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. 

Australia - East Coast 2009

Anna Bay, Byron Bay

Icecream Byron Bay, Dorrigo, Natural Bridge

Myall Lakes, Dorrigo, Dangar Falls

Myall Lakes

Well I thought I am overdue a travel blog update, considering today I can barely leave the house thanks to the  DUST STORM that has descended upon Sydney. I just painstakingly aligned the photos in the top image. I am sure there must be an easier way to do it, but I've always gone for improvisation when it comes to photo editing programs (for example, print screen + crop x 3 in order to shrink large files).

Anyhoo... thanks to the first person from Europe to actually follow up with their promises to visit me in Australia, I had an excuse to go on a massive 2479km drive in July.

Sights along the way: Anna Bay, Myall Lakes, Urunga, Bellingen, Dorrigo, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Byron Bay, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Natural Bridge, Boonoo Boonoo National Park, then a massive drive from Tenterfield back home to Sydney in one day, skimming through Tamworth, Armidale and the Hunter Valley. Quite an epic journey.

I'm not in a particularly creative mood at the moment so at best I can say that Myall Lakes was surprisingly great. Many sunset photos were taken, such as my favourite above. Most of the NSW coastline would have been better left as wilderness, as the few settlements that are there are not worthy of the land clearing required in order to build them.

I also had a fun time driving for hours along the Mt Lindesay Highway, taking in hours of completely unpopulated stretches of sometimes dirt roads in my tiny little car.

What did I learn on this trip? I quite like Australia's photogenic nature and wildenress, and that I need to get out of here, and come back in time to cash in my baby bonus and superannuation.

Operation 2010

I just felt the need to inform my travel blog that I have just sent off the forms that I hope will make 2010 even better than 2008. While my initial instinct at the start of the year was to hang the expense, jump straight back on a plane, and finish off my Arts degree back in Bologna, this has obviously not come to pass. In fact I still think I would have been better off if I had done this as this semester at uni has possibly been my most uneventful, unsociable and uninspiring to date. I did take a few steps to try and remedy my lack of social events, but as the semester dragged on it all petered out and I am back to approximately one real life conversation with someone outside of my household per week. In the meantime I set about plotting ways to get back to Europe, which for the moment I deem to have a far superior lifestyle, even if we do have a minimum wage and consistent sunshine here. Phase 1 of plotting: another one to two month trip in European summer. If I had more funds I would still have done this, but the necessary acquisition of a car in this expansive city of mine put that to rest. I would like to thank the world for leaving my country so expensively connected to the rest of it. Great work. It seems we are forced to spend our lives in this insular society unless we are lucky enough, or work hard enough to have significant funds at our disposal. Phase 2: Germany. I set about undertaking a beginner's course in German, in an attempt to learn a language that would get me out of the Mediterranean lifestyle. It's very interesting and all, but right now I think I am due to visit a country that can actually run on time. Just for something crazy and different, y'know. I was psyched up to spend the year learning as much German as possible, then go on exchange next year. Unfortunately I can only do this through the law part of my degree, and all partner universities in Germany only offer law in German. I do not think that I could have my German up to law-study level in just one year. Thus with much hesitation I put Phase 2 to rest, however I will work out some way to live in Germany in the future. Phase 3: Locate a non-Mediterranean European country that offers Law in English. Potentials included the Netherlands (but it's so flat and grey), Ireland (only offer certain law options which did not fit), and Sweden (but the partner universities were off in the wilderness). However I did find a few potentials, and consequently... Phase 4: I found myself intrigued by Bergen in Norway. It offers lots of courses in English, in somewhere that I might never otherwise visit, but looks amazingly beautiful. As far as I can tell any European university life has got to be more rewarding than Sydney university life, so with relatively little consideration I selected Bergen for half my law electives starting from (European) Spring Semester 2010. Phase 5: While I had initially planned to spend one semester in Norway and then extend my stay if I particularly enjoyed it, at some point I got to thinking about many students I had met in Bologna who were undertaking a year-long exchange in two separate locations. For reasons even less explicable than my selection of Bergen in Norway, I then started looking into Brno in the Czech Republic, purely on the information from the Exchange Coordinator that another law student had said it was a fantastic place. After checking out their website, exchanging a few emails with the other student, and noting the city's proximity to many places I want to visit such as Prague and Vienna, I spontaneously decided to go there too. At the end of this procrastinatory (is that a word?) ramble, I therefore announce to myself that I will be using up all of my Law electives in 2010, first in Bergen, Norway, and second in Brno, Czech Republic. I hope to visit Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Denmark (in conjunction with visiting other friends on exchange) during Spring, spending summer on another one to two month trip around the likes of Germany (always more manageable when it is not -10 degrees), and then spend weekends in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Austria, as well as whatever else takes my fancy. I also hope to visit more of the UK, perhaps take another obligatory trip down to Italy, and maybe even squeeze in my childhood dream of Egypt somewhere along the line. I hope Ryanair can hold onto its insanity for another year or so. I should now return to finishing my research on the Cross-Influences of English and Italian. This has been a pleasant distraction.

