Fjelltur // Trekking

Scroll down for English 🙂

FĂžrre helg var eg og fem andre frĂ„ klassa mi pĂ„ ein fire dagars fjelltur til Mardi Himal i Himalaya der vi gjekk opp til 4000 m.o.h.! Vi hadde skulle eigentleg vere pĂ„ tur i 6 dagar, men stien til toppen, pĂ„ 4500 m.o.h., var stengd pĂ„ grunn av mykje snĂž, sĂ„ vi gjekk til eit utsiktspunkt litt lenger nede i staden for. Torsdag ettermiddag etter skulen tok vi ein jeep opp til 1700 m.o.h. og gjekk i tre timar fram til fyrste leir pĂ„ 2100 m.o.h. Sidan mange turistar i Nepal vel Ă„ gĂ„ i fjellet er der fleire leirar og sĂ„kalla ‘guest houses’ heile vegen opp til toppen og vi nytta oss naturlegvis av desse bĂ„de til Ă„ fĂ„ oss ein plass Ă„ bu om nettene og for Ă„ fĂ„ oss litt skikkeleg mat.

Den andre dagen var nok den tyngste sidan vi gjekk frĂ„ Deurali Camp pĂ„ 2100 m.o.h. til Low Camp pĂ„ 2990 m.o.h. Dette var ogsĂ„ fyrste dagen vi fekk kjenne pĂ„ den tynne lufta. PĂ„ Low Camp sov vi i smĂ„ dobbeltrom bygd opp av tynne treplater og mursteinar. Om det blĂ„s ute kunne du vere sikker pĂ„ at det blĂ„s inne ogsĂ„ sidan det var store hĂČl i veggane og dĂžra ikkje gjekk igjen. Likevel sov vi noksĂ„ godt heile natta sidan vi hadde gĂ„tt i fjellet heile dagen og var heilt utslitne allereie klokka 20.00.

 

PĂ„ dag tre gjekk vi opp til det som kallast High Camp pĂ„ 3550 m.o.h. Det tok berre tre timar, sĂ„ vi hadde heile ettermiddagen pĂ„ den leiren til Ă„ spele kort, slappe av og prate med andre turgĂ„arar. Det var veldig flaks at vi hadde bestemt oss for Ă„ vere i ro den ettermiddagen for slikt hagl og torevĂȘr har eg aldri sett maken til.

PĂ„ den fjerde og siste dagen stod vi opp klokka 04.45 om morgonen for Ă„ fĂ„ med oss soloppgangen. Sidan det hadde vore uvĂȘr kvelden fĂžr var det klart og fint den morgonen og vi fekk ei fantastisk utsikt over Himalaya og «Fiskehalen» som er eitt av dei mest kjende fjella i omrĂ„de. SjĂžlv om eg er aldri sĂ„ glad i gloppefjella heime i Noreg, bleikna dei litt i det eg stod og sĂ„g over Himalaya og fjell pĂ„ nesten 7000 m.o.h. Same dagen gjekk vi ned igjen til siste stopp for turen: Sidhing pĂ„ 1700 m.o.h. Medan vi gjekk ned kom vi opp i ein haglstorm igjen og mĂ„tte sĂžkje ly ved eit «tehus» til vĂȘret letna. Medan vi sat der og sĂ„g pĂ„ haglet kom det nokre Sherpa som sprang ned fjellsida i slippers, gummistĂžvlar, hettegenser og joggebukse. Til samanlikning hadde vi, som dĂ„ er amatĂžrturgĂ„arar, med oss gĂ„stavar, vind- og vasstett jakke, fjellsko, skikkelege ryggsekkar og generelt profesjonelt utstyr sjĂžlv om vi berre skulle gĂ„ pĂ„ fjelltur i nokre dagar og dei sikkert gĂ„r opp og ned dei fjellsidene kvar einaste dag. Sherpaane ber ogsĂ„ all maten, byggematerialet og andre ting dei treng til leirane slik at vi turistane kan leve eit meir komfortabelt liv pĂ„ fjellet. All respekt til desse hardtarbeidande nepalarane. DĂ„ vi var komne ned til Sidhing fekk vi oss ein jeep som kĂžyrde oss ned igjen til Pokhara pĂ„ ein veldig veldig humpete veg.

Dusjen eg tok dÄ eg var koma heim igjen var kanskje den beste dusjen i mitt liv og ingen burgar har nokon gong smaka sÄ godt som den eg Ät den kvelden vi kom heimatte.

//

Last weekend me and five others from my class here in Nepal went on a four-day long hike to Mardi Himal in the Himalayas where we walked up to 4000 meters above sea level! We were initially supposed to trek for 6 days, but the path to the basecamp, at 4500m, was closed due to snow so we went to one of the View Points instead. At Thursday afternoon after school we took a jeep up to 1700m and hiked for three hours to the first camp at 2100m. Since a lot of the tourists in Nepal are trekkers there many camps and guest houses all the way to the top so obviously we used these to eat and to get a place to sleep during the nights.

