Happy birthday expatliv!

2 years ago today I published my very first blogpost. A handful of people read that one, mostly family and friends (who I think felt that they had no choice really)..

During those 2 years lots of things has happened and my baby has grown into a more confident and mature 2 year old. But still a 2 year old...You know how they can be like...:-)

Expatliv: 

• has 264 blogposts
• has 98 859 pageviews
• has 3374 published comments
• has most readers from India, USA, Norway, France, Germany and Russia
• 's most read blogpost is Expat Epidorpio
• 's most commented blogpost is D for Disneyland

As I have mentioned before, the wonderful side effect of blogging is the network of friends, fellow bloggers, writers and others I have connected with all around the world through my blog. Sharing excitement, laughter, tears and anger through comments and communication has been wonderful. I have loved writing and receiving guestposts. 

More and more expatliv has turned into a global fusion blog... where people, music, culture, food, idea, thoughts and philosophy travel across borders of countries. I think that has become the essence of me and my blog. Know your roots, but be open to new ways of doing things and new ways of thinking. There is always something new to learn from another person. And a new friend - can pop up from anywhere. That's what I believe anyway. 

So, dear reader, a warm Thank You for coming along so far. I hope you have enjoyed the ride, and do stay tuned for more. Let's see where that two year old will take us next...:-)

PS:

 

The World Through Expat Eyes

Once you leave your home country, you become a foreigner. Did you ever think about it that way? No matter where you go, are you a visitor, an explorer, a tourist, a traveler, an expat or a foreigner? Not a native anymore? Maybe you have more than one home country? Perhaps you are a global soul, feeling at home anywhere, because home is where the hearth is? After many years abroad, maybe you have that sense of belonging to more than one country? Is your home country your native country, the place where your roots are?

For an expat, all this can be confusing, whether we are talking about a serial-expat, an expat who only feels at home in one country or one who belong in several.

I think I have always enjoyed seeing places through different perspectives, and through eyes other than my own. I love finding out What does an Indian think about France? What does a Chinese think of India? How do you find the food, culture, festivals, literature, art, sports, nature and the people? And when the answers come, I can say to myself: Hm, I never thought about it that way....

New perspective, dear reader, new perspective.. to open your eyes and broaden your mind.

So, I was curious when I saw that Internations just published a new report called The world through expat eyes. They have asked 14000 expatriates from over 160 countries questions about their life living abroad. They have been asked to rank different aspects of their expat life, such as: general quality of life, working abroad, family life, settling in, leisure and making friends, international romance and relationships and personal finances.

The Top destinations (based on the indexes: general quality of life, ease of settling it, working abroad, family life and personal finances) are Equador, Luxembourgh and Mexico, meaning that those countries have a overall high score in many of the indexes. My countries ended up as no 18 (Norway), 55 (India) and 59 (Greece).

Because the indexes vary a lot, it is interesting to dig a bit deeper. For example: some countries score really high on personal finances but soooo low on making friends with locals. And vice versa.

India score high on financial situation for expats, while Norway score high on balance work life - life (expats in Norway work less hours than in most country and enjoy life outside work). Greece score high on making local friends. The Scandinavian countries score high on family life.

I especially enjoyed the country reports where you can read more detailed info about expat life in some particular countries. Here are the headlines for presenting some of them:

Can you guess which country they are talking about here?:
 
1. "Cold Weather- Warm people"
2. "Work, rather than pleasure"
3. "Warm climate, empty accounts"
4. "Hit the ground running"
5. "Big hearths and instability"
6. "Opportunities and cloudy skies"
7. "Leisure lovers at home down under"

So, which one seems most appealing to you?

To me, that was the funny thing about this report. It made me wonder: If I could choose freely, what factors would be the most important and how would I range them? For example would an easy settling - in be more important than good money (and living in an expat bubble)? And what about the weather? Family life? Friendly and welcoming locals? Education? Work hours? What would be most important to you?

Do you want to read more? You can find the report on: InternationsExpat Insider

As you may have seen, I have been looow on the blogging lately, and the inspiration has been rather non-existing. But I am planning some changes on the blog, so stay tuned dear reader. I will be back:-)

What? You want the answers to the headline - questions above? Ok. Ok. Here we go: 1.Canada. 2.China. 3.Italy. 4.USA. 5.Turkey. 6.UK. 7.Australia (where else?) But still - check out the reports, interesting read.

