Good bye!!

So I'm back at home from Norway now. It was an amazing adventure in Norway. I was sad to leave all of my new friends, but now it's ok. I realize that I could one day go back and visit. Plus, there is the magic of Skype, so it's not so bad to keep in touch.

I really do have mixed emotions about coming home. I really miss Norway, but it felt like a fantasy dream in Norway. Nothing felt 100% real; it all felt like a dream; very surreal, but very real at the same time. However, I missed the warmth and luxury of home. Now that I'm back, I'm very comfortable and happy to be able to nagivage in the society so comfortably. However, I'm kind of having re-entry issues. The freedom I enjoyed in Norway is now gone. I'm back to being a regulated and obedient Asian daugther who has to report every action and ask permission for everything again. It's really sad to have grown and moved forward so much in Norway to be moving backwards here at home. It's as if all the skills I have acquired was of no use now. It's all very frustrating. But at the same time, I'm very happy to be at home. I'm so torn, I don't know what to make of it.

But to end this blog on a good note, I'm happy to continue with my life and head in a more defined and clear direction towards a more focused future.

Thank you to all of you who followed my blog. I appreciate it very much. You have made it worth the time I put into bloggin. I will continue to blog after this one. However, I've decided to keep that on the "down low" as I will be expressing more freely with less constraints. So, if you are so very interested in it, and are not afraid to read a few posts that are less sugar coated, feel free to look for it. Hint: it's not on blogger. Or you can ask for the web address from me if you are really interested. :)

Final and most sincere thanks for everyone's support!

Shopping in Oslo

It was a satisfying shopping experience in Oslo today! I got what I wanted to get, and holiday shopping is official DONE! Actually, I might be done with shopping for a while... Now I have to pack!

Can't sleep

I've been laying in bed for the past 3 hours and could not fall asleep. All I can think about is what I'm going to do when I go home! I feel so restless and excited! I wish I could fall asleep soon, so that I have the energy for my adventure in Oslo tomorrow!

Woohoo! Grade A times 2!

I just finished my oral presentation for my case study and I am ecstatic about my results! I got an A on my case study report and and A on my presentation. They said the report was solid and the presentation was great. So I'm as happy as can be now, especially since I was told that it was really hard to get an A here in Norway. That means my work was good! 我太开心了！

Inger also recomended that I write an article about my experiences at the Ormseter (asylum camp) and the Norwegian Language School that I did my research at for a news paper! Because it would be a good politcal message to see the situation from the inside, since I was treated as an insider, although I was doing research. So it's an "outsider's view on the inside" or something like that. It's such an amazing experience, that I will write this article. Inger said that she would help me get it published in the local news or something. I hope it works out!

Final exam

The final exam is OVER! It wasn't hard like I thought it would be. However, I think that I still was going in circles sometimes. But... I understodd the material. So I'm hoping that my writing skills conveyed that to the teacher.

The testing environment was like taking the SATs all over again, but with no confusing logic questions. It was in the gym. So when I went, everyone was just gathered in the little what seemed to be weight room. Then in the room next door, there were desks placed in rows and columns with significant spaces in between. This room was a small gym room. I noticed the court lines marked on the floor. The max time we had was four hours. Considering the environment, atmosphere and operation of the exam, I didn't feel as gloomy and "generic" as I thought it should, especially since there was people sitting there watching us take the test the whole time. But my classmates made the mood merry. In any case, I've never taken a test like this before, aside from the SATs; it was a great experience.

Anyway, the last real assignment is the oral presentation of our case study, which shouldn't be bad because the case studies are complete and turned in. Now we just have to present it. No problem.

Snow and holidays

It's snowing again today. It was really beautiful to look out the window to see nothing but pure white on the ground. Emily, Genevieve and I went for a short walk along the shopping street and beach. The atmosphere was so nice and calming, in contrast to what I've been feeling lately with the mixed feelings of going home and stress from exams and papers. It was a nice break.

Along the main shoping district, there was a band playing holiday music and a stand selling candle lanterns. Everyone was out and about and the children were so lively. I miss my sister.

After coming home, I wanted to eat Asian fried scampi, so I decided to go to Linh's shop to buy the ingredients and ask her how to make it. On my way there, I saw a concert with kids singing holiday music on stage. Families, friends and children in strollers, children on daddy's shoulders had their attention on the stage. It was such a merry sight, I had to take a moment to enjoy this comfortable feeling. But as I left, and continued to the shop, I felt so lonely. I could only feel that family warmth from others for that instand, but once I left, all I could think of was my own beloved family and friends. So I'm so ready to go home and continue with my life with the people I love.

Strange

Things aren't endig the way I thought they would. Funny how that is because it never is the way I think it would be or should be, but I always anticipate. Silly of me to do that, right?

And I've been having strange dreams about random things lately, for the past few nights in the past few weeks. I want to understand what those dreams are and why I have them, I can't even seem to remember or make out what happened in almost all of them, let alone try to understand. I know that these dreams are not good dreams though, so that's what concerns me. It's been making me uneasy. Hopefully, it's just me being homesick. That should be a simple enough reason.

Aside from that, last weekend was really fun. Glenn and Peter had their birthday parties together on Friday night. Saturday night was the Christmas/goodbye party for international students. That was really fun too. I had an excuse to wear something pretty. Here are the pictures: Click me!

Kicking my butt

This case study is kicking my butt!!

Comfort of home in Stavanger

Click here for PICTURES

I went to visit a Vietnamese friend (Van) in Stavanger this weekend. He studied at PLU for a semester last year, and we met a few times through Christina (she was on tennis). I wasn't sure what to expect because I was staying at his house with his family, especially since we had only met about three or four times at PLU before he left. But in any case, we kept in touch and I visited. I'm so glad that I took a chance and just went with it because it's one of the most wonderful experiences here in Norway so far. It makes the top three, I'd say. The comfort and warmth of home that I've been lacking was right there in that home! The family was welcoming and the food was delicious! I'm really missing that house now that I'm back in Hamar because even though I only visited for three nights and two days, the resulting bond was much stronger than just three nights and two days. And it was really sad to have such delicious food only to be welcomed back in Hamar by ramen noodles.



His family was simply amazing. His parents were so welcoming of me, even though they've never met me before or knew much about me. Heck, Van didn't know too much about me either. His girlfriend, brothers, sister and cousin didn't push me away either. Most of time there, I was home. We went out a few times to see his family, eat, oil museum, and sight seeing, but the majority of the time was spent in his home, just hanging out and watching movies (Hong Kong and other Chinese shows along with American movies). Watching Hong Kong shows with his family reminded me of when I watched it at home with my family as well. And each night, we'd (well, some of us) watch movies until the crack of dawn, and slept in the next day. It was a really nice trip; a piece of home.

I really wish they lived closer, so that it would be easier to visit a second time. But in a way, it's a good thing that they are far, because I might visit too much! :)

I was sad this morning when I ate the last breakfast there. It was so bitter, I didn't want to leave. I felt so comfortable there. I miss them.

But like I said, it was lots of fun. And fun equals PICTURES! So! Click here for the pictures!

Asylum Seekers' Camp, Norwegian Language Class

This week has been very eventful and inspiring. The highlights include my visits to the Norwegian Language School for immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers and foreigners looking for work. I also visited the Ormsetter, which is the asylum seekers camp.

I went to the language school before, last Friday, but that was just to interview the headmaster. I didn't interact much with the students. The second time was on Monday. I had an appointment to sit in on a class to observe, but the teacher was sick. So I ended up observing a different class. This one was in a computer lab where students work individually at their own pace on computer programs that utilized video, audio, voice in mic, visual, and writing to practice Norwegian language. Everyone was very curious as to why I was there, so I spend some time explaining to some people that I was there to observe and do some research for a report. I also mentioned that I was an international student at the local university. Some people tooking a quick liking to me, and invited me back to speak with them after I had moved on a bit. I was very happy to be there! Towards the end of the class, this guy named Hashim called to me from the connecting room "Hva heter du?" asking what my name is. I was a bit surprised, but I went and spoke with him for a bit. He showed me what he was doing and explained his situation. Then he invited me to visit the asylum camp. I was so happy by this invitation, mainly because I was surprised at how quickly I gained their trust! When he took me to the bus stop, he had someone else, a very nice lady named Badia, take care of me and made sure that I got there. Badia also stays at the camp. We spoke at the bus stop and on the bus. At the bus stop, a man (I think his name was Ali?) was so nice and had a really pleasant conversation with me! And then after that, when I was at the asylum, he kept poping up and I saw him everywhere. What was interesting about that day was that everyone had thought that I was new there for the language program. And when I went to the asylum camp, for those who had not spoken to me were confirmed that I was there to join them. So because of that, I think I got the kind of experience and treatment that I would otherwise not had. Everyone was so welcoming of me! I was so happy!

The next day, I went back to observe some more. This time, it was an actual class in action. It was very interesting. This girl Hoda from Sumalia was so excited to see me, she called me to sit next to her in front of the class. I had initially wanted to sit in the back to observe, but she was so eager and friendly that it was hard for me to refuse the invitation. In class, I basically followed along with them in the lesson. I had fun. I understood some Norwegian, to my surprise! During break, Hoda took me under her wing and showed me the canteen/cafeteria and we talked for quite a while about a lot! She was eager to speak with me and I was surprised a bit at how everything turned out. Her English was basically perfect with an American accent, except she has never been to the US. I thought that was very impressive. She's one of those who are inspired by their experiences, and are striving to build themselves so that they can help. She wants to be a doctor. Later on that day, I saw some others that I had met the previous day, and they were a sad, it seemed, when I said that I won't be coming back. I was actually very sad to say that because somehow, in those two days, I grew a bit attached to the people there. But, in any case, I have to move on and write my case study. The experience will definitely be forever in my heart.

