A Beer with the Girls!

Yesterday evening I went, as I mentioned before, out for a couple of drinks with my colleagues from work. I thought that we would be more people, but somehow I misunderstood that the real goodbye is today in the evening!Anyways, we went from the meeting point through the city, looking for a pub or a bar. Since I am here just for two weeks now and didn't really go out that much, I didn't know where to go, but neither did S. or N., the two girls from work.We walked from Oslo S, the central station, down Karl Johans gate, the main tourist street in Oslo and then passed the national theater and walked to Aker Brygge a super fancy, newly build part of the down in the old harbor area. Like in many other downs the old harbor area was used to build luxury apartments and expensive shops and bars. Now this area is one of the most expensive places to live in Oslo.

As a result all the bars were of course super fancy and had extremely high prices we went into some to see the menu, but then decided to leave again and drink somewhere else.So we made our way back to the city, passing the Nobel Peace Center and the Town Hall and went to Torggata. When going to the meeting point I came through this street and saw there a really nice bar and funnily this was exactly the place the girls were then heading for. So we went into Cafe Sør and I gotta say, that I really love this place. It's just super relaxed and nicely furnished. Also the people working there were pretty cool and fun to talk to!After we had been sitting there for a while we went to another bar, just one block away. It was called People's and had a huge terrace outside on the square. We sat down, had a drink and were just talking and having a good time. I was playing around with my new camera a bit and was trying to get to know all the functions better. It was a good time and we were taking funny pictures, but these mostly with N's camera!Anyways, the evening didn't last so long, we were all tired. So I went back to the flat, where I found my flat mate T. with two friends. I was sitting and talking to them, having one more beer, until 1 o'clock in the night. Then I got too tired and went to bed!

All in all it was a really nice evening and it was good to go out with some people again. I saw new places and start to like this city more and more. I guess I will soon go to town. I will look for a small tripod and for a book store. I want to buy something to read and a tour guide of Norway. Since I don't know so much about this country it might be nice to see what you can do and where you can go here. I actually skipped my planned trip to IKEA for today. I will get some stuff from S. today and tomorrow, since she is leaving! After that I can decide what I have to buy and will go to IKEA on Monday or Tuesday after work!
~M~

Last day of the (working) week!

Today was the last day of the working week! This also meant, it was the last day at work for S., my colleague, who was introducing me into my new job. Now, after the weekend, I will basically be in charge of the job myself, even tho my boss told me that she will take a close look on everything I do it feels good to be finally responsible for everything!

We celebrated the goodbye, since there was not much to do, with a lot of cake and wine! It was funny, to see all the people slightly "happy"! Especially because these people are all my superiors in a way!

Anyways, now I am shortly home, will relax a bit, eat something and then go out with the trainees to say goodbye to S. I guess it will be fun and I am actually looking forward to it!

Tomorrow I will go to IKEA to get some stuff for the flat and in the evening I will go to S's place to get the last stuff from her, which she can't take home. She agreed to give me a lot of stuff for my room, so I dont have to buy it!

Now I will have some of the cake I took home from the office and will relax!

~M~

Slow day!

Today was an extremely slow day at work! There was basically nothing to do and it was pretty boring! Although you say, that there is always something to do, today there was actually nothing.

Now I am back in the flat, sitting around and will soon go to the shop to buy some food for tonight. I really have to start my life here now, I will go tomorrow to the bank to open an account and I guess on Monday or Tuesday I will go to the authorities to register myself.

There is nothing more to say! I am a bit tired today and I miss A! I didn't really have time for myself until now, in the hostel there were always people around. Now I feel how much I miss her!

~M~

Moving in!

I just came back from a pub, where I watched a football game between Rosenborg and AIK Stockholm with my new flat mate, T. He is from Trondheim, where Rosenborg is from, and is a big supporter of the team. Since I didn't had anything to do, I went with him.

It was good to hang out together, since I just moved in today! After work I just picked up my stuff from the hostel and came here to the flat. I am not yet living in my room, but at least I dont have to pay every night separately and have to worry about the occupancy of the place I am staying.

