A day in the life...

In every post, I have some experience or adventure to describe. However, in between all of those museums and activities we students have a daily routine. We go to class at 9:15 and get done at 1:15 so there isn't alot of sleeping in! It the afternoon, we either go on a visit as a class. We visited the Parliament last week. This week we have visited the police academy and the courthouse. This picture is the inside of the parlaiment. Otherwise, the afternoons have been spent walking around and shopping (even though I haven't been buying anything. 25% sales tax? NO THANKS!) Yesterday, some friends and I went to walk around Vigeland Park (naked statue park) after our visit to the police academy. Little did we know there was still a tour-we had just listened to a presentation. The woman presenting was drinking a small glass of beer during it-interesting. We skipped the tour! Kind of embarassing, but the professor wasn't mad. The guys on the trip usually play basketball in the afternoon. When evening comes, either everyone sits around and uses the internet (like I am tonight!) or-more frequently-everyone drinks offsale and plays cards until arould 11 or 12 and then goes to the bar. Sometimes we go to a Norwegian student's apartment for a BBQ. I try to buy some offsale whenever I am in the grocery store after learning that it is not available after 6 pm. The only thing you can buy after 6 pm is non-intoxicating "near beer". NO THANKS! There is no smoking allowed in bars here which I love. It really helps reduce laundry loads which is good since it costs around 2 or 3 dollars to wash and the same to dry.

The student complex where we live is known in Oslo for being less than ideal. It consists of several houses situated around courtyards. It is by a river that is known as a place where people go to buy and sell drugs. The students we meet usually react with sympathy or horror when they find out we are living here. It's not really that bad-I don't have a problem with our rooms-actually I like it! It has huge windows and a nice view. However, the landings and elevator area are usually dirty-especially on weekends. The outside area is usually littered too, but there are frequently maintenance people cleaning up trash outside. I'm glad I only have to live here for a few weeks. Here is a picture of the landing by the elevator. It reminds me of an inner city project (not that I've ever seen one except in movies!)

A point of interest about Norway is that no one has screens on windows. There are no bugs here! You could leave the window open all day and there would not be an insect in sight. However, there might be a dirty pidgeon or seagul flapping around! Hopefully that never happens.

This picture is taken out of my window at around 10:30 pm. The second one was taken about 20 minutes later. There is still 3 more weeks before the longest day of the year!

This is a picture of us students in our classroom that was taken one of the first days.

That's all for now. I am going on a trip to Copenhagen, Denmark this weekend-it is a long weekend because of Pentecost. We are taking a ferry ship and staying in a hotel! A room that has carpet and a TV will be like heaven! It is suprisingly affordable and I can't wait. I'll write more about that later.

So it's not the south of France...

Yesterday (Saturday), I went with 3 girls from class on a fun day trip to a town called Drobak. (The name is supposed to have a letter O with a slash through it-it's prounouced "Drubak") Oslo is located at the end of a fjord (Oslofjorden). We traveled on a bus for about 45 minutes. The town was just as someone would picture a small town in Norway. It was filled with colorful, wooden buildings and each house had a flag pole with a Norwegian flag. There were also several harbors where boats were docked and the fjord was filled with sailboats. There was even a beach. Unfortunately, the temperature here hasn't been above 55 degrees-which I really dislike-but at least I put my feet in! The water was icy cold. People swim in there later in the summer. We also came across a flea market which wouldn't be very interesting to local people, but it was for us!

From Drobak, there is a short ferry ride that takes people to a small island where there is an old fortress called Oscarborg Festning. In 1940, the fort was attacked by the German navy. The fort was outdated but the Norwegians managed to sink the German ship and saved the king and government from being taken prisoner. The amusing part of the story is that the guns and armor of the fort were made in Germany! The best part about the island was climbing around on the canons and the fort and looking at the boats. Even though I wish it were warmer, it is beautiful around here. There tulips and other flowers everywhere, and there are also flowering trees everywhere.