Frustrated

I've received some comments in response to my post "Obama's victory, gay marriage ban" and I'm wondering how to positively express my opinions without delegitimizing others' oppinions and perspective. Initially I didn't want to write much on this topic as to avoid problems, but I've come to the conclusion that if I don't, I would be doing injustice to myself. I've always been passive about issues that could lead to conflict because I try to avoid conflict, even if it was going to make it worse for myself. But that is doing injustice. I have the freedom to express myself, so why am I not expressing myself? So, with this post, I know that I will touch an an extremely sensitive topic. I appologize in advance, knowing that there is a difference in oppinions. That, I respect. However, when you comment, I would appreciate it if you gave it some thought. I appreciate constructive comments.

To start, the best way to simply express how I feel about this issue on gay marriage is to say that I am frustrated. For a country that has made so much progress, it is so backwards. The progress is once more confirmed by the victory of the first African-American president. The backwardness is marked by the ban of gay marriages. America is supposed to be a place where everyone receives equal rights and where people should have the freedom to express themselves, provided that they don't cause harm on others' rights. However, it is not equal at all! Banning gay marriages is nothing but a filter used to discriminate against a specific group of people. Making marriage a luxury enjoyed by only heterosexual couples is creating a new form of segregation. In a nation that has evolved so much, one that has accepted so much, I am surprised that there are so many people not willing to accept a difference in lifestyle and move on. Especially in this era, there are many types of people who lead a variety of lifestyles. These lifestyles provide the person with their own sense of freedom and comfort, provided that it does not negatively affect on anothers' life. In response to the arguement that marriage is something sacred and only for a man and woman couple, I'd like to say that same sex marriage is not in anyway prohibiting opposite sex marriages. So why must people fight so hard for something that is not endangered? Not only that, but the marriages of already married homosexual couples are nulled. I think that is not much different than taking rights away by force after it's been given. I've previously used the example of giving freedom to slaves and then taking that freedom away later, but some people misunderstood my intentions. So now I will try to clarify. The act of nulling a marriage that is done and approved without the parties' consent is, like taking freedom away from slaves after they have been granted their rightful freedom. Although these scenarios are different, and radical scenarios at that, but in both scenarios, something is being given, only to be taken away later. Marriage should not be limited to marriage between a man and woman, or seen as woman and woman, or man and man marriage, but as a normal couple who strongly love each other.

This is an intense and ongoing battle, and it will not ease up unless people accept reality. I don't find acceptance for this difficult at all. Homosexuals have the same rights and freedoms, and are under the same law as other citizens. So, they should not be singled out for the topic of marriage.

International cabin trip!

If you are too lazy to read all of the details on this awesome and epic trip, you can go straight to the photos. Click here to go to the photo album!

The cabin trip was so much fun! It lasted from Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon. A really nice charter bus picked us up from the school and Frederik Monsens (the student dorms) and took us on a snowy drive that lasted about an hour. Half way there, the driver had to stop and put chains on the tires. I was really nervous about it since this giant bus was basically on ice the whole time, going up into the mountains. However, we made it there safe and sound, although not without surprises! The bus dropped us off at a small distance to the cabin, so we had to walk to the cabin. I was slipping and sliding with my backpack, Kiwi bag full of food and sleeping bag sack. Then one of the guys just surprised me by taking my sleeping bag for me, which was really nice. It made walking a lot easier, especially since we were walking in pitch blackness. The atmosphere was very exciting, yet sketchy. It felt like one of those horror movies where teenagers go to a cabin in the woods for the weekend only to be greeted by a murderer in the cabin. However, we were greeted by a cold and empty cabin.

Once we entered, everyone rushed to find the toilets (which were outhouses and not pleasant at all), started a fire to warm the cabin, claim beds, among others and the cold, empty, and creepy cabin turned into a warm, cozy and lively place for friends. There was definitely a certain vibe in the air that led to a very pleasant gathering of the international students. There was a room that got turned into the dancing/party room with music. And others hung out in the kitchen. So there was some dancing, socializing, then dinner (which was very late at night), followed by long hours of more socializing and card games. It was so very fun! I am now an honorary Indonesian! During this time, I spent a lot of time with the Indonesians and Pakistanians. So now, I feel like we are close friends.

When the majority of us decided to go to sleep, it was about 2 in the morning! And even then, I couldn't sleep! Paul didn't have a bed, so we decided to put our matresses together and share the two matresses between three people. So there was Genevieve's matress on the floor, then mine, then Afrika's. I slept between Geneveive and Paul while Afrika slept on the other side of Paul. It was the most awkward sleeping arrangement I have ever experienced, mainly because I've never slept next to a guy before. I would imagine this to be very awkward for Geneveive and Paul. Everytime I rolled to my side, I was basically invading Genevieve's space or Paul's space. Plus, Paul is tall and long, so I'd say he needs more space. But he kept really still the whole night, which was really impressive. Also, poor Afrika at the end right next to the bunks kept hitting himself into the beds! The people who refused to sleep didn't make it easy to fall asleep either. Hearing unclear voices in conversation, plus the heat of what feels like the wrath of the sun, plus the awkward arrangements made it very hard to fall asleep. However, the whole situation was pretty comical now that I think about it.

When I woke up, the first adventure of the day was brushing my teeth and washing my face. There was no running water, so I just got water from a jug in a cup and brushed outside while my mouth and face froze. After that, we just hung around the kitchen and playing card games. I saw Emily and Afrika preparing to go outside, I joined them in the snow. Then later, Am (Indonesian) and another Pakistanian friend (whose name I cannot figure out at this very moment) joined us, followed by the other Americans. During this time, many awesome pictures were taking. The most memorable pictures at this particular point are the jumping pictures. You can see them in the photo album on Facebook. Those are some awesome pictures!

After the amazing time with jumping pictures in the snow, we took a small group hike. During this hike, everyone (mainly the guys) got into a snowball fight that turned extremely intense. I got hit in the back of my head really hard by a giant and very tightly packed snowball. I was not playing in this battle, so I was pretty upset about that. But that's all fine because everyone was just having fun. After this hike, we just hung out in the cabin, eating food, socializing and playing cards again until we had to clean up the cabin and got ready to leave.

From this trip, I'd like to compliment our bus driver(s). They are extremely skilled in driving on snow and ice on narrow, winding, and steep road up to the cabin. I also made friends with other international students that had never really talked to before. I also became closer to a few others, specifically the Indonesians. It was so much fun! I'm glad that I went!

When we arrived at our appartment, I got a small package from Thanh, and it just made the end of this trip so much better!

So! Now that I have given the lengthy details about this amazing trip, you can see the awesome pictures!! Click here to go to the photo album!

Obama's victory, gay marriage ban

I'm happy that Obama won. Mainly because of the symbolic change, among other reasons. However, the victory of gay marriage ban in many states is upseting. For those who have gotten married, I would imagine it to be something like giving slaves their freedom and then to revoke that right. That's how I feel about the results, simply stated.

Epic week!

Last week was such a fantastic week, that I got caught up and forgot to blog!

At this point, the events are not as fresh in my mind as they should be, so I will just sum up with happened in the week (at leas the main points) in reverse chronological order, which means I will start with today and make my way back to last Thursday.

Today we had a guest lectuter who spoke about Mahatma Gandhi. I found it to be very inspring, even though it was a short lecture. I feel like I should be living the way he did, and following in his footsteps. But first, I should read more about him.

I also swept today, so that made me feel much more at ease with the apartment, since it's a bit more clean.

Yesterday I was at Nansen Dialogue Center for our field study. Our tast for the day was to find some American organizations or corporations that would provide funding for organizations like the Nansen Dialogue Center. The task was more difficult than I thought.

On Monday, our class was cancled because our professor lost her voice, which was sad. She seemed to be doing much better today. Since we didn't have class, I didn't do what I should have been doing... I was so determined to finish Sailor Moon! And I did! I had about 10 episodes left, each one was about 20 minutes, so it wasn't that bad. In any case, by the end of the day, I finished it. For dinner, I made fresh spring rolls to share with the other Americans that missed out on halloween. Then Genevieive was in so much pain in the stomach so I went to the hospital with her. By the time we had decided to go and arrived at the hospital, the pain was not a big problem anymore. So that wasn't a serious situation. When at the hospital, I definitely saw a difference between US hospitals and Norwegian hospitals. But then again, I don't have much experience on both sides, so my comparison might not be very accurate.

On Sunday, I just lounged around and relaxed. Which was nice considering that the 2 days before that was extra exciting!

