tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68420266379558249092024-03-12T19:31:23.226-07:00Across the PondMeaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196004741950694735noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842026637955824909.post-37541709116105086712013-04-18T16:15:00.000-07:002013-04-18T16:15:31.814-07:00Back in the USASorry for the delay in writing this!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Totally said I was going to do this a day
after landing in the states, but now it’s been three days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh well, I hope this post doesn’t disappoint!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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Oh America, my home. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have returned to the west coast after being
in Norway for just about three and a half months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve said this in so many entries before, but
I can’t emphasize enough how quickly time passed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My departure from Oslo felt a little sudden,
like my goodbyes and packing were all in a whirlwind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, the living fantasy of my European
semester is over and I’m back in the real world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve of course missed aspects of America,
some of which I’ve cashed in on right away, which aside from seeing my family
have been mostly food oriented (Girl Scout cookies!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Steak! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fast food!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Other than being lazy on my couch, which only in part is due to jet lag,
I’ve had to jump into responsibilities on my to do list including apartment
hunting and stuff for my summer job.</div>
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All that said, this post is dedicated to reflecting on
Norway one more time for this blog!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
started off with this online travel journal with my first impressions, and am
now concluding with my final insights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Here are some things about Norway that make me laugh, caused me anguish,
and are all unforgettable:</div>
<ul>
<li>PRICES! They have been mentioned several times
in this blog, and were always something to be aware of. I only ate out like
four times in Oslo, and obviously went out for every meal when in Bergen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As one of my other posts pointed out, buying
clothes weighed less on my conscience than buying food or beer.</li>
<li>Norway’s laws on alcohol, the topic of
conversation second to prices.</li>
<li>You have to bag your own groceries in Norway
even at clerk lines, and pay for bags if you don’t bring them.</li>
<li>Most grocery stores are closed on Sundays,
primarily for labor law reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Actually almost nothing is open on Sundays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Except museums surprisingly</li>
<li>Public transportation in Oslo is awesome</li>
<li>The sun doesn’t really start shinning until late
March, and even then the sky can be a tease</li>
<li>Norwegian water is delicious (I passed by the
town of Voss on the Bergen train!)</li>
<li>Gravel removal was just starting as I left
earlier this week (the country uses gravel instead of salting roads and
sidewalks for snow and ice)</li>
<li>The prides of Norway (aka the things that
dominate souvenir stores): cheese/cheese related items, moose, polar bears
(that don’t even live in the country), trolls, and Vikings.</li>
<li>Politics!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Norway has multiple parties!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With
youth branches!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And lots of NGOs!</li>
<li>Education on the university level: state
involvement, “go ahead, get a Master’s”, and not much school swag (no apparel
in the bookstore). </li>
</ul>
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For a funny video on these same insights and more, check
this out, it’s pretty much Norway in a nutshell for foreigners: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrLu4MmMCSE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrLu4MmMCSE</a></div>
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Anyways, studying in Norway for my semester abroad was
everything I hoped for and more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went
extreme sledding, braved the cold, travel around Europe, had great flat mates,
was a volunteer bartender, interned for an NGO, wrote a thesis, had classes and
field seminars with a cool group of Americans, and made friends that I adore
dearly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the main thing that Norway
gave me was a good look at myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Reflection and growth were the two most important things I got from
being abroad, and all I can say is, thank you Norway and everyone that was a
part of my adventure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I miss you, and
will see you again sometime down the road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even the prices won’t keep me away :)</div>
Meaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196004741950694735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842026637955824909.post-77138563294239664822013-04-15T09:24:00.001-07:002013-04-15T09:24:59.802-07:00Ha Det, Tusen Takk Norge<!--[if !mso]>
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<![endif]-->This is my final log post for this travel blog, and tomorrow
I will post a “back in America” entry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was sitting in Oslo Airport when I started writing this and now I’m in Iceland
for my layover.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today is quite bittersweet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I have missing home and am happy to go
back to my family and friends, Norway has been some of the best months of my
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And now it’s time to write about
my last week.<br />
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<u>Tuesday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Free
Cone Day!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ben and Jerry’s is wonderfully
international.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyways, my last day of
class meant presenting my ISP to the HECUA group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was a little nerve-wracking but I’m glad
I got to talk about what I’d been working on all semester.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that Power Point, we had a final class
discussion to finish off my academic time in Norway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To celebrate the end of term, my professor
had us over for a great potluck dinner.</div>
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<u>Wednesday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
shift at Queer Youth that was spent making a blog for my boss and then I had
dinner with two of my friends that were going to be gone over the weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Spaghetti with two fellow political science
majors made for a good night. </div>
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<u>Thursday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
was a day that was school work oriented for the last time in Oslo since I had
to finish up the final draft of my ISP to turn in the next morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also had my last flat mate dinner with very
tasty wok.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<u>Friday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such a
full Friday!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I submitted my ISP to my
professor (whoohoo!) and then headed to Queer Youth for my last shift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>QY is having their general assembly next week
which meant a lot of printing and folder filling for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ashild got a delicious carrot cake for my
last day interning and I also got a card and gift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After saying goodbye to Queer Youth, I went
out to dinner with Oliver and then we went to work at Uglebo for my seventh and
final shift bartending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a great
group of coworkers, the hours went by quickly and the after party went until
five.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I already greatly miss both my
places of work this semester.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Queer
Youth and Uglebo were two very cool parts of my experience in Oslo.</div>
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<u>Saturday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two
concluding actions to my time in Norway were what this day was dedicated to:
picking up souvenirs and having a farewell party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both these things went very well and I am so
happy with how great a sendoff I got with lots of people I’m so blessed to call
friends on Saturday night.</div>
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<u>Sunday: </u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last
full day in Oslo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Deeds of the day were
packing and socializing with lunch out, a group dinner in, and one final trip
to Bla.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Capped off the night with a
movie in Erica’s room.</div>
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This blog post turned out to be a pretty short one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m finding this entry a little difficult to
write, as leaving is still sinking in even though I’ve already taken one of two
flights to get back to the states today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But, as mentioned above, I’ll be writing again tomorrow, so whatever I
haven’t thought to add here I’ll put in tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyways, to finish off this last week log, Norway
has a piece of my heart, and here are some last photos of my time there.</div>
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Even Oslo isn’t cold enough to say no to free ice cream</div>
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Not the best picture of me, but this is the last photo of the HECUA
group</div>
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Best carrot cake of my life</div>
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Wearing a hat means party time</div>
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The room I made a home in Norway</div>
Meaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196004741950694735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842026637955824909.post-54180590243834044232013-04-08T14:35:00.000-07:002013-04-08T14:35:31.650-07:00There and Back: Bergen StyleToday marks the start of my last full week in Oslo…
WOW.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being abroad in Europe has really
flown by, it’s hard to believe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyways,
to get to how the first bit of April went for me, I’ll get right to reporting
now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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Between Tuesday and Thursday I was in school mode,
especially concerning my ISP.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had other
assignments as well, but writing up the rough draft of my paper was the most
time consuming activity of these three days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I turned in my draft Thursday morning and before then was visited by a
pair of care package fairies to cheer me on Wednesday as I sat at my
computer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Red Bull and chocolate sure
are good motivators.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like I said,
emailed off the draft Thursday morning, then had some classes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thursday night meant relief from my school
work of the week so I made my way over to Uglebo for a special band night and
socialized the night away in blissful celebration to end a tough week.</div>
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Moving onto the weekend, I went to Bergen!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During my time here in Norway, I definitely
wanted to see more of the country than Oslo so I made my way over to the west
coast for three days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hopped on the
earliest train Friday morning with my pal Oliver and we made the seven hour
trip to Norway’s second largest city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Oslo to Bergen line has the reputation of being one of the most
beautiful train rides in the world, and that reputation did not disappoint!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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After arriving and checking into the Bergen YMCA as our
hostel, we wandered around downtown Friday afternoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bergen has quite a lot of character, and many
more restaurant options than Oslo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Eating out is a treat, and since I was on a sort of holiday, I took
advantage to have a weekend of food!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After a great dinner, I fell asleep for 12 hours, ha.</div>
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As for Saturday, Oliver and I had our only full day in
Bergen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We spent it going to art
museums, doing souvenir shopping, and of course spending plenty of money on
delicious food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then on Sunday in
between more great food for breakfast and a late lunch, we went up to the
mountainside of Bergen via the Fløibanen Funicular to get a great view of the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The harbor is such an awesome sight high up
and street level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All in all, Bergen was
wonderful!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So glad I got to see more of
beautiful Norway before leaving in a week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
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Ahh, only one or two more blog posts depending on how I
decide to write.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks for all you readers
that have followed me the whole time, are sporadic skimmers, or are just taking
a look at my blog for the first time!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Below are some pics from Bergen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Til I write again, cheers from Norway!</div>
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Bryggen, the main historical strip</div>
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A burger in Bergen! So tasty</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>The view from the roof or the Bergen YMCA</div>
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Life at the top with Bergen harbor as my backdrop</div>
Meaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196004741950694735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842026637955824909.post-1977877731867685022013-04-01T13:41:00.002-07:002013-04-01T13:44:59.541-07:00Living HistoryHappy April everyone!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I hope all of you that celebrate Easter had a lovely one yesterday, I
sure did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since my last post, I’ve been
to Berlin with my sister and upon returning to Oslo had a visit from a fellow
USFer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Germany was marvelous, as was
having two familiar faces around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s
the lowdown of my week:<br />
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<u>Tuesday:</u> I had class, so my sister went off on her
own to see a good number of museums around the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then she and I met up with a friend to go out
to dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eating out at a restaurant in
Oslo took a visit from my sister to happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Getting food instead of cooking is not cheap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Took full advantage of this rare
occasion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After dinner we headed back
for tea and then I had to get some sleep to get up early for my flight!</div>
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<u>Wednesday:</u> BERLIN!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This city has been on my bucket list for years and finally going was the
experience of a lifetime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the title
of this week’s post goes, I felt the history all around me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We made our way to Plus Berlin Hostel to
check in after I managed to take a nice nap on the plane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus Berlin is a frickin’ amazing hostel; it’s
so huge and nice!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the main reason I
chose to book it was its location: Plus Berlin is about three blocks away from
the largest remaining section of the wall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And after dropping off our luggage, the wall was the first thing we went
to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like I said, a check off on the
bucket list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walking the wall was
surreal.</div>
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After my stroll along the wall, my sister and I went out to
dinner and then tucked in pretty early.</div>
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<u>Thursday:</u> Museum day!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We went to six different Berlin sights:</div>
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</span></span></span>The Berliner Dom</div>
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</span></span></span>The German History Museum</div>
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</span></span></span>The Berlin Wall Museum at Checkpoint Charlie</div>
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</span></span></span>The Jewish Museum</div>
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It was a tourism packed day and I loved every minute of
