They have government funded programs for people like you..

I was out on the town yesterday, and I made some interesting and very sad observations. You know those girls, mostly blondes, often pretty (but not always). They stagger around on their heels, more skin showing than not. They fascinate me. It must be really tough when you're a student, and you spent all your money on makeup (God knows they don't spend any on food), and you can't afford clothes that fit you. The result is gruesome, they have to wear clothes they took off their barbie dolls. October in Trondheim is not very warm, and in their tiny strings of garments they must be freezing. It brings a tear to my eye, my sympathies to their families. Thank goodness for those charming, young men offering to take them home and keep them warm.

Put on your dancing shoes

I just ordered my first pair of dance sneakers. I know I can't keep dancing in my trainers, but these shoes are expensive, so they better be good. It's a good investment though, I really enjoy the dance classes. Last Friday I attended a latin dance night, and I was jaw-to-the-floor impressed by how amazing some of these dancers are. I even got asked to dance by one of them, and it was fun, too. Just a bit embarrassing when I figured out (halfway through the song) that I was dancing salsa and he was dancing bachata. Oh well.

Line came to visit last weekend. Else was supposed to come, but she came down with the flu, and didn't feel like travelling halfway across the country. Understandable. So Line spent the weekend here, we had a great time shopping, eating, laughing, and painting the town. Can't wait to have my next visitor! Company somehow makes this tiny appartment seem bigger. Homier.

This weekend I'm attending two birthday parties. Next weekend there's one. After that, UKA starts. Lots of fun, lots to look forward to :) But, I kind of wonder when I'm going to be able to have a quiet weekend. You know, when absolutely nothing happens, you haven't got a single invitation to anything, and you're pretty sure you're going to die from boredom, and you wallow in your bed watching bad TV, or read. I'm looking forward to one of those too.

Busy bee

Remember how I suggested that university is relaxing and that I have a lot of free time on my hands? Yeah.. Scratch that. It's all picking up speed now, excercises for group sessions, obligatory reading, obligatory assignments, work experience. I check it's learning daily, I read Shakespeare sonnets at night before I go to sleep, and I worked 5 hours on an english proficiency assignment on Sunday. Still, this is nothing compared to what's to come. And as if school wasn't enough, I'm now attending lessons of salsa, hip hop, lindy hop, boogie woogie and swing. But you know what? I love it. I've been spending the last 2 years in some sort of intellectual drought. I'm learning stuff again, and it's wonderful!

What's not wonderful though is the economical life of the average student. I've never noticed until now how quickly money just fly off into different directions, and you never see them again. And life in Trondheim does demand a few extra expenses, such as clothes to fit the climate. I have invested in not only one, but two pairs of rain boots, and I am now ready for autumn/winter in Trondheim. From what I've been told, I'll be walking in slosh the next months. The weather these days is insane. One minute you look up and you see clear skies and a warming sun. The next you're drenched from rain, or swept up and landed somewhere in outer atmosphere by one of those aweful coastal winds. But like my grandmother said: "Det finns itte dårlig vær, bære dårlig klær". Tssh.

Over to something much more pleasant than Norwegian weather: the programme for UKA09 (Norway's longest and most eventful festival) was released today. Over 3 weeks (almost all through October) of beer and fun and good music. You'll for sure find me attendig the Postgirobygget concert, the October fest, 50's night, the "Trønderfest", and last but not least, the Aqua concert! Among other things, the 3 weeks are packed with entertainment, art, culture, courses, not to mention great sporting events (e.g. the Norwegian Championship of Rock-Scissors-Paper takes place during UKA). UKA is a big deal, it stirs up the city every other year, and I'll be around for at least 3 of them!

I got curtains! They're a lovely purple colour (which now has turned out to be my theme colour), and way too long. But I think I solved it rather fancily; I tied them all up in buns at the bottom and it looks quite good, if I might say so myself. Now I just need some cushions and a table cloth. And a night stand. And a few other things. And I should go to IKEA to get these things pretty soon, this week actually, becaaaauuse... I get my first visitor this weekend! Else arrives some time on Friday, staying until Sunday. Yay! We're gonna have so much fun! :)

Getting started

The first two weeks of uni are over, and I very much appreciate the fact that it's 6pm. on a Wednesday, and I'm not getting ready for a party. It's been great fun, I made a lot of good friends, and a part of me wishes I could keep it up all through the year. But. I also spent too much money, slept too little, and I'm afraid if my liver could talk, it would yell some pretty offensive stuff at me. So I'm glad I can finally relax, take it all in, and start my studies for real. And so far I'm doing pretty good. Despite the late night partying, I still managed to get to every class (even the ones at 8am) these past weeks, and I did all my obligatory reading. I'm done buying my books (which I got fairly cheap, I bought most of them second hand). I've got my time table more or less down (see bottom of this post), and I'm getting to know my way around school. I've paid my bills, bought my bus pass, got my insurance, and just this afternoon I sat down and made a 5-week-menu. Impressive, huh?

