Alle har jo hørt om NAV, og deres til tider manglende evne til å utføre jobben sin. Jeg har hatt noen runder med dem. Først for å få attføring, deretter for å kunne motta uførestønaden jeg hadde rett på mens jeg var i utlandet. Og i dag var det på igjen. Siden nyttår har jeg søkt på alle jobber som er i en viss grad relevant for arkivutdanningen jeg gjennomførte på attføring. Det inkluderer en god del jobber innen kontor/administrasjon og sekretærjobber. Det er ikke flust av dem, men noen titalls søknader har det blitt. Jeg har også sjekket muligheten for arbeidspraksis i samarbeid med NAV, hos noen større arkivinstanser.
Men så var det jobb da. Hvis jeg er heldig venter et jobbtilbud eller to i nærmere fremtid. Det ene tilbudet er ikke stillingen jeg søkte på, men en som er noe mindre fagrelevant enn jeg antok, og ikke veldig godt betalt. Men det er en jobb, på et sted jeg tror det kan være bra å jobbe. Er det bedre med et jobbtilbud i handa enn ti annonser på finn? Umiddelbart, ja. På sikt, er jeg usikker. Bør jeg heller satse på praksis et sted som kan gi meg opplæring og god erfaring i det som er faget mitt?
Jeg ringte til NAV for å få litt innspill fra saksbehandleren min på dette. Så langt kom jeg aldri. På sentralbordet satt en mann jeg aldri har snakket med der før. Han nektet å sette meg over til saksbehandler, uten å gi noen grunn til det. Det kan godt være at hun var opptatt i møte, syk, eller avspaserte, men måten han uttrykte seg på fikk meg til å lure på om han bare ville være vanskelig (jeg tror ikke egentlig det, jeg tror han bare var i dårlig humør og/eller uhøflig). Så skulle han gi en beskjed om at hun skulle ringe meg. Beskjeden jeg la igjen for to dager siden var visstnok ikke registrert. Og for å legge igjen beskjed ville han ha meg til å forklare hele problemstillingen. Da jeg gjorde det, sa han at jeg var pliktig å ta en hvilken som helst jobb jeg kunne få. Javel? Så etter at NAV har hjulpet meg med videreutdanning innen arkiv, og jeg har en bachelorgrad i informatikk, så er jeg pliktig til å ta en kassajobb på Rimi? For det er det nemlig ikke noe problem å få, for en norsk 30-åring med god utdannelse. Jo, det var jeg pliktig til. Så lenge jobben ikke går ut over de helsemessige begrenseningene mine, så var jeg pliktig til å ta vaskejobb, jobb som burgersjauer på McDonalds, eller kassajobb på Rimi, dersom jeg kunne få det.
Ifølge alt jeg kan finne av informasjon og lovverk rundt AAP er det ingenting som tilsier at jeg plikter å ta en hvilken som helst jobb jeg får penger for å utføre. NAV har i tillegg en del retningslinjer som sier en masse om hensiktsmessig arbeid i forhold til kompetanse og så videre. Og jeg tror ikke håpet mitt er helt ute for å finne en litt mer spennende jobb en kassa på Rimi. Ikke for å henge ut noen, jeg har jobbet i Rimi i mange år og trivdes godt med det, men nå har jeg en helt annen utdannelse, og det er ikke noe jeg tror jeg ville trives med i lengden. I tillegg er det såklart hele regla med å møte brukere/klienter med respekt, noe jeg tror er et fremmedord for vedkommede jeg traff på sentralbordet til NAV Nordre Aker.
Regner uansett ikke med å høre fra saksbehandleren min i dag. Det hører med til historien at jeg ga opp å snakke fornuft med denne uhøflige fyren og la på. Men NAV skal få høre fra meg.
fredag 29. april 2011
onsdag 30. mars 2011
Arkivar søker jobb
Nyutdannet arkivar med god it-kompetanse søker jobb. Av helsemessige årsaker kan jeg ikke jobbe mer enn 50%, men er fleksibel på arbeidstid.
Nå har jeg vært arbeidsledig siden nyttår, og det begynner å tære på humøret og motivasjonen. Jeg har trofast fulgt opp vikarbyråer og jobbnettsider, og sendt min andel jobbsøknader. To intervjuer har det blitt men ikke noe mer ut av det.
I dag har jeg vært på foredrag om karrierebygging på sosiale medier med Johannes Fjose Berg i NITO. Det var både underholdende, lærerikt og inspirerende. Oppfordringen var å "hoppe på toget" og bruke sosiale medier for det der er verdt i jobbsøkingen. Fra før er jeg da registrert på LinkedIn (dog med et begrenset kontaktnett foreløpig), og følger med på diverse kurs og aktiviteter som det jeg var med på i ettermiddag, men jeg ser nå at jeg kan gjøre en del mer.
Selv etter at jeg fullførte arkivutdanningen ved HiO har jeg følt meg mer som en IT-person enn en arkivar. Det kan nok ha noe med manglende praksis å gjøre, som begrenser seg til et prosjekt ved Kulturhistorisk museum i Oslo, noen måneder med arkivarbeid på Stortinget, og et kort oppdrag ved en videregående skole. Innen IT har jeg langt mer erfaring både innen drift, programmering og support, selv om det begynner å bli vagt utdatert.
