www.adel-wiss.blogspot.com
Living life to the fullest..
Sunday, March 02, 2008 @Sunday, March 02, 2008
I just changed the blog skin- nice? :D I just feel that it is time for my old blogskin to retire as I start to have some problems with the layout.
My new blog skin aptly depicts the how im feeling.. I just wanna stretch my horizons now.. learnt to break away from my comfort zone..want my freedom, yet I missed all my frens.. all e chilling and dining sessions.. I missed my bed and my soft toys.. and esp missed the MOST-my family. I wish I can share my life here in europe w all of u now.. all e places I have been to, the culture and history I have learnt here, the sights I have seen.. If only u all can be here. From my intercultural communication class, I have learnt that there are 4 stages to culture shock: excitement ->depression -> adaptation -> integration. I feel that I am at the 2nd stage now.. but knowing this, I am trying to head towards the 3rd stage. I do feel lost and fearful at times. Not too sure what I am fearful about. Is it fear of uncertainty? fear of being alone? fear that no one is there when i scream for help? fear of being independent? I am not too sure... but one thing is for sure.. this feeling of fear is something that I wanna experience no matter how awful it feels because this is part of my learning experience and I wanna overcome this on my own.
I had been to Norway (19 feb to 24 feb) and Berlin (26 eb to 1 mar) these 2 weeks. So sorry for not posting any entries during this period :S
Norway: Tromso and OsloAlas, no lapland, no ice hotel, most of all no northern lights :(
The Province of Lapland (Lappi in Finnish and Sami, Lappland in Swedish) is one of the Provinces of Finland. The municipalities in the province cooperate in a Regional Council, which also makes it the Region of Lapland. It borders the Province of Oulu and the Region of North Ostrobothnia in the south. It also borders to the Gulf of Bothnia, Norrbotten County in Sweden, Finnmark County and Troms County in Norway and to Murmansk Oblast in Russia. In some parts of the world, particularly Britain and Finland itself, it is considered the traditional home of Santa Claus (Joulupukki)- wikipedia. So strictly speaking, lapland is in finland. However, tromso is really a place where people can witness northern lights here.Ice hotel is located at sweden border and I am in norway. So i can't visit the ice hotel there.
I really love to witness the awe and splendour of the northern lights. Despite staring into the skies and waiting for 4 whole nights, there are no signs of northern lights. This is either due to the cloudy, snowing weather or due to the lack of electromagnetic particles in the sky. Some say that it may be due to the bright lights of the full moon. When we checked online, the electromagnetic particles are actually above canada and not over the scandinavian countries! Tough luck- feb is actually the time where most people witness the northern lights due to the cold weather! I am slowly getting over the fact about missing the northern lights. Perhaps it is just not the time for me to see it yet. i will definitely catch the northern lights one day, prob with my husband? hahaz. (Most of my couple friends who went on other days managed to catch the northern lights)
But I still enjoy my trip to tromso. Great company, great scenary most importantly a good rest! It feels like chalet at tromso camp. This trip was organised by 4 smu students from 4 different schools, namely denmark, france, spain and netherlands. 9 people came- 6 singaporeans, 1 korean, 1 american chinese, 1 mexican. Andrea, my new mexican friend, actually know KAREN!! Andrea did an exchange at UBC and met kare in church. Coincidentally, the both of us met at this trip:) She is from the french exhange school. I learnt ALOT from my new friends about paris and london because they have already visited these places and I will be going there in mar. I enjoyed talking to them about their home country, their exchange schools, their lifestyles, their languages, their cultures. We cooked in the chalet, built snow man, had snow fights, went reindeer sleding, dog sleding. This is the 1st time i saw snow!! Snow flakes are soooo pretty! Each snow flake is so unique and different. The scenary at tromso is really breath taking- the snow capped mountains and blue seas. I will upload the pix on facebook soon:)
Oslo is the most expensive place on Earth! I can't believe that it is even more expensive than copenhagen *faints. The first 2 places I went during my exchange is actually the 2 most expensive cities of all- oslo and copenhagen. I guess god wants me to learn to control my spending habits. Seriously, I am more thrifty now.. ordering cheaper meals, thinking more logicall before buying anything. I feel like an o-ba-san, finding the cheapest and best deals from the supermkt when planning for the meals and the cheapest food on the cafe menu. I really keep a very tight check of my budget and faithfully do my travel accounts.
From this trip, I have learnt to enjoy simple pleasures in life. I have learnt to count on my blessings. A smile, sun shine, snow flakes, warmth from the fire place, recounting experiences of friends are a joy to me. I realised that I am a person who dislikes telling other people unfortunate situations that happened to me. I know that it is almost impossible to emphatise w me and I don't like to be pitied by. Telling a bad news is the most unbearable for me. Perhaps god wants me to overcome this ego problem...
Sometimes, god may not give us what we prayed for, but I will continue to sing praises that god has been good to me ^_^
Total expenses: S$1200 for everything including air tix, transport, food, accomodation.
Berlin, germanyYiling and I, the duo, actually travelled berlin by ourselves! A proud accomplishment and a great start for the 3 wk backpacking trip in march. We walked ALOT during these 4 days.. covering ALOT of places. The 2 of us r actually quite gd at navigating.. planning.. and walking fast :) I LOVE berlin! the berliners are really friendly. When they see that u looked lost, they will stop by and approach u to give u directions! I am soo amazed that amidst their busy schedules, they are still willing to slow down their pace to help us without being asked!
The food in berlin is sooo much cheaper than copenhagen! The I get to eat lotsa kebab.. my sprite and ice lemon tea that i never drink in copenhagen.. chocolates (my fav kit kat and kinder bueno). We bought biscuits, choc and cheese back to CPH. and of cos, the famous currywurst (sausages in curry). im happy:)
I am soo much culturally enriched during this trip. learnt alot about the history of germany from the free berlin tours-the royalty.. frederick the great.. world war .. cold war.. holocaust. As the tour guide speaks, it feels as if my secondary school history knowledge is refreshed and brought to life. Germany is where most of the major historical events in the 20th century takes place. I feel that my general knowledge has increased signifantly.
I did not do much shopping here. It is not the sales period!! I was thinking of getting birkenstocks from berlin since it is made in germany but surprisingly it is cheaper to get birks online than from the germany's retail store.
Total expenses for germany: 90Euros for 4 days excluding shopping, air tix and accomodation.
I will upload pix shortly after:) missing u all here
Labels: germany, norway
