Min barndomskompis!

Herregud ja nå har dere rett til å klage på at det er lenge siden jeg har blogget. Ja både fordi jeg har hatt sjukt mye å gjøre, men også fordi jeg har hatt det litt kjipt siste tiden. Hmm. Det har vel alle iblant. Men det er vel fordi jeg har mye å gjøre, ikke hatt skikkelig ferie på 2 år og reist mye i utviklingsland som har gjort at alle inntrykk plutselig kom på en gang og jeg følte meg som verdens største hykler. Både fordi at jeg vet at jeg aldri kommer til å bo i disse landene, heller aldri forstå hvordan de lever og hvordan de burde leve. Ja, dere fleste vet vel at jeg har disse tankene...men det kom så mye sånne tanker på en gang. At jeg reflekterer over mitt eget arbeid er vel ikke så rart etter alt som har hendt. Vel, nå begynner jeg å ha det litt bedre hvertfall.

Ingrid - min gamle barndomsvenn har kommer til Uppsala. Vi har hatt det hysterisk morsomt de siste dagene. Padlet kajakk, drukket øl, vin, blitt kjent med masse nye folk, sprunget i skogen, vært på fotoutstilling og farget håret pluss shopping i sthlm. Nais sier jeg bare. Mer jeg har gjort i Uppsala på to uker enn de siste 3 årene jeg har vært her. Husker nå på hvor glad jeg er i å være så aktiv, og kjennes bra å ikke ha glemt det "gamle jeg". Selv om det er mange herrens år Ingrid og jeg flira oss ihjel sammen, så er det like enkelt idag. Shit lænt! Vel. Nr to er at jeg skal flytte. Nærmere byen. Gleder meg skikkelig til det!

Nr tre er at jeg skal begynne å ri èn gang i uka. Så litt nye ting er på gang. Nr fire er at jeg har 50 nye studenter nå som jeg tar meg godt av. De er så kule, stiller masse spørsmål og vi har givende diskursjoner. I november skal jeg på konferanse i Sigtuna og i desember i tyskland mest sannsynlig. Ja, "ingen mer reising"...heh. Allergisk mot å se "nei jeg har ikke tid" Er jo så mye kult på gang at det går ikke an å si nei til sånne greier.

Nr fem er at jeg planlegger nå aktivt å flytte til Oslo etter jul. Nei, det er ikke fordi jeg har fått jobb. Men helt enkelt fordi jeg savner Norge og omgangskretsen min der. Og at jeg alltid ville bo i Oslo, pluss lettere for meg å få jobb der. Andre tanker var Sthlm eller New York, men de tankene flyr lengre og lengre bort.

Nr seks er at jeg skriver sjukt mye kule mail med en nederlands fyr som heter Harm. Jeg møtte an i Mongolia og jeg savner å henge med han...Håper han har det bra :)

Nr sju er at Mette og Linn kommer på onsdag til søndag. Gleder meg vilt! Vi skal være litt i Uppsala og litt i Sthlm. De kommer på besøk samme dag som jeg skal flytte så det kan bli hektisk, men Dermot ville hjelpe meg så det er digg! (Ja, det blir nr åtte. At Dermot har kommet hjem fra Sør-Afrika!) Endelig!

Nr ni er at den fotoutstillinga i Sthlm var dritkul (Annie Leibovitz - hu som tok bilde av Demi Moore gravid...):

http://fotografiska.eu/Museet/Utstaellningar/A-Photographer-s-Life-1990-2005

Ja, det var det for nå :)

Permanent...?