The best thing about being a student in a city more or less run by students, is that the offers on just about anything is amazing. For example, I'm going to dance Lindy Hop tonight. Lindy Hop! And tomorrow's Salsa, next week is Hip Hop/Street. This is all part of the student athletic association, and you pay ridiculously little for a membership and the access to over 50 different activities (from soccer to paintball to golf to karate to dance), as well as their gym where you can go spinning, running or join an aerobics class. 550 NOK (less than $100) a year! Lovely.

The only thing I still have on my list as of now, is going to IKEA to buy a few more things, a night stand and a box to have my books in and stuff, maybe this week. One of my new acquaintances is going and she has access to a car! Hooray! This weekend I'm going back home for a quick visit, going to a goodbye-party for one of my friends who's moving to England. And on my 7 hour bus ride I have more than enough time to read what I need in my new fascinating books, like "An introduction to linguistics and fonetics". It's gonna be hard to lay down The Time Traveler's Wife, the book I'm reading at the time. It's fantastic, I love it. Anyway, I need to get some food in me, my 5-week-menu informs me today is vegetable soup. Yum!


My time table so far:
Monday:
8.15 to 10.00: Pedagogy, lecture
Tuesday:
8.15 to 10.00: English Proficiency, lecture
10.15 to 11.00: Literature: Drama and Poetry, study group
Wednesday:
DAY OFF!
Thursday:
9.15 to 10.00: English Proficiency, study group
4:15pm to 6.00pm: EXFAC, lecture
Friday:
10.15 to 12.00: Literature: Drama and Poetry, lecture
(Every two weeks:) 12.15 to 2.00pm: Pedagogy study group.

Sounds great? I guess I should mention they expect us to be doing school work 40 hours a week.

Learning disabilities

I'm a student. I'm tired. I have been to parties two nights in a row, and I have about 10 more to go. Initiation week, or buddy week (fadderuka) is a very illogical phenomena. 7000 new, confused students are grouped and assigned buddies and basically get drunk 13 nights in a row. And you go to school. Your brain has to deal with a frightening amount of information every day, everything's new, and you'd think you would want to be awake, alert, and concentrated during this important phase of the school year. But no. Party time! This is only my second day of going to bed at 2am and getting up at 8am, and I am exhausted. This insanity will continue the rest of this week, this weekend and all through next week. Don't get me wrong, I love it! It's a great way to meet people, most of them are very nice, it's fun, and you get to know the city.. I just wish I didn't have to be in a class room at 9.15 in the morning. But I'm here for school, I can sleep in a week and a half, this is a once-in-a-life-time opportunity. The normal, boring life of a student will come soon enough. Cheers!

Goodbyes and fresh starts

I'm not good with goodbyes. I always cry. Leaving Dallas was hard, knowing I wouldn't see any of them for at least another year, some of them maybe never again. But I had 4 amazing weeks in the states, I'm so glad I went. A big thanks to Mary Grace and her family and friends for making me feel so welcome. The last few days were spent enjoying the sun, drinking margharitas, packing, planning my homecoming and the following move. I left the Delatour house at 6.30am on Wednesday and said goodbye to Mary Grace, Janina and Ann Elise at the airport. 24 hours, 3 flights (Dallas --> New York --> Reykjavik --> Oslo) and hardly any sleep later, I was home. Else picked me up at the airport, and had me home by 4pm Thursday. Thank you! I had a quiet night with my friends planned, some wine, crackers and cheese, but we ended up going to a concert (Postgirobygget), and it was great! I surprised myself by staying awake the whole time. After almost 40 hours on the go, I went to sleep for the last time in my room. Friday I moved.

