Packing Up

Over the past week I've slowly but surely begun sorting my things and trying to organize my life back into 2 suitcases. And now that it's my last day: it's crunch time.

Luckily I have been able to get rid of a decent amount of clothes. When you wear the same clothes for 6 months they tend to get very worn out. Not only that, but I have come to realize that some shirts I brought here with the idea of "I never wear it but I really like it" really must go. If I was limited to a handful of shirts this long and still didn't wear them... I never will. So off to Salvation Army for those guys.

I've also realized that I packed a bit oddly when I came here... Why did I bring 5 pj bottoms + 2 sweatpants, but only 3 jeans? Why didn't I bring non-snow gloves? Why did I bring shoes that are a bit too small? These are a bit strange and yet happened.. Many study abroad students have had similar realizations. It's partly because we didn't know what we'd need, and going somewhere like Norway, they have very distinct seasons. And it's also partly from the anxiety of packing.. it happens.

One of the big problems I'm having is all of the books I've acquired. Not just my fun kid books in Norwegian, but I also have a ton of books from my literature class, and a few fun books I bought while here. These are literal paperweights and it remains to be seen how exactly I'll spread the weight through my bags to save space & weight.

As I figure out the puzzle of putting things together in the best space-saving way, I have been realizing how much I'll miss it here, and yet how very very excited I am to go home. But, it still hasn't completely sunk in that by this time tomorrow I'll be on my way to the airport!

The organized chaos

Public Transportation

Tram in the winter

While in Norway I have taken every form of public transportation you can imagine. My monthly transportation pass was around $60 and gave me unlimited use of the bus, tram, metro and ferry (I think the commuter train too, but I never used that).

When I first came here I was so overwhelmed and though I'd never figure it out! It seemed so confusing at first but after taking it daily for 6 months I have the main routes memorized and can get myself to any part of the city!

It's very convenient to be able to get all around the city this way and is much much cheaper than the gas I pay for back home in my gas guzzling truck (which I get to drive again soon!). And of course there is always free entertainment! There's the the extremely drunk lady at 2:00pm falling off her seat, the girl in front of me with a headful of dreds and objects hidden in her hair, it's like a game to watch everyone around me.

Then there was the 2 months I wasn't in town enough, because of all my traveling, that I couldn't justify buying a pass so I just rode for free. It was a bit of an adrenaline rush every time! The metro ride from city center to school is only 4 stops, but one morning I had to sneak on/off 3 times to avoid the ticket control guys! It was like a test if I could scan the metro I wanted for the car that didn't have any officials and then scan the platform to make sure it was safe to stay on (or get off). Some how, I never got caught! Lucky me! The fine is a few hundred bucks (yikes)

However, I am also extremely sick of taking public transportation. Even though Oslo is very reliable and keeps real time monitors at each stop, sometimes they're late. It also takes forever! The first half of my stay here it took minimally 45 minutes to get to campus, sure the tram went practically door to door so was very convenient, but I hated the time it took (it's also very packed at rush hour). By March I figured out that I could get off at the center station and take the much faster metro and it shaved the time down to 20-30 minutes, but still annoying.

The Tube!

Not only do I have experience with Norway's transportation system but I also now know the systems very well in: Krakow, Venice, Rome, Chania, Paris and London. Figuring out the metro system in Paris was quite the challenge and after successfully doing so I was so proud of myself! French looks a million times different on the signs than it sounds when spoken! Rome is filled with crazy drivers who have no concept of traffic rules. Venice doesn't label their bus stops, and the bus doesn't say the name of the upcoming stop or have a map with the stops on it (very difficult if you're new there!). Chania is definitely on island time, very irratic and was never on time.

I must give props to London's Tube (metro).. it was hands down the best of the different systems. Everywhere you look are maps, signs, directions and people to talk to. Part of my ease could have also been because of the English factor. After London I would say Oslo had the best system. Even though it's a tiny capital city, they do know how to provide very reliable and easy to follow transportation.

Navitagting public transportation in all these big cities has given me a sort of confidence... no matter where I get thrown I now know I can figure out how to get from A-->B, so bring it on!

London and Paris were the most strict on paying for the transportation, you actually have to put your ticket through the machine to get through. All of the other locations had no barriers to use the transportation and I may or may not have used free public transportation at my other trip locations.

Even though I'm currently sick of the bus, I think I will soon miss it once I start paying for gas regularily again. Cities in the US could definitely learn a thing or two about public transportation from Europe! (Fort Collins for sure)

*Fun translation of the Oslo metro stops :)

Hiking in Stavanger

Last week I went on my last trip while in Norway.

For this trip I went with a girl Sonja who I had only met twice before and that was to plan our trip. We had met on our University's Facebook group for International students when she posted asking if anybody wanted to join her on this trip! Gotta love social media these days!

I have become very good at buying ridiculously cheap tickets, whether it be for plane or train I always manage to surprise people with how little I have to pay in such a pricey country! My train ticket for a 8 hour ride to SW Norway was around $20! While in Stavanger we stayed at a little place that's advertised online as a backpackers hostel. Stavanger is Norway's most expensive city for many things, especially hotels and even though we had the cheapest place in the city it was still around $60/night to stay in a strange-Norwegian-hippy-man's guest room. He was a bit odd but we got organic eggs for breakfast and 2 loaves of organic bread each day, so it worked out all right.