Nå er det lenge siden jeg har blogget. Det er vel helt enkelt fordi det ikke har hendt så mye, oppi topplokket. For mye har jo hendt, første dag på Cemus, tilbake i leiligheten med Sara og Hanna. Møtt mange kjente fra Uppsala, fra gamle masterklassen etc. Jeg har også feiret min første kreftskiva som hører med når man bor i Sverige. OG smakt surstrømming som smaker en balnding av lukten av diarè, død og bensin...Ellers har jeg sett alle episodene av True Blood, bare venter på når Episode 10 i Sesong 3 kommer ut. Lurer også på om jeg skal begynne å se The Wire og Twin Peaks. Ellers har jeg rammet inn den yberharrye og tackey kinaplakaten min som jeg liker driitgodt. Skal ta bilde av den så dere får se senere. Har også mye bildeprosjekter på gang. Printet ut 2000 bilder som jeg skal sette i album! JIPPI! Håper jeg blir syyykt kreativ snart så de kommer på plass :D Vel, ellers mye å gjøre på jobben. Så mye at jeg ble syk for noen dager siden og måtte legge meg rett ned. Sov 20 timer første natta så hele neste dag. Forsatt vondt i halsen, men litt bedre. Var i stockholm igår, møtte Karolina fra NYC som jeg var i FN med. Hun reiser tilbake nå å søker jobb, og spurte om jeg ville bli med. Hjelp. Ja det vil jeg jo men også ikke. Vel, kommer an på om jeg får jobb i Oslo. Har begynt å søke men ser vanskelig ut. Vel, må vel prøve litt mer aktivt kanskje :) Igår kveld var Sanne og jeg på middag hos Fanny og Jakob (Fanny er gammel kollega fra Cemus som bor i Sthlm) Utrolig hyggelig å gjøre noe annet en dag å komme litt bort fra Uppsala. Begynner å bli litt lei faktisk. Så over jul blir det nok Oslo eller NYC...vi får se. Stockholm er også veldig fint, hjemme hos Fanny og Jakob var deres venner. Vi drakk vin og spiste god mat. Kult å møte nye folk som gjør så mye ulike greier. En jente der hadde kjøpt opp et tannlege magasin (hele firma liksom) der hun skulle freshe opp magasine og sette inn en golf del (tydeligvis spiller de fleste tannleger golf?)...ja litt annen omgangkrets enn her i Uppsala med andre ord, men det er kult. Veldig fine folk. Vel nå er jeg tilbake hjemme. Har ryddet og vasket til Ingrid Reese kommer idag. Hun skal bo hos meg en uke, kanskje flytte hit permanent å ta master her. Kuuult! Vel, når jeg sa ordet permanent kom jeg på noe. Han jeg jobber med på Cemus er opprinnelig fra Tyrkia. Han har nå fått permanent oppholdstillatelse i Sverige og ville feire dette. Jeg fikk melding der det stod: "Jeg har fått permanent...og vil feire dette" da jeg hadde drukket noen glass rødvin leste jeg bare permanent og øl, og trodde han hadde tatt permanent (krøller) og ville feire dette med noen øl :D haha bare jeg som kan missforstå sånne greier :D Morsomt. Vel jeg er glad på hans vegne :)

Hva har folk i baggasjen?

...kom hjem åtte imorges etter en hysterisk morsom tur ut igår. Dette er refleksjonene dagen etter :D

...kom på å tenke på at jeg synes det er morsomt at folk er så nysgjerrige på hva folk har i bagasjen. Når noen åpner kofferten sin på flyplassen av noen anledning, blir folk ekstremt ivrig på å se hva de har pakket i kofferten sin. Jeg merket at jeg er akkurat lik. Jeg så noen i Moskva som åpnet baggasjen sin, og jeg ble med ett veldig interessert i å se hva de hadde pakket :D

Why?

...there is no going back...

As I now are very much into Mongolia history, Mongolian culture and in general Mongolia`s development, many questions have crossed my mind. Mongolia has been dependent on their livestock and nomadic lifestyle for hundreds of years, and now it is changing. It is changing mostly due to the democratic revolution in the 1990s, but also because many animals die due to the harsh climate (http://svtplay.se/v/2079385/rapport/svalt_hotar_efter_massdod_av_boskap_i_mongoliet)

The causes of this is that a lot of people move into the cities (urbanization) , mainly Ulaanbaatar, to search for new income. As there are barely enough jobs to those already living here this creates unemployment and alcohol abuse. People go into business as illegal mining and other move abroad in search for work. This kind of development will happened to fall under the category "unsustainable development" from my point of view.

What do I mean with that? I think sustainable development is more about believes, philosophy, religion and lifestyle more than anything else. It is not about sorting garbage or turning off lights, it is a certain way of thinking of other human beings, its connection and coexistence with nature and other living creatures on this planet.

