Thanksgiving 2014

2014 has been one difficult year of setbacks after setbacks. Yet, through each of these setbacks, I begin to understand myself better; like an onion, each setback peeled off a layer that revealed something new about myself to me. Yet, just as I thought I am beginning to understand who I am, something else will […]

Packing for Norway

Three friends and I visited Norway from 5 to 16 Dec 2014 and we really enjoyed ourselves. However, we went with our eyes open, recipients of good advice from all who have made the trip before us; as we managed our expectations, we were able to avoid disappointment. As such, we also want to do […]

Wrapping up

When I began teaching again in August, I walked into class with much reservation and trepidation, having been out of the classroom for so long. As the semester unfolded, I learnt alongside my students, about their likes and dislikes, their hopes and aspirations and things that were on their mind right now. Along the way, […]

First time at a music museum

One of my travel companions is a music teacher; thus, when I saw that there was a Ringve Music Museum in Trondheim, I immediately added that to our itinerary. From our hotel near Joharis Gate, it was approximately an hour’ walk to the museum. When we started out, the weather was fine, which made the […]

First battle with seasickness

I guess I spoke too soon yesterday when I said I wasn’t feeling seasick. Turbulent waters last evening brought on nausea, churning tummy and much discomfort. At first it was barely bearable and I tried to be brave. However matters soon spiraled out of control, no thanks to those awful choppy waters. I threw up […]

My first cruise

With much trepidation, I boarded MS Lofoten at 12:30 am this morning, bracing myself for sea sickness, only to find that it really wasn’t that bad. At the very least, when I saw how small the cabin was, the horror of that superseded any seasickness that might have been there. While I have been expecting […]

First impressions of the northern lights

Finally we had our sighting of the northern lights! We went on the road with the aurora chaser, Kjetil Skogli, at 7 pm and we had our first sighting at 730 pm. It was an indescribable feeling! The lights felt like fairies dancing in the sky, a scene right out of Tempest or maybe the […]

Running with dogs, my first attempt

Today was a day spent mainly outdoors, with Mother Nature. We started the day at 9 am, being driven from Norway to Finland for our dog sledding activity. Apparently, there is insufficient snow for this activity locally and thus the improvisation. The drive took more than 2 hours but the view took our breath away. As we […]

First encounters with local history

The snowmobile activity that we booked for this evening was cancelled due to insufficient snow in the area, which led to our decision to visit the Polar Museum and the Polaria in Tromso. As we looked at the various exhibits explaining how early settlers in these regions adapted to the harsh environment, one cannot help but […]

More “first time” experiences

Day 2 at Tromso flew by rather quickly and it was really hard to write about the day in its entirety. As such, I thought to highlight a few more interesting episodes in the day. First time in the snow We did a lot of walking yesterday as we visited the Tromso Cathedral, crossed the […]