Joyce's Travel Blog

South Korea✔ The Bahamas✔ England✔ Denmark✔ Sweden✔ Norway✔ Netherlands✔ Germany✔ Poland✔ Czech Republic✔ Scotland✔ Ireland✔ Canada✔

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Vancouver!

I finally got to travel again, using the President’s Day long weekend. This time, it was a completely different kind of traveling: spending a night in Vancouver with a group of 18 people. 

More than a month before the trip, I started the planning process since it was difficult to arrange for such a big group. As it got closer to the big day, my excitement built up, but my stress level also built up. I made sure that everything planned, but in the back of my head I knew something would go wrong no matter how prepared I was--and that instinct was right. 

On the first day of the trip, the first unexpected problem came up first thing in the morning: the cars we booked were not available at our pickup location. After about an hour of exploring our available options, we ended up renting three small cars instead of two mini vans. We finally hit the road after the stressful delay in the morning at the rental car office, where, for a few moments, I thought we would actually have to cancel the trip because we couldn’t get any cars. 

Throughout the three-hour drive from Seattle to Vancouver, I also faced a lot of troubles that made meeting up with other cars impossible, including almost lighting my car up on fire, and almost heading back home as soon as we crossed the boarder. Thankfully, everyone got to Vancouver safely. The group met up at Aberdeen in Richmond, and had delicious and authentic Taiwanese food for lunch. Afterwards, we headed to the Airbnb that made me experience how it is like to live in a large, fancy home like the rich families in the movies. For the rest of the night, we ate, drank, laughed, and appreciated each other’s craziness. It was a great opportunity to get to know each other more, and more importantly, take ugly pictures of each other.

On the second day, I woke up to a gloomy sky, and cried a little on the inside for having to explore Stanley Park in the rain later. We didn’t stay at Stanley Park for too long because it was wet and cold, but we did get some nice photos with the scenery. 

Afterwards, we split up into groups and explored the city in the afternoon. Gastown was definitely lively and beautiful, but I thought the whole city looked similar to Seattle, and throughout this trip I never felt like I was out of the country. At the end of the day, we ate dinner as a group and headed back home. 

Overall, it was a really fun traveling experience, because I have never traveled with such a big group. However, it was definitely exhausting and stressful to arrange for a big group. I definitely learned more about problem solving and stress management after this experience!

[joyce-deng-blog]

10 Things I Will Miss About Norway

I am so glad I was able to experience and learn so much about Norway in the 4 months that I spent here, but 4 months was definitely not enough. Time went by so fast, but I did get to create many amazing memories here as I explored the country throughout the semester. As my study abroad journey is coming to an end, I have summed up some of the most memorable things about Norway that I will miss when I leave this gorgeous country:

1.       Brown cheese & chocolate

There are not a lot of famous good food in Norway, but brown cheese is one of the traditional Norwegian food that I really like (though not everyone likes it). It is brown, obviously, and sweet and creamy with a special taste of goat’s milk. I also really like Norwegian chocolate, particularly from Freia, the most popular chocolate brand in Norway. They are just good chocolate.

2.       The view from my room

I live on the 4th floor on top of a hill, facing the seaside. I truly enjoyed seeing the beautiful city change its colors from summer to autumn to winter. Somehow the sky looked different every day and I was always amazed by the view every time I looked out the window.

3.       Feeling perfectly safe in a country

Norway has been repeatedly ranked as one of the happiest countries in the world and now I can totally see why. There’s just something about the calmness of the atmosphere and niceness of the people that would make you feel really comfortable living here.

4.       Learning Norwegian

I love learning new languages and I had fun learning Norwegian. Even though its complicated grammar and dialect variations drove me crazy while I was taking the class, Norwegian is a cool language and to be honest I will miss hearing it on the streets.

5.       The hikes in Stavanger

The trip to Stavanger was a special trip to me because that was the first time I got out of the city with friends, and challenged myself to many difficult hikes. It was very memorable to me because for one day I survived hiking in the rain (the first and only time I hiked in the rain), and the next day I survived climbing up a super steep hill in the most beautiful sunny weather there could ever be.

6.       Road trips

If I ever get to visit Norway again, I would like to do a road trip through the country and maybe do some camping as well, because I think the best way to experience the amazing Norwegian nature is to drive through the mountains in the narrow but almost-empty roads and say hi to some sheep and goats along the way. I was lucky enough to go on two road trips this semester, and the trips definitely killed my camera battery fast. I just couldn’t stop taking photos along the way and wished I could sit in the car and stare out the window forever.

