Lotus flower in Hoi An, Vietnam

Friday Evening with the Mates

Yesterday after work we tried out a new off-road track with the dogs. Only snowmobiles had driven there before it seemed, and down it went:
From all the way up there. Really exicting!

The puppy is about four weeks old and utterly gorgeous:

Friends

14th Floor

I'll be here until Monday next week.

Mr Runny Nose

It’s allowed to be a bit snotty when you’re only 2 weeks old.

Swan Lake

Out buying a birthday present for Jesper I walked along the lakes in Copenhagen. Sunshine and frost – almost like Greenland.

A Hotel Room, Part II

I got the thermo with tea in the lobby and now I’m ready to relax in front of the telly.

A Hotel Room

This is me settling in at Hotel Scandic in Copenhagen, checking up on e-mails and trying out the tub. Tomorrow I have the course on Human Resources. It’s Jesper’s birthday – and I’m so far away from him.

Did anybody say Psycho?

Going Camping

Staying over in the hut was above all relaxing – for me at least. Jesper went out to hunt, and Karen was productive with the knitting, and all I seemed to be doing was sleeping in.
By the time Jesper got back with 15 grouses breakfast had turned into some kind of brunch, and then Henning came along on his sledge and joined us.

Jesper did the dishes. Because he’s so good at it :-)

Brushing teeth is part of the camp life as well as putting in the contacts – without a mirror! I wonder if I might actually miss them once I have my operation, I mean with all the skills I’ve developed in handling being visually impaired. Just think of the complications one has keeping the fluid liquid in minus 20 degrees. And by now I know all the tricks!

We headed home in the late afternoon after a great weekend.

Dinner Mats and Chopped Seal

Sunday breakfast is an occasion to bring out our famous Azorean dinner mats, yes indeed! They are handmade and woven with colourful pieces of leftover cloth and I bought in a private home on São Jorge pretty much in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. They come into great use in Greenland.

Naturally we went out with the dogs again and they had quite a rough run as the track was covered in deep snow, but they did excellently and were fed generous lumps of chopped seal when we returned home.

Saturday Activities

The day started with breakfast at the Seamen’s Home with Hans.

And then it continued with this:

Not bad at all!

See more pictures of the dogs here

My Pretty Things

Don’t think me too materialistic – but I have e weakness for pretty things. This necklace I got from my friend Kathleen, who bought it from a Greenlandic woman in Maniitsoq. It’s a pink shell shaped as a heart and it was originally hung in a leather strap. This was not ideal, so my other friend Kirsten put on a gold loop and now I can wear it in a gold chain. And I think it’s perfect!

Shoes & Eyes

In Copenhagen last weekend Kathleen & I went shopping. Many pairs of shoes were tried on, but we exercised great restrain and did not buy anything we didn’t badly need.
My shopping list:
1 pair of black silk leggings
3 tank tops
1 black velour shirt
1 black skirt by semi-Greenlandic designer Naja Lauf whose clothes I adore.

And then I more or less went shopping for new eyes as I’ve arranged to get a laser operation this spring that hopefully will allow me to loose my contacts and my glasses and be able to see the world from the moment I open my eyes in the morning. I’m very excited. The doctor examined my eyes and dripped in a local anaesthesia that made my pupils expand. This actually did not help my vision, but that was just a temporarily setback.

I'm Still Standing

Now I’m back in Denmark and only just recovering from Sunday night when Jesper developed quiet a routine taking out the bucket, opening the bedroom window, rinsing, bringing back in the bucket, closing the window (outside temperature being -15 degrees Celsius) and whispering encouragements at me while I was just sick and vomited all night. Yuak! And of course Jesper is now down with a fewer and the timing is rotten as his students had written math exams on Monday and have their oral math exams tomorrow.

