a whiter shade of pale

I am setting aside today as a day for relaxation and recovery. Well, it's more a preemptive measure to prevent getting sick than recovery.

I felt crappy all yesterday, I was exhausted all day and felt kinda grumpy. When I stopped to buy milk the guy selling it to me asked if I was alright, I thought it was strange that he'd ask but when I got home I looked in the mirror and I was really pale.

I cooked my self a delicious dinner of sliced apple with peanut butter (so good!) and a salami sandwich (maybe I needed protein, this whole vegetarian thing is challenging) and went to bed early. I woke up at 10 this morning still feeling tired, but a little less wretched then I did yesterday. Anyhow, today I am going to relax, sleep, and try not to get sick.

Thats the plan anyhow.
Just for fun:

Sunset, from my window

 I am disappointed in how bad the colors came out, there were a lot more reds and pinks

Getting schooled

Well, the start of classes has been very interesting. There are huge differences between UiO and Berkeley, as should be expected. Still, sometimes expecting something to be different does not really help when it comes to adjusting to the reality of the differences.
I have had a mixed bag class wise. Some I really like, and some not so much. The biggest shock, and disappointment, came from my old Norse literature class. The teacher was not really qualified, she  did not specialize in the subject and was a high school/ junior high school teacher of drama. That was shocking, I have never had a teacher so under-qualified before in higher education. It was not like she lacked a Ph.D. but still knew her stuff, we spent most of the class time correcting her.
 I have to admit, that after that class I had serious misgivings about coming here to study (of course that was my first class and I had a long weekend to worry about it). Fortunately, my other classes have been better. I ended up dropping the old Norse lit for a Development class which is really great.
I have not started my Norwegian language class, thats tomorrow, but I am hoping that one is good/tolerable.

Weekend adventures...

Over the weekend I visited the lovely city of Copenhagen with friends.

I have to say I really liked that city and now I want to explore more of Denmark. Anyhow, we traveled by boat (which was a first for me) and it was very cool. I think I would rather take a million boat rides than 10 10-hour flights. It is really nice to be able to walk around, get fresh air, get food, shower, and sleep in a real bed (ok, a bunk, it still beats the airplane seat).

Natalie, as we leave Oslo

some weird castle thing/hotel in oslo

A moody shot

On our first day we went to the national museum, which was very cool.

I channeled my mother and took lots of pictures of rocks.

This one was different because it is older.

They had an excellent collection of Bronze and Iron age artifacts and this may have been part of that.

This one is for you mom

They had an amazing collection of viking period goods.

They also had bog people, but it felt wrong to take pictures of them.

These were not everyday wear, I believe these were ceremonial and not used for actual pillaging.

They also had an amazing assortment of collections from Greek to Egyptian

This is an example ancient Egyptian textiles. I noticed that the collections paid more attention to textiles then some museum back home. Look at those shoes! Every time I see an example of shoes that old it amazes me.

This was part of an exhibit about Danish life historically, traditional costumes and all that.

The Museum was huge, part of it was an old palace.

Walking around the city its self was really interesting.

Here is an action shot (ok, it's blurry) of Robyn and Natalie.

Yes, that H. C. Andersen

Has anyone seen Serenity?

that shop made me think of this.

Vikings, shopping, and crazy sculptures, oh my!

Today I did touristy stuff.
I did a bus tour of Oslo, which included stops at the Viking ship museum and Vigland park.
The ship museum was amazing, the age and presence of the ships was just astonishing. It was hard getting good pictures due to the size of these ships, but I tried. We drove by the folk museum, I really want to go there, they have a stave church and music in the summer. There is also a museum of history and the national gallery that look interesting as well.

Detail of the prow

Vigland park was... interesting. The sculptures are, in all honesty, weird.

I think I would like to go back in the summer when I didn't freeze walking through it; I think it must be spectacular when all the plants are green and in bloom.

One of the more tame sculptures

the large tower

Detail

 Natalie and Robyn

Natalie and I

A very strange panel on a larger fountain...

After Vigland we went shopping and then for dinner, Oslo is gorgeous at night!

Natalie, on Karl Johans Gate

                                       

well, that is all for now, I am listening to the Sharks game and must concentrate.

more pictures...

The trees got a nice dusting if snow today

Ice Ice Baby

Ok, toilet humor

 I feel bad taking a picture of a stranger on the subway, but his silver coat was just too awesome.

Pictures!

Don't I look happy? This is me waiting for a bus in the cold

This is me at happier times after coming down the hill sledding

Kristina and Natalie of the buddy group outside of the Newspaper headquarters

a very cool church, blurry but I like the colors

There is racing tonight. This is from the kitchen window.

They race some kind of cart.

I have no title for this...

Today was long. I am still having a hard time with the whole sleep thing, it's just really hard for me to do now. Yesterday was a busy day, it was my first big orientation day, we heard talks and met our Buddy group. After spending the whole day on campus we walked down to a student social hall (I think), with a bar and had a meet and greet with the other buddy groups (mine is awesome).
 Around 8 p.m. I started to make my way home. Unfortunately, I got stubborn a bout how many buses/trams/subway rides I wanted to take, so I decided to walk to the 17 tram line instead of getting on the subway there. I only got a little lost. I knew where I was most of the time, but not how long it would take me to walk the distance. I made it home alright last night.
Today was a whole other adventure. First I met with the Buddy group at 12 and we went to the park and went sledding. It was very fun, but I got snow in weird places. Then we went back to Ingrid and Kristina's for hot coco (thank god). We all signed up for a bus tour around Oslo on Saturday. I guess on the tour we get admission to several museums.  I am going to go see the Viking ship museum and Vigland park, both of which sound really cool.
I went to a thrift shop with the group and got a very good wool shall for cheep. I am going to buy a traditional Norwegian sweater before I leave, and the thrift store is the cheapest place to do it.  Getting home was an adventure, I had a Conwy moment (missed the stop due to door not opening) with the bus I rode home, but it worked out ok in the end (only a little frost nip on my cheeks from waiting in the cold and dark for 40 minutes).
 I have bonded with Japanese guy in my buddy group over our mutual love for Ume and Miso, if he is nice I will share my Ume.
Tomorrow there is a workshop to help people sign up for classes, I think I am all signed up so I might just nap.
Oh, commenting is fixed so you don't need an account to leave a comment anymore, sorry that was the default and I didn't think to check it.