The City of Bikes, Buffets, and a Brewery

Hey everyone!  Between this post and the last I’ve been to Copenhagen and back, along with my sister arriving for a visit yesterday!  It’s been a full week, so here’s an overview with today coming last as opposed to the usual first:

Tuesday: A full day in Oslo before my trip with HECUA.  I started out at Queer Youth in the morning but had to leave early due to an unfortunate headache.  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.  The bar closed around one and as always there’s the claiming of the beer after party.  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.  No sleep for me, first all-nighter here!

Wednesday: With the sun just coming up, I headed to meet up with HECUA at Oslo S for our flight at 9:20am.  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.  We checked into our hotel very close to the Copenhagen central station.  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.  Copenhagen is filled with buffets, it’s awesome.  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.  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.  Then I got some very nice Z’s.

Thursday: I’m resorting to bullet points for the remaining days!

• Started off the morning with a visit to SFU, the Socialist People’s Party’s youth branch
• Ate Asian take out for the first time in forever!  Thank you walk up Chinese place, three dishes for like six bucks in a to go box, mmmm
• Hit up Nordatlantes Brygge (the Artic Art and Cultural Museum for Iceland, Greenland and the Faeroe Islands
• Took a stroll through self-governing Christiania
• Got two pairs of boots for 200 Danish kroner, love the prices!!! That’s less than $40
• 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!)

Friday: A packed day!

• 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
• Wandered around a bunch of Copenhagen’s thrift stores
• Had a meeting with Modkraft (a leftist online news outlet)
• 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)
• Finished off the night going to Larsen’s Plaz again (the same bar as the night before) and Barbar Bar (Bar times three lol)

Saturday: Free day to explore!

• Found a great bike rental shop to go biking around this city of cyclists.  There are bike lanes on almost all streets and more people pedal than drive
• Sped over to Carlsberg Brewery for a great time and two beers included in the ticket price
• Returned the bike and then headed over to the Turkish buffet to end the trip full circle
• Flew back to Oslo and landed in the evening

Sunday:

• Picked up my sister from the airport!  (That place and I couldn’t stay apart for more than 14 or so hours ha)
• 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
• 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.

Today (Monday):

• My sister and I were planning on having today be a museum day… BUT BARELY ANY WERE OPEN.  I didn’t think Monday would be an issue for hours, but yep, the majority were closed.  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.  Anyways, we were able to hit up the Norwegian Resistance Museum, thank God.  It was a good one too at that, dedicated to the five years of German occupation in Norway during WWII
• Mini cruise around the Oslo fjord!
• 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.

Wow, that sums up my week; Denmark and a familiar face from home.  Next up is Berlin!  My sister and I are leaving Wednesday and then when I return to Oslo on Saturday.  I’ll be picking my friend Katherine (the one from London who also goes to USF) about an hour after I land, ha.  This week I have a bunch of pictures to share as well!  Stay tuned for next week!

The Round Tower (during the day, I went at night)

The other side of the sign says “You are now entering the EU”

With the HECUA gang at Parliament

A gorgeous day in Copenhagen

Cheers to Carlsberg!

The largest collection of unopened beer bottles in the world

Had to ride a bike in this city, so glad I did

Vigeland’s Park

Cruising (mini style, aka 90 minutes)

I do what I want sign!

Ha, take that flimsy piece of paper! (But really, everyone goes over the chain)

Crunch Time

Four weeks from today is my flight back to the states, holy cow!  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.  My past week felt like a speedy one as well, here’s what happened:

Tuesday:  I had an afternoon class with a guest speaker from Vepsen, an online news outlet that covers extremism in Norway.  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^nd 2011 by ABB.  After class I had a nice Skype with a friend back home and that concluded the events of my Tuesday.

Wednesday:  Another shift at Queer Youth, this time with a trip to IKEA!  I’ve been working on decorating the office and spiffing up the place meant heading to IKEA to pick up some things, mainly frames.  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.  Eirik and I picked up lunch at IKEA, where hotdogs are only 5 NOK.  That’s the best deal in town I’ve come across for food and Norwegians love hotdogs.  The ones I ate at IKEA were the first I had in Norway, kind of a surprise it took this long.  After QY I meet up with my professor for a check in on papers, wrapping up my time downtown.

