For Abby

So randomly, I stumbled upon Jim and Saab’s podcast and was listening to it while having a cup of hot cocoa on this rainy Friday morn. Feeling cozy while sipping my choco. Then I heard Saab said she took Creative Writing in college and I was like, “Why didn’t I take it up too???” I always wanted to be a writer! Haha. At the same time, I also wanted to be a pro Singer and be an Anesthesiologist on the side. Wow. Like being an “Anesth” was that easy. I also thought of being a Nurse anesthesist after Nursing school but I heard it was only offered in Singapore back then. And I’m like “Bummer”... So I ended up here in Norway. God only knows why I ended up here but I believe I’m where I’m supposed to be. Naks!

So anyway, someone messaged me and asked to tell more about Norway. I’m only a year and seven months here though unlike most of the people I know who have been raised, born and lived here all their lives. But, for you who requested this, I will do my very best.

First of, I will just write about what I know, what I’ve seen, feel and tasted. Will never touch history, politics and the like. Okay, I know a little history, all thanks to the free tour I joined inside the Royal Palace two weeks ago, but I feel like that’s not enough to know everything. For those of you who has never heard of Norway, you are missing out big time! Haha. You have to review Geography because a lot of people don’t know where this beautiful country is. Norway is in the northern part of Europe and is part of the Scandinavian region which is composed of Denmark, Sweden and Norway. However, in English usage, the term also sometimes refers to the Scandinavian Peninsula, or to the broader region including Finland and Iceland, which is always known locally as the Nordic countries. *Credits to Wikipedia for the last part.

If you are a nature-loving kind of person, you will loooove Norway. In every corner, this country has something to offer for you. Most of the people love the outdoors and be out in the mountains, going for a hike or a tour. Almost zero pollution, clean environment, and lots of greens everywhere.

Winter, spring, summer or fall... Which one are you? Norway has four seasons as most of the European countries have. I arrived here in January 2017 right in the middle of the winter season. Fresh from the hot climate in the Philppines then suddenly a winter. Talk about extremes! But I managed. I didn’t get sick or had any Rhinitis which I always have back home. I was scared of allergy attacks or sinusitis and the likes, but, thank goodness, no serious case of those. The worst I had here was just fever, cough and colds which went away almost immediately.

Summer this year was thee BEST this country has ever experienced again after a long time. The hottest we had was at 35C and since most houses doesn’t have ACs, it was scorching! And the sun doesn’t go down until around 11 in the evening. In the northern part, the sun barely sets at all. They have this what they call the “Midnight Sun”. From what’s it called, you know what it means of course. It was a bit of a struggle on my side cause I live in the attic where it’s warmer and the sun goes in when windows are open.

There are lots of touristy places to visit as well. I once lived near a famous park called The Vigeland’s. You can Google it if you want. But yes, it was only about a 3 minute walk going to the park and I was there almost everyday. It’s big and nice and is famous for the sculptures in it. I now live near the sea, not literally near it but just a walking distance away from it. Like about 5 minute-ish away on foot. Not bad for a beach person inside me. It’s also a touristy place since there are museums in the neighborhood and the King’s summer house is just about 10 minutes away from where I'm staying when taking a bus. I absolutely love this place  and the people as well.

Top two things I love here are: fast internet and almost no traffic. Since these two are our complaints most of the time back home so these two are what’s making life so fun here.
Transportation is super easy and nothing compared to what we have back. Though the fare is so expensive as to all the other stuff that you can buy here in Norway, unlike in Spain or Denmark which are way cheaper, but almost all can afford.

I hope I was able to satisfy your information craves! I will do an updated one and add photos and the like. Please let me know what you think of this post by leaving a comment below.



XoXo,

Hannah

Norway 2017

This is a late post since I wasn't able to write something before I left the Philippines last January 12, 2017. My stress level at that time was almost at its peak but I tried to relax myself cause I do not want any breakouts! haha. Neither fever nor colds/cough whatsoever.
It's the first time for me to travel far away from home and, boy, I couldn't describe how tiring it was!

HK - Germany

Hong Kong airport is sooo huge! It's my first time to travel abroad and maybe most of you have been to Hong Kong (HK is the Filipinos favorite travel desti..) and you can agree with me that their airport is so class. We had a two-hour lay over but it was mostly consumed with the walking we did. Grabe ang layo ng nilakad namin just to be able to go to our gate going to Frankfurt, Germany via Lufthansa Airlines. I lost count on how many escalators there were and for the winning prize? We took a train. Yep, there's a train inside the airport. 

While waiting for our flight to Oslo, a Chinese woman approached me and started to say something in mandarin, I was like "Ah, sorry..." and gave her a sheepish smile and she walked away. Sorry ate!  (eh di ako na mukang Chinese! :D ) *Ces and I--5 hours layover

And so our travel from Hong Kong to Germany was about 11 hours in total and when we got there, the weather was not so good so the earlier flights were canceled as per the announcement. Can I also say that the security in Germany was one for the books! It was so tight that you have to go to a human x-ray. I don't know what it was called but it's like that. But thank God we passed that.

Germany - Norway

I had a terrible headache by the way, and my nose was runny and stuffy the whole time we were up in the air and I was so uncomfortable in the plane. And the food was... never mind.

I was seated beside a couple of about 60 years old and they are Norwegians. The old man just popped a conversation with me and he started to tell me stuff about Norway and all.... I can really say that Norwegians are some of the nicest people in the world! 

And here I am now...in Oslo, Norway. Surreal! My heart is full. My God is great. I want to end this post with this verse for you, ( Proverbs 19:21) and that while pursuing our dreams, may we not forget that He is the maker of our dreams and that God's will shall always prevail.

Loving the cold weather! :D