Last day in England!

Well, here it is at last. I have almost finished packing - I just need to sort all the odd bits in my hand luggage I think. I might have a bit of a rearrange with my suitcases too - one of them seems really heavy! There feels like so much to do still; I need to call the insurance people early tomorrow as they think I gave the wrong serial number (typical Becky thing to do!) Then there are all the things I can't really get yet - I think I need to get bed clothes, basic kitchen equipment, travel iron, etc... Hans can give me a hand with all of that when we get to Bergen - really, I need to get to my apartment and see exactly what I do need before I buy it.

Even though I am busy, I am trying to stay as un-stressed as I can. am sitting here now with a large glass of red (clever I know - I wont pack my passport or something like that now!) and I decided I would try and post as I'm not sure I'll get a chance for the next few days. Where I will be staying with Hans and his mum is pretty remote, and there is just a basic telephone line, so internet access would mean pulling the phone out and dialling up: really slow and painful so I'll just wait until I'm set up again. I'll try and type up into a word document at the end of most days and then I can just copy and paste when I'm back online.

I'm still really nervous, it's starting to feel real now. The hamsters have gone to stay with their uncle Andy so the place already feels empty, though I think it might be a bit tougher for Hans than me - he will have to come back to the flat beng so quiet. The 'final' packing is tough aswell, I just want to unpack everything and crawl into bed and pretend this isn't happening!

Our flight is around lunchtime tomorrow, so we should be in Norway around 3, and hopefully arrived and settled in Kirkenær by 7 (Hopefully) I don't like flying and I don't like airports so I always have an annoyng day when I go anywhere. It's worse as we'll both be carryng normal luggage - usually we only take hand luggage so it's a matter of checking in and that's it! I hate wating around for stupid suitcases that you have to lug around everywhere with you! Grrrrr!!!

So, it's finally here - the time has come! Goodbye to everyone - I wll miss you all but I will be back, and have lots of great experiences to share. Hans, I love you so much and will miss you dearly - thank you for being so supportive, my rock and my best friend. Mwah!

The stupid 'I' key keeps sticking on my keyboard!!!

Anyway, an update on yesterday: I met my cousin today, she was so lovely. She brought loads of photos of me to look at of different family members, including photos of my dad which was amazing for me to see, and we also had a coffee and a really nice chat. I feel very welcomed by her, and plan on meeting my family when I am back from Norway in January. I wish this had come earlier and I had a little more time to get to know them, but it will be a good thng to look forward too. I'm not really doing it justice - I mean all the things that happened and how I feel, but it's still a bit overwhelming and personal - I need to process it a bit more in my head before I write about it. It will come - also had an email from another cousin too! It's so amazing!




















A picture from my cousin of me and my dad! He looks loads like my brother Rob, it's quite scary!

I met a couple of other friends today which was nice. One of them is pregnant, and by the time I get back will have had her baby. Again, another thing to look forward too! My other friend gave me a leaving present which was really nice, but the best thing about it is she wrote the tag in Norwegian! it was really thoughtful and funny, but she got it spot on! 'Lykke til - jeg gleder meg til å møte deg til våren!' Thanks Kayleigh!

Anyway, I have more to say but I really need to get on with the packing :-S Thank you to everybody who has been so supportive over the last few days and weeks, I will be thinking of you all (when i'm living it up n the City of Rain!) Now I have to go through the post and put all my 'I's back in :-)

Much love xxx