Where are all the yellow people?

I've been in Norway for six days already, and I can't really say I like it. Everything is the same, nothing has changed except for everybody talks about Utøya instead of the weather. I haven't watched TV for half a year, but when I came home, the first thing I did was to turn on the TV. I eat the same unhealthy food (not that the food in China was much healthier) and sit in the same corner of the sofa. Nothing has changed. The metro passes my window every five minutes. Like always. People are white, they're coldhearted, they don't smile. Here in Oslo I blend in, I'm one in 600 000, I'm nothing special; in China I can be myself, there I'm one in 22 millions. I miss the staring Chinese people at every corner, I miss the funny staff at Helen's and Nick at Lush, I miss being carefree and don't have to worry about money.

I'm bringing sexy back.

I'm back in University of Oslo. I'm trying to write my essay and practice for my exam, but procrastinating is so much more funnier. I'm going to upload some of my best pictures from China in a later blog post, but now practicing for my exam is a tiny bit more important.

Thank you

I would like to thank my friends in Germany, Holland, Australia, Canada, USA, Scotland for their concern. I'm alright, family is alright, my friends are alright. Thank you.

On our way!

Right now, Paul and I, sit right outside the gate waiting for the plane. Paul is talking and talking and talking and I think my head will explode soon. So far we're the only ones at the airport, the other ones come with a later plane.

Solo in our bellys, aquavit in our bags - China here we come!

3 - 2 - CHINA!

So close, so close, but yet so far away. I leave on wednesday, but my bags are not packed. 怎么办， 怎么办？ Well, I have lots of time, don't I? We'll see. If you want to meet me one last time, meet me at Gardermoen at half two (14:30) on wednesday :)

I'll be back with an update when I've started packing!

15 days to go!

Today it's 15 days till I leave. I've said good bye to all of my friends at Uglebo and tonight I'm going over to Annalisa's place to have dinner with her and some friends before she leaves Norway (you see, I'm not the only one leaving).

Here's a picture of my apartment, awfully clean and tidy!

19 days left

The days has passed really fast by and today it's only 19 days till I leave little Oslo and move to the metropole Beijing. Both Chinese exams are passed and as Cathrine said - C is for China, it can't go wrong! My apartment is being packed up, cleaned and I'm moving out shortly.

While we're waiting for me to switch countries, you all can enjoy yourselves with this:



See you in Beijing!

New trip planned

Believe it or not, I've planned a new trip; this time a week to Edinburgh. As usual I will stay in a hostel (I missed sleeping in those terrible beds and all the snoring people in the room). What I'm going to do in Edinburgh between 22. and 29. April is still a big mystery, but I'll figure it out the next week.

Thank God for SAS

On our way to the airport

My slightly worried mother.

Sometimes it's your day, sometimes it's not. This day is both. It started on the worst possible way; my plane to Charles DeGaulle was 1,5 hours delaied. That mean I would miss my flight from France to Hong Kong. Luckily I rebooked. But - I had to switch planes in Copenhagen. Not onle did that mean I got 20 min longer flight, I also had to run. From having good time for the 19:10-flight, I had less than halv an hour to my fight left. I ran though the fast track safty check and staight to my gate. I barely made it.

The flight it self was very clam, but my mother stressed me out (she always do that when she has "bad time" - little time) and I got crancky and nervous. I even got food I can't eat. Hurray for cold chicken. Apparantly I got food because I sat on Economy Extra. What a luxury when you can't eat the food.

The nice expencive chocolate.

I'm sort of a player - I like to play people so I can get my will; so after beeing hungry and a bit crancky I went to my other gate right after landing and clamed to be a veggie. I'm not a veggie, but I usually don't like the food. But karma sometimes bit me in the ass. In business class you get what the Danish guy call "bøf" or steak in English. Steak made in the plane. Gosh, I hate my self. But I got lucky aswell, the lady noticed I hadn't special food all the way (no wonder when I didn't order it), so she felt really sorry for me and would fix it for me. Yay. I liked that lady. Now, hopefully she manages to fix it.

The After Eight-thingie and the lemon fromage.

The flight attendants here in business class are very kind and polite - I don't know how I'm going to manage to spend the next 18 hours on regular economy with crying babies and unpolite Chinese people. I also notice I get more polite to them when they are so polite to me. I don't know whether taht has somthing to do with them beeing to on job, while only four to attend.

