Peace, Love, and Lutefisk: Adventures i Norge

I have had a great time chilling with my brothers this break, but apparently I've been spending too much time with them. Both Paul and I got sick today, so we celebrated Christmas in our pajamas nibbling on croissants and drinking water. Fortunately, we found a perfect cure, well, if it's true that laughter is the best cure, than we found the best cure: "Lazy Sunday." I highly recommend anyone with itunes to go to the music store and download this FREE short video from Saturday Night Live. It is a hilarious music video that has my brothers and I brainstorming videos that we could make. I hope everyone enjoys and enjoyed a "Lazy Sunday." Once again, Merry Christmas.

I know, I know. I'm beautiful. But seriously, this is getting old.

I arrived in Norway and one of the first songs I heard on the radio was a song called "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt. I must warn any readers: stay away from Mr. Blunt! Sure, at first it seems like an innocent, slightly catchy pop tune, but it will invade your life. Everytime we turn on the TV or radio, there he is, reminding us that he saw an angel on the subway who was "with another man." But at least he's got a plan.

I know Marjaanaa reached her limit with James in Poland. We all decided to get massages and she layed down face first ready for totally relaxation. Right underneath her head was a tiny little radio and as soon as the massage was about to begin she heard it: "My life is brilliant." Goodbye relaxation.

For me, I reached my limit this past week when I returned home to the US. I thought I could enjoy a great Christmas break with the family and away from James, but I arrived home and started talking music with my brothers and one of the first things they said was: I heard this great new singer that sings a song called beautiful or something.

Welp, apparently James has been making headway in the US and even appeared on Saturday Night Live the weekend before I came home. The holiday music is keeping him at bay for now, but I know that he will forever stalk me, even more so than the mysterious Kill Bill girl. I guess the only solution is to jump in the water.

I had quite the trip last week when I returned home for the holidays.

My journey started early as I left Tromsø at 7am. I thought it would be good to adjust early, (or maybe I decided that because I wasn't packed and ready until about 4am), so I stayed up almost all night and slept the whole way from Tromsø to Oslo and then Oslo to Amsterdam. Then the fun began. I waited for an hour and a half in Amsterdam to get through security and then talked to an American girl who worked in the UK for a year, married a Portuguese guy, and has not yet told her parents. Should be a fun Christmas for her.

I sat by a great plane partner who was a Swedish speaking Finn lady who was doing a master's programme in public health in Stockholm. We had some great conversations about feeling like an outsider, language, culture, public health, gender, and Minneapolis. Besides her, I felt surrounded by children. I guess it was time to go home and see Grandma.

I had my welcome home to the US in an ugly way. I landed after 9 hours and was waiting in line for customs and was right in front of a very large, very loud woman with two children. I was so mad at her because she was yelling at her kids for everything. First they were playing too far away then they were hanging on her too much. When one of her kids didn't want to come stand by her, she snapped, "Fine, I'll just leave you here and let someone else take you. I don't care. I'm too tired to care." Later she deftly said, "Look at mommy. Has mommy had a cigarette in 12 hours? No. Do you think that makes mommy happy? No." Oh good old USA. I then went to the gate and the first thing I heard was CNN talking about the former leader of the Crips who was executed in California, even though he became an author of children's books and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. I was so frustrated at Wolf Blitzer constantly asking one witness of the execution questions like, "how did he look after he died?" The response the person had was, "He looked dead."

Fortunately, my frustration with the volume of Americans, both in terms of loudness and size, was relieved when I was sitting at the gate and heard something that was refreshingly familiar: Norwegian! A Norwegian family was traveling to where else but Vermillion, South Dakota to see their daughter/niece/grand daughter graduate from USD. I immediately introduced myself to them and had a great 20 minute conversation in Norwegian with them. It was a much appreciated transition between Norway and the US. I am very excited to spend some time at home and enjoy Christmas here, but I know I will be ready to go back to the increasingly familiar and comfortable Norway.

Merry Christmas to all! I will post updates from the US every once and a while to let everyone know how Christmas and New Year's is here in South Dakota!

