Local time: 07.21 pm

I thought I would blog every week and update you as soon as something new happened. That didn´t happen, did it? The first month and a half have flown by so incredibly fast... So far I´ve been to a baseball game in Oakland, which I enjoyed a lot, even though it lasted four hours. We also went to Los Angeles labor weekend, where we stayed at an Airbnb for a couple of days. In LA we went to Universal Studios, which was a blast. We went on a retreat at Walker Creek Ranch where some of the students living at International House got to do bonding activities and go for a hike in nature, which was very nice. We also went to Point Reyes for some bathing and relaxing by the beach. I´ve been to San Francisco a couple of times so far, but only for shopping purposes in like one street, so I haven´t really gotten to see much of it yet, unfortunately, but I am going to!

I have also experienced what is called "Game Day" a couple of times now. Since we basically live in the same streets as the fraternities and sororities, we get waken up a lot in the weekend by hardcore partying and loud music outside. When the Cal football team plays at Memorial Stadium, everyone dresses up in blue and gold, to cheers for our fellow peer players. I went to the game once, but I didn´t really find it interesting, to be honest - haha. Sports isn´t really my thing, and that´s ok too :-)

My cousin Adriano actually surprise-visited me some days ago, which I was so happy about! I got to show him where I live, and share some memories with him too. My parents and daughter are coming to visit me in 22 days, so I am really looking forward to that. They will be staying here for 9 days, so we will definitely travel a lot around, and I will not be attending too many classes around that time since it´s important to me to be with them. We do facetime a lot, several days a week, so we keep in touch with each other regularly, share what we do every day and have a lot of fun with the Facebook-video-filters, hahaha! So far the distance isn´t too bad since we know that it´s not too long until we´ll see each other again - but from time to time it´s naturally harder. I know that my cat misses me a lot too because I usually call for him via facetime, and he runs toward the screen, haha, poor him.

We take so many screenshots when we Facetime, which I think will be fun to look back on. It´s such an amazing tool to keep in touch and make the distance feel less of a burden. For now it will do, but I am counting down as a crazy person, to have them here and show them around!

In a place like this, you basically make a whole new group of friends. It´s such a new and different environment from home, so your friends here really become your family. I am so grateful too have so many cool people surrounding me everyday, sharing my journey with me!

My cousin Adriano when he surprised me while shopping ❤ / Oakland A´s vs LA Angels baseball game / The first BISP party/hangout / Me being a tourist at campus 😁

Since I have so many cool pictures from the LA trip, I will insert them below! We drove three cars from Berkeley to LA in 7 hours (I think). Mostly everyone in the group went to Santa Monica Pier and did some shopping in LA, while me and three of my other friends went to Universal Studios which was extremely fun - I had such a blast!

Three girls in a pickup through Californias highways, was not bad - we had a blast driving!

Our Airbnb was located in Koreatown, not too far from the Hollywood sign, Universal and Santa Monica Pier.

Universal Studios was my absolute favorite part of our trip. The attractions and rides we got to try, was insanely fun!

We went on the cart train-tours, which was very cool!

The Harry Potter castle was as cool inside as on the outside, and the ride was very impressing!

Just look at the streets as well, it´s all put together so well.

My favorite picture from LA!

I see now that I should updade more often, so that I dont have 50 pictures in each blogpost, which is quite overwhelming, I know. My days ahead are quite busy, as midterms are coming up in the beginning of October. I am also going on a wine tasting and tour trip one of the weekend around midterms, which might not be the best choice of date, but it will definitely let me have some fun while being put under a lot of stress! And of course my family is coming over pretty soon as well, which I can´t wait.

Shopping in San Francisco / Getting an A on my first assignment (and also an A on my second assignment in the same class) was very cool! / I also got my hair cut, and I love it! 💁

Definitely follow me on Instagram @celinastamper or snapchat @celinastamper to see more frequent updates, if you are interested.

Hopefully, I´ll talk to you soon again! 😁

Local time: 02.30 am

So for those of you that don´t follow me on snapchat (celinastamper), you maybe wouldn't´t know that I arrived at Berkeley yesterday at 3pm. The plane trip was quite ok, even though it obviously was very long. When we arrived at SFO (San Francisco airport), we were stuck in a border security and customs check for about two hours, the queue was horribly long. W finally got through and out of the airport. We decided to take a taxi instead of the BART (which is the train system here), because we had the biggest bags and the smallest amount of energy left. The taxi took us 1 hour and twenty minutes and cost us 104 dollars, which we split in two. Our taxi driver drove us through downtown to get in the fast taxi lane, and on the Bay Bridge as soon as possible - fortunately, since we got to see a little bit of downtown SF.

