This will be a long post, just to tell you straight away...
So, I'm back in The States. After 16 hours of flying from Oslo to Frankfurt to San Francisco, I am back. I got home at 4:20pm SF time (1:20am Oslo time). My ex borrowed by car while I was away and she took good care of it. She picked me up from BART and I got to drive my car home. God, how I missed the feeling of driving. Sure, mass transportation is much more convenient and cheap than driving, but it's also lacking that FEELING of speed. I also got to sleep in my big comfy bed for the first time in 3 weeks. It felt GREAT. Despite my massive jet lag, I am forcing myself into a normal sleep schedule here and slept a solid 7 hours before I had to wake up and travel again...
So I got home Friday, and had to get up early Saturday and fly to Ontario Airport in Southern California. My brother graduated from university yesterday and I had to go celebrate with him and the rest of my family, otherwise I might have stayed in Oslo longer. So I flew down there and then drove back with my parents, who were already there, today. On the way home we stopped in Milpitas and celebrated my birthday at Outback Steakhouse. I had the best damn filet mignon! Nice
Now I'm finally home. No more traveling for a couple weeks til I go to Mount Rushmore with my roommate and other friends May 19th. Overall, I'm happy to be home, but I both miss very much the numerous new friendships I made, and have some thoughts to share about each one of those new friends, if I can remember to name them all... If I forget you, please notify me and I will update this blog.
So here we go, in no particular order, my messages to my new friends...
Truls: You sir, are super cool. You made me laugh a lot, and you got my back when it comes to the web team. I quickly learned not to try to keep up with you in drinking. You are much taller and bigger than me, and that would probably get me killed. It nearly did, twice, while I was there.
Janne: You are very skilled in design and you were fun to hang out with. Just like one of the guys almost. Thanks for being so supportive and answering all my questions. Keep up the awesome print work and let me know if you ever need any help or advice with anything
Arnfinn: You also answered many questions for me and gave me a precious insight on the innner workings of Norway, politics, and photography. I will surely prepare a keg when and if you ever make your way out here to SF. Thanks for being a good buddy.
Putri: You are super cool and I love spending time with you. Cya next time I'm in Oslo. Lay off the nutella
Bernd: Dude, you crack me up. I love your goofy way about you. You seemed so serious at first, but I quickly discovered the real you. In many ways we are alike, but we are also very different. I felt a good bond with you and I know that things will go well for you in Oslo. Keep in contact and keep things interesting for the girls while I'm gone.
Anna: Baby, I wanna butter your bread Haha. I love flirting with you Anna, cuz you make the best comebacks. Probably the first Polish person I've ever met, you rock! Keep those fires burning hun. Daddy will be back soon Haha.
Zara: Sorry I thought you were British at first. Haha! You are a very cool chick, and I enjoyed our common English-speaking bond. You gotta show me around the land of kangaroos and koala bears someday
Jason: Hey my Canadian cousin! You're a neato guy! I had a good time hanging out with you and Espen. Ping pongers for life! "Steve, you're so weird!" Awesome.
Eric: You are the kareoke master!!! I bow down to your skills. Thanks for relating on all the North American stuff only you, me, and Jason knew. That's what she said
Espen: Thanks for all the free Opera swag! I'm totally pimping it out back here in the states. You can expect to still hear a lot from me about My Opera and just general craziness. Thanks for helping me stay entertained in Oslo. Came hang out in SF real soon! I'll show you the fun side of it You're a good friend. Cya soon buddy!
Uliana: You are a walking confusion. You're nice, then you're mean. Feisty girl. At least you're hot, so it helps. Seriously though, you are a really fun person to hang out. I love teasing you, but it's only cuz I love ya. Thanks for finally talking. Haha. Cya soon!
Joyce: I met you late in the game, but you definitely made an impact on me. I love your giant smile, your enthusiasm, and your man craziness. Hope to see you and Jason married next time I come over. Haha North Americans unite!
Everyone: I miss you all very much already. I may have wanted to come home, but I really wasn't ready to leave all the cool people I had just met and made great new friendships with. As I type this, I even get a little teary cuz you seriously meant that much to me. I love all of you very much and am always here if you guys need anything. Please keep in contact. You know where to find me. I'll see you all very soon. If you wanna speed up the process, help me convince Ben to send me out there again this summer. Miss you! Love you!
Since I've basically shown you all the basics of what goes on here daily, I won't be posting a blog every day here now since there's not always something that interesting to mention. Here however is a summary of what happened this weekend...
I got invited along for a 2 day trip to the mountains northwest of Oslo. I've met some students here that were planning a trip with other students in the area to go camping in a primitive cabin in the snow for 1 night. It cost about 400 kroner ($80 USD), so not bad at all. The following is what happened...
Sorry for the delay. I went camping in the Oslo mountains this weekend and wasn't able to post. Catching up now. Got some GREAT pics and videos from the cabin trip. Stay tuned!
Well, I wasn't able to get around to video blogging today, so I thought I'd go the old school way and WRITE something. Weird, I know, but bear with me Here's a short video of some of my walk to work...
Monday was my first day at Opera HQ in Oslo. Man, this place rocks. I wish this facility and all the cool people were near me in the US. Alas I only get to spend a couple weeks here, then it's back to Mountain View.
"Why is it so cool here?" you ask???
The people are really friendly, and there are over 50 nationalities here, so there are so many languages and cultures all coming together. I have to admit, not understanding Norwegian is somewhat of a hinderance when I'm trying to eavesdrop, but it's cool anyways. I've already made several new friends and I look forward to making more while I'm here.
The Canteen is awesome. It's basically like your school cafeteria of old, but on steroids. Every day they have a specific main dish, and then you can accompany that with salad, bread, meat, cheese, and many other tastey things. To drink there is coffee, water, OJ, AJ, hot chocolate, etc. Lunch is from 1130-1330, but you can go anytime of the day and get drinks or make a sandwich.
The building is kind of old on the outside, but I really like the inside. It's very modern looking and each employee has plastered their office/desk with various personal touches.
The environment is very casual and easy-going. Everyone is friendly and although Opera has a very serious mission of becoming the most-used browser out there, it's all done in a way that makes you WANT to work here. I worked 10.5 hours yesterday and barely noticed it because it was almost kinda fun. Haha.
December 2009February 2010
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