Italia 2003: Roma

*Homestay friends at the Trevi Fountain
*Scootermania near Spanish Steps
*Nicola and Gladiator - Colosseum
*Advertising near Trevi Fountain
*Class in Roman school
*Homestay friends at airport
*Nicola & Denise in Rome
*Swan in Villa Borghese
*San Pietro
*School

Roma

Ahh... Roma. If not for this whirlwind experience I may not have had quite the travel adrenaline rush that has kept me coming back for several years now. Visiting cities is always a fun and valuable experience, but it is the real life experiences that really shape who you are.

After a whole day of driving from Venice to Rome we were haphazardly ejected from the bus onto a crowded suburban street corner in what I now know was the outer suburb of Ciampino. We were in a frenzy trying to retrieve our suitcases from the bus, listen for our names being called by the Italian organiser, and trying not to trample the passersby. What would transpire is a classic example of the Italian take on organisation.

Unwilling to push to the front to ask for my homestay buddy, I waited back until most people had been called, matched up, and sent on their way. Finally when the coast seemed clear I went to the list-holder.

Nicole? Oh. Nicol-A?? Oh. Hmm. Ahh. Hmm.. I talk... one moment... your teacher.

As it turned out, our dear organiser had in fact sent another "Nicky" off with what had been planned to be my buddy. However this did not seem to be a problem, as I would simply be sent with the family that Nicky had originally been assigned. I was introduced to the girl who was 4 years older than me, as Nicky was. The father seemed very nice. They packed me into their car and headed off into suburbia. Even the most simple Italian babble refused to enter my brain. Their attempts at conversation sounded like complete jibberish, despite having studied Italian for a couple of years. Upon arrival at their house I was warmly greeted and shown my room. I was introduced to her sister who was more my age. All seemed well. I felt comfortable. Yes... this will be fine. The girl said she and her friends were having a party and we all got ready. Some hours pass and we are waiting downstairs... we get a phone call.

There is a problem. The other girl is your age. You have to go to her now.

So... I awkwardly re-packed, said my friendly farewells and was packed into the car with Marco and sent hurtling back through the suburbs. I was not very pleased about this at all.... I had just alleviated the stress of finding a friendly family and then was immediately uprooted to be put through the same anxiety again. Upon arriving at the new house I was somewhat coldly greeted by a family that must have been irritated by being uprooted as well. I was hastily fed some pasta. I was not feeling so welcome this time round.

However.... apparently the best way for Italians to open up is by them helping to unpack your suitcase. Whether you consent to them rifling through your collection of underwear, holding it up for examination, and questionining me on my colour choices or not. I was then herded into the shower and had the process of the technological wonders that are taps meticulously explained to me. No sooner did they hear the water stop running were they barging back into the bathroom, ushering me onto the bed, where my feet were promptly hand-dried by them... and then I was sent back into the bathroom to dress.

Can I just say... that I am extremely proud of the way my 15-year-old self handled the week and a half with this family.

The mother keeps hugging and kissing me. Denise proclaimed me as her little sister even though I am 1.5 years older than her.

Despite being bored.. well... most of the time, school was a very interesting experience. They were kept in the same classes and classrooms all day, with only the teachers swapping.

