God natt, Oslo.

But before I contemplate my nightly routine, a quick update about yesterday evening:

Tim and Richard did not, in fact, prepare Dutch pancakes, because apparently one of Richard's roommates cooked pancakes earlier that day! Phooey on him. Except not really, because instead he and Tim collaborated on a DELICIOUS taco meal that tastes more authentically Mexican than what Tim and I had at that stupidly expensive restaurant last week. The meat was cooked with just the right amount of onion and Mexican spice, the tomatoes were red and delicious, the lettuce was crisp, etc. Kudos to both of them for a job well done, the food was fantastic.

We ended the evening not seeing Avatar after all, because apparently it was sold out in all the theatres in Oslo. (I'm not sure I believe this, but I wasn't so sold on the idea that I wanted to embark on a search of my own.) So instead we saw.... Sherlock Holmes! Yes, this is the third time I've seen Sherlock Holmes since it came out in theatres, but honestly, I was more excited about experiencing a Norwegian movie theatre than actually seeing the film again. It amused me how willing people were to just talk through the previews and commercials, since in Huntsville at least we all shut up immediately even for commercials, and most definitely for the previews. I had a minor moment of delight, of course, when I realized I could understand the character Dredger's French even without the aid of English subtitles. Merci, Monsieur Quick, for giving me such a keen ear for the language while I was in high school! Now if only I could understand my Cameroonian hallmates...

Today has been quite dull in comparison, aside from my crushing sadness upon learning that Andy Murray lost the Australian Open to Roger Federer. ): Oh well, Andy. Perhaps the French Open will be yours instead.

I'll leave you with this fantastic Sea Bear music video. Remember, click the original post if you're viewing this over Facebook:

Hadet bra!

A Saturday update

I cooked yesterday! Granted, I chickened out on my pasty idea and instead went with something a little easier but no less delicious--spaghetti, with some very nice jarred sauce that tasted quite nice with the addition of some basil and garlic. We (being myself, Tim, Mike, Ray, Richard, and Elif) all ate at Elif's flat with a brief cameo made by her charming roommate Arner, before heading down to the Uglebo student pub on Blindern campus. It was a very nice night! Lots of the people in our extended friends group made appearances, like our German friends Julia and Bastian, as well as the Canadian Geoff.

Oh yes: Earlier in the day, Tim, Mike, Ray and I went on an Oslo adventure of our own and discovered this fantastic old bookshop that sells ridiculously old books. As in, 1901 editions of William Morris's poetry, 17th century old texts written in Latin, old globes that curiously lack the American continent, and, as Tim discovered, some 19th century editions of the Íslendigasogur written in English. *.* If only I were rich.

This morning started off a bit explosively, I'll be honest, with some morons on the ninth floor setting off the fire alarm with their cooking escapades. So I went staggering out into the snow with wet hair, looking extra frazzled along with everyone else in building twelve. Bah. Anyway, that aside, Tim and I took a walking tour along the upper part of Akerselva, a river running through Oslo, which took about two hours or thereabouts. It was actually quite cold out today, and in our rush to make the bus I left my camera at home--so no photographs of that today. ):

Tonight, Tim and Richard, our resident Dutch friends, are going to (make an attempt to) cook Dutch pancakes, and then around 8pm, I believe the plan is to head into town to see Avatar as a group. I've already seen it, but I'd definitely planned on seeing it again before leaving the states, so I'm fine with spending the krones to see it here. Tomorrow I'm going to try to slow things down a bit and focus on reading for my classes, as well as watch updates on BBC about the Australian Open men's final. Go Andy Murray! <3

Some thoughts before sleep.

Today was, for all intents and purposes, very slow. I spent my morning reading for both my Old Norse class and my historical conservation class, embarked on yet another laundry and dinner adventure to Blindern campus with Tim, and ended the evening at the Kringsjå pub for the pub quiz with Tim, Mike and Ray for company. It was a slow day, really, and I only bothered taking the T-bane at all with Tim because we wanted to get dinner at the caf rather than enduring yet another collection of ham sandwiches. Tomorrow once we've had dinner, we'll go exploring for those ingredients previously stated in my last entry.

