What I'll Miss, What I Miss!

Well everyone, this is likely going to be my last post. I leave for ND on Friday. I can't believe it's already over. I have missed many aspects of home. For example:
-People, of course!
-Hot summer weather, although I'm sure I will complain about being too hot when I get back.
-Having a vehicle. The walking has made my legs pretty muscular. Also, taking public transportation really makes you feel like a part of a city, not just a tourist. Even better, going out at night is alot more fun and relaxing without having to worry about designated drivers, where your vehicle is, etc. However, it will be wonderful to drive again.
-Preservatives in food. Foods are labeled "no preservatives!" like it's a good think. I don't think it's a good thing when my bread and milk is rotten after 4 days.
-Cherry Coke
-Not feeling bad when telling someone you only speak English. Students here learn at least 2 languages in addition to Norwegian. Everyone speaks English, and they are usually very good at it. I usually feel bad about it when we are with a group of Norwegian students will be talking with each other in English, and you know it's for your benefit. I hope none of you are ever impatient with someone who doesn't speak English well. I know how it feels now and it helps when the person you are talking to is understanding.
-Not being harassed about American government. Every time we go to a bar, someone always gets to talking to someone who only wants to rant about America, G.W. Bush, the war, etc. I understand thier criticism of course, but we get enough law talk at school every day. We go to bars to get away from it!
-The English system of measurement.
-Big, greedy American portions at restaurants! FEED ME! One night a friend and I ordered nachos at TGIFridays. To our dismay, the plate cost alot and only had 12 chips on it! WHAT??
-Light beer. Good thing we walk so much. Otherwise, the beer would be visible on my belly.
-Cheap everything.-food, clothes, alcohol, soda, candy, everything.

I will miss many things about Norway and specifically Oslo as well such as...
-The vibrant atmosphere of the city. There are always people walking everywhere, a huge variety of places to eat, shop, or just sit and hang out. There are people playing music in the streets, trains and busses everywhere, and flowers planted all around.
-The Norwegian friends we have met here. It's unfortunate to think that we probably won't see them again.
-The Huk beach. It was a really nice beach for swimming and laying in the sand.
-These little disposable grills. They are really cheap, and a great way to make supper with friends on the beach or in a park. A few nights ago, some of us grilled by the river where we live. That area is known as a place to get drugs, and we saw about 5 drug deals happen while we were there. 2 old junkies were sitting about 10 feet away from us just drinking, smoking, and using! If you don't bother them, they don't bother you. I tried to put a picture of us around our grill, but it wouldn't load for some reason. SORRY!
-The delicious lunch options at Deli de Luca (it's like a convenience store). They have calzones, sandwiches, mini pizzas, mmmm!
-The hills and trees and fjord.
-The candy. It is delicious.

There is much more I could write, but I need to pack and study! I wish I didn't have to study...I forgot there was finals involved in this whole adventure. I have appreciated hearing from everyone at home! I can't wait to see you all again!

Wrong side of the daylight

This weekend was the first I have spent in Oslo for awhile. There were no weekend trips or anything like that. It was Midsummer Night-the longest night of the year. Here, that means there is about 1 or 2 hours of semi-darkness. Friday night included an evening at a Norwegian friend's house for some delicious homemade pizza followed by an extensive "pre-party" before going to a bar. At 4 am, the streets were as light and busy as if it were 3 or 4 pm. Sometimes, you don't know when you are going home. A few nights ago, a friend and I were walking home and I asked what time it was. She said 12:30. It was actually 2:30. I said she was on the wrong side of the daylight. It can be confusing!

It was Gay Pride Weekend, so there was a big parade on Saturday. We walked to the pier, where there was a carnival. My friends Amber and Stacy and I decided to ride "The Waltzer" which is what I would call a tilt-a-whirl. It was 11:30 am, so we happened to be the only ones on the ride. The young man running the ride stood by our car the whole time pushing us for extra spin. It was great for the first few minutes. However, our laughter turned silent as the queasiness took over. We were yelling and waving "stop!" but he kept pushing! Fortunately, no one vomited.

This tractor was all decorated for the parade. It was good to see something that reminded me of home!


