Last weekend = Crazy ski-cabin-adventure. Subzero temps, no electricity, no running water, a 7 foot snow hole leading down to the outhouse, toothbrushes smoking in the air, footprints in the snow vanishing in seconds in driving winds. And the nice cozy cabin with the wood-stove kept burning and 18 people crammed for cooking, eating, and sleeping into a space about the size of two dorm rooms.
And now....
Two gloriously sunny days in a row, in BERGEN, and yesterday I had class class class and today I just woke up and then I have class and then about three hours of sunlight. :S Well, I'm thinking I ought to go for a walk or something anyway.
- Last night for dinner I ate food from the island of Reunion, cooked by Arnaud. He's leaving soon. :( And so are the Australian girls, and I missed their Australian party last week.
- I'm going in the right direction to receive an insane number of credits again this semester.
- It looks like I'm going to be able to write a 20 page paper about Banjo Kazooie. FTW!
- I need to start keeping a calendar. As in, ASAP. I'm starting to get stressed out forgetting when I'm doing what.
January 31, 2012
January 26, 2012
In Another Life
"Here, you ride my bike. I'll run beside."
"No thanks, we'd have to adjust the seat and stuff," I said, looking down at the icy road. "I'll run beside."
"No," Lukas said, "That won't work. You can just ride on the back."
"Is that really smart, with the hills and the ice?"
"I mean, we might fall, but it's not a problem."
And before I knew it I was balancing on the metal bit on the back of the bike, trying to keep my legs in as tight as I could without hitting the pedals or the wheels, and my face was buried in Lukas' backpack so deep I could just barely see the swirling snow in my peripheral vision, only tell we were going up or downhill from the gravity and the sounds of the changing gears.
We didn't fall. We got into the building and met the others, and started picking out skis. And ski boots, and ski poles, and shovels, and probes, and skins. And then they taught my how to stuff the skins in the boots, tie the boots together and throw them around my neck, and I shoved the probe and shovel and poles along my right wrist and balanced the skis over my left shoulder, and found I could actually walk that way, all the way down the hillside and across town to the bus stop leading home.
Catching a reflection of myself in a passing building, I think I only looked ridiculous because I recognized myself.
"No thanks, we'd have to adjust the seat and stuff," I said, looking down at the icy road. "I'll run beside."
"No," Lukas said, "That won't work. You can just ride on the back."
"Is that really smart, with the hills and the ice?"
"I mean, we might fall, but it's not a problem."
And before I knew it I was balancing on the metal bit on the back of the bike, trying to keep my legs in as tight as I could without hitting the pedals or the wheels, and my face was buried in Lukas' backpack so deep I could just barely see the swirling snow in my peripheral vision, only tell we were going up or downhill from the gravity and the sounds of the changing gears.
We didn't fall. We got into the building and met the others, and started picking out skis. And ski boots, and ski poles, and shovels, and probes, and skins. And then they taught my how to stuff the skins in the boots, tie the boots together and throw them around my neck, and I shoved the probe and shovel and poles along my right wrist and balanced the skis over my left shoulder, and found I could actually walk that way, all the way down the hillside and across town to the bus stop leading home.
Catching a reflection of myself in a passing building, I think I only looked ridiculous because I recognized myself.
January 15, 2012
Contentment doesn't cut it
There needs to be a word for that magical moment when you realize that you are in one of the most beautiful places in the entire world, that if you were anywhere else you would give almost anything to travel from there to here, that suddenly travelling the world seems a little less appealing.
It's no wonder "borte bra, men hjemme best" is a Norwegian saying...
P.S. The sun is out about 5 minutes longer every day that passes now. Incredible! And although the insulation is still not nearly up to Finnish or even American standards, it turns out that it actually does beat Spain. I didn't have the window closed as tightly as I could have. :) My bad.
And I went to IKEA and now I have something that more closely resembles a home. Sheets, trash can, etc. I even went crazy and bought an extra pillow for my incoming guests. Because I'm nice like that. :)
It's no wonder "borte bra, men hjemme best" is a Norwegian saying...
P.S. The sun is out about 5 minutes longer every day that passes now. Incredible! And although the insulation is still not nearly up to Finnish or even American standards, it turns out that it actually does beat Spain. I didn't have the window closed as tightly as I could have. :) My bad.