Men altså, arkivjobbsøking. Nå vokser ikke tradisjonelle arkivjobber på trær. Ikke vet jeg om det er det jeg vil jobbe med heller. Jeg tror jeg kunne tenke meg å jobbe innen offentlig forvaltning først og fremst, men også gjerne innen kontor og administrasjon i det private. Det er heller ikke umulig å finne større og mindre private firmaer som søker kontor/sekretærhjelp, noe jeg synes kunne være et bra sted å starte.
Inspirert av dagens foredrag har jeg allerede begynt å utvide min horisont på LinkedIn, samt begynt å grave litt mer etter arkivblogger og fagsider å følge. Det skader jo heller ikke å holde seg oppdatert på arkivfronten mens man søker jobb! Gudmund Valderhaug var en av foreleserene på arkivfag da jeg gikk på høgskolen, og er verdt å lese om arkiv. Han er opptatt av og flink med det han gjør, og tar opp mange viktige og interessante emner innen arkivfag, etikk og praksis.
Neste uke er det nok et foredrag, og så får vi se om jeg kan finne enda flere gode måter å søke jobb på!
søndag 13. mars 2011
Litt laiv ihvertfall
Det er langt mellom laiver som fanger min interesse for tiden. Jeg vet ikke om jeg har blitt gammel og kresen, eller om alt faktisk var bedre før, også mengden laiver og gode arrangører. Noe er det ihvertfall, og det er to år siden sist jeg var på laiv og enda to år siden siste laiv før det igjen. Men ihvertfall skulle denne laiven vise seg å bli "første gang" for flere ting for min del, på godt og vondt.
"Broderskapet" skulle være en ganske spillerstyrt laiv, der spillerene selv utarbeidet roller og gruppekonsept etter å ha blitt tildelt gruppe. Det er en ganske uvant metode for meg, spesielt å så til grader bli overlatt ansvaret for egen rolle og gruppering. Spesielt det med relasjoner som de fleste er vant med å få tildelt av arrangørene, var vanskelig å få riktig og balansert. Og når 70 spillere skal prøve å komme opp med sine egne, stereotype men interessante roller, så sier det seg selv at det må bli en del "duplikater" og ulike oppfatninger av ting. En av mine små "issues", som riktignok ikke medførte noe problem rent spillteknisk, var at store deler av "eliten" innen røvere i hele verden var godt under 30...
Jeg fikk oppfylt førstevalget mitt som sosietetstyv, og kom i gruppering med en gjeng jenter jeg stort sett kjenner fra før som også er pålitelige spillere. Lite trodde jeg at jeg skulle være den som falt fra, for første gang i min laivkarriere. Vi hadde gruppemøte og utarbeidet et bra konsept som vi alle var fornøyde med. Rollen min hentet jeg fra forrige laiv jeg var på, en ung enkegrevinne med sjarm og litt ekstraordinære metoder for å holde formuen ved like. Det vil si, navnet og de lovløse tendensene var nytt for anledningen, i likhet med kostymet som jeg må si meg svært fornøyd med. For en gangs skyld var hoveddelen av kostymet mitt ikke selvsydd, siden jeg har hatt mye annet å gjøre, og Vero skyldte meg en tjeneste eller tre. Bare litt fiksing av pynt og alle lagene under var egenproduksjon.
Helgen før laiven ble den store sy-helgen, og allerede da kjente jeg kløe i halsen. Fra da lå jeg stort sett på sofaen i 4 dager, og orket knapt å løfte en synål, før jeg dagen før laivstart samlet kreftene og fikk sydd på de siste pynterosene, og dratt på butikken og handlet felles mat. Siden jeg hadde bilen som skulle frakte grupperingen til laivstedet, så bestemte jeg meg uansett for å dra oppover, og se an formen.
Etter en time lengre kjøretid enn beregnet pga. fredagstrafikken og en aldri så liten feilkjøring, kom jeg for første gang for sent til seneste oppmøtetid. På den positive siden var det flere som hadde stått i den samme bilkøen og brukt de samme gps-koordinatene, så møtetid og laivstart var utsatt tilsvarende. Å komme inn i forsamlingssalen og se 60-70 røvere av svært variabel kaliber var et syn jeg ikke har sett i min tid som laiver, og neppe kommer til å se igjen. Pirater, skogsrøvere, landeveisrøvere, sigøynere og adel/sosietetsrøvere i en salig blanding, og masse gode effekter og kostymer.
Laivstart ble en glidende overgang fra startmøte til matlaging, men det ble raskt underholdende og interessant å være i felleshallen utover kvelden. Jeg fikk konversert med mer og mindre siviliserte røvere, og noen få viste seg i all sin usiviliserthet å være ganske hyggelige. Det var syner og gale anfall og spådommer, noen slosskamper og mye (spill-)fyll. Jeg føler at jeg fikk spilt rollen min, og vist fram både en "sart og prippen" side i tillegg til en overlegen og selvsikker side. For rollen var det jo en til dels forventet men likevel totalt ukjent situasjon, og det var en morsom utfordring å få til å spille på det uten å bli en feig, pysete adelsdame (noe jeg håper jeg gjorde, til tross for at mange roller ikke hadde særlig mye respekt for oss fintfolk).
