A Year In Norway

Tokyo III: Disney Sea Cont...

2008-02-06T11:32:59Z

Despite the cold, Kim and I were really looking forward to seeing this show. We waited patiently...freezing...until we saw the floats make their way into the lagoon.

They were so neat! Very detailed and so colorful.

Soon music started and then the characters jumped out! We were SO LUCKY because guess who was RIGHT NEXT TO US!!?

Yay! My guys!

The show was so good. Lotsa music and dancing and singing and water tricks!

It was awesome but by the time it ended, Kim and I were ready to get somewhere warm. We walked to the American Waterfront and decided we would eat there. This port was very interesting. It was set up just like New York in the 40's and they did a great job with the theming.

Kim walking toward the deli where we ate.

After lunch (which was so good and cheaper than any lunch in Norway!) we HAD to ride the Tower of Terror.

I was very anxious to see it because I had heard the ride was a little better than the one we have in Orlando. We get in line and start to look around.
In this Tower of Terror, the storyline is that a man named Harrison Hightower has a hotel in New York and is famous for bringing back all these antiques and statues and what not from all over the world. He then displays them in his hotel. But one day something happened when he brought an Idol named Shiriki Utundu back. He stepped in the elevator with the idol but never...got...back..out....
The elevator crashed and Hightower was never heard fro again... ooohhhh...
The hotel is now being preserved and tours are given daily. So we decided we had to check it out.
The lobby.

The closed off elevator...spooky...

This ride was so good. I liked it better than the one back home. The idol was so creepy. They had a great effect where the group stands to see the story in Hightower's office and Shiriki Utundu is sitting up on a pedestal facing us. But after we see the elevator fall, the face on the idol goes from a frown to a smile and his eyes start moving and he has this scary laugh and then disappears. So COOL! The drops were pretty similar to the one at MGM but this storyline just seemed scarier than ours and the effects were much better.
Here is a cute shirt from the ride with Shiriki and one of my fave characters.

Once we rode the Tower of Terror the night was starting to settle in around us and it was getting colder by the minute. So we caught a couple different shows and walked around the American Waterfront a bit more.

Pretty soon we had to head back to the front of the park to catch Disney Sea's nighttime show BraviSEAmo. It was the last night this was being performed ever so we had to make sure we caught it. We did some shopping before grabbing a spot for the show.
Disney Sea at night. Even though the picture is not so good.

I don't know what to say about BraviSEAmo. It was okay but we saw an alternate version due to the high winds that night so I don't know if I would have liked it better had we seen the original one. The idea is that a fire spirit and water spirit fall in love. I don't know...Kim did not care for it much either. But we saw it so we can say we saw it.

Now it was FREEZING so we decided it was best to go ahead and leave.

On the way back to the metro we walked around a shopping center called Ikspiari and had dinner at this yummy place called Kua Aina. It had Hawaiian food and was DELICIOUS!

Kim got a massive burger that he loved and I got my favorite fish, Mahi Mahi. There is no Mahi Mahi in Norway so I have been deprived for awhile. It was SO GOOD!

Mmmmmm......

Our whole meal, all this food was only $14 each. Much cheaper than anything like this in Norway and it was totally worth every penny. I would highly recommend this place to anyone!

After we ate we were still really cold and now we were getting sleepy. So we got on the train and went back to the hotel.
What a fun day but a long day. We went to bed early since we had to get up and do it all again tomorrow!! Yay!

Tokyo III: Disney Sea Cont...

2008-02-06T10:22:18Z

We left Mermaid Lagoon and walked toward the Arabian Coast. It was very pretty and themed just like Agrabah from 'Aladdin'.

Kim and I came at just the right time to catch the 3D show with the Genie. It was so cute!

Because everything was in Japanese, we read in the map that the Cast Members can provide us with a caption device with English translations so we asked for one when we entered.
Kim showing off his cool 3D glasses and the caption thingy.

After the show we came across these super cute little guys! Adorable!!

Kim decided to check out the marketplace.

We caught the Voyages of Sinbad, which is very much like 'Small World'. Cute but not something I would do again another time.

We made our way around to Lost River Delta. This is where the Indiana Jones ride is and I was so excited to do it because the one in Disneyland was so much fun. I knew Kim would love it too. UNFORTUNATELY it was CLOSED! Stinky. It is down for refurbishment for a few months. Sigh. Oh well. There's always Disneyland...
We rode Raging Spirits which is a roller coaster. It was a good time! There was a loop in the middle that made it even better.

Kim in front of the temple near Indiana Jones.

We saw a show here called Mystic Rhythms. It was very good. The performers did a great job. It was all about nature and animals. The dancing was so cool.
Here we tried out Coconut Popcorn which ended up being Kim's favorite of all. It was really good but I liked a different one even better...

There was not too much to see in the Lost River Delta that we hadn't already done so we continued walking toward Port Discovery. This place reminded me so much of the movie 'Meet the Robinsons'.

I stumbled upon a few Chip and Dale things...I am slightly in love with them. ;o)

There were a couple things we wanted to do in this land or 'port' as they call it in Disney Sea but there was a show starting on the lagoon that we did not want to miss so we decided to come back later.
The show we wanted to see is called The Legend of Mythica and I had heard it was very good. We got a spot up high with a great view. But it was VERY cold!!

The Legend of Mythica cont in next entry!!

Tokyo III: Disney Sea Day 1

2008-01-31T19:00:07Z

It was pretty hard to get out of bed this morning after not having much sleep the day before. But I was super excited to be going to Disney so that helped a lot. Kim...he was excited too...in a different way. Ha ha.
We got up and I ate and then we went to McDonald's for Kim before heading to the subway. I have never seen such...organization? Is that the word? I mean, Tokyo is just a perfectly timed city. Everyone knows where they're going, which way to go to get there, which side of the walkway to walk on, which part of the escalator to stand on. I mean, it's just all so smooth. I can't explain it any better. You just have to be there and see it happen. And there are people ALL OVER! It's a small city with a big population! Kim and I were constantly in awe of it all.
The ride on the metro was about 20 min, then a ten min walk through Tokyo station to catch another train to Maihama where the exit to Tokyo Disney was. But it was okay because why? Why because Kim played his DS and I looked out the window. Of course! This first trip felt the longest of the week because we had absolutely no clue where everything was, despite the fact that Yuki was so sweet to make us maps of everything. We never got lost really but when you don't know where you are going it seems to take forever to get there.
We made it though and it was so cool to see the castle and space mountain and all RIGHT THERE! I have missed it being in Norway for so long.
We decided to buy the three day park hopper because I had heard Disney Sea was amazing and really took more than a day to do it all. So we got a day there, a day at Tokyo Disneyland and then half a day at each for the third. It's cheaper than Disney World three day passes so we really felt it was worth it. I mean, who's to say we would ever get back there again?
Once we got the tickets we caught the DisneyLiner over to Disney Sea which is located right on the ocean. Pretty cool.
DisneyLiner. So cute!

It was FREEZING this day and being by all that water did not help any. But I tried to keep my spirits high because WE WERE AT DISNEY! And that thought warmed me up.
Disney Sea is just a beautiful park. The attention to detail is always good at Disney but here, it was just outstanding. Every little thing had something to look at. It was so neat.
The front on the way in to the park.

We came during a special promotion called 'Season of the Heart' so everything was decorated with 'love' and 'friendship' themes. Very neat.

Entryway

Front of the park. The big mountain in the background is like the castle for Disney Sea.

There was just so much to see at once that Kim and I needed to take out our maps and make a game plan. We decided to just start walking to the left and work our way around. Knowing we had more time on Friday was a big help.
Some cool things along the way was this Sweetheart fountain where you place your hands together to show that love conquers all. Cute.

We of course had to do it.

There was also little photo ops everywhere and since it was not too crowded this day, we took advantage of them.
Donald and Daisy playing Romeo and Juliet

Mickey and Minnie and Kim in the Grotto of Love.

We continued walking and checking everything out.
Columns in ruin

A view across the water.

We made our way towards Mysterious Island, where everything had a sort of Jules Vern feel to it. It also had rides there like Journey to the Center of the Earth and one that I knew my dad would love. 20,000 Leagues Under the sea. Check out this place!

I had to ride it for my dad and I took some pics.
Evil squid eye!

Nautilus

We also rode Journey to the Center of the Earth and I don't think Kim or I had any idea what would happen at the end but it was COOL!!

After making our way through Mysterious Island we found ourselves in Mermaid Lagoon. I really wanted to see the Little Mermaid show here as I read it was so neat and a friend of mine back in Orlando used to perform in it. But the timing did not work out so we decided to catch it the next time.
Me in Mermaid Lagoon

Kim and King Triton

Whale of a store!

Ariel's sea kingdom

Something fun to do in Tokyo Disney is to try the different popcorn flavors everywhere. In Mermaid Lagoon they had Sea Salt. Kim and I both give it a thumbs up!

Where did we go after our swim with the mermaids? Find out in the next entry!

