All Hail the Fire Alarm and EuroPride 2014

Let me just start off by saying 6:00AM fire drills are not fun.  First of all, it's too early.  Second of all, it's too late.  Let me explain: by the time the fire drill is over it's too late to go back to bed before my 8:15 class.  So that was my Thursday morning.  Other than that, Thursday was pretty much just a normal day: riding to class on a caffeine induced shuffle.  Oh yeah, and it hailed for a little while; Norwegian thunderstorms are the bomb-diggity.

Friday was a bit more exciting.  Friday evening was the "End of Week One" welcoming party held at Chateau Neuf, the student socializing center located about ten minutes from campus.  I betrayed my Norwegian heritage and actually danced a little.  A lot, actually.

EuroPride Parade

If you didn't know, EuroPride has been going on in Oslo for the past week.  I was still somewhat tired from the night before but I ventured out from under the covers of my bed in order to attend the Pride parade, held in the streets of downtown Oslo.  It was a fabulous parade and the general feelings of acceptance, happiness, and love were taken from the pages of a book the rest of the world should be reading.  The weather was a bit chilly but sharing kindness and good feelings with the rest of Europe kept me warm.

After the parade, I came back to the Blindern for dinner and a quick nap, then it was back to downtown Oslo.  A group of friends and I started out by taking the metro to Grønland and then made our way to Karl Johans gate, back to Oslofjord, to Aker Brygge, then back to Karl Johans.  Just outside the metro station, LG was having a promotion and was handing out free hot dogs.  If you've ever been to Norway you'll understand that everything here is not cheap.  So when you're offered free food you'd better take it!  The hot dogs turned out to be quite good, actually, due to the Norwegian spin on them.  I had potato salad on mine but my friend Brady was a bit more adventurous and got shrimp salad on his.

Karl Johans gate (Royal Palace in background)

Oslofjord, Akershus Fortress on the left

Oslo City Hall, the Astronomical clock on the front won't tell you so, but this picture was taken at 10:49pm.

National Theatre

If my legs weren't tired enough already, today (Sunday), many of us took the short metro ride up to Sognsvann for a hike around a lake.  It was more of just a strenuous walk, really; the paths were wide and covered in gravel but it was a good workout all the same.  The sun and clouds did a temperamental dance all day but it was a beautiful hike.  You would never guess it's only a 5 minute train ride from the largest city in Norway.  I spent most of my time while walking looking at rocks (a side affect of taking a year of geology classes), but I glanced up now and then to look at the trees, or sky, or water, too.    I look forward to going back on a day when the weather is nicer.  I still need to make good on my promise and jump into the lake.

From the hike, some of the Americans went straight to a 4th of July celebration in Frogner Park.  Why they did it this weekend rather than next weekend is beyond me.  Having only been out of the U.S. for just over a week, I didn't find the celebrations very compelling.  That, and, as previously mentioned, everything in Norway is very expensive; a Fourth of July celebration is no exception.  All the booths had something to sell you, be it American flags, washable tattoos, stars-and-stripes hats, or the spin of a wheel for the chance to win water in a can (yes, that's a real thing).  I ended come coming back to the dorm early to get some work done and a quick power-nap before dinner.

I still have some work to get done for tomorrow so I'm going to leave it there for this post.  I'll have to get better about posting more frequently so I don't end up with this back-log again.  Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading today's post.  Stay tuned.  -NLD

Sound the Pigeon Alarm!

I failed to mention it in my previous post but my dorm room number here at Blindern Studenterhjem -- 618 -- is the same as my dorm room number from my freshman year of college.  Maybe it means the monstrously obese pigeons of Oslo will all come swooping down in a fit of rage, hell bent on destroying humanity.  Maybe it means fire alarms will go off in all buildings of Oslo simultaneously... or maybe just one of them.  Maybe it means I should go buy a lottery ticket.  At any rate, I thought my room placement worth mentioning.

