Resolution.....

This is the time to become more serious with blogging........

It is New Year Again!

Every New Year comes with new resolutions. To many these resolutions are meant to help in achieving long time and lifetime dreams. This is always aimed at having better lives since that is the desire of every (if not most) living person.

The reality is however always at Variance with the expectations. As this year begins, I have my aspirations and dreams to be a better and more productive person. As of whether this will become a reality is a matter of time. By God’s grace, I hope that I will add value to people’s lives. And in the process I will have more value too. To me, that is all that matters........

Well, I am Back.

Well, it has been a long time since. I have been alive and kicking.



An d I am happy to be back. I don’t know how it feels to hibernate. This is because it is both good and not so good. Good that you worry about nothing if you choose to, but not so good if your buddies are wondering where you are. I am over here in Nairobi, Kenya.

Bye...............................

On board Kenya Airways; the pride of Africa,

On my way to Norway, a country way up north,
The unknown country; where there is sun even at midnight.



Norway I had been told,
No Way had I thought,
Norway I found,
Many ways I found.



A city built on sand I landed,
Full of fjords I saw,
Conglomerations of islands I thought,
Was Norway the No Way?

At Hald I arrived,
Strangers I saw, Norway I had arrived,
In the land of many ways.



In one school I met
What seemed to be the whole world,
From Africa they came,
A natural tan of chocolate and black.



From the football loving Brazil and Cameroon,
To the fast running Kenyans
From the pearl of Africa; Uganda,
To the island of Ravalomanana, Madagascar,
From the slopes of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania,
From the rainforests and the Amazons in Bolivia and Peru,
To the advancing Thailand and neighboring Laos,
From the orthodox Serbia, to the new Montenegro,



From the hills and fjords of Norway they came,
Both the vertically challenged and enhanced,
All languages were spoken,
Confused I was.



Food was different,
People were different,
Houses were different,
Driving was on the 'wrong' side of the road,
Summer it was and cold I felt.



Winter came with snow,
Darkness at three in the afternoon!
White rain I saw,
Mesmerized I was.



Strange things I said,
Strange things I did,
Walking like a baby I did,
In the name of skating.
Families I visited, strange things I said,
Fine hair I meant, clever hair I said,
I am fine I meant, I am nice I said,
I must catch a bus I meant, I must imprison a bus I said.



Ten months on I notice,
Friendships have developed,
Everything is no longer strange,
The strange melodious language I can speak,
Everyone is outgoing more than I thought,
It has been great to be together,
Jeg kan Norsk nå,
Norge er et fint land.



And it is painful to say bye………………..

Interactions.

Well, as I wrote last time, having the students back at Hald is exciting. There are a lot of things that I have been getting to learn and talk with the other students. In a way to create a more free and flexible atmosphere, we have been trying to do several things. One of them has been playing football.

I wouldn’t want you to imagine me playing football for anything else other than fun. Just running around with the ball is great. Of course it is also a way of keeping fit. This reminds me in the days of my youth when we could play football in the afternoons whenever there was rain and sunshine. The good thing over here is that the playing is in sun. The spring sun is here again and it is good to feel the sun after the cold winter.

Norway has many beaches. Going to the beaches with the students and having informal interactions has been useful as well in learning so much about other students and cultures. Some of the students are courageous enough to swim in the clod water but most are not. The good thing however id just sitting on the beaches and talking to no end with the other students.

Walking to the beach with Friends.


At the beach with Sammy.

At the beach with Friends, Faith and Pamela from Uganda.


With a friend from Laos.


Fun at the beach.

Time keeping has been a challenge of late. This is because the students are so different and have had different experiences with time in different cultures. It has become a joke of late when someone says that we are meeting at say One pm. Another asks what one pm really is whether it is Norwegian, African, Asian, or South American time. But things are getting done so it is not a big problem.

Back t o Hald.

It is now three weeks since I got back to Hald International Center. At the beginning of the school year in August, it was fun being together with all the students. At the end of September, it was a sorrowful moment when we had to part as the students went to different places within Norway and several other countries for the practice period of the school year.

Even though I had been communicating with many of the students, seeing them again at Hald has been a great inspiration. It is good to see that all the students came back safe and sound. To this all glory goes to God.

The challenge however has been that the six months have been great time for many transformations. So many of the students are really changed. The non Norwegian like me are now tending to be more Norwegian as those Norwegians that went to different countries tend to have taken after the cultures of those countries. Thus you can imagine that in some aspects, I am behaving more Norwegian awhile the students that went to Kenya are sounding more Kenyan in some aspects. Well, even though it is a challenge, it is the uniqueness of the International school. I hope that my interactions will remain fruitful with the students even as we near the end in the next one month.

Music Concert.

The last two days have been moments of great worship to God through music. It has been a blessing to sing to God hymns of praises and worship. I joined the Salem choir in January and we have been singing together since then. We were particularly rehearsing for a concert that was there last Friday in Jørpeland. The concert finally took place and it was a great blessing to sing and bless God’s name, but also the people as well.

The song that was a great blessing among others was Everybody is talking. The song was about what we shall do in heaven. That I have a crown, a robe, shoes, song, praise, a shout among other things. When we get to heaven, we shall shout to the Lord, sing praises and songs, put on our shoes, robes and crowns and walk over God’s heaven. It was a great song where the combination of soprano, alto and tenor produced a great blend of music in praise of the Almighty God.

Then on Saturday was a day to listen as other musicians sang. It was a great concert as well attended by among others Andrae Crouch. But before he sang, several other singers did sing, and one of them was almost eighty. He was incredible. His voice was so strong and his face could testify of his long pilgrimage with God.

Crouch shared a testimony with us about his youth and how he began to play music. He also shared how God healed him of cancer after many of his family members died of the same disease. And when he began to sing, I couldn’t fail to notice his deep joy of the Lord in his voice and face. Indeed as he sung Jesus is the answer to the world today I knew that he was singing out of real experience. This concert is the most outstanding and reflective concert that I have attended and I hope that I will continuously ponder on his everlasting love and mercy upon my life.

I went to the concert with a friend, Tom and Sammy. Tom has been a great blessing and I thank him for ensuring that I attended the concert. I will forever be grateful for him.