first snow

[temperature today: 6.3C-10.4C]
written 2013.2.18

It's snowing outside!

This R&R weekend seems to be starting on the right note!

on our way to sirdal

Yes, no classes and no meetings for the next couple of days! We are on our way to an R&R high up in the mountains :) But to start this off, we had to wake up early in the morning *yawn* Luckily, I got to sleep on our way to our first stop ---

 

misty morning

first stop - IKM, Sola 

Given that I was so sleepy but this company is really interesting because they grew up, making a niche for themselves, during the time when the petroleum industry was growing in Norway. They started out with providing instrumentation services to the oil and gas platforms and grew into serving subsea, completion, commissioning, operations, engineering, and fabrication works among others. 

 

Norwegian houses along the river

second stop - Aker Solutions, Egursund (along the Norway Coastal Road)

Now, I'm finally more awake! 

Aker Solutions is a service provider for the oil and gas industry all over the world. They provide oilfield products, systems and services and most interestingly, build the platforms and subsea products for big oil companies, one of which was being built in their shipyard - a gas compression subsea manifold. When we got to see this manifold up close, it is as big as a two, three story building and this structure is meant to be dropped onto the seabed of along the North Sea. 

Also of interest about this company is its focus on its employees, providing the best benefits they could, especially with respect to its safety and work attendance. It is interesting to see a company with a reported zero to none attendance in employees because they encourage reporting of any incidence that could affect their personnel and their operations. Well, just saying.

 on our way to Aker Solutions

at 4000 tonne, this is Conoco Phillip's subsea compression structure

stop 3 - Tonstad and the Sira-Kvina Hydropower Station

Arriving before lunch, we were treated to a very nice view of a fjord. Lunch was light and fast so we got to see the outside even if it's bitingly cold. The sun is out bright so it was fun.

However, after lunch, our class were on the bus again and this time, on its way to a hydropower station which is located under the mountains. What, under the mountains? Yes! Specifically, that one along the left of the picture.

We headed into the mountains but had to stop along the way as the bus was relatively large and we had to walk a few more meters more to get to the main heart of the station wearing our neon green jackets. Inside the station, we were given a briefing and a headset so we can hear the manager speak more clearly amidst the burr of machines. It is fascinating to hear how Norwegians utilize their water resources to give the power they need to run their households and businesses. To put it simply, water trapped by natural dams on the mountain tops gets sent down on big pipes constructed inside the mountains and the kinetic energy it produces runs the turbines which in turns converts it to power that is distributed in their power grid. 

 inside the mountain. i feel like a troll or a dwarf (like in the LOTR)

 the round structure is just the top of the turbine. this goes a long way down still

  more changing colors (outside the hydropower station building)

next short stop - Dorga Bro

 this bridge was built in 1919

 view to the west from the bridge

and finally our last stop - our home for the next two days! Sirdal Hoyfjellshotell

 the hotel from the outside looks promising

and so it is! my lovely room with a view of the hills (and parking lot!)

lovely road view behind the hotel...

good night, sirdal.

halfway through

[temperature: 5.2-9.9C]
written on 2013.05.25

Aside from attending classes from morning until afternoon, doing case works, we are also doing our individual and groupwork on our organization challenges. All these take up most of our days here. Most of the time, we sleep late (and becoming more sleepier as the days go on), meet a lot for both case work and challenge group, argue, and consult with each other or with other groups. We are now halfway in our eight weeks course and I'm glad that it's been tradition here that there will be an R&R halfway through the program.

In the next few days, we will be traveling around Stavanger and nearby town, going to Sirdal, a mountain town. Can't wait to get a bit of rest and recreation and maybe have more sleep. And since it's winter, maybe play with snow and create a snow angel :)

But we must wake up early tomorrow!!!

case 1 done!

[temperature: 3.9-10.7C]
written on 2013.07.25

Case 1 done! Finally, we can move on.

This was one of the most important presentation we are going to have during this eight-week course, especially since this will be presented to everyone in the auditorium, not just in the classroom. Our group did well but of course, we really need to improve more because I know we can do better. At the end of the presentation and Q&A, we were given the go-ahead signal to proceed to case 2 which was all about identifying our business option.