Tokyo II: Arrival night

2008-01-31T18:00:38Z

Getting off the airplane was definitely one of the best feelings ever. We landed in Tokyo around 2 pm and took about 30 min just to get through Immigration. Then we had to go through customs as well. Kim had researched and asked his friends the best way to get to our hotel and found out it was by taking the airport limo to a nearby hotel and then walking the five minutes to ours. So we withdrew some Yen and bought our tickets. We had to wait a bit for the limo to come and when we got outside we were so disappointed to find that the weather was just as chilly here as it was back in Norway! Grrr....
The ride on the bus was about an hour and a half and was not that bad. Kim slept through most of it and I watched out the window but then we hit some traffic once we got closer to the city. Flying in to Narita for Tokyo is like flying in to Sanford for Orlando. It's a ways out and quiet until you get to the 'touristy' spots. And since Tokyo is so small, it gets congested really easily.
I was so hungry and the plane food was not with me any more but we couldn't eat because we were meeting Kim's friends Yuki and Miwa for dinner in just a few hours. Kim met these girls working at Epcot. They worked in the Japan pavilion (obviously) and kept in touch with Kim after their programs had ended. He was constantly telling me how sweet they were so I was looking forward to meeting them.
By the time we got to the hotel it was already pretty late. We had a great deal with the plane tickets to stay at the Tokyo Rose Garden Hotel. Kim said it was a perfect location and not too expensive. Fine for me as long as it's clean!

The lobby. Very nice

I didn't get any pics of our room because it was so small it didn't take us long to trash it! I mean it was tiny! But that's okay because we didn't plan on spending much time there. But I DID take a pic of the fancy toilet in the bathroom. I won't tell you what all those buttons did. But the seat was heated!!

Once we got all checked in and to our room we only had an hour or so to get ready. I was so tired I could have just passed out right then (I actually did nap for a tiny bit) but we had things to do! So we showered and soon Yuki was knocking at our door to take us to the restaurant. She was so sweet! Kim was right. We talked about her job at Disney and all on the way to the Metro. The trains are the easiest way to get around Tokyo and Yuki showed us how to get a metro pass for the week. This came in very handy and was not too expensive. I highly recommend it to anyone as you will use the Metro to get practically everywhere! It's also good for buses. It's not discounted but just makes it easier to swipe it than having to shell out the cash each time.
I will also warn anyone thinking of going to Japan to withdraw a lot of Yen ONCE! Very few places accept cards and it's just more convenient to pay cash some times. You don't have to tip in Japan though so it's nice to not worry about carrying lotsa spare change for that.
Okay
So Yuki took us from our stop at Nishi Shinjuku to Shinjuku, one of the most busy places I have ever seen! There we met up with Miwa and two other girls who did the program. I want to say their names are Hira and May (Mai?) and they were all just as nice as can be. Everyone comments on how tall Kim is. It's so cute.
Some other things that were tall were the buildings in Tokyo! I couldn't get over how much you had to break your neck in order to see them!

We went in one of these tall buildings for dinner at a Japanese restaurant on the 49th floor! Whoa! The view was OUTSTANDING! Unfortunately I did not get a photo. But you can take my word. Breathtaking.
The dinner was so good. The girls did all the ordering for us and everything tasted wonderful. Except the tofu. I can't stand that texture in my mouth. Kim had never used chopsticks before but the girls and I were impressed at how quickly he picked it up!
Chopstick whiz!

I was so proud of Kim too because, although he HATES HATES HATES seafood, he promised me to try some different things this week and he started off with a SHRIMP! I knew he wouldn't like it (as did he I'm sure) but I think his promise, along with peer pressure from not wanting to disappoint the girls, made him eat it. What a trooper. But one was enough for him. ;o)
All of us together. Clockwise from left, Kim, me, Yuki, Hira, Miwa, May.

Kim, me and Yuki taking pictures with the yummy desserts.

Bunny dessert. The name of the restaurant translated to 'rabbit' and this was the signature one. It was like a gooey, ricey thing with vanilla ice cream inside.

I personally liked the green tea cake and ice cream the best. Even Kim liked this. I was surprised.
After dinner the girls took us to a 7-11 (those things are EVERYWHERE!) that was right down the street from our hotel so we could get some snacks before our day at Disney the next morning. It was nice to have them there to translate everything as hardly anything was in English. I settled for some low fat blueberry yogurt and tea while Kim decided he would just have McDonalds, also located by our hotel.
Once we got back to the room we both were so exhausted we just fell right to sleep. We had to be up early to make it to Tokyo Disney Sea in time to catch the shows and rides.

More later!

Tokyo I: Plane trip/arrival

2008-01-31T17:17:05Z

Alright. So needless to say, Kim and I were super excited about this trip. Originally we wanted to go to Tokyo for a week to see Kim's friends and then fly to Hong Kong for another week to see my friends. But it just got too expensive. So we decided to break it up. But don't worry my Hong Kong girls. I will see you! I promise!

We had an early flight out of Oslo and took the Planetrain to the airport before the sun came up (not that that's too hard to do since the sun doesn't rise here till well after 10). Security was not too bad. They had to have me pull stuff out of my bag though because my Nintendo DS was 'too close to my books, making it look suspicious'. Hmmm... Ok. Kim took a book in his bag to ensure that did not happen again later. :o)

We walked through the Oslo airport (think I have been to this airport more than any other now!) and found our gate...downstairs...in a basement. I hate to fly so I was just a bit apprehensive to imagine the size of our plane since we were loading from the ground. It was cold and I was nervous and Kim was doing his best to try and make me feel better. At least the flight to Moscow where our 6 HOUR LAYOVER (ugh) was to take place was only 2 1/2 hours so that made me feel a bit less concerned. Still...

The flight did go by fairly quickly and they fed us. Open face sandwiches, obviously catering to it's Norwegian passengers. Now, I don't know what I was expecting from the Moscow airport but with a six hour layover I was surely hoping for some restaurants, places to hang out, magazine shops...the usual airport fare. Uh...no. Not so much. This airport can only be described as a JOKE! I mean, you could do laps around the first and second floor! Each was both just a giant circle...well not even giant. It was just pathetic. And they don't have the no smoking laws there so it smelled BAD! People (including airport employees) would just stand and smoke anywhere and blow it in your face! Kim and I were appalled. It was awful.
Stinky airport

Ok so we took a look around...which took all of thirty minutes. So we took another look around. Then decided we were hungry and wanted some 'real food' in our tummys before getting on the 9 1/2 hour plane to Tokyo. The only problem? There was no 'real food' anywhere in this airport! We must have walked in a circle three or four times, up and downstairs, before deciding on the Tajmahal'. This place was ridiculous. The waitress didn't understand any English. Which might have been excusable if she didn't work in an International Airport! Even worse, you could see the servers standing in the 'back door' smoking. It was so nasty. And the Russian people in the airport were just not friendly at all. They never smiled (but with a job in a place so depressing and stinky I guess there is not much to smile about) and they just acted like customers were putting them out by simply breathing. It was not pleasant.
Anyways, we ordered some greazy lasagna dishes, of which we didn't even finish as we were nervous what actually went on in the kitchen there. It also put us off eating to have to smell smoke all around us since there was no 'non smoking' section in this place. Not that it mattered anyway because there were no walls around it. It was just plopped in the middle of the airport so smokers were walking by all the time as it was. Just really bad. To make it worse, the meal was THIRTY DOLLARS!! For two small dishes of a greazy lasagna and two bottles of water! That was the last straw. Even the plane food would have to be better than this! We paid and left, still hungry.
Still having lots of time to kill, Kim and I played our DS's and did a few more laps around the airport to walk off the heavy food (what we ate of it).
Us being super bored!

Russian dolls in one of the shops

After what seemed like an eternity, it was finally time to board. The security people were so rude! I couldn't believe at how they were talking to the passengers. Just treating us like we were stupid and they would rather be getting paper cuts on each finger than dealing with us. Fine. We were more than happy to get out of that crummy place anyway!
Once on the plane it was already almost 8pm. So we got settled in. We had great seats by the emergency exits so there was TONS of leg room in front of us. This was especially nice for Kim as his legs are endless. He was pleased.
The only unfortunate thing about this plane trip was the HOUR we spent waiting to take off. Not sure if there was a back up on the runway or what but it took FOREVER. Moscow didn't want us to leave! I usually sleep through take offs and I was so tired that I didn't notice the hour wait but Kim was wide awake and was not happy. When we did get off the ground I still fell back asleep. I was so glad too because I HATE long flights! Unfortunately, those are the only kind of flights I have taken these past couple years! You just never really get used to it.
They fed us (not too bad but not yummy) and I read a lot of my book while Kim still played his DS, waiting for the battery to die before he decided to snooze off.
To me, for a long flight, the last few hours are always the worst for some reason. Maybe because you have already slept and read and ate and played and listened to music for the other 7 or so hours to those last 2 or 3 are just spent w.a.i.t.i.n.g....
But eventually we landed at the Tokyo Narita Airport and I was so excited! Kim usually sleeps through the landings so I just stared out the window, eagerly anticipating our week ahead....
Japan from the air!

Okay that's a lot of writing. I will make another entry!

Update

2008-01-31T16:47:01Z

Hello all.