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<u>Friday:</u> Shopping day, Good Friday style.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot of stores and restaurants were closed
on our third and final full day in Germany.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But first we started off our day at the German Parliament.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With an easy online registration, we were
able to go up to the glass dome for free, yay!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With this visit, I’ve been to three parliaments while in Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m quite a happy Politics major.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyways, as for the consumerism part of the
day, we luckily went to Alexanderplatz which is a big square right by the
Berlin TV Tower.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were rows of
booths filled with artisan crafts, souvenirs, and food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were plenty of people milling around as
well, they must have had the same idea of shopping on Good Friday as we
did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The best place in Alexanderplatz
for me was the beer garden!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Glad I got
to one before leaving Germany.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sipped a
glass mug of hot red wine, which was great since the weather the whole time we
were in Berlin was stormy and even colder than Oslo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently this winter is the coldest Germany
has experienced since 1891… oh well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After having wine at the beer garden, ha, and a little shopping at the
booths, including a great jewelry one, we headed back to eat at the hostel
where I made sure to have a pint of Berliner Pilsner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We went to bed early for our flights the next
morning.</div>
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<u>Saturday:</u> Used the shuttle service through Plus
Berlin to get to Tegel Airport around 4:30am since my sister’s flight to the
states departed around six.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our stay at
Plus Berlin was awesome, if anyone is planning on going to Berlin, I highly
recommend this hostel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyways, I got on
my flight at 8:20am and got to Oslo at about ten, then stayed in international
arrivals to pick up Katherine just around eleven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’s my friend from SF who is studying in
London this spring (I visited her on my UK trip in February, and now it was her
turn to come up to Norway!).</div>
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I took Katherine up to Sogn and after settling her in at the
student village we headed downtown to do a loop of the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We hit up Aker Brygge, Oslo’s main pier, and
then Akershus Castle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the Opera
House Roof and back down Karl Johans gate to get back on the T Bane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had a quick dinner and then headed to my
friend Heidi’s place for a house party.<br />
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<u>Sunday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Easter!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We made sure to get some
museums in for Katherine so we met up with a friend of mine and the three of us
made the holiday an art day with the Munch Museum and National Gallery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we grabbed a late lunch at one of the open
coffee shops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that, I had to get
back to my room to work on a paper but the others went out to Sognsvann, a lake
near my student village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It must have
been beautiful on a gorgeous day like this one, I was envious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br />
I worked on my essay for a bit and then there was an Easter
dinner with a two of my roommates and their friends and after food my pair of
friends of the day and I headed out to BLÅ for some Oslo night life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<u>Today (Monday):</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With today being Katherine’s last day in Oslo, we got in two more
plans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First we went to the Opera House
for a free concert with a group of friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Something free… in Oslo… best thing ever!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pianist and violinist were both great,
and it’s cool that I’ve now been on the roof of the Opera House as well as
inside of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After some wonderful live
music, the group of us headed back for a fun belated Easter brunch at one of my
friend’s kitchen in Sogn, concluding Katherine’s time in Oslo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She got great three days of weather, it was
so sunny!</div>
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<br />
To wrap up this week, below are pictures from Berlin and a
couple from Oslo!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bergen will be the highlight
of my next post!</div>
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A great new memory</div>
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Inside the Berliner Dom</div>
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Checkpoint Charlie</div>
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<br />
The glass dome </div>
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<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A chilly day outside Parliament<br />
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Hot red wine, yum<br />
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Akershus Castle<br />
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Concert at the Opera House</div>
Meaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196004741950694735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842026637955824909.post-57206358821145349322013-03-25T11:55:00.002-07:002013-03-25T11:56:50.326-07:00The City of Bikes, Buffets, and a BreweryHey everyone!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Between
this post and the last I’ve been to Copenhagen and back, along with my sister
arriving for a visit yesterday!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
been a full week, so here’s an overview with today coming last as opposed to
the usual first:<br />
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<u>Tuesday:</u> A full day in Oslo before my trip with
HECUA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started out at Queer Youth in
the morning but had to leave early due to an unfortunate headache.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took a nap to make sure I was going to feel
a bit better in the evening for my shift at Uglebo’s swing night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bar closed around one and as always there’s
the claiming of the beer after party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
had to be at central station at 7:20am on Wednesday so I just stayed up through
the night socializing at the bar and at home, and was up and out the door half
past six.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No sleep for me, first all-nighter
here!</div>
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<u>Wednesday:</u> With the sun just coming up, I headed to
meet up with HECUA at Oslo S for our flight at 9:20am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was surprising fine sleep wise, took a nap
on the short hour long flight, and was still at a good level of awake when we
landed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We checked into our hotel very
close to the Copenhagen central station.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I plopped my bags down to room with the lovely Lauren for the next few
days and after settling in we went across to street to eat at a Turkish buffet
restaurant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Copenhagen is filled with
buffets, it’s awesome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve never seen
one offered in Oslo, in fact I’ve never had a sit down meal out in Oslo because
of the prices so eating out in Copenhagen was pure luxury.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After lunch we went to the National Museum of
Denmark, the met with two girls from Avalak (A Greenlandic student
organization) and then spend our free night at the student bar downtown and
went up the Round Tower, the oldest observatory in the world. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I got some very nice Z’s.</div>
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<u>Thursday:</u> I’m resorting to bullet points for the
remaining days!</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span>Started off the morning with a visit to SFU, the
Socialist People’s Party’s youth branch</li>
<li>Ate Asian take out for the first time in
forever!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you walk up Chinese
place, three dishes for like six bucks in a to go box, mmmm</li>
<li>Hit up Nordatlantes Brygge (the Artic Art and
Cultural Museum for Iceland, Greenland and the Faeroe Islands</li>
<li>Took a stroll through self-governing Christiania</li>
<li>Got two pairs of boots for 200 Danish kroner,
love the prices!!! That’s less than $40</li>
<li>Then we all went out with the Greenlanders from
the day before for a night of beers and pool ( and I actually won a game, woot
woot!)</li>
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<u>Friday:</u> A packed day!</div>
<ul>
<li>Met with the other side of the youth political
spectrum with the Danish People’s Party (the growing, most right party in
Denmark) and got a tour of Parliament</li>
<li>Wandered around a bunch of Copenhagen’s thrift
stores</li>
<li>Had a meeting with Modkraft (a leftist online
news outlet)</li>
<li>Grabbed food for a microwave dinner from the
grocery store, which was by a supposed American brand (chicken tenders from the
Netherlands as it turned out)</li>
<li>Finished off the night going to Larsen’s Plaz
again (the same bar as the night before) and Barbar Bar (Bar times three lol)</li>
</ul>
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<u>Saturday: </u>Free day to explore!</div>
<ul>
<li>Found a great bike rental shop to go biking
around this city of cyclists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are
bike lanes on almost all streets and more people pedal than drive</li>
<li>Sped over to Carlsberg Brewery for a great time
and two beers included in the ticket price</li>
<li>Returned the bike and then headed over to the
Turkish buffet to end the trip full circle</li>
<li>Flew back to Oslo and landed in the evening</li>
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<u>Sunday:</u></div>
<ul>
<li>Picked up my sister from the airport!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(That place and I couldn’t stay apart for
more than 14 or so hours ha)</li>
<li>She was barely feeling jet lagged so we dropped
her stuff of and then made our way to Vigeland’s Park, Oslo’s collection of
outdoor sculptures that I hadn’t been to before</li>
<li>Went back to my flat for an early dinner, a ping
pong tournament hosted by my roommate and a good night sleep for both my sister
and me.</li>
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<u>Today (Monday):</u></div>
<ul>
<li>My sister and I were planning on having today be
a museum day… BUT BARELY ANY WERE OPEN.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I didn’t think Monday would be an issue for hours, but yep, the majority
were closed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt so bad, not looking
up any very closely before since I thought Monday was a safe assumptions since
I’m used to Sunday being the days places are closed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyways, we were able to hit up the Norwegian
Resistance Museum, thank God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a
good one too at that, dedicated to the five years of German occupation in
Norway during WWII</li>
<li>Mini cruise around the Oslo fjord!</li>
<li>And then, since no other museums close to
downtown were open, we shopped the rest of the day along with a stop by the
beautiful Oslo Opera House.</li>
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Wow, that sums up my week; Denmark and a familiar face from
home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next up is Berlin!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My sister and I are leaving Wednesday and
then when I return to Oslo on Saturday. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll be picking my friend Katherine (the one
from London who also goes to USF) about an hour after I land, ha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This week I have a bunch of pictures to share
as well!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stay tuned for next week!</div>
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The Round Tower (during the day, I went at night)</div>
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The other side of the sign says “You are now entering the EU”</div>
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With the HECUA gang at Parliament</div>
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A gorgeous day in Copenhagen</div>
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Cheers to Carlsberg!</div>
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The largest collection of unopened beer bottles in the world</div>
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<br /></div>
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Had to ride a bike in this city, so glad I did</div>
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<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div>
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Vigeland’s Park</div>
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<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div>
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Cruising (mini style, aka 90 minutes)</div>
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<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div>
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I do what I want sign!</div>
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<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div>
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Ha, take that flimsy piece of paper! (But really, everyone
goes over the chain)</div>
Meaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196004741950694735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842026637955824909.post-86518820852404501272013-03-18T07:19:00.000-07:002013-03-18T07:19:23.105-07:00Crunch TimeFour weeks from today is my flight back to the states, holy
cow!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not too much to report for today
since I only had a few classes on campus, but in general Norway sure is going
by quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My past week felt like a
speedy one as well, here’s what happened:<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>Tuesday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had
an afternoon class with a guest speaker from Vepsen, an online news outlet that
covers extremism in Norway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our visitor,
Tor Bach (one of Vepsen’s part time journalists) presented a great lecture
about extremism as a complex topic and the role it has played in Norway, most
famously with the attacks on July 22<sup>nd</sup> 2011 by ABB.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After class I had a nice Skype with a friend
back home and that concluded the events of my Tuesday.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<u>Wednesday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another
shift at Queer Youth, this time with a trip to IKEA!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been working on decorating the office
and spiffing up the place meant heading to IKEA to pick up some things, mainly
frames.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having posters and pictures up
on the wall has given QY a great look in my opinion and the social space is
coming together nicely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eirik and I picked
up lunch at IKEA, where hotdogs are only 5 NOK.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s the best deal in town I’ve come across for food and Norwegians
love hotdogs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ones I ate at IKEA
were the first I had in Norway, kind of a surprise it took this long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After QY I meet up with my professor for a
check in on papers, wrapping up my time downtown.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<u>Thursday:</u> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Class,
an unfortunately cancelled interview for my ISP, and a taco dinner was my
Thursday pretty much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I did get some
good errands in as well.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<u>Friday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pub
shift at Uglebo!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before Erica and I
headed over we feasted on an American delicacy I happened upon on my last trip
to the grocery store: mac and cheese.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Delicious!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Uglebo is always a
good time and this shift counted as the pub’s ode to St. Patrick’s Day since it’s
only open every Friday and every other Wednesday for quiz night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, the pub was all done up with green
decorations like clovers and owls wearing leprechaun hats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grabbed my compensation of two beers after
closing up and cleaning and got home around four in the morning.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<u>Saturday:</u> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another night at Uglebo after doing homework
during the afternoon!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was the
second intern party of the semester and I had a great time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mixed drinks for 40 NOK and good company made
for a quality night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Left at closing and
then hosted a couple friends in my kitchen for tea in the early morning
hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Saturday was my favorite night of
this past week.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<u>Sunday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>St.
