Edinburgh so far

My lack of blogging in recent times has--yet again--been due to a lack of internet connections. This time not so much the availability, as the practicality. Who would think it so impossible to have internet installed in your own home!? But oh, it takes time, clever considerations, and--in my case mostly--luck. Whereas British Telecom and other broadband providers have been unbelievable difficult to deal with, the neighbouring flat have graced me, Cèdric & Anthony with their connection (for a minor, not-yet-negotiated fee). And so, 21 days after moving in, I am finally online without the National Health Services restricting my movements because I should be working!

So, the brief update is that I have moved to a flat in Bruntsfield, a rather student dominated part of Edinburgh with plenty of little cafés and shops. We're not really talking Obz or Grünerløkka here, but once the weather gets better I suppose it picks up... There is a huge park right across the street from my house, and so I see trees as I wake up in the morning, which I suppose is a luxury in a big town. Edinburgh itself is a really lovely city, truly Medieval in style, with a charming atmosphere. I work at the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital in Morningside, where I am located with the Early Psychosis Support Service. I really enjoy it at EPSS so far, finding my work very interesting and my co-workers friendly and lovely. However, the coming week I am back at NTNU for compulsory classes. My flight is at 5.50 am tomorrow, so I guess I should get packing... Expect further updates on Edinburgh when I return.

The unebearable choices of living

When do you decide that you can live in a place? When do you leave the "this feels like home" behind and go for a place that is ok, but missing at least one of the things you'd like to have if you could--that nice kitchen, the really lovely flat mates that you just clicked with, the perfect location, the stunning room, the price that allows for plenty of fun ... Is it after a week? When you start work? When you're desperate for internet so you can download more Top Gear episodes? At flat no 20? Is it when you run out of shampoo and have to get a new, full, heavy bottle if you want that good but affordable stuff that Boots has on sale? Those are the questions I am asking myself in the afternoons, while at the same time contemplating how many groceries I am willing to buy, or can possibly eat before the weekend, so I don't have to carry them. Do I go for the place that it makes sense to go for (but that my gut doesn't like, for some unknown reason) or do I wait for the weekend and the people who are not home yet but would love to show me their flat once they're back? I got the shampoo (although I wasn't at Boots, and it wasn't on sale) and I didn't compromise--yet. Tomorrow will show if I feel I have to, or wait my nerves out for the (more) perfect combination of factors that make a place "home".

Back in the so-called 'real world'

Just a quick update--I have not vanished; however, as I returned to Norway for a week only, most of my energy was absorbed by the general concepts of Christmas, family, New Year's and moving to another country...

I am currently in Edinburgh, Scotland, where I will be living for 6 months. The city is undoubtedly lovely, people are friendly, and work seems very promising! I work at a unit for young people experiencing a first episode of psychosis at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital--very exciting. I am currently staying in Budget Backpackers in central Edinburgh, awaiting to find the perfect room in a flat; in the meantime I try to enjoy myself as much as I can.

[More notes about my life here in Scotland should follow.]

Photos from Japan

Ironically, after so long without photos to show you, photos is all I can get on within a reasonable amount of time.. So here goes; my week in Japan!

Fukuoka

The Shinkansen bullet train

This train eventually took me from Fukuoka to Tokyo, then Tokyo--Kyoto, Kyoto--Hiroshima, and finally Hiroshima--Fukuoka.

Downtown Tokyo at night

Temples of Kyoto

Hiroshima

A lovely city; the highlights obviously related to the war history. Photos to come soon.

Big in Japan

Waking up in Korea, thinking I was getting on a bus to somewhere else in Korea, I was ut on a boat from Busan to Fukuoka, Japan... Yes, somethimes these things happen. After 5 hours ow wandering between endless amounts of ATMs, getting rejected yet again, I managed to get 20,000 Yen out of my credit card and the night was saved. More updates to come once I can figure out how to get a steady supply of money, thereby finding time for other activities.

Arriving in Taipei, Taiwan

I just arrived. More updates about Sapa and Hanoi are coming, and Taipei as well--once I get to experience it! For now I'll be looking for food while I wait for Christiaan to get out of the bath tub and find me.

Sapa

As the train pulled in to the station in Lao Cai, I realised that a few months of being tanned and wearing flip-flops had made me forget how cold the world can be. Freezing! The weather was treacherous like a Norwegian spring; warm and sweating in the sun, cold and pleasant in the shade, and then, all of a sudden, chilling you to your bones as the shades turned into evening. The sun rose as the minibus took myself, Holly, Jenny, Kirsty and Emma to the mountain city of Sapa; revealing a stunningly beautiful scenery of rice terraces along the sloped mountain sides.Stumbling into the first decent looking place for breakfast it turned out we were all set if we wanted to; the manager could organise a local guide for a home stay, with profits going back into the community. We decided to go for it--and had two amazing days with Chi, a woman of the Black H'mong tribe, originally from the Lao Chai village (not to be mistaken for the city with train station). We walked there with some of her friends and family, meeting the rest of her family along the way; or at least the women. I saw men every now and then, but in general Vietnam--both in the cities and in the mountains--is a country where I've found myself swarmed by women in most situations. Having a female guide was a pleasant change, and during the trip she answered questions we did not know we should ask, cooked amazing food and had the local hosts (of the Dzao tribe, in another village) serve us multiple shots of "happy water" to keep the the general mood happy. And it was! (Despite the cold...)