Reading Norwegian poems

So, halfway through the semester I decided to take on a new class: Sound recording! It is a really cool class where we get to play around in a really high quality studio, and I already feel like a much better sound engineers than what I was before. The studio is in fact so awesome that it is equipped with a entirely separate power supply from the rest of the building, so that the power drills down in the the wood shop will not disturb our signal! These outlets are yellow, as opposed to the regular white outlets.

Also, we get to use really good microphones and and pre-amps, the recording rooms are super-silent, and so everything is prepared for wonderful recordings. My first real assignment was to read a text in my native language, and then set music to it. Text by Sondre Bratland. Music by Michael W. Smith. Love by Maria.

Michael W. Smith: Freedom

Sondre Bratland: Syng Meg Heim

This summer

I don’t plan to write a lengthy blog post this time, but I realize some of you would be interested to know what I’m up to now that CMU has released me of duty for a few months. Hence, here comes a short update on my life.

First and foremost: I am delighted to actually meet my wonderful girlfriend. Skype is a beautiful piece of software; but as any true Electrical and Computer Engineering major can tell you, hardware is much more exciting than software. And truly, she is even more amazing here in the real world.

I also got myself a summer job. I am now working as an “FDV Engineer” at Bybanen AS, a company that runs a newly built light railway in Bergen. The official opening will be on June 22nd, and Her Majesty will herself cut the tape. My over-refined title aside, I am very exited to work here, this was exactly were I dreamed about working before I started my job search. Hence, I decided to just send them a simple application, in case they needed anyone. Amazingly they did, and they hired me even before they met me.

Now I want to do some good work for Bybanen, so they won’t regret that they hired me. This is the work I wanted; now I must put my heart in it. I must be creative, be impulsive, be active. Be curious, but respectful. Not unlike what a good boyfriend should be like.

This summer I hope to learn much more about that.

What has faith got to do with it?

I’ve now submitted my synthesis paper in my class on religion and power. My previous paper in this class was a summary of one of Dawkins’ chapters from The God Delusion, and you can read that in its entirety here on this blog. Sadly, you say, I will not publish my synthesis paper here. Let me explain why.

I am simply not at peace with distributing the synthesis paper as it is right now. It is not so much the style issues I am worried about, nor do I worry about my academic analysis of the positions I am synthesising; it is not the quality of the paper I am concerned with. But frankly, I am not sure if I am being totally honest; I am not sure if I am fair, because I searched for what I wanted to find, I dug, and I found it. I need to feel more solid ground beneath my feet before you can all read it.

Nevertheless, I’ll give you the short version of my thoughts, without all the quotes and different authors and positions and that jazz. It is like the paper without the academic evidence. And only dealing with the Christian case. And more personal. In short, a more sincere heartsong. So, what has faith got to do with it?

But wait! What has faith got to do with what? Well, with religion and power of course. More precisely, what is faith, and how does your answer to that question affect your view on the relationship between the church and political institutions? For instance, a Christian may think it is a good thing for the church to invest much time and money in politics and lobbyism. Another Christian may think that is the worst thing the church could do. What is the difference between the faith of the first one and the second one?

In my personal Christian terminology, the body of all believers is referred to as “the body of Christ,” so in my mind, the church and the body of Christ is equivalent. Therefore, I’ll start off by substituting the word “church” in the hypothetical sentences above:

For instance, a Christian may think it is a good thing for the body of Christ to invest much time and money in politics and lobbyism. Another Christian may think that is the worst thing the body of Christ could do. What is the difference between the faith of the first one and the second one?

I mean, are these two Christians really part of the same body? They may have a somewhat similar vision of the future world, but they are headed in two profoundly different directions to get there. It seems to me as though there are two bodies of Christ, then. (So I’d love to ask, which of these bodies looks the most like Jesus? But I won’t really emphasise that question, it’s slightly off the point.)

This black and white analysis is of course not accurate at all. And neither is my next assumption, namely that faith is either factual doctrines, or hope and confidence. Of course, to most believers, faith is both hope, confidence and doctrines. But for the sake of the argument, bear with me.

Faith is many times depicted as knowing something for certain without really knowing it. For instance, young earth creationists argue that we should teach creationism in schools because that is what Genisis seems to suggest (at least by the literal interpretation these guys pledge to). They are pretty certain this literal interpretation is about what happened back then, so they rule out guided evolution and Big Bang as scientific non-sense. You see, to them, faith is to take the Bible seriously – and by seriously, they mean literally. Faith has become this exercise to believe in something they really have no reason to believe, the Bible aside. The same can be said for moral truths; “If you take the Bible seriously, you understand that homosexuality is sin,” and “If you take the Bible seriously, you understand that abortion is murder” etc. In this version of faith, to take the bible seriously has become to believe in certain historical and moral doctrines.

