Keeping it Classy

Tonight Leonard, Callie, and I decided to attend the opening ceremony of an art exhibit at the Tromsø Kunstforening translated to Tromsø Art Association. The art was created by Svein Flygari Johansen whose work focuses on the socio-political tensions between culture, man, and nature. This particular project is called “Am I making up what really happened?”

Once inside, we were offered wine and joined a group of art enthusiasts. While waiting for the opening speech we walked around the first floor. I felt sophisticated wearing my heels with a wine glass in my hand admiring the oil paintings, trying to understand the inspiration for each work of art. Each piece in front of me was considered art. This got me thinking: what makes this painting on the wall unique, “valuable”, or important, especially in relation to other paintings or pieces of art? I’ll let you ponder about this question.

Finally, everyone was gathered at the bottom of the stairs as the director gave an opening speech and welcomed Svein and his collaborator Jonny Bradley. The speech sounded wonderful; however, I have no clue as to what was said since it was in Norwegian. At the end of the opening ceremony, I followed everyone upstairs to where the art was on display.

  

"Schizotopi" art piece made from fences

On display are a variety of pieces, but I will only highlight my favorite two. The first one is called “Schizotopi” which means “divided land” according to a woman I was talking with at the exhibit. As can be seen in the picture, the sculpture is made out of pieces of wooden and metal fences. These fences used to be reindeer fences and gates that used to stand tall in Finnmark. These fences represent the actual barriers, but are also symbolic of the tensions in establishing borders in Scandinavia. One particular group affected by the divisions were the Saami, said to be the indigenous people of Scandinavia. Saami living in the mountains herded their reindeer across wide areas, but with the introduction of boundaries and enforcement of particular laws, some were unable to continue the migratory routes with their reindeer which they had been following for centuries. This piece creates a visual representation of the political acts of the time.

"The Fish" art piece

My other favorite piece is called “The Fish.” In the room a plastic sheet is suspended from the ceiling and in the middle is an illuminated pool of water. On the floor you can see shadows of rippling water. At first I was a little disappointed with water in a sheet hanging from the ceiling. Yes, it looked cool, but I couldn’t see the “art” in it until a woman told us to stand still. Once everyone in the room had stood still for around 8 seconds, the shadow of a fish appeared on the floor. Once someone moved, the fish “swam” away. The fish was not real, it was only a projection from above, however; it was this aspect that made the piece very interesting.

The rest of the pieces were interesting, but I did not understand a few of them. Overall the classy night was a fantastic way to learn more about the Norwegian culture. I hope to take part in more events around Tromsø.

Care Package and Italian Meal

I have finally received my care package from home! Even though the box was basically destroyed from its long journey across the Atlantic Ocean, nothing was lost except for a few unfortunate noodles.

  

Care package from my loving family

From the picture you can see that the box contained a lot of useful things like vitamin D pills, highlighters, and lots of pasta. I am a very practical person so this was the best care package I could ask for. I am so grateful and I love my family very much.

Tonight a bunch of us had planned on having dinner together. The night’s menu was bacon carbonara which three Italians, Alberto, Alberto’s friend, and Grazia, had agreed to make. While they were making the meal, the rest of us sat at the table watching them in the kitchen as they directed each other in Italian. Occasionally, voices would get louder and hands would move in the air when there was a disagreement in how to do something. I enjoyed watching them argue and cook.

A couple of Italians making bacon carbonara

The meal was splendid. It was also nice to sit around and chat with everyone after dinner. Hopefully, we can make Thursday group meals a tradition.

Russian Pancakes...Yum

I only have class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, thus I have no commitments on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. My Tuesdays and Thursdays are hectic, but it is awesome to have three days during the week to do whatever I want whether it’s getting homework done, exploring Tromsø, or relaxing.

Today was a homework day since I had a hefty amount of readings for my culture and history courses. However, I did have a wonderful surprise. At night when I went into the kitchen Olga was making Russian pancakes. For Olga’s indigenous studies course, students are meeting tomorrow to have a discussion. At the discussion, they each agreed to bring a food representative of their country or culture since almost all of them were international students. Olga had decided to make Russian pancakes.



Russian pancakes



Olga so graciously offered me some pancakes which were delicious. They were not like the fluffy American pancakes back home; they were more like a crepe. On the pancake you put raspberry jelly and fold it over like a crepe. Olga told me how to make them, and I will definitely be making them sometime in the near future.