This afternoon I saw something I have been eagerly anticipating visiting-the ski jump! In the hills by Oslo in an area called Holmenkollen there is a huge ski jump-I can see it from my window. There is also a museum about the history of skiing. In 1973 during the energy crisis, the government of Norway banned driving on certain weekends and everyone had to take public transportation. King Olav V loved skiing and set an example for the people by taking public transportation into the hills to ski. When a journalist once asked him if he was afraid to travel unprotected, he famously said "Why should I be afraid? I have 4 million bodyguards!" (he was referring to the people of Norway) He must have been brave-he actually used the ski jump!

I like this statue-it's different than most of the statues of kings around here!

The first ski jump was built here in 1892 and it has been rebuilt 15 times since then. Apparently, this one is going to be torn down soon to be replaced with a more modern one.

My friend Stacy and I did the ski-simulator. The part where you were supposed to be flying off hte jump was pretty realistic. The racing part was fun too, except I'm such a great skiier that it was kind of boring for me ;) It was a fun weekend. It stays light out longer every day. This weekend I was never home before daylight appeared!

One last picture-I have so many I want to share! There's no story behind this little statue-I just like it!

Ascension Day

Today was Ascension Day. It is a church holy day, but there is a state religion in Norway so everyone gets a day off on days like today! We have a day off for Pentecost next week as well. Even though there is a state religion, there is freedom of religion here-people can choose what religion they want to be. It's kind of a strange concept to us Americans that church and state are not separated-the church is mentioned in the Constitution.

We were supposed to go with our professor to see the ski jump and Vigenland Park, but it was raining and cloudy so he said we would go another day. Since we were already up, I went exploring around Oslo with two girls from class. We were walking around and we came across a big, old bank building with banners on the front of it. It turned out to be an old bank converted into an art gallery and it was free! Of course we went inside. The main attraction was a display of runway fashions created by a designer named Per Spook. He was (apparently) popular in the 80's, as you can see by the style of the clothes! There were around 100 outfits and they were generally made with 80's excess in mind-lots of sequins, metallics, and poofiness. There were no cameras allowed in the exhibit, but I found this picture on the internet. GORGEOUS!

After the Per Spook exhibit, we decided to go visit Vigeland Park. Gustav Vigeland was and he planned the park. It features over 200 of his life sized sculptures of people. The statues are really interesting and detailed. Also, they are all nude. The park is huge-80 acres- and most of the statues are in the center. There are also fountains and gates that Vigeland designed.

The statues depict various moments in life and the journey from birth till death. The monolith thing in the center is a huge tower of people and supposedly represents getting close to heaven. One of the most popular statues that is an many postcards and posters is of an angry baby.

In the pictures on postcards, the baby looks really big. As you can see, it's only about 2 feet tall.

That's all for now. Happy birthday Justin!

pictures of the school

It finally stopped raining for the whole day today! Since it was sunny out, I finally took some pictures of the law school. It is beautiful-everything I approach it, I can't believe it's where I go to school. It was founded in 1811. The buldings in the picture are all for the law school. The rest of the university was moved to a new location in the 1960's because of high enrollment. The first picture is the building where I have class. Then there are 2 smaller buldings to the left and right of the courtyard that face each other. Behind the buildings is a garden, and some other small buildings. One is the student pub (right in the back yard!)

The university is located about 1 mile from where we live, so that means I walk at least 2 miles everday. However, we walk everywhere so it's probably closer to 3 or 4 miles a day! At home, if anyone told me it was a mile walk, I would say "H$#L NO!" and jump in the Ranger. It is a great location-you can see the royal palace from the street, and it is a short walk to a pier called Aker Brygge that has a boardwalk-type deck and alot of shopping (expensive shopping!) and restaurants (including McDonalds!) I was there with some classmates this afternoon after school, and a group of high school kids was hanging out there-I think they were on thier break from school (Unless school is over here-I don't know??) I thought about what I used to do during breaks in the school day in Hatton. I would usually go the the girls locker room to curl my hair, then I would sit on the stage in the gym. Imagine hanging out at a pier every day!

There are cruise ships like this in the harbor frequently. This is one of the nicest I've seen.