We arrived at Berkeley 5pm, very tired, exhausted and ready to sleep. But first came check-in. We got a key to the ladies room (women bathroom), our dorm and a keycard to open resident only areas and to beep in when we go to eat. It is really easy to understand the system, as they thoroughly explains us everything we need to know.

This is my room! Even though it´s quite small, it´s considered a large double (DL), which I will share with a roommate very soon!

After checking in and packing out, we had some dinner in the dining hall, which was amazing! The food here is so good, like a hotel buffet! Afterwards we went to target, which is approximately a 20 minute slow walk. It´s on the other side of campus, in Berkeley Downtown. The store in Shattuck Ave. is a very small Target, not too much to choose from and packed with students. We are definitely looking for a bigger one soon. We went to sleep around midnight yesterday.

Today we had a bit more of an exiting day, even though we didn´t do too much. We had orientation with BISP at 10 where we got some good info about the sociology classes, UC Berkley in it self and some good studytips. After the orientation we went a few girls to get our Cal1 card. My photo is absolutely hideous, hahaha! But by getting that, we also got a Clipper card for free bus rides in Berkeley and lots of good offers. We also got a family plan at T-Mobile, so now we got unlimited data, text messages and calls! We als went to the Cal Student Store to pick up some merch. It´s definitely a patriot campus, to say at least!

And hey! I even got my Cal t-shirt 😁

But as you can see in my local time above, it´s quite late here. Its 2.30 in the morning and I really need to go to sleep. We were actually going out at 11, after we took a two hour nap, but I never woke up - so we went to sleep. Haha. I think my jet lag just kicked in. But now I am going to brush my teeth and go to bed!

We are officially in Münich people! Our flight here from Gardermoen was very nice, and we didn't have to wait too long between our connecting flights either. I just wanted to update you, so that you know where I am! I also have an open snapchat, so follow me to see what I'm up to! In few finutes we will be boarding our United Airlines flight to San Fransisco, and in approximately twelve hours, we will arrive.

Me and my dad when We said goodbye! 😥❤️

And by the way. Saying goodbye to my daughter was the hardest thing. After she left, I cried a lot, but I'm doing better now. I know how worth it this is, so I will just have to love and embrace every second of it. I am considering it a part of my life journey! I'll talk to you once I'm settled in!

Wow, it really is countdown time, and right now I can consider myself a temporarily American in two days. Sunday we threw a bon voyage meets birthday party for me, where my friends and family showed up to wish me luck and celebrate an early birthday with me. I am so thankful for all the loving people that showed up. Even though a few friends and family members didn´t have the chance to show up, they all show their love quite heavily I will say!

So from here I will be updating you more frequently. I finally decided to stick with this blog as well, since it´s my favorite blog - no matter how many readers it has per day. I know my family would like to follow me, and my friends might also want to do that as well. And to be honest, this little person really needs to build her english language - a lot.

This picture is from my bon voyage/birthday party last sunday. My daughter, my parents and me.

I have already been approved to one of my classes, that I really wanted: Comparative Perspectives on U.S. and European Societies: Inequality! It´s a mouthfull, right? Well, I got in. So I do excpect quite a lot of work being put in to that class. My professor for this class in Szonja Ivester. I am thankfully known with her style of teaching after she had a guestclass at the University of Oslo, Blindern here in Norway. There she talked about "What to do with a problem like Trump". That class really spoke to me, not only what it was about, but her teaching style was magnificent.

When it comes to packing, I am far from done - so that might be my main priority today, after visiting my dentist office to pick up a beautiful new pair of retainers - I´m dead! 😂 Okkeyyyyy, so holy guacamole - I don´t want to say goodbye to my family just yet, but at the same time I can´t wait to experience all of this! It´s such a mixed emotionally experience for me, really as bad as it is good. But I have to keep focused on the existence of FaceTime and the fact that my family will come visit me after a couple of months, midway through. It´s all gonna be okay, right? I´m gonna insert my feel good song atm, so you know my feels yall. Hahah, gettin´ real ghetto in here. OK, I´ll stop, lol, I can´t. I need to stop this blogpost right here, so that I can do some cleaning, packing and go to my dentistappointment in time.

