Reiselivsdagen 2011

Sorry in advance to all my English speaking (/reading) readers. (That was a strange sentence :p) I don't know if I have a better name for this event than Tourism-day, and even that seems a bit weird for me, so I'm just going to stick with the Norwegian word (Reiselivsdagen).

So anyway, today I was among some lucky and involved students who got to go to HSMAI Europe's Reiselivsdagen 2011. HSMAI stands for Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International and is the hospitality industry's source for knowledge, community and recognition for leaders committed to professional development, sales growth, revenue, optimization, marketing and branding (took that from their site, www.hsmai.org).

It was a conference at Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel in Oslo where we listened to what some of the top people in the business had to say about where they think the industy is heading and communication was a key topic. It was highly interesting and we heard so many great speakers, for example from Google, Amadeus, HRG and TripAdvisor, among others.

We were told to forget everything we had learned. We were told that even though technology and the virtual world is here to stay (and some say take over), the employees are still the most important assets to a company. We were told that the social media is a very powerful tool, but it doesn't work if you don't know how to use it. There was so much more, but all I really want to say is that is was an amazing experience that I wouldn't want to be without, and it showed me that it is very important to build networks with the people who's already in the business, and be active during the years of studying.

It's been a really great day, and I want to give a special thanks to HSMAI Norway and HSMAI Student, and Hans Stenseng in particular in that respect, who got us BI-students involved! Looking forward to many great meetings and events in the future!

Happy weekend!

Happy happy weekend, everybody :D

It's been a long week with school, work, projects, assignments, social happenings and football.

This weekend will be spent studying some more (cos let's face it, I'm a bit behind), watching a bit of football and some series, and a house warming party at my best friend's house tomorrow night. Think that'll be good : ) All though I'm not sure they can quite call it a house warming party seeing as they've lived there for about 8 months or so, but why care about that technicality right? ; )

Couldn't make up my mind on which picture to choose, so decided to use all of them.

And by the way, if anyone feels like coming over here to give me a massage I wouldn't really mind that ; )

Hope you'll all have a great weekend with lots of fun! Enjoy!

xoxo

Don't want it to end

In these One Tree Hill-lacking days, I decided to make myself miss it and look forward to it coming back in January even more than I already do. And today I FINALLY saw the date!

People; mark January 11th in your calendar, cos that's when the beginning of the end starts. Really can't wait for the 9th season to begin, even if it's only a 13 episode season and the last one :'( What am I going to do when it finishes?

Where it all began

They're all grown up now

Have a great night : ) Or day ; )

xoxo

Tuesday morning at my place...

Good morning everybody! : ) Hope you've all had a good night. I have, even tough I've had all sorts of weird dreams :p And it was equally hard getting out of bed. But I'm a busy girl and just had to get up, so here I am. Sitting in bed working on the third (of five) service quality assignments.

This time it's about how companies can separate themselves from other companies. Still don't feel like I quite know what I'm doing here, but gotta get going since we're handing it in on Friday.

There's a lot happening this week, actually from now until Christmas. So let's hear it for December 15th, huh. That's when I got this semesters last exam ; ) Also looking forward to Champions League tonight! The absolute highlight of my day today!! :D

Hope you'll all have a good day. I'm really gonna try to blog more often from now on about all sorts of things.

xoxo

Liverpool v Manchester United

Getting ready for Liverpool against United today. Actually starting to get a bit nervous. There's a lot of honor at stake, and 3 points and a good performance would be awesome!

Let's go, you Red Devils! You can do it!! :D

RIP Camilla < 3

I just want to dedicate a small post to a beautiful girl who was tragically taken away from our class on Friday.

She was one of the happiest people I've had the pleasure of meeting, and always open and warm. We'll have a memorial service on Monday and the funeral is on Wednesday in a week. Camilla will always be with us and we will miss you a lot.

Thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends.

May she rest in peace.

