10 year anniversary

This weekend I met up with my best friend, Anette, for the last time before I go to Japan.

First we met in Oslo, since Anette was coming straight from military camp, and had some yummy delicious stuff at TGI Friday's before taking the train to Drammen.

Anette's dessert. Typically, it was better than mine.

G.I. Jane

Finally there, it was late and we had to walk the 30-minute walk from the train station to Anette's house, since her old car was put to sleep a few weeks ago. Half way there she found out that she'd left her keys somewhere unknown and we wound up waiting in Anette's landlord's apartment until 2 a.m for a spare key, yippie.

Anette frantically calling for backup, ehr, someone to come with a key.

In Anette's crib there's a lot of leaching roommates, that's not paying any rent. You usually hear them walk across the floor before you can see them.

This is either Mustafa or Eddie, I'm not quite sure, they look very much alike those two.

This month it's actually ten years since I started doing TaeKwon-Do - and ten years since I met my sister from another mister.

Bahaha, we look like a couple!

The first time I met Anette as a 10-year-old was at one of my first TaeKwon-Do classes. She gave me a tip on how to bow properly - by picturing myself being a plane heading in for landing. That's one of the many more or less good advices she's given me through the years. She even made such an impression that I wrote about this cool chick I met at TaeKwon-Do in my diary, that I found when I was cleaning out my mom's storage not too long ago.

Anette without all of the camouflage. Well, maybe another type of camouflage,
commonly referred to as "makeup".

During this past ten years we've been TaeKwon-Do buddies, practising together, studying for belt tests and going to several training camps. We went to the same class together in high school, were exchange students in Estonia and worked together for several years. She even let me live with her for almost a year when I was a rebellious teenager. She called me all the time when I was living in Bangkok and she was living in Greece, and even sent a big care package at Christimas, that must have costed a fortune. We've been through the loss of relatives, pets (that were like family members) and breakups together.

Anette and me being "Russ" - this Norwegian tradition where seniors at
high school party three weeks straight instead of going to school.

I haven't always been easy on her, especially when we were teenagers, often letting my bad mood out on her, knowing she'd still stick around. Luckily she's incredibly tolerant, and fortunately I've learned to cherish our friendship since we became young adults. Many times I've wondered why I'm so lucky to have such a great best friend, when she has so much to offer and I don't feel that I do, but she's assured me that I make a pretty decent best friend too, yay! She makes me want to be a better person, and I admire her a great deal.





Right now Anette is a recruit in the army and I'm on my way to Japan. I know neither of us are feeling sad that we'll be apart for a while, because we're always happy for each other, encouraging each other to pursue our dreams, knowing that distance certainly isn't able to tear on our unbreakable bond.