Well some news before I write about Kim and I's amazing trip to Tokyo. Due to me getting absolutely no hours at work and the fact that we ended our lease at this apt early because of the landlord's neglect to answer our calls, much less fix anything, I am coming home on Feb 13th. Yes I am excited and looking forward so much to being back in Orlando and seeing my friends and family again but it is a bittersweet moment. Kim cannot join me until late June/early July at the latest. It is very sad because we are so close and I know that I will be very busy when I get back trying to work and save money to move in to my 'dream apartment' but I am going to miss him like CRAZY! I have a very long 11 hour plane trip home from Frankfurt that I am dreading because I will be such a mess that day. I just have to remember that time goes by fast (can't believe I have been in Norway for 9 months!!) and we will be together again soon. But I think this will be some of the hardest 5 months ever. Hoping my keeping occupied will hurry them up even faster. :o)

I will write more later but I should get this trip to Tokyo out of the way first. It was TONS O FUN!!

Talk to you soon!

Thank you!

2008-01-10T08:24:21Z

I am so glad to be all caught up with my entries but I have to add this last update of 2007 (even though it's already 2008) to say thank you for my Christmas gifts and cards!

I received such a nice box of presents from my dad and Joy and Austin and Mr and Mrs Duncan! It was full of gifts that made my holiday so special! I had so much fun opening them. I felt just like a little kid!
I opened these warm pajamas and a super fuzzy sweater! You can also see one of the pairs of snuggly bath and body works socks I got in the first picture. They are red and keep my feet toasty! The bear is from Kim. Her name is Snoozie and she is all bundled up too! We match!

I love this scarf! So cozy! God Jul!

Mmmm...anything from Bath and Body Works always smells so nice!

Austin gave me Nintendogs for Christmas! He adopted a German Shepherd named Rosie for me and then of course I had to go in and get a Corgi named Lennon. Now I have him to keep me company till I can see my real baby again. The other dog is a husky that Kim got. Virtual pets are fun!

He also picked out some crayons and an activity book to keep me occupied when the weather outside is frightful.

There was tons of other stuff in the box too. Like Christmas Crunch, mint hot chocolate, m n m's, Olive Garden salad dressing, and more yummy goodies but unfortunately I ate most of it before taking a picture...;o)

I also wanted to say thank you for the cards from everyone back home! I loved getting them in the mail and felt so lucky to be remembered so far away. I love you all and miss you every day! I can't wait till I get home and see you again. I am truly blessed to have family and friends as awesome as you all are!

And thanks again to my mom for coming to spend the holidays with me. That was a great Christmas gift in itself! It was like having a part of Florida here when all of these things came together and home felt a lot closer.

Love you so much!!! Here's hoping this new year has lots of special things waiting for all of us!

Talk to you soon!

~Suzanne

Christmas time!!

2008-01-10T07:02:48Z

Hello! And merry belated Christmas! I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays. It was a cold and slightly snowy holiday season here in Norway but it was made much warmer by having my mom come and visit and also by receiving cards and a Christmas box from friends and family back home! I couldn't have wished for anything more being so far away for Christmas this year. It was so nice!
My mom arrived on December the 23rd and although there was a minor luggage mishap, it was a wonderful week! We did so many things!
We shopped at a Christmas market at Aker Brygge. Well, we didn't actually BUY anything, but definitely had fun walking around and checking it all out. There was a beautiful sunset on the Oslofjord her first night in Norway as well so it was the perfect ending to the rather long day.
Unfortunately, the weather in Norway in the wintertime leaves MUCH to be desired as it did not really snow much but instead iced over the sidewalks with a fine misty rain. Oh well. It was still fun. Kim's family invited us all over for dinner three separate nights during the week so we were able to experience a true Norwegian Christmas by trying out many types of food. Medistekaker, Elk, potatoes, veggies, gravy, bernaise sause, julebrus, chicken, ice cream and sorbet (of course!), and ribs were just a few of the things that were on the menu for us and it was all delicious! I must admit I was a bit nervous about the elk but it tasted very good. I really like the Julebrus as well. It is sort of cream soda-ish and very sweet. But yummy!
Kim's aunt and uncle gave us a waffle maker (a true Norwegian gift!) and I got a lovely necklace from his other aunt and uncle. They are all so sweet and loving and welcoming! We were very lucky they invited us and had the best time. I hardly felt I was not at home as they treated us just like family.
Kim's mother had us over for dinner as well and Kiri was so happy to see her brother! She was wearing her Cinderella dress again and just could not stop staring at him. She really adores Kim so much. We gave Kiri her Christmas presents and stayed for awhile. I discovered this year that I thoroughly enjoy Toblerone. Mmmm.... Kiri and Idun had made some gingerbread cookies too (peperkaker in Norwegian) and they were very tasty also!
I won't forget the food this year and the cold weather either! It DID snow a bit on Christmas Eve but not actually enough to consider it a WHITE Christmas. Still, it was the closest to one I have ever come in my whole life! Magical!
I stayed at the hotel with my mom for the week to be with her and spend time together. Not that Kim minded having the apartment to himself either I'm sure. ;o)
She stayed at Scandic, where Kim and I work. Kim was able to get a good deal on a room and it was very comfortable. The view was fantastic! Here are a few photos. Our room overlooked the Oslofjord.
Sunset

A bit soggy...

We did all kinds of sightseeing while she was here. We walked up to the palace and saw the changing of the guard. I had never seen it before. The roads were icy and hard to walk on but it was a fun none the less.
Karl Johan was not too crowded since most things shut down from the 24th to the 26th but we had a stroll down it anyway as the weather was actually sunny and not TOO chilly.
One day my mom and I took a visit to the Norsk Folkemuseum and the Vikingship museum in Bygdøy. It was a gray day but we had a great time looking around at the different exhibits.
Here is the entrance to the folk museum

One of the recreated houses

A replica stave church on a hill

Kim joined us on another day for a trip to Holmenkollen.

It's the ski jump in Oslo where the Olympics were held one year. Of course, on the day we went it was so foggy you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face! But we took pictures and liked it anyway.
Kim standing where the ski jump SHOULD be... just too foggy to actually SEE it!

My mom and I posing with a skiing troll.

It was such a fabulous week and I am so happy she was able to come and visit! I hope she enjoyed Norway and had a nice little peek in to my life here. It's definitely something else!

Lovely Kristiansand Day IV

2008-01-04T22:23:00Z

We had made plans today to get out and shop a little more but I think by this time, we were all shopped out. Lily made some delicious pancakes for breakfast and we watched some 'Days of our Lives' before I had to start packing up my things and Lily needed to get ready for work.
I had such a nice time and was so so happy to have the opportunity to see Lily again. It was very nice to get away and see another part of Norway. But I was also looking forward to being home again in my bed and with my stuff. It's always the way. :o)
We finished getting ready and Lily walked me to the train station. I was there almost two hours early because she needed to be to work but I didn't mind much. Time went by pretty quickly.
Here is a shot of the train station in Kristiansand

It was cold and gray and dreary. I hoped the ride wouldn't be too bad and lucky for me it wasn't really. It was dark though so I couldn't see anything like the last time. But I slept for a little while and before too long I was back in Oslo where Kim met me at the subway station.

Glad you could see my visit to Kristiansand. I would love to go back sometime when the weather is warmer because I hear it's so nice then. The city is on the coast and the beaches looked very relaxing. Just like home!

Here is the link for the rest of the pictures I couldn't fit in the journal.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=76813&l=d6ed7&id=870940006

Miss you all LOTS! Will try to have Christmas updated soon!!!

Love,
Suzanne

Lovely Kristiansand Day III

2008-01-04T22:14:09Z

I woke up first...again. So I watched the tube till Lily woke up around 10 or so. We had lots of things to do today so we lounged for just a bit after breakfast before heading back out to Lily's house to grab the car. The plans were to go shopping for Christmas gifts and Lily had a few errands to run as well.
It was a gorgeous sunny day again so I was content to just be the passenger and enjoy seeing Kristiansand. There is one huge bridge that reminded me of the Golden Gate Bridge. I wish I had taken a picture because as we drove over it, the sun was setting and it was so pretty. Oh well. We eventually made our way back to the mall where I bought a few gifts and we had a bite to eat.
Soon it was dark and cold and getting later. We needed to have the car back so we left and met her mom to go find a Christmas tree. What I was doing standing in a tree lot in negative 6 degree C weather I will never know but after a bit, we picked out the perfect tree. At least I THINK it was perfect. My eyes were frozen so I couldn't really tell. ;o)
Lily's mom drove us back to her apartment where we got ready for the movie. We saw Across the Universe and it was good! I of course loved the music. Two of our friends met up with us for it and we all had a nice time.
Afterward we just decided it was too darn cold to do much else so we walked back to Lily's again. I took a few photos of downtown Kristiansand in the dark. It was so cute decorated for Christmas. Not too busy. We were some of the few who actually were out in the cold!
The Christmas tree downtown

Lights hanging above the street

I was relieved to get back inside Lily's warm apartment! We watched some tv and chatted for awhile before falling asleep. It was a busy day but a fun one none the less!

Lovely Kristiansand Day II

2008-01-03T21:23:15Z

See, I told you it would be soon!