Enjoy your weekend. Take care.

Geeta

I saw her again today. Little Geeta. The girl from the slum area where I volunteer. Geeta, who lost her mother and brother in a traffic accident. Just before I was about to leave Mumbai a couple of weeks back, we had the terrible news, and went to visit her at her home, where she lives with her grandmother and 5 other relatives in one small room. One of the most heartbreaking memories I will ever have. And then I boarded the plane for Europe.

Now I am back in Mumbai, and I met Geeta again. Quietly she sat there on the floor in class, listening, looking at the others, biting her pencil. After class, she gave me a drawing with a sun, blue sky and flowers in it. She pointed at a large yellow flower in her painting - Sunflower, she said. - I like them. My mother like them also. And then she sent me a shy smile, and waved goodbye as she left.

And like so many times before, going home in the car, my feelings overwhelms me. Thinking of Geeta, and all the thousands of Geetas who live in this city. The poverty. The harshness of their lives. And suddenly a moment of joy for a sunflower and a happy memory of a loving mother. I can not control my tears. I feel numb as I sit and stare out the car window. So many destinies. So many people who could do with a helping hand, only just a bit of extra support so they can make a better life for themselves.

We try to adjust - wherever we go, don't we? And I know I have been writing quite a lot about the road side in this city. Every trip brings something new, but right now I see only the sad part: the people living on the street, the small children knocking on the car window, begging for money...

But that is the strange thing here. Tomorrow, or even just in an hour, I might feel differently again. I might see something funny along the road and start to laugh and shake my head and think: - Oh, I love this crazy country India... Like seeing this guy, next to my car:

So, as a special treat for people outside India, who do not know what I look at when I drive around in Mumbai- here is an example:

Today, I must admit, I am trying to fight the feeling of hopelessness that has overwhelmed me. I am sitting there, sweaty and dirty, with running mascara on my cheeks and my hearth hurts. Because no matter how many people you can help, there are always so many more out there.

Well, I sigh. I dry my tears, close my eyes and I think of Geeta's sunflower. For hope for the future and a happy memory of the past. And in the end....

... right? And what can be better than reading again one of my favorite stories:

I hope you have a good week dear reader.

Count your blessings and enjoy your moments.

Ta ta from Mumbai. 

Ganesha drums and Autumn symphony

I had to smile, when my blogger friend, Arti, My Yatra Diary, asked me to write a guestpost on her blog on the Ganesha festival. That was going to be fun:-) And it was! Thank you for hosting me, dear Arti. 
________________________________________
Ganesh Visarjan: Close up with Ganesha

" It had been 4 years since I had been religiously covering it. 

But not this year. This year, I wanted to pass the baton to someone else. 

I wanted to hear the story but from the other side. 

And... it didn't take me long to circle who that someone else would be. 

How about my dear blogger friend, Eli @ Expat Liv? An expat journalist

and writer from Norway living in Mumbai since the past two years?  

I thought. It would be nice to hear what she feels about the Ganesh 

Chaturthi festival. Being a regular reader of her blog, I already knew 

her love for India and that she connected with the festivals and cultures of 

the country at the same emotional level that I do. Thinking thus, I immediately 

set off to shoot her an e-mail requesting if she would like to be a 

guest on My Yatra Diary... and pen down something on Ganesh Visarjan 

and the festival from an Expat's point of view?

And voila, there she was, in the midst of flying in from Goa and 

flying out to Europe, all excited to make some time and honor 

this little corner of mine. I simply couldn't stop feeling grateful and 

thanking her for this kind gesture of hers.

So on that note, there we go -- sit back, relax and read all that the 

festival of Ganesh Chaturthi means to an expat, from an expat's point 

of view -- rest assured, Eli is the kind of writer who shall leave you 

wanting for more! 

******

When I was invited by dear friend Arti to write about Indian festivals in 

general and Ganesha in particular, I could feel a huge smile spreading 

on my face. Because even long before we moved to India over 2 years ago, 

I had a vision of the Indian festivals. Colorful, noisy, wild, crazy, fun 

and with crowds of happy people drumming and dancing all over, 

all the time. I was not disappointed. The festivals here are all that 

- and so much more. 

I go with the flow, from festival to festival."

You can read the rest of my guest post here: on Arti's amazing blog My Yatra Diary.

