I picked up my passport with my visa in it at the postoffice today. Strange to see my visa in my passport. I really am going now. I looked at flights today, but didn’t buy any. It feels a bit daunting + the flight I thought was really cheap was actually not that cheap because the quoted price was without taxes. I will have to so some research before I decide on a flight.
God’s peace is still there. I am thankful for that peace.
And the funny story…well, it might be funnier for me then anyone else, but I’ll write it anyway so I don’t forget it:
(De)touring in Oslo
After waiting for ages for the train from the airport in Oslo, and then getting a very slow train (i.e. stopped a zillion places before reaching Oslo- I think it was a local train as opposed to a regional one), I made my way out to the busstop outside the trainstation to get bus number 37 to my brother’s flat where I was going to spend the night. It was already past 10 pm and so it was a little bit scary to stand outside in the dark in a not deserted, but quite empty city with the skyscrapers and roadworks all around. Following clear instructions I went to the busstop which was ”on the big road just outside the station”. The busstop was easily found and yes, it had bus number 37 due to arrive at 22:32. I stood there waiting and observed the people around me. A young lad carrying a plastic bag asked me for money, a girl was sat at the busstop listening to her mp3-player and teksting on her mobile, and a group of people were saying their goodbyes and parting ways.
At 22:32 bus number 37 to ”Helsfyr” arrived and I got on. Somehow I managed to find the machine where I stamped my day-pass and sat down. The bus had a monitor in it which showed which stop it was at and the next 4 stops along, so I figured it would be no problem to know when to get off. After all, I knew my stop was ”Sagene”, and I knew they also announced the stops along the way. There was really no way it could go wrong, or was there…
Having arranged with my brother that I’d give him a call when ”Sagene” appeard on the screen, I payed close attention. The bus drove along and stop after stop appeared and then left the screen, but no ”Sagene”. When I spotted ”Helsfyr” at the top I started to think that something was not quite right, and when no other stops appeared after it I knew that getting the bus wasn’t as straightforward as I’d thought.
At ”Helsfyr” we stopped and everyone got off. I strolled up to the busdriver (after the rest of the passengers had left) and politely enquired if the bus would be stopping at any point at ”Sagene”. Thankfully the busdriver said that he would be stopping there, but he also confirmed what I had already figured out: I had taken the bus in the wrong direction. Without making me feel like a complete tourist (bless him) he informed me that he would be leaving in 10 minutes. I sat back down in my seat and spent the next 10 minutes thankful that I hadn’t had to find alternative transportation back to town and listened to the busdriver’s music.
When we finally stared off again (in the right direction this time) my brother rang me to find out why I was taking so long, and obviously felt a tad bad that he’d not explained that I was supposed to have crossed the road to get the bus. I reassured him that it was fine, and said I’d ring him as earlier arranged when ”Sagene” appeared on the screen. We drove along and passed the trainstation. Just past it we were stood for ages at a trafficlight. Two men outside seemed to be in a dispute and it seemed like one was really angry and took the other ones’ bike…or had the other one taken his bike in the first place? I don’t know, but the one man was really angry. In front of a department store three men were busy raking some kind of gravel, and even at that late hour there was a decent amount of people out and about.
God’s peace is still there. I am thankful for that peace.
And the funny story…well, it might be funnier for me then anyone else, but I’ll write it anyway so I don’t forget it:
(De)touring in Oslo
After waiting for ages for the train from the airport in Oslo, and then getting a very slow train (i.e. stopped a zillion places before reaching Oslo- I think it was a local train as opposed to a regional one), I made my way out to the busstop outside the trainstation to get bus number 37 to my brother’s flat where I was going to spend the night. It was already past 10 pm and so it was a little bit scary to stand outside in the dark in a not deserted, but quite empty city with the skyscrapers and roadworks all around. Following clear instructions I went to the busstop which was ”on the big road just outside the station”. The busstop was easily found and yes, it had bus number 37 due to arrive at 22:32. I stood there waiting and observed the people around me. A young lad carrying a plastic bag asked me for money, a girl was sat at the busstop listening to her mp3-player and teksting on her mobile, and a group of people were saying their goodbyes and parting ways.
At 22:32 bus number 37 to ”Helsfyr” arrived and I got on. Somehow I managed to find the machine where I stamped my day-pass and sat down. The bus had a monitor in it which showed which stop it was at and the next 4 stops along, so I figured it would be no problem to know when to get off. After all, I knew my stop was ”Sagene”, and I knew they also announced the stops along the way. There was really no way it could go wrong, or was there…
Having arranged with my brother that I’d give him a call when ”Sagene” appeard on the screen, I payed close attention. The bus drove along and stop after stop appeared and then left the screen, but no ”Sagene”. When I spotted ”Helsfyr” at the top I started to think that something was not quite right, and when no other stops appeared after it I knew that getting the bus wasn’t as straightforward as I’d thought.
At ”Helsfyr” we stopped and everyone got off. I strolled up to the busdriver (after the rest of the passengers had left) and politely enquired if the bus would be stopping at any point at ”Sagene”. Thankfully the busdriver said that he would be stopping there, but he also confirmed what I had already figured out: I had taken the bus in the wrong direction. Without making me feel like a complete tourist (bless him) he informed me that he would be leaving in 10 minutes. I sat back down in my seat and spent the next 10 minutes thankful that I hadn’t had to find alternative transportation back to town and listened to the busdriver’s music.
When we finally stared off again (in the right direction this time) my brother rang me to find out why I was taking so long, and obviously felt a tad bad that he’d not explained that I was supposed to have crossed the road to get the bus. I reassured him that it was fine, and said I’d ring him as earlier arranged when ”Sagene” appeared on the screen. We drove along and passed the trainstation. Just past it we were stood for ages at a trafficlight. Two men outside seemed to be in a dispute and it seemed like one was really angry and took the other ones’ bike…or had the other one taken his bike in the first place? I don’t know, but the one man was really angry. In front of a department store three men were busy raking some kind of gravel, and even at that late hour there was a decent amount of people out and about.
Finally, after spending maybe an hour on a busride which should have taken 10 minutes I saw ”Sagene” on the screen, and shortly after I got off the bus. I met my brother and walked the 2 minutes to his flat. I was a bit tired, but looking back I do find it all quite amusing, and I am also curious what ”Helsfyr” is…”fyr” means ”lighthouse” in Norwegian, so maybe it’s some famous lighthouse or something. I will probably never find out, and I doubt I’ll be heading in that direction again. But then if it does turn out to be a place to have seen in life, I guess I could claim to have been there, at least sat in the inside of a bus at the ”Helsfyr” busstop.