Norway Unwrapped

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A successful Wedding Day!!! The Sun-Goddess blessed us with one of the warmest days in Grimstad! The sky gave the purest shade of blue, and the ocean shimmered under the bright rays of the sun. There were kids playing on the beach, while adults turned all their attention on us! We walked down the aisle, surrounded by all our loved one! It was truly a day to remember! I'm so glad both my family and Julian's were able to attend. I will attach a picture of all of us when I get a chance to upload it!

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Praying for Sun!

Can someone please explain to me why it´s only 14 degrees celsius outside, when we are approaching July? I mean I know Norway is supposed to be cold, but not in the summer! The last time I spent my summer here, I actually saw sun and people having fun on the beach! Why hasn´t the tempearture gone up this year, yet? Is it global warming, Brexit, Donald Trump running for president, that finally angered the weather God and caused him to release all his anger on Scandinavia? Gimme´some sun already! I would let it go and not make a big scence about this, but my wedding day is coming up (in 2 weeks to be precise) andI don´t want to freeze to death in my strapless wedding gown! I can already imagine myself standing in front of a beautiful beach (don´t forget the icy cold breeze), while all my friends and relatives cough and shiver in the cold, watching as Julian and I exchange vows! Please let the sun come out! Also, we´ll be having a big family vacay (or a family honeymoon) right after the wedding. There will be much travelling and sight seeing, and I would much prefer to do all this with some (or lots of) sun!!! I thought I´ve had it with the heat, since my Julian and I just came back from our China trip (with an average temperature of 33 degrees celsius). Unfortunately, Norway has stripped me of all warmth, and thus led me to pray for some sun back! I must close my eyes and imagine that I´m on a tropical island, with tucans and squirrel monkeys playing hide and seek among luscious green trees. I can simply reach out my arms and grab any type of fruits I want, while laying under the shade of a large palm tree, savoring up all the sweet warmth of my surrounding. I am definitely not sitting in a cold apartment, with rain drops hitting my window, and the clicking sounds that I´m hearing right now is definitely not me typing about this rant on Julian´s laptop. Don´t wake me up!

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After spending 25 years discovering myself, or simply “being” myself, I’ve come up with a few life experiences of my own. I think I’m writing these down as a way to remind myself that even though I haven’t accomplished much, what I have accomplished (or simply lived through) is a treasure all on its own. :) Here goes: 1. Appearance (especially first impressions) is very important. Looking sloppy and untidy is NOT the same as looking “natural” and “down-to-earth!” 2. Hair is not just a part of you, but an extension of you (both for guys and gals)! When you are 25, you should know what suits and does not suit you…of course you can be eccentric and try new things, but c'mon, haven’t you had the first quarter-of-a-century to explore? 3. Try to establish a relationship and have realistic standards when seeking for a mate. Nothing in life is perfect, and guess what, you aren’t either! No one is :) *(3.5). If you are already in a steady relationship, don’t be afraid to think “long term.” I got married to my husband last year after only dating for a year. We had a long-distance relationship, and were away from each other for the majority of the time. Not wanting to be separated any longer, we decided to get married, and I moved from New York City to Norway! I guess what I’m really trying to say is that don’t be afraid to take chances, when you know it’s something worth fighting for. I think getting married was one of the best choices I’ve made before hitting the 25 year mark! 4. Live a healthy and balanced life. You are not 18 anymore, so any crazy party that you (mistakenly) went to (and got too drunk at) will get you (and get you hard) the next morning! 5. Try to find a job, even if it’s a part-time. When you are 25, you’ve sort of passed the age of living off of your parents. You can always be a dream seeker and explore your many interets, but please do so at your own expense. 6.Learn to cook some simple dishes that you like. Trust me, after eating out constantly, you want to stay at home and make yourself a cup of hot noodle soup or some secret recipe that you can only get from mommy dearest. ;) 7. Don’t worry about not having anything to boast about at a dinner party because hey, you are in your mid-twenties with a shit load of things going on, not to mention all the student loans that you still have to play off. But then again, you’ve made it this far, and you should be proud of yourself! 8. Start saving up some money if you can, since you never know when you’ll suddenly want to start a family, and it would be nice to have enough down-payment for a new car or apartment :) 9. Curb your shopping spree! Think aobut #8 before you add your next item in your shopping cart! Trust me, it will do you good! 10. Worry but don’t worry too much about life (or future). After all, you’ve only hit the quarter-of-a-century mark and there’s still a long way for you to go! So relax and enjoy the moment, and congrats on hitting mid-twenty! At last, I want to thank my husband for being with me on my birthday for the very first time!

