02/7/12

I'm officially off to Poland! :D

It’s funny how a simple conversation can spark an entire trip out of the country. I had just sat down in front of my computer with a hot cup of tea, defrosting from my time spent around a camp fire in the snow, when my Colombian friend starts chatting with me on Facebook (she had gone back from the camp fire early because she was too cold). We had a pleasant chat and when I mentioned how much I wanted to travel around this semester, she invited me to come to Poland with her and her friends next Thursday (16th) for the weekend. Excitedly, I said yes and immediately started looking to book my flight ticket so we would all fly together. To my dismay, there was a flight out of Oslo to Wroclaw (apparently known as the Venice of Poland) but the return flight was full. My friend cheered me up by proposing a trip to Belgium for her birthday in March that we could plan for together (and of course I agreed). But I wasn’t giving up yet. I started looking for other flights out of Poland back to Norway on Sunday (19th).

I managed to find one flying late out of Krakow, Poland – which is about 4-5 hours south of Wroclaw by train. I debated if it even would be worth it to go to Poland and take the train down on my own to Krakow. After a little internet research, I was convinced to go to Krakow – both for the city as well as for the fact that Auschwitz was only a little ways away. I must go to Auschwitz if I go to Poland. There isn’t even a doubt in my mind about that.

So now I’m figuring out train schedules and debating when I should part ways from my friends in Wroclaw to head off to Krakow on my own. I’ll probably take night train to Krakow Friday night/Saturday morning – sleep on the train – and arrive in Krakow ready for a free city tour (which I found) and explore the rest of the city on my own for the rest of the day. Auschwitz would be my last destination on Sunday before I fly back to Oslo in the early evening. A sombre note to end my weekend trip, but a crucial one nonetheless.

My first real trip on my own (well, at least for half of it)! It’s great to know that I’ll have company in a strange new country for the first two days at least. And also to know that I have future trips with friends to look forward to. Bought my tickets and ready to lock and load. Must start planning! 😀 SO EXCITE.

And all it took was a simple invitation to spark the start of a new adventure. 🙂

02/6/12

Kitchen Languages.

My French and Norwegian roomies were quite happy to teach me my ‘phrase of the day’ when I told them I wanted to learn:
How was your day?

French: Comment était ta journée? OU Comment c’est passée ta journée?

Norwegian: Hvordan var dagen din?

We’re going to keep a sheet of paper on the kitchen counter so that we can write out what we’re saying, which really helps actually. I got a refresher for remember French grammar and I’m starting to learn Norwegian sentence structure and pronunciation. HOORAY FOR GRAMMAR!

I asked my roomies the word for ‘class’ which I then put into the sentence structure I had just learned:

How was class?

Comment était tes cours?

Hvordan var timen din?

A phrase a day until my goal of having a simple conversation in either language is feasible. ^^

02/5/12

Skating~!

Sundays are pretty slow in Ås, so it’s up to the students to make their own fun. 😀 Today at noon, I attended a free skate hosted by the ISU (International Student Union). It was a lot of fun to lace up our skates and glide out onto the ice. Since it was my first time actually skating outside, it was extra exciting for me.

Compared to the tiny, cramped ice arenas I was used to skating in back in Canada, we had a lot of space to not run into anybody (and not have to skate only in one direction). There were Norwegians playing hockey, dogs, and plenty of cross-country skiers out and about. A lot of the internationals had never skated before so I somehow ended up as a sort of ‘teacher’ (even though I only know pretty much the basics) for a lot of newbies. I have to thank my mother for putting me in skating lessons as a child.

It was really lovely because everyone was helping one another, learning and teaching. Some of my friends who were more experienced skaters taught me how to stop in different ways and even start to skate forward and turn midway to skate backwards (I’m still working on it – but I’m getting better). It was difficult to skate sometimes because the ice wasn’t always smooth (no zambonis here) and no walls to run and stop into like in indoor arenas. Basically, I was forced to really skate, which in itself made me a better skater in the end. I ended up trying hockey skates for the first time and although I still need to get used to them, I like them much better than figure skates.

All in all, it was a wonderful environment to try, learn, and grow together as a community of UMB students out on the ice. I love that you can just holler and ask if anyone can skate, dance, or even ski and they’ll be willing to teach you. I’ve already taken up learning to ski from a couple people (cross-country and downhill). I’ve also offered newbies to teach the basics of snowboarding even though I haven’t gone in years. There will be a ski trip in the beginning of March that I’m absolutely PSYCHED for. I just wish I had brought my nice snowboard goggles. :

Next week, skiing! 😀

01/31/12

Room-mates.