And I went to IKEA and now I have something that more closely resembles a home. Sheets, trash can, etc. I even went crazy and bought an extra pillow for my incoming guests. Because I'm nice like that. :)
January 12, 2012
Not a Life for Puddings
Outside, the weather is transitioning faster than I can walk from room to room, from rain to hail to snow to stillness, to... wait.. I think the sun might be making a brief appearance!!
The children playing at the school near my bus stop don't even seem to notice. The climbers keep climbing, swingers keep swinging, the boys playing among the trees and weeds at the far side of the playground stay there, the girls sitting in a circle playing clapping games don't miss a beat.
During orientation, one of the speakers warned us that living in Bergen was "not a life for puddings."
These kids aren't going to grow up to be no 'puddings'.
P.S. - Want to talk bad insulation? The coat that I've wedged into the sill to keep the draft out actually has SNOW/hail on it. As in, with the wind here, it came in through the gap.
The children playing at the school near my bus stop don't even seem to notice. The climbers keep climbing, swingers keep swinging, the boys playing among the trees and weeds at the far side of the playground stay there, the girls sitting in a circle playing clapping games don't miss a beat.
During orientation, one of the speakers warned us that living in Bergen was "not a life for puddings."
These kids aren't going to grow up to be no 'puddings'.
P.S. - Want to talk bad insulation? The coat that I've wedged into the sill to keep the draft out actually has SNOW/hail on it. As in, with the wind here, it came in through the gap.
January 11, 2012
First Week
Room is 90% clean and 50% decorated. Whew, was that exhausting! The books and tissues and cloudberry drinks and gingerbread cookies and little Estonian viking are on the shelves. 65 photos are up decorating the back wall and the cupboard, and when I recover my energy (tomorrow?) I'll put about as many up on the front wall.
I think all I really need from IKEA tomorrow is a set of sheets. I've got a ton of guests coming in but I have this funny idea that I might be able to make do with what I have for them. Stupid? Probably. But I was thinking I could camp on the floor (with sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and improvised pillow in the extra pillowcase) and give them the bed with the normal pillow, the silk sleep sack, and the free blanket I got, maybe the thermal sleep sack as well. Or they could switch with me if they preferred. My room is surprisingly warm given the poor insulation (am I missing something here?) so even though that doesn't sound like much, it could be enough. :S Just trying to avoid buying a blanket or a pillow that I'll just throw away at the end of the semester.
The first week is all about getting the basic stuff done, and I'm almost a week in. I have all the small things done now but the three big things - Class Registration, Police Registration, and things-I-need-to-do-to-get-a-part-time-job-maybe - are not. Today I FINALLY got my Norwegian phone working by going back to the store that sold me the SIM and asking them to fax my registration again. Then I went to the library and figured out printing so I could print the cover letter to meet the police and the MU Study Abroad blog agreement letter. I also tried and failed to pay my first month's rent. Well, I'll get there, a little at a time! :)
Funny/Weird Stuff:
- I've been trying to figure out when I'll get my language test results. First response: "You'll get them before the language classes start." Gee, thanks. Second response: "You'll get the test results once the test is graded." Seriously? Okay then. If this messes me up with my class registration I'll consider that I have full rights to bitch, moan, and complain. Even if it doesn't matter all that much in my case.
- Lots of weird results to my speaking Norwegian. Surprisingly I'm having better luck with it this time than I did in 2008, but I still occasionally get the "I speak in Norwegian, they reply in English" phenomenon. Another time, at a cafe, the guy asked me if I wanted any cream, and I said yes... as I bent in to take it, he whispered, as if it were a secret, "So, you understand Norwegian?" But by and large, the most popular response is, "Så flink du er å snakke norsk!" For similar linguistic reasons as with the Spanish construction "Saber + Infinitive = to know (how) to," this sounds subtly but definitively off to me. "How clever you are to speak Norwegian!" As if I cleverly figured out that they were Norwegian and that the correct approach was speaking their language to them, the answer to some tricky puzzle.
I think all I really need from IKEA tomorrow is a set of sheets. I've got a ton of guests coming in but I have this funny idea that I might be able to make do with what I have for them. Stupid? Probably. But I was thinking I could camp on the floor (with sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and improvised pillow in the extra pillowcase) and give them the bed with the normal pillow, the silk sleep sack, and the free blanket I got, maybe the thermal sleep sack as well. Or they could switch with me if they preferred. My room is surprisingly warm given the poor insulation (am I missing something here?) so even though that doesn't sound like much, it could be enough. :S Just trying to avoid buying a blanket or a pillow that I'll just throw away at the end of the semester.
