Good morning, good afternoon, good evening.....too many time zones to keep up with. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Handing over to the day shift. TT

Hi Suzet,

I hope you haven't dashed off on holiday yet. I was an exchange student for a year in Joburg back in the 70's and have been back several times - most recently this past December. Spent Christmas with my SA family down at the coast. I miss them very much.

Frank here from Norway. It is daylight outside but I suppose this is the night shift yet ;-)

Hey Frank57 from Norway <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />. I'm American but I live in Norway. Never seen another norsky here before!

Symphony

I'm usually up at 4am Eastern (+5 Greenwich). Guess that doesn't qualify for night shift.. Though I do have bouts of insomnia so you never know...

Swords

Never seen any norsky around MB? I suppose that means we are natural talents with marriage, and therfore don't need support! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />
(NOT) <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Hey, b0b, don't forget me!!!

I'm in central Europe. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I noticed that a few MB people got together in USA last weekend, and thought how about a get together on this side of the Atlantic. I'm in London, anyone else live in London or the UK and keen?

Have a good day

I'm actually coming to Leeds on Thursday for the weekend. We'll be visiting some friends who are locals, going to a Leeds United match and just hangin. They are pub people but are more than willing to take us out and about.
Any must see stuff people can recommend?

Symphony

NZGirl - I'm from London but living in Hong Kong at the moment. Don't think I'll be able to get there! Where in London are you living?

Frank,



<img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
You must live in a WAY different part of Norway than I do <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />. Alot of the married couples I know here could use a little MB.

Hope you are loving the rain as much as me.

Symphony

Hi Tummytuck
I live in the Lancaster Gate, Bayswater area in London. How long have you been in Hong Kong? Staying long? Must be better weather there than here!

I'm now back in northen Engalnd for the time being. WW is now 1000 miles away in Spain & my plan B has just started.

I don't have to work for a living. This is a mixed blessing. Insomnia isn't as much as a threat when you no longer have to go to work in the morning but it does mean you're alone with your black thoughts. I log on to MB at all sorts of times. I don't always post but I do look for situations similar to my own hoping to find some hope out there.

If there are any MBers out there in the UK, I'm always up for meeting for a beer. It sounds like a recipe for a mass misery orgy but, call me strange, I can see the funny side of most things. You can't have too many friends in times like these & it's friends who've helped me through.

My unexpected single status has meant that I've made more new friends than at any other time in my life. I also have opportunities (e.g. travel) that I didn't expect.

Betrayal is pretty bleak at times but every cloud....

Symphony wrote:

"Hope you are loving the rain as much as me."

-------------

Oh I love the rain!
I was born in Bergen, famous for it's rain, and have lived here most of the time since. So I have learned to live with it. I follow the Norwegian saying: "There is no bad weather only poor clothing". (The rhyme is completely lost in translation!)
So I dress in my dry (diving) suit every time I go out. It is easy: You just ignore all the startled looks from the people you meet. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Edited to include:
But I do admit that the frog swimming shoes are rather impractical when you try to enter a bus! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Ok, well you have to love the rain to live in Bergen. Bergen's famous rain was in our norsk language books.



There are so many phrases and rhymes that just get lost in translation both for English and Norsk. I find it fun just watching a norwegian TRYING to translate some of those phrases. That blank stare, the quizical look, the stutter and finally a shrug of shoulders when they realize it just wouldn't make sense no matter how you twist it.

If I see a guy trying to get into the bus with swimming fins on I'll wave to ya! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I'm in Oppland BTW.

I really am surprised to see a Norwegian here at MB. It doesn't really work for my H. What's your take on the overall attitude towards counseling in your area? It's pretty bleak here in Oppland.

Symphony (I usually hang on the EN boards)

NZGirl - my best friend from secondary school lived there in Hallfield Estate, Leinster Gardens. Just up the road from you. I know that area so well. I'm from Pimlico. Yes, the weather is better here at this time of year but the summer is horrid. Muggy and wet. TT

Frank57 and Symphony of Life, I had to smile...you're right about the "few in numbers" of Norwegians. Trondheim and the nearby islands is the familial "Home" area. MANY relatives still there, as I am only second generation American and 100% Norwegian (cant' say the same for my children, dang it and uff da!).

Loved my visit to Bergen on my last trip to Norge, and I found the "midnight sun" to be the most intriguing part of life in Norway while I was staying in Trondheim....very strange to be feeding pigeons at 3 AM and it's still light outside...GRIN!

Tuk!

That has got to be my favorite part of living in Norway. Of course it's a very beautiful country and I'm just in awe all the time when we take a road trip somewhere. Camping is fab! The summer is great (weather providing, but thats of course cause I'm not fond of all the rain like Frank). It is so cool to be able to do just about anything till the wee hours of the morning and after a little 'dusk' the sun comes back up again. I live in the south-eastern part of the country so we don't get the full midnite sun. It took a bit of adjusting to get a sleeping rhythm. It never seems night and I don't feel tired until suddenly I could just fall over and sleep. Kinda comes up on ya fast.

The downside would be the winter. I'm a rise when the sun rises kinda girl. When the sun doesn't rise until 10am it feels like you are getting up at 4am. The short days (about 5,5 hours of daylight) are still very strange but getting easier. I dream of the long summer days and that gets me through. That and I light LOADS of candles all over the house every day.

Symphony

Dear Symphony

They sell daylaight therapy lamps to to help you get trough the dark season. 15 minutes in front of such a lamp every day gives you much more energy. And it is not psychology. Daylight triggers hormones. Winter time depression is very real, and steals lots of energy. My employer has given me one in my office and it works!