This weekend has been a bittersweet weekend as friends have started to leave Tromsø. Before this, however, we had to go out in style...which of course means a South Dakota party! I "treated" my friends to South Dakota party where we had South Dakota trivia (they got 3 out of the 6 bordering states), South Dakota music (South Dakota, my home), and taverns (or sloppy joe's to most of the world). They were amazed that someone could use so much ketchup, and my Italian friend Marco commented that he could only make it if his mom wasn't looking. Despite the foreign food, we had a great time chatting, listening to music, enjoying the midnight sun, and my new veranda and view.
Saturday was round two with a huge grill party at the student housing where most of the international students live. Almost everyone I knew (and didn't know) were there trying to stay warm in the misty, cloudy weather. It was fun to chat with everyone and to enjoy some crazy group photos! We ended the night in typical fashion going to Driv, the student bar/disco. There we dominated the floor and everyone was in a mixed moods between wanting to have a great last night and realizing that the year was finishing. We had a tearful goodbye as some of the students got ready to leave this morning.
It's been a great year and again, I've had such an amazing time meeting the international students and learning about the rest of the world. There are so many people to visit and so many more adventures to embark upon. I'm thankful I had the opportunity this year to meet all of this wonderful people.
One thing I like about my new neighborhood is that it is full of children playing. Since our street is a dead-end, they have total control of the street and have fun talking with the guy who speaks English. However, they can also be little monsters, like today when they decided that it would be fun to ring our doorbell every 5 minutes for 3 hours. Recently, however, my roommate Børge has come up with a great way to hit them back, devised when slightly enebriated and walking home in the sun at about 2am. He took all of their bikes, which often are parked outside of our door, and put them in the branches of a tree in front of our house! When I walked out in the morning, it looked like something from a fantasy movie. It was great. So, the war is on. I'll let ya know who wins.
May is an exciting time in Norway, not just because everyone is stressed out about papers and exams, but because it is the month of color and holidays in Norway! On May first is the Labor Day celebration when everyone goes out and protests something. Then the next two and half weeks are full of drunk high school seniors celebrating their graduation. Finally, on May 17th is the national constitution day when people dress in their traditional costumes and for one day show a sense of nationalism.
Last year I did the whole 17th of May experience, going to all the parades, playing games, eating lots of cake and drinking coffee, and taking lots of photos of Norwegians in bunads. This year was a different, but equally great experience. I slept in and hosted an all day, low-key party at the house. All my favorite Norwegians came, and some international friends, and we enjoyed a day of eating, talking, drinking, eating, talking, playing games, and eating. Pretty much in that order. I didn't to any of the official
parades, partly due to the fact that it was raining, but I did dress up in my suit to try to fit in with the beautiful Norwegians!
I am way behind on photos, and so I've decided to take the opportunity to move a new photo page! So now, you can check out all my photos at flickr by clicking on the link above that says "photos." The old photos will still be availble for viewing at, of course, "old photos." With flickr there are a lot of opportunities for comments and sharing, so I expect everyone to let me know what you think. I also started posting Easter photos, 1st of May photos, and some pictures of my house. I hope you enjoy the colors of Norway!
I'm DONE (ish)!! I have printed out and am currently looking at the first complete rough draft of my master's thesis! To think, 2 years is summed up in 300 kb. I handed in the draft to my advisor and we'll go through it for the final time next week! Then, I'll turn it in a be free! Woo Hoo! Now, it's time to celebrate with a coffee and a shower. In a few days, I will be excited to present: "From Horror Story to Manageable Risk: Formulating Safety Strategies for Peace Researchers." Check back for the full text soon!
I had the pleasure of being swept up in a Luther reunion of sorts recently when a group of Luther and Concordia College students studying in Norway came to Tromsø for a visit. They invited me to give them a little tour and join them on their bus/boat tour of the fjords of Troms. It was a great trip, and quite fun to hear the Midwest accent and hear the latest about Decorah, Fargo, and every small town in between.
In the midst of this reunion, I was on the phone discussing my future plans. I found out about a week ago that I was offered a job in Santander, Spain as an English teacher. At first I was incredibly excited, then I sat back and thought about it a bit trying to find the catch. After much thought, I am excited to say that I accepted the position!! 
As of the first week in October, I will be living in Santander in the north part of Spain. If you click on the map to the right, you can see where Santander is...west of the Basque country, east of Asturia, and almost directly north of Madrid on the Bay of Biscay. I will be teaching 12 hours a week in secondary schools and of course studying and immersing myself in Spanish. I also hope to work privately as a tutor in the meantime. I'm also pumped to enjoy beach ultimate frisbee in Santander and the convenience of having Ryanair fly direct to Santander...which means, there is no excuse not to come visit! Consider yourself welcomed. I also am excited because there is a possibility I will be able to continue working on a few project here in Tromsø while living in Santander via the internet.
I hope to stay connected to Tromsø and come back and visit. Who knows, maybe I'll be back next summer to show the tourists around...this time in Spanish! So, that's the big next step. I'll spend the summer here in Tromsø and will hopefully spend a month at home in September before starting the next adventure. Prepare yourselves, I'm sure a new blog will spring up!
I was excited yesterday when had the first chance in a long time to drive a car! My roommate Børge has a car and his girlfriend Hilde was going to her grandfather's house in Tromsø. She drove on the way there, and I got to navigate the streets of Tromsø with manual gears and without power-steering. Cruising with the windows down and the sun shining felt great.
So, when Børge called from his home in Hammerfest and asked if I could pick him up at the airport in Tromsø when he arrived, I was excited to help out. When I went out to the car, however, I turned the key and nothing. Tried again, and nothing. The battery was completely dead. Apparently either Hilde had turned on the lights and I didn't know it or I had accidently turned them on and somehow didn't hear the warning beep when I left the car.
So Børge took a taxi home and we thought we could get it started by pushing the car down a hill. We pushed the car up the little going into our driveway with me behind his little Toyota Corola and he pushing the door, ready to jump in. We got it to the top of a hill near our house and pushed it down the hill. He jumped in, and I could see it start to jerk as he tried to put it in gear. A little puff of smoke escaped from the exhaust pipe and, nothing. So, the car is still standing...or maybe laying, at the bottom of the hill by our house. A sad reminder of my recent loss of driving ability.
I am in the luxurious, but difficult position to decide whether or not to take a job in Spain as an English teacher! What do you do when decide between a job offer weighed against unrealized posibilities? Should I spend another year away from family and friends and in another culture and language? Or looked at the other way, should I continue to learn and challenge myself and meet more friends? And if I don't take it, do I just assume something cooler will come to me? I don't know, but I put a 24 hour deadline on myself. I think I'll take it, but I have to breathe.
