Tag Archives: Aas

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.

01/26/12

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.