____________________________

So, one day I am right there. In the middle of a wild crowd in Mumbai. Surrounded by people who are drumming, dancing, laughing and together we are moving like a human winding train towards the water. I can feel the heavy drum beat. As I stretch back, I feel raindrops on my face. I start to laugh because it all suddenly feels so crazy, loud and intense. And here I am -  right in the middle of it. This enormous crowd of people, all here to follow their Ganesha to His last journey. The immersion. And the drums do not stop. At all.

And then the next day I am somewhere else. I am walking on a path in a green forest. No drums. No people. No cars. No sounds. Just quiet. I can hear my own heartbeat. Lots of trees. The colors are changing. From green to yellow, orange, red-ish and brown. An Autumn symphony. And yet, the drums are with me. Somehow. They do not stop. Not even here.

A short week back in Bergen, but already today I am moving on... To where? Stay tuned...:-)

Ta ta! 

R for Rosendal - for Real

Rosendal. Rosendal. The valley of the roses. Yes, that's where I went. Rosendal, one of the 26 dream destinations we visited together in April, remember? So, there I was - for real this time. In company with my good childhood friend ready to explore her summer paradise. Rosendal.

Aaaaahhh, happy days - filled with the joy of: making it all the way up to that tall mountain top, swimming in that chilly summer fjord and visiting that red barn which turned out to be a modern art gallery. Guarding that sweaty sticky chocolate cake from the wasps while sipping tea outside the tiny white wooden house built hundreds of years ago. And jogging smoothly away from that crowd of cows that we, a bit too late, discovered were oxes and not cows...

Red sweet cherries, bright green hill sides, clear blue sea and white sheets drying in that soft summer breeze...

Here are a few of my Rosendal moments - I hope you enjoy them as well...

...getting that top-of-the-world-feeling when finally reaching that mountain top, sitting down and seeing that fjord scenery open up in front of us:

...forgetting about the time while sitting outside the cottage, chatting with a good friend, while the long bright Nordic summer day turn into night (this pic is from the middle of the night):

.... and for some reason remembering one of my favorite poems:

...and feeling grateful:

 ...you know, simply enjoying every moment of those bright summer days, the fresh air, the clean sea, the good friendships and just feeling gratitude for those amazing little things in life:

Enjoy your moments wherever you are, dear reader, and thanks for following.

Ta ta:-)  

Summer salad blues

Ya ya. I know. Not exactly super active on the bloggers front lately. Well, I do have a lot of things on my mind, and somehow my writings seems to get stuck back in the thinking phase.. They all bottle up soooo well in that comfy zone.. That, combined with long bright nordic summer days (and nights), make my thoughts take it really slow in materializing themselves into words and actually managing the journey - from my mind - all the way to the pc - and on to the blog. Go figure?!

Today I did it. Because today I was thinking about salads. Yup. Perfect food for long warm summer days, I think. And I was applauding myself for this summer having pushed my salad comfort zone to the limits (oh yeah) and thrown myself out in new and unknown salad territory. This summer I have been such a brave salad explorer. Very adventurous, I tell you:-)

So, let me show you my favorites so far, and please do feel free to tell me yours. First up: a green salad with tomatoes, asparagus, salmon and avocado. With a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds, some nuts and the crispy green lettuce the flavors went so well together. That rich nutty/sweet texture of the avocado went so well with the light salty fish:

The next runner up had crispy fresh lettuce, spicy red chili, salty shrimps and (my Mumbai favorite) sweet mango. What a great combination of flavors also - that balance of spicy, sweet, bland and salty... Perfect!

One of my favorite ingredients in salads are tomatoes, and I couldn't help laughing thinking back to some shopping vegetable moments in India. So fresh. So tasty. And those guys who thought it was hilarious with this foreign lady who wanted to take pictures of something so ordinary as vegetables.. But hey guys: you presented them so well,, that's why:-) 

I think my conclusion is that I am a big fan of salads with balanced flavors: salty with sweet for example. Like the shrimps&mangoes, avocado&fish - and of course: sweet watermelon&salty feta cheese:

And let us not forget that balanced Greek salad: freshly cut red sweet tomatoes, cucumber, feta cheese, olives and onion - always a perfect dish on a hot summer day:

So, besides eating my way through the worlds salads, what have I been up to lately? Well, a bit of this:

- Sweating myself up steep hills to reach mountain tops ....

 ... to feel like I am on top of the world...