My guess is that most young Christians today that vote against homosexual marriages do so because it is part of their moral doctrine, not because they are homophobic.

The other version of faith is described as hope and confidence. In this version of faith, doctrines are less important, and having faith is really more about living in the hope and confidence that God will provide. This is the kind of faith we find when people are “taking a step in faith” and do something even when they cannot predict the outcome; sometimes they even have little to fall back on. Such faith can make a believer change his career plans, humble himself to ask for forgiveness in difficult situations, pray for random people on the street or open his house to strangers; this faith is confident that God forgives the past, and is living in hope for a world were God reigns and the lion sleeps with the lamb.

To me, it seems like the two faces of faith have little in common. Can they really be the same thing? Some even argue they are completely distinct. I can only examine myself, and find that I probably have a little of both. But, and this is the main point of the entire blog post, I strive to emphasise hope and confidence, because that is where the beauty in faith is found. What is beautiful about being certain the world was created 6000 years ago? Nothing! What is beautiful about being certain homosexuality is sin? Nothing, nothing, nothing is beautiful about being certain of other people’s sin! Nothing!

Being aware of your own sins, on the other hand, is quite useful. You need to acknowledge your sin if you want to be cleansed and beautified. That is what repentance is all about! But the process of beautification is first and foremost a fight with your own demons. As Jesus so wisely put it, “first take the plank out of your own eye.” This is why I believe there are so many moral guidelines in the Bible; not because being certain of the truth to them is a point in itself, but because we in the process of beautification sometimes need to be remained of what we are up against. And so can we struggle with were we find ourselves.

This focus on hope and confidence - life - of faith, also has another particular merit to it worth of mention: It allows for a much more honest discussion of the Bible, without shaking the foundation of faith. For instance, if someone has difficulties reconciling the creation story of the Bible with their scientific worldview, this can now be discussed without putting their entire faith at stake. If someone struggles with the passages condemning homosexuality, now at least it doesn’t shake their foundation of faith.

Finally, I argue this approach makes one less inclined to fight politically, for two reasons: The first being precisely that moral and historical truths are more ambiguous and open to discussion. To clarify: You may of course still argue this and that politically, but you are more hesitant to attribute these opinions to Jesus and his body of believers. The second reason is this: if faith is to give up life to be fully beautiful in hope and confidence that God provides, then you have all these planks to fight before you would even think of the sawdusts of those other people. You still have a moral and factual platform, sure; but exactly what that looks like is not a question you care too much to answer. “Rather,” you say, “ask what is the most beautiful thing to do right now.”


Read more:
Warrior of Agape: Why Dawkins is so hostile

Skydive

"Do one thing every day that scares you"
- Mary Schmich
Christian is this amazing guy that I don't really hang out with that much, but every now and then he invites me to do crazy stuff. Last semester, I stayed over at his uncle's house in NYC for Thanksgiving (which resulted in this video). Back then he invited me only a few days before break. Late last night he again invited me to impulsive action, this time to go Skydiving. Much fun :-)

I probably won't make a habit out of Skydiving, though, (expensive and environmentally questionable as it is,) but I hope to make a habit out of acting on impulse. I hope to make a habit of trying new things, make a habit of creating stories. Not always the most crazy stories, not necessarily the stories that everyone are talking about - the point of the story is not to be told, but to be lived. It is about staying alive.

By the way, this was an impulse my rationality considered pretty safe, despite my body's hesitance. Let me assure you, I do not think seeking a kick for it's own sake has a higher purpose - that would be stupid. So, yes, I think some skydivers are stupid. They are stupid when they do crazy stuff they can't possibly consider safe. I do not, however, think those many divers who discover beauty in the skies are stupid, as they simply jump to appreciate that. For them, it is not all about the kick anymore - it is about enjoying fresh air, the sun, the clouds, a magnificent view and an extra dimension of movement.

"Only skydivers know why the birds sing"
- Unknown
Read more:
Our host: Skydive PA

Christmas wishes

I used to distribute my Christmas wishes to my family as a neatly organized list of nice things for a boy my age to have. It was only the latest years the list included actual useful stuff, like clothes, and most items were usually way to expensive for anyone to buy. Thus, also included in the wish list was a step-by-step procedure for how to collaborate when buying presents. I was always ambitious writing the Christmas wish list.

I have stopped distributing these. I no longer feel they are appropriate. In fact, I am kind of ashamed I sent out those lists for so long. They were more than slightly materialistic, and totally without any self-awareness of it. Now, I am still materialistic in nature, and would be happy to receive a lot of expensive stuff, and I enjoy unwrapping those packs with nice things in them. However, this Christmas I’ve decided to wish for something more noble:

Support for my spring break trip to Monte Cristi in the Dominican Republic, were I am going to help an organization called “Orphanage Outreach” alongside a bunch of fellow Carnegie Mellon students.