Patrick’s Day!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went into my day
wanting to get a lot done on my ISP, but that didn’t happen… I’ll be making up
for that lack of progress tonight, ha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Shout
out to the post title)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyways, my
evening was fun!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve said it before and
I’ll say it again, I really am so happy about who I live with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had another roomie dinner and this time
around we had fondue, cognac, and brownies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So, not a very Irish meal!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
very tasty nonetheless with Switzerland, Russia (Nini’s contribution, she’s
from neighboring Georia), and America (yay baking!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After dinner we headed to Amatøren to have a
pint while wearing green.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sunday was a
close second to Saturday on good nights.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I only have one photo this time around, but I will have
plenty for my next post!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m leaving for
Copenhagen on Wednesday with the HECUA gang so I’ll be snapping a ton of
pictures!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until next Monday, have a good
week everyone!</div>
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Cheers to Ireland from Norway!</div>
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Meaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196004741950694735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842026637955824909.post-2027715248068556412013-03-11T12:52:00.003-07:002013-03-18T07:12:58.188-07:00Putting the Study in Studying AbroadWow, this blog has reached double digits for posts!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ten weeks, [insert whistle sound here].<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have exactly a month left of classes, which
applies greatly to the title of this week’s blog addition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I definitely have to be work mode the rest of
my time here, mainly because of my ISP (Independent Study Project).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve mentioned my ISP in earlier blogs I
think and I am getting into the heavy research and delivery points of my project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m studying the paradox/relationship between
Norway’s reputation of gender equality and domestic violence, with the
overarching theme being the past, present, and future status of gender in the
perspectives of Norwegians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sounds like
fun stuff huh?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well it is for me!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fun, hard work that is. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Title explained, now onto another packed week
here in Oslo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As usual I’ll start with
today. <br />
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I went to Stortinget which
is the name of Parliament for the second time (I also went on Thursday, details
on that trip below).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After having class
on campus, my HECUA group and I headed over to meet the FpU, which is the youth
branch of the FrP aka the Progess Party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Progress Party is the second largest party in Parliament currently
after Labor, is polling at third for the upcoming election in September, and is
the party farthest to the right in Norway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To compare the party to the US, in my opinion it is libertarian on a
good day but can act like the Tea Party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That said, the three guys we met with, Erik, Tristian, and Chris, are
all youth members and advisors to the mother party and since they’re all
involved in politics, they know how to sell themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the Progress Party isn’t one I’d likely
ever vote for if able to cast a ballot in Norway, the visit was educational and
definitely helped my understanding of the party more than only reading about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we got a short tour of Parliament
including the main chambers that we missed on Thursday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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After Stortinget, I went over to the complete other side of
the Norwegian political spectrum for an interview at the Socialist Left’s youth
branch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sat down with Ida, the
feminism leader of SU (Sosialistisk Ungdom aka Socialist Youth), to ask her
questions for my ISP.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was great to
talk to, and it was ironic to bounce from all the way right to almost all the
way left (Norway has a Red Party as well but they have no seats in Parliament
presently).</div>
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I had a pretty eventful Monday today, but now on to last
week!</div>
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<u>Tuesday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
was an on campus day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went to class in
the morning then to Uglebo during café hours for waffles with some
classmates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Waffle Tuesday is turning
into a tradition; I’m going tomorrow (the 12<sup>th</sup>) as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For 10 NOK each waffle (just under two
dollars), plus free tea and coffee for being a volunteer at Uglebo’s night
version (bar), it’s the best deal on campus I know of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After fluffy, jam covered goodness, I met up
with my professor to talk about my ISP.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And that’s when the already covered title came to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>March is a school work heavy month and this
month felt like it crept up on me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“What,
March?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Already?!” was pretty much my
thought process after realizing (as opposed to having it in the back of my
mind) that the rough draft of my ISP is due at the end of the month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After I got home, work was still on my mind
as it needed to be because I had a paper to work on that was due on
Friday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sitting at my computer and going
to sleep wrapped up my Tuesday.</div>
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<u>Wednesday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
sixth full shift at Queer Youth marked evaluation day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mostly what Eirik, Ashild and I talked about
was what I’d be doing with my remaining days at QY.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My main focus for the rest of my shifts will
be the office itself, launching the social space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spent my day on Wednesday framing posters
and putting them on the wall, which took way more effort than it sounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After QY I went home and wrote more of my
essay.</div>
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<u>Thursday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
mentioned above, this day marked my first time seeing Stortinget!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Politics major in me was super excited
for this class visit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We met with Peter
Skovholt Gitmark of the Conservative Party (Høyre, which literally translates
to “Right”), who was elected in 2005 at the age of 28.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Entering Parliament that young isn’t abnormal
in Norway, whereas in the US it’s very rare to get into Congress that early in
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s possible for the House of
Representatives, but even less likely for the Senate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peter is on the committees of the Interior,
Finance, and Environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if the
election goes how the polls are looking, his party will be the largest and he
may be a minister.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peter gave us a tour,
mostly showing off the artwork on the walls of Parliament and of his
office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The man has swag from all over
the world and from being on the radio a ton of times; a mug each time he was on
air, which totals about 120 mugs… Not all of them are in his office, but wow (I
think I saw 20 or so).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the main
things I noticed were two pictures he had on his wall, one with David Cameron,
and the other with Margaret Thatcher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After his office, Peter sat down with us for a Q&A.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I headed back home to finish off my
essay to turn in the next day.</div>
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<u>Friday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>International
Women’s Day!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the fullest days I’ve
had in Oslo means bullet points:</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span>Had the first interview for my ISP at noon at
the police academy with Geir Aas, a researcher of police conduct who did his
PhD on family violence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A surprisingly
pleasant hour talking about “tragedy” to borrow his word.</li>
<li>Went home to put the finishing touches on my
essay then sent it off/</li>
<li>Popped some very quick tags at UFF, a thrift
store right across from Oslo Central Station.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ll definitely be making another, longer trip there in the near future.</li>
<li>Then the most awesome series of events:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My friend Cassie has mentioned an event at
the Norwegian Peace Council earlier in the day and I’m so glad I went.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the organization’s location downtown, they
held a screening of “The Whistleblower” starring Rachel Weisz.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The film is about the true story of an
American police officer who goes to post-war Bosnia as a UN peacekeeper and
discovers a scandal of human trafficking with international police, UN, and
diplomatic involvement as clientele.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Kathryn Bolkovac, the real life woman of the movie is based on, was
present at the event as well for Q&A after the screening which was really
cool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then there was a band to finish
off the line up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The entire event was
free including food, beer, and wine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Like I said, pretty much the most awesome thing I’ve attended, thanks
Cassie!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I bought a signed copy of
Kathryn’s book and made a donation to the NPC but like I said, otherwise the
event was essentially free.</li>
<li>After the NPC, Erica and I went to Uglebo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a nice change to be a customer rather
than a bartender.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently it’s a
tradition at the pub that no girls can work on Women’s Day, so, when you can’t
volunteer, go for fun!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pub was
great: got some drinks, the boys made sandwiches at the entry (see what they
did there), and Erica and I stayed until about closing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Afterwards we went to our friend Alex’s place
with Silje for a kick back.</li>
<li>All in all a good day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And lastly, happy 100 years of female
suffrage in Norway!</li>
</ul>
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<u>Saturday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Erica and I kept up the free peace theme by going to one of the very few
days of free entry, which I luckily happened upon when looking up its hours, at
the Nobel Peace Center.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A new exhibit
had just opened up the day before: European Identity through Photography.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a good visit, and for what we didn’t
pay at the door we spent at the gift shop, ha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After the Peace Center we had a taco night with a couple other friends
and then headed out to Amatøren for “Western” Night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I put that in quotes because there was no
country music at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few people
dressed up, I was clad in plaid for the occasion, but that was all that matched
the advertised event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The music that was
played was mostly American and Latin pop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So I guess western night turned into “any songs produced west of Norway”
instead of a cowboy kind of night.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<u>Sunday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sunday
Funday?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not quite, I holed myself up in
my apartment for the day with the intention of getting a lot of work done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The blog title mindset was the plan, but didn’t
come to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I occupied my time by being
productive on things other than my ISP: sleeping, Skyping, and the assigned readings
for class the next day (today).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, at
least I did the work that demanded my immediate attention right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyways, this is my first time being out of
America for daylight savings, so I got to see all over Facebook how people were
feeling about springing forward and also made sure I was online an hour early
than planned for Skyping because of the now eight hour difference instead of
nine.</div>
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Long entry, wow!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll
pass on a conclusion, here are photos!</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W62yRDfMJks/UT40rX-hz4I/AAAAAAAAAJE/_o9q-srhW50/s1600/IMG_0586.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W62yRDfMJks/UT40rX-hz4I/AAAAAAAAAJE/_o9q-srhW50/s320/IMG_0586.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Posing with Peter (he’s in the suit to the
left)</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kh4hog3wDu0/UT41Aq2D7GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/7DsQornbQDg/s1600/IMG_0589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kh4hog3wDu0/UT41Aq2D7GI/AAAAAAAAAJM/7DsQornbQDg/s320/IMG_0589.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Outside Stortinget</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7SrF6zsGxyw/UT41GXOy2oI/AAAAAAAAAJU/vgdHpXMr0fw/s1600/IMG_0596.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7SrF6zsGxyw/UT41GXOy2oI/AAAAAAAAAJU/vgdHpXMr0fw/s320/IMG_0596.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Proud new book owners: Erica and me</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P-W-MoGt53E/UT41NId95YI/AAAAAAAAAJc/Tx24ALMoe4o/s1600/IMG_0605.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P-W-MoGt53E/UT41NId95YI/AAAAAAAAAJc/Tx24ALMoe4o/s320/IMG_0605.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Kathryn Bolkovac</div>
