Norway!
Hallo! ("Hi" in Norweigen)
Yes, I am in Stavanger, Norway! This is definitely the furthest north that I have ever been ... I arrived here on Monday from London. Norway is 1 hour ahead of London, which means I am 7 hours ahead of most of you who are on Central time. I should have known that my flight to Norway was going to be an adventure in a sense from the get-go ... I realized after about 10 minutes in the taxi on Monday morning that my flight was not out of London's Gatwick airport but out of London's Heathrow airport instead! There is nothing like finding that critical bit of information out as you are already on your way ... unreal. I arrived at the airport 3 hours before my flight because the travel agency never reissued paper tickets to me for the flight - so I spent the first hour at the ticket sales office trying to get that cleared up ... then spent the next 6 in the lounge of the airport because my flight was delayed several times due to snowy weather in Stavanger!
So, once on the airplane - I fell asleep immediately. I was out cold before we even pushed off from the terminal. Apparently, this was quite the MISTAKE on my part - but I only found out why when we landed in Norway. I woke up a bit through the flight and once we landed, I started gathering all my things - but I couldn't find my medicine bag. For those of you who don't know, I have to keep some of my medication cold, so I carry a small bag with ice packs and medication as I travel. I distinctly remember putting it under my seat when I got on the plane, so I knew I had it with me when I sat in my seat ... but now it was no where to be found?!? I waited until the entire plane emptied out and got on my hands and knees to look for this bag - btw, it is green and blue - so it is hard to miss. Finally the flight attendants asked me about what I was looking for - so as I am explaining what my medicine bag looks like, they both start nodding and proceed to tell me what happened to it. It seems that the guy in the row behind me (okay, yes I shouldn't have put the bag under my seat cos they tell you to put it under the seat in front of you) - but he finds my medicine bag underneath the seat in front of him and thinks it is something that the passenger on the plane before us must have left; he proceeds to tell the flight attendant and she takes it OFF the plane before we even leave London! All this happened while I was asleep cos I obviously wasn't consulted as to whether it was mine or not ... I was so pissed --- I spent the next three days trying to get that bag from London to Stavanger --- unreal!
Anyways, I made it to Stavanger and to my hotel. It had snowed a great deal; it was the first time I had seen snow in about 5 years since our family trip to Tahoe. The town of Stavanger sits on the coast of the North Sea here in Norway. I have learned a great deal about the history of Norway as a country and the Scandanavian region as a whole ... so those who are not interested in this fun fact section, you might want to skip down to the next paragraph. Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland make up Scandanavia, which is not considered part of the Europe. Norway, Denmark, & Sweden all used to be one country, however, in 1814 Norway & Sweden gained its independence (as one country) from Denmark. Little did I know that Norway gained its independence from Sweden as recently as 1905 - they are celebrating 100 years of being an independent country of their very own this year, 2005. Norweigen, Swedish, and Danish languages are all VERY similar and most people who speak one can understand and communicate well in the others. The Finnish language, however, is unlike any of the other Scandanavian languages because it has a Russian/Latvian influence. Everyone here speaks English as a second language for the most part but what I have found to be the biggest eye-opener is that it is not so easy to tell who is a native vs. who is a foreigner in Norway. Why is that? ... because everyone here is white! That may sound ridiculous but think about it - usually, places you go to where English is not the national language, the natives are of a different ethnicity - even the majority of 'white' countries like France, Italy, etc. have distinctive characteristics in how the people look. Here, I can't tell if someone is from the States, the UK, or Norway until they open their mouth. Don't get me wrong, I know I stand out like a sore thumb - but yet every shop that I have been in, the people begin speaking Norweigen to me straight away ... only when I speak back do they know to change to English. AND - I must say, the language here is unlike anything I have heard before. We are so used to knowing what French sounds like, Italian, German, Spanish of course, BUT Norweigen is a language that just sounds so different to me - so interesting! What is especially neat is that they show some American TV programs up here with Norweigen subtitles ... you can follow along with the sentence structure of what some words mean. It is obvious that English and Norweigen are both germanic languages because the sentence structure is the same for the most part. I have learned two words here - "og" = and, "takk" = thank you --- pretty good, eh? ha ha...