More Dots and Mushroom Picking

This weekend was very relaxing. On Saturday, Callie and I returned to Driv for another free meal and afternoon of decorating. Our task was the same as Friday, taping strings to dots. At the session, we learned that the dots were for the Stoplight party that night at Driv. The Stoplight party was a social gathering where people wore a certain color, green, yellow, or red, depending on their relationship status. You wore red if you were in a relationship, yellow if you were not in a relationship but not single- the in-between stage of dating and not dating, and green if you were single.

Only a few of the 3,000 red dots we made...ugh

The Spotlight party sounded really fun, but the decorations were taking forever. We had to put together 3,000 red dots, 3,000 yellow dots, and 3,000 green dots. It seemed a little unnecessary to me to have 9,000 dots for one night of dancing. By the end of the afternoon, I was sick of looking at dots.

Callie and I didn’t go to the Spotlight party because again, we were both feeling a little under the weather. Instead, I made an iced coffee and watched the latest episodes of White Collar. I absolutely love this TV series.

Today I got to go mushroom picking with Olga! I was so excited to go pick mushrooms. I remember how interested I was when I had talked to Olga while she was cleaning the mushrooms she had collected at Grøtfjord. Callie accompanied us because she wanted to learn even though she doesn’t like mushrooms.



Ducks we encountered by the lake



We headed out around mid-morning and even though it was raining, the forest was gorgeous. While walking we came across a small lake located to the south-west of Stakkevollan. In the lake was a flock of Mallard ducks and a few sea gulls. Of course I stopped to look at them since I love watching animals. After about a couple minutes, they started swimming to where I was. Eventually they walked onto to the land and started squawking at me. People probably come here and feed them bread, thus they associate people like me with food. I would have loved to feed them bread, but I didn’t have any with. Plus, let’s be honest, I can hardly afford bread for myself.

The three types of mushrooms we collected were Russula, Birch Bolete, and King Bolete. It is important you pick the right mushrooms and prepare them the right way because some mushrooms are toxic. Therefore, it was nice that Olga could teach me how to identify safe mushrooms and how to prepare them properly. The rest of the day was spent cleaning my mushrooms which was a three stop process of boiling, boiling again, and frying. For dinner I made spaghetti and incorporated the mushrooms into a tomato sauce. Yum. More mushroom hunting in the future.

Russula, Birch Bolete, and King Bolete mushrooms

Cookies, Dots, and Rudi's Birthday

Today I didn’t have classes, but a few of us did have a mission: to bake something with chocolate. After meeting at Café Bodega on campus, Callie, Holly, and I ventured to the grocery store in search of a cookie mix. At the store, we only had a few things to select from- I guess Norwegians make everything homemade. We quickly agreed on a package of brownie cookie mix.



Baking with Holly, and Callie too

At Holly’s place, we had a wonderful time trying to translate Norwegian directions and converting measurements. Even though we second guessed ourselves at times, we must have done it right because the cookies tasted fantastic! There will have to be many baking parties in the future.

Right after baking, Callie and I headed to Driv to volunteer. Last week Callie and I had signed up to volunteer at the Driv for Debutuke week. We had joined the decorating team. As a volunteer we received an awesome black T-shirt, a wristband that gave us discounts for Debutuke week, and for each day we volunteered we received a free meal from the café. Therefore, Callie and I arrived before 5pm to enjoy our free meal which was a massive pile of French fries, chicken nuggets, and a small gourmet salad. The meal tasted so good!

Once 5pm rolled around, we met the student decorating coordinator and the work began. The decorating group had formed a circle upstairs where all the supplies were laid out. Once everyone was seated, the student coordinator gave all the directions in Norwegian. I had no clue what she was saying, but the task was simple so we didn’t need to ask questions. Our task was to tap strings to red, green, and yellow circles. Sounds simple, and it was.

The first half hour went by quick and soon we ran out of string. I asked the student coordinator where to get more string and she just looked at me, said something in Norwegian, and then continued chatting with her friends. I asked her again in English, but she ignored me. She was too busy chatting with her Norwegian friends while Callie, Tina- another international student from Germany, and I were busy taping strings to dots. I will also point out that the student coordinator and her Norwegian friends had finished a small quantity of dots compared to what Callie and I had completed. At this point we became very frustrated since we were working hard to complete as many dots as we could. We did not expect to be pampered, just respected.

