Norwegian Saga

Greetings one and all.

I apologize for not writing in so long. The summary of events is as follows:

I submitted my essay for British history on 19 May, I received a grade of B for it. Which was more than I expected honestly. The professor is such an intense personality I didn’t think my work would pass muster.

A few hours before I did that however I had a Norwegian oral exam. It consisted only of a 15 minute dialogue with the teacher and a censor. I got a D in that unfortunately. I’m not sure why, I expected a C. Though, as per usual, the teacher told a friend of mine that she believes I can do much better.

On 22 May I had my Norwegian written exam for which the grades still are not available. I’m waiting for those and I will let you all know how I did.

On the 27th of May I returned to Canada. I’m home now and I’m eager to get back to Oslo. Parting with friends, many of them in Oslo only for a semester, was not easy. I made some friends of a type that I can’t seem to find in Canada. Europe’s socialist leanings really do produce different people. On the flip side of that though is the fact that I can visit “the mainland” and have these friends show me around their respective countries/cities.

That’s what’s been keeping me away from writing. Hopefully there are still some readers of this blog that will keep up when I return to Oslo. Which will be at the end of July. I want to wander around Norway a bit before classes begin.

And speaking of classes… because there are only three classes available in English for the next semester, two of which I’ve taken, I’m stuck taking “Inside the medieval church: the church room and its decoration in medieval Scandinavia.” Not that I think the course will be boring, because most professors have the ability to make their subject matter exciting. I’m miffed at having to take a course that’s entirely unrelated to my thesis topic: Icelandic Viking age power and authority structures and how honour relates to them. But, that’s how it is.

I also want to mention the latest photos I’ve put up. There aren’t many but they’re from one of the most amazing events I’ve ever witnessed. May 17th is Norway’s constitution day. It was that day in 1814 Norway got it’s full independence from Sweden. It was a peaceful transition for the most part but it is celebrated with enthusiasm. Anyway, many Norwegians dress up in their “bunads” (not sure about the pluralization) and run around waving the flag. What’s really touching is the feeling of unity among the people. It’s something I’ve never experienced. If someone asked me when they should visit Norway, I would say 17 May. (See the Wiki of it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Constitution_Day )

I will write more as plans for my return to Norway crystallize and I once again take to writing about my doings there. Until then, have a great summer everyone.

I’m a little busy but I wanted to give you guys some photos to look at. I will explain them all in a day or two after my Norwegian exam.

Photos.

I know it’s been a long time since I last posted. I’ve got those photos from Risør as promised and a few others.

Though I just noticed we didn’t get any photos of the town, but that’s ok because one of the other galleries has it. As I said earlier we’d visited Risør over the Easter holiday. While there we took a walk to North Europe’s largest glacial pothole, Rockwood eat your heart out. The terrain surrounding the area is remarkably “Canadian shield-like,” for those that know, I’m thinking north shore of Lake Huron and beyond. I felt quite at home in those familiar surroundings. The wave-washed rock, water (in this case ocean not lake, however the effect was the same), and the plant life all reminded me of Canada.

The day (or two) after that we went for a hike up a semi-mountain by the name of Hisåsen. From there the view to the surrounding area and ocean was wonderful. Someone leaves a book in which journeyers can leave their names and a comment. There’s a photo of that too.

So, to the photos then.

More recently Anne and I went for a short walk in the forest where there’s an animal petting type place. I’m not quite sure what it is but you can get horse riding lessons and they have goats.

In other news, my understanding of Norwegian has vastly improved from what it was in January. Though I still can’t actually communicate my ideas because Norwegians don’t understand me. All of my foreign friends complain of the same thing. We just can’t understand why Norwegians don’t simply interpret us as a dialect. Norway has about as many dialects as towns, and that’s not a lie. Most Norwegians can pinpoint someone’s town of origin by the sound of their dialect. However, that apparently isn’t enough training and ability to understand foreigners.

I’m also feeling some stress from school. I’ve got an essay to do, the nautical terminology one (which I’ve changed around a little bit) and my Norwegian exam which includes an oral component. So somehow I have to create a spoken presentation that will run four minutes.

The weather is now quite gorgeous and warm. The sun is up quite long as well and sky is blue until well after 10pm. It’s caught me off guard a few times when I thought it was reasonably early in the evening only to discover it was 11pm when I looked at a clock.

That’s all for now. Enjoy the photos.