My First Day of Work

I woke up around 6:30 and proceeded with my daily routine such as I do in the United States. After Ellen, Espen (Ellen's husband), and I had breakfast I got dressed and Ellen and I hopped on our bikes and raced the down the hills of Stavanger to work. I can honestly say that is the fastest I have ever been on a bike and it was the most exilerating feeling in the world. And my mom thought motorcycles were dangerous. ha At these speeds a fall would do some damage. But when we arrived to work, she then passed me off to Bjorn. He is my main contact here and has been very kind in getting me acclimated with in the office. After Bjorn took me on the tour of the whole office he introduced me to pretty much everyone from production to marketing, research and design, and admin, he assigned me to go to the storage/warehouse and open all of the Pocket Masks and assemble packages so that they could be handed out at the conference that is coming up. Yes, after a while it became somewhat mindless, but it has to be done and I was happy to do some work that was needed. After assembling roughly some 615 Pocket Mask packages.

 I met up with Bjorn and we went to the Cafeteria for lunch. Lunch was amazing! I had a salad with tomatoes, carrots, and thousand island dressing, and for the main course a huge helping of thai chicken curry! mmmmm.... honestly the best chicken curry I have ever had! I ate every bit of what I got.. the last thing I wanna do is be the "American" that wastes food. So after lunch I was passed off to Jerrod who is a young guy mid twenties-ish and is from Indiana. Great guy and I enjoyed talking to him. After going over some power points Jerrod sent me, I learning some of the products. After that Jerrod assigned me to a project that I will probably be doing for the next week or so, and Im very thankful to have something that will challenge me. Finally, the day came to and end around 16:30 and Ellen and I headed back to her house. Now, I said earlier that the ride was very fast in the morning down the hills, well it was just as slow going up the hills! I survived and got back but it was not an easy task, at all! Then, we had another great dinner of chicken breasts with seaseme seed covered  green beans and a side of potatoes sauted with rosemary, garlic, thyme, and salt. Very good! Next, after dinner Espen and I went for about a 4 mile walk around the Marina and east side with the dog Vee-go, after the walk we went to the grocery store and got some groceries then came home. Now, I am done, and VERY TIRED! ha

Monday May 28th

Today I slowly but surely reset my sleep clock. I woke up around noon and had some breakfast, pretty much the same thing I do on weekends or days I don't work. ha Then after a shower and some searching on the internet I set out on an adventure into town. The walk from Ellen's house to town is about 20 mins, but not the way I took. Of course, without any direction I just started walking, no clue where I was going or what I was looking for, just exploring. actually, my goal was to find an ATM that accepted my Mastercard so I could get some money out. Finally after taking the long route and talking to a painter that spoke little to no English I finally found the outskirts of the city. The city is very pretty and just like what you would expect from a Norwegian city, tight between buildings, Dutch-ish architecture, and beautiful views. I knew I was in the spot where I wanted to be for groceries and shopping  because I saw a cruise ship docked in the harbor. So as I walked around the city taking in everything from clothing stores, bakeries, and food stores alike I finally found an ATM (Minibank) that accepted Mastercards. So I withdrew some money and started to look for something like a small snack to tide me over until dinner that night. After sometime of walking around every little nook an cranny I found a small convenience store called Deli de Luca, I know very Norwegian right? But they had food and the prices weren't awful, so I went in and look around and saw a Keba Panini  and coke for 59 Krones. So I did some quick math in my head $1=about 7 Krones so roughly $8.50ish. I decided that wasn't too bad and got my panini and coke and sat on the harbor and enjoyed the beautiful weather After eating the Panini, I meandered my way back to Ellen's house where we had a nice spaghetti dinner, then sat and chatted. Sadly, I was very hungry and in explorer mode so there aren't any pictures of the food or the view. But I will make many more trip to town and will remember this time to take pictures so my words will come to life. 

My First Day

My first day went very well. I arrived in Stavanger, Norway around 10:00 and I met Ellen outside of baggage claim. When we went outside to walk to her car, I was greeted with beautiful sunshine, warm weather, and a slight cooling breeze; it was a beautiful day! So we hopped into Ellen's Porsche convertible and drove down the smooth winding roads of Stavanger to her house. When we arrived to her house in order for her to park the car in her car port, she had to very carefully back the car down an alleyway that did not give her much room for error because of the stone wall on the passenger side of the car. In other words, I doubt 85% of the readers of this blog could have completed the task, including me. Then we got out of the car and proceeded down to the guest room where I was to be staying.

 After I dropped off my luggage in my room, Ellen and I went on a walk. Accompanying us on this walk was her dog, pronounced Vee-go. I have no clue how they spell it in Norwegian. Haha I personally like this name because every time I say his name it reminds me of the Bud Light commercial with the dog named “We-go” haha So, as Vee-go, Ellen, and I walked around the house, up hills, around lakes and back. We talked about our different cultures, languages, and names for places in the city. When we got back from that, we had some lunch. I had four small slices of bread with a slice of either ham or salami on it topped with Norwegian cheese and cucumber. To drink, I had a nice glass of water and honestly probably the best water I have ever had. With no ice or anything it comes from the faucet pretty dang cold and crystal clear. After that, I laid down for about an hr power nap.. I couldn’t take the sleep deprivation anymore at that point I had been up for about 22 to 23 solid hours. When I woke up, I walked back to Våland Tårn, which is a tower close to her house where there is a beautiful view of the city and fjords.

When I came back from a nice walk, I got online and talk to my girlfriend and parents on Skype for a while until the internet timed out and was gone. The internet here is just like Starkville, where it decides when it wants to work or not. Finally, that night Ellen made a great dinner of chicken and vegetable stew with a side salad and to drink fresh squeezed apple juice. This juice was amazing, fresh apple juice with no sugar, no concentrate, nothing. PURE. 

When we finished dinner, I helped her clean up then I retired to my quarters where I fooled around on the internet unpacked then went to sleep around 21:00. Of course with the sun still up.

Some of the crew (fully stuffed) at the farewell cookout. Thanks Mom and Dad

My Gf is an expert sign maker.

About the Author: My name is Corey Hall and I will be a senior at Mississippi State University in the fall of 2012. On this blog I will be chronicling my adventures and experiences as I intern for Laerdal Medical from May 27th- July 6th. During this stint I will be in Stavanger, Norway and Munich, Germany. I am very blessed to be afforded this once in a lifetime opportunity and, I hope to appreciate every moment for what it is worth. Through out the next two months I will be posting funny stories, odd experiences, beautiful pictures, and everything in between. Thanks to all who have made this possible and I hope you enjoy this ride as much as I do.
-Corey Hall

Thank you for giving me this opportunity
Takk for denne muligheten
Danke für dieses Gelegenheit