We continued to do the same task over and over. Even though the task was boring, Callie and I formed an assembly line to make things go quicker. After two hours, we decided to head out in order to make it back for a birthday party. We said our goodbyes to the group, but no one acknowledged us. The student coordinator didn’t even thank us for our work.

Once outside, Callie, Tina, and I discussed the situation. We had felt disrespected and unappreciated. Thinking about the situation, it may be a difference in work ethic. In the states, we are always hustling and bustling to get things done as quickly as we can. However, in this case, I think the Norwegian volunteers were just unmotivated.



Me with the birthday girl, Rudi!

Our next stop for the night was to Bill’s house to celebrate Rudi’s birthday. Rudi turned 22 yesterday and she wanted to have a get together tonight with everyone to celebrate. At Bill’s house, he made cheesecake with a strawberry Jello top layer. I was surprised that Bill baked something so complex. The cheesecake was delicious.

We all hung out and chatted while many people took Tequila shots with the birthday girl. Soon it was time to head out. Callie and I stayed back and cleaned up since Callie was sick and my throat was starting to hurt. There is a cold that many students, especially international students, have been catching.

When I got home, I read about another shooting in the U.S. that occurred by the Empire State Building. Even though the shooter targeted a coworker, the story was still tragic and put a damper on a wonderful night. I started thinking about the tragic events that happened this summer and I could not understand why people would commit such violent crimes. I hope the fear of participating in casual activities like attending a movie, entering a place of worship, or viewing a tourist attraction may be removed, and instead replaced with security and safety.

Classes in Full Motion

This week I had bioinformatics and also began my other two classes.

On Tuesday, I had my Arctic Norway- Aspects of Culture class. The class takes an anthropological perspective on the interethnic dynamics in the high north as they unfold between people of the Saami, Norwegians, and people with Finnish origins. The Saami are said to be the indigenous people of Norway, but the situation is more complex. I am looking forward to learning more about the culture and complex relations of the region. Additionally, my professor is an elderly woman with short, white hair who has a spunky personality.

Today I had my third class that I will be taking in Norway, Arctic Norway- Aspects of History. This class will complement my Aspects of Culture class and provide me with a deeper overall perspective of the high north. In the course, there are mainly international students; therefore, the course starts with the basics assuming no previous knowledge on Norwegian history. The course will begin with a brief overview of important themes and then focus on more specific topics like hunting, scientific research, economics, and others.

I am looking forward to all of my classes at the university. Even though I’m only taking three courses compared to the four I usually take at Concordia, my schedule will be quite full especially in November when I will have my essays and exams for the courses.

Tromsdalstinden

Today was definitely an adventure. The day’s agenda began with Callie, Holly from Canada, Leonard from Belgium, and I meeting at 8:30am to begin our day of hiking. Once at my place, we realized the bus system didn’t even start running until 9am which was logical since it was Sunday. On Sundays basically everything is closed in Tromsø except a few gas stations here and there. Therefore, with everything closed, we thought it’d be a good day for outdoor hiking.

Once on the bus we went to the city center to get on another bus route. We boarded our next bus. While on the bus we soon realized we were on the right bus route number, but were heading in the wrong direction. This meant that we ended up at a bus station out by the airport on the other side of the island. At the bus station we huddled on a bench for an hour while we waited for the correct bus. At 11:30am we finally arrived at our destination. We could begin our trek.

It is important to note right now that Callie, Holly, and I had intended to climb the “Cable Car” mountain called Big Stone. It was a mountain right along the shore on the mainland and you can either ride the cable car up its side or hike. On the bus ride and the beginning portion of our hike, we kept repeating that we were excited to climb the “Cable Car” mountain.

Anyways, since we arrived to the starting point later than anticipated, we ended up starting the hike at the same time as 80 medical students from the university. We wanted to do the hike as a small group of 4 versus 80, but a benefit from the situation is that if one of us gets hurt, we have plenty of future doctors there to help.

The beginning of the hike went well, however, after the first hour the incline increased dramatically. At this point, Holly who was still sick decided to turn back. We had agreed to meet up with her in the city when we were done. We continued our hike, stopping frequently to catch our breath and relax.

