Category Archives: travel

Working in Australia

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I started my Australian adventure in Perth towards the end of 2007. I had never been to Australia before that. At the time the local market for property professionals was booming and the country was experiencing a shortage of skilled labour in many sectors.

I have enjoyed immensely the experience so far hence this post. The following are some personal thoughts about living and working in Australia that you may find useful.

Personally, nature is my favourite feature about this country. Nature is everywhere even in the centre of Sydney. The Royal Botanic Gardens for example used to have a large community of bats living in its trees, aka “flying foxes” amongst Sydneysiders. It was almost a surreal experience drinking a cappuccino with these flying foxes hanging above. During the night they used to leave the Gardens in search for food and it was quite a thrill to see them flying across the harbour. Unfortunately the bats killed several trees and put many others in jeopardy. There is an ongoing project to evict the bats from the Royal Gardens.

The place where I live also has a strong community of Possums. The first time I saw them climbing the trees and the fences I came home and told my wife, ‘you have no idea how big the rats are in this country!’ I discovered later they are a native animal of Australia, they live in trees and if you spot one he probably has spotted you first. Sometimes I walk past them and say hi.

I still find it amazing that it is possible to have such these intense encounters with nature when Sydney has a population of more than four million people.

If you are looking for work in Australia I suggest you start with seek.com.au as most current job vacancies are advertised on that site. Since the rise of the Australian dollar against other currencies working in Australia has become extremely attractive but this also means that life is more expensive here.

Personally I think the only problem about working in Australia is the travelling distance from Europe. We are literally living on the other side of the world. When people start to work in Europe I am usually about to go to bed. I have heard of people becoming home sick especially after living in Australia for many years.

Renting in Australia is different from what I was used too. While in the UK a property comes semi-furnished, meaning a sofa, bed, fridge, washing machine and dining table, in Australia most properties either come with absolutely nothing or with everything. When I say everything I mean really everything. Even the toaster and an iron board are included.

I am happy to answer any questions you may have about working or living in Australia through this post. Just leave a comment and I will get back to you. However for Visa related questions there isn’t much more I can say that is not covered by the Australian Department of Immigration.

The Norwegian weather and the best time of my life

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In 1999 I was awarded a scholarship by the Research Council of Norway, and the following year I embarked on a Norwegian adventure as an international student in Trondheim.

When I arrived, in the middle of the winter, the roads where covered in snow, the temperature averaged 10 degrees below zero, the days were short and the nights long, the weather grayish and miserable, but surprisingly I had the time of my life.

However, when I speak about my Norwegian adventure to friends and acquaintances, and the great life I had, I often get a raised eyebrow and the following comment, ‘Really? How come? It is so dark and cold up there.’

‘That’s in the winter. The summer is warm and bright,’ but it is hard to changes people’s misconceptions.

Personally I think it is not the weather that stops people from doing things or enjoying life but their mind set.

In Trondheim I interacted with people from all over the world, found the woman of my dreams, improved my chess game, went fishing, discussed architecture in great detail, cruised the Fjords, discovered the meaning of reggae and jazz…  and so on and on… the weather was in fact dark and cold but it doesn’t mean I had to stay indoors watching television.

Norway became my highway to freedom but not just for me. Some of my friends are still living there.

It is true that one day I arrived home late at night, slept through the morning, and when I left my place to attend school the day was gone and it was dark again. But I don’t recall complaining about it, quite the opposite, I thought it was funny. Read my post about the 24 hours day light in Lofoten here for a different story about non ending daylight.

‘So… what made Trondheim so special? What was the secret?’ Is often the questions I get asked when someone is relatively convinced that I had in fact the time of my life in Norway.

When I think about the answer I admit there is a secret. This is more of a personal observation and you may have your personal thoughts on the matter. What I noticed was that most of the international students came to Trondheim for a brief period of time. Everyone arrived holding a return ticket on their hands. No wonder the attitude of most people I met was to enjoy the best they could, as time was short and the clock was ticking. Ideas to go out and do stuff were not answered with a boring and furtive sentence, ‘Oh, I don’t know… I thought about watching the survival show on television tonight,’ but rather with a loud, ‘oh yeah baby, let’s do it!’

I often think if I could go back in time I would happily replay the grayish and miserable days I experienced in Norway… Life is short, but no one seems to be in a rush to make the most out of it. But we were, when we were living up north in a place called Trondheim. We knew we were running out of time and there was no time to waste. Those are the days.

Seoul, a city with a special soul – part 1

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In 2010 I did a stop over in Seoul on my way to London. As usual my intention was to explore the city’s architecture. Friends had warned me Seoul would be a boring place to visit, but they were proved wrong.