The second day was probably the heaviest as we went from Deurali Camp at 2100m to Low Camp at 2990m (this was the first day we felt the thin air). We slept in double bedrooms built out of thin walls made out of either wood or bricks. If it was windy outside, you could be sure it was windy inside as well as there were holes in the walls and we were unable to close the door. We slept well the whole night regardless since we had been hiking for the whole day and were pretty exhausted already by 8pm.

On day three we hiked up to High Camp at 3550m. As it only took three hours, we had the whole afternoon at that camp to play cards, relax and talk to other trekkers. We were pretty lucky that we had decided to stay at High Camp that day because I have never in my life seen such a heavy hail and thunder storm as I did that day.

On the fourth and last day of out trek we got up at 04.45am to see the sunrise. Since it had rained the day before, we got a clear sky the whole morning which gave us an amazing view over the Himalayas and the “Fishtail”, which is one of the most characteristic mountains in the area. Even though I love the mountains at home in Norway, I must say that I found the Himalayas and the 7000m high mountains just slightly more spectacular. On the same day we walked all the way down to the final stop for the trek: Sidhing at 1700m. While we were trekking down, we got caught in another hail storm and had to seek shelter at a small teahouse until the weather got better. While we were sitting there and watching the hail, some Sherpas came running down the mountain in slippers and wellies whilst wearing hoodies and joggers. In comparison, we, the very amateur tourist trekkers, had walking poles, wind and waterproof jackets, hiking boots, hiking backpacks and in general professional equipment even though we were only going to hike for a few days and they probably hike up and down those mountain sides every single day. The Sherpas also carry all the food, building materials and other things for the camps just so tourists can live a more comfortable life while trekking! So all respect to these insanely hard working Nepalis! When we had arrived Sidhing, we got a jeep to drive us down to Pokhara on a very very bumpy road (but it was also kind of fun).

The shower I took when I got home was probably the best shower I have ever taken in my life and a burger has never tasted as good as the one I had for dinner that night.

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There were rhododendron trees everywhere // Der var rhododendrontre overalt

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At High Camp // PĂ„ High Camp

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Even, Charlie, Frida og Oda pÄ High Camp

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Hail // Hagl

WhatsApp Image 2019-04-03 at 15.52.10

Upper View Point

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We stayed here at Low Camp // Her budde vi pÄ Low Camp

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Dinner! // Middag!

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Vi gjekk for det meste i tÄke // We mostly walked in mist

PĂ„ besĂžk til ein NGO / Visit to an NGO

Scroll down for English 😊

Ein heilt klar fordel med Ä bu i Nepal store delar av dette semesteret er at vi fÄr sjÄ i praksis det vi lÊrer i timane. I det siste har vi lÊrt ein heil del om kvinner sine rettigheitar og at desse, diverre, framleis blir brotne i SÞr-Asia. Vi var i dette hÞvet pÄ besÞk hjÄ ein liten butikk driven av ein organisasjon som jobbar med Ä fremje nepalske kvinner sine rettighetar i Pokhara og omrÄdet rundt ved Ä gi arbeid og trygg plass Ä vere for kvinner. Leiaren av organisasjonen studerte sjukepleie i Storbritannia, men dÄ ho var pÄ feire heime i Nepal sÄg ho eit behov for informasjon og bevisstgjering om seksuell mishandling blant kvinner og jenter og stifta difor denne organisasjonen. I den vesle butikken farga dei stoff og laga blant anna vesker, lommebÞker, skjerf, T-skjortet og baggar frÄ stoffet heilt sjÞlve. Ingen tvil om at desse damene har talent!

//

An obvious benefit of living in Nepal most of this semester is that we get to see in real life what we learn during classes. Recently, we have learnt about women’s rights and that these, unfortunately, still are violated in South Asia. We therefore went to visit a small shop here in Pokhara run by a local handicraft NGO (non-governmental organisation) which work with promoting women’s rights in Nepal. They are providing jobs for women and aims to be a safe space where women can talk about sexual and violent abuse. The founder of the NGO studied nursing in Great Britain, but when she was visiting her home in Nepal for a holiday, she saw the urgent need for information and raising awareness around sexual abuse for Nepali women and girls and thus founded this NGO. In the small shop the women dye fabric and make purses, wallets, blankets, scarfs, T-shirts and bags from the fabric all by themselves. No doubt that these women have talent!

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This is the little shop that makes a big difference!

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This is the little shop that makes a big difference!

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The mom of the founder of the NGO taught Kerstin (my flate mate) how to make a blanket!

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Pencil cases

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Marte was happy she found cool things at least

-Malene

Sarangkot and the Stupa

Scroll down for English :))

Hei igjen! Her er ei kort oppdatering frÄ livet mitt i Nepal!

Denne helga var vi pÄ ikkje berre éin, men to fjellturar! PÄ laurdag gjekk mesteparten av gruppa vÄr til Sarangkot (1600 meter over havet) som gav oss ei utruleg fantastisk utsikt over Pokhara og omrÄdet rundt. Sidan mesteparten av oss har vore flaut inaktive dei siste vekene, var det tre lange timar til toppen, men verkeleg verdt det dÄ vi kom oss opp. Det var diverre noksÄ tÄkete dÄ vi kom pÄ toppen sÄ vi fekk ikkje sjÄ Himalaya, men dÄ har vi noko Ä sjÄ fram mot til neste fjelltur!