7.       Chasing the northern lights

Normally, I get too lazy to go anywhere at night once I am home. However, over here, there was a true desire to see the northern lights inside me so strong that I always surprised myself by how motivated I was to rush outside with my camera-- no matter how late at night it was--and wait in the cold once there was a slight probability of the northern lights appearing in Bergen. Unfortunately I never got to see it in Bergen, but I did travel all the way to the northern part of Norway to chase the northern lights. It was an amazing experience but I won’t mention too much here because I already made a post over 800 words about it; but of course, 800 words were still not enough to describe how incredible the trip was.

8.       Spontaneous night walks to the “beach”

I often find myself doing things here that I would never find myself doing in the US. Going to the “beach” late at night in the cold is an example. I put “beach” in quotes because it isn’t a real beach with sand and palm trees, but a rocky shore by the sea. Twice when I was with my friends, we spontaneously decided to go there at night to hang out. It felt really nice to chat with friends there while enjoying the city night view as well as the beautiful stars in the sky. Even though we always went home when we were close to freezing to death, those were great memories we created together that I will definitely remember.

9.       Foto NHHS

Being able to join the student organization, Foto NHHS, at my school here was truly a blessing. I received photography training that I always wanted, and got to practice taking photos and working with studio equipment. In addition, it gave me many opportunities to do things I would otherwise not be able to do, such as taking photos with this special background, which is the oldest and by far the coolest room at school:

Most importantly, Foto gave me a home away from home and a sense of belongingness as I became more involved at school and got to know more fellow photo-enthusiasts through the fun events that the club held.

10.   Being surrounded by amazing nature

I’ve probably said this a million times already, but Bergen is a very beautiful city surrounded by mountains and water. I am so glad I got into hiking and was able to see the amazing city from top of its mountains. There are 7 main mountains in Bergen and I hiked up 6 of them this semester. I regret not being able to do all 7 but the weather changed too quickly and I never got a chance to do my 7th hike. It’s okay though, because that gives me a reason to come back.

There are many more great things about studying and living in Norway and the list can go on and on. For anyone thinking about studying abroad in Norway or just visiting Norway, I would definitely recommend it. I had a wonderful time here and I certainly hope I will be able to visit Norway again in the future.

[joyce-deng-blog]

11/3/16 - 11/6/16

Scotland and Ireland!

This weekend a group of us gave up studying for upcoming exams and traveled to Scotland and Ireland for 4 days. 

When we arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland, we were amazed by how beautiful the city was: castle-like, stone buildings everywhere; even the street we lived on looked like a movie set. After dropping our luggage off in our Airbnb, we headed right out because we couldn’t wait to explore the city.

Walking down the streets from our Airbnb to the Old Town, I felt like everywhere could be a scene in Harry Potter. 

Along the way we visited a couple of souvenir shops and I tasted the best shortbread cookies I’ve ever had in my life. We spent the rest of the afternoon looking around stores that sold wool and cashmere scarves in very Scottish patterns and colors, as well as stores that sold hundreds of different Christmas ornaments. At the end of the day, we went grocery shopping for dinner. Being used to prices in Norway already, we had a great time shopping at supermarkets over here since everything seemed so cheap. After cooking and eating dinner together, we ended the day by playing card games that got crazier than it should. 

For the second day we started with the Edinburgh Dungeon first thing in the morning. When we decided to do this as a group, my understand of the Dungeon was just a scary underground ride where we learn about the scary parts of Edinburgh history. To my surprised, this tour not only walked us through the history of the city, but also made it lively (and scarier) through live performances with professional actors and realistic effects. Although I normally don’t like horror movies, rides, or stories, I had a lot of fun this time because the tour was very nicely designed and performed. 

After the way too exciting morning, we visited the Edinburgh Castle and learned about Scotland’s war history and royal family. The city view definitely looked nice from the top of the castle hill, but we quickly headed to the mountain famously known as Arthur’s Seat after the castle visit so we can get an even better view of the city before the sun set. The climb was steeper than I thought but the view was also prettier than I expected in the golden sunset and purple sky.

At 5AM the next morning, we took an early flight to Dublin for a day. We efficiently toured around the city in about 12 hours, including the visit to the famous Guinness Storehouse. Throughout the day we passed by beautiful castles, cathedrals, and statues, but the highlight was of course trying Irish breakfast, Irish stew, and Irish coffee. 

Though we didn’t get much comfortable sleep (or much sleep at all) this weekend, I had a blast traveling with my friends, whether it was walking around the beautiful cities or just hanging out and chatting at night. I know that I will have to switch to studying mode when I get back but I’m glad I got to travel so much while I could, and more importantly, made awesome friends who were willing to travel with me.

[joyce-deng-blog]

10/28/16 - 10/31/16

Chasing the Northern Lights

It’s always been my dream to see the northern lights, but I never thought it was possible because the locations to see it all seemed too far. However, now that I am fortunate enough to study abroad in Norway, this dream didn’t seem so impossible anymore. Since the best time of the year to see the northern lights is in October and March, my friend and I used the last weekend of October to travel to Tromsø, the largest city in Northern Norway and one of the best places in the world to see the northern lights.

