Norway is UTOPIA!!!

Here is a clip, from Michael Moore's SICKO movie, that didn't make it in the movie, as it was deemed too unbelievable. But, believe it...OSLO is UTOPIA or at least it seems...




Woohoo, I'm livin' in UTOPIA! (I love the calming, yet upbeat music playing in the background when they are visiting the prison island, it explicitly added to the unbelievable state of "prison life" in Norway.)

NO armed policeman???

Ranked #1 on the UN human development list (literacy, health care, education, etc.)
Ranked #2 in the world for having women in the government (Hillary, you should move to Oslo!)

"Norwegians only drink because they want to save the planet."

Sunday Waffles with Chunky Strawberry Jam!

In Norway, Sundays are a sacred day for family, nature, sports, and waffles. The walking/hiking trails become super highways for fast-walkin' grandma's with ski poles, baby strollers with spikes on the wheels, and the winter fashion-savvy of Oslo. It is a great way to spend a Sunday and the best part of the day is when you find the waffle kiosk.

Even kayakers come out to play on Sunday!

Here are a few photos of my walk today in Bygdøy, a small peninsula (about a 5 minute walk from my flat). I absolutely love the active nature of the Norwegians!

People queuing for a hot waffle with chunky strawberry jelly. Yummy!

A Ferry to Rough Waters!

While in the viking land one of the things you must do, since Norway is surrounded by seawater, is take a ferry to another country...Denmark, Sweden, or Germany will do. Ali scored some free tickets to Denmark, so the four of us packed our bags and excitedly walked on the slippery sidewalks (it's winter in Oslo) to the Color Line harbour with room in our bags for some tax-free shopping (cheap-er wine/spirits). Last year, we took an epic boat trip to Copenhagen and this was our chance to rehash those memories. Yet, it didn't really turn out as planned, it just so happened that we were on the only boat of the year that never made it to Denmark. The swirling hurricane in the North Sea made quite a splash and the Danish harbour master said, "no-way," and so the captain turned around the boat and headed back to Oslo. There was another boat docked at the Oslo harbour, so we couldn't "park" until 3 p.m, meaning we were captives on the boat for 20 hours. However, the rough waters didn't spoil our fun, we partook in the usual (or unusual) shenanigans that our international group finds quite amusing. Here are some of the artsy photo shots of our trip:

Leasa shows off the bottom of her shoe... while stretching on the floor. Yoga, anyone?

Jason gets fresh with a Euro-billboard babe!

Ali, becoming "one" with the storm.

Kristi's future...

Jason and Ali: cheap midnight entertainment!

My Humble Abode in Oslo

In the mornings, with my cup of earl grey tea with a touch of milk and a little BBC world news, I love looking out the big picture windows in the living room and watching the active Norwegians walk, run, and bike along the small boat harbour, Frognerkilen, as the boats quietly dance in the cold (and sometimes frozen) water.

There is also a terrace off the living room to suck in some Oslo fresh air (which is really good for the soul because the air here is F-R-E-S-H). This table is the location where I stay up until the wee hours of the morning writing my thesis.

My bedroom has a fabulous FULL-size bed. For me, this is total luxury as I have been sleeping in student twin size beds for the past year and a half. I am still busy decorating the space in true "Leasa style" (world map, photos of my travels, photos of the Colorado mountains that I truly miss, candles, etc.)

This is the view from my room...more apartments! And, the funny thing is that no one seems inclined to close their curtains at night which gives a whole new meaning to "knowing your

neighbors" and voyeurism...especially the naked guy across the courtyard.

The kitchen is fully equipped and quite tidy! I live with 2 rugby-playing boys, or shall I say men (by the way neither of them have the rugby cauliflower ears). Ebbe is Norwegian (who owns the flat) and the Alle is from Scotland. They have been house trained and it shows in the kitchen and the bathroom, as they leave the lid down on the toilet seat!

This is a sunset from the terrace.

Life is good...I love where I live and now I just need to find a routine to thesis-writing.

Welcome to Oslo...but let's not forget where I've come from!

I’m back in Oslo, but feeling a bit like I’m in a twilight zone, just adjusting to a different culture and lack of daylight. I have realized there are distinct differences about living in Portugal, Finland, South Africa, and Norway, here are a few of my observations...

1.) The winter months in Norway and Finland make for short (and dark) days because they are Northern countries lying in the similar arctic latitudes as Alaska. As much as this darkness can zap your mood, being here in the spring is great because you experience the upswing of this light/dark equation as we are gaining roughly 4 minutes a day of daylight. Sweet!

2.) Yeah, peace and quiet! You can actually study in the Norwegian and Finnish libraries, whereas in Portugal the library is the social gathering spot to catch up with friends, and chat on your cell phones.

3.) What’s up with all of the reflectors that are pinned to people’s coats here? They don’t wear reflectors in Portugal but in the Scandinavian countries reflectors attached to your coat are important, especially during the dark winter months when you try hard not to get run over by one of the crazy, drunk people riding their bikes in the snow.

