Norwegian Airlines nightmare!

I spent the past weekend in Amsterdam, having a good time thanks the local friends, but unfortunately I missed an awaited seminar in Stavanger because of a chain of unfortunate events..

“We thank you for your cooperation and understanding, and we apologies for the delay and any inconvenience“

… that is what the captain of my Friday afternoon flight to Oslo by Norwegian Airlines kept repeating from about 15 minutes past the scheduled time of departure until the moment all the passengers were disembarked and taken to the departure hall by buses..

What else could we do besides accepting, trying to smile or joke, and be led around like sheep without any kind of control or power of decision?

A gem in the Underworld

Last Saturday in Oslo I went to watch a wonderful Norwegian modern dance/theater performance (not even sure how to define the project) called Underlandet, “Underworld“, inspired by “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland“, but developed along more modern and I think darker tones.

For me, an exceptional good experience, since Sara, one of my two acquired “nieces” from Oslo, is one of the main characters in the show.. and the youngest among the performers! She has gone a long way..A very nice trailer:

Fra Underlandet – Tage & Sara (Foto: Tom Sinding Larsen)

I doubt I will be a parent, but I felt so proud to see Sara “on stage” in an extremely interesting and captivating performance, a first time for me as well in this modern dance/theater world.

On Sunday, I had good time enjoying the company of both nieces, Sara and her little sister Silvia, when we visited Henie-Onstad Art Centre in Oslo. The main topic at the museum was the exhibition of the bastract works by Hilma af Klint, but after short time I admit I enjoyed more joining the girl outside and have some abstraction time with them, playing on the sculptures in the garden..

…and enjoying some Norwegian sky light effects:

Aikido in Norway.. and more!

Tonight a new Aikido semester is starting, the kind of traveling about every weekend for seminars, my kind of semester!

This weekend I will be in Stavanger for Bachraty sensei, 5.dan, missing unfortunately the fjord part of the semianr that has now become a very good tradition; next weekend it will be Oslo with Kuribayashi sensei, 7.dan, back after a quite successful seminar last year.

About the unrelated not Norwegian part (“..and more”), apparently there is a new Aikido club in the little town where I work, Ijsselstein: Aikido Groene Hart, that has very conveniently a session on Tuesday nights, when I got no class at Aikido Amsterdam. The club is just starting up and I will visit it soon. It might be an extra class, only good for my mind and condition!

 

Pictures from Kuribayashi sensei seminar!

Oslo Aikido club published a short report linked to some of the pictures taken during the seminar.

I am very happy that for once there are also pictures of me with sensei, not the after practice ones that I do not take anymore (more important for people from their own dojos, a sort of good advertisement).

Long time no see pictures of me in “action” with a sensei:

The colors of Oslo

After an interesting session at Tenshinkan Aikido dojo this early morning I got plenty of time to kill before going at the Kuribayashi sensei seminar site for helping with the mats.

So I went for some walks and some tram trips using up my day card for public transport and not letting the crappy rainy weather confining me in a cafe…. At least not until now!!!

Kuribayashi sensei in Oslo

Tonight I will fly to Oslo for a very exciting first time seminar of Kuribayashi sensei in Oslo, as official hombu dojo organized meeting.

I am extremely happy to meet this sensei in Europe for the first time: until now I had occasion to practice with him only at hombu dojo in Tokyo. He visits already other countries in Europe, but mainly in Russia or East Europe, places I would love to visit but not always convenient to reach (even if cost-wise, much more convenient than Norway..).

It is also a great chance to meet again many Norwegian Aikido friends (I don’t think there will be enough time to meet the non-Aikido friends!).

Thanks to a lucky coincidence I also avoid spending another night on Gardemoen floor, even if I had already prepared myself mentally 😉 but I am getting too old for this, especially for a three days seminar that might be quite demanding. There will be several very good Aikidokas on the mats and even if after I came back from Indonesia for some reasons the elbows are again painful. Funny enough for 5 days tough practice in Indonesia at over 30 degrees C I had zero troubles.. once back in the Netherlands, dang, painful again.. it must be a psychosomatic problem!! 🙂

I certainly want to push myself in this seminar as well I did in Indonesia with Irie sensei, and I will do again soon in Russia (Moscow) again with Irie sensei, for a great end of the year!

But first things first.. a long awaited seminar with Kuribayashi sensei now in Oslo!

A candle for Norway..

A monster tried to take our humanity.. and failed.. but took too many lives..

You are missed…