THIS BLOG IS CLOSED. No further posts will be pubslished.

I have finished my semester abroad in Gjøvik and my bachelors in February 2008. The thesis' topic is: "Personalizing the SCORM environment" and deals with e-learning standards and programming languages and their learner-centric customization in e-learning applications such as LMS (learning management systems) and other.

In case you are interested in more Norway, pictures, travel, climbing and beautiful landscapes don't miss my new blog: Naturreise

Even more pictures are avaliable on flickr.

2007-12-07

James came visiting me in Gjøvik for a weekend.
Since his grandfather is half norwegian (and his last name - Aslaksen - still gives evidence) he was lookin' forward to get an impression of that cold country up in the north.

Saturday a trip to Oslo was scheduled. So far, James hadn't been that far north. However, we left early on Saturday. After two hours of norwegian landscape Oslo received us - and it wasn't dark yet! In general, daylight won't last longer than 5 to 6 hours a day in winter. So you better take the chances you get.

Anyway, after having investingated the christmas market and resisting awful music of worst taste there we went up a hill of the Oslo castle close to the port and sea. Taking pics was essential and we both spent quite a while.

Sunset then was pretty awesome, beautiful and atmospheric.

See pictures here!

Twilight didn't last too long therefore we decided to walk around downtown. James wanted to bring some souvenirs for his father.

Oslo center around the main station is being reconstructed. Somehow we ended up at the Radisson SAS hotel. It has a nice elevator with a glass-covered front outside of the building. At level 34 (or 43?) there was supposed to be a bar - and a nice view over the entire city.

We didn't hesitate too long trying to get up there though I'd describe our dress rather as 'urban city style' than matching the locations expectations..Unlike the required style for the bar. Once up there, no real entry control, people were throwing very strange glances at us. Maybe coz' we didn't order drinks for 30 bucks and looked like, ehm, students? We left.

What counts is the view. And that one was great.

Later on that evening we went to the quarter 'Grønland' which obviously provided rather cheap housings/apartments (btw: what is cheap in Norway?) and seemed to be populated mostly by students and foreign nationalities or immigrants. Not the best place to be but atmospheric. And looooooooooots of 7-11 everywhere...

Oslo is definitely a place to visit again - not just because of the girls who were suiting James..

2007-10-20

On a warm Saturday we decided to go on a two-day hiking trip.
Our first destination: the 'Slettefjell'. With its brown autumnal surfaces on top of a hill it offered wide-ranged landscapes, fields. A rather easy way to start hiking.

Day 2 meant to be more challenging. At almost 0° Celsius we faced the Besseggen tour squarely. But as we went up that hill (which turned out to be more a mountain chain) we had to realize that we won't make it up. Another aspect was the threat of upcoming early darkness and the uncalled-for rain.

In the end we couldn't complete the entire 16 hours trip along the Besseggen chain
( including the way back to our 'base camp'). However, the view was great and we had made almost 1000 meters of altitude difference..The pictures taken are fine and definitely worth having a look at.

See the album here!

2007-10-05/06/07

Finally I made it again to Bergen.
Located at the western coastline of Norway it usually offers its visitors very reliably
one thing: RAIN.
Ready to go on Friday morning 5 am – my spirit was willing but the flesh was weak –
I took an ‘after-night nap’ in the car. Linda (Oli’s girlfriend) was the first to drive.
Interrupted by sunrise and several sightseeing photo stops my physical state
didn’t improve at all. But I couldn’t care less since I’m finally re-visiting nice Bergen…

After a total drive of 9 (?) hours Bergen was on the ball and gave us a sunny welcome.
We made it up to the Fløydalen with a nice vantage point on top of the hill providing
a great view over Bergen.
Saturday and Sunday were packed with sightseeing, enjoying nature, buying
salmon at the fisketorget (Bergens famous fishmarket) and wondering why it
fuckin’ started to rain lately.

On our trip back to Gjøvik we took another route and were anxoius for more
fantastic landscapes. Norway didn't let us down.
Conclusion: my camera was constantly activated or in sleep mode and I came
back with some 200+ pics.

Have a look at the pick of the bunch here: Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiics here!

2007-10-24

Here's a project you might be interested in. Y'all know about the internet censorship of the Chinese government. Two swiss artists developed a way to break the great censorship wall of China. They convert ordinary html-pages into a picture which is accessed and coded back.

Check it out and join. It's easier than uncomplicated.

2007-09-30

Time has come for decisions to be made. Some things shifted to the dark side and others to the bright side.

Below is a picture which enlarges when clicked on it.

I want you all - whoever is watching this site - to vote for your favorite tattoo and tell me about it.
Just comment on your choice below the article in the comment section.
Only one vote per person should count, maybe.

The one tattoo with the most voices will cover the most wonderful part of my body soon. Nope, it's not what you think. But it is wonderful, too, you're right ;)

Which part it is? I'll tell ya, when election is finished. I'm not gonna change the part of my body according to the tattoo. They're all made for this specific area. What I can tell you is the size of it: approx. 40 x 30 cm...
You can make suggestions on that anyway!