On Saturday, Linh put up a birthday party for her boyfriend, and I was invited. It was extra fun with lots of good food! There wasn't a lot of people there, just seven of us total. I met Thi's friend (Anders) again (last time I saw him at her house when we had dinner), a Thai girl (Phun) and her Norwegian boyfriend who goes to the same school as me! What a small world! And of course I met Linh's boyfriend. The food was delicious Vietnamese food, as always since Linh cooked it. The cake was cheesecake, which was dangerously delicious. There was also some Vietnamese fruit. I ate so much that night! Here are some pictures from the birthday party:


Birthday boy and the hostess


Very attractive


The ladies

Then after that, I went to Hydranten with some friends for the halloween party. My costume with Bre was dorks, but I ended up looking like Britney Spears from Oops I Did It Again music video, or a school girl. Which was sad because Bre and I bought glasses and punched out the lenses to extra emphasize the dorkyness. Emily was a mime and Anita was a female Spiderman (or should I say Spiderwoman). I met a guy in a Batman suit who was really cool. There was also this girl that I don't know who was a vampire. I have an extra cool picture of her biting me! Over all, the night was fantastic. Anita and I did a tango in the last song of the night! Here are some pictures:


Anita and I


Roomies


Double the dork


AH! I got bit!


"Britney Spears", mime, dork


Surprise!

Friday was fantastic as well. Friday was Halloween. There was me, Genevieve, Bre and Emily here because the other Americans went to Sweden. So we had like a girl's night (again since we had an impromtu one on Thurday evening). We went grocery shopping to stuff to make fresh spring rolls and sushi. So I kind of had a mini sushi tutorial, a pretty bad one since I'm not best at making sushi. Then we all went over to Bre's place and had spring rolls. I showed them how to make it and then they could make it as they eat it. That was extra fantastic fun! Then we did face paint. I did all sorts of fantasy and pretty things on Genevieve's face like fairy and butterfly. Genevieve made me into a tiger, Bre into a scary doll, and Em into a sunflower. Then we went over to surprise Afrika and painted his face as well. That was fantastic fun! Here are some pictures:


Genevieve's first roll was a success!


Making Afrika take a study break

On Thursday we had a spur of the moment girl's night dinner with pasta bar. We had spaghetti noodles, cus cus, and shell pasta with tomato sauce and mac and cheese sauce (Gen's recipe). We also had garlic bread. That was so much fun!

So that was the last few epic days!

Immigration: more connections!

I had the best field study experience today! Well, more like yesterday since it's 2 am now. Anyway, it was at the County Council. The person we (Emily and I) met was someone from Iran. His field was immigration and dealing with integration of immigrants and other minority groups into society as well as advocating the importance and positive side of multicultural community. I asked so many questions and was so interested in his story because he immigrated to Norway from Iran about 20 years ago. His daughter also has a Vietnamese friend so he's going to connect me to his daugther and her friend. In addition, I was very much interested in a Norwegian language school/program for immigrants and he will help connect me to the people there as well! I was so excited! That is the biggest lead to my case study for now! So excited!

Sketches

So here are two more drawings. One is more of a doodle while the other is an actual sketch.


Doodle called Connected


Sketch of our lecturer for today (this one's not very good)

First SNOW in October!

This morning, as we (Emily, Genevieve and I) were walking to class, it started snowing before our eyes! And then about 10 minutes into class, there was enough snow to cover everything by 2 inches! Since our guest lecturer was stuck in traffic jam (or something like that), the whole class just went outside to play in the snow. It was so fun, and COLD! And my white jacket just made me blend in with the snow =)

Now, everything is white!

Brief pictures below...
All the pictures, click!


Before... and scroll down for 10 minutes later...


After!


My attempt at a mini snow man


Our complete miniature snow man


AH! Bre attacked me!!

HSM3 & Fun in Lillehamar

I just watched HSM3... and I'm so emotional!!! Since it won't be in theaters when I get back to the states, I HAD to watch it online, and now I'm missing everyone so much!! It brought back so much fun memories of high school, and my attachment with the HSM movies just make it worse because I LOVE them! Anyway, I'm excited to buy the dvd when it comes out! Then my collection will be complete!! Wow, I'm a really big dork, but that's ok with me!

On Saturday, a few of us wanted to spend some time in Lillehamar. We had decided to go to the event at Nansen called Open Day, which was a fundraising event to set up a school in Croatia... I think... I'm not 100% sure, but it was a fundraising event. And since we were there, we decided to see the town and the 1996 winter Olympic sites. So we did, and here are the pictures! Going up the steps for the ski jump was my workout for the next month!! It was crazy! But crazy fun!

Click here for pictures

Revised 4-year plan

So, I finally buckled down and revised my 4-year plan with the study away credits added, and shifting things around. It turns out that I had so much time that I could graduate next year. BUT!! I'm not going to because I'm going to make good use of my scholarship money and time at PLU to work toward more topics. I've added global studies and conflict resolution to my plan and I still have room in my plan for some changes!! So it's a double major (poltical science and anthropology) with double minors (global studes and conflict resolution)! I'm so excited!! Thank you IB!!

International Mix Party

This week is International Week, and yesterday, there was an event at school called the mix party. It's like a fair, where international students set up a stand to showcase their country with some finger foods and decorations. It was loads of fun!

Click here for pictures.

So much better!

I've been feeling a lot better lately. I guess it's because I've become more socially involved. For example, I've started to play soccer, meet with other Asian people. In addition, my field study is picking up, so things don't feel so stagnant and depressing anymore.

Today, my Vietnamese friend invited me to dinner at her house again. So it was us three Vietnamese girls again, doing our thing. Tonight, dinner was bun rieu, but with chicken in substitute for pork, since I don't eat pork anymore. After we ate, we just talked while watching Vietnamese music videos and shows online. It was so fun! Us three have completely opposing personalities, but we get along so well. One seems to be what Vietnamese call nhon nheo, dieu and yeu dep. Vietnanese is the best way to put it, but those three loosely translates to something like cute, adorable and loves being pretty, maybe even vain, but in a cute-sie way. The other one looks like a wild party girl and the third one seems really innocent and honest. But us three are very compatible. Maybe it's the fact that we communicate on the same wave length. But anyway, I'm really glad to have met them! They're the closest thing I have to home right now. Click here to see pictures from the dinner last time on Saturday the 18th.

I've also had orientation at one of the locations for my field study and I'm so very excited!! It was at Nansen Academy, which is a type of Norwegian folkeskole. It's a school that can be compared to a college level, but they don't have exams or certificates. The curriculum is loose and revolves around what they want to do to develop themeselves on the inside. It's very nice. It's like a point where people can take sort of "pit stop" along their road. In this academy is the Dialogue Center and Norwegian Peace Center. The two places are dedicated to peace building; the Dialogue center is more concerned about conflicts abroad while the Peace Center is more concerned with internal conflict. There are 5 of us total there, and our next appointment is tomorrow! I'm so very excited!

On Friday, I, along with others going to the county council, have appointment to have the introduction to the county council, which is the other location for my field study. This one took some time to get going because our contact person was away for a bit, but now she's back and it's ready to go. I'm very excited about this one also!

So as you can see, things are going well! I feel so busy now, and that time is speeding by way too fast! What happened to all the time that I thought would be ahead? It's almost over, and it's when I've become attatched! Anyhow, that's the way it is.

Nansen, soccer, Elverum & dinner!

This is been such an exciting week! I've had so much fun. On Wednesday, our class went to Nansen Dialogue Center, and that was amazing! I'm so excited to go there for my field study! And then Thursday afternoon, I played soccer with others from this school for... 3 hrs! I've been sedentary for so long that those 3hrs of soccer left a lot to remember. I could not get up the next morning, and even now, my body is so sore and stiff! I just have to continuously stretch it. Soccer was SO MUCH FUN! It was my first time really playing, and not just kicking the ball around to each other. According to some, they couldn't believe that it was my first time playing, so I was proud that I could get by! Soccer happens every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, so I'm going to keep playing! On Friday, I went to Elverum with Afrika to the Namibia shop. It was quite an adventure with lots of funny things. After that, I helped him with math. I wasn't sure how much I could help. He was hoping that it was not a blind person leading another blind person! And it turns out, I was not completely blind! I still remember some stuff from calculus. But sadly, not enough! I need to get back on that.

Today, I went to get groceries from the Asian store where the Vietnamese girl works. Her name is Linh. We talked a bit this time, and she invited me to her house for dinner with her gal friend. I'm really excited! This is the first time I'm doing something with someone not for a school function or something like that. There's going to be just us girls, and banh xeo, and music and talking. Most importantly, it'll be in Vietnamese! I'll have my chance to use Vietnamese agaiin! Yay! I was afraid that I would soon forget more and more, but hope still exists!

I will elaborate more on Nansen Dialogue Center later, because it's something I find very important for my stay here.

Surreal adventure in Venice

WARNING: this post will take quite some time to read!

Before I start describing the trip, I want to take a moment to thank Emily and her mom for taking such good care of me. Without their help, I would not have been able to have such a comfortable trip. Thank you both so much!

Also, I'd like to share with you the PICTURES!
Click on the links of the dates below to view the pictures from the corresponding dates.

Saturday, Oct. 4, 2008: Going to Oslo for the night to catch the early flight the next day.

Sunday, Oct. 5, 2008: The flights; day 1 in Venice: Exploring the area & trying on masks.

Monday, Oct. 6, 2008: Day 2 in Venice; walking & boat tours (with sparkling wine), delicious lunch, and yummy dinner with sparkling wine (we really like it)

Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008: Day 3 in Venice; walking around, exploring more "local" areas away from the tourist area.

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008: Day 4 in Venice; visiting the Academia (art gallery), more walking around and exploring

Thursday, Oct. 9, 2008: Day 5 (last day) in Venice; going to a hotel close to the airport for the early flight the next day.

Friday, Oct. 10, 2008: The trip home. No pictures this day because we just caught the flights, then train. Nothing too exciting for pictures.

