Jelly Belly Buttons

A bit of campus

Blindern Train Stop

Hei Hei,

This past week, I did not go on an exotic trip. Nor did I find a crazy music festival. I dreamed that polar bears were roaming the streets, but that didn't happen either. I've mostly been eating candy, making omelets, running around lakes, and going to the occasional class. I'm getting ready for Rome to meet up with Joe for a few days. And I've talked a lot about getting up and getting to the port at 7AM to buy fresh shrimp.

So in lieu of super cool events/explosions to tell you about, I figure I'll just throw out some more observations about life and sweeping generalizations:

1. As an American, it's pretty cool how differently I come off to Europeans. We tend to be much more goal-oriented and less in the present.

2. This week was the first week I've seen sidewalk! Bricks, really?

3. Taco night is awesome. Everything's expensive, but when split with 4 or 5 people, delicious tacos are super duper.

4. The beer we brewed in our closet was delicious. And strong.

5. I love my Scandinavian film class. I'm watching tons of movies that I never would have heard of, let alone seen. I still think Lars von Trier is a really weird dude (Antichrist was so messed up), but a lot of the other movies are fantastic and really portray Scandinavian life.

6. Norwegian life is incredibly deeply rooted in Christianity and its Christian history.

7. Norwegian history is pretty boring. It's mostly, "We really wanted to not get taken over, but then we did anyways." A lot of their culture (art, food, music) is a lot of striving for a Norwegian identity. They've been under other governments and cultures for most of their history, and establishing what is Norwegian is taking them a long time to figure out.

8. My cooking abilities are improving immensely.

9. My first born son will be named King Kong.

10. The internet is amazing. The amount of information and ways to communicate from anywhere in the world is unbelievable. I can stay up on all of my music blogs, read, write, video chat, call a real phone, share pictures, videos, and songs. I really hope we don't get taken over by robots.

Anyways, that's about it. I'm bout to watch a movie for my film class and then keep listening to an album by Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore that I've been addicted to. Check out one of their songs, Something Somwhere Sometime. Though it's not one of my favorites, it's the only mp3 I could find lol.

The only fraternity on campus. Just kidding, it's the music building.

<("), Jonathan

All Aboard the Copen-Wagon!

The View Down a Canal

It was a rather short trip to Copenhagen. On Friday afternoon, we boarded The Crown of Scandinavia - bound for a 6-hour journey in Copenhagen. The boat came complete with a pool, sauna, karaoke bar, club, family restaurants, and duty free stores. We didn't make it to the pool, sauna, or family restaurants. But I did sing karaoke while successfully rocking my new Norwegian Sweater.

Anyways, as we got off in Copenhagen, we decided the best thing to do was to walk across the city, stopping at various sites along the way. So for six hours, we walked through the freezing wind. But the sun was out, I ate a Danish, and we really got to see a lot of the city. We saw the palace, the Little Mermaid statue, Christiania (A kind of old hippie area that used to be solely bartering), and the outsides of a lot of museums. Cool!

So even though I didn't get to spend a full day in Copenhagen, the trip was a lot of fun. Tequila's a bad idea. Copenhagen's beautiful.

The Little Mermaid Statue

A Cool Canal - weird that the area that doesn't get sunlight is the melted part...

1000 Naked People Later...

Vigelandsparken - "Naked People Park"

A wise old man once said something I didn't pay attention to, but my roommate Chris said of Norway, "It's unreal!!!". And as I've booked trips and looked at what I've done, I've noticed just how unreal this really is. This weekend, I'm hanging out in Oslo and going to a few 'start of the semester' parties. Next weekend I'm going on a cruise to Copenhagen for two days through the University of Oslo international programming. The following weekend I'm going to Stockholm, Sweden from Thursday to Sunday. And the weekend after that, I'm going to Tromsø, very Northern Norway, to dogsled and see the Northern Lights. And I'm working on booking trips to Amsterdam, Rome, and possibly Helsinki for the rest of the semester.

In addition to some great planned events, I've also had a great couple days getting into a sort of routine. I had two of my 4 classes (I only have class Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesdays), bought a guitar, bought a Norwegian sweater, bought a Norwegian cardigan, cooked Norwegian salmon filleted right in front of me, had a job interview with the disabled students department at the university, and bought a mustache mug. I toured the Oslo opera house, visited an awesome sculpture garden, joined a choir (we sang songs in English, Latin, and Swedish?), and just explored.


I was talking to my friend Lily today (She's in Cairo, on her way to South Africa for the semester), and I thought about how this entire experience is constant exploring. It's nuts how new everything is. I never would've known that Norwegian police drive Volvos. I never would have known that Oslo's main public park is full of statues with nearly 1,000 naked bodies. Or that they make spookniforks!

Unreal.

Sweet Aviator Mirrors

Translation: "Never Trust a Man Without a Mustache"

I don't think the sculptures were sacred or anything.

- Jonathan

Welcome to OsBRO

It's kinda funny. The album I've been listening to a lot lately (Teen Dream by Beach House) has a fantastic song called "Norway" on it. The song itself isn't really about Norway at all, but it's a really pretty song that, in feel, beautifully captures the landscape of the snow-covered, ice-embossed, festive city of Oslo.

I've been exploring daily, crossing off tasks on my incredibly long list of to-dos: register with the police, apply for a Norwegian ID number, get a Student Card, purchase a gym membership, sign up for a student public transit pass, register for classes, find a coffee pot, meet the hundreds of international students in a student body of thousands, etc. But as I've check off each task, I've begun to realize how much I'm settling in and embracing the people and places of Oslo. I feel like I've been here for weeks, and that while I still have no idea what people are saying or what signs say, I do know how to get where I need to go fluently. And even though I feel very alone sometimes, I have so many people to talk to and meet - something I haven't experienced since freshman year at Temple. And even then, I had an awesome family in Philadelphia to help me adjust. So while some aspects feel familiar, others are completely new in ways that I could never have expected.

Anyways, other than logistical check-list achievements, I feel like I should just tell you a little bit about what I've been doing/eating. For starters, I had a delicious bowl of fish soup and a cup of coffee for 70 NOK (approx. $14.00) the other day at a coffee shop right after getting lost and running into the gorgeous Oslo port during the sun set (3:15 PM). Last night, I decided to draw the only animal I know how on my curtain (a white sheet) to liven things up! And today, after getting my residency permit and passport validated, I stopped into an old army store with my roommate Chris and a few other friends and I bought a really a cool silver Norwegian pin from WWII. I also bought mittens.

Also, I feel like I should forward some contact info. If you don't know, I have my regular phone available for texting, so feel free to shoot me a text anytime at (513) 373-0775.

But if you'd like to mail me a letter or call me in Norway, below is my address and phone number:


Sogn Student Village
ROLF E. Stenersens
Alle 46, Rm. 201
0858 Oslo

Norwegian Phone Number: (47) 96 71 85 06

So far, even though I've had a ton of things to do, I've had a lot of freedom to explore and get to know my roommates and other International students. I've met people from all over the world including The Netherlands, Germany, France, Prague, Italy, Morocco, Brazil, Suriname, Latvia, Norway, and Canada. It's been interesting to talk about how the rest of the world views Americans, what American culture items go global (Ugly Betty?), and how different governments function. If nothing else, this semester will be a learning experience like none I've ever had.

Also, if you'd like, you can check out "Norway" by Beach House here.

The Library Main Entrance

The Main Cafeteria

- Jonathan