Student Life

I'm about to finish up with my second week of classes and I'm certain I made the right decision returning to school for a master's degree. Yes, I've been a bit skeptical ever since I got accepted into the CoMEM program, not because I was uncertain about the program, but rather that I lacked the motivation and drive to actually complete a master's. Plus, writing a thesis has always intimidated me (still does). However, now that I'm back in the swing of things (it's crazy how easy it has been to fall back into student life) I'm finally excited for the opportunities the next two years will open up for me! The past two weeks have not been without their doubts, mainly when I realized how much I've "forgotten" since school, but thanks to khanacademy.org (seriously awesome website, wish it had been around when I was in high school physics) I've been able to resurrect some of that lost knowledge.
The one thing that makes me the most nervous about this semester is the fact that while we have "exercises" due every week and we have to pass 70% of them to be allowed to take the final exam, the whole grade for the class is determined purely by the final. I don't like that, I've never thought of myself as a good test taker and come end of November, I might be freaking out slightly.
So you're all probably looking for some pictures or maybe some stories about cool events but besides my jump off a wooden tower into the freezing fjord, I got nothing. I know I put it on Facebook but I really love this picture. I'm thankful to the stranger who took the picture then found me to ask if I wanted him to email me a copy:

The jump was for an art film of some sort, they wanted people to jump into the water with their clothes on followed by other people jumping into the water bare-butt (what is art without some nudity). You can use this swimming area all year round, and I am told there are some Norwegians that Polar Bear Club it up, but like most things it costs some money so I'm thankful I got to use it for free.

I suppose I turned 28 last week too. Crazy. The other students in CoMEM made me a card which was extremely thoughtful and I did go out and have a couple beers. I actually participated in a sort of scavenger/go around the city and do silly things event put on by one of the Engineering student groups. The below photo was taken as we tried to get strangers to help us make a pyramid (the only stranger was the elderly fellow, the others were a part of my group).....silly but pretty fun. Oh! and I won the challenge for tying a bowline knot the fastest! Thank you GLDD!

Maybe I was too cool to participate back in the day but I do not remember having as many "getting to know people" programs/games back when I started college. Norwegians love this stuff! In fact there are just so many groups in general that a student can join here that I find it pretty inspiring. A lot of stuff is run/taken care of by the students (cabins, the student society which hosts a lot of parties, the sports groups/facilities). Again, I don't remember there being so much when I started school at UT but I think I just knew I was going to play lacrosse and didn't look around so much at anything else.  Speaking of lacrosse, there's a team here that plays other Norwegian teams and I believe travels to some European tournaments. It's a young team, only three years old and most people have played only one or two years. I'm a bit on the fence about joining mainly for that reason (it might be like high school all over again) but I know they want me because of my experience. We'll see, there are "Try Outs" tomorrow so it'll give me a chance to check things out and besides, it'll be nice to do something besides school that involves exercise.  

This weekend I'm going away for some sightseeing so hopefully my next post will have more scenic pictures and involve more actual traveling! 

And I would walk 500 miles........

I'm exhausted. I wish I had a fit bit to tell me how much I've actually walked this week though I don't think a fit bit knows when you're walking up hill which is primarily how I've justified the fact that I haven't "worked out" since I've been here. But really, all my natural resources are dwindling, my brain, my body, my social skills... I need to take some time and recharge...maybe sleep for 12 hours.
I don't even know where to start because this week has been filled with so much new information, people, and experiences. I have to give the International Office some credit, they've put together a pretty good orientation week. This week I went on two hiking trips, a boat tour, learned
how to play "kubb," a viking lawn game, and tonight the final activity is watching the Norwegian movie "The Troll Hunter." It feels like I've been going to camp all week rather than preparing to return to school....

Maybe some pictures will help break the ice? I am experiencing some major writers block.
The below picture is part of my walk to campus. There are several ways to get to campus but my favorite (and fortunately the shortest) is a path through a a really pretty wooded area. I love taking this walk and plan to use it for as long as I can before the weather forces me to take the bus more. Just in case you were wondering, I've vetoed the bike idea and got a bus pass instead. There are just too many steep hills....

The next two pictures are from my first hike which was up in the hills on the western side of the city I believe. We hiked for a few hours and stopped at a few really nice view points and a lake on the way back down to the city. I'm getting better at taking selfies I think!

The second hike was yesterday along the fjord and ending at Korsvika Beach (the bottom picture) where people could swim if they felt so inclined. I feel like a bit of a wimp but I just couldn't bring myself to take the plunge, though I did wade out a bit. BRRRRRRRRRR.... If there had been a place to jump in and get it over with all at once I think I might have summoned the couraged...

It really is very beautiful around here and I think I've been lucky this first week because the weather was pretty nice the whole week. Today it's grey and rainy and it looks like the forecast for the week is much of the same so I'm very thankful I was able to take advantage of the nice weather while I had it the chance!

My fourth roommate finally showed up late this week and we (my other roommates) and I were very excited when she turned out to be Norwegian! It seems like they tried to keep exchange students together so I feel like we won the lottery to get our very own Norwegian. I think she'll be a valuable information source.
I also met all the other people in the same program as me. There's 11 of us total I believe from many different places, Canada, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, India, Spain, Serbia, and there's even a guy from Gaza though I haven't met him yet. Not surprisingly, he had some technical difficulties getting here but I do believe he has arrived. It seems like a good group and I look forward to getting to know them better. In fact, I look forward to getting to know several of the people that I met this week better over the semester. It's always overwhelming meeting so many new people knowing that most of them will just become a familiar face to smile at when you pass them on the path to school but every once in a while you meet a person where the conversation flows a bit easier, more naturally, and you think "hey, I can see myself really getting to know this person."  I've met a few of those this week; let's just hope the feeling was mutual :).