---------------------

For this Venice trip, there's so much I want to talk about, and I'm affriad that once I start, everything will become jumbled. So, I will start with a few points, just to keep myself organized and you not confused.

01. Surreal experience; feelings
02. Sights
03. Transportation
04. Academia
05. Masks
06. Glass blowing
07. Food
08. Costs/money
09. Funny experience w/ Chinese
10. Coming back to Norway

Wow, that's a lot of points!! I will try to go through them really and briefly. I will also put up a day by day itinerary summary so the pictures and events will make more sense in a chronological method. Don't worry, I will not have this part in this post. I know that this one is going to be a novel in itself. So if you are interested, read the next post about Venice (I would appreciate it if you did, so that my typing it doesn't go to waste).

01. Surreal experience; feelings
So first, I have to say that this was such a surreal experience! I've always seen in movies and on TV of people visiting Venice and traveling. Never have I thought that I would be in Venice, Italy someday. NEVER. But there I was, and now I'm back. On the first boat from the airport to Venice, I kept thinking I can't believe I'm in Italy. I can't believe that I'm on this boat, and I'm on the Grand Canal. I can't believe that I'm seeing these sights! Even towards the end, it didn't even feel real. There was just so much, and I kept thinking that I was dreaming. The wonderful thing about this was that I was definitely NOT dreaming, and it was as real as my existence. It was amazing, at a lack for a better word. If I was as skilled with words as an author or poet, I would totally express my feelings in that way. But since I'm not either one, I'll leave it as AMAZING!

02. Sights
The first thing I noticed about the sight was the architecture. It is beautifully constructed. In addition, being able to have survived and withstand the test of time is such a remarkable thing. The frescos in churces (there were SO MANY) are gorgeous! I was astonished to find that they were made of gold as well. It was a bit of a pity for me to have seen that explosion of beautiful architecture but not have a better or more mature understanding of architecture to thoroughly appreciate it. Nonetheless, I did enjoy and marveled at the buildings and construction.

Another amazing sight is the massive amounts of people everywhere! I couldn't believe there could be that many people in one place at the same time. In addition, the fact that the amount of people can and do exceed the amount that I saw was something that I couldn't really fathom. Everywhere you went that had to do with tourism, you would bump into people. Also, you couldn't really stop to look at anything for too long along the streets or you would get run over or cause a traffic jam. We discovered that earlier in the morning, before 9am, there would be less people, a dramatic change in numbers. From the lack of people, Venice look different than when covered by bodies. It was much more peaceful and we had more time to take in the sights and look at shop displays and such. It was definitely an advantage to wake up early for this. Plus, the air was more fresh and the feeling of claustrophobia disappeared.

In addition to the architecture and massive amounts of people, the sights over a bridge are beautiful. You can see plenty of these sights in my pictures. Imagine you are walking over a bridge, and stop in the top of the arch; the midway or center. Look both ways down the canal. You will see, for the most part, tall buildings with water in between. And in this water, you can see a bit of reflection from the buildings. Sometimes, depending on how big the water way is, you can see boats "parallel parking" or there would be a Gondela traffic jam, or something like that. Maybe, you will see just the empty water way; that's also nice. Other times you can see that at the top of a building, there is a beautiful terrace type of construction with beautiful plants growing. Plus, you will most likely see vines growing and flowing down the sides of the buildings. It's such a beautiful sight.

Another point worth mentioning is the "front porch". It was just something so odd and out of place for me to see on my first day when I saw people sitting in front of their door reading the papers and in front of them was nothing but water rather than grass. Of course, this is real and normal here, but I had never seen that before. It just took me by surprise.

In addition, it seems like graffitti is everywhere! I've taken lots of pictures of tags as proof. I was a bit sad to see them, and so much of it in so many places. I also saw a lot of buildings that were under construction or in bad shape but was not under construction. These would probably be the only negative reaction I got; the tagging and old buildings that didn't seem like they were going to last. Although, it's a fact of life. There will always be hooligans around, and globalization comes with the good and the bad. Also, things get old and time is not something you can defeat.

03. Transportation
Within a 24 hour period, I can say that I have experienced 5 different modes of transportation continuously. It started with the train from Hamar to Oslo. Then at the airport, we were taken by bus from our gate to get to our plane at the Oslo Airport. That's two. Then we took the plane of course. So that's three. Upon arriving in Italy, we took a boat to Venice. That's four. After that we walked on foot (with our luggages, yes). So that's five.

All of the traveling was both what I expected, maybe even worse at times, and not as bad as I expected. The train was ok. I've gotten use to that. My stomach didn't feel too well on the bus, eventhough it lasted about 5 minutes. It was probably because I was tired, since it was about 5 in the morning. The flights were not as bad as what I had expected at all! I think I've just gotten use to that like I did with the train, too. On the two flights to Italy, I took motion sickness pills, but I still got a bit sick. However, it was not too bad. The boat to Venice was ok, too, to my surprise. The walk to our hotel was a mess. We didn't really know where to go. We all had an idea, but of course, we were still a bit lost. Especially in the thick crowd of push and shove. Imagine trying to get through a thick crowd with luggage. However, we made it and everything was fine. The boat tour was ok too. I didn't get too sick on that because I sat on the outside, so the fresh air helped. I learned on my weeklong excursion with my class, when we went to Kristiansund, that if I start to get sick in a boat, I should go up to get some fresh air. That will help, and that is true.

On the way back, I didn't take motion sickness pills, and found that I did better on the plane witout them. I can't say the same about the boat though. My head was spinning on the way to the airport! But the plane was the most pleasant I've had, since I didn't really get sick. The train back was better than usual, as well.

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised that traveling didn't affect me as badly as I had anticipated for the majority of the time.

04. Academia
There's so much going on in this art gallery that I don't even know if I will be able to explain it right. So I've a link to a review of the place, so you can read for yourself. Review of Academia

As for my own experiences, I'd say that this place has such valuable pieces. It's not a glamorous gallery where most people would enjoy at first glance. However, if you are a genuine art lover, it's definitely worth visiting. At first I tried to take everything in, and reading about every piece but towards the 7th room, I got really overwhelmed and artists and pieces and styles were starting to get jumbled together, so I decided to just observe instead. I have to say that taking IB art for the two years has given me a good basis to enjoy and appreciate this gallery. I don't think that I would have experienced it quite the same way if I had not taken IB art. Thank you so much Ms. Drumheller! I was thinking about you the whole time at the gallery and when I was thinking about art and architecture! If you are reading this, Ms. D., I highly recomend you introducing Venetian glass blowing (more info on this, please continue to read below), mask making (more info on this, please continue to read below), and architecture to the IB art class, just so they can think about it. If anybody is interested, it could really take them somewhere meaningful.

05. Masks
Mask making is HUGE in Venice. The history is that back in the day, (yes, when dinos roamed the Earth, just kidding) there was Carneval, which means "farewell to meat". It originated long ago as a 2-month-long party leading up to Lent (now it's only 10 days). In 1700s (Venice was the party town), masks were to conceal the idenity of the nobles who performed acts that were not accepted at home.

Now, masks are a must have item in terms of souvenirs, so of course, I bought some. There are a large variety of mask designs. Some cover only the eyes, while others cover half the face. There are full faced masks as well. The decorations on the different types also vary; some have feathers, glitter, embossing type gel, themes, colors, cloth, gold, wiring, and so much more. The combinations and possibilities of masks are endless! I've seen so many that I liked that I didn't even know which one to buy. Of course, the more authentic and well crafted ones were more expensive. I wanted a decent one, but not one that would make me bankrupted. The average touristy ones could range from 8-15 euros. Better touristy ones could go up to be in the thirty euros. The really good ones could be very pricey. I think the one Emily bought was around 100 euros. Since I couldn't go all out like that, I ended up with an average touristy one.

I really want to have a small masquerade ball where people come dressed up with a mask. That would be so fun. I'm thinking of having a Christmas Masquerade party with some close friends. That would be fun. I didn't buy a lot of masks, but I'm sure that people could get them around a costume store or make a simple one, or even paint their faces. That would be so fun! But I have a feeling that not many people would be into that, especially since it's a theme more fit for Halloween, which I will not be around for. Anyway, it was a good thought. I could probably do it with about 5 close friends, that would be fun.

06. Glass blowing
Glass blowing is also a big attraction in Venice. On the island of Murano, that's where all the glass blowing factories are. Glass blowing was restricted to be only in Murano to prevent fires and to keep the secrets of glass blowing there. Now, it's become a huge attraction. You can make so much with glass; vases, beads, jewelry, objects, basically anything. I got 2 hair sticks (like chopsticks for your hair to keep it up) where the decoration on the top was made of glass. I took lots of pictures of many things made of glass. You'll be amazed at how creative these people get. I loved the gold fishes in the clear tank. Later I saw variations of this; gold fish in globe, fountain, water pump, drop of water, a cat, ornament and so much more! I have a picture of a collection of goldfish in clear objects: there's one in a cat, watching a small tank with another gold fish in it. This tank was under a water pump faucent that had a drop of water coming out with a gold fish in that drop of water. It was so CUTE, how could I not take a picture? There was also a series of giant art supplies: paintbrushes, strokes of paint, color palet, etc. I have a picture of that too.