I woke up pretty early, as usual, and found that Hege had already left. She needed to get ready for her dance that night. So I turned on the TV and waited for Lily to get up. It was only an hour or so before she did and then we got ready to head to a pretty park that Lily wanted to take me to. It was BEAUTIFUL! The walk there was through this forest which would be pretty scary in the dark but in the early morning, covered with frost, it was so picturesque. Now, it was a LONG walk so I suggested taking the bus back but it was worth the huffing and puffing to get to the park. I was in awe.
Here I am standing down among the mountains that surrounded the park. I can't remember now what the name of it was...

Here's a close up of me since I am so tiny in the other.

So very high!

Another angle. That is Lily's head in the lower left corner.

Seven swans (and ducks) a swimming. Brrr...must have been cold!

Looking back at the way we had walked.

Again, more photos will be in the link I give later.

It started to get too chilly to be hanging out in this park for much longer so we decided to head back to Lily's place and warm up. On the way we stopped at a different (but equally as cute) sandwich shop and got some lunch. Again..yummy!
When we arrived back at Lily's we had thought about going to a movie but with the weather so cold we decided to spend the night in and have a movie night there instead.
We watched two holiday faves, "The Holiday" and "Love Actually" and had some red wine to warm us up. It was such a nice and cozy evening and as much as I love Kim, I really enjoyed hanging out with Lily and having some girl time.
After the movies (and wine) we were both feeling sleepy so we called it a night and hit the hay.

Lovely Kristiansand Day I

2008-01-03T21:00:14Z

Hello!
I know that with the Christmas craziness it will take awhile for me to catch up on my updates but I had to write first about my week in Kristiansand,Norway. I was feeling a bit of the travel bug bitting and really wanted to get out of Oslo for a few days so the week before Christmas I decided to call up my friend Grete Lil who I worked with in Akershus at Epcot. Lily as I call her, lives in Kristiansand and invited me there for four days to visit and spend some girl time together. I had not seen Lily since October of last year so I was very excited to hang out with her again and give Kim some alone time or friend time of his own as well.
The train tickets were a little more expensive that usual due to the holiday season but I wanted to go and try to see Lily and more of Norway instead of the same couple cities (not that there is anything wrong with those cities mind you!). I was up early Monday morning to catch the 7:11 am train. I didn't sleep much the night before but it was alright since the train ride is about 4 1/2 hours and it would be dark for the first couple. I could just catch up then.
I found my assigned seat which was unfortunately not the window one. But fortunately the other seat owner was a no show..or a never was...either way, I scooted to the window and stayed there the remainder of the trip. I did manage to get a slight amount of shut eye while the sun was still down but as soon as dawn was breaking I would sleep no more. The view was just too magical to sleep through it all! Apparently snow had fallen the whole way from Oslo to just before my stop and I was able to see this gorgeous winter wonderland from the window the whole ride there! I couldn't sleep any more if I had wanted to!
I did take LOTSA pictures of the pretty sights I saw but it would take forever to post them all so I will just put up a few.
The frosted mountains.

Sun slowly coming up.

Frozen lake in between the hills.

Sun shining over the mountain side.

These are some of my favorites but you can see more when I put up day 4.

I arrived in Kristiansand even more excited after the amazing train ride and Lily met me at the station. She took me through the downtown area to a yummy little sandwich shop. Downtown Kristiansand was adorable. So much different than Oslo! It was quaint and welcoming as opposed to the overwhelming and intimidating buildings that surround Oslo's main streets. The sandwich was wonderful and soon I was following Lily to her apartment. It was nice and perfect for her since she lives alone. It was also very festive with cute Christmas decorations everywhere.
We didn't stay there long, however, because her mother invited us to have dinner that night. So we hopped on a bus to Mosby (I think that's how it's spelled...) and found Lily's family there waiting to say hello...or maybe they were waiting for dinner...either way they were all so nice and made me feel right at home. Lily's mother made yummy salmon and veggies and of course potatoes, a Norwegian dinner staple. It was delicious. Much better than the salmon I usually make.
After dinner we headed to the mall with Lily's sister Hege to do some gift shopping and buy Hege some makeup for her winter 'prom' which was taking place the next night. Hege ended up deciding to spend the night with us at Lily's apartment so we went back there and had some snacks and watched tv. Unfortunately the early morning caught up with me and I passed out on the sofa. But it was such a fun day and the fun was just getting started!

Since I took quite a few pictures I'll split this up into a few entries.
More soon!

The Cold is Coming!! No wait...it's HERE!!

2007-12-15T22:41:57Z

Okay. The cold has actually been here for awhile. But now it's REALLY cold!! This is just an in between update to catch everyone up.

Kiri celebrated her 4th birthday on November 11th so Kim and I went to Blystadlia again to join the party. Her gift from her brother was a beautiful Cinderella dress. She was so excited to open it she could hardly wait. Some of Kiri and Kim's cousins showed up as well and they watched as she tore open her gift. Of course she had to put it on right away. And she looked so pretty!!
Here she is with our Prince Charming.

I unfortunately didn't get too many photos from that night but it was very nice. Idun made dinner and Kiri played with her presents and seemed to enjoy everything. We chatted with Kim's aunt and uncle and then soon had to catch the bus back in to Oslo.

It has been FREEZING here lately and it finally snowed!! It never made it to Oslo until a few days later, so the first photos are ones I took on my train ride in to school in Moss.
The town of Ski (pronounced SHEE)

And here are the ones a few days later from out of our balcony and kitchen window.

It was SO COOL!! I love how it looks when it falls from the sky. All floaty and light and pretty. Just like I saw in all the movies. We did see snow once years ago when I went to Colorado with my mom and brother but I don't remember it as well so it's like seeing it for the first time all over again.
Hopefully I will get some more snowy pictures soon. Well, I probably WILL get some more soon. Much too soon I'm sure!

This is what I look like when I am freezing my behind off. We were walking and it was cold and raining and snowy. Ugh! Thanks for capturing the moment Nikolai!

I finished up school just last week. We had our finals and although it was very stressful, I think I did okay. We should get our grades in about a week so I will make sure to update on how I did...unless I did bad...then I will not write anything. :o)

But I took some 'parting shots' of Moss to remember my semester abroad.
Here is the walk to school along Storgate. The colder the weather got, the longer the walk got.

Each day I pass by Cafe Kim's Vietnamese restaurant. But it must not have been too popular in Norway cause it's closed. Still, I had to take a picture.

Here is my school on Henrik Gerner's Gate. It's the out of place looking 'rounded roof' building nestled among the very Norwegian looking buildings.

A 'nisse' or Christmas troll stopped and had a coke under the Christmas tree in the entrance. Now he is guarding the present.

The Moss train station. I love riding the train!!

And here is my whole class during our Thanksgiving dinner in Moss.

I'll end with that for now. I am sure with Christmas coming there will be more to write. I hope you all are having a happy holidays!

Off to England Part V: Hello, Goodbye!

2007-12-15T19:55:50Z

Well, here it is. Our last day. Apparently the guys were down at the bar until pretty late but Kim and I managed to get up and check out of the hotel on time. We grabbed a cab to the bus station and waited to board. I was SO not looking forward to sitting on that bus again for another 5 hours but was actually looking forward to getting back to Norway and back on my normal eating and sleeping routine, so I just dealt. I was able to snooze for a good part of the trip, but boy was I glad when we got back to the airport.
I would be lying if I said I was not sad to leave England. I really want to get back to London and see so many of the things we missed. And I REALLY still want to get to Liverpool and see those sights too. Of course. But now I have something to look forward to the next time we go. And there WILL be a next time!

The flight back was uneventful. I snapped a picture of another Ryanair plane.

And then it was up and away and back to Sandefjord. We had to take yet ANOTHER bus to get to Oslo from the airport and it was well after midnight before we walked in the door. I was ready to crash! And I did.

So there, after all this time, a completed report of my trip to England. Despite the many problems, it was an adventure and I am still very happy that I went along. But next time, things will be different!!

Thanks for sticking with me for so long!!!!

Off To England Part IV: Glory Glory Man United!

2007-11-28T10:25:36Z

After what was arguably one of the best nights of sleep in my life, Kim and I got up around 10 and got ready to go pick up the tickets for the Manchester United game later that afternoon. Now, just to remind everyone, I am not attending the game. But not because I wasn't invited to go. Kim must have asked me a dozen times if I was sure I wouldn't see the match with them. But I just couldn't justify spending over $100 on a soccer game that lasts and hour and a half. Although I am sure it would have been fun. But I chose to pass.
That being said...
We went down for the breakfast buffet offered at the super nice Golden Tulip hotel where we were staying for two nights. The room is LOVELY and the view? Well it's perfect if you are a Man United fan. These photos were taken from our room. That's Old Trafford, Manchester United's home field. So Kim and Ted and Jørgen can just hop right over there when the match starts around 4. So nice.

Our room. Much nicer than the Best 'slit your throat' Western in London.

The breakfast was very good. It had the eggs, toast, bacon, etc. But it also had BLACK PUDDING (or blood pudding as it is also known)! Ewww.. Drawing upon my knowledge of English food and Samantha Brown's excursions through Europe, I remembered that was made out of congealed pig or cow blood. So I said 'no thank you' and stuck with what I knew! But it was a delicious breakfast and so nice after the crap food we had been eating the day before.