I'm continually marveling at how much this relocation to another part of the world has brought me out of my shell and woken up parts of my personality that I was not even aware I possessed. Apparently I am not just a socially uncomfortable introvert content to stay in my room all day while other people go out having a good time, and even though today all I did was join Tim at both Blindern and the pub for dinner and then for the pub quiz, those very simple actions present such a striking departure from my normal mode of behavior.

I'm happy here in a way I was never happy back in Huntsville, and that isn't said as a slight to my home town or anyone who I love dearly back home. I feel like the life I'm sliding into here is one that better reflects where I need to be in terms of my mental well-being and my attitude towards socialization; I don't look for reasons to avoid going out here, because every morning when I wake up and realize where I am, I'm filled with this sense of giddy delight. I'm in Norway, I'm a student in Europe, my closest friends here are, in fact, Europeans, and even after going on three weeks, I am already so attached to this new phase in my life that I just don't want to let it end. I want the next few months here to go on for as long as possible; I want to find a way to stay in Europe once I've graduated, even in England with family if I can manage it; I want to stay close to these marvelous friends I've made in this country--Tim, Elif, Richard, Bastian, even my token American buddies Mike and Ray--I'm so attached and fond of all these people. I love them, even after only knowing them for three weeks.

When I think back on the unhappiness I felt during my first two or three nights here in this country, I can hardly even remember those feelings now, because I am so content. I could do this for years to come, and even though I know I would miss Huntsville, I am more than happy just to relive my memories of it right now.

I don't want to go back. I'm ready for whatever else this new adventure has in store for me.

Let's end the day with some Floyd:

Some pretty shots out my window.

I take a lot of these, but then again, this place always looks beautiful in so many different lights. It was very foggy and misty this morning, so I snapped some shots while I was thinking about it.

Then by this afternoon, it was pretty and sunshine-y again. So lovely. Every morning I wake up totally awed by how beautiful this place is, seriously.

Another song and some food-y thoughts.

My friends and I have started up a tradition of cooking meals for each other, in lieu of all of us spending a lot of money going out to eat, and it's working out quite well! Elif has prepared us all two very nice dishes, one with a kind of sweet sauce and another with enough curry in it to make me swoon with delight. Mike has prepared alfredo once already, and a few nights ago prepared us another noodle bake that was quite good. So now, it's my turn to sort something out in the kitchen.

I know. Duck and cover, right?

Anyway, I was originally thinking about cooking my mother's outstanding spaghetti recipe, but have since decided that that might be a little messier than I'm prepared to deal with. Instead I'd like to try something else--something different--and I've decided to try baking pasties.

Pasties, for those of you not in The Know, are a delicious, mostly English dish (I guess you can call them a dish anyway) that are essentially composed of a scrumptious stew enclosed within a pastry. Have some visuals:

Thank you, Google!

Anyway, I've been sorting through various different recipes trying to find one that appeals to me. Most of them include pork, which I'm not a big fan of, so I think I'll have to experiment a bit to get the taste I like. Fortunately, I've got my very own (unsuspecting) guinea pig for these experiments living with me here in Kringsjå... so if Tim manages to not die and survives the meal, then I'll give it to the rest of my friends! :D

Here's the recipe I think I've settled on at long last, taken from this page of pasty recipes:

"This recipe makes 10 pasties.

Put about 12 oz filling in each crust.

Dough:
3 1/2 flour
9 oz shortening
10 oz cold water
1TBl+1 tsp salt

Filling:
3 1/2# potatoes,peeled
1 1/2# coarse ground pork
12 oz coarse ground beef
9 oz diced onions
8 oz diced carrots
7 oz diced rutabaga
1/4# butter
1TBl salt
1Tbl pepper

Chop the carrots and onions. Dice the potatoes and rutabagas in a 3/8-inch dice. Mix all the filling ingredients together and set aside. Mix the flour and salt. Cut in the shortening, as for pie crust. Add the water and mix gently just until the dry particles are absorbed; do not over mix.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.On a floured surface, roll 4-ounce balls of dough into circles about the size of a dinner plate. Put about 12 ounces of filling on one half. Dampen the edges, fold crust over filling, and seal.Place on greased baking sheets (or use baking paper). Place in oven and bake for one hour. Serve with either catsup or gravy."

Tasty-lookin', eh?

Now, have some Decemberists. This definitely tops my list of favorite songs by them ever, and this live performance is, I think, better than what's on the album.

If you're reading this entry from Facebook, make sure you view the original blog post in order to see the video.

