September 8
After groggily making my way downtown at way-too-early o'clock in the morning, I met my family at their hotel for breakfast. They decided that they wanted to do the hop-on/ hop-off tour around Oslo and I got to join them because my class was not until later in the day. We made our way around downtown on the double decker bus and decided to get off at the Akershus Fortress and look around. It is a really cool castle and the grounds were really cool with gates and cobblestone everywhere. After walking around for a bit, we got back on the bus and headed over to the Royal Palace, where we saw the changing of the guards and had a little snack at the Hard Rock Cafe. The hop-on/ hop-off tour was a really easy and relaxing way to get around downtown and I got to see exactly what I want to do and see before I leave Oslo. You don't get to see how close everything really is when you are taking the underground metro all the time.
As they continued on to see some of the museums, I left for class where we had a seminar and discussed topics for our 15 page papers. :( Not looking forward to that... After class, I went back downtown and met my family for a dinner of fish and chips and then headed back home to Skype with Michelle (Hi!) for a bit until we broke up because the internet connection was kinda bad. The trip home on the metro was pretty strange too. Something happened at the station I needed to get off at and so the train I was on changed into a different numbered train and went over to the other side of the tracks? I am not really sure what happened because all of the announcements were in Norwegian, but I made it home okay!
September 9
I woke up early again and met my family downtown for breakfast. (I am gonna miss all of these free meals...). After showing them where some shopping spots were, I left for class and then met my Mom and Grandpa back downtown for some more sightseeing and shopping. We took pictures in and around the Oslo Cathedral and even got to go inside where a choir/orchestra was practicing. The music sounded great and the Cathedral was very pretty. After going in about 20 different tourist shops, we made our way back to the hotel to pick up my Grandma and Aunt Molly to get "shrimp snacks"at a nearby restaurant. We then headed back to the hotel to hand out and start getting ready for dinner at Kjell and Lill's house!!!! :D They invited us over to have dinner and meet more if the family! We all took the train over and when we got there, we were introduced to everyone. One of their daughters is Tone, and her kids, Caroline and Ole, are about my age. I also got to meet Christian, Caroline's boyfriend. They are all really nice and since they live in downtown Oslo, even offered to take me camping or just hang out sometime, which I would love! Kjell and Lill also have another daughter who is living in Spain, but I got to meet her daughters Charlotte and Jeanette and her daughter Alexandria. They were all really nice and very easy to talk to and get to know. Their house was very nice and they had all sorts of awards for Kjell and art done by Lill and Tone all over the house. Dinner was amazing (Graved Lox Salmon) and after, Kjell even played the piano for us while Caroline sang. I had an amazing time getting to meet everyone and get to know them better. When it got pretty late, we finally had to pry my Grandpa away and head back downtown. Although my family is heading home tomorrow, I really hope I get to see everyone again and hang out before I leave at the end of the semester. By the time we got back to the hotel it was pretty late and so I just crashed with them for the night.
September 10
I woke up at the hotel and had my last free meal at breakfast. After I got ready, we all went down to the lobby to say goodbye. They are leaving today and I had class to go to. It is hard saying goodbye to loved ones when you know you won't see them for a while and it is definitely not easier the second time around. I got used to seeing them everyday and now it is like I am quitting cold turkey.
Once we said goodbye, I went to my classes and then headed home to read and watch Netflix.
September 11
I think I left my bed a total of... two times today? I stayed in and watched Netflix all day long because I don;t have any classes on Thursdays. I am definitely missing my family and feeling homesick now that they are gone :(
I also have a LOT of homework and studying to catch up on, but I think a day or two of moping around will hopefully get this homesickness feeling out of my system...
September 12
I had my Genetics course this morning, but instead of a lecture, we had a guest speaker present on what is going on currently in the field. He told us about how the Human genome sequencing project was competed recently, some stuff about cancer research, and then all of the new technologies that are being developed. It was pretty cool to hear about. After class I headed to the gym (Time to work off all of this free food and get back on track!) and I saw that Frieda and Eva were there, so I joined them. After going home and showering, I then met up with our Sogn group at coffee hour. Tonight was also Oslo Culture Night, where there were free events all throughout the city, so I split up from them to go check out the Beauty and the Beast musical (in Norwegian), but when I got there someone told me you had to reserve tickets. There was also an event where the Philharmonic was playing Vivaldi, but they were only letting in the first 75 people and by the time I got there, there were already too many people in line. :( I probably could have looked for something else to do, but I was alone, nothing else was really all that interesting to me, and I still feel like I am kinda in a funk. So I just went home, watched some Supernatural :) , and called it a night.
