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!