Hmmm, what else...maybe some people are wondering if Norway really is that expensive and the answer is yes, yes it is indeed. I paid $10 for a beer the other day, the cheapest option in that bar (totally worth it though, it was a really nice day and the outside seating at the place was on the water). I'm lucky, I have a scholarship and I have been able to save money for the past 5 years so while I'm trying to be cheap, I think I have a bigger budget than most of the other students. Plus, things (like food) just aren't going to get any cheaper so there's really no point on dwelling on the prices. I do hate though that going out to restaurants for meals isn't a way that people really socialize. I love that about the US, you're always going out to dinner or lunch to catch up with friends. Here, I think it is just too expensive (especially for students) and I don't think it's a big part of the culture anyways. I haven't even been in a restaurant yet because people keep warning me about the prices! Potlucks it is then!

School starts tomorrow. Crazy. It feels like I have been talking about going back to school and this program for forever and now it's finally here. Hopefully going back to school is like riding a bike. Not going to lie, I'm worried about all the things I've forgotten. Our adviser brought up Matlab programming during our first meeting together, eek!!! It's been years!! Deep breathes.

Settling In....

I've been here all of three days now and I think I'm relatively settled. Yesterday I walked around the city center which is about 40 minute walk from my room, not too bad but not something I see myself doing all the time. My school is about a 30 minute walk away and I'm debating whether or not to get a bike. There are only two reasons why it's up in the air:
1) It starts getting dark here in October and I don't know how comfortable I'd be riding around in the dark. Also, if it's dark it's probably also cold, am I really going to bike around when it's cold?
2) I live on a hill. Riding into to the city would be very easy but coming back is a constant incline the entire way.
The weather is so nice right now I don't mind walking but we'll see; I get jealous when people speed by me on their bicycles as I amble along.
So far the most interesting observation I've made about Norwegians is that they really love those big blue trampolines. I find it fascinating how many yards have one but I have yet to see anyone bouncing around.

Trondheim is a cute city though it's actually bigger than I imagined. It has some really pretty areas, Bakklandet so far is my favorite with some cute wooden shops and houses (pictured below from the river side).

However, other parts of the city are just...city.  I think I was picturing a city of purely old buildings and cobblestone in my head. That's ok, it's a treat whenever I do stumble upon the old areas.  And of course, I hardly explored everything in one day and the main charms of the city will be discovered in time. Whenever I move to new places I always get anxious that I'm not seeing enough or absorbing enough culture right away but these things will come. I've finally met and chatted with two of my flat mates; one is from Albania and other from Spain. Nice girls and they seems pleased to be living with an American to help them with their English. One was surprised to hear that I'm almost 28 though...."You don't look 28!" I guess that's good? Oh well, at least I know my age and wisdom will help keep me focused more on my studies than the parties (fingers crossed).  Actually, it'll probably be the the cost of alcohol that keeps me from attending too many parties, that and the extreme difficulty in buying anything but beer! If you want to buy beer (or any alcohol) that's more than 3.5%, you have to go to a special government owned store and I have yet to see one. I might go through wine withdrawals. Can I get Wine of the Month Club in Norway? I've never seen so many people rushing a Duty Free store than when I flew into Oslo and it took me a couple minutes to realize why. Thank you Dani Peebles for my travel sized Deep Eddy vodkas! I will treasure them.
Tomorrow is the start of my week long orientation and I am excited to meet the people who are in my same program but I'm also very nervous. It's the first day of school all over again! What should I wear?! Yikes! I hope my hair looks good....

Searching for Elsa

So, I've decided to blog. I thought about it on the plane and a blog really will be the best way to keep those who care informed about my well being and activities. Also, it seems like a great way to remember the next couple years which, fingers crossed, will be eye opening and worth remembering fully. So here goes.....(note, the last time I blogged I was in high school and it was called livejournal).
I'll start with a summary of the path I'm on for those of you who still aren't sure about what I'm doing these days. After spending 4 years at a full time job working on the construction side of coastal engineering, I decided I wanted to move into the consulting side of the industry last year. As I was searching for jobs, I came across an international masters program called CoMeM (http://www.ntnu.edu/studies/mscomem) which piqued my interest because you study in multiple countries. I applied on a whim and to my surprise I was accepted with a full scholarship. Voila!
The first city is Trondheim, Norway. The title of this first post is dedicated to my two year old niece who was very excited to learn I was traveling to the land of Frozen. I've been here for a whopping 24 hours and it took about 24 hours to get here. I hate traveling by myself, it's so much nicer to have someone to commiserate with during the long layovers and to help figure out the best way to get into town. Thankfully, everything went fairly smoothly until the very last part of my journey when I misread the map I was handed to find my room and walked around for about an hour with my two heavy bags and a look of complete exasperation. When I eventually found the correct building and room, I collapsed.
My place is pretty bare bones but it'll work for the next five months. I have yet to meet the other girls with whom I share the bathroom and kitchen but I know there are at least two others that have also arrived. After unpacking yesterday I attempted to walk around a bit but only made it to the grocery store. I really can't wait to make a Norwegian friend so they can explain half of the items I browsed through yesterday.
On the agenda for today, Ikea and explore campus. The weather yesterday was fantastic so hopefully today turns out just as nice.