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Peace for free! </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Mo52au_qNFc/UT41lQHZpOI/AAAAAAAAAJs/ZOo5Dd0mqG8/s1600/IMG_0622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Mo52au_qNFc/UT41lQHZpOI/AAAAAAAAAJs/ZOo5Dd0mqG8/s320/IMG_0622.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Pretty day on the waterfront with city hall in the
background</div>
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The lush voting chamber I saw today</div>
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Meaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196004741950694735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842026637955824909.post-5911097343261714762013-03-04T14:09:00.001-08:002013-03-04T14:10:20.583-08:00Sunny in ScandinaviaHappy March everyone!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Norway is still treating me well, even better this past week actually
because the weather was so nice!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was
able to not wear my heavy coat today, and that’s pretty major.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The blue skies and accompanying sunshine are
very welcome, and Oslo has started to match all the pictures on the postcards I
sent out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For today, I went to class,
and then a field seminar downtown at NOAS (the Norwegian Organization for
Asylum Seekers) which I unfortunately got suddenly tired at (like out of the blue
tired, not from lack of interest in the topic!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Most of my classmates noticed, ugh).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Afterwards I grabbed some groceries and I just got back from some super
fun sledding with the HECUA group.<br />
<br />
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Here’s the lowdown of last week:</div>
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<br /></div>
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<u>Tuesday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
only class got cancelled, whoo hoo!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
went to campus anyways though because I had plans with Erica to get some
waffles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The student pub I bartend at is
also a café on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons so we decided the day before to
see Uglebo during the day for some anytime breakfast food and hot
beverages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We played board games,
chatted and had a good time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spent the
rest of my Tuesday in my room taking it easy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>Wednesday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
22<sup>nd</sup> was my birthday and my mom had mentioned she sent something my
way but I hadn’t gotten anything in the mail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I went back to my room on Tuesday thinking about this and checked my
email to see the address I sent her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yep, typo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was so bummed
Tuesday night and thus took it easy by not being productive, so there’s the
real story of the night before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had
written building 28 instead of 23.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
Wednesday I went out to track down the package and succeeded after a good shift
at Queer Youth involving editing an English partnership agreement with another
organization and outlining the social space we hope to make in the office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was so glad I was able to get the package
from my mom, definitely made my day and resolved the night before.</div>
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<u>Thursday:</u> The last day of classes for the week as
usual.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I first went to CARE, the
Norwegian branch of CARE International which focuses on foreign aid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Norway is well known for being a big donor
country so going to CARE helped fill in the details.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the afternoon was the integration seminar
along with presenting about the Fram and Kon-Tiki museums from Monday and
updating the class on half of our internship placements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went first for the individual presentation
and think I represented Queer Youth quite well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After school, the gang of Sogn building 23, 7<sup>th</sup> floor, had a
roomie dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time we ate Eggplant
appetizers, Georgian dumplings and my contribution of brownies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So for flat mate dinners, 2/2 have been great
times with good food and company.</div>
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<u>Friday:</u> This was an errand day for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I picked up postcards and did laundry while
the sun was up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As for the evening, I
went to Amatøren for open mic night which Erica performed at, then the two of
us headed over to work a shift at Uglebo, her first, my fifth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In short, another good few hours bartending
and of course the after party.</div>
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<u>Saturday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
main event of Saturday was going to one of the screenings put on by the Oslo
Film Fest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the name may trigger a
visual of an elaborate set up and lots of famous people, the Film Fest was a
quaint event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went to see Hitchcock
with my friend Lara, which I recommend for any fans of the master of suspense.
A good time for 80 NOK (a movie is usually 100 NOK or more, yay Film Fest
discount!).</div>
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<u>Sunday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
finish off the weekend, I spruced up my room a bit by putting up some of the
things I picked up in the UK (like maps and postcards) and a few other things
onto the wall space above my desk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
nice having a little display instead of just blank all around me; a bit of tape
helped my room become homier, which was worth it even if I am only here for
another month and a half.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After my
decorating, I did some homework then made the night fun with a pre-party at my
friend Cassie’s and a trip to Blå.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Only a couple of pictures for this week, but hopefully I will
have more for my next post!</div>
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Mmm, Georgian dumplings</div>
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Movie time</div>
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The lovely Oslo waterfront before sunset</div>
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Blå with the girls</div>
Meaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196004741950694735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842026637955824909.post-21388933129948434232013-02-25T13:32:00.000-08:002013-02-25T13:32:28.860-08:0021Hello everyone!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
the main thing that has happened to me in the past week was my birthday,
whoohoo!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I turned 21 on Friday, but I’ll
get to that later on in this post, first I’ll mention my day today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had class and then went to two museums in
Oslo that are right next to each other: the Fram Museum and Kon-Tiki
Museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both are about exploration with
boats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Fram centers on the arctic
excursions of Norwegians over several years in the ship called (obviously) the
Fram.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other, the Kon-Tiki, focuses
on the journey in 1947 by Thor Heyerdahl and a small crew in a raft constructed
to address Heyerdahl’s hypothesis that people from South America could have
settled Polynesia in pre Columbian times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His aim in the expedition was to show, by
using only the materials and technologies available to those people at the
time, that there were no technical reasons to prevent them from having done so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As you may or may not have noticed with last
night’s Oscars, the new feature version of Kon-Tiki was up for Best Foreign
Film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately I wasn’t able to
watch the Academy Awards because I couldn’t live stream with the time
difference and the video files of it now are only available in the US.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quite a bummer, but oh well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On to my full week, birthday included!<br />
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<u>Tuesday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
went on a field seminar with HECUA to Civita, a Norwegian economic think tank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We went to go learn about their perspective
on Norwegian spending and the welfare state, and it was a conservative view at
that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Educational nonetheless, biases
make for more learning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that visit,
I had dinner with my boss from Queer Youth along with two of her friends and
girlfriend at her apartment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a
great time with everyone sipping champagne, red wine, and eating the
traditional Norwegian meal my boss had prepared for us meat eaters, aka reindeer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was quite good!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sorry Rudolph…</div>
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<u>Wednesday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
midweek work day times two this time: I had an intern shift at QY helping
Ashild (my boss) with organizing the office and also had a shift at
Uglebo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was the first time I had
worked at the student pub on a Wednesday (I’d only done Fridays before) and
that meant bartending Quiz Night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
quiz night produced a packed bar but a calmer one as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As usual, Uglebo was fun and I cashed in for
a couple beers for the after party.</div>
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<u>Thursday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
got home around 3:00 in the morning due to the after party and slept for only
about three hours because I had a Skype date with my gal pals Felicia and
Kathleen in SF at 7:00am my time, 10:00pm PST.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After chatting for a half hour or so, I went back to bed for two hours
then dragged myself to class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a
difficult day to get through and after class I worked hard to finish I paper I
had due the next day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted to be
done with my essay before midnight so I wouldn’t be writing it anymore on my
birthday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I finished around 11:45pm,
booyah.</div>
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<u>Friday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>BIRTHDAY!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turning 21 doesn’t hold
as much weight in Norway as it does in America, but I knew that coming into
this semester.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The drinking age here is
threefold: you can buy anything from a grocery store that’s alcoholic and go to
student pubs when you’re 18 (so primarily beer), at 20 you can buy hard liquor
and have mixed drinks, which means you can go to the majority of bars, and
lastly (and most disappointingly) some places are surprising 23 and older.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was turned away from a bar my first weekend
in Oslo for not being 23, which I didn’t expect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I think it’s up to each bar whom they
want to serve so there’s the third age characteristic in Norway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Anyways, I woke up and my friend Many made me crepes for
breakfast, yum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I went shopping on Karl
Johans gate right off of downtown (refer to pics from a previous entry).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After doing some spending, I went back to my
apartment to prep for a party in the evening I was hosting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I got home, my lovely roomies had
decorated the kitchen with balloons, had a cake in the oven, and presented me
with a card!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sure lucked out with my
flat mates, as I’ve written in prior posts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Love those guys <3<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I had a
party in my apartment and that story will remain a 21<sup>st</sup> birthday
mystery =)</div>
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<u>Saturday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had
a pretty lazy Saturday, then went to a party (another birthday actually) in a
building close to mine in the same student village and after a little while we
all headed to Amatøren.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I’ve
mentioned, this is the student pub in the student village (Sogn) but it’s not
usually open on Saturdays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This night
was different because it was Latin Dance Party Night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bar pretty full by the time we got there
and when I left about an hour and a half later it was packed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a good time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who would have thought I’d been doing the
Macarena or dancing to Mamba Number 5 in Oslo?</div>
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<u>Sunday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
was an indoor day mostly at my computer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I caught up on some work and watched some online TV, which I hadn’t done
in a while lol.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did pick myself to go
out to Amatøren for a second night in a row because Sundays are movie
nights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And last night the pub screened
Skyfall, which I loved in theaters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Watch it if you have or haven’t, I highly recommend it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Viewing the latest Bond on a good sized
projector screen was a nice way to end another great week in Norway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And now I’m 21.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Time flies!</div>
