It doesn't get dark until 10PM.

Vigeland Park (Naked People Statues)

Joe and Me at Songsvann

Well, I'm officially back in the swing of things in Oslo. And (other than a quick snowfall this morning), the weather is making positive strides towards warmth. Sognsvann, the once frozen spot for ice fishing and cross country skiing, is now a gorgeous lake full of trees and creeks (perfect for trolls). Ducks also make a lot of appearances. Along with really beautiful, sleek birds. I also had a bug fly in through my open window (for real, up until a week or so ago, I didn't see a bug). Progress!

Anyways, other than the rapidly transforming landscape, I've been really busy. The choir I'm in, Akademisk Koreforning, had choir concerts two weeks ago both Saturday and Sunday. We performed with the local Bærum Symfoniorkester at both a church and the first radio studio ever built in Oslo (through the state radio - NRK). Very cool! We sang a song in Swedish and a song in Russian lol.

At the same time, I also finished up a major 10-page paper (1 and a half spaced!) for my Norwegian music class. Now, as my only major paper of the semester, I shouldn't have complained as much as I did, but ten page papers are not quite my forte. Anyways, I ended up writing a paper that I'm quite proud of. It ended up being about the effect of rapidly-globalizing Norway and how increasing foreign influence (over the past 70 or so years) is effecting the morals, values, and overall socialization taught to children through children's music. I interviewed and surveyed Norwegians and ended up realizing that Norwegians are incredibly sad to see traditions fade and die, but the values from foreign songs aren't too different from the Norwegian values, making the benefits of economic success, political alliances, and an incredibly high standard of living worth the loss.

After finishing my paper, it was quite fitting to then have Joe come visit as his last journey before heading back to Philadelphia. We celebrated Queens Day (A Dutch holiday celebrating the old queen's birthday (the new queen's birthday is in a month with worse weather)), and checked out a cool underwater-themed bar. We also walked around Songsvann, watched a Norwegian movie about Nazi zombies (Dead Snow), checked out the amazing Opera House, and wound up back at the Naked People Park celebrating Lag B'Omer with about 20% of the Jewish population in Norway. Joe isn't Jewish, but Shaul, the Chabad Rabbi, and his wife, Esther (I think of you every time, Grandma!) made us both feel incredibly welcome. It's quite amazing to celebrate with Jews in a bright sunny park full of naked statues on a Sunday afternoon in Oslo. Definitely a special time for me, and, as Joe described it, 'an experience I definitely didn't expect' (of course in a good way!).

So today, after getting Joe to a 7:15 AM bus to get to the airport, I tried (unsuccessfully) to get fresh shrimp from the fishing boats. Apparently they took the day off. But I'll get 'em, don't worry. Maybe I'll try when my Mom and Dad come visit on Tuesday. They've been in Stockholm for a few days, and will come for a week (with a trip to Bergen, Norway) in the middle. It's been way too long since I've hung out just with them, so I'm excited to catch up and celebrate Mother's Day with my mom.

Their visit will be followed by a long-awaited visit from Katie! She'll be here for two weeks, and we are traveling to Berlin and Amsterdam for a week in the middle. I can't wait - you just can't give a hug through skype : ).

Other than that, I have exams coming up in the end of May and a completely free June. David will be visiting my last few weeks abroad to hopefully go to Helsinki, Tromso (for the midnight-sun half-marathon), Riga, and Prague. But the planning has yet to happen lol.

Joe at the Oslo Fjord

Lag B'Omer BBQ

Bra! Great!

Jonathan

My Matzah Came Strait from Holland

Turtles in the Madrid Train Station

Home-made Brumost

Well, I just got back from a string of amazing nights in Madrid. But before that, I found a farmer's market in Oslo. In it, I tried a moose burger, homemade brown Norwegian cheese (Brumost), elk sausage, and horse (didn't know it until after I'd eaten it, guys). Full of free samples (one of my favorite things in life) of things I've never tried, the market was one of my favorite finds in the city. After that, we finally explored the awesome Norwegian fort that was far too icy to explore even two weeks ago! Grass is apparent, and snow is turning into mudmudmud. Definitely an awesome thing to watch. This Norwegian winter is unbelievable long, so any inkling of change is great!

Madrid in a nutshell:

- No night ended before 6AM
- The first day, we woke up and it was 3PM. Sightseeing was cut a bit short.
- Spain does a fantastic thing that we should adopt in every bar in America. When you by a beer, they give you food! Real food! Potatoes, meats, cheeses, deliciousness! Tapas. The bomb.
- Irish people are crazy. Especially when they're on vacation.
- They have a bunch of little guys running around with grocery bags full of beers, sodas, and sandwiches all night since, other than Tapas, Spain's late-night food is a little lack.
- English = not prevalent. My talkingwithhands improved immensely during our trip.
- The train station is like a rain forest with a pond full of hundreds of turtles!

So Madrid was a lot of fun. But we also went on a nice little day trip to Toledo, the old capital of Spain. Unlike Toledo, Ohio, it was gorgeous, historic, full of stone buildings and windy streets, and specialized in selling decorated knives, scissors, and letter-openers. I bought the most ornate pair of beard-trimming scissors that I have ever seen. Other than that, we (my roommates Chris and Grant, Grant's girlfriend Sarah, and I) roamed Toledo stopping to check out rolling hills and great architecture in weather that will never reach Oslo. You can check out more pictures here.

After coming back and catching up on sleep, I went to the Oslo Chabad for the first night of Passover. Out of 800 Jews in Norway, almost 150 people were present to hear the story of the Jewish exodus from Egypt. Full of Jews from all around the world (Brazil, UK, Israel, Norway) along with Norwegian non-Jews present just to learn more about the Jewish culture, I had a passover Seder unlike any I've ever been to. And since the Hagaddah was in both Hebrew and English (as opposed to being in Norwegian), I was able to follow, sing familiar tunes, and have a grand ole time.

Today, I cleaned my room and did my laundry. It may not seem like an accomplishment, but you should've seen my room. And my clothes.

Holy Toledo!

My Matzah came from Holland,

Jonathan