Reunited and it feeels so goood!

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Troll hunting, dance parties, and fish soup? Where do I sign?

Oslo was the destination for my first adventure of November. The schools in Ireland take a week off for "midterm break" so I joined my classmates Maeve and Mariana for a 3 night excursion. We reunited with a handful of others with whom we studied last year in Belgium and were welcomed more warmly than we could have imagined. Between the borrowed snow gear, the shared bathrooms, and the delicious homemade meals, I'd say Friederike (our lovely German) and Malene (Norway's greatest) weren't all that sad to see us go on Monday morning. 😉

Our original class of 20 is now split between Norway, Ireland, and the Czech Republic (with a few scattered elsewhere for various reasons). I am so thankful that we had some time to visit the group at the NSSS, or Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, in Oslo. We took a late bus to Dublin and flew for dirt cheap on Ryanair to Rygge, Norway. This means a back-door entrance to Oslo, and extra $ for bus and metro travel, (so we likely ended up paying the same as flying directly into Oslo) but it makes us feel better to pay so little for our flight! When will we ever learn?

Malene made us traditional fish soup our first night and we all watched *cough, slept through, cough* the ever-thrilling documentary Troll Hunters. (aka The Blair Troll Project) Now, for those of you who are as in the dark about trolls as I was, this film will teach you all you'd ever want to know about the trolls of Norway. Mountain and forest trolls dwell in the remote nooks of this fine country and only come out at night. You see, they would turn to stone or explode if they were to be exposed to sunlight. Also, Christ lovers beware. They can smell Christian blood and are known to be quite merciless. Malene told me that these tales are rather effective parenting tactics to keep their kids out of the woods, but I think these trolls are as real as the leprechauns I've seen frolicking around Limerick the past couple months. You can be your own judge.

Saturday we went for a boat ride through the fjords, toured the downtown, and made some of the most creative pizzas I've ever tried for dinner (fried eggs? try it!). That evening we went to a swing party with the international students being hosted at NSSS. Boy, can those folks cut a rug! Thanks to the duty free shop in the airport (without which we'd be paying almost double for alcohol), we could afford to share a celebratory beverage or two in honor of Maeve's birthday and we had quite a night!! I haven't laughed or danced that hard in quite some time!

Sunday was the best. A looong and cooold hike through the mountains near campus. As we rose in elevation, we were able to stomp through leftover snow from the previous weeks' storms and share stories as we recalled all the funny nuances of the night prior. We stopped at a traditional Norwegian cabin on the mountain top for snacks and coffee, snuck a peek at some huge professional ski jumps nearby, and 15K later we were home for dinner a la our Greek, Panos, and the Energizer Bunny Canadian, Greg.

I can't say enough about our gracious hosts. We saw so much in a short time and were so well taken care of. How blessed we are to have made such great friends. ♥

Don't feed the trolls.



Skål,

Whitney

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Photos

Oslo Reunion
Walking tour of the city centre!

Troll Hunt
Quick lake photo before hiking 15 kilometers into the snowy beauty!

Schnowy Climb
Going up up up!

Aker Brygge
Waterfront stroll in the blistering wind!

On a Boat
Fjord cruise on the ferry.

Strike a Pose
Hovedoya Island self timer fun!

Picnic Time
Norwegian cabin for coffee and schnacks.