Formen var ikke spesielt bra, så etter avtale med arrangører og grupper forsvant jeg på mystisk vis, en stykke utpå kvelden. For første gang i min 13 år lange laivkarriere har jeg ikke spilt en laiv jeg har betalt for og forberedt meg til. Men jeg har i etterkant fått vite at forsvinningen skapte en del spill for flere. Det at en faktisk spiller forsvinner blir så mye mer realistisk enn den forhåndsbestemte historien om den ikke-eksisterende rollen som forsvant på veien. Det, sammen med mange gode spillopplevelser bare på fredagskvelden, har gjort at jeg føler jeg har fått mye ut av en laiv som for min del varte i knappe fire timer. I tillegg har jeg blitt kjent med et par nye og veldig hyggelige mennesker, og hilst på gamle kjente jeg ikke har sett på årevis. Jeg håper det ikke blir to år til neste gang jeg treffer noen av disse på laiv!
tirsdag 1. mars 2011
Return to England
Just after our return from Egypt, my friend Anne Jorun told me that our Isrealian townie on Brettspielwelt, Shoshie, was coming to Brighton for the half term week. I've been planning to do a trip to England to visit people for some time, and this was just the occation I needed to get the dates set. A couple of other townies had rented an appartement in Brighton for the week, and several others were coming to see Shoshie and, of course, play games.
I wanted to visit some other places as well, so I planned to go a couple of days early. BA gave me a good offer on a rental car with the plane ticket, so I was quite happy with that as well, giving me the opportunity to go around at my own convenience. Saturday night I landet at Heathrow with my large, empty suitcase, and headed for Swindon. There I spent the night at my cousins place, with pizza and chatting until too late in the evening. I stayed the night over, and headed for Oxford and Denton house after breakfast on Sunday.
The weather was rather sad, with showers, but I didn't mind. Compared to Norwegian weather, it was just like a slightly chilly summer. I spent the day on Denton walking the dog, helping out with the horses, and everything felt like I had never been in Norway these last months since August. After supper I was so tired from all the fresh air and the late night before, that I went to bed and slept almost at once. The morning after I got up at seven, and started the day with feeding the horses and putting them out in the field before cleaning out the stables, just like any other normal workday when I used to live there. It was very nice to be back again!
On Monday it was time to do some shopping, as I had planned to bring a lot of dog treats and chews back, since they are really expensive in Norway. I decided to drop by a shopping centre I remembered, and in two of the cheap stores there I found a lot of the things I wanted, even cheaper than in the pet stores. Afterwards I went to the large pet store and got the rest, and some toys and blankets. After shopping I was really tired, so I decided to head for Brighton instead of my planned trip to the city centre. I had a quick sandwich on the first motorway service, and drove straight down to the Brighton Marina.
I dropped off my things in the appartement, said hi to the people there, and ran off to park the car and get some food, as I was really hungry. After ordering food, I realised I didn't have my wallet with me. I ran back to the apartement some hundred metres down the road, but it wasn't there, and then to the carpark a hundred metres the other way from the pub, and finally found my wallet in my bag there... Exhausted, annoyed and hungry, I finally got to enjoy an English pub meal for the first time in months.
Back in the appartement, I started what was two days of gaming and fun with friends, it was so nice to see everyone. On Tuesday I went to pick up AJ and we did some clothes- and lego shopping before meeting the others for lunch. We both brought Norwegian food, that we served during the evening. It was salty liquorice (not very popular...), reindeer meat (very popular), brown cheese and cloudberry cream (quite popular) and different Norwegian sweets (Smash!, Sure skrikerunger, Fruktige seigdamer, Knott mm.). And the Norwegian spirit of Løitens Aquavite. It was really fun to see the foreigners try the different food, and we got to try some Israelian food ourselves.
After more time trying new and old games, I had to leave for Heathrow on Wednesday afternoon, quite unwilling. Due to fog there was some delay in traffic, so I left an hour earlier than planned to be sure I'd make my flight. It wasn't a big problem, so I had good time on Heathrow to have dinner and get my father a good whisky. I would have liked to stay longer, some days, weeks or months. It won't be long until next time I go back!
fredag 21. januar 2011
An exciting day, in the worse meaning of exciting
Today was one of those days that deserve the occasional blog spot. One of those days when everything has gone so incredible ridiculously wrong that it would be selfish to keep it to myself.
Tollef was going on a bachelor-party-trip for the weekend, and I was planning to give the dog a long walk, before going to a boardgame night with some friends. The next two days I am going to a course on mental health for dogs, and really looking forward to that.
