Rømmegrøt Addicts Anonymous

Picture from the hike on Sunday at Sangsvand.

I guess I haven't been doing a very good job of not letting things pile up.  I thought it would be a fairly uneventful week so I didn't think it necessary to post anything earlier.  But here's the thing about studying abroad: there are exciting things to be done and adventures to be had even on what might initially seem the most mundane of days.  No day in Norway is mundane.  This week's adventures seem to have been focused around food.  Well, every day for me revolves around food when free breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served only at very limited times but that's beside the point.

Before continuing, I suppose I should make the obligatory statements of, "classes are going well, there is a lot of homework and reading I don't really want to do but it's all very fun and interesting, yada yada yada."

I didn't really have anything exciting planned for Monday but it became witness one of the greatest discoveries in the history of my first ten days in Oslo: Rema.  It's a (relatively) cheap grocery store.  Yes, this is what excites me: only slightly over-priced produce and prepackaged sweets.  Like Gjende.  Gjende is flipping amazing.  It's like a cookie, but it's a Norwegian cookie, so it's better.  Also, Norway's strawberries are the best strawberries I've ever tasted in my entire life; and that's saying something, considering I worked in a strawberry field the summer before senior year of high school.  So anyway, I was introduced to Rema on an impromptu 22:30 walk with some friends.  The only thing I have to show for the trip is a picture of some train tracks and an empty Gjende wrapper but it was momentous all the same.

The next evening, my roommate and I went down to Aker Brygge to meet Sigrid and Hogne Borgersrud at DS Louise.  They treated us to a fantastic meal, delightful conversation, and a short walk along the Aker Brygge pier.  The food and company were wonderful!

Rainbow over Akershus, from Aker Brygge.

A night out to dinner was a nice change from dormitory food.  It isn't that dormitory food is bad, it's just the same thing over and over.  I'm not tired of it yet but I expect I will be by the end of the six weeks.  Until such a time when I will only be able to do so grudgingly, I will continue to happily shovel in the potatoes, fish, chicken that's labeled as turkey, and brødskiver med ost (bread slices with cheese).

Wednesday's excitement consisted of going to see the ISS showing of Troll Hunter -- a Norwegian film almost as good as Dead Snow.  The title should tell you what it's about.

This afternoon (Thursday), I went on a brief excursion to the Kulturhistorisk museum (Museum of Cultural History, Oslo) for my history class.  It was cool to see artifacts from the periods in history I've been learning about, specifically, the Viking era.  Some of the highlights include swords, runestones, jewelery, and a half replica viking long boat that, despite its replica-ness, you're still not allowed to touch (as my professor [who was guiding us through the museum] found out).

Viking Era Swords

Runestone

As long as I'm off the topic of food, I should mention that this last week I got plane tickets to London for the long weekend next week.  I'll only be there for three days but that's better than the last time I was there for only one day.  I will be traveling alone because I couldn't find anyone who wanted to go with me before tickets got ridiculously expensive but I almost prefer it this way; I'll be able to take in the city at my own pace and go where I want to go for three glorious days.

This evening was the Norwegian Cultural Evening.  The dancing, singing, and folk tales were entertaining but the best part (surprise!  It's food related and this post's namesake) was the rømmegrøt served afterwards.  If you don't know what rømmegrøt is, Google it.  I shamelessly had three bowls full.  I can feel my arteries clogging as I sit here typing this, but it was worth it.  No regrets, whatsoever.

Norwegian Folk Dancing

I'm afraid this post may have been a bit more condensed than I would have liked it to be but I need to do a bit of studying before going to bed and I'd like to get more than five hours of sleep so I'll have to leave it there for this post.  I hope you enjoyed reading this post and if you think you might be addicted to rømmegrøt, you're not alone.  Feel free to call our RAA hotline at 1-555-THIS-IS-NOT-A-REAL-NUMBER-BUT-I-WISH-IT-WAS.  If I don't write another post in the next 24 hours, which, with my track record, doesn't seem likely, I wish all my American family and friends a fantastic 4th of July!  Have fun.  Stay safe.  Stay tuned.  - NLD