Karma is nice to me aswell, I got a very nice sandwich insted of the steak, and as much free drinks as I want (like everyone alse). A napkin made out of cloth. Fork and knife made out of steel and not plastic. Some very expencive chocolate (one with "Sitron fromage" and one tasting like AFter Eight and gingerbread at the same time). A glass made out of glass. A coffee cup made out of.. you know, that thing cofee cups are made of. What an experience. I have only one thing to complai about; the tea taste like chlorine. Yuk.

The countdown has started

Time left for Australia:

I'm so looking forward to this - my first exam is finished, I only have to essays, one test and one exam left. Then to partys, then I go home to Hamar and then my friends, then I go to the airport and leave for Australia! Yay!

My life has been a bit sucky lately; my computer died (and I mean - it's dead, gone, can't be reoaired) with my finished essay. So now I have to write it again. I don't want to hear a single word about backup, alright? A while back a go my watch broke as well - my lovely watch which had lots gems on the Chinese wall, Budapest, my favorite pub, at the cabin trip - and they told me when I went to repair it; it dead, gone, can't repaired. It's just my lucky week.

18 days to go...

..and six days to my first exam. I can't really say I'm looking forward to the exam, but I have to have it, I have to make it, if I'm to travel in the future as well.

Since last time, I've booked hostels, I've talked with mr. Wan, I've talked to Kara, and I've booked hostels! Wehey! So here's the plan:

Perth: 15. - 19. 12
I'm going to stay at Governor Robinsons Backpackers Hostel
Plans: Relax, get some tan and get rid of the jetlag.

Adelaide: 19. - 23.12
Thanks you Kara, I could stay at her place. She's so lovely!
Plans: ?

In to the bush: 23. - 25.12
A three day camping trip between Adelaide and Melbourne. Grampains, Great Ocean road, snakes, camp fire and stuff like that.
Plans: Get bit by a snake

Melbourne: 25. - 30.12
In lovely Melbourne, I'm going to stay at a place called "The Nunnery"
Plans: ?

Hobart: 30.12.10 - 04.01.11
At this lovely island I'm going to stay at Tassie Backpacker and hopefully see the last boats arrive from Sydney.
Plans: The Rolex race

Sydney: 04. - 15.01
Last hostel booked, but I have big hopes for Eva's Backpackers.
Plans: Walk the Great Harbour Bridge, parachute, go to Bondi Beach

And now; back to my books and exams!

Norway - the beautifullest country in the world

Lommedalen in Bærum - the place where the Norwegian princess Märta and her husband Ari lives.

Very idyllic, but the two first days were kind of.. foggy.

Thank you Australia!

I went to the police house to get my passport, took the tram back to the university, applied for a tourist visa to Australia, failed the first time, tried again, went to and attended some science project the guys at psychology had, got chocolate, went home, opened my mail and saw that I was granted a visa.

Thank you Australia for spending four hours, and not four weeks as I thought, to grant me a vista. Take that, Norway!

I've spent way too much money

When I say too much money, I really mean too much money. Than again, if I spend the money now, I wont spend it in Australia. If you want to know why I've spent so much money - here's the answer; I've bought plane tickets. I can tell you, flying domestic in Australia isn't cheap, espesially when you're going from one coast to the other, with a couple of stops in between.

Flying from Perth to Adelaide cost me 433 AUD. I don't know whether that's a reasonable price for a five hour flight. Spent is spent. From Adelaide I'm going to Melbourne, but not by plane, by bus! I can't wait, for the rumor is saying that the Great Ocean Road and the Grampains are beautiful places. I think the best of all is that during the busride, the rest of the world is going to celebrate christmas. I however am going to spend it in the bush. Hurray! Arriving late at christmas day in Melbourne, I'm going to spend a couple of days there before I'm going to pop on a plain to Hobart, Tasmania. My hope is of course to see a Tasmanian Devil, but I think spending new years there is going to be great anyway.
The plan after Hobart was to fly to Canberra but it seems like I can't have everything I want; the tickets cost nearly 700 AUD for a three hour ride, so I booked tickets for Sydney instead. The only "problem" is then that I have to spend 11 days there. I want to travel more, so I planning to travel somewhere from Sydney by train og rather go back to Sydney a couple days later!