Thursday:  Class, an unfortunately cancelled interview for my ISP, and a taco dinner was my Thursday pretty much.  But I did get some good errands in as well.

Friday:  Pub shift at Uglebo!  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.  Delicious!  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.  So, the pub was all done up with green decorations like clovers and owls wearing leprechaun hats.  Grabbed my compensation of two beers after closing up and cleaning and got home around four in the morning.

Saturday:  Another night at Uglebo after doing homework during the afternoon!  This was the second intern party of the semester and I had a great time.  Mixed drinks for 40 NOK and good company made for a quality night.  Left at closing and then hosted a couple friends in my kitchen for tea in the early morning hours.  Saturday was my favorite night of this past week.

Sunday:  St. Patrick’s Day!  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.  (Shout out to the post title)  Anyways, my evening was fun!  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I really am so happy about who I live with.  We had another roomie dinner and this time around we had fondue, cognac, and brownies.  So, not a very Irish meal!  But very tasty nonetheless with Switzerland, Russia (Nini’s contribution, she’s from neighboring Georia), and America (yay baking!).  After dinner we headed to Amatøren to have a pint while wearing green.  Sunday was a close second to Saturday on good nights.

I only have one photo this time around, but I will have plenty for my next post!  I’m leaving for Copenhagen on Wednesday with the HECUA gang so I’ll be snapping a ton of pictures!  Until next Monday, have a good week everyone!

Cheers to Ireland from Norway!

Putting the Study in Studying Abroad

Wow, this blog has reached double digits for posts!  Ten weeks, [insert whistle sound here].  I have exactly a month left of classes, which applies greatly to the title of this week’s blog addition.  I definitely have to be work mode the rest of my time here, mainly because of my ISP (Independent Study Project).  I’ve mentioned my ISP in earlier blogs I think and I am getting into the heavy research and delivery points of my project.  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.  Sounds like fun stuff huh?  Well it is for me!  Fun, hard work that is.  Title explained, now onto another packed week here in Oslo.  As usual I’ll start with today.

I went to Stortinget which is the name of Parliament for the second time (I also went on Thursday, details on that trip below).  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.  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.  To compare the party to the US, in my opinion it is libertarian on a good day but can act like the Tea Party.  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.  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.  Then we got a short tour of Parliament including the main chambers that we missed on Thursday. 

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.  I sat down with Ida, the feminism leader of SU (Sosialistisk Ungdom aka Socialist Youth), to ask her questions for my ISP.  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).

I had a pretty eventful Monday today, but now on to last week!

Tuesday:  This was an on campus day.  I went to class in the morning then to Uglebo during café hours for waffles with some classmates.  Waffle Tuesday is turning into a tradition; I’m going tomorrow (the 12^th) as well.  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.  After fluffy, jam covered goodness, I met up with my professor to talk about my ISP.  And that’s when the already covered title came to be.  March is a school work heavy month and this month felt like it crept up on me.  “What, March?  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.  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.  Sitting at my computer and going to sleep wrapped up my Tuesday.

Wednesday:  My sixth full shift at Queer Youth marked evaluation day.  Mostly what Eirik, Ashild and I talked about was what I’d be doing with my remaining days at QY.  My main focus for the rest of my shifts will be the office itself, launching the social space.  I spent my day on Wednesday framing posters and putting them on the wall, which took way more effort than it sounds.  After QY I went home and wrote more of my essay.

Thursday:  As mentioned above, this day marked my first time seeing Stortinget!  The Politics major in me was super excited for this class visit.  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.  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.  It’s possible for the House of Representatives, but even less likely for the Senate.  Peter is on the committees of the Interior, Finance, and Environment.  And if the election goes how the polls are looking, his party will be the largest and he may be a minister.  Peter gave us a tour, mostly showing off the artwork on the walls of Parliament and of his office.  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).  And the main things I noticed were two pictures he had on his wall, one with David Cameron, and the other with Margaret Thatcher.  After his office, Peter sat down with us for a Q&A.  Then I headed back home to finish off my essay to turn in the next day.

