August 15th
Today was a very nice day out, so I decided to running around Kringsjå lake. It is beautiful up there, I just wish it wasn't so far away... uphill. Bleh. After that I got ready to meet up with Henry and Katelin to go to a Buddy Group party at one of our leader's apartments. Each Buddy Group had a theme, and I guess ours was high ponytails? Maria, on of our leaders, let me try authentic Norwegian brown cheese (brunost/mysost) while I was there. (Another item checked off!) It was sooo different, but really good. It tasted just like caramel and seemed like it should be a dessert, not cheese. After we hung out there for a bit, we all took the trolley back to campus and got together with all of the other Buddy Groups in the Social Sciences Faculty bar. It was a lot of fun and I met some people from other Buddy Groups. It is so obvious how Norwegian personalities change once they have started drinking. They are usually closed off, shy, and more private in public, but once they start drinking they become very friendly and open up before your eyes. I am sure the true is same for almost anyone when they start drinking, but the Norwegian culture is so different. This is how they really get to know other people and each other and it is fun and interesting to see in person.
August 16th
I totally intended for today to be a relaxing day with a few errands, but that quickly changed. I slept in till about 1 and then decided to go running around the side streets of Sogn. There are some really cute houses here and we are just high enough, that if you see a gap of trees, you can look down to see the Oslo Fjord and surrounding city, beautiful. After I got back, Frieda and her boyfriend Nona (Ghana) asked me if I wanted to join them to swim in Kringsjå lake. It was veryyyyy cold (similar to Lake Superior, again), but there was little sun today and I am still freezing (12 hours later). Frieda and I swam around for about an hour and we started to head back when it began to rain. It sucked all of the warmth and energy out of me, but I am glad I went. I am trying to say "yes" to as many new opportunities that I am presented with while I am here. While one semester may seem like a long time now, I know that it will quickly fly by and I don't want to miss out on anything or have any regrets. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and i want to make the most of it!
A group of Frieda's friends wanted to check out the Mela Festival down by the Harbor so we decided to join them. It was very crowded with a concert and Indian food vendors everywhere. It smelled very amazing. We walked down to the end of the harbor to look at all of the super trendy and modern buildings and a museum with little sculptures all around it. We got to see the sunset on the Oslo Fjord, which was amazing. We also stopped by the grocery store on the way back and while cooking skills may be slightly improved from my first meal here, my Norwegian label reading skills have not. I need to do laundry soon and i ended up with fabric softener instead of detergent. Oh well.... I am slowly learning all kinds of things! :) I also received my preliminary schedule for my classes that start on Monday. The only class that I am currently enrolled in is the Norwegian language course, which is the only one I don't have time to take. On top of that, it says that I do not have the necessary pre-requisites for the Genetics course I need, so I need to go in and talk to someone in the Bioscience faculty to see if there is anything I can do. Ugh stress.... Deep breaths Sara!!! Classes haven't even started yet.
Pictures:
Today was a very nice day out, so I decided to running around Kringsjå lake. It is beautiful up there, I just wish it wasn't so far away... uphill. Bleh. After that I got ready to meet up with Henry and Katelin to go to a Buddy Group party at one of our leader's apartments. Each Buddy Group had a theme, and I guess ours was high ponytails? Maria, on of our leaders, let me try authentic Norwegian brown cheese (brunost/mysost) while I was there. (Another item checked off!) It was sooo different, but really good. It tasted just like caramel and seemed like it should be a dessert, not cheese. After we hung out there for a bit, we all took the trolley back to campus and got together with all of the other Buddy Groups in the Social Sciences Faculty bar. It was a lot of fun and I met some people from other Buddy Groups. It is so obvious how Norwegian personalities change once they have started drinking. They are usually closed off, shy, and more private in public, but once they start drinking they become very friendly and open up before your eyes. I am sure the true is same for almost anyone when they start drinking, but the Norwegian culture is so different. This is how they really get to know other people and each other and it is fun and interesting to see in person.
August 16th
I totally intended for today to be a relaxing day with a few errands, but that quickly changed. I slept in till about 1 and then decided to go running around the side streets of Sogn. There are some really cute houses here and we are just high enough, that if you see a gap of trees, you can look down to see the Oslo Fjord and surrounding city, beautiful. After I got back, Frieda and her boyfriend Nona (Ghana) asked me if I wanted to join them to swim in Kringsjå lake. It was veryyyyy cold (similar to Lake Superior, again), but there was little sun today and I am still freezing (12 hours later). Frieda and I swam around for about an hour and we started to head back when it began to rain. It sucked all of the warmth and energy out of me, but I am glad I went. I am trying to say "yes" to as many new opportunities that I am presented with while I am here. While one semester may seem like a long time now, I know that it will quickly fly by and I don't want to miss out on anything or have any regrets. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and i want to make the most of it!
A group of Frieda's friends wanted to check out the Mela Festival down by the Harbor so we decided to join them. It was very crowded with a concert and Indian food vendors everywhere. It smelled very amazing. We walked down to the end of the harbor to look at all of the super trendy and modern buildings and a museum with little sculptures all around it. We got to see the sunset on the Oslo Fjord, which was amazing. We also stopped by the grocery store on the way back and while cooking skills may be slightly improved from my first meal here, my Norwegian label reading skills have not. I need to do laundry soon and i ended up with fabric softener instead of detergent. Oh well.... I am slowly learning all kinds of things! :) I also received my preliminary schedule for my classes that start on Monday. The only class that I am currently enrolled in is the Norwegian language course, which is the only one I don't have time to take. On top of that, it says that I do not have the necessary pre-requisites for the Genetics course I need, so I need to go in and talk to someone in the Bioscience faculty to see if there is anything I can do. Ugh stress.... Deep breaths Sara!!! Classes haven't even started yet.
Pictures: