Stavanger, Norway

Good morning fellow citizens

This update comes at circa 4.30am, as I am unable to sleep for some unknown reason. I went from being deliriously tired all evening and craving sleep … to lying in bed completely unable to unwind … to now feeling refreshed as if I HAVE already slept, and so have gone back on the internet to continue with whatever administrative tasks I have to do. Like browse Facebook, and repeatedly refresh my email accounts. Oh yes.
Well I thought it might be a nice opportunity to update on my recently-completed trip to Stavanger, which I must say was very nice indeed.

I went with my Norwegian “Buddy” Elisabeth, her friend who was visiting from Brisbane and my flatmate Laura. We stayed in E’s parents’ house, perched on the edge of an island-suburb of Stavanger, overlooking the water. We were treated to Norwegian meatballs at her mother’s house, made the pilgrimage to Preikestolen (at long last), and then were taken on a sailing trip out to an island for a barbecue. Not a bad few days at all. Their hospitality was really lovely, and we were fed REAL MEAT sausages – quite a specialty item in Norway. Very exciting.




Preikestolen involved a rather steep hike which we managed to do in 1hr 15min at QUITE a pace. There were lots of old people hobbling their way up over the 3km of loose stones, holding their backs and utilising their walking sticks. What on earth.

It is becoming more and more apparent to me that Norwegians worship oil. I think they really have a collective psychological reliance. Perhaps they should seek professional advice.

Unimpressed with 4am insomnia

Travels: Winter 2010

  
It is rather difficult to classify things by seasons when one spends their life moving between two hemispheres, but for the purpose of this blog I will go with the season that I am physically in.
I will say that I think this semester has been enriching in that it has given me a look at entirely different climate and .. er .. “distance from equator”.

Bergen is supposed to have a mild climate, with the most notable feature being constant rain. I don’t know if they are just wildly exaggerating, or if it was a particularly dry semester .. but it does NOT rain that much here. It’s been five months now and I would say that it was what I would call a “normal” amount of rain by Australian standards – Australia being the driest (inhabited) continent on Earth. Though I hear that this year there has been an unusual amount of rain in Australia, adding to my yet-to-be-completely-disproven theory that drought actually follows me. Maybe I have certain osmotic properties.

The icy apocalypse that was European Winter 09-10

Anyway it occurred to me, as I thought I would probably be well-advised to go through the hand-outs for “American Law”, that I should update a blog. Any blog. Think of something to write about. But AH HA! I did not write about my various travels that I have undertaken outside of Norway this semester. Excellent.

Stockholm & Kiel


A rather unlikely combination of destinations, but were facilitated by the ever-faithful Ryanair with its 5 euro flights. Actually that was the most expensive flight – I also got some in this bunch for more like $3. This is why I now find it so painful to look for flights over summer that are around the $100 mark >.<

My journey went something like: Bergen – Oslo – Rygge – Skavsta – Stockholm – Skavsta – Lubeck – Kiel – Schleswig-Husum-Sylt – Kiel – Bremen – Haugesund – Bergen.
 
I was rather keen to get out of Bergen by the time I left – 17th February – thanks to STILL not having any classes at university despite being there for a month and a half, and the fact that the freezing snowy weather refused to abate. Turns out my travel destinations were almost as bad, but at least they were new and entertaining.
After an epic day of the train to Oslo, waiting at Rygge airport, and then transferring to Stockholm proper, I spent a couple of days cruising around. I managed to stay with Sanna and Elias – who had been on exchange at UWS last year – in their devastatingly cute little red wooden house in the countryside. It was really nice to enjoy their hospitality and get a bit more of an insight into local life (e.g. watching the Biathlon in the Winter Olympics). Stockholm itself was very pretty in the (again, unusual amount of) snow, and not quite as slippery as Bergen underfoot, but it was very cold and I had to constantly keep moving in order not to freeze.