Stavanger is a tiny city that is Norway's oil capital and therefore business center. So pretty much there isn't much to see but we had Monday & Tuesday evenings, Wednesday morning and all day Friday to spend there. By the end I actually knew the city pretty well.

"Near" the edge of Preikestolen

Tuesday morning we took a ferry across the fjord and then a bus to the starting point of our first hike. Preikestolen translates to Pulpit Rock and is this huge cliff with an almost perfectly flat surface that is 604 meters above the water. The beginning sign says to give about 2 hours each way but we were excited to accomplish it in 1! Sadly the day we went was very foggy and dreary so you could barely see the fjord. Either way it was an impressive site! I eventually managed to scoot myself up the edge and dangle one foot over and then scoot backwards, switch to my stomach and crawl up to peep over the edge! I was very proud of myself but other people watching were hysterically laughing at me. Besides getting the courage to look over myself I was a basket case watching other tourists do what I consider stupid and idiotic things near the edge! Every time a kid got close I had a minor panic attack.. Whenever someone sat over the edge and looked over, leaving only their buttocks on the rock, I had another panic attack! (I'm not sure how many times Sonja told me to relax!)

Wednesday morning we took a different ferry boat and this time cruised all the way down the Lysefjord and got to see the beautiful mountains from a different view. We even saw Preikestolen from the water! It was pretty cloudy and a bit rainy though so not the best weather again, which was starting to worry us for our next hike!

That night we met a Canadian who introduced himself because he needed a North American to European outlet converter and since I'm obviously a fellow N.American he thought he'd ask. Later that night he was trying to view the European fotball (soccer) game between Germany and Netherlands. Since Sonja is German we joined him and a then group of backpackers (2 guys from Germany and a girl from Netherlands), even later a group of 4 guys from Netherlands came over to join us. It was such an interesting group of people and a lot of fun! (Germany won by the way!) We found out that the 4 guys had a car and were willing to drive us up to the trail head so we could avoid an extremely steep 7km walk up the highway. (Thank God! It ended up including a one way tunnel through a mountain)

Even though the guy from Canada was the one who created our group, he didn't join us as he started very early in the morning. The rest of us, our 3 groups combined into 1, making 8 people headed out to climb 3 relatively steep mountains in search of Kjeragbolten. It was a good thing that we were all together as the hike was relatively difficult in places and the trail disappeared a few times (thanks to the thick fog and deep snow) and we were able to break up into groups to re-find the trail.

On Kjeragbolten!

For the past few months I've been debating whether or not I'd be able to stand on Kjeragbolten. It's a boulder stuck 1000m (3000feet) above the water between 2 cliffs. I've even had a few nightmares where I climb on it and either slip off or the boulder comes loose (yes I have a crazy imagination!). I wanted to stand on the rock so bad but wasn't sure if I'd be able to! I was seriously freaking out. But with the help and support of my group I gave it a try. I had Sonja stand on the rock with her holding one hand, and then one of the guys followed me down the narrow path holding my other hand and as I was stepping onto the rock I had held on to both hands so tightly I'm surprised I didn't break them! Then I made the guy stay there with his hand outstretched in case I needed it again (you can see his head in the pic), but I was actually, physically on the rock! After I stepped off I was a shaking trembling mess but I was also so extremely proud of myself!

That evening the group of us relaxed in our hotel common room playing Norwegian board games that we had found and listening to Norwegian Christmas music (the only cd's available). Once everyone was hungry I somehow got roped into being the chef for the night with one of the guys to help me. Between everyone all we had was 2 small bowls of rice pilaf, half a package of noodles and a loaf of bread. After finding salt/pepper/butter (not sure if we were actually allowed to use it, but oh well) I managed to create a meal of some sort that everyone ate and claims was good and filling, so I was pleased with myself! (who says I can't cook).

The next morning we all got onto the same ferry but had different stops, by time we were back in Stavanger it was just Sonja and I again. We even had different trains back to Oslo and mine wasn't until 10:30pm (what can I say, I'm cheap!) so after she left for hers I spent my afternoon hiding in a bookstore reading until they closed, so then I bought the book and moved to a cafe where I sat until train time.

This trip not only providing some amazing hiking to two of Norway's most famous rock formations but I also got to push my comfort zone more than once dealing with steep hikes and standing on or near (extremely) high places. On top of that we made friends with a really cool group! The backpackers are still going and are ending up in Oslo sometime this week and we are hoping to meet up again.

I think this last trip was a perfect way to start the end of my time here in Norway and now I'm anxiously waiting for my mom to get here in 5 short days! So excited to see her and show her around (somehow the tourist became the local in the last few months)!!

Game Time!

Everyone on top of Kjerag Mountain

Preikestolen from the ferry

Fjæreland - hiking up a moutain

Bøya Glacier

Back in January when we had our orientation week I heard about this program called: Hiking Through Norway and I decided I really wanted to do it. They take groups of students to western Norway to the fjords and you get to hike up a mountain and the next day you get to walk along a glacier. I was totally hooked!

The trip finally came around last weekend and it was all that I hoped it would be and better. Even though my traveling through Europe has been amazing and I have made priceless memories, I prefer trips like this one hands down, any time.