That's all for today. I am going to visit a ski jump tomorrow-hopefully it will not rain. Chances are...it will!

Folkemuseet

Yesterday I visited a history museum and a museum with three viking ships. I am a history nerd, so it was a perfect day for me! The viking ship museum was great. I am in disbelief at how old the ships themselves are and how well preserved they are. All three were unearthed after being buried since the Viking times (800-1100 a.d.) Important people were buried in them along with many objects to take with them to the afterlife. One of the ships contained a woman along with her servant. The other two were for men. Apparently, horses and dogs were buried with them as well. When the ships were discovered, there was even peices of fabric still intact. It is hard to imagine being so important that you were buried in a ship. It is also hard to imagine how long it took to carve all the designs into the wood of the ships. This cart was inside one of the ships.

After that museum, we walked to the Folk Museum. The walk was through a really nice residentail neigborhood where it looked like most of the people had alot of money! The houses were really nice. It was right by the water (Oslo is situated around a fjord).

The museum was great and really big. There was alot to see. It started in a coutyard surrounded by buildings, which held exhibits about clothing and fashion, photography, sports, and toys. After that, we went to the surrounding area, which included many old houses from Norway's past-some original and some replicated. Many had old furniture in them and they looked like they probably did when people really lived there.

Courtyard of the museum This is a newer farmhouse

These two buildings are called storehouses-it was where a family would keep all thier clothes, including a bride's dowry, and anything else that needed to be stored. Notice the umbrella...still raining!

This is the stavkirke (stave church). It was build in the 13th century and moved to the museum more recently. It is amazing-it's made all of wood. While in the church, it was hard to imagine that people began worshipping there about 800 years ago. The walls around the altar area were painted and there was ornate carving everywhere. Although there were no specific rules about photos, it seems to be a respected, peaceful place. No one was taking pictures or talking very much (even though there was a costumed employee present to answer questions!) I wish all of you could have seen it. Sorry about the sideways picture-I had to copy it from a friend's website.

The top photo is stacy and me sitting on an old mill, the bottom one is me on the porch of a dollhouse/playhouse-complete with lifesize dolls inside.

Don't worry-I do other things besides hanging out at museums all the time! This is taken at the student pub on Constitution Day.

Here is the crazy statue of the day-there are so many to choose from! It's F.D.R. the former U.S. President! What's he doing here?

Song Contest

Last night was my introduction to a program similar to American Idol, but also different in many ways. The Eurovision Song Contest is a competition between 24 European countries but it is a special that lasts only 1 night. We were invited to a party to celebrate the viewing of the show. The first 2 hours showed all of the performances, and then there was 10 minutes where people could call and vote. Then the countries of Europe (even the ones without performers in the show) had an announcer who announced how many votes each performer recieved from that country. The winner was Finland, and the second place winner was Russia. Let me tell you-these were some different performances. The Finland group was called Lordi, and they were a heavy metal group wearing crazy monster costumes. The Russian group was called Dima and it was a strange performance-the singer was a man with an extreme mullet who was wearing a tight white tanktop. There was a grand piano as a prop and at one point the singer stood on the piano and suddenly a woman painted white emerged from the piano! It was bizarre, but they ended up finishing 2nd! It was a fun night-the show was pretty entertaining. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if I had bought off-sale-it's not sold anywhere after 6 pm. I was 10 minutes too late!

This is Lordi

This is Christine Gulbrandson-the Norwegian singer. I thought she was pretty good.

Yesterday I went shopping-I was in heaven! It is fun to go to stores that we don't have at home. I played it safe so I wouldn't get lost (I was by myslef) so I stayed on a main street called Karl Johan's Gate. (Gate=street) I wish I knew some Norwegian so I would't have to tell eveyone that I only speak English constantly! Of course, it was raining the whole time. I can't wait for the day when it doesn't rain here. I also went and saw an old Cathedral. I believe it was wear the crown prince and princess were married. It was impressive, with ornamental, painted benches and a mosaic-like ceiling. In this picture I am standing in front of the main entrance. Like my new jeans??