  Feeling like my face was getting frostbite

I was so excited to see that Stockholm was actually alive despite the miserably cold weather. They had an iceskating rink, amongst other forms of wintery entertainment, and the streets were actually *gasp* CLEAR OF SNOW .. sometimes.
After a scare that I might not be able to leave Stockholm due to unusually heavy snow, I did manage to get away and fly to Lubeck where I could take a train to Kiel to stay with Ingrid. Turns out Northern Germany was also inundated with an ever-so-unusual amount of snow, and many of the roads were covered in thick ice. We had a great time doing day trips to the surrounding seaside areas and enjoying beeeeeeer and pizza and other wonderfully cheap treats. I stocked up on cheese and various other little products, and found a new jacket and various things with which to decorate my room. All of which were stuffed into my 10kg Ryanair carry-on allowance with great success.

SNOW! ON A BEACH! My apocalyptic winter dream-come-true

I left Ingrid’s via Bremen, which had a very cute old town centre – as well as some excellent discount shops – and then it was time to fly to bustling Haugesund 3 hours south of Bergen. It turned out that my flight landed 15 minutes after the last bus to Bergen left, and that accommodation in Haugesund – at the very cheapest – was about 600 kr or $120 a night. Thus .. I turned to couchsurfing and managed to find a girl who could pick me up from the airport and host me for the night, which was very nice of her. It was interesting to hear about her job on an oil-rig, requiring hours of flying to get to – but she works for something like 2 weeks on /4 weeks off … I could definitely enjoy that. She didn’t seem too strapped for cash either, given that I was granted an entire floor of her 3-storey house which she owned by herself …

In the end I had a great week, enjoyed some refreshing and lovely hospitality, and had a break from the devastatingly slippery footpaths of Bergen. I cannot emphasise enough how much I now appreciate traction. I had hoped to return to Bergen at the end of February with the snow finally melted … but what is this … no … in fact it had snowed MORE than it had before I left, and everything was freshly re-dusted with snow.

Thus this semester I have concluded that 6 weeks is my official time-limit on snow. The coldness does not bother me as I enjoy winter clothing and tend to overheat easily, especially when exercising, so I find it balances me out. Furthermore I realised that my nose is actually evolved for dealing with this kind of weather, and that I only find it difficult to breathe when I breathe through my mouth. So useful. Even my extremities –normally permanently cold, to the point that I have sought medical advice on it – somehow adapted and at one point my hand was so warm it was STEAMING in the cold air. So the coldness is not the problem … it is the snow underfoot, and the blinding reflection of the sun. No can do.

Thank Odin for snow fights

The Netherlands


I conscientiously censored my trip to the Netherlands on Facebook, given that I know various people who are visiting there and did not want to deliberately cause offence by not visiting them. Though I am not going to censor it here as it was a fantastic trip, and I feel entirely justified in my decisions. If anyone has any further enquiries about it they are free to discuss it with me. Doubt anyone reads this blog anyway.

Well by the time I set off to the Netherlands at the start of April, I was well and truly ready for another break from Norway. It now seems that Norway is only tolerable if it is left on a monthly basis. It really is lovely in many ways, but .. I guess a lot of people here would at least know what I mean.

My trip again started with a pilgrimage to Oslo and Rygge. This time I spent a day in Oslo beforehand, checking out their palace and whatnot. I did find Oslo a welcome relief from my contemporary concerns with Bergen – mostly that Bergen was becoming completely deserted as Easter drew closer. Oslo was fairly bustling and there were lots of things to see – though it was still very cold, snowy, dreary and not nearly as busy as it should have been for a city of over a million people.

As I flew out of profoundly miserable rainy and snowy Oslo … I was greeted with WARM and SUNNY and BUSTLING Nijmegen – my first and somewhat obscure stop. Even this fairly small town was absolutely full of people, and I ran into the first supermarket I saw – and I could have almost cried with happiness. So much variety! So many good things! And… I can totally afford anything here! I may have gone a little nuts. Nijmegen had a really cute little historical centre and a harbour on a river, and even in the sporadic downpours – everyone stayed outside, not batting an eyelid. Fantastic.

