It was 5:30. I woke up and couldn’t believe it.
I was stuck staring at the lamp in the middle of the ceiling.
“This is a new country…this is a new country” – I kept repeating.

A year ago I was living in Hungary with my parents, about to dive into the Western World and start a new Life in the Netherlands. My country is not famous about its broad possibilities to travel outside the border – even less for people in their mid-twenties. Learning English, getting a job, earning mere pennies – all these barriers that stop you from exploring new cultures and experiencing the so called “International Living”.

Today I woke up in the heart of Oslo, in a beautiful home with the warmest welcome possible. The bed was huge, the pillows were soft and my friends were cool. Life couldn’t be more unbelievable.

We barely made it to the couch after sleeping for a few hours, they already gave me something new – a Scandinavian drug called Snus*.
It’s like a “clear cache” button, and it works for your brain just as well as it does with Google Chrome.
Students use it at school, it helps against the mental breakdown exam seasons would cause. It gives you a shot of nicotine that lets you chill out. It was extremely weird – You have to place it under your lips, 3 minutes later your body is free of pain.
After the effects wore off, there was a little nausea to remind me that all things come with a cost, yet, it worked like a charm.

When I started to feel normal, they immediately offered to make breakfast and entertain me with a PS4 – A child’s dream, if you grew up without a console.
Ellenor was frying quail eggs with Norwegian cheese and toast, while Fabi taught me how to lose in Tekken without even using combos. – There is a first time for everything, I presume.
–How is it even possible? – my mind was in shock.
All this luxury was settled with an army of “Thank you“-s

Not so long ago I was living on bread and peanut butter, now this is how my morning kicked off. The result of all the work started to pay off.
After playing a little until the food settled, it was time to leave the house at 1 in the afternoon and head out to explore Oslo.

We left the condo in the brightest sunlight possible.
“Should we take sunglasses?” – it’s a question you wouldn’t expect to hear on the North. Especially that the roads were still frozen towards the metro. We had to slide there all the way on our boots, without falling into the river (Akerselva) that flows through Oslo. We made it without a bruise, which meant we deserve a shitton of booze.
The first destination was a wine store – Staying sober after a wonderful Saturday afternoon would’ve been too awful.

After stocking up with fancy bottles of grape juice, they took me to a Christmas market filled with Gløgg**, roasted almonds and sassy seagulls. They walked among us like dogs, searching for tasty crumbs to prey on.
The crowd on the main street was so dense and slow that I grew half a beard as we tried to push through – luckily we made it to the Royal Palace without being rude. We even saw the guards during a mandatory patrol, their steps were in sync to the last inch.

– We should’ve brought the duck tie and the Unicorn – The fault dawns on me as I watch them pass us without the tools to make them laugh during duty hours. Would’ve definitely cracked a smile under their nose. At this point the clock barely passed 2, but the sun was already on the way down, waving at us with its few remaining photons: “See you tomorrow!”.
(Life in the North –> You barely get 6 hours of sunlight during winter months)
Fastening our tempo through snob-town with all the lawyers and important whatnots, we were on the way to see some modern art.

The pedestrian lamps had 3 bulbs, 2 of them were the red standing man and the green one to signal that you can cross.
– Why is there two of the same one? For emphasis or…?
“Yes, it’s like: Come on guys, seriously, just STOP!” – Ellenor, the native Norwegian had the answers to all my random questions.

When the brief City tour was at its peak point, we found ourselves near the docks, walking around the harbor, seeing the calm waters and a sunset shining through the boats. If anything, it was marvelous. A little later I noticed a lot of flashy spots – staring at the sun probably wasn’t the best idea, but to be honest: It was a view worth going blind for.

When we went into the Museum, it turned out to be full of grandpa nudes. Pooping, pee-pee‘s and buttholes. What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon! Luckily my expired student card works everywhere around Europe, because people can’t read that it’s not valid anymore, which made the exhibition even more fabulous.
It took about an hour to explore everything from cheap hanging bulbs to flowing water taps. Imagine removing your sink from the bathroom and selling it for 4,000€. Sounds like a good deal? Well, try that in Oslo.

By the time we got out it was already dark and cold, so we went to the edge of the port and gazed in the distance as the moon lit up the flat bay in light blue.
The last rays of the sun painted the sky in purple with a touch of yellow, as it slowly sunk under the horizon.
It wasn’t even 4 o’ clock.

As our stomachs signaled emptiness with the usual noise, a quick shopping for dinner was the next goal. At home, our lovely Ellenor immediately started to cook, while the two lazy bastards cracked up a beer and started to play LoL^#.
In the middle of the battle the smell of Oyster sauce hit my nose, and it wouldn’t let me focus on the game anymore.
“These are so easy to cook” – she remarked on the way home.
– That’s what everybody says until I light their kitchen on fire – was my response.

The noodles were done, the chicken was cooked and the vegetables were stewed. Soon a bowl of heavenly food was served with some cashews on the top. I don’t even remember the last time something so delicious was in my mouth. She had no idea how much I valued the dinner she cooked for us. We also popped a wine bottle 30 minutes before, it was ready to be consumed.
“You have to let it breathe a little” – taught me by my kindest boss, who is both a millionaire and a lover of grape juice.
It was the perfect balance between the taste of food and quality alcohol.
The bottle was an Italian Ripasso for 32€, quite a sum.

Though it felt like 9 ‘o clock, in reality we just scratched 7 when the first liter was gone. We put on songs from our cultures – Norwegian, South American, English, Dutch – everything except Hungarian.
– By teh wya, let me givwe smoethnig to yuo. – The drunk me gets in action.
I handed him a wish coin that my friends can cash in for something they really want. When they figure it out, I put it on my list and get to work until it’s done. Then we began to let our voice out.

As we sang, they introduced me to a game called: Cards against Humanity
It definitely put the mood right, as we slowly turned to Pálinka and Jäger shots with a little beer on the side.
“Skål!“
“¡Salud!“
–Egészségetekre!
We did our toast and drank it all.

By the time it was actually 9, we were dancing around, playing Drunk Saber on wasted VR.
Then we opened another bottle of wine, and all hell broke lose.
Long story short, I threw up 6 times in the bathroom (Not a single drop landed on the floor, wooohoo!)

It was a night of incomparable value.
Though we did a little more than what the title stands for, it definitely fulfilled all my hopes for #42.

I promised Ellenor that I would come next year too, so we’ll have more adventures to look forward to. This is just one of the endless examples how great your Life can turn into, if you decide to go after the things that light the spark in you.

Take care and chase goals. Your dreams are waiting for You.

“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.”

– William Faulkner

07.12.2019 – Day 320

Footnotes:
*Snus – Wikipedia
**Gløgg – Mulled Wine
^#LoL: That’s how we got to know each other. Without that game, this travel would never have been possible. Value your online friends, they might become the closest.