My social calender is quickly filled up when I get back to Stavanger and I have a great time going to dinners, cafes, the cinema, birthday celebrations and everything else. I hardly get to have dinner with my brother and his family, who has been so gracious to take me in for the time I'm home. I spend a weekend at my other brother's apartment too, and I love to live in the centre of town, I enjoy the close proximity and save so much money on buses and taxis - not to mention time. Kjetil lives outside of Stavanger, and though it only takes about seven minutes to drive in with a car, the bus takes 40 minutes! And if it has been snowing, even more! It gives me plenty of time for contemplation.

Being back in Norway, in one way it's like I never left, on the other hand the world I've been in is still present in me, it's impossible not to compare everything and to see this society in a different light than before. The same thing happened last time I returned from India, but the feeling is long worn off. The most mundane things become a source of interesting observation. How people interact on the bus - or rather that they don't. The whole town seems a bit empty, people are hiding indoors, even though the few cafe tables outside also get a few customers - how Norwegian to sit outside in snow and ice. Everything is clean and tidy and a little bit colourless. Off course the black and grey winter clothes of the Norwegians is a stark contrast to the bombardment of colours of India and the flowers of Bali and Fiji. I know everything will look so very different in summer, and that one of the things I like about this place, is the seasons. Some will say that in this part of the country it hardly changes (I'm one of them when I'm really fed up), I still enjoy it. Even though it's freezing cold I feel fortunate to be here when there is snow. I take Kira (Kjetil's dog) for walks sometimes, and it is stunning to see the entire landscape under a blanket of snow. And on days that has blue sky I can feel how I breathe so deeply and exhale with real contentment. The first snowdrops can be found in the garden under a tree, next to Daniel's (my nephew) melted snowman. All that's left of him is his hat and nose.

I also go to visit my school, and say hi to the class and talk to my colleagues. It's the week before the half-term brake and I remember the feeling of being so tired in February and counting down the days before the holiday. It's really wonderful to see everyone again, and the kids have grown so much since last I saw them - that was in June. Two of the families in the class invites me over for dinner, and as you can see from the pictures it was a merry time. I also do the very Norwegian thing and drive up to the mountains and spend a weekend in a cabin with friends.

The evening before I leave I have a dinner with la familia, and we have prawns and crab. Stavanger is on the coast, so these things are readily available and quite a favourite. Prawns are actually tastier and bigger the colder the water they come from is, so winter time in Norway is perfect.

Well, there are other places to see and new people to meet. One early Sunday morning in the beginning of March I take the plane to southern Spain to visit my mother.