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Only a few photos this week, sorry folks!</div>
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Delicious!</div>
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I love my roomies: Nini, Claudia, and Davide </div>
Meaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196004741950694735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842026637955824909.post-26699768618659666552013-02-18T11:38:00.003-08:002013-02-18T11:39:45.758-08:00HomecomingI arrived in Edinburgh (Ed-in-bur-ah) last Monday evening
and my short time there was wonderful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My heritage is very highly Scottish and being in the capital city of the
nation of my family really was an experience of a lifetime.<br />
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Here’s the lowdown of my time in the land of plaid, whisky,
and bagpipes.</div>
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<u>Tuesday:</u> My first full day in Edinburgh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The previous night I had checked into my 6
bed mixed (aka unisex) dorm at Smart City Hostel and had just stayed in for
dinner and an early bedtime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I woke up
and headed up the Royal Mile, the historical main street of the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The goal of the day was to cover the western
half of Edinburgh which consisted of the following:</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span>Storming the Castle (yep, Princess Bride
reference).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Castle is beautiful and
huge, and it can be seen from all over the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I paid my 14 or so pounds (pay it, totally worth
the expense) and went on a self-tour which took about an hour and a half and
there was plenty to see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It mostly has military
displays, since the main purpose of the castle was defense, but there are also
some more extravagant displays like the crown jewels, royal apartments, and
great hall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Military wise, there are
prisons, honorary museums, memorials, a dog cemetery and more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other spots are the chapel and the several
gift shops, including the whisky shop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
picked up a quick breakfast of tea and a scone at the Castle’s Redcoat Café.</li>
<li>Walked around Grassmarket, a little square of
bars, restaurants and coffeehouses.</li>
<li>Headed up Victoria Street to one of the inner
city bridges (there are three main ones).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Stopped by The Elephant House (the café where J.K Rowling started the
Harry Potter on a napkin).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Platform
9 ¾ and The Elephant House, I got to see two HP sites this trip.</li>
<li>Then I went to the largest museum in Edinburgh
(aside from everything at the castle if you add all those exhibitions into one
big sum of history), the National Museum of Scotland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Half the museum is dedicated to the transformation
of Scotland as a nation, with each floor representing a different time
period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ground floor starts with the
early peoples in the BC years and the top (6<sup>th</sup>) floor brings
Scotland to the last century or so of its history along with where the nation
stands now and what its future may or may not look like. The other half of the
museum is like a handful of museums made into one to cover all the bases: art,
science, culture, the animal kingdom, and other exhibits make up this more
holistic half.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stuck mostly to the
Scottish half, but the entirety of the National Museum of Scotland is
definitely a worthwhile way to spend a few hours, and it’s free!</li>
<li>New Town, the northwestern part of Edinburgh,
which as its name suggests is the more contemporary area of the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Princes, Rose, and George are the three
streets over there which hold more modern shopping and hustle and bustle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wandered around and grabbed lunch on the go
to head towards my next stop.</li>
<li>Across from the stores on Princes Street, which
is the main strip of New Town, is the National Gallery which holds a small but
mighty collection of artwork with its basement boasts only creations done by
Scottish artists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is another wallet
friendly visit to hit up in Edinburgh for the price of free.<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span>After the gallery, I headed back to Smart City
for a little bit and then ate dinner at No. 1 High Street, a pub on the Royal
Mile.
</li>
</ul>
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<u>Wednesday:</u> Second and last full day in the Scottish
capital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time the eastern part of
the city was my focus.</div>
<ul>
<li>Woke up to snow falling but wasn’t too
concerned, Norway has never been without snow during my time in Oslo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Headed east to take the hike to Arthur’s
Seat, one of the best ways to see Edinburgh as the city’s volcano.<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span>Going up Arthur’s Seat was scenic and manageable;
the trail is pretty flat until you get right to the peak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time I got to the top (a hike of about
40 minutes), Arthur’s Seat was straight up scary because of the weather.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The snow had started to come down hard and
the wind was howling and whipping so fast; I was worried I was going to fall
off!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And due to the snow and wind, there
was no view to see as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Slowly and
steadily I made my way down but slipped more times than I have in a month in
Norway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was sore and cold and ready to
move onto a safer, indoor part of my day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In short, Arthur’s Seat is a must in Edinburgh and I’m glad I did it,
but CAUTION and best wishes to you if you choose to go in the weather I went
in.</li>
<li>After reaching street level, thank God, I went
to the Palace at Holyroodhouse aka Her Majesty’s abode while in Scotland which
was so elegant.</li>
<li>Following the best audio tour of my life, I went
to the Queen’s Gallery which had “60 Photographs for 60 Years” to honor the
Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.</li>
<li>Unfortunately I couldn’t go inside the Scottish
Parliament because it was closed for recess I guess, so that was a bummer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh well, the walked up the Royal Mile to have
a quick visit into the Museum of Edinburgh (another freebie, pretty quaint),
had a great sit down lunch of great salmon at The Outsiders (a few doors down
from The Elephant House) and then did all my souvenir shopping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </li>
<li>To conclude my day, I had bangers and mash and a
Rob Roy at Whiski right up the street from my hostel.
</li>
</ul>
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<u>Thursday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
took the Air Link bus to Edinburgh Airport and flew back to Oslo on a noon
flight with Norwegian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was one of
the emptiest planes I’ve ever been on; I guess Edinburgh to Oslo isn’t a
popular route.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When booking, this was
the only direct flight within three days so head’s up if anyone is hoping to go
between these two cities in the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Anyways, got to Oslo around 3pm Norway time (it’s an hour ahead of the
UK, so a two hour flight) and made my way back home to Sogn student
village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Relaxed the rest of the night
away.</div>
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*The UK was a great decision to see for my break, I
definitely see myself going there again sometime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hostel wise, my experiences in London and
Edinburgh were good in different ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In London, at Equity Point, I was in an eight bed all female room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was near the Paddington Station, had
breakfast included, and was very pleasant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All the girls were nice and easy to share the space with, and I slept well
every night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Edinburgh, at Smart City
Hostel which is just two blocks off the Royal Mile and has a hip bar/restaurant
with great prices, and I was in in a six bed mixed room that was a true mix, 3
girls 3 guys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bathroom was much
bigger than the one at EQ and the room was cheaper for less people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both Edinburgh and London are on the pound,
with the same coins but print their own cash (English vs. Scottish), but
currency is worth the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edinburgh
was slightly less expensive than London overall, not just the hostel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One last thing about pounds: You can use
either bills in Scotland no problem, but I read that you’ll get a weird look to
say the least if you use Scottish pounds in England.</div>
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<u>Friday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went
into Queer Youth today to make sure I had a shift this week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I usually go in on Wednesdays but being out
of town made for that to be obviously not possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyways, my main task of the day was putting
this together: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzyxoOkjYoo">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzyxoOkjYoo</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a quick little compilation of QY’s
summer camp powered by Windows Movie Maker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Man, I miss producing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the
main things I miss about home/being on campus is USFtv, excited to return in
the fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a good shift of video
making, I had dinner with my friend Many and then a shift at Uglebo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was my third night bartending and the
fun is constant with compensation at the end in pints of beer; it’s a sweet gig
and one of my favorite things I’ve picked up doing in Oslo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<u>Saturday: </u>With a week of plan packed traveling and
yesterday with double work, I took an easy Saturday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That meant grocery shopping, laundry, and
watching online television.</div>
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<u>Sunday:</u> This was another low key day, but I didn’t even
leave my flat, ha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I worked on my ISP midterm
report which was due today (Monday) and picked up watching more TV.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did do a little socializing, leaving my
computer to have dinner with my roomie Rebecca and her friend Linda.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Feta and veggie flat bread, a glass of wine,
followed by a beer, and good conversation all made for a good evening.</div>
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Now onto a full week back in Oslo!</div>
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<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div>
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This is the strip in the city that starts at the Castle and
ends at the Palace. Name makes sense huh?</div>
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In front of the Castle of my ancestors, got a little teary
eyed</div>
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The entrance of the Castle: “No one attacks me with impunity”</div>
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Need a kilt or scarf?</div>
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My childhood thanks you Elephant House
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<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div>
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All smiles on the way up, different story back down</div>
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The top of Arthur’s Seat</div>
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Courtyard at the Palace</div>
Meaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196004741950694735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842026637955824909.post-68831920458641395322013-02-11T14:08:00.001-08:002013-02-11T14:47:09.403-08:00London Called and It Was a Circus
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Hello from Scotland everyone!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I arrived by train to Edinburgh this afternoon from London and am here
to report my time in the land of tea, literature, and Will and Kate.<br />
<br />
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First, I spent Tuesday, Wednesday and most of Thursday in
Norway for classes and then headed to the airport to fly with British Airways
Thursday night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My days in Oslo last
week included a very fun and cultural heavy roommate dinner on Tuesday night
which included Swiss macaroni, waffles and Georgian vodka.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really lucked out with who I live with
=)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other than that, I had classes, an
internship shift with me helping apply Google translate to the Queer Youth page
and making lunch for the office, and a visit from a young Conservative party
member to see another political perspective from Norway after meeting with
Labor Youth last Monday.</div>
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Anyways, with a quick summary of my time in Oslo done, on to
London!</div>
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As mentioned I flew out on Thursday night (it’s about 2
hours from Oslo to London) and got to Equity Point London (my hostel) around
midnight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Equity Point is in Paddington,
five or so blocks away from the station where the Heathrow express train stops
which was a major perk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d never stayed
in a hostel before and my four nights at Equity Point went really well, everyone
was nice in my eight bed female only dorm room and the location plus amenities
(free breakfast!) were great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I paid
about $20 a night and my stay exceeded its worth.</div>
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So, in total I had three full days in London: Friday,
Saturday and Sunday, the whole weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I usually go day by day with paragraphs for my blogs but this time I’m
going to list my trip with bullet points.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Paragraphs this time around would be way too much to read!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also met up with two USFers studying in
