three years ago at exactly this date, i arrived in norway to start my new life.
i don’t remember the exact route but i think it was makassar-jakarta, jakarta-singapore, singapore-amsterdam, amsterdam-oslo, oslo-ålesund. i travelled alone and it was boring as boring could be. lots of sitting around waiting for the next flight, it was never ending. or so it felt like.
at one waiting room, don’t remember which airport, i watched the news about london winning the bid for the 2012 olympics. i remember thinking, they must be celebrating like crazy over there.
a few hours after that, waiting for yet another flight, i heard the news of the bombing in london. talk about the highest high and the lowest low. celebrating one minute, mourning the next.
anyway, that was that.
MOH and his mum picked me up at the airport. MOH left makassar less than a week after our wedding and that was before christmas so at that point, we had been separated for roughly six months. it wasn’t by choice, we had to. so who separated newlyweds, you might ask? stupid norwegian immigration rules and the incompetent people at the norwegian embassy in jakarta, that’s who.
so three years ago, i arrived here. it’s hard to believe it’s been that long. three years on and i still think about leaving the country every other day hehehehehe
but let’s not complain about norway. not today anyway.
in the three years i’ve been here, i have learnt a new language, met people from many, many countries, made friends with some nice people, got a job, bought a car and bought a flat.
i guess it hasn’t been all bad. still, i dream of the day MOH would come to me and say, ‘honey, let’s move to uk/australia/nz/canada/insert any other pleasant spots in the world where english is the national language.’
oh yes, i dream of that day. i live for that day. it’s going to be one fine day 🙂
to end it on a positive note, here’s one thing i love about norway.
autumn sunset.
winter sunset.
Jul 09, 2008 @ 03:19:15
Wah jauh bener mau ketempat elu sih, Fi? Musti ganti2 pesawat mulu. Btw, itu viewnya dari flat elu yah? Very nice kok. Kenapa thinking about moving somewhere else?
Jul 09, 2008 @ 06:32:47
iya, smp jamuran duduk di waiting room di berbagai airport 😦
itu viewnya dari flat yang kita rented dulu. mmg bgs bgt. skrg jg bagus, nanti deh dipasang fotonya.
weeeelll… pengen pindah dr norway krn ga betah. bahasanya, orang2nya, pajaknya, gaya hidupnya, semuanya deh, not right for me. oh well, we’ll see how it goes.
Jul 11, 2008 @ 01:39:39
Iya pasang dong foto2 yang sekarang juga. Lah, tapi your MOH bukannya orang situ?
Jul 11, 2008 @ 16:43:11
knp ko ndak tetap tinggal di oz??
Jul 11, 2008 @ 16:59:53
e – minggu dpn kayaknya charger untuk camera battery sampe deh, jd bisa foto2.
dia lahir gede di sini tp paspornya paspor uk. tp diajak pindah ke inggris susaaaaaah bgt.
m – soalnya waktu kita merit kita blm pny apa2, kerja sj blm huahahaha nekaaaaaaat. jd hrs tinggal dekat2 salah satu ortu dulu soalnya kita mulai dari NOL besar. but to be honest, i was getting kinda restless in oz. se bosanan soalnya, mau pindah2 tiap brp thn hehehe. misiku skrg ‘racuni’ dia spy mau diajak pindah ke inggris.
Jul 13, 2008 @ 14:22:18
yeah.. you’re gonna give YOH -your other half- gift! -as in racuni supaya mo pindah tentunya- hahahha
Jul 14, 2008 @ 08:27:18
hbs dia jg selalu complain. hidup di sini begini, hidup di sini begitu. stupid politicians and their dumb policies. tp tiap diajak pindah, jawabannya cuma ‘eeehhh’.
racunku kurang mantap kayaknya ini.
Jul 14, 2008 @ 14:44:29
well yeah you already mentioned about starting somewhere familiar (for him)
we finally submitted our oz PR application over the weekend!
Jul 15, 2008 @ 07:45:08
congratulations. and good luck. i’m sure it’ll go smoothly. mau tinggal di mana di sana nanti?
i’m sooooo jealous 😦
Jul 15, 2008 @ 16:46:18
haha i was just commenting “i’m SO jealous” on your kitchen post
ndak tau, cuma pernah ke melb and syd.. and definitely not syd (erm unless my hubby has a SUPER DUPER good job offer that is too good to reject, but syd is just another city, and i’m tired of city life, that’s the whole point of wanting to migrate..)
but melb is quite cold, rite.. i havent even been to any winter at all, only spring…
that’s why i was asking about brissie.. but gotta visit it at least once before moving, rite!
Jul 16, 2008 @ 15:29:38
if you want a sleepy place, go to tassie hehehe. i was there once for a conference and it was quiet and pretty (nature is super nice there) and ummmm boring huahahaha and cold.
you can commute, you know. get a high-paying job in sydney and live 30-45 mins away from city. but then you have to get stuck in traffic or crowded public transport.
from what i’ve heard, melb does have shitty weather.
brisbane is… well, brisbane rocks. if you know your suburbs, you can get peace and quiet. i was 15 mins walk away from the city and 10 mins other direction to restaurants (thai, viet, chinese, indian, greek, mexican etc.) and shops and my neighbourhood was sooooo quiet. move to brisbane!
Jul 16, 2008 @ 17:03:02
i hate commuting..
but of course i dun wanna move to a super quiet and boring place either
suburb mu namanya apa?
mungkin sa bisa plan visit brissie some time nxt year hehe
Jul 17, 2008 @ 09:38:19
west end namanya. highgate hills jg super quiet tp dari west end tambah 5 menit naik mobil.
come to think of it, hampir semua suburbs di sana peaceful ji kl malam. i once lived in the middle of the city, selain rush hour, tenang ji.
it all comes down to how much money you’re willing to spend. tambah dekat city of course tambah mahal tp ya itu, kl ko kerja di city tinggal jalan saja.