I can't be the only that sees some physical resemblance between Sigrid Undset and Maria Amelie. Maria Amelie ( real name Madina Salamova ) is an undocumented Russian immigrant to Norway who has lived here since 2002. She has been in the news constantly in Norway in recent months, as the Norwegian authorities are preparing to deport her back to Russia. I have been reading her book "Ulovlig norsk" for the past few days. It is written in Norwegian so it takes me a while to get through it but I have managed about 50 pages now. She has quite an interesting story to tell. She actually managed to graduate from NTNU here in Trondheim with a master's degree, in spite of never having proper legal status. I happened to have a 500kr note laying next to the book cover the other day, and I thought "wow, she looks a lot like the woman on that 500kr note." I didn't know anything about Sigrid Undset either, so I had to look her up. Interestingly, there are 2 other coincidences between them. They both wrote their first books in their early twenties, and Sigrid, although celebrated as a Norwegian author, was not actually born in Norway either. She was born in Denmark to a Danish mother and a Norwegian father. Sigrid went on to win a Nobel Prize for literature, but who knows what will happen to Maria. It seems almost certain she will be deported in the near future, but I believe she would be able to re-apply for residency here after some period. Maria's case has generated quite a lot of controversy here in Norway, I am wondering if Sigrid were still alive what she would say about it?
On a completely un-related note, I watched a nicely dressed woman in the neighborhood this morning trying to push the family car out of the driveway while her husband backed it up. They were stuck in the snow and melting ice but they were half blocking the road so I couldn't get through until they moved the car. Anyway after 3 or 4 tries of rocking it back and forth, they got it loose and it went back into the street. Of course the instant it shot backwards, she lost her footing, slipped and fell ass first into a huge puddle of melted snow and slush. Which goes to show you that when there is a car stuck somewhere, always volunteer to be the DRIVER!
On a completely un-related note, I watched a nicely dressed woman in the neighborhood this morning trying to push the family car out of the driveway while her husband backed it up. They were stuck in the snow and melting ice but they were half blocking the road so I couldn't get through until they moved the car. Anyway after 3 or 4 tries of rocking it back and forth, they got it loose and it went back into the street. Of course the instant it shot backwards, she lost her footing, slipped and fell ass first into a huge puddle of melted snow and slush. Which goes to show you that when there is a car stuck somewhere, always volunteer to be the DRIVER!
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