I came to think of all my friends just now. Quite a number of people. I want to tell you all that I think of you regularly and I miss you all the time.  Friends in Denmark, those I met in Japan, friends I made in Greece and last but not the least the fantastic group in Lithuania.

I came back to Iceland at the end of May. I have been studying in Copenhagen, Denmark for the last two years including a semester in Lithuania. My niece (not sure if she is my niece - my moms-sisters-daughter) got married on the second of June so of course I had to be there. A great wedding. Really fantastic. After that I started working. It really takes a lot of time to work. My thesis has been "left behind" because of my job but I will finish it in time. You'll see. I'll let you know when I hand it in. Then we can have a web-conference, everyone with a beer brand from their country...or Jablukovica I work for a company called Air Atlanta ( airatlanta.com), where I schedule pilots for flights. It's more calm then the jobs I had last two summers in the same company (where I made sure that the schedule actually worked). I have applied for a place in Manchester University in Msc. Operations Management, starting in September. Should I not go for Uni in Manchester next September I have been offered position within Air Atlanta. The position is new so I can decide a bit what I want to do. The main focus, I hope, will be productivity and quality improvements which I am very interested in so this is pretty much a dream job for me. Ergo, I am happy

I plan to go to Oktoberfest and I am sort of planning a motorcycle trip around south-, middle-, and north-America. Would be fun if you joined I think I will start in Brazil, buy a bike, head south to Argentina, west to Chile, north to Peru and then onwards to USandA. During the trip I will visit friends of mine that live in the area and I hope to get as many friends of mine to join as possible. An excelent trip you don't want to miss.

 I just saw a movie about Jón Páll Sigmarsson, the worlds strongest man. A fantastic movie that I deffinetly recommend. It's called "Þetta er ekkert mál" or "It's no problem". I hope you get the chance to watch it, you will learn a lot of things about me from it.

 Bless bless for now, take care.

As we (me and Jóhann) left Rotorua it was time to go further north. Auckland was just the place. So, destination Auckland was put a tthe back of the mind. But were should we go before that, since we had a day? Hot water beach was the place of choice. Perfect for cold blooded Icelanders. Jóhann's skin didn't seem to agree with...something. The sun, some food, me? We arrived at the beach witha showel (borrowed from Angela and Laki in Auckland - before we went to Rotorua...I guess I left that part out . "The sun isn't that hot, we don't need any sunscreen!" Stupid me. We walk from the parkinglot to the beach. At the beach, in the ocean, the lifeguards had put up two flags, within whom you were allowed to swim. There were probably some 70 people at the beach. The distance between the flags was 10 meters, I counted. There were happy village people in the ocean! We decide to keep walking. We walked past a clip and came to a part of the beach which not so many people had found. We were not sure where to use the showel so we tried it at the seashore just below a smal clip. We dug, the ocean came in and filled the hole. We dug again and again the ocean filled our hole! We were not happy! We dug again, quickly jumped in and waited for the ocean. Sure enough it came and covered our feet with sand. Nice! Hang on a minute. Something wasn't right. Had we dug too far down? Were we close to "mr. Duvel"? Suddenly our toes were not enjoying the sand roling over it and tickeling us. Now, our beautiful toes, were boiling. DAMN THAT'S HOT! We jump up and try again. Same resault. I guess that's why they call it hot water beach. After enjoying a visit from "mr. Duvel" we go back to the car and drive to Auckland for a dinner with Angela and Laki.
Who is Angela? Who is Laki? Angela happened to live in iceland for a year, some 15 years ago. She lived in Jóhanns home and by a miracle Jóhann was able to track her down again after all this time. Watch out girls, he is the best stalker I have ever met! Any who. Jóhann found her and she was so nice and friendly and her husband too, Laki. We owe them a lot. At the end of May they will visit Copenhagen, maybe I will get to see them before I leave.
The dinner was very nice. Two friends of Angela and Laki, and their son, came to A&L's house. Very pleasent people. Unfortunately Jóhann is so scary that the son thought he had met the devil him self. Jóhann, fussumsvei.
The day after we went up north. The direction, Goat island. We decided to go there after being told by several people that the life in the bay was very beautiful and that it is a fantastic place to snorkel and watch the fish float by. On we went. Upon arrival we rented snorkels and froglegs. 30 meters from the car, on our way to the shore, we remembered we needed to put on sunlotion. "It can't be that bad" either one of us said. The other one said we were to far away from the car. We went to the beach. Put on snorkel and froglegs. Jumped into the ocean. Ocean filled my lungs. I swam to the surface. Tried not to drown. Swam to the shore and prepaired mentally to snorkel like a professional. It took me half an hour to get used to breathing with my mouth. After that it was very fun, to swim with the fishes. Unfortunately I had to look for all 20 fishes in the bay. They were kind of hard to find in the green watergrowth as they were green/gray too. I can not recommend Goat island, at least not in January.
After Goat island wew discovered that the condition of our backs had changed. Previously white now a beautiful pink color. You might call it Barbie pink. Once a summer this happens.
We drove on to a youth hostel so that we had a place to stay for the night. There were really nice people at the hostel so me and Jóhann went to a pub with them, great night. Day after we drove down to Auckland again for a last night at Angela and Laki's before my trip back home started. You can read about that trip in my blog called "Móri - last day of a long trip" on 13.02.2007 and "Móri - loving the student life" on 01.02.2007. 

