Hedgehog update! I saw one! It was so cute. And much bigger than I thought it would be. Of course, I followed it into the bushes which it was not a huge fan of. Oh well. I can leave Sweden happily, I have seen my hedgehog.
In other news: I went to Stockholm. But really, that's not as exciting as a hedgehog ;-)
Pictures from dumplings, Stockholm, and hand-painting soon to come.
T-2weeks. Yikes.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Saturday, May 10, 2008
mmm dumplings
Tonight was dumpling night. Actually, it was dumpling day. They were super tasty, except they really took all day to prepare, between kneading the dough until it was absolutely smooth in the morning and then letting it sit (Giselle and I got compliments on how nice the dough was, though :-) ) and then taking about 3 hours to chop the vegetables, mix everything together, and make all 150 or so dumplings. But they were really good. I'm just not sure I'll want to exert the effort to do it again. I'll stick with the frozen potstickers, thanks! It definitely was an experience.
There was also a festival going on in our housing area today complete with live music (and weird DJs) and I think there were some Rock Band competitions, though I didn't see them. Giselle and I sat outside and listened to the strange DJ (who looked rather like an elephant as he grooved to the music with his ID tag swinging back and forth wildly like a trunk) and then to some other people who had an accordion in their band. It was pretty neat, though really hot outside so we didn't last too long. I could still hear them from my balcony, though, so I lay out there and read while listening. Quite nice.
I'm going to go down and get tickets tomorrow morning, since I don't really want to bike down at midnight, to go to Stockholm next week. I've been putting it off for no good reason and I definitely want to go. So I will! Easy as that.
I think the band outside is doing a cover of "Umbrella". Yikes. And they're playing until 2am? I'm glad I live on the outskirts of the dorm area. It's a lot quieter out here. Though I have lived through Relay for Life every year in Teague, so it's not too bad. But I'm still glad I don't live in building Y or E.
Happy weekend!
There was also a festival going on in our housing area today complete with live music (and weird DJs) and I think there were some Rock Band competitions, though I didn't see them. Giselle and I sat outside and listened to the strange DJ (who looked rather like an elephant as he grooved to the music with his ID tag swinging back and forth wildly like a trunk) and then to some other people who had an accordion in their band. It was pretty neat, though really hot outside so we didn't last too long. I could still hear them from my balcony, though, so I lay out there and read while listening. Quite nice.
I'm going to go down and get tickets tomorrow morning, since I don't really want to bike down at midnight, to go to Stockholm next week. I've been putting it off for no good reason and I definitely want to go. So I will! Easy as that.
I think the band outside is doing a cover of "Umbrella". Yikes. And they're playing until 2am? I'm glad I live on the outskirts of the dorm area. It's a lot quieter out here. Though I have lived through Relay for Life every year in Teague, so it's not too bad. But I'm still glad I don't live in building Y or E.
Happy weekend!
Thursday, May 8, 2008
May days
Things have been pretty relaxed and lovely around here. Summertime has struck with no warning - there wasn't a spring at all. It went straight from 50 degrees to 70+ degrees (I'm still trying to get faster at accurately converting to Centigrade in my head). I've been getting lots of chances to lie outside in the sunshine and I got my first mild Swedish sunburn. Which prompted me to go out today and find sunscreen, which was ridiculously expensive! But what can you do. If you need sunscreen, you need sunscreen. I like how SPF 30 is the highest I could find in the stores and it's marked as "very high" SPF. They also sell SPF 6. Like that'll do anything, you crazy Swedes!
Last night our corridor had a barbecue which was lots of fun. There's a wall in our hall (pending pictures) with people's hands on it and the date they moved in. I think there are handprints going back to 2002. But last night all the rest of the newer members of the corridor and I got to put our handprints up there. Of course I chose a lovely green! Even though the wall will be torn down when the renovate the corridor over the summer, it's still really nice. I like this corridor a lot.
