So, in June when Erik still hadn’t handed in his thesis, but I was clear of uni, we went on a cabin trip just to get some air and alone time. There are some pictures of Erik, but mostly of plants. We went to the student scout group cabin called Duddelibu just outside of Trondheim.
I miss my smart phone. I’m sorry, but I do. I miss the little things, Instagram, my WordPress app (to blog directly from my phone), my playlists, the Gule Sider app to recognize phone numbers, boarding card on my phone, calendar, the automatic backup of all texts and contacts. Oh, well, Erik has given it a good scrub and ordered new speakers, so we’ll see in a week if we manage to repare it. Else, I’ll just have to buy a new one.
Tunisia was good. It wasn’t great, but I think I was too tired for it to have been great. I read a really good book “1Q84” by Murakami. And got a nice tan. And after a week I finally managed to have “The Talk” or perhaps I should call it “The Think”. I had enough peace of mind to really dig deep and find out what I felt. Less than two days after arriving from Tunisia I went to Germany to decide if I wanted the PhD I was offered in Halle (Saale).
I have decided that I am not going to take it. I have decided that I don’t want a job that is so far from Erik that we won’t have enough time for ordinary life. You know, ordinary Tuesdays, or Fridays. I think I actually have changed after I met Erik. And I have travelled too much the last two years. It is no fun at all. Just tiring and lonely. This still doesn’t mean that I will find a job in Oslo, but I won’t find a job more than six hours’ travel away from Oslo… Which might not sound that dramatic, but it is.
To sum it up, I did get a job offer, but I declined because of personal reasons. I went to Tunisia. I learned some basic bioinformatics. And now I’m back at square one. (but I have a lot of pictures)
My phone is dead. Caused by oil from our Indian take away last week. You entertain yourselves with this hunk
I’m back from Tunisia in a week.
My life is terribly crowded this week. I had three job interviews in 8 days and now I am learning to program in BASH, Python, SQL and R. And I have gotten an job offer while I wait for two other offers (hopefully). And I’m leaving for Tunisia on Saturday, so there are a lot of things I need to get done this week before I leave. And when I come back, there are four weekends on a row with scouting.
Stressed? Me? Noooo
So yeah. Bioinformatics is nice, I’m starting to get the hang of Python and I think I will manage this programming. I finally have to decide what I actually want to do with my life and there are so many things to consider. The most important thing is probably if I really have the guts to do a PhD. Three years in Germany. We’ll see.
But I did have the time to have a meet with a personal trainer last night, and got a really good work out. Haven’t worked out in three weeks or so, so it was really good. There has definitely been a big change in my life the last year when it comes to exercising. A good change. I like it.
Phew, I have to continue. And try to decide. Wish me good luck.
På mandag hadde foreldrene mine 30års bryllupsdag. Fordi pappa er på reise i en måned spurte han meg om å overraske mamma med blomster. Dessverre var han utolmodig (jeg kom sent tilbake fra jobbintervju i Molde), så det ble ingen overraskelse, men hun ble glad 🙂
Triks: kjøp to blomsterbuketter og sett dem sammen selv, da trenger du ikke å rekke åpningstidene til blomsterbutikkene.
The last six months I cut down on my travelling to have time for writing up my thesis. But now that is over, my travel shedule is back to normal. Which means A LOT of travels. Because of all the interviews I’m going to, there is even more travelling than normal.
Already I have been to Uppsala for an interview and Stavanger for “Lederløft”. Last week we were in Trondheim to pack all our belongings and this weekend we are going up there again to move everything into storage in Oslo. On Monday I’m going to Molde for another interview, Thursday I will do a Skype presentation of my master project and an interview for a PhD position in Germany (Halle) and on Sunday I’m flying to Bergen for yet another interview.
That week I am also doing a course in bioinformatics (you already know that I’m learning Python from Udacity) at the University of Oslo, so we’ll stay in the city for a week. And when classes end on Friday I will pack up all my summer dresses, because on Saturday we are off to Tunisia!
So Uppsala, Stavanger, Molde, Trondheim, Bergen and Tunisia in just six weeks. And October is just as bad. Elverum and Fredrikstad for scout events, London for my grandfather’s 80th and Geiranger for the annual general assembly of the Norwegian Scout Association. I just realised I don’t really need someplace to stay, I’m never there anyway… But hopefully I will have someplace new to move to soon. It’s time to get a job (and maybe some money as well).
I’m currently doing the first of two weekends of moving. Hence the lack of blogging. Am also catching up with my favorite Trondheim people and places 😀
Talk to you later!
Here are some snapshots of the two days I spent in Uppsala last week.
New shoes! Sale and cheap Swedish money makes for double cheap shoes 😀
Sunny day at Biologiska Trädgården
Very good place for fika.
Beautiful butterflies!
Outfit pic, new denim shorts bought second hand and my favorite yellow bag.
Cosy bakery
Lots of cake!
I really like Uppsala. You earn almost nothing as a Swedish PhD compared to in Norway, but everything is cheaper there too, so it might even out in the end. Anyway, I will get a reply in a week’s time so I will try not to think about it until then.