If you hear me sound like a cheerleader, it's because I am. On our grouping day, I was chosen to lead the group for Case 1. Actually, we call it the group coordinator but it feels the same way. I was there to set up meeting schedules, lead the meeting discussions, delegating work assignments, follow up on way forwards, and to motivate my groupmates. It's a demanding job but I love it! Sometimes, some of my groupmates test my patience but I hang on. I even actually think I'm good at it (really! :D), especially since my groupmates asked me to stay on as coordinator for the next case. Thank you, Lord, for showing me that I can do it! :)
 

gratulere song

[temperature today: 8 - 12.4C]

In the afternoon, we again gathered at the NDP cafeteria to celebrate one of our classmate's birthday, Zaya. This time, we made it a point to learn how to sing the Gratulere song.

 Trying to learn the Gratulere song. Thank you to our Norwegian classmate for teaching us! Now all we need to learn are the dance steps.

Yummy birthday treat. I actually liked the bread and white icing. 

still working

[temperature today: 5.3C-8.8C]

3 weeks down and 5 more weeks to go...

now two of my groupmates and i are working to finish the presentation for tomorrow's presentation. can't wait for tomorrow to end and begin planning for the trip to the mountain on thursday. i hope it snows for a while (only for a while) so I can make my very first snow angel :)

working weekend

[temperature: 6.8-11.4C]
 
written 2013.2.19, 0644 hrs

So this is the norm here: we work on weekday nights and almost all throughout the weekend.

You would think that our Lego excursion earlier was a free day for us but actually, we only had the morning free as we were due back to the hotel lounge by 1PM for our "daily" meeting. When we arrived there, some of our groupmates where already hard at work and the other group has taken over the other side of the lounge.

Hmmm... Let me tell you about the lounge first: It's a big room that can be divided by a long, sliding door in the middle. We have two sets of sofas with TVs each. There are DVDs and books (in English) for us if we would like to read (as if we would have time!) and two toilet rooms although the other one was converted as our laundry area, with two front-load machines and a dryer that does not seem to work most of the time (I'll tell you later how I figured out how it works). There are two refrigerators, two microwaves, a spot for heaters, and mugs.

Okay, going back to our work-full weekends, as I said, today is no exception. We are preparing for our first formal presentation to the "Board" of our business options given the resources we can recover from the given scenario. As I would like to keep a semblance of anonymity in my blog, I will not go into details. Suffice it to say that we are Working Really Hard!

Let me tell you about my team first (yes, my team as I was assigned to handle the first part of this exercise): we are a multicultural team made of people coming from three continents, with varied ages and disciplines. We have people coming from Ecuador, Nicaragua, Philippines, DPR Congo, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Yemen, and our ages range from very young (early 30s) to old (a grandfather).  Some of us are geologists, geophysicists, engineers (facilities, reservoir, production, environmental), economists, accountants and lawyers. So far, this diversity has not hindered us from working together well, acting as one group with disciplines that complement and answer to the needs of our Case. There had been arguments already and voice-raising but all is well. So far, so good.

Here are some of our pictures:

 

lego

[temperature today: 6.8C-11.4C]

today marked my first real play of Lego at the Oil Museum at Stavanger. Maria and I were hoping to take home the Lego we made but were told that it is going to be just on display. we only got a Diploma for our efforts. Jonny and I had a chance to try out the Safety Induction room of the museum. It was cool. Sort of like a mini-BOSIET exercise :) LOL.

Successfully created something out of Lego blocks -- finally!!!

more changing colors

shopping

[temperature: 6.3-11.3C]
written on 22.07.2013

We are in need of new shoes lately as the days are getting colder and colder everyday so my friends and I went to town to shop for a pair this Saturday. Maria showed me one that I liked and bought immediately only to find out later that it was the same one that she bought a few days ago! Never mind, she said, we live in countries half a world apart anyway. Nobody will notice that we'll have the same shoes. Hahaha.Anyways, I love the Skoringen shop because of their shoe choices and their cute shoe size measurement ruler in the shape of feet! :)

I also realized today that some guys can really shop the longest. Romulo took near to an hour to buy his shoes with Fadia helping him out! :)