In Mongolia`s case; there are many aspects of how the development can be more sustainable. I will mention a few: I think a more sustainable development would be to try to sustain the nomadic lifestyle as it starts to die out. In that sense I mean to develop the nomads as they want, and from their perspective. It is clear and not surprising that the nomads want to develop, and I am not against that. And; with development I DO NOT only think about monetary development, but also development of communities, skills, social interactions, technical tools and education. I think the state and the people should be better so build on what already exist in the culture and tradition. One of the things that really can be done; is to tool/educate the nomads in a way where they can develop their products further, instead of selling the sheep wool straight to the producer. In this chain the nomads "loose a lot of money" and they would first of all, learn to know different processes of generating products from their dairy- and animal products and advance the technology and knowledge on how they can proceed with their base products.

Another suggestion is that they cluster together and make a community with more Ger`s cooperating, this will make it easier for them to cooperate with the Soum (district) and maybe get small loans to start own business. By doing it this way, they do not need to send stuff to China for them to process it and send it back. In this way they have advanced their lifestyle, increased income and contributed for a more self-sustained resource base in Mongolia.

There are Mongolians saying that the nomadic lifestyle is "long-gone" and that I have to let go off the believe that we can sustain it. "We want to develop as you! We want to reach your level of welfare!" I understand that people think in this way. (And who am I to say that the Chinese cannot have one car each, we in Norway have that!) But then first of all, there has to be created JOBS to them before they let go off the nomadic lifestyle. There has to be another way out, apart from the street...

Secondly, based on the over-consumption, eating disorders, suicide rates, garbage, food waste, oil dependency, energy consumption and in general the unawareness of how our lifestyle harms or degrades others lives. And how hard it is to live a life today without getting "dirt on your hands". It is too hard to say: Well, as we in the "West" have lost the basis of what is the meaning of life, lost our believes, lost our values of taking care of others, of what creates a good community...of what makes others happy. We have turned too individualistic. And; you should develop as us, but after doing that - you will see that there is no easy going back.

Well, the other side says that; Norway is one of those countries that have the most artificial countryside. The norwegian state has put money in these rural areas longer than most other countries to sustain them, so they do not die out, as they cannot make this without support from the state. How can I then argue for keeping the nomadic culture, when our own country cannot base its agriculture without major input from the state (that Mongolia does not have)

Also, how can I say that we should keep the nomadic lifestyle, as contemporary Norway is so far away from the original lifestyle as compared to 100 year ago. In comparisons with Mongolians that are much closer to their original way of life.

Well, this is the heart of the dilemma. This is the thousand dollar question.

Obviously I can not answer this question and I do not have a clear answer to it, but I think it is most important to discuss it. Some of my suggestions are above for how to advance and sustain the nomadic culture. On the other hand, there are various initiatives on a nation-basis that can be done, and that I know they are working with at the moment. For example de-centralization (more power to the local provinces and districts), land management plans and capacity building. But with the rate of corruption, it is hard to see progress on what policies already made.

Just one example of the bad impact of globalization (as I also saw in India, with the debt of the farmers in Andra Pradesh), is that the nomads now get more and more goats. This is due to the increased global cashmere prize. So, the farmers get more goats and this leads to degradation of land, because the goats eat the seed/root of the plant (whereas the sheep only eats the top). This leads to that the plant to not regenerate and there will be less grass the next year. As each nomad has around 800 animals (increased: 20 years ago there was 20 million animals, now there are 44 million animals in Mongolia), and 30 percent of the country are nomads, increased industry/mining, AND there is only 1 % arable land due to high mountains in the west and desert in the south, it is not weird that the nomads have troubles finding good grazing areas for their livestock. On top of this, the desertification in the south is increasing and this causes more nomads to move from south to north and the fight for resources increases.

As the globalization invades and increase power every day, it is important to have leaders that fight for the people that most needs it. We have to have leaders that stand up for the poor and speak the weakest rights. Today, there are no leaders that really dear to take a stand, "to think outside the box" and to be radical in their believes. I hope and wish for leaders that can follow Gandhi`s example and can really make a change that will lead us to a healthier relationship with nature, end poverty and most important of all; "believe in the change within you"

Nok om "glade nordmenn", det èr språket!

...bevist med eksempel fra sverige og Göteborg. (Tips fra Marthe)
Interessant klipp fra "Svenska Dialektmysteriet":

Under the stars...

