My Brutal Welcome to the North

Ever since i have arrived in Oslo all i have complained about is the lack of snow they have. This is extremely rich coming from a girl who was born and breed in Durban South Africa, one of the hottest provinces in South Africa. Well i guess the snow was one of my main coming attractions. I firstly could not wait to build my snow man, to try skiing, have a snow ball fight and the list goes on. During the weekend my so called wish came true, in a massive way. The weather came from Friday having no snow at all on the ground to Sunday not being able to walk because of how high the snow is on the ground. Its always great to experience something new and something so natural. But my philosophy in life is to always have everything on a moderate level. I always say too much of a good think can be bad for you. So my snow has finally arrived and it feels like it has come in buckets and buckets. Let me just give you a preview of how these past few days have been for me.

1. Firstly walking on snow is not the easiest thing to do, i spend most of my time walking as slowly as i can to avoid the continuous embarrassment of looking like a humty dumpty. ( this morning my roommate said on the way to work, can we walk a bit faster please and i was like you go along i will take my time thank you)
2. Secondly when it is snowing and you are in my position trying very hard to co-ordinate your steps. The snow flakes that do not fall only downwards but feel like they coming from every side of your head hood does not help. So i have a hood on my head but still have snow flakes beating on my face and some even going into my scarf. Being able to walk and see is something i am yet to master while it snows.
3. While i was busy minding my own business walking on the side pavement i had to be the drying block of a bus that went past. I am not sure of i was walking to close to road or if i should have just followed everyone and walked where they were walking because when the bus went past it splattered tons of snow and muddy water on me and my poor boots.
4. I have also had to share public transport with a lot of eager people carrying the skies around and of course there is always the baby prams so this has left me in serious tight corners in transport especially during peak hours.
5. At this time of the year the sun is almost non-existent but the whiteness of the snow still shines through so that's a bonus.
So as i write all these things down i can almost not help how strange and different all of this feels to me. Moreover i cant believe how naive i was when i was watching all those movies that make snow seem like the most romantic natural scenery. So if that was the case why do so many people only get married in spring and summer. I cant believe how easy Jessica Parker made walking on snow in your stelletos look. This is my official snow welcome, it feels strange but today i am going out to build my first snow man and hopefully i will be in skies soon. I am sucking everything in and saying to myself 'Always be careful, what you wish for because sometimes you might just get it'. Over and above all of this, its really a beutiful site, it looks like the heaven have just put a white blanket on everything including peoples carswhich is not so great. I will be taking alot of winter pictures because this is definelty an experience.

I started volunteering at a drug addicts and prostitutes cafe called Marita Cafe here in Oslo. I go there every Tuesday from 07:00-10:00pm. This cafe has shown me another side of Norway or should i say Oslo. I have seen people that are outcasted by the community and people that you can absolutely shadow out if you don't look properly in between the lines. It felt strange for me to walk the streets of Norway in a freezing cold night looking for people that we can approach and tell that the cafe is opened and they can now get some porridge or coffee and tea and also just have a warm place where they can have someone to speak to.

Walking around with an experienced volunteer from Marita cafe, to the places know as the hot spots or the places where we can find all these people. I almost felt like i was in a different place or even in another country. So the question i ended up asking myself is ' What makes a person who grows up in a country listed as one of the richest in the world that also has so many opportunities end up in the cold streets doing drugs and living off begging in the streets' or even ' Are all these great opportunities for all people or do some people loose out as always'. I want to go Marita Cafe for the rest of my stay here in Norway because i feel like this is where i am going to feel the essence of the minority in Norway and see some realities that seem to be over shadowed. And to be honest minorities have always interested me. I think i will have more stories to tell from Marita Cafe so everyone must watch this space.

Better late then never!!

I decided not to make any new year’s resolutions this year, seeing that they are always the same year in and year out. My top one is always to loose at least 5kg through the year, but the opposite seems to happen every year. So this year I am starting on a new note, with no resolutions but just to enjoy myself, be happy and grateful for what I have. I am hoping this new way of looking at things will instantly make me loose the 5kg lol. Well a girl is allowed to dream right. On a serious note though I hope this way thinking will make me start a year without a new diet, or stress of failing in 3 months but instead just inner happiness and to be at piece with my self. Well as everyone knows I spent my very first Christmas and New Years Eve away from home. I was extremely scared as time went closer because I just did not know what to expect. I must say everything turned out great. I visited two different families during the holidays, and both of them were equally great.

They made me feel at home in every aspect, and were genuinely concerned about how I was feeling and if I was doing well. I was given so much attention that I felt like a kid again and it felt good. I remember on Christmas Eve I woke up to watch Cinderella and the three nuts. I found candy hanging on a sock just waiting for me, after that we decorated the tree while listening to Christmas carols. We all sand around the tree. On Christmas Day I had the opportunity to try luttefisk, no comment on that one but the bacon, steamed potatoes and turnip was great. My colleague’s father was the main chef during the days I was there, and he is such a great cook. The whole family was just really so great, and I would like to thank them for opening their home to me and letting me share Christmas with them. I hope one day when they visit my country I can do the same for them.

In News Eve all the GoCy in Norway packed their bags and went to Arendal to spend News Eve together. I must say I felt a bit uncomfortable about the fact that it was not only 2 people going to the same place but 4. I kept picturing how I would feel if my sister invited 4 people into our home during New Years Eve and to top everything off all these people are from different parts of the world. The family handled the whole situation very well; both Kristin’s siblings were great to us. Kristin’s mom was the main chef for these few days, and the food was absolutely great. On behalf of all my fellow Norwegian GoCy’s I would like to thank Kristin’s family for opening their home for a pack of people and make us feel so at home. I hope one day when they visit our countries we can do the same for them.

In the work front, I am currently working on an article for the scout magazine about Wold Thinking Day. I am working on workshops and presentations that I will do during my trip to London. I am really excited and the days are getting closer and closer. I am also working along side Solveig on ideas for a recruiting scout camp that will be opened to non-scout members. I am working on putting together a stay in Norway magazine that will be distributed in South Africa YMCA and to all my friends and family