We also played Swedish Trivial Pursuit! And I answered some questions and got two pie-wedges for our team! I also was completely useless on many questions having to do with Swedish geography and history and all of that. It got to a point where they'd translate half of the question and then just say "uh...you won't know this" and then take it in Swedish. Also, did you know that Adam was apparently created on March 25? I had no idea. But we were pretty darn close with March 21. I was impressed by that guess.
Saturday I'm learning how to make chinese dumplings with Giselle, which should be a lot of fun. It's apparently an all-day event because the dough needs to rest and blah blah blah I'm impatient. I just want to eat them ;-) There, also, are only 3 more baking sessions left. Oh goodness. Ashley Forest girls, get ready for lots of baking next year! I need to get my fix somehow.
Apparently Saturday is also some sort of carnival in Delphi (where I live) but I'm not quite sure what it entails. Rumor has it that some Rock Band will be played. But I'm not sure.
Tomorrow I think I'll go for a walk and take some pictures of Sweden in bloom to balance out the cold and rainy galleries that represent the first 3.5 months of my time here. Sweden is quite beautiful in the summer.
Last night our corridor had a barbecue which was lots of fun. There's a wall in our hall (pending pictures) with people's hands on it and the date they moved in. I think there are handprints going back to 2002. But last night all the rest of the newer members of the corridor and I got to put our handprints up there. Of course I chose a lovely green! Even though the wall will be torn down when the renovate the corridor over the summer, it's still really nice. I like this corridor a lot.
We also played Swedish Trivial Pursuit! And I answered some questions and got two pie-wedges for our team! I also was completely useless on many questions having to do with Swedish geography and history and all of that. It got to a point where they'd translate half of the question and then just say "uh...you won't know this" and then take it in Swedish. Also, did you know that Adam was apparently created on March 25? I had no idea. But we were pretty darn close with March 21. I was impressed by that guess.
Saturday I'm learning how to make chinese dumplings with Giselle, which should be a lot of fun. It's apparently an all-day event because the dough needs to rest and blah blah blah I'm impatient. I just want to eat them ;-) There, also, are only 3 more baking sessions left. Oh goodness. Ashley Forest girls, get ready for lots of baking next year! I need to get my fix somehow.
Apparently Saturday is also some sort of carnival in Delphi (where I live) but I'm not quite sure what it entails. Rumor has it that some Rock Band will be played. But I'm not sure.
Tomorrow I think I'll go for a walk and take some pictures of Sweden in bloom to balance out the cold and rainy galleries that represent the first 3.5 months of my time here. Sweden is quite beautiful in the summer.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Things since Norway
It took me long enough to get that up, so now I'm way behind schedule. Not that much has happened, which is nice. I've still been baking every Tuesday which keeps me sane and also keeps me from baking every sort of cake-cookie-bread-muffin-pancake all at once in my own kitchen. A very healthy habit.
I have a little over 4 weeks until I'll be taking the final for my current course and getting ready to head out all over Europe with Tyler. I can't wait for that. Well, I can wait for the final exam. We have labs two days a week now, which isn't too bad. It's a nice change of pace to have labs instead of four-hour lectures. My new lab partner is a PhD student from Romania, so it's lots of fun to talk to her. I've had great luck with lab partners over here.
I tried playing soccer (or football, if you will) the other weekend and in the span of a 30 minute game, I ended up with a skinned knee, scraped leg, and bloody nose. Not my finest points. The weather, though, has been gorgeous recently - getting up to 70 and sunny. Absolutely perfect for lying outside and reading/studying/sleeping, whichever seems like it'll be the most fun at the time. This does mean, however, that I need to find some place to buy sunscreen soon. I didn't bother with it earlier because who needs it if the sun is never out! But I'm starting to appreciate the Swedish weather. Spring is a good season here. The grassy areas are filled with daisies and dandelions which make them much prettier than most of the green areas you see back home, where they've been sprayed with herbicides and such things to get rid of all the small "weedy" flowers.
Another thing that I think is funny about Sweden is how much they like to barbecue here! I swear, once the temperature hit 50 they were barbecuing at least 3 times a week. Rain, sun, wind, cold, it doesn't matter. They will grill their food and nothing will stop them. It's pretty nice, and I think I'll have a big desire to keep grilling when I get home!