In the morning, I had breakfast with our houseguest, one of the bachelor's friends coming from Denmark to join the party/trip. He needed some things from the shopping centre, so I decided to take the car and buy the food I needed for the weekend at the same time. A week ago I ordered some dog equipment that I would like to have for our long walk today. I didn't get any tracking number, so I called the customer services to ask if they could get it for me, so I could pick the parcel up at the post office on our way. The woman was not used to being on support line, and couldn't get the number, but she could tell me that my parcel was sent three days ago, and was not likely to get here before the weekend. We went shopping, the boys left for their trip, and I went on a nice, long walk with Kovu (the only dog for the time being, Odin is at my parents on "vacation" for another two weeks). I came home and checked the mailbox, which kept just a single note - the delivery note for my parcel. No big deal really, but particularly annoying since I actually checked up on it!
After a good lunch, a shower and some rest, I was ready to leave for the boardgame night. On my way out, I couldn't find my wallet. I had to buy some snack to bring, besides my travelcard for getting there and back, and not the least for getting to and from the course during the weekend. The last time I knew I had it was in the car after shopping, and the car was three hours drive away! Tollef didn't answer the phone, and I hoped he was not without signal for the whole trip. I searched the house for cash, and found enough to at least get me through the first day, hoping some of my friends could loan me some cash when I got there.
I also had forgotten the address of my friends place. I asked on IRC, but didn't get any answer before I had to leave to get there in time. I knew the street, and had the phone number (not registered with any address on online services of course). On my way down, I called, but didn't get any answer. After getting another two numbers for people who would be there from common aquaintances, and calling again with no answers, I checked a house number that lurked in the back of my mind, and came right.
I'd just gotten to my friends place when Tollef called me from a strange number. He hadn't gotten my sms, but called to tell me that the car had broken down, about 10 km from their destination, and his cell was out of battery. He'd called NAF (Norwegian Automobile Association) for help, but needed the membership card, which, I told him, was in the car. He also had forgotten the pin-code for his cell, so I had to help him getting it when I got home. The wallet was apparently not in the car. I left my friends after a short time, going home to look for my wallet once again, and check up some other things for Tollef. The next time he called, he'd found my wallet, and was waiting to be picked up by his friends. Luckily they had enough cars to get around for the weekend. Tomorrow, He'll call our car salesman, as the used car sales guarantee is still valid, and ask for advice on what to do. Whether to get the car fixed up there, 3 hours drive from home, or get it transported here some way and have the sales people fix the problems.
A slightly too exciting start of the weekend, I'll be happy enough with the course being a bit boring and nothing much else happening for the next couple of days.
Tollef was going on a bachelor-party-trip for the weekend, and I was planning to give the dog a long walk, before going to a boardgame night with some friends. The next two days I am going to a course on mental health for dogs, and really looking forward to that.
In the morning, I had breakfast with our houseguest, one of the bachelor's friends coming from Denmark to join the party/trip. He needed some things from the shopping centre, so I decided to take the car and buy the food I needed for the weekend at the same time. A week ago I ordered some dog equipment that I would like to have for our long walk today. I didn't get any tracking number, so I called the customer services to ask if they could get it for me, so I could pick the parcel up at the post office on our way. The woman was not used to being on support line, and couldn't get the number, but she could tell me that my parcel was sent three days ago, and was not likely to get here before the weekend. We went shopping, the boys left for their trip, and I went on a nice, long walk with Kovu (the only dog for the time being, Odin is at my parents on "vacation" for another two weeks). I came home and checked the mailbox, which kept just a single note - the delivery note for my parcel. No big deal really, but particularly annoying since I actually checked up on it!
After a good lunch, a shower and some rest, I was ready to leave for the boardgame night. On my way out, I couldn't find my wallet. I had to buy some snack to bring, besides my travelcard for getting there and back, and not the least for getting to and from the course during the weekend. The last time I knew I had it was in the car after shopping, and the car was three hours drive away! Tollef didn't answer the phone, and I hoped he was not without signal for the whole trip. I searched the house for cash, and found enough to at least get me through the first day, hoping some of my friends could loan me some cash when I got there.
I also had forgotten the address of my friends place. I asked on IRC, but didn't get any answer before I had to leave to get there in time. I knew the street, and had the phone number (not registered with any address on online services of course). On my way down, I called, but didn't get any answer. After getting another two numbers for people who would be there from common aquaintances, and calling again with no answers, I checked a house number that lurked in the back of my mind, and came right.
I'd just gotten to my friends place when Tollef called me from a strange number. He hadn't gotten my sms, but called to tell me that the car had broken down, about 10 km from their destination, and his cell was out of battery. He'd called NAF (Norwegian Automobile Association) for help, but needed the membership card, which, I told him, was in the car. He also had forgotten the pin-code for his cell, so I had to help him getting it when I got home. The wallet was apparently not in the car. I left my friends after a short time, going home to look for my wallet once again, and check up some other things for Tollef. The next time he called, he'd found my wallet, and was waiting to be picked up by his friends. Luckily they had enough cars to get around for the weekend. Tomorrow, He'll call our car salesman, as the used car sales guarantee is still valid, and ask for advice on what to do. Whether to get the car fixed up there, 3 hours drive from home, or get it transported here some way and have the sales people fix the problems.