Our stay in Tromsø was three nights, which meant we only had three chances to see the lights. About a week before departure, I started checking the weather forecast every day to see the probability of the northern lights appearing while we are there. Though the aurora visibility was high during this month, the weather for that weekend was looking cloudy, so I was a bit worried before going. However, once we arrived in Tromsø, our Airbnb host assured us that there had been wonderful norther lights in the past weeks, and we would be able to see them at night, even just through our bedroom window. Therefore, my worry of not being able to see anything quickly shifted to not being emotionally prepared to see them yet. 

On the first night, we headed out as soon as it got dark outside, around 7PM. We walked to the closest viewing spot to our Airbnb apartment, which was a park by the beach. Being away from the city lights late at night, we both claimed that we were not scared, but mutually agreed not to talk about any horror stories. After testing my camera at random directions for an hour or so, we suddenly noticed a little green in the sky through the camera. However, we weren’t sure whether that was it or that was just some weird camera effects, since it only looked white from our eyes. While we were wondering whether we were actually seeing the northern lights or just clouds, there was suddenly a long strip of white lights across the sky right above us, and that was the moment when we were sure that it could not be clouds. Before we started screaming out of excitement, I took a picture of the sky to check--and sure enough, the sky was a clear, definite green through the camera screen. Then we started screaming and jumping up and down because the northern lights we had been dreaming about were actually happening. It was hard to capture the lights, but we tried and tried and took hundreds of photos because we didn’t want to miss any of those magical moments. Although it was 5 hours of staying in the cold and dark, it was definitely worth it because I witnessed one of nature’s most beautiful gifts. 

For the second night, we went to a lake where we could clearly see the sky from every direction. When we got there, it was still cloudy but we kept our hopes up. After setting up my camera, it started raining, so we sat there cursing the clouds, wishing it could disappear. Staring at the gloomy sky, I felt hopeless but kept waiting because the forecast said the sky would clear up later. Indeed, after about an hour, the clouds started moving away and northern lights started dancing for us. Luckily, the aurora activity was stronger than yesterday’s, and we saw more colors with our eyes. Throughout the night, the northern lights kept coming in waves, and we even saw some purple colors (very rare) at some point. It was like an amazing light show in the sky, but way better because it was created by nature and we never knew when it was coming. 

For the last night, we went to an empty field by the Tromsø bridge. It was harder to take pictures there because the only thing I could set my short tripod on was a soccer goal frame. It was difficult to adjust the camera to the right angle along with the right amount of extra lighting for our faces, but I used my creativity to make it work. Even though the aurora activity was not as strong as yesterday’s, we still saw some pretty green lights above the snowy mountains. 

This trip was one of the most special travels I’ve done because I never thought I could actually see the northern lights one day, and didn’t know it would be so much more impressive than I had ever imagined when I saw it with my own eyes. Although my photos don’t look nearly as amazing as the actual scenes, I’m glad I got some good photos that captured those moments and allowed me to share with my family and friends. We were so fortunate to be able to see it for all three nights; those three nights will have a special place in my heart forever. 

[joyce-deng-blog]

10/16/16 – 10/17/16

How To See A Tourist-Free Prague

We arrived in Prague around 7AM to a calm and misty morning. By about 8AM when we were able to check in to our hostel, people started appearing and the quiet streets were suddenly filled with voices, footsteps, and music. After walking around the city for a couple of hours, I thought the city itself was great, but there were way too many tourists. Since the buildings and streets were so beautiful, I was frustrated by how difficult it was to take pictures without anyone in them. We eventually got through the crowded main streets and found a cute cafe in a small alley away from the busy areas. It was nice to find some peace in that quiet neighborhood while tasting some delicious apple strudel.

Because we knew this city’s main tourist attractions were all crowded, we didn’t visit the Prague Castle until later that night. I thought it was a good decision because when we went up there, there were significantly fewer tourists and the night view of the city from the castle hill was amazing.

The next day we woke up at 6AM just to take photos of Charles Bridge before people started showing up, since it was too crowded to take good photos yesterday. Unfortunately, that morning before sunrise was very foggy, and it was impossible to take pictures of the view from the bridge. Luckily we lived right next to the bridge, so after getting some photos of the bridge itself and the empty street, we went back to the hostel. When we started hearing noises outside our windows again, we headed out for breakfast. Afterwards we walked to Strahov Monastery, a famous library in Prague. Instead of going to the popular Prague Castle during the day, I would recommend going up the hill leading to this library instead because the view of the city from this side was equally beautiful but the walk was more enjoyable since there were way fewer people there.

