and happy all of the time, even when they had no running water or electricity. It didn't matter that they ate ugali and beans three times a day (if they could even afford more than one meal), they still always had a smile on their faces and a song on their lips.
It makes you ponder sometimes what you really need to be happy. It doesn't matter how many possessions or money you have, you can still be discontented. The only source of true contentment can come from God. Have you found the Source of true contentment?

Last weekend with Petra and Paul

This weekend we accepted an offer to go to stay with Robby's relitives near Oslo. Robby's Bestemor made it her mission in life for us to eat as much wonderful Norsk food as possible, not barring the delishious Norsk brown cheese. When she found out that I like to eat with chopsticks, she searched around until she produced enough chopsticks for all four of us to eat haystacks on Sabbath "Chinese style". It took quite a bit longer than normal to eat, but the crowning glory was when we consumed our icecream and fruit salad with our sticks! Needless to say the grandparents were quite amused!
Sabbath afternoon we went for a nice walk, then after sundown worship we went swimming and participated in a vigorous water soccer game, then we discovered some floating excercise mats that were perfect for balancing acts!
On Sunday we drove into Oslo where we stopped by the famous Norwegian ski jump. Sadly we were unable to see the great view, or for that matter the ski jump because of the fog. We snapped a few photos into the grey mist, then headed back into the center of town. Robby droped Petra, Paul and I off in Oslo for further sight seeing. We went to three museums: A Norsk folk housing museum, a viking ship museum, and the Kon Tiki museum. They were all very awesome, but we agreed that the best was the Kon Tiki museum. We are convinced that we will have to make ourselves a reed raft and sail around the world (who needs a house anyway?).
At the Norsk folk museum we were able to see one of the famous Stave churches of Norge. It is hard to believe that it was built hundereds of years ago, and yet is still so beautiful.
After some great sightseeing, Paul took us to an awesome Indian restaurant. The food was superb, and the company splended.
Monday morning we saw Paul off at the train station, then Pet and I went into Oslo again. This time we went to the Fram museum, all about arctic exploration. It was very cool. It was also cool literally, they had the temperature like that of the arctic, so that when you walked in you were met with a gust of cold air. Then Pet and I meandered our way back to the center of town. We got lost only once (we wouldn't be Pet and Martina if we didn't have a least one directional difficulty), but that lead to a beautiful view of some sail boats in the harbor, so it wasn't a bad thing. We enjoyed some fresh bread from a local bakery, then said our last goodbyes before I had to come back to Skotselv.
It was very sad to part from Petra again, but it was made sweet knowing that soon we will be together at Christmas.