I also got my hair cut today! First time I had it done in Sweden, and I was quite nervous about it - not only did I have to worry about getting it cut by someone who I didn't know and who possibly didn't know how to work with curly hair, but there's a language difference, too. Not too big of an issue, since everyone here speaks at least a little English, but I'm good at worrying. It turned out pretty well and was definitely needed.
This weekend there's a barbecue with baking people that I'm excited for, as well as some hopefully gorgeous weather. Life is good in Sweden. Hopefully, if the weather permits, I might see if some people want to bike to the beach next week or the week after! I'm not sure how far it is, but I know that it's definitely bikable. But we'll see :-)
I miss you all!
I have a little over 4 weeks until I'll be taking the final for my current course and getting ready to head out all over Europe with Tyler. I can't wait for that. Well, I can wait for the final exam. We have labs two days a week now, which isn't too bad. It's a nice change of pace to have labs instead of four-hour lectures. My new lab partner is a PhD student from Romania, so it's lots of fun to talk to her. I've had great luck with lab partners over here.
I tried playing soccer (or football, if you will) the other weekend and in the span of a 30 minute game, I ended up with a skinned knee, scraped leg, and bloody nose. Not my finest points. The weather, though, has been gorgeous recently - getting up to 70 and sunny. Absolutely perfect for lying outside and reading/studying/sleeping, whichever seems like it'll be the most fun at the time. This does mean, however, that I need to find some place to buy sunscreen soon. I didn't bother with it earlier because who needs it if the sun is never out! But I'm starting to appreciate the Swedish weather. Spring is a good season here. The grassy areas are filled with daisies and dandelions which make them much prettier than most of the green areas you see back home, where they've been sprayed with herbicides and such things to get rid of all the small "weedy" flowers.
Another thing that I think is funny about Sweden is how much they like to barbecue here! I swear, once the temperature hit 50 they were barbecuing at least 3 times a week. Rain, sun, wind, cold, it doesn't matter. They will grill their food and nothing will stop them. It's pretty nice, and I think I'll have a big desire to keep grilling when I get home!
I also got my hair cut today! First time I had it done in Sweden, and I was quite nervous about it - not only did I have to worry about getting it cut by someone who I didn't know and who possibly didn't know how to work with curly hair, but there's a language difference, too. Not too big of an issue, since everyone here speaks at least a little English, but I'm good at worrying. It turned out pretty well and was definitely needed.
This weekend there's a barbecue with baking people that I'm excited for, as well as some hopefully gorgeous weather. Life is good in Sweden. Hopefully, if the weather permits, I might see if some people want to bike to the beach next week or the week after! I'm not sure how far it is, but I know that it's definitely bikable. But we'll see :-)
I miss you all!
My trip to Norway
Long delayed, here it is! (mostly copied from emails):
The flight from Copenhagen to Bergen was pretty short, and as we neared Bergen the landscape was incredible. I was really nervous flying in because all I could see was snow and I had decided not to bring my hat or scarf, just my black gloves. But when we got onto the ground, the temperature was really nice even though it was 9pm, so it turned out to not be an issue at all. I hopped on board the airport bus (flybussen) and got dropped off near the train station in the center of town, only a few minutes walk away from my hostel. I checked into the hostel and got a bed in a room with 14 other mixed-gender people. And some of them snored. That was fun. I set my alarm super early so I could get to the train station and get myself oriented before getting on the train at 8:40 to start the tour.
After picking up my ticket I wandered around some nearby parts of the town, just biding my time and getting a look at things since I knew I wouldn't have much time to spend in Bergen. Nothing special, but I took lots of pictures anyway. It's a cute town, what can I say! Then I got on the train in the same compartment as a Mexican-looking guy and an American couple (of which the woman was super annoying sounding) and some other Norwegian people. I started out sitting by a window, but on the wrong side of the train for the fjord views, so I stood outside the compartment by the door so I could get pictures through the windows on the doors. But then the train crossed over and the pretty views were on my side so I got to sit down again.
