I hope you didn't expect me there in bikini escaping the heat by a jump into the sea when I said "beach": it is winter time!
Sunday, 29 March 2009
Huk beach in Bygdøy
Already on the first weekend after my arrival I went to the beach with Mari... to Huk beach on the peninsula Bygdøy.
I hope you didn't expect me there in bikini escaping the heat by a jump into the sea when I said "beach": it is winter time!
I hope you didn't expect me there in bikini escaping the heat by a jump into the sea when I said "beach": it is winter time!
Monday, 23 March 2009
Haman Group
Before you start asking what kind of job I took on or what company I work for, here just a short summary.
Company structure:
Above all stands the Haman Group, a Scandinavian tour operator with offices in Norway (Oslo), Sweden (Stockholm) and Denmark (Copenhagen) and with Anette Karlsson as CEO.
Under this umbrella of the Haman Group operate the following companies:
1.) Haman Scandinavia: dealing with incoming FIT = Foreign Individual Travellers in the Oslo office and with groups in the Stockholm office
[Read more]
2.) Terra Nova Scandinavia: divided into three departments:
a. the outgoing department
b. another incoming FIT department and
c. the incoming group department
[Read more]
3.) Authentic Scandinavia: the online tour operator of the Haman Group, specialist for packaged tours to Scandinavia
[Read more]
4.) Scandinavian Image: the inhouse Destination Management Company offering "Meetings Incentives Conventions and Events"-services throughout Scandinavia
[Read more]
All offices of those companies focus on different target markets. That is also the difference between Haman Scandinavia and Terra Nova. Both deal with individuals and groups. But while Terra Nova is specialised on the South European markets like Italy, Spain, France etc., Haman Scandinavia works with clients from other countries (e.g. Germany, UK, Holland, Russia etc.)
I'm actually employed by Terra Nova and assigned to its group department which organises trips of mainly French and Italians to Scandinavia.
In my office room we are currently 4 colleagues: Franck (head of Terra Nova), Stéphanie, the trainee Mélia and me... that is 3 French people plus one German.
Mélia actually created once an organisation chart of Terra Nova which I will use also for my blog for illustration:
The FIT department of Terra Nova consists of Elisa and the trainees Céline and Céline Marie.
Michelle, Charlotte and the trainee Jana (who replaced Ulla) are my colleagues from Haman Scandinavia while Trude leads Authentic Scandinavia. Anne, the accountant is assisted by Mery and on the other side of the office Maria, Sara and Wiebke take care of the MICE clients. Last but not least, Egil and Odd Arve are part of Terra Nova in the outgoing department.
(I might add some pictures of my colleagues later, but at the moment I don't have a picture of everyone.)
My position at Terra Nova is "tour production assistant". I got assigned all groups running this year 2009 (since my arrival about 80). Some of my tasks here are:
Another nice aspect is the common lunch. Each day there is one person on kitchen duty meaning that this person goes to the supermarket and takes care of the lunch preparation for the whole office staff. So we have lunch all together.
Oh, and very nice as well - I nearly forgot to mention it: the massages we get about every second week :-)
Company structure:
Above all stands the Haman Group, a Scandinavian tour operator with offices in Norway (Oslo), Sweden (Stockholm) and Denmark (Copenhagen) and with Anette Karlsson as CEO.
Under this umbrella of the Haman Group operate the following companies:
1.) Haman Scandinavia: dealing with incoming FIT = Foreign Individual Travellers in the Oslo office and with groups in the Stockholm office
[Read more]
2.) Terra Nova Scandinavia: divided into three departments:
a. the outgoing department
b. another incoming FIT department and
c. the incoming group department
[Read more]
3.) Authentic Scandinavia: the online tour operator of the Haman Group, specialist for packaged tours to Scandinavia
[Read more]
4.) Scandinavian Image: the inhouse Destination Management Company offering "Meetings Incentives Conventions and Events"-services throughout Scandinavia
[Read more]
All offices of those companies focus on different target markets. That is also the difference between Haman Scandinavia and Terra Nova. Both deal with individuals and groups. But while Terra Nova is specialised on the South European markets like Italy, Spain, France etc., Haman Scandinavia works with clients from other countries (e.g. Germany, UK, Holland, Russia etc.)