Another less popular walking route that I really liked was going towards New Town where the Dancing House is. I didn’t know whether it was worth it to walk about one hour just to see one building, but the view on the way was very nice, and I got to take pictures of Charles Bridge and the river from the other bridge. After a day of intense walking, we ended the day with some delicious Czech food and dessert.

It was hard saying goodbye to such a beautiful city and wonderful weekend trip. Besides the good scenery and food, I also gained some valuable traveling experience out of this entire trip: I learned how to travel smarter and plan better, and felt more confident in my wayfinding skills. I absolutely loved walking around foreign cities, experiencing different cultures, and trying different local cuisines.

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10/14/16 – 10/15/16

All About Polish Food

Before I got to Poland, I was most excited about trying Polish food, because I’ve heard a lot about how delicious Polish cuisine is from doing research about this place. Therefore, I already made a list of food I wanted to try before I arrived, and had high expectations for them.  After two days and maybe more than 12 meals, I can certainly say Polish food did not fail my expectations.

We arrived in Krakow around 7 in the morning, after an uncomfortable but much needed sleep on the bus through the night. When we arrived at the hostel that was only a 5-minute walk from the bus station, we were greeted by friendly staff with freshly made breakfast waiting for us in the kitchen. After breakfast we walked around the city to kill some time before we could check in to the hostel. What I like about Krakow is that the city center and the main attractions are all close to each other, so everywhere we wanted to go was within walking distance. We walked from the hostel through Florianska, the main street leading to Market Square. Through this short walk I was amazed by how beautiful, clean, and calm the city was. There was just something about the atmosphere that simply made it feel nice to walk down the streets of this little town.

For the rest of the day, the only thing I could remember was all the amazing Polish food I ate. My favorites included:

1.       Paczki (Polish donut) – I had one with rose fillings inside this super soft dough, with just the perfect sweetness level to make my life a little better than it ever was.

2.       Pierogi (Polish dumplings) – there are probably hundreds of flavors, but my favorites are the ones with mushrooms and meat. There are also sweet ones with fruits inside, but I still don’t know how I feel about them—strange but still tasty.

3.       Pastries – Going to bakeries is probably my favorite thing to do when I visit a new city. Krakow has so many bakeries, and all of them have lots and lots of delicious-looking cookies, cakes, bread, etc. I wish I could just walk into a bakery and try every single pastry it has. Actually, that doesn’t sound like a bad idea for next time; they are so cheap anyways :)

4.       Bigos (Hunter’s Stew) – meat and cabbage stew in a bread bowl. I was surprised that I actually kind of liked the sour cabbage. It is definitely worth trying!

As you can already tell, I really enjoyed my stay in Krakow because it was filled with lots of amazing food. I like how Krakow has lots of restaurants, cafes, shops, churches, and castles to visit, but it is also not overly crowded with tourists. I will definitely miss the wonderful walks around the city where we passed by beautiful buildings, talented street artists, fancy horse carriages, and of course, heavenly bakeries.

[joyce-deng-blog]

10/13/16

Berlin In 12 Hours

Since I am already in Europe, I want to use this opportunity to travel around as many European countries as I can, since these countries are relatively close to each other and flights are relatively inexpensive, compared to flying directly from the US. Therefore, I spent the weekend traveling around 3 countries in 5 days.

The first stop was Berlin, Germany. By now I have travelled enough that I don’t feel nervous about entering an unknown country. However, my biggest concern was meeting up with my travel buddy in Berlin, when we both didn’t have data on our phones. Therefore, before I left Norway I made sure we had a specific meeting place, since communication would be nearly impossible in Berlin, until we find wifi.

My trip from the Berlin airport to Brandenburg Gate went pretty smoothly. I was able to get to our meeting spot around 2PM, within my estimated time. Since we were meeting at Starbucks, I was able to get wifi access and send Jen a message. However, I had no idea how long it’d take her to get there, thus I could only stay there and wait. The wait was actually quite enjoyable at first, when I sat outside in the chilly autumn weather taking in the beautiful view of the streets of Berlin, as people walked by, leaves fell off trees, and large groups gathered in front of the famous Brandenburg Gate that was only a couple feet away from me. However, when it got past the estimated time that Jen was supposed to arrive, I was starting to worry since I didn’t know how much longer I’d have to wait, and whether she was doing okay. Thankfully, I received a message from her later saying that she was on her way. We eventually met up, and started our adventure together.

The rest of the day went smoothly since we did not have to worry about finding each other anymore. After studying in Norway from 2 months, it felt really nice to talk to another American about this experience. Even though we study in different countries, we had similar experiences and feelings about this special journey of studying and living abroad. We were able to talk about how we miss Seattle and enjoy Europe at the same time, and laugh at the typical stereotypes of Americans that we heard from others over here.