PÄ sÞndag, trass vÄre stÞle bein og mange gnagsÄr, gjekk vi i samla tropp til Fredspagodaen (ogsÄ kalla Stupa), eit buddhistisk tempel pÄ ein liten fjelltopp med utsikt over den andre sida av Pokhara. Fredspagodaen var bygd av japanske buddhistiske munkar i 1973 for Ä promotere verdsfred og har sidan den gong vore sjÞlve varemerket for Pokhara. Sidan Fredspagodaen ligg pÄ andre sida av den innsjÞen vi bur ved, tok vi ein bÄt til botnen av fjellet og gjekk opp til toppen der i frÄ.

Her er nokre bilete frÄ begge fjellturane og om du ser nÞye etter ser du dei 6000 meter (!!) hÞge toppane i bakgrunnen som vi sÄg pÄ veg opp til Fredspagodaen pÄ sÞndag. Det er dÄ Himalaya! (det er faktisk hÞgare enn noko anna fjell i Europa)

//

Hi again! Here’s a small update from my life in Nepal!

This weekend we went on not only one, but two hikes! On Saturday most of our group walked up to Sarangkot (1600 meters above sea level) which gave us an incredible view over Pokhara and the area around it. Since most of us have been embarrassingly inactive the past few weeks it was a three long hours to reach the top but totally worth it when we finally got there. Unfortunately, it was quite foggy so we didn’t get to see the Himalayas, but I guess then we just have something to look forward to for our next hike!

On Sunday, despite our very sore legs and many blisters from the day before, we had a joint class trip to the Peace Pagoda (also called the Stupa), a Buddhist temple on top of a hill overlooking the other side of Pokhara. The Peace Pagoda was built by Japanese Buddhists monks in 1973 to promote world peace and has since been a trademark monument for Pokhara. As the Peace Pagoda is placed on the other side of the lake from where we live, we took a boat to get to the bottom of the mountain and then hiked up to the top.

Here are some pictures from both of our hikes and if you look closely you can see the 6000 meters (!!) high peaks behind the mountains which we were able to see on our way to the Peace Pagoda on Sunday! That is Himalaya!!! (that is actually higher than any mountain in Europe)

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Charlie is happy

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HÄkon, Charlie, Oda and Frida

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This dog followed us from the very beginning, all the way to the top and all the way down again!! WHAT a loyal doggo!!

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these are the boats we road over the lake

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On our way to the Peace Pagoda we stopped by a temple

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Oda climbing like the hero she is

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this is the peace pagoda 😉

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now THIS is what I call a café with a view

 

-Malene

I MADE IT TO NEPAL: First impressions from the first week

Scroll down for English :))

DÄ var eg endeleg koma til Nepal etter Ä ha vore heime dei siste 9 mÄnadane (utanom éin tur til USA og éin til Bahamas og Sverige). Eg skal no starte eit nytt kapittel i Nepal, Pokhara, for Ä studere Freds- og Konfliktsstudier gjennom Kulturstudier i tre mÄnadar. Her fÄr eg sjansen til Ä bli kjent med den nepalske kulturen og mÄten dei lev pÄ dÄ eg bur i toppen av ei leiligheitsblokk og kan sjÄ ned pÄ nepalske familiar, dei hÞge toppane i Himalaya og den nydelege innsjÞen Fewa. PÄ same studiet som meg er her 2 danskar, 2 nepalske, 1 svenske og 11 norske studentar. Eg landa i Katmandu fÞrre fredag (15. februar 2019) og var der i ein dag fÞr eg og dei andre studentane reiste til Pokhara pÄ laurdag. Dei fyrste dagane her i Pokhara har vore innhaldsrike, spanande, travle og veldig kjekke! Vi har blitt kjent med byen ved Ä gÄ rundt i gatene, ete pÄ diverse (i kvalitet) restaurantar, kafear og barar og ved Ä berre sitje og observere liva til folk her. I gÄr var vi pÄ Tashi Palkhel Tibetanske Busetnad som er eit lite omrÄde for flyktningar som kjem frÄ Tibet til Nepal. Der sÄg vi kloster, snakka med flyktningane, kjÞpte nokre armband og sÄg pÄ ville apar (!).

Skroll ned for Ă„ sjĂ„ bilete frĂ„ turen sĂ„ langt 🙂

//

So I finally made it to Nepal after spending the past 9 months at home (excluding one trip to the US and one to The Bahamas and Sweden). I will now start a new chapter of my life in Nepal, in the city of Pokhara, to study peace and conflict studies through Kulturstudier for three months. I will have the chance to emerge into the Nepali culture and way of living as I live in a small apartment at the top of a block overlooking Nepalese families through their everyday tasks, the Himalayan mountain range and the beautiful Fewa lake. On the same course as me there are 3 Danish, 2 Nepali, 1 Swedish and 11 Norwegian students. I landed in Kathmandu last Friday (Feb 15th 2019) and spent the day there before heading to Pokhara on Saturday. These first days in Pokhara have been eventful, exciting, exhausting and extremely fun! We have gotten to explore the city a lot by walking around, eating on various (in quality) restaurants, cafés and bars and just sitting down and observing the lives of the people here. Yesterday we went to Tashi Palkhel Tibetan Settlement which is a village for refugees coming from Tibet to Nepal. We saw two monasteries, talked to the refugees, bought some bracelets and looked at the wild monkeys (!).

