The Bergen experience

Bergen is the city where I live. It is one of the most beautiful cities in Norway and the second largest. It is situated between 7 mountains, namely: Ulriken, Fløyen, Rundemanen, Lyderhorn, Løvstakken, Sandviksfjellet and Damsgårdsfjellet. It also serves as a docking station of luxury liners visiting the fjords. I work in this city as a web designer trainee. I was lucky to have been offered an OJT (on the job training) in a Norwegian firm while I was still a student at AMA-Jones Avenue. Now, I have decided to continue working here and finishing my studies at the same time. But, it is back to square one since the school curriculum is very much different to what we have in the Philippines. I am opting for a film and tv production degree in the university here and it is a very tough job to accomplish because there is a limit of 20 students. You have to fight tooth and nail just to have a seat in the university. That's why I am also honing myself in the Norwegian language by taking Norwegian class or "norskkurs" since it is a prerequisite. I also need to write some English articles to practice my English because it is a bit mediocre. Especially now that I speak and write Norwegian all the time. My chief or boss was somewhat impressed with the fact that I can speak good Norwegian in less than 5 months. Honestly, it is not that hard, as long as you have the interest and the passion to learn the language.

Being in Norway is totally different to living in the Philippines. Not just about the money you earn but also because of the lifestyle and your integration to their culture and traditions. It's very quiet, peaceful and stress-free here. This is the first time that I feel totally safe and secure. It is indeed the best country to live in, according to the UN. It is safe to just text or use your mobile phone while walking on the street without fear of snatching, for example. Honesty is such a strong virtue among locals. I observed also that the people follow traffic rules religiously. Here, it is the pedestrians who rule the streets. Especially on areas without traffic lights, when a car driver sees someone who wants to cross the street, he always stops to allow the pedestrian to walk across. And they wait for you, no matter how slow you cross. This is not just in Bergen, but all over Norway or, I could say, on most Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland and Finland. Norway, Sweden and Denmark comprise Scandinavia). The people here are very warm and friendly, despite the cold weather. Especially in Bergen, where you can always feel that the people are quite vibrant even though this city is always rained in. This never dampens the hearts of the people. As they always say, "There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing." My teacher also told us that when someone asks how's the weather in Bergen, just reply that it's perfectly fine, though it is raining a lot. She also added a little tip for us. If we go to a pub or bar in Bergen, we must say: "Eg e'kkje fra Norge. Eg e fra Bergen." They will surely love you. It means, "I am not from Norway. I am from Bergen." It's a long running joke since Bergensers are very proud of their city and sometimes they forget that they are from Norway. Discrimination regarding gender or skin colour is illegal here.

When I was still in Cebu, I always hear stories that it is quite lonely and hard, living and working alone in another country. I never felt that way. With the advent of the new technologies like the Net and other communication devices, your friends and family are so "near". I always call home once or twice a week, just to hear the latest gossip and news. I also managed to find new friends to hangout with and go to bars together every weekend. Having a lot of time to spare, since I only work like 2 to 1 hour a day, with classes once a week, I go for guitar lessons, (tried violin but it was pretty hard), do some paintings to send to my family and friends, and write some articles now for The Freeman Lifestyle. I sometimes go to Helsinki just to see my favourite aunt and when my grandma came to visit. What I truly miss is the food in Cebu because I am always eating Norwegian food ever since I came, like salmon (laks in Norwegian), meatballs or meat cakes with potatoes which is a national dish(kjøttkaker), deer meat(joikakaker), shrimp salad(rekesalat), goat cheese(brunost). I seldom eat rice nowadays, mostly potato. I have tried scouring the city for Filipino food in Asian stores but I have been out of luck. I only found some packs of dried mangoes from Cebu. I dream about the puso and barbecue in Larsian, strolling and eating lunch in Ayala with my friends from school, adventures with my cousins and my two brothers in Danao - all these always make me smile. And I remember when one of my younger brothers took me and some of my cousins on my father's yacht and we swam around in the middle of the sea. I love to swim and go to beaches while I was still in Cebu, but here, I couldn't find any beaches unless I travel to Spain, south of France or Greece, as Norwegians frequently do if summer is a little cold (I will have my chance next year to travel around Europe but, for now, I am savouring everything Bergen has to offer). Luckily, it wasn't that cold this summer and I managed to take a dip in a nearby lake. When I was in Helsinki, I never thought that the weather can be really that warm in summer here. There was a point that it was slightly similar to the weather in Cebu. Hundreds flocked to the nearby lake or rivers to cool off or just to sunbathe. I noticed that they have a very different go-to-the-beach customs. When Filipinos go to the beach, we go to eat and also to have a swim, but people here go to the beach just to lie around and get a tan rather than go swimming. I always laugh at the thought of us, Filipinos, worrying if we got exposed to too much sunshine since we are afraid to get dark. It really pays to get a little tan here, you get all the attention you want.

I have travelled to almost all of the major cities in Norway (In Trondheim, I met someone who was also with The Freeman before.), but it is only Bergen that caught my fancy and ignited my passion for life. It is a big city with a heart and with the charm of a small town. Now, it is my home away from home.