Denmark and Norway

I’m in Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. I’m waiting for my 11 hour transatlantic flight to San Francisco. From there I have another 6 hour flight to Honolulu. I’m on my way home to Honolulu having spent a month of winter vacation in Denmark and Norway.
I keep asking myself why Hawaii is so far away, why I had to choose to live in the most isolated group of islands in the world. Well – I guess it’s worth it. Worth the long, long flights. I know I’ll feel different about this flight tomorrow morning when I’ll be back on Waikiki beach with my friends. I’ll soon have forgotten how terrible I think it is to sit squeezed in between strangers in a small airplane 10 km. above the ocean for 11 straight hours. If I manage to get through customs without too much trouble I still have 6 more hours from San Fran to Honolulu. Most people think that when you’ve made it all the way to LAX or SFO you’re practically there. Surprise! You’re nooot… Don’t get me wrong. In the end I still think Hawaii is worth the trouble, and I also don’t wanna scare all the potential visitors away…
However, I do have one piece of advice to offer to everybody thinking about taking this trip. Do not start out with the worst hangovers ever when you board the first flight! Talking from experience I’ll promise you that hangovers are not going to make the 30-hour trip more pleasant. Especially not when you’re seated next to an 85 year old American man who insists on sharing his entire life story with you together with his famous cheese cake recipes. And when the children’s seat placed in seat behind you prevents you from laying your seat down. And when you have a nine hour layover in Dallas Forth-Worth Airport before boarding the transatlantic flight, hangovers, no badass hangovers, are a really bad idea. It’s actually rather simple. Simply do not go to Mooses on Tuesdays when flying out on Wednesdays. We all learn by our mistakes… I hope! Except from the fact that I have a sore throat and feel rather sick I think this trip will be more pleasant. No hangovers or long layovers. At least not if I make my connecting flight in San Fran. I tend to have trouble getting through customs; they always pull me aside into that small room and interview me. I’m always shaking thinking that they’re not gonna let me back in to the US. I think I’ve been in and out of the US too many times on too many different visas. It makes going through US customs very interesting…
I could go on and on about airports, flights and airlines forever, but I guess it’s really not that interesting for most people. Having travelled quite a lot the last few years I have come to feel very strongly about certain airlines and airports. And US customs for that matter. Let’s try not to dwell on that…
I’ve spent an entire month in Denmark and Norway. Two weeks in Denmark and two weeks in Norway. That’s the great part about being a student – my winter break is 5 weeks and summer break is… almost three and a half month I think. I get to go home and say Hi to family and friends – and not to forget… Celebrate Christmas in Denmark with my family and eat traditional Danish Christmas food, and go to Norway for skiing. This was my third year in a row skiing. I’m beginning to get impressed with my cross-country skiing skills. You have to bear in mind I’m Danish! Having grown up in Denmark I have absolutely no basis for skiing skills. This time I didn’t even say: “I’ll NEVER go skiing again” one single time during the entire week of skiing. I’m quite proud of myself. I’ll usually say (or rather… shout that) at Magnus at least once during a week of skiing. The funny thing is that I’m really serious and I mean it when I say it, but I’ll always end up putting the skis back on. But this year went very well, the weather was beautiful and I really enjoyed being in the snow. Even though the temperature difference was… Overwhelming. Leaving Hawaii the temperature was about 30 degrees Celsius, arriving at the cabin in Norway the temperature was minus 18 degrees Celcius. That’s a difference of almost 50 degrees! However, I had a really good time skiing in Norway and it was so good to see everybody again. Check out the pictures! I guess we’re boarding now. You’ll hear from me again when I’m back in my favorite island.

Flash Flood and Finals

Yesterday was crazy. Living here I’ve experienced quite a few flash floods before, but the one that hit Oahu yesterday was nothing like anything I’ve seen before. In one hour we had 100 mm of rain. By comparison, in Denmark it usually rains 450-850 mm annually. In twelve hours yesterday it rained 350 mm which is more than it usually rains in Denmark in six months. And I thought it rained a lot in Denmark!!

At 2 a.m. the rain and wind woke me up the first time. At 4 a.m. I was wide awake again, and around 6 a.m. I finally gave up on sleeping. I thought I would do the last desperate studying before my finals yesterday, but soon I discovered that we had no power. And since I’m on the 10th floor no power means no water. And no elevator… On Kuhio the lights in the intersection were out, and the police had to direct the traffic. However, the power returned by 8.15 a.m. and I was happy to be able to get in the shower before a long day at the university. Well, I could have spared myself the effort… Walking the 100 meters down to the bus stop I was literally soaked. The umbrella was useless because of the heavy winds, and when the bus finally came I had mascara running down both cheeks and I was soaked all the way to my underwear. No fun when you’re on your way to two final exams, and you have to be at the university for at least 10 hours, and there’s heavy air conditioning inside. I walked around the entire day yesterday thinking that I smelled like a wet dog… When I finally made it home by 8 p.m. there was a glass of red wine and tacos waiting for me…Thanks Hege! Exactly what I needed! I was supposed to go to Susanne and Hallvards for juling and bollefest, however, I was too exhausted and fell a sleep on the couch at 9 p.m. while watching a rerun of Grey’s Anatomy…

Anyways, I think both of my finals went pretty well, and now I have five weeks vacation! FIVE WEEKS! And that just for Christmas! Five weeks is what I had annually while working in Oslo. Next summer I’ll have 3 and a half MONTHS of vacation… Nice. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to work. Studying suits me pretty well…

I have 6 days left on the Island before I leave for Scandinavia. Tonight two of my friends have rented a mansion out in Hawaii Kai, and they’re hosting a biiig pool and Jacuzzi party. I think 75 people have been invited, I can’t wait. I don’t have to worry about studying for any finals or getting up in the morning for a change. I’m exited.

I was planning on spending the last six days before I return to Denmark on the beach trying to get a nice tan, however, it doesn’t seem like the weather agrees with me on that idea. I might return home as pale as the rest of you guys – haha…
Gotta go. I’m off to Ala Moana for some Christmas shopping!! See you soon!