If you ever happen to be in Greece, I reccomend that you go to a supermarket called Champion. There you should go to the cheese table and ask for dodoni feta cheese. It is the best feta you can get your hands on. It may be among the more expensive once but it's still not very expensive. So get going.

Do you think it's time that I tell you about my travel in New Zealand? You see, there's a reason I haven't told you about it before. I'm not sure you are ready to hear what I have to say. I wasn't ready when it happened to me so how can you be ready to hear about it.

On 13.02.2007 - "Móri - last days of a long trip" and on 01.02.2007 "Móri - loving the student life" as well as on 19.01.2007 - "Móri - Magellan - similarity?" I wrote about my travel to and from New Zealand. Bit of an adventure I must say.

I arrived in Wellington on January 21st. It was nice to meet a friend after all this time. It was evening. I had arrived in Sydney the same morning carrying the most forbidden thing in Oceania. What could it be that is forbidden to bring there but everyone loves to take out of there. What is it that makes customs flip out when you say its name. What can be so "evil" that jail is mentioned. Only one thin gthat I can think of. Meat. I brought high quality Icelandic meat all the way from Iceland to Australia...60 hours en-route. And they just take it. In New Zealand they also wanted to take my dried fish (harðfiskur) but I convinced them not to. Jóhann was waiting for me as I left the airport...had been waiting for a while the poor lad. Didn't get a message I sent, saying that I was delayed. "Hrossa hlátur".

The first real day in Wellington we went to visit Te Papa museum for Maori culture. A very interesting museum showing eppisodes of Maori history as well as New Zealands geological history. The day after we went to a "Lord of the Rings Tour". I liked it. Jóhann wasn't as excited about it, but I guess he's just not a real fan. Among other things we went to a parking lot and a stone mine. This may not be a lot but next time you watch the trilogy and see a water seen...that's the parking lot, and when you see the battle of Helms deep and the battle at Minas Tirith...parts of that are the mine. Interesting stuff. Pictures will be on http://picasaweb.google.com/dorimori/IcelandVariousPictures.

In Wellington we stayed at a hostel as we did the whole time. As I had just arrived, me and Jóhann had plenty to talk about and our company was enough for us so we didn't really try to get in contact with anyone...later we did

From Wellington, the trip led us to Rotorua. Jóhann drove and I took care of the map. For those that have traveled with me - we didn't get lost...because I was taking care of the map without anyone interfering We drove along the west coast, northwards. As we passed the first big town Jóhann looked at the speedometer and all he said was "I'm flooring it!" I looked over at the speedometer. It showed 70km/hr. We weren't going up hill, there was no one in front of us, the speed limit was 70, we are boys and we like to go above the limit. As I had looked at the speedometer for too long my eyes glanced at the fuelmeter. Almost empty. "Jóhann, we have a problem". "No worries my friend, how far is next town?" 40Km. "There are a few liters left when the yellow light starts showing and it's not even showing now. No worries". We drive on. Finally we reach the town. I'm getting worried becuase the yellow fuel light blinks on and off. As we enter the town we realize it's not a town. It's barely a farming community. "Let's find the gas station". We drive on inside the community. Wait a minute! There's no gas station? According to the map this is a real town and there's no town really close. "I guess we keep driving" I hear Jóhann say. And of we go. Now it's like the yellow gas light is haunting us. It doesn't want to leave. We are really afraid at this point. "Next rest stop 20Km". We have to make it. Otherwise we will have to step out of the "car" and carry it. We are driving an automatic, 12 year old, Nissan Micra. Jóhann finally starts driving economicly except he refuses to close his window, for crying out loud. I know it's hot but give me a break. We will sweat like pigs when we start carrying the micra. We drive on. We get to "next rest stop". The gas station has been closed down. We do the only logical thing in the situation. We ask the yellow light for permision to continue and drive on. The light turns off for a second. We take it as a yes. The story has a beautiful ending. The light is on for probably 30min straight, we go up and down hills, we finally get gas. I love bigger towns.

When we get to Rotorua we check into our hostel. A very nice hostel. We spend a room with three girls and a guy. Rotorua is a bit of a center of the Maori's so we go to visit a Maori musem. The museum was mainly outdoors and showed both how the Maoris lived and what environment they lived in. Included in the museum was a Maori dance performance. Very interesting and fun to look at. After the museum we went to a spa which is basicly the same as the Icelandic swimming pools. Heated all year round and really nice to be in. Next day we went river rafting. ÍÍÍHAAA. There were supposed to be 9 people excluding guides and gudie trainees but 3 of them didn't show up so we were 6. Me and Jóhann went on the same boat and along came a guide and a guide trainee. I had river rafted a few times before but it was the first time for Jóhann. Good Times. Since the main part of the river is quite calm and we had a trainee...we simply joked around the whole trip. I think we hit every rock in the river and got smacked by every tree brench on the riverbank. While the trainee was "in charge" I and Jóhann fired of our best jokes to such an extent that the trainee was not able to steer the boat and just laughed. When he was able to speek his voice was always so low that we didn't hear what he said, until he shouted "STOP" because that he actually shouted. Funny enough, through the biggest rapids, our guide trainee fell out of the boat. The only one that fell out. A lot of fun. After river rafting...where we almost got invited to join in a cycling tour around the city drinking beer (free beer mind you). But we were not invited so we left.

