Sunday, 11:24am. I just got up a few minutes ago, which is never a good sign to a productive day but I still have a chance, it just depends on how motivated I become as the day gets older and older. There's a lot to talk about but I think NORWAY is the main topic of this update so let's get right to it!

I'm learning Norwegian and have been doing so since October 20th roughly. That may not seem like a long time but it has changed my life. Not in a bible in a hotel kind of way but more like given me something to shoot for, some far off goal to attain that will encourage me to keep learning words like: en mulighet, jeg vil ha en oel, and aa anbefale (a possibility, I want a beer, and to propose). I spend about 10+ hours a week learning Norwegian now and I have made some damn good progress but it has become more than just learning Norwegian. Now I have bought plane tickets to be in Norway for two full weeks in mid-May to celebrate their 17th of May celebrations. I am not totally sure what I will see in the country but land in Oslo and will of course go to Bergen on the west coast because that's where my friend, Maya, aka Norwegian teacher is from. Unfortunately she is leaving in about a week to go home for two months and that means that I will have to begin relying on the books a bit more and also to try and find new people to speak Norwegian with to try and continue to improve my Norwegian until it gets to a certain point. What point is that, you ask? Well, I plan to write something in Norwegian, sell it to people from Norway and with that money plan to fund my trip to Norway. Now mind you, this won't be anything that I've written in English and translate to Norwegian, but rather it will be the story, mostly nonfictional of me trying to learn Norwegian and not only the difficulties of the language but also of the difficulties and victories and defeats of trying to persuade a culture that my taking an interest in it and expressing that interest in their language might be enough to have people want to help me come and visit their country. I'm asking for no handouts, I plan to earn it by selling the writing and by travel photographs and hopefully by the end of next year there will be a book written based on the whole experience of trying to get to Norway and then also what happens in Norway and putting it all together will allow me to stretch it into a book and also see everything in a new perspective but we've got to take one step at a time.

N� noe p� norsk for � forklaere litt mer om prosjeket mitt. Du kan ser at jeg l�rer norsk og jeg har en spr� plan. Jeg vil skrive noe sm�tt, kanskje 40 sider eller liknende, og jeg vil selge boken for � tjene penger for (til) reisen min. Det er ikke en vits, det vil jeg virkelig ha, men jeg m� l�re mer og jeg h�per at i Februar vil jeg ha noe � selge. Jeg har ogs� reisefotografier for aa selge. Slutter (til slutt) skriverjeg en st�rre bok om hele reisen, f�r jeg var der, eller i l�pet av, og etterp�. Det blir ganske interessant og hva jeg �nsker ha fra dere ville v�re bare � fortelle annen (andre) mennesker om prosjektet mitt og hvis noen kunne hjelpe meg, de skal (kan) skrive til meg og vi kan klare det sammen. Jeg vil gj�re en "Book Tour" i Norge, og bes�ke Oslo, Bergen og s� g� nordover for en uke. Jeg vil se Trondheim og jeg h�per Lofoten eller Troms�, men jeg er enn� ganske usikkert p� hvordan alt vil hende. V�r s� snill, skriv meg en email og vi kan snakke om det mer! Vi sees i Norge!

Don't forget, I'm having an Xmas party at my folk's house on Saturday, December 18th. If you live in southern California and know me, this is your cue to send an RSVP if you plan to come or not so my mom will know how much chili con carne to make! I will be home from December 15 to 29th and will be pretty busy while I"m home but for sure there's a chance for us to hang out sometime then if you like. email me and we'll hook it up!.

I'm at an interesting point in life here in Germany. I'm somewhat poor but earning a lot of money, most of which I won't see until February so if I can only get by financially until then, I'll have my money to go on my trips I want to go on, namely: Jan - Amsterdam, Feb - England, Mar - Spain, May - Norway, Aug/Sep - USA. So, if I can survive being poor and living like a student, I should have a kick ass travel year of 2005. It'll be hard to compete with 2004 in terms of travel, but I always like a little competition. Don't forget to email me and see how things are going! [email protected]

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