Friday morning we drove 6-7 hours which included seeing the Borgund stave church built in 1180, a ferry ride across the fjord, and a view point of the Bøya Glacier. While on our trip we got to stay in cute, cozy cottages with sod roofs with lots of foliage growing on top! I can now say I've slept under a tree.

Before beginning our hike Saturday we visited the Glacier museum to watch a Planet Earth type movie about Glaciers.. though it must have been a much lower budget film (2 of the skiers fell on the film..oops!). After that our hike began. The night before our guide had made us nervous saying "we would never be so tired in our lives" but once we got going it wasn't too bad. It was amazing how quickly we gained elevation. Along the way we picked up a retired couple from England who didn't know the way to the top. About 100 meters (300 feet or so) from the top, the trail was completely covered in snow. Not only was there a lot of snow, but the mountain went pretty strait up. Even though we were hiking in 30 degree weather, up the snow, most of us were down to T-shirts and/or shorts because it was such hard work. Once at the top I was so proud of myself! The view was spectacular (and we finally got to take a nice long break)! Once everyone was there we made our way over to the Jostedalsbreen glacier (the main part of all the mini glaciers we saw over the weekend) by sliding down the backside of the mountain in the waterproof pants we'd all brought along and then hiking along the ridge. It was a bit nerve racking (and slippery) but also very worth it even if we couldn't actually go on to that particular glacier (and we got to slide downhill back again). When sliding down the mountain back the way we had come, we had to be careful about speed and steering so nobody would fly off the mountain (luckily no one did!). Even though the hike was difficult I was really surprised (and happy) at how well I did.

The next day we woke up really early to drive over to the safest place to actually get on the glacier (Nigardsbreen glacier). We all had to wear crampons on our boots and put on harnesses (for some of the boys the crampons was the most exciting part of the trip). It made me feel so pro! I was really excited to be between two big guys because, if I fell down a crevasse they could easily pull me out.. and I refused to think about what would happen in the opposite scenario. The crampons were amazing! I was able to walk strait up ice without using my hands and not slipping one bit! And nobody fell down any crevasses, yay!

Thinking back on last weekend I am so excited and glad that I went! I was having doubts about if I was in good enough shape (I haven't exactly been athletic lately). My boots were my (super duper early) birthday present from my parents because I didn't have any good hiking boots, and they were awesome! I have one more hiking trip that is next week (to Stavanger, Norway) and I'm hoping to keep on hiking when I'm back in Colorado!

The amazing boots!

Group at the top!

View part way up

Such a steep hike!!

YAY at the top!!

All harnessed up on the Glacier

Weekend in Trondheim

I am apparently a bit behind in my blogging.. oops


I went up north to visit Trondheim from May 25-29, which is the town my mom was born in, to visit family and of course site see. It's pretty far north but still only considered central Norway. I am going up there again when my mom is here but most of our family will be on vacation and I wanted to get the chance to see everyone.

I stayed with my cousin Linn Marit while up there and she's actually my closest relative in Norway. Instead of being a grandparents cousins - children - children (etc), our moms are cousins (also the only family member that is the same generation as me and not 5 yrs old). I even have vague memories of her last visit to Seattle from when I was 6, so she's also one of the few people in Norway that I had met before.

I was also really excited to meet Erling, Linn Marit's adorable 3 year old son. Because he's so young it was pretty funny when we tried to "communicate". In Trondheim the dialect is very different and my Norwegian still isn't very good so I had a difficult time understanding him (and really anybody in general). At this age I don't think he quite understands the concept of "language" so he was a bit scared of me. Whenever he'd talk to me, I'd look at his parents for an explanation or just nod my head and say "ja" (ya) or "mmhhmm". And he'd also look at my like I was nuts because he couldn't understand the adults when they were talking with me (in English) and it was obviously my fault. It was a really amusing experience but it made me regret not trying harder with my speaking skills. When I did speak in Norwegian to him (either a phrase I managed to stutter out or because I was just reading something out loud) he would get really excited and immediately start speaking quickly to me, which resulted in a panicked expression for my part.

I also met her dad Rune and her younger brothers. That evening the 5 of us went out to the castle runes of Steinvikholm, the place of the last Catholic archbishop in Norway. I fell in love with the town of Stjørdal (where they live, outside of Trondheim). The area is so green, hilly and rural but close to town and close to the big city of Trondheim. It was perfect. That night I was amazed by the fact that it never got completely dark! By 1:30am it was dusk and by 2:00am the sun was rising. Needless to say I stayed up way to late every night since my body got so confused. I won't be moving there no worries, I don't think I could handle the opposite light problem in the winter.. constant darkness.

That night we rented a movie and bought candy at the rental place. It was the type of candy in those bins full of different kinds of colorful candy. I'm not sure if it's a Norwegian thing, that side of my family thing, or even complete coincidence, but thats exactly what my siblings and I used to do when we had sleepovers at our grandparents. I always get a few shark & frog gummies and Swedish Fish (so of course I did in Trondheim too). I haven't done that in years, it was quite the flashback and I loved it! I felt like a kid all over again!

