Peace, Love, and Lutefisk: Adventures i Norge

Hello again from Tromsø!

It's dark today, but the crisp air and deep snow are welcomed signs as I return to my life in Tromsø. It feels great to be back and sitting in the reading room..."reading." I'm still carrying a few signs of Americanism like the dollar bills in my wallet and the baseball cap I'm sporting today, but I think soon they will fall victim to the cultural imperialism of Norway.

I had a smooth trip back, albeit with quite a few stops. In an effort to save a few bucks, my itinerary included stops in Sioux Falls, Minneapolis, Chicago, Amsterdam, Oslo, and finally Tromsø. Oddly enough, I spotted a Luther classmate, Megan Clarke, on the flight to Amsterdam so we had fun catching up and sharing Europe graduate school stories (she's graduating right about now from her one year program in the UK). Finally, 27 hours after leaving home, I staggered to the Peace House and was greeted by the newest member: Gjermund. He opened the door to my incessant doorbell ringing and just stood in the doorway until I explained that I lived there. He seems like a great guy though, and as Stian and I learned last night, a fellow Settlers of Catan player.

I was quickly thrown into Norway upon my return. I headed out to town to meet Rachel for a beer at Blå Rock and then we headed to a cafe where there was an acoustic night featuring all the hippest Norwegian songs. I started to fall asleep about 10.30pm so I had to head home for my cozy bed. I think my body has to adjust to the new dimensions because I definitely drilled my elbow against the wall in the middle of the night!

I followed up the excitement of my return with a busy first full day in Tromsø. I enjoyed a run across the bridge in the snow and became the newest member of the local gym called SATS. I then headed to the university where I took a Norwegian entrance exam. It ended up being three hours long, but I think I did pretty well. There were 17 students and I think 12 are accepted into the course, so hopefully I'm in the top 60%! I do think that the questions were a bit biased against me though because we had to write an essay about European immigration and fill in the blanks in a story about Baghdad. It's as if they were trying to isolate the American!

So life begins again in Tromsø. It's always fun to return to friends and a schedule and a sense of purpose (which will hopefully be the thesis). Tromsø is as beautiful as ever and even the kitchen was looking clean through my rose colored glasses. It was a fun and busy holiday season and now I can look forward to my family coming to visit my other home in Norway in June! Until then, time to...read. oh yeah. read. Here I go...