Oslo is filled with statues. Many of them are of naked people! There is a whole park with sculptures of nudes by a famous artist-we are waiting for a nice day to see that. There are also many statutes around the city. I like this one because she's actually wearing clothes!

I don't know too much about art, but there is a famous artist named Munch from Norway. Most people would recongize his painting "The Scream".

Munch experienced tragedy in his life, and many of his paintings are melancholy and even morbid. Also, some are really bright and beautiful. Honestly, I like many other ones I saw better than I like "The Scream".

Today is Sunday, and I spent a great day and 2 museums. ( I know, it sounds boring-but it was really a great day!) I will make another post later with pictures and details. The battery of my camera ran out right when we got there, so I can't upload the photos i have, and I need to get many more from a classmate! It's hard to describe what it was like without showing the pictures!

Rain rain go away!

Well, it's been raining for almost 3 days continuously now...and the sun is not in sight. Everyone assures us that the weather will get better soon. I hope it happens REALLY soon. My wardrobe is totally wrong for walking in the rain. I only brought 2 pairs of closed-toe shoes, and they are both drenched through. Also, I only brought 2 pairs of jeans (thinking I would be wearing my pants of choice-capris-more than jeans. Well, both pairs are wet and dirty up to the knees. The women around Oslo generally look really trendy and cute. They wear tall boots with jeans tucked in. I wish I had my boots here-then my pants would stay clean and I wouldn't look like a homeless person!

Yesterday was a long day. After a break in the Constitution Day activities (at least I took a break!) we were invited to one of our new Norwegian friend's apartment. They are all really nice to us and it was fun to not be in a bar for awhile.

Today has been really low-key. We had a welcome lunch at the law school today and met some of the professors. For beverages, we could choose Cola, Orange soda, or low alcohol beer! In the school! After the Constitution Day parties yesterday, I thought the cola would be a better idea...
I also saw the Museum of Natural History and a Geology museum today. I'm not much of a scientist, but it was still a good experience. The museums are in this really old building that is surrounded by a nice garden with statues here and there. Too bad it was pouring rain the whole time.

While we were in the bus station looking for maps to the museums, I had my first run-in with a pay toilet. I put the wrong amount in the slot, and the attendant guy started yelling at me in Norwegian that I needed 10 Kr not 5Kr (even though another classmate went through right before me and only paid 5???) . Then another woman went ahead and put her money in and the guy got frustrated and just waved me in!

Today was one of my classmates' birthday, so a few of us went out and had some pizza. It was really delicious. I appologize for the unexciting message and lack of cool new pictures. I don't think anyone's too interested in pictures of specimens from a museum (except maybe the gigantic gemstones at the geology museum!)

Buenos Noches everyone!

Constitution Day

Hello,

I've just spent the morning and afternoon at the Cosntitution Day celebration in Oslo. It was a really interesting day. I even got to see the Norwegian royal family! We got to stand pretty close to the palace. The only bad thing about the day was that it hasn't stopped raining and it's really cold. We were told that most people dress up for the day, so of course I brought a lovely white outfit-including a nice white skirt and platform sandals. It's spring, so I thought it would be perfect! Well, it wasn't perfect for this event. Everyone else was wearing boots, raincoats, etc. Good thing I brought an umbrella! But anyway, I still got to see the royal family. The Crown Prince and Princess have a daughter who I think is around 2 years old. She looked adorable, even though all I could see was a white speck!

During this time, the Children's parade was moving around the palace. This is a huge parade! Every school kid in the city is in this parade and they carry flags and chant. Meanwhile, the royal family waves continuiously from the balcony. We all were freezing and tired of the rain after awhile, so we walked back to the law school and we had to walk in front of the parade! No one cared though-there were so many people there no one noticed.

The law school campus is unusual compared to any school I've ever seen. It includes 3 large, palace-like buildings. Behind it, there are a few smaller buildings. We attended a party at the building that houses the student organization offices and such. There is also another building that houses a bar just for the law school! Other people can go in there of course, but it is there for the law students! The buildings are square shaped and built around little court yards (where everyone is constantly smoking!) Everyone has been really friendly so far.

