Syttende Mai

May 17th is known as Norway's national day. This year, it started as a really gloomy day. Clouds were really hanging in the sky. They usually start the day with a festive breakfast. We did too, had some waffle,pancakes, and some bubbly rose before heading out to the city. 

Practically everybody in Trondheim is on the street. I've never seen so many people on the street before. There's a parade in the city center and everyone joins in. Children, militaries, social clubs (moustache club included --yes there's a moustache club), dance club, seniors, veterans, you name it! They parade with bands or with music or even by singing. 

The prettiest thing might be the traditional clothes that people are wearing. A lot of men and women (and kids -- the cutest!) are wearing them. I'm eyeing myself on one, but it's also know to be really expensive because of the intricate detail of the embroidery. 

A little later in the afternoon, after the parade, the sun is up and it's pretty warm out. I didn't want to go back home just yet. So we got some burger and some fries (been drooling for some juicy patty for sometime) and sat on the grass and enjoy the sun.

Definitely a thing to look forward to! Til next year!

Storheia

Exam week in Spring is such a challenge. After arriving so late, Spring time is indeed to be enjoyed. So... we went hiking last weekend to Storheia, known as the highest mountain peak in Trondheim. Mind you it's only 565 m high and you might think it's spring, BUT, most part of the mountains and the pathways are still very much covered with snow, knee-deep. Yes, knee deep.

A friend of mine, who has been there, told us that we just need to follow the signs and we'll get there easily. We won't get lost... or so we thought. We followed the sign that reads Storheia and turn immediately. We kept on thinking, "oh, maybe [the path] is just covered with snow"... or so we thought again. As we kept on walking, we couldn't find any path. Sometimes we find the poles that marks the way, but they are really far apart from each other. We kept on walking anyway. We got our shoes wet as we're walking in snow and swamp. We basically tried to look for footprints to figure out where to go next. Sometimes we do found, sometimes we're not sure whether it's a human footprint or an animal foot print. But surprisingly, eventually, magically, we managed to arrive at the foot of the last hike. And the way up, it's covered with snow, again.

Even the lakes are still frozen

Not much of a hiker myself, it was a rollercoaster mood ride for me going up. Nevertheless, we made it to the top! (or should I say I made it to the top!). I was pretty proud of myself. On the top, it was pretty windy, but it was warm and sunny. We took out our grill and had some grilled sausages. Accompanied by the view of the fjords made it really pretty and serene.

As smart as we can be, we missed the last bus to go home. We tried to go down from the other side as there's hope of another bus schedule. However, we couldn't manage to find the way to go down as we kept on meeting with cliffs. After 1.5 hours going round to find way down, we decided to go back to where we came from and maybe just walk or hitch-hike our way home. Not until 3.5 hours later we reached the bus stop. Again, I am amazed of myself. 

The best part of the hike for me is really not about the destination only, the journey is what makes it better. Here's a tiny bit of a clip of the journey. 

Oh slow weekend getaway

I went for a getaway weekend to Oslo and treating myself (again-and-again) to see John Mayer live. I took the 6 hour train ride from Trondheim to Oslo (as it was the cheapest option). NSB train is actually pretty good, they have electrical sockets and free wi-fi on the train. I took the afternoon train, and since the sun sets down late in the day, I got an enjoyable view.

Norwegian landscapes will never fail to amuse your eyes

The Sunday I was there, all stores are closed. So I had brunch at the Nighthawk Diner where the waitress is super nice and super friendly and they have the best egg's benedict I have ever tasted. After brunch I just walked around the city. I walk around Grunnerløka (holding myself from entering all the tempting sunday market) and go through their parks. Even though it was a clear sunny day, the wind was blowing pretty hard so I couldn't stayed out too long (can never predict Norwegian weather and correspond your outfit enough to survive every changing situation during the day). My best decision of the day was also to ditch maps and just walk and kept on walking along Akerselva river. Thanks to my navigation skill that is way beyond perfect, I end up going in circles. So I revisit the map again. 

Norwegian spring

The other days I spent around the museums and more parks. My favourite one is the Munch Museum which dedicated to the life and work of Edvard Munch. I didn't see the famous "The Scream" paintings by him there tho, I might missed it or... it just wasn't there?