A slightly too exciting start of the weekend, I'll be happy enough with the course being a bit boring and nothing much else happening for the next couple of days.
fredag 14. januar 2011
Simira's Guide to Egypt
Going to Egypt
Every winter we usually go away to some warmer and sunnier place than Norway. The last week were spent in Hurghada in Egypt, on the Red Sea coast. We went to Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt two years ago, and I loved it. Warm weather, clear water, unfamiliar and exciting culture. This year, I was excited but a bit unsure of what to expect, as January is the worst month weather-wise, to go to Egypt. The temperatures are about 20-22 degrees Celsius during daytime. That wouldn't have been so bad, if it hadn't been for the somewhat chilly wind that blows constantly. As we have been to Egypt before I had an idea of what to expect. But during our week there were quite a few things I wish I had remembered or known beforehand, so I decided to make this mainly a guide for myself and others going to Egypt.
The place
Hurghada consists of mainly three parts. El Dahar is the old city centre where mostly locals live. Sekkala is considered "downtown", with some hotels, a lovely new marina with good restaurants, and Sheraton road for shopping. There are a number of "normal, everyday" stores that even the locals use, for electrics, home ware etc., and an enormous number of shops offering the general tourist goods selection. The choice of restaurants and clubs is quite good.
"New Hurghada”, which we stayed in, is solely built because of the tourists, and consists mostly of all-inclusive hotel-resorts. There are a few restaurants aside from the hotel ones, which I recommend to try out. The food is cheaper, and in our case, a lot better, than in the hotels. There's also a small shopping street, with enough tourist stores and supermarkets to cover everything you actually would want to buy from touristy stuff. It's all the same fake products everywhere anyway.
Hurghada is supposed to be a diver's paradise, and a lot of people come here for diving and snorkelling. Contrary to Sharm el Sheikh, there was little coral reef and fish right out from the beach, so I didn't do any snorkelling this time. There are plenty of operators offering snorkelling trips out on the sea though, which can be quite good. If you're lucky, you may even see dolphins.
Based on Tripadvisor reviews, we stayed at Steigenberger Al Dau Beach Hotel. It is a rather new and large resort, with very nice grounds. They have a large pool, with a lazy river, a smaller saltwater pool that is heated in wintertime, a jacuzzi island with three jacuzzis, and a kid's club with a children's pool and playground. On the organized schedule there's water gym, beach volley, bocchia, Arabic courses, belly dance courses, and more. I have written a review that can be read on the Tripadvisor site.
Money
Economy in Egypt is very different from Western economy. The differences between rich and poor is great, and there are huge differences in life styles. Tourism is the third largest "industry" (The Suez channel and oil being the two more important). They have Egyptian Pounds, worth about 8 for one Euro or 5.5 for a dollar. Coins are rare, and restaurants will even cut a couple of pounds of your bill rather than give you smaller change back. The most common is notes of 100, 50, 20 and 10 pounds, 5 pound notes also goes around. One pound coins (which would be nice for tipping) are rare. Advise: Split notes whenever you have the chance. Euros and dollars are also accepted by most tourist-related places, so you might want to bring euro/cents and dollars/cents for tipping.
A lot of Egyptians depend their income on "baksheesh", that is a kind of tipping or economical contribution. They expect tipping for showing you anything, letting you through to a toilet, opening doors, handling luggage, helping with your sun bed on the beach, or anything you can think of. A couple of pounds are normally accepted, if you happen to have the coins...
WARNING: There's also a 50 Piaster note, which is half a pound. Do not get them confused with 50 pound notes, and do check your change when you get a note with a 50 on it!!! (yes, I speak from experience). Also, avoid people that ask you how much their Euros are worth and asks you to do a (apparently lucrative) change for Egyptian Money. They will try to confuse you to end up with giving them too much money in some way.
Shopping
All places that have tourists have tourist shops and salesmen. In Egypt, they are quite aggressive, and will approach you whenever you pass within a certain distance from their shop. They often ask where you are from, and present some lines in your language. Then they will show you something, or just try this shawl on you, and no matter how many times they say "no pressure", "no buy", they do want to sell you something.
The best tactic is to ignore them. "La shukran" (Lah shockran) means "no thank you", and works sometimes. It feels incredible impolite to just pass through despite "where are you from", "please, just be nice", "give a smile", but it's the only way.
If you do want to buy anything, know this: 95% of everything you get in shops around tourist areas is fake (or just bad quality), and 95% is over-priced. Learn to know real papyrus from banana papyrus copies, real leather from fake, and see different qualities of fabrics. If you ask about the price of anything, the seller will give up an unreasonable high price. The meaning is for you to protest and give an unreasonable low price, and start haggling. "Too expensive" is a very effective line, along with "it's cheaper in the other store", "you are very nice, but...". Pretending to walk away often has a good effect on the price, if you just turn back in time. If you are getting close to accepting, they will also try to offer you something else, or two of whatever. Don't feel bad about arguing and even lying. They will never sell anything below cost, no matter what they say, and they mostly earn very good on tourists. Some shopkeepers will also serve you tea, even before trying to sell you anything. It does not oblige you to buy anything.