07. Food
I had the best spaghetti with meat sauce EVER! I was so amazing; I'm totally salivating right now just thinking about it. It was simply delicious! I also had spaghetti with seafood. That was also DELICIOUS! We also had sandwiches and snacks and stuff, and they were also very yummy. We also ate at a "self-serve cafeteria" place. That was an interesting experience. At the other places we had been to, we were served smaller and good portion size, but at this place, the portions were HUGE. I couldn't finish my meal, which I felt bad because I was wasting so much food!

Another food item worth mentioning is the fresh fruit! Along the tourist street (Ruga) on the west side of the Rialto bridge, there are fresh fruit stands where one cup of fruit costs between 1-2.50 euros. They were so good, I wanted to have one each day.

GELLATO! It was everwhere! No joke! And it was delicious!

There was also the fish market. This is the equivalent of Pike Place Market in Seattle. There's seafood, veggies, fruits, spices and other things related to cooking. It was a really fun sight to walk through.

Most of the food was paid for by Emily's mom, and I'm really appreciative of that. Thank you so much Emily and Emily's mom for taking good care of me, and feeding me! This conveniently leads me to my next topic...

08. Costs/money
So, this is the hot potato of the trip. Emily and I had planned on taking a trip somewhere during our week-long break, and we had decided on Venice. I had thought that we would have a kind of adventure. However, plans change. Emily's mom also wanted to visit during this time, it came out to be that her mom would come with us, which was fantastic for Emily, since her expenses would be covered. The problem was that I didn't have enough money to buy the ticket in time, and etc. with other money related issues. I'm sure you can use your imagination on this one. Fastforward, Emily's mom ended up buying my ticket first (which I would pay back later), and the hotels, tours and most of the meals. This was so very nice of her, and I'm forever grateful! I would not have been able to have such a comfortable experience in Venice without their help.

Now that I've expressed a bit of my gratitude, I want to say that the charges for exchanging money and converting it and etc. outrageous!! Also, eventhough things didn't seem that expensive, my money was flowing out like water! I couldn't believe it! It turned out that I was comparing prices with Norway, so of course, items in Venice generally seemed cheaper, but in comparison with US dollars and prices (which was the origin and most important point), it was expensive! 'Nuff said.

09. Funny experience w/ Chinese
I'm finding that Chinese has become a really big part of me. My thoughts are sometimes in Chinese, or what I know in Chinese. Sometimes when I mutter to myself, it would be in Chinese. So I'd say that by watching all of those Chinese and Taiwanese dramas are starting to pay off! I think that's pretty hilarious. What's more hilarious is that ever since I started to be a bit more serious about learning Chinese, it's become useful and poping up everywhere; at PLU, in Norway and then Venice!

The story is that while walking around, we stumbled upon a Chinese convenience store. I was overly excited about this, naturally. So I had to go in. I was astonished to find that I understood a big part of the conversations between the shop owners and other Chinese people in the shop. I was elated by this. I was also very happy to see familiar products and noticed that they were cheaper than in Norway. So I decided to come back later to buy some stuff to take back with me to Norway, since it was close to our hotel. So when I returned, I just spent a long time walking around, and I mean a LONG time because the shop was really small but it took me 30 minutes to finish examining the whole shop. In the store, there was a woman, and her two daughters (one was about 12-ish and the other was 6-ish). Towards the end, the older sister came to ask me if I needed any help in Italian language. I understood what she asked but I didn't know how to answer in Italian, so I spoke using the English language to say that I didn't speak Italian. Then her little sister and her cracked up laughing. I guess they had a bet if I was Italian or a tourist, and the big sister lost or something. That's just my assumption. Then when I approached the register, the two sisters were still playing around and laughing, and that made me miss my sister so much! So I just looked at the younger one, and I can understand how she would take that as weird/creepy. As she was leaving, she said to her big sister in Chinese "Why does she keep looking at me like that?" I didn't respond to that, and just smiled. While at the register, the big sister was next to her mom. She asked her mom if the salted plums were that good because I assume she doesn't like them much. Now, just to make it clear, they still don't know that I understand everything they were saying. Towards the end, I told the sister "Can you help me tell your little sister that I was looking at her like that because she's cute?" Now imagine the mom: she just froze, mouth wide open in surprise. Then the daughter: froze and was extra embarassed. They were completely shocked that I could speak Chinese. I felt like the mom was more pleasant with me for the rest of the time, which was nice.

Later, I think the next day or the day after next, we decided to have Chinese for dinner, because we had seen 2 Chinese restaurants around. We decided to go to the one closer to our hotel, and here we have another funny Chinese experience. The guy that was serving us spoke to us in English, because we were clearly tourists. Then I look to the end of the space and see a family of about 6 or 8 people eating dinner. When our server joined them, I assumed that the the family who owns the restaurant. And guess what? The two sisters from the grocery shop from earlier were eating at that table! It was such a coincidence! But then again, the two places are relatively close, and to have the Chinese grocery store and restaurant to be owned by the same people is not too surprising, but it was still very funny. The little girl bumped into me while I was going to the restroom, and she just froze and said "Hi" and practically ran away from me. I guess buy this point, they already knew the story because two ladies served us and they were speaking Chinese with me. It was so awesome! Li Bin, aren't you proud of me? 谢谢你的帮忙在PLU的时候！

10. Coming back to Norway
Finally, I have reached the end... for now. The end wound down pretty slowly, which was nice. I didn't have the feeling of AH! It's alreaded ended? What happened?

On the way back, my motion sickness was very tame, and I actually enjoyed the flights back to some extent. However, I kept thinking to myself If I was on a different flight I could be home HOME! But I'm not. I'm only going back to Norway, not the US. So even though I was glad to return to a familiar environment, I became extremely homesick! The afternoon of our return, I basically lost it. I got so homesick, that I watched dramas until I could no longer bear to open my eyes so that I would not think of home. This was a stupid idea because the drama is one of the biggest reminders of home and my best friend. So I got even more depressed. The next day was a disaster. My felt horrible all day, both physically and emotionally. I contintued to watch the shows and miss home even more. In the afternoon, when Afrika visted, I could not keep it together. I had to excuse myself and go lay down. My head hurt, it was pounding, and my stomach was not doing so well either. Then, I could not fall asleep. It was horrible! The next morning, Sunday, I had to express everything to Olesya. I wanted to not mention it because I didn't want to bring sad feelings, but I needed to get it off my chest. So Sunday was a much better day. Olesya also sent me new Chinese music and news, so I felt a lot better.

Everything's all good now. I pull myself together and got a grip again on reality. I'm back on track and ready to face my projects and classes here in Norway.

-------

If you have read this whole post, THANK YOU! The time I spent writing it did not go to waste. I also thank you for taking interest in my experiences. It means a lot that my attempt at sharing is successful. I also want to compliment on your patience to read all of it. It's not exactly a short post. In fact, most of my posts aren't a 2 minute update, so I appreciate those who are reading. Thank you!

Back from Venice!

Hello all!

I am back from Venice! It was an amazing and surreal adventure. I never thought that I would be able to go to anywhere and experience anything like I am with this study away program! It never occured to me to go to Venice, EVER, and it never occured to me to go to Norway either. But here I am in Norway and there I was in Venice, having a blast! I can't believe it.

For now, I will only put up the links to the pictures of the trip. I still need to write the details later, but for now, the pictures! Some have captions and some don't. I wish I had the patience to write captions for all of them (and the memory), but I don't. So the pictures are in my Picassa album.

CLICK HERE to go to my Picassa Album

You can see all the albums from before as well. I have one folder for each day. So basically, you can follow my footsteps (kind of) on a day to day basis.

The written details will follow. I promise!

Nostalgia

I've been looking at pictures from the past, and it's making me very nostalgic. I've been missing people that I'm close to, but now I'm starting to miss many people from high school and the fun times. Even though I wasn't really close friends with many people, and didn't spend much time with anyone outside of school, I still miss many many people. If any of you from KM are reading this, I MISS YOU!

Also, I've been doing lots of reading and no drama watching. All week, I haven't seen much of my Chinese/Taiwanese shows, and now that I've pretty finished with most of my reading and taking a break, I don't have much to do without those dramas. I've realized how much my life has been revolving around watching dramas. I'm wondering if that is healthy because I'm basically escaping reality when I watch dramas, which is a lot of the time. I should find some other activity besides watching dramas to occupy my time. It might be healthier. I should look more into the presidential elections. Yes, I will do that.

2 days until Venice!

Tomorrow Emily's mom will be arriving, and the day after (Saturday) we will head out to Oslo and catch our flight at early morning of Sunday. I am so excited! I can't believe that I am going to Venice soon! I would never have thought of going there before. In fact, it never occured to me that I would be traveling like this. It's a bit unphathomable. Is that even a word? Even right now, I am in Norway and will be going to Venice soon, I still can't believe it.

I hope all goes well for the week.

Appeals court & blacklight

Our class visited the local appeals court today, and I have to say, it was an interesting experience indeed. This was my first time visiting a court room at all, so everything was new to me. It wasn't much different than what I had imagined except that it was smaller. I noticed that the only image in the whole room was the logo of, what I assume, the municipality or government.

The system was also a bit different than what I had imagined. First of all, it was really small scale and the structure was pretty simple. Everything that seemed logical to be there, was there. There are three levels to the court system.