Since we only had a day in Berlin before we board a night bus to Krakow at night, we moved rather quickly from site to site. We first took our super touristy photo in front of the Brandenburg Gate, then walked to the Parliament Building (Reichstag). After that we took the bus, tram, and underground to the Berlin Dom, Alexanderplatz, East Side Gallery, and Checkpoint Charlie. Thankfully we were both fast walkers, so we were able to visit so many sites within a couple of hours. For dinner we had a curry wurst and doner kebab, both were must-eat Berlin foods recommended by my friend from Berlin. For the doner kebab, we got it from Mustafas’s Gemuesekebab, a small stand that was most famous for it. It was so popular that we lined up outside in the cold for almost an hour. By then the temperature was around 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and we were there shivering and constantly counting the number of people in front of us. Even though it was a long and tiresome wait, it was still worth it because the kebab was amazing.

We were lucky to be on this trip at this time, because it was Berlin’s Festival of Lights, when there were light shows on the iconic buildings around Berlin. Therefore, after dinner we went to the Concert Hall (Konzerthaus) to see the beautiful building that was even more beautiful with the lights shining on it. We ended our day at the Brandenburg Gate, where there were even more impressive light shows. Even though it was a short visit, I felt fortunate to see the Brandenburg Gate twice, during daytime and nighttime. I was so amazed by the architectures in Berlin and the history it brought out from walking around for about 12 hours.

[joyce-deng-blog]

Perception of Safety

One of the interesting things about living in a different country is that you get to learn more about yourself, and why you behave in certain ways. As the title already suggested, I will be talking about the perception of safety. 

Growing up in big cities, I was taught to beware of strangers. It seems common sense to me that I should not trust everything strangers say. However, this “common sense” is not common everywhere, now I realize. For example, how does “following a stranger into the mountain when you have no idea where you are going” sound? Definitely criminal to me. But in Norway? That sounds perfectly fine. And that’s exactly what we did on this hike. 

When we reached the top of the mountain, we were discussing which way to go back down. Suddenly, this elderly Norwegian man started talking to us and telling us the different paths we can go down from. He then offered to lead us down one particular path, where it would lead to a cabin that served free waffles. Even though my Norwegian friend communicated with him for us and the group decided that free waffles sounded very nice after the hike, I was still skeptical of such a nice offering, and slightly doubted that there would be any waffles at all as we walked through the mountains with this stranger.

The cabin turned out to be the cutest place ever, and the Norwegian man who took us there turned out to be the nicest person ever. When we finally reached the cabin, I could immediately smell the freshly made waffles, and there were a group of elderly hikers sitting outside, who welcomed us and offered us food and drinks. This was one of the best hiking experiences I had, because we got to enjoy the nature in a different way. I felt ashamed for ever doubted the guy, because he was so friendly and kind to us. 

I’ve always heard that Norway is a very safe country, and now I can actually picture how it’s like to live in a very safe country. Even though Norwegians typically don’t talk to strangers in public, the only exception is in the mountains. Norwegians would never sit with a stranger on the bus unless they really have no choice, but when they’re hiking they would say “hi” to everyone they meet. So when the elderly Norwegian man offered to take us to the cabin, my Norwegian friend completely trusted this stranger because the stranger also trusted us. This of course doesn’t happen in every country, which makes me realize how much our society shape our perception of the world. It was funny to see that my Norwegian friend didn’t have the slightest concern about following a stranger into the mountain, while another friend from Berlin and I secretly questioned this stranger a little bit before we reached the wonderful destination. 

[joyce-deng-blog]

Studying in Norway, As An American

It’s been about a month since I started school at NHH, and there are many differences between the school system and class structure here in Norway and in the US that I have not yet gotten used to. First of all, there are usually no homework assignments or quizzes; for most courses, 100% of the grade comes from one final exam, or a final exam plus a paper. This is good news to me because it means I need not spend time on small homework assignments during the semester; however, I know that it will become bad news towards the end of the semester, when an enormous amount of pressure is put on me to do well on the final exams. Even though the grading system is very simple, there are still other “assignments” that are mandatory, but do not count toward my grades. These are called “assignments for course approval,” which can be case presentations or reports that you have to do in order to be eligible to take the final exam. This is another system that I am not used to, because I have never been required to do an assignment that does not affect my grade at all. 

Although I have to adjust to a different educational environment, I am glad that I still have a slight advantage than most of the other exchange students, because courses are taught in English. This brings me to the topic of studying here as an American. To my surprise, there are very few American exchange students at NHH (only about 4 or 5). Since most of the other exchange students are not native English speakers, I am often the go-to person when others aren’t sure how to say something in English. For example, very often my friends would pause in a middle of a sentence when they aren’t sure about their word choices, and would look for my “nod of approval” before they continue speaking. I find that funny because I now seem to have an invisible label of an “English expert” just for being an American. In addition, since the US is always in the spotlight in world news, many people would ask me about the impressions they’ve had about the US. This is interesting because I would learn about what the rest of the world thinks about the US and gain a different perspective about my own country. This is especially true during this special election time: often times, 5 minutes into a conversation, someone would start asking me, “so who will you vote for?”

