(T.V. episode link is at the end of the post!)
There are many reasons to travel, we want to try new
food, see beautiful landscapes, and immerse ourselves in an unknown culture.
But probably my favourite part of traveling, is getting to meet other people.
Now that I think about it, people are probably just my favourite thing in life. There
is nothing more diverse than humans (okay maybe there are more species of
insects or something but you get my point). Each with their own stories to
share, countless components that make up an identity, layers of feelings and
emotions, as well as having the ability of send someone to the moon (try doing that, insects!). But
all jokes aside, humans are amazing creatures and getting to meet someone from
another side of the world that has grown up in a culture completely different
than mine is absolutely fascinating. So let me introduce you guys to some of
the kindest people I have ever met.
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| This is Eirik, our tour guide for the Munch museum, never have I been so interested in visual art as when Eirik talked about it. |
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| This is Annett, one of our two kayak tour guides in Oslo, here she is showing us how to peel fresh Greenland shrimp! |
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| Renate (left) and Martine (right) took care of us the whole entire time in Oslo, and taught me so much about living in Norway. |
I already mentioned that the Norwegians really care
about their quality of life, and it really showed even in my first moments in
Norway. There was an air of contentment all around me as everyone seemed to
enjoy life. I have to admit, the thought of “will I experience racism in a
place that does not have many visible minorities” definitely came up. After all
I grew up in one of the most multicultural cities, if not the most in the
world, Toronto. But I’m thankful to say, I experienced nothing but hospitality
and kindness, and an abundance of it!
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| This is (left to right) Bol, Camilla, Blanca, and Christian, the family I had the pleasure of meeting in Son, such genuine and beautiful human beings! |
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| This is Knut, the kayak guide from Camp Son, he gave me a hat he crocheted! It is now my new go to winter hat! |
One of my favourite moments in Norway was the time
that I spent with a family in Son, as well as our region guide, a kayak
instructor from Camp Son, and the DreamJobbing team. We took a boat out to this
small island that had a small wooden house on it. I learned how to catch crabs
from the two small children, snorkeled for mussels/oysters, and just enjoyed a
delicious home cooked meal with these people who went from being strangers to
almost a family in a matter of hours.
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| This is Anders, the food blogger with such rich knowledge about Norwegian food. Also quite the pleasant dinner company! Check out his blog www.andershusa.com |
Another interesting person I met was Anders, a
food blogger that I started talking to in the Mathallen Oslo, because
he told us about the history of reindeer meat. During my free time we ended up
going out for dinner at this beautiful restaurant (check out his post about our experience here http://andershusa.com/vaaghals-restaurant-oslo), and had some of the
best food I have ever had in my life. Anders became a food blogger due to his
love for food, and as food was one of the biggest topics that I was interested
in, he was able to shed a lot of light on both traditional Norwegian cuisine,
and new Nordic cuisine. He was funny, friendly, and ended up being from the city
that we were headed to the next day, Stavanger, so he was able to give me more
tips about what to see and even who to meet in the city.
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| This is Tobias, the chef at The Thief, he fell in love with food as he watched his grandma cook from a young age. |
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| This is Anton, the head chef at Egget in Stavanger. They create their menu every morning depending on what ingredients they get for the day, so their food is always fresh and delicious. The customer never knows what to expect, and there's no room to be picky! |
The person Anders connected me with was a chef named
Karl Erik, the owner of the Fisketorget Stavanger (the fish market). Karl was
such a joyous person, as I witnessed him serving each person with fresh
seafood, he also did it with the biggest smile on his face. He genuinely
enjoyed sharing his food with each customer and his spirits lightened up the
whole room. Karl Erik was only one of the many chefs I met on this trip, each
chef that I got to come across had a different story, and different reasons for
why they loved food. Some were very quiet in demeanor, while others had the
attitude of “I serve whatever the f*** I want, if the customers don’t like it,
they can leave”, and of course, this restaurant was packed. As I talked to each
chef, I fell in love with each of their stories, and hearing about how much hardship they had
to endure and overcome to be doing the jobs they were doing now.
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| This is Reidar, the artist who had spent over 30 years building his fictional model city, and it definitely showed. |
Another inspiring man was an artist named Reidar,
who had a couple of museums dedicated to all the art he has created. This man
was an artist in every way possible, he not only made paintings and sculptures,
but also a perpetual motion machine, bred fish that were not supposed to be
able to survive in cold water, to be able to survive in cold water, as well as
the most detailed fictional model city I have ever seen. He was extremely genuine
and unabashed, when I asked him why there were so many sculptures of naked
women, he replied, “because I’m a man, I love women!” And when I asked him about
what tips he could give me as an artist, he told me to “look through the camera
like you have never seen before, by crawling on all fours, putting the camera on
the back of your head, and just put the camera on your dick and see what kind
of images you get!” Needless to say, I laughed quite frequently in his
presence.
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| This is Bjorn, a tour guide at the Oscarsborg fortress. His deep love for history and wanting to share that with me was very evident and I was captivated by his stories. His insight allowed me to get a deeper understanding of Norway's history. Our time was cut short due to time restraints and there was a sadness about him as we parted because he couldn't show me everything he had wanted to, which not only made me admire him more, but also more curious about Norway. |
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| This is James, an expert on street art, and the manager for the Nuart Festival that happens in Stavanger every year. |
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| This cute couple Aud and Evan, are the proud owners of Aegir microbrewery in Flom. I'm not a big fan of alcohol, but gotta admit, there were some pretty darn good beers there, not to mention the amazing food! |
Of course it goes without saying there are so many
other people who made my experience in Norway an amazing one, but if I wrote
about each person this post would turn into a book. I do earnestly have to
thank my sponsors and each person at Innovation Norway USA, who made this
entire dream experience possible, the DreamJobbing crew for being my mentors
and my best friends on the trip, and of course my friends and family back at
home who believed in me to no end, even to the point of making their friends
who don’t know me vote for me. Thank you all so much for making a dream come
true and crossing quite a few things off my bucket list!
AND NOW FOR THE CULMINATION OF MY TRIP! You guys
have all seen my picture but while I was in Norway, the DreamJobbing team
filmed my experience in Norway, and it’s finally out! You can watch all my
stuttering, awkward posing, and of course, the beauty of Norway, right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIbM8M0uI6Q