Last weekend was so fun and exciting I almost forgot I'm here for school.  Not that learning isn't fun.  It's just not as fun as seeing 1100 year old Viking ships and a 134 meter (~ 470 ft.) high ski jump.  But, as you know if you've read my previous post, Monday was the first day of classes.  I'm not going to lie, getting out of bed in time to eat breakfast before an 8:15 class was a struggle.  And not just on that first morning; it's been a struggle every morning since.  But I am here to learn, after all, so I suppose I shouldn't complain too loudly.

It's a little early in the session to give a definitive opinion of my classes but both seem interesting enough.  In my Norwegian History class, we just started reading some old Norse myths (e.g. Prose Edda) as a part of our Viking Age unit.  It's quite a bit more reading than I thought it would be but what else should I expect from a history class?  Thankfully, a significant portion of the reading is optional.  Well, one could argue that it's all optional but that wouldn't make him or her a very good student now would it.

My Intensive Elementary Norwegian Level I class is good.  As one might expect from a class with the word "intensive" in its title, it's intense.  It's very enjoyable, though, and I look forward to learning as much as possible in these six short weeks.

Not only was Monday the first day of classes, but it was also the day of the official opening ceremony for the International Summer School.  This summer marks the 68th summer of the International Summer School.  Though it's not a nice round number like the one just celebrated last month (May 17th marked the 200th year since the signing of the Norwegian Constitution), that evening shall forever resonate in my mind as one of the utmost significance.  First and foremost, the venues of the opening ceremony and subsequent reception were not only beautiful but also important landmarks in the history of human achievements.  The opening ceremony was held at the University Aula on Karl Johans gate.  This is the building where people such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa received their Nobel Peace Prize awards until that ceremony was relocated to Oslo City Hall in 1990, which just so happened to be the location of the reception following the opening ceremony.  I spent much of the opening ceremony admiring the Munch murals that adorn the walls of the Aula.  Also, between cultural and musical performances, dignitaries from the University and Norwegian Department of State spoke to us on the importance of the International Summer School and the role it plays in future of humanity.  Most of it was all something I've heard before but the truth deserves to be repeated: Only through friendship, understanding, and other ideals championed by international communities of learning everywhere will we as a society achieve peace and overcome the many obstacles that face us, such as climate change and seemingly endless violence and conflict.  It made me proud to be a student at the International Summer School and is part of what makes me so excited to be studying in Norway.

Remember that seemingly inconsequential quip about fire alarms going off?  Well, at the reception held in Oslo City Hall the fire alarm actually did go off and we were forced to evacuate the building.  I have no idea who or what caused the fire alarm to go off but, to the best of my knowledge, no harm was done (apart from a few abandoned plates of appetizers) and we allowed to re-enter the building after about half an hour.  Despite the evening's excitement, there was still ample time to admire the artwork and free refreshments Oslo City Hall had to offer.

Getting up for class the next morning was even more difficult than the first morning but I somehow stayed awake through all of my classes.  I even attended a lecture that evening on Norwegian Life and Society.  I can't say that I learned much because during much of the lecture I was looking at flights from Oslo to London for the long weekend I have coming up in July.

Today (Wednesday 25/6), I attended class per usual and then had to rush through lunch in order to get in line early for weekend excursion sign-ups.  I got the excursion I wanted (white water rafting in Jotunheimen)!!  It'll be wet and cold, I think, but I'm really looking forward to it.

That's all for today.  I apologize for the lack of pictures.  There's so much a picture can't capture; in trying to get the "perfect" shot I miss much of what is going on around me.  For future posts, though, I'll try to be a bit better about snapping some photos every now and then.  Thanks for reading!  Stay tuned.  -NLD

Taking a Ride on the Struggle Plainus

Though the title of this post may suggest my first few days in Norway have been a struggle, they've really been the farthest thing from it.  I've had a few moments of struggle, true, but, for the most part, the transition to life abroad has been fairly easy and enjoyable; the title is merely a clever incorporation of the modes of transportation that have made these first few days in Oslo so interesting.