So, instead of buying me a sweater for, say, 200 kr, then buy me a cheap pair of socks or a fair-trade chocolate plate for 30 kr, and then donate 170 kr to Orphanage Outreach. Or, instead of buying me a fine vintage wine (dunno why you would do that, but if so), then buy me some exotic soft drink you found in the Asian food store, and donate the difference to Orphanage Outreach.

You can donate and read one of my very short scribblings about the trip here:
Donate to Orphanage Outreach

If you want to donate, beware that the amounts are in dollars, not in kroner. Adjust accordingly, I don’t want to ruin ya’ll so you can’t afford lamb ribs for Christmas! And you are of course most welcome to donate even if you didn’t plan to send me a present this year.

Orphanage Outreach: Donate
Calculate amount: Valutakurser (Norwegian)
YouTube: Villanova University on similar trip
Carnegie Mellon University: Alternative Break
Charity Navigator: Charities with the Most Consecutive 4-Star Ratings

Hugs

I’ll like to dedicate this blog post to all those hugs you guys have given me over the last week. Sometimes things are hard to talk about. Sometimes talk it is tiring, because so many loving and caring people are all asking the same questions, or at least questions to which I must give similar answers. Sometimes a hug is the best there is.

As most of you know by now, my Dad was just diagnosed with cancer. They discovered this big malicious brain tumour, which they successfully removed by surgery last Monday. He is now recovering from the big cut they made in his skull. While still waiting for those wounds to heal, he is being transferred to the cancer department at the Hospital for further treatment. Please visit Dad’s blog to read more about my hero’s journey through the valley of the shadow of death.

Last summer, I was travelling the Midwest with my parents. Dad was having a sabbatical at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and happened to just finish a conference in Salt Lake City when I had my vacation. Our road trip back to Ann Arbour went through Bryce Canyon, Yellowstone (which turned out to be my favourite place of all time), Minot, Edmonton, Minneapolis, Chicago, and many smaller places along the way. In Chicago, the plan was to spend two nights before I would board a flight back to Europe, and Mom and Dad would return to Ann Arbor.

However, as I tried to check in at O’Hare International Airport, the machine kept telling me that I had a void reference number. It wasn’t until the lady in the desk told me, that I realized I had missed the flight – by a day. It was my fault. I had messed up. So many times, I had told my parents, “my flight is leaving the 3rd. I’m positive.” Not so. I deserved someone yelling at my blown up self-confidence. As I turned away from the desk lady to tell my parents, I knew that any scold, anger, frustration or evil eyes would be totally justified.

But Dad just hugged me.

So, when I Skype-chatted with my brother the previous week, the most important thing I could tell him was to give Dad a hug from me. The moment when we then ended our chat with two of those CMU-invented smiley-faces, was the moment when I first felt the gravity of the situation. Woh. Dad could go away. What if my kids won’t get to meet their wonderful grandfather? Oh no....

Read more:
Dad's blog: Rapporter fra Stein Arild (if you don't know Norwegian, you can read the Google-translated version in english)
Free hugs: Free hugs campaign

Healthy homesickness

A returning question that I get asked from time to time is whether or not I’m homesick. It surely is a legitimate question, as the distance from home is greater than any other place I’ve lived, and never before have I been continuously away from my roots for this long. “However,” I usually tell my friendly inquisitors, “keep in mind that I have lived away from home for five years already.” I moved in to my first apartment at age 16 to go to high school in Knarvik, which was a prolonged one-hour drive away from home. After four years at high school and two more apartments, I spent a year in the barracks of the Norwegian infantry, far north of any sophisticated civilization, before I ended up in Henderson House here at Carnegie Mellon.

So in general, I am used to be away from home, and I am not homesick. At least I am not as homesick as one of my roommates in the army was, I mean, he was seriously homesick; he was on the phone with his family for at least two hours a day. Occasionally he would smash his head against the wall and scream in frustration of not being home. While others said “anywhere but here,” he would say “nowhere but home.”

He had my sympathy, and I learned a lot from observing him. I learned that there is value – real value – in loving your home. The more I think of this guy, the more impressed I am with how much he appreciated home, and the more I realize that value for myself. He inspired me to draw my beloved home city Bergen and post it on my cork plate. The Bergen drawing followed my plate throughout my time in the army, despite changes in room and roommates. He also, though more indirectly, inspired me to bring a camera to Stoltzekleiven and Fløien to take pictures of my favourite trail before I left off to the states. I now use one of those photographies, one with the exact same motif as the drawing from the army, as my desktop wallpaper. See above.