... and topping that feeling with throwing my sweaty self in to ice cold mountain water..: 

So, peace and quiet and just some blues to go along, and as we are hooked on salads, what can be a more perfect dessert that fresh blueberries and strawberries:

And in a few days I am going traveling...

Do you remember the crazy AtoZ challenge I participated in in April? When I traveled around the world - and took you along? 26 days and 26 dream destinations. Well, now I am going to travel to one of them.

Stay tuned to see where I will take you along dear reader... Buckle up...

Ta ta! 

Peace&quiet and the fluffy fashionista chicks

- I am sitting in the hen-house, said my friend on the phone.. - ????? - was my response.....

Yes, my dear childhood friend who live on the countryside outside Bergen, has extended her family with some feather-covered noisy small creatures. Of course I had to go and check out her fascination...

As always, I was excited to see her, especially now because driving out to her is like driving to another world... Passing bridges over clear blue waters, driving through bright green forest, maybe once in a while meeting another car on the road.... Because let me put it like this: this is where - if a car comes by-, the neighbors may stretch their neck to see who is coming...

Passing red barns, bright painted wooden buildings, green fields with yellow flowers, horses running down hillsides, sheep grazing peacefully in the shade of tall trees - trees that seems to have been there forever..

Arriving. Sitting down on the stairs outside her kitchen door with a tea, patting her beautiful dog Lucy, listening to the birds and the wind playing in the leaves --- and not much else...

Feeling the joy of walking around on the green fields surrounding her white painted wooden house. See the dogs run free and crazy around. Smelling the plants in the herb garden. Picking up a red juicy sweet strawberry. So peaceful. So quiet.

And then the babble babble... And I remember my green parrots back in Mumbai. They could for sure babble, but these birds seems to master the art too. The gang of chicken. And the funniest of them all: the two tiny "silk hens". With their white fluffy feathers they look like fashionable diva punk rockers, and they are unstoppable in babbling. They are jumping around in their fluffy outfits... Who do they think they are - fashioning up the hen houses on the Norwegian country side? To funny! And as the chick(en) does not have names yet, we start to discuss vividly: Shouldn't they be named after film stars? From either Hollywood or Bollywood? At least our fluffy fashionista chicks. Ha ha ha ...

Here are some moments from our peaceful days on the countryside:

You can see who is in charge?

A fluffy fashionista chick

Beautiful Lucy - also very interested in the chicks...

Bye bye from the country side, dear reader. All the best from a summerly Norway:-) 

An expat in disguise

- Would you like to taste a shrimp? I look around me. Who is she talking to, the fishsellerlady? Oh, to me?

- Oh, ok, I hear myself answer so politely: - yes, thank you. In English. English. And who am I to taste a shrimp? I know what they taste like. I am a native. And what is that - me talking English? I am not a tourist?

But, you see, I do get a bit carried away, because I am in tourist land, at the fish market in Bergen. And while tasting the shrimp (of course I did ), I look around: a large Japanese group, some Italians, Spanish and Russians. Yup, I am the only native person here.

But do I really look like a tourist to the fish-seller? Hm. Could it be the huge camera dangling around my neck? Or my bling bling sandals, my colorful clothes, flashy sunglasses or just my attitude? Yes, I guess I am an expat in disguise, a secret visitor. How great is that. I can explore my home town with new eyes, check out every single tourist spot (or trap). So, watch out Bergen: the Mumbai expat is back, disguised as a tourist...

And as I read through my old post How to spot a Mumbai expat? - 7 signs to look for - I feel myself nodding and giggling... Oh yes, I am so still there. Having that odd feeling of belonging but also of being foreigner..But I am:

...blending in with the tourists:

..and getting friendly with the locals:

And on this sunny day, I look up towards mount Fløien. Another popular tourist activity is taking the funicular up to the mountain top - for the view or for hiking further to the other mountains surrounding the city. So of course, I also did that. But let me just assure you that I have also walked all the way up there. Hey, I am (also) a native after all, right?

It is never far from the mountain top to the sea shore in Bergen, and as I, the disguised expat, am heading home, (after playing tourist for a day), I am walking along the sea and feel that fresh cool breeze in my hair, oh yes, this is home..... this too... Just like every other place where I have left a piece of my heart.. 

Yup, I guess home is where your hearth is... I wish you a wonderful weekend dear reader -  wherever you are, home or away and whether you are a tourist, a native or some kind of interesting mix of both:-) 

Ta ta from Bergen:-)