More on this next time. Please remember to read my Brussels story below. 

I wake up Tuesday morning. Ready to take off again. It is like a never ending story. My third home, Copenhagen airport. With time I have gotten tired of your sight. When will I reach the period when I don’t visit you for whole year? Today I was, however, quite happy to go to the airport. Afi (grandfather) was waiting there. Waiting to take me to Brussels for the 2007 Seafood Processing Exposition. At 1600 I show up, an hour before the flight. I think afi was getting worried, at least he looked a bit worried when I showed up. Maybe it was because we had agreed to meet half an hour before. The Spanish have infected me! We meet, check-in, take off, land. Brussels BABY!!! The EXPO’s first day ended at 1800 so there was no time to go there after we arrived. Instead we took the train to Bruxelles Midi station, waited for a shuttle bus to the hotel and checked in. The hotel is just outside a circular highway that lies around Brussels center. The accommodation was pleasant and we felt almost like home. We decided to dine at the hotel which was not the best decision as it had small portions to high prices. That’s hotels for you. When ordering the food I tried a technique taught to me by Dries (I owe you one) but unfortunately it didn’t work (Dries – you owe me a Duvel!). The technique is used when ordering a beer and instead of speaking you use signs. One, very tasty, beer is called Duvel (devil – djöfull) and when ordering it you can throw up the “first finger” (next to the thumb – vísifingur) and afterwards show the “rock sign” (vísifingur og litli putti á sama tíma). To make a long story short, there was an awkward silence after the “rock sign”, only broken by me whispering “duvel”. Food was ok but scares and Duvel was so good that afi wanted more the day after.

Wednesday came and left. In the mean time we went to the EXPO. Afi had some ideas he wanted to present to “the right people” and get feedback on them. We walked around for some time (5 hours) and looked at different booths offering different products and services. We talked to some producers, took some brochures, and exchanged business cards. The work seemed to be for nothing as no one really was in the field of fish farming (to be more exact – fish farm with a production of 100-200 ton per year). We walked past Glitnir’s booth in hope of meeting Kiddi (married into the family) but he was at a meeting. We went to see Kristín who is working for Impra (Iðntæknistofnun) whom afi had been in contact with regarding his ideas. Fortunately Kristín a “dude” had been in contact with her regarding the ideas. We arranged a meeting later that day which went very well. Afi had some papers with pictures and I had movie clips on my pc both of which were to be used to persuade the “dude” (who was Scottish) that the ideas were good. After talking and showing the papers it was time for the movie clips. I had been so clever as to leave the computer on stand by so that it would start up faster. Unfortunately it was on and not stand by which means that after being on for 5 hours there was no electricity on it…at all! Because we were in a Scottish booth all the plugs were “different” so I couldn’t use them. We decided to go to the Icelandic trade council and see if they had some real plugs. Fortunately they did and fortunately my pc was out of battery. As we showed the Scottish dude the movie clips, people from the booths around also came to have a look. All the booths around were from Icelandic companies so the on-lookers were Icelandic. The Scottish dude finally had an other meeting but before he left he offered his facilities as a testing site at the same time as he showed interest in buying the product after it being built. The Icelandic on-lookers work in or own fish farms in Iceland and after seeing the movie clips and after having seen the drawings, were very interested in buying the product and having them tested at their fish farms (www.steinco.is – for more info on the idea). In the end the day turned out to be a success and we were happy to leave the EXPO and have a dinner outside the hotel.

A good nights sleep was just what we needed. Thursday came, we slept in and enjoyed not having to rush to the EXPO as there was not so much planned for the day. We had looked at most of the booths the day before and now we only wanted to go after a lead given to us by the Scottish dude. The lead went well and it a company in Denmark is possibly interested in producing the idea when it has been tested. After trying to meet Kiddi (for the third time) and after being told he was at a meeting, we left the EXPO and went to the airport. We were about 5 hours early so there was plenty of time to think and wander. It was a good time. I enjoyed looking at the machines and chatting with producers. Very lærdómsríkt indeed.

The airplane was stuffed and because almost everyone in it had been at the EXPO they were all business man, like me and afi. This may not sound as much but when you think about that business man usually only have hand luggage and usually as big as they can, there is deffinetly not enough space in the overhead compartments for all that luggage. As I type this my arms scream for space and as we landed my legs screamed for blood.

I am moving back to ICELAND at the end of May. Finally home again.  

As time goes by, things move closer. What things? Oh so many...interesting things.

Birthday is one. For some reason I look forward to this day more then I have the last years. Not sure why. Possibly the excitment of going on a trip. Don't usually get excitet about that before hand either. Something fishy is going on. Could it be the rising sun? Playing basketball in the warmth? Working on my thesis? I wuldn't count on the last one, even though it is interesting.

