A Fresh Start, A New Beginning...Hei Norge!

So here I am, sitting at the computer in Elverum, Norway.  The weather has been absolutely amazing, despite being a little chilly, ever since I arrived yesterday afternoon.  Clear blue skies and bright sunshine, average temperatures of 8 degrees celsius, a lot cooler to that of the temperature back home in England - 17 degrees celsius.

I love the fact that I am finally here to stay however I feel quite homesick.  Yesterday was the worst.  I actually felt like I shouldn't be here, like something wasn't quite right, I missed my family like hell.  I felt like i'd left something hugely important behind, which I have - the most caring, dependable, loving family I could ever wish for, how could I leave that all behind?  I just kept reminding myself of something my Grandma said to me on the phone before I took off from London Heathrow... 'You're starting your life now, it's a new chapter in your life, live it to the full.'  That is what's keeping me going so far.

My boyfriend has been an absolute god send trying to help me feel right here, I know he's trying his absolute best and I love him even more so for it.  I'll be fine soon i'm sure, I just need to settle in, find my place in the community, in Norway.

On a happier note!  Even on my first day here I have accomplished a few targets on my 'What to do when I move to Norway!' list!  For one I have had my name put on my boyfriend's postbox, or as I should probably say now..our postbox!  I met the Landlord who came to sort it out for us, he seemed a very polite man, I was quite chuffed that he was able to speak English!  Or should I say, he had the guts to speak English to me!  What I have found in my other visits to Norway is that many people are actually too embarrassed to talk to me and just smile, or at times ignore me!  So I felt very welcomed speaking to our Landlord!

I have also managed to obtain a library card!  My love for reading can continue!  I feel so chuffed that I have this card now as it feels like my very first connection to Norway itself!  However as I am not a Norwegian Citizen I can only have a local library card and not one that can be used all round the country, which is completely understandable!  A local card is all I shall need for now.  I have an 'easy read' on loan at the moment, as well as a Thomas The Tank Engine book - don't laugh!  I find that by reading children's books in Norwegian, I pick the language up quite quickly!

Thomas and I (my boyfriend) have new additions to our little household!  I would like to introduce....Skye and Freya!

Freya

Skye

Our new 2-3 month old pet Gerbils!  I apologise for the blurry photos, have you ever tried taking photos of the most hyperactive/curious gerbils?!  They seem to be settling in very well!  After exploring their new surrounding for about an hour or so they soon enough starting getting back to old habits....DIG!  My boyfriend kindly bought them as a present for the 2 of us starting our lives together, I think its also partly to help me settle in a bit, give me some company when he's back at work,  I love these little girls to bits already!

Tomorrow we are heading to Sweden to do some shopping, i'm so excited!  I have always wanted to visit Sweden!  I shall let you know how our little trip goes, but for now....God natt!

Farewell

So here is my last entry from England, i'm so nervous!   Most of all i'm quite sad today, i'm such a family person, i'm especially close to my Mum, I don't know what I would do without her, yet here I am leaving her behind!  I know everything will be ok once i'm in Norway, I just really really wish I could bring my Mum with me, I love her to bits.

Today is going to be a very hectic day so I don't know if i'll have the chance to write another entry, but here is farewell to England, you will always be my home.

Car anyone?

...Still no interest in my car, its starting to get me a bit down now, I was hoping to have sold it by now, its been for sale for 2 weeks and no word.  I've even reduced the price by £1000 because i'm that desperate to sell it before I go away on Thursday!

In other news I have finally told the tax people that I will no longer be living in the UK, now I just have to send out my student loan form, after that i'm all finished with the important stuff - thank god!  All I have to do now is make sure my mail will reach my Norwegian address by getting my name put on our post box, you wouldn't believe how difficult that actually is!

I'm actually quite scared now, I was excited and a bit nervous last week, but this week it has totally hit me, i'm moving abroad.  I'm never coming back. I'm going somewhere that I need to learn a whole new language before I can do anything.  WHAT AM I THINKING?!?!?!  I'm so scared.  I know i'll absolutely love it when i'm out there, its just really daunting on me now that this is ACTUALLY happening. Poo.