We chose the simplest path and caught a cab to the fancy shmancy Britannia Hotel where Kim was meeting to get the tickets. That didn't really take too long and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing this gorgeous hotel while we waited. I would have taken photos but I didn't think there would be a photo opp and therefore had left my camera in the room. Sigh...

Back to the hotel for Kim to get changed and ready for the game. He and Ted bought jerseys to wear in support of their favorite team. This picture is from Kim's camera. You could pose in front of a mural of the team. How cute. ;o)

So while the boys left for the game, I did what I do best. Snoozed. It was not like I didn't want to see more of Manchester. But I was running low on funds and just too exhausted after the long bus ride the previous night. But I did wake up in time to catch the last hour of the game. I mean, there are SOME things worth watching for! Such as Mr. Christiano Renaldo. ;o)

Manchester United won by a small margin. A win is a win though. Especially in soccer where it can take the whole game to score one goal!
Here is what the stadium looked like once the game ended! Wow!

The guys got back a few hours later. They grabbed some beer and tried to console Jorgen who was rooting for the other team. But it was all in vain as Jorgen stomped off to the hotel in a pretty foul mood. People take soccer so seriously!

When Kim got back he and I were pretty hungry so we took advantage of the Kentucky Fried Chicken down the road! Wow. A KFC!! I really don't eat it that much back home, but as there is not one anywhere in Scandinavia, we had to eat here! And it was good!! Greasy fat fried chicken never tasted so yummy!!

It was getting dark so we went for a small stroll around the stadium before getting back to the hotel. Kim wanted to meet up with the boys at the hotel bar for a few drinks but I knew that we had to wake up early and chose to hit the hay instead.

UP NEXT...
Our last day in England. From a bus to another bus to an airplane, our fun is almost done...sniff sniff.

Off To England Part III: Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da

2007-11-06T11:56:45Z

The bus ride back to the center of London was short and sweet. Kim and I took in the sights and before too long we arrived at the station on London Victoria St. There was not too much time to sight-see before we had to catch the connecting bus to Manchester but we wanted to do what we could anyway. Besides, it would be nice to stretch our feet so much since the bus ride to Manchester was ridiculously long.

Kim and I walked toward the Chelsea Bridge. It was a gorgeous day out, albeit a bit warm.
The Chelsea Bridge

Kim looking out toward the center of the city. Big Ben and the London eye in the distance. That's the Thames River.

One of my favorite things we did that day was just walking around the small neighborhoods and seeing the cute buildings everywhere.

This is my favorite picture from the entire trip.

I was almost 100% positive that Abbey Road was somewhere near here. But time was running out and we did not have a chance to go off wandering around to find it. Oh well. Something to look forward to next time. And there WILL be a next time!!

We were hoping so much to see Big Ben and Buckingham Palace in the daylight and stopped a man who seemed to be a local. He was so friendly and very funny. We asked how long it would take to get there and he said by taxi, ten minutes. Walking...thirty! That stinks. I was fully prepared to pay for a cab to get there but Kim was understandably concerned that we would miss the bus and therefore talked me out of it. Sigh...

We headed back toward the bus station and I took this photo of the street across the way. I think this is the most 'Englandy' picture I have from the whole weekend. I love it!

Kim was hungry so we grabbed a quick bite to eat before hopping on the bus for our hours and hours of riding. Then we were off.

I think one of my favorite moments of the trip was the beginning of this bus ride. The sun was starting to set during the first few hours of it and I was so calm and enjoyed looking out the window at the passing countryside. It's what I imagined I would see and I couldn't believe we were actually here. When first pulling out of London we passed Harrods, the Natural History Museum and other fun places I put on my 'Must See' list for the next visit. It was a pleasant start to the drive and I will always remember how I felt during those hours.

Kim had fallen asleep right away and did not get to soak up the land as I did. But I don't think he minded so much! ;o) I slept for much of the darker part of the ride until we made a pit stop to a roadside dinner/gas station. That felt good to get out and stretch for twenty minutes. Once back on the bus we covered a good deal more ground until we had to stop for what felt like FOREVER due to an accident on the highway. Ugh.
At long last we were able to get going and I was so happy because there were some rowdy 'lads' from Manchester seated behind us who were growing continuously louder as the trip wore on.

Thankfully we arrived in Manchester about 45 min after the accident was finally cleared away and Kim and I hailed a cab to take us to the hotel: The Golden Tulip.
It was not cheap but was located directly across from Man United's stadium so this made it very desirable. Of course, at that time almost any hotel would have been desirable. Possibly even the Best Western in 'Cut Your Throat-ville'.
We checked in around 1 am and the feeling of falling asleep in those comfy beds was heavenly! I will post pictures of the hotel in the next installment along with the last full day of our trip. Sniff sniff...

Thanks for catching up with me! Stay tuned for "Oh my Goodness! A KFC!!" and other fun moments in Part IV!

Ta ta!
~Suzanne

A brief update on ME!

2007-10-28T10:33:38Z

Hello all!

I know I haven't finished writing about England yet (and it's taking forever right?) but I just wanted to update everyone on what has been happening with me the past few months.

I had a wonderful trip to Orlando two weeks ago and I have never enjoyed the heat and warm weather so much in my whole life! It's been in the 40's and 50's almost daily in Norway since the end of August so I was more than ready to head to the balmy 80's and 90's of home. It was a great trip and I took a few pictures. If you would like to check out the album you can follow this link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=63325&l=d52fb&id=870940006

I had so much fun and it was very nice to see friends and family (and my puppy I miss more than anything). It was also tons of fun to DRIVE again!! I think I almost forgot how but it didn't take long for me to have the sunroof open as I cruised around town with my favorite songs blaring out of the speakers! I really really miss driving...sigh...

Anywho, the trip back to Norway was long and hard knowing I was leaving home behind again. Even harder maybe this time than before since the excitement of living in another country has worn off some and it's 'back to the grind' with school and trying to get a job. Also, the reality of the winter coming is closing in on me and that is just no fun. Winter depresses me in Florida! I can only imagine how I will survive in somewhere with temps well below the 30 degree January and February's I have known my whole life. I guess we will see...

For now, it's very very very cold here. Well, I think it's very cold. Kim and my Norwegian friends laugh at me and have the habit of continuously repeating "oh this is just the beginning..." which makes me feel even colder. I am in big trouble.

I will admit that actually SEEING fall is very comforting. It is one of my favorite seasons (after summer and spring of course) and while the leaves MAY change color in Florida and MAY fall off of the trees, the norm is that we keep our green leaves and toasty-ish temps all year long. I will never forget the Christmas Day when we awoke to sunny weather and the coldest it got was 97 degrees!!! That really did not feel like Christmas at all. Okay, so maybe a little cooler would be acceptable. Oh, what if I have a WHITE CHRISTMAS this year?!?!?! It will be my first ever!!! Oh..that's exciting!
Fall in Norway is simply beautiful...at least when the sun is shining. When it's cloudy out ( the most likely scenario) it's not as lovely. In fact...I hate it. But the chillyness in the air is the perfect excuse to start drinking hot cocoa, something I never would do at home until at least December.
Here is the view of Norway as Kim and I rode the bus yesterday to visit his mom and Kiri in Blystadlia.

And here is the street where Kim's house is on now, as opposed to the way it looked when I wrote earlier about May 17th and Constitution Day. That is Kim under all the black coat.

As you can see, things are pretty bare looking and it's only going to get worse as I've been told.

Of course Kiri is ready to go no matter the weather. She will be turning four years old on November 11th and is becoming quite the princess. Her favorite is Cinderella. Hmm...wonder why? ;o)

This cool dry weather is also messing with my skin something terrible! I guess I have yet to learn the secrets that those from Northern places already know. For now I just put on lots and lots of lotion and hope my face doesn't turn completely in to one big flake and fall right off.

It's very difficult to find a job here in Norway since I don't speak the language. This week I decided to just embark on the mission of actually going place to place that I would like to work and speaking to someone in person instead of sending out my resume (CV as it is called in Norwegian) so that my chances of getting hired may be a bit better. I desperately need to do something and would hate to resign myself to standing in the back of some restaurant washing dishes. I want to be around people and enjoy working and have fun. Of course at the same time I understand beggars can't be choosers but still I think I will start with the places I most want to work and then make my way down the list. I will be sure to write when I actually find something. Until then, my Norwegian is coming along rather nicely, if I do say so myself. ;o)

I suppose I will wrap it up for now. I don't want to bore everyone too much. I miss you all back home more than you will ever know and I miss Florida more than I ever though possible. I can't wait to be there again when spring rolls around!

Until next time...