Many pretty pictures later, the train stopped and I had to worry about finding the bus we were supposed to get on, so I asked the Mexican-looking guy if he was going on the same tour (since his ticket had looked like mine when he handed it to the conductor) and he said yes, and the American couple also said they were going, too, so we were all in this together. Along with many other people who had been in different compartments. I didn't catch his name when he told me, but the guy turned out to be Indonesian and he was on a business trip or something, but we paired up to take pictures for each other, which was nice. I'm pretty bad at taking the one-handed pictures of myself. He was pretty nice at the beginning, but I got tired of him toward the end of the trip because he got really picky about how I took his pictures. But maybe I just don't obsess enough over my pictures. I also met some Spanish brothers on the tour as well who were nice (and I got to over hear Spanish!) but I just talked to them once. The woman of the American couple was really nice, she was proud to see me out travelling by myself because she knew it was hard, but that it was also a lot of fun as long as you kept an open mind. She offered many many times to take pictures for me since she knew how bad it was to take the one-armed pictures. She also offered me cookies and other snacks a few times - she was pregnant, so I think the Mothering was turning on in her :-)
The tour was absolutely gorgeous as can be attested to by my many pictures (and a few videos). Sorry for overloading you, and I'm very impressed with anyone who actually looked at them all. I never thought I would be in the middle of a fjord, but that just shows you what travelling can do! Just book a ticket and you can fulfill your wildest fantasies!
On the final train back to Bergen, I was in a coach with a group of teachers and 15 kindergarteners who had just gone on a 3-day skiing field trip. Holy crap, I can't even ski and these 6 year old kids just went skiing for 3 days?!?! I was in shock, but then again they're Norwegian so I guess it makes sense. They were cute but I was sad because I couldn't communicate at all with them, since I know no Norwegian and they're not old enough to have started English lessons.
Even though most of Friday was spent on various forms of transportation, I was still exhausted when I got back to Bergen at 6pm. I guess I walked around a lot while I was on the boat - who knows! But since I knew I wouldn't have much time on Saturday to explore the town, I dropped off my day bag and headed down to the harbor. The weather was gorgeous, so I walked along the water and then around some old building - I wasn't quite sure based on the map which building it was or what the significance was, but it was pretty, so it worked for me. Then I walked back and got some ice cream to eat on the pier in good Norwegian fashion. These people have a thing for ice cream, even in cold weather. It's weird, but the ice cream was very good. Around 8:30 I decided to head back and cook some dinner (pasta) and take a shower and get in bed so I could wake up earlyish again and go down to the fish market, since it was all put away by the time I got back. Though, the place where it stands during the day still smelled immensely like fish.
Back at the hostel I met a girl from Canada named Amanda. She was really nice - she had taken the year to work her way around the world. She worked for 7 months in Australia doing landscape work and then spent some time in London and now was in Norway for a few days before heading back to London and then who knows where else. She was really nice, so we made plans to go down to the fish market the next morning (Saturday). Then I went to sleep because I was too tired to wait for a shower. Whew.
Saturday morning I woke up a little before 8 and Amanda and I got dressed and walked down to the market which was supposed to be open. Not so. Well, they were setting up, but it was all very quiet. I was hoping for the whole yelling and fish-throwing deal. But alas, such was not the case. Disappointed, we walked down along the water again and talked for a while, and by the time we made it back up to the market around 9 things were livening up. a bit. There were more vendors out selling souvenirs and a some more fish stalls were set up, but nothing too crazy. One thing I don't get about Norwegians is their infatuation with trolls. In every tourist shop there were these UGLY troll souvenir dolls that would give me nightmares if I were smaller. But I guess they're part of traditional folk lore or something. I just thought they were plain ugly. But so we wandered back and forth in the square for another 45 minutes or so (the square was only about 150m long, so it was a lot of back and forth) before we headed back so I could get my stuff and get on the 10:28 train. Which I did successfully! WOOHOO! no missed transportation.