4.) What? I have to pay 50 kroner (6 euro/8.70 US) for a decent pastry and tea in Oslo? In Portugal, the delectable pastries are much more delicious and with a tea on the side you are guaranteed to pay no more than 2 euros. Whereas, in Finland the prices are pretty average, somewhere between Oslo and Portugal, and the pastries just plain SUCK! Sad, but true.

5.) In Portugal, I rarely spent time on public transportation, apart from traveling to Lisbon and Porto. However, here in Oslo, my life is spent navigating, walking to, waiting for, or riding the excellent public transportation system. In Finland, I didn't spend as much time navigating the system as Tampere (pop. 200,000) is smaller than Oslo (pop. 550,000). And, in South Africa, you simply don't take public transportation if you want to live a day longer.

6.) No more Portuguese phrases; “Bom Dia” (good day), “Boa Tarde” (good afternoon), or “Boa Noite” (good night), now it’s just “Hei Hei” (hello) or “Tusen Takk” (thank you very much). I have to admit my Portuguese skills were much better than my Norwegian or Finnish skills. Good thing most people speak English here. My favorite Finnish phrase, simply because it was fun to say, was "Moi Moi," meaning hello or goodbye. In South Africa there are 9 official languages and the phrase that was my favorite happened to be Afrikaner, "Lekker," (cool!)

7.) This is NO change from Portugal…rain, rain, and more rain. Did I mention there is a lot of rain in Oslo? Where is the snow???

8.) In Portugal, dark-featured (dark eyes/hair) individuals were omnipresent, here in Oslo there is a lot of "eye-candy" (kind of like bubblegum for the eyeballs); imagine beautiful, tall, fit, light complexions, and copious amounts of natural (and not-so-natural) blond hair. In Finland, it was a mix...and you never knew what someones true hair color was as they really hit the hair coloring hard. Finally, in South Africa, there was actually diversity in race, skin color, and socio-economical status!

9.) In Oslo there are tanning bed vending machines. Serious! I will dedicate a complete entry to the phenomenon soon. But, it's not to get a base tan to go lay on the beaches in Mexico (contrary to why we use tanning beds in Colorado), it's actually for health reasons. More details on this later...


PHOTOS: Among my favorite photos of Porto, Portugal! I'm just not ready to post Norway photos yet, the architecture is just not as intriguing. These photos are snapped with the lovely Nikon D40.

I’m leavin’ on a Jet Plane…don’t know when I’ll be back again!

As I stooped down, with my knees carefully bent, and grabbed the 28.5 kg. BIG MAMA with both hands and with all my strength hurled it on the Brussels Airlines check-in conveyer belt, I felt the pressure of moving to Oslo slowly dissipate. BIG MAMA was leaving Portugal and on her way to Oslo and so was I! With relief in my footsteps, I hurried along to security with my plastic bag of liquids (mostly lip glosses) in tow. Ah!

This has been the longest move of my life. I promised myself not to rush this one and to give myself plenty of time…but my new motto for moving, "Don't drag it out!" Damn, will I ever get this moving equation exact? One can think (and even dream) only too much about how I packed that box, and where I will stash this towel, and how I will carry this from the Oslo post office to my new home, and how much this box will cost me, and how I will walk and drag BIG MAMA up the steepest cobblestone street in Porto. Ahhhhhh! For me, moving is just something that never gets easy, no matter how much planning and deliberation I put into the process. But, I’m here…on Brussels Airline flight to Oslo. Woohoo!

Yes, leaving Portugal is bittersweet as I will always hold a sweet spot for this country, but it’s time to leave, I can feel it in my heart and mind. It’s always nice when your heart and mind (finally) decides to agree with one another.

This is a photo of the Portuguese cobblestone street I had to hike up and drag BIG MAMA behind, along with little mama (my small roller of about 15 kg). All the Portuguese people were just staring at the foreigner with smirks on their face.

The Sweet Swiss Alps..

Welcome to Zermatt, Switzerland...nestled quietly in a valley with wild and rugged mountains surrounding the village. No cars are allowed in the village as there is no road that will take you there, only railroad tracks and ski trails. It is quaint, expensive, yet full of champagne powder (snow), Swiss fondue and glögg wine (mulled wine).

Waking up in the morning was quite a treat, to the left is the view of the Matterhorn from my window in the Zermatt Hostel. The hostel was great; it included a typical Euro breakfast buffet and a 5-course dinner!

Time to go skiing! I rented some HOT Rossi bandits, telemark skis, and was armed and loaded with the Nikon. The conditions were killer and I couldn't ask for better snow.

It takes about 1 hour via gondolas to reach the top of the mountain and it's not without a fair share of queues. Which means pushing and cutting is part of the experience, we're in Europe now! As an American, this was more challenging than my legs screaming at me as I lunged down the mountain, I'm not one to push or cut or elbow or accidentally jab someone with my ski poles...but I did my best to take on the European attitude with queuing; each woman for herself.



