Bjørn Smestad - about me

Q: Who are you?
A: I'm a Norwegian, 29 year old man who teaches mathematics in teacher education, ...
Q: Allow me to interrupt you there. That sounds boring. How do you manage?
A: Actually it's not boring at all. It's also tremendously important - if my students become good teachers of mathematics...
Q: Well, we're not here to talk about mathematics, are we? Let's talk about you. What do you do in a typical day?
A: Hm. When I'm finished with the teaching and research at work, I go home and have dinner. Often I end up going back to work - often there's some paperwork to do. Or I end up reading...
Q: So basically, you don't have a life. How about friends, family?
A: I don't agree that I don't have a life. And I do have friends and family, although very few of them are less than 2000 kilometres away. So email and telephones are important parts of my life. I have two brothers and one sister. One nephew and one niece. My mother and father are still living in the town where I grew up. Lots of friends from my study days in Oslo, and some friends from other periods of my life.
Q: No girlfriend?
A: I happen to be gay, so no, I don't have a girlfriend. I don't have a boyfriend either, at the moment.
Q: Do you believe in God?
A: No, I don't. I do believe that gods are social constructs, created to answer a need in the human soul for simple answers, and developed to make sure that the ruled did not do anything bad to the rulers.
Q: So basically, you're saying that all religious people are stupid, easily manipulated morons?
A: I'm not saying that, and I know that's not true. This is a point of belief. There may be a god somewhere that has manipulated me into this belief. Or there may not be. Every person has to develop their own "world view" and act upon it. I think this is too complicated an issue for such an interview.
Q: Do you think being gay has something to do with your opinions?
A: I think we need to distinguish belief and organization. I don't think that my being gay has much to do with my belief. But of course, the Norwegian state church has been very negative to gays, which means that I did not want to be part of that club. I think my belief comes from realizing that everything in this world can be as easily explained without postulating a God. That's just my opinion again, of course.
Q: Enough about religion. What are your interests in life - except mathematics?
A: A major part of my life has been movies. I have spent quite a lot of time at film festivals and in film societies. Good movies are a wonderful thing.
Q: What's your favourite movie?
A: A room with a view.
Q: Why?
A: I don't know. It's a beautiful film, the story is nice, there is humour, romance, Italian landscapes. The music by Puccini. But trying to analyze why this has become "The favourite movie" for me, I have to look at Freddie Honeychurch, I guess. An incredibly charming, good-looking young man - played by Rupert Graves - who is fun-loving and open. The scene in the Sacred Lake worked on so many levels for me. It is very beautiful, it is funny, it plays an important part in the film, in showing how these people (Mr. Beebe, Freddie and George) are different from the others (Cecil, Miss Bartlett etc.) But on another level it was quite simply an erotic scene.
Q: What's your view on sex?
A: I support it. Next question.
Q: You're living in Alta in the northern part of Norway, right?
A: That's right.
Q: What's that like?
A: I used to live in Oslo, the little town that happens to be Norway's capital, and which has a population of about half a million. Alta has 20.000. The air is cleaner, the surroundings are wonderful. There are seldom queues, except right before Christmas, of course. And I'm only three hours away from home - with plane, that is.
Q: How about the weather?
A: The weather is fine. Summer is ok, with sun all night, but the temperature is seldom very high, and I don't have a beach nearby, so I don't get to go to the beach. I love going to the beach, so that's one thing I miss. The main thing about autumns is that everything is getting darker. Then there's winter, when the sun is gone. Alta is good, with not too much snow, but enough to keep everything a bit brighter. And it's cold enough to avoid the roads getting icy. Spring is something we don't have. One day it's winter, and the next day it's summer. Just a shame that this often happens in the end of May.
Q: Have you been to other parts of the world?
A: No, not very much. I've never been outside of Europe before this summer, when I had a wonderful journey to New York, New Orleans, Tokyo, Taipei and Bangkok.
Q: Which city did you prefer?
A: It's impossible to compare them. I stayed in New York with my boyfriend at the time, and we had a very touristy week - with museums, Statue of Liberty etc. It was nice, but I didn't get to know any people. New Orleans was great, but I was on my own, and didn't get to know anybody there, either. I just walked around the streets of the French Quarter and enjoyed the sun. I went to Tokyo for a conference, so I got the sights and the city between large doses of mathematics. And there were lots of nice people to get to know. It was nice. And while the conference in Tokyo was outside the city, the conference in Taipei was in the middle of it. So I got to know the city a little closer. Bangkok was just a twelve-hour stop before going back home. All in all it was five very different cities, but also five very different circumstances.
Q: Before ending this interview: what are your main goals for your life?
A: I don't believe in very long-term goals. The main point is to have fun here and now, while at the same time moving in the direction you want. It's silly to plan too far ahead, because you never know what opportunities may arise. But of course, I want to find Mr. Right. Moreover, I want to have a job that's meaningful, and I want plenty of friends to socialize with. And good health, of course...
Q: Thanks for the interview...