Have fun, and vote as hell!

2009-09-29

As some of you may know I'm very into landscapes. Especially the norwegian one. Though James says, it looked like Oregon, I keep on doubting that since neither I've never been to Oregon nor James has made it up here ;).

However, last night, which in this special case means, the evening and the upfollowing morning, I took tho beautiful pics which made me stay a while kinda paralyzed.

Unfortunately I can only show you the pics. The atmosphere and this intense feeling is for sure hard to transport. Digital media need to be improved.

Enjoy a look at the rising moon, slightly colored between maroon and ginger:




Some hours later, the sun followed (and will blow your mind if you click on the pic):


Can you imagine why I'm watching every third sunrise live?

2007-09-26

It's fall coming up. Within the last 7 days the entire landscape changed drastically and unexpectedly fast.
I'm looking out of my window and suddenly there is so much orange and yellow covering my view to the lake Mjøsa.
(btw. I really wanna have an 'ø' on my notebook keyboard. I always have to activate NumLock, then take the character code 'ALT'+ '0248' to insert an 'ø'. Try it for yourself, that sucks).

Recently, when I was out for jogging a leaf was blown in my face..
Now it's dehumidified and hanging around in my room.
Somehow useless, but beautiful.
I love the fall. Maybe coz you can really watch nature changing.

Provided that you're living where nature doesn't only consist of concrete.

Folks, I love that season. You should enjoy it, too.

p.s.: Outside thermometer went down to -1,5° celsius (~29° F) last night. It's getting romantic, isn't it?

2007-09-18

...is that?

Recently on one of my nightly trips (preparing my undergrad thesis) thru the infinity of the digital highway ended here:


Now have a look at the number of views on Itube: 8,000,000+.
Leave her alone, hum? Alrighteee then.



And here's a mere counterpart:



Weird but funny, these stupid idiots.

2007 - 09 - 06

A casual Sat eve, preparing to go out. Suddenly my door bell rang.
But not only mine. And not only once.
I first suspected some kids or whoever having fun ringing my doorbell of the wall.

As I went out to check what was going, I noticed that EVERY f***in doorbell in every single of the 20 rooms on my floor AND on all the other six floors was ringing.
I never would have thought of a fire alarm.
It wasn't 'feeling' like one. And not sounding like one at all.
However, I just grabbed some stuff, after putting on all my clothes, and went down to floor one. Where all other students were already waiting, but no firefighters.
Hm.
It looked like some took the alarm pretty serious since they didn't put on any clothes except for their underwear and maybe a pyjama. Alas, not the ones I'd loved to see.

Some fifteen minutes later the firefighters arrived. The doorbells kept on ringing, driving me deaf and numb.
They didn't know wha to do!
Obviously there wasn't fire going on anywhere.

As you can see on the pic below, three of them (there were only three at all. Isn't that a bit ridiculous considering a burning student house with app.110 students, visitors and friends excluded?) tried to get the main alarm control working.



And notice that guy right of them, checking his mail and not caring bout anything, as it seems.

After some more twenty minutes they finally got it shut down. What a relieving feeling.
From that day I don't trust in these firefighters anymore.

And: Some days later a company started installing NEW fire alarms in every room. Kept me from getting up after 8am. Though I didn't stop staying awake til 6 for known reasons...

2007-09-24

dudes, it's complicated.
Coz' of unexpected incidents I regret not being able to launch the almost finished and long expected update.
though there are plenty amazing stories told in a most fancily way, I can't finish the update within the next two days.

Beyond that, I had to spend the entire last five nights (!) on fb messaging and exploring another horizon.
Which hopefully will be worth it. I believe.
Hoping you will continue to favor me and recommend you to stay tuned.

2007-08-31

Have you ever had a bike? Sure you had one. And an expensive one?
Wouldn’t you keep an eye on it?
Well, Norwegians, or ‘Nordmann’ as they call themselves, obviously do not.
That bike lay aside the way:



Not the merest hint of any owner. But locked.
It occurred to me that someone had just forgotten it there. No problem at all though a bit strange.
But as the days went by I found several other bikes! All of them left alone in the most unlikely places, e.g. along an Interstate, at crossroads.
That bike on the pic is still there, 9 days after I had discovered it.
Seems to be another national mannerism. Pah!

Think about: til now I haven't noticed anyone riding a bike in town...

2007-08-28

Yes they have one.
Recently in the grocery store: Oli bought something looking like pre-cooked pancakes, called 'lefse'. The next morning he tried it with hazelnut cream and sugar and it wasn’t too bad.
But then:
We had to face the whole dimension of this proudly cherished norwegian specialty in Hafjell alpinresort where we went for two days and some community activities, barbecue, discotheque.
So while we we’re barbecuing our nuclear radiated chicken filets (we had it soaked in curry-pepper sauce for the nuclear color and taste.. ;)) most of the Norwegians around there wondered what it would be. So did we about their way of eating sausages:
almost everyone of them puts the fried sausages (called ‘pølse’) in this sort of cold pancake. And imagine they roll the lefse around the sausage!