I found out that Stavanger has the largest amount of timber houses per capita than any other area in the world. The style of these wooden houses is very distinctive and quite quaint. Stavanger itself is the 4th largest city in Norway with about 120,000 people. There is a huge church in the middle of town that dates all the way back to the 1100/1200s! It is gorgeous, huge, and it has Viking inscriptions on the inside of it, even though the Vikings were Pagan. I was told that Norway is 90% Protestant. Being a coastal city, Stavanger sits right on the water. The busy season around here is the summertime where a great many of outdoor activities take place. The center of the city where the port is located is full of ships and boats in the summertime. There are cliffs that you can climb and boat trips to take out to see the fyords, which Norway is famous for but I had never heard of them before this trip ... they are where cliffs of rock that just drop into the sea ... so again, where the mountains meet the sea.
The biggest surprise of Norway has not been the cold weather, which I was prepared to say that would be the answer most would assume I would say, but it has been the expense of this city!!! Seriously, I thought London was the most expensive place I had ever been - WRONG, oh so WRONG! Here in Norway, they use the Kroner for currency; 1 $US dollar = 6 Kroner. While dividing everything by 6 takes a bit of getting used to, the biggest shocker is what they price everything here before you can even start dividing. For example, a 10-15 minute taxi ride from the airport to the hotel or from the hotel to the BP office costs about KR 250, which equals around $40!!! To put it in another perspective, a candy bar at the convenient store costs KR 18 = $3, a beer at the pub costs KR 75 = $12!!! How 'bout that - a $12 beer? UNREAL - I have never seen anything like it. Hopefully this is the most expensive place I encounter on my travels ...
Alright, I need to post a few pictures and post another email ... bye for now!
keely :)
Yes, I am in Stavanger, Norway! This is definitely the furthest north that I have ever been ... I arrived here on Monday from London. Norway is 1 hour ahead of London, which means I am 7 hours ahead of most of you who are on Central time. I should have known that my flight to Norway was going to be an adventure in a sense from the get-go ... I realized after about 10 minutes in the taxi on Monday morning that my flight was not out of London's Gatwick airport but out of London's Heathrow airport instead! There is nothing like finding that critical bit of information out as you are already on your way ... unreal. I arrived at the airport 3 hours before my flight because the travel agency never reissued paper tickets to me for the flight - so I spent the first hour at the ticket sales office trying to get that cleared up ... then spent the next 6 in the lounge of the airport because my flight was delayed several times due to snowy weather in Stavanger!
So, once on the airplane - I fell asleep immediately. I was out cold before we even pushed off from the terminal. Apparently, this was quite the MISTAKE on my part - but I only found out why when we landed in Norway. I woke up a bit through the flight and once we landed, I started gathering all my things - but I couldn't find my medicine bag. For those of you who don't know, I have to keep some of my medication cold, so I carry a small bag with ice packs and medication as I travel. I distinctly remember putting it under my seat when I got on the plane, so I knew I had it with me when I sat in my seat ... but now it was no where to be found?!? I waited until the entire plane emptied out and got on my hands and knees to look for this bag - btw, it is green and blue - so it is hard to miss. Finally the flight attendants asked me about what I was looking for - so as I am explaining what my medicine bag looks like, they both start nodding and proceed to tell me what happened to it. It seems that the guy in the row behind me (okay, yes I shouldn't have put the bag under my seat cos they tell you to put it under the seat in front of you) - but he finds my medicine bag underneath the seat in front of him and thinks it is something that the passenger on the plane before us must have left; he proceeds to tell the flight attendant and she takes it OFF the plane before we even leave London! All this happened while I was asleep cos I obviously wasn't consulted as to whether it was mine or not ... I was so pissed --- I spent the next three days trying to get that bag from London to Stavanger --- unreal!