After standing and feeling squished like a sardine with 100 other international skiers in the gondola, I was ready to check out the top of the mountain! (It was actually quite a fun ride with breathtaking views.) The way they built these gondolas from one peak to the next is unbelievable!

Here I am at the top of Europe's highest mountain lift; 12,736 ft. (3,883 meters). The refreshing mountain air made me feel at home, even though the wind was enough to knock me over. I was very lucky to have such a clear day for the Nikon to click away.
Time to Ski (and eat)! Zermatt is known for the succulent cuisine on the mountain. Forget pizza and hamburgers, you can order up fondue, raclette, minestrone soup, numerous sausages, and my favorite warm apple fritter with vanilla sauce.

As I disembarked the matterhorn glacier gondola, there were 2 Bernese Mountain dogs waiting for their pictures to be taken.

After 2 days of skiing, many great photo opportunities, a few nights out in the village, I had sucked up the mountain life that I miss everyday. Oh sad, time to go home...a train from Zermatt to Geneva, then an airplane to Porto, a metro and another train and finally I was back in Aveiro. One day here and then I'm off to Oslo!

Swiss Alps, Here I Come!

In Search of Pow-Pow on the Mow-Mow!

Translated: Searching for some fresh powder (snow) on a big mountain to sink my skies into and fly like a bat out of hell.

This past week, I have been busy packing up 110 kg. (242 lb.) to move to Oslo, and reflecting on 2007 and prepping for 2008. I must admit I'm a bit jealous of my friends back home who are getting "snowed in" at the Colorado ski resorts (oh, poor you!) But, the snow isn't just falling on the Rocky Mountains, Europe is getting hammered too. Therefore, I have decided to go BIG...and escape to the Swiss Alps before the thesis slaps me upside my head. The great news is that in the last 24 hours, Zermatt has received 80 cm (30 inches) of freshies (snow)...ok, it was at the top of the mountain, but even the lower slopes got a nice 15 cm (5 inches).

Here's my itinerary...

January 7- My last day/night in LISBON, Portugal

January 8-To ZERMATT, Switzerland

January 9-Ski

January 10-Ski

January 11-Ski

January 12-To Aveiro, Portugal

January 13-My last day/night in PORTO, Portugal

January 14-To OSLO, Norway via Brussels

January 15-May 1- THESIS-writing!

Go BIG, or go HOME! Photo: Skiing Breckenridge with the girls last December.

I'm a NON-SMOKER Again!

Just in time for me to move to Oslo, Portugal has finally decided to "grab the butt" and clean the air with non-smoking regulations going into full effect January 1. Yesterday, I walked into my favorite little Euro cafe and there was NO thick cigarette cloud, as I sat down I didn't have to move the ashtray, I didn't have to hold my breathe or pretend that the smoke wasn't choking me, my risk of heart disease, cancer, or emphysema wasn't increased, and I didn't smell like an ashtray as I left. It was liberating. Woohoo, I'm a non-smoker again! But for the Portuguese people this is quite a "drag," as I think most Portuguese people light up; oops, even the head of the government agency responsible for enforcing the ban was caught smoking at a casino new years eve (after the ban had gone into effect...a smoker led "ashtray"). The Portuguese people like to smoke and they like to smoke everywhere; the bathroom, the staircase at Uni, the Uni cafes, the shopping mall, the hair salon, and even the yoga studio.

PHOTOS: These 2 photos are from the EU sponsored 2004 anti-smoking campaign. I think the 2nd one is a bit over the top. ICK!

Before Jan. 1, I had rationalized the smoke-infested Portuguese bars, cafes, and restaurants, as a cultural phenomenon; everyone smokes in Europe or that is what the stereotype leads you to believe. I even went so far as "ta backa" smoker that was being accosted by a fellow North American for smoking in a restaurant, as I felt the North American was over-stepping his cultural boundaries. As a passive, second-hand smoker, I created a smokescreen and just dealt with being a minority in the smokers paradise. I would come home and air out my coat, wash my hair, and cough up a lung or two and I would be ready for my next public appearance in the thick cloud of nicotine. But, now that it is a law I can simply say...damn, I'm happy to be breathing fresh air! I would much rather hold my breathe as I walk through the herd of pissed-off smokers huddling by the entryway than inhale someone else's death threat.

Here is a glance of some of the Euro countries that have gone non-smoking:
March 2004-Ireland was the first European country to ban smoking in public spaces.

July 2004-Norway was the second Euro country to join the movement. Woohoo, go Norway!

January 2005-Italy joined the non-smoking craze and since then there has been an 8% drop in cigarette consumption.
June 2007-Finland goes non-smoking (just in time for me to move to smoke-infested Portugal). But, establishments could file for a 2-year extension to implement non-smoking in their business, so in reality the smoking ban won't take effect until June 2009.

Also, in 2004, the EU started an anti-smoking campaign with shocking pictures (see photos posted here.) And in January 2007, the EU discussed a continent-wide smoking ban...is this the EU's territory or is it a nation state prerogative? Well, that is a whole other issue...