I then went on to Utrecht where I stayed for 2 nights, and absolutely loved it. It had a nice balance of old, traditional intrigue and prettiness and modern convenience and socialising. It was riddled with pretty canals, and going on a walk around the outer ones was lovely with parks and walking and cycling tracks. The place was absolutely crawling with young people, and more BIKES than I could have actually imagined – and I did imagine a lot of bikes. While Bergen was apparently closed and deserted over Easter, Utrecht was absolutely bustling – with people on the streets enjoying the sunshine and meeting with friends in the TONNES of cafes and bars. At that point I was thinking … if Bergen were not SO SO beautiful nature-wise .. I’d be kicking myself and wishing I’d gone on exchange to Utrecht. Maybe I am kicking myself anyway .. heheh. Though really I think the lack of real wild nature around The Netherlands would have bothered me after a while as it did in Italy … but I LOVED Utrecht. Just wanted to make that clear.

Me & Utrecht from its tower – I don’t have any photos that succinctly capture the Utrecht awesomeness

My love of Utrecht may have only made my hatred of Rotterdam more profound. I had planned to stay there purely because the likes of Den Haag did not have a lot of choice in the way of youth hostels, and it was centrally located for some nice day trips. Centrally located it was – but oh my god. At that point I thought .. if there was a chance that in choosing to go on exchange to the Netherlands I may have ended up in Rotterdam – the haunt of many a UWS Law Exchange student – then I will take Norway any day. It was like Sydney .. without the charm. Maybe something more like Parramatta .. without the heritage. Just basically a horror combination of what I hate in a city. Sprawled and thoughtless in design and architecture, industrial, decentralised, empty. I could find only one supermarket in my ~5km huge circuit of the city, the nightlife was not obvious, the place had a seedy feel – capping off the Sydney nostalgia when I had someone follow me for a short time making what were no doubt provocative proposals in Dutch. Luckily I could enjoy cheap wine in the hostel.

Once Ingrid joined me in Rotterdam we set about on our epic series of day trips. We started with a ferry trip down the river to Dordrecht. I may not have bothered but I was absolutely desperate not to spend another afternoon in Rotterdam. Dordrecht was lovely, with little canals and houses and all the rest. I had always thought Venice was fantastic, but the little cities of the Netherlands really gives Venice a run for its money. This is a compliment coming from me.

Our next massive day trip involved a morning ferry trip to the windmills at Kinderdijk – very picturesque – then an afternoon train trip to Delft – again another cute little Dutch city (TM), and then seeing as it was only 4pm and Nicola can’t handle going back to Rotterdam, we went on to Den Haag for the rest of the evening. Den Haag was eerily empty – it was Easter Sunday after all – but I still really liked it and could tell that it must usually be bustling.

Kinderdijk

Our next trip took us out of Rotterdam (huzzah!) and up to Amsterdam via Keukenhof via Leiden. Leiden = Cute Old Dutch Town with all the usual trimmings, Keukenhof = huge rip-off. I managed to come up with some deceptive photography to make it look like it is nearly as flowery as its promoters would have you believe. But let it be known – house of lies!

Amsterdam was actually very beautiful as far as Cute Old Dutch goes, and very bustling… though it felt very touristy. The city smelt of pot – from the tourists excitedly puffing away at every opportunity they got – though the Red Light District was actually fairly entertaining. Something sadly intriguing about the prostitutes bouncing away in a window, luring in customers. On our last day we took a trip out to Haarlem – another Cute Old Dutch town, which had a rather impressive cathedral.

 

Amsterdam in a wine glass. I so arty.

Basically the Netherlands was the perfect antidote to three months of an unusually cold and snowy Norwegian winter. A blissfully small, flat, warm, flowery, bustling, affordable, architecturally-beautiful country.



Wales


But a mere weekend after having returned to Norway with Ingrid in tow – showing her Oslo, and then taking her and Dom to Norheimsund and Bjelkeroy – Dom and I were off to Wales for a week. This is what happens when I have another three weeks without law classes. The infamous Icelandic volcano erupted a day or so after we left – and my scheduled flight back to Norway coincided with the first morning that planes were allowed again. Karmic win. I am now paying for that karmic boost in Czech visa dramas.

Wales again was an excellent antidote to Norway – with even little old Swansea bustling and lively, not to mention very warm and sunny and completely devoid of rain. But of course.. it’s my osmosis again.

No seriously, why does it never rain?