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Arendal’s Drunks

Last Saturday I went out for the first time in Arendal (actually in Norway) with my husband for some post-bacherlar party fun. To my surprise, most bars in Norway only serve drinks (no appetizers, food, nada) and they are measured very specifically, since it's illegal to add a drop more liquor than the alloted amount. The average price for a coctail range anywhere from $12-15, but of course it could be a little more or less depending on the specifics. Like young people anywhere, Norwegians love to drink and dance and just act like a bunch of fools (and I say this in the least demeaning way). However, the real shock comes after all the party and fun, since with a little bit of liqour (or a lot in this matter), people become crazy. At around 2am, when all the clubs start shutting its doors (since everyone needs to be out by 2:30am by law), tipsy and out-right drunks start filling up the street. There are usually some type of verbal fight among a group of young men and women, and all types of profanity and racist remarks are out in the air. Sometimes I wonder, do Norwegians have a double identity or something, since they act so mild and friendly during the day, but as night falls and liquor enter their body, a warewoolf suddenly arises. As my husband, one of his friends and I wait in line (mainl just a crowed of people being pushed together), an argument breaks out because his friend got upset at a man for cutting the line (which is reasonable in every sense, plus it was raining and cold as hell that night). The woman who apparently knows the man who cut immeditately started barking at my husband's friend and started saying a bunch of extremely fowl and racism things. This is very upsetting because his friend was a full Norwegian, born and raised in Norway, except for the fact that he was not a Causcasian. Not knowing excatly what the conversation was about (since it was all in Norwegian), I did get a pretty good idea about the general situation from the context. However, I did not expect her to grab his neck as if to choke him, since I thought any educated person (or one who isn't a savage) would know better than that. That's when I got extremely angery (I'm usually a pretty low-key person) and started pointing my fingers in her face and yelling at her. Luckily, her cab came before more damage took place, but this night made me realize that in a country where I literally thought everyone is nice and friendly, there are still some rotten eggs that can make the whole room smell. As upsetting a fact as I have to admit, there are just racist and rude people everywhere. I guess I need to prepare myself mentally for crazies like her, since I'm a Chinese American, and in the eyes of Norwegians, I could very well be someone from a poor village in the most remote part of Asia fleeing to Norway for support. When can people really accept others who aren't like them? What is education really doing for us when people can't even show the least bit of humanity? What does this say about our surrounding and ultimately, what does this say about ourselves? I must go and have a cup of coffee and rest my mind for all these questions that I have no answers to.

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When you are in Norway, why not have Grandiosa for Thanksgiving? (the most popular frozen pizza in Norway)

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When you are in Norway, why not have Grandiosa for Thanksgiving? (the most popular frozen pizza in Norway)

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Handmade Black Forest cuckoo clock from Germany! #weddinggift #handmade #cuckooclock

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Apparently everything comes in a tube in Norway!

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Handmade Black Forest cuckoo clock from Germany! #weddinggift #handmade #cuckooclock

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The Importance of T-Square (post from 2013)

Hey guys, my name is Bea, a recent college graduate and someone who has been living in the same bedroom since she was eight years old. Up until I started cleaning out my room (yesterday), I didn’t know how much of a hoarder I had become. I thought, “Hey, why don’t I clean my room and get rid of some old stuff!” I knew I had let the Genie out of the bottle the minute I started digging under my bed! There were old books, folders, binders, pictures, gifts, a box of cloth tags, and many more bizzarre stuff that I never even knew I had!  

I literally have junk from almost a decade ago stacked compactly under my small twin bed. If it weren’t for the fact that I wanted to move out, I would never think of cleaning out everything that’s hidden under my bed. I was so surprised at the capacity of the space underneath my twin-sized bed, and it was just half of it. I found papers that I had accumulated throughout (almost) my entire college career, and enough SAT books to fill two rows on my bookshelf.

My plan is to dig out everything, sort them, categorize them, and THROW away as much stuff as possible. Unless, they have some type of a sentimental value, I will not keep any of them! I hope this is the first step toward a minimalistic lifestyle, I am tired of having so much junk in my life!

Sorry guys, let’s just digress for one brief moment. I just want to share a little insight that might be useful to you. When I was in college, I thought the most useless class was Visual Arts (sorry guys, don’t hate me for saying this!). I mean, being the unartistic person that I was, I dreaded nothing more than coming up with design ideas. Also, those crazy art supplies burned a hole in my pocket. I never understood why a plan sketchpad can cost up to $20. And my teacher was not shy about making us buy a whole list (litereally two full pages) of art supplies.  My most disliked one was the T-square! Not only was it expensive, hard to carry, it would also never fit into my bag! I had to dodge all the people I walked by, fearing that I might accidentally poke their eye out!

The T-square and I never really became friends, I would always use smaller rulers (that I can actually hold) to draw lines and such. But, everything changed yesterday! While I was trying to dig all of the junk underneath my bed, I realized no matter how hard I stretched out my arm, it was just too short to reach those books that were hiding in the abyss of my bed. At first, I thought about using a shoe horn, but because it was similar to a stick, it was hard to grab unto all the stuff that were stuck inside. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the shiny T-squar laying under my book shelf (I really had no where to put it), and a light bulb went off in my head. I reached for the metal body of the T-square and used the front part as a scythe (like the thing that the grim reaper carried), and pulled all of my things forward! It worked like a charm! Now I’m absolutely in love with it! So, the moral of this little rant is that owning a T-square (no matter how much pain it had caused you) can actually be an asset, especially when you are trying to clean!