Here are some pictures from the trip so far😊

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From the welcome dinner with both students and teachers!

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We made pasta and tomato sauce for our very first home-cooked dinner in our apartment

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Traditional prayer flags

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Tashi Palkhiel Refugee Settlement

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On our way from Kathmandu to Pokhara we made a stop to get some food with a pretty okay view

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Here’s Ida from Oslo and Kerstin from Sweden, Öland

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This is my little corner for the next three months

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The view from the rooftop balcony on our block

-Malene

Rainbow People heading Gansu Province

Det har no gÄtt over eitt Är sidan eg fyrst sette beina mine pÄ skuleomrÄdet til UWC Changshu Kina. Skulen ser jo sjÞlvsagt heilt lik ut no som den gjorde dÄ eg fyrst kom, men det kjennest likevel heilt annleis ut. Etter eitt Är pÄ denne skulen, har den pÄ mange mÄtar blitt til ein ny heim. Byrjinga av skuleÄret i fjor mÄ eg vere Êrleg Ä sei ikkje levde heilt opp til forventingane. Med mykje heimlengsel, ei veldig hetebÞlge, eit nytt system Ä setje seg inn i, eit nytt sprÄk og generelt mange nye inntrykk vart eg veldig overvelda det fyrste halvÄret og det var heilt nÞdvendig for meg Ä kome heim til jul. No, eit Är seinare, kunne eg ikkje vore meir takknemleg for Ä vere her eg er. For to Är sidan hadde eg aldri tenkt tanken pÄ at skulle fÞle meg heime i ein storby i Kina, men det er vel nettopp dette som har skjedd no. Tanken pÄ at eg skulle tilbake til Kina dÄ eg reiste heim att til Sandane i sommar gav meg sommarfuglar i magen og det var fyrst dÄ eg innsÄg kor mykje eg set pris pÄ livet mitt her. No er det slik at uansett kvar eg er hen i verda, saknar eg ein annan heim.

Den to fyrste mÄnadane her i Kina som andreÄring har bydt pÄ latinamerikansk kulturveke, ei tredje (!?) opning av skulen, ein heil del med enormt mykje skulearbeid, ei rekkje bursdagsfeiringar og elles mange kveldar med lange samtalar i fellesrommet langt pÄ natt.

https://www.facebook.com/UWCChangshu/videos/1936626193271641/

Uansett kor kjekt UWC er her pĂ„ campus, er det framleis eit heilt land med dumplings, baozi, bubble tea, gatemat og merkelege kinesiske tradisjonar som vi kan oppleve. Eg nytta difor hĂžvet denne haustferien, eller Golden Week som det heiter i Kina, Ă„ reise til provinsen Gansu nordvest i Kina. Eg reiste saman med Bastian frĂ„ Tyskland, Claudia frĂ„ Italia, Nicholas frĂ„ Bahamas, Konstantina frĂ„ Hellas, Ruairi frĂ„ Irland, Emile frĂ„ Litauen, Samantha frĂ„ Canada, Zayn frĂ„ Libanon, Rens frĂ„ Nederland og Julia frĂ„ Polen. Det skulle intet mindre enn ein 35 timars togtur til fĂžr vi var framme i Zhangye, den fyrste av fire destinasjonar pĂ„ reisa vĂ„r. SjĂžlv om 35 timar i tog kan hĂžyrest latterleg lenge ut, hadde vi godt selskap i kvarandre, diverse brettspel, filmar, skulearbeid, mat og kinesarar som alle hjelpte tida Ă„ gĂ„. I tillegg er det ei oppleving berre Ă„ sitje pĂ„ eit kinesisk tog med folk i alle aldrar. Dei fleste av vi som reiste er andreĂ„ringar og har allereie lĂŠrt kinesisk i eit Ă„r. Dette opna opp for Ă„ ha samtalar med tilfeldige kinesarar og leiking med ungane som blei like rastlause som oss inn i mellom. Sidan Kina er eit overbefolka land er det enorme tal pĂ„ menneske som skal fraktast i alle retningar, spesielt no nĂ„r det er Golden Week. Dette har dei lĂžyst ved Ă„ bokstaveleg talt stappe inn sĂ„ mange menneske det er fysisk plass til pĂ„ eit tog med noko som heiter «standing tickets». SjĂžlv om vi var heldige nok til Ă„ fĂ„ eit hardt sete kvar Ă„ sitje pĂ„, var det likevel fullt av folk som stod mellom seta Ă„ rĂžykte, sov og hosta (<3). Dette gjorde den vesle sĂžvnen vi fekk endĂ„ litt vanskelegare Ă„ fĂ„ og i enda fleire etappar. Å gĂ„ pĂ„ do og hente vatn frĂ„ vatndispensaren var oppgĂ„ver som vart til reine treningsĂžkta nĂ„r vi mĂ„tte klive over og under sovande menneske.