I regret that I don’t have a photo of my Bergen drawing on this computer, but if it happens to strike me as a good idea to post the drawing whenever I come back to our family computer, then maybe you will have a chance to see it. It won’t be soon, though.

I haven’t talked too much with my parents, and I haven’t smashed my head to the wall. I don’t feel like I’m missing my pre-college life, and I don’t at all consider to transfer to the University of Bergen. Yet, I am proud to announce that I, at least a little bit, miss home. I love to talk about home with my friends – I like to portray for them the beauty of Bergen. I enjoy to explain what the narrow streets looks like, how they climb from the fjord up the abrupt mountain sides, twisting and turning as they were shaped by time and topology; I like to describe how you can bath in the sea in the middle of the city, and how the taste of the salt water compares to that in the fresh lakes only 30 minutes of hiking away. And of course, I am super-excited to show people my wallpaper, point out all the different places, buildings and restaurants, and tell why they matter to me.

However much Pittsburgh is a fabulous place – it is not home.

Read more:
Warrior of Agape: WeHe
Wikipedia: Bergen
Visit Norway: Bergen

WeHe!

Henderson House is awesome. When I got accepted at Carnegie Mellon (CMU) this spring, the question of housing quickly arose. After spending hours of research on the official Housing site, College Prowler and Facebook discussions, I was left with three options: I could live off campus in an apartment, I could live in the finer of the standard dorms, Mudge House, or I could apply to live in Henderson House, a dorm which offered something called “wellness housing.”

At first, living off campus seemed quite appealing, as I was slightly tired of the dorm-like living arrangements in the army. But as I read the discussions about housing on Facebook, I was contaminated by the enthusiasm (not sure whether that expression is solid or not) that everybody seemed to have about dorms, so I decided to live on campus. Time has yet to judge whether I made the right choice, but the first week has made me a firm optimist.

Henderson House is awesome. The “wellness” –thing is about keeping the dorm substance free and promote a healthy lifestyle in both personal and global perspectives. And since those who live here all had to write a few lines about why they belong in a dorm with such values, everybody are exceptionally great people. The house is one of two silver L.E.E.D. certified “green buildings” on campus, and it has good recycling systems available. And, there is air condition.

There are about twenty freshmen in Henderson House. That is not particularly much. Not compared to, say, Mudge, where there are almost 250 freshmen residents (educated guess). Therefore, Henderson and Welch (the quiet living dorm, which neither have many freshmen) spent much time together during orientation, and we also share the same “Housefellow” and Community Advisor. Welch and Henderson = WeHe.

Orientation, by the way, was probably the most intense week in world history, perhaps second to the seven first days of creation. At the end of the week, we were so psychologically exhausted of meeting new people we didn’t even introduce ourselves to strangers around the dinner table, we just chatted about music, the events and whatnot. I am still having trouble pronouncing “environmental,” though, despite that I have said it hundreds of times (I also find “warrior” to be a hard word).

Talking about pronunciation, Nathan (one of our awesome Resident Assistants) says I have a charming dialect, and will have no problem with the girls. Andrew, on the other hand, a random guy with ancestry from Poland, felt bad when he found out that I “actually talked like that,” referring to my heavily British-influenced accent.

As I am searching for a way to sum up these vague glimpses into life at CMU, I get handed a fresh piece of delicious chocolate cake, straight from the oven. It was tonight’s project for junior Daphny and her boyfriend (whose name escapes me); it was the true incarnation of “wellness housing.” Classes starts tomorrow. Henderson House is awesome.

WeHe!

More:
Orientation 2009: CMUtv

Moving to Pittsburgh

Finally, here comes the blog post you have all been waiting for; the blog post that tells you everything about my new life in Pittsburgh, what I think of my classmates, how the dialect of my roommate sounds, which professor is the most disorganized... But actually, I still haven’t met anyone that I am sure to meet again. So I’ll just tell you the same things I told the guys at the international orientation ice cream social.

Yes, I am moving to Pittsburgh. I checked in to the Carnegie Mellon (CMU) campus today, where I’ll probably be hanging around at for the next four years. I’ll major in either civil and environmental engineering or electrical and computer engineering, but I’ll take both introductory courses in my freshman year. I come from Norway, a country that you can probably place approximately on a map, despite that I am the first Norwegian guy you meet. I have not been to Asia, at least if you don’t count the international orientation ice cream social.

I arrived in Pittsburgh two days ago, after a trip that lasted almost 40 hours; when I landed in Detroit, I had to check my luggage through customs, which made me lose my connection flight to Pittsburgh. So they put me on a plane to Philadelphia, but I didn’t catch the flight to Pittsburgh there either, and I had to spend the night. At least I was in Pennsylvania. I got on the next afternoon flight to Pittsburgh, and by the time I came to Oakland, where CMU is located, it was already sunset. Time had come to find the bed and breakfast –place I had found on Google Maps.

