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: