Porsgrunn, Norway

Sidetracking a little, my computer's currently running at snail speed thanks to the overload of photographs post-europe tour. I'm sitting on the carpeted floor of our friends' apartment with my beloved macbook in London at the moment. In just two days I'll be bidding London goodbye for awhile and heading for Nottingham, where I'll be joining my university's orientation week. From there, school starts a week later, and it'll be my humble 21st in no time. Wonder how it'll be like spending my birthday away from all my loved ones.

Norway was a quiet break from the bustling city life, especially once we arrived at Porsgrunn on the 10th. We managed to squeeze 3 places in 4 days--Oslo, Porsgrunn and Skien. The latter two are smaller municipalities which are part of what makes Grenland (or Telemark, I'm not too sure!). I'll post the map up for your reference. [There's fireworks display outside my apartment window now, woohoo!] Time seemed to pass really slowly in Oslo. I guess we didn't really have any idea what to do there, except to try and make every single krone (norwegian currency) count because everything is super duper expensive! Here's an idea of how much stuff cost in Norway. A kebab wrap costs on average 4 pounds in London, 3 euros in Germany. It's more than double the price in Norway at 7-8 euros! An extra value meal at McDonald's is even crazier. 80-100NOK which translates to about 10-12 euros. We basically survived on kebab and cheeseburgers for the first two days in Oslo.

We then trudged our way by foot to our one-storey hostel in Porsgrunn after a 2.5 hour bus ride, which was pretty scenic with lovely rivers and lakes. If you've watched Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho before, our hostel looked almost exactly like the motel featured in the film. For those who haven't, it felt like we were staying in a stable--no thanks to the fact that there was a horse-riding centre right next to our hostel. There, we managed to meet a nice Palestinian guy whose been living in Norway for 2 years. He offered to take us around the city and paid for our lunch and dinner too (chicken salsa burgers from Macs for lunch and kebab rolls for dinner). Honestly, everyone doubted his intentions at the beginning but turns out that this single Norwegian boy was simply lonely--he moved to Norway for his then-girlfriend whom he broke up with a few months later, as has been stuck in Norway alone ever since. How sad is it when your girlfriend shortens her three-week vacation in Norway to just one week because she finds Norway to cold in December. Very.

I didn't do much in Norway really. I think we could have visited more of the picturesque nature-abundant areas but we simply didn't have the time, nor did we plan to do so beforehand. Would have been a drag if not for the time spent watching Mandarin films (Jay Chou's Secret!) on Yawvwee's laptop and cooking Campbell soup in the hostel kitchen. I think we're a homesick to some degree and it was great sharing the same smiles with everyone when we all took our first sips of mushroom soup. If only we could order a cup of Milo-peng at our every whim or fancy, now that would be kick ass.