We did some excellent day trips to the Gower for a walk along the cliffs, to Skomer Island to see PUFFFFFFFFFINS, and to Brecon Beacons National Park to scale a series of mountains. In the meantime I consumed copious amounts of blissfully affordable alcohol, meat and take-away. I also came away with an excellent collection of cheap summer clothes – some of which I may even be able to wear in Norway, occasionally.

I think I have about 100 photos of puffins

Upon returning to Norway the snow had FINALLY melted (though it did snow occasionally in the following weeks, rest assured) and the inhabitants of Bergen were slowly starting to crawl out of their winter hibernation burrows – or maybe they were just forced off the skiing mountains. The month of May has seen an increase in temperature just enough to make the place come back to life after being completely browned by the months of snow cover, and now the place is beautifully green and flowers are springing up in the grass. Unfortunately I now have to study for exams, fellow exchange students are leaving, and I am up to my eyeballs in Czech Visa crap.

I had hoped to spend June doing some travel around Norway, but it is just so amazingly hard to plan anything – and then when a potential plan can be found it is so amazingly hard to PAY for it. In angry defiance of Norway I instead booked a mid-June trip to Latvia and Estonia – at least keeping with my theme of Northern and/or Hanseatic locations this semester. Though it has been well over a month since I last left Norway .. and despite being initially very happy with my return to more Springy weather .. I am starting to feel that the Baltics trip should have been booked a week or so earlier ;)

Well that was an epic entry to keep me procrastinating for a while. Really though, there is nothing to study for American Law other than the lecturer’s idle chitchat about juries and abortions.



Czech Consulates – Australia – Norway - United Kingdom


I could throw in my continuing dramas about Czech visas here while I’m at it? Yeah why not. So… step by step … summarising as much as I can

- Never heard that I had been accepted because my uni had not sent my transcript as requested back in MARCH. Well now I finally have my acceptance letter for the university at least. Then I discovered I need a copy of my (lack of) criminal record, with an apostille, translated into Czech. This process alone has been over a month in the works now, and after posting a bunch of forms to the Federal Police, sending my brother in search of an apostille which can only be issued in Australia, and finding a Czech translator with a reasonable fee who will issue such translation with only an electronic copy, and $150-odd later… all such documents are IN THE POST and should hopefully arrive here soon. But my god the Norwegian postal system is so slow >.<

- Then apparently once you actually haul your documents triumphantly to a Czech consulate which I had thought would be the one in Oslo – a wonderful 7 hour train trip away – it turns out that they will only actually give you the damn thing TWO MONTHS later. Well done Czech Rep, you are more of a pain in the ass than Italy. Oh Italia, perdonami, adesso vedo che sei molto molto organizzata *lauda lauda*. Well, now this is no help if I’m leaving Norway at the end of June … so I then planned to apply in London when I arrive on the 4th July, as it is fairly easy to return to London from wherever I might be in Europe two months later. Though London is far less helpful than Oslo as apparently they have more to do with their time so I went about making sure I had everything I needed for them and arranged to spend a couple of days in London sorting things out.

- Czech Cultural Lesson #2: They have national holidays on the fifth AND sixth of July. And to celebrate .. the consulate in London is taking the whole week off. What a festive lot. Marvellous, really. So actually I can’t apply in London, as if I apply after that week, the two months coincides with something like the SECOND WEEK OF CLASSES in the Czech Republic.

At this point I was becoming somewhat hysterical with the continual barrage of slaps in the Visa face. Then .. ok … if I can get everything posted to me in the next week or so.. and I haul myself to Oslo.. AGAIN, before I leave.. and then just come back sometime after two months and pick it up *shudder Oslo shudder* .. then it will be ok. And yes… apparently the Czech consulate there can actually translate any extra docs that I might need, unlike London.. oh praise be. BUT .. oh yes, BUT … the woman in the Oslo Consulate is going away for three weeks soon. I want to get me some of this Czech holiday spirit. BUT .. things .. MAY actually .. work out. MAYBE. Though then she did say she wanted a letter from my bank – which at this rate would not arrive in time before I leave Norway. AAARGH. Accept my damn bank statements, puny currency.