Christmas time is here. and it certainly is tangible in Tromsø. Red curtains and candles fill most windows around town, constantly lit both day and night because, well, day is night. It makes Tromsø glow feel very koselig...cozy! As Marjaana put so well (see her blog to the right), I too recently faced the firing squad during our oral exam. I escaped with only a few limbs damaged. As the oral examinator said, "We gave you a B, but not a very solid B." Thanks. Great ego booster.

I also partook in the eXtreme Pepperkaker with most of my classmates at Silje's house (see Rachel's blog). What I thought would be a relaxing evening making gingerbread shapes and eating them turned into a gingerbread house making contest that took three days to complete. I couldn't even make it to the last day, so the house lacked my oh so honed decoration abilities. Ha, probably for the best.

Besides these Christmasy events, the highlight was definitely on Sunday when I finally broke out of a religion and participation funk. I have been missing church, music, and activity the past couple of weeks and finally took matters into my own hands. I went to the Domkirken which is the largest, oldest church in the middle of town. It felt surprisingly koselig, like First Lutheran in Brookings with a long rectangle design. It was also welcoming to see the pews somewhat full, maybe 150 people, and to partake in three traditional Norwegian baptisms. Baptism is a big deal in Norway, one of the few times Norwegians go to church, and it was great to see the parents and sponsors in their traditional Norwegian dress called bunads. Gorgeous, colorful dresses with lots of jewlery and meaning.

The service itself was good. Sang some Christmas songs in Norwegian and tried to understand the sermon with my Norwegian dictionary in hand. The best part though was the choir. A choir got up and performed, and I was so excited to listen to some music again. After the service I went up to the director and introduced myself and told him that I was interested in singing. He told me they had practice the next day and invited me to come.

I was already excited about this opportunity and was almost ready to leave when I started talking to a Norwegian man who I found out worked for the YMCA in town. I was telling him how I was hoping to get more involved in the community, and he wondered if I would want to volunteer for the YMCA working with youths there. I was pumped! I'm going to go see him after come back after Christmas to hopefully start helping. A great way to practice Norwegian and do something outside of my normal group of friends.

Well, after a great Sunday, I went back Monday to the choir rehearsal and had a blast! It is a small choir of about 12 people. They only had one tenor that day so I joined a short high school kid as the tenor section. The choir is for people aged 16-26, and I think I was definitely the oldest one there. It was great though. Everyone there loves to sing and although the quality isn't quite Luther, it is fun and definitely infused me with some Christmas spirit. We sang Coventry Choir, O Holy Night (in Norwegian), and 3 other Norwegian Christmas songs that were new to me. After a few songs the director asked me, "you're singing with us at our concert next Wednesday right?" Unfortunately I had to tell them that I would be in the US so I wouldn't be able to come, but I promised to come back in January. I am excited to start singing with the group some more. It was amazed how quickly the singing came back. I warmed up to an A and felt great singing! It's amazing how invigorating doing something familiar like that be! So, I guess I'm going to get to know a few high schoolers and some young college kids in the coming months. It will be nice to be the oldest for a change.

So yeah, Christmas is alive in Tromsø. With the snow now covering the ground, the whole Christmas package is complete. Things are going great here, although I'm excited I'll be able to spend Christmas with my family and loved ones this year.

Throughout all the travels to Poland, I am constantly having to wait in the strict NON-EU passport control line while my Norwegian and Finnish friends get to go through the EU and Schengen Zone line...even though Norway isn't in the EU they still get to move freely from the Mediterranean to Hammarfest. I finally found one benefit of not being in the EU (if you like stamps).

I went to the police station yesterday (they are open on Thursdays) and received my work permit for Norway. I had to bring my passport to get the work permit stamp in it. When I came back to pick up my permit the lady informed me that I should get a new passport because mine was full! Thanks to travels through Europe where I received stamps at every airport while my EU (and fake EU) friends walked through without a trace, my passport has quickly filled up. Combine that with 6 months in stamp happy Africa where I had to get residence permits and visas for every country I went to and the student visa I had stamped in my passport here in Norway and you have a full book. She illegally stamped my work permit on an endorsement page, but I think I will soon be visiting my friends at the post office in Brookings, SD to get some more pages. I guess it's time to come home for a while and stop traveling for a bit. Only a bit though, I think I will be anxious to fill up the new pages as soon as I can!

