Stavanger

This past weekend, I had one of the most incredible experiences of my entire life. After literally hours upon hours of 10 people sitting around trying to decipher Norwegian websites, train & ferry schedules & maps, 7 Americans, an Australian & a Turk walked into a bar... Just kidding. We booked our flights to Stavanger, the 4th largest city in Norway (which is not saying a whole lot). How could any of us come to Norway without seeing fjords? I promised too many people I would investigate & report back on what one actually is to come back to America without having seen one.

We decided to go about seeing the fjords via Stavanger. As it was cheaper and only took 1 hour (as compared to 6-8 by train) to fly, we flew there on Friday morning bright and early. And it was actually bright, because it is already broad daylight at 5 am. Since I'm reallllly smart, I couldn't figure out how to change the time zone on my phone so was subtracting 6 hours every time I needed to set my alarm, and on this particular instance, I added instead of subtracting 6 hours & set my alarm for 10:20 AM instead of 10:20 PM. As a result, my dream was interrupted at 5:14 am by Lucas (the aforementioned Australian) banging on my door, the second person to have done so. At 5:14 I was in my bed; SIX MINUTES later, I was ON the bus. What a GREAT way to start the trip. Luckily, it was uphill from there. Literally. But that's another blog entry.


We traveled with only what we could carry on our backs, which made the trip much easier. Upon arriving in Stavanger, we made a beeline for the Tourist Information center. Since we'd eaten breakfast before 5:30 am, we were ravenous & ready for lunch by 10:30 am. Unfortunately, nothing opened until 11, so we were "those people" who were standing outside salivating waiting for the restaurant to open after we'd finally agreed on a place that was not terribly expensive & had an appealing menu. We ate at a restaurant, which I imagine becomes a pub at night, called Phineas Fogg. Not only did it have possibly the best cheeseburger I have ever eaten, but it also had character! There was a whole dining area decorated to look like a study, with books on the walls & everything! Overall, it was definitely a satisfying experience.

Even though it was raining on & off, we spent the rest of the day wandering around the city. There wasn't exactly a whole lot to do, but I chose to enjoy myself anyway. Hey, it's a new city that I'll probably never see again, so I might as well take advantage of it! Stavanger is an oil hot spot, and it's right on the water, which meant the harbor was full of boats serving as souvenir shops, swans & jellyfish. I got a little carried away taking pictures of the swans & jellyfish, but I'm not sorry. I like animals.

 We weren't sure if they were mating or if the poisonous orange one was slowly & painfully killing the

purple one. :(

 They were everywhere!

  
It's certainly not the most exciting city in the world, but it definitely has a lot of character! I just enjoyed admiring the aesthetics & taking pictures. To use my mom's favorite word, it was quaint.

 A whole graffiti park!

 Some of it was strange. ^

It's our dictation. You wouldn't understand (unless you are Sal).
 

 Oil stuff

 That's the store's name!

 The more modern area of Stavanger

By the time 4:00 rolled around, we were done wandering & ready to head to our hostel. It took logical thinking skills, many Kroners & quite awhile to get there, but we made it! Once we found the main office of the hostel, it was a bit of a hike to the actual rooms. We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the rooms, although it was almost eerily quiet. I don't think I've ever been in such a silent & deserted yet civilized city. Upon our arrival, we used ingredients from the grocery store & the coffee stirrers that I picked up from a random ice cream parlor to make about 20 PB&Js, some for dinner & some for our hiking trip on Saturday. After playing a few rounds of Presidents & Assholes and Bullshit (surprisingly wholesome card games), we CRASHED. Or in Deniz's case, didn't make it to the card games & crashed at 6 pm. The rest of us made it until about 9. I'm not sure if it was the AAA earplugs & sleep masks or the fact that I hadn't slept the night before & spent the whole day walking around the city with my backpack, but I slept like a rock. Can't remember the last time I did that. Stay tuned for a recap of Saturday, our hiking adventure to the cliff of Preikestolen right on the fjords!

Ice Blog Post

Thanks to the lovely Jenny, who got us a reservation & a major group discount, 25 foreign kids took over Oslo Ice Bar on Tuesday. It was epic. The reviews online complained that it was a "tourist trap," but what do you expect from an ICE BAR? Not exactly the type of place you'd expect the locals to go every week for a beer... I may be here for a whole month, but I am still a tourist and have no problem doing "touristy" things. The one & only thing I would have changed about the experience would be wearing real shoes. My feet were freezing!

 Waiting to go in

 Ice table & ice seats

 Ice art. Ice zebra moose on roller skates.

 My uniform

 Ice Riding Hood

 Ice menu

 Cheers!

My Seven Nation Army was DELICIOUS. Aquavit, cucumber, lime & elderberry. 