DÄ vi endeleg kom fram til Zhangye var det ein sliten gjeng som sjekka inn pÄ hostellet med 8-mannsrom og fellesdusj. No skulle endeleg Gansu-eventyret vÄrt byrje.

Fyrste post pĂ„ reisa var regnbogefjella – eit imponerande fjellomrĂ„det med fjell i dei fleste fargar. Mitt tidlegare inntrykk av Kina – bylandskap og forureining – vart i lĂžpet av denne dagen snudd ein heil del om. Sidan dei fleste kinesarar bur i aust, er det enorme areal som er urĂžrt i vest, regnbogefjella er eitt av desse omrĂ„da. SjĂžlv om det ikkje var sĂ„ mykje Ă„ gjere der, trur eg bileta under forklarer kor kjekt vi hadde det og kor flott landskapet var.

Dagen etter bar det vidare til Jiayuguan, ein liten aude by der ein kan finne den vestlege enden av den kinesiske mur. Etter Ä ha gÄtt gjennom dei mange templa og tunellane pÄ den kinesiske mur, kom vi fram til den ytste punktet av denne 21 196 km lange muren. DÄ vi nÄdde enden kom Claudia og Konstantina springane mot resten av oss og skreik at dei hadde funne kamelar. Vi rei pÄ kamel inn i solnedgangen ved enden av den kinesiske mur. Du kan fÞrestille deg energinivÄet Malene hadde dÄ. Middag den kvelden endte opp pÄ eit lite gatehjÞrne der dei serverte hot-pot med nudlar, sopp og lotusrÞter. Kanskje ikkje det beste mÄltidet pÄ turen, men vi er i det miste ei oppleving rikare.

05.30 morgonen etter bar det av stad til Dunhuang, porten til GobiĂžrkenen. Vi forlot Jiayuguan i dei tjukkaste jakkene vi hadde og hĂžge sokkar sidan gradestokken viste 4 grader denne morgonen. Etter ein 5 timars togtur til Ăžrkenen vart Kari Traa-ullen litt vel varm. Etter Ă„ ha sjekka inn pĂ„ hostellet gjekk turen vidare til buddhagruver frĂ„ Tangdynastiet. Her vart vi guida rundt av ei som skulle visst vere engelsklĂŠrar, men av og til mĂ„tte vi hjelpe kvarandre med  Ă„ oversette frĂ„ «engelsk» til engelsk. Andre dag i Dunhuang bydde pĂ„ eit besĂžk i GobiĂžrkenen, den stĂžrste Ăžrkenen i Asia. Vi fann oss eit omrĂ„de litt pĂ„ sida og sola oss, leika i sanden og tok bilete – med andre ord ein fantastisk dag.

Seinare den dagen bar det vidare til siste destinasjon pĂ„ turen, Lanzhou, hovudstaden i provinsen Gansu. Etter Ă„ ha ete dei kjende nudlane frĂ„ byen, gjekk vi opp ei fjellhylle med titals av tradisjonelle tempel. PĂ„ toppen fann vi zip-line, sĂ„ det mĂ„tte sjĂžlvsagt prĂžvast ut. Same kvelden fann vi KTV, karaoke-TV. Fattige studentar som vi er, spurde vi om vi kunne vere der gratis. Vi sa vi var bloggarar frĂ„ Europa og at vi skulle lage ein reisedokumentar om Gansu og vi ville inkludere KTV’en deira om vi fekk vere der gratis. Etter at vi alle hadde prata inn i kameraet pĂ„ vĂ„rt eige sprĂ„k (her inkludert gresk, italiensk, nederlandsk, litauisk, polsk og fransk) vart dei sĂ„ fascinerte av «bloggen» vĂ„r at dei ga seg. Difor kjenner eg at eg mĂ„ sei at KTV i Lanzhou anbefalst veldig, 100% garantert god stemning.

Eg sit no pĂ„ vĂ„rt aller siste tog tilbake til Suzhou. Ved enden av denne veka har vi tatt tog i 80 timar og ete enorme mengder nudlar. Vi har sett heilt nye delar av Kina – noko vi alle vart einige forsterka respekten vĂ„r for bĂ„de Kina og dei ulike kinesiske folkeslaga. SjĂžlv om vi alle skulle eigentleg ha vore pĂ„ skulen og fĂžrebudd oss til ein intens haust med mange innleveringar, vil eg absolutt pĂ„stĂ„ at det er slike opplevingar som sit igjen, ikkje enda fleire timar med biologilesing. No ser eg fram til en varm (!) og behageleg dusj, litt samanhengande sĂžvn og fersk mat.

Eg og Emile lagde ein video frÄ turen:

https://youtu.be/Yqq0fB6yIXY

Tusen takk for turen, eg vil hugse den for alltid.

//

It has now been over a year since I first stood at the gate, ready for whatever was waiting for me. I remember thinking that I would never find my way to classes or even call this place my home. However, I can very confidently say I proved myself wrong on that one. After a year, UWC CSC has, in many ways, become a home. During my first term I was homesick, and the weather was unbearably hot. I had to adapt to new routines and meet new people. All these factors resulted in a confused and overwhelmed Malene – a Malene that required a Norwegian Christmas (and got one).