London with the BU program, my pals Katherine and Erin!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were such great hostesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alright, here goes with days and buddies next
to them:</div>
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Sights:</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens (Friday)<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span>Science Museum (Friday)<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Piccadilly Circus (All weekend)<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span>Oxford Circus (Friday)</li>
<li>Harrod’s Department Store (Friday with
Katherine, five floors of extravagance)</li>
<li>Victoria and Albert Museum (Saturday)<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span>Borough Market (Saturday, Katherine and her
roomie Rebecca)<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Camden Town (Saturday, Katherine)</li>
<li>Trafalgar Square for Chinese New Year (Sunday)</li>
<li>Big Ben (Sunday)</li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span>Westminster Abbey (Sunday)</li>
<li>The Eye (Sunday, from afar, no ride)<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span>Parliament (Sunday)<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Rode the Tube all weekend long! </li>
</ul>
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Food and Drink:</div>
<ul>
<li>Indian, mmm Tikka Masala! (Dinner with Katherine)</li>
<li>One of the best burgers I’ve ever eaten (Borough
Market, buddies above)</li>
<li>Fish and Chips (Dinner with Erin)</li>
<li>Plenty of beer (Erin)<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span>Cider (Erin)</li>
<li>All the ones with Erin were Sunday <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>informal, two girls out pub crawl kind of
thing with three different ones in Kensington that all ended with “Arms” ha</li>
<li>Tea and pastries (Afternoon tea at Kensington
Close Hotel with Katherine)</li>
<li>Various desserts (crepes, cookies, mousse)</li>
</ul>
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As you can probably tell above, my time in London was
packed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three days left me wanting more,
the city is huge and there’s so much left to explore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got a taste for London and will definitely
go back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The city has so much to offer,
even if you’re on a college kid budget.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A ton of museums are free like the ones I went to and I highly recommend
market food, where everything is fresh and really decently priced if you don’t
mind waiting in lines and eating standing up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All in all, London was a dream come true, I’ve wanted to visit it for
years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to spending a quality
weekend jumping all over the city, I also got to have another dream come true
before getting on the train this morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Childhood fantasy realized, scroll down to see the magic, pun intended!</div>
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This post is my experience in London in a nutshell, and a few choice photos below out of
the dozens I took.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The</span> camera I brought
from home actually died two hours into my first day and I had to pick up
another one to make sure I could document my time in London and now
Scotland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was quite a stroke of bad luck
that led to a grouchy visit to buy another camera, but my trip was well
documented after I shelled out 90 unexpected pounds!</div>
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Check in next Monday for a blog post on Edinburgh, ta ta til
then!</div>
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<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div>
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British manners on every sidewalk! Actually more like a
warning, jaywalking is super dangerous in London, drivers will run you over</div>
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Ohhh, science! For free!</div>
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I wonder if the Tube scene in Skyfall was at the Bond
station =P</div>
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I’ve been to London’s Time Square before the actual Time
Square, ha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is Piccadilly Circus</div>
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And art, also for free! Victoria and Albert Museum</div>
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Om nom nom</div>
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<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span></div>
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A market in old time horse stables? Yep, in Camden Town (The
land of many markets, this is just one)</div>
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Oh you fancy huh Ben? Without a doubt</div>
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A spot of Earl Grey and more</div>
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Off to Hogwarts!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scarf
and childhood wish made reality provided by King’s Cross </div>
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Meaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196004741950694735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842026637955824909.post-47098105223657372762013-02-04T10:26:00.001-08:002013-03-11T14:45:49.729-07:00Norway: Where Clothes are Cheaper than BeerHappy Monday all, and happy February as well!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been in Oslo for exactly a month, time
has flown by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m going to start out
this post by trying to explain my program setup over here, which has proved a
little difficult each time I’ve been asked by other students.<br />
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I’m in Norway with
HECUA, a study abroad organization, not a school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I applied to my program after learning about
it at USF, my school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The way it worked
out is that USF has sponsored programs for studying abroad which means it has
partnerships with other schools, especially Jesuit ones, and organizations like
HECUA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being in a sponsored program
means I pay the same tuition as I do when on campus in San Francisco.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, in a nutshell, I’m paying what I would in
the states but get to live abroad for a semester… Who can turn that down?!?</div>
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Anyways, my classes are where it gets hard to explain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m taking three classes here, two that are
sit down with attendance and my ISP, and my only classmates are six other
Americans. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m taught by one professor
for my two meet up classes, who is also American but has lived in Norway for
five or so years. All this in mind, I study at the University of Oslo but with
HECUA courses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meaning I never
registered, my classes were the ones I knew coming in, and so I don’t have
classes with other UiO students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you’re
confused that’s totally understandable, I get that reaction a lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I recommend looking up the HECUA website if
you want to learn more! (<a href="http://www.hecua.org/">www.hecua.org</a>)</div>
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I wrote for a little bit about my program because today was
a great example of what we do in our American small group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We started out on campus for a class session
about Norwegian politics, with the main topic being about the country’s most
successful party: the Labor Party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After
our class discussion, we went out on what’s called a field seminar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today we got the chance to go to the Labor
Youth Party’s headquarters and meet with Trygve, a 24 year old policy advisor
for AUF (the youth party’s acronym).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Every Norwegian party, there’s nine total with seven in Stortinget
aka Parliament, has a youth party which as a Politics major had me so envious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s nothing comparable in America to the
youth parties here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trygve is a part of
the largest youth party; Labor is the largest party as a whole so that makes
sense as well as the fact that young Norwegians really identify with the center
left ideology of Labor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to
him, there are about 13,000 members in AUF with an age range of 13 to
mid-30s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And AUF really can have influence
over its mother party; having a youth voice on policy can sway those sitting in Stortinget.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus, those involved in
the youth party can feed into the mother party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All in all, youth in Norway have a much bigger opportunity to become
politically involved with the country’s parties than any way I’ve seen in the
US.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like I’ve mentioned, as a Politics
major this was a great field seminar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ll
also be meeting with other youth parties in the coming days/weeks like with the
Young Conservatives.</div>
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Moving on to the past week!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Here’s the breakdown:</div>
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<u>Tuesday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Class
was awesome today!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One word:
Borgen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s the title of the really
popular Danish show about a female prime minister.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like the quality of The West Wing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I said, awesome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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After class I went back to my room and locked myself in for
the night to finish a paper that was due on Wednesday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was difficult because I had only the night
before to work on it as well because I had been in ISP proposal mode til Monday
morning which dominated my weekend (refer to prior post).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyways, essay writing took up most of my
Tuesday.</div>
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<u>Wednesday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Turned in my paper in the morning (huzzah!) and then headed to my
internship at Queer Youth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today was my
first full shift after a little difficulty with the front buzzer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I met up with Ashild, Eirik, and the rest of
those from the floor since Queer Youth has a connected kitchen with its mother
organization LLH.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My main tasks of the
day were two things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One was helping do
some mega meal planning plus grocery shopping for the national gathering this
weekend for QY (all the regional offices from across Norway were coming for
three days of meetings).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the other
was to start the ground work on a blog QY’s Transgender Committee wants
built.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve blogged before (derp) but
have only done ones for my personal use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This one is going to be much more sophisticated with its design and has
seven bloggers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I talked with Emil, who
is going to be part of it, about what the group wants and am going to build
what I can for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is will a cool
project and learning opportunity so fingers crossed it goes well!</div>
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The other thing about QY today was having lunch with both
offices and explaining my program (like above) and what our course material
is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Telling Norwegians about what I’ve
learned about Norwegian identity and nationalism is something I’ll remember
forever.</div>
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After my shift I had dinner (tacos!) with my pal Erica and
we worked on our presentation for the next day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One of the other things we have to do in the HECUA program is lead integration
seminars where a pair has to engage the rest of the class in the subjects of
the week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Erica and I made a rockin’
Jeopardy game about Norwegian politics, oh yeah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Candy and a mug were picked out as the prize for
the winner.</div>
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<u>Thursday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>FINALLY got my resident permit squared away at the police station, hope
I never have to go there again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had to
go twice, once for my early morning appointment and again after class since the
computer system went down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Done now,
waiting for the permit to come in the mail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then I’ll be a legal resident of Norway, woot woot!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As for the integration seminar, it was a
hit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nailed it, and everyone had
fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jeff, our professor, really liked
the idea of our seminar because apparently back in the day he was on Teen Jeopardy,
no big deal… Yeah right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s a serious
big deal; I wish I could be on Jeopardy any time of my life!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe someday…</div>
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After my second trip to the police station of the day I went
out to hit up the last of the January sales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Oslo has a ton of shopping, and I swear the number of H&Ms is second
only to convenient stores.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found two
shirts from low and behold H&M of course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I know we have the chain in America, but cute clothes are cute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And two shirts for 149 NOK (about $27) isn’t
bad at all in Norway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My shopping was
less expensive than grocery shopping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
six pack of good beer can easily get close to 120 NOK, more than one shirt,
