Patrik Olterman
A few brave souls!
Read more: A few brave souls!After last weeks accident numbers where down on the self defense course, but a few brave souls showed up to keep up their training. Once again the Latvian women surprized me with their determination and resilience. Not to mention that they are actually starting to get really good both in the wrestling and sticky hands.…
Oh me of little faith!
Read more: Oh me of little faith!Over and over again I see the image of Simon lying there on the floor with a broken leg, the leg twisted in an angle that immediately tells me that it is a very bad break indeed. Over and over again I go over the events that led up to that moment finding all the…
In the aftermath of easter
Read more: In the aftermath of easterA bit after the whole whooplah of easter I find myself more and more wondering about the origins of this strange festival. It doesn’t take a scholar to realize that the easter bunny and the egg are alien to Christian symbology and that many of the traditions surrounding easter are not only maintained by capitalistic…
A day at the zoo
Read more: A day at the zooToday the oltermans went to the zoo. A whole day of gawking at wild animals at the Riga zoo. Normaly a trip to the zoo would hold no thrills for any of us since swedish zoos are very tame in comparison. But we where in for a surprise as the latvian zoo held an assortment…
Freedom to worship
Read more: Freedom to worshipI long for full freedom in the church, freedom for everyone to worship in the way they want to, in a style that fits them. Unfortunately we (and by we I mean most churches, in most denominations) are very uniform in our worship and uniformity I find completely inhibits freedom. It is hard to be…
I’ve found Jesus
Read more: I’ve found JesusHeard in the Olterman home this morning: – What are you looking for honey? – Jesus – Well look under the sofa. Thats your best bet! 5 minutes later – Did you find? – Yea He was under the dressing table.
Injuries
Read more: InjuriesLast night I held our weekly martial arts class, It was a particularly good class, the students where progressing fabulously and we had a disciplined concentration in the room. Everyone was focused on the task at hand. Then disaster struck! Simon lost his balance in a wrestling match, fell badly and broke his leg. All…
The Battle rages
Read more: The Battle ragesLast night I held our weekly martial arts class, It was a particularly good class, the students where progressing fabulously and we had a disciplined concentration in the room. Everyone was focused on the task at hand. Then disaster struck! Simon lost his balance in a wrestling match, fell badly and broke his leg. All…
Residence permit awaiting decision
Read more: Residence permit awaiting decisionSo finally all the papers are in, mine two weeks ago and the girls last week, Thanks to Öbergs fixing us an Apostill on the papers … When I was in and handed in my papers, they where fantastic, so nice and accomodating I was shocked, not at all like when we where getting Hannas…
Call to arms!
Read more: Call to arms!The year is 1998 I am standing in front of the town hall in a little town not far from murmansk. In front of me a young man is standing restless eager to join his friends. I am pleading with him to understand that Jesus truly died for his sin and that this is not…
Latvia home of warrior spirit
Read more: Latvia home of warrior spiritOne month in to my newly opened martial arts school, I am amazed at the speed my new students pick up the new techniques. The womens group have grown to 14 (nine if you count the ones that are commited) and the young women are showing alot of promise, they are starting to move like…
Funny hats, visa applications and warrior spirit
Read more: Funny hats, visa applications and warrior spiritIt’s been a long time since I’ve written anything, and it has been a crazy month here in Latvia. So much have happened and we are now literally standing on the edge, ready to take the plunge.The month started with Angelinas Birthday party, we had a hous full of kids and parents, served hotdogs wrapped…
Latvian amazons
Read more: Latvian amazonsSo Last week I started a WSD dojo here in Riga, running two groups every tuesday night one Womens selfdefense group and one regular WSD basic group. I felt I really needed to get started with my training again especially since I have no SCA fencing group here in Riga. But instead of going through…
I don’t know ANY normal people
Read more: I don’t know ANY normal peopleSo after two months in Latvia it turns out that I do not know any normal people at all, everyone I know is….Either working for the salvation army and living in the same building I live in or a member of some charismatic church in Riga. Not knowing the language makes it hard making friends…
First class of the new woman self defense course
Read more: First class of the new woman self defense courseWe had a good class, with a few women showing up, I do wish there would have been more of them. But we got to it and started the long journey towards becoming warriors. A bit sceptical at first, but as we moved on to the actual martial arts techniques, one of the woman exclaimed:…
There’s no place like home
Read more: There’s no place like homeFinally after 2 months of clicking our ruby slippers together we finally have a home… So here I sit on top of a box in our new apartment, a faint smell of paint still in the air and our bed (that was supposed to be delivered today) nowhere to be seen. But still, there is…
Lost and found
Read more: Lost and foundEither what man having plenty of bibles, if he lose one bible, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till he find [it]?And when he hath found [it], he calleth [his] friends and [his] neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the bible which I had lost.…
Bring it on
Read more: Bring it onOk, so we are settling into some semblance of routine, but no matter how we try our life keeps getting interrupted by all these attacks. First the car and loosing all our favorite worship albums (our complete Delirious? collection) Then we all get sick, starts out as a cold but pretty soon it is obvious…
Car trouble
Read more: Car troubleDespite Salvation Army assurance that they never had a break in in their parking lot the second weekend here our car got broken into. This is our second break in since Christmas. This time they drilled up the door so the driver seat lock is completely busted. They stole the car stereo and all our…
Latvian Pizza RoxXorz
Read more: Latvian Pizza RoxXorzOk, enough ranting allready time for some of the good sides of Latvia to show, one of them obviously is the food. So last night we ordered Pizza or Pica as it is called in Latvian due to some language problem apparantly we got a familly size pizza. But it was all well seeing that…
Siberia
Read more: SiberiaJust as we thought we where getting used to the latvian climate the REAL winter kicked in. Hanna and Angelina are both home sick and I am at the office holding on to my health as best I can. The temperatures outside is between -15 and -20 and if you count windchill factors we are…
First week
Read more: First weekBeen here a week now and our accomodations have gone from bad to worse, apart from being very old dirty and alltogether run down the whole church is rented out all the time. This means tha we are awoken by people praying at seven in the morning now if it was taize I guess we…
The kingdom belongs to the children
Read more: The kingdom belongs to the childrenSecond night in Latvia we arrive to our little hideout only to find that a Russian congregation have invaded the church hall and holding a charismatic meeting outside our bedroom door. Angelina decides after a short spell of shyness to join in the meeting. As the meeting is nearing its end people are falling to…
Here we go
Read more: Here we goFour years after our first trip to Latvia we are finally back and ready to get to work. The trip was uneventful, with the ferry between Kappelskär and Paldiski being the lowpoint with cabins that reeked of smoke and previous parties. Now at least we are here The place we are staying is falling apart…
PADI open water diver
Read more: PADI open water diverAfter a week of studies and fantastic dives me and my beloved brother Hampus finally passed the exam and have our PADI – open water diver license. We took the open water diver course and exam with Ivica Zicak at the Resnik dive center. The course was very relaxed and fun oriented so a perfect…