Primrose Hill in my heart forever and ever :D

Hey : )

So, I've been pretty AWOL lately. Sorry about that. Been to London and that's pretty much all that's happened in my life lately ; ) That and illness. But let's not go into that. That's no news with me these last few weeks... :p

London was great though! I mean, how can it not be? It's London. Seriously my favorite city. Never get tired of it. For me it used to be that I had to go to Oxford Street to feel like I had been there. Now that's changed. To feel like I've been to London, I now have to go to Primrose Hill and The Primrose Eatery. If you're ever in London you simply have to take the trip! Great food and staff. They started recognizing me and my friend now, so we're kind of a part of the in-crowd ; ) How crazy (great) is that when you only get to go there a couple of times a year? :p Of course when we're in the city we always go up there several times during our stay. Kinda just have to ; ) This time we watched Manchester crush Chelsea 3-1. Great stuff.

We found the perfect combination this weekend though. We went up there Friday when we got to London just to get a cup of coffee and to sit at Primrose Hill. Amazing view over London's skyline by the way. (The view is usually the reason for going up there, especially for "new" people). On Sunday we had dinner and watched the game. Great experience watching a game when you get to talk to other supperters as well and not just hearing shouting as you do in a pub. Although that's great too. Don't get me wrong. I love that as well, but it's a different kind of love :p Then on Monday we went up to have lunch before leaving for Gatwick. After lunch we brought a latte with their own sirup to the hill in great sunshine, and my oh my was that great! I had the vanilla. Best latte ever! So it was a perfect weekend Primrose-wise : ) Thanks to Lou and company for being so great, by the way : ) You always make us feel so welcome.

View of London from Primrose : )

Motivation

Hey all : )

Just wanted to share some pictures with you. Sometimes the motivation just isn't there, so why not look at some pictures that might help? : )

Hope you've had a great week and that your weekend will be even better : )

xoxo

My shoe collection

There really is no wonder why people keep saying I should stop buying shoes. Most of them I haven't even worn yet :s But the day will come! I promise! :D

28 pairs and counting

In addition to these, I've got a few at home, but that's only like three pairs or something. That's nothing.

What can I say? I'm a semi-shoe-addict. And when I go to London in two weeks, I'll get some more :D Primark, here I come!

xoxo

Fadderullan and sick once again (yeay)

I don't know if my immune system has just shut completely down or if it's just bad luck, but here I am once again, with something I suspect to be an ear-infection. For the third time in two and a half years. Annoying? Yes! The worst part is that I was supposed to enjoy my weekend at my sisters house and relax after a hectic week (or ten days to be exact) of Fadderullan.

For those of you who don't know, the first two weeks at BI (where I go to school) are called Fadderullan. It's hosted by the Student Organization of Management in Oslo (SBIO), and is represented by an independent board. These two weeks (or 10 days) are enrollment weeks with the aim of getting to know the school and other students. It's the largest project under SBIO throughout the year, and this year, I was a Buddy. Buddies are students who have gone to BI for a year or more and their responsibility is to show and tell new students about BI and life as a student.

These two weeks are filled with activities, concerts and parties. That, plus the fact that I was in charge of organizing and being responsible for the Buddies in my Tourism Management class, has made me a bit tired. For that reason, and for missing my sister and nephews, I was really looking forward to going to see them this weekend. And here I am. Waiting for the doctor to call me to see if I'm going to go for a check-up. Ain't life grand?

Fadderullan was, in spite of some stressful days at the beginning, really fun. We had 24 new Tourism students and 30 international exchange students in our group, and I loved how eager they were to join us. Not everyone showed up though, but that's just how it is. But the ones who did were pretty amazing and made up for the ones who weren't there : ) So all in all, it's been a great couple of weeks, but now it's back to school and work, also know as the real world. I've already got my first presentation lined up and two tasks to be handed in. On the same day. In two weeks. Probably should get started on that, like, very soon.

Have a great weekend guys : )

xoxo

Going, going... gone!

After too many years of speculation, it's final: Francesc (Cesc) Fàbregas has joined FC Barcelona!