While in Sydney some of my plans are already made; I want to walk The Great Harbour Bridge and parachute! I also hope to go back to that zoo a couple of hours south of Sydney where I was almost eleven years ago.

47 days to go!

There is nothing more sexy than...

... flight socks!

Don't my knees look wonderfully squashed?

Test

Just testing whether it's possible to add music to my blog posts :)

Wish list and things I need to fix before I go

Things I want or need to my trip to Australia (and other places):
- Clothes line
- Another towel (I probably need two in Australia)
- Money belt (I wore the old one out this summer)
- Folding cutlery (I experienced that cutlery wasn't always present at all the hostels in Europe, why should it be in Australia?)
- Travel insurance from 1. january (any suggestions to a cheap, reliable one?)
- Visa
- Map over Australia
- Pillow and eye shade for the plane trip

The list will be updated.

Preparations

When you traveling you always learn something. This summer I learned to speak English properly. I also learned that I needed sink plug - doing laundry in laundry places can be really expensive. So I went to Handysize at Oslo City yesterday and bought one. Hopefully I get to use it and if I wont, I surely will later.

I have also bought a book about Australia. Love it. I can sit the whole day sitting in the sofa reading it instead of doing homework. My mum, who is a angel, gave me the old book we used the last time we were in Australia, which is ten years this year. It might be a bit out-dated, but who cares? I also got the adapter. Wagle who lived with me for two week let me lend book as well, so basically I have three books about Australia. Absolutely love it!

I've made a travel box for Australia, so I know where everything is. Clever, huh? Well, I think so because things keep on disappearing in this small apartment. Signe thinks it's elfes, I think it's a thief.

One last clever thing to have is one of those thingies that enables you to use your own headset on the plane. I think my mum and I stole it on a airplane years ago, and it's very handy - you actually get sound on two ears instead of one!

Australia - here I come

Tickets are booked, countdown started and I'm going to celebrate christmas and new year in Australia! I really can't wait! Like last time, I'm traveling by my self - no problem in Australia, maybe a bit boring on the 29 hour long trip over and 26 hour trip back home.

The trip isn't planned at all, all I know at this stage is that I'm arriving in Perth and departing from Sydney a month later. Suggestions to what I can do or go? Please tell me about it!

It's nothing like home?

Hi! Sorry for not blogging in a while, but I'm back in Norway, started school and stuff like that. School's great, have lot of fun, many new friends, but also a lot of homework, essays and boring stuff too. But more about that later, first I'm going to update you about my last days on interrail:

I had a great time visiting my aunt i Germany, but it was also nice to move on - I don't like to stay at the same place for too long. So I headed of to Frankfurt to take the plane to Arlanda, Stockholm - but lucky me, I managed to twist my foot (with my backpack on my back), so I had a nice swollen foot and a lot of pain.. Well, shit happens and swellings disappear.

Stockholm was nice, but very boring too - it basically reminded me too much of Oslo, and that's a bit boring. Meeting up with my Swedish brother, and hang out with him a whole day, that was great. He's such a cool guy!

The hostel I stayed in in Stockholm was brand new so I think I was the third guest staying there. It was a nice place, the host was Russian of some sort, but have studied in Norway and lived in Sweden in ages - however he still only spoke English to me. Funny. This was actually the hostel I had the most trouble getting friends. Then again, I can't get friends for life everywhere.

After a few days in Stockholm, I got a plane with only 25 seats to Trondheim. It was a nice ride if I ignore all the turbulence. At the airport were my sister, brither-in-law, mum, Per Øyvind and my almost five year old nephew waiting. That was nice, and nothing is like lunch at IKEA.

This is it

This is the day. The day I've waited for the last... ehm.. my whole life. This is the day I leave home and head out for the world. In about three hours, the boat for Denmark and Legoland leaves. I'm really looking forward to be a bit childish and have fun with me nephew.

On Sunday morning, however, I'm on a train heading for Berlin. I've booked my hostel today, and I'm going to stay at (be aware of the name) David's cosy little backpacker hostel, not to far from Unter den Linden (or whatever it's called).

I'll try to update my blog as often as possible, but hang in there if I don't. Have a nice summer everyone, I know I will :)