  

Tromsdalstinden summit; look close, you can see small people 



After about the third hour of climbing, I looked around and noticed something important: we were on the back side of the “Cable Car” mountain. This meant that we were clearly not climbing it. Instead, we were about to conquer the highest peak in the area, Tromsdalstinden. Tromsodalstinden’s summit is at 1,238 meters. I wish Leonard would have corrected us since this climb requires more mental preparation than I had planned for. Looking back on the day it was funny, but at the time I had no clue what I was getting myself into.

Taking a break to do snow angels!

Towards the top the climb became very steep. My thighs and calves were burning as I continued to climb over bare rocks. I avoided looking down because it was so steep. I also avoided looking up because I didn’t want to look at how much further I had to climb. I only looked at the path in front of me, which was the safest option since I didn’t want to slip and hurt myself.

Finally, after four hours we reached the summit. The views from the top were splendid. You could see far into the distance in all directions because the sky was so clear. Yesterday Leonard had climbed this same mountain, but it was so cloudy he couldn’t see anything. Even though he’s crazy for climbing Tromsdalstinden two days in a row, Leonard enjoyed seeing the beautiful scenery. We were very grateful he accompanied us since he was basically our tour guide. Leonard is studying geology so he loved the opportunity to guide us.

Me on the summit of Tromsdalstinden

Once we had taken in as much as we could before catching a cold, we started our trek down the mountain. Leonard guided us towards a more gradual route down the mountain since going back the way we came would be too dangerous. The two hour journey down the mountain put a lot of strain on my knees. It was nice to finally reach the bottom and walk straight, neither up nor down an incline.

Panorama view on top of Tromsdalstinden

Once I had arrived back home, I was exhausted. I skyped my family and then headed to bed. Have a long second week of school ahead of me.

First Class

On Thursday, I had my first class lecture for bioinformatics. Before class started I introduced myself to a few of the students and had quick conversations. Then, right at 8:15am when the class was supposed to start the professor walked in and started setting up his equipment. He began talking to the class in Norwegian and I sat there with glazed eyes. Right as I was about to raise my hand to let him know that I didn’t speak Norwegian, a student I had talked with before class raised her hand and informed him that I couldn’t understand Norwegian. For the rest of the time he spoke in English, thank goodness.

The class was only an introduction to the course and what to expect throughout the semester. We will only meet two times a week until October 4 and then we will have weekly labs until the final exam. My grade is only based on the final exam which makes me very nervous. At Concordia, your final grade is for the most part based on homework, exams throughout the semester, presentations, other work, and a final exam. It’s scary to think that I have only exam that will determine my final grade. I better study hard throughout the semester so that I can master the one shot I have on the final.

After class I headed to Café Bodega to hang out with other international students. At the café we talked about the events of the week. For the first two weeks of school, a student group Debut UKA puts on a bunch of events and parties for students. Most of the events are free, but the ones during the night at the Driv usually cost money. The one on Thursday night didn’t sound too exciting so a few people came over to my place to watch Shrek 2. That night I met Callie’s flatmate Madelen. Madelen is in her second year at the university and she is studying political science. She is from Norway so it was fun chatting with her.

Picture while walking to class

On Friday, Callie and I went to campus for the student expo. At the expo there were tons of student organizations with representatives from each flagging down whomever they could. Each time a representative came up to us, we had to politely ask them to speak in English. I felt guilty not knowing Norwegian, but they were more than happy to talk in English. At the expo I signed up for variety of student organizations. I am looking forward to becoming involved on campus.

Later that night, Madelen prepared tacos for Callie and I! It was such a delight to have a home cooked meal after sandwhiches all week. After supper, we had planned on going to the party at Driv, but had decided to watch the movie Madagascar at my place. We definitely enjoy watching animated films. The meal and night of relaxing were much needed after a busy week. 

Today I was going to go hiking with a group of international students, but the weather was really cloudy. Hiking will have to be postponed until tomorrow.

My Learning Agreement

It was nice spending a wonderful day in Grøtfjord on Monday, but on Tuesday classes at the university started. In the campus center, the Rector Jarle Aarbakke gave an opening address that kicked off the school year.