It has been a year and I could not be more grateful for finding a home here. Two years ago, I would never have imagined myself finding a home in a random city in China, but that is exactly what happened. Ironically, over summer, when I thought of returning to China, it brought butterflies to my stomach because I realised how much I appreciate my life here. As of now, I miss home regardless of whether I am here in China or back in Norway.

The two first months as a second year have been filled with Latin-American cultural week, a third (!?) grand opening of the school, a ton of school work, numerous birthdays and many chats over dinner, a cup of coffee or in the common rooms.

No matter how fun our UWC lives here on campus are, there is still a vast country filled with dumplings, baozi, bubble tea, street food and weird Chinese traditions to be explored. I therefore took advantage of our Golden Week to travel to the province Gansu in thenorth west of China. I travelled with Bastian from Germany, Claudia from Italy, Nicholas from the Bahamas, Konstantina from Greece, Ruairi from Ireland, Emile from Lithuania, Samantha from Canada, Zayn from Lebanon, Rens from the Netherlands and Julia from Poland. After a nice 35 hours train ride, we finally arrived Zhangye, the first out of four destinations of our trip. Even though 35 hours of train can sound terrifyingly long, we had great company with each other, some board games, movies, school work, food and Chinese people: all helped the time to pass by. It is also  an adventure to take a train in China with people of all ages. Most of the people who went  were second years, meaning that we had already learnt Chinese for a year. This enabled us to have small conversations with random Chinese people and to play with the kids who became just as restless as us. Since China is an overpopulated country, there is an enormous amount of people who are going in all directions, especially during Golden Week. They solved this by literally putting  as many people that can physically fit into the train some have to use “standing tickets”. Even though we were lucky enough to get a hard seat each to sit on, the train was still filled with people who smoked, slept or coughed (<3). This made the little sleep we got even harder. Simple tasks like going to the toilet and get water for our instant noodles became almost like a workout when we had to climb over and under sleeping people.

We were a tired group of 11 people who finally checked in on our hostel in Zhangye where 8 of us shared one room while the rest slept in tents. Our Gansu adventure finally begin.

First stop on our journey was the rainbow mountains – an impressive area of mountains in most colours. My  impression of China was  based on cities and pollution, but changed a lot throughout this trip. Since most Chinese people live in the east, there are enormous untouched areas in the west. The rainbow mountains are one of these areas. Even though there was not much to do, I think the pictures under explain how much fun we had and how beautiful the scenery was.

The following day  we went to Jiayuguan, a small lost town where we found the west end of the Great Wall of China. After walking past all the many temples and tunnels of the wall, we arrived the end of this 21 196km wall. When we reached the end, Claudia and Konstantina came running towards us and screamed that they had found camels. We rode camels in the sunset at the end of the Great Wall of China. You can imagine the energy level Malene had at this point. Dinner that night ended up being in a small street corner where we got served hot-pot with noodles, mushrooms and lotus roots. Perhaps not the best meal of the trip, but at least I am one experience richer.

At 05.30 the morning after, the journey continued to Dunhuang, the entrance to the Gobi desert. We left Jiayuguan wearing the thickest clothes we packed  since the temperature had fallen as far as 4 degrees. After the 5-hour long train ride, I quickly found out that wool was not very appropriate clothing for the desert. As soon as we got there, we went to explore the Buddha caves from Tang Dynasty. We were guided by a woman who apparently was an English teacher, but sometimes we had to translate her “English” to English. On the second day, we finally visited the Gobi desert, the second largest desert in Asia. We found a small area for ourselves and wrestled, played and took pictures – in other words a fantastic day.

By the end of that day we jumped on a train heading our last destination of our trip, Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province. After eating the world-famous noodles from the town, we hiked a hill covered in traditional temples. In the top we found a zip-line, so of course we had to check that out. The same night we found a KTV, Karaoke TV. Being Poor students that we are, we asked if we could stay there for free. We said we were bloggers from “Europe” and that we were going to make a travel documentary about Gansu and we said we would include their KTV if they let us stay for free. After we talking to our video camera in all the languages we knew (here included Greek, Italian, Dutch, Lithuanian, Polish and French) they became so fascinated of our “blog” that they gave up and let us stay for free. Therefore, I felt obligated to say that KTV in Lanzhou is 100% guaranteed fun times.

I now sit on our very last train ride back to Suzhou. We have taken about 80 hours worth of trains and eaten an unhealthy amount of noodles by the end of this week. We have seen new parts of China – something we all agreed increased our respect for China and different Chinese ethnic groups. Even though we all said we really should have stayed at school and prepared for an intense semester with a lot of school work, I would without a doubt claim that experiences like these last forever, not the hours I spend studying biology. I now look forward to a warm (!) and comfortable shower, some continuous sleep and fresh(ish) food.

Me and Emile made a video from our trip.

 

 

https://youtu.be/Yqq0fB6yIXY

Thank you for the journey, I will forever remember it.

