Jail-experience

“I never want to see you again.“ Those were the last words often uttered by my friend “Otto” in prison in Oslo when I was leaving him to pursue my free life. He was angry because he had tried to charm me repeatedly to persuade me to smuggle him drugs the next time I would …

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Karhu-skis brought back memories

Yesterday I bought a pair of Finnish Karhu-skis in a thrift store. Karhu means bear in Finnish. Having lived in Denmark tens of my
 adult years, I did not own skis for most of my life. Denmark is 
a country surrounded by seas, and winters are humid, windy, with temperatures hovering around 0 degree Celsius …

Learning about a cultural difference

One day in early 1992 the mailman brought me an invitation to a wedding in Bahrain. Muhamed whom I had met with his friend Reza in Oslo in the mid-80s was going to get married to a Bahrain beauty. “How about traveling to Bahrain for a vacation in March”, I suggested to my husband. “It’s …

Motioning for a 6 hour workday for parents with small children

It was a grey Saturday in December 1983. An icy wind from the Oslo-fjord blew through Karl Johans gate, the main pedestrian street in Oslo. My feet were freezing in jogging shoes and the synthetic fur coat did not prevent the wind from reaching my arms. I tried to keep moving tiny steps back and forth and …