Friday:  International Women’s Day!  One of the fullest days I’ve had in Oslo means bullet points:

• 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.  A surprisingly pleasant hour talking about “tragedy” to borrow his word.
• Went home to put the finishing touches on my essay then sent it off/
• Popped some very quick tags at UFF, a thrift store right across from Oslo Central Station.  I’ll definitely be making another, longer trip there in the near future.
• Then the most awesome series of events:  My friend Cassie has mentioned an event at the Norwegian Peace Council earlier in the day and I’m so glad I went.  At the organization’s location downtown, they held a screening of “The Whistleblower” starring Rachel Weisz.  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.  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.  Then there was a band to finish off the line up.  The entire event was free including food, beer, and wine.  Like I said, pretty much the most awesome thing I’ve attended, thanks Cassie!  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.
• After the NPC, Erica and I went to Uglebo.  It was a nice change to be a customer rather than a bartender.  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!  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.  Afterwards we went to our friend Alex’s place with Silje for a kick back.
• All in all a good day.  And lastly, happy 100 years of female suffrage in Norway!

Saturday:  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.  A new exhibit had just opened up the day before: European Identity through Photography.  It was a good visit, and for what we didn’t pay at the door we spent at the gift shop, ha.  After the Peace Center we had a taco night with a couple other friends and then headed out to Amatøren for “Western” Night.  I put that in quotes because there was no country music at all.  A few people dressed up, I was clad in plaid for the occasion, but that was all that matched the advertised event.  The music that was played was mostly American and Latin pop.  So I guess western night turned into “any songs produced west of Norway” instead of a cowboy kind of night.

Sunday:  Sunday Funday?  Not quite, I holed myself up in my apartment for the day with the intention of getting a lot of work done.  The blog title mindset was the plan, but didn’t come to be.  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).  So, at least I did the work that demanded my immediate attention right?  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.

Long entry, wow!  I’ll pass on a conclusion, here are photos!

Posing with Peter (he’s in the suit to the left)

Outside Stortinget

Proud new book owners: Erica and me

Kathryn Bolkovac

Peace for free!

Pretty day on the waterfront with city hall in the background

The lush voting chamber I saw today

Sunny in Scandinavia

Happy March everyone!  Norway is still treating me well, even better this past week actually because the weather was so nice!  I was able to not wear my heavy coat today, and that’s pretty major.  The blue skies and accompanying sunshine are very welcome, and Oslo has started to match all the pictures on the postcards I sent out.  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!  Most of my classmates noticed, ugh).  Afterwards I grabbed some groceries and I just got back from some super fun sledding with the HECUA group.

Here’s the lowdown of last week:

Tuesday:  My only class got cancelled, whoo hoo!  I went to campus anyways though because I had plans with Erica to get some waffles.  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.  We played board games, chatted and had a good time.  I spent the rest of my Tuesday in my room taking it easy.

Wednesday:  The 22^nd was my birthday and my mom had mentioned she sent something my way but I hadn’t gotten anything in the mail.  I went back to my room on Tuesday thinking about this and checked my email to see the address I sent her.  Yep, typo.  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.  I had written building 28 instead of 23.  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.  I was so glad I was able to get the package from my mom, definitely made my day and resolved the night before.

Thursday: The last day of classes for the week as usual.  I first went to CARE, the Norwegian branch of CARE International which focuses on foreign aid.  Norway is well known for being a big donor country so going to CARE helped fill in the details.  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.  I went first for the individual presentation and think I represented Queer Youth quite well.  After school, the gang of Sogn building 23, 7^th floor, had a roomie dinner.  This time we ate Eggplant appetizers, Georgian dumplings and my contribution of brownies.  So for flat mate dinners, 2/2 have been great times with good food and company.

Friday: This was an errand day for me.  I picked up postcards and did laundry while the sun was up.  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.  In short, another good few hours bartending and of course the after party.

Saturday:  The main event of Saturday was going to one of the screenings put on by the Oslo Film Fest.  While the name may trigger a visual of an elaborate set up and lots of famous people, the Film Fest was a quaint event.  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!).

Sunday:  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.  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.  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.  

Only a couple of pictures for this week, but hopefully I will have more for my next post!

Mmm, Georgian dumplings

Movie time

The lovely Oslo waterfront before sunset

Blå with the girls