Foto: Ingse Juell Antvedt
Jeg må skryte av min venninne Camilla som i fjor gikk Norge på tvers og som nå er blitt intervjuet på ut.no. Hun gikk alene fra Oslo til Bergen og brukte 32 dager. Jeg er veldig stolt av henne, både fordi hun fikk til å gjennomføre det, ikke bare prate om det som mange gjør og fordi hun gjorde det alene. Det blir noe annet når man har et slikt prosjekt sammen med noen andre. Da blir det mer den fysiske biten som er utfordrende. Når du går i en måned alene og bor i telt, da er det psykologiske aspektet mye viktigere.
Taking the tram in Oslo. On my way to Ola’s for a real Sunday dinner. Can’t wait! It has been a really nice day today.
The cabin trip was good as well. But we didn’t get to go hiking that much, so I have wery few photos.
But it was wonderful to be outside and to do some physical work. Tomorrow it’s back to writing job applications.
I have now arrived in Oslo and am prepared for an unknown number of weeks here. Today has been slow, but I have actually started my programming course! Very exciting 🙂
This week will be about job applications, friends, programming and relaxing.
I have made a short stop in Bergen, just to catch a cheaper flight and have mostly spent the time writing job applications. I did not miss it…
Tonight I will be in Trondheim and then a lot of washing of clothes and floors will follow. And after some more writing and packing we will drive Dolly down to Oslo. And the a new time will start. This is really the first day in the rest of my life. After today everything will change. I will leave Trondheim and have no idea when I will go back. Trondheim is still home, but in two weeks or four months I will have a new home. Hopefully Erik will live there as well, but that is the only wish I have. Other than that I will take any place that will give me a job.
The next month I will go to Eriks cabin in the mountains, go to Øya – the music festival and to Uppsala for my interview. Other than that I will spend time with Erik and all my lovely friends and write a whole lot of job applications.
This is our last night in Scotland for now. Also the first night with a clear sky and sunshine. It will be good going home, even though I will soon be going to Oslo which is not really home anymore.
We cycled only before lunch today, and after that we’ve been tourists in Kirkwall.
New dress
Dresses I didn’t buy
We have been cycling the Orkney Islands for two days now. Started in Kirkwall yesterday and ended up in Stomness today. And for my Norwegian readers; yes, all names of places were made by vikings and resemble Norwegian words still.
We have cycled for 6 days and finally my thighs are starting to get sore. We had one half day of cycling (Saturday) when we spent the other half at the Shetland Museum (very good exhibition and food) and about the town and the whole of Monday we spent first in Scalloway (another castle and museum) and then on the ferry to the Orkneys.
Tomorrow we will cycle to the south eastern tip of the East Mainland and on Friday we’ll just get back to Kirkwall. Saturday I will fly to Bergen and spend the night and finally Sunday I’ll be back home. It’s always like that at the end of a cycling trip. You’re just over half way and you can’t wait to go home.
I only have a few pictures on my phone because I keep forgetting to bring it along…
Species in Shetland that are uncommon other places (from the Shetland Museum)
The wonderful hotel we stayed in in Scatness, the south tip of Shetland. (everything on these islands are 500 or 4000 years old. The hotel was 500)
The shetlanders are known for their nitting and for their patterns. I couldn’t help myself and bought one wonderful, brightly colored, hand nitted sweater. I love it.
I fought with barbed wire fences yesterday and was vounded (this is the back of my left thigh), but I won and I got all our gear (including our bikes) over those fences. Now I’m just hoping it won’t be infected…
Summer holiday is really good for me, but it’s cold here and I miss Erik, so I am very exited to go home as well. There is still a lot of summer left.
See! Lerwick!
The view from my window this morning
Mum is wearing a battered old woolen shirt and red toe nails
Today it has been enough sun to cycle in t-shirts and so cold and rainy that we needed full gore tex. There has been even more scones and tea and evidently the best fish and chips in Scotland. We are staying in a huge house and have had dinner (and whisky) at the local pub. Tomorrow we will arrive at Lerwick and be tourists for å day.
Soon we will be all finished with Shetland and then we will do the Orkneys. I wonder if they will be different.
Soon finished with the first book as well. Summer holidays!
Beer from the local brewery Valhalla.
The smallest plane on our way from Bergen to Shetland
World famous bus stop on Yell Island
Puzzles while waiting for our lunch
Visit the Wind Dog Café if you stop to wait for the ferry to Unst. Great food and wonderful service.
Right now I’m at Bergen airport waiting for the time to pass so we can check in on our next flight. As you know, I’m on my way to Shetland to cycle.
I now know that we will cycle Shetland North to South for three days. Then we will take the ferry to the Orkney Islands and do a round of the island in four days. There will also be sightseeing and a lot of pictures taken.
Unfortunately I will also have to write more job applications, there is no time to rest when you are unemployed…
I’m back from Romania and studying for my final exam. I have just been busy, but while I try to catch up with friends and Erik, here is the last week through Instagram (bulldozerborg).
Studying at Trondheim airport.
Group sessions and presentations for four days. This was about employability and entrepreneurship in scouting.
The magnificent rover program in Ireland. I have brought back a ton of inspiration and plans for the future of our program.
This was dessert one night. Dessert. One apple. The Romanian food was strange and far between, but the hotel was nice (even though people would smoke indoors).
Almost home in Trondheim. The sun is shining even tough it is in the middle of the night.
Look what I found on the plane. The time for sigarettes on planes is evidently over and electronic devices have taken over.
And yes, I am now in Romania. I’ll be back on Monday 🙂