Time flies (and so do I)

Wow! It's December!

Lots of stuff happened during the past couple of months. Christian visited me in October and we went hunting for apartments. Here's an overview of the ten places we ended up seeing:

In the end, our favourite was on Rosenborg gt. just at Solsiden. Conveniently close to three grocery stores, shopping center, bus directly to the airport, pretty close to NTNU (2 km), close to the city center, and as it turns out, right next to where Christian will be spending most of his time (!) when he gets his cute butt up here.

In the meantime, I also got to know my new PhD buddies more with frequent visits to Taps, a couple of hikes, and a one-night cabin trip.

Hiking trip w. Christian, Stella and Tarik

Cabin trip w. Stella and Tarik 

Cabin trip w. Stella and Tarik

Cabin trip w. Stella and Tarik 

 Cabin trip w. Stella and Tarik

Cabin trip w. Stella and Tarik

My mom visited me in the end of October and helped me move my stuff to our new apartment. She was so helpful and also packed her suitcase full of kitchen stuff they didn't need anymore. (Thanks, Mom!)

I don't have any pictures of the insides of the apartment yet, but here's the view from our balcony on a snowy day.

Of course, I had to work, too, it's not all moving and flying and hiking... Stella and I worked towards a deadline for a paper, so we stayed late a couple of days at the university.

Christian managed to visit me once again in November, where he had a couple of (successful) job interviews. I had to leave him alone in Trondheim for a day, since I was invited to my grandmother's 70th birthday in Grenaa.

Now it's Christmas, or actually, yesterday was the last day of Christmas. I can tell by the tightness of my pants... Five days in a row with family Christmas lunches expands ones stomach such that on the fifth day you can really eat a whole cow (or here in Denmark, swine...). I always wonder what a Danish vegetarian Christmas is like - is it even possible? It could be, since my favourite Danish Christmas foods are risalamande (rice pudding) and browned potatoes (caramelised potatoes); I have the biggest sweet tooth.

Sadly, I never really got into the Christmas spirit this year. I didn't have my chocolate Christmas Calendar (which contains 24 small pieces of chocolate, counting down to Christmas) and most of the Christmas time in Denmark was spent on work and stressful Christmas shopping. I love Christmas, but I also very much hate it. I was lucky enough, though, to see Santa and his gnomes stranded in Oslo airport, Tom Hanks style.

New Year's Eve will be spent with Christian and some friends in Aarhus!

Your's briefly,
Fjeldkartoffelen

First day at NTNU!

Today was my first official work day at NTNU! Unofficially, I didn't really do much work. I went to the office at noon to join my new colleagues for lunch, got a tour of the office by my new supervisor, and had a small meeting discussing possible research directions for my PhD.

And, because I am a Dane, I went out and got a bike.

- Fjeldkartoffelen

Teisendammen

I can't believe I just moved to Trondheim

Yesterday I moved to Trondheim in Norway. Yes. I just moved to Norway. I've left most of my stuff behind, only bringing with me the necessary 23 kg + hand luggage. What more does a girl need?

It's no overstatement that I'm an experienced traveller by now, so it only took me half a day to pack my life into my suitcase, which has followed me many a travel. I have a list for packing, which I have refined year by year. I might post it later for those interested, however, there's an abundance of packing lists already online. I believe everyone's packing list looks a bit different (also depending on the destination and type of travel, of course). I'm sure Norway has surprises in store for me that my packing list could not foresee. For example, I didn't bring any gloves... (Okay, it's October, so I should've known it would be chilly by now.) Luckily, my fiance will be flying in in a week, and he'll bring the last few things I need. Otherwise, there are shops up here, too. (Who would've known?)

So, what am I actually doing here and how could that possibly make me leave behind my awesome fiance, you ask?

As some might know, I began my PhD in Aarhus in January, but for reasons I will not touch upon here, it was not the right choice for me. After a couple of months trying to decide what I should do with my life, I got an opportunity to embark on another PhD at NTNU in Trondheim, Norway. That is the short version.

So, I arrived in Trondheim yesterday, where I have booked an apartment for one month through AirBnB. I'm yet to meet my hosts, since they're out on "helgen" (weekend), which seems to be a common Norwegian thing to do. They made arrangements for me, so I could get into the apartment.

I've been travelling a lot as a tourist, but also semi-re-locating for 4-5 months a couple of times. The first day of a tourist and someone actually re-locating to the city is rather different. My first task yesterday was to do some grocery shopping. Okay, sure, some sensible budget tourists might do this too, but not me. First days as a tourist have mainly been getting some sleep because of jetlag or going out to explore the city right away.

My visit to the grocery store yesterday afternoon revealed something rather daunting. There is no proper bread up here! By proper bread I mean rye bread. And not that vacuum packed stuff, which is so dry. However, there's an IKEA in town, where (as we found out in Canada) you can buy delicious shake'n'bake rye bread. Yum! I'll have to check that out later.

I won't publish new posts every week, or even every month. I'm about to start a life here in Trondheim, so most days won't be too exciting.

- Fjeldkartoffelen