Questions from readers:
Q from AJ: Going to be in the NY area again anytime soon?
A: No, I don't think so. My plan for the summer of 2001 (at the moment) is to go to Amsterdam and surrounding areas and Miami Beach. But the plans may change, of course.
Q from Oscar, Spain: Have you ever been to Florencia, seen the Arno from the window of a proper "pensione"?
A: No. I've been to Italy only once, and then I "only" saw Rome. But I would very much like to see Florence (Firenze) (even though living in the proper "pensione" seems a bit optimistic - I don't think the building in the film was a pensione). Venice (Venezia) is another city I would like to visit - seems like a good idea for a holiday one of these years... (Oscar and I am referring to the movie "A Room with a View", of course).
Q from Michael, an American in Copenhagen: Du er dejlig! Oh wait.. a question... Are you usually as cute as the photo shows :-) ?
A: Oh, way cuter. How about you, are you cute? (This question shows one of the good things about having a homepage - it can do wonders to your ego... Actually, in everyday life, for instance in meetings, people rarely call me cute... That may be because I talk all the time, of course... :-) )
Q from Ben in Tennessee USA: Your English is excellent both in spelling and grammar. Did you learn English in school in Norway or in private tutoring?
A: Thanks! In Norway, we start learning English quite early. I think I started about age 11, and now I think they start even earlier. So I had English in school for about six years. Moreover, Norwegians tend to read quite a lot of English books and see English movies and TV series etc... And then I discovered the Internet, about 1991. Since then, I have read and written a lot in English...
Another Q from Ben in Tennessee USA: I attended college in New Orleans and find it hard to believe you did not make any friends there. Do you see yourself as shy?
A: I don't know. I'm not as shy as I used to be. And I have no doubt that I could have made some friends if I tried to. But I stayed in New Orleans for only one week, and just wanted to see the city. Moreover, I was a bit worried at first by the descriptions of it as a violent city (in Lonely Planet, for instance), so I didn't really explore the night life. Some other time...
Q from John: If you enjoy beaches, the best ones are here in Australia. They are not as crowded and you'll develop a beautiful tan. It's also easy to surf with a bodyboard. So come down sometime. I also like to bushwalk (Aussie word for hiking). Is it easy to hike around Alta?
A: Do you have to wear clothes at your beaches? (I prefer not to...) Well, bushwalking? Yes, I think it is, although that's not my kind of fun at all. Perhaps someone else from around Alta could answer in more detail?

Do you have questions that were not asked here? Ask me!

And now for some assorted facts:
, and at the Gay-O-Meter, I only scored 35%...
In my life, I'll have sex with 4 people (according to The Sex Test).
I'm 72% pure (according to The Purity Test).
My personality is MENTOR (Submissive Extrovert Abstract Thinker), according to The Personality Test.
I have an IQ of 136, according to a test at Queendom.com. I prefer the IQ Test which claimed I had an IQ of 169... Oh, I wish IQ tests were a scientific method of measuring something...
According to The Death Test I can expect to die on March 5, 2050 (at the age of 78 years).
My political beliefs can be seen on The Political Compass.

which children's storybook character are you?
this quiz was made by colleen