Liane's visit!

Hi everyone,

This post is loooong over due. May was insanely busy with travel ☺ and work ☹. Things have settled down now and I am awaiting the arrival of Mom and Dad on Canada day.

Last month, my sister Liane came to visit me for a few weeks here in Oslo. It was great to see someone from home and it was great to speak our version of the French language. For those who have not heard us speak, my family and friends back home tend to speak a hybrid language that mixes French and English. We could start a sentence in English and finish it in French or vice versa. It’s quite unique to our part of the world but the most important thing is that we understand each other. Also, she brought some nice presents from home and early birthday gifts. The best gift was the ingredients for poutine that we made for my roommate Eva and my co-workers Anna and Vyoma!!!

While Liane was here we wanted to go on a small road trip and visit Gothenburg, Sweden. That did not work out because there was a city marathon on the weekend we wanted to visit and there was no hotel rooms available ANYWHERE! We visited Kristiansand, Norway instead. We took the train and it took 4 hours to get there. The train ride was quite nice with beautiful scenery. Kristiansand is a nice small town in the south of Norway. The first day we explored the town and went sightseeing. We visited the town square, the fortress and did a little shopping. On the second day we went on a mild hike and saw some old canons hidden in the forest, which were used in the war and the port where we had lunch, and some ice cream. It was a very nice, relaxing trip.

Later in the week we celebrated May 17th – Norway’s National Day. We actually starte May 17th is a very traditional holiday where the women dress in the traditional “bunads”, and most guys wear suits or semi-casual attire. My roommate Eva was having a brunch with some of her friends and all the ladies were wearing very nice trd the party a little early as we went out with a few other trainees and coworkers of mine on May 16th. The next day was a little rough but we managed to wake up in time for the festivities.aditional dresses. Each of the “bunads” were different colors. Eva told me that the color of the dress depends on which region of Norway that the lady comes from. Liane and I then ventured to the downtown area. It was a lot like Canada Day but with A LOT less alcohol and insanity. I think people partied too much the night before. It was a very civil event and a parade was held on Karl Johan’s gate (the main street) with locals waving their Norwegian flags. I was surprised of how people were calm and civil on their National Day. There weren’t any fireworks and the day finished around diner time! WHAAAAAAAA?

I’m glad Liane got a chance to come visit me. This was Liane’s first trip to Europe and I was glad I was able to experience that with her. Next up: Mom and Dad.


The next few posts I will talk about my trip to Asia … WOOO!
Take care,
Jason