The Birds (Not Alfred Hitchcock's Film by the Same Name)

One of the things you may or not expect from a Norwegian Literature class is a lot of reading. This is most certainly the case because I was given one day to read a 225 page novel entitled "The Birds" by Tarjei Vesaas. Well, as you may expect, I didn't have a lot of free time today so there is not a lot to report.

I was however able to attend the screening of the first time in the ISS Film Series. This film was a Norwegian film made in 2003 and is called Salmer

Fra Kjøkkenet (or "Kitchen Stories"). It was a really good movie about a man sent to observe single males and their habits in the kitchen so a Swedish company could design a better kitchen layout. The man is not supposed to form any personal bonds to the "host," but he does indeed and a strong friendship forms. I highly recommend this movie!

Well, back to reading!

Just another day...

Now that the opening activities of the International Summer School have settled down, my schedule is starting to fall into place. Every morning I wake up around 7am, which is actually 12am in Minnesota and 10pm the previous day in Seattle. After that, I get ready for the day which begins at 8:15am with Norwegian Literature. After which I have Norwegian Language for three hours starting at 10:15.

When class is out, I come back to Blindern Studenterhjem to eat lunch and gather my things to spend the afternoon studying, which I do in the library. This is how I foresee about every day to go. There are some exceptions like the Norwegian Life and Society Lectures on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the Film Series shown on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. I also foresee being able to do some sightseeing in the late afternoons or evenings. This evening I walked with some friends around the Aker Brygge area of Oslo. This must be where some of the most expensive apartments in the world are located!

I took a short break to write this and now I must get back to reading my 225 page novel that is due on Thursday.

Here are some pictures from the walk:

Oslo Harbor

City Hall from Aker Brygge

Akershus Fortress from Aker Brygge

If you can see the time, it says 10pm! This is how light it is at 10pm!

Lap of Luxury: Positives and Negatives

Being in one of the world's richest countries has its ups and its downs. First of all, a down. Oslo is one of the most expensive cities in the world. At no time was this more clear than when I bought textbooks for class today. They aren't available in the United States so I couldn't order them before hand. If you think textbooks in the United States are expensive, try Norway!

Reading the previous paragraph, you're probably thinking, "Class, which class?" Yes, I did start my classes today -- Norwegian Literature and Intensive Elementary Norwegian. I think I will enjoy both of these classes, however, they will be A LOT of work. For example, Wednesday's homework is to read a novel for THURSDAY!!

The positive side of being in one of the world's richest countries is the parties that they throw for guests! We had the Opening Ceremony of the International Summer School at the Oslo City Hall with a reception following. There was great food, champagne, wine, music, and free tours of the City Hall. I mean, what do you expect of the exact location where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded? Make sure to check out all of the following pictures from the evening.

Oslo City Hall

Me in City Hall

Deputy Mayor of Oslo

Reception Hall

Stage Where the Nobel Peace Prize is Awarded

Minnesota

Based off my last few days in Oslo, I've come to the conclusions that there are more Norwegians in Minnesota than Norway and more Minnesotans in Norway than in Minnesota. Seriously, the whole state must be here. When meeting someone new obviously from the United States, a pretty good guess is that they're from Minnesota. An even better guess is that they go to St. Olaf, which is understandable because the program was founded in part by people from St. Olaf. Other good guesses for where people go to school include the U of M, Macalester, Concordia, or Augustana.

However, even though all these people may know where Marshall is, I met someone today who actually had been to Hendricks. Her name is Carmen Herrik (at least I think that's how it's spelled.) Carmen is an woman of a distinguished age who happens to be Berneil Hoversten's niece! She has been to the ISS for the past three years. We carried on a conversation about her visiting Hendricks and all the people that we knew in common. It was quite an experience.

And the rest of the day:

After another typical informational meeting about life in the dorms, it was time for a sightseeing tour of Oslo! One could either choose the "English" or the "Norsk" bus. I chose the English so I could actually learn something as well as see sites. Our sites included: Vigeland Sculpture Park, The Viking Ship Museum, and the Oslo Opera House -- all of which were fantastic! Here are a few highlight pictures of the tour:

First Post From Norway

Experiences, oh so many experiences:

For the first time in my life, the sun didn't set. My plane left Seattle at 4:30pm and I got to Iceland at 6:50am after 7 hours of flying in (extremely) sunny conditions. After a quick trip through security so I was able to join the EU air traffic, it was time to board the plane for Norway! Two and a half hours later, I was circling Oslo and catching my first glimpses of Norway. Shortly after, my plane touched down at 12:40pm at Oslo Lufthavn, Gardermoen.

After getting my bags and walking through customs, I found myself in a slight predicament. I realized that I had forgotten to call Bank of America to alert them to my foreign expenditures. Unlucky for me, Seattle is 9 hours behind Norway, which meant about three hours of waiting so I could call them -- as I had only one real way to get currency. At least I was able to use my debit card to buy a Flytoget (Airport Express Train to Oslo Central Station) ticket because it didn't authenticate the card while purchasing.

Once I got to downtown, I walked around a little while trying various ATM (hereafter referred to as MiniBanks) while waiting to call my bank. After being on hold for a few minutes, my predicament was quickly sorted out and I was able to get some Norwegian Kroner. (NOK) I purchased a T-bane (Metro) pass to Blindern and checked in and found my room easily.

After a quick shower and a change of clothes, I went and ate dinner and soon discovered that my roommate, whom I never had met before, actually goes to the University of Washington too. It has made for easy conversation, as we both know or had many of the same classes and professors. After dinner, my roommate and some other friends that we made explored our dorms and decided to head downtown to explore. We walked around seeing the Nobel Institute, City Hall, Oslo Harbor, Akershus Fortress, the Royal Palace, Parliament, the National Theater, and much more!

With a significant amount of sleep achieved by the next morning, it was time to wait in line for two and a half hours to register (a process that took 5 minutes). With my internet passwords in hand, it was time for something to eat. This is when I discovered a very cool thing -- instead of having rows of refrigerators in a convenience store, there was a refrigerated room! How cool is that?

Anyway, the next item on the agenda was the Orientation Meeting where we met the staff andlearned more about specifics of the summer school. Dinner was consumed at Blindern and the evening's adventure was planned. Many of my friends and I took the short T-bane ride to downtown and walked to Akershus where we watched the USA vs. Ghana World Cup game. It was a lot of fun, even if all the Norwegians were cheering for Ghana.

And now I'm writing this, informing you of my time in Oslo thus far. I hope to continue my posts regularly even through however much homework I may receive.

Random Facts:

-Greenland is Gorgeous! On the flight path from Seattle to Iceland, one flies over Greenland. See for youself!

-Iceland is covered in purple Lupines! People planted them because of their ability to spread easily and prevent erosion.