The first week is all about getting the basic stuff done, and I'm almost a week in. I have all the small things done now but the three big things - Class Registration, Police Registration, and things-I-need-to-do-to-get-a-part-time-job-maybe - are not. Today I FINALLY got my Norwegian phone working by going back to the store that sold me the SIM and asking them to fax my registration again. Then I went to the library and figured out printing so I could print the cover letter to meet the police and the MU Study Abroad blog agreement letter. I also tried and failed to pay my first month's rent. Well, I'll get there, a little at a time! :)
Funny/Weird Stuff:
- I've been trying to figure out when I'll get my language test results. First response: "You'll get them before the language classes start." Gee, thanks. Second response: "You'll get the test results once the test is graded." Seriously? Okay then. If this messes me up with my class registration I'll consider that I have full rights to bitch, moan, and complain. Even if it doesn't matter all that much in my case.
- Lots of weird results to my speaking Norwegian. Surprisingly I'm having better luck with it this time than I did in 2008, but I still occasionally get the "I speak in Norwegian, they reply in English" phenomenon. Another time, at a cafe, the guy asked me if I wanted any cream, and I said yes... as I bent in to take it, he whispered, as if it were a secret, "So, you understand Norwegian?" But by and large, the most popular response is, "Så flink du er å snakke norsk!" For similar linguistic reasons as with the Spanish construction "Saber + Infinitive = to know (how) to," this sounds subtly but definitively off to me. "How clever you are to speak Norwegian!" As if I cleverly figured out that they were Norwegian and that the correct approach was speaking their language to them, the answer to some tricky puzzle.
Koselig
Koselig - Cozy, Snug, etc
I am very cozy and lucky in my new dorm here. The room is a great size, at first I complained about the bathroom because it was cold, but now I realize heated floors and amazing hot water pressure can make up for that, the kitchen is nice with every appliance I could ask for there and waiting to be used (and used it shall be).
My roommates have all been super nice and they've created an environment that I quite like and which is perfect for learning Norwegian. A radio plays constantly in the kitchen with Norwegian news, audio books, classical music, etc randomly flipping back and forth. The kitchen has a common bookshelf filled with Norwegian comic books like Pondus. And even in the bathroom there's a selection of magazines in Norwegian, natural science and linguistics ones. And everyone has been willing to talk to me in Norwegian even if my language skills leave a lot to be desired.
Best of all, there's tons of common property and things that have been left in my room, so I have to buy surprisingly little. I arrived in my room to find an ethernet cord and a lamp, and in the kitchen I can use the frying pans, pots, cutting boards, plates, bowls, glasses, and silverware. :)
Things are great here!
I am very cozy and lucky in my new dorm here. The room is a great size, at first I complained about the bathroom because it was cold, but now I realize heated floors and amazing hot water pressure can make up for that, the kitchen is nice with every appliance I could ask for there and waiting to be used (and used it shall be).
My roommates have all been super nice and they've created an environment that I quite like and which is perfect for learning Norwegian. A radio plays constantly in the kitchen with Norwegian news, audio books, classical music, etc randomly flipping back and forth. The kitchen has a common bookshelf filled with Norwegian comic books like Pondus. And even in the bathroom there's a selection of magazines in Norwegian, natural science and linguistics ones. And everyone has been willing to talk to me in Norwegian even if my language skills leave a lot to be desired.
Best of all, there's tons of common property and things that have been left in my room, so I have to buy surprisingly little. I arrived in my room to find an ethernet cord and a lamp, and in the kitchen I can use the frying pans, pots, cutting boards, plates, bowls, glasses, and silverware. :)
Things are great here!
January 06, 2012
Bergen - First Impressions
I moved in last night to what could be the most beautiful city in the world. By day, the brief sunlight lay golden on buildings and rocks and pines, and lit up the mountaintop snow. The downtown seemed full of lovely buildings, parks, and water-features. In the long winter twilight, everything is a pastel grey-violet, and from my window I see white houses up the mountainside, and the surprisingly modern skyline of the city to my left, reflected in the harbours in front and behind... and beyond that, more mountains again. At night the city stays bright and the hills look lit-up like christmas lights.
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