So coming here to Norway is the first real time that I’ve really lived on my own – cooking and cleaning for myself, especially. I was a bit nervous about it… feeling more like a kid who doesn’t know how to take care of herself. But within one week of staying in Aas, I’m adjusting quite nicely. I’ve gotten groceries (albeit still working out how much I eat in a week and staying under budget), done laundry, cleaned, and cooked decent enough meals for myself. I could probably be a lot faster in the cooking department, but that will get better with time I’m sure.

I currently live in a flat of six people, which consists of two Norwegian guys W and E, one Norwegian girl C, one Nepalese guy H, and a recent addition to the flat, a French girl D as well as myself. They are all very nice but most keep to themselves and their own circles of friends. W and E are pretty tight and are actually moving out in the coming weeks, leaving me, D, C, and H left in our flat – a nice change from a male majority to a female one. If it’s one thing I’ve noticed, a flat with boys isn’t the cleanest flat. And if I’ve learned anything in the last week, I have a certain level of cleanliness I need to maintain where I live in order to be comfortable. Twenty years of living under my mother’s care has given me this.

My interactions with my flatmates consisted mainly of talking and joking with W + E as they were out in the common area the most. I hardly saw C and I only really caught H when he had company over or if we happened to be cooking at the same time. So all in all, it wasn’t the most cohesive of units. I didn’t mind too much because I made friends fast with others in rez.

I finally ran into C today as I was making dinner and we finally got to talking. She is very nice – not shy, like I assumed her to be because I saw her so rarely (according to W, no one had really seen her around even last term). As I talked with her, I grew to understand that one of the reasons she kept to herself (and even showered at the gym instead of in the flat) was because she was sick of cleaning up after five guy roommates all the time. They had started a cleaning schedule long ago, but the guys hardly kept up with it, leaving C all by herself to keep the flat tidy. I assured her that I would do my best to keep the place tidyand I talked about setting up a cleaning duty list on the fridge. She smiled and I kept chopping vegetables for dinner.

When I came back out after eating in my room, I found that C had already made up a cleaning duty list of all the rooms, with her name jotted down nicely each week in one of the four boxes (Floor, Kitchen, Bathroom, Garbage). I guess she was very relieved to have more girls in the flat as opposed to boys. Don’t get me wrong, W + E + H are all very nice and reasonable, but they aren’t necessarily the tidiest bunch.  I always envied my other Canadian friend, S, who came here with me that had been put in a flat with mostly girls. Their flat was very neat and cozy. Hopefully with me and D in the picture, we’ll keep our flat nice and clean. 🙂

After dinner, D – who had her other French girl friends over – invited me to watch episodes of How I Met Your Mother with them. I happily joined them until I decided to tuck in due to jet lag.

So this is my life now – where I call ‘home’ at the moment. How everything is organized is still in the works but every day turns out brighter with a new conversation, clean counter-tops, and a busy common area.

Looks like I’m well on my way to taking care of myself and living with others.

01/28/12

Of Dinner Parties and Good Company.

So I was invited to a dinner party in the flat across from mine tonight, and it was really nice to meet people and have fun. 🙂 Three of them were straight from China, my friend Natalie from Singapore, a Sri-Lankan girl, and a Russian guy. It was surreal to hear so many foreign languages being spoken around the table: Natalie would often translate Mandarin into English for us when our Chinese friends couldn’t find the right words in English. I said a couple things in Korean and Japanese. Our Russian mate taught us a bit of Russian and Norwegian because he could speak it. Cantonese. A bit of French. It was great because everyone mainly used English to make sure everyone was included and understood at the very root of the dinner conversation. Plus the food was delicious. I was given a lot of different Chinese treats that I had never tried before.

image

(ASIAN FOOD. There was more than this – I should have taken more photos! Next time.)

The people themselves – all studying for their master’s degrees – were all very friendly and great to talk to. I’m finding the international students a lot easier to connect with than Norwegian first years for sure. I can’t wait until next week where I’ll be able to meet with more people from the international community. Plus swing dancing on Monday! 😀

There will be more dinner (and baking parties) for sure as the weeks go on. As my Norwegian room-mate told me, in Aas, since there isn’t much to do, it is the people that bring life to the town and campus life.

01/26/12

Guess who has internet access?

THIS GIRL. With a day and a half gone since I arrived in Aas, I have a lot to write about. But where to begin? I don’t usually like to word vomit onto a page without a clear direction, but in this case, I think I just need to get the gist of everything out. Look forward to posts that are much more focused on one subject at a time as I continue my adventures in Norway. 😀

Well, for starters, my flights to Iceland (7.5 hours) and to Norway (~3 hours) went very smoothly. I had an entire row of seats to myself for the longer one, which was nice. Meals weren’t provided but I didn’t mind – I brought enough food and I can’t handle airplane food anyway.

(First look at Norway!)

Then there was arrival in Oslo Airport – bag check went very quickly, with my luggage all in one piece. There was a bit of time dawdling on exchanging currencies and debating if I should get a 30-day transit pass for ~$160 CAD. I got it in the end and fully intend to make best use of it. 😐 About 5 round trips to and from Oslo should do it.

Train ride to Aas was absolutely brutal. Correction: taking my heavy luggage on and off the train was brutal. My arms were falling off and my hands were raw from holding onto the bags tightly for a long time.

After the train ride, I got really lucky when the very person I saw literally seconds after getting off the train happened to be the other girl from my program back at UBC, S, who had arrived a few days before me. She graciously offered to help lug my heavy bags to where I was staying and we almost died walking across snow and ice doing it. But I saved a bit of money by not calling a taxi.

It was around 4-5PM when I reached the rez I was staying in. My roommates: two Norwegian guys, one Norwegian girl, and one guy from Nepal. The two Norwegian guys are very nice and helpful (one’s social, the other quite shy). I’m on nodding terms with Nepal and the girl I haven’t had the chance to talking to just yet. They all seem quite nice though… and the place is clean enough for me not to complain.

I spend the rest of the night unpacking (still lots to do) and arranging my room.

(Desk and a window looking out to the other residences)

(Couldn’t sleep so I put up the photos + postcards I brought with me)

(All five of us share a bathroom, but we each have our own sink in our room. :D)

(Ice rink! One of three on campus… on frozen concrete for beginners not ready for frozen ponds.)

(Colourful buildings really pop because of the snow)

(Main UMB buildings)

(My faculty [Noragric] building! 😀 So excite!)

Jetlag prevented me from having adequate sleep, so I started today off quite late. Since I didn’t have internet access at all, I made a visit to the IT building and they set everything up for me quite easily. The IT guy kindly printed out a campus map and directed me to SiT (Student Information Centre) where they helped me get set up for courses, etc. AND I made a new friend, Natalie, a masters student from Singapore. Such an amazing girl – she showed me around campus AND the town of Aas, as well as took me shopping at the best places. Sheer luck again. 😀

I spent waaay too much on groceries (for first time grocery shopping, I guess to be expected) – I’ll be going over my receipt and seeing how I can manage for future visits. Norway is much too expensive (oh my poor bank account) – but the shopping went smoothly because Natalie was there with me to help.

With some help, I got back home. Cooked for myself for the first time since I arrived, making enough pasta to last me tomorrow and probably the next day. Tried out my new internet connection and skyped with my family, which was really lovely. A lot of firsts today. I’m looking forward to experiencing a lot more (and trying not to cry over my bank account).

So what’s scheduled for tomorrow? More on-campus logistics, VISA stuff in Ski, and a visit to Oslo’s IKEA if I have the time! 😀 Have to make use that pricey transit pass somehow.

01/24/12

BRB, crying my heart out in front of Gate S-12.

So I’ve arrived in Seattle quite ahead of schedule, with stops to eat and shop at an outlet mall (I needed a folding shoulder bag and found a beautiful one on sale) with my wonderful mother. The last couple of hours we had together calmed me down after the freak-out I had earlier in the morning. I felt good. Excited with butterflies in my tummy.

I was ready and bag check went smoothly, thankfully (hooray for early bird no lines!). But as soon as I turned to say good-bye to my mom in front of the security check, I saw her start to tear up, which triggered my own tears. I smiled and said farewell with lots of hugs, kisses, and tears as I walked towards security. Mom waited on the other side of the rope watching me as I drew farther away from her. Each second a part was painful and I felt like a 5-year-old lost alone in the mall. I couldn’t stop crying – still can’t really. I’m probably going to bawl on the entire plane ride to Iceland. And then to Norway. The full 10 hours. Nearby passengers are going to hate me.

I usually love wandering around on my own, but walking through the airport to find my gate was absolutely terrifying. I became Paranoid Parrot x 10000000000000000% as my brain kept believing that I had forgotten something important – which I hadn’t (at least I don’t think so).