It's a big loss for Arsenal and Premier League. He will be missed, but good luck to him! I hope it'll be all he wants it to be! He deserves it.

xoxo

London riots

I wanna ask the people rioting in London to stop ruining the city. What can you possibly achieve by destroying and burning buildings, robbing stores and pretty much make your situation way worse than it was?

If you're doing this to show you're being treated wrong and don't get enough funds to help out your neighborhood and the youths future, how is this helping? It will only force the government to have to spend money on rebuilding areas. Starting from scratch.

If you're doing this to revenge the death of the 29 year old man on Thursday, how is destroying other people's lives doing any good? Why not rise above it all? Why not show that you're worth helping and saving? Think of all the innocent people who are affected by this.

I don't know all sides of this situation, but I can't imagine how this can possibly help in any way. All it's doing is making things worse. The world is bad enough with people dying of starvation, thirst, natural disasters and war. Why choose to ruin your own country, your own city? How is this making things better?

Help wanted

Seeing as this summer hasn't had the best weather, I really wanna go away for a week in September/October. It has to be somewhere warm, preferably with a beach so I can get a tan and a swim or two in the ocean. And of course not too expensive. I am, after all, a poor little student :p Okey, maybe not poor, but school, rent and food is quite expensive ; )

What I want from you are some suggestions ; ) It would be great if you could share some ideas :D So please comment if you've got some for me : ) Help is appreciated! All tips will be considered and the best will be repeated if wanted ; )

xoxo

Memorable quotes in the aftermath

As you all know, Norway was hit with a tragedy on Friday afternoon. We've all heard so much about this over the last few days, so I'm not going to go in to it. All I wanted to share was some of my favorite quotes in the aftermath of all that has happened. To see how we've all handled this, both as private persons and as a country, and not the least our government, makes me proud to be Norwegian.

A special thanks to all who have showed their love and support around the world. It means a lot in a time like this.

Svaret på vold er enda mer demokrati, enda mer åpenhet, men aldri naivitet. - Jens Stoltenberg

The answer to violence is even more democracy, even more openness, but never naivety. Norwegian Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg

Vi er et lite land, men et stolt folk. - Jens Stoltenberg

We're a small country, but a proud people. - Norwegian PM

Vi er så få her i landet, hver fallen er bror eller venn. - Nordahl Grieg

We are so few in this country, every fallen is a brother or friend. - Norwegian author, Nordahl Grieg

Om én mann kan vise så mye hat, tenk hvor mye kjærlighet vi alle kan vise sammen. - Stine Renate Håheim

If one man can show so much hate, just think how much love we can show together. - Utøya survivor, Stine Renate Håheim

Thoughts and prayers are with all affected!

xoxo

Quite a random post ; )

I was sitting here in my bed, being quite bored, when I realized I wanted to update my blog. The problem was I didn't know what I wanted to blog about. So I went to my folder of pictures and found some pictures I got from my friend in high school. They're all from the internet though, so maybe you've seen some of them before. Wether you have or not, it's still great fun ; ) Enjoy! : )

(You might have to click on them and try to get them bigger. Don't know why my pictures are all of the sudden smaller... If anyone understands, please let me know : ) )

Do you dare? ; )

PRICELESS! :D

Be honest...; you totally looked behind you, didn't you? :p

How cute! : )

WOW!!

Something I could seriously find myself doing!! :p

Even I'm not that stupid...

Or THAT stupid!! :O

Hope you liked it. I sure did :p

xoxo

Karo visiting me : )

On Thursday, after some back and forth from the airline company, I finally picked Karo up at the airport : ) It didn't start great with her almost having to wait for the next flight, but she came and it turned out to be a great weekend :D

We just chilled out in my flat on Thursday evening, eating snacks and watching Friends, after going to Egon for dinner.