I think going on an exchange is such a special experience. Even though it requires me to get out of my comfort zone, it’s the best educational experience I could ask for. I am learning so much in class and, more importantly, outside of class because I am now studying with people from all over the world. Not only am I learning about Norwegian language and culture, I am also gaining broader knowledge about the world from the conversations I’ve had with students from other countries. I think that is the most valuable part about this exchange, and the best part about being an exchange student.

[joyce-deng-blog]

9/8/16 - 9/11/16 Cabin Trip With Foto NHHS I was thrilled to be accepted into the Foto club at NHH. One reason was that I have always wanted to learn more about photography, another was that joining a club is the best way to meet new people here, especially the Norwegians. Soon after the recruitment period was over, there was a 4-day road trip to Geiranger. Geiranger is one of the most famous fjords in Norway, and it is about a 6-hour drive from Bergen. On the first day we spent pretty much the entire day driving to our cabin site. It took way more than 6 hours because we stopped to eat lunch and to grocery shop; also, when you have a group of 23 photographers, you make frequent stops along the way to take photos. Even though it was a long car ride through narrow and curvy roads on the mountains, I didn't mind it at all because I could sit in the car and stare at the beautiful nature forever. When we got to our cabins, it was like a dream come true for me--staying at a cute cabin in the mountains was definitely on my things-I-want-to-do-in-Norway list. For the next two days, we drove around the area to various viewing points to take lots and lots of photos of the amazing Norwegian nature. We even visited a local chocolate factory in the Geiranger city center and tasted some unique, award-winning chocolate made with local ingredients. I really enjoyed this trip because enough time was dedicated to taking photos and chatting with each other over dinner, as well as after dinner. I also loved our cabin because it was small but cozy, and the interior had traditional decorations that looked like it was built a hundred years ago (it obviously wasn't that old--everything was in pretty good condition and wifi was available fortunately). I think that taking a road trip in Norway is the best way to experience its nature because you get to see a lot more in a car than on other forms of transportation. Also, you have the flexibility of stopping whenever something amazing comes up and you wish to get out of the car and take some photos. In Norway, that moment when an amazing view appears and you can't help but go out there with your camera will surely happen often. For us, that moment probably came up about every 20 minutes, so I got a lot of opportunities to play around with my camera in manual mode and try to capture the beauty of Norwegian nature in the best way possible.

[joyce-deng-blog]

9/2/16 - 9/4/16

Stavanger Hiking Trip

Before I came to Norway, I had never imagined that I would take a trip somewhere just to hike. So this weekend I took a road trip down to Stavanger just to hike. It was really exciting for me because I hadn’t gone on a trip by car in Norway and I knew it would feel very different from taking a bus or train. Also, the hike we planned to do, Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock), was a famous one; the last time I was in Stavanger I saw that rock from the bottom on a cruise, and now I would be able to see the same place from the top, on the rock. By now I have done several hikes in Bergen and fell in love with hiking on the beautiful mountains in Norway, so I could not wait to do more hiking in other cities.

The trip started out very well because the rental car was more spacious than we expected, and we picked a really nice and affordable Airbnb. Even though the weather was not ideal on the way there, it was still a nice ride through beautiful scenery with nonstop American pop music in the car (I was not the DJ of the group but somehow the others chose to play mainstream pop music and sang along through the whole car ride--it was quite an experience). 

On the second day we got up early because we planned to do Kjerag (the other famous but harder hike at Stavanger) first. However, there was a ferry that we must take to get there, and when we got to the ferry stop we found out that the last ferry was at 6:00AM and the next was at 2:00PM. Since the time didn’t work out, we had to change plans and do the Preikestolen hike first. Unfortunately, the weather that day was rainy and foggy. The weather was so unpredictable that we hiked in the rain anyway, since it would be sunny for a moment and raining the next second. It wasn’t too long of a hike, but the weather condition made the hiking more exhausting for me. I was a bit disappointed that I couldn’t get photos of the beautiful Lysefjord with a clear and blue sky when we made it to the top, but on the bright side, my hiking shoes came back cleaner than they were before I started the hike.

On Sunday we did a smaller hike at Månafossen, a long a powerful waterfall in the Stavanger region. The distance from the parking lot to the waterfall wasn’t long, but the hike was very tough. It was mostly steep steps and steep rocks where we had to climb up using the chains on the side. It was the scariest and most challenging hike I had done so far but also the most fun because it was a different kind of hiking. Since it only took about 30 minutes to reach the waterfall, we hiked further past it for another hour. By then the weather was super sunny and everything looked 100 times prettier under the sun. We walked, hiked, and climbed along the river and it just felt so amazing to explore Norwegian nature on such a beautiful day. 