Even though I did not officially start classes on Tuesday, I was on campus with Callie and Johanna to figure out classes. In order to study abroad, we had to complete a learning agreement. This learning agreement indicated what courses I would be taking while here. It had to be approved by both my home institution Concordia College and the University of Tromsø.

On my initial learning agreement, I said I would be taking a freshwater ecology course, however, when I looked at the course schedule, the course had one whole month blocked off just for lab and the rest of my lectures conflicted with another course. Therefore, I had to find another biology course. For the last six days I have been on a wild goose chase from teacher to administrator to department head to another teacher trying to get approval for a course I wanted to take. Finally, I found a biology course that fit into my schedule, was approved by both Concordia and the University of Tromsø, and would count towards my biology major. This process was overwhelming because I needed to take a biology course here in order to graduate on time this upcoming May. I will now be taking bioinformatics and it feels great to have my schedule completed.

While figuring out my courses, I noticed a large difference between what I am used to at Concordia and here in the availability of professors and people. At Concordia professors are typically available at various times throughout the day, all five days of the week. Office hours may begin at 8am or later in the day, and go until 4 or 5pm. My main point is that if you need to get a hold of them, you can. The availability of people at the University of Tromsø is on the other side of the spectrum. When trying to meet with people while on my wild goose chase, I frequently had to return to their office. Most office hours of professors and administrative staff are from 11am to 3pm and almost all professors do not have office hours on Wednesdays. What I took from the situation is that the task will get done when it gets done; there was no rush at all even though I had a deadline for my learning agreement.

Coming here, I wanted to learn to slow down and appreciate the moment. At Concordia my typical schedule involves rushing from one thing to the next. I am aware that I need to live in the moment more and I have been making efforts the last couple years to do so. During the process of amending my learning agreement, I learned to stress less when things are not in my control. Yes, I was responsible for speaking with each person, but if they weren’t there, there was nothing I could do about it. The best thing I could do was just return during their next office hours while relaxing in the meantime.

In the afternoon on Tuesday, Callie and I finally got our cards for our bank accounts. We immediately went and bought a few groceries because we had been living on hot dogs and peanut butter the last few days.

Tuesday night I finally met my other two flatmates. Yaone (prounounced Ya-oh-nay) is a sixth year medical student at the university and she is my neighbor. We are in the same mini hallway and we share a bathroom together. Yaone is from Botswana and came to Tromsø for medical school because of a program set up between her country and Norway. So far, Yaone has been very helpful in giving me directions to places or answering any questions I have. I am looking forward to getting to know her better.

The fourth flatmate is Ann and she is a third year medical student. I have barely had a chance to talk with her since she is gone so frequently. She is from southern Norway.

Callie and I on the bus

On Wednesday, Callie and I along with other international students went to the police station to register. The wait in line reminded me of the DMV. The visit consisted of confirming my place of residency, being fingerprinted, recording my signature, and taking my picture for my residence card. I was relieved to be completely registered with Norway and not to have to worry about anymore official documentation for now.

Grøtfjord

For the last day of the Introductory Program, the staff planned a trip to Grøtfjord on the island of Kvaløya. We loaded the buses in the morning and traveled to the location about an hour away. The views along the way were gorgeous as we weaved around the mountains along the coast. Once there, we were sorted based on what activity we had chosen. The three choices were to hang out on the beach, fish on the sea, or hike the nearby mountain. I chose hiking along with the majority of the ISU students. We loaded the bus again and were dropped off at the trail opening.

Grøtfjord beach

The beginning of the trail was quite level and weaved through a forest adjacent to a lake supplied by a mountain stream. Back in the states I love to be outdoors whether it’s hiking, camping, or canoeing in the BWCA so this felt like home to me. I enjoy being outdoors where I can look at the surrounding landscape while listening to the sounds of nature around me. The views on this hike at Grøtfjord were going to be gorgeous given its location. The hike was going to be interesting though since I was used to hiking with my family and boyfriend, not around 100 ISU students.

The first hour was decent. There were steeper inclines, but that is expected while hiking. What surprised me was the portion near the top where the tree line had subsided. This portion was rocky and the crevasses were hidden by bushes and lichen. There was a trail and we did have guides, but the whole climb was chaotic with people heading in all directions. At one point, Callie and I started along what seemed to be a path, but then it ended. We could have turned back; however, it was more exciting to free lance it up the mountainside, making sure that our feet didn’t get stuck in the hidden openings.