There are a few things that go on here that I wish happened in America! For example, since arrived, we have been seeing teenagers walking around in these crazy red or blue coverall-type pants with writing and decals all over them. For the weeks before they graduate from high school, the kids wear the overalls around and basically go on a huge bender (the drinking age here is 18 and they go to high school 1 year longer than us). They play pranks on other schools and drink. It's called the Russ, and although it is kind of extreme, it seems like a lot of fun! I secretly took this picture of these 2-they are in their Russ outfit.

Another cool thing is that they have a national costume. No one wears them on a daily basis-many people wear them for Constitution Day. The women's dresses were so interesting and pretty-they are all differend depending on where someone is from. It would be cool if in America we all had cosumes that were specific to where we were from! I'm not really sure what the outfit would be though...any ideas?

Yesterday someone figured out this system in Oslo where you can pay to use a bicycle! There is a card you buy for around $10 american dollars that you use to check out a bicycle from various racks that are place around the city! You can keep the bike for up to 3 hours and return it to any of the racks! I don't think it's what the cool people do (3 other classmates and I heard a few giggles from people around the rack) but it's fun for us! At least it reduces the walking for us lazy Americans!

I learned my first Norwegian phrase-Nyhut-it means "wet paint". I learned that because I touched wet paint! It was the first time we went to the law student bar-I was the adventurous one who decided to open the door first. It was the wrong door, and it had wet paint on it. Oops-I guess I'm a dork regardless of where I am!

Hi! I created this site so I can fill everyone in on what I'm doing in Norway without sending huge emails full of pictures to people who might not be interested (hopefull SOMEONE is interested!) It's my 2nd day here. I left Fargo ND at 8:30 am on May 14. We stopped in Minneapolis and Newark, NJ. Since there was a 6 hour layover in Newark, 4 of us took a train into New York City since none of us had been there before. We got out of the train in front of Madison Square Garden, and walked to the Empire State Building.

We were only in NY for about 1.5 hours, but at least we were able to see everything from up high even if we didn't to do very much! I wish I could have gone shopping!

The flight to Oslo left around 8:30 pm. Flying all night is not the best experience, even though they give you a pillow and a blanket. We even were served a delicious meal of chicken cordon bleu. Also, there were 2 movies shown during the flight-the fourth Harry Potter movie and Grumpy Old Men. We arrived in Oslo around 10:30 am. The airport here is very big, but very unlike airports in America. It is serene and calm with wood floors and designer-like chairs. We were met by a law student who showed us to the train which we took into Oslo. The train track was also unusual-most tracks I've see -whether going through a small town or a large city-are dirty and surrounded by garbage. This one is clean and lacks litter. After getting to Oslo we had to walk about 10 more minutes to Anker, where we are staying.

Anker Studentbolig is a complex where students live. It includes several dorm/apartment buldings around courtyards. It also has a Best Western Hotel and a small grocery store. The rooms we live in our like dorm rooms with a (very) small bathroom and a kitchen. My and my roommate Mike's room is on the 11th floor, so we have a great view of the city.

After we arrived, we moved into our rooms, showered and changed, then we went out with our guide to eat and see Oslo. Even though we hadn't slept for more than a few hours the last 2 days, it was still really exciting and we could't wait to look around. We went to see our school, which is a huge building that used to be the main campus of the University of Oslo. Now most of the campus is at a different location, but the law school is still at the old place. At the end of the road is the palace. It is also a short walk from a pier where there is a boardwalk type of thing. After our tour we started visiting bars. It's hard to get used to a new currency (the kroner) and new customs of tipping, etc. A few lucky bartenders got some big tips last night due to the fact that we didn't really realize how much those coins are worth!

I finally called it a night around midnight. At that time, it was pretty dark out but the sky was still kind of light! It was truly light out till around 10:30. I woke up around 3:45 this morning and it was starting to get light outside. In a few weeks, It will be light almost all the time.

I will have many more pictures to share. I saw alot of cool stuff yesterday but my camera batteries were dead. Have a good week everyone!