I'm actually employed by Terra Nova and assigned to its group department which organises trips of mainly French and Italians to Scandinavia.
In my office room we are currently 4 colleagues: Franck (head of Terra Nova), Stéphanie, the trainee Mélia and me... that is 3 French people plus one German.
Mélia actually created once an organisation chart of Terra Nova which I will use also for my blog for illustration:
The FIT department of Terra Nova consists of Elisa and the trainees Céline and Céline Marie.
Michelle, Charlotte and the trainee Jana (who replaced Ulla) are my colleagues from Haman Scandinavia while Trude leads Authentic Scandinavia. Anne, the accountant is assisted by Mery and on the other side of the office Maria, Sara and Wiebke take care of the MICE clients. Last but not least, Egil and Odd Arve are part of Terra Nova in the outgoing department.
(I might add some pictures of my colleagues later, but at the moment I don't have a picture of everyone.)
My position at Terra Nova is "tour production assistant". I got assigned all groups running this year 2009 (since my arrival about 80). Some of my tasks here are:
- to ensure that all services for those groups are booked (hotels, cruises, dinners & lunches, activities, transfers, entrances in parks/museums/farms/churches...) and especially correct
- that services are cancelled on time (otherwise fees apply)
- that deadlines are met with regards to the distribution of important information to suppliers and clients
- the preparation of necessary travel documents (carnets de voyage) for clients, passengers, tour guides and suppliers
- at the airport: assistance and coordination on the spot with arrivals and departures on charter tuesdays
- organisation of charter transfers
- working on the bookings for 2010
- and of course chasing after un-answered emails, urgent info, pending booking requests or still outstanding roominglists and so much more
- and last but not least some annoying paper work together with a lot of coordination
Another nice aspect is the common lunch. Each day there is one person on kitchen duty meaning that this person goes to the supermarket and takes care of the lunch preparation for the whole office staff. So we have lunch all together.
Oh, and very nice as well - I nearly forgot to mention it: the massages we get about every second week :-)
Sunday, 22 March 2009
My new home
First concern when moving to another country is: where will I live? How and where do I find a place to stay?
Actually Karl, my Norwegian flatmate from Australia (who happens to live in Oslo as well since September), offered to host me for the time I was looking for an apartment. However it turned out that he was on holiday when I arrived on March 21st.
Though I didn't know Mari personally until that time, I just asked her if she had or new someone with the possibility to host me temporarily. Lucky as I was, Mari actually rented out a room which she offered me, either just for a short period or - in case I liked the room - also for longer :-)
And that's how Mari's apartment in Oslo became now my new home. It's a small but very nice flat in the district of Vika, quite a good area of Oslo, only 200 m away from the harbour with access to the Oslo Fjord and Aker Brygge (Oslo's famous promenade along the harbour).
The first pictures I will show you now were taken in the very beginning of my stay here. Having a look at the kitchen you might understand that it called for some renovation. So in April, right after Easter, Mari and I (dressed in very sexy painting clothes sorted out from the 80's) tried giving the kitchen another look... and changed colours from dark blue to off-white. The fridge no longer blocks the window or inhibits the light from shining into the room. And also the self-made kitchen work-bench has been replaced by a neat IKEA construction. It looks much brighter in this little kitchen now.
My/our apartment:
the kitchen before (in March):
the kitchen after repainting (in June):
Welcome to my own "four walls", my room:
(yes, I know, the picture is really not nice, but it's Mari's favourite and actually supposed to hang in the bathroom... well, at least it fits with the colours of my room)
And some pictures of the street and the courtyard (with the bicycle shed):
Actually Karl, my Norwegian flatmate from Australia (who happens to live in Oslo as well since September), offered to host me for the time I was looking for an apartment. However it turned out that he was on holiday when I arrived on March 21st.