Besides the hiking, I also really enjoyed the time we spend at our Airbnb. We cooked together, played board games, and watched movies at night. Since we were a group of five girls with three different nationalities, I learned something new about other countries and cultures everyday just from chatting with the others. It was a great weekend trip and I feel so blessed to be on exchange in such a beautiful country.

[joyce-deng-blog]

8/21/16

Hiking!

I spent the last day before school hiking one of the seven mountains of Bergen--the highest one, in fact. Prior to this day I had very little hiking experience, and none of hikes I did before were “legit” hiking like this one. By that I mean there were no paved paths or handrails, and you just go up the all-natural mountain at your own risk. Even though I have heard that hiking in Norway could be dangerous (and potentially fatal) if you are not careful enough or prepared enough, I was still really excited to finally do some hiking here because hiking is the most popular sport/leisure activity in Norway. In addition, Bergen, in particular, is also famous for its beautiful mountains surrounding the city, so I cannot miss the chance to hike up its mountains and see the city landscape from above. 

My first ever hike in Bergen was at Ulriken. We first took the bus to the closest stop to the mountain, then walked for about 20 minutes up the hill to reach the bottom of the mountain. When we walked past the neighborhood and finally reached the point where the hike “officially” began, I was already panting from going uphill. I then knew this hike was going to be way more difficult than I thought.

It took us nearly 2 hours to reach the top of Mount Ulriken, and I really didn’t know how I did it. The path we took to go up was not an obvious one, so we struggled to find the right way several times, and had to do some climbing to get past the big rocks. It was really scary because I knew if I fall anywhere during the hike, I would most likely die, since there were no fences blocking the edges or handrails for me to hold onto. Nevertheless, it was an amazing experience; the scenery I saw along the way was all I needed to keep me going. Even though I thought my legs could not handle this intense hike, I felt so accomplished when we got higher and higher, and that made me ignore all the pain and encouraged me to go on. It was so weird that when we were almost there and could see the very top, all the sore and pain suddenly disappeared and I felt a rush of energy that brought me all the way to the top with a wide smile. 

Even though hiking was super tiring, I really enjoyed it because the view from the top of the mountain was amazing. Even though I took a bunch of photos, none of them could ever be as beautiful as the view I saw with my eyes. This was a great first hike in Bergen, and I know it would not be my last. I am more motivated to go hiking from now on because Norwegian nature is precious and there is really no better way to see and experience it than to hike.

[joyce-deng-blog]

8/15/16 - 8/20/16

New Chapter of My Life

After 25 days of travelling, I finally got back to Bergen, Norway to start a completely new chapter of my life as an exchange student at NHH. This means a break from moving all over the place, but the fun definitely continues. 

The week of the 15th was Welcome Week at NHH. The events that they offered for new students were beyond what I had expected; they were different from the events I went to as a freshman at UW in many different ways. First of all, many (most) of the events involved drinking. This is pretty normal in Norwegian standards because apparently Norwegians don’t really make friends when they’re sober. Other than that, some of the events were Norway-exclusive that I felt so fortunate to be on exchange in Bergen. For example, there was a boat trip to an island, where we had BBQ and played games to get to know new people. Another event was river rafting at Voss, a city about an hour and a half away from Bergen. These were two of my most memorable experiences because I got to see more of the amazing Norwegian nature. 

Going on exchange is probably the best decision of my life because I have so many opportunities to see and do new things I’ve never done before, and somehow I become braver and more motivated to try new things when I am abroad. For example, I had always wanted to go rafting, but never had the courage to do it. However, I was so willing and so excited to go river rafting over here with other students I barely knew. I don’t know where my courage came from, but it was another best decision of my life because rafting was so much fun. I felt so blessed that my first ever river rafting experience was at probably the most gorgeous river in the world. Rafting through the rapid river was very intense and scary, but it was an amazing experience. I was so proud of myself for not falling into the water. 

For the rest of the week I also did fun activities with my mentor group, and got to know many new people from all over the world. I think the most valuable part about going on exchange is the people you meet and the new experiences you do together. It’s been an exhausting and crazy week, but I am now really looking forward to more crazy and fun things I’ll do here!

[joyce-deng-blog]

8/9/16 - 8/10/16

(Semi)Solo Adventures

For the last two days I had in Amsterdam I explored the city alone--something I had never done before. The thought of having to get around the city all by myself without Internet connection was a little terrifying at first (because I have no sense of direction), but at this point I already learned the major tram and metro routes to get to the city center and back home, so I decided to trust myself; also, I had no choice since Wei had to go to class. 