Peace ✌

sponsored

After I got acquainted with MONQ's aromatherapy pens, I have thought they have been a great alternative when I have sweets cravings - simply because they give me the taste I long for, while I do not have to eat the candy physically. I also thought it's a lot of fun with the steam coming out, which gives me a rather calm feeling. I got my Joyetech eGo AIO 1500mAh kit in brushed bronze a couple of weeks ago and have managed to put it to the test. This is my first vape, and prior to this I had no idea what a vape even was, so you can consider me to be quite the newbie. If you haven´t read my MONQ review, you might not know that I have never smoked a cigarette in my life, nor am I interested in nicotine or tobacco. That is important for me to address, because I don´t want anyone to think that I would willingly harm my body more that I do with fastfood, haha.

But what even is a vape, you might ask? Well... even though google provides way better answers that me, you might want to know a newbies sight of view. Welcome to Celinas science class! A vape is a vaporizer for your e-juices, which consists of flavour essence, propylene glycol and vegetable glycerol. Let´s do a little Wikipedia class on these three ingredients.

Propylene Glycol: It is a viscous colorless liquid which is nearly odorless but possesses a faintly sweet taste. The acute oral toxicity of propylene glycol is very low, and large quantities are required to cause perceptible health damage in humans; propylene glycol is metabolized in the human body into pyruvic acid (a normal part of the glucose-metabolism process, readily converted to energy), acetic acid (handled by ethanol-metabolism), lactic acid(a normal acid generally abundant during digestion), and propionaldehyde (a potentially hazardous substance).

Vegetable Glycerol: It is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is sweet-tasting and non-toxic. It is widely used in the food industry as a sweetener and humectant and in pharmaceutical formulations. Vegetable glycerin is a common component of e-liquid, a solution used with electronic vaporizers. This glycerol is heated with an atomizer (a heating coil often made of Kanthal wire), producing the aerosol that delivers nicotine (or nicotine free, in my case) to the user.

I got sent three e-juices from Dampshop.no; peach, melon and fruit punch. My favorite taste is fruit punch, followed by melon and then peach. They taste very true to what you expect from the different flavors. I think I might try some different flavors in the future, when I am bying some new coils.

Even though the eGo AIO is very easy to put together and use, it is important to remember to wet the coil with your e-juice before vaping with it. Let it soak for 30 minutes to be sure that it won´t dry vape, which isn´t good for your vape. A refill coil can be bought for very cheap here. This device is far from the strongest, nor does it have the biggest battery or modification options. But it is by far one of the best for its price class, if you are new to the vaping game or just curious to what the hype is really about. And can we just take a second to appreciate its bronze finish? 😍

So all in all, this is a very sleek styled vape, that is all ready and easy to use right after unboxing. Compared to other vapes, I can´t say much other than how this is way smaller in it´s design and battery capacity and it´s way cheaper. Remember that even though this is a nicotine and tobacco free product, the age limit still is 18 years, since it can be misunderstood as a more harming product for younger and less experienced people.

Packing for four months might be the hardest task ever. I packed for three weeks tops when I went to London on a language travel with EF a few years ago - but that´s probably the nearest I´ve come to this. What am I going to wear?! How much should I bring with me, and what isn´t that necessary to bring? It´s definitely not easy to decide what I should bring, what I use on a regular basis and what I can buy when I arrive. But this post might just sum it up for me.

First off, I am studying for four months, August till December, which is four pretty chilly months. But since I am living in Berkeley, San Fransisco, the weather might also be a little hotter than a Norwegian autumn. Second off I am bringing two suitcases. One very big suitcase and a carry-on suitcase. My big suitcase is a Samsonite B-Lite worth 230$! My carry on I bought very cheap for 17$ and is a 55", and it looks exactly the same as my expensive suitcase, even being a generic brand. My top priorities is that my suitcases have four wheels, so that I can push them without a hassle, especially since I am flying a lot back and forth.