Though I didn't know Mari personally until that time, I just asked her if she had or new someone with the possibility to host me temporarily. Lucky as I was, Mari actually rented out a room which she offered me, either just for a short period or - in case I liked the room - also for longer :-)
And that's how Mari's apartment in Oslo became now my new home. It's a small but very nice flat in the district of Vika, quite a good area of Oslo, only 200 m away from the harbour with access to the Oslo Fjord and Aker Brygge (Oslo's famous promenade along the harbour).
The first pictures I will show you now were taken in the very beginning of my stay here. Having a look at the kitchen you might understand that it called for some renovation. So in April, right after Easter, Mari and I (dressed in very sexy painting clothes sorted out from the 80's) tried giving the kitchen another look... and changed colours from dark blue to off-white. The fridge no longer blocks the window or inhibits the light from shining into the room. And also the self-made kitchen work-bench has been replaced by a neat IKEA construction. It looks much brighter in this little kitchen now.
My/our apartment:
the kitchen before (in March):
the kitchen after repainting (in June):
Welcome to my own "four walls", my room:
(yes, I know, the picture is really not nice, but it's Mari's favourite and actually supposed to hang in the bathroom... well, at least it fits with the colours of my room)
And some pictures of the street and the courtyard (with the bicycle shed):
Saturday, 21 March 2009
Norway - short description of a long land
This is Norway, this is where I live now.
If you wanna know a bit more about the country I moved to, then you find (apart from the above link "This is Norway") a short description on this post.
But first of all a map to illustrate my location:
The people around me, Norway's population:
As of 2009, Norway's population numbers roughly 4.8 million with a density of 12 people on 12 km². Only!
A historic introduction:
Archaeological findings indicate that Norway was inhabited since at least 10,000 BC. However, most historians agree that the core of the populations colonising Scandinavia came from the present-day Germany. The Viking age, 8-11th centuries AD, was characterised by expansion and emigration. The North Germanic pre-Christian religion though was slowly replaced and followed by the adoption of Christianity by King Olav Tryggvason in the 10th and 11th centuries. Conversion of the Norwegian kingdom occurred over the next several decades.
In 1397, Norway was absorbed into a union with Denmark that lasted more than four centuries. In 1814, Norwegians resisted the cession of their country to Sweden and adopted a new constitution. Sweden then invaded Norway but agreed to let Norway keep its constitution in return for accepting the union under a Swedish king. Rising nationalism throughout the 19th century led to a 1905 referendum granting Norway independence.
The discovery of oil and gas in adjacent waters in the late 1960's boosted Norway's economic fortunes. The current focus is on containing and spending on the extensive welfare system and planning for the time when petroleum reserves are depleted.
In two referenda held in 1972 and 1994, Norway rejected joining the EU... one reason why Norway still has its national currency the Norwegian Kroner (NOK).
A bit of geography:
Norway comprises the western part of Scandinavia in Northern Europe. The rugged coastline, broken by huge fjords and thousands of islands, stretches over 2,500 km and over 83,000 km including those fjords and islands.
Norway is slightly larger than Germany, but, unlike Germany, much of the country is dominated by mountainous or high terrain, with a great variety of natural features caused by prehistoric glaciers and varied topography. The most noticeable of these are the fjords: deep grooves cut into the land flooded by the sea following the end of the Ice Age. The longest is Sognefjorden.
About two-thirds of Norway are mountains and there are some 50,000 islands in the country's much indented coastline which is also one of the most rugged and longest coastlines in the world.
An overview of the economy:
The country is richly endowed with natural resources - petroleum, hydropower, fish, forests and minerals - and is highly dependent on the petroleum sector, which accounts for nearly half of exports and over 30% of state revenue. Large reserves of petroleum and natural gas were discovered in the 1960s which led to a continuing boom in the economy. Norway is the world's third-largest gas exporter; its position as an oil exporter has slipped to seventh-largest as production has begun to decline.
