Why did you like/dislike the book?

There are many reasons why I liked this book, but there are also some parts which I did not found that interesting.

First, I found the book funny to reed, but also a bit confusing. I was not prepared that the first person´s view was different, but after a while I got used to it. The way Christopher described the environment and every little detail, made the book very different from any other book I have read before. It made me understand how people with Asperger’s syndrome are. And I also got an insight in how they look at the world, and their way of thinking. Small details I might take for granted seems to mean something great for a person with autism.  

Second, I thought that the story in the book was cute. The thought of Christopher doing detective work, like going around and asking questions. Or when he ran off, got on the train and went to London to stay with his mother.

The entire book is very entertaining, especially because Christopher is so naive and acts very differently from other children. For example when he sat at the train station for hours, or when he hid from the policeman. Several times I sat laughing by myself because of the funny incidents in the book.

There were also some parts I did not found that entertaining. It was pretty obvious that Christopher was a bright kid, and when he started explaining the math I got a bit bored. Sometimes the examples and the pictures made it easier to understand what he was talking about, but a few times I thought it was unnecessary.

This is a very special book, and you will not find anyone like it. I recommend you to read it and just enjoy the unusual way of writing.

Kjærlighet og sammhold

Dette er et landskapsbilde, og teknikken som er brukt er fotografi. Bildet forestiller et utsnitt av en bru (mellomgrunnen), to ender (forgrunnen) og en ås og bygninger (bakgrunnen).  Bildet har det gylne snitt som komposisjonsprinsipp, med endene i den nedre høyre firkanten, refleksjonen i den nedre venstre firkanten, brua i den øvre venstre firkanten og bakgrunnen i den øvre høyre.  Lyset er i gråtoner, selv om et er relativt lyse farger som fremhever gulfargen på brua. Bruas refleksjon er i kontrast til elva som blir opplyst av den overskyete himmelen. Bildet er tatt i normalperspektiv.

Det første vi legger merke til ved dette bildet er den gule broen. Dette fører til at blikket blir ført bakover i bildet, langs broen. Deretter ned på endene og så ned på refleksjonen i vannet. Dette skyldes at øynene våre følger kontraster og linjer som blir skapt av lysforskjellene.

I begynnelsen virker bildet melankolsk, men når man legger merke til endene får man en mer romantisk stemning. Disse endene kan tolkes som et symbol på kjærlighet, ettersom det er en hun-, og en han-and, istedenfor en flokk. Broen kan være et symbol på samhold og det å være knyttet sammen. Det er også mange stabile trekanter på undersiden som holder bruen oppe. Dette gir bildet en følelse av å være stabilt. 

Det er også mange horisontale linjer i bildet ettersom bildet er i landskapsformat og hovedmotivet ligger relativt horisontalt. I tillegg ligger også den synlige elvebredden vannrett, sammen med krusningene i elven. Likevel gjør den nesten vertikale gjenspeilingen i vannet at bildet fortsatt blir spennende å se på. Det er også ustabile trekanter i gjenspeilingen, noe som gjør at den øvre delen av bildet virker mer stabilt enn den nedre delen.

Kontrasten mellom bruas speilbilde og refleksjonen fra himmelen i vannet skaper uro og spenning i bilde. Samtidig er det noe bevegelse i bildet som forsterker effekten av urolighet.

Bildet kan tolkes på flere måter, det kan enten formidle kjærlighet og samhold, men også det at det finnes to sider av samme sak ettersom det er gjenspeiling i vannet.

Tasks given in class

     What is the difference between looting and rioting?

      The difference between looting and rioting is that looting is when someone plunders a store or a person and do not involve physical violence. While rioting involves destructions of building, this often happens in protests against something.

Define the underlined (blue) words and phrases. Also note down other words you find difficult, and find out what they mean.

hout any reason for the actionse, og med riktig formål i teksten.e og tannbørste.et større være et mer attraktivt tilbud.r har

-        Social exclusion is the definition of how individuals and entire communities are blocked out from rights, which is normally are available for these people.

-        Disregard social norms is when someone ignore the rules and the values a society looks as appropriate and inappropriate values.

-        High-unemployment means that there is a high number of people who are without jobs, and neither have had a job for the last four weeks.

-        Criminologist is the scientific study of the biological basis of criminal behavior.

-        Opportunism is when someone takes advantage of any opportunity to achieve benefits and requirements in the moment, and often with no regard for principles or consequences.

-         Lack of intervention is when there is no offer or procedures which are available or can do something with the situation.

-         Consumerism is the definition of interaction between consumers and communities in the world.

-          Catalyst of unrest is the thing that precipitates an event, and in this case disturbance.

·         Could this happen in Trondheim? In Oslo? Why/why not?

Yes, I think this could happen here, because unemployment appears here as well. But in the moment I do not think this is relevant. Those who gets unemployed in Norway today often gets help from the government, so there is no reason for people to be displeased with the solution we have today.

·         What can this say about the social conditions in England? How may this be connected to the traditional class system?

This says that the social conditions in England are bad, for example are many people unemployed and therefor also poor. It may be connected to the class system because those who are rich often get better offers than those who are in the lower class. And it might seem like the “poor- people” has to work harder to achieve something, while the rich live on their reputation.