Saturday night included more of the same-drinking and bars. We went to a night club that was super expensive but fun (for a night anyway!)

On Sunday, Stacy and I tried to take a tour of the Royal Palace. They only offer tours during the summer "high season" for tourists. However, all the English tours were sold out. We sat in the park by the palace for awhile, where there was a pond with many ducks swimming around. There were many babies that were so cute! However, the cuteness of the scene was ruined when a big, dirty seagull came around and kept swooping and trying to snag a baby duck! I guess he got sick of eating garbage. The mother ducks chased him away a few times, but he still managed to get a baby and I had the pleasure of seeing the seagull eat the poor thing!


I appologize to anyone who reads this for the increasingly boring posts and pictures. I have passed the stage of tourist, so I haven't been taking as many lately. Only a few more days till I come home!
Here is a funny statue: It's 2 hens and a rooster. It doesn't really make much sense.

Sweden v. England

As I have mentioned before, the World Cup is going on in the Soccer/Football world. Norway didn't qualify, so many people here are cheering for Sweden. Last night, Sweden played England. I caught the last 20 minutes of the game. We don't have any TVs where we live, so several classmates and I went out to watch the game at a bar. Everywhere was full of people crowded together around the TVs. We finally found a place with some room, and the atmosphere can be compared to a class B basketball tournament championship game. There were people everywhere-sitting on each other's laps, kneeling on the floor, even sitting on the steps to the upper level of the bar. When I arrived, the game was tied 1-1. England scored, and everyone appeared devastated. But it wasn't over yet-Sweden managed to score to tie it again! People were going crazy! Tomorrow the U.S.A. plays Ghana. Ghana is the favorite.

After the game was over, we went to another bar. There, we encountered a man dressed unlike any other man I've seen. I took this picture secretly of course!

Today we visted the Norwegian Supreme Court. It was uneventful but the building was really nice. This is the doorway of the courtroom.

The word "lov" means "law". There is a huge red book that the law students all have that contains all the laws and codes of Norway. It is called the "Norge Lover". Hahaha. I admit I might have giggled about that at first...

Extreme weekend!

When each weekend here in Norway ends, I always think that whatever we did was the best weekend of the trip. Well, this weekend is the new winner. Since Friday, I have hiked up rocky mountains above the tree line, jumped off a bridge, and rafted down the rapids of the River Sjoa!

To get to Sjoa, we took a 5 hour bus ride into the mountains on Friday afternoon. We passed through the city of Lillehamer, where the 1994 Winter Olympics were held. For this trip, we were accompanied by our Norwegian friends Caroline and Kristin. From the beginning, they made sure we were happy the entire time. Caroline had even prepared sandwiches for us to eat on the bus.

We stayed at a farm called Nordre Ekre, which we were told was around 900 years old. It was really nice. The buildings were old fashioned, but also modern. The beds were perfect. Several of the men in the group stayed in an old storehouse loft. There was a big barrel in the room as a decoration, and they played pranks on everyone by luring them upstairs to the room and then jumping out of the barrel and scaring the victim. I fell for it completely. The owners of the farm cooked supper for us and it was great. It was stew with rice and I chowed down two whole plates of it. Afterward, we were told that it was moose meat! So I guess I like moose meat. After supper, we made a fire and sat around –what else-drinking. The smell of the fire and the cabin-like rooms definitely brought back nostalgic feelings of going to camp in the summer! Below is a view of the farm.

Saturday morning, a bus picked us up and drove us high into the mountains. We were dropped off above the tree line and we hiked around for hours. It was really fun but definitely a lot of work! Fortunately, it wasn’t too hot or sunny out. We had packed sandwiches and we ate lunch on the top of a mountain peak! Caroline and Kristin even surprised us with some candy bars that they said many families take as snacks when they go hiking. My favorite part of the hike was when we filled our water bottles with water from mountain springs! It looked just as clean as tap water and tasted icy cold and perfectly watery! It felt weird at first, but I don’t have any diseases yet! When the hike was over, we grilled hot dogs while we waited to be picked up in the bus. Even though it was warm up there, there were a few patches of snow around, so we played around in it. Someone even made a little snowman.