Norwegians enjoy the third highest GDP per capita in the world and Norway has obtained one of the highest standards of living in the world in part by having a large amount of natural resources compared to the size of the population. Cost of living though is about 30% higher in Norway than in the United States and 25% higher than in the UK. The standard of living in Norway is high, and oil exports lead to a conclusion that Norway will remain wealthy through the foreseeable future.
Well, I could write so much more about this country and upload so many more pictures in general. But I think for this post it's enough. So see you in my next post.
If you wanna know a bit more about the country I moved to, then you find (apart from the above link "This is Norway") a short description on this post.
But first of all a map to illustrate my location:
The people around me, Norway's population:
As of 2009, Norway's population numbers roughly 4.8 million with a density of 12 people on 12 km². Only!
A historic introduction:
Archaeological findings indicate that Norway was inhabited since at least 10,000 BC. However, most historians agree that the core of the populations colonising Scandinavia came from the present-day Germany. The Viking age, 8-11th centuries AD, was characterised by expansion and emigration. The North Germanic pre-Christian religion though was slowly replaced and followed by the adoption of Christianity by King Olav Tryggvason in the 10th and 11th centuries. Conversion of the Norwegian kingdom occurred over the next several decades.
In 1397, Norway was absorbed into a union with Denmark that lasted more than four centuries. In 1814, Norwegians resisted the cession of their country to Sweden and adopted a new constitution. Sweden then invaded Norway but agreed to let Norway keep its constitution in return for accepting the union under a Swedish king. Rising nationalism throughout the 19th century led to a 1905 referendum granting Norway independence.
The discovery of oil and gas in adjacent waters in the late 1960's boosted Norway's economic fortunes. The current focus is on containing and spending on the extensive welfare system and planning for the time when petroleum reserves are depleted.
In two referenda held in 1972 and 1994, Norway rejected joining the EU... one reason why Norway still has its national currency the Norwegian Kroner (NOK).
A bit of geography:
Norway comprises the western part of Scandinavia in Northern Europe. The rugged coastline, broken by huge fjords and thousands of islands, stretches over 2,500 km and over 83,000 km including those fjords and islands.
Norway is slightly larger than Germany, but, unlike Germany, much of the country is dominated by mountainous or high terrain, with a great variety of natural features caused by prehistoric glaciers and varied topography. The most noticeable of these are the fjords: deep grooves cut into the land flooded by the sea following the end of the Ice Age. The longest is Sognefjorden.
Due to Norway's high latitude, there are large seasonal variations in daylight. From late May to late July, the sun never completely descends beneath the horizon in areas north of the Arctic Circle (therefore Norway's description as the "Land of the Midnight Sun") and the rest of the country experiences up to 20 hours of daylight per day. Conversely, from late November to late January, the sun never rises above the horizon in the north, and daylight hours are very short in the rest of the country.
Throughout Norway, one will find stunning and dramatic scenery and landscape. The west coast of southern Norway and the coast of North Norway are among the most impressive coastlines anywhere in the world.
Here some pictures of amazing scenery of the three major fjords Norway is famous for:
(the Sognefjord)
(the Hardangerfjord)
About two-thirds of Norway are mountains and there are some 50,000 islands in the country's much indented coastline which is also one of the most rugged and longest coastlines in the world.
An overview of the economy:
The country is richly endowed with natural resources - petroleum, hydropower, fish, forests and minerals - and is highly dependent on the petroleum sector, which accounts for nearly half of exports and over 30% of state revenue. Large reserves of petroleum and natural gas were discovered in the 1960s which led to a continuing boom in the economy. Norway is the world's third-largest gas exporter; its position as an oil exporter has slipped to seventh-largest as production has begun to decline.
Norwegians enjoy the third highest GDP per capita in the world and Norway has obtained one of the highest standards of living in the world in part by having a large amount of natural resources compared to the size of the population. Cost of living though is about 30% higher in Norway than in the United States and 25% higher than in the UK. The standard of living in Norway is high, and oil exports lead to a conclusion that Norway will remain wealthy through the foreseeable future.
Well, I could write so much more about this country and upload so many more pictures in general. But I think for this post it's enough. So see you in my next post.
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