In academia, I would guess most Europeans consider race a social construct and not a lens through which one judges other people. Yes, we’re all leaning more and more right, unfortunately, but race is seldom a major part of what makes someone an Other. (But I do know it can be, my daughter-in-law is from Uganda). Outside academia… I would hope most Europeans are more informed than most trumpists.

Haha, yes, i believe the matpakke is still strong in Norway. (You don’t buy lunch, you bring your own two sorry slices of bread from home, often with the caramelly fake cheese «brunost»). Still, it’s not a bad place to live.

Well, he has a myriad ideas – cup, vase, generic bricks, sling ammo, pot – but so far we have just been gathering clay and leaving it to dry into oblivion on the porch.

Ja, men har bodd litt rundt i verden. Barna har lært bishops av sin bosnisk-norske mor og arabisk da vi bodde i Marokko 2018-2021 (men alt glemt mye).

Jeg kan snakke norsk på ut- og innpust, jeg:)

Well, I didn’t, as the teachers all spoke both my languages (Norwegian and English), but my kids do it all the time, with me and at school: they go to an international school (English/French) and often use Norwegian or Bosnian or even smatterings of Arabic just to mix things up, depending of who they want to understand.

Nor serious. Playfully melancholic.

Tervuren, just outside Brussels.

Thanks. The light was truly magical.

Bach. Both easy to listen to and a never ending trove of new discoveries. Emotional and yet silly. Spiritual even for an atheist. Simple yet cerebral. Occasionally melancholy yet always life affirming. Rule bound, yet jazzy.

No, a poison ring is a giftring, without the e. Don’t know why.

In Norwegian same thing: giftering, “the state of being married-ring”. Jeg er gift = i am married. It also means “I am poison”, though.

Obsidian.

Eat two litres. Toilet. Take two pills. Eat two litres. Not toilet.

Coffee ice cream. Could eat litres at a time. Quit over and over, went shopping, came back with more litres.

Then I realised I was lactose intolerant.

One of the best moments I had when I walked around Mont Blanc was when we came to a col on a foggy day and passed a group of Japanese tourists just as the fog lifted and you could see the fantastic view. They burst out oh and an-ing snd even laughing while they thanked the relieved guide.