1) First Instance Courts
2) Appeals Courts (there are 6 total, if I remember correctly)
3) Supreme Court (there is only one)

All the courts basically deal with all the issues because there is not a "specialized" court. These courts consider to main issues: criminal and civil disputes. There are judges: president judge, and x-number of lay judges. There are also 10 members of the jury. I was surprised to hear that the lay judges do not have to dress formally for the occasion. Nor does the defendent and a few other exceptions of people. I had the impression that since this was a formal issue, everyone would dress formally, but no. Some are allowed to dress informally so that they are comfortable.

The point that really shocked me was that the defendent can lie. They have the right to keep silent, refuse to answer, and lie. However, if the witnesses lie, then that is breaking the law. I was shocked to hear this.

Here is the layout of the courtroom that I visited. Sorry that my drawing isn't very easy to comprehend. I was trying to map it out while listening to the lecture at the same time. Click on the picture for a bigger view.

I sat at the prosecuting lawyer's seat.

So that's the brief impression from the visit to the local court room.

On another note, I discovered why some public restrooms have blacklight rather than normal light. I first noticed this at a shopping mall in Kristiansund. I thought, "Wow! These people like psychadelic lights!" I also thought that it was a bit irrational since it alters colors and perception completely. It was weird; my lips looked black like in a horror movie! But today, while at the city hall, the bathrooms were also lit with blacklight. So Emily went to ask why, and the explanation is that the blacklight makes seeing the veins difficult, thus discouraging drug use. I found that very interesting! And of course, that makes perfect sense to do that, now that I understand.

PS. Sunday morning is the begining of Emily's and my adventure in Venice! I'm so excited! I can't believe that it is already here in a few days. Time flies by so quickly. It seems like I had just arrived, and now it's almost half way over. I've made so many wonderful memories, and met such inspiring people here that the thought of ever leaving now is painful.

Tree Sketch

So here is the long await tree sketch that I had mentioned way earlier. It is still not finished (surprise), but it will eventually be finished. I have looked into the technique for mass leaves techniques. Here is what it is for now.

COLD!

This morning is the coldest morning that I have experienced here in Norway so far. The fog is so thick that when I took out the trash, I felt like I was walking into a cold steam room rather than outside. When I breathed out, it wasn't just a gush of smoke that came out. This gush of smoke was thick and wet, almost as if I had spit out and not simply exhaled.

I am now in the school library. I came to school early today because I needed to scan some of my notes so that they all could be in one place on my laptop. I've experienced the magic of Microsoft Office OneNote and I LOVE IT! So now, I'm taking all of my notes on my laptop on OneNote and it's so perfectly convenient. I can flip my laptop screen around and down to write as if it were a notebook or I can just type like a normal laptop. This is the reason why I'm scanning all of my notes in. Before I discovered the magic of OneNote, I had written my notes. Now to keep it all in one place, I just have to scan and put them in OneNote. It's amazing.

Well I've got 10 minutes until my class starts, so I better get going or I'll be late!

P.S. Since I've discovered the scanner and figured out how to use it (easy since it was in English), I can scan my drawing (that is still not finished... sad).

Busy week

I can't believe how fast this week passed! Last I remembered I was coming back from the week-long excursion with my class. Now, its the end of the week again and I just turned in another essay!

Let me see if I can recount some of what happened this week. Monday night we had Emily's belated birthday party. That was fun. She bought alcohol for the first time (full drinking age is 20, and she just turned 20). The party was all the Americans, plus Afrika and Gerson (these two have become our best friends). There were lots of snacks (I shared the Asian snacks that Olesya sent), and margaritas. The party was in our apartment; there were 9 people total in our small apartment, so it was definitely fun!

The rest of the week was just any other week with assignments and class. There wasn't really anything out of the ordinary. So this week was pretty boring aside from the group presenation for the excursion and Emily's birthday party.

My friend Afrika just informed me of an event at the beach tonight where skating competition, dance performance and dj competitions are invovled. So that's my plan for tonight.

Right now, I am going to take a nap. I just finished my essay for the week, and I have a massive headache. So a nap is much needed.

Excursion Roros-Trondheim-Kristiansund, thinking, cooking

This weeklong excursion with my Society and Culture class was so exhausting, but I had so much fun! And of course, I took many pictures, although not as much as I normally would have. I tried to keep my camera under control, but not quite good enough I suppose. I'm trying a new approach this time in retelling the excurstion. I will break it up into days with a link to an online web album rather than having the pictures here. This way, I don't have to crowd up this blog with a thousand pictures. Doesn't that sound simpler and less painful? I thought so. Make sure you pay attention to the captions to pictures because I will explain as best as I can from what I remembered (if you don't see captions, that's because I haven't gotten there yet, and you should come back later to check for updates on captions).

So, I tried really hard to keep the blog simple but I realized that it's a very hard task. So you will have a lot to read if you love me and are dedicated to know what is happening here. Of course, you can always skim through and then look at all the pictures. That would give a pretty good recount of the trip.

I have one request. Please comment about my trip if you are reading. If you found something to be particularly intersting, let me know. If you have any questions, ask away and I will try hard to explain (well, if you come back for the explantion). In any case, I really want feedback. So without further ado, here is my novel:

Monday, September 8th
Click here to see all pictures from day 1



This was day 1 of the excursion; the beginning. We traveled by train to Roros. Upon arriving, we had a communal lunch consisting of bread, cheese, cream cheese, and orange juice at a park. This was my first time having brown cheese. I found it to be sweet with a carmalized taste; it wasn't bad, but I didn't love it either. Plus, it was too rich for me. Being lactose intolerant and eating such a rich tasting cheese was not too pleasant of an experience, but it was a good experience nonetheless. After lunch, we had a walking tour/lecture of Roros including Roros Church and the Mining Museum. The history of this little mining town was very interesting. It was destroyed so many times with the Swedish invasions, yet it survived. Amazing. After this lecture, we had some free time. Genevieve, Emily and I decided to walk to the largest desert in Scandinavia (our lecturer/tour guide mentioned this). It had desert sand, but it can't really be considered a desert since it gets double the rainfall on desert standards. Anyway, we walked there; it should have been a 15-minute walk. We were unsuccessful, since we never got there; but we did manage to see it paralell to the high way that we were on. We just couldn't figure out which trail to go on off of the highway; turns out, all of them would have brought us to the desert. Sorry Hork, I was going to get you some sand. After this failed adventure, we returned to the town and explored some shops. I got some local tea here to bring back to the US as souvenirs; which of you lucky people are going to get this tea I wonder? At this point, we were all exhausted and it was getting even colder than it already was, so we just arrived early at our designated restaurant for dinner. This dinner was good; paper-think crackers and jam made of berries whose name I fail to remember, meatballs, potatoes, mushed green peas. I was reluctant to eat the meatballs because I wasn't sure if there was pork in them. However, the person serving us assured me that there was no pork in the meatballs. After dinner, we had tea and coffee. Then it was off to our next destination - Trondheim! The train ride was pretty interesting. Emily and Genevieve were still playing the fortune teller game, and then had moved on to MASH afterwards. The Tanzanians were very excited about this game because they had never played it before. I couldn't believe they were still excited about the game even when all the fortunes had been done; they were so animated and rowdy, it was hard for me to concentrate on my book, even though I was determined to finish it on this ride. The fun was so contagious that the other people in our car of the train (except for one guy who was trying to read his psychology book) got involved in the game. This was definitely a memorable moment.


Tuesday, September 9th
Click here to see all pictures from day 2



This was the first morning that I woke up in a hostel, and my fear stemmed from the movie had disappeared already. Everything felt secure; very much like living in a dorm, except there were 4 people to one room and there was a guy in our room. I was taken aback when Inger just said for us to group together and fill up the rooms and there was no mention of girls being separated. She didn't really care if males slept in the same room as girls; she trusted us to behave ourselves, which was nice - putting the responsibility in our own hands. Breakfast was decent.

That day, we were scheduled to have a walking lecture through Trondheim before lunch. However, the politician from the next day had called to reschedule, so we had this talk on Tuesday instead of Wednesday. I was very much interested in this talk, about the politics and what not, but for some reason I was so tired and I kept zoning out!! I as so angry with myself, but I couldn't help it. Towards the end, I had some food and perked right up - weird! Either way, one good talk had gone to waste on me, and I was so disappointed in myself. After the talk, we had lunch; another communal lunch that consisted of bread and cheese once more. This time, we had bread and cheese as the main course once again. Our location this time was at a dock. It was very nice; I fed the pigeons. Inger also bought us some fish balls that were DELICIOUS! The fish were caught and made fresh in the area. The restaurant that also sells fresh fish was right on the water where we had lunch.