Girls in Bunads

Saturday, I joined the family to a confirmation of a cousin from Rune's side of the family, so no relation to me, but it was still really fun to see! Everybody wears bunads, the traditional Norwegian dress, and it's a huge right of passage for teenagers. The part I found intriguing is that few (very very few) Norwegians go to church but almost all Norwegians get confirmed. If they don't want to do it in the church they can also do it at the Town Hall (which is very different from confirmation in the US, since that's only a religious thing)

The celebration was an all day event! We went to church around 10:30 (don't ask Norwegians to wake up early for church), met up for food around 1:00. Now I say food, not a specific meal, because it was continuous eating. I hear a lot of people say Norwegians have great portion control and I believe that to be a big fat lie. We had our meal (2nds and 3rds expected), followed by coffee & ice cream. Then we went outside for pictures, quickly followed by coffee and cake (better take more than 1 piece of cake too since there were so many types). I didn't think I'd be able to eat for days!

During the celebration I got to meet Linn Marit's step mom and see her younger brothers & Rune again. Also, even though not related to the family, her grandmother came, my Tante (aunt) Greta, who is my grandma's sister. I don't have any memories of her although I know she was in the Seattle with Linn Marit when I was 6 and I've seen pictures.

In between the service and the reception we took a pit stop to the town of Hell. They have an old train station (no longer in use) that has been tourist-ized. There is a sign saying: Hell. Gods expedition. Which translates to: Hell - cargo delivery. However, in Norwegian expedition is spelled: ekspedisjon, very close but the sign has definitely been English-ified for tourists. It was still fun to go see though. Now I can truly say: I have been to hell and back.. tee hee

Sunday we took a trip into the city of Trondheim with Rune and the three boys. We visited the huge Nidaros Cathedral which is the northernmost medieval cathedral in the world. It actually reminded me a lot of Notre Dame, and it's where many Royal Weddings happen. We also had a little picnic in a park (waffles & fruit) and then took a boat ride out to Munkholmen castle, and had ice cream! No, we never did stop eating. This castle was built from the stones stolen from the Steinvikholm castle I saw on Friday. That night we had a lovely BBQ where I had my first hot dog in months! It was delicious and much better than American hot dogs.

Monday we went back into Trondheim and visited the Folk Museum that has a bunch of ancient buildings that were relocated to be preserved. Apparently in the summer many of them are open to go inside and look around. Because it was still early in the season we were only able to peak into them. The buildings wrap their way up a huge hill and at the top are the remains of Sverresborg - a very old castle that was for King Sverres (borg = castle). After the museum we walked along the scenic riverfront with colorful buildings turned into restaurants and cafe's before I was dropped off at Tyholttårnet - the Trondheim Tower. I've heard it referred to many times as the miniature Space Needle (it even slowly rotates while you eat!) where I had dinner with my grandfather's cousin Inger Marie, her boyfriend, her daughter Carina and Carina's girlfriend. It was great to meet them! Inger Marie & Carine had just been to Seattle for holiday but I was in Colorado and unable to meet them at that time. It was really cool to meet more family and get to see the view of Trondheim at the same time :)

My trip up to Trondheim was very short but we sure packed a lot into it. I'm so glad I made it up there! I'll be visiting again in 20 days with my mom but that happens to be a very popular holiday time. Hopefully we'll be meeting up with Inger Marie & Carina in Oslo though before they leave.

Nidaros Cathedral

Erling and his Uncles in the park

Folk Museum

After dinner at Tyholttårnet

A week of Scotland

This was the first time I've spent more than a few days in any one place. I got to spend a whole WEEK in Scotland!

The first night was: me flying to Edinburgh solo and staying in the crappiest hostel of my trips yet (but that's alright! It was $10).
After that day 1, I spent the rest of my time with my awesome team and friends from the English Riding Club at CSU! And we were staying at a flat, which was pretty fancy for me :)

It was so amazing to get to see people from home and spend a week together!
We spent two days in the city: site seeing, exploring the castle, going on a whiskey/scotch tour (I'm not a fan) and doing three "lovely" haunted tours. I'm still not quite sure how I got roped into doing 3 things that aren't my typical "cup of tea"
-Edinburgh Dungeon - a haunted house of sorts with actors and props to retell Edingburghs "bloody past" with cannibals, torture and grave robbers/murderers that sold bodies to doctors.
-Witches Tour - tour around the city at 9pm (but it was light out, so not very spooky!) about witchcraft in Medieval Edinburgh.. pretty much anybody for any reason could be accused and then no matter what they died somehow. It was horrible. But the tour guide was funny and kept the tour fun with lots of inappropriate jokes.
- Haunted Ghost Tour - (not sure on actual name) but this one was positively horrible! I know a lot of people that would have LOVED it.. but I'm not that kind of person. We went into the underground vaults that are supposed to be extremely haunted. A man had one of those supernatural voice reader things (I was pretty pissed when he showed us) and at one point it said his girlfriends name, and then it said "run".. now I don't know if I trust or believe in those things.. but at that moment I did NOT need that. Also a real/current wiccen covent is also down in the vaults which was kind of cool until we were shown the chamber that used to be their main sanctuary but now they won't go in there anymore after something happened to the leader in it. Lets just say I'm still not too happy about this tour! (I'm a chicken I know!)
I'm proud to say I survived all scary part and didn't wet my pants once!

Fried Mars Bars... oh yum

Edinburgh was such a cool city! I loved the people and how friendly everybody was! They also have an amazing goodie: deep fried mars bars.. oh yes! (a local said they will deep fry anything, even pizza!). I was also pretty stoked that I got as much ice in my pop and ketchup for my fries that I wanted... yes it is the little things that make me happy!