It turned out that the bed and breakfast was not bed and breakfast at all, but luxury suites. However, I appreciated that they had a vacancy; after all, I was walking around in a foreign city in the dark with 30 kg on my back and a big, unmanageable blanket in my arms.

The next day I spent exploring the campus area, setting up a bank account, talking to the student health service about my vaccinations, paying the tuition fee, handing in my final grade report and so forth. In the evening I went to explore downtown, and I found thousands of people dressed up in black and yellow, all gravitating towards a big stadium called “Heinz Field.” I figured I might as well follow them and see what happen. I bought a ticked from a guy who had too many, which saved me $20. More than 28 000 attended the game, but the stadium wasn’t even half filled.


It was a pre-season game between Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals, the two Superbowl finalists from 2008. Like then, the Steelers won. I had never seen a game of American football before, but the kind, old lady that sat next to me explained the essentials, and by the end of the game, I’d figured out most of it. I bought a “terrible towel” in support of the Steelers, but I hesitated to use it when I was told that to wave it was meant as a curse on the other team.

My thoughts on American football: Way too much breaks. The players don’t even get tired! What is it about this fighting for four seconds -thing, and then having tactics for fourty? They should at least cut the “waiting time” in half; maximum twenty seconds from the down till the game must start again. And also, there should be fewer substitutes. What are there, three or four different line-ups available for each team? I think tired athletes would make room for more touchdowns, which, no big secret, is the fun part. Let’s call the new game “battleball” or something, and eventually the old American football would die, and even the Americans will forget that they used to call real football for soccer.

Today I moved in to my dorm, and I took the bus to “Waterfront” on the south shore of the Monongahela River to buy bed linens. I also got slightly lost when I tried a new route to the suite where I had my bag, but not more than what common sense and friendly Pittsburghers could handle. I have learned that 5th Ave and Forbes Ave are the two most useful references for getting around, and that CMU is located about as far from the shopping district in Oakland as it is from the shopping district in Squirrel Hill. My dorm is also on the completely opposite side of campus of the building where I’ll have my early morning classes in math and physics. I’ve decided to get a bicycle. I still haven’t seen a grocery store.

Read more:
Pittsburgh: Best place to live
Tartans: Carnegie Mellon University
Wikipedia: Heinz Field
Wikipedia: American footballl

Keeping up with programming

How many times have you told yourself to do something, bought the book that tell you how to do it, started to read it, and then given it up after a few sessions? For instance, I tried to learn programming; I bought the book, read a few pages, wrote a program, and then... I never opened the book again.

That was a few years ago. Now I’ve started over. I attend a Stanford Engineering Everywhere (SEE) course called “Programming Methodology,” which is a very recommendable introduction course in java. It is quite handy; I carry the lectures around on my iPod Touch, and I get all the software and handouts I need from the SEE website.

Right now, I’m at a critical moment – it has been a while since I last attended a lecture, even though I find the lectures to be really interesting and engaging. I also couldn’t remember what my last assignment was about when I was talking about it with a friend.

It is obviously time to get a grip, and convince myself that programming is fun. Not as an attempt to deceive myself, but rather as an effort to recognise the truth. Actually, I believe most of us sometimes have to sit down, take it easy and tell ourselves the truth about our daily warfares. It is so easily twisted...


Read more:
SEE: Programming Methodology

Snow and other events

Is it still May? I almost can’t believe it. So much has happened; the snow yesterday almost made me believe fall had begun again.

Yes, it actually snowed yesterday. It’s times like those you know you are far north; the sun never goes down, it is late in May, and it SNOWS. The alarm that woke me up also made me do some strange choices in clothing and packing my backpack. I put cotton pants on, and not the membrane, and put wool pants in the backpack instead of a wool sweater. Marching up the mountain through moist bushes and melting snow, we did get wet.

It was the great final in our week of war technique. We spent every day outdoors, and did many cool tasks, including hiding in the woods, throwing grenades, attacking enemy positions with the squad, physical tests and a 15 km run fully equipped, and lots of other fun. It was tiring, though; especially since I had another 15 km run the day before this circus started.

The annual trip over the seven mountains that surround Bergen was held the same day as I was returning to the cold north. As I had to make it to my airplane departure, I only had time for the short version, four mountains. One of my best mates and me started tough; we knew we had a tight schedule. But we might have gone a little too hard; my not-so-used-to-travel-far-distances-by-foot friend had a hard time the last two thirds of the distance.

