TRAVEL TO OSLO... Oh my, where do I even begin? My travels were something to be desired. After 40 hours of trains, planes, layovers, police walking around with machine guns, missing my flights, security lines and subways I have finally arrived safe and sound. There is nothing better than a GREAT travel story. The limo picked me up in Bloomington, Indiana at 3:45 a.m. on August 10. I decided not to go to sleep and just stayed up with 30 of my closest friends from the I-LEAD institute (college students will use any excuse to stay up all night). When I arrived at the airport, everyone was scurrying around trying to make sense of the heightened security. They said, "No Liquids" in your carry-on. So, I figured my toothpaste was coming with me but I soon found out that toothpaste is considered a liquid as they confiscated it, along with my nail polish. Bummer, no toothpaste for 40 hours? I flew into DIA and my 3 hour layover had been cut to 2.5 hours because we landed a little late. I ran to the ticketing counter where upon I was supposed to meet my parents with the Norway luggage. However, they weren't there yet. Ugh! Finally, we met up and I had 5 minutes to check-in before the flight closed...magically, it all worked out. The security line was backed up to the baggage carousels. TSA get's mad props because it only took me less than 1 hour to get through the line.

In Chicago, I had about 3 hours to chill in the United red carpet room. Yeah baby, I could get use to traveling Business Class. Snacks, comfy chairs and wireless. Nice! My flight to London kept getting delayed and finally at 8 p.m. I was sitting next to a nice english bloke who was the Brand Manager for Jim Beam. We had a lot of laughs and were ecstatic when they brought us a little package of goodies, complete with toothpaste...Yippee, no more fur on my teeth. The captain said, "This will be the safest trip since September 12, 2001, so sit back and relax." And that is exactly what I did.

I had missed my flight to Oslo because the Chicago-London leg was sooooo delayed. So, I navigated my way through the Heathrow, London airport and the security with machine guns and got in line to figure out when I could get on a flight. That is when a hot security guy, complete with the great english accent, came by with plastic bags. He explained that NO carry-ons were allowed, only travel documents and wallets were allowed in the plastic bag. Ok, that was the lightest travel leg of my life. I arrived in Oslo about 5:30 p.m. and hopped on the train.

My travel in Oslo was pretty funny. I had a total of 3 large bags (2 rollers and a backpack). Try walking with all of this luggage through a barrage of people and cobblestone streets, while minding the "gap" while loading on the trains\subways. It was quite a spectacle, I'm sure! I finally arrived at the International Housing office at 7 p.m. and was just sweating. I took the first room, complete with internet and a nice mountain view. I'll post pics soon. I don't have connection to internet quite yet...I must wait until Monday to get signed up. Woohoo, I'm in Oslo!!!