~Suzanne

Off to England Part II: A Hard Day's Night 1

2007-09-21T09:00:42Z

SATURDAY
Well rested…sort of, we woke up around 9:45 this morning and had to be checked out by 10. So after some more rushing around, Kim, Jørgen and I made it to the lobby and checked out on time. Ted, however, woke up at 10 and felt he needed a shower so he didn’t join us till almost 10:30. Nice. See a pattern?
Here, my friends, is when the day starts to get really exciting…NOT! No one had bothered to plan anything for Saturday. It was SUPPOSED to be the day I got to go to Liverpool. Unfortunately, this was the first time anyone had bothered to check for buses or anything to be able to GET to Liverpool. The bus there would end up taking 5 hours once we finally caught one. And to do that, we had to get to an airport…which was about 20 min away. But then there was the problem of getting to Manchester at a decent hour on Sunday to pick up the tickets for the match. Oh my!!! Well, since the whole point of coming to England was to go to the match and not to cater to my needs, I chose to forgo Liverpool and just get to Manchester and be able to relax the rest of the time. I would be lying if I said I was not more than a little disappointed but this seemed to be the best solution.

Frustrated, I went and snapped some photos while the boys still hunted for bus times, etc. Whatever the HECK they were doing!!

Here is our hotel.

We were so close to Heathrow Airport that the planes flew right over top of us.

The LOVELY neighborhood where the people will jump down from the trees and slit your throat.

All of this decision making took place in the lobby of the Best Western. So it was now almost noon and we still needed to get to the bus station to buy tickets to Manchester. I had overheard the guy at the reception giving directions to the underground to other guests checking out and when I asked him to confirm to make sure I understood correctly, he told me we should take the bus with our luggage. Ok, the bus it is. There was a stop right outside the hotel. We get to the bus stop and the boys realize they don’t understand how to find what time the next bus would come. So instead of asking, they decide to just start walking to the underground themselves. Well, Ted was the one who made this decision. And we all followed, which I knew was a bad idea.
We continued to walk and got nowhere fast. I tried to yell up to Ted that we were going the wrong way. That I had heard the guy telling people how to get there, and this was not the way to go. But nobody listened. Finally Kim yelled that we needed to get directions. So of course the one guy we stop on the street speaks not a lick of English!! He mumbles something and points and, because we are lost anyway, we start walking where he is pointing. By this time, I am ready to give up. I am upset about not going to Liverpool, I am hot and need a shower, and I am tired from lack of sleep. I just want to be in Manchester at a nice hotel, clean and taking a nap. Oh if this were only as easy as it sounded.
TWENTY MINUTES LATER we STILL have not found the station!! Oh…boy. And this is not the fanciest part of London to just go wandering around in either. After what felt like an eternity, we reached the subway and bought our tickets.
The underground is not all underground. It was actually outside at the place we were catching it.

When we jumped on, the tube was very crowded!! I was mashed between Kim, my suitcase, and some guy’s armpit. Fun. But we eventually got to our destination at Heathrow airport. This airport was HUGE! We walked all over the place! I asked the boys where we go to take the bus to the hotel when I find out…oh big surprise…we don’t actually HAVE a hotel booked for the rest of the trip! Wow. Who didn’t see THAT coming!? Now I am pretty angry. So Ted and Kim walk to the information desk to see what places are available in Manchester for tonight and tomorrow night. It was between a 2 star hotel (and after the Best Western, this did not sound appealing at all) or a 4 star hotel. Ummm..4 star please! But that ended up being way too expensive. So, still no hotel. They then asked how much a flight to Manchester would cost. Oh…$200 per person! Um….No thank you. I was so mad though because our alternative was taking the bus. Which was a 6 hour ride!!!! Oh my. No fun at all. The day just keeps getting better and better.
Ted, making calls to find hotels.

The Heathrow airport..from where I was sitting on the floor at the info desk.

Off to an internet café to book a hotel. We were there for almost an HOUR!
The boys, attempting to find a hotel at the internet kiosk.

I bought a sandwich and some chips and ate while they searched for a place to stay. Finally, Kim found a nice hotel that was only 2 min away from the Manchester United stadium. Works for me! Book that baby!!! It was a 3 star hotel and not cheap but I was so happy to have a place so I offered to pay half of the cost for me and Kim. With that taken care of, we now needed to buy the bus tickets.
This was also not fun. The times for the buses were so bad! The ticket we ended up buying had us taking a bus leaving at 5:15 from Heathrow and making a stop on London Victoria St. before taking off for Manchester. Fine, let’s just take it. It was only 3 now so we had time. Kim suggested taking a bus from Heathrow to London Victoria now so we could have a bit more time in the city before leaving. While I was not looking forward to more bus time, I felt this was better than waiting around in the station, so we hopped on the bus for the hour ride back to London.

More to come later..I know you can't wait. ;o)

Off to England Part I: Ticket to Ride

2007-09-07T09:42:30Z

I suppose I should start this trip by saying that boys can't plan. Okay, I should rephrase that. MY boys DIDN'T plan. For whatever reason.

This was not SUPPOSED to be a trip for me.It was a trip to go see Manchester United (popular English football team) play against Tottenham (kinda popular English football team). I just kinda weaseled my way into what later was obviously a boy’s weekend. That was MY bad. But still, Kim said that we would go to Liverpool and he would treat this like it was my ‘belated’ birthday/Christmas gift. Very belated. Almost a year belated in fact. But that’s ok. I was so excited just to be going to England that it didn’t matter.

The Cast of Characters in this DRAMA (and boy was there drama!) was:
Me
Kim-loving boyfriend who wanted this to be a nice trip for me but, try as he might, it was just not meant to be.
Ted-roommate. A little too laid back at sometimes. And someone I will NEVER travel with again!
Jørgen- friend of Ted and Kim. Quiet and also laid back. Another innocent bystander of this poorly planned trip.

FRIDAY
So we were set to leave tonight. Our flight is at 10 pm so we figured we had plenty of time. Spent a leisurely morning packing and watching TV. It was pretty relaxed. We will take the flytogget (literally translated to plane train) to Gardemoen Airport around 7 or so and have lotsa time to get checked in and what not. Oops…wait. At 5 pm we discover that we are not in fact departing from Gardemoen but instead from the 2 hour away Torp Airport. And we need to catch a bus to get there. In twenty minutes!! Nice. So now we are rushing around to get stuff together. Jørgen and Kim were throwing stuff in to their suitcases when they get a call from Ted. ‘Oh we have to book the hotel for tonight too. Kim can you do it?’ Uhhh WHAT?!
It becomes quickly apparent to me that this trip is not going so well and I am hoping it’s not an indication of days to come. Kim is now surfing the internet to find us a hotel for the night in London in between running around our room tossing clothes into his luggage. This is FUN!
We are sprinting to the bus station which is about 10 min from the apt. I am mad and frustrated but keep reminding myself that I will be in England in less than ten hours. And that keeps me going.

Just barely making the bus, we all settle in for the 2 hour ride ahead of us. That was fairly uneventful. Getting to Torp and checking in went smoothly and we had some time to grab a bite to eat and rest for awhile. More time on top of that due to the fact that our flight ended up being delayed by an hour. So we didn’t board the plane till 11:15 and were ready to just be there!
The flight was not exciting but when we were getting ready to land and saw the lights all around London, I felt a rush of exhilaration. I leaned over to Kim and told him that this must be how kids feel when they are flying in to Orlando for a Disney trip! I could not believe that I was actually there!!! So cool.

We landed and got our bags and made our way out to the buses. This is where Ted informs us that our hotel for the night is near the city center and if we take the bus to Liverpool St we can take a quick cab ride there. Ok. Who are we to argue? He seemed confident enough. So we purchase the bus tickets and get onboard. The seats were comfortable and the lights were dim and it was now after 2 am so we were all able to snooze away the one hour long trip to the center of London. Getting off the bus, barely able to open our eyes, it was still so amazing to be in the city. I always read about it and heard about it being a massive Beatles fan, but now I was really here! Yay! But I was too exhausted to be jumping up and down about it right now. Right now, I just wanted to be at the hotel and fall in to bed.

We found a taxi and handed him the name and address of our hotel. To this he informs us ‘oh I don’t go that far.’ Um..how far is it? ‘It’s all the way back by Heathrow Airport.’ That was near Stansted Airport. Where we flew in. So basically we went an hour out of our way. Nice.

Luckily we find another taxi driver who DOES go that far and tells us it will be about a 30 min ride. Oh. That’s gonna be expensive. But our options were pretty limited now. Okay. We hop in and are now going the RIGHT direction. The driver was going so fast! It was as if he was racing all the other cars. At one point we went over a speed bump and our heads hit the ceiling! I was able to snag a few photos during our Formula 1 race to the hotel.

A blurry London Eye

A blurry Big Ben

Ted on the right watching a double-decker bus zoom by

I didn’t take any more because it was just way too hard to get a good picture going so fast. We got to the Best Western (fancy shmancy) around 3:45 am and shelled out the 60 pounds (wow!) to the cab driver.
The hotel was not anything to write home about. But it was even worse when we checked in and asked the receptionist if there was somewhere close by we could grab something to eat. All four of us were alarmed to hear him say ‘Well just be sure to stay on the bike path because if you take the walking path, people hiding in the trees will jump down and cut your throat.’ Excuse me?! I’ll pass. We all exchanged nervous glances and decided to head up to the rooms instead. The man must really have not wanted us to go anywhere that night because later he called the boys down and offered us free chips to stay in the hotel and not go wandering around. I felt so safe.
It didn’t matter though because I was too tired to go anywhere. I just changed in to my PJ’s and passed out.

