It's like 1997 over here

There's techno on the radio and smoking in pubs.

Glad to see everyone's paying attention.

So I've been in Lille for the last few days and I've had a great time. I went to a Canadian bar last night and it sucked. A lot. Today I'm off to Antwerp and then to a Balkan Circus Party!! I'm justifiably excited about that!

I'm equally excited about a site my current host showed me. www.deezer.com where you can listen to pretty much any song you like; for free. No downloads but if you're on the road who needs 'em?

Hallowe'en

Folks in Lille aren't so keen on Hallowe'en. They've got their own French celebrations on November 1st so nobody really does much. That said there might be a party tonight in which case I hope to go.

I've spent today hitchiking from Paris to Lille a 2 hour drive took me hours, but I saved €53 and got lots of practice speaking french. When I arrived in Lille I had nowhere to stay; but now I have 2 options. I think I need a French sim, especially if I'm going to be in France for a month.

This picture is spooky; it's from Norway. I have no camera; it was dropped during Oktoberfest at the University of Oslo.

I used to be able to beatbox the theme tune for this . . .

Currently, I am sitting in a hotel lobby located just to the bottom right corder of the letter ´C´. I didn´t know this ´till the other day when East Enders came on the t.v. and someone pointed it out to me. I thought it was pretty cool.

Did I really do that?

I just read a comment left on my couchsurfing profile from a friend I met in Glasgow. We hung out for a day and a half and I slept on his floor for two nights. During that time he got to know me a little, and this is the impression I left him with . . .

´Whisky smuggler, 3-piece suit salesman, Manu Chao fan, emo club headbanger, and proud owner of one of the finest 'taches this side of 1973...´

That was an eventfull day and a half. It would appear I´ve become a bit dodgey since my departure from Canada. No wonder immigration gave me trouble when I wanted back into the UK.

Rauland

I'm farther inland now am apparently 600 meters above sea level. I've had a couple of adventures but I'm not going to write about them here yet. I keep telling my stories over and over, and then I write them on here, and then perhaps I might write a letter, and then when it comes time to write in my travel journal I'm sick of the story and can't be arsed to write it.

But not this time.

This time I'm going to write in my journal first, and then write about it on my blog. Or perhaps I won't. Perhaps you'll have to wait 'till I get home in order to hear about my adventures. That's really the way it's supposed to be anyway isn't it?

But I will tell you that I'm off to a dinner tonight with some folks, and moose is on the menu.

After a few days in Oslo

Since having left Glasgow I've not been hit on once by a dude, and people don't seem to look at me like I'm a weirdo in the street. Actually, since I've come to Norway things have been really good! The city is fun, the temperature is brisk, the people are really friendly and welcoming and overall it's just a good time! I've got too many people who want to hang out, and host me. I've had to say no to a bunch of them which I feel kind of bad about.

Norway is expensive so I smuggled some Whiskey in with me to resale at a profit to me and a savings to the Norwgean people. I still have all of it, but I really haven't been advertising it yet so I'm not worried. Yesterday I just walked around with a new friend and got up to all sorts of random stuff. It was a good day! We finished by watching a movie called 'Pike Med Perleøredobb' or 'Girl with a Perl Earring' which was pretty good. Today I'm wasting time on the internet, and then will go to the national gallery. Then dinner and then a German themed costume party at the University.