Before I came to Bergen to walk the mountains and enjoy some time with old friends, I was in Lourdes, France, at the International Military Pilgrimage (PMI). Although I’m not a catholic, it was an absolutely tremendous experience. I don’t want to write too much about it at this blog, as we have created another blog dedicated to the trip (unfortunately for my international audience, it is in Norwegian only). If you understand Norwegian, I strongly encourage you to visit it.

That was all for now. Till next time – enjoy life! (It may take a while, as I am supposed to work on my exam in philosophy the next week, and more exams are to come)

Read more:
BT: Slik var 7-fjellsturen (Norwegian)
Our blog from PMI: Pilegrimsblogg (Norwegian)

Busy times

Not a single blog post in over a month! There are a few different reasons for that, the most important one being that I haven’t felt the same urgent need of expressing myself that I felt at the beginning of the year. This post is dedicated to those other reasons.

Not that there has not been plenty to write about, of course it has. For instance, I participated in a great exercise called “Cold Response,” in late March. Forces from several different NATO countries participated in a giant attack against my battalion and the Danes. We were the “enemies” in the exercise. My squad was at a point stuck in a storm at the top of a mountain 500 meters above the landscape. A frightening experience that I’ll tell my grandchildren about; a story that may well have been published here at the blog. But at the same time, we had no Internet access on the mountain, and I didn’t bring my laptop either. So I couldn’t write anything then.

When we came back, I was kind of tired. But I had to hand in an assessment in philosophy before the end of the week, as a part of my exphil exam (I am taking a university course in philosophy while being a private in the army). These philosophy assessments are of course interesting – I enjoy thinking about stuff like that, and my toughs on such matters kind of belong on a blog like this. But when I am done writing my assessments, which inconveniently enough are in Norwegian, my need to express myself is kind of fulfilled. Besides, I don’t feel any excitement at the though of translating all those difficult words into English.

I was of course home for my Easter holiday – as a warrior of Agape, I would indeed love to write a post about Easter – but there was this bunch of unfinished paperwork waiting for me, as I am currently applying for a US student visa. Even though I spent hours reading about, and filling in, the application, I didn’t manage to post it before yesterday – a trip worthy a blog post of it’s own. All this visa stuff caused me a little stress, and if I were to use the computer, I would always read the visa application instructions one more time, rather than writing some sensible blog post.

Additionally, I have a hard time finding the online housing application at the university I am enrolling at. I still haven’t figured it out, and the application due is approaching... I guess I should have called for some assistance before I leave for the next exercise tomorrow. But then again, it’s Sunday.

Just so you know, I didn’t spend all Easter stressing around – we took a vacation from Maundy Thursday to Monday, spending time at the Internet free zone of my grandfathers’ farm. We went for a cross-country skiing roundtrip in the surrounding abrupt mountains, and brought the dog. Which didn’t turn out to be the best of ideas, as the dog wasn’t as up for the challenge as it used to be, and the snow wasn’t excatly dry. Besides, cross-country skies in abrupt mountains is only a good idea on the way up... Sunburnt, exhausted and tremendously satisfied we returned to civilization after five hours at almost 1000 meters height above sea level.

Another Revelation

Just recently, my view of George W. Bush was completely turned upside down, an experience I shared here on this blog. Today, another person I have been demonizing through the years blew me away with his engagement in agape goodness: Bill Gates suddenly became a hero.

I have always sworn to different platforms than Microsoft. Well, I did use Windows for a few years, but I always had Linux installed as well. And the recent years, Mac has been the favourite. But that choice might not have been solely based upon objective reasoning; I did not like Bill Gates. He was the incarnation of evil – I even remember playing a game called XBill on Linux; a splatter game where small Bill Gates –figures tried to install Windows on my computers, and my objective was to kill them before they did so.

I was convinced that a man that made such amounts of money and almost had monopoly on the market, had to be bad. I had never even read an article about him, much less heard him speech or got to know him. I just hated him, and a group of us made up all sorts of conspiracy theories. We heard that he gave away thousands of computers to children in Africa – market investment, we named it, blind to the goodness.

That is years ago now. But I kept my groundless scepticism towards Gates, even through my transition into agape warfare. So it was with a slight hesitation that I decided to watch a TED Talk with Bill Gates today. A talk that opened my eyes.

Read more:
TED Talks: Bill Gates Unplugged
Prejudice-creating game: XBill.org
Brad Templeton: Bill Gates Wealth Index (outdated, but funny)
Warrior of Agape: A Dumb President?

Warfare Experience

We got t-shirts from the battalion today. Really cool ones, kaki coloured with the famous griffin on front, and “Norwegian ARMY” printed in big, black letters on the back.

In hoc signo vinces – in this sign shall thou conquer. The griff is the sign in which our battalion shall win. It is our victory mark.