Diary excerpts:

The first question I was asked when they sat down to talk to me was “What mean slut?”

I was also informed about how funny it is to steal things, which her friend seems to enjoy doing.

They have a weird sense of humour. I tried to make a sort of joke because I had the word “Dimenticare” written on my hand. I wrote it there because I wanted to know what the word for “to forget” is. And I think Silvia asked me why it’s there, and I go “Ah, perche non voglio dimenticare la parola ‘dimenticare’" (Because I don't want to forget the word "to forget!") And she just stares at me totally not getting it.

I can’t even remember English anymore.

They’ve already had me singing Avril Lavigne and J-Lo songs for their entertainment.

I suggested to the teacher that it seemed better to say "I have brown hair" than "I've got brown hair" to which she replied "No, no, no, you speak wrong. You speak Australian. We teach English.” She can bite me.

I just got interrupted because that Marco guy appeared with Emily and Michael from another school. So I used it as an excuse to go out of the room for a while. Apparently they’re going somewhere. And we can’t. Marco came only to tell us that they were going out, and we weren’t allowed to come. Nice guy.

Aside from school my homestay family and friends were good value when it came to sightseeing. I was taken to the Colosseum a couple of times (never did manage to find it open, however), to the Trevi Fountain, the Vatican, Piazza di Spagna, Villa Borghese and various shopping and McDonald's trips.

Damn this cigarette-filled Italian air. Hmm, that’s all I have to say for now. Oh dear Denise is doing her dancing exercise so I should keep writing or she’ll get me to join in.

I was fed so much I could barely breathe. I was forced to cross roads when every part of my intuition said that the oncoming traffic would hit us. I was driven around at breakneck speed, defying a lifetime of brainwashing about wearing seatbelts. I was hugged so much that I almost developed a nervous twitch (I was not a very touchy person... at all).

Despite being completely thrown out of my comfort zone, isolated in an unfamiliar city, unable to speak the language and freaked out by a swathe of social and cultural customs... when it came to going home I suddenly felt a huge loss.

I thought it was great that I was barely spoken to in English. When I was reunited with the old tour group the onslaught of familiar vocab was a shock to the system. I came back streets ahead of the rest of my Italian class and, if I do say so myself, remained there til the end.

I think you most notice the effects of a trip once it's over.

Which is why I asked for a second homestay in 2005....

Italia 2003: Venezia

*Bridge of Sighs *Burano *Verona *Nicola in Piazza San Marco * Gondola Ride

Venezia

At the time Venice was my favourite place I had visited. These days I'm not so sure. I was fascinated by the idea behind the city. It shocked me that most people did not even know that it was built on a series of islands, right up to the point when they were deposited ON said islands.

On the way up to Venice we stopped in Verona where I was berated for my "cynicism" as to what I would actually dub a cynical marketing scheme - "Juliet's House". In recent years this place has got much worse, with no less than three tacky gift shops. At the time it was pretty as a medieval house, a nice testamony to the play, and of course a statue where we could all grab at Juliet's boob. I was perplexed by the large star emanting from Verona's amphitheatre. Some of my associates *cough* thought it was a fantastic idea to dig a cobblestone out of the ground as a souvenir. Ah Australians... rolling in the snow like hyperactive children and digging cobblestones out of the main square.

At the time that I was in Venice the snow, proximity to water, and blistering winds made it the coldest I had ever been in my life. Layers of thermal underwear felt like nothing. We took in all the main sights, hunted for gloves and cheap glass souvenirs, were taken on a trip to Murano (glass) and Burano (lace) islands. I preferred those islands for their cute and colourful houses.

We had an exciting day trip to Padova. We were waiting to view Giotto's Chapel. The chapel was apparently so precious and sensitive that it was kept permanently dim and climate-controlled. Visitors had to wait in a glass box outside the chapel to maintain certain numbers. As we were waiting what appeared to be a group of Italian male students filed out of the chapel... as they went by, almost like an assembly line, each and every one of them gave us all a look up and down, a flirty smile and a head nod. It could not have been choreographed better if you tried.

After all our traipsing up north, it was time for a daylong trip back down south to Rome, where we would begin our almost 2-week homestay with an Italian family.