 

Endeleg tilbake // Finally back

Etter dette skuleÄret starta har UWC- og IB-livet mitt vore litt av ei berg- og dalbane med lite ekstra tid til refleksjon og bloggskriving. Etter nokre mÄnadar merka eg kor mykje eg sakna Ä dele og skrive om smÄ og store opplevingar frÄ kinalivet mitt, sÄ dette er dÄ forsÞket mitt pÄ Ä starte eit nytt og betre bloggliv. Snart skal eg leggje ut eit innlegg frÄ ein tur eg hadde i oktober tidlegare i haust til Gansu nordvest i Kina (det har berre teke litt tid fÞr eg slutta Ä utsetje Ä oversette innlegget).

Eg gler meg no til eit mindre stressande liv i Filippinene der eg skal feire jul heime hos Pia (som openbart er der i frÄ). No nÄr det nÊrmar seg juletider er det rart Ä tenkje pÄ at eg ikkje skal ete mormor sine julekaker, morfar sine hjortepÞlser og mamma sitt sylteflesk framover, men pÄ lik line som i fjor skal eg nok finne ein mÄte Ä gÄ i mÞte jula pÄ mitt eige vis. Heldigvis ligg heile «The Julekalender» pÄ nettet sÄ eg fÄ i alle fall mi daglege dose julekalender uansett kvar i verda eg skulle vere.

Malene

//

Since the start of the school year, my UWC and IB life have been a rollercoaster, with little time for reflection and blog-writing. After some months, I noticed how much I missed sharing and writing about experiences, big and small, from my life in China. Sooooo this blog post will be my attempt to start fresh with a new and improved blog life. Soon I will post about a trip I made to Gansu province in October (it has taken some time to stop procrastinating translating the blog post).

I am looking forward to a temporarily less stressful life in the Philippines where I am going to celebrate Christmas with Pia (who obviously lives there). With Christmas approaching, it is strange to think that I won’t eat my grandma’s Christmas cakes, my granddad’s deer sausages and my mom’s sylteflesk (a traditional Norwegian meat thing). This year, I will have to find the Christmas spirit on my own. Luckily, I can watch the whole season of “The Julekalender” (Norwegian Christmas TV series) online, so I will at least get my daily dose of home regardless of where I am in the world.

Malene

 

Jordan

SjÞlv om denne bloggen vart hovudsakleg laga for Ä beskrive UWC-livet mitt i Kina, mÄ eg nytte hÞve til Ä skrive litt om UWC-opplevingane mine utanfor skulen. Ein stor del av konseptet til UWC er Ä byggje internasjonal forstÄing mellom ungdomar, og ein av dei beste mÄtane Ä oppnÄ akkurat dette er vel Ä reise til dei delane av verda ein ynskjer Ä forstÄ betre. No som eg har vener frÄ sÄ og sei heile verda, er det mykje enklare for meg Ä reise (og billegare).

Veka etter at skulen var ferdig fekk eg vere med Tuleen frÄ Jordan (og Palestina) og Salma frÄ Palestina (og Jordan). Vi reiste til Amman, hovudstaden i Jordan for at eg skulle fÄ eit innblikk i livet i Midtausten. Dette er ei veke eg vil hugse i lang tid, kanskje spesielt sidan eg var der midt i fastemÄnaden til muslimane, Ramadan. Dette prega turen med at ingen Ät fÞr sola gjekk ned, rett fÞr klokka 20, for sÄ Ä ete i eitt strekk fÞr ein la seg.

PÄ flyplassen i Shanghai hadde vi ein del uhell med at flyet vÄrt blei kansellert pÄ grunn av storm, bankkortet mitt vart sperra (dvs eg hadde ingen pengar) og bÄde fotokameraet og PC-en vart Þydelagde. I tillegg flaug vi med China Eastern Airways som mildt sagt ikkje var hjelpsame. Heldigvis hadde eg framleis videokameraet mitt med meg sÄ eg kunne dokumentere kaoset. (SjÄ videoen under den engelske delen).

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Even though this blog was mainly made to explain my UWC life in China, I want to utilize the opportunity to write a bit about my UWC experiences outside of the school. A vital part of the UWC concept is to build international understanding amongst youth. One of the best ways to achieve so is to travel to the parts of the world you want to understand better. Having friends from basically the whole world makes this much easier (and cheaper).

I went to Amman, the capital of Jordan, with Tuleen from Jordan (and Palestine) and Salma from Palestine (and Jordan). We left the week after school ended so I could get a taste of their life style in the Middle East. This is a week a will remember for a long time, especially because I went there during Ramadan. This affected the trip in the sense that no one ate before the sun set at 8pm, before we ate continuously before going to bed.

We had a bit of bad luck on the airport in Shanghai by having our flight cancelled because of a storm, my bank card got blocked (which means I had no money) and both my photo camera and my computer got damaged. Things also did not get better by the fact that we flew with China Eastern Airways which did not want to help us out. Luckily, I had my video camera with me so I managed to document the chaos.