Girls night

Since the weather was a bit grey on Friday, we went toStoro Shopping Centre to shop. As usual, I ended up buying some more jewelry. Always seem to do that :p In the afternoon, we went to my home town and got the best pizza in Norway. That is of course the pizza my grandmother makes. No-one beats it. It's as simple as that ; ) After dinner Karoand I had a movie marathon. Since she hadn't seen Cars before :O , I borrowed it from my cousin, and we started the evening with that. Then we saw Hancock and ended with Wimbledon. That wasn't the bestidea though, cos it just made us want to go toLondon and Brighton ;p

On Saturday we got up and went back to Oslo to do some serious sightseeing. We started at Vigelandsparken and it made me wonder why I don't spend more time in the parks in Oslo. Well, when the weather is good of course. Haven't been the best these past few weeks/months...

Sinnataggen

Lots of people chilling and working on their tan

Monolitten

Vigelandsparken from the top, looking down

After seeing the park, we went to get ice-cream (softis) at Aker Brygge. It's a must if your there and the weather's good! Then we went up to Akershus Fortress (Akershus Festning) and looked out at the ocean and all the boats that was out in the sunshine. Following the fortress, we walked to Oslo's main street and saw the Parliament building (Stortinget), Spikersuppa (fountain in summertime and ice-rank at winter) and the Royal Castle. We ended our tour of the city by going down to the train station to see the Opera house, but we both had pretty sore feet, so we just looked at it and headed back to Aker Brygge on the tram. We were both hungry, so we went to get some amazing pasta at Olivia. Never get sick of that place : ) Amazing food and great service : )

Dinnertime in the sunshine : )

On the way back to my flat we went by the store to buy some more cherries (sour candy, that is) that Karo fell for. She also fell in love with Norway, so she'll definitely be back :D

Another beautiful sunset

It's been a truly great weekend, and we both thought it sucked that she had to go back today. But we've both got work in the morning, so that's life. Back to reality tomorrow.

Hope you're all having a great summer : )

xoxo

(The blog has been living a life of it's own. That's why some of the writing and paragraphs are different... Been trying to fix it, but this is as good as it gets)

Sunset in Oslo

Just wanted to share with you what a beautiful view I have right now. Great being alive on days like these.

Sunset in Oslo, overlooking Holmenkollen

(the little pointy thing way right)

I've just tidied the flat and getting ready for tomorrow. One of my friends from my time in Brighton is coming to visit me for a few days. It's going to be great. She from the Czech Republic and have never been to Norway before, so *fingers-crossed-for-nice-weather*.

xoxo

London en mi corazón

This blog post is a dedication to my favorite city, and it will come as no surprise to the people who know me (and whoever have read the heading) it's London.

Tower Bridge

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament seen from London Eye

Trafalgar Square

Hyde Park from the air

I've lost track of how many times I've been there. Don't think I've actually ever kept track, to be honest. But I keep coming back to this marvelous city time and time again. It was so much easier last year, cos I lived in Brighton. It was only a train ride away. But there's no stopping me wherever I may be living. (As a side-note, I'm actually thinking of moving there for a couple of years when I finish my Bachelor degree in two-years time). I was there for my birthday last September, during Norway's national day in May this spring, and going back again for my birthday weekend this year as well. Thinking of making it a tradition ; )

Outside The Hummingbird Bakery in Portobello Road. Yummy

View of London from Primrose Hill, way north in Regent's Park

Worth the trip

A new favorite, with great staff, hot coffee, and killer smoothies!

Close to Primrose Hill

So here's some more of my favorite pictures of London. Some are my own, and some are from Google. Some are just to hard for me to capture :p Enjoy!

London Eye by night, during Christmas-time

House of Fraiser in Oxford Street, during Christmas-time

THE Shopping area, with capital S. Oxford Circus, baby

Piccadilly Circus

St. Katherine's Dock

Starbucks in St. Katherine's Dock

Wembley Stadium, the home of football

With the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium

I'll definitely agree with that...

Me and mommy dearest at Gatwick Airport

I'm sooo ready to go back in September! Really looking forward to it. Thinking of checking out Hampstead Heath this time. Anyone been there, who can give me some pointers?

Have a great summer!

xoxo