After our days in the city we got a rental car.. no big deal right? except that we were in the UK.. so Tiare, our brave coach got behind the wheel on the wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the road in a manual car.. She successfully drove us to the Perth Racetrack. There I got to see my first hurdle and steeplechase races! I learned that hurdle races are smaller jumps and steeplechases are much bigger (and much more dangerous!). The day was extremely rainy, wet and cold so we ended up not staying for all the races and headed to St. Andrews, a town outside of Edinburgh with gorgeous remains of a cathedral and graveyard. We were all still very cold though (and my shoes and socks were soaked through) so it was a short trip!

Photo by Tiare- Steeplechase

The next day of the car we headed out for a road trip through Scotland! The driving consisted of spurts of hyperness, sleeping and eating. Thanks to Delani's amazing navigational skills we saw: Stirling Castle (Wallace Memorial from a distance), some hairy cows (harry coo in 'Scottish'), the Black Mountains, the highlands, numberous lochs, old buildings, and the Hogwarts Express train bridge! (I seem to find Harry Potter sites all over)

That evening we went to a "get together" for the RDSVS Horse Society's International Competition. We got to draw horses and orders for the next day (since I wasn't riding that was my job). The teams to be considered for team championship had to be 4 members. Because I haven't ridden in so long (almost 6 months now!) I had already said I was completely fine not ridding and just going along to see everyone and be team support. We still had 1 extra so two people were going to split dressage and jumping so that they all got to ride. However, London's team was short one person so Julie said she was ok with riding for them, which meant that everyone got to ride the full competition and both teams could qualify for champion.

The team!

Saturday bright and really really early we all got up and took a bus to the show! The girls all did amazing! Some of the horses were huge and very strong and there were also some cute little ponies! Everyone kicked butt with the horse they got. Emily earned 4th in jumping and 7th in dressage while Julie got 6th in dressage. Our team got 6th overall and Julie's team got 5th overall. It was a really fun day for everyone! (It definitely made me want to start showing Sox again though)

Our last day in Scotland was probably my favorite.. it ranks up there with the best days of my life! We took a short train ride outside of Edinburgh and got to ride horses on the beach! I've done my fair share of tourist trail rides before and this was nothing like those! Our horses were happy and alert and so excited for their job. (Even though I must admit I did not take my horse for a ride... he took me for a ride!) They all knew their job exactly and didn't need to be told anything! As soon as we stepped onto the beach they were hard to contain. As soon as we were allowed to loosen our grips they all exploded into a gallop! I was warned beforehand that I had the fastest horse. It was pretty amazing! I don't know if I've ever galloped so fast before (I won all of our "races"). After our gallops we got to wander through the water and then headed back. It was heavenly to be back in the saddle! By the end of the ride though I thought my ankles would snap, my knees would fall off and my back would be thrown out.. and the next few days weren't any better, I'm still a bit sore! But it was OH SO WORTH IT!

Scotland was such an amazing trip! The city was one of my favorites (even though I hated the ghost stuff) and it was such a treat to get to see and do things outside of the capital! I really love Scotland!

Racing on the beach!

Fun Facts about Norway

As I've been in Norway for sometime now I've learned many interesting things about Norway. Most come from my uncle and others I've picked up along the way,

Geographic & Demographics 

• It's official name is the Kingdom of Norway
• Norway has 22,000km (13,500 miles) of coastline through the fjords/islands. That's twice the length of the earth
• There are over 50,000 islands!
• Norway's furthest east border is Russia (yes it actually does go that far east) and is actually further east than Istanbul
• If Norway was flipped upside down it would reach Rome (I didn't realize it was so long!)
• 1/3 of the country is in the Arctic circle hence the nickname: "Land of the Midnight Sun"
• Oslo is considered south Norway and yet it is the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska & Saint Petersburg, Russia
• Norway is part of Scandinavia along with Sweden and Denmark (though only Norway & Sweden make up the Scandinavian peninsula). Finland and Iceland are NOT considered Scandinavia but are put in the concept of Nordic countries.
• Currently there are more Norwegian descendants living in the USA than there are Norwegians in Norway (6mil to 4.8mil)

Sayings:

• "When a stranger smiles at you, you assume that: A. He's drunk. B. He's insane. C. He's American. D. All the above.
• "There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing"
• "American football is idiotic" 

Culture & Lifestyle:

• They use 00-24 time instead of AM/PM (referred to as military time back home)
• Women in Norway get 44 weeks of fully paid maternity leave and men get 6 weeks of full paid paternity leave
• Norway invented the cheese slicer which they are very proud of. And since it's nearly impossible to buy pre-sliced cheese in Norway it's pretty necessary too.
• The most popular cheese is brunost (brown cheese). It's a very sweet cheese that's actually not really cheese. It's made by evaporating most of the water in left-overs of ordinary cheese production and cream is added. 
• As a child I hated it, but I've grown to love it, particularly with raspberry jam on Norwegian waffles! yummm
• Norwegians eat tiny breakfasts and lunches but dinner can be so massive, with so many servings I can barely keep up. And they say Americans eat too much!
• Norwegians close to Sweden go there for groceries - much cheaper
• Norwegians love frozen pizza!! Grandiosa is the most popular brand and they advertise "American Bacon!" on the package.. though as an American I must disagree!
• Roller skis- cross country skiing is so popular in the winter you see people all over town in their skis. And now that it's spring and there is no snow... people are roller skiing around town.. yes it's true
• Food stores are not allowed to be open on Sundays (so go to a gas station if you need something)
• Liquor stores close at 3:00pm on Saturdays, not open at all on Sundays (beer sales in grocery stores stops at 6pm on Saturdays)
• People generally refrain from drinking during the week but once it's Friday night.. they like to "let loose!!" 
• Dialects - Norway has two types of Norwegian - bokmål & nynorsk (bokmål is most widely used) and yet people in different parts of Norway sometimes have a very difficult time understanding each other. I've even heard of Norwegians switching to English to talk to each other because it ended up being easier. One way I heard it explained is to think of it not as the different American accents (southern/Midwest/Boston etc.) but as American, British, Scottish, Irish, Australian etc.. Somethings are very difficult to understand even though it's all "English" 