During my first weeks in the military, a while ago now, the priest said something that’s been burned to my memory: Yes, in the sign of the griffin we shall indeed conquer in these earthly wars – but in the sign of the cross, we have already conquered in the far more important war.

I have chosen to fight my primary war under the sign of the cross, and become a warrior of agape. Yes, I believe we have won the decisive battle; yet there are still battles left to be fought. It sure takes the enemy some time to admit defeat. Listening to the February 15, 2009 sermon from Woodland Hills Church, studying Luke 17:22-37, I tried to think through what I have learned about warfare during my military service so far. I came up with two important lessons.

First: Mastering. The whole passage in Luke 17 suggests that tough times will come. And handling tough times is an important part of becoming a good soldier. We have gone through days without rest and food, we have been exhausted, we have felt despair, and yet been required to give another 100 percent for the next day, and for the day after. Experience that may well be valuable in spiritual warfare. We have also had wrestling matches, were sensible and thorough gentlemen like myself for once get to know what a real fight feels like.

Second: Ready for battle. It is a military principle to always have the backpack packed ready for battle. If the alarm goes on, and it happens to do so sometimes, it is important to be ready. You can’t fool around and look for all your stuff when the alarm is on! No, you have to be packed and ready to go at any moment. This is also a principle that is important in agape warfare.

Always be ready for combat – the next fight might be right around the corner. Suddenly you stand there with some extra change that the checkout lady gave you, and so the battle is on. You need to be prepared for these sorts of fights, or else you might loose them (as I did earlier today. I have prepared revenge, though).

This is how to be prepared for spiritual warfare:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people.
Ephesians 6:10-18 (TNIV)

I am thankful for what the army has taught me about mastering and preparedness. I do not look forward to use my soldier skills in a worldly fight, because I understand killing men as evil. It is not like there is nothing worse than war, sometimes there is, but war is never agape good, and I hope it never comes to that. But I do look forward to combine the divine armour with experiences done in the army, and continue our fight in the war against evil.

My Dream of Good Times

Exhausted after two weeks in the mountains, living in tents and training for a war that nobody can see coming, I'm finally home in the garrison. It is a little weird to call the garrison for home; but at least there is electricity and warm water. I am still at good health, I've had some sleep, and I've just read the week's curriculum in Ex. phil. (Examen philosophicum). It has been a good exercise.

The only bad thing about today, is that the Saturday quiz is cancelled. And I am a little bothered that some of my fellow soldiers found the exercise to be dull. But it was not. And that bothers me. I was most certainly not dull. It was good. Almost as good as a home-made pizza. It was cool. Never mind.

Later today, I plan to watch a sermon podcast from Woodland Hills Church, and then I'll post a few pictures to Facebook, and maybe watch a movie or go to a concert. Or join my friends for a pizza at the nice, local pub. I actually took a course in bartending two weeks ago, and learned a lot of things about drinks and stuff, things that I wouldn't have known at all, considering my unalcoholish lifestyle. I have never been drunk, and I plan never to be. But if I'm invited to pizza at the pub now, I might order a drink. As a simple gesture of appreciation for the invitation. As an act of agape war.

You see, I have a dream of this combined restaurant and electronics workshop, where you can work with electronics projects, order a pizza or a lasagne, tidy up and store your project while you wait for the food, eat, have a good time and informal chats with like-minded friends in the relaxation area, and maybe continue to work on the project afterwards. Whether you prefer coke, wine, beer, a drink or, like me, chocolate milk to go with the food, this should of course be available. A kind of electronics geek's heaven.

There is a lot of things to be done in order for my dream to come true. First, I have to learn some more electronics, so that I can be of any help for my customers, and also so that I can fully enjoy being in my own establishment. The plan is to study for a few years at the ECE Department at Carnegie Institute of Technology, starting this fall. During my education, I'll maybe try to start a webshop selling electronics assembly kits and useful electronics production tools. Or not. I've heard the regulations on the F1 visa is quite strict.

After graduation, or at least after I've finished my master's degree, or PhD, or at the very least after the other jobs that I might take, I'll have to make necessary arrangements for the physical appearance of the workshop-restaurant. I have to find a convenient and nice city, a beautiful wife and an appropriate venue. I have to tell about my establishment to the government, try to understand the tax regulations, learn to lead accounting, get necessary permissions for serving food, and for serving alcohol.

After my small business has been running for a while, and becomes increasingly popular due to it's ingenious concept and welcoming atmosphere, it becomes clear that it is time for an expansion. We establish workshop-restaurants in major cities, I eventually have to take an MBA, and becomes CEO of the multinational chain, giving generously of my wealth to the poor. Or we simply live happily ever after as a small business, I guess I would be just as happy.