I landed in Seoul with a hotel room booked but no idea how to get there. I expected people to be fluent in English, at least the city’s youth, but they weren’t. A young lady at the airport information desk, after a few phone calls, wrote a number of Korean lines on a piece of paper and explained to me, ‘show this line to the officer outside the airport,’ ‘show this line to the driver,’ and so forth. This was not what I had in mind but it worked.

During the bus trip to the hotel, the image of Seoul through my window didn’t appeal to me.

Luckily my friend Alex was a local and happy to take me on a city tour. I met her the following day. We started the day with a lunch at an Italian restaurant. The interior design was quite modern. This was a good example how architectural design travels fast these days as within the premises I could well think I was eating in London, LA or Sydney.

After lunch Alex took me to a venue called O’sulloc Tea House.

O’sulloc Tea House is a modern three storey venue that delivers a fantastic green tea experience. The interior design uses timber has the main leitmotiv which helps to increase the intensity of the tea. I tried a green tea cocktail and later on an employee, with a strong English accent, gave me a lecture on the subtleties of Korean green tea. The amazing thing about the tea house, is that I entered the building knowing zip about green tea and left versatile in the subject.

Late afternoon I did some shopping in an area known as Dongdaemun. The “Dongdaemun design plaza and park” building centre, designed by Zaha Hadid, was under construction. I tried to see beyond the fence but the building was just a hole in the ground at the time.

I met Alex in the evening in a trendy part of Seoul. We had a coffee experience, followed by a promenade to find a place to eat and a random walk in a busy district during the night. Some of the clubs were totally opened to the main road, often all levels. It seemed to me a smart design solution as it replaced a bricks and mortar facade with a livable and vibrant atmosphere.

I returned to the hotel thinking Seoul had so far been an interested experience… but the best was yet to come.

Seoul, a city with a special soul – part 2

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The following day Alex brought a friend with her and together we went to a restaurant called Gilmotungee Chiilie Chacha.

Gilmotungee Chiilie Chacha is a small restaurant. It can only accommodate four couples and one group at any given time. I am unsure whether the food served was traditional Korean but it did not matter as it was simply delicious.

The chef and owner was a middle aged man. I believe the ratio of customer satisfaction per customer served at his restaurant was probably the very best but we are talking about four or five couples served during peak hour. His reputation could travel far but not his revenue as he was unable to serve many people… so why bother?

Later on, when we went to Alex’s favourite cafeteria, a business operating under a staircase that could hardly fit more than three customers at the time, I noticed the barrister breathing his soul into the creation of a coffee experience. I wondered, why so much dedication when a hand full of customers would make his place look busy.

‘So much care and attention, are these people crazy?’ I asked Alex but she was unable to articulate an answer, probably confused by my awkward observation.

After lunch and coffee we rumoured an area of Seoul known as Hongdae. If I wasn’t already secretly in love with Seoul I think Hongdae did the final job.

Architecturally the area isn’t appealing. However, during our random walk, quite often I would come across a retail shop or venue and be surprised with the inside.

The greyish and dirty look of the streets stood in strong contrast to the colour, character and creativity flourishing from within these spaces. Every premise I entered was like stepping into another world. As if the owners had continuously rethought the process of crafting a space to perfection. The end result was often a lesson in interior design.

I think nothing can describe Seoul better than these small worlds of intense experiences. In my post about China I wrote that working passionately does pay dividends but in Seoul I learned it can also inspire other people.

These two posts, part 1 and 2, may well read as a set of loose memories assembled together. Glued by the simple thought that Seoul may look boring and dull at first glance but it is no doubt beautiful within.

The Bei Lin Museum in Xi’an and one of the most important lessons of my life

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In the summer of 2000 I became a registered architect. At the time I had only used half of my scholarship from the Research Council of Norway and keen to study further I enrolled in an architectural course hosted by the Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, in Xi’an, China (via my Norwegian University). Little did I know the course would yield one of the most important lessons of my life.

The course assignment was to design an extension to the Bei Lin Museum in Xi’an. The existing building is a typical example of Chinese vernacular architecture. My approach was simple. I would not speak about the poetics of architecture, but rather design a practical building, as beautiful as I could, that would speak for itself.

As the course I was enrolling would make no contribution to my architectural degree, I decided to design the building in my own style, instead of trying to please my lecturers as I had done throughout my entire life at University.

For the first time in my life I worked passionately on my project.

When the presentation day arrived I was asked to do a brief introduction of my project to my colleagues and five lecturers, which I did it with great enthusiasm. ‘Thanks for listening, any questions?’ I said upon reaching the end. My lecturers questions were forthcoming.

‘Where is the main entrance?’ was their first question. I may have shown disdain when I answered as I thought it was quite obvious. However their following comment was something to worry about, ‘I don’t like it,’ and from that moment on, regardless of my arguments, my project was simply destroyed.