I've finished reading The Night Circus the other day so I shall try and get a book review written shortly, in between spending my last time in the UK with my family.

...It's only 13 degrees here at the moment, its 9 in Norway.  Im so cold now let alone being in Norway...i'm doomed.

And breathe...

Today has been one of the most stressful days i've had in a long while.  This is mostly due to the extreme temperatures that has hit the UK this weekend.  It was around 27 degrees celsius in Bristol today, it was way hotter than that in the kitchen that I was working in all day.  Add that to a continuous queue of fussy customers and that sums up to a stressful day!  I looked like a drowned rat I was so hot!  And what's even worse?  I have to go through it all over again tomorrow.  The BBC are even reporting that today was a record breaker in the fact that it was the hottest day ever recorded in October.  Can you believe its October already?!  We should be in jumpers by now!  Not summer clothes!

BBC reports record temperatures

In other news...1 week later and I still haven't had a single phone call or email from anyone about my car, therefore I have reduced the price slightly, hoping it will grab someone's attention...keeping my fingers crossed!  I only have 12 more days to sell it.

Readathon!

I have been quite productive today, towards me moving abroad that is.  I paid a visit to the bank (no pun intended), where I changed my details etc...and informed them of my move to Norway, so now everything is settled and prepared for me to be living abroad.  According to the bank i'm no longer living in England as they had to change my address straight away...what a scary thought!  According to them now I am currently living in Norway!  Scary scary.

Other than that I have just been reading in every spare moment that I have.  The weather these past few days has been gorgeous so i've been making the most of it by sitting in the garden with a good book...a really good book, in every spare moment that I can find.  We've had temperatures of around 26 degrees celsius!  Its October tomorrow!!  It feels so strange to be wandering around in strappy tops and sandals knowing that it is October tomorrow. 

The book I am reading is called The Night Circus, written by Erin Morgenstern.  Its absolutely amazing, I only started it yesterday morning and i'm already nearly half way through, i'd definitely recommend it to anyone that likes a bit of magical fantasy, i'm absolutely hooked!  I received this book as I had won a blog giveaway (Thank you Ange!), so glad I won it, I couldn't wait to start reading it and here I am already nearly half way through!  I'll try and write some sort of review if I can once i've finished to give you all some idea of what it's about, I really suggest you take a read and step inside the circus.

Most Productive Day Yet.

Yesterday I had one of the best days yet, due to the amount of work I had accomplished!  My boss contacted me to let me know I wasn't due in work as it was quiet, so I took advantage of my free time to really catch up on my xmas stocking work.  All in all I managed to iron on decorations to 6 large stockings, leaving 12 more to do within the upcoming week.  I also managed to hem all of my little stockings (20), I managed to sew them all together, and then tidy them up to be turned out the right way.  All of this took me a total of about 4.5 hours!  My legs were extremely achey as I was stood up nearly the whole day due to ironing but it was totally worth it, I feel so accomplished!  I now hope to have completely finished all of my stockings by the end of this week - how exciting!  I have 12 more large stockings to finish and decorate 20 mini stockings, easy peasy!  Everything went so well yesterday that I was just preparing myself for something to go wrong, alas it didn't!  So happy!!

I think I'm really paying for all of that work this morning though, I hardly slept a wink.  I have just had the worst night's sleep in a very long while,  my conclusion is that it is due to my brain still being on overdrive from yesterday, even before I went to bed I felt like I could carry on working, I was just in one of those moods!  I think today is going to be a very long day...

Let the sale commence!

Today is the day that I have finally put my car up for sale on the internet.  I'm hoping to have a few calls tomorrow!  I expect I don't manage to sell it before I move to Norway - i've got such a bad feeling about it all!  One because I really really don't want to sell the car, two because its not exactly the type of car that people instantly fall in love with.  I really need the money though, no matter how guilty I feel for having to sell.  I'll keep you updated with any interested sellers!

Car Advert