the luggage mafia

Getting off the plane with tired eyes, trying to figure what time it is, I am heading to the fearful zone of the luggage carusel. Will I get lucky today? Will I get my suitcase within a reasonable amount of time? Who knows. The karusel starts spinning, like the roulette of life, and i'm hoping, hoping the next bullet is for me.
no.
the next one?
no.
waiting.
Who are those people who are the first to get their bag out? Did it ever happen to you? Or to you? Are they free masons? Mossad agents? Is there a tip box for the porters i'm not aware of? Perhaps I should slip a fifty Euro bill with my passport at check in. once, for once in my lifetime I want the sun to shine on me, and to get my bag first. Or at least second. Well, tenth would also be ok.
Thirty minutes after, my bag is slowly peeking out the dragon's lair.
Perhaps next time. Who knows.

reflections with no title

Sitting on a chair in an empty airport at 5 am, watching the tired cleaners sweep the floor with their little trucks, a ground stewardess arriving to work, and counting a total of 15 people in the whole hangar, makes me think it doesn't get lonelier than this. I am leaving Bergen today, thus concluding my journey into the uncharted (my uncharted) territories of Scandinavia and Finland. I still have some time to go around Europe, but already I feel the trip is coming to an end. I haven't done everything I wanted, The north still awaits me (or rather, I'm awaiting the north), but that just means there will be another trip. It's been a good one. Who knows what the future holds. Life is indeed a sugar cane, and I am part of it.

complaining again

I have to unwind a little (again) about damn scandinavia and their damn food. Why does orange juice have to taste like rubber tires, and the lettuce in my sandwich sandy and old? Why can't they make a decent pizza, or just a proper steak, for that matter? Why do they agree to being fed shit-like “kebabs” with pathetic vegetables and ridiculous, disgusting sauces? And on top of that, why does it cost so damn much? I made kuskus to my friends the other day – one celery, a pack of carrots, one onion, one parsley bundle, one zukini, one small cauliflower – 90 krowns, about 65 shekels. Are they f$%^ insane?

I didn't

:)

beauty beauty all around part 2

I can't get enough of this so I am writing another entry. I just saw a river playing around the rocks as if they were grass. It formed a strange kind of maze, in the “can you help johnny get out of here” style. I couldn't help johnny. Between two mountain a snowy peak is peaking, just for a quick hello as the train passes by. I swear somebody is playing games here. Two clouds decided to float right next to my window, joining the ride for a few seconds, until we entered to a tunnel. And then we came out again. And another tunnel. Pick-a-boo. In the distance the clouds are moving opposite the train. Or is the train moving opposite the clouds? Some parts are shining with the light of a thousand suns, some are shady and then shining again. A small lake is seen on top of a mountain. Did it use to be snow? Tiny waterfalls decorate the slope of a brown-green mountain, choosing their own path, ignoring the rocky grounds. I just saw a new shade of blue in a tiny lake just across my window. Another violent waterfall is across the next mountain. And another snowy peak.
I have two more hours to go. I wonder if I would have had enough by then.

beauty beauty all around

It's hard not to believe in god after this train to Bergen. I read bits of a book yesterday by some rabbi, suggesting that standing in awe in front of nature is just one expression of believing in god. If this is true, I am putting on a shtreimel right now. I am sitting here looking out the window, and I don't think I have ever seen so much beauty in such a short time. Some rocks are green. Why the hell are they green? And I'm not cold. So why is there snow on the mountains? And what is a Forrest doing next to a river, next to a mountain, and a step away from the clouds? What is this place? Now there are yellow rocks. Why yellow? Some mountains disappear in the mist, which is becoming sky, and is probably going straight to heaven. What are we doing here?

the full half of the world

Dumpster diving is the act of diving in the dumpster for things other people considered useless and using them. It is also a philosophy, saying there is way too much waste in this full half of the world, whereas in the other hungry half even our waste is luxury. It is also the concept of why waste? bad karma. I heard of this aroudn my travels in Europe, and somehow always related that to homeless people biting on a piece of half-eaten sandwich or taking some torn shirt nobody else wanted. I was pretty surprised with what I found.
I went with a guy I met in oslo to a dumpster just behind a small supermarket. It was just one dumpster, and it contained three big black plastic bags. Body bags, you know.
When we opened them a treasure was revealed - approximately 10 kilograms of lamb steak that was 1 day old, 20 bags of coacoa that are 6 months before due date, a couple of pineapples in pretty good shape, kilograms of flour, microwave meals that are 1-2 days old, cheese, milk, juices, apples - hell, it was a minimarket in its own.
I was amazed at the amounts of food in that little dumpster, in that little minimarket, in that little part of town. What's going on in the bigger supermarkets? in all of Oslo? in all of norway? in all of western Europe? I figured a few thousands of people will die of hunger today. I figured those kilograms of meat, wheat, drinks and fruits could probably feed them all, just for today. and what about tomorrow? tomorrow is just another dumpster day.
"Norway is pretty strict about out dated food", said my friend, "so it's pretty safe to eat these foods even a few days after expiration". I think so too.

planet beverly hills

oslo is a small city, only about 600000 people. the streets are fairly narrow, and not much cars go around the city. there are beggars in the street talking a language i don't understand, and most of the time you don't hear norwegian in the streets downtown.

the biggest immigrants here are...
swedish.
who would have thought there is anywhere to go from sweden?
but the wages here are very high, as well as prices (ridiculous!) and taxes.
"financial crisis?", said a norwegian friend, "what is that?"
"it's something immigrants have", i tried to explain.

going a bit outside of the city you will find forrests and lakes, mountains and hills. even the crows are good looking.
there is something bubbly about this place. it's can't really make it on its own. norwegians don't wait on tables, sell in the supermarket or clean the streets. i'm not really sure what they do, but i will find out.

once upon a time there was a poor country

norway was a poor country 50 years ago. "second only to andora", a friend said.
then the americans came, looking for oil and, wow, did they find it alright.
the norwegians learned the job pretty quickly, and after a few years showed the americans the door, and are enjoying their oil to this day.
that, pretty much, sums of the story of modern norway, a cold and breathtakingly beautiful country up there in the north.