So...Oslo

Finally arrived in oslo last night (saturday night)...i say finally, as not only was it a hellish journey on possibly the worst hangover ever, (after my leaving party in aberdeen friday night), but also finally, as its a culmination of events that were kicked off back in november 2006 when i first learned that my job in japan might not be guaranteed...so was a bit of a relief to finally get here last night in more ways than one.

to put it all in perspective, this is the 5th country that i have lived in in the past 12 months....5th country in 12 months...thats moving everything, upsticks and relocating 5 times! its incredibly hard to imagine that less then 11 months ago i was living in kuala lumpur with tami...jesus, what a year its been. malaysia, england, japan, england, scotland and now norway since the middle of july last year...i think its fair to say that enough is enough of feeling unsettled and living out of a suitcase.

the last time i was in oslo was in february for my interview...it was minus 9 degrees celcius that weekend and the place was under a blanket of snow...today i woke up and it was glorious sunshine, not a cloud in the sky. i decided to go for a look around, walked through the magnificent vigelandsparken park, took a few photos and sunbathed for a few hours (of course getting sunburned...i am english and inherently stupid when it comes to 'over-tanning' you know). i have to say, oslo seems to be where all of the beautiful people live...maybe theres an 'ugly-curfew' on sunday, i dunno...all the men look like tanned muscley vikings, and the ladies all wore bikinis and is fair to say that the 'ugly/good looking' ratio was highly favourable...decided there and then to join a gym asap...i havent trained since the marathon (february)...and was decidely embarrassed into getting fitter...

wandered around the centre of oslo. one of the many many good things about oslo is its so small, kinda like amsterdam, you can walk one end to the other in no time at all. i have to say, oslo is one of the most beautiful cities i have ever seen, the architecture is stunning...all over, and is something japanese cities are awful at, there is a distinct parisian/viennese style about the buildings here, so beautiful, and not just in odd pockets, everywhere. added to that the glorious glorious weather today, i was walking on air all day, mouth open agog (its a word...check if you dont believe me) at the sheer beauty of the place. i sat for lunch in the main square, reading the daily telegraph (broadsheet english newspaper) and thought that life couldnt really get much better than this. i had a huge sense of excitment all day, somewhere new i guess, i was so excited i wanted to burst at some points, the thought of living here and exploring other parts of norway properly, is such an overwhelming feeling.

is kinda weird though, ive been on 5 trips in the past 2 weeks, all on planes, so yesterday, it just felt like another business trip, on odd occasions, id be sitting there on a plane (i had to fly to denmark first), or in an airport, and id catch myself thinking 'im moving country'! which was a nice but scarey thought at the same time. ill be honest, it still feels like a business trip, partly because im living in a hotel i guess. hopefully it will sink in soon, but am very excited to be here...such such a beautiful place...i cant even describe how beautiful it is here.

start work tomorrow, and kinda getting a bit nervous about it now (sunday night), got to get there first!

my company has hired a relocation firm to look after a few things for me, so am being shown a few apartments tomorrow and tuesday...am very much looking forward to having my own place and nesting again...hopefully for a while this time

its funny, ive never really been sure about the whole leaving japan thing, and even now its not easy seeing photos of friends still there...it was such a difficult decision...but i think only today did i realise that it was infact the right decision. fingers crossed it is