While climbing- yes it was climbing- I thought about something. The agenda described the difficulty of this hike as walking across gentle slopes. If this was gentle slopes, than I wonder what the Norwegian version of steep is.

Me on the summit of Grøtfjord

After a couple of hours, we finally reached the summit. As expected, the views of the landscape were breath taking. At the top, I enjoyed my lunch which consisted of hot dog buns and peanut butter Callie had so graciously shared. After eating I walked to the other side and to my surprise I saw reindeer! On the way up, I had noticed deer droppings, but I was not expecting to see reindeer since our group was so loud. However, before my very eyes was a herd of reindeer. Sitting on a rock and watching the herd move across the landscape brought me back to my childhood when I would run around pretending to be a reindeer.

Reindeer on Grøtfjord

Once the reindeer had moved out of sight, we headed down the mountain and walked to the beach. The day had started out chilly, but now it was warm- relative term here- and I was hot from the hike. Therefore, after eating lunch I put on my swimsuit.

With my swimsuit on, I gathered up some courage and headed to the water with Callie for a quick dip. We started running towards the ocean, screaming like we were warriors heading into battle. Pretty soon our feet were in the water, then our calves, legs, and waist. Immediately when my legs were in the water, they started going numb. It makes sense when you think about it. We were in the Norwegian Sea which is basically the Arctic Ocean. The temperature was around 43°F! We immersed ourselves in the water, and then bolted out of there. While running out of the water, I couldn’t feel my legs. I just had to trust that they were moving me onto dry land. I can now check swimming in the Arctic Ocean off my bucket list. I have included a photo as proof.

Callie and I running into the cold Norwegian Sea

After a couple of hours on the beach, it was time for a large gathering where students from each country put together a presentation about their country. Some students talked about the stereotypes of their country, others taught us songs and dances. My favorite presentation was by the students from Finland. They had people participate in a mini wife-carrying competition. Three guys each carried a girl around a circle. There were seven students from the U.S. and since we were from different parts of the country, we decided to teach everyone the Hokey Pokey. I would have to say it was a success and I was surprised that the majority of the students had never heard of it before.

Overall, I had a splendid time hiking at Grøtfjord and getting to know more international students.

Panorama view from the summit of Grøtfjord

When I returned to my flat, I finally had the opportunity to meet one of my flatmates! Her name is Olga and she lives on the other side of the flat. Olga is from Russia and is at the university to obtain her master’s in indigenous studies. It’s weird thinking that I had seen her at the Introductory Program and had no clue that I was living with her.

Olga had gone hiking at Grøtfjord as well and had returned with mushrooms she had picked along the path. I was curious so I asked questions while she was cleaning the mushrooms. Picking wild mushrooms requires knowledge and experience since mushrooms can be poisonous. Therefore, I admired Olga’s mushroom picking skills. Olga said that she would take me mushroom picking in the future. I have always wanted to learn how to pick wild mushrooms.

Struggles and Sea Shells

Sunday was the first day we had no official plans. It was nice to sleep in and organize all the papers I had accumulated, but I quickly became overwhelmed.

This isn’t my first time away from home. In high school I went on multiple mission trips to Mexico and Guatemala. On each trip, I spent a couple weeks working on projects at the organizations while learning about the culture and the injustices around me. The summer before my junior year in high school, I traveled to Boston by myself to attend the National Youth Forum on Medicine for two weeks. Three years ago, I made the transition to college. Even though I am from Fargo and I attend Concordia College in Moorhead, I view the transition the same as if I had attended a college farther away. I had to adjust to my new living environment, make new friends, and integrate myself into the college. I treat the Red River like an ocean, not a river. Last summer I lived in Lincoln where I conducted immunology research at the University of Nebraska. Lastly, in between all my travels, I have spent countless days, weekends, and weeks away from home.

These past experiences have prepared me for my transition in Tromsø, but I was naïve in thinking that this semester abroad would be an easy adjustment. Visiting a country for a few weeks and living abroad are two completely different things. This sentence seems straight forward, but only when you live abroad do you understand its true meaning.

