Ensom Kveld

Nu sitter jeg her i min nye leilighet aleine og kjenner meg litt syk. (Jeg har hent hva som helst René hadde i flere dager.) Men i kveld finnes ingen her å trøste og ta vare på meg. Etter en koselig helg sammen måtte kjæresten dra tilbake i dag. Det var trist–jeg har vanet meg til å ha ham i mitt hverdagsliv. Det blir skikkelig annerledes å ikke se hans smiler, å holde ham i armene mine, å kysse “velkommen hjem,” å spise sammen og se på TV sammen lenger. Jeg har gledet meg så mye til å flytte tilbake til Lugano, men nu at jeg er her og han–ikke, jeg vil heller være opp hos han. Men jeg antar at det er en naturlig følelse…

Vi har gjort ganske mye denne hælga. På fredag tok vi toget hit og jeg hentet opp mine nøkkler til Alba. Etter på dro vi til IKEA for å få noe “nødvendigheter”: dyne, puter, osv. På kvelden kjørte vi opp til Monte Brè etter å ha spisi på Giardino. (Vi hadde reservert en bil til hele hælga ved Mobility.) Det var ingen der oppe på fjellet, og atmosfæren var veldig romantisk dog samtidig litt skummelt.

Lördag tok vi en kjøretur til Italia, hvor vi besøkte en Armani Outlet no sted mellom Como og Milano. Jeg kjøpte meg en business-formal skjorte. René kjøpte seg en ny wardrobe–nesten €2000 i skjorter og drakter. Han var klart fornøyd og var glad resten av dagen. Da dro vi hjem–René tok en lur mens jeg besøkte no gamle venner. På kvelden laget vi pizza og så på Black Swan: herregud, for en film!

Og i dag: etter Renés avgang gikk jeg opp til Panera for å besøke mine gode venninner. Koste meg–det var hyggelig å se at ting ikke har forandra seg for mye.

Nu går jeg til sengs. Forhåpentligvis blir jeg friskere i morra…ellers!

Tilbake til Oslo

Well, today was my first full day back in Oslo, and despite some setbacks with the metro (all sorts of problems they’re having—broken machines, Flexus card problems, time schedules…must be the snow), it’s been a great day.

I arrived at Kringsjå last night to Nataša and Marta planning to bake a cake for Elise, whose birthday is today. After realizing that we added ten times as much water to the batter as we were supposed to, and that our icing was over one year past its expiration date, we managed to successfully complete our mission! To top it off, Johnny lighted candles in the form of a trail from Elise’s door to the kitchen table. It was a very koselig evening.

Woke up at 10 AM this morning, which was a bit later than I had planned. Getting up in Norway is so hard. I don’t know why. After not having done much in Oslo this whole semester, I was “helt bestemt” to not waste any more time in my room—so I looked up some popular tourist destinations on VisitOslo.com. (Despite the name, it’s also suitable for people that live here on a more permanent basis, like me!) I had a great time looking around and shopping at Jelmoli in Switzerland, so I made up my mind to visit Majorstua because it’s a popular destination, plus I had to pay a visit to the bank.

I ended up spending the entire day walking along one side of Bogstadveien: there are so many irresistible places to shop! One thing is fore sure, I’m going to miss the Scandinavian fashion when I leave. It took me a while to get used to it, but now that I am—I really love it. It’s very androgynous, but that’s what makes it cool. It on the same wavelength as the whole “guys that aren’t afraid to wear pink” thing from a few years back.

Tomorrow, however, I have to settle down and plugga for my French exam. Besides shopping in Switzerland, I haven’t uttered a word of French, and knowing me—I guess I am overconfident. I think my French skills are rustier than I would like to admit.

A Zürcher Evening

I’m currently listening to the new songs off of Nek’s new Greatest Hits compilation and it’s a nice wrap-up to the weekend.

Saturday, René and I were out all day. We started by taking the train to Sankt Gallen. It’s still a couple of days ’til December, but the Christmas market is already in full swing. The atmosphere reminds me of last year when I met Marie D. up in Alsace and we went Christmas shopping in Colmar.

We had lunch at an Indian restaurant in St. Gallen. Afterwards, we enjoyed a warm break in Starbucks before catching the 3:45 train to Zürich.

We met up with René’s friend, Roli, at Niederdöfli—a part of Züri’s old town. We enjoyed some drinks at some local bars and then headed to Jelmoli, which I guess is the Bergdorf Goodman’s of Zürich. I was surprised to find tins of Mariage Frères there. Mariage Frères, according to Marie, makes the best tea in all of France. And just from the smell of their leaves, I don’t disagree. We bought a tin of Marco Polo Green Tea.

After a lot of door-to-door solicitation, we finally found a free half of a table at Blockhaus. I had schnitzel, which was delicious!

Side note: At this point I have to admit something—all this time I thought schnitzel was a hot dog—but it turns out it’s actually fried pork cutlet. Thanks Wienerschnitzel…I really wonder how many other Americans you’ve mislead.

After dinner we walked around a bit more; the atmosphere was wonderful and while it was cold, it wasn’t depressing or dark due to the Christmas lights strewn throughout the city. We arrived home late in the evening.

I think the both of us were a bit worn out from yesterday, so we took today to stay at home and relax: had some fondue, played some Wii, enjoyed the good life.