Sightseeing
Despite big plans on my part, we ended up doing just one excursion this time, to Luxor and Valley of the Kings. Most of these tourist places offer trips to Cairo (about 500km each way from Sharm or Hurghada), quad driving in the desert, beguine visits, and of course snorkelling and diving excursions. The quad driving, snorkelling and diving depends a bit on your interest in it. The bedouin visits can be good, but are often typical tourist traps with lot of sad-looking poor children that wants you to give them your nice pen, money, or anything else you have that they think looks nice. And how could you not give it to them, poor children (of course they know this)!?
The trips to the famous pyramids in Giza (on the Cairo trip) and Valley of the Kings (on the Luxor trip) are probably among the most popular. We left early in the morning (about 4-5) by bus, with one stop for breakfast about half way. From the bus we could see settlements of farmers along the Nile on the last part of the way, and fields with what, sugar cane and other crops. The Valley of the Kings is of course famous for the pharaoh tombs. Unfortunately cameras are forbidden to take through the security, but understandable enough. You get to buy postcards or guidebooks anywhere along the way there, so the memories are saved. The tombs are fascinatingly decorated and well kept. They are closed every 2-3 years to preserve them.
We had several other stops on our trip. The Karnack temple was maybe the world's largest temple complex, and there's much of it left even today. In evenings they have light shows, although I did prefer being able to look around in the ancient structures during daylight. We also visited papyrus and alabaster factories, and was shown the progress of making products from them, and how to separate fake or machine work from real/hand work.
Travel
There are taxies everywhere in the tourist areas. They drive slowly along the streets, honking whenever passing someone on foot. They are cheap, and we paid about 20 pounds for a 7 km trip (although that was expensive, according to our guide later on). Make sure to agree on a price before getting into a taxi. There are also minibuses that the local use, that costs about 1-2 pounds per person. A recommendable experience if you have a man to travel with, not something to do for lone woman. Else, you'd better check what shuttle services your hotel offers.
To get in to Egypt, you need a visa. When going by charter, you normally get a form on the plane, to fill out and deliver together with your passport in the visa control, after the passport control on the airport. Getting out of Egypt is a slightly different matter. The airports are busy, and charter trips tend to start and end on the same day. First, everyone has to go through a general security control, to make sure weapons don't come through. Then there is the worst part, the check-in. The counters and queues are rather chaotic, and on our trip they changed counters several times during our 1-hour queue stay for check-in. The whole airport was rather busy and chaotic, and even though we had enough time, the flight was delayed with an hour, which appears to be quite normal.
Our trip
I really enjoyed this trip. Despite the chilly wind I sunbathed and swam in the pool every day. I also got started with some exercise that I hope to keep up back home. I ended up not going on any excursions except to Luxor. The first day, we joined a half day local sightseeing with the charter company, which was very nice. The other days I spent by the pool, while Tollef went on diving excursions. Every night we went out for dinner and tried different local restaurants. I missed snorkelling by coral reefs on the beach like I did in Sharm two years ago. For some reason I also found Sharm more relaxed, but I can't tell just why. The trip to Luxor was even more exciting than expected, and was really my highlight of the trip. The airport experience one the last day was really a downfall again, but by then the vacation was really over anyway.
Every winter we usually go away to some warmer and sunnier place than Norway. The last week were spent in Hurghada in Egypt, on the Red Sea coast. We went to Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt two years ago, and I loved it. Warm weather, clear water, unfamiliar and exciting culture. This year, I was excited but a bit unsure of what to expect, as January is the worst month weather-wise, to go to Egypt. The temperatures are about 20-22 degrees Celsius during daytime. That wouldn't have been so bad, if it hadn't been for the somewhat chilly wind that blows constantly. As we have been to Egypt before I had an idea of what to expect. But during our week there were quite a few things I wish I had remembered or known beforehand, so I decided to make this mainly a guide for myself and others going to Egypt.
The place
Hurghada consists of mainly three parts. El Dahar is the old city centre where mostly locals live. Sekkala is considered "downtown", with some hotels, a lovely new marina with good restaurants, and Sheraton road for shopping. There are a number of "normal, everyday" stores that even the locals use, for electrics, home ware etc., and an enormous number of shops offering the general tourist goods selection. The choice of restaurants and clubs is quite good.
"New Hurghada”, which we stayed in, is solely built because of the tourists, and consists mostly of all-inclusive hotel-resorts. There are a few restaurants aside from the hotel ones, which I recommend to try out. The food is cheaper, and in our case, a lot better, than in the hotels. There's also a small shopping street, with enough tourist stores and supermarkets to cover everything you actually would want to buy from touristy stuff. It's all the same fake products everywhere anyway.
Hurghada is supposed to be a diver's paradise, and a lot of people come here for diving and snorkelling. Contrary to Sharm el Sheikh, there was little coral reef and fish right out from the beach, so I didn't do any snorkelling this time. There are plenty of operators offering snorkelling trips out on the sea though, which can be quite good. If you're lucky, you may even see dolphins.
