When you live like I do

My Birthday!

I generally don't like to put pictures of myself on the blog. But this one time at least I will.

August 4th was my birthday. And my friend Nina and I went to Epcot, wearing cute matching tiaras, to celebrate. I also wore the traditional Disney-celebration birthday pin. We had dinner at the Norwegian pavilion at Restaurant Akershus. For those who don't know, I can tell you that we have princess dining there. Meaning we got to take pictures with the Disney-princesses.

So here is my birthday in pictures:

Waiting to take a picture with Belle. Me wearing the tiara and birthday-button.
Funfact: Johnny Depp sat in this chair in one of the Pirate movies.

Finally we got to take the pic with Belle!

Nina and me by our table.

Aurora aka Sleeping Beauty came to say hello to us at our table.

So did Cinderella.

We started to feel pretty popular when even Ariel stopped by. In her human form of course.

Haha, Snow White looks like she thinks I smell bad or something.

At the end of the dinner (served by non other than my now roomie Linda), I got a birthday-muffin! And a card signed by all the princesses.

Mmmmm. Birthday-muffin and gummybears!

Music and memory.

For me music is a big memory trigger. I hear a song, and it reminds me of someone, some time or somewhere.

For example, every time I hear the music of Coldplays Viva La Vida I think of the ride from the airport and trough Orlando, ending up at The Commons where I now live. Because that's the song that was playing on the radio, and I thought at the time that the music fit so well to driving trough that scenery.

And Pitbull - I Know You Want Me will always remind me of partying in Florida. They play it everywhere down here.

Some times songs reminds me about people...
Jordin Sparks - No Air always reminds me of my sister Brita. Mostly because she was the one who put it on my computer.

And Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love reminds me of my sister Ane. It's one of her favourite songs.

 

I have a million other music-memories, but since I can't write them all down, I think I will stop here.

Alergic to sun

Yep...it's true. I'm in "The Sunshine State" and I am allergic to sun...
I didn't even know one could be, before a doctor used over 10 minutes to convince me it is true. I never had any problems before coming here. I have even been to Italy and the south of France with no problems. But the doctor said it can be a sudden thing...like suddenly getting allergic to penicillin.

This makes my life here pretty much complicated. At work it's ok, 'cause there I'm inside all the time. And that's pretty much my problem on my spare time. If I am to go outside while the sun is shining I need to apply sunblock every hour. This makes going outside in the daytime a hassle, so I mostly stay inside. I go out on the evenings though.

Uuuuuuuh...vampire me...

I do of course go outside sometimes. But only to go to Disney-parks, grocery shopping and things like that. And I often forget to check the time, so after I always get itchy bumps on my skin. But sometimes that's worth it.

Well...enough complaining for today.

Update on my life in Florida

Some people (hint Stine) has been complaining about me not updating my blog. There is a very simple reason why I haven't before now. And that is that I have too much other stuff to do.

There's not that much to say about my first weeks at work. I'm starting to get the hang og it all, and don't need as much help as I did in the beginning. My trainer, Helen, is really great, and I feel she taught me everything I needed to know. Also, everyone I work with are really great people. I actually thought that there had to be at least one bitchy person there, but I was wrong.
I did get pranked yesterday though. They said the manager wanted me to clean the big troll in the store. I was a bit skeptic, since I was not working the position where it would be more natural to get a task like that, but I did it anyway. My coworkers actually asked a man to come over and tell me I missed a spot. It was a bit embarrassing because so many people were laughing at me, but I choose to take it as a "welcome to the group" thing. I got a lot of hugs afterward though, I think they was a bit nervous I would get insulted or something, hehe.

When I'm not working I'm either socializing or sleeping. The socializing goes on at Bennigan's, the local bar, mostly. But I'm also roaming the outlet mall with friends, or just hanging out in the apartments at The Commons (which is where I live). There's also the phenomenon called Flickabo. Which basically is the Norwegian girls. Every Monday they meet up. They gossip for an hour, and then they go out to party with guys from different countries. Other countries call it cultural day though. Like last time, Flickabo were socializing with the Mexican boys, and next time it will be the boys from yet another country.
I also have been to three of the parks. But I will make separate posts for those days, when I have the time. So far I have been walking around the world in Epcot, been in Animal Kingdom and in Magic Kingdom. I think next up is Hollywood Studios.

I would write more, but I need to get ready for work. I'll try not to wait this long until I write again next time!

My first days in Florida

So...even though I'm way too tired, and just want to go to sleep, I will write something here first. 'Cause I'm not really sure when I will get the opportunity next time. These first days are crazy! There are so much to see and do, and so many people to meet. But to the beginning:

Monday evening:
My parents drove me to Trondheim in the evening. My cousin was with us, so I got to spend a few hours with her before we had to say goodbye. Saying goodbye to her wasn't so bad. Mostly because I ran away as soon as the hug was over, so I wouldn't start crying and stuff. Later we picked up my sisters, and they joined us for dinner by the hotel I was staying at, near the airport. Saying goodbye to my family didn't go that well. I of chorse started crying... And afterward it was really embarrassing to go in to the hotel with read teary eyes. That night I slept really badly.