So here I am, killing the 2-hour wait before I board the plane, ingraining the images of farewells and last looks I had with my family only this morning: my brother getting up at 6AM to say goodbye with a hug. My dog curiously watching me close the front door as I left the house. My dad surprising me by hoisting me up into the air for an enormous bear hug and never losing sight of the car as my mom and I drove away from home. My mom’s tear-stained smile as she finished hugging me gently for the third time.

Having a computer with internet access helps. Supportive FB messages and Tumblr replies (and even the cute tweet from my dad) keep me smiling. Yes, this is probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to deal with so far in my life. Yes, I am bawling my eyes out. Yes, I still firmly believe that I’m on the right path I’ve chosen for myself. This is it – my first step into the world. I will come back to Vancouver one day, but as of now let me call you… Home.

01/20/12

The Roller-Coaster Effect

I’m freaking out because I don’t feel at all prepared for this exchange. But the point is that I can never be prepared for something like this. I don’t know what it’s going to be like in Norway, or anywhere else I might find myself. I can’t plan out every detail to the T – all I can do is prepare for the worst. But I still feel like I don’t know anything – like a small child being thrust into the deep end of the pool when she doesn’t know how to float yet. When I went shopping today with my mom, I felt even smaller when she would mention important things that I had gone over but had forgotten, or even things that I didn’t even think about. In her spare time, she had read travel blogs and located places where I could cash in traveller’s cheques, etc. and here I was, still unable to quite remember what classes I had listed to take. When I told her how I would pack something, she would point out something I didn’t consider and give a better alternative and all I could do was sheepishly pout. I’m such a child around my mother.

But that’s the whole point of this trip, isn’t it? To leave my comfort zone. To stop being coddled and take care of myself. To take the leap into the deep end of the pool willingly and not drown. That means not knowing what I’m really getting myself into. That means being brave even though I’m exci-terrified. I’m finally taking flight with my own two wings.

I am sitting alone in the first car of a roller-coaster, the heavy clinking of the track chain pulling me up towards the top of the hill. I’m nearly at the top now, and every day that passes is another clink uphill. In four days, I will be at the top of the tracks, about to take the first plunge.

What will await me?

I hold my breath. I don’t know. The truth is, I won’t until gravity pulls me downward. I won’t know until I finish the roller-coaster ride and get off. What I am confident in is the fact that I chose to ride this particular ride and that with every roller-coaster I’ve ridden in my life, I’ve always said at the end:

“Let’s do that again!”

01/15/12

Strength and Love

Without either, I would not be the person I am today. Strength and love are what I have after almost three years of learning to love and rediscover myself every day.

Strength lifted my head high towards the clouds when I felt so alone on the ground. I grow stronger every day. With every obstacle I face, I trip and stand taller than ever – ready for more. And in those moments when I feel as if I’ve lost all my strength – when I have fallen – I have love. I receive such wonderful love and support from my family and friends; I can count on them to give me a helping hand to reach for when I have tripped and can’t get up on my own. They give me my strength. Love is what gets me through each morning as I stand before my bathroom mirror. The lifelong romance I have with myself my most valuable relationship in my life. It is with this self-love in which I build my self-confidence, bravery, and determination in the pursuit of my many passions. It is self-love that returns me back to my roots – my identity – and what I stand for when I feel lost. And through self-love I am constantly rediscovering and reinventing myself. It is through learning how to love myself that I grew to understand and embrace being alone. Self-love taught me strength and it opened me up to embrace the love of those around me so I didn’t have to always be on my own. Truthfully, I am never alone anymore.

This morning, upon waking, I looked out the window up at the winter sky overhead. An endless blue. So full of wonder and at night, so full of stars. The stars dazzle me with the inspirational people I have met and the precious experiences I have thus gathered. These are the things that shown me the beauty of the sky. But it is the expanse of clear day blue – so limitless and serene – that excites me most. I ask myself what is up there waiting for me. I’m almost ready to sprint as I spread my wings for the first time and take off into that beautiful sky, ready for anything to be thrown in my way. After all, with strength and love, I am unstoppable.

01/15/12

The inspirational spoken-word poet, Sarah Kay

Sarah Kay touched my heart when I first saw her perform at the Student Leadership Conference this Saturday. Her every word, movement, and intonation was precise and delicate, yet had so much power and passion behind it. I couldn’t help but tear up by the end of her performance. I felt like I could do anything as her words brought in me a truly wonderful breakthrough.

Below is a lovely TEDtalk/performance Sarah did that is worth every minute watching. The video doesn’t do justice – this woman is absolutely phenomenal live.

“If I should have a daughter…”

Needless to say, spoken-word poetry is now on my bucket list.