Bill Clinton in town

As probably everyone know it's election year in the US. The 44th president is going to be elected. On saturday I was sitting on my computer and suddenly saw that Bill Clinton was coming to town. We got to War Memorial at about one hour before the doors open and the line was already long. When we finaly got in it was just like in the movies. The rock music was playing from the speakers, press and police every where. After an nother half an hour waiting a white haired man finally came up on the stage. People pay $1500 dollars to see him speak, but today he is just speaking on behalf of his wife. He spoke for about 45 minutes, covering for the most of it domestic politics. There wasn't any new changes in the message he was getting thru. When he was done speaking it was time to meet the people. It was more like rock cocert than a political meeting, but still very interesting. It's not everyday you get to see the former president and shake his hand!

New York, New York

After three weeks in Norway is was about time to head out west. Got to DC and was met by 20 degrees Celsius. First leg of the trip was up to Baltimore to pick up my sister and her friend at the airport. The plan was to drive to NY but after a while we found out that we would get there late so we decided to make a stop at Philadelphia. So after driving around for some time we finally found a place to sleep.
The next day we got up early and headed to downtown Philli. It is city that is very important in early American history. The main attraction is Independence Hall where both the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution was signed. It was also at one point the largest public building in North America (times has changed!). The city itself was a lot more alive than I thought it would be.
We finally drove on towards New York City. We were going to stay at a friend of mines place in Brooklyn. I thought it would be hard to find but it turned out to be very easy. In the evening Vicki came from London to JFK and used over two hours to get thru immigration!
The next day we tried to get up early and head on out to Manhattan. We managed to get there about 12 o'clock so we weren't very effective. The first day was massive sightseeing. World Trade Center site, Wall Street, Grand Central Station. We got a tour of the UN building which was very interesting. The whole room of the Security Council is a gift from Norway (however it looked kind of run down so it's about time that we fix it up again.) After dark we went to Times Square. I think that is the place that I found most fascinating about New York, all those people and signs. There were so many impressions in one place I could literary just stand there for hours and look at it all.
The next day went to some of the upper part of NY such as Central park, Broadway Macy’s (which was kind of disappointing). In the evening it was time for The Lion King (can't go to NY without a Broadway show), I was amazed by the costumes and how they got it all to work.
The next day we managed to get up early and went to see the Statue of Liberty (we also found out that most of the copper is from Karmoey) and Elis Island. And the night was spent in Brooklyn.
Saturday we had Erik show us around Brooklyn and getting the local tour. We went to the Norwegian store, where they even had Groennsaape (I guess so your house can smell Norwegian) everything to insane prices. There used to be a big area in Brooklyn where you could survive with just Norwegian, the so called Lapskaus Boulevard.
After spending five days in NY I just want to go back. This city has so much to offer that it is impossible to see it all in one go.
And a big thanks to Helen for letting us stay in her apartment and Erik for showing us around!!

Bilder kommer!!!

Christmas vacation

To make it possible for all the people that left VT for good to read this blog I'm going to write it in English. I'm assumeing that all you Norwegians are capable of reading it if not it's about time you learn it.

After a awsome semester at VT i headed back to the north. On my way back I had a quick stop i Vienna. I managed to do both sightseeing and shoping in about two hours.
The first week nothing happened, so coming home was relaxing. The weather was nice and cold. Which made it possible to go out on the lake and have som fun. Christmas really started as we went out to the woods to find a nice Christmas tree. After a an hour or so walking around we found one that we were happy with.
After that things started to roll. People came home for vacation and time flew. New years was a lot of fun with a lot of old friends. On the first of January we went up to the mountains to go skiing and relaxing. There was a little bit of skiing and alot of relaxing. One the way home we drove into a snow storm. Which gave about 60 (2 feet) cm in the inland, and a little less on the coast.