Hadet bra!

Radioeahd

I've recently been reminded of what a good band Radiohead is, and felt like sharing this beautiful video of Thom Yorke singing a song from "In Rainbows" with you:

Enjoy. <3

Hell's Kitchen

Just kidding, it's only Kringsjå!

Tim and Mike being goofy while waiting for dinner to ferment--I mean, to cook. :D

Today's adventure: Sognsvann lake!

Tim and I have, in fact, been around this area before now, but today Elif, Mike and I decided to give it a go in the daytime! We spent about two hours walking around the entire lake, and I took some pictures:

This is mainly a skiing area, so most of the people making the trek up to Sogsvann actually had skis with them, or were going to rent them there. I think skiing is to your average Norwegian what jogging is to us Americans.

Elif, looking adorable and purple as usual. I heart my favorite German lady. :)

Mike is from Minnesota, and therefore immune to the cold.

Yay, sign post mostly buried under snow!

....right.

You can't actually see much of the lake because it is, in fact, buried under about two feet of snow--but that is a line of trees composing an island in the middle of Sognsvann lake which I think is quite cool. This area is literally maybe a ten minute walk from Kringsjå studentby, I love that we're so close to it!

Elif, taking a picture of me taking a picture of her. :) This is actually one of my favorite shots from the whole excursion, you should click on it to look at the larger image.

A few shots of the creek that feeds into the lake.

I think it is beyond surreal and lovely that you can't really tell where the lake begins and the shoreline ends. This whole area is so magical.

The other side of the lake. We got there eventually!

Yes, I live here. It is amazing. You're all jealous.

Elif and Mike, who did not realize I was taking a picture of them.

Tonight, with the inclusion of hopefully Richard and Tim, we'll be having dinner in Mike's room here at Kringsjå, where I will do my best to post more pictures of everyone. I do actually hang out with people other than just Tim and Elif, honest!

A text update.

Because I keep forgetting to take my camera out with me while I'm on my adventures. This will have to change.

The past few days have essentially been me resisting settling into a school routine. After classes, the new Thing seems to be myself, Mike, Tim, and whomever else converging on the Blindern campus cafeteria for dinner, which is absurdly good, and then going off either to a pub of some variety or to some party far too crazy and loud for my delicate sensibilities. The days consistently start and end with tea, usually with frantic attempts to catch (and subsequently miss) the most convenient train into the city, a quest to explore some new part of the city, a search for alcohol, and then the inevitably intoxicated quest back home.

Yesterday morning until about 5pm was, in fact, recovery from one such adventure, but after 5pm I set out with my intrepid hallmate Tim in search of food. I think we both need to face the fact that there is no such thing as a cheap restaurant in Oslo, and we will simply have to learn how to cook, but we did eventually find a reasonably priced place to eat not far from Nationaltheatret. I had my first burrito since leaving the states *.* and while ostensibly not Mexican enough for my preferences, it did come with a nice helping of fresh tomatoes, cheese, and sour cream; what more do you need, really?

We wandered up to the palace after that, which pretty much provides the prettiest vantage point of the whole city looking down Karl Johans gate. I would've taken a picture, but ignoring my earlier statement that I didn't bring it with me, it actually has lousy low life performance, so nothing would've come out well anyway. But it was very amusing, to me, how if I'd wanted to, I could've walked up to the palace and poked it with a stick. You'd be hard pressed to get that close to Buckingham Palace in London, that's for sure. Anyway, we wandered down to the harbor again after that and sat on a pier for a bit just enjoying the peace and quiet. It doesn't take much wandering in Oslo to find yourself completely isolated, to the point where you don't even feel like you're in a city at all anymore. But on the flipside, take two steps backwards and you're back in the thick of it again.

That was really the extent of our excursion out into the city, though, and we ended the evening watching Monty Python, WKUK, Dylan Moran, and the Dutch comedian Hans Teeuwen on Youtube. For once, no alcohol consumption happened, and it was quite nice. My wallet thanks me, too.

Hadet bra!

Sunshine returns to Kringsjå

Just a few lovely shots of Kringsjå snow and sunshine. <3

Meditation time in Kringsjå

Tim, sagaciously ruminating on life in Oslo.

Tim, realizing that my mobile phone has a camera attached to it.

Tim, endeavoring to hide his face from the camera.