After the hike, my legs were burning like never before. But it wasn’t over yet! The bus dropped us off at a bridge over the river, where the rafting company provides an activity that allows people to jump off the bridge and swing around while connected to a rope. The bridge was 18 meters high, and the rope was 16 meters. Everyone joked that our friends were jumping off a bridge, so we were doing it too. It was so scary! The worst part was climbing over the railing and just plunging down! It was so fun-most people’s feet and legs dipped into the river. After the swinging stopped, the other people in the group had to help pull the person back up again. The two guys working there were understandably getting bored after a day of helping people jump of bridges, so they were making jokes and trying to make everyone more scared! I am in the bottom right corner flying through the air.
When we finally made it back to the farm, everyone was feeling the need to shower, eat, and drink. (The only problem was that there was only 2 showers for 15 people!) There was a delicious meal of grilled pork chops, chicken, and salad, followed by some World Cup Soccer viewing (USA tied with Italy-that’s about all I know about it!) and a game of yahtzee. The national "spirit" of Norway is Akevitt (water of life). It is distilled from potatoes and is very strong. Many Norwegians drink at traditional or special occasions such as Christmas. Caroline brought a bottle for us to share. It was served in the amount of a shot but is meant to be sipped. After each sip, I could feel the heat spreading through me and making my face flush! It tasted like pure alcohol to me-I tolerated it as opposed to savoring it! It was like a big family dinner-we were all eating around a long table and saying "Skul!" every time we had a sip. Skul means "cheers!". Then we went outside for a large group card game involving truth, dare, singing, and drinking. Anyone along the River Sjoa could probably hear the laughter Saturday night.

Sunday was the day I was waiting for-rafting day! We arrived at the rafting company on Sunday morning, where we were issued wet suits, life jackets, and helmets. Then we were dropped off at the starting point where a guide discussed some safety issues. Then we met our guides. Our guide was named Mitch (not his real name-his real name is French, so apparently he just calls himself Mitch so people can understand it better.) As Mitch started discussing what to do in various situations, I started to get slightly nervous. There was a rope around the raft that he called the “Oh sheet line” (Oh shit line). We went into a calm pool off of the river and practiced following his commands. We even tipped over purposely to practice getting back into the raft! The water was FREEZING cold, but the wetsuits helped a lot so it didn’t feel bad at all.

Finally, we were in the rapids. Look at those excited faces! I am in the red helmet behind Jeremy in the white helmet. The other people in the boat are Kristin (in yellow), Rob (in yellow) and Kara (In red).

There is a technique called “surfing” where the raft sort of surfs on an area where there is a big rapid. While attempting this maneuver was where our boat tipped for the first time! It is a crazy feeling-you feel so disoriented and the water moves so fast! As soon as my head came above the water I grabbed onto the boat. The surfing is usually done near a “heady” which is a calm area on the edge of the river. While one raft tries it, several others are there to retrieve any “swimmers” and flying equipment. This picture is hilarious-everyone is flying off the raft and Mitch is smiling at the camera! He doesn't look too worried. The second time we tipped, I lost my paddle. They tell you to start swimming to the heady as soon as you can. It sounds crazy, but no one was (seriously) injured and it is so much fun! The rapids were huge (as far as I know anyway-I don’t really have anything to compare it to) and the guides were very cool and patient. The rapid areas have comforting names like "Bye Bye Baby" (the sight of our first flip) and "China Hole" (it's so deep it ends and China!) and they really built up the tension before each area! After a tip or a flip, they made sure everything was under control as soon as possible. They joked that the first person to have a flip has to buy beer for the others that night. It wasn’t our raft today-we had the second flip! In this picture I actually managed to stay on the raft while several others fell off!

I love the pictures where the raft is about to capsize! It was a great day and I'm so glad I went! The water is so clear and clean-no green residue left on your skin! There were photographers along the banks so I have great pictures of the rafting experience.

