One Week In

---

After a couple flight delays and one cancellation, I arrived in Bodo last Sunday. I thought I adjusted to the time difference and travel tiredness pretty well until three days in when I realized the pineapple juice I was drinking was actually orange or appelsin (in Norwegian).

My dorm room is actually the Ikea floor model found in showrooms across North America. Over here you can smoke in your room, and unfortunately one of my roommates does.

Some of my classes started last week, some tomorrow. I've picked up another class, Norwegian for foreigners. School's different here, more relaxed (you get scheduled time to do assigned reading) but it's only one week in. Lectures only go till the end of March with the last 2 to 3 months for field trips around Norway followed by oral exams in June. Depending on the class you can have one or two oral exams, the first one with a simple pass or fail grade, and the last one worth 100% of your mark.

Towards the end of the year my marine biology class in spending a week in Svalbard, an island less than 2000km away from the North Pole. The dates aren't set yet since we have to wait for the ice to melt.

Before arriving here, I was told Norwegians don't make small talk and may come across cold, but not to mistake this for rudeness. So far I haven't experienced this at all. Norwegians are quite the opposite.

I have seen the Northern Lights once so far, but it was very faint. It's been overcast most nights I have been here though. The scenery is beautiful here, are jagged mountains smoothed down with snow. There are restrictions on campus about uploading photos, so I have to go into town to do so. Next time I'm in Kafe Kaffka (which may turn out to be my new home) I will post photos!

Till then,
drea

---