Anyways, I made it to Stavanger and to my hotel. It had snowed a great deal; it was the first time I had seen snow in about 5 years since our family trip to Tahoe. The town of Stavanger sits on the coast of the North Sea here in Norway. I have learned a great deal about the history of Norway as a country and the Scandanavian region as a whole ... so those who are not interested in this fun fact section, you might want to skip down to the next paragraph. Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland make up Scandanavia, which is not considered part of the Europe. Norway, Denmark, & Sweden all used to be one country, however, in 1814 Norway & Sweden gained its independence (as one country) from Denmark. Little did I know that Norway gained its independence from Sweden as recently as 1905 - they are celebrating 100 years of being an independent country of their very own this year, 2005. Norweigen, Swedish, and Danish languages are all VERY similar and most people who speak one can understand and communicate well in the others. The Finnish language, however, is unlike any of the other Scandanavian languages because it has a Russian/Latvian influence. Everyone here speaks English as a second language for the most part but what I have found to be the biggest eye-opener is that it is not so easy to tell who is a native vs. who is a foreigner in Norway. Why is that? ... because everyone here is white! That may sound ridiculous but think about it - usually, places you go to where English is not the national language, the natives are of a different ethnicity - even the majority of 'white' countries like France, Italy, etc. have distinctive characteristics in how the people look. Here, I can't tell if someone is from the States, the UK, or Norway until they open their mouth. Don't get me wrong, I know I stand out like a sore thumb - but yet every shop that I have been in, the people begin speaking Norweigen to me straight away ... only when I speak back do they know to change to English. AND - I must say, the language here is unlike anything I have heard before. We are so used to knowing what French sounds like, Italian, German, Spanish of course, BUT Norweigen is a language that just sounds so different to me - so interesting! What is especially neat is that they show some American TV programs up here with Norweigen subtitles ... you can follow along with the sentence structure of what some words mean. It is obvious that English and Norweigen are both germanic languages because the sentence structure is the same for the most part. I have learned two words here - "og" = and, "takk" = thank you --- pretty good, eh? ha ha...
I found out that Stavanger has the largest amount of timber houses per capita than any other area in the world. The style of these wooden houses is very distinctive and quite quaint. Stavanger itself is the 4th largest city in Norway with about 120,000 people. There is a huge church in the middle of town that dates all the way back to the 1100/1200s! It is gorgeous, huge, and it has Viking inscriptions on the inside of it, even though the Vikings were Pagan. I was told that Norway is 90% Protestant. Being a coastal city, Stavanger sits right on the water. The busy season around here is the summertime where a great many of outdoor activities take place. The center of the city where the port is located is full of ships and boats in the summertime. There are cliffs that you can climb and boat trips to take out to see the fyords, which Norway is famous for but I had never heard of them before this trip ... they are where cliffs of rock that just drop into the sea ... so again, where the mountains meet the sea.
The biggest surprise of Norway has not been the cold weather, which I was prepared to say that would be the answer most would assume I would say, but it has been the expense of this city!!! Seriously, I thought London was the most expensive place I had ever been - WRONG, oh so WRONG! Here in Norway, they use the Kroner for currency; 1 $US dollar = 6 Kroner. While dividing everything by 6 takes a bit of getting used to, the biggest shocker is what they price everything here before you can even start dividing. For example, a 10-15 minute taxi ride from the airport to the hotel or from the hotel to the BP office costs about KR 250, which equals around $40!!! To put it in another perspective, a candy bar at the convenient store costs KR 18 = $3, a beer at the pub costs KR 75 = $12!!! How 'bout that - a $12 beer? UNREAL - I have never seen anything like it. Hopefully this is the most expensive place I encounter on my travels ...
Alright, I need to post a few pictures and post another email ... bye for now!
keely :)
posted by Keely @ 6:35 AM
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