Finally, the opportunity came to me! After too many days of " learning the hard way" I have finally deserved some fee-time. As a friend just told me, we scandinavians always need a "good opportunity" to deserve time off and I happened to fall under that category I`m afraid. Well; on my journey I met this amazing people. Its a family with a some swedes and some mongolians. I got to know this guy, Joakim (works at Uppsala University) when David and me were on our way to Stockholm. We were going to meet another guy in Sthlm in connection to my visit to Mongolia, and this guy happened to sit next to us on the train and could tell that he has lived and worked in Mongolia and were going there this summer. As I didnt know anyone there, he asked if he could help. This guy and his family shows to be one of the nicest people I have ever met. First I went with them to a summer/health resort. Yes, I had thousand different images in my head on how a Mongolian summer resort would look like, and off course it was nothing as I had imagined. Among dry steppes, hundreds of kilometers and between lots of Ger`s, a paradise appeared! I could not believe my own eyes? Imagine kind off french riviera, not sea but a big lake, free spa, lots of space, bright sun, delivered food (!), oil that is healthy for the skin, no dirt and no tourists! And so cheap! Crazy feeling. Well, we stayed there two nights, had wine and enjoyed the spa feeling.

After one day in Ulaanbaatar, the same family asked me if I wanted to go to the Gobi Desert with them. And, off course, as my time in Mongolia was quite rough and I really needed to do something else this was not even a choice for me. Five days in the desert was amazing. 1200 km south east from Ulaanbaatar to a place called Sainshand which is the capital of the Dornogovi Province in Mongolia. Our goal on the tour was an energy centre, which is suppose to be one of the most magnetic and energetic places on earth, different rituals and buddhist practices were carried out. Well, we slept without our tents ("under åpen himmel") that night to inhale all energy possible. My first time to sleep out in nature in that way. It was amazing. So many stars! I now understand why the country is called "the blue sky". I woke up at 4 with a layer of sand in my face, and just came across my dream that was about rubbing in my face with body lotion the whole night because of the dry air :D We took off and the monk met us at the entrance. Just after 5 we could see the horizon covered of a bright, warm light that got shaped as the sun after only a few minutes. Sutras and yoga-like-practices were done to welcome the sun and to start the day constituting of various buddhist rituals. The moment were breath-taking.

Well, after miles on a bumpy road we found a Ger to sleep in that night. It was raining. I slept many hours that night, compared to the nights before. Finally some good sleep, even no dreams?! I always used to dream? Maybe the meditation made even my brain sleep that night. The next morning I was ready for new bumps, hours with traditional Mongolian music and endless landscape

Nomadic Lifestyle

Forgot to write in english last time, sorry :) A month has passed. Already? Well, even though the first month went really fast does it still feel that I have a lot of time left. I miss Norway, my friends and family. Now more than before when I have been out traveling. Well two years since I have experienced norwegian summer and norwegian national day. Two years since I have tasted norwegian strawberries, half a year since I have seen my sister...and even longer since I have seen many of my other friends. This, due to studying, hard work and not much vacation. Not only am I studying nomadic lifestyle, I have adopted it myself as well?! A lot is learned the last two years for me, something the easy way, other things the hard way.

Now, this was not meant to be a blog that summerize my two years, neither a blog for tears and sorrows. This blog was dedicated to actually show you some of the pictures I have taken the last month. You have seen some already, but here are some more.

Another funny thing that happened the other day. I went up the stairs of Cafè Amsterdam (where I used to sit), in the moment I was approaching the counter; I saw my teachers from high school! Haha, I couldnt believe it. My norwegian teacher and biology teacher form Gerhard Schøning School. I went straight over to them. The moment she saw me, she almost fainted :D They were a group of 4 women, and took the transsiberian railway with target on Tibet. I was not the first known person they had met on their trip though. Inger could tell me that she even met her teacher! And she was 92! They said; now its only left to meet one of our students. And what happened? I had dinner with them at night and we talked about the "old days" ;) Very nice to meet them.

Well, this weekend? Yes, I am going to a summer resort just outside Ulan Bator with some swedish and mongolian friends. One guy from Uppsala University and his family. So cute kids! And a mongolian girl that has lived in sweden for 7 years, together with some of her friends. Cant wait to put my bikini on, swim in the lake, finally have some time off and relax. 40 degrees and sandstorm here :P

Hope you are all good back home :)