I am currently sitting in my new, tiny, studio apartment in Trondheim. I've spent the weekend moving in, buying appliances, carrying boxes, despairing over lack of space. Now I'm pretty much all set, I have what I need, now I only have to worry about the small stuff: pillows, table cloths, curtains.. Personally I'm happy with how it all turned out, I'll post a picture when I'm done decorating. I said goodbye to my family today, they spent the weekend here, helping me out. I couldn't have done this alone, I have the best family in the world (love you, miss you!). That makes me even more sad to see them go, but it's time for the little birdie to leave the nest. And I'll go home for a visit in a few weeks.. Now I'm just starting to get excited about starting school. The start-of-year ceremony is on Tuesday, so I have tomorrow to get to know the city a bit, apply for a part time job, and buy some of the stuff I need. And to get a good workout, it's been ages.

Of the 156 000 people living in Trondheim, 30 000 of them are students. And I can hear them, see them, smell them, coming back from wherever they spent their lazy days of summer, getting ready for a new year of learning. I like to think I'm one of them.

American fast food chains...

McDonalds, Burger King, Whataburger, Denny's, Wendy's, Arby's, Checker's, Hardee's, Jack in the Box, White Castle, Long John Silver's, Dairy Queen, Sonic, Big Boy, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Chick-Fil-A, Taco Bell, Taco Bueno, Taco Cabana, Taco Time, Domino's, Pizza Hut, Subway, and more...

Food, lots of food, fast.

That's America

Drive thru fast food, drive thru coffee, drive thru pharmacies, drive thru liquour stores, drive thru banks.. You can basically live through your car in the states. Amazingly efficient, or ridiculously lazy..? Or both..? I'm just asking.

I got to experience some real American traditional activities this weekend. Because I missed out on the rodeo in Colorado, we went to Fort Worth this Friday to see some good old American bull riding. It started at 8pm, but we went a bit earlier to get dinner at Cattlemen's steakhouse (amazing by the way), and to walk around the Stockyards (part of Ft. Worth, a bit outside the city, and if you ever want to see Texas like you've imagined it, go there). The rodeo started off with an 11 year old girl singing the National Anthem, a pretty blonde riding on a beautiful horse holding the Star Spangled Banner, and as expected they followed it up with two hours of bullriding, calf roping and barrel racing. It was good fun, and gave me the feeling of really being in Texas. The original plan was to go to Billy Bob's after, for a drink in the world's biggest Honky Tonk bar, but, it was raining, and our schedule didn't allow it. Later I heard it's actually a pretty shitty bar, so I guess it wasn't the end of the world. We ended up going out in Dallas instead, meeting for the first time Mary Grace's brother David, and his friend David.

The day after, the Davids offered to take me and Janina to a baseball game. We didn't want to miss a chance to see what's known as America's pastime, so we headed off to the Texas Rangers ball park in Arlington. Also the home of the Dallas Cowboys, but unfortunately football's not in season. Anyway, Janina and I had never seen a baseball game before, and the Davids did their very best to explain the rules, which is not an easy thing to do. About an hour into the game we got it, and I can honestly say I understand the game now. Yay! Our cheering them on did not help though, they were losing badly to the Seattle Mariners. We left at the end of the 8th inning, and went out to meet the others for drinks at Cosmo's.

As if to honour our last week in Dallas, the sun made it's return, and we're now back to 98 degrees (37 celsius), and clear blue skies. This calls for some quality time by the pool side. On Sunday we went to Ann Elise's pool, and Monday we went to Jeff's parents's house. They are the sweetest people you'll ever meet, and while we enjoyed a good couple of hours in their pool, Jeff's dad made us hamburgers and hot dogs.. Life is pretty good in Dallas right now, and I can't believe I'm going home the day after tomorrow.