Tim, realizing these pictures are going on DAS INTERNETS whether he likes it or not.

Another day in Osloville

Yesterday was my hallmate Tim's twenty-first birthday! We celebrated it by... sitting in the police station for four hours waiting in a queue for my visa information, only for me to discover that my application had apparently been misplaced by the Houston consulate, thus requiring me to re-file it and wait in a queue for another half hour. ): Not a very good start to the day, but we passed some of the time in a nearby coffee shop that has, I believe, even better mocha lattes than Huntsville's late Stearns. (Yes, Jen, Archie, Haley, and all other Stearns alumni--this tiny place was better.)

Anyway, afterwards Tim and I, along with two American friends named Mike and Ray, went to IKEA to buy some necessities we've all been lacking: a drying rack (which was helpful for me after I did my laundry today), a shower curtain (which I have not had before now, and which my roommate apparently was content to do without for two years), some curtains, and a doormat. I spent about 200kr there, which was in total the equivalent of about $33 or £25. Quite reasonable.

We ended the evening at this very nice, cozy bar called the Evergreen, where I bought Tim his much deserved 21st birthday beer. I know that 21 isn't a very big deal in Holland because the drinking age is lower, but I still felt like it was the least I could do, given it was his birthday and everything. We had a really nice night there with Elif, Richard (another Dutch friend), Mike, Ray, and another German lady named Julia who is apparently in Tim's "buddy" group, though I ended up spending more money on alcohol than I have in quite some time. I bought Tim his beer, of course, and then myself a Jack and coke, followed by a White Russian (insanely delicious), and lastly some Dutch beer recommended to me by both Tim and Richard, apparently called Hoegaarden. It was very light, and apparently more of a summer beer than a winter beer according to Richard, but it was very good.

Today was much slower, mainly because Tim and I may or may not have stayed up too late upon getting home talking about random nonsense over tea and coffee, so I got a late start. I managed to buy some of my books for classes next week (which put me back 400kr just for two textbooks, it's insane), then met with Tim and Mike at the school cafeteria for lunch. I'm really impressed by UiO's university menu to be honest; the food is always ridiculously good and of a very high quality. Today was a chicken curry day, I think, with just enough spice to give it a nice kick, but not enough to burn my mouth. Anyway, afterwards Tim and I embarked on the Laundry Adventure today, which was unnecessarily complicated given how bizarre the laundromat here at Kringsjå is--but we have emerged victorious, and are currently waiting for our hallmates to stop dominating the kitchen so we can make an attempt at cooking dinner. ("Cooking" being... well, turkey, cheese, tomato, and cucumber sandwiches, really. Nothing complicated.)

I've settled into a nice routine here in Oslo after initially struggling to carve a niche for myself into a university scene that does not seem much conducive to introducing students to new people. But I have managed to make some very good friends here, namely Tim, Elif and Richard, and even Vincent when I see him, and I think when July rolls around, I'll be very sad to part ways with these people.

Trouble on the T-bane

The T-bane is to Oslo what the Underground is to London--it's the metro, and for most students and workers in Norway's capital, it is the link that ties them to the rest of the city. The T-bane is what I use to get from my dormitory here at Kringsjå to the university campus, and also how I get into town to do my necessary shopping. The trains are, for the most part, neat and clean, and I've about got line 3 memorized after all the times I've taken it to and from home.

Well... today, the system broke down. According to a Norwegian news website (which I have roughly translated with the aid of Google) here is the situation:

"Subway traffic in Oslo is paralyzed by a power failure. According trafikanten.no is the operations room at Tøyen strømløs, and it is stopping on all lines until further notice.

Are you affected by the underground problems? Tip us on phone / MMS 02255, or send email to tips@tv2.no.

- Several tens of thousands affected
- Right now there is not a single underground in the Oslo and it is because we have a power failure in the traffic center spring. For this reason, we do not have the opportunity to see how some of the cars are located and for safety reasons, we have therefore ordered the complete halt, "says communications manager for the Metro in Oslo, Bjørn Rydmark to tv2nyhetene.no.

The tens of thousands of passengers are affected by issues that are just a few hours before rush hour starts."

So getting to my first classes of the semester was a bit of an adventure, and I've only just managed to get home thanks to the 22 bus that heads in the general direction of Kringsjå studentby. For now, I'm heading off to bed.

Good night!

Adventuretime in Oslo!