Tuesday:
I got up early and took the plain from Trondheim to Oslo. It went really well, even though I was a bit nervous. I hadn't been in a plain for years, and it was a bit scary when the plain turned in the air. But you get used to it pretty fast. When I got to Oslo, the first thing I heard was my name being called up to met at the gate. The gate was nr 50...I started walking really fast at gate 1. After getting to the gate, half panicked, red and sweaty, I found out I hadn't needed to hurry that much. I was only getting the boarding passes.
On the plain I met the 4 others I was traveling with. Hildegerd, Emma Cathrine, Cecilie and Martin. We stuck together for the rest of the trip, and I am so happy we did. The airports in London and Washington DC are huge!! The rest of the trip was loooong. On the 8 hour trip from London to Washington DC there were the complimentary screaming baby 3 rows in front of us. Yey! But we survived...barely. If the trip from hell had been any longer I would have thrown myself on the floor screaming.
Finally there, we got our starting package, our apartments, and I finally got to see my lovely lifesaving cousin Dordi again!!! (She brought pillows, a blanket and towels!) My roommate was asleep when I came, and didn't wake up.

Wednesday:
I got to say hello to my new roommate. (Yes, as in sharing a bedroom and bathroom...) She is french, and her name is Tallulah, and she arrived the same night as I did. She is a nice girl, and I don't think we will have any trouble sharing the room. She's not that fluent in English, but she tries the best she can, so we are understanding eachother. I also got to meet two of the other girls in the apartment. Flavie from France left today, and Elinor from Britain has been here for two months. They are both really nice and welcoming.
We started the morning with long meetings. I were tired and hungry, but it went ok. I stayed awake, and my stomach didn't make noises. After some food, we got our ID cards. We will use those both to get trough security to our housing property, and on the free Disney buses.
Then Dordi took Cathrine, Cecilie and me to Walmart. It is BIG! It's like Domus times 100, with everything you can imagine. When we had gone trough the whole store, my feet hurt so much I almost couldn't walk. So when we got home, I went straight to bed.

Thursday:
Met the last of the girls I live with. Sabrina is from Mexico, and she's really nice. She has explained a lot of the apartment rules, which is good to know. The last girl, she's from France, never comes here anymore. She has a boyfriend, and stays with him all of her time.
Day two of welcoming speeches and paperwork. It went pretty quick and painless though. I had to take out my upper ear piercing. Not too happy about that, but I'll endure. Cecilie, Cathrine, Hildegerd and me went shopping at the nearby outlet mall. I bought a bathing suit that looks like a dress, and some sandals. It was a very big mall, with designer stores and outlet sales. It was fun looking, even if most of the shops were way too expensive to buy stuff in. Also after this shopping round my feet hurt again. I'm not used to walking around shopping. I'm an office-rat... But I just had to endure it, 'cause when I got home I had to get ready for throw-in at Bennigans.
The throw-in was the most fun I have had here yet. We, the new Norwegians, had to stand on a chair one by one, while a guy was yelling out info about us to the other Norwegians. It was a bit embarrassing, but everyone have to go through it. Later I was sitting with Dordi, and I met a LOT of people. Half of whom I can't remember the name of. I met many of Dordis friends, and I met many of those I will be working with. Including the incredible sweat girl who will train me. Everyone were fun and nice, and I felt really welcomed in to the group. I bet I will make a lot of good friends while I'm here.

And that's it so far. It's Friday morning, and I'm waiting for the clock to get to 2pm. That's when Dordi will take Cecilie, Cathrine and me to Disney World to show us around Epcot for the first time. I can't wait! I think some of Dordis friends want to come too.

No pictures in this post, 'cause my cameras batery was dead. But it's charged now, so later I will post pictures from our Disney World outing.

Leaving

So....the time has finally come. I'm leaving tomorrow. I'm going to stay a night at the airport hotel, since I have to be at the airport early Tuesday morning. My parents are driving me there. And my dad have promised to help me get my tickets before they leave. I'm sure I could have managed it myself...but I feel more assured if they are with me.

I am so nervous!! Thank the universe I have found a few others who's taking the same flights as me!!
I'm flying Trondheim - Oslo - London - Washington DC - Orlando.

These last days have been pretty busy. I have packed, sorted trough my moving-boxes and said goodbye to family and friends. I have had a good time with everyone, though it has been really sad saying goodbye. I have almost managed not to cry. I did shed a few tears when I was driving home tonight though. I'm such a crybaby.

I'm not sure when I will get access to the internet again. I hope it won't be too long. I will at least try to borrow my cousins computer and tell everyone that the trip went well.
I'm pretty sure I won't have the time to update this blog as often as I did before, but I will do my best. Just bear with me!

So...I'm leaving Norway for a while. Goodbye everyone!