The Struggle Plane
 It wasn't all that bad except for having cramped legs and the fact that I didn't really eat much over the course of those ten flight hours, plus airport time.  But that was in my control.  Everything out of my control -- flights being on time, my suitcase arriving safely, the people sitting next to me on the plane -- worked out as well as I could have hoped.  There was a brief moment of panic shortly after arriving at Gardermoen airport, during which my phone didn't work (as I expected it would) and I feared I wouldn't be able to find the people who were picking me up from the airport.  Upon exiting customs, however, I found them -- or, rather, they found me -- almost immediately and brought me to the University of Oslo, Blindern campus where I will be staying at studying for these six weeks at the International Summer School (ISS).

After getting settled into my dorm room -- it is a bit smaller than I expected and rather old but has all the necessities so I guess I can't complain -- I set out to explore campus and the surrounding area with a few other guys from my floor.  An Oslo veteran, Brady, who attended this program when my brother was here, acted as our tour guide.  Some people just can't escape the Digre brothers.  Muahahahaha!

Having someone I knew from before coming to Norway has made meeting new people and the whole new environment a lot less overwhelming.  If what they said at orientation yesterday (21 June) is true, there are people from something on the order of 86 different countries studying at ISS.

I've met so many awesome people from so many different countries -- United States (of course), Belgium, Slovakia, Russia, Germany, China (which is where my roommate is from), and Azerbaijan, to name a few -- in the first three days of being here and I look forward to meeting and getting to know many more.  It's such a wonderful chance to expand my world view and make new connections with some fantastic people!

The Struggle Train
Like I said, my first full day here started off with orientation as well as registration.  After the academic obligations, I spent most of the afternoon exploring downtown Oslo, including the Royal Palace, Karl Johans gate (the main, most famous street in Oslo), the Oslo Opera House, Akke Brygge (a fancy shopping and dining district), and various side streets.  It was a nice way to get acquainted with Oslo and learn my way around the metro system, which is where the struggle train bit comes in.  It took me a few tries to figure out that some of the metro seats are spring-loaded and won't stay down unless you're sitting on them.  Much to my surprise, pulling them down and then letting go makes BIG NOISE!  Also, if Brady hadn't been there to point out that you have to push the button on the door in order to make it open, I likely would have missed my stop, standing there like a hopeless puppy, wondering why the door isn't opening.  But Oslo is such a beautiful and clean city; such minor struggles have no chance of dampening my mood.

The Struggle Bus
Today (June 22), the main activity was a bus tour of Oslo.  We drove past many of the places I walked past yesterday but it was nice to hear the factoids our tour guide provided.  The highlights were Frogner Park and Vigeland sculptures, the Viking Ship museum, and the Holmenkollen ski jump.  I've provided some pictures of the last two below.  The only struggle I had was spilling water down my shirt when I took a drink from my water bottle.

Together, the past few days comprise "The Struggle Plainus."  The struggles have been minor but it's all been part of the fun of adjusting to life in Norway.  I expect there to be many challenges for me to face but I hope to approach them all the way I've approached these first days: with an open mind and a smile on my face.

Chief among those challenges: classes starting tomorrow at 8:15.  My first class starts at 8:15, ends at 10:00, and then right after that I have another class until 13:00.  For those who don't know, the two classes I'm taking are Norwegian History and Intensive Elementary Norwegian Level I.  In addition, I brought along an Old Norse textbook that I hope to work through on my own.  I'll be very busy, of course, but I'm very excited for the weeks ahead and can't wait to find out what ISS and Norway has in store.

That's all for now.  I'm not sure when I'll be able to post again but I'd like to post something at least every few days.  Stay tuned. -NLD

 Viking Ship Museum

Holmenkollen ski jump

Velkommen!

You've somehow managed to find your way to my travel blog.  It's somewhat in its infant stages so bear with me as I try to get it up to scratch.  Unfortunately, staying up for 28 hours straight can really take it out of you, so I won't post much for this first post.  I mainly just wanted to let people know that this is a thing and that I'm in Norway, safe and sound.  I'll be posting more later this weekend.  Stay tuned.
- NLD