Since arriving, I have become overwhelmed with figuring out how to access my money from the university, learning about the visa process in Norway, becoming familiar with the city and campus, navigating the university system (thus far I have four different usernames and passwords to access the university resources), understanding the new academic system, and making friends with facebook as my only non-physical form of communication.

Right now, I miss the familiarity of my life back in the states. I have a bank account which I can access; I do not have to obtain special documents to live in Fargo; I know the layout of the city and the Concordia College campus, additionally, I know where I can go to get certain things; I understand the education system; and lastly, I could easily communicate with those around me.

Today I was able to share my struggles with my mom and two sisters, Jenna and Symone, over skype. This was the first time I had talked with them since arriving in Tromsø besides sending a quick facebook message saying that I was alive and had arrived safely. By the end of our conversation, they had helped clear the cloud of concerns and temporary problems surrounding me. I could now see the bigger picture: how I will grow as a person.

I am very fortunate for being able to study abroad in such a beautiful country, and right now, I need to conquer one thing at a time and make the most of every moment.

Shoreline view from Tromsø

With an upbeat mindset, I invited Callie on a walk around Tromsø. We started heading north and made our way to the shore. Along the shore we were looking for sea shells while talking about our mutual concerns. By the end of the walk, I had collected many sea shells and had learned more about who Callie was.

Me and my sea shells

While heading back to Stakkevollan, we walked through a neighborhood and came across five children playing. I was prepared to just walk by since I did not expect them to talk with strangers; however, I was pleasantly surprised when two of the girls came right up to us. They were speaking in Norwegian so we told them that we were from the U.S. and we only knew English. Their eyes lit up with excitement. We started asking the two younger girls, they were nine years old, questions upon which they would respond with either a ‘yes’ or a ‘no.’ The other two girls who were eleven would then translate for them since they were still in the beginning stages of learning English. There was a boy with them, but he was very shy and didn’t really talk with us.

Having the opportunity to talk with local children was fantastic. What I enjoyed even more was I had met my childhood Norwegian twin. She is the girl with the crazy blonde hair and animal print pants on, almost a complete replica of me when I was that age. As a child I would always be running around the house or outside with insane hair that was rarely brushed and animal print pants. To give you a better perspective, my idols were the 101 Dalmatians, Lion King, and Pocahontas.

Norwegian children we met while on our walk

Sadly, the children had to go home. We were invited to their soccer game the next night, but tomorrow we are going on a trip and won’t be back in time. I hope to see them around.

Bittersweet

Today wasn’t too exciting. The International Student Union (ISU) had a second hand market for international students at 2pm. If you know me, then you know that I love to thrift store shop. My philosophy is if you need something, then why not buy it used and support organizations with the money you spend. Additionally, there are many jewels to be found like the legitimate Coach leather purse I found at a thrift store once for $10. At the second hand market, I paid a small price for a bag I could fill with as many things as I could. I didn’t find anything too exciting, but I did find some clothes that were cute.

One of my goals from the second hand market was to find skinny jeans. In Norway, almost everyone wears skinny jeans whereas I wear flare jeans. This difference in dress attire makes me stick out like a sore thumb. Wearing skinny jeans would allow me to better fit in on campus and with the Norwegian culture. I do have one pair of skinny jeans, but I have decided to embrace my own fashion. It’s only superficial and there is more to who I am than what I wear. And plus, who knows maybe flare jeans will come back to Europe again.

Later in the night, the ISU showed a movie in the administrative building on campus. The movie was “Across the Universe” which is a favorite of mine. If you haven’t seen it, it is a movie that uses the Beatles’ music as a backdrop to a love story that takes place during the Vietnam War. During the movie, I thought a lot about my boyfriend David and home.

On our walk home, Callie and I discussed the challenges we would be facing while in Tromsø for the semester. Luckily we have each other, and now I understand why God sent both of us together. Before heading home, we stopped at the Coop, a grocery store, right next to our hostel to grab some food. At this point we still had not bought groceries since we did not have access to our money at the university yet. Fortunately, I still had money that I acquired in Fargo before the trip. With the money I bought yogurt and bread.

At the store we ran into a friend named Adnan, another international student from Pakistan who is pursuing his master’s in geology at the university. Since Adnan also lives in Stakkevollan, we walked back with him upon which he invited us over for dinner. The dinner was fantastic and it was great way to spend a Saturday night.

