The Rules for Everything

Gabriela Wegner lives on the island of Usedom, where she runs the small Hotel Seeschlösschen. Since the death of her best friend, she has lovingly taken care of her little daughter Theresa, who is also the sole heir to the hotel property.

Soni, son of a thief named Suren, realizes that he will always be looked down upon as his father's son. The youth takes to magic in a bid to achieve success and earn respect.

Everyone wants love. Everyone craves love. Everyone deserves love; but how each person defines love, varies greatly. When Nick and Maddie meet, their needs and cravings appear to be met. Nick misses work and spends his last penny to find new and unusual ways to entertain, Maddie and make her day. Maddie, an art history student and financially quote comfortable, has no idea that Nick, eventually loses his job due to his absences. Finally, Nick, who works for his father, takes extra shifts and works like a dog, not merely to keep funding their adventures, but to save up for a special surprise for the girl who stole his heart. Tragically, the fabric of their relationship begins to fray as Nick begins to come home more and more exhausted and unable to keep up with Maddie. Spending many of their nights at home, Maddie begins to get restless and interprets Nick's lethargy as complacency. A contentious fight ensues which culminates in a huge misunderstanding. Nick leaves. Both have conflicted feelings of what transpired. Maddie, angry at first, realizes that she never really gave him the opportunity to speak. Nick does not return and unable to deal with his absence, Maddie reaches out but to no avail. She tries to contact his best friend, Jo, but no one seems to know what happened to Nick. Maddie eventually sinks into a deep depression.The argument that causes their break-up highlights our at interpretations of love and each person requires from each other within the relationship.

Beat up punk rock legend Otto, of "Otto's Speedway Action Organ", finally gets another gig in Haugesund on Norway's west coast. He gets his father's car, a 1969 model Opel Diplomat, out of hock, and proceeds to drive from Oslo to Haugesund. But he never gets to Haugesund. In Telemark, in Norway's heartland, he meets up with Pakistani "roots researcher" Farida. Who, complete with a broad Telemark accent, a Telemark surname, a cellular phone, and a laptop computer, makes a business out of finding Norwegian relatives in Telemark, for Americans desperately searching for roots. His car gets stolen by locals lusting for its Chevy V8 engine, and he ends up with an old Chevy Impala, traveling the labyrinths of roads that make up Telemark.