Gangsta Tim is very gangsta, and ready for adventuring.

I'm not sure why the Sognsvann stop exists at all. It's literally only 200 meters away from Kringsjå. Oh well! Hi, Sognsvann.

Hei, Kringsjå studentby! This is where I live, though you can't see my building at this angle.

Extreme tacos!!!!! This ridiculous ad brought to you by the 3 line T-bane in Oslo.

"Go lean against that lamp post." "Why?" "*click*"

Looking down the avenue towards Karl Johans, which is the largest and busiest road in Oslo.

Hello, harbor!

Hello, boats in the harbor!

Hello, Christmas tree atop a boat in the harbor!

Me! I nearly slid off that dubiously stable snow drift a bunch of times.

Then we ran out of daylight, unfortunately, but spent the rest of the evening tearing the city apart in search of a pub. It was good fun, even if we did end up hiking uphill in the snow in two different directions.

A thought for the night.

After listening to my Dutch hall-mate Tim debate the existence of the EU with both a Norwegian and a German student in our common kitchen (over lousy beer and Scotch-Irish whiskey) for the past two and a half hours, I have come to this conclusion about Europeans:

We as Americans know nothing about this collection of countries and cultures, and how they feel about each other. Anyone who presumes to think that they do, I'm quite confident that they don't.

That's all for now.

edit:

Say hello to Tim!

Hi Tim!

Orientation week...

...has left something to be desired, I'll be honest. But out of it I have managed to befriend Elif, a German girl who I've taken to spending lots of time with when I'm out and about taking care of things. We both agree that lots of these planned activities don't actually do a good job of introducing fellow internationals to each other so much as just... cram them in the same place and hope for the best. So thus far, I've really only become good friends with her, and Vincent upstairs. That's all right with me though! The pace of the week has been so hectic that I've been getting lots of exercise at the very least, and as of next week when classes start, I expect I'll be making lots of new friends in my courses. I also obtained a monthly student travel card for about 450NOK--a very good deal which means I won't have to pay metro, bus, tram, or boat faire every time I want to take a trip somewhere.

Last night lots of us internationals took the T-bane to Nationaltheatret, which is a beautiful, historic part of the city with lots of lovely 19th century architecture... and I would have taken pictures, but unfortunately the night performance of my camera is lousy. Anyway, the whole fountain area was lit up with lovely white Christmas lights, with dome rooftops lit brightly to cast all kinds of shadows over the masonry. We saw the palace, too, which I'll need to photograph when I'm next able--but that wasn't the point of the trip. The point was to go ice skating.

This was a little bit of an adventure for me because the last time I went ice skating, I must've been 12 or 13, skating indoors in skates that definitely fit my feet. This time was much different, and I struggled to squeeze my feet into a pair of leather skates that were half frozen from the cold and didn't exactly fit. But once I got out on the ice (and miraculously didn't fall!) I felt like I was actually accomplishing something (even though, as stated earlier, these events really don't get us interacting with each other anymore than we already were).

This morning, Elif and I are going to the police station to register as internationals, then we might do a little bit of shopping. I need a hairdryer and some decent drapes, so a trip to Oslo City--the mall--and IKEA (pronounced "ee-KAY-ah" for all you uncultured yanks) might be in order. Tonight from 4-6 is International Coffee Hour (you get a cookie if you can spot the problem with that event), and after that, I think I'll come home and try to get some work done on a few projects I've been neglecting. Like my writing and drawing, for example. :)

Hadet bra~

Cameo by a friend!

My new friend, Elif, a fellow international student from Germany. She's from a town near Stuttgart!

A moment of Lizzi.

Me, admiring Kringsjå from my dorm room window.

In case you hadn't guessed...

...Oslo is cold.

That's the view outside my bedroom window here at Kringsjå studentby. Straight up that path will take you to the Kringsjå T-bane stop, which is how I find my way into the city itself every day. My housing area is actually on the outskirts of the city, second to the end of the line, and the very last stop puts you in the middle of some very beautiful wilderness, or so I've been told. Once spring time rolls around, I plan to whip out my camera and go exploring, but the cold temperatures limit what I'm able to do during the day, and once the sun goes down, well... Let's just say -12F is not a comfortable temperature to endure while waiting on the train to arrive.

