h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, I've never managed...
*throws two of the four chopsticks away, finds a spoon and a fork instead*
You sure you'll manage?

I Chinese girl studying with me showed me and as long as it's with noodles it's easier anyway...and after all it might give you something to laugh about .
It tastes very nice btw.

That's awfully nice of you, wanting to entertain me and all!

I'm glad you liked it! I was a bit nervous you'd turn out to be a vegetarian...
More red?

I know, you hope eating with chopsticks will get even funnier when I drink some more red. Anyway, yes please.

Guess what - when I met this friend on Saturday we were talking about places we've been and places we would like to go to and after having covered India, Corse and Scotland my friend suddenly said, you know you should definitely go to Norway once and then he told me some very nice things about that country...

*pours red for Feffi*

ah, well, I should have told you... I had taken control over your friends mind telepathically this Saturday, so that he would try and convince you to go to Norway...
Nah, really, what'd he say?

Well, I already suspected something like that
He just told me a lot about how beautiful it is there and how nice the people are and that he really enjoyed being there...things like that. I think he had been to Bergen and to Oslo, some relatives of him live in Norway. So he suggested that I should go there for my second internship and then he could come and visit me...but first he would like to visit me in India. So he actually already has a plan for the next two years of my life

...immortalized in the film "Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels"

Isn't that nice? When other people have a plan for you...
Actually, sometimes it would be nice to leave the responsibilty to someone else, provided this other person only decides on nice things...

Norway could be a good place for a mecanical engineer. We do have a lot of industry that could use one, I think.

Well, I wouldn't mind if he could arrange everything for that plan, so I would just have to go

No really, I come to think that Norway wouldn't be the worst place to move to...you never know...
And it's propably also nice to experience a country without a difficult past or present... or did I miss any major events in the Norwegian history?

hmmm... No, I don't think so...
Up to about 7-800 AD, we were basically still in the stoneages. Then we started to become vikings, first looting and raping eachother (Norway, Denmark, Sweden), then looting and raping England, Scotland, Ireland, Benelux, Germany to some extent, Poland.... before we came to our senses and tuned down the looting and raping and started trading instead. 1033 AD is said to be the year that Norway was both Christened and unified. Then came the plague, which took out almost everybody able to read or write. At this time, Denmark had become somewhat a "power-player" in Europe, and overtook Norway and half of Sweden. Danish was made the written language, and also the spoken language, at least in the finer circles of society. Nothing major happened untill 1814, when a bunch of prominent nationalists gathered in Eidsvoll to write our constitution. Denmark acknowledged this after some pressure (they had by this time lost both what they had of Sweden, and as you maybe know, Schleswig-Holstein, and some other territories they had in posession at some point in time, due to their backing of Napeleon and his defeat). So, Denmark turned Norway over to Sweden, which didn't let go 'till 1907 or thereabouts, after some pretty clever political tactics (from the Norwegians) and a tiny, nice and clean war. Occupied by Hitlers forces from 1940-45,(also after a minor struggle) and, well, that's about it, I guess...
In short, Norway hasn't had more than about 400 years as one nation since 1000AD.

Phew!!! That was a long one!!

Did you know all of that by heart or did you look the numbers up?
Sounds a bit like they had a wild youth and settled down after "teenage time"...

Looked up? Nah... Don't have anything to look up in! (Except my head, that is..)
More red?

You could say that, but, since they haven't been an indedepent nation for a very long time, peoples mentality bares strong influence by that, not only among the "grassroots", but also in business, politics, cultural life.... you name it!

I don't think I would get all these dates together about Germany... at least not the ones about our medivial history...well I do remember the years of the 30-years-war in the 17th century but that's about it...

Then again, I think Germanys history is a bit more eventfull than Norways...
I've gota go now, you just help yourself to some more red and wok if you feel like it!
Bye! See you tomorrow!

Bye!

*has some red and takes out a book to pass the time till she can go home*

*finds that blanket again and decides that this is one of those days you would rather like to stay in bed the whole day long*

*fixes coffee, finds two cups, puts on Pink Floyd / Dark Side Of The Moon, joins Feffi on the couch*
You mind sharing that blanket?

No. *rear(r)anges (strange word ) blanket*

Thanks

*pours two *
You mind if I smoke here? I could just step out?