When the hammering was finished I left the room in shame.

During the night I avoided meeting my colleagues and went out with Norwegian friends instead. My colleagues in a sign of support found my whereabouts and joined the same venue. I was truly disturbed and not in a mood for talking and their presence didn’t really help to heal my discontentment.

For my colleagues my project was faulty since the lecturers knew better. Unfortunately I don’t have the means to prove them wrong. Surprisingly, the lecturers didn’t fail me. They were clearly just upset with something. It wasn’t lack of work as I had never worked so hard. Even today when I revisit my project I often think I did a good job trying to emulate professional architecture when I had no tacit experience as a student.

I think the real question here is if I did the right thing “sticking to my guns” considering the outcome. It was a bitter experience to work like a perfectionist and be awarded with a “just about” mark. By working passionately I came to understand that passion makes even the most mundane task seem interesting, but it doesn’t mean the feeling is contagious and your peers will share the enthusiasm.

But one thing is clear to me, if I had approached the course like so many times before I would just do well and forget about it later on; and when I think about all the buildings I have designed at the University, the Bei Lin Museum is the only one that I would be able to redraw, almost every single line, without seeing an original drawing. I can only assume that it was my passionate working attitude that glued my ideas, even the concept, to my mind.

Working passionately does pay dividends regardless of the outcome.

The Ice Hotel in Kiruna and the Ice sculpture of a Polar Bear in Sydney

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In 2002, when I was living in Stockholm, I heard about the ice hotel in the north of Sweden, and curious about the idea I took the overnight train to Kiruna.

The experience was interesting and disturbing.

The Ice hotel is an ephemeral artistic creation. It doesn’t survive the summer as it starts melting when the temperature increases. During the winter the cold renders a beautiful crystal blue colour to the ice to the frozen water streams.

Someone had the idea of inviting artists from around the world to sculpt the ice in order to build a hotel. If you have been wondering it is actually possible to sleep in the hotel rooms; and they are quite popular as I noticed at the time of my visit.

This all sounds interesting, but what really disturbed me was to acknowledge the fact that all the creativity and time employed during the winter to create a stunning Ice Hotel is gone and forgotten a few months later when the summer returns and everything melts away.

‘What’s the point of building the Ice Hotel if it doesn’t last?’ I wondered at the time and until recently I was not quite sure of the answer.

However, when an activist organization brought a polar bear sculptured in ice to Sydney, to spark the discussion about global warming and the loss of the polar bear habitat, I came one conclusion: the polar bear is doomed, but so are we.

As the polar bear melted away, becoming a steel skeleton in the end, raising questions about the poor animal existence I was forced to reflect upon my life and how momentary everything is.

Sometimes it is comforting to think Art can last longer than its creator as the work of the great masters can attest, but most likely time will go by and these Art pieces will be lost… like the polar bear and eventually the human kind.

In that sense it probably matters little if the production of an artist is melted away during the summer or if the work of the great masters is still around. It is better to engage with the present than trying to elude our ephemeral existence.

What matters the most is that I traveled to a remote place to experience an amazing ice construction that years later inspired me to write this post. Two enjoyable experiences propelled by a crazy idea.

Arizona dreams and the Wadi Rum void

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Both Arizona and Wadi Rum are deserts with amazing rock formations. I visited both places at different stages of my life.

I traveled through Arizona as a young architect. I was in love with my profession and dreamed about stardom and wealth. It was easy to render the emptiness of the desert with my imagination. I have drawn the following sketch to better describe my state of mind at the time.

Arizona

Several years later, on my way to Amman from Aqaba, I stayed one night in Wadi Rum.

The rock formations in Wadi Rum are absolutely amazing and the area is a fantastic spot for hiking, something I did immediately after having my accommodation sorted out. My accommodation was a tent pitched in a sandy parking lot with a mattress inside that cost over the odds and after heavy rain became the wettest and coldest place I have ever slept in.

Wadi Rum is located in a valley and as I started walking into the dessert I came to see a large number of rock formations in front of me. I decided to walk towards the nearest one.

… and walked and walked… and kept walking towards it without getting any closer.

When I now consider what it takes to measure distances in the desert I realize how unfit I was for hiking. After a few of hours I found myself in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere and after a look around I breathed the void of the desert.

There is a strange sense of time and place that only deserts can yield. The space is filled with emptiness as far as your eyes can see and walking gives you a strong impression that time doesn’t exist as it takes a lot longer than estimated to reach a destination

Now long afterwards I think about my experience in Wadi Rum and the young architect full of dreams that I was when I visited Arizona. In a way one experience led to the other.

These days I tend to think that times of uncertainty need to be filled with bits of imagination and most importantly, I am no longer alarmed if I still haven’t found what I am looking for.

Use this link to see a dear picture of Wadi Rum.