I have a trip coming up. Leaving on April 4th for Prague and returning to Copenhagen on April 20th from Warsaw. First two days will be in Prague. Florian will join me there as well as a few other friends. After Prague the trip goes through Brno to Bratislava and onwards to Ruzomberok.The trips turning point will be in a cottage in the wilderness. An Icelander and a bunch of Slovakians. It is going to be interesting. I might get some help from my American friend, Big Al. He has decided to join us. As far as I know, I'll be in the cottage until April 9th. Then. Krakow, BABY. One day in Krakow Warsaw after that...a day too. Looking forward to see my polish friends again After that? Not sure. I heard something about a wild party at Sauletikis 39. BABY!!!!!! It will be so much fun to get back to the atmosphere again. Even though I have heard I need to boost peoples spirits again. No problem. It's like riding a bike Once you have tried it, you try anything to get back again. After Vilnius I will probably go to Poznan for a short visit, before flying back from Warsaw.

 I recommend http://www.myspace.com/dorimoribjornsson and excellent website, with some pictures

Do you want to get to know Iceland? Check out the links below, maybe you will want to visit Iceland after that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTL4Yv24q0Q

There's a lot of reading on www.ontheruntur.com. Check it out...it will take you at least until 04APR to read it all. I especially recommend the blog on this site from 01JAN 2007.

An other video...from a "party" at the first weekend of august.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoOylmO7els

And a small shot of partying in Reykjavik.

 

I hope you find this interesting. If not, let me know, I'll find something better

Hi.

I'm a bit shy today.

Not sure what to say.

But. I have a plan. I want you all to join me for it to be a success.

I have a plan. I am still working on it but I wouldn't be surprised if it would be followed.

I have a plan:

4	Wed		Prague
5	Thu		Brno
6	Fri		Bratislava
7	Sat		Ruzomberok
8	Sun		Ruzomberok
9	Mon		Krakow
10	Tue		Warsaw
11	Wed		Vilnius
12	Thu		Vilnius
13	Fri		Vilnius
14	Sat		Vilnius
15	Sun		Vilnius
16	Mon		Vilnius
17	Tue		Poznan
18	Wed		Prague
19	Thu		Prague
Go home someday

This is a plan for a tour I like to call EEET. Think about that, I'll tell you next time what it means.

I have already bought a ticket to Prague on 04APR. I'm not sure about going to Poznan and Prague after being in Vilnius but it is likely, especially since I can get a cheap flight from Prague back home. I heard school starts again on the 11th and that some guys are going to St. Petersburg and Moscow on the 15th...hence the new plan.

If you want to join the tour, let me know (press the link below and leave me a message). I would love to have as many people as possible.

I have talked to people lately. People have talked to me lately. I have learned stuff about people lately. It seems like a lot of people are waiting. For what, you may ask. They seem to be waiting for my blogs. Not everyone is waiting for the same blog. It seems like I have promised many different people, many different blogs. About my trip, about the Santa brothers in Iceland, about my time in mr. universe. Many different things. Today, however, you will get a blog that is not related to any of these topics. A blog that appeared as if from out of nowhere.

 

The time is 2316. Outside there is a Danish snowstorm. There is crazy wind. At times it gets up to 10m/s. The snow is falling heavily. It has not stopped snowing the whole day and there is 15cm snow. The cold bites through every layer of clothing. The bucket of water I placed outside this morning is almost frozen. In the news, the police asked everyone to stay inside and not to risk their own lives by stepping outside. At this moment, due to the crazy Danish snowstorm, the electricity went off the whole neighborhood.

I can’t believe the Danes are such weaklings. It’s amazing how a society can work like this. I do admit that the Icelandic population gets weaker every year due to lack of harsh weather but fortunately we have some way to go before we reach the Danish level. Of course there are exceptions. I am one of them. 

 Until next time, please behave. Lithuania - keep on rocking...for Santa.

 

My dear friend.

No news are good news. You have not heard from me for some time but during that time I have enjoyed my life tremendously. Unfortunately not everything has been as I hoped. It appears that time acctually moves and bodie's with it. Everything will be ok...I hope.

Let us start were I left of in the last blog. It was my second day in Sydney. The first day I had stayed at the Pink House (not to nice and the room was quite dirty). The second night I stayed at the Maze backpakers. It was a very nice place and I stayed in a two bed room. In the room there was also I guy from South-Korea (Jay). A really cool guy. I got his e-mail but when I was cleaning my bag in Kuala Lumpur I exidentaly threw it out. Sucks. Anyway. There was a lot of nice restaurants in Sydney. I found some japanese, chinese and korean restaurants. Got the old taste of Japan again. That really made me happy.