Alt for Norge!

2007-08-28T16:39:01Z

Okay so of course you all want to know about England. And I will write about it soon but in order to stay...in order...we have to hear about my first football experience here in Norway. It sort of ties in. Now I do like soccer but admittedly don't watch it or follow it at all. Kim was determined to change all this as Football is the national past time in pretty much every country but America. Ok. I am up for anything.

Kim purchased tickets for us to see a match between Norway and Argentina.

Apparently it's a pretty big deal because Norway is one of the few teams to never have been beaten by Argentina so we had to make sure that this record was not broken. The match was on Wednesday and, to tell the truth, I had been looking forward to it for awhile. Norwegians are quite the rowdy bunch when it comes to football. In fact, I heard on the news that a Norwegian student attending school in Japan mooned people over a game that was not going his way. Norwegians are not to be confused with the downright awful behavior of some UK fans known as 'hooligans'. These fans are just plain loud, unruly, and in some cases dangerous when it comes to this sport. Compared to them, Norwegians are fairly tame. But because of this obsession that most Europeans and other countries have with soccer, I knew I was in for a treat.

So Argentina is a good team and Kim tells me the day of the match that even if Argentina plays well, I am not allowed to cheer for them. Only Norway. Fair enough. ;o)So I go to school that day and when I get home, Kim is there and we hurry to get ready. We have to take the T-bane (pronounced 'Teh-bah-neh' which is subway in Norwegian) to get to Ullevaal Stadion where the match will be held. It takes a good ten minutes or so but we arrive along with masses of other Norwegians all dressed in red and ready for the game to start.

We go in and find our seats while the Norwegian National Anthem is playing. Our tickets put us almost right behind the net.

In the section off to the right of us are the fanatical fans. You know, the kind that start everyone singing, paint their faces, chant and cheer the loudest. Same as with American football.

Before long, the game starts and it is pretty uneventful at first.

But soon Norway scores a goal and there is applause and yelling coming from all around us. I am almost embarrassed to admit though that one guy was being particularly loud and obnoxious. He was at the game with a Norwegian girl but was obviously not Norwegian himself. It didn't take too much time listening to him talk to figure that he was probably American. Now this is only judging by his accent and his behavior but I would bet 1,000 Kr on it. Leave it to us Americans to be loud and obnoxious all the time! He was a little funny though asking how to shout certain things in Norwegian. He got quite a bit of looks (approving and otherwise) from those seated around us. Oh well. He was enjoying himself.

While there were lots of close calls for both teams when it came to scoring a goal, Norway ended up beating Argentina 2-1.

The players came together and Kim next to me joined his fellow country men in shouting a big 'Hey! Hey! Hey!' along with them, followed by generous applause.

Off to the right are Kim's hands giving generous applause. :o)

We fought the masses on the way out and were disappointed (but not surprised) to find the subway completely packed. So we squeezed in and held our breath to make room for others the whole way back to our stop.

It was a fun night though and I was very thankful to Kim for taking me. He is a major fan of football and it was nice to join him in something he finds so interesting. While I don't think I am going to run off and purchase jerseys or a scarf or anything, I see no harm in continuing to root for my 'home away from home' team in the future. Heia Norge!! Hey! Hey! Hey!

Day Tripper

2007-08-18T10:55:35Z

So just wanted to update with some exciting news that has happened lately. After much stress and worry, my Residence Permit finally arrived a little more than a week ago and I was able to take it to the 'politi' (police) in Moss and get my visa put in my passport. I must admit that it is very rewarding to have all my hard work for this thing pay off and see it right there in my passport, making me a 'legal alien' in Norway through next year. How fun! It also gives me the right to work in Norway part time (no more than 20 hrs a week) so that means that with my visa in hand, my job search has officially become...official... Yay!

I am very much looking forward to school starting on Tuesday, although looking forward to having homework and tests again is a different story. But that's alright. Can't laze around forever playing princess right? ;o) I am hoping to make great new friends and learn even more Norwegian. It's my goal to be nearly fluent by the time I leave here next summer. We'll see how it goes. Right now I impress myself (and often Kim as well) with how much I can actually read and comprehend in Norwegian. It's just the speaking part that gets difficult! But practice makes perfect and living here I can't help but get daily lessons. Jeg skal snakke Norsk (I will speak Norwegian)!

Another super neat thing happening at the end of this week is a trip to England that Kim has paid for as my belated Christmas/birthday gift.

I cannot tell you how happy and exciting a thing this is for me! Those of you who know me well know that I have been a Beatles fan since...forever now! After seeing their movie 'A Hard Day's Night' on TV when I was home sick from school one day, I fell in love!

Their music is just awesome and they are an inspiration to me. Of course any true fan has a favorite Beatle and I am no exception. John Lennon was always my fave and I have even named my puppy love of my life after him.

I can't talk too much about my Corgi Lennon though or I will start to cry because I miss him terribly all the time. Sigh...
Anywho this trip is a dream come true for me as I have always wanted to visit the home of my favorite band ever. Kim was originally supposed to take me to Vegas for my Christmas/bday gift to see the Beatles stage show there but it was way expensive so he thought since England is only a couple hours from Norway and the flights there are cheap, this would be an acceptable alternative. Uh...YEAH!! He even planned a day for me in Liverpool, the home of the Beatles, so I can do some special sightseeing. How FAB is that?!
Of course I will charge my camera and take dozens of photos. It's only a weekend trip so I will not see many of the famous sights but I am totally okay with that! I'll have to hunt out Abby Road and Penny Lane instead! ;o)

I'll be sure to update for you all and post some pics when I get back next week.

Thank you all for keeping up with me while I have been away and I look forward to seeing you guys when I get home again!!

Love always,
Suzie Q

Back to Fredrikstad

2007-08-11T22:14:14Z

It is almost time for Sam to go back home to Orlando. I know that she is very excited about this but I am going to miss my American buddy while I am all the way here in Norway. Martin, her boyfriend who is also Norwegian and the reason she moved HER butt all the way here (must be something about those Norwegian boys...;o) ) is back from studying on the oil rigs in Stavanger and the two are at his home in Fredrikstad till Sam leaves at the end of August.
Because her days here are now numbered, Kim and I were invited to Martin's home to spend a nice day out on the ocean in his family's boat. We had to wait for Kim to get a day off, which is very difficult for some reason, but once one finally rolled around, we headed off to the train station.
Fredrikstad is only an hour away from Oslo but we had to make a pit stop in Moss to get my visa put into my passport. This process, which I figured would only take maybe thirty minutes, actually ended up costing me a few hours of my day and much frustration as well! I honestly will never know why it took an hour and a half to get through the 6 people that were ahead of me but it's all over with now. Thank goodness.
So instead of catching the 1:43 train our delay forced us to take the 2:43 train and made us an hour later than I planned. But that's alright. I refused to let it get me down. We arrived in Fredrikstad at ten after three and waited for Sam to come pick us up.

It was admittedly not a great day to go out on the water as the clouds overhead were a little ominous. But we threw caution to the wind and joined Martin who was already waiting for us in the boat. I did not bring a bathing suit because...well..I am from Florida and we don't swim in water when it's 60 degrees outside. Well, we may, but there had better be some sunshine there to warm us up and unfortunately for me there was none at all. The chilly temps did not stop Sam and Martin from getting in the water though. Martin's friend (whose name now escapes me) drove the boat while he and Sam were drug along behind us on a very beat up surfboard. Fun? It looked like it. But I'll stick to the boat where it's warm...and dry.

I will never understand how Norwegians can eat ice cream no matter the weather. I am all for some mint chocolate chip but it CAN be just too cold. In Norway, however, it can be raining, cold, windy or all of the above and the ice cream stands are almost always open. So of course we had to pull up to a nearby convenience store so Martin and Sam could curb their craving for something cold and sweet. And they were not the only ones who had that idea!

Martin and Kim enjoying some downtime.

It may not have been sunny out but the view from the water was still picture perfect. The houses look exactly as one may imagine when they think of Norway and the water was very calm and quiet.

The Oslofjord

After deciding that it was getting a bit too cool to stay out on the boat, we made our way to the dock and got back to Martin's to begin making dinner. I really didn't have much to do with that but Samantha is a great cook and whipped us up a yummy meal of chicken, potatoes and garlic bread. It was SO GOOD! I was stuffed!

We finished the meal with drinks out on the porch and talked till the sun went down. By 9 pm we had to get back to the station to catch our train to Oslo so we said our goodbyes and made plans to get together one more time before Sam left Norge.
Back at the train station in Fredrikstad

I do hope we can sneak in one more visit. But until then, here's to another wonderful day in Engelsviken. Thanks guys!

Thanks for reading!!
Miss you all so so much!