The business could also serve as an agape warfare garrison. We would play uplifting music, contribute to our local society in educating children, and give people a healthy hobby alternative. I also hope we can invite interesting speakers that can give average Joe glimpses of insight into complicated science. So many possibilities!

Read more:
Warrior of Agape: How to Make Pizza

A dumb president?

I guess most of us left-oriented Europeans have at least a few times judged the former president of the United States to be quite dumb. But how can a man that graduated from Yale and served as a pilot in the US Army for six years, be that stupid? The rumours state that he has an IQ close to 91. However, people interested in such matters have found that Bush actually has an IQ of about 129; check out this Google Answer:

George W Bush's ACTUAL IQ

When I read this, I guess had my own prejudices thrown back at me. I suddenly felt like I had to respect the guy, despite our disagreements in politics. Which in turn led me to this question: Do I really respect and value people on the basis of their intelligence? Yet another defeat for the Warrior of Agape.

(...) whoever takes a humble place—becoming like this child—is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
Matthew 18:4-5

Read more:
Wikipedia: U.S. Persidential IQ hoax
YouTube: Bushisms

Me, Snowmobiler

I hereby proudly announce that I have passed the final exam in my military snowmobile course. Belting around in the mountains for a week now, I am thankful to be finished; yet I guess this has been one of those weeks I will long to experience once again in the future.

Snowmobiling is truly fun. You can get almost anywhere, through woods, up steep hills, and you can get there fast. At the same time, you get in touch with nature, as branches smashes into your helmet, or you suddenly find yourself buried in snow. We even met a curious reindeer herd on one of our trips.

However, snowmobiling is for the most part illegal in Norway. There are a few groomed trails, and if you request it, you could happen to receive permission to snowmobile from the road to your ridiculously desolate cabin. But apart from that, civilians are not allowed to snowmobile, not on-road nor off-road. Sámi and the military, however, may use snowmobiles.

There is of course a reason for these strict regulations on snowmobiling. It is quite obvious for anyone who has snowmobiled; on the road, you have very poor control over the vehicle, and in nature, the snowmobile is merciless with everything from medium sized trees and down. The snowmomonster may well weigh over 300 kg, excluding the driver and his baggage.

The dangers of snowmobiling are also obvious; but with proper instruction and training, such as the course I had, this should be no problem. However, I was actually left alone on a mountain with engine trouble for more than half an hour at one point. With no cell phone signal and several degrees below freezing, the situation could have been very serious if, for instance, a snowstorm had occurred, reducing tracks, sight and body temperature. It didn’t feel very frightening at the time, but as we later were forced to meditate on the matter more seriously, we learned to watch out for each other.


I took this photo alone on the mountain with my cell phone. I eventually left the dead snowmobile behind, brought my helmet and started to walk towards our camp. I was careful to show which way I was headed, with arrows and deep footsteps in the snow. But luckily, I found them looking for me when I was halfway there. I got my helmet on, and was a passenger on our way back to the snowmobile. No need for the creative arrows!

All in all, it has been a great week. I’m looking forward to be a snowmobiling warrior in my future service for our kingdom.

Read More:
How Stuff Works: How Snowmobiles Work
Snowmobilers: Safe Riders

An Undelicious Day

I suspect that I might have been a little grumpy today. It certainly hasn’t been one of those happy, unworried days that Fridays usually are. The first thing I did today was to grunt at a friend that simply asked me whether I had done my job properly or not. Of course I had done my work properly! But how could he have known? He just wanted to remind me of an easy forgettable detail. And I grunted at him.


Throughout the day, my mood gradually got worse. This was partly due to the many contradictory orders and miscommunication between those in possession to give such. We ended up with two hours of boring emptiness followed by two presentations at the same time. Of course, the two presentations couldn’t actually be held at the same time, so we had a lot of stress going through the second one within schedule.

At lunch, the confusion reached its climax when nobody knew what was going on, and those few who knew were so tired and frustrated that they told everybody to do some shit work. Which they probably thought was important. But I was not in the mood to do any of it, and people were of course irritated by my unengaged attitude towards the task, which I very correctly predicted to be unnecessary.

I was also, for a brief moment today, led to believe that I was to get some new and sparkling equipment. But this fresh excitement lasted no longer than the time it took me to put on my jacket; I was suddenly not to get it. Darned.

At dinner, I had anticipated Greek Moussaka, but were let down by cakes of minced fish, potatoes and cabbage stew. I hate fish cakes. I am neither specially fond of potatoes or cabbage stew. Actually, I established the fact that cabbage stew is undelicious today.

Now the weekend has come, and I am spreading the disease of unhappiness. I certainly need a better mood. I cannot be a Warrior of Agape when I feel like this. Please forgive me.

Read more:
wikiHow: How to Cook Greek Moussaka
wikiHow: How to Be Happy