In my carry-on:

• Important papers: Visa, health insurance, passport, I-20 scheme etc.
• T-shirt, underwear and shorts in case of emergency
• Wallet and some cash just in case $$$
• Phone and phone charger
• Camera, memory card (32GB) and camera charger
• Macbook PRO and charger
• Headphones
• Citrus wipes (gotta be sanitary and hygienic, haha)
• Lots of chewing gum
• Travel pillow

In my main suitcase:

Clothing:

• 5 T-shirts
• 5 Sweaters
• 3 Jeans
• 2 Shorts
• 1 Yoga pant
• 3 Sweatpants
• Socks (2 weeks worth)
• Underwear (2 weeks worth)
• 1 Dress or something that suits formal occasions
• 1 bikini
• 2 Pajama sets
• 3 pairs of sneakers
• 1 pair of "formal" shoes
• Flip-Flops for shower
• 2 sports bras and 4 regular bras
• Watch
• A lightweight jacket

Toiletries:

• Toothbrush and toothpaste
• Makeup must-haves
• Deodorant
  
• Hairbrush and ties
• Hairstraghtener
• Lymecyclin (I am on antibiotics for acne)
• Skincare and haircare (oils, moisturizers etc)
• Razor
• Bobby pins
• Tweezer
• Feminine hygiene products
• Perfumes

Other Necessities:

• Textbooks for my classes (I already bought two, that I need to bring)
• Adapter
• Polaroid camera with an extra film
• Sunglasses
• Pencase
• Backpack
• Reusable shoppingbag

What I´ll buy when I arrive:

• Bedding (there is an arranged IKEA trip for I-House residents)
• Soap, shampoo and conditioner
• Umbrella
• Towels is available at I-House, and I might also buy one there.
• Adapter
• Hangers
• Notebooks and pens
• Snacks and water (in case I need some quick snacks omw to my classes)
• I am planning on thrifting for a vintage Adidas jacket, so I won´t bring more than one with me.

So if I missed anything important, please tell me in the comments so I can edit it in to this post! This is mostly a reminder for myself and anyone who might need some inspiration for what to pack on a longer trip. I would probably bring the same if I studied abroad for two semesters as well, since I am washing my clothing regularly and probably buying something new as well!

Isn´t it exciting when you renovate something? That feeling of a new touch in your old space. When figuring out how I wanted my travel-abroad blog to be like, I visited sites like Wix, Wordpress and Blog.no, but none of them really suited me perfectly. Right now I use this site called Nouw, which definitely is the best choice for me out there, so far. So instead of making a new blog, I renovated this one for you - and me. I really can´t wait to share my semester abroad with whoever reads this.

I haven´t updated this blog in excactly two months, which is a long stretch for me. But my exam period was very long, tiring and stressful, so I really didn´t need more pressure in my life at that point. That is a decision I am glad I took, because I needed it to charge my batteries for the summer and my studies in the fall.

Since last time I finished my exams with very good grades, in my opinion. So my first year as a sociology student summed up, I got two A´s, two B´s and one C. I am at least very proud of my achievements, even though I am not a straight A student (nor have I ever been). On top of that we also went to Mallorca with my family the day after my exams, where we stayed at a beautiful all-inclusive resort in Alcudia. It was so nice to take a week of with my family, and especially my daugther, since I am soon travelling abroad for a little while. My daugther Tia also turned 5 years old, which is so exciting for both her and me, now that she understands so much more. She is quite a bright kid. 😊

I am planning on writing about my journey from preparations to travel, and through my whole semester abroad - which I think is going to be very nice for myself to look back on as well. Hopefully my english will improve a lot more too, over the course of these months.

If you have any questions, feel free to as them. I will include them in my next post after you have asked me whatever you want to know! I think my next post might be a packing list, which I actually do need some help on making - so please don´t hesitate sending me some suggestions for must haves on a 4 month trip!

I have never been a smoker, nor interested in nicotine, tobacco or other addictive substances. I don´t like how it smells, how it affects others or how it ruins your body long term. We can all agree about the fact that smoking is really dangerous and should not be practiced in any form.

But MONQ on the other hand is everything that an el-cigarette og any other tobacco forms is NOT. MONQ is a personal oil diffuser free from nicotine, tobacco, artificial colors and heat. It is not supposed to be inhaled into your lungs, and is therefore not comparable to addictive and harming substances as mentioned above. 🚭The design of the diffuser and practice of hand-to-mouth movement however can look similar to the harming substances and is therefore not recommended for people under the age of 18 years old, as this movement can affect or form a habitable movement.

The importance of addressing what this product is and is not, is important to prevent any misunderstanding or hate towards a very good and helpful product.