On the train, I whipped out my camera (again) and my headphones and settled in for a while. At Voss, one of the stops during the tour, a girl who was on the same tour yesterday hopped on the train and sat in the row in front of me. I talked with her later a little bit and found out that she was from Australia but working in Stockholm for the time being before hopefully travelling some more (money permitting). She was pretty nice. I also got to talk to a Norwegian girl (I asked her if I could take pictures out her window since she had a better view) and she was really nice. She also said that her mom was an elementary school teacher, and in Norway they have one day a week where they spend the whole day outside, walking through the woods or learning to make fires and things like that. I thought that sounded amazing - something that would be awesome if we had it here in the US. It was a long train ride to Oslo, 7 hours. I slept through part of it, which was nice. Then I read through more of it. Quite pleasant.
Arriving in Oslo was nerve-wracking. I walked out of the train station that probably had 15 tracks and when you get outside, the whole city center is crowded with people and under construction. Yes, the construction even followed me to Norway. But I bucked up my courage and took out my printed googlemap and tried to find the hostel. Which was a little more challenging with the roads torn up and pathways diverted. But I made it, and once I knew where I was staying, I felt a whole lot better. I dropped off my stuff and got a better map from the hostel people and then set off again since I, again, knew I was leaving mid-morning on Sunday. I am totally disoriented in cities, so I ended up in a completely different place from where I was intending to go, but it was really good. I ended up in an old military fortress place that was absolutely gorgeous. It was sunset and there was beautiful stone work and I really wished that Tyler were here with me. I took a bunch of pictures, of course. I walked around there a while before starting back in the direction that I thought was the hostel and a grocery store so I could get some dinner, but, again, I ended up somewhere else. This time, I found myself in the place I had intended to go the first time - over to the parliament building and the royal palace. Even though I was hungry, I decided that since I was here, I should walk down to the palace, which I did. It wasn't terribly interesting, and by then it was probably 8:30 so I headed back (with a few confused turns) to the hostel to eat.
When I got back, I met 2 of the other people staying in the room - 2 girls from Finland who were studying at a small 150-person technical school in Norway for the semester. They were very nice and talkative, which was good fun. After eating, I took a shower, wrote in my journal, and passed out. So tired!
I woke up early again so that I could wander around Oslo a little bit before catching the bus to the airport. It is kind of creepy to walk a strange city early on Sunday morning. That, and I'm paranoid. I kept feeling like people were following me or watching me and all sorts of strange things. I tried to walk to the botanical gardens, but the gate was locked (something I didn't think of) so I just walked down along the river that runs through town and sat on a bench and ate my breakfast of a banana for a while. It was really nice weather and the sun was out. A little more walking around by the river and then it was time to head back to pick up my stuff. By then, all the girls in the room were up (there were 5 of us total - the 2 Finns and a girl from Hungary and one from Germany both who were studying at another university in Sweden for the semester) so I talked with them all for a bit before getting my stuff and heading for the bus terminal to go to the airport. I got to the bus terminal early and could have walked around a little more, but I didn't have any other place I wanted to see and I really just wanted to sit down, so I waited for the bus and got to the airport early. Which was nice because I got a long time to read my book, which I had really gotten into.
So I read for a while before hopping on the plane and coming back to Lund! All in all, a very nice trip full of gorgeous scenery and nice people. It's given me a lot of hope that this summer getting to travel around with Tyler will be absolutely amazing and that we'll meet a lot of fun people!
The flight from Copenhagen to Bergen was pretty short, and as we neared Bergen the landscape was incredible. I was really nervous flying in because all I could see was snow and I had decided not to bring my hat or scarf, just my black gloves. But when we got onto the ground, the temperature was really nice even though it was 9pm, so it turned out to not be an issue at all. I hopped on board the airport bus (flybussen) and got dropped off near the train station in the center of town, only a few minutes walk away from my hostel. I checked into the hostel and got a bed in a room with 14 other mixed-gender people. And some of them snored. That was fun. I set my alarm super early so I could get to the train station and get myself oriented before getting on the train at 8:40 to start the tour.