After I had found out there was a flight out of Sydney on february 3rd I found out there was no room on the plane from Sydney to Melbourne (the route was Sydney-Melbourne-Kuala Lumpur). I did a little calculating and found out that it would be cheaper for me to buy a flight sydney-Melbourne and travel to Kuala Lumpur then to stay in Sydney and I wait for the next flight out. So that's what I did. I bought a flight Sydney-Melbourne, caught the plane and flew to Kuala Lumpur. This happened on the evening of february 3rd. I came to KL late in the night (around 0400 local) and got to stay at the hotel Air Atlanta (AAI)uses there. If I had talked to the AAI office in KL before hand I could have stayed there the whole time but I am glad I didn't because it took about 30min to get to down town KL and I would not have used as much time there as I did. After the first (half) night in KL I took my bags from the really really nice hotel and went to a hotel in down town KL. It is a bit difficult to describe the hotel. I guess the best thing is to compare it with the movie the Beach with DiCaprio. The first minutes of the movie DiCaprio stays at a hotel in Thailand (I think) wich isn't worth much. My room was exactly the same as his except it was smaller, there was no air conditioning and there was A LOT of moscitos. Even the color of the room was the same (if I remember correctly). The first day I used to get to know the area around my first hostel. I also spent some time booking a room at an other hostel I found a very nice hostel that at the same time was quite cheap. The Green Hut Lodge is situated at a nice place in more or less the center of KL. Around it is a lot of shopping malls. This will not help you find it since there seem to be shopping malls more or less everywhere in KL. I heard somewhere that there are 25 shopping malls in the town. The strange thing is that when I visited the shopping malls, which I did a few times, it was always full of people. IT seems like both male and female Malaysians love to shop. I must add that the chinese new year was only 2 weeks away and chinese are the biggest minority in Malaysia. Just imagine how it is in Europe two weeks before Christmas. I spent two days go from shopping mall to shopping mall, looking at "Happy Chinese New Year Sale" and trying all kinds of food. I did eat quite a lot in the trip but...did not gain any kilos, even think I lost some The third day (actually it was the firth day) I used to visit the Petronas towers, walk a few last times around the town and to visit China town in the evening one last time. I found out that it actually is quite fun to hagel. I'm not good at it but I enjoyed it, much more then I thought I would.

After this time in KL I cought a flight to Dubai and then onwards to Amsterdam. From Dubai, two ex-Air Atlanta stewardesses hitched a ride. Very nice girls but one of them "accidently" "stole" a computer cord. I had planned on catching a Sterling flight to Copenhagen a couple of hours after arriving in Amsterdam but as faith will have it the AAI flight was delayed a bit so when I got to Amsterdam I found out the Sterling flight had left 2 hours before. I ran to the KLM counter and managed to buy a flight to Copenhagen 5 minutes before they stopped selling tickets. I had to buy a two way flight (saved 200€)...it will take me time to understand the booking system. I ran to the check-in counter and 1 minute before baggage check-in close my bag ran down the conveyor belt. Lucky me. I ran to the gate...because I thought it was closing...just to find out it didn't board for 30 minutes. I sat down and cooled down. I got to Copenhagen and was happy. I was almost home. After an exciting adventure I was quite happy to be back in a more or less safe place.

Now an old buddy is waiting. I found out that Gísli Baldur lives in Copenhagen now. He is the son of my mothers friend. We met quite a few times when we were younger but I haven't met him for some 7 or 8 years now. Johann, the guy I rent my room from, was in the same school as him when they were 6 and they have been training together the last semester. What a small world.

I have started planning my trip to Poland-Czech-Slovakia-Lithuania. It will start around April 1st and end around April 15th. More about that later.

As I have now been traveling for 12 days I have come to realize I like it. At the moment I am stuck in Sydney and waiting for a ride to Kuala Lumpur. It is, in a way, a nice feeling to know that you are stuck where you are. I seem more relaxed the usually, probably because I know Ican't do anything else then relax. With no internet or electricity in my room I must go to internet cafe's to go online so working on my thesis is more then difficult. It's practicly impossible. I spend my time, as Iwait for a flight, walking around Sydney, reading and eating. I like to eat when I travel and with all the walking I am doing I get even more hungry then usual so all the excotic restaurants attract immensly. I talked to dad today and told him I could never get lost in Sydeny with all the walking I have done the last couple of days. After talking to him I went out looking for a Japanese fast-food restaurant I head visited yesterday and since I didn't find it I decided to keep walking the street I was on. I ended up walking for probably 5 hours all around the western and southern suburbs of Sydney. I'm not sure about the time because I don't have a watch and my "handy" is out of battery and has been for 11 days as I forgot to bring the charger. It seems like my trip from Sydney will be as eventfull as my trip to Sydney. It's probably best to finish the story of how I got to Sydney before I start the other one. As I waited in Kuala Lumpur for the flight to take of it became more apparent all the time that I would not have a lot of time to check-in in Sydney after we lended. Unfortunately it was so close that I landed as the other plane took of. As the plane lands a customs worker opens the door of the airplane and walks in to make sure we are all legal. After him enters a quarantine worker who's job is to make sure no illegal foodstuff gets into the country. He confiscates the meet I was bringing for Johann. That bastard. My bags were 5kg lighter. Excellent. Being a bit upset about the late arrival I walked from one airline to the next at Sydney airport to find the cheapest fair to Wellington, where I was meeting Johann later that same day. I landed in Sydney 0930 and found a flight Sydney-Wellington at 1800 as far as I remember. That was fine. I spent fantastic hours at Sydney airport, the 10th best airport in the world when it comes to spending time at the airport. Lucky me I arrive in Wellington around midnight and am greeted by warmhearted customs workers...and then Johann. Excellent. I will write later about my adventures in New Zealand. Belive me, those were adventures. Now it is time for my trip back home. I left Auckland, New Zealand on 30JAN on the flight I had booked a few weeks before and arrive at my beloved airport. Knowing where to go and what to do I find a hostel to stay in and then get a free ride to the hostel with the Sydney shuttle bus. I didn't know it was free until later so I payed the driver 10$ (which it usually costs if you are not driven to a hostel). Money down the drain. The day after I met the pilots of the plane, I was talking to Kuala Lumpur, at 1400 local time in the Marriott Hotel. Great guys all of them. We drive to the airport and board the plane. Upon boarding I find a couple of guys already in the plane. I greet them and the greet me back and ask if I am operating the flight. I say that I am deffinetly not operating, just treaveling to Kuala Lumpur. The reply I got was not something I expected and not something I wanted to hear, but better to hear it in Sydney then in Brisbane. "The plane will be full from Brisbane to Kuala Lumpur". Shit. I can't go with the plane. I call NCC (the control center in Iceland) and find out that there is an other plane leaving Sydney the day after heading to Kuala Lumpur. Good stuff. I get of and take a FREE shuttle bus to a new hostel (the first one was not very nice - "the Pink House"). The day after...this morning...I go online only to find an e-mail from NCC stating that todays flight has been canceled and that the next flight out of Sydney is on 08FEB! For crying out loud. I gentel shock. I then find an e-mail where NCC tells me there is a flight leaving tomorrow. What a releif. Now I just wait and hope that the plane will not be full and the flight not canceled. Good for now...more later...hopefully in Kuala Lumpur. I really hope to get a few days there before heading home. It is said to be veryu cheap so if you need anything, let me know so I can check it out.