Going to work for The Mouse:

Easter Vacation

I haven't written anything here for about 2 weeks now, and the reason for that is simple. I took a Easter break from the internet. I know it seems shocking, but it's true, hehe.
So what has happened these last two weeks? Quite a lot actually.

It all started with me moving back home May 31st. That was my last day at work, and I had all my stuff in the car. When the workday was over I drove home. My cousinwas going with me, and I was pretty relieved that she was. Because I did feel a bit sad leaving. I'm going to miss all my work colleagues from both departments I have worked at there. They are great people, and I have had so much fun with them. I do have some of them on Facebook though, and that helps a bit.

The day after I got home I left to visit my aunt in Oslo, and to go to the American embassy to get my visa. I came Wednesday and left Thursday, so it wasn't the worlds longest visit. Wednesday my aunt and I spent the evening in front of the TV watching a Miss Marples video, eating candy and talking. It was really cozy. The next day, after I had been at the embassy, we had lunch with my cousin and best friend. She was in the middle of her midterms, so she hadn't much time to spend with me. But we had a good time at lunch, and it was good to see her. After lunch my aunt and I killed some time at a café while waiting for my train to arrive.

The next day the entire family, and the dog, went to our cabin. It's not that often we are gathered all at the same time. And I really like our Easter weekends at the cabin. We read, played tv-games, had Easter-quizzes, ate good food and watched movies. It does get a bit crowded with 6 people and a dog in that small cabin, but it's only good for us. And it was really relaxing.

During the following week I saw some friends, visited my cute little nephew, tided in my room and stuff like that. Now it doesn't sound like much work tidying up in one small room. But I have all my moving boxes up there, and I have a LOT of stuff. I'm currently trying to reduce the amount of stuff, but it's going to take me a couple of days more to do so. I hope to sort trough it all before I leave, so I won't have to stress with it once I get back. And let's face it, I have a lot of time on my hands these days. And I will use them to pack and sort trough my stuff.

Friday I had my goodbye party. It's kind of early, I know. But I wanted to have it in the Easter vacation, when my friends was all at home anyway. Some of them I will see again before I leave though. And that's good. 'Cause I didn't want to ruin the party with tearful goodbyes. We can take them when we are sober, and the time is actually nearing. Since it's past midnight now I have only 8 days left now. Scary!! Anyway, the party was really fun, just like I hoped it would be.

And that brings us to the now. Easter morning. (It feels weird calling a whole day morning..) Tomorrow I will go visit my grandma and two of my cousins, and say goodbye to them. Lucky for me they are not the sentimental type. Less crying and so on. I'm a real crybaby when it comes to goodbyes, sad movies, sad books and you name it. I just hope I can control myself.

Later on I will have my other grandma teach me how to make good homemade mashed potatoes. I will go fishing with my dad, and I will go around saying goodbye to friends and family. Probably while crying like an idiot.

Hungry?

I have found a very cool food site. It's called Hungry Girl, and it has all kinds of neat stuff. The main thing about Hungry Girl is low calorie food that also taste good. They test all kinds of products and recipes with low calories and fat, and post them on their website, and on the daily newsletter you can get straight to your mail. Today for example, I got a mail about tasty, low calorie chocolate and chocolate cake. Pure genius!

It's Spider-Man!! :D

I saw this story on ScreenRant, and thought it was really cute: Real Life Spider-Man Saves Young Boy

Real Life Spider-Man Saves Young Boy

A Bangkok firefighter threw on his super-hero costume to save the day! Sounds like something from a comic, but this happened in real life.

The incident began when teachers of a special needs school contacted the fire station when one of their young students started crying and climbed out on to a ledge of one of the classroom windows.

The school staff and emergency response people were unable to convince the 8-year old autistic boy back inside. While this was happening, the mother of the child made a comment about the boy’s love of comic superheroes and thank God she did because that remark led to the epic rescue – this is where it gets interesting.

The mother’s words set off a light bulb in firefighter Somchai Yoosabai’s head and he sped his way back to the fire station to put on his superhero attire – A Spider-Man costume that he had kept in his locker (he keeps it to help teach fire drills in schools). Using the red and blue tights (and a glass of juice) he was able to talk the child into walking into his arms and into safety.

The hero later told local news:

“I told him Spider-Man is here to rescue you, no monsters are going to attack you, and I told him to walk slowly towards me, as running could be dangerous”

I'm an aunt!! :D

23.03.09 at 01:24 my sweet little nephew Askil was born. His dad is actually my cousin, so technically I'm not his aunt. But I have never bothered with technicalities, so I'm still his aunt no matter what. He's sooo cuuute!!! And I can't wait to meet him!!

Today I realized how amazing today's technology is. The fact that I could receive this picture of my cute little nephew on my phone, just hours after he was born... How cool is that!? And isn't he just the cutest little lump of baby that has ever been born?!

I want to congratulate his parents, and the rest of our family with our newest member. A new generation has started, and it's damned cute!