After picking up my ticket I wandered around some nearby parts of the town, just biding my time and getting a look at things since I knew I wouldn't have much time to spend in Bergen. Nothing special, but I took lots of pictures anyway. It's a cute town, what can I say! Then I got on the train in the same compartment as a Mexican-looking guy and an American couple (of which the woman was super annoying sounding) and some other Norwegian people. I started out sitting by a window, but on the wrong side of the train for the fjord views, so I stood outside the compartment by the door so I could get pictures through the windows on the doors. But then the train crossed over and the pretty views were on my side so I got to sit down again.
Many pretty pictures later, the train stopped and I had to worry about finding the bus we were supposed to get on, so I asked the Mexican-looking guy if he was going on the same tour (since his ticket had looked like mine when he handed it to the conductor) and he said yes, and the American couple also said they were going, too, so we were all in this together. Along with many other people who had been in different compartments. I didn't catch his name when he told me, but the guy turned out to be Indonesian and he was on a business trip or something, but we paired up to take pictures for each other, which was nice. I'm pretty bad at taking the one-handed pictures of myself. He was pretty nice at the beginning, but I got tired of him toward the end of the trip because he got really picky about how I took his pictures. But maybe I just don't obsess enough over my pictures. I also met some Spanish brothers on the tour as well who were nice (and I got to over hear Spanish!) but I just talked to them once. The woman of the American couple was really nice, she was proud to see me out travelling by myself because she knew it was hard, but that it was also a lot of fun as long as you kept an open mind. She offered many many times to take pictures for me since she knew how bad it was to take the one-armed pictures. She also offered me cookies and other snacks a few times - she was pregnant, so I think the Mothering was turning on in her :-)
The tour was absolutely gorgeous as can be attested to by my many pictures (and a few videos). Sorry for overloading you, and I'm very impressed with anyone who actually looked at them all. I never thought I would be in the middle of a fjord, but that just shows you what travelling can do! Just book a ticket and you can fulfill your wildest fantasies!
On the final train back to Bergen, I was in a coach with a group of teachers and 15 kindergarteners who had just gone on a 3-day skiing field trip. Holy crap, I can't even ski and these 6 year old kids just went skiing for 3 days?!?! I was in shock, but then again they're Norwegian so I guess it makes sense. They were cute but I was sad because I couldn't communicate at all with them, since I know no Norwegian and they're not old enough to have started English lessons.
Even though most of Friday was spent on various forms of transportation, I was still exhausted when I got back to Bergen at 6pm. I guess I walked around a lot while I was on the boat - who knows! But since I knew I wouldn't have much time on Saturday to explore the town, I dropped off my day bag and headed down to the harbor. The weather was gorgeous, so I walked along the water and then around some old building - I wasn't quite sure based on the map which building it was or what the significance was, but it was pretty, so it worked for me. Then I walked back and got some ice cream to eat on the pier in good Norwegian fashion. These people have a thing for ice cream, even in cold weather. It's weird, but the ice cream was very good. Around 8:30 I decided to head back and cook some dinner (pasta) and take a shower and get in bed so I could wake up earlyish again and go down to the fish market, since it was all put away by the time I got back. Though, the place where it stands during the day still smelled immensely like fish.
Back at the hostel I met a girl from Canada named Amanda. She was really nice - she had taken the year to work her way around the world. She worked for 7 months in Australia doing landscape work and then spent some time in London and now was in Norway for a few days before heading back to London and then who knows where else. She was really nice, so we made plans to go down to the fish market the next morning (Saturday). Then I went to sleep because I was too tired to wait for a shower. Whew.