Downtown Dallas

Sightseeing in Dallas is not like sightseeing I've done in any other city. Dallas is so big, and so spread out, and the public transportation is not very good. Without a car you're not likely to see a lot of Dallas, and walking around in downtown Dallas this time of year is like going for a walk in an oven. But Janina and I decided to try, we were supposed to go to the Old Red Courthouse museum for the history of Dallas, and to the JFK 6th Floor museum at Dealy Plaza, where John F. Kennedy was assassinated in '63. We didn't do either. That is, we went to both, took some pictures from the outside, and went walking around the city instead. We found beautiful little park, called Thanksgiving Square, with an adorable little chapel. We walked up and down the three main streets: Main, Elm and Commerce, but Dallas doesn't function like other, big, European cities I've been to; Downtown doesn't have great shopping and big pedestrian streets. It has museums, some churches, some parks, a few restaurants, and a lot of office buidlings. I'm sure we would've enjoyed the downtown tour much more in spring or autumn, when it wouldn't be so hot, you'll have more energy to walk and look around, although I have the impression there's not that much to see. People work downtown, not a lot of the Dallas population live there. So all the malls, the boutiques, the grocery stores, the theatres, most of the restaurants, and the insane amount of nail salons, are all set in uptown, or the neighbouring communities that all belong to the county of Dallas. What is funny downtown though, is noticing the contrast between the areas and buildings that are part of old Dallas, and what has been built with oil money these last decades. Here are some photos from downtown Dallas:






And you've probably heard the expression "Everything's bigger in Texas". I don't know if this is true, but it certainly goes for the thunderstorms:

There and back again..

Time has passed quickly the last 10 days, the first few of them I spent meeting new people, experiencing the nightlife of Dallas, and looking forward to 2 things: Janina's arrival, and our trip to Colorado. Janina came Sunday evening, we picked her up at 6pm (this was by the way my 8th time in an airport in 2 weeks), and got her settled in the backhouse with me. We passed the time from Monday til Wednesday visiting the Nasher Sculpture Garden and the Dallas Museum of Art, shopping, and packing. Thankfully, the plan of us being 5 people and 2 dogs in one car driving the entire 13 hours in one day, was changed at the last minute. In stead of leaving Thursday morning, Wednesday evening only 4 people and 1 dog got in the car, and headed off to a little place called Creede, Colorado. We stopped in Amarillo, Texas for the night, at the Quality Inn, slept 5 hours, ate low quality breakfast, and continued on our journey. The landscape changed as we left Texas behind, more rolling hills, more green. Creede, Colorado is technically at the base of the Rocky Mountains, 8852 feet above sea level (ca. 2700 m.), and as we drove in to Wason Ranch around 5 Thursday evening, we could only marvel. Surrounded by mountains, and the Rio Grande running right by the house, which was gigantic. We were 8 people in total: me, Janina, Mary Grace and Jeff, Brittney and Jonathan, Ann Elise and her brother Andrew. And still there were 2 beds extra. 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 2 big living areas, a big kitchen, a pool table, ping-pong table, poker table, a big porch practically on the river, and not another house as far as you could see. And on top of this, it was a gang of lovely people, and we had more than enough Bud and wine for everyone. And as if there wasn't enough to do at the house (like being beaten at ping-pong), we managed to squeeze in some out-door activities too: we went to a shooting range just by the property, and those wild Texans teached us scared Europeans how to use a gun. Some went golfing, while 4 of us went river rafting down Rio Grande. The ride was about 2,5 hours long, and Janina and I, Brittney and Jonathan chose to paddle, so we had quite the little excercise going 10 miles (16 km) down the Rio Grande. It was fun, and a good way to see some beautiful scenery. I was also determined to go on a long hike, but put it off til Sunday. That was a mistake. First of all, most of Saturday night had been spent playing beer-pong. Second, it was raining. But, nothing can stop a stubborn Norwegian, so I got up at 8.30am, and climbed mountains, almost fell down mountains, nearly started avalanches, was close to tears at one point, tried to cross the river, failed at crossing the river, and walked back defeated and had to have them pick me up, after 3 hours. But all in all it was fun, and good for me, America is really the true home of fast food. We also got to spend some hours in the town of Creede itself, which is nothing like I've ever seen. About 400 people live there all year around, and our rafting guide told us that during summer and tourist season, that number increases to about 2000. We were meant to go see the rodeo Sunday afternoon, but it had been cancelled, so we decided we'd rather go see the indoor one in Fort Worth next weekend.

After 5 days of fun, relaxation and the feeling of time standing absolutely still, it was yet again time to spend a LOT of time in the backseat of a car. 5.07am Monday we were on the road and on the way back. This time we drove straight, stopping only a couple of times, and were back in Dallas 6.30pm. Isn't it weird how you can be completely exhausted from sitting still all day? I'll be going to sleep soon. Or read.. Oh, and I got into school! I am as of August 09 officially a student at NTNU, I start in 2 weeks!

Here are some pictures from Colorado: