Since my return from Riga time has passed exceedingly quickly.
I arrived back to Fantoft on Australia Day and as there is a large contingent of Australians currently here, I spent my evening in Klubb Fantoft for the “Australia Day Party”. Potentially the worst attempt at such a party that I have ever been to. Australia Day is about being out in the sun, by the barbie, eating sausage sandwiches and drinking your usual poison, whilst listening to Hottest 100 with your Aussie mates. Celebrating in a room full of foreigners with ping pong and fusball whilst it snowed outside just didn’t really cut it. The ambience did improve, however, when a group comprising solely of Australians migrated to a kitchen. The no-fucks-given, laid back attitude is something that only Australians seem to have mastered.
So after what eventuated into a late night I forced myself out of bed at 7am the next morning so that I could be showered, breakfasted and ready and raring to go when the essay questions came out at 9am. At 9am I log onto UIBs online portal. It is down. I then spent four hours in front of the computer waiting. Finally at 1pm I was gifted with the questions and had knocked the first essay off by dinner time. This allowed me to enjoy Nick’s amazing bolognese Ragu.
Over the next few days things didn’t quite go to plan. I wanted to have completed all my essays by Friday so that I could spend time just enjoying Bergen. Instead it took me four days to finish the next essay.
On the Saturday I went ice-skating. I enjoyed it and hated it at the same time. The weather was beautiful, the location was lovely and the idea was great. My feet were very saw, my periods were very heavy and I fluctuated between being ridiculously cold and hot and sweaty. I am glad I went and will take home fond memories, but the likelihood of me going ice-skating again is pretty minimal. Just for the record Australians, when you go ice-skating at home with those big plastic boots and think you can ice-skate. YOU CAN’T!
The essay questions were unimaginably stupid. Sunday and Monday I managed to complete an essay a day, although largely under referenced and then I was done.
I celebrated by taking a walk in the glorious snow and sunshine to Gamlehaugen. Gamlehaugen is Bergen’s Royal Residence and the royal family certainly has no qualms about sharing it with the public. Whilst the house itself is quite unique (18th Century British Neogothic style) the gardens are magical. I was the only person there and soaked up the frozen fjords. Perhaps my favourite moment was heading down to the boat shed, running and then jumping onto the pier in order to break the ice (quite literally). I also thoroughly enjoyed knocking on the front door. That’s right bitches, I have knocked on the front door of the Norwegian Royal family’s home. Unfortunately because I was out for a run I didn’t take my good camera and my phone camera wasn’t working. So the best I can give you is this and you just have to pretend that the ground is all magical and white and that the fjord is frozen.
The celebrations continued on Tuesday as I made my way to the Edvard Grieg museum. The museum is only a short-trip on the bybanen from Fantoft to Hop and then a 25 minute walk from Hop station. I enjoy walking so it did not bother me at all, but if you are in Bergen for a short time then perhaps a taxi would be best.
The exhibition was quite small but very informative. I love Grieg’s music so I was a little disappointed that the sound system wasn’t working. It was really awesome to see how classical musicians were such celebrities in their day. To the point where Grieg refusing to play in Paris due to French anti-semitism caused the rest of Europe to be outraged with the French (but hey, what’s new). Grieg is like the Beyonce of 100 years ago.
Grieg’s House
The location of the museum was beautiful and I was very lucky to be there at a time when his house was open (it is only open for about 15 minutes a day during winter). The house itself was very Scandinavian. Very wooden. All his honours and awards were inside as well as his original piano. If you travel to Bergen on a Seabourn or Silversea cruise you will have the opportunity to join a tour of Grieg’s house and hear somebody play on that very same piano. The viewing area of the house is quite small, although furnished interestingly.
The final sight was the composing hut. Unfortunately you could only look through the window which was a challenge as the sun was so bright and the window quite high but I took a sneaky photo to get an idea. I imagine it would have been on a day similar to when I was there that Grieg composed Morning Mood.
View from the Composition Hut: This is why I think it was the perfect place for Morning Mood
Alas I have reached the end of my stay in Bergen. I cannot believe it is nearly over. I have not started packing. It is such a strange thing. I am grateful for the experience. I had an amazing time. I am sad to leave but excited to go. Over the last month I have learnt a lot about myself. It was a great psychological experiment. This time has taught me a lot about human resourcefulness and coping. About budgeting and eating.
Before this experience I thought I was capable. I thought I was a competent human being. The organisation and the actual travelling to other side of the world scared the shit out of me though. I truly thought I wouldn’t be able to cope. I began to realise that I wasn’t as capable as I thought I was. That I am just as naive and stupid as every other 20 year old girl out there no matter how much travel I have done or how many struggles I have had to overcome. I fed myself, I budgeted, I booked trips on weird airlines that I had never heard of before. I made mistakes. I learned from my mistakes but I still looked to those who know better than me for guidance.
I also learnt a lot about the social Imogen. I am far more selfish than I thought I was. I hide my insecurities with an air of “I couldn’t give a fuck about you or anybody else”. I cut people off when I talk to them. I am relatively unimportant but that doesn’t make me worthless. And that sometimes it is better to stay true to yourself than to follow the group.
This experience has opened my mind. My entire two years of University so far have consisted of me almost applying for exchange, every semester, and never actually doing it. One year I even got my tutors to fill out the references. Then on a fateful day in late October I procrastinated by filling in a form, a form for a program that I knew I would not get selected for. I procrastinated further by researching Bergen and Norway despite knowing that I would never get picked. I would never get picked, because Imogen never gets chosen for anything. Two months later I was in Norway.
What next?
On December 18 2015 I will fly to Singapore. Three days later, on my 21st Birthday I will board a boat and I will cruise to Yangoon, stopping in Malaysia, Thailand and the Andaman Islands. On January 5 2015 I will return to Singapore. A few days later I will board a plane. That plane has two possible destinations. The first is home to sunny Sydney. The second is Edinburgh. I will have to wait till June to find out.
P.S This is not the end of my Norway blogs. I still have two more weeks of travelling left. They include Tromso, Helsinki, Tallinn and Oslo so stay tuned 🙂
The Guru's Daughter 