After lunch, we went to Nidaros Cathedral for another walking tour/lecture. This one was really boring and the tour guide lady was a bit obnoxious for me. She presented herself with a snobby attitude and the way she spoke the whole time made me uncomfortable. Others, including my professor agreed with us on this one. The information was very interesting, although I felt like it was presented in a very lavish and glamourous manner; that made it a bit disinteresting for me. In addition, the presentatino of the place, although breathtakingly beautiful, was a bit exagerated. Inger's parents got married here and all the corronations are also held here. The end of this tour was continued immediately by another tour at the Arch Bishop's Palace next door. This one wasn't quite as interesting, but it was toned down a bit. The thing that I remembered most from this time was the bathroom; it was HORRIBLE! It was a small space, with the smell of a poopie diaper that was so potent that it could be stored in a jar. The worst part was that even though we notified them to take out the trash, it was still like that the next day (it was actually worse the next day because it had intensified). Upon leaving the Arch Bishop's Palace, Emily, Genevieve and I went to see the Royal Jewels Gallery. They were also "glamourized" and very beautiful. Although, I can't imagine anyone wearing such items, but it was there. They don't wear that anymore. On the opposite side of the building there was an art exibition; of course I had to see that! They seemed to be interpretations of the bible, but with an impressionistic approach that seemed almost violent, to me. The pieces that caught my attention the most were pieces of the clay collection. The artist used cracked effects in clay to make bevels on canvas and frames. There was one with a ripple, like water ripple circle, with the silhoulet of a person emerging from the center of the ripple. There was also a life-sized sculpture of a man made of clay using the same cracked clay effect. There were many other pieces using the bevels, but the two that I mentioned were the two that caught my attention the most. I had attempted to analyze the method and tehcniques in creating this effect, but I failed miserably. I wish I had the opportunnity to speak with the artist about this. I really wanted to know how s/he achieved that effect. I had to let this go when it was time to leave the place. We had free time for the rest of the afternoon, so Genevieve, Emily and I (from now on I shall refer to us 3 as "us 3") walked around town, looking for a place to have dinner. However we were discouraged to eat out by all the prices. Even the sandwiches were pretty darn expensive. We ended up getting salads from the grocery store. Along the way, I saw a really pretty scarf, so I had to buy it. I had intended to buy a scarf, and it was so nice to see this one because it was perfect, just what I was looking for.

That evening, when we had finished dinner and showered, we had nothing to do. Us 3 didn't want to go back into town because our hostel was too far of a walk into town, and there is a giant hill we have to climb on the way back, and I am not exagerating about this hill; it is HUGE. We wanted to go to town to see the night life because the majority of Trondheim's population is students. We had a recomendation to a place where it was THE place, but of course we didn't go. So we just lounged around the hostel. When Peter came back he joined us in the lounge area. At this point we were talking about homosexuality, so we told him our topic of conversation. He immediately expressed his views and BAM! We have a debate. It was Peter (con) vs. Us 3 (pro). This was very intense, so intense that it dragged on until 11pm when the hostel turned off all the public area's lights. Then we contintued the debate in the stairway, which went on to a little past 1am. Our professor ran into us in the stairway and joined our debate; she was pro. I enjoyed this debate, however, it was very frustrating because some of the facts he used to support his arguements were irrelevant, untrue, and unnecessary. He brouht reproduction into the debate; how women were meant to to give birth. So by not exercising these birthing muscles, they would not be able to give birth, which is not true. If this were the case, no one would be able to have first borns. Secondly, when he explained the process of giving birth, it was way off. The diaphram is not used to push the baby out. In fact, it's the muscles of the uterus. In addition, the diaphram does not by any means help push; it's not even connected; it's separated by the stomach! Another point that frustrated me was that he brought in animals and children. I do not see a connection between beastiality and homosexuality. In addition, I do not see the connection between children sex and homosexuality. I was just shocked. Anyway, we agreed to disagree and that was the end of that night. However, that was not the end of this topic. It lingered throughout the trip, until now. There are misunderstandings now, and I just want them to let that go and open up their minds to what is happening.

Wednesday, September 10th
Click here to see all pictures from day 3



The tour from Tuesday was rescheduled to Wednesday. So we walked around the town and saw beautiful scenery. Elena and Anna were only able to join us for this day of the whole week-long trip because they couldn't affort the cost of the whole trip; transportation, lodging, and food. They are part of this program, which means they need to be able to experience the whole program the same way as the others and be allowed the same access. I thought that was unfair that the program didn't cover them. This excludes them from the group and totally takes away from the experience from a native's point of view. I think that the program should have paid for their expenses since they were part of the program, or at least help in some part. Anyway, we walked around and went to an old military base. We visited prison cells during the war and where they executed people. The scenery was beautiful, although the history of the place was a bit scary. Then we went to the university where we saw models of underwater tunnel bridge that will be way longer than the current existing one in Norway. We went through this underwater tunnel on our way back to Hamar. It was an interesting experience. At the university, we also got the free student care package and got lots of little goodies. I was very excited about that. Inger was happy too. "If it's free, I think we should go get it." (Inger, 2008). That cracked me up because that's something I would say. I also got to sit on one of the glider planes. there are pictures if you go to the album. It was amazing! After that, we walked nearby the Nidaros Cathedral and Arch Bishop's Palace that we visited the day before. I had to use the restroom, and the Arch Bishop's Palace was the closest. I was disappointed to smell the poopy diaper once again.

We visited a music museum. It was great because our tour guide played on various instruments for us along the tour. I'm thinking she's a music student or professional or something of the sort. She was good. Then we had lunch in the garden place there, it was cool. As I explored the garden area, there was an echo spot, and I had lots of fun with that. Luckily I was by myself, or else the others would think I was crazy to be so giddy about that. Anyway, I had loads of fun making echoes.

That afternoon, we were on our way to Kristiansund by boat. It was my first time on a boat, so I was very excited. However, i was also afraid that I would get sick because I get motion sickness easily. If I can get myself carsick while driving, then I do not doubt a boat. So, during the boat ride, I did get kind of sick, but I decided to go up for some fresh air; surprisingly that helped. I wasn't sick anymore and the sight was gorgeous! I'm glad I just went up.

When we arrive in Kristiansund, it was dinner time. There were plans for a communal dinner where everyone cooked a part of the meal. There was a lot of confusion about this meal, but it all turned out ok. We had spaghetti with spaghetti sauce, ground beef, chicken (I cooked it), salad, stirfry and rice. It was a good meal.

On another note, I noticed that the Tanzanians, especially Peter were keeping a bit of a distance from us 3. I'm pretty sure it was from the debate. It was kind of sad, but there's not much I can do if that's how they receive it.

Thursday, September 11th
Click here to see all pictures from day 4



The events of Thursday include the following, in chronological order:

(1)walk throught he old ship harbor with a talk about the history of the fishing in Kristiansund;

(2)walking along the water front to reach the Petro Center. Along the way, Inger bought us dried fish to try out because that is part of Kristiansund's hisory. The dried fish is exactly like the dried fish that I eat from Vietnam/Cambodia, except the one that I had in Kristiansund was not salted;

(3)A talk about the history of the oil industry and demonstrations using models on how it all works. The first thing we saw was a dinosaur display. There was also a really cool room with a green theme. It's in the pictures;

(4)Lecture at Vest Base about their company and the physical constructions of machinery involved in the oil platforms and what it takes to provide for all of this. We also got a driving tour through the site, which was HUGE. We walked through a few giant buildings and got explanation about the machinery involved in oil extraction. It was all very interesting; I wish I understood all the technical aspects of it to completely understand. I guess I'm going to have to spend some time research on that.

(5)The dinner for this day was also another communal dinner. After what happened the day before with dinner, I didn't want to be a part of it anymore, but I wanted to make sure that I cooked the chicken again because chicken is the hardest meat to cook correctly, and I wanted to be sure that it was. So I cooked it in my professor's cabin to avoid all the crazyness. It was peaceful; I had my music and cooking. I'm getting pretty good with cooking - I am so proud of myself!

(6)After dinner, us 3 and the other Americans decided to go to the water front by our motel. We were just in time to see the sunset, the end half, but it was still beautiful! I was frustrated that my camera was not capturing what I saw in real life, but it was ok. The pictures still looks nice.

Friday, September 12th
Click here to see all pictures from day 5



So here is the long awaited section: the last day of the excursion! The day started with a talk with a lady from the municipality of Kristiansund followed by a long hike around town and up mountainous areas to reach the water onces again after passing through a tower to show ships the location of the island from back in the day and a huge cemetary. This was a long hike, and I mean HIKE! Everyone got a really good workout that day. I liked it; I knew I was fit since I wasn't too tired out from it all. When we reached the water, the hike was so worthwhile! The sight was so serene, I just wanted to sit there until we left, which I kind of did. After that we hiked back into town, and had ice cream. By that time, everyone had to use the bathroom so bad, it was epidemic. Not really, but I just wanted to illustrate our need to use the water closet. After that, we had some time before dinner, so we just walked around the mall. I wanted to find a side sling purse, but couldn't find one that I liked, which was good since everything was extra expensive. While I was walking around, I bought other presents for people, so basically all my shopping for the holidays is finished! Yay! My parents also called while I was wandering around the mall. It was so nice to hear from them because the whole trip had worn me out so much I just needed some familiar comfort and a phone call from home was just perfect!

The end of the trip

So to sum it all up, it was am amazing and epic trip. I thouroughly enjoyed myself and learned a lot! More about things that were not on the objectives. What I noticed was that everywhere I went, everything pretty much stayed the same, creating a familiar environment that was continuous throughout the country. I liked that. It's like where ever you go within the country, you know that you are in Norway and close to home regardless of how far you are. All the shops had the same names and sold the same items. So Norway is a very uniformed country. I also noticed that the are very laid back. Things are taken as they come without much rush. And when change comes, they don't immediately object. Instead, they incorporate it into what is currently there as a means for an easier transition. For example, this can be seen through language, and culture along with what is categorized as controversial issues such as homosexuality, prostitution and homelessness. Everyone is pretty much in agreement with all matters and that is such a nice pace to keep peace. I like it. I can see a bright future. I think that I would enjoy living here. However, I would eventually get restless with the fact that government is such a big part of everything, eventhough there is a balanced harmony in the relationship between the people's businesses and the involvement of the government. Not much is privatized, and sometimes, I think that isn't a bad thing.