So it remains to be determined which will be the most annoying country to deal with exchange-wise :P. Italy was amazingly vague in its information that it will provide over the internet, announced its orientation meetings like two weeks before they were on, had no semester dates or predictable exam structure, the hilarious farce that is a permesso di soggiorno, as well as had a very picky visa application (BUT at least it was free and issued within a week after applying – and the permesso di soggiorno can be completely ignored). Norway was the exact opposite – very good arrival, orientation and semester information, fairly easy visa application – but expensive. However Italy can get away with being an administrative nightmare given its vibrant social life … Norway is a little lacking in that regard. Late May is proving far more vibrant than Winter.. but come on people you can’t live your life like that. Somehow Italy’s complicated way of doing things didn’t aggravate me nearly as much as Norway’s idiosyncrasies either… maybe I’m just permanently old and grumpy now.

Looking forward to see what gems the Czech Republic can come up with haha. In any case, none of these countries are as depressing as sitting around in Western Sydney trying to work out why your supposed lifetime accumulation of friends won’t reply to your text messages.

Thank you and good evening.

KITE! KITE KITE! With volcano haze

What have we learnt from Norway so far …

I seem to have been fairly lazy with updating this blog while away, though the summery feeling of perpetual jetlag in Bergen has inspired me to write a ranty reflective post. The best kind of course.

* After months of (admittedly unusual) snow coverage I absolutely cannot stand the sight of it. This phobia may have been prevented if Bergen would clear its footpaths of ice and snow, ever. Of course they do not, and I spent said months with my eyes trained towards the ground – a fact I only realised when it finally cleared a little and I noticed buildings above eye level for the first time – stepping in strange flat-footed ways in an attempt to maintain traction, and almost twisting ankles on layers of lumpy ice and snow. I also think the onslaught of whiteness took about 10 years off the life of my eyes, with the (blissful) prevalence of green and brown now such a relief on my vision.



* The amount of daylight never seems to be the same from one day to the next, all year long so far. While the sun set around 3pm when I first arrived, within a few weeks it had already moved on to 4 or 5pm, continuing for months until the latest record of 11.30pm. In fact when I looked out the window last night around midnight it still was not completely dark, with a bluish glow around the mountains. Apparently this is “normal” and I expect that things will only continue. We’re already up to a 9 hour difference between daylight hours between January and May … in my universe there is only a 3ish hour difference between Winter and Summer daylight hours. Upon asking a local if the change in daylight makes Norwegians a little crazy – now suffering some kind of circadian rhythm crash as I have already – he had no idea what I was talking about .. how is that a problem? WE LOVE THE LIGHT! Which brings me to my next point …



* Norwegians and their heads in the sand. It seems to be an increasingly common impression of mine that Norway is perfect, and that’s the story they’re sticking with. Whatever they have decided is their way of doing things is THE way of doing things, and all must turn to them in awe and admiration. We may try to emulate their greatness, but we may not quite get there unless we follow Norway’s lead to the T. If you question them on a *potential* flaw in their way of doing things, it is met almost with confusion … no of course it is not a problem. This is Norway. There are no problems. Now let’s ski.



* Well things are not all negative lessons here. For instance I have learned that I am weak and unfit, after being overtaken by singing toddlers and jogging elderly men on what I would say are demanding hikes. Rather than sob into my Duty Free chocolate over this fact, I instead feel more inspired to get fit, and have been doing regular hikes, yoga and spinning in my time here.
 

 
* I also have continued my 12 Step Programme in trusting humanity again, having met many great and interesting people along the way, and have done so much socialising that it actually tires me out. People are very outgoing and excited to try new things and persevere with them. I’ve been inspired to get back into old interests and start up new ones. Well I guess all this applies to “exchange student” types of people, considering that the set-up here has made it impossible to meet locals, but whatever works.



* I appreciate that Norway does not have the rapidly-sprawling urban development monstrosities that plague Australian cities. The suburbs here seem to fit in with the natural surroundings – maybe because they have no choice – and do not seem overcrowded. The area is definitely very beautiful, with mountains, fjords, islands, ocean. It’s just a shame that they cannot organise public transport efficiently enough for us poor car-less visitors to see it all.