The weekend was great. I think I will be pretty bored with life the next few days after a few days of extreme sports and nights on an ancient farm where people cook me huge meals and provide me with the "water of life" to drink! (all I eat in Oslo is hot dogs, sandwiches and chips-and that's on a good day!)

Summer finally...

We were told by previous students who studied here that the weather is really nice in Norway in the summer. At first I didn't believe it. Well, it is finally really nice! There hasn't been a cloud in the sky for days, and the temperatures have been in the 70's and 80's. Yesterday almost everyone decided to go to the beach after class. It was our lucky day-one of the professors was unable to make it to the second lecture of the day, so we were done at 11:00 instead of 1:00! We took a bus to one of the beaches around Oslo and layed around all afternoon. The water is still pretty cold, so not much swimming was going on. I did the same thing this afternoon. Everyone is really happy to have nice weather!

I don't have much else to write about, so I will just post a few random funny pictures that don't really fit in anywhere else.

These tiny cars are not very common, but we see them every once and a while. Did a child leave thier toys out? I miss the Ranger. One of these could fit in the Ranger's box!

This is the stash I have in my room. Joking! This was taken in in Copenhagen at Rosenburg Castle in the Royal Treasury. I think the barrels are empty.

Here I am acting like a clown on the ferry.

There are trolls like this everywhere that there are alot of tourists. Kind of grotesque, kind of cute. Kind of cheesy!

Trains, Busses, and Boats!

Hi everyone, It is Sunday evening and I just returned from a weekend in Bergen on the west coast of Norway. Get ready-I have alot to tell about! It was a great but exhausting weekend that started last Thursday night when we got on the train to Bergen at 11:30 p.m. All 15 classmates went, and also Hanne, one of our Norwegian friends who is a former UND exchange student. The train was a sleepless night of sore necks. I think I slept for an hour at most. They gave us blankets and eye masks since it's only dark for about 2 hours but it was still hard to sleep. The scenery outside the train was amazing anyway-it's a good thing I didn't miss too much of it. We started in green, hilly Oslo and went into the mountains. At one point I woke up and looked outside and there were no trees and snow all around. We were at a high altitude among glaciers! Then the train descended again and we arrived in Bergen at 7:30 am. Everyone was very tired and stiff, and we couldn't check into our Hostel until 2 pm! We were able to eat breakfast and store our bags there though.

Bergen is a popular city for tourists. It is beautiful-the way people imagine Norway to look. There was a fish market which I tried to avoid. I'm not a huge fan of the smell of seafood! There is also a row of famous buildings. In 1360, a group of Germnas called the Hansa founded the Hanseatic League in Bergen. The Hanseatic League was a trading guild in Northern Europe. When it came to Bergen, thousands of Germans moved there. These buildings have burned and been restored a few times so they are not the original ones from medievil times. However, they are still over 300 years old (last rebuilt in 1702).

This wooden man was on the side of a building. There is no story behind it that I know of. I just like it!

This weekend was my first Hostel experience and it was a good one. I've heard that most places aren't as nice as where we stayed. It had a courtyard with a little cafe and a bar (of course!) There was a dorm room big enough for all 16 of us to stay together! What a weekend it was-I felt like I was at summer camp and I really enjoyed it! The room was filled with bunk beds and the bathrooms were shared with the other guests. They weren't bad because they were individual rooms with either showers or toilets. After we moved our bags in and made the beds most people went to sleep for awhile. Then we ate and hung out around the hostel and played cards and drank. Nothing too stressful!

Saturday was an exciting day. Hanne had a day on the fjords planned for us. We took 2 hour train ride to Flom, where we got on another train. According to the website, it is one of the most beautiful rail lines in the world. That is not an understatement. The train wound in and out of tunnels. At some places, you could look straight down outside the window and into steep canyons. There were waterfalls everywhere. There was a river and it was so clear that you could see rocks at the bottom from the train! It was a turquoise color.

At one point, the train stopped at this waterfall so we could get out and see it. You can't see it, but there was music playing and a dancer performing for hte amusement of us tourists. The performance was based on the Huldra. Hulrda are characters in scandinavian folklore. According to my internet research, the story says that they are witches who lure men into the forest for sexual reasons. They reward those who satisfy them. For example, they would enchant a hunters gun so it would never miss a shot. If they weren't satisfied, she would take a man's sanity.