Dear subscribers, it is apparent that I am a man of much luck, or am I?

I am traveling to New Zealand (NZ) at the moment as some of you might know. It has been an amazing ride with interesting happenings (almost stand-up) along the way. It all started January 17th at 1600 local time (1400Z). For clarification I will put times in local times and zulu time which is the standard time in aviation and does not take note of time changes (fyi it's GMT and always on Icelandic time...of course..what did you think? As I was saying, it all started 2 days ago not 48 hours but two days. Counting time difference that means 40 hours. Right, I'm in Kuala Lumpur/Malaysia...hot as Japan...hot as hell. I got a lift to Copenhagen airport with parents of the guy I'm meeting in NZ (you may know him, he came to Vilnius - Johann). The weather was good for flying and there were no problems checking-in. I needed some money for the trip so I went to the bank and exchanged danish krones for NZ dollars. Had some food and went to the plane. Flight was uneventfull and I arrived in Amsterdam on time. My trip had started. My great adventure In Amsterdam I was scheduled to meet the operating crew at the airport so I went to the KLM crew center and waited. And waited. For three hours. Then finally...Air Atlanta, the glorious name...I saw it on a small badge. We walked to the first passport control. Uneventful. Second passport control. Uneventful. "You there, where is your ticket?!". I don't have a ticket, it's a cargo flight, there are no tickets. "I need to call my supervisor". Time goes. "It's ok you can go, I guess you are right that there are no tickets on cargo flights :/ The crew and I go to the plane. It seems to be a sweet life being a crew member. Their side of the airport is deffinetly nicer then our side. On board we go. First time on a freighter...squeeek...exciting...everything new. Ready for take-off. It's just something I'm thinking because the pilot doesn't talk to anyone except the crew while operating. And...take-off...this is for real. 30 minutes into the flight the loadmaster (takes care that the cargo is correctly loaded...saw him working...he didn't do jack) comes and tells me, and 3 aviation dudes from Malaysia, that we have to go back. The flaps (used to help while taking-off and landing) are not working properly so we need to go back to Amsterdam. Great...what an amazing start to of my adventure. We land and the mechanics start working on the plane. There is a curfew in Amsterdam so you can't take-off after 2330LT (2130Z). It was now 2315LT (2115Z). It is possible to get exemption from the curfew but since the mechanics couldn't find the solution to the probelm right away the Captain decided we would call it a night and go the day after. The crew needed minimum rest (10 hours at a hotel) so we went to the Renaissance (excellent hotel) and stayed there for the night. Everyone got own room...the candy in the room dissapeared like dew before the sun (Icelandic saying - I ate it fast). I took all the newspapers I could find, none of them very interesting. Took a shower, watched some National Geographic and went to sleep. 8 hours later...WAKE UP CALL! I was awake when it came hehe Went to the lobby, checked-out, hoped the candy would be charged on the company bill...no one said a word. We went to the airport. Through one pasport control. Through next passport control. "You there, where is your ticket?!" It's still a cargo flight and there are still no tickets. "I need to call my supervisor". Wating...waiting. SUPERVISOR PLEASE ANSWER YOUR PHONE. "It's ok, you can go, I guess there are no tickets on cargo flights". Next time I'm bringing vaselin! Everything goes smoothly, we board the flight and take-off. We lend again. This time in Milan. There is a problem with engine 3 (closest to the pilot on the right wing). It didn't close after braking. Mechanics go out to fix. "We are AOG. We might be stuck here for a while" I hear the pilot say. At this point I am stressed because I have a booked flight Sydney-Christchurc/NZ at 0830LT 20JAN and I had planned for a night in Sydney...you know, just in case If we are delayed much more it looks like I might not make it to Sydney on time. The machanic enters the airplane "you are good to go"..."as soon we fix the fuel leek". Nice surprise. Time goes by. Feels like I can touch it...time that is, not the airplane. Again the mechanic enters the plane, the fuel stench reaches my nose. "Captain, you are good to go, have a good flight". Good stuff. We are going to Dubai...on time...the day after. The flight to Dubai is uneventful except...I write an essay for Contemporary Management (VU)...I try the on-board catering and it is good enough for me...and I get to sit in the cock-pit (mmmmm) during landing. Amazing. Fantastic feeling. Dubai from air at night. Doesn't get much better. We land. I'm in the middle east BABY! New crew runs on-board to regain some of the lost time. We take off. I play a computer game apart of the time and get an hours sleep. We land...this time in Kuala Lumpur. I'm in asia BABY! It's hot. Remindes me of Japan. Hard to breath..I'll manage. Now we get to the now.