And if you think it can’t get worse: What they barbecue is not a true strong well-tasting german bratwurst. Noooooooo!
It’s a wiener sausage. For sure.
Looks like this and tastes awful:



Isn’t that weird?

2007-08-28

I’m in love again.
Dunno if you noticed I wasn’t.
It happened on a 2-day trip. When such things always happen. Destination: Hafjell is a former Olympia city. We've been there in the context of a get-to-know-the-community trip.
Activities, alcohol, vorspiel, discotheque, nachspiel.
While exploring the surrounding landscape I discovered that:



A grass-covered mailbox!
I had fallen in love with grass-covered roofs - as they exist everywhere in Norway - of all kinds on my Norway trip in 2004. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to date them in Germany.
I wouldn’t describe it as an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ thing, but as fb offers the opportunity I’d rather call it a ‘complicated’ relationship.
But now I’m lost again to these grass covered roofs. I wanna have one. Two. This is so full of style and nature. Awesome!

Have you ever felt the velvety touch of roof grass on your hand?

And imagine relaxing on top of your house in summer on your own meadow in a sunlounger!

Unbelievable.

I hope my roof grass will never break up…Such things can hurt.

What d’you think about it?

2007-08-18


The first night out – experiencing real norwegian night life beside the students party house.
The pubcrawl. I cancelled the vorspiel tonight for it has nothing to do with women and I expected enough beer awaiting for me on this trip to Gjoviks public bars, pubs and discotheques.
Starting around 11pm Oliver and I went to the one and only irish pub in town where the other international buddies and some norwegian students guidiing these were supposed to be.
The security staff controlling the entrance wouldn't let me enter the bar. He claimed I had nothing to identify e.g. passport, driver's license, whatever. So he refused to believe I'm over 18y old. Bah!

I wasn't too unlucky cause I found a girl who gave me some sort of elastic band that granted me free access to locations. But I had to move on to the next club where no security guy knew me.

Old-fashioned disgusting electronic music.

Damn. Worst case scenario. Just one beer and worst music ever.
Get your impression:



We left after one beer and 40 minutes.
Next to come was another try at the irish pub. That entry band worked well.
Finally we found a spot to stay. Nice atmosphere, more than 2 sorts of beer to offer. Affordable prices and: rock music.
As I got in the DJ had deftones runnin'. Perfect start.
Some nice ladies, nice beer, nice atmosphere.

The troubadour knew how to set the mood:



Unique freak.

But norwegians in Gjovik seem to be brave people fighting for their everyday life cause the pub was closed at 2:30am. Can't be? It is.
This law set up by the local government ensure that everyone either is able to go to work or to school or whatever. No matter how drunk you are, you'll be able to be back on track the next morning.

My conclusion is: most of the norwegian people have a disturbed relation to alcohol at all! They want it, they need it, they don't wanna pay too much for it (remember: average beer at bar 8 €). And the government supports that strong addiction by these extraordinary high taxes.

So they buy in Sweden.
The Swedish buy in Germany.

Good old beer Germany. And the troubadour will return.

2007-08-16

That exists.
‘Vorspiel’ is a german word referring to the prelude to the nookie. Within the first two weeks of a semester at the Gjovik University College (GUC) are lots of events and parties going on. They're hosted by different groups of advanced students of the GUC. Depending on how advanced they are, they get differently colored sweaters to wear.
Now have a look at this:



With images of beauties in my mind I headed to this party expecting the fair sex.

Obviously it’s nothing about sex.

At least it's about alcohol.

It’s just a term for the pre-meeting before a party. The aim: getting drunk.
The reason is the enormous price of beer and any other alc in Norway when ordering it in public bars. I was told of a tax being set up by the state of about 80 %...not confirmed.

Buying alc in a bottle store called ‘Vinmonopolet’ is much more affordable though it’s still out of this world. Beer is available at every supermarket. Cheapest here: about 4,50€ per litre..

You won’t believe: It does exist a ‘nachspiel’.
Guess what it is..

2007-08-14

Germany lies behind. Far behind. Not that the last months hadn't been eventful, but at last Norway is the destination and has been so for months so far...
It's not like turning over a new leaf but it does mark a "certain step".

Oliver



My fellow student Oliver joins me on that entire semester in Norway. He studies media technology at the University of Applied Sciences Mittweida and is attempting to get his bachelor's thesis done here.
Starting on Monday from Neustadt near Coburg (Bavaria) to Magdeburg (Saxony-Anhalt), where he picked me up on monday at 10 pm, journey continued to Hamburg, then Flensburg then to Hanstholm at the north-western peak of Denmark.
There we took a rather old and fuckd up catamaran ferry for only 25€ each (similar to the SeaBus in Vancouver but larger) to Kristiansand which is located at the south peak of Norway. Journey continued to Oslo then northward to Gjovik.

The port at Kristiansand:



Gjovik - the desired spot for the next 5 months. Ready to conquer. Again.

I reached Gjovik after a total drive of 22 hrs at 9pm on tuesday. Met the buddy for international students, Per Helge, and got the keys to my room. The only thing to think of at that moment:
facilitating anxiety for coffee.