Leaving England was very hard, of course, since I'd spent so much time trying to just get down to Leatherhead, only to turn around and leave it again. But Uncle Peter got me to the airport in good time, I had no trouble getting through security, and much to my delight once I was in the proper area, I found this:

Pret-A-Manger was my absolute favorite little shop to eat at while I was studying in Cambridge in 2005, and when I saw it in Heathrow Airport I was so relieved. So I snagged my very last meal in the UK, which consisted of my favorite of the Pret drinks and a very nice chicken club sandwich. I maintain that I've yet to eat a sandwich anywhere else in the world that tastes quite that good.

The British Airways flight to Oslo was ridiculously easy and smooth, and I happily emailed the airline once I had internet in my room here in Kringsjå in order to thank them for such impeccable customer service. Seeing the Scandinavian peninsula from the air as we began our descent was pretty magical, I'll have to admit; we'd just been flying over all these dense, snowy clouds, and I was absently examining them when my eyes caught on something much different. I remember thinking, "Wow, there it is," but even then it didn't sink in that I was actually going to Norway until the plane touched down on the runway. The airport itself was very easy to navigate, immigration wasn't a problem--but much to my dismay, while struggling with my bags to catch the Flytoget (the express train from the airport) to Oslo itself, I dropped my favorite plaid hat on the platform! ): So somewhere, someone hopefully found that hat and is giving it a good home. Honestly, I'm gutted to lose it, but I've at least got the blue toque that my dad bought for me in Huntsville. It keeps my ears from freezing off, at least, though I may need to get a better one soon.

Despite being met by the ESN student group at Oslo S. (that's the central train station in Oslo), I... actually didn't have much assistance from anyone as I struggled to settle in for two days. Up until yesterday, my dorm room had all the common amenities of a modern day prison cell, my roommate was laconic and a little unpleasant, and I couldn't actually get the heat to turn on. I felt awful and home sick and generally frustrated on all accounts, but in retrospect I think I can attribute most of that to the bitter cold and the darkness. The sun doesn't come up here properly until around 9 or 10am, and it goes down very quickly at about 3:30-4:00pm, which leaves me marooned in darkness and unbearable cold for most of the day. However, unpleasant as that is, it does just require some adjusting (and giving myself permission to get rid of the necessary tears, because holding them in doesn't help)--and the past two days have actually been much better than my initial arrival, because I've started making friends.

In my hall I am, apparently, the only girl! At first I thought that the housing people had stuck me in a male dormitory, but there are girls living elsewhere in the building, possibly with my same situation--that they're rooming with a guy. This isn't really an issue, since I have in fact lived with men before, but I was sort of hoping I'd be able to meet this guy and introduce myself. Didn't happen until last night; his name is David, and he's from Cameroon, which seems to be par for the course with most of the boys on my floor. (I shouldn't say 'boys'; all the men from Cameroon are older, and appear to be studying at the same theological college).

The one who really befriended me was Augustine, who helped me struggle with my internet connection problems for hours and hours my first night here, then graciously invited me to his church the next day. Getting to the church itself was quite an ordeal, because the theological college is on the other side of the greater city; I'm not sure it qualifies as a part of Oslo at all. I saw a good bit of the surrounding suburbs though, which mostly consisted of people shoveling snow off of their cars and driveways, and some kids jumping into massive snow drifts; very cute. The church service itself wasn't exactly my cup of tea, possibly because I really have become a stuffy, boring Anglican in recent months, but I really enjoyed spending time with Augustine's church community. They invited me to sit down to dinner with them in the reception area, where I got to eat food from both Cameroon and Nigeria. It had very rich, strong flavors, mostly maize and ground yams with spices I'm not sure how to describe, but I really enjoyed it.

So that was my Sunday adventure. Yesterday, I took the T-bane into town, to Blindern campus, in order to track down my Oslo information packet at the international student reception area. I got that sorted out well enough and now have both a registration card and a student ID card (both of which I can use to purchase monthly travel cards for the T-bane, bus, tram, and even the ferry)--but what really made my day was finally meeting up with one of the other USAC kids I befriended over Facebook, Josh, and a new friend named Vincent who's studying here from Dublin, Ireland. It was really rather good luck that Vincent and I bumped into each other, because not only was he also staying at Kringsjå studentby, but he is in fact in my building! Granted, he's on the 6th floor, but all the same, we ended up spending the evening trying to gather supplies together; we bought some necessities at the Kiwi grocery store (that's what it's called, kid you not), and then, after the obligatory cup of tea in his kitchen, took the T-bane into Oslo to track down the Oslo City mall. I got my space heater at last, and we both managed to get decent pillows and duvets since the university doesn't provide us with much of anything, as I said.