The point is, that T. actually wanted me to move in earliest on the 1st of August, since he is renovating the bathroom and is using my room for all the tools and materials. However, yesterday during the viewing he couldn't resist my pleas and agreed, that I could move in today. In return I agreed to help him with the last activities of the renovation and with cleaning the flat afterwards.
So to hold my word we were today working in the bathroom. I was cleaning away the spots of plaster on the tiles, which is not really my kind of job, since it requires a lot of patience and endurance. However, I managed to to a good part and if I am working tomorrow as much I will be finished by then!
Anyways, now I am tired and will soon fix myself to go to bed and sleep the first night in the new flat. Not in MY room, but at least I have an own room!

~M~

Good News!

Positive thinking is helping! Yesterday I paid the hostel until Friday, today I said to my colleague, S., that I will find until then a flat.

Now I just came back from a viewing and I have a flat!!!
After more than 1 1/2 weeks of disappointments I finally found a flat and got an OK! The room I will get is cheaper and bigger, than the only other serious offer I had, the kitchen is nicer, bigger, has a balcony and my flat mate is nice and especially nicer than in the other flat. After all, it's just BETTER! Even though it was right now a bit messy, since he was renovating the bathroom, I could really picture the room furnished.I will move in tomorrow, just because the night today in the hostel is anyways paid and not refundable, like the other nights, where I got my money back already! It was the first thing I did after coming back to the hostel; canceling the stay!
Now I am sitting down here with C. another guy from Germany, he came with me to the viewing, since he didn't had anything to do anyways. Now, when I am uploading the pix, we are going to play a round of table football.

I am so relieved right now!

~M~

Tension!

I am pretty tense lately. The whole thing with the flat is bothering me a lot. I have basically the same situation like with my internship earlier, I am sending e-mail over e-mail and get basically no answers. Even from people, who answered my looking-for-room-ad, are not answering anymore onto my mails. It's extremely tiring and frustrating.

Especially today at work I was extremely tense and could barely focus onto the job. The thing with the flat was all the time occupying my mind and I couldn't put it aside. Additionally I didn't sleep well the last nights and I really need my privacy as soon as possible. It went even so far, that my colleague S. and I had a small argument, which was based on a tiny thing. I was just so tense, that I was a little over reacting!

Anyways, now when I came back to the hostel I found a message in my inbox, which sounded pretty promising, but I assume, that it is scam. The apartment is in the middle of the city, but extremely cheap for a furnished apartment with all utilities, internet and so on. And further the address, which the guy gave me is the address of a hotel here in Oslo. So I will be extremely careful and leave basically all my valuable things at home! It's suspicious and therefore I will be careful. I hope that I am wrong in my thinking!~M~

Cloudy!

After really nice and warm weather yesterday, it's pretty cold and cloudy today. This also affects the motivation of everybody, the lobby of the hostel is full of people hanging around and I feel how hard it is to concentrate on writing e-mails on flat-ads. Even tho I think it also has a lot to do with the response rate on my e-mails and the response behavior after viewings. I basically got two answers after all the viewings I went on. Even if people answered on my ad, that I am searching for a flat they often do not answer after my response on their mail.

Sounds complicated and is even more frustrating. I have - as mentioned - one room secured, but it is extremely expensive. That's the only downside. Anyways, I have to see now, what I get. My time here in the hostel is running out, since I can just stay for 14 nights here - hostel policy. If I dont have anything until then I will have to see where I end up.
Now I am just sitting here with P. again. She is reading articles for her summer course and I am waiting for answers. We decided, that we have to go out later on for a walk. Just again to have something to do and to move a bit. Just sitting in the hostel for the whole day is not healthy I reckon.

~M~

Saturday!

Today is Saturday and right now I am sitting with P., a Dutch girl, who is staying in the same room like me, downstairs in the lobby of the hostel. She is doing a summer course here in Oslo and is studying and I am looking at pictures and writing this post.

We went earlier, together with Y., a Japanese guy, to the train station. It was just to come out of the hostel and also because P. wanted to buy a 7-day bus-ticket. While being on the way I realized, I should finally buy a Norwegian SIM-Card. So I went into the Lebara-shop and got me a prepaid-card. I didn't put it in yet and I dont know the number. I still need to have my Finnish number, because I used it to have contact with the landlords or the flats. So until I have a flat I wont use the Norwegian number.Anywho, it was nice to walk in the warm late-summer sun. We went to some small shops and bought fresh fruit and then to a supermarket for some more food. I am now starting to get a feeling for the Norwegian money and prices. It's really important so I am not living totally over budget, which was the case in the first week.Regarding the flat search: It's not going anywhere right now. After 2 or 3 days having a full schedule with viewings it's now again really slow. The people are not answering or the flats are extremely expensive and cost more than I would be willing to pay. I am really annoyed, since I didn't think it would be THAT hard to find a flat here. I hope I will figure something out withing the next week! I really want, no I need, to have a base here finally!