MONQ is advertised as a diffuser to "Breathe Therapeutic Air®, and immediately access a proven history of natural life-enhancing benefits. Unlike topical oils or household diffusers, MONQ directly inserts aromatherapy into your olfactory system. When you pick up a MONQ, you’re holding the key to an ancient wellness art, enhanced for the modern age." (source: MONQ)

I first got my interest in this product by watching Kendall Rae (my favorite YouTuber) rave about this product in her videos. I have always been interested in essential oils, household diffusers and natural aromatherapy. It kind of feels like you go to a spa, when you smell the lavender, citrus, fennel, sandalwood etc.

For my first MONQ I decided to try out the Forest diffuser, as I love the forest and also have a tattoo that is matching the design (yup, it´s just SO me). 🍃 The different diffusers are called "blends" because they are put together by several essential oils that suits eachother to create the desired feeling. Each MONQ blend is 80% coconut-based vegetable glycerin and 20% essential oils.

For safety purposes, I copied a paragraph off of MONQs website: Pregnant or nursing women should not use MONQ, and neither should people with asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, acute respiratory infection, or other respiratory diseases. Those with allergies to certain essential oils should consider which blends to use, if any.

By taking 2-3 breaths of your MONQ 2-3 times a day, this diffuser will last you for 3-4 weeks. Depending on the depth of your breaths you can get 200-250 breaths out of each diffuser. I have been loving carrying my Forest blend around with me, as it gives me that calming energy that I might need during my exam period. When I run out of this blend, I will by a four pack which is also a good package deal. I definitely want to try zen, sexy, happy and sleepy next!

You use your MONQ diffuser my breathing in through your mouth, hold and breathe out through your nose again. The oils can affect you in a great way if you are dealing with stress, anxiety og just need to feel relaxed, but they are not made to substitute medicines, although you may feel like the effects are similar in calming you down.

Underneath I have linked every blend in each picture. But if you want 10% off, click the picture in the sidebar or PRESS HERE 😊 If you want to look into the different ingredients of each blend, feel free to check out the ingredient overview here . In the original diffuser they have blended everything for 7-20 different essential oils to help you get the desired feeling. Having a personal oil diffuser is like having an oasis in your pocket! 🍃

The three new blends Mountain, Ocean and Forest represent your most natural feelings so far!

The seven original blends: zen, active, healthy, sexy, vibrant, happy and sleepy.

By clicking here, you will automatically recieve 10% off of every MONQ order!

I really can´t understand when I got this lifeless. My passion for blogging was the strongest for over a decade, mainly because it was "a thing" that I started doing before everyone else made blogs about whatever. My pride over being some sort of an opinion leader made me good at blogging, and by good I mean consistent. Now however, months, weeks and days pass by and I don´t even recall my blog at all. I think that it´s good anyway, that I slowly but surely found another passion (or meaning if you want) in my life, other than writing about myself and my everyday life (which at least I think is very boring).

I feel like my body is slowly dying, and it definitely is, but not in the natural way. My mental state is zoning out to be a little bit more melancholic. I never seem to find myself perfect enough, even though I fucking am. I just need to see it. Facing this kind of exhaustion everyday, drains you out quite a lot - and I am questioning why I am doing what I am doing, I want to know what my purpose is, if there even is one. So this might just be me trying to fight out what the heck we are on earth to do - because this can literally not be it. I am curious.

I am also pushing people away, nice people. And if I have pushed you away, and you read this, I am sorry. I am tired of putting on this fasade, trying to please everyone all the time. I barely have spare time for myself, even though I pretty much stay at home every single day. It´s mentally, you know? Everything that matters to me now is playing with my daughter, being with my mom and dad and occasionally visiting a friend or two. My priorities aren´t like everyone else's and I am not going to force myself to prioritize otherwise either. In August, I will travel to Berkeley and renew myself, and the only thing I will think about are the three lovely family members waiting for me at home (and of course my dearest friends who always supports me!). And btw: I freaking hate ISIS - stop it.

But even though I have pushed people away, I still need them, if that even makes sense. I don´t always appreciate everyone around me, if all they have to give me is gossip, complaining or something down "Negative Ave". I am in desperate need of people that surround me with laughter, optimism and joy. I need to borrow a little energy from them, in order to give anything back.

Bye, gonna make myself a toast now!