This graph shows the exchange rate of the Japanese Yen to the Norwegian Krone over the last year.
The red dot marks the time I arrived in Japan.


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I finally finished my reports for this semester. The last couple of weeks have been hell, with work at the embassy and trying to produce 20 pages on Japanese development aid at the same time. I got it done though, and I'm actually quite happy with the result. I think I honestly can say that I've never been this proficient on any other political ( Read more... )

Long story short: Started the day with a meeting with the Director of African Affairs in the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to follow up on a recent delegation Japan sent to Africa. Moved on to a working lunch with the Director of Middle Eastern Affairs to discuss official aid development to Palestine. Got back to office and wrote a report on ( Read more... )

With no more than half a year or so left before I have to start writing my master's thesis, I am long overdue finding a topic. I already wrote a project description for a thesis on Norwegian people's view of Japan and how it has changed from that of the previous generation, but for various reasons I've decided not to go with this one. I was hoping ( Read more... )

I saw the movie 21 tonight. The one where they're counting cards in Las vegas. Not the best movie I've seen, but it was entertaining enough. Even so, the gambling addict that I am, I had to learn how to count cards after this movie. So I googled around and eventually learned the basic principles. I made a 20 dollar deposit to my online casino ( Read more... )

First year of my MA degree is over, and as usual I passed all my courses with excellent mediocrity. I even got a B this year to raise my average a bit. I'm actually pretty happy with my grades, especially after talking with one of my instructors over a few beers. He said that compared to American and Japanese universities, the requirements for good ( Read more... )

I'm finally done with all reports and assignments this year, so I can finally kick back and relax for a bit. That is as a matter of fact exactly what I have been doing this weekend. I went to a concert on Friday which was fucking great. It's a small local band called Svölk that plays good old "rock'n'roll" in a somewhat Soundgarden-like meaning of ( Read more... )

It's been a while since the last time I posted anything in my journal. It's not necessarily because nothing've been happening, it's due to the fact that I couldn't be arsed to update. As always I've been busy with work, school and beer, as I have to hand in translation and reports on a weekly basis, but I feel like I'm on top of things. Pretty much ( Read more... )

Tottenham just won the English league cup! Now I'm going to celebrate by preparing a presentation about contention in pre-modern Japan.

Hei folk fra UiO, lurte på et par ting. Dere som har begynt på master nå kan kanskje hjelpe meg ( Read more... )