~M~

Night out!

Yesterday I did not write, because I was pretty occupied. In the morning I went to work and after that I went to the shop to buy some stuff. After returning to the hostel I was just sitting around talking to other people, had something to eat and soon made my way to my colleague S's flat.

She is living in a "kollektiv" with 9 other girls and they wanted to go out later. We were pre-drinking and chatting. It was fun and after a while also N. one of the other trainee's arrived in the flat. We stayed a little longer in the flat and went then to a bar in Grünerløkka.

In the bar I was talking to a Norwegian guy. He was funny and offered me after a while a beer. Since alcohol is very expensive here in Norway I did not decline the offer. After I talked to one of S's flatmates, a Finnish girl, somebody poked me in my back and as I turned around I saw one girl, who is working in the hostel. I was sitting down and talking two minutes to her, which one of her friends maybe didn't like.

He sat down next to me and was asking me, where I was from. When I answered "Germany" he turned away in a disgusted way and said "I hate all Germans!"

What followed was a clash of him telling me, how stupid I was, because I am German, what he didn't like about Germans and therefore also me and of insulting me. I on the other hand was trying to tell him, that he should not judge people because of obvious things like nationality, religion or skin color. However, he was so stuck in his thoughts and phrases about Germans and Germany and did not even listen to me and let me finish my sentences, that I just gave it up and left.

I was pretty pissed afterwards and since S. and N. left in the meanwhile I also decided to go back to the hostel. When I got there, I couldn't sleep at all, because I was so mad and disappointed! I was talking to H. one of my room mates who is also already staying for a couple of days, like me.

I think it's sad, that there are people like these, talking in such ways. This is the first time in my life, that I know, that I can understand, why there is war in the world. If there is two people of this kind meeting each other it will for sure end up in a huge fight!

However, I think it's even more sad, that a fascist like this (and he can be seen as that, since a fascist is a person, who has "prejudice in relation to the subject specified", Meaning prejudice against something specific) can have such an effect on me and can destroy my evening. Until I talked to him the evening was great, but now I am asking myself, why I went out yesterday and didn't stay in the hostel. It's sad, that a stupid as*hole like this makes me think like this!

And Again, And Again...

I been to one more viewing today. The flat was not the nicest, but cheap and the people seemed ok. At least they have a common living room and so on. They also studying together and seem to do quite a lot together. So basically exactly what I am looking for.

As I said, the flat is not the nicest, the wooden floor is losing it's paint, there is no real furniture in the room, but I guess this would be the smaller problem. I just went to the IKEA homepage and checked for prices. I would just need a small desk, a chair, a mattress and some linen and sheets. This all would cost me a little over 100€, which is less than the money I would save per month if I would take this room instead of the much nicer one, I was considering. There I would pay about NOK2000/EUR250 per month more. If you add it up over 5 months this would be money worth saving.

As I said in the last post, all the flats have pros and cons, which have to be evaluated and balanced. I hope I will make the right decision. But even if I make the wrong decision, it will just last 21 weeks more! It wont be that bad!

~M~

Viewings!

Wow, what a day!

I just came back from a couple of flat-viewings and now I am totally done, sitting in the lobby of the hostel.

The day started pretty easy, just going to work again. There was not a lot to do, which was extremely tiring. However, there was a nice interruption of the slight boredom, which was coming up. S. and I had kitchen duty. Kitchen duty means, that you have to go shopping and cook for the other employees. This goes round the trainees, so that everybody has to cook every now and then. We made risotto with vegetables and salad, pretty simple.

Then directly after work I walked the 3km to the first flat. The flat is actually located in one of the best areas of Oslo, directly at the point where all metro lines come together, which means, that there come a metro every 2 minutes, which would be nice. However, the flat was pretty filthy and the room was super small. In the ad was stated 9m², but the room was maximum 4-5m² and didn't even had a desk or a chair. Ok, it was cheap, but not even for that price I would take it!Also the flat was not really a "kollektiv", it was just a bunch of people, living in the same flat, sharing bathroom and kitchen. According to the landlord, who took me around, every tenant has his/her own life. Not really what I was looking for. Also the kitchen was dirty and the big table just had one chair, so not really giving the possibility to sit together!Anyways, after that I walked back to the hostel and just quickly threw my stuff into the room, since I had to go to another viewing. While being in the room I was called again for another viewing and we agreed to meet after the one I was about to go to.

