Experience

Day One

So, finally I'm in Tallinn.. I arrived last night, and on the way here I thought about that I am actually closer to home here than I was in Tromsø. The flight is shorter, and a lot cheaper, too!

I have now gotten settled in my new appartment, and had my first day at work. Both the appartment and the job seem really good! And the city has showed itself from it's best side, with a blue sky and bright sun - finally I found the summer ;) So after work I went around the city a bit, or actually a bit longer than expected... My colleague showed me the supermarket, but then the way back from there was up to my map and me. We didn't really manage. Not at all really. (Some things never change...) After about 20 mins I ended up exactly where I started. And had to try again... Oh well, the weather was great, the city really is beautiful, and a little sightseeing was good (and would probably have been even better without my bleeding blister...). And I found my way home!

And now I am sitting at home reading the city guide that I bought, deciding what place to explore next. On the page I have gotten to they provide some key phrases in Estonian. They have chosen 27 important words and phrases (including the numbers from 1-10), ending with "will you marry me?".. Key phrase indeed..

Harry

Jeg er nå halvveis i den store viljestyrketesten. Eller faktisk ikke helt halvveis en gang... Klarte aldri å somle meg til å forhåndsbestille den siste Harry Potter boka. Det viste seg å være en stor tabbe. For når jeg etter en hel dag med flytting ikke orka å dra til Røros klokka 01.01 på fredag kveld, men bestemte meg for å dra lørdag formiddag i stedet, var Harry utsolgt. Ganske harde nyheter for en Harry-fan som meg. Så nå får jeg ikke kjøpt boka før onsdag morgen. Og i løpet av den tida må jeg prøve å stå imot å åpne linken til Harry Potter-diskusjonen med "OBS: avsløringer" på VG nett... Og DET er ikke enkelt! Og det ender vel med at om jeg klarer å stå imot må jeg bare bla opp på siste side med en gang jeg får boka. For jeg har lest på VG nett at den siste setninga visstnok er perfekt. Åh, nysgjerring ja. Viljestyrke, viljestyrke, viljestyrke...

Jakter på Sommer'n

I begynnelsen av juni var det hetebølge med over 30 grader flere dager på rad, og det føltes som om det aldri kunne bli no annet enn sol og finvær. Men det kunne visst det... Etter at hetebølgen ga opp, har det bare regna, regna, og regna litt mer. Og jeg har jakta på sommer og solingsvær både i Køben, i Oslo, på Sørlandet, i Dublin, og i Nord Østerdalen, uten noe særlig hell.

Men selv om det ikke er strålende solskinn, er det jo sommer likevel, og grillmiddag på verandaen må man ha uansett! Da er det godt at man har en overbygd veranda, og et ullteppe å tulle seg inn i, og at det er sånn rimelig temperatur selv om regnet pøser ned samtidig :) Nå håper jeg imidlertid at regnet har gitt opp litt, har i hvertfall fått gått en dag i fjellet idag uten å bli bløt. Håper og at jeg skal få i hvertfall en dag med soling på verandan før jeg drar igjen. Men enn så lenge fortsetter jeg jakten på sommeren, og i morra er det i Trondheim det skal jaktes. Aftenposten har meldt sky med en sol bak, og jeg er optimistisk som få...

Top of the Mornin' to ya!

I have just come back from Dublin. For some reason I love Ireland, with it's cute brick houses, green fields, cozy pubs, and pints of Smithwichs. But most of all I love the Irish accent. I think I could just close my eyes and listen to it all day. (If anyone shares my facination for this beautiful language, I really recommend "Irish Language Lab" on YouTube).

So when I saw that Ryan Air had really cheap flights there, I decided that visiting a friend in Dublin would be a great summer vacation trip! And it was :) Ryan Air was an interesting experience, though, with 150 Norwegians without a sense of "queue culture" battling for the best places in line to secure a good seat on the plane. That kind of situation can bring out the competitive spirit in anyone! Well, after a couple of hours in a half good seat (I have to work on my tactics), I finally reached Dublin. Friday I spent wandering around the city, doing a bit of shopping, a bit of cafe-sitting and people watching, and I even visited a museum (quite proud of myself!). In the evening my friends got off work, and we went to the pub for a real Irish pub-meal and of course the much longed-for pint or two of Smithwichs. On Saturday we rented a car, and drove a bit out of Dublin, to see some see-worthy places outside the city.

I had a great time in Dublin, but now it is time to be home and re-pack my bags - the departure date for Tallinn is getting close! I am excited to go - especially after going to an internet publishing course on Monday and meeting many other people who are also going to be interns at different Norwegian embassies around the world, and also realising that my job of updating the embassy's homepage will not be as complicated as I feared!