ugh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I learned the hard lesson a while
ago that a Smirnoff ice four pack was about 130 NOK.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alcohol is pretty ridiculous here; stay tuned
for what I paid on Sunday.</div>
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Lastly, I finished the night at the student pub <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Amatøren for Quiz Night which is really
popular here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I think the winners
get a free round of beers, so that makes a lot of since why people love going
to Quiz Night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just kidding, it’s also
fun to merely play as well.</span></div>
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<u>Friday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second
shift bar tending at Uglebo!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another fun
shift and another early morning return to my apartment (5:30am this time) that
included a stop to the 24 hour McDonald’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Great night and fun people.</div>
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<u>Saturday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Slept in til about noon and then went to Uglebo again in the evening but
this time it was for a work party. As volunteer student bartenders, we’re
called interns which I find kind of funny, so it was an intern party to be
specific.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And while we get intern pieces
normally on every menu item (the selection is plenty of beers, wine, and alcoholic
cider), this party had hard liquor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
may sound standard for America, but here in Norway that is a really something
to celebrate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cocktails were amazing
cheap for Oslo, 40 NOK for any mixed drink offered that night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forty kroner is about seven bucks which about
matches US prices so I was in total bliss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I definitely took advantage of this chance to drink since it was a rare
one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beer is the norm in Norway, so
mixed drinks for 40 NOK was near miraculous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Anyways, major perk of bar tending, super glad to be appreciated with a
great party!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone was really nice,
affordable booze was flowing, and I had a wonderful time.</div>
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<u>Sunday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was
planning to have a really lazy Sunday, with laundry and an early night in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Laundry yes, early night no.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My roommates and buddy group wanted to go to
a club downtown called BLÅ (sounds like blah, means blue) that was free, age 20
and up, and has a live band every Sunday night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I had heard about it already and how great it is so I thought, sure
while in Norway why not?</div>
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I met up with some people from my buddy group, one of my
roomies, and a few others for a pre party and then headed to BLÅ, meeting up
with another roomie and his friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
I’m really glad I went out because BLÅ was really fun!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The band was snazzy, with lots of energy and
a sax.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The music kind of reminded me a
little of Ska.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The place was packed with
people and everyone was having a good time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The prices of drinks were high even for Oslo standards, 68 NOK for a
pint of beer and I even paid 92 NOK for a rum and coke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll let you do the exchange rate since I
cringe at the thought of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But oh
well, BLÅ was worth it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I paid for
plenty of other drinks the night before at the Uglebo party at very decent
prices so I’m going with the logic that the two nights even out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Come to think of it, I went to bars four
nights in a row, ha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But back to BLÅ: I
danced, I meet new people and hung out with fun ones I already had meet before,
drank, laughed and it was a great time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Glad I went out and that wrapped up my weekend.</div>
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Wow, this was a long post!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All the photos below are from my wandering during shopping on
Thursday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t take any other
pictures because, well, I was too busy having fun/working to document it, ha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Enjoy the ones of sunny downtown Oslo!</div>
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Also, to conclude, it’s important for all you readers to
know I’m heading off to the UK in a few days for my midterm break.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This means one of two things will happen with
the blog: I’ll either post next Monday as usual or have a double feature piece
in two weeks!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Til I write again, cheers!</div>
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One of the many H&Ms</div>
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A pretty day downtown</div>
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Old style building meets consumerism</div>
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One of the main strips, and the palace down the lane</div>
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Stortinget, the hub of the Norwegian state</div>
Meaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196004741950694735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842026637955824909.post-39039561199168330472013-01-28T09:36:00.003-08:002013-01-28T09:39:32.739-08:00Soup and SleddingTime to wrap up the last bit of January!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s what my week looked like:<br />
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<u>Tuesday:</u> Felt awful when I woke up, so I stayed in my
flat for the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Due to my coughing,
headache, and everything else my body decided to berate me with, I missed my
classes on multiculturalism in Norway for sleep, tea drinking, and hanging out
with my computer who can’t get sick from me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The main bummer about my sick day was that it was the nicest day I’ve
seen in Oslo with a clear blue sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
could only appreciate it from behind glass which was most unfortunate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily, as I may or may not have mentioned
in a previous post, Netflix has wider selection in Norway than at home which
helped pass the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was about it
for my Tuesday.</div>
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<u>Wednesday:</u> I finally started my internship!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, technically I had my first
meeting/interview with the organization I’ll be working for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My first shift is this coming Wednesday (in
two days).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m going to be at the Oslo
branch of Skeiv Ungdom (Queer Youth in English) each Wednesday for my semester
here and I’m the first intern they’ve ever had.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To my understanding so far, I’ll be helping around the office and
building up the social media presence of Queer Youth for English speakers
through their already established Twitter and Facebook, as well as help launch
a blog (and Tumblr, which I recommended), and possibly even an English version
of their website (I Google translated it for my sake, but to have an English
option at the get go will be way more convenient).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spent two hours getting to know Ashild (SU
aka QV’s president) and Eirik (the secretary).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s a great space, and both of them were really nice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus the office is right in the middle of
downtown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m excited to make my place
at Skeiv Ungdom!</div>
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<u>Thursday:</u> After feeling alright enough to go to
class, my HECUA buddy Lauren helped me out by taking me to get a cheap (for
Norway, yep, always going to clarify) replacement cell phone after my debacle
last week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily, I was able to keep
all my credit and previous Norwegian number, so at least that part of my week
of having a phone set up didn’t go wasted!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ll make sure to watch this phone like a hawk; don’t want to go through
another case of lost and not found phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<u>Friday: </u>Skyped a friend early in the morning and then
went straight back to sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spent the
day indoors coughing, drinking even more tea than Tuesday, and working on my
independent study project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ISP is my
3<sup>rd</sup> course here in Oslo, and is done on my own time, with a few due
dates, and will result in a 15-20 page long thesis at the end of the semester.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once again, like Tuesday, my compy (what I
call my laptop) was my best friend but this time for work than play. Research was
actually okay to do when sick since I was already stuck inside, meaning there
was no excuse to put it off, which is a good thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am here in Norway to study abroad… which
includes the study part at some points, ha. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<u>Saturday:</u> About the same as Friday minus the Skyping,
plus one trip to the outside world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not
much of an adventure, just that I ran to the grocery store for a cinnamon roll
and tooth paste.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An ironic pair yes, but
I didn’t need anything else and used the errand as a short escape from my sick
zone to enjoy fresh air and the fresh new snow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In short, another day of tea, ISP, and rest (meaning either sleeping or
watching The Big Bang Theory).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really
have watched too much TV online here, but at least this past week I had to pass
the time while sick somehow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another
thing I did today was try to make soup, which I had been putting off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Soup is easy, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not so much
in Norway… it’s powdered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Very few
things are canned here I’ve discovered and soup is one of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Broth sure, but not soup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I boiled water with a little milk since it
was tomato soup powder and it turned out decent, but I don’t think I’ll be
eating soup too often which is a shame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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*Side note, if anyone is planning on coming to Norway for an
extended amount of time, you should bring your own over the counter drugs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three reasons: brands aren’t the same, you
may need a prescription here for something you can buy off the shelf at a pharmacy
in America, and the overarching trend of high prices on everything in
Norway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was told this before I left
and my mini first aid kit packed with Aleve, Nyquil, cough drops, etc. very
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<u>Sunday:</u> Woke up, finished my ISP proposal (one of the
three things other than the final paper I have to turn in), and went
SLEDDING.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the activity that
produces all my photos below for the week since, well, I already put up
pictures of my room, ha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyways, one of
the first things I heard about once I stepped off my plane in Oslo was that the
sledding course here is amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All you
have to do is take the T-Bane (metro train) route 1 westbound to its last stop,
rent a sled (the one I got was 125 NOK plus a helmet, which is about $23) and
you’re good to go!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After you get to the
end of the track, the bottom of the hill puts you back at the T-Bane to take
you back to the top: the length of the sledding course is seven T-Bane
stops!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And boy, it was so much fun!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went with three girls from my international
buddy group and we all had a blast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
there were plenty of bumps and speed: when you sled in Norway, it’s extreme. </div>
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Sledding was great; we went down three times and were worn
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there was more in store for the
night because in the student village I live in it was Sunday Movie Night at Amatøren,
the pub.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was having a Kill Bill
double feature so I went with one of the girls from my sledding group and
another friend from our mutual buddy group who also lives in Sogn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watching Quentin Tarantino fight scene
madness and sipping a pint of beer to warm me up was the perfect way to finish
off a long week.</div>
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The view of falling snow from my window while sick</div>
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Snow suited up</div>
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Winter Wonderland</div>
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Nikky, Heidi, Stefanie and I ready to hit the slope again!</div>
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Sled mode, right before the last run</div>
Meaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196004741950694735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842026637955824909.post-65158002186967985272013-01-21T12:51:00.003-08:002013-12-29T22:23:19.645-08:00The Happiest Place on Earth (Aside from Disneyland)My friend Kenny sent me this link recently: <a href="http://travel.yahoo.com/ideas/world-s-happiest-countries-233204795.html">http://travel.yahoo.com/ideas/world-s-happiest-countries-233204795.html</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The news of Norway topping the list came as
no surprise to me. I’ve now entered my third week in this
beautiful country and I’ve been happy quite a lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though, since my last post, there have been a
few bumps in the Norwegian road for me.