Politics & Economy:

• The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo 
• Norway is not part of the EU - they've rejected membership twice though they have many agreements with the EU that they sometimes seem to be part of it anyways. 
• Income tax is around 25% and yet I've heard from many people: "we believe in paying taxes, so we don't mind" - what a different mindset then in America
• Immigration rate is around 22%
• Education is completely free including college (which is why I can go here)

Pop Culture

• They are very proud of the band: A-ha - Norway's only international music success (they claim they had 10 top hits and yet the only song I knew was 'Take On Me' (see music video below)
• Alt For Norge- mentioned before, this is the reality TV show where Americans go to Norway and do a bunch of tasks, the winner gets to be reunited with their Norwegian family.
• American TV - almost any show back home is shown here, in English with Norwegian subtitles (which is perfect for me!!)

Random

• Prostitution- it's illegal to buy sex but ok to sell sex.. so the man who buys a prostitute can be prosecuted but not the girl selling herself.. odd
• It's actually very likely that Vikings did not use helmet at all. Only 1 helmet has ever been uncovered, the Viking helmet is sadly a legend

4 Days in Paris

Paris is huge!

It is so big that it took us almost five hours from landing in the airport until we were in our hotel. And we didn't even get lost.. it's just so big.

Because of the amount of time it took to get to our hotel (named: Cheap Beds Paris and referred to Ali as the place where hookers get murdered) we weren't able to site-see at all Monday. But bright and early Tuesday we were up and went to McD's for breakfast (cheapest tea in Paris).

Tuesday was the best day weather-wise, that we were there. It was sunny and warm and everything looked amazing. We spent the majority of our day mindlessly wandering through the city. It was full of outdoor cafe's, water fountains, statues and cute little parks. In some spots Paris has an odd mix of old and new architecture. The city also has more museums than I think I've seen in any one city yet. Tons of which are just dedicated to art. Also, the streets & metro system are full of musicians and artists that made it constantly entertaining where ever we went.

Notre Dame

Our big sites for Tuesday included Notre-Dame (just the outside, to get inside was a crazy long line), walking by & through the Musee de Louvre, Jardin des Tuileries (large garden), and of course the Eiffel Tower. Since we knew we had plenty of time, we wanted to spend our one sunny day seeing everything and then to go back and tour the insides of places on the following days which were supposed to be rainy.

Wednesday morning we rushed to meet the Sandeman's free tour group in front of St. Michel's fountain, the reason for the rush was that our RER (commuter train) broke down, so instead of 1 stop on a high speed train we had to walk over an hour and went from being very early with time for a tea stop to running very late. Our tour, like the other's we've been on by the same company, was so educational! Because I'm quite the history nerd I love the history lessons we get on these tours. Some of the highlights and fun stories were:

1) Seeing the bullet holes in the Conciergerie - the building were the Nazi's made their base. The bullet holes are the only scar on Paris from WWII, because after the Resistance movement stormed the Conciergerie, the Nazi's abandoned Paris and decided not to burn down the whole city as Hitler had ordered. It was also the original Royal Palace

2) The first stone bridge in Paris - (by the Conciergerie) Parisians were nervous to cross it at first (since it wasn't wood) so the King held a large party and emptied his wine cellars so that everyone would get drunk and forget to be scared of the bridge. During the party he had artists draw each of his guests faces and then a scultpurerer made mini face sculputres to decorate along the bridge of all the guests. Our tour guide made a joke about King Henry being so progressive he was the first man to post 300 of his friends pictures on his wall - making a facebook.

Love Lock Bridge

3) Love Locks bridge- couples put a lock with their names on the bridge and throw the key into the Seine showing their eternal love. However, every couple years the police come and use lock breakers to clear up the bridge. People put locks on any bridge on Paris though that one in particular is the most common

4) Guardians of the French Language - Academics known as the "Immortals" who are France's top linguistic scholars are considered in charge of keeping the purity of the language. They decide what words are masculine or femine. They also do everything they can to keep all influences of English out of French. It took them 5 months to decide that the iPod would be masculine (the people of Paris made a joke that it is masculine because it's easy to turn on but doesn't last long). A long time ago they also were upset that the french word for "weekend" was starting to sound like the English word, so they made up a new word to keep the distinction between languages.