Saturday morning I woke up a little before 8 and Amanda and I got dressed and walked down to the market which was supposed to be open. Not so. Well, they were setting up, but it was all very quiet. I was hoping for the whole yelling and fish-throwing deal. But alas, such was not the case. Disappointed, we walked down along the water again and talked for a while, and by the time we made it back up to the market around 9 things were livening up. a bit. There were more vendors out selling souvenirs and a some more fish stalls were set up, but nothing too crazy. One thing I don't get about Norwegians is their infatuation with trolls. In every tourist shop there were these UGLY troll souvenir dolls that would give me nightmares if I were smaller. But I guess they're part of traditional folk lore or something. I just thought they were plain ugly. But so we wandered back and forth in the square for another 45 minutes or so (the square was only about 150m long, so it was a lot of back and forth) before we headed back so I could get my stuff and get on the 10:28 train. Which I did successfully! WOOHOO! no missed transportation.
On the train, I whipped out my camera (again) and my headphones and settled in for a while. At Voss, one of the stops during the tour, a girl who was on the same tour yesterday hopped on the train and sat in the row in front of me. I talked with her later a little bit and found out that she was from Australia but working in Stockholm for the time being before hopefully travelling some more (money permitting). She was pretty nice. I also got to talk to a Norwegian girl (I asked her if I could take pictures out her window since she had a better view) and she was really nice. She also said that her mom was an elementary school teacher, and in Norway they have one day a week where they spend the whole day outside, walking through the woods or learning to make fires and things like that. I thought that sounded amazing - something that would be awesome if we had it here in the US. It was a long train ride to Oslo, 7 hours. I slept through part of it, which was nice. Then I read through more of it. Quite pleasant.
Arriving in Oslo was nerve-wracking. I walked out of the train station that probably had 15 tracks and when you get outside, the whole city center is crowded with people and under construction. Yes, the construction even followed me to Norway. But I bucked up my courage and took out my printed googlemap and tried to find the hostel. Which was a little more challenging with the roads torn up and pathways diverted. But I made it, and once I knew where I was staying, I felt a whole lot better. I dropped off my stuff and got a better map from the hostel people and then set off again since I, again, knew I was leaving mid-morning on Sunday. I am totally disoriented in cities, so I ended up in a completely different place from where I was intending to go, but it was really good. I ended up in an old military fortress place that was absolutely gorgeous. It was sunset and there was beautiful stone work and I really wished that Tyler were here with me. I took a bunch of pictures, of course. I walked around there a while before starting back in the direction that I thought was the hostel and a grocery store so I could get some dinner, but, again, I ended up somewhere else. This time, I found myself in the place I had intended to go the first time - over to the parliament building and the royal palace. Even though I was hungry, I decided that since I was here, I should walk down to the palace, which I did. It wasn't terribly interesting, and by then it was probably 8:30 so I headed back (with a few confused turns) to the hostel to eat.
When I got back, I met 2 of the other people staying in the room - 2 girls from Finland who were studying at a small 150-person technical school in Norway for the semester. They were very nice and talkative, which was good fun. After eating, I took a shower, wrote in my journal, and passed out. So tired!
I woke up early again so that I could wander around Oslo a little bit before catching the bus to the airport. It is kind of creepy to walk a strange city early on Sunday morning. That, and I'm paranoid. I kept feeling like people were following me or watching me and all sorts of strange things. I tried to walk to the botanical gardens, but the gate was locked (something I didn't think of) so I just walked down along the river that runs through town and sat on a bench and ate my breakfast of a banana for a while. It was really nice weather and the sun was out. A little more walking around by the river and then it was time to head back to pick up my stuff. By then, all the girls in the room were up (there were 5 of us total - the 2 Finns and a girl from Hungary and one from Germany both who were studying at another university in Sweden for the semester) so I talked with them all for a bit before getting my stuff and heading for the bus terminal to go to the airport. I got to the bus terminal early and could have walked around a little more, but I didn't have any other place I wanted to see and I really just wanted to sit down, so I waited for the bus and got to the airport early. Which was nice because I got a long time to read my book, which I had really gotten into.
So I read for a while before hopping on the plane and coming back to Lund! All in all, a very nice trip full of gorgeous scenery and nice people. It's given me a lot of hope that this summer getting to travel around with Tyler will be absolutely amazing and that we'll meet a lot of fun people!
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