But here I am in wonderful Copenhagen at the gorgeous Scandic Hotel. With unlimited Internet! And a bathtub that I have already been basking in but as I have forgotten the cable that connects my camera with my laptop I cannot post pictures of neither me nor the tub nor the both of us – for which you’ll be much obliged, I’m sure :-)

What I’m doing now is writing an assignment for the new course I’m attending on Friday on Human Resources. I hope it will do me a lot of good. Tomorrow morning I’ll jump on the train to Horsens in Jutland where I have meetings all day (even lunch meetings, I think – how cool is that?) at Vitus Bering that supplies my workplace with education programmes and exactly education will be the topic of all the meetings. So wish me luck…

Saturday Trip to the UFO

A Cold Sunday

The First Day of the Year

At Ann-Marie and Frank’s in Nøddebohuse we talked and relaxed and were treated to Frank’s delicious cooking and watched the new Danish soap called ”Sommer” on the telly.

Very early the next day we started up the car and drove to Copenhagen Airport to return back home to Sisimiut.

The Last Day of the Year

It began with a flat tyre, continued with a hike in beautiful Skovbakker and now we’re looking forward to Nanna’s wonderful dinner, fireworks and champagne. Happy New Year to all readers!

Pub Visit

A sunny day. Lunch with my friends from Master in ICT and Learning in the darkness at Duus Vinkælder in Aalborg.

Homemade Honey from Alstrup

Karoline, Jesper, Dora & Jens-Erik at the card table.

For two reasons it has been a day with no running: 1) It has been pouring down non-stop 2) my foot it still sore. Luckily, we made other arrangements to entertain ourselves. After breakfast in Hvalpsund at Jesper’s parents’ we went shopping in Farsø and all afternoon and evening was spent with friends in Alstrup. Here, we played cards (the undefeated winner being me!) and stuffed ourselves with coffee & cakes, smoked cod, chicken soup and backed apples. To help me cure the cold I have Dora & Jens-Erik gave us 4 glasses of their wonderful homemade honey. The best I’ve ever tasted. For sure that’ll get me out on the 10 kilometre route tomorrow.

A Daytrip to Esbjerg

A not so fortunate picture of us having a very agreeable dinner with Jesper’s friends in Esbjerg. But before dinner we stopped at McDonald’s for a Happy Meal (Karoline) and two Big Mac’s (Jesper & me), after which we quickly proceeded to the sports store to purchase running gear! I got two running tees and a super-cool thermo thing that I’m trying out tomorrow – if my foot is better. After the last couple of runs it has been aching and acting up, but I hope that today’s rest has done it a lot of good.

Christmas Lunches, Greetings From Afar & Jogging

The running continues: 10 km yesterday as well as 10 km the day before and 6.5 km today. I’m very pleased, as you can probably tell. Also we eat! Christmas lunches with Jesper’s family so running is called for in these festive days.
Svetlana and Sergey, the Ukrainian friends Kathleen & I made on the Azores this autumn have sent more pictures from Pico Island. Absolutely beautiful! Thank you both – and Merry Christmas to you too :-)

When we return to Greenland on January 2nd I'll post some pictures from Sisimiut, 67 degrees North. For sure there'll be snow aplenty - something we’re rather short of in Denmark.

Merry Christmas from Hvalpsund

A lovely day spent in good company.

After 10 km

Quiet Days in a Farm House

I think the farm house does not really belong to family, but the lady who lives here is spending Christmas in South Africa - and is somehow in connection with Jesper's parents - so Jesper & I have got the house all to ourselves. It’s huge and decorated with pictures on every tiny space of wall available. Jesper thinks it’s very ‘farm-like’. Today he’s driving Karoline back to her mother’s so I’m by myself. I play the piano a bit, drink coffee and look at all the birds in the garden.

And I jog and go for strolls in the afternoon sun. This Christmas is not just eating cookies and watching the telly – oh no, far from it! It’s the Christmas that I set a personal best in running almost 5 kilometres on 30 minutes – a time I’ve been hunting since the dawn of time.

Living in the Woods

We’ve been in Denmark since Monday and we’ve stayed in a house in the woods. Fireplace, bathtub, satellite television, tall dark pine trees and silence. And the smells of rusty leaves, wet dirt and heather.

Jan & Jesper & I went out for a walk and came across a herd of bambis that ran by too quickly for me to take pictures.

Today we’ve moved to a farm house, and I’ll leave new pics tomorrow. Now I'll be out for my run...