Musee de Louvre

5) The current location of the Louvre Museum is where King Louis XIV moved to after living in the Conciergerie, also where Napoleon III lived. The pyramids out front where created by a man to be a scene of modern art in an area of old art, it was intended to be completely see-through and self supporting- but that failed. It's quite ugly and full of wires and cables

6) From Jardin des Tuileries you can spot Sacre Coeur in the distance, the basilica in on Montmartre, the highest point in the city and is famous for the view from the top (which we saw Thursday) and for using several different types of building styles

7) Place de le Concorde is the central square of historical Paris. It has the obelisk with the gold point and Egyptian hieroglyphs that was a gift from Egypt, however they sent a second one too but since the first was so difficult to bring to Paris, France returned their gift. The location of the obelisk is where the old guillotine for executions was.
Also in this square you can see the National Assembly to the south across the bridge for the river and then directly across it to the north you can see Eglise de la Madeleine, the head of the French Catholic church. They have them directly across from each other to show the very distinct separation of church and state. In France they have very strict rules regarding religion. No one of any religion is allowed to wear anything to a public school that shows which religion you're part of, including necklaces or head wear.

8) Grand Palace - built for the 1900 world fair. (although royalty never lived there) showcased the worlds first escalator and had a human zoo. The human zoo was apparently popular back then and they were exhibits of people in their "natural or primitive" state typically showing the difference between Europeans and non-Europeans. Luckily, people eventually realized they were highly racist and degrading.

9) Eiffel Tower - built as the entrance to the 1900 world fair. It was supposed to only be there for 20 years until a radio transmitter was put on top and hence making the Eiffel Tower "useful" it has not been taken down. When the German's invaded Paris they cut the cord of the elevators so that the Germans could not go to the top making it a part of Paris only ever owned by the Parisians.

10) Musee de l'Armee - Inside the Museum of the Army is the Tomb of Napoleon, his remains were brought to Paris after he died (he was sent to exile) and his tomb was raised so that even to see his tomb people were lower than him (a bit of a narcissist). A rumored story is that when Hitler came to Paris he went to see the tomb but refused to look up at Napoleon but somehow his hat fell off and he bent to pick it up, so even Hitler bowed to Napoleon.

Sorry for the long history lesson, but I find it all fascinating. We learned lots of other fun facts along the way and as usual the tour was definitely worth our time! Because we're dumb tourists, for some reason all three of us left our jackets in the hotel, and it was the one day that it rained. This made it a bit wet and cold but everything was still very exciting, and we warmed up quite nicely with a cup of tea (expensive tea!) and warm yummy nutella crepes.

Venus

On the tour we learned that the Louvre was open Wed & Fri evenings from 6-10 (an extended 4 hours) and was free to European students. Luckily, we all have our University of Oslo student ID and got free access! Because we were exhausted and had sore feet we didn't explore the whole thing. We did see: Venus & other amazing Greek sculptures, Mona Lisa and a few other paintings (there were so many we got bored pretty quickly), Mona Lisa is smaller than you'd think and I personally don't see the appeal in the painting. (it's mainly famous because it got stolen at one point). After that we went to Napoleon III's apartments. The richness and gody-ness of the place was unbelievable! Everything was gold plates, tons of crystal chandeliers and huge doorways that could fit a giant. But it was still very beautiful!

Thursday morning we headed out to Chateau de Versailles. It was the country home of the royalty until King Louis XIV (mentioned above) got sick of the people of Paris and moved permanently out there. It was also the home of Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette, until they were beheaded. We didn't want to pay to go inside (very pricey) though we hear it's stunning! Instead we spent several hours wandering the immense gardens of the palace. Closest to the palace are perfectly groomed flower beds made into pretty designs. Further out are long rows of bushes, trees and lawn decorated with marble statues, ponds and fountains. Partway through our walk the sun came out and we got to see how truly beautiful it was.

Sacre Coeur

After Versailles we headed back into Paris and went over to Des Champs Elysees the famous 2km long road full of Paris's top shops and restaurants leading up to the Arc de Triomphe (Arch of Triumph) which was built by Napoleon to show how "magnificent" his victories were. It is also know the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the location of the eternal flame. After that we walked down the famous street and were shocked at some of the stores we saw. Cartier, Louis Vuitton etc. Then we took a metro (to save our owee feet) and went to Sacre Coeur. It was beautiful! From the top you can see all of Paris! The very top has a better view I'm sure but that cost money! From there we found the red light district (which was very obvious by the names of the shops and "establishments") and the Moulin Rouge! Since I love that movie I enjoyed seeing it! That night we stayed out late and saw the Eiffel Tower all lit up! Every hour on the hour, for five minutes it sparkles! The guys selling tourist crap are very smart, they were also selling bottles of wine at the park in front of the Eiffel Tower (it's a very romantic spot).

Image from Google- shows the
colors better than my pics

Friday bright and very very early (6am) we were up and getting ready to go on our last day in Paris. We started it with going inside Notre Dame. It was amazing! Of course, we were told it looks best on a sunny day because of all the stained glass (and we went on an overcast day), but it was still breath taking, and absolutely huge! From there we went to Saint Chappelle cathedral, the original Royal Chapel in the courtyard of La Conciergerie. It was built to house King Louis IX's collection of relics of Christ. He had the crown of thorns, Image of Edessa and parts of the cross. The chapel itself is almost completely stained glass and is some of the best 13th century stained glass. This place also would have been more stunning on a sunny day, but it was still amazing! After that we walked back over to Notre Dame (luckily close to each other) and climbed up 69metres to the top of the towers and explored the belfry, looked at gargoyles and looked out over the whole city where we could see all the land marks we had visited. The finale viewing of the city was the perfect way to wrap up our visit to Paris. The city was so huge that there is of course many things I still want to see but was unable to.