* So far … I think Norway goes into the “nice place to have a family” basket, along with Australia. There are probably good job opportunities, plentiful social services, nice houses, safe surroundings, beautiful nature … but still not where I would spend extended periods of time at this stage of life. I would come back again for travel – when rich – or perhaps if some excellent opportunity arose (I can be bought after all), but apart from that I find so many other places so much more lively and dynamic. I feel a little trapped in Norway, and can’t see the great possibilities that could be had in life, which I see when I visit other parts of Europe.



Well I still have just under two months left, during which time I will have my exams, which I hope will not be particularly demanding, and then some time to socialise, explore and travel. I had hoped to do a trip around other parts of Norway but the insanely high prices of every step of the way put me off until I have made my fortune. I will see what cheap options I can concoct. Still no word on whether I will be in the Czech Republic next semester, but hopefully that will work out and I will have a blog full of all new and different rants about cultural idiosyncrasies.

Enigma

View from Floyen at night

It seems that lately this blog has become more of an analysis of places that I would like to live, rather than just a recount of my travels.

I actually enjoy the state of knowing about places and people enough to try to understand how they work, and what their values and motivations are.

Unfortunately it’s turned out to be fairly difficult to really analyse Norway, given that I still have not started classes yet, am living with English-speaking international students, do not speak Norwegian, and have very few opportunities to observe the Norwegians in their “natural environment”.

One thing that does strike me is that Norwegians seem to have a certain pre-conceived image of themselves that they think foreigners view them as – particularly that they are rude or cold. I have found all Norwegians that I have encountered to be warm and friendly, and I don’t expect to make conversation with people on public transport. I like my seat next to me to be empty too, so I don’t think we have any cultural clashes there.

One thing that they don’t seem to have thought of though, is that in general they are rich. If not from their own families or jobs, then from the state. This “welfare state” is not just any old handout, it turns out that ALL students are paid almost $20,000 a year, before any other special scholarships or bursaries they might manage to accrue. Their basic wages seem to be at least $30/hr. If they go on exchange they get even MORE money to support them through this “financially challenging” time. I don’t know exactly how much, but I did just receive an email from the law faculty advertising scholarships for exchange in Germany of $20,000 a year.

While it pains me immensely to compare this to Australian students’ financial treatment by the powers that be, what I have found especially surprising is how little Norwegians seem to value the benefits they are given. I think that basically it is a good thing that they do not have to worry about money when attending university – but they seem to consider this a basic human right, and even do not think that the money they are given is enough. Enough for what? A yacht??

Then of course they try to justify this with the old “oh but Norway is sooo expensive, we NEED it”. Oh don’t get me started on that one. Suffice to say that I just calculated that by buying my groceries in Bergen yesterday, I saved $5 on what I would have spent on identical items in Sydney.

Let’s just say that I’m looking forward to better understanding their perspectives in the future.

 Nicola, Lara, Heidi, Laura at Gamlehaugen

In other news, I do indeed enjoy Bergen. I find myself comparing it to Bologna, rather than home. While I like both Bergen and Bologna, I like them for very different reasons. In Bologna I was basically living as I would if I were a “real” student there – in a flat with other Italians in the centre of town. I did not really have this “Erasmus” life of parties and whatnot, I had just a few good friends that I made naturally over a few months. I liked how convenient it was to walk everywhere, that the city itself was so beautiful and interesting, it always seemed alive, there was lots of student-friendly nightlife, and it was conveniently located for travel within and out of Italy. The exchange student group was also very useful for parties and very cheap weekend trips (such as a weekend skiing in Slovenia – 80 euro all inclusive). However what did bother me was that it was hard to make friends quickly, that there was no real nature – not even many trees – and the generally chaotic way Italians deal with life.

Here in Bergen those “issues” have been resolved – I have met more people than I can name right now, I think my Facebook has 55 “Bergen” friends at last count. The student residence is perfect for socialising with a very friendly atmosphere, almost nightly parties and events, as well as Klubb Fantoft for a convenient place to meet, play games, watch movies, and on Friday have a fun night of pre-drinks and clubbing with all the international students. I don’t think it is possible to ever be lonely here. Furthermore Bergen is absolutely a beautiful place to be in. I look out my window and see snow-covered Løvstakken, and the town is beautifully placed between the sea and the mountains. I really think I get a lot of energy from beautiful surroundings, which I was definitely missing in Bologna where I could barely even see the sky from my bedroom.