There was more to come. After the train ride, we got on a boat that took us on a 2 hour cruise in a fjord. It is hard to explain how beautiful it was. The water was turquoise and glassy. The cliffs went straight up on either side, and there were waterfalls everywhere we looked. It is the time of year when the flowering trees are blooming, and they are everywhere. We could smell the flowers on the boat. Church attendance in Norway is low. Critics would blame this on the state religion being Lutheran ;) One morning after class, one of our Norwegian lecturers asked if we had been into the woods or the mountains yet. He said that to Norwegians, the woods were thier church-referring to the spiritual feeling he gets. After this weekend, nothing makes more sense than that.

The only negative part about the boat was that some passengers fed a few seagulls and soon a flock was following us, cawing and swooping around. Some of birds actually grabbed food out of peoples' hands and they acted like it was a huge novelty to see seagulls. Those birds fight with each other over dirty garbage and other dead birds and fish and poop all over everything and people were encouraging them to swoop around! I was afraid their feces would get on me. In this picture you can see the seagulls.

Hanne had reserved our boat ride at an earlier time, but it was moved later because Queen Sonja, the Norwegian queen, was going to be on the fjord that day. Towards the end of the cruise, there was an announcement that we would be passing the royal yacht. It was preceded and followed by small boats with guards and a police boat. When the boats passed each other, a staff person on our boat lowered the flag. Apparently, it is a sign of respect to the king and queen. We could see people on the deck but I couldn't tell which one was Queen Sonja. Notice the color of the water and the waterfall on the right side. I've never seen anything like it.

After we left the boat, we got on a bus that drove us up a steep and winding mountain road that curved back and forth up a steep mountain. It was hair-raising! I compare the feeling to the feeling of mowing sideways on a hill. Similar to the train, you could look out the window and be looking straight down a cliff. At the top of the mountain we stopped at a hotel and checked out the view.
The World Cup for soccer is happening this month in Germany and everyone is crazy over it. I had no idea when the World Cup was and I have almost no experience with soccer. It is huge here! During the games, they don't have commericials or anything. The evening consisted of drinking Hansa (a beer brewed in Bergen and named for the Hansa that was described above) and watching soccer or playing cards. It was like a mix of undergrad before I turned 21, bible camp (minus the devotions) and high school. We would sneak into the room to have some offsale then return to the grown up world. We went out to a student pub where everyone looked like teenagers and probably were!

This morning we got on the train to ride back to Oslo. Summer has finally arrived and it has been really nice outside. Unfortunately, the train wasn't air-conditioned and the greenhouse effect caused it to get very hot in the cars. By early afternoon everyone was shedding clothing and rolling up there pants. The atmosphere was lethargic and lazy. I spent two hours in the dining car eating a popcicle and drinking warm soda. The ice cream freezer sold out of treats! We were almost to Oslo when the train stopped because of engine problems! We made it to Oslo before it quit working in the tunnel a few blocks from Oslo Central Station! Another engine had to come and pull us. It sounds like an unpleasant experience, but it is something I will remember with a smile. My classmates are so funny and we laughed and joked and made fun of our sweaty selves the whole time. However, I was very relieved to get to my room and clean my sticky self!

Here are a few more pictures:

McNasty (also known as McDonalds) is everywhere in Norway just like in the U.S. This is one of the most unique ones I've seen. The food, however, was not unique! By the way, I don't really think it's "nasty". I think it's delicious!

This was taken in the courtyard at the hostel. Look at that hill!

That's all for now. My trip is starting to fly by-it's half over now. I can't wait to see you all again! I wish everyone could have been here for the trip to Bergen. The fjords are something everyone should see!

Duty Free Debauchery

I returned from a trip to Copenhagen with 7 of my classmates this morning. We left on Friday afternoon and it was a great time. There is a ferry that takes about 16 hours that runs between Oslo and Copenhagen. We rode on the "Pearl of Scandinavia".