Based on Tripadvisor reviews, we stayed at Steigenberger Al Dau Beach Hotel. It is a rather new and large resort, with very nice grounds. They have a large pool, with a lazy river, a smaller saltwater pool that is heated in wintertime, a jacuzzi island with three jacuzzis, and a kid's club with a children's pool and playground. On the organized schedule there's water gym, beach volley, bocchia, Arabic courses, belly dance courses, and more. I have written a review that can be read on the Tripadvisor site.
Money
Economy in Egypt is very different from Western economy. The differences between rich and poor is great, and there are huge differences in life styles. Tourism is the third largest "industry" (The Suez channel and oil being the two more important). They have Egyptian Pounds, worth about 8 for one Euro or 5.5 for a dollar. Coins are rare, and restaurants will even cut a couple of pounds of your bill rather than give you smaller change back. The most common is notes of 100, 50, 20 and 10 pounds, 5 pound notes also goes around. One pound coins (which would be nice for tipping) are rare. Advise: Split notes whenever you have the chance. Euros and dollars are also accepted by most tourist-related places, so you might want to bring euro/cents and dollars/cents for tipping.
A lot of Egyptians depend their income on "baksheesh", that is a kind of tipping or economical contribution. They expect tipping for showing you anything, letting you through to a toilet, opening doors, handling luggage, helping with your sun bed on the beach, or anything you can think of. A couple of pounds are normally accepted, if you happen to have the coins...
WARNING: There's also a 50 Piaster note, which is half a pound. Do not get them confused with 50 pound notes, and do check your change when you get a note with a 50 on it!!! (yes, I speak from experience). Also, avoid people that ask you how much their Euros are worth and asks you to do a (apparently lucrative) change for Egyptian Money. They will try to confuse you to end up with giving them too much money in some way.
Shopping
All places that have tourists have tourist shops and salesmen. In Egypt, they are quite aggressive, and will approach you whenever you pass within a certain distance from their shop. They often ask where you are from, and present some lines in your language. Then they will show you something, or just try this shawl on you, and no matter how many times they say "no pressure", "no buy", they do want to sell you something.
The best tactic is to ignore them. "La shukran" (Lah shockran) means "no thank you", and works sometimes. It feels incredible impolite to just pass through despite "where are you from", "please, just be nice", "give a smile", but it's the only way.
If you do want to buy anything, know this: 95% of everything you get in shops around tourist areas is fake (or just bad quality), and 95% is over-priced. Learn to know real papyrus from banana papyrus copies, real leather from fake, and see different qualities of fabrics. If you ask about the price of anything, the seller will give up an unreasonable high price. The meaning is for you to protest and give an unreasonable low price, and start haggling. "Too expensive" is a very effective line, along with "it's cheaper in the other store", "you are very nice, but...". Pretending to walk away often has a good effect on the price, if you just turn back in time. If you are getting close to accepting, they will also try to offer you something else, or two of whatever. Don't feel bad about arguing and even lying. They will never sell anything below cost, no matter what they say, and they mostly earn very good on tourists. Some shopkeepers will also serve you tea, even before trying to sell you anything. It does not oblige you to buy anything.
Sightseeing
Despite big plans on my part, we ended up doing just one excursion this time, to Luxor and Valley of the Kings. Most of these tourist places offer trips to Cairo (about 500km each way from Sharm or Hurghada), quad driving in the desert, beguine visits, and of course snorkelling and diving excursions. The quad driving, snorkelling and diving depends a bit on your interest in it. The bedouin visits can be good, but are often typical tourist traps with lot of sad-looking poor children that wants you to give them your nice pen, money, or anything else you have that they think looks nice. And how could you not give it to them, poor children (of course they know this)!?
The trips to the famous pyramids in Giza (on the Cairo trip) and Valley of the Kings (on the Luxor trip) are probably among the most popular. We left early in the morning (about 4-5) by bus, with one stop for breakfast about half way. From the bus we could see settlements of farmers along the Nile on the last part of the way, and fields with what, sugar cane and other crops. The Valley of the Kings is of course famous for the pharaoh tombs. Unfortunately cameras are forbidden to take through the security, but understandable enough. You get to buy postcards or guidebooks anywhere along the way there, so the memories are saved. The tombs are fascinatingly decorated and well kept. They are closed every 2-3 years to preserve them.
We had several other stops on our trip. The Karnack temple was maybe the world's largest temple complex, and there's much of it left even today. In evenings they have light shows, although I did prefer being able to look around in the ancient structures during daylight. We also visited papyrus and alabaster factories, and was shown the progress of making products from them, and how to separate fake or machine work from real/hand work.
Travel
There are taxies everywhere in the tourist areas. They drive slowly along the streets, honking whenever passing someone on foot. They are cheap, and we paid about 20 pounds for a 7 km trip (although that was expensive, according to our guide later on). Make sure to agree on a price before getting into a taxi. There are also minibuses that the local use, that costs about 1-2 pounds per person. A recommendable experience if you have a man to travel with, not something to do for lone woman. Else, you'd better check what shuttle services your hotel offers.