Anyway, in about two hours we'll be meeting up to take the T-bane to Blindern campus again in order to attend student orientation. Hopefully my next post will come in short order so that it isn't so text-heavy and instead has more pictures!

Hadet bra~

My day in Greater London

A snowy shot of the back garden this morning! Thoroughly caked with snow.

I got a mercifully slow start this morning, which was very nice; had tea with Aunt Jackie, took a nice bath that didn't involve slightly oily hotel shampoo, then drove up to Wimbledon with Uncle Peter to have lunch with my grandfather, Brian. This turned into a bit of an ordeal, just because my step-grandmother Colleen apparently needed someone to jump her car off, so we agreed to meet Colleen at the Telegraph (a pub near their house in Putney Heath, which she'd walk to) and then drive her back home to jump the car off afterwards. Lunch was nice, but it was sort of amusing, because we didn't actually need to jump the car off at all. Oh well! It was still a nice afternoon.

I had a good chat with Brian after lunch (which ended around 4pm actually); we talked about my grandmother, "Omi," his first wife before Colleen, because when I was young and when Omi was still able to answer all these questions, I... didn't think to ask them. How did she meet her first husband Wilhelm? What was their relationship like? How did she and Brian meet? These sorts of things. Fortunately Brian could answer some of them, and it was actually a really informative chat. He was doing some work for the British government after the war (Second World War, logically) and met Omi while she was working for the German rocket industry. I'm not sure what she was doing there, but at any rate that's how they met.

My cousins came by the house tonight! In fact, Tor is keeping me company in my room right now. :) Here are some pictures of the glorious event:

My Aunt Jackie and Uncle Peter, at dinnertime. We had to talk Peter into the picture, he was most unwilling.

My cousin Gemma and her boyfriend, Alex.

My cousin Victoria ("Tor") with her newly dyed red hair! She's silly. (And also finished off that whole bottle of wine all by herself, the goof.)

The family~! Aunt Jackie, Tor, myself, Uncle Pete, and Gemma. Alex kindly took the picture.

And Molly, the family cat! She demonstrates here her ability to keep me from properly sitting on my bed, barring my access to Olaf the macbook. Anyway, she's quite cuddly.

Tomorrow, I leave for Oslo at 7:20am from Heathrow, assuming there are no delays. Hopefully, I'll arrive at 10:30, make the train to Oslo Central, in time to meet the ESN Student Group, and will next make my update from my dorm room at Kringsjå studentby!

An update from Leatherhead!

Finally, I've made it to my uncle's house!

It's quite late right now and I'm very tired, so I won't regale you all with the awful details of how I got here; suffice to say, US Airways finally just stuck us all on coaches and we drove south through the British Isles until we got to Gatwick about two hours ago. Now I'm happily tucked away in the room I've got to myself here, with a cup of tea and just enough energy to post some photographs before I turn in.

I have to say, I made some wonderful friends while I was stuck in Scotland. Pictured to the left are three awesome folks who also got stranded with me in Glasgow; Angie, her lovely hubby Mike, and Kohi, a Toronto native studying abroad for a semester in South England. We became sort of a quartet over the course of the past two days, keeping each other company and making sure we all stayed relatively chipper and upbeat despite the circumstances. I took this picture this morning at the Glynhill Hotel right before we boarded the coaches that took us to Glasgow Airport... where, obviously, we did not make out connecting flight to Gatwick.

Here's one of us all together, but I look pretty goofy. And my scarf doesn't match!

We got on the road to London at around 1:00pm, and I took a few snapshots of the countryside out the coach window:

These are a bit small, so I might post bigger resolution images tomorrow. Unfortunately I was facing the wrong way in the coach and so couldn't get any shots of the mountains, but they reminded me a lot of the way the Appalachian foothills cradle the Tennessee Valley back home.

We stopped at a few very nice service stations, and while browsing for munchies, Kohi and I stumbled across the weirdest food dish I've encountered thus far:

Very weird.

And on that note, I'm going to finish off my cup of tea and crawl into bed. Good night!