The Nordic Paradise

So far I've had an amazing summer in the north, so here it is...

I came to Oslo on the 28th of June, caught the train in to the city and had a few hours by myself in the city (with a jetlag). The evening was spent with my uncle at Ullevaal stadion watching Vaalerenga playing and the night at Merethe's place, my mum's cousin. My uncle stayed there as well. The next morning we decided to leave the house at 8 am so I could get to the American Embassy in time. I woke up at 7.50!! Lucky we are Johnsens, cause 15 minutes later we were in the car and heading towards the city.

Three hours after I arrived the Embassy + two visits to 7/11 (to get an envelope, stamps, money etc), some stupid, embarrassing questions and A LOT of waiting, I was finally on my way to Narvik. Coming home has never been better.

I started working the day after, which was, by the way, hard. Having a jetlag and working late, is a struggle. I almost felt asleep behind the counter. But being back at work is great.

The first weekend, after my Saturday shift at work, I drove to Grovfjord with Lise, My aunt and Thea. Every year this small little place celebrate the summer with a weekend long festival.

A tiny bit tired after bygdefest

Thea

The Sunday was spent with my grandma...

...and grandpa.

The second weekend at home I went to Andoerja with my cousin, Susanne, her boyfriend and some of their friends.

It ended up with at least one very tired person at least...

We woke up to an amazing weather on Saturday. It turned out to be 30 degrees. I even went for a swim in the ocean. In the evening we got a massive thunder storm. To say the least, I HATE storms, and especially when camping. The lightning hit the ground not far from us, in another caravan, where one man fainted. The storm settled after a while and we were ready for "Erik og Kriss" concert.

On June 20th the whole family flew to Oslo for a long-long weekend and for my uncle's 50th birthday. We had a few great days in Oslo with shopping, cafes, restaurants, family and at least Brage time. The weather was great too, except Friday. Therefore, we decided to spend the day inside Oslo City Shopping Mall. All the girls and the baby sat down for lunch at Egon Restaurant at Byportalen, while the guys went to a bar to watch Le Tour de France. We were about to leave when the baby woke up and Susanne figured out the wanted to look at some shoes. So we waited a little longer. Suddenly a massive "bang" came from out side and the walls were shaking. The whole restaurant was empty in seconds. From the crowd outside we could all see a big, black cloud of smoke coming up from a few hundred meters away. Around me, people were confused and scared. My mum called my dad, and they were fine. They told us that a shop across the street had exploded, or at least all the windows had broken. A few minutes later we were told there had been an explosion at the city hall building. We went to the central station to wait for the others. Hundreds of people came running in herds down the main street in Oslo. We managed to get to the hotel, sat down in the living room and watched the news.

Terror had hit Norway, brutally. The first few days were surreal, and it still kind of is.

All my thoughts to families, friends and victims of 22.7.11.

Flowers outside Domkirken, Monday July 25.

On Saturday we spent the whole day at the local shopping mall and at home preparing my uncle's birthday party. Considering everything that happened right then, it was a great celebration, and I think he was pleased.

Uncle Kjell-Frode, 50 years.

Brage, the little, big charmer of the week.

Mamma and Thea at the hotel

Now it's Saturday again and the last day of work. I'm only ten days from San Francisco, and haven't started planning much. I've managed to do a lot and met heaps of people while I've been home, but, as always, I never have enough time to do it all. So the last ten days are packed from morning to night with family and friends time, and a short trip to Luleaa.

Ida