 Steindalsfossen

However the city itself is not as beautiful as Bologna, and seems less student and pedestrian-friendly. I am also a good 15 minutes out of town on the bus, which stops quite early in the night (while parties start quite late). Transport out of town has been a nightmare to try and research, and when it is found it is very expensive. It seems Norway shuts down over winter, despite a generally mild winter climate (especially considering how close to the Arctic it is). Making travel plans around here is either impossible or extortionately expensive. I made my FIRST trip out of town on Monday, after finally getting some good advice from the tourist office. I got a regional bus to Norheimsund, on the mouth of Hardangerfjord, viewed a huge frozen waterfall, then got the bus alongside the rest of the fjord and up to Voss, then a train back from Voss. The whole episode cost around $60, which is quite reasonable for Norwegian prices, but this was the first time anyone could even recommend such an option to me, without paying almost $200 for a one-day trip. I really like to travel and explore, and I’ve found it very frustrating not being able to find much good information. Luckily I now know how to use the journey planner on Tide’s website, so I have high hopes for more short trips.

I think this is about enough babble from me at the moment.

Norheimsund

Bergen - Norway

Well I thought I should try and keep a bit up to date with a travel blog while I am away this time.
I have been in Bergen now for two weeks and am loving it. The city is small enough to be friendly but large enough to be practical, and the surroundings are so beautiful and different to what I’ve seen before, especially with the snow. The weather has been unusually great for two weeks now, with clear sunny days and beautiful snow on the ground.

I have met lots of people and continue to meet new people every day. Everyone is keen to get involved with their new city and new friends so there’s always something going on, or if not it’s just a few metres to the next building where you can look for some people to entertain you.

It took a while to get used to the sun going down at approximately 4pm, especially after coming from Summer where it will set at about 8pm, as I start to feel sleepy and ready for dinner at 3pm, but there’s actually more sunlight than I had anticipated seeing as this is so far north.

A popular conversation topic in and out of Norway is how “expensive” it is. I can understand some people complaining after being in Germany where I could buy a tonne of groceries for about $5, but I don’t know what people from Australia are talking about. Plenty of products are actually cheaper in Norway than in Australia, or otherwise about the same or a little more expensive. Beer and meat are an obvious exception where Norway is definitely more expensive.

Furthermore I try to point out to people that rent is about half what you would pay for a nice share-house in Sydney, and I have a great little room in the student residence with everything I need immediately nearby, as well as a (slightly expensive) supermarket right out the front and a gym next to that. Buses are constantly arriving out the front to take you the short trip into town, waiting no more than a few minutes during the day and no more than 10 minutes at night. The bus pass for the month seems expensive as a one-off payment of approx $70 but I would pay at least twice that for my monthly transport around Sydney. My Norwegian mobile phone costs just 5c for a text message, and only 11c for an international text message – even cheaper than Skype and a fraction of what I pay in Australia. I can go to all the student gyms in town, which includes equipment, classes and a swimming pool for $160 a semester, which is a FIFTH of what you would pay for a comparable deal at a university gym in Australia, and maybe even a TENTH of what you would pay for a regular gym.

In short, it is my belief so far that no Australian can complain about Norwegian prices :P

In other news apparently Norwegians are all about enjoying the outdoors, which sits very well with me. I have already been up Floyen which looks beautiful covered in snow at the moment, with penguin-like kids rolling around in the snow and sliding down the paths on sleds, as well as Ulriken, Bergen’s highest mountain with fantastic views out to the horizon in all directions. Yesterday I went on a different hike to Veten, somewhere near Asane just out of Bergen, which was also really beautiful. I still have not nearly mastered the art of hiking in deep snow, constantly falling thigh-deep in snow drifts and then spending almost my whole descent of Veten crouched over and sliding on my shoes with just my hands for steering.

Well I think this has been a long enough entry for now. I think Norway seems like an interesting, yet sensible place. I think I easily identify with a lot of Norway’s “values” but I am looking forward to meeting some real Norwegians some time in the future so I can learn more about them. So far my time has been spent in this little enclave of international students which I am really happy about, and is actually something different from my experience on exchange in Bologna where I was mostly interacting with Italians, but I do hope to integrate with “Bergen” a little bit later on.

