Fall Break, Destination: Bergen, Norway Posted on September 22nd, 2011 by

Apologies, I haven’t blogged for a while because I have been wrapped up in school work and my internship. That’s right, I am interning at a local high school but it is actually more of a trade school.  The group I am working with is called the Miljogruppa (Environment group).  They are like a policing force except on a more casual basis which means no uniforms or no weapons. When I began I wasn’t doing much but now that I have gotten accustomed to the work atmosphere I actually want to start a program. The program I want to start is a Hip Hop program that teaches kids how to rap in English. So I would be teaching a little English and incorporating that into music, which everyone loves.  So far it hasn’t been going well because I haven’t gotten anyone to sign up yet, just a few kids are interested. I’ll update whenever everything is in place, whether that be good or bad.

But this week is SUST’s fall break, which means no class for the whole week! Luckily my Norwegian professor decided to take a vacation week the same week.  Since most of the people in SUST were either going to a different country or wrapped up in their own business I decided to take a trip to Bergen, up north. There are a few of my peers who went ahead of me already because I decided to stay until after my internship. I stayed behind because this week we were supposed to start the program but no one showed up, so I kind of regret staying back. As I write this blog I am swaying with the train listening to some Sam Geunjin Kang, a Korean American artist, which you all should look up on Itunes or Youtube.  But you wouldn’t believe what I had to go through to finally sit on this train.

First when I got to Jernbantorget, the central station, I thought that I had to take a train to the airport first to get to the train station. So I bought the ticket for 110NOK. Then I realized that I was going the wrong way when the train was already moving! I got off at the next station and asked the NSB station what to do. The kind lady told me to buy another ticket back to Oslo central station so that I could get on the right train. I was running out of time! Only 15 minutes until my train leaves without me! So I bought another ticket for the way back for 60NOK, yeah I wasted some money for my own mistakes, serves me right. Luckily for me, the train is extremely fast and I got back to central station in only 5 minutes, leaving me 10 minutes to figure things out. I flew up the stairs to ask the NSB station where I go. The guy at the counter explained that I already bought my tickets online so he printed it out and sent me to the correct gate, but he said hurry because the train was leaving soon. So I ran down the stairs and threw myself at the train. “Phew I made it in time,” I thought, but the train didn’t even leave until 5 minutes later.

While all of this was happening I was texting my buddy who was already in Bergen about what to do.  He didn’t help much because he was also panicking too. But all is well, I am on the train enjoying the beautiful scenery.  I really never thought I could see these kinds of landscapes in my life, I’ve only seen them on the TV or the internet. This ride is so interesting, after a dark tunnel the ligh of day smacks you in the face and you see mountains upon mountains surrounded by lakes and river. Through the next tunnel suddenly there’s snow on the mountain tops and random large wooden fences that stretch only about 10 feet or so. Through the next tunnel it’s snowing! Man this snow sure reminds me of good old Minnesota, making me miss home already. They say pictures are worth a thousand words but no picture can describe the feeling these landscapes give me.

These are few of many pics I took while on the train! (thought they cannot do any justice on  the real experience)

 

 

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