<3
Suzanne

Another Visit to Akershus

2007-07-31T00:53:35Z

The weather has been rainy here lately and sunny days are a treasure when they come around. I don't usually get out and enjoy them too much though because everyone works and I am all alone most afternoons. There was one sunny day, however, that did not slip past me. Kim had a day off and promised to take me to Akershus ( pronounced ah-ker-shoes ) Fortress if the weather was nice enough.
Akershus is a 'castle' of sorts but not where the king and queen live. It is placed high up top a mountain on the Oslofjord now but originally had a different location. Built in the 1290's as a result of an attack on Oslo, the Fortress was very important to Norway at the time. Later it was not needed and moved to another spot in the city. Now it's a tourist attraction but the Norwegian and Swedish royal families still use the banquet rooms for parties and special occasions and other rooms are used for meetings. The Norwegian military is also stationed here. It has a very special place in the country's history.
I had previously visited Akershus last fall when Kim and I came to Norway. It was something I really wanted to see since I worked in the 'other' Akershus castle in Epcot. Unfortunately the day we went was so dreary and drizzly and just not pleasant. It was also SO COLD! This time was much much different. Blue skies and bright warm sunshine was all we had as we headed up to the entrance.

One of the entry-ways to Akershus

The view in the courtyard

At only 50 Kr a person (less than $9) I had to go inside of it. This portion of the castle was closed off in the fall when we came so it was a relief to find I would be able to venture in now. I don't know how excited Kim was as he is not a museum or history kind of person but he pretended to be happy as well. ;o)

The views out of the windows were beautiful. Most faced over the Oslofjord. Here Kim takes a moment to peek outside.

We followed lots of winding stairs and hallways throughout the many sections of the castle. The Royal Mausoleum was neat and a little creepy at the same time. There were actually people in the large sarcophagus'. Kim was surprised to learn that there were parts of the royal family buried here. I can't remember who was in them though...sorry!

I think the church was one of my favorite places. Once you walked in a feeling of peacefulness came over you and the details and carvings everywhere were stunning.

You were able to take a seat among the many wooden chairs. There were candles for sale too that visitors could purchase to light and place on a iron holder. Pretty neat!

Tapestries were hung along the walls everywhere. Some had such intricate detail. It reminded me of the restaurant at Disney.

Rooms seemed to be very authentic to how they would have been decorated back when the castle was in its prime but not all of the furniture came from the fortress.

The royal dining room is still used and was massive! Kim, standing off to the left, was equally impressed.

Once done with the inside of Akershus we made our way into the outer portion to soak up that lovely weather! Here is the view of the Oslofjord. Even though it is considered a fjord, please don't mistake this for the real fjords of Norway that are along the Western coast. This is just a tease! Still beautiful though.

Along the walls of Akershus Fortress.

I had to take a picture of the tower as this part of the castle is represented in Disney's version and it's pretty close to the real thing.

Real Tower

Disney's Tower

On the way out of Akershus you can see a military officer stationed. At certain times of the day the troops will march through this area too. My friend Espen who I had written about earlier did this during his time in the army.

It was such a neat visit! I was thrilled that Kim offered to spend his day off walking around with me and learning about Akershus. I know it's not something he was super excited about but I do think certain portions were interesting to him too. They did offer a guided tour but we came at a random time and missed the whole thing so we just meandered at our own pace. Besides, when we did come across the tour group Kim and I both agreed that the guide's English was not so good and we may have been laughing too hard to pay much attention anyways. I told Kim HE should become a guide here! ;op
I think it's good to experience as much of the city as possible while I am in Norway. There are still many things I want to see and places I want to visit but it's only been 3 months and I still have time. I was more in awe of the absolutely gorgeous afternoon we had and spending the time with Kim to learn about his culture made it even better.

I did take lots more photos so if you would like to view them I posted the link below!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=37264&l=e0274&id=870940006

Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed visiting Akershus with me!!

<3
Suzie Q

Renate Comes to Play!

2007-07-21T20:25:54Z

Sorry it has been so long since I have updated. It's actually been pretty busy around here lately! I know I know, hard to believe but the days I spend sitting on my rear are getting fewer and farther between. And thanks to my wonderful mother I now have a new battery charger for my awesome camera so I have been wandering around taking photos like crazy!

Last week my friend Renate came in from Trondheim, a city which is a little north of Oslo. About a 6 hour trip by train. She had a few job interviews here and I offered up our couch for her so she didn't have to shell out the crazy amount of money it costs for a hotel! I was also very excited to have her to spend some girly time together. Lord knows I love Kim but sometimes I need a break from the Play Station and soccer games! :o)
Renate got in on Wednesday night and had her interview as a receptionist for a fancy hotel chain at around 11 am on Thursday morning. We woke up and got ready and I waited for her in the lobby while she did her thing. Once she was done she said she felt very confident about it all and hopes she did well. Renate has a friendly and super fun personality so I was sure she did just fine. We decided to take the rest of the afternoon for our girl's day out. We ate at Peppe's Pizza (yum! But super pricey!) and then met up with some of Renate's friends from Trondheim who were now residing in Oslo. Her friends were so sweet too! I am always happy for the chance to meet new people.

Me at Peppe's. Renate took the pic and turned me yellow!

When we got back home we invited some more friends over and had a taco night. Alisa and Heather are from the states and worked at Disney doing the College Program. Now Alisa was living in Norway for the summer attending classes and Heather was here visiting till August. It was fun and messy making those tacos but it turned out to be a great night!

FRIDAY

Renate had another interview at 2 pm today so we slept in a bit. I did not go with her for this one because I needed to get my package from the post office that had my camera battery charger in it (very important). So I told her we would meet up afterward.
With my camera ready to go I met her at a coffee house and we walked down Karl Johan together. I decided to be a tourist today and took so many pictures! I can't put them all here but I will put up a few. At then end of this entry I will post the link to the photo albums so you can see more of them!

Me playing tourist at the Palace

The Palace on a cloudy day

Statue of the Queen

Trees leading away from the castle

Renate and I

Looking down Drammensviein

We walked back up to Oslo Sentrum and met up with Alisa and Heather one more time. Renate had to catch her plane at 9 so we only had a few more hours left to visit. We sat on the steps of Oslo S and enjoyed the lazy evening.

Oslo S on the outside

The Tiger statue in the Center

After getting back to the apartment around 8 we grabbed up Renate's stuff and headed once again to Oslo S so she could catch the Airport Express Train (or the Planetrain as I call it) and get to Gardemoen airport in time for her flight.

I was sad to see Renate go because we had such a good time. I hope she gets a job in Oslo soon so we can have girly days a lot more often!

Here is the link to this album so you can see more of the photos I took that day:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=35301&l=ca5a6&id=870940006

Love you all and miss you so so much!

<3
Suzanne

Happy Fourth of July!

2007-07-05T11:07:02Z

I woke up yesterday morning to LOTS of rain! In fact, it's been raining here for DAYS!! Ugh. But, being from Florida, rain on the Fourth of July is nothing new for me. What was new was the fact that the weather was in the 60's! This makes yesterday my coldest Fourth ever! But that's okay. I can stand the cold and the rain. I was not going to let it spoil my holiday!

Kim's mother Idun had planned a nice afternoon for me to celebrate America's birthday...even though I was far away from my home. We were going to meet up with her in Lillestrøm to eat lucnh and then watch a car show that they held every year on the Fourth. We had reservations at a very nice Chinese restaurant. I think it's the first time I have eaten Chinese food on Independence Day but it was very good! The clouds were still hanging around but luckily the rain passed and now it was just plain cold out.

On our way to the parade of classic, massive American cars, we passed a Burger King. This was the only place I saw that was decked out for the holiday. Flags were hanging everywhere and red, white and blue streamers were hung around the ceiling. Leave it to Burger King to decorate for an American holiday! ;o)

Kim took Kiri's hand and we headed to Storgata 1. They were so cute!!

We took a seat outside to get a good view of the cars. It may sound silly to watch cars go by but in Norway the cars are mostly very small and, with the exception of the BMW'S and Mercedes scattered around, not very auspicious or neat to look at. So it was a real treat to see so many big, familiar cars driving right by me. I almost felt at home again. For some additional American flair, the restaurant we were sitting at was serving Budweiser (not that I drank any) and blaring twangy, soulful country music. I would ALMOST have sworn I was sitting in a bar somewhere in the Southern US. Very comforting. Soon the street was lined with people anxious to check out the 'parade'.

I especially loved seeing my favorite cars like a shiny red jeep, a blue Mustang with an American flag waving on top, and an old US Army jeep which I would have sworn Rambo was going to jump out of at any minute!

This blue and white Chevy was pretty neat looking as well!

Kim and Kiri snuggled close to warm up since the wind was blowing harder and there were more dark clouds moving our direction.

We watched the cars for a bit longer before deciding it was time to head out. Kim and I hugged everyone goodbye and walked to the train station. It was a quiet and uneventful ride back to Oslo but the best part was yet to come because Kim said he was going to buy me a Fourth of July meal. So we swung in to the Kiwi and bought hot dogs, french fries, buns, a Dr Pepper (I am the only one in Norway that drinks this apparently) and got home. I was ready to cook! It was a yummy dinner and the perfect end to a great day!!

Hope everyone back home had a wonderful holiday! Unfortunately fireworks are illegal in Norway so I hope that you guys saw some good ones there for me!

Love you all so much!!! Happy Independence Day!!

<3
Suzanne