Aside from the tourist stuff. Everyone says that the French are rude to tourists particularly American tourists. We found this to be completely and utterly false! Everyone we met was extremely nice and helpful. Majority of the French people we met did not know English at all and we don't know French at all, but through elaborate gestures they were always able to help us if we needed it. Because many of the words are Latin based like English, seeing the words made it easy to figure out what they meant, however hearing the words was completely different. The French language is very complex with lots of letters not pronounced and extra combination sounds. Even though the language was way beyond anything I could grasp it really is a beautiful language!

 I look forward to a day when I can go back to Paris and further explore and see the amazing sites that are there!

Eiffel Tower

Napoleon III Apartments

Versailles Garden

Eiffel Tower at night

Notre Dame

Top of Notre Dame

Gargoyle Notre Dame

Looking Down 

Russefeiring

In Norway there is an interesting "right of passage" that the high schoolers go through as their graduation ceremony. Part of me wishes that I had studied abroad here as a high school student instead of a college student (parts of russefeiring sound awful but most just sounds fun).

The kids that do this are called Russ ('roos') and as of a few days ago they're all running around town wearing awesome overalls & caps (color coded), driving buses and constantly partying, it's sometime referred to as: "truekersfylla" (the three week binge). The other night I got my first taste of what it means being an adult during this time. I was kept awake several hours listening to a party bus down the street! I've been intrigued by this tradition so I've done a bit of research into it since I see tons of these kids all over. It's very distinct from any other cultures graduation ceremony because of all the sex, alcohol, loud music and anything else.

First of all, it starts on April 26 and goes until May 17 (Norwegian Constitution Day).

Overalls:

The different colored overalls usually refers to your area of study but can also be determined by your school or area. The overalls are supposed to be worn everyday (without washing) until the end of russefeiring.

Red- general studies/math/physics/biology/history/literature/media/art/music/athletics (most common as I said before)

Black- vocational school

Blue- business administration

Green- agriculture (also can be orange - I haven't seen any of this in Oslo, probably because it's a city)

White- athletics/healthcare in some areas, and sometimes Christian Russ who choose not to drink

Ståkuka:

"noisy week" is the last week in April and there's a different theme for every day. Reminds me of Spirit Week back home:

Change gender day

Army day (includes water balloon & squirt gun fights vs other schools at the school & around town)

Pajama day

Hero day

Emo day

Business day

Russknuter / Knots:

The russ can earn knots and/or objects signaling different tasks or dares they've completed. From what I've read the group of knots seem to be later attached to their caps they get. This tends to be were Russ gets it's bad reputation from. Some things are illegal while others are just silly pranks. Some groups prefer not to join in and will form their own groups to hang out with and make they're own, all legal knots to earn, the biggest group is the Christian Russ. I found a list online of some tasks they may do to earn their knots. (The drinking age for beer & wine is 18 and most Russ are 18)

• Spending a night in a tree (earn a stick)
• Eating a Big Mac in 2 bites (earn a piece of the wrapping)
• Drinking a bottle of wine in 20 mins (earn cork)
• Crawling through super market while barking and biting customer's leg (earn dog biscuit)
• Spending a school day crawling on hands/knees (earns toy shoe)
• Spending the entire russ period sober (earn fizzy drink cork)
• Drinking 24 beers/24 hours (girls) 12hrs (boys)
• Have sex in the woods
• Have sex with 17 different people from May 1-17
• Put a for sale sign on Police Car
• Spending the night at a teachers house & making him/her breakfast - without being seen
• Go for a swim before May 1 (it's really cold here!)
• Ask random people in a mall if they can lend you a condom & get the condom
• Break up with a random 16 yr old in public
• Run over a local bridge or from school to center naked
• Sit on a round about with a sign that says "We'll drink if you honk"
• Host an aerobic class at the local pub and get at least 10 people to join in

Buses:

In the 90's a rule was formed that only non-russ participants could drive the russ vehicles to cut down on drinking & driving. In rich places (like Oslo) the students tend to invest in buses instead of cars or vans as in other areas. The vehicle is then painted the appropriate russ color and decorated in some way. The also put in crazy speaker systems and sometimes refurbish the inside to have a bar or beds. According to Wikipedia they can cost up to 2-6 thousand US dollars per person, and some a total of $400,000. 

Cards:

They make fake business cards with their picture and a quote. They tend to be lewd, funny and offensive. The russ trade with each other and hand them out to children. Some kids consider it an important activity and it ends May 17. Because of the offensive nature many parents were getting upset when their kids got them, so now many students make two sets, one for their friends and one for children.

May 17th:

This is the final day of russefeiring  and there is a ceremony where they recieve they're caps. They recieve a christening and receive a name from classmates that is then written on their cap. The finale of russefeiring is joining the national day parade in full outfit of overalls + cap

Video:

There is a reality TV show in Norway about Americans who come to Norway and do a bunch of tasks, if you win you get to meet your Norwegian family and learn about your heritage. One of the episodes has them competing in a russefering (some of them are in their 40's!)