Munch Museum

Vigeland Sculpture Park - Vikingskipshuset

Last but not least! One BIG check of my bucket list! Watch John Mayer live! It was an experience beyond awesome (couldn't find any better word to describe it). A two hour long show (I must say this is long, compared to the latest concert that I saw which pretty much usually last 1 to 1,5 hour long)! Really artistic visuals (oh and I really like watching the changing of sets from full band to acoustic to trio to full band again, all the dragging of the sets just made me excited). The set-list was perfect also. He didn't played some of my favourite songs, but come on, with that much on his belt it must've been hard to make a set list. And since (I checked) he played slightly different sets on every city, so well, the set-list was perfect for Oslo.

Oh and the crowd! Never had such a calm concert in my life. When John ended "Dear, Marie", the crowd kept on singing the outro part (I don't know what it's called - "ooh.. ooh.. ooh.." part in the end). The band was already preparing to the next song but then they began playing that part again. And when the band went out stage before the encore, the crowd start singing (again) the theme for the search for everything, then the band went in again and played the song. Best part was the closing, John sang "You're gonna live forever in me" (another favourite song) with a simple white piano and a LED screen just puts on white as the background. Perfect!

So, it's safe to say the trip was worth it; the walk, the food, the concert, every penny worth spent!

PS: Coming back from the trip, I realise 1) I do enjoy walking alone, 2) still I'd prefer having a company to stroll around, 3) I do enjoy that long train ride (especially when there's no one sitting next to you).

Defining

Everyday, all the time, we are always trying to fit -or unfit- ourself into society's perspectives -whether we realize it or not. Every decision we make depended on which sides of us we want the world to see. Making "sane" decisions sometime is merely fitting ourselves within society. Making "insane" decision -even for the sake of your own good- can come across as selfish. Do you want to be seen as selfish?

There's always two sides of a story including yourselves. There's always two sides of you. One that is more sound may be the one you feed more. It can get a little exhausting when you try to feed both. You'll end up grey and find yourselves between your own lines. So in the end, you just gotta make that decision. Which side you want to be, which side you want them to see? How would you fit in?

There's no place like home

Home is where the heart is. 

I originally wrote this a little while ago as a reflection of 2016 and opening up for 2017. The topic, I think, it's an always ongoing process, so here's to these feelings and the journey to discover home. One which I thought I had already understood what it meant before but then 2016 truly has brought a whole lot deeper meaning into it. So here's a little look at how 2016 set me homes. 

The beginning of the year was the beginning of my new journey. I just started applying for school, applying for scholarship, and thinking about embarking on a new phase. I didn't meticulously planned it. It was a now-or-never thing. I didn't prepare any back up plan. Just jump right through it. I just knew it had to work. It had to. There were few bumps in the road, sometimes I really felt like giving up or having second thoughts that may be this is not the path I'm supposed to take, but eventually things fell beautifully into place. I got accepted into the school I wanted and I got a scholarship to pursue it. It was a blessing beyond belief. That's the first milestone to the journey. Nothing yet related to finding homes, but it is the root.

Along the way, I started to meet new people. I was away from home for a quarantine of the scholarship programme, there I get to know new friends and those new friends become new family, they become "home" on that week I was away from home. I don't know how long those kinds of friendship that is formed on a time-frame kind of basis would last, but at that time that's your comfort of home. Then also came the time that I need to resign from my work-place, it was then I realised, the team I worked with and spent every working hours and every overtime hours kind of become also my family. They've hold another definition of home. It's like waving goodbye at a half-piece of you whilst holding on to the other half-piece in the other hand.

Then it was time for me to leave my friends and my family, my actual home, to pursue my dreams. It was not easy, trust me. I tried to cover up all the tears of saying goodbyes with laughter. I basically couldn't say good-bye at the airport cause soon I'll start bawling. It was also a scary thought to be in a new place, alone. But, no. Universe always have a surprise for you. In Norway, 10 937 km away from home. I have found another home, people that makes you feel loved and right at home. People that takes care of you and take you in their life, if not by fate, by choice. 

Close to the end of the year, I went on my first multi city-multi country trip. I met different people and traveled with different group of friends. It's then when I realised, when you're away from home, on that mini nomad portion of your time, you'll never feel alone -no matter where you are- as long as you're close to "home", those you invest your love in. Finding a home is a journey in which you'll discover yourself on the way. I'm still looking for it everywhere I go, every time. Because for me, home is a feeling. Home is where the heart is. Home is where love is, as Elbert Hubbard quotes the love you give away is the only love you keep.