I would end this entry with something cute in Norwegian but honestly I have not learnt anything other than “pose?” (bag? – at the checkout) yet. I may read through my “Learn Norwegian” book today. Au revoir.

Adelaide & Kangaroo Island - December 2009

Well at the moment I am writing from BERGEN in NORWAY (just a little bit excited) but it just occurred to me that I never did update on my latest Australian travels. I will do my best to piece together my positive impressions of Adelaide.

I actually arrived there with no preconceived notions of how it would be. Sydney does not really feel the need to think about Adelaide, ever. This turned out to be a good thing because I found myself pleasantly surprised. I found it reasonably priced, down to earth, practical and friendly, as well as offering all the things one "needs" such as shopping and entertainment and the all-important KULCHA. I don't want to be hating on Melbourne TOO much in this blog, but I thought Adelaide was everything Melbourne THINKS it is, but isn't. Adelaide was more "European" in a crude sense of the word, in that it was a small and compact city with good and free or cheap public transport links, it was low-rise, lots of heritage buildings and churches, and clearly defined entertainment areas. On the other hand it is clearly NOT a European city because it is surrounded by desert and is thousands of kms from any other large city.

I spent my few days in Adelaide wandering around Glenelg and the beach, wandering around the city and Botanical Gardens, Museum and Art Gallery (all can be done in one day, heh) and riding back and forth on the free tram.

I then went on a 2-night trip to Kangaroo Island, and was relieved to technically no longer be in Australia, and any island with penguins, seals and sea lions is great in my books.

I guess it's been too long now for me to give any proper impressions, but all I remember is that I was quite peaceful in South Australia, and I thought it was underestimated by the rest of the country. I would quite happily move there for at least a short period of time, if I had something to do like work or study. I even found some masters programmes that were offered jointly in Adelaide and Germany which would be a great idea - except that they cost $12,000 a year.

I did enjoy that Adelaide's tram tickets had inspirational messages on the back of them.

Melbourne – June 2009

Federation Square, Yarra River, Flinders St Station, Botanical Gardens

Botanical Gardens, Lygon St dessert, Bum Tree, Trippy Statue - Yarra River

Well I am currently sitting in the uni library, after having made my 3rd appearance at the 8am lecture this semester. Turns out I shouldn’t have bothered. I will now return only for the lecture in which there is the final exam and then I am… dare I say it… DONE with my Arts degree. Still so much further to go with the dreaded Law degree though *sigh*

So rather than finish off my final report, I of course have taken it upon myself to write up another travel blog entry.

This entry brings us to the exotic, murky shores of Melbourne. After reading the tales from many a “Melbourne is better than Sydney” facebook group I had high hopes for my visit. Turns out… “Sydney is better than Melbourne”.
Melbourne did have a spritely cathedral in its centre, a fancy train station entrance, and a nice set of Botanical Gardens … but really… it cannot compete with Sydney Harbour.

I failed to see Melbourne’s alleged superior urban planning, nor its greater number of heritage buildings, nor its superior shoreline. The much-acclaimed Lygon St has nothing on Leichhardt/Five Dock. While Australians often praise Melbourne’s superior public transport to Sydney…. my god could anything be WORSE than Sydney’s public transport? Their trams, while quaint, were laughable compared to European trams.

One thing that can be said for Melbourne though…. is PENGUINS!! I was quite impressed with finding fairy penguins quacking away in the rocks near St Kilda pier ^_^. I would have liked to go to Phillip Island and the Great Ocean Rd but I was without a car and organised tours were way overpriced. I will have to drive back another time, skip the city, and head straight for the coast.

And so concludes my somewhat critical review of my 3 days in Melbourne. I may have been able to blog about my enjoyable meals out with friends, nice views and long city walks … if not for Melbourne’s unstoppable desire to compete with Sydney, which had filled me with hope for something better, yet it turns out Melbourne is SO misguided.

I will be taking myself on a random trip to Adelaide in a bit over a month, so rest assured I will continue the 2009 mission of inflicting pain upon myself in the search for an acceptable city this side of the equator.