Off to prepare to stretch out a wool sweater I shrunk! Tips anyone? I've read hair conditioner and warm water. We'll see if I can find my 6th grade home ec. skills.

Also, photos from Poland are up if you haven't notice already. Check the cleverly labeled link on the left.

I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I got a part-time job! I'm super excited about it. I am helping a professor here on campus, Tove Dahl, with research. Basically I listen to these interviews conducted in the states and type everything I hear: one of the few things I can do that most Norwegians can't! It's also fun because she is village coordinator at Skogfjorden, which is the Norwegian Language Camp run by Concordia College. Her research is about Skogfjorden so I get to listen to old campers talk about their experiences...

Why this is important you ask? Well, to get paid I have to go to the police station to get permission to work in Norway, and since I am making about $20 bucks an hour, roughly a normal wage for a part-time job I think, I am anxious to get the payments started. I went down today and after walking/slipping on ice for 15 minutes, I got to the police station to learn that they are closed on Wednesdays, but that I could come back tomorrow. What?! Who takes Wednesdays off? Just because school gets out early doesn't mean that the police office should too. Just another frustrating example of Norwegian bureacracy.

Oh yeah, I made it back safely from our "little Polish vacation" as Rachel called it. Marjaana and I left Warsaw at 6am and finally arrived back in Tromsø at 8pm. A long travel day, but now we are able to relax until the oral exam on Monday. I am loading pictures from the trip as we speak, so check back soon to get a glimpse of Poland!

well almost. we had a great day in Krakow today and left hesitantly after toying around with the idea of delaying our flights. But, now we're in Warsaw for about 12 hours. From the 10 min walk to the hostel it seems very modern with a little less of teh old, unique character of Krakow...but again, 10 minutes. We will be heading to Gdansk early tomorrow on a 6.50am train and then will be back in tromso by 8pm! Gotta love travel.

Like I said, things in Krakow were great. Well, bad word choice, sobering today. We visited Auswitchz, which I still haven't bothered spelling correctly, and it was predictably powerful. I thought the best part was actually the second concentration camp called Auswichz II or Berka...I forget. Anyways, it was massive covering 125 hectacres and it's much less rebuilt than the first Auswitch. You can see the remains of the crematoriums and the all around sick-scientific precision used in the Halocaust. A worthwhile visit.

We said goodbye to some new friends in Krakow including one girl we met named Christy. She is originally from Oklahoma and has spent the past three years teaching English in Japan with the JETT program. After she finished she decided to go home the long way so she is traveling around the world, starting in SE asia, going through Russia and East Europe before heading back in January. It was fun to talk to a fellow Midwesterner...or close enough! Christy, Marjaana, a random Australian guy we met, and I all watched Fargo two nights ago. It was great fun, but I'm not sure all the humor was noted by everyone there. They all asked me why I was going home for Christmas if snow and grissly killers awaited. I guess it's so I can see Paul Bunyan.

Off to bed now. ciao from warsaw.

the music is thumping and the din of conversation between backpackers and people who travel even more randomly than me fills the air...good times at nathan's villa hostel in krakow! that's right! marjaana and i decided to use our extra time in poland for a whirlwind tour. we took an 8 hour train ride from gdansk poland south through warsaw, to krakow, near the southern border of poland. it is truly an amazing city and the entire experience has been even better because of the great place we're staying. (you can look up the website if you want to see it!)

yesterday we got in about 5pm and we're so happy to b e somewhere alive with people. we were in the kitchen only five minutes before we were meeting new friends and hearing stories from all over the world. it really gets you excited to travel! we headed out to check the town out and had some indian food, which i have been craving for months! then back to the hostel and into the catacombs. something really cool about krakow is that it is incredibly old! one of the only cities in poland to avoid destruction during wwii. anyways, this hostel like many places has an underground catacombs where the cool stuff really is. here they have a bar and a great 'movie theatre' with a big flat screen, speakers and a choice of dvds. you get to watch it while in a brick arched room that seems like something out of an old mystery movie. anyways, we went to the bar and met some more people and got the true krakow experience, going out with locals and meeting some fun british guys who i chatted with for hours while marjaana danced with a gay brazilian guy who was dating one of the brits. random and fun!