I went from the hostel along the Akerselva, a small river passing through Oslo, to the flat. It was a really nice walk, since it was so cool under the trees.The next flat was a small surprise. I expected it to be fully furnished and especially ready to move in. When I came in I was shocked, the owner was still renovating and told me that it would take him 10 more days. The flat was really nice, the rooms were pretty small, but it had a big kitchen and especially a living room with an open fire place, which would be awesome in winter. However, the flat would be pretty expensive, but I am still considering it.

After that I went just down the street to meet up with the girl, who called me, while being in the hostel. She showed me the flat, which was small as well. Also my room would be really small and quite expensive, which is basically normal for Oslo.I would be living just with this girl there, who just moved out from her parents and will start studying now. She seemed nice and was basically saying, that I could have the room. Also this room I will consider, since it has a big bed, a small desk, a small couch and a window to the nice and quiet backyard.However, I will not make any decision until tomorrow, where I will have two more viewings. I will see, how the flats and also the people are and then - provided, that they want to have me - decide, which flat to take. I've never been in this situation before and I now can understand why it is so hard. Basically all the flats have their pros and cons, which have to be considered.

Anyways, I will sleep one night, will go to work tomorrow, have the viewing and then all the impressions are a little matured. I mean it's just for half a year, it's not a decision for a lifetime. I will figure it out.

~M~

Well-being @ Work!

The day started as I wrote this morning with better news, than those the last day ended with!

I went after my blog post to the office, where S., my colleague, who is taking care of me, was already waiting for me. She is leaving in two weeks and is until then going to introduce me as far as possible into the work. After what I learned already today I reckon this will be by far enough time.

She greeted me with a really nice information. She told me that it was the perfect day to start work, since it was massage-day. Apparently every 2nd week there is a professional masseur coming two the office, giving every employee a 15-minute massage. This is what I call "Well-being at Work"!

Anyways, it wasn't my turn until 3 in the afternoon and so we started working. It was a lot of information, a lot of new stuff, but I could mostly follow. I am so excited to learn more and get to work independently soon!

Anyways, now I am back in the hostel, I will go on looking for flats and will later have dinner from the food I bought before coming back!

~M~

Better News!

This morning I woke up early. I was so nervous, that I could barely eat my breakfast. I was scared, that I wouldn't have a place to sleep tonight, since the people from the hostel told me, that they are fully booked this night!

So, I got up early just in case I would have to pack my things. I had breakfast and then fixed myself to go down to the reception.
I asked them about the situation and told them why I was staying in the hostel and that it would be extremely bad for me if they would throw me out. The girl at the front desk was really nice and understood the problem I had. She just clicked around on her screen for a while and told me then, that I could stay the next night as well.

Now I am a bit more relaxed and will go to work soon. This day will be more exhausting than yesterday I reckon. I work longer and it will be even more input and more stuff to learn.
~M~

First (half) day at work!

Today was my first day at work and I really liked it. First of all, since I was there just from 13 to 16 o'clock and secondly, because the work seems really interesting and I am so looking forward of getting really started.

Everybody seemed nice and really chilled. I reckon I will like it. Everybody was so friendly and it seems more like a big family, than a company. I got an insight to the day to day business and the system they are working with.

Shauna, the girl I am going to replace in the office, is going to introduce me to the work during the next two weeks and promised to help me also with other things. She already gave me the e-mail address of her landlord, so I can ask for a flat from him. Tomorrow after work she will show me where the tax office and other authorities, that I have to visit, are.

Tomorrow I will start earlier and will stay the whole day there. I am really looking forward to it!

~M~

Walk through Oslo

I am back from a walk through Oslo. I did not see everything by far, but I think I can say, that I will like it here. The city is nice and worth seeing, I would say. I basically just wanted to get out of the hostel and enjoy the good weather a bit. I also wanted to see, where I have to go tomorrow.
I found the office easily and made my way along the harbor to the New Opera of Oslo. From there I went past the railway station, through the palace garden to the palace of Oslo. From there I went back to the hostel. It was a short walk, but I took some pictures. It's nice here!~M~