That night a prayer was answered. While in the grocery store, I realized how expensive the food truly was. I am very frugal so the thought of spending all that money on food was overwhelming. However, the meal I had at Adnan’s with Callie was reassurance that everything will be okay. I have already made my budget, and I plan on sticking to it.

Introductory Program Continues

Thursday, August 9

On Thursday, the introductory program continued. Together we sat through tons of presentations about the ins and outs of being an international student at the university. Some presentations focused on practical matters like registering with the police, while others presented helpful information about the city and activities to do on campus. All in all, the day was overwhelming, but it was pleasant to continue conversations with people I had met the day before. This whole experience reminded me of freshman orientation at Concordia College, except I did not have to worry about serious issues like visas and learning agreements like I do here.

Throughout the long day, I started to feel jetlagged. The time difference between here and home is 7 hours. This means that when we start orientation each day at 8am, it is 1am back home and thus my body thinks it should be sleeping. This is my first experience of jetlag even though I’ve been to the United Kingdom. Hopefully I can adjust quickly; however, the sky never becoming completely dark might be a problem.

Thursday night, the volunteers offered free waffles at Café Bodega on campus. Café Bodega is a student-run café on campus where students can gather to enjoy waffles, play games, or simply chat while listening to music. I had been informed that this is where the majority of international students hang out. This will be a great place to meet familiar faces throughout the semester.

The waffles at the café were fantastic. The waffles must have contained nutmeg or cinnamon and the waffle itself was large and thus very filling. A picture of these amazing waffles will be posted in the future. While eating my waffle, our table participated in trivia night. Out of the 20 questions, the majority of groups got only about 10 correct. For instance, one question was how much hydro energy does Norway produce each year…definitely didn’t know this answer. The quiz was difficult and unfortunately we did not win.

After Café Bodega, Callie and I returned to our dorms for the night. We had finally acquired internet so it was nice to chat with a few people back home.

Friday, August 10

On Friday, more information was presented before us again. At this point, my brain was full, and I would have to rely on my notes to remember things later on. A mix up from the mundane presentations was a bus tour of the city. On the tour we drove around the city center and crossed the bridge to Tromsdalen, portion of Tromsø located on mainland Norway. Our guide shared a ton of information about the city and the Troms county.

For me, the most interesting fact I learned was the history behind the color of Norwegian houses. In Tromsø and Norway, the majority of Norwegian houses are red, yellow, or white. However, what most foreigners don’t know is that the color of one’s house used to be significant. Before the development and availability of various colors of paint, the color used to paint a house depended on the financial status of the family as well as their geographic location.

Red House: Lowest Status, Yellow House: Middle Status, White House: Highest Status

Red was the cheapest color to produce since it was made using oil and the blood from fish, cattle, or other animals. A fishermen living on the coast did not have a large income, thus, he most likely had a red house. The second color yellow was slightly more expensive to produce. It was made with ochre and oil. The finest color was white. In order to make white paint zinc, an expensive material of the time, was needed. Therefore, if one’s house was white, it indicated the family was wealthy.

These three colors are still common choices of modern homes today, but the social status is not associated with them. This is a good thing since my house is red.

At the end of the tour, we had lunch at the Driv. The Driv is a building owned by the Student Welfare Association at the University of Tromsø, but run by students and volunteers. The inside of the building looks like a classy barn, but has a café atmosphere. Within Driv is a restaurant, four bars, and a main stage which is open to the second floor. Events are frequently held at Driv where students can listen to bands, drink expensive beer, or hang out.

After lunch, a large group of international students headed to the bus station to finally obtain our much needed bus passes. Callie and I along with a couple of Canadians stood in line for two hours before we got our bus passes. One bus ride costs 28 Kroner (about $4.50) so a monthly unlimited bus pass was a no brainer.

Later in the night, we returned to Driv for the student welcome party. All international students were invited as well as the Norwegian students that were in town. I was exhausted from the last few days of the introductory program, but once I got inside, I forgot that I was even tired. The music was blaring, people were dancing, and the lights were flashing. To make things even better, the music was in English and very up-beat, making it easy to join the crowd and dance. The night was a blast and I can’t wait for more parties at the Driv!

Picture from welcome party. As best as I can from
left to right: Marcello, Signe, Sohail, Lorenzo,
Andrijana, Callie, Holly, Me, and Adnan