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Tomorrow, May 17, is a special day in Norway called ’syttende mai’, which basically means May 17. This is the day that the Norwegian Constitution is celebrated. This constitution, signed on May 17 1814, declared Norway an independent nation, it was the first step to full independence from Denmark (which happened in 1905) with which it was forming a Union since 1537.

I am invited to a pre-party tonight in order to prepare for tomorrows festivities in Oslo city…of course I accepted the invite as it is obviously important for my cultural integration process…;)

At the end of my meetings at WHO today, I got a tour around the Strategic Health Operations Centre (also called the SHOC room). This is the place from where WHO is coordinating its response to acute public health crises around the globe (crises such as infectious disease outbreaks, natural disasters and chemical emergencies). What looked like a pretty standard corporate meeting room at first, turned out to be an impressive integration of a variety of top notch multimedia tools (geek time!) providing a looking glass of the disaster area for the team working with the crisis…no surprise that the SHOC room is currently filled with activities related to the two recent natural disasters in Myanmar and China.

Mike Myers: “And I loved the whole idea behind the story, which is that you’re beautiful, so don’t let other people tell you that you’re not just because you don’t look like the people in magazines. Or because you’re not that weird ideal body image that’s out there right now.”

I arrived in Geneva, and am trying out a new hotel here (Citadines). So far it proved to be a nice, yet old style hotel. A room with a kitchen, suitable for a longer stay, but a couch bed…wtf?!? It’s on the french side, so I had to cross the border…it’s interesting to visit two countries where I only have to be in one (Switzerland). Up for a good night sleep to be fit for tomorrows meeting with WHO!

Anyone who followed yesterdays Tweets knows that we arrives safe at home (the Norwegian home that is ;)). Todays day was mainly spent outside; mowing the grass, washing the car, falling asleep in the sun and…bbq’ing!! Yeah, the bbq season has been officially opened today!

I’m looking forward to many many more this year…let the sun shine and the coles burn!

We’re ready for the trip back North…it’ll basically be the same roadtrip as last week, but then in the opposite direction (and less rain I presume! ;)).

It’s 6:15 am (ooff!!)…time to leave!

Today was already the last day in NL, typically filled with 1,000’s of these little things…I managed to get everything done, including having my hair cut (= styled).

Hehe, it might sound pretty posh, but I have been coming back to my ‘own’ hairdresser in NL ever since I moved to Norway…! Hmm, what can I say? She’s pretty darn good and I’m pretty darn picky on who I allow to touch my hair! Hehe, Denise is the best…or, was the best! She unfortunately stops cutting/styling…I got to find someone else, maybe someone in Norway this time?

It’s not that often that we’re driving back to Norway, so we use the opportunity to take with us the boxes that we left behind last September…I just packed the car and trust me; it is PACKED!! (besides the boxes, there’s also ’some’ beer and wine ;)).

I have to admit, I’m actually pretty happy with the size of the ‘family-car’…(ooch, that hurt, it ain’t an A6! ;))

Tomorrow a last, relaxing, day in the sun, the trip back will be on Sunday (which happens to be Pentecost/Whitsunday, so I don’t expect too much traffic).

Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

One of my favorite bands, Nine Inch Nails (aka ‘nin’) released their latest album ‘The Slip‘ for free on their website! In a post on their website, frontman Trent Reznor says: “Thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years — this one’s on me.”

Well, THANK YOU Trent & nin! I still remember their super show at Rockin’ Park three years ago!

It has become quite a tradition, and this year is no exception; Robbert and I will go to Pohoda, THE summer festival of choice in Slovakia!

The line-up this year features Fatboy Slim, the Streets, Editors, Lou Rhodes, The Wombats, and many many more (check out the complete program).

I’m really looking forward to it, so, you know where to find me this July 18-19 (just 73 days to go, yay)!!

Working in NL this week gave me a bonus; an extra day off because of Liberation Day! Very welcome since this day also happens to be my dads Birthday…and with weather still being Sunny with a capital ‘S’, this day was Perfect with a capital ‘P’!

PS. for number freaks; he turned 63, I just turned 36…funny…

The weather in NL is absolutely stunning! I guess it’s about the same in Norway, so the folks back home have nothing to be jealous for…

Me and Robbert went out last night to our favorite place, ‘De Paap‘ in The Hague…came home around 7am, oof! I must admit, sitting outside doing nothing else than enjoying the sun is the perfect thing for me this Sunday afternoon!

Kathleen Norris: “Disconnecting from change does not recapture the past. It loses the future.”

I’m really looking forward to this roadtrip…it’ll be the first time to drive it southwards and also the first time to do this trip in one day (or at least, we’ll try to do it in one day), it shouldn’t take more than 14 hours, so hey; easy peasy!

The directions are really simple; any road south will do!

And we’re leaving… …NOW!