I've been gone for about a day and a half now and have already met some really great people. Most notably was Jane, who I will never forget.
Jane is somewhere around 85, she is a widow and she is spectacular. We sat next to each other on the plane from D.C. to Copenhagen. Our conversation didn't really begin until about 3 or 4 hours into the flight. I asked her where she was headed, her answer was to Oslo and from there to a cruise ship that would take her on a National Geographic tour of the west coast of Norway. All the way up to the polar bears she said. This isn't her first trip by far. Last year at about this time she again went to Norway with National Geographic, though that time was to explore the Baltic side. I asked her what her favorite place to travel to had been, in return she told me that there were three places that she would love to go to again.
The first being Kenya, though she was sad to say that currently the US advises against traveling there for safety reasons. She said it was a beautiful place to behold. The second was Mongolia, again she said it was beautiful, but it was the people she missed the most there. One regret in particular was a girl she had met while doing a little shopping there. The girl was a shop owner's daughter who had recently spent a year at an American high school. She wished desperately to return in order to go to University in the States. Jane says she wished she had ditched the group to go to see that girl in order to fill out the paperwork necessary to allow her to come live with her for the time she was at University. You could tell in her voice and face that she feels very sad about having not been able to help the girl. The third place was Siberia, we didn't talk much on this place, she only said that its not generally advisable to travel around in Russia like it was then, she didn't explain why though.
She also talked a little about her travels to Africa on a freighter. She highly recommends traveling by freight because it is very cheep and exciting. Though she suggests bringing a travel buddy if you do go. She said her late husband and she would do this a lot. That is until they turned 80 which is the age they stop allowing you to go. They traveled down the west coast of Africa and then around South Africa and up some of the East coast. She had many anecdotes about being in South Africa back when it was not safe to be there. Other African nations would throw you into jail if they had found out that you had visited there. (It happened to someone who was with them)
While at home Jane volunteers at the nursing home/ therapy center and visits with her friends who are ill and struggling. She is and inspiration, I can only hope and strive to be as great as her at the age of 85.
Other than Jane I met and American man who was traveling to Sweden to visit a friend, the friend had been to the states to visit him and his family a couple of times but this was his first trip over. He was very excited and nervous. I think I might have learned his whole life history while we were standing in line at the airport. I'm very glad to have met him, it calmed my nerves a lot to get to talk to him. I also met a Swedish girl who helped me to get through the airport in Copenhagen. She was in Indiana for a month visiting her boyfriend. There were two other people of note on the planes, both of them gentlemen. One was about 35 the other probably 45. The 35 year old spent the trip to D.C. listening to Ricky Martin the other man listened, very loudly, to Ke$ha, Shakira and Fergy. Along with song very poppy techno music. It was the highlight of the hour. I could not stop giggling to my self. Everyone I have met at school is great, we had a fun time shopping yesterday and I can't wait to meet everyone else.
-Noreen
3 Observations Today
1. Things in Norway are very expensive
2. Having a n entire town/country shut down on Sunday is strange and sort of inconvenient. Though if you work here probably great.
3. Things in Norway are EXPENSIVE
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