In between those 2 locations is where lots of drinking, partying and consumption happens. The ship had a pretty large duty free shop, and with Scandinavia's extreme sales tax on sinful goods, people are thrilled at the opportunity for some tax free shopping. The store was filled with candy, alcohol, and tobacco, as well as shoes, clothes, perfume, makeup and jewelry. People were grabbing carts and going crazy. I wouldn't be suprised if some people get on the ferry for the very purpose of getting duty free goods. The cabins on the ship were tiny-at least the "economy class" cabins we stayed in. One of the girls bought some dramamine, which I refused to take since I've never had problems with motion sickness before. Everyone was fine at first. We went hot-tubbing, ate some junkfood from duty free and were enjoying ourselves. Well, once we left the fjord, the water of the sea got very choppy and many of us got very queasy (including me!) We had a few drinks and watched the people dancing in the bar, then staggered to the cabin and went to sleep. I saw a great example of "what not to wear" in the lounge. A man was wearing a ponytail secured with a pink scrunchie! GIRLS quit wearing those things in the late 90's. MEN should NEVER wear them! I secretly took this picture-it is cropped so it looks fuzzy.
The ship arrived in Copenhagen around 9:15 am and we walked to our hotel. We stayed at a Marriot, which was close to heaven after living where we live in Oslo. Carpeted floors! A bathtub! A sauna! Copenhagen is a city with many canals and the hotel was along a canal. We spent the rest of the day looking around at stores and walking around the city. We even ate at a pizza buffet! I was so happy to see a buffet! We also saw the statue of the "Little Mermaid" (not Ariel from the Disney movie-the one from the Hans Christian Anderson story it was based on). In the H.C. Anderson story, the mermaid ends up committing suicide at the end. This statue is really famous and I'm not sure why. There are always crowds of tourists around it taking pictures and some even walk out on the rocks and stand by it (It's a few feet out in the water).

On Sunday we visited some of the castles around Copenhagen. We bought tickets for one of those cheesy tourist bus services that have a narrator talking about the different attractions! The first place we went was Rosenburg Castle. It was built as a summer residence for the king beginning in 1606. The tour included 3 floors of the castle. There is also a cellar-type room that holds the royal family's jewels that was included in the tour. This castle is not frequently used by the royal family today. Denmark has femal succession, so currently it is ruled by Queen Margrethe. Her son is next in line to be King after her. He is married and has an infant son. The Crown Princess is Australian, and apparently lived in Texas when she was a very young child! Lucky lady-her dad was a Math professor and now she'll be a queen someday!

We also vistied Amelienborg palace, which is where the royal family lives (they have several other palaces as well, of course.)

One of my favorite places in Copenhagen was called Nyhavn. It includes a canal that is lined on either side by very old buildings. They are all brightly painted and colorful. Nyhavn is now a place where people go to have an expensive meal-there are many restaurants. In the past, it was considered a place where "questionable" people were. There were many tatoo parlors, brothels, and places like that! It is different now!

That evening, we visited Tivoli. Tivoli is an amusement park similar to 6 Flags or Valleyfair. It was extablished in 1841, and apparently it was Walt Disney's inspiration! I was excited to visit the park because I remembered reading about it in the book "Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry in elementary school. It was alot of fun. There were many modern rides, as well as really amazing landscaping and multitudes of options for food and drink. Different areas of the park had different themes. There was a Mexican area, a Chinese area, a middle-eastern area, and an old-west type of area. This wooden horse was really cool and old-looking.

The trip back on the ferry was not nearly as sickening. I gave in and took some dramamine before we got on. Also, the water wasn't as choppy. Me and my 3 roommates opened some wine before the ship even pulled away from Copenhagen and then decided to do each others make-up. Fortunately, I don't have any pictures of that! It was a fun weekend. I think I like Oslo a little better than Copenhagen! In Copenhagen, people are allowed to drink openly on the streets. It was not uncommon to see people drinking beer or wine on the street. Because of the acceptance of public drinking, the streets are very dirty and there is alot of litter. It might have been worse this weekend because it is the time of year when high school kids finish school and party alot. It was still a nice place though. And I was able to buy a bunch of chocolate and stock up on alcohol!