Sightseeing in Hong Kong

I am sitting on Starbuck across the street to my apartment, and enjoying my caffé mocha.  I have had a wonderful day, and experienced a lot. I never thought it could be so many treasures in a city like Hong Kong.

Today I took the ferry across Victoria Harbour to discover Hong Kong Island. My plan was to take the ferry to the Opera Hong Kong, but my plans never seems to go as planned. I managed to go on the wrong ferry, and ended up close to The Bank of China Tower. It is an incredible skyscraper that reaches for the sky. I would definitely say that this building is the most beautiful and remarkable skyscraper I have ever seen in reality.

Afterwards I took a taxi to the Opera Hong Kong. It appeared to be the Hong Kong International Jewellery Show. Everywhere there was something that sparkled, large diamonds, gold, silver and pearls. A big company there is called Continental Jewellery, and I got the chance to meet the Chan family. The family owns Continental and has become one of the riches families in Hong Kong. Dr. Charles Chan was the first person in Hong Kong to introduce several concepts of mass production into the jewellery manufacturing.

The Chan family invited me to join them for an opera this evening, so I better get dressed for this event.

Sources: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_China_Tower,_Hong_Kong

http://www.continental.com.hk/

Picture source:

http://www.jewellery-hk.org/about3.php

White person lost in Hong Kong !

As bad as it might seem, I now got lost in a sign-jungle. I fell asleep at the train and now I am totally lost, and have now idea of where I might be. At least I know that I am at the Shamrock Seafood Restaurant, but not where it is located. 

I have just eaten, but I am not sure of what it was. Normally I would ask for some traditional food, but it seems like I am in a local restaurant were all the food is typical Hong Kong and Chinese. First they served me a terrible tea, (I am not a tea person, and therefor most of the tea I drink is not good). As well I got a wet cloth, and I did not actually know what to do with it, but I watched the other costumers, they used it as a cleaning napkin, and mimicked them. Afterwards I got my lunch. They served me some noodles with fish. It tasted good, but I have no ide what it was called. According to the menu there are a lot of noodles, rice and fish at the restaurant, and probably in the rest of the city as well.

The waitress even gave me a local newspaper to read in, South China Morning Post. At one page it was an article about a teenager from Hong Kong, who where representing the city in the first international Twenty20 match on urban soil. It was a large picture of him holding up the flag of Hong Kong. It is red coloured and in its centre there is a white flower, a Bauhinia blakeana, (a normal flower to see in Hong Kong). At the flag, each petal has a red star. The red base represents Hong Kong´s relation with China. It has been the proportion flag of Hong Kong since 1^st of July 1997, when Hong Kong became a part of China instead of Britain.

I probably should move on in this sign-jungle and discover the hidden treasures of Hong Kong.

sources: 

http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2c913216495213d5df646910cba0a0a0/?vgnextoid=ec5726614db23310VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=teaser&ss=HK+%26+China&s=Sport

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Hong_Kong

Picture source: 

http://www.flagsinformation.com/hong_kong-country-flag.html 

An update from the high-speed train

My dream has come true. I am finally in Hong Kong. 

To plan this journey was not easy. Since there are more than 60 international airlines that operates services between the international airport of Hong Kong and 120 cities worldwide, there is also a large marked for swindling. Many travel books and Internet pages encouraged me to be careful and to watch out. Even though it was not the cheapest solution I ended up with the airlines I have heard of earlier, Dragonair and British Airways, one of the “famous” airlines.

From London to Hong Kong I took a plane with double deck (!) Before this trip I only thought busses could have it, but no, obviously not. Even thought I did not sit on the upper floor, I had to check it out before I left the plane. People there had their own beds and their own TV screen, well, it seems as every seat on the plane had a screen. To a person like me who is as well as addicted to TV, it was like I was in Heaven. It was incredible, I could watch any movie I wanted. And when most of the passengers were asleep, I sat up and watched movie after movie (I have to admit that I saw Twilight two times).  

I am sitting on a high-speed train now. It is one of the cheapest and fastest solutions to get into the city, so I had to go for it. In a great speed the train passes large industry areas. As fare as the eye can see there are containers stabled, large factories and many workers.

I am going to put one´s feet up. Promise to keep you updated. 

Pennal

Et pennal er en oppbevaringsplass for viskelær, blyanter og for mye annet utstyr man trenger for å arbeide for eksempel på skolen. Det finnes blant annet forskjellige typer som består av forskjellig materiale. I noen er det rom for hver enkel gjenstand, som en egen blyantlomme. I andre er det kun ett rom hvor alt utstyret er samlet. Materialet varierer også fra et tynt stoff til et solid materiale som skinn. Man kan også finne pennal som er lagd av plast eller metall. Ofte lukkes de med en lettgildene glidelås, men det finnes også andre effektive lukkeløsninger.

På den myke overflaten hadde de skrevet navnene sine, skrevet hvor glad de var i meg, og tegnet. Det var fylt med hjerter og smilefjes. Med ord som beskrev de gode årene og de tidligere opplevelsene. Overflaten var dekket med navn og gode minner. Slike minner som en burde gjemme i en boks og ta godt vare på. Pennalet hadde alle minnene på utsiden, så en trengte ikke gjemme dem for omverdenen. Det var gode minner som alle burde få en del av.