This trip had made me thing a lot and question some of my beliefs, which is the point. I'm glad that I took a chance and followed through with the program.

Saturday
When I arrived home (in Hamar) at 5am, I basically passed out after unpacking. When I woke up, half the day had already passed. I tried to get it together but I still felt really disoriented.

That night, I went to a joint birthday party for Daria (an international student) and Jamal (a Norwegian-Somalian student). It was fun and very laid back. People brought their own alcohol if they wanted to drink. I brought grapes and some other friends brought juice, so that was nice. The music wasn't amazing, but ok for dancing if you felt like it.

Peter wanted to show me his room. When I went, Joseph, Veronica and Godfrey were there. They were very curious about something and they had to ask me. They asked if I was married, and I said no. So they asked if I was to be married soon, and I said not soon but in the future. So they wanted to know why I was married on facebook. I explained that it was an inside joke between my best friend and I, and I don't think thy quite get it. So now, the misunderstanding got way deeper. I hope it doesn't continue like this. But it's up to them. They can think what they will, as long as I know who I am.

After this birthday party, we all went over to the student pub. The theme for the night was Heaven and Hell. It was fun. So now I can say I've been to hell and back and mean it quite literally. (There is a city named Hell that we wanted to visit during the weeklong trip, but we didn't have the time.) I played pool and I won against a stranger. I was lucky and I was surprised! The two guys that joined us at pool are from Afghanistan, so we talked a bit about the war; a basic and friendly conversation. I've usually heard that the war was either good or bad, supported or not, but these people didn't say either one. The one that I was talkin to said simply that it was too aggressive. That leaves some room for interpretation and made me think a bit. It seems like no matter where I am at, I am always actively thinking about major issues now. It's amazing. Even earlier in the evening I was having a very nice conversation about different languages that shifted slowly to be more of a poitical talk. I guess that was the point of studying abroad and growing up. I'm noticing things that I've never noticed before.

Cooking
My cooking is getting better. I can now make some dishes that taste just like my mom's dishes. Every time I achieve the same taste, I get a bit emotional; I miss home. I'm so happy that I can create a taste that my mom creates in her cooking and feel the warmth and comfort of home even when I am not home.

So I have reached the final conclusion of this post. Please post a comment on your thoughts on anything at all. I would really appreciate that.

Emily's birthday dinner

Before we left for the excursion, Emily and I went out for her birthday dinner at Pizzanini's. It was pretty good. We got half kebab and half hawaiian pizza. Then a brownie for desert. See the massive numer 20 on the brownie? That's how old she is now!

Music festival & drawing

Right now, there is a music festival going on. In the park by the beach, there's a HUGE tent set up. It looks like a circus tent. I had planned on going, but I realized it was too expensive. It's not like I'm missing out on much though. Since we live close by, we can hear EVERYTHING. It took me a while to fall asleep last night because it was so loud. But that's cool. It's like an ongoing festival that lasts all weekend. At least it's not during the week when I have class and such. Today, there is free public entertainment along the main shopping strip, right down a block from my place. I walked past it and there was Salsa music and dancing. It was pretty exciting.

The most amazing thing happened last night; I sketched! That's the first real drawing since IB Art ended. I was reading while waiting for my dinner to cook and I just had the sudden urge to draw; so I did. It turned out great! It's a scenery from when we were walking to Eidsvoll Manor for our field trip. My drawing is not finished, but it's looking good. I will definitely take a picture of it and post my sketch side by side with the picture when I am finished.

Once I started to draw, it all jus came to me! Inspiration just came and my strokes felt so natural, unlike the previous attempts! I was so excited. I woke up this morning with the urge to do watercolor, and to follow my artistic inspiration, I went out and got some good (expensive) quality watercolor and I will do a watercolor version of the same sketch once I am finished with the sketch. It feels so calming to be able to draw so naturally again.

Finished Essay & Excursion

Alright! I just finished my first essay for this class! I'm so excited! I hope it's good. I haven't written one since the end of the spring semester. It's a good thing that this essay will not be "graded" with a letter grade or anything like that. The message I got about this was that it was for a feedback and and getting a feel for it. I hope that's true, because if it's not too good, I'm ok! But I'm sure I'll do ok. I've written many essays before and have not had trouble with any of them. Never below a B grade in an essay; that's pretty deccent. Anyway, I sent my finished draft to Inger. Hopefully she has some time tomorrow morning to look it over and give me some feedback, so that I can revise and edit in time to turn it in on time. Speaking of which, I'm not sure which time is the correct due time tomorrow. The hand out says 1400 (2pm) but on the Fronter (online classroom database) it says 1615 (4:15pm). In any case, I am aiming for the earlier time; it's better to be early than risking the chance of being late, especially for turning in a paper!

I've also have a few chapters in the Work, Oil and Welfare book. I think I will finish up that book tomorrow! Since I have some time after turning in my essay! That makes me so happy just thinking about finishing up important "to do's".

Inger gave us the itinerary for next week's week-long excursion. I'm so excited for it!!! Although, I am not too excited about the train, boat and bus rides since I get motion sickness easily. But I have medicine and Emily has motion sickness patches, so I should be ok. If not, I can just sleep or something. Below is a brief schedule of what is planned for next week!

On Monday we are going to have a 3.5 hour train ride from Hamar to Roros, followed by 2.5 hours of a walking lecture tour of Roros including the Roros Church and Mining Museum, followed by another train ride to Trondheim lasting 2.5 hours. We are staying at Trondheim Vandrehjem (Hostel)

On Tuesday we will wake up bright and early at 7am, have breakfast, have a walking lecture throught he city of Trondheim at 9am, and then lunch. At 12 noon, we are going to Nidaros Cathedral Arch Bishop Palace - The Crown Regalia Exhibition. After that, we have the afternoon and evening free!! This is my chance to buy some souvenirs and learn more about other cool places!

On Wednesday We will wake up at 7am, again, have breakfast and lock up our luggage. At 10am, we have a potential meeting with politicians of Trondheim, talking about challenges ahead. We have lunch at noon and at 1630 (4:30pm) we will be on our way to Kristiansund Harbor on a 3 hour boat journey. This is going to be interesting because I have to be conscious to take in the oil platforms and continue to learn, while dealing with motion sickness. Well, at least I will be in the sea; I can just stick my head to the side and throw up if I need to. After we reach the harbor, we go to our hostel. This is supposed to be a cool place because we booked the rooms around a communal area (shared living space with stove and stuff I think).

On Thursday we wake up early at 7am, yet again, for breakfast. At 8:30am we will walk through town as a class through the old ship building. By 10:30 through 12 noon, we are supposed to pass the Petro Center, and Town Center. Then we'll have lunch, and go to West base at 1300 (1pm). At 1430 (2:30pm) we will be at OSNOR, a local oil based company where they recycle oil drilling equipment. This part of the trip, (well, started from when we were at sea) is kind of one of the main points of the trip; learn about oil and their economy and such. Then we have no more planned activity for that evening. I'm thinking that with all the planned walking, SLEEP is the best activity for this free evening!

On Friday we will have breakfast at 7am, bring our gear into town at 8:30am so that our luggage and such will be ready for departure at the end. At 10am we have planned Interacting with Politics or Production 2008 (Oil developments). Then we have lunch at 12 noon, and then another walk through town to the church and the Outlook Tower Water collectors. At 1530 (3:30pm) we will have individual time for 2.5 hours before a group dinner with the class in town at 1800 (6pm). At 2014 (8:14pm) we will depart Kristiansund for return to Hamar by BUS for 9 HOURS!!! For this trip back home to Hamar, I'm really going to need to knock myself out so I don't get too sick. Oh yea, I'm planning on it! Unless my group decides that this is a great time to discuss our group presentations for the trip.

We have a group presentation about an aspect of Norway that we observed on the trip. We are going to a lot of churches, so religion might be a big and popular issue to address. Or the issue of oil and the economy, and such. There are, of course, other topics since it's up to the group to decide. I guess I kind of want to observe how the minority population (immigrants) is interacting with the Norwegian throughout all the places we are going. I'm pretty sure that my group would not wholeheartedly agree to this, so I won't be forecefull about it. I think we, as a group, are aiming towards religion as our topic for discussion. However, I will still continue to do this observation on my own and come up with my own conclusions, or no conclusions, depending on my findings. This can be my own little project leading up to my research paper at the end.

I am so excited!!! However, I am a bit worried about money. Lodging and dinning are covered by the program, so I'm sure I won't starve. But, knowing my appetite for cool new foods with the combination of being in a foreign with new foods that I might never have a chance to eat again... I might be very tempted to eat to my hearts content... which means MONEY! How ironic that we are talking about Norwegian economy and their wealth while I am here having my own problems with money. Also, I'm worried for my camera; it might have a heart attack with my addiction to taking surplus amounts of pictures... I also have to buy another 1G memory card for my camera so that I don't have to take my laptop with me on the trip since I wont be needing it. Again, more money. I hate spending so much money, espcially in such an expensive country! And not to mention the souvenirs! I think I'm going to buy postcards. I've been sending postcards from Hamar, so I want to send some from my trip as well. And some cool Norwegian souvenirs that is totally Norwegian with no globalizaiton influence... it'll be like magic when I find the perfect souvenir. Then I'll not need so much. I don't want too much. Just enough for the people I promised (which is abut 5 people, not bad).

Ok! So that's pretty long. I wonder who's going to read it, but that's what's up!