To get in to Egypt, you need a visa. When going by charter, you normally get a form on the plane, to fill out and deliver together with your passport in the visa control, after the passport control on the airport. Getting out of Egypt is a slightly different matter. The airports are busy, and charter trips tend to start and end on the same day. First, everyone has to go through a general security control, to make sure weapons don't come through. Then there is the worst part, the check-in. The counters and queues are rather chaotic, and on our trip they changed counters several times during our 1-hour queue stay for check-in. The whole airport was rather busy and chaotic, and even though we had enough time, the flight was delayed with an hour, which appears to be quite normal.
Our trip
I really enjoyed this trip. Despite the chilly wind I sunbathed and swam in the pool every day. I also got started with some exercise that I hope to keep up back home. I ended up not going on any excursions except to Luxor. The first day, we joined a half day local sightseeing with the charter company, which was very nice. The other days I spent by the pool, while Tollef went on diving excursions. Every night we went out for dinner and tried different local restaurants. I missed snorkelling by coral reefs on the beach like I did in Sharm two years ago. For some reason I also found Sharm more relaxed, but I can't tell just why. The trip to Luxor was even more exciting than expected, and was really my highlight of the trip. The airport experience one the last day was really a downfall again, but by then the vacation was really over anyway.
tirsdag 3. mars 2009
Brettspielwelt.de
I spend a good deal of my time on brettspielwelt.de, which is a German portal for a lot of more or less popular and well-known boardgames. You might have heard of Settlers, Carcassonne, San Juan, Go, Bohnanza, etc. There's also definitely a lot of games you've never heard of.
Brettspielwelt is a great way to learn and try out new games, and to play more of your favourite games when your friends are busy elsewhere. There is a handful of games in my collection bought after learning them on BSW, and another handful on the list for buying.
In addition to offering a whole lot of games, BSW is organized in a confusing mass of towns, houses and rooms. You don't need to pay attention to that if you don't want to. If you are interested, it's possible to join a town as its inhabitant (you have towns like EnglishTown, CanadaTown, ParisTown, and more general ones like Concordia (English-speaking in general), Versailles and more). On a certain level (you get a ranking after how many games you play) you can build your own house and put a game in it.
There are two options if you want to play. You can use the online web client, or download a client to your computer. The latter one gives you the opportunity to have your own settings on menus, looks and so on. Besides from the graphic user interface, you have a lot of useful and useless commands applying to help you navigate in this place. There's an overview on http://brettspielwelt.de/Hilfe/Kommandos/.
To people who'd like to try this, I have two recommendations.
1. Register. On the webpage, you can register with a username and password that you use to log in. Please do! Many users, myself included, refuse to play with unregistered users. The main reason is that some people leave the games when it becomes obvious that they will lose. If a registered user do that, he or she will get reported, and people will know to avoid that player later. All your games will also be registered, and it's easy to see if other players are at your level by their number of games and percentage of won games.
2. Be polite. It's polite to ask before seating in a game. Right-click to join a room from the game manager without joining the game automatically. Ask if you can join the game. Wish your opponents fun and good luck, and thank for the game afterwards. If the game is new to you, nicely ask a person to teach you, don't join a game pretending you know it. Also, then you should read the rules on the BSW website before playing.
All of this information, and everything else you'd like to know about this place, can be found on www.brettspielwelt.de. There are options for different languages in the upper right corner. Have fun, and good luck!
In addition to offering a whole lot of games, BSW is organized in a confusing mass of towns, houses and rooms. You don't need to pay attention to that if you don't want to. If you are interested, it's possible to join a town as its inhabitant (you have towns like EnglishTown, CanadaTown, ParisTown, and more general ones like Concordia (English-speaking in general), Versailles and more). On a certain level (you get a ranking after how many games you play) you can build your own house and put a game in it.
There are two options if you want to play. You can use the online web client, or download a client to your computer. The latter one gives you the opportunity to have your own settings on menus, looks and so on. Besides from the graphic user interface, you have a lot of useful and useless commands applying to help you navigate in this place. There's an overview on http://brettspielwelt.de/Hilfe/Kommandos/.
To people who'd like to try this, I have two recommendations.
1. Register. On the webpage, you can register with a username and password that you use to log in. Please do! Many users, myself included, refuse to play with unregistered users. The main reason is that some people leave the games when it becomes obvious that they will lose. If a registered user do that, he or she will get reported, and people will know to avoid that player later. All your games will also be registered, and it's easy to see if other players are at your level by their number of games and percentage of won games.
2. Be polite. It's polite to ask before seating in a game. Right-click to join a room from the game manager without joining the game automatically. Ask if you can join the game. Wish your opponents fun and good luck, and thank for the game afterwards. If the game is new to you, nicely ask a person to teach you, don't join a game pretending you know it. Also, then you should read the rules on the BSW website before playing.
All of this information, and everything else you'd like to know about this place, can be found on www.brettspielwelt.de. There are options for different languages in the upper right corner. Have fun, and good luck!
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