On the 9th, I spent the entire day visiting the major museums in Amsterdam. Thankfully it wasn’t hard to find the museums because they were all in the same area. The nicest thing about travelling alone was that I could go at my own pace: for some of the museums I power walked through, and for others I took my time reading every label there was, and enjoying everything in display. I visited: 1. Stedelijk Museum (strange stuff), 2. The Van Gogh Museum (amazing stuff), 3. Rijksmuseum (ancient stuff), 4. Moco Museum (cool stuff), and 5. Diamond Museum (shiny stuff). I cannot go on forever about the beautiful things I saw in these museums, but I have to point out that the Van Gogh Museum was by far my favorite museum out of all the museums I have ever been to. Van Gogh was already one of my favorite artists before I came here, but I didn’t know much about his life or the stories behind his paintings. After visiting his museum, I learned so much about his life and works, and was truly amazed by his paintings. What was best about this visit was that I got free postcards from the museum!

The next morning I also did some solo travelling in the city. I first visited the Amsterdam museum and then walked around the city at a slow pace, which felt really nice but weird, because I usually don’t get the chance to walk in a city with no purpose in mind, and just enjoy the street views and sunshine. I eventually made my way to the Rembrandt Museum to meet up with Wei, and we visited that museum, then the flower market nearby. At the end of the day, we went to a traditional Dutch restaurant and had a meal that was unique, interesting, a little questionable, and delicious. 

*Wei, if you are actually reading this, you (and only you) will know which “questionable” part I’m talking about ;)

[joyce-deng-blog]

8/8/16

Giethoorn

Coming to Giethoorn or not was a tough decision for us before we actually made it here, mainly because it was about 3 hours away from Amsterdam--just far enough to make us wonder whether it is worth it to go, but not far enough to make us give up the idea completely. Obviously, we decided to come in the end, because I thought I definitely would regret it if I hadn’t come. Therefore, after hours of train and bus rides, we got to this little village known as the “Venice of the North,” because the entire village has no roads for cars, and once you are in the village you can only walk, bike, or go on a boat ride.

Giethoorn is a unique town famously known for its houses with straw roofs and canals, which I took a lot of pictures of. However, the town didn’t give me the fairy tale-like feeling that I expected. To my surprise, the town was fully packed with tourists, which sort of ruined the peaceful and quiet atmosphere the town had back in the days (as I had imagined from looking at the pictures online). This was also the reason why we decided not to rent a boat; we knew we would probably be stuck somewhere due to traffic in the canals. I think that was a smart decision because walking around the town was very nice, and we could stop and take photos whenever we wanted. Due to the amount of tourists that were there, being able to take good photos of me looking like there was no one else in town had proved Wei’s photography skills. 

Once again, we spent an entire day taking photos and walking, which was very enjoyable and tiring at the same time. We ended the day with some overpriced but tasty dinner at the village, and managed to get home without getting lost as much as we did on the way here. 

[joyce-deng-blog]

8/7/16

The Windmills

The morning was gloomy and cloudy, which was what we wanted the least, because we made plans to visit Zaanse Schans, a village with traditional windmills and houses about an hour away from Amsterdam. When we got to Zaanse Schans, it started raining so we sighed at the pictures we took of the gray sky, and went inside the shops to stay dry until the weather got better. Luckily after lunch the sun came out, and we revisited every photo spot we had been to retake better and more exciting photos of the traditional Dutch windmills. We spent the rest of the afternoon there taking photos (of course), visiting shops, and learning a little bit about cheese-making and clogs-making. We headed back home around dinner time with souvenir mugs and cheese in our hands.

[joyce-deng-blog]

8/6/16

Amsterdam!

The past two days had been traveling days, from Bergen back to Oslo on the 4th, then from Oslo to Amsterdam on the 5th. This is when I said goodbye to my mom as I started traveling alone--well, not exactly alone, since my roommate was waiting for me at Amsterdam. Even though I was going to meet up with a friend, it still felt really different going without my mom, after 3 weeks of traveling together.

The Anne Frank House was my first stop today. We were lucky enough to be able to book tickets online because most of the tickets for the week were sold out, and buying tickets at the door required at least three hours of waiting in line. Therefore, we woke up early in the morning, and took the bus to the city center. We ran through the crowd and found the museum entrance just 2 minutes before the booked time, then entered the story behind Anne Frank’s famous diary. This museum was nothing like the other museums I had been to; I not only learned about her life, but also felt her life as I walked through the house that had been her family’s hiding place during WWII. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed inside, but the experience was too memorable that no photos were necessary to make me remember it. 

After lunch we took the bus to this beautiful castle-like Tropical Museum for some history and culture of the countries that the Dutch explored and conquered in the past. We then took a walk at the nearby park before going home for microwaved dinner with kdrama--something I had not have for way too long.