After groggily making my way downtown at way-too-early o'clock in the morning, I met my family at their hotel for breakfast. They decided that they wanted to do the hop-on/ hop-off tour around Oslo and I got to join them because my class was not until later in the day. We made our way around downtown on the double decker bus and decided to get off at the Akershus Fortress and look around. It is a really cool castle and the grounds were really cool with gates and cobblestone everywhere. After walking around for a bit, we got back on the bus and headed over to the Royal Palace, where we saw the changing of the guards and had a little snack at the Hard Rock Cafe. The hop-on/ hop-off tour was a really easy and relaxing way to get around downtown and I got to see exactly what I want to do and see before I leave Oslo. You don't get to see how close everything really is when you are taking the underground metro all the time.
As they continued on to see some of the museums, I left for class where we had a seminar and discussed topics for our 15 page papers. :( Not looking forward to that... After class, I went back downtown and met my family for a dinner of fish and chips and then headed back home to Skype with Michelle (Hi!) for a bit until we broke up because the internet connection was kinda bad. The trip home on the metro was pretty strange too. Something happened at the station I needed to get off at and so the train I was on changed into a different numbered train and went over to the other side of the tracks? I am not really sure what happened because all of the announcements were in Norwegian, but I made it home okay!
September 9
I woke up early again and met my family downtown for breakfast. (I am gonna miss all of these free meals...). After showing them where some shopping spots were, I left for class and then met my Mom and Grandpa back downtown for some more sightseeing and shopping. We took pictures in and around the Oslo Cathedral and even got to go inside where a choir/orchestra was practicing. The music sounded great and the Cathedral was very pretty. After going in about 20 different tourist shops, we made our way back to the hotel to pick up my Grandma and Aunt Molly to get "shrimp snacks"at a nearby restaurant. We then headed back to the hotel to hand out and start getting ready for dinner at Kjell and Lill's house!!!! :D They invited us over to have dinner and meet more if the family! We all took the train over and when we got there, we were introduced to everyone. One of their daughters is Tone, and her kids, Caroline and Ole, are about my age. I also got to meet Christian, Caroline's boyfriend. They are all really nice and since they live in downtown Oslo, even offered to take me camping or just hang out sometime, which I would love! Kjell and Lill also have another daughter who is living in Spain, but I got to meet her daughters Charlotte and Jeanette and her daughter Alexandria. They were all really nice and very easy to talk to and get to know. Their house was very nice and they had all sorts of awards for Kjell and art done by Lill and Tone all over the house. Dinner was amazing (Graved Lox Salmon) and after, Kjell even played the piano for us while Caroline sang. I had an amazing time getting to meet everyone and get to know them better. When it got pretty late, we finally had to pry my Grandpa away and head back downtown. Although my family is heading home tomorrow, I really hope I get to see everyone again and hang out before I leave at the end of the semester. By the time we got back to the hotel it was pretty late and so I just crashed with them for the night.
September 10
I woke up at the hotel and had my last free meal at breakfast. After I got ready, we all went down to the lobby to say goodbye. They are leaving today and I had class to go to. It is hard saying goodbye to loved ones when you know you won't see them for a while and it is definitely not easier the second time around. I got used to seeing them everyday and now it is like I am quitting cold turkey.
Once we said goodbye, I went to my classes and then headed home to read and watch Netflix.
September 11
I think I left my bed a total of... two times today? I stayed in and watched Netflix all day long because I don;t have any classes on Thursdays. I am definitely missing my family and feeling homesick now that they are gone :(
I also have a LOT of homework and studying to catch up on, but I think a day or two of moping around will hopefully get this homesickness feeling out of my system...
September 12
I had my Genetics course this morning, but instead of a lecture, we had a guest speaker present on what is going on currently in the field. He told us about how the Human genome sequencing project was competed recently, some stuff about cancer research, and then all of the new technologies that are being developed. It was pretty cool to hear about. After class I headed to the gym (Time to work off all of this free food and get back on track!) and I saw that Frieda and Eva were there, so I joined them. After going home and showering, I then met up with our Sogn group at coffee hour. Tonight was also Oslo Culture Night, where there were free events all throughout the city, so I split up from them to go check out the Beauty and the Beast musical (in Norwegian), but when I got there someone told me you had to reserve tickets. There was also an event where the Philharmonic was playing Vivaldi, but they were only letting in the first 75 people and by the time I got there, there were already too many people in line. :( I probably could have looked for something else to do, but I was alone, nothing else was really all that interesting to me, and I still feel like I am kinda in a funk. So I just went home, watched some Supernatural :) , and called it a night.