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.