How I ended up in Norway

Hello guys!✌
It's been a month since I arrived in Northern Norway to a beautiful island of Senja. They call it "Norway in miniature" because Senja's terrain is so versatile that it is safe to say that all types of Norwegian landscapes are represented here. I call this place "edge of the map"... In good sense. Anyways, I think that coming to such an interesting place is not an everyday thing (at least not for me), so I decided to share a story of my arrival here with you, folks...


Just like before any other trip that falls into awesome category I had completely different plans. Well, I did not have much plans to be honest. The company I worked for was slowly but surely sinking and I tried to figure out what to do next. If I remember correct it was about a week before our company closed down when I saw an advertisement in one of the job-hunting related facebook groups about a boat renter position on Senja island in Norway. This part of the world map was unknown to me and was covered in a white fog of mystery. After a quick research on google maps there was one white spot less on my world map.

It was not the job itself that caught my attention, but rather the location it was at: the promised land of Senja island was far far North and guaranteed new adventures. Hesitating no more I picked up the phone and called a contact person for the vacancy. From what I learned about the job during a quick chat over the phone it certainly sounded interesting: new location, new lifestyle, new experience and new living environment. Then I googled "Norwegian girls" and forgot what was that I was searching for... To my great disappointment there aren't too many girls in a fishermen village though....

The person I talked to asked me if I was sure that I really wanted to go to Northern Norway till the end of September. Now those of you who are into hiking, climbing etc try asking yourself the same question without giggling) The decision to go was taken within the first ten minutes. As for the other party, they needed some time to process my application and see who else would apply. I told'em that in two weeks I was leaving for a backpacking trip through the Baltic countries towards Ukraine (I'll make another post about the trip) and wouldn't sit and wait for their decision. Should the want to hire me they could call me and I'd go North from wherever I was at that moment. Like a SAS team😎

It was in the late April when  applied for the job, as I said and it wasn't until the 13th of July I heard from the agency again. I sort of forgot about the whole thing and started to get bored idling in Ukraine. They called and told me the good news that I was selected for the job and they wanted me to start....on 15th of July. They asked whether it was possible. My response was that basically anything was possible, but at the same time I wondered when was the last time they saw a map of Europe. It looked like they had no idea how far from Norway I was at that moment. I was not sure that such a rush was necessary and asked for a couple of days to buy tickets and prepare for the departure. They said "sure! We'll call you on Friday..." Noone called neither on Friday nor on Monday the next week.

The more I was involved in this hiring more fishy it looked it me. Just imagine yourself in my shoes for a moment: a person you never met and who's very difficult to catch on the phone tells you to be in Norway in two days and work for a man you have never seen or talked to before. Taking all these factors into consideration I decided to forget about the whole thing and move on. But the very next morning I got a phone call from the employer who wondered why didn't I arrive... I explained him how fishy the whole situation looked to me and why. He understood my perspective. We had a long conversation about the job I was going to do and the workplace in general. The man sounded like a person I could trust so I told him that I was in. He gave me a couple of days to buy the tickets and tell him my arrival date.

My route from Sumy, Ukraine to Mefjorvær, Norway

I will skip all the buying tickets etc part of the story, because nothing excitining happened then. As it was agreed, in a couple of days I was on the road to Mefjorvær. Norway was calling me! I took a bus to Kiev, where I boarded a plane to Warsaw, Poland. In Warsaw I had to change airports and take a flight to Oslo, where I had to change airports again. 

Me in full gear 1 hour before departure

We were approaching Oslo airport through a thick cloud that hung really low over the city. I looked out waiting for Norway to show itself. I kept on waiting and still saw nothing but clouds. I felt like shouting "Come on, show yourself already!" Well, I am sure you know this feeling of impatience you have when visiting a country you have never been to before.

There was not much time between my flights, so I did not have a chance to explore Oslo. Right upon arrival to the central railway station I bought a ticket and boarded a train to Oslo airport. It was only when I arrived at the airport that I realized that I bought a ticket for a wrong train. Or boarded a wrong train with a wrong ticket. Put it any way you like but in any case I couldn't exit a platform in Oslo airport train terminal. I asked a conductor for help and she told me that I had not been attentive when buying the ticket and did not read the instructions. She told me that I had to buy a new ticket to exit a platform or go talk to a gate keeper. Cap in hand I went to talk to the gate keeper. Norway is famous for its sadistic (in financial sense) fines, so I was already making rough estimates how much would I need to pay He listened to my story, told me to be attentive next time and opened the gates to let me trough. Must have been St. Peter himself working for Norwegian railways!👼

Those couple of hours I had in Oslo airport I spent just roaming the terminal and writing my diary while the memories were fresh. Then I boarded a plane to Tromsø. There I was supposed to hop on a transfer taking a group of German fishing tourists to Mefjorvær. But before that I needed to go to the nearest shopping center and buy myself a pair of proper hiking shoes, because the shoes I had...well...there were not designed for the latitudes I arrived in. Believe me I felt much more secure with new shoes on my feet. I was ready for adventures!

All in all it took me around 30 hours to arrive in Mefjorvær. Probably the longest trip I ever had both distance-and time-wise. It was already an adventure itself. Leaving so fast, so far, for such a long time. I did not have much information about the place when signing up for the job. In a way I took my chances. Sort of reminds the quote: "-But what if I fall?,-- Oh darling, but what if you fly?" I took my chances in a way and I have no regrets what so ever. Besides, I arrived at that point in my life when I needed to leave Finland and move to a new country. I feel like it might be a beginning of a new chapter. But that's a whole different story...