Norwegian Saga

Hello everyone!

I’m back in the lovely city of Oslo. There’s a lot to report on and I’m going to give it my best to relate it all without leaving any gaps.

My flight was on Sunday the 9th of August at 1730. I arrived for a nine hour stop over in Frankfurt, Germany, at 7am the following day. The stop over felt like it took forever. I sat in a chair for nine hours waiting for the the board to tell me which gate to go to. To add to that, I was exhausted. I didn’t get much sleep on the plane so I kept nodding off at Frankfurt.

Anne picked me up from the airport, my flight into Oslo was delayed by an hour so the poor girl had to wait. We went to her parents place where I quickly fell asleep. The day after, 11 August, I went to the police station to submit my application for the renewal of my residence permit. Hopefully it doesn’t get rejected as my current one expires on the 30th.

The day after that I settled my housing contract for another semester. I also tried to get my school matters in order to no avail (more on that later). All of this was going on while I lived at Anne’s place. You see, I was technically homeless.

Before I left for Canada I had rented out my flat. The tenant wasn’t due to leave until the 17th of August. So there I was on the 12th with no place to live. My original plan was to go camping with Anne for four or five days then help her with some matters when we got back into the city. I brought over a tent, a sleeping pad and so on. The only problem was that Anne got bitten by a tick and contracted Lyme disease, which is now better thankfully. As Anne was on heavy antibiotics I didn’t feel comfortable taking her out hiking for a few days. Not to mention the paranoia I developed of hiking around in tall grass. So I didn’t go camping.

After unsuccessfully trying to get my courses registered on the 13th we left for Risør where I spent the remaining few days before moving back into my own place in Oslo.

Only yesterday did I get all of my courses registered and settled. I’m taking a course on the medieval Baltic crusades and an independent reading course where I’m to read a thousand pages of stuff then write a paper. The topic: marriage law in the Icelandic sagas.

I also managed to snag the professor I wanted as my adviser. Though I didn’t have the courage to ask him myself. In conversation with another professor I mentioned that and he kindly asked on my behalf. Boy did I feel like a geek.

I’m just getting settled back in still. I’ve got some lesson plans to make for the kids for tomorrow, I’m still working with teaching English. Yesterday I went out and bought food for myself so now the fridge is stocked. And I’m prepared to begin my research once again.

I will write again, and at least once weekly to keep everyone updated .

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.