SjÄ videoen her // Watch the video here:

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Mount Nebo – Ăžrkenen i Jordan

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Amman Citadel – the top of Amman

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DĂždehavet

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Iftar – mĂ„ltidet dei bryt faster med kvar dag

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“We are on the exact top of Amman” -Salma

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Mount Nebo

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Ajloun

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Ajloun

Malene

Fjelltur til Anhui / Hiking trip to Anhui

Som eg har nemnt pÄ bloggen fÞr, er eg med i ei fjellturgruppe pÄ skulen der vi gÄr pÄ ulike utflukter i nÊromrÄdet av skulen annakvar veke. For Ä avslutte skuleÄret bestemte vi oss for Ä opne opp for 10 andre elevar utanfor denne gruppa for Ä vere med pÄ ein overnattingstur i Anhui provins, nordvest for Jiangsu, provinsen vi bur i. Laurdag 3. juni bar det difor av stad pÄ ein 5 timar lang busstur gjennom dei kinesiske byane pÄ veg til litt friskare luft og blÄare himmel. Alle elevane som var med hadde forventning om at vi skulle campe ved sidan av eit vatn ute i naturen i takt med fuglane og slangane og edderkoppane og alt anna som mÄtte finne seg djupt inne i dei kinesiske skogane. Denne forventninga skulle snart vise seg Ä bli knust dÄ guiden vÄr fÞrte oss til eit hotell fullt av godt rusa kinesarar og kinesisk festmusikk pÄ full guffe. Vi ende dÄ altsÄ opp med Ä «campe» i telt pÄ platting utanfor hotellrom. SjÞlv om dette ikkje var heilt slik vi hadde sett fÞre oss, er det ingen tvil om at vi hadde mykje moro uansett. Kinesisk fest? Ja, dÄ var det ingenting anna vi kunne gjere enn Ä bli med dei pÄ festen. Resultatet var ein heidundrande hysterisk kveld der vi verkeleg fekk eit innblikk i den kinesiske festkulturen.

Eg og Emile frĂ„ Litauen lagde ein vlog gjennom heile turen og la den ut pĂ„ verdsveven. (SjĂ„ under den engelske delen) Enjoy ❀

//

As I have mentioned earlier on this blog before, one of my zhi xings is hiking where we go on excursions once every two weeks. To end of the school year, we decided to give the opportunity for 10 students at our school to join us on an overnight hike to Anhui province, north west of Jiangsu, the province we live in. On Saturday June 3rd, we went on a 5 hours long bus ride through the Chinese cities on our way to fresher air and a bluer sky. All the students that joined, including myself, had expectations that we were going to camp next to a lake together with the birds and snakes and spiders and everything else that may live in the deep forest of China. Our trip turned out to be anything but expected when the guide led us to a hotel in the middle of nowhere with well intoxicated Chinese people and loud Chinese party music. We ended therefore up with “camping” in a tent on a balcony outside of hotel rooms. Even though this as not what we imagined before going, there is no doubt that we had a whole lot of fun. Chinese party? Well, then we had no other options than to join in. The result was one hell of a hysterical party where really embraced the Chinese party culture.

Me and Emile from Lithuania made a vlog throughout the hike and posted it on the internet. Enjoy ❀

SjÄ videoen her // Watch the video here:

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crew.

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Endeleg natur // Finally nature

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Malene

Wuxi

13. mai reiste alle som tek kinesisk pĂ„ tur til ein by i nĂŠrleiken som heiter Wuxi (æ— é”Ą) for Ă„ lĂŠre kinesisk. Kor mykje kinesisk vi lĂŠrde kan diskuterast, men det er ingen tvil om at dette var ein super dag med 30 grader, nye omgivnadar og godt selskap. Her er nokre bilete frĂ„ dagen.

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All the students who take Chinese ab inito went to Wuxi (æ— é”Ą) to learn Chinese May 13th. Even though we did not learn that much Chinese, it is for sure that we had a great day with 30 degees in a new environment and a good company. Here are some pictures from the day.

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Malene

Ein liten tanke til palestinske fangar i Israel

Ei nyhende som har vore ein del i media er sveltestreiken i Israel som har gÄtt fÞre seg dei siste 4 vekene. Dette er palestinske politiske fangar i israelske fengsel som streikar for i eit hÄp om Ä fÄ oppretthalde menneskerettane sine i fengsel. SjÞlv om det ikkje er veldig mykje vi kan gjere som tenÄringar i Kina, viste vi sympati for dei gjennom Ä streike saman med dei i 24 timar mÄndag 8. mai. Vi kunne drikke vatn med salt i, noko fangane i Israel ogsÄ gjer. DÄ klokka blei 22.00 hadde vi laga til eit mÄltid med det vi kunne finne pÄ campus (skuleomrÄdet) og alle 32 som hadde streika Ät saman.

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The ongoing hunger strike in Isreal has been mentioned in media and news for the last 4 weeks. This is Palestinian political prisioners who strikes to sustain their human rights while they are imprisoned. Even though it is limited how much we can do for them as teenagers in China, we showed our sympathy by striking with them for 24 hours on Monday May 8th. We were allowed to drink water with salt, just as the prinosers in Israel are too. When the strike was over, at 10pm, we made a meal out of ingredient we found on campus and all of the 32 students, who had joined the strike, ate together.

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Malene