today was even more incredible. we were just looking around downtown and asked this nice looking polish lady how to get to the schindler factory as seen in schindler's list. telling us how to get there however was not enough. this lady, her husband, and two kids drove us there, came into the museum with us, gave the security guard a 'thank you present' for specially opening the museum for us (some may call it a bribe), and translated as much as they could for us . they were truly incredible people. the type that make you glad that you travel and that give you hope for the ultimate goodness in people. after a great afternoon with them, marjaana and i walked back to the hostel and settled in for a movie in the catacombs. it was a beautiful day here with the sun shining and probably 45 degrees farenheit out! perfect. add a castle here and there and you have a great recipe for fun!

we are headed to auswitch (sorry about the spelling) tomorrow and then taking a train to warsaw where we will spend the night. then we will get up early on tuesday and take the train the rest of the way to gdansk where we will fly back from. i'm really glad we came here and feel like i have a much better feel for poland, the country-side (which is remarkably like south dakota), and the people who thus far have been extremely warm and welcoming. have to get off the computer so someone else can use it. off to read a bit before some chinese food! yum!

Have you ever been in one of those, "I want to play pool, tan in the solarium, go bowling, throw darts, and shoot guns at a shooting range all while drinking beer and listening to Top 40 hits" type moods? Well today I was. Typical. Yes, today for the first time in Poland the six of us split up with the four girls going shopping and Stian and I left to our own devices. It took us only 15 minutes to find a pool hall...or what we thought was a pool hall. Really, it was a super-fun center with young attractive women welcoming tough looking men and random Norwegian and American tourists. It all started innocently enough with an hour of pool. but no sooner had we begun to play and drink a beer that we saw it...a shooting range! First of all, it was the most random thing ever, tucked tightly behind the bowling area, which was decorated like a fourth grade classroom with planets and stars on the wall. We finished up two beers each and a few games of pool and headed over to the shooting range. Where else can you drink beer and then play with guns?!

Well, for me I think it was the first time I had held a gun since shooting bb pellets at Phil Peterson's farm in 3rd grade. Stian was more a of pro. We started with a hand gun. The old Polish man with large glasses only knew three english words. The first was "Hello" which he used whenever he wanted to get our attention. The second was "automatic" which Stian was excited about, and the third was "terrorist." That's right, after putting on the ear muffs he gave us the option of the typical target, or a mean looking guy like you would find in old cowboy arcade games that pops up out of the bushes. He quickly informed us that it was terrorist, so naturally we choose the terrorist (have to be practical you know). We each had five shots with the hand gun and I proceeded to hit the terrorist one time out of five...but the time i hit him it was in the heart, so at least i saved the world. We moved on to the rifle, which was not as fun, and then Stian threw down the money for the most expensive gun: the 9mm gun with actual gun powder and bullets (the rest were air powered). We had to have an extra safety lesson which consisted of the old Polish guy talking to a younger Polish guy who then told us "this is a very dangerous gun." With that in mind, we again tried to stop terrorism, and finally discovered that if both of us have 10 shots each, we will definitely save the world.

The rest of the trip pales in comparison to "U7," the name of the fun center we were at...but we've enjoyed great food and drink and have seen the beautifully old (yet recently reconstructed) architecture and today visited the very educational and powerful Solidarity Museum which traces the history of shipyard riots in Poland that eventually helped lead to the fall of the Berlin Wall. A lot of history in Gdansk, and I think today was our history day. Tomorrow we are all getting full body massages. Crazy. the funny part is that there is only one massuse (not sure on the spelling of that word!) so we have appointments from noon until 7pm! After that we are all going to the sauna followed later in the evening with karoke! As you can tell, we are doing well. Off to our 6 person hostel room now. And don't worry, Stian and I will be doing our part to keep this world safe!