Almost a month ago exactly I went to Scotland to visit my old roommate Karen. Scotland was absolutely awesome—hands down the creepiest city that has ever existed though. Everything there is haunted, and after experiencing the “circle of doom” (not even going to go there… who doesn’t appreciate a good mystery), I AM A BELIEVER. Besides all of the creepy ghost tales, intimidating but remarkable historical sites, and crazy accents that convinced me their English is not the same language as my own, Scotland can be summed up by one thing: HORRIBLE WEATHER. Yes, I live in Norway. No, Norway’s weather is not as bad as it is described to be (at least not Oslo’s). Edinburgh was not cold, mind you…. But CRAZY WINDY which blew the nonstop icy rain into your face at all times. It was absolutely dreadful-- coming back to Norway felt like going on some kind of tropical vacation…. If tropical vacations included snow. Anyways, good times- here are pictures:
When I returned from Scottland on Monday morning, I immediately had to write a paper for one of my classes, which was due on Wednesday (of course by write a paper I mean I had to figure out which class I was taking, read the prompt, find my books for that class, open them, read, do outside research., then write). My procrastination abilities never cease to amaze me. On Thursday (aka THANKSGIVING) I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while fantasizing about all of you feasting back in the states. It was definitely a low point. Luckily, I went away again that night to the third largest city in Norway, Trondheim. I have now officially visited the only 4 real “cities” that exist in Norway. FOR THE WIN!
Eirik somehow talked me into taking the night train up to Trondheim, which was god awful. It is official—I cannot sleep AT ALL on public transportation…. Not even for a minute. I think because I move around so much in my sleep that I can’t ever get comfortable when I’m confined to one position. Anyhoo—it was awful. Luckily- Trondheim was a BEAUTIFUL city and more than made up for the shitty travel arrangements. It’s actually a major college town which made for some fun nights out with lots of international students. Although there is definitely civilization there, it’s such a small place and has a very calm and cozy atmosphere. It is actually what I kind of expected Oslo to be like before I arrived (Oslo is probably more similar to other European cities than it is to other parts of Norway). Highlights include seeing the largest church in Scandinavia that is a big deal for some reason, seeing the old military fort where Norwegians tried and failed to keep Nazis at bay, and eating moose! Here are a few photos from that weekend, but since I am a failure of a photographer, I’ve also included a link to a youtube video showing some of the Trondheim sites by daylight. It’s SUCH A COOL PLACE and I LOVED IT, I just can’t be bothered to pretend to care about taking pictures anymore.
Although it was a relaxing and fun trip, as soon as we got back on the night train to Oslo, I had to begin studying for my first final exam that Wednesday. Luckily, 8 hours on a train that you can’t sleep on à getting A LOT of studying accomplished. When I returned home on Monday morning, I continued studying until my exam on Wednesday. Sadly, I was unable to study much the next weekend since so many people were celebrating their last weekends in Oslo. That is the strange part of having exams all over the place. Everyone is finishing/leaving at different times. JEG LIKER DET IKKE! (I don’t like it). Still, I was able to pull it together on Sunday to study for my Monday exam, and then studied on and off for the next week until my Norwegian language exam today. Don’t ask me how it went, I will find out on January 12…. but I probably won’t relay that grade to any of you! :P Sharing bad grades could potentially threaten my superiority complex, and I just can’t have that.
Between my exam last week and this week, my roommate, a few of her friends and I headed up to Tromsø for a few days. Well, they went up for 5 days, I flew up for a grand total of 2.5 days, which to be honest was all the time I needed. Tromsø is north of the Arctic circle: guess what that means? NORTHERN LIGHTS! I was only able to snap one decent photo with my camera whose flash is PMSing before my battery went out, but here you can witness the wonder that is the aurora borealis! (if you scroll down far enough)
First, Where Tromsø is:
It only came out for one night when I was there (it was too overcast the other days), but it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. If you’ve never seen it: I highly recommend that you buy some warm clothes, head up north and check it out. Pictures just don’t do it justice—it literally takes your breath away!
The only other highlight in Tromsø (yeah, not the most exciting place) was probably one of the highlights of my life. DOG SLEDDING. Most of us are familiar with my unhealthy love for huskies and my propensity to make reckless decisions as a result of their cuteness (oh Max, how do I love thee), and this was therefore the opportunity of a lifetime for me! My roommate and I were the only two to try it, but I’m so glad that I did. We got to take turns steering and braking, and although it was a bit difficult and despite the fact that the dogs went one way while I flew in the opposite direction more times than I can count, it was SO MUCH FUN. The best part was that Norwegian dogs seem to work for love. Although I had usually read about sled dogs being disconnected from humans and trained to reject affection, Norwegian sled dogs are the neediest little huskies you ever did see…. And I loved every second of it. They are a bit smaller than Alaskan/Siberian huskies (certainly smaller than Max the monster): I’ll just throw in a picture of that terror of a canine for good measure.
Anyhoo, the Norwegian dogs only weigh about 35 pounds, and they jumped in and out of our arms whenever they could and more or less professed their undying love for me in their husky chatter and through incessantly licking my face. I WAS IN HEAVEN!
Now I find myself looking at ridiculous youtube videos of huskies. I have issues, I know this.
AHHHHH, this blog is being taken over by cute puppies…. I’ve lost my edge! On that note, I need to go pass out now. I have about a million things to do/people to see/places to go during my LAST WEEK HERE IN NORWAY. AHHHHH…. I can’t even believe it. I want to cry just thinking about it. Still, let’s be happy that I’m leaving on December 21st rather than December 22nd, since I’m flying British Airways.
See you soon, America!
p.s. oh yeah, Obama came. Most people were just irritated that he only stayed for 26 hours (kind of a huge snub for not staying the full 3 days), also the whole deploying more troops things didn't go over too well. But WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! OBAMA! I also was quite amused that when people were waiting for him to emerge, the crowd began to chant: "Mr. Obama, please come out". I do believe that is the politest, and least interesting chant I've ever heard. Gotta hand it to those Norwegians, they never fail to be polite! (I just think they're overcompensating to undermine viking stereotypes.... don't be fooled: it's all true... just add alcohol). Although there were plenty of protesters outside of his hotel chanting, luckily for our President, me and the other Americans all lived up to our stereotypes and overpowered the Nordmenn with our overpoweringly loud cheers of glee! Sorry about that protesters, better luck next time!
"That's not Obama, that's just a black guy!" Yeah well, that black guy turned out to be Will Smith, so SAMANTHA (only one smart enough to recognize that a black man in Norway denotes a rare occurrence worth photographing), FOR THE WIN!
P.P.S. Gratulerer med dagen til denne gammel mann. Han er seksti-fire år gammel nå!
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