Don't worry, family, friends & future employers. The legal age is 20 here, and I am 20.75. :)

 Megan :)

 Patryk, my Iceland Airport buddy.

After about 40 minutes, our time was up. It was probably unhealthy to remain in there anyway.

Leaving for Stavanger at 5:00 tomorrow morning to see fjords, so it's sleepytime for me now. I will report back on what a fjord is on Sunday.

Something I learned: Anyone can go anywhere in Norway. There is no such thing as trespassing. You can set up camp anywhere, as long as you are not within 100 meters of someone's house. Also, Norway has 24 political parties. In class today I felt like I was listening to a presentation at Preview: "Here in Norway we have over 20 political parties. No matter what your interests or priorities, there is one for you here! And if it doesn't exist already, you can gather up a few of your friends & make one!"

4th of July Weekend

If I liked "The Lazy Song," I would post it here. Because it perfectly describes this past weekend for me. In case anyone had any doubts, being out until 3:30 in the morning after your first week in a foreign country is not conducive to being awake, alert & ready to go at 9:00 the next morning for a trip to the mines. It is, however, conducive to sleeping until noon on Saturday, eating a hot dog for "breakfast," not getting dressed/ready until 5 pm & being generally unproductive. But boy, did I need it! The day trip the program had planned for us would have been fun, but I couldn't have been happier with my decision to be a worthless bum for the entire day.

Pictures from Friday:

 Lauren from Michigan State :)

[Pre-outfit change]

 Learning German from my German friend Arne. I have mastered the first three lines of a song from German Sesame Street. Thanks to Sal, I already knew the first two. We are making rapid progress, and I hope to have learned the rest of the song by the end of the program. ;)

 

 Change of plans necessitated outfit change. --> Animal print all around!

Something I learned: Norwegians make damn good pizza (even if it is outrageously overpriced). Peppe's Pizza = <3. Next pizza-related mission: try a Grandiosa. They are apparently a huge deal here in Norway. I tried a piece of someone's last week, and I can't wait to buy my own & do the accompanying dance. (SO STRANGE BUT SO FUNNY.)

I also elected not to go hiking on Sunday. I'm not big on hiking anyway, so I wanted to save my Norwegian hiking experience for this coming weekend, when 8 Americans, an Australian & a Turk will hop on a plane to the Norwegian city of Scavenger (named European Capital of Culture in 2008) & then take a daytrip to hike up to a nearby FJORD. It's a long hike, so I thought I'd save my tolerance for hiking for what will be a truly incredible experience.

Instead, I elected to go to Frogner Park, a vast expanse of green that our group has been frequenting, with my fellow American friends, Lauren, Juls & Liz. Who knew there would be literally thousands of Americans celebrating the 4th of July in Norway?! We learned of this gathering and decided to check it out. We arrived to quite the spectacle: an ESPN batting cage, a cheerleading squad, cheesy linedancing, pony rides, and most importantly, traditional American food. I can speak for all four of us when I say it was nice to experience something familiar, albeit cheesy.

Coincidentally, I happened to sit down with my burger next to an alum of "that other school" in Florida. After engaging in some Seminole vs. Gator banter (like you do), we had a nice chat. I wish he had been from UF so I could say, "The Gator Nation is everywhere!" But I guess it's sort of close?

Something I learned: My friends here have good taste in music. Learning lots of new music by different artists, from America & different countries. I have learned from my Australian classmates that I definitely like Australian music. (It's pretty similar to American music.)


On Monday after class, we visited the Nobel Peace Center.

 American girls!

 Photo exhibits. Topic: refugees.

 President Obama

All I can say is it was a really valuable cultural experience. I think the pictures can describe it better than I can. I'm so glad the program organized those tours for us!


The celebrations did not stop ON the 4th of July, nor were they limited to Americans! Some of us bought a disposable grill and, in true American fashion, ate hot dogs, watermelon, roasted marshmallows & the like. The weather could not have been more beautiful for an evening on the roof.

 Jenny (Michigan), Lauren (Michigan), Joe (Illinois) & Lucas (Australia)

 The boys got fancy with salmon & beef. Notice the lone marshmallow.

Something I learned: In Alfred Nobel's life time he accumulated quite a fortune. In his last will & testament, he stated that the interest on his fortune should be allocated to those who had "conferred the greatest benefit on mankind" in the previous year in each of the following disciplines: physics, chemistry, physiology/medicine & peace. Each year, the "winners" receive compensation in the form of a fraction of the interest accrued on Nobel's fortune. I knew the Nobel Prizes were named after him, but I never knew that's how it came about. (Also, next time I go to the grocery store, I'm going to buy salmon.)