I'm a bit tired because of lack of sleep and maybe it's jetalg...maybe it's cultural shock. Who knows. I have been in Kuala Lumpur for an hour, five hours until the plane leaves. There is a curfew in Sydney between 2300LT (1200Z) and 0600LT (1700Z) so the airplane is scheduled to arrive in Sydney at 0700LT (1600Z) which gives me an hour and a half to catch the flight to New Zealand. Nothing is allowed to go wrong! On my way back the plan is to stay 3 days in Kuala Lumpur so I decided not to go into town this time. I would only have 3 hours anyway so it's just as good to wait. It would have been nice to get a bad during this time but the seats on the flight are excellent...1st class seats...so you sleep pretty good there, and I have an 8 hour flight ahead...coincidence? Not sure. I hope to see YOU soon. Don't miss you so much at the moment since my adventure is happening as you read this. My love goes out to all my fans...yeah, whatever...love you dudes.

Dear children of Santa.
I know the Bible want's you to belive you are children of God but I am here to tell you that I am the only person that has been alive for a VERY long time and that I was also alive when the Bible was written and I know it's not true. An other reason why I know it is not true is that you are my children.
Since Santa is always nice I want to wish you all the happiest new year and I look forward to seeing all you well behaved kids in December the latest. To you naughty kids... [spank]...I know you like it.
As Santa I have a status symbol to take care of. My belly. It needs to be large. Deffinetly larger then it is right now. So I need your help. I would like to ask you to send me the recepies you prepaired in Vilnius as well as your favorite recepie. Even though I am able to speak all languages, it would really help if you could send it in english or icelandic since I am getting old and forgetful. Please send the recepies to the following email: dorimori@gmail.com ...maybe I should change it to santa@gmail.com...we'll see in the future.
I loved every dish I tried in Vilnius and want every recepie so that next time my reindeers can't move the slaid...those lazy bastards.

