Off I go, then!

Being that I'm about to embark on a wonderful adventure, it seemed appropriate to create a blog and try to keep track of what happens. Bear with me as the intervals between entries inevitably grows, which I'll try to make up for with my charismatic style of writing.

This is me, hanging out in the living room. Taking a break from packing.

So what's this all about, anyway?

Don't you worry your pretty little head with that, my friend. All you need to know is that I'm going to be studying at the University of Westminster in London for a semester (that's until around May/June). I'm actually already a qualified English and P.E. teacher here in Norway, but being a student is so fun that I decided I needed to do at least one more year of something....anything.

Besides, I still haven't studied abroad, and when you've been at the University College of Volda for four and a half years, you get to know quite a lot of foreign exchange students from all over the world. And they've provided more than adequate inspiration for me to give it a go myself.

Volda. Quite the contrast to where I'm headed...

Why did you go for "A twit abroad" for the title of your blog?

I'm no Karl Pilkington, so "An idiot abroad" is a little bit forceful and infringes a copyright or two. In a strange way, I'm going to be a Brit abroad, but within the confines of Britain. Luckily "twit" rhymes with "Brit", and even luckier is the fact that I am in fact a bit of a twit at times produced the perfect title. I'm not changing it.

Why London?

Ever since that one year my family and I lived in Thatcham between 1995 and 1996, my Norwegian friends have been asking me what it's like to live in England. The truth is, despite numerous visits to Grannie and Granddad in Winchester and various trips to all over the British Isles, I can only really tell you what life is like from the perspective of a 6-year-old. This makes for a slightly underwhelming answer to their questions. Many people may enjoy travelling to far away places that can provide luxuries like warm weather, life on the beach, new and exciting cultures, and cheap alcohol. But I'm looking to explore part of my heratige. Innit, bruv.

Plus, I've always wanted to "figure out" London.

Young Esben (right, the one with the enormous head) attending the Stavanger British School, shortly before moving to England for the first time.

What will you be studying there?

At the UoW I will be attending a selection of courses to do with English literature, language and culture. I don't actually know exactly what courses I'm going to be studying, but all that will be sorted out some time during the orientation/registration week next week. So just calm down. I'll tell you more about that when there's more to tell :p

Spare time activities?

Back home in Norway, I'm an avid floorball player. I've already completed my transfer to the London Sharks and will most likely be playing for them in the UKFF South league. Also, since I have an English father, I'm eligible for a British passport; paving the way for the possibility to probably have a chance at trying my hand to make an attempt at playing my way into the men's national floorball team. Which is pretty exiting!

Chuffed to bits with 2-0 v. Arsenal on new year's day in 2015.

 
The question of football inevitably crops up whenever England is mentioned, so let the following be known: I am a Southampton fan (always have been since Uncle Matt convinced me that supporting Everton at the age of 6 was a load of rubbish), my team in Norway is Sandnes Ulf, our local rivals are Viking (therefore I do not enjoy being labelled a Viking, even though it's an image thing when you're from Scandinavia), and out of all the London teams I'm quite keen on taking a closer look at Crystal Palace, Millwall (lol) and Barnet.

The first thing that happened when I came home from Volda last summer, was my dad inviting me to a triathlon he was entered for no more than a week later. I agreed, and suddenly realised the invitation was to participate. Not one to break my word, I was lent a wetsuit to test and to use and before I knew it I'd hobbled across the finish line after a 750m swim, 20km bike ride and 5km run. In probably the worst shape of my life, I might add. Since then, I've been swimming, cycling and running up a storm, and I intend to at least keep on running to stay in shape while I'm in London. There's also the opportunity to swim in the London Royal Docks, so I've brought along my wetsuit for that.

Before going for a swim in the lake near Volda back in August.

I'm already entered for the same triathlon event again in 2016, shortly after I return from London. I supposed you could say that my goal for this year's edition is not to cross the line feeling like a sack of crap. Fingers crossed...

Apart from that, I'm very much looking forward to exploring one of the world's greatest cities.

It's now just past midnight, my flight leaves shortly before noon tomorrow, and I've still got some packing to do. Cheerio!