Chapter 3 – Three welcome runs
The first welcome
When I was dropped at Kiwi, I just intended to see what was available and was not intending to make any purchases. I was still suffering the effects of a first day in a strange land and was totally alone, now that Ralph had even left. I was worried whether I would even be able to make may way back to campus, since I had just been dropped by car. I was not even sure if the credit card that I had carried along would work. My bank had been insistent on the issue of one-time pin. I was still wondering how the OTP would work, but they had indicated that they would send it on email instead. This is after I had told them that I would be out of mobile network coverage, hence would not be able to get the OTP by SMS.
Then just out of nowhere, in a strange supermarket…. I stumble upon the guys! What a pleasant surprise to stumble upon the other two Kenyans at Kiwi, in a mere coincidence of fate. They were also forced to do some shopping over the ‘closed Sunday’ fear. With the strength of numbers on my side, I was not a bit relaxed, after all the other two had already walked around UiS and knew the basic routes around.
I got a packet of milk, a packet of buns and a can of Coffee mate. That would surely sort me out for the two days. My bill by conversion was about KShs.1,000/=. That was high! However, I was just glad that the credit card worked and that I was able to at least get something.
“%@(*S#@#!,” the lady at the cash register said and looked at me questioningly.
“Sorry, English only,” I responded, due to lack of what-else-to-say.
“You want packet?,” the lady cashier asked.
“Yes.”
A plastic bag was shoved my way. I had to do my own packing of the shopping into the plastic.
“You want receipt,” the cashier asked.
That was new. I thought it was an entitlement.
“Yes.”
How else would I remind myself of the cost?
I later saw a charge of Norwegian Kroner, NOK1,60 for the plastic bag, which is about 16 Kenya shillings. There was nothing for free – and the way I was glad of their generosity?
We left the store past eight. By that time it was raining, though it was as bright as midday. We even had to turn back and shelter at the supermarket, after one trial of going through the rain and finding it so heavy. We eventually managed to walk in the drizzle. I resisted taking dinner, if you can call it that. The so called dinner was to be just coffee and bread. To me it was too early, too bright. My clock, now adjusted to GMT+1, was reading 9.00pm. The outside still looked like midday. No lights had yet been put on. Even the streetlights were still off. Was I losing my mind?
I finally did make a cup of milk from the shared kitchen just opposite my room. It was around ten. It was still bright such that you could see and walk around outside without the need for lighting of any sort. If anything, it is the cloud cover as a result of the rain, that made for some darkness – distant darkness. I knew that something was wrong the moment I opened the can of Coffee mate.
The powder inside the tin was crystal white, just as white as the sugar that I had just put in the milk. I thought that maybe the coffee had some ‘magic’ of turning brown, and so I scooped a teaspoonful and poured the powder into the milk. I stirred, then waited for the magic… but nothing changed. The concoction remained as white as snow. I scooped and added a second spoon to the cup. Nothing still happened, even after stirring forever. It remained milk white. Which the hech type of coffee is this? I just took it white because I had to take something. It was a bad dinner experience for me.
Finally, the day would be over. We had travelled, we had settled in and were now ready for what happens. We had already applied for resident cards by booking appointments with the NO police. Though we were to have gotten these cards within 7-days of arrival, their online booking calendar was full until Aug. 26, about twenty-day away. Nonetheless, Aug. 26 is when we booked for this requirement, 7-day or no 7-day.
The second welcome
Sunday was a general indoor day, with no open business. We had already settled into our small cubicles in Paviljong 10. Our one-story building comprised two wings on either sides of the stairway. Our single key would each open the main entrance door and also our individual cubicles. Each cubicle was small by definition, about 2m by 4m in dimension. It was however tasteful enough. A cupboard, a table and a bed. We had shared amenities, with four rooms being assigned a particular kitchen and a particular washroom to share, just within the wing of the particular floor.
The rules of occupancy required that we each sign a contract, with over 4 pages of clauses. Other rules were posted in the kitchen, about cleaning and a cleaning schedule. Most clauses passed unnoticed. It is only the rent payable that was something to raise an eyebrow - $340 per month for that 2 by 4. I considered it a high premium for such a room. However, students’ life is full of many gives and takes. This was a ‘give’. We hoped for a ‘take’.
The Sunday weather continued being rainy. In fact, the three of us had to abort one walk, already in progress, around campus when the rain started beating down on us. The rain was however short-lived and we would soon take the same walk for about an hour. We would learn that such on-off rains would be the order of the day, and that rains would never be a hinderance to normal life.
The third welcome
Life in the artic region started properly on Monday, August 12, when we started by an opening meeting at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science on the third floor of Kjolv Egelands Hus. That is where the three of us on postgrad studies met another six Kenyan grad studies on the same exchange programme. All the nine visitors around the table were CS students.
We would soon meet our two key contacts in the names of Ralph and Hellen. I had already met the former when he picked me from the airport. I had already corresponded to Hellen many times during preparatory stage. It was now a matter of putting the written name to the physical person. It was raining the whole morning as we observed it through the windows of this floor. The free fleece and jacket that was given to each of us was a quite a welcome relief from the already biting cold. Most of us ended up putting on both of these immediately when handed to us.
This first meeting was a one for setting the ground on our expectations in the next ninety days. Most issues were the normal norms expected of any studentship, apart from the compulsory TB screening that was set for August 20. We were also asked to take photos for student IDs. Finally, we were introduced to the forthcoming Fodder festival, the welcoming party for all new Stavangerians. The free party would run from same day and last the whole week.
We would later learn that only the entrance to Fodder gates was free. Every other thing would cost you, starting from that burger at six dollars and that coke at three dollars. However, without Kroners, or dollars for that matter, we were still roasted. Our living costs would be met by an allowance paid to our bank accounts and drawable from bank ATM. The bank accounts and bank cards for the six grads were ready and issued for use. The three of us were deemed strong enough to survive another week from our own pockets as we waited for processing of the cards. Who said that a student’s life was easy? If he said, then he lied. If she said, then she still lied.
We got to learn what KeNoMo, the Kenya-Normal-Mobility programme, our sponsoring programme, was all about. KeNoMo is a venture between UiS and two Kenyan universities being KCA and UON. As an exchange programme, MSc and PhD students from Kenya are to visit NO for one semester to learn in the case MSc courses and do joint research in the case of PhD students. My quick calc indicated that we had four UON and five KCA from the group of nine. We learnt that there would be orientation sessions on Aug. 14 and Aug. 20 – one was to attend either (or both).
The routine going forward would be then be monthly meetings for reporting progress on work done. There would however be weekly meeting, on Fridays, for the three of us on research for the same purpose. Other generalities were that we should ‘stay out of trouble’ – Ha! Ha!, very funny. On the other hand, we could travel freely within NO, especially after getting the resident cards from the Police.
Under Q&A, we learnt that dressing and salutation were both informal, especially relating to students and their Profs. Norwegian classes are also on offer for Kr.1,000. We had to buy bus tickets, from the ticket machines near the bus stops before boarding buses. Alternatively, we could get a NO cellphone number and use and app to generate tickets upon payment for monthly sessional tickets that costs about $75.
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