On behalf of Santa "Best new year wishes"
Dori

Við náðum jólatrénu! Mikil lukka var að engann sakaði alvarlega við lok aðgerðarinnar. Leyninafn aðgerðarinnar var "Jól". Hún hófst að miðnætti aðfaranótt 6. desember. Ég fór við fjórða mann út úr dorminu með sög í annarri og vodka í hinni. Við þurftum andgift svo aðgerðin myndi heppnast. Tréð var staðsett rétt hjá einni blokkarbyggingu í nágrenninu. Við gengum í skóginum svo við sæjumst ekki þegar við náluguðumst skotmarkið. Ástand meðlima aðgerð var mismunandi þegar á hólminn var komið. Sem dæmi má nefna að Giovanni (Ítalía) sagaði í stofn trésins í fáeinar sekúndur og við lok átakanna rétti hann sögina til Matej (Slóvaíka) og féll að því loknu um koll. Þegar tréð var laust tókum ég og Mohammed (Líbanon) sinn hvorn endann og hlupum af stað. Matej og Giovanni urðu svolítið á eftir (því Giovanni datt fyrirvaralaust á hausinn þegar þeir tóku á rás). Matej hjálpaði félaga sínum á fætur og hlupu þeir svo af stað. Nokkrum metrum síðar hleypur Giovanni á trjágrein og flýgur á hausinn. Matej heyrir skarkala fyrir aftan sig, lítur við og sér Giovanni í lausu lofti þar sem fæturnir vísa til himins. Loks komumst við í skjól frá öllum njósnandi augum og fengum okkur nokkra sjússa meðan við tókum myndir. Þegar skemmtuninn lauk kom að síðasta áfanga aðgerðarinnar, að koma jólatrénu inn á dormið. Sem betur fer var vörðurinn þetta kvöldið "hliðhollur" skiptinemunum svo þegar við opnuðum hurðina og gengum inn með tréð brosti hann bara og við hröðuðum okkur áfram. Aðgerðin heppnaðist sem sagt vel og allir komum við aftur og enginn okkar dó. Þegar tréð var komið upp vildi svo skemmtilega til að einn skiptineminn hafði keypt seríu fyrr um daginn svo tréð var skreytt í skyndi. 6. desember kom, morguntíminn kláraðist, Móri fór út í búð að versla. Matur, jólaskraut, tónlist, búningur. Móri hélt heim að elda. Móri byrjaði að elda. Sauð kartöflur. Byrjaði á jafningi með 500gr. í grunninum. Gekk ekki sem skildi. Byrjaði aftur á jafningnum en notaði 250gr. í grunninn. Heppnaðist frábærlega! Hangikjötið sett yfir. Kartöflur skrælaðar, takk Mohammed og Kubo (Líbanon og Slóvakía) fyrir hjálpina, matinn og tónlistina. Nammi og mandarína sett í poka, takk fyrir hjálpina Mohammed (Líbanon). Hákarl skorinn, takk fyrir hjálpina Algis (US and A). Pylsur soðnar. Pylsur "settar saman", takk fyrir hjálpina Kubo (Slóvakía). Loks þegar klukkan var rúmlega átta var ég tilbúinn og bar matinn á borð. Jólaboðið var náttúrlega byrjað því fólk mætti rétt fyrir átta og hóf át og drykkju. Ég var ekki fyrr búinn að bera fram matinn en ég fór inn í herbergi að klæða mig upp. Ég hafði fengið bjöllu fyrr um daginn, geri ráð fyrir að það sé einhver venja í Evrópu að bjöllur fylgji jólasveininum hvert sem hann fer. Ég gekk því inn í veisluherbergið og sveiflaði bjöllunni í gríð og erg. Ég hætti ekki að sveifla henni fyrr en ég var búinn að dreifa nammipokum til allra gestanna og dreift pökkum til þeirra. Ég vill sérstaklega koma fram þakklæti til álfsins sem hjálpaði mér við þetta allt saman, takk Evelyna (Pólland). Milli þess sem ég gaf pakka og fór aftur til fjalla reitti ég af mér brandara og stóð mig gríðar vel sem ljósmynda fyrirsæta. Veislan var gríðarlega skemmtilega og endaði með fjölmennu póker spili, almennu spjalli og leit að Martynu (Póland) sem Karolina (Póland) hélt að væri tínd en að sjálfsögðu var hún á dorminu og var að tala við Salome (Georgía). Nóg í bili turtildúfurnar mínar. Bestu kveðjur til frænknanna minna þriggja. yaksimas.

Í dag er 5. desember. Hvað er svo merkilegt við það? Það er margt merkilegt við það. Í raun er dagsetningin ekki svo merkileg. Hinsvegar eru gjörningar dagsins ansi merkilegir. Merkilegt er kannski ekki rétta orðið. Áhugavert er líklega betra.

Þegar klukknaverkið sló þrjú um eftirmiðdaginn var ég tilbúinn. Á fótunum voru sokkar og þar utan yfir voru strigaskór. Gallabuxur fylgdu fast eftir og nærbuxur undir. Ullarnærbolur var girtur í gallabuxurnar auk blás stuttermabols frá Ósóma með „Rassgat í bala“ myndinni. Um hálsinn var litríkt jólabindi sem spilað jólalög án afláts. Skallinn var hulinn af uppáhalds húfunni minni (keypt í „Húfur sem hlæja“). Um öxl mér var myndavélataska og í henni myndavélin mín sem kom í ljós síðar að var án rafmagns. Á bakinu var fullur bakpoki af bjór. Ég gekk eftir ganginum, gegnum samrímið og yfir í herbergi Slóvakanna. Það var kominn tími til að höggva jólatré. Þegar á hólminn var komið voru þeir með undanlát og vildu heldur kaupa gervitré. Ég gaf náttúrlega eftir þar sem ég vissi að ég þyrfti bara tíma til að sannfær þá. Eftir smá spjall og einn jólaTúborg ákváðum ég og Matej að fara út í skóg að leita að greinum sem við gætum hengt upp á dorminu til að fá jólalykt. Kubo eldaði á meðan með Martynu. Leitin að greinum gekk ágætlega. Skógurinn við dormið er fullur af trjám og stór hluti þeirra eru jólatré. Það eina sem var að var að greinarnar vor allar það hátt uppi að við gátum ekki náð í þær. Auðvitað redduðum við því, stórir strákar hér á ferð. Jólabindið kom sér vel því í hvert sinn sem “kom til átaka“ við trén kveikti ég á bindinu, tók sopa af bjórnum og réðist til atlögu. Eitt sinn lenti ég í lífshættu þegar grein brotnaði undan þunga jólasveinsins. Jólasveinninn er náttúrlega karl í krapinu, greip þéttingsfast um bol trésins og hoppaði svo léttilega niður. Eftir mikla leit héldum við Matej heim á leið. Í byrjun leitarinnar sá ég tré sem augljóslega var villt en var staðsett mjög nálægt einni blokkinu hérna í „hverfinu“. Ég ákvað og fékk Matej til að samþykkja að fara um miðnætti með sög og hreinlega hirða tréð. Nú er klukkan ellefu og spennan magnast. Fólkið á dorminu veit hvað er í uppsiglingu og veit hver hættan er. Við sjáum hvað setur.