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After activating my cell number here for only about a week,
I lost my phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yep, slipped out of my
pocket somewhere in Oslo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The phone I brought
with me from the states, which was the perfect plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have (excuse me, “had”, sob) an Android
phone that used a SIM card, so I brought said phone with me across the Atlantic
to use with a Norwegian SIM card.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Easy, swapping
out a little piece of plastic with data instead of having to buy a (very
expensive) phone to use while here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Well, it was the perfect plan to say again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I checked two police stations and the transit
office for their lost and found sections, and sent a letter to the caretaker of
my student village, but no luck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll be
picking up a phone tomorrow afternoon and a new one once I get back home
too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately I held on to the American
SIM card so I can maintain my number, and I’m due for an upgrade as well.</div>
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My second trial of the week was laundry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I won’t elaborate as much on this one, I’ll
leave it to a few choice words: never assume with technology, 40 NOK to wash
and dry (about $8 total), and walking farther than I need to for clean clothes.</div>
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Anyways, on to the positive!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am in the happiest country right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My fun by day as follows:</div>
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<u>Tuesday:</u> Went to the National Gallery which has some
great art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ll recognize some famous
ones below.</div>
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<u>Wednesday:</u> Lots of socializing after my phone debacle!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had coffee at one of the many cafes on
campus with a group of friends and then went to Gronland (a diverse
neighborhood in eastern Oslo) with them for some shopping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I picked up the exciting purchases of laundry
detergent (an omen) and a spatula.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s
a great grocery store and thrift store in Gronland, which I didn’t buy anything
from this day but returned to both today (Monday).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Next, when I returned home, my roomie Luca said he was
having some friends over for dinner and I joined in on some lovely
conversations with future lawyers, and Molly, the lone chemist at the
table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right around when dinner ended,
my final flat mate arrived to move back in after vacationing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her name is Nini and she’s from Georgia, the
country not state.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She shared wisdom of
the magical attic upstairs where residents drop off things they don’t need or
want anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We went up as a united
roomie group, all six of us, and raided through this haven of stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Free swag was gathered by each of us, and I
walked away with a drape, rug, and duvet cover.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Quality night.</div>
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<u>Thursday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
highlight of this day was bowling with the HECUA group (my professor, student assistant,
and classmates).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bowling proved to be
the most expensive thing in Norway I’ve heard of… $300 for two lanes for 90
minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s the equivalent of really
good therapy!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fun didn’t come cheap this
time especially, at least I got a strike!</div>
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<u>Friday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>MY
FIRST SHIFT BARTENDING!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was so
great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I alternated working up front to
check IDs and served behind the bar from 10:30pm to 2:30am at the student pub
in the Humanities building on campus called Uglebo, which means “owl stay” in
English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pub is very cool, and owls
of course are featured all over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s got
a laid back, rock vibe to it with board games, and has lots of beers, wine, and
other drinks on the menu (no hard alcohol, that’s for the non-school bars and
is highly managed by the government).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Since it was opening night, the place was packed full when I got there
and people stayed til closing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My shift was
positively hectic and awesome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All my
fellow volunteers were welcoming and friendly, and we had a bar staff after party
in Uglebo to ourselves for hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t
get home til around six in the morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Night well worth everything.</div>
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<u>Saturday:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve
been typing a lot, so I’m going to start condensing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Woke up at noon after the great shift and fun
that followed at Uglebo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had another big
dinner with Luca’s friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hosted a
pre-party to go to a party at the student pub in my village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Got to party too late to get in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Group still wanted to have fun, acted quickly
since the metro (train system) stops running at 12:30am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Heidi recommended “Fridays” which meant TGI
Fridays… and it was such a good time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Over here in Norway TGI Fridays turns into a poppin’ (yes, poppin’) club
after dinner service ends and is open til 3am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We got there and had a blast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Good mix of music, fun atmosphere, and a great group of people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stayed til closing, got on the last night
buses we needed and I fell asleep at 4:30am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Norway is turning me into a night owl (pun intended shout out to Uglebo).</div>
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<u>Sunday:</u> Was in
need of a lazy day, so I watched Sherlock most of the afternoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had my friend Maggie over for dinner and
after she left, the super six (my flat mates and I) had a cleaning party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scrubbed down our flat together with some
wine and tunes and now the place looks great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It wasn’t too dirty to begin with, but its current state is marvelous.</div>
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This concludes my very packed week in Oslo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Special acknowledgement goes to all the
people I Skyped as well, most notably Cora who is in Hong Kong!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have dear friends at home, studying abroad
themselves, and those I’ve made here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Three more months to make more and keep in touch with those listed, on
to more adventures!</div>
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Emulating van Gogh </div>
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Woe is him, and me<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Edvard Munch room, can you spot The Scream?</div>
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Art of ages ago</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>The Royal Palace in the distance</div>
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Latte made with love</div>
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My kind of therapy</div>
Meaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196004741950694735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842026637955824909.post-61528166518904904962013-01-14T12:27:00.001-08:002013-01-14T12:27:36.311-08:00Oslo LivingMonday means post day!<br />
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I've been in Norway for another week and quite a lot has happened. Classes began on Wednesday, I became part of an international buddy group, and have done more adapting to Norwegian life.<br />
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My classes have only just started rolling with readings and discussions when my program meets. The official titles of my two classes are "The Scandinavian Welfare State in an Era of Globalization" and "Scandinavian Art, Literature, and Film". I'll be starting an internship soon enough and embarking on an independent study project as well. My thesis topic will have something to do with violent crime in Norway (or lack thereof). I was inspired by the country's peaceful reputation, the mere three police vehicles I've seen here, and interning at the SF DA's office most of last year. As for interning here, it looks like I'll be working with a queer youth organization in downtown Oslo once a week.<br />
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The main change that has happened since my first post was meeting my buddy group! There are 330 international students currently enrolled at UiO (Universitetet i Oslo) and we were all divided by our majors so I've with a great bunch of fellow Political Science undergrad and master students. I have four buddy leaders (three Norwegians and one Dane) and buddy students from all over Europe with me including Austria, Germany, France, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Lithuania, and Poland. We've done plenty of activities like Quiz Night at the student center (which we almost won with an overtime question), hanging out, and getting a tour of the city yesterday that kicked off with getting our non-guest way into the Radisson Blu's beautiful view from its pool and gym and ending with delicious hot chocolate and buns at my "part time hipster" buddy leader's place. Everyone in the group is great, I have a wonderful time each time I see them!<br />
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Other eventful happenings for me were getting a phone, an excellent dinner with two of my flat mates and two lovely girls from my program, and braving the malls in Oslo to buy a new coat! January is sale month in the city and shopping was quite an adventure. <br />
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One more special highlight to end strong on: I also went to a student involvement fair and signed up for an opportunity that could be the cherry on top of my time in Oslo: bar tending! You read that right, there are student pubs all over campus, one for each faculty! I signed up to volunteer in the one in the Humanities building and just have to pick my first shift. I'm really excited; ready to meet more people and get discounted drinks, woot woot!<br />
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Anyways, I've got a packed week ahead of me with the start of our field seminars, a trip to a bowling alley on HECUA's tab, and more socializing to do in this fun expensive place! I'll report back next Monday!<br />
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Oslo City, a huge shopping center downtown <br />
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Sales, sales everywhere! (Salg in Norwegian) <br />
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The view from the hotel pool, all the train tracks <br />
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Lara and me at the top floor gym <br />
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Gamle Akle Kirke, the oldest building in Oslo: this church has been standing since the 1100! <br />
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HECUA<br />
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Just chilling on campus, literallyMeaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196004741950694735noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842026637955824909.post-21215664559821241382013-01-07T11:55:00.003-08:002013-01-07T11:59:05.217-08:00My First ImpressionHello friends, family, and Internet wanderers!<br />
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This is my blog for my spring semester in Norway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I settled in Oslo (the country’s largest city
and capital) on Friday and have loved every second of it since.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Norway is such a beautiful place and is
currently snow covered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As most
know/assume, Norway is chilly and I’ve been wearing warm layers each day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have also slipped on ice three times already
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Studying abroad here in Oslo marks my first time being in
Norway, Europe as a whole even, and I came with guide books, winter clothes,
and electrical outlet adapters in hand!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So far I’ve noticed quite a few differences between this fine bit of
Scandinavia and America, and some were definitely unpredicted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course the weather, cost of living, and
language are all commonly known traits (cold, super expensive, and Norwegian
obviously), but these characteristics of Oslo have caught me by surprise the
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<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Norwegians apparently love convenient stores; I’ve
never seen more 7 Elevens in my life!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sometimes there are two on one block and I spotted three in the downtown
central station alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that’s just 7
Eleven, which is only one of the three chains, with Deli De Luca and Narvesen
as the others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Convenience in Oslo is ubiquitous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And all of these stores are so nice, not like
the kind of shabby ones in America; they are sleek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And expensive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But everything in Norway is expensive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </li>
<li>My dorm building has half floors, so while I’m
in room 706, I only have to walk four flights of stairs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m pretty sure I haven’t been in a residence
building built up like that in America, or one that tall without an elevator (hauling
my luggage up proved difficult)</li>
<li>Next up: light switches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walking into my room, I reached to turn on
the light and didn’t feel it immediately to my side like at home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nope, light switches here are up at least a
foot higher, and they are big squares instead of little up and down knobs.</li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span>Automatic doors are pretty slow, and I just
thought it was a store by store basis, but a trend is emerging.</li>
<li>Lastly, as for the darkness factor (meaning
amount of daylight), I knew the sun wouldn’t be out as much but Oslo only gets
about six hours of light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From about
nine to three.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This wasn’t as much of a
surprise as other differences, but it has proved to be quite a change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People of course stay out later than three, including
myself, but even waking up at eight doesn’t guarantee a lit sky like the norm
is in the US.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I knew about this
element of Norwegian life but not to this degree. </li>
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For the four days I’ve been in Norway, I’ve moved into my
suite with two roommates (one from Sweden and the other from Switzerland) who
are both nice, bought groceries based on packaging and price, walked around the
beautiful city, started to master a few of the transit lines (The 3 of the T
Bane is my train of choice so far), and yes, have gone to IKEA.</div>
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All in all, my first weekend consisted of a lot of exchange
rate math in my head, new people, and fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Orientation with all the other international students is tomorrow and
then Wednesday my classes start!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My hope
is to post weekly entries, so stay tuned!</div>
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My Norwegian home</div>
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Note the light switch</div>
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View from my room</div>
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The T Bane</div>
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Passing through a park</div>
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Downtown Oslo</div>
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Off a popular plaza</div>
Meaganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196004741950694735noreply@blogger.com0