Month: July 2007

Stranger in a Strange Land: Cycling

~ Enno ~ Leave a comment

The most important thing among the 20 kilos of luggage I was allowed to bring on the plane was my beloved bike. I may have a rather small selection of clothes and books as a result (the rest of my stuff may be coming here in late August), but I get to exercise after work.

Cycling in Germany is different from cycling in Norway. To start with, there are more choices of roads – Germany is basically a lot of roads with people in between, where Norway is a lot of mountains with almost no good place to put a road.

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Stranger in a Strange Land: Smoking

~ Enno ~ 2 Comments

I knew that going back to Germany would be a culture shock. It’s a bit like going to a foreign country. In a way, it’s stranger than that. Because at some point I must have accepted all this as normal.

Cigarette vending machines, for example. I don’t think other countries have these anymore. And why would you put them next to a bubblegum vending machine?

vending machines

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Shanghai: Food

~ Enno ~ Leave a comment

So how was Shanghai, Enno?

It was fun. I can’t believe how little of it I saw though – we worked almost the entire week, and I pretty much only had Saturday to explore. Luckily, I had a very nice guide. Line showed me the back streets and the touristy places alike.

Line, my Norwegian Guide to China

So why did I enjoy the trip so much, when my colleagues mostly didn’t? Well, I admit the heat and humidity were pretty bad – 35 degrees and 80-90% humidity take some getting used to. But I’m a sucker for exotic food. Anything I can’t get at home I’ll try, and even set my vegetarianism aside for it.
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