GOOD NEWS

Dear all,

I hope you've had a great summer!

I enjoyed my summer, especially the two weeks in Austria where I visited Dolly in late July. I got to meet some new colleagues of Dolly's, who were very nice people. We did some travelling in various groups to various locations. Nowhere have I seen such a density of massive "Roman" buildings as in Vienna. We also took the train to see the majestic city of Budapest.

When I returned to Bergen in early August I started in my nutrition/health teaching position at Bergen College, and I've enjoyed meeting the new students who are all very interested to learn about food. I just got new chef's clothing with the school's logo and my name on it, and it will be fun to be working in the kitchen with the students.

In the last weekend of August, we had a family gathering here in the apartment. Dolly came back from Austria only to leave eight hours later for a conference in San Fransisco. Gisle came from England to see my parents in Volda, and they all came down together with Erling to stay in Bergen for two nights. My grandmother Ingrid came together with Elise, Einar and Ingrid (aunt/uncle/cousin) from Haugesund, and we all celebrated Ingrid's 87th birthday with a delicious pork roast and cheerful conversation.

Think about this incredible crossing of paths for a moment:

First consider that Dolly, Gisle and Ingrid were all in Bergen the last weekend of August (Dolly only got time to see Gisle, missing Ingrid by 8 hours). Then, the following weekend Gisle travelled to Austin, Texas for a business meeting where he saw Hilde. Later in the week Ingrid travelled to the USA for the first time, to attend a White Ribbon conference in Indianapolis. Dolly went to Indianapolis from San Fransisco to meet up with Ingrid, and Hilde flew from Austin to Indianapolis to do likewise!

Terry and Grace came down to take Ingrid, Dolly and Hilde back to Kendallville, where Ingrid got to meet Wilma, Dolly's grandmother!

Dolly returns to Bergen tomorrow, 12th of September, only to leave for Finland next Monday. I trust that once she returns from Finland, she'll stay in Bergen most of the time before we go to Volda for Christmas!

Finally, I have some very good news: The University of Bergen approved my application for a 4-year PhD stipend! I will start the position the 1st of November, but only part-time because I need to complete the semester as teacher at Bergen College. We're almost done with the first paper and will submit it for publication within a few months.

Until next time,

Simon