The potato has landed in freezing snowy Norway.

Traveling alone with no clear purpose is a strange thing. When you’re traveling for business, even if you’re alone, your purpose is what guides you and anything extra that you do is a nice bonus. But arriving in a whole new country with absolutely nowhere to go? It’s a strangely freeing feeling. After a whole year where every action was spoken for, this freedom is an alien feeling again. I can choose whatever I want to do on my own terms and no one can tell me to not do it.

First of all, I love the cold. There’s snow everywhere. The trees are bare, the sun sets so early, everyone is covered in cloth from head to toe. Would I live like this forever? Hell no. Wearing all these layers takes way too long and I have no patience for that hassle everyday before I go to work or before I go out. God bless our simple kandora life. Wouldn’t trade that for anything.

What does the city sound like? Strangely silent. I like noticing what a city generally sounds like. The tram whirs away and whooshes to a halt. The train takes off with almost no warning. The people huddle around together and quietly talk about whatever. The weekend came and most of the cars were heading away from the city rather than towards it. Music in the cafe I was sitting in was an upbeat dance song but was played at a low volume. You get the idea. Everything seems private and quiet and in its own world. At least that’s my experience so far.

The people keep to themselves as all people do, but when I bother them for directions or thoughts on what I should do, they spring into action, excited that someone wants their help. It’s lovely and refreshing and kind. I love how thoughtful everyone is and how kind they have been with their ideas and observations. I was leaving the train stations trying to find my hotel and when one person couldn’t help me, another very kind man, who I didn’t even look at or ask to help me, came and started asking other people for help with me and wanted to guide me to the door of the hotel. What a kind gentleman, I like him a lot. My first encounter with a Norwegian was a gentleman next to me on the airplane who was really excited and enthusiastic to learn more about Emirati culture and how we court women and live amongst ourselves and how we lived with so many expatriates in our country. All this and I’m technically alone. Such lovely people.

My first day was your average tourist sightseeing experience. I got to see their Royal Palace, an old military fort, tried a restaurant, and walked a lot. The shops close early and life moves from office to home quite quickly, but what I did see I really enjoyed. The city is beautiful and relatively clean. Despite it being a capital city, Oslo is pretty small and very easily walkable as long as I’m dressed properly. The names of places are very hard to learn. I can’t find the logic behind me being able to remember a name like Aker Brygge. It doesn’t feel immediately memorizable but I can’t exactly complain. I mean try memorizing some of our road names if you’re a foreigner living in the Emirates, haha. I can imagine it being hard; What is a Garn Al Sabkha?

One thing I did easily notice and remember was the abundance of nice cars. Norway is very wealthy in natural resources and they have a sovereign wealth fund worth over a trillion US dollars. That, coupled with generous benefits like free healthcare, free education (and that’s free through university as well) probably helps propel them up the social ladder pretty quickly.

My second day was way cooler, both literally and figuratively. I walked over to Hertz, picked up a car, and planned my day to go skiing at Norefjell. I learned how to ski when I was a bit younger in school and I loved making days out of going to Ski Dubai when I’d just go down the slopes over and over again. It was a very nice way to spend a summer’s day back then. I thank my parents a lot for funding that little hobby now that I’m here.

Anyway, so I get the key for this… Opal (What is an Opal?) and get in to find a manual transmission. A manual transmission. In 2019. God, I haven’t used one of these in a long time. Did I even remember how to drive a manual? Hell yes. I buried my foot in the clutch, started the engine, put it into first, and slowly lifted off to get the car moving. It was very fun and involving.The drive would take about two hours to the slopes I was visiting. And the roads in Norway are oh so nice. First of all, they curve. Second of all, they rise. Third of all, they drop. Couple that with a manual transmission and tight roads and I’m dropping gears, speeding up slowing down, and turning the wheel the whole time going. The icing on the cake was the icy mountain road at the end I had to maneuver to get up to the ski resort, which was as fun in a manual as I could have hoped for.

The resort itself was this cozy wooden place with like the best hot chocolate; I kind of want to go back and have another now that I think about it. The whipped cream had me whipped, guys. Whipped. Anyway, I get my skis and I look down at the beginner slope and I’m like Hell no, I can’t do this. So I go over to the baby slopes and try to do a few round of that just to refresh my memory and then, it was just a beautiful day. I’ll drop a few pictures because honestly, those will do better for you than me saying anything.

Hello! That’s me on maybe my fourth time down the slopes.

This was the first thing I saw before I said I need a refresher on the baby slopes. Notice the sudden drop right after where the four skiers are. It was pretty scary for me. And this was the beginner slope. Norwegian beginners don’t strike me as the type that fear for their lives or anything.

As you head down, the slopes become narrower and easier, allowing you to take in the beautiful views. And what a view, look at all those trees!

And that’s been my first couple of days! It’s my third day now and I’m on a train going to a place called Lillehammer so I’m going to see what that’s all about. The view out of the train is just… I think I’ve earned some time to go enjoy that now.

Thanks for reading, if you’ve made it this far! Until next time!

End.