Blogs from Bodø, Northern Norway, Norway, Europe - page 5

What's one way to get a homesick, grumpy, fish-loving Alaskan to lighten up and smile a bit? Bring on the fish!! Over the past week, the Faculty of Biosciences and Aquaculture have invited all of the International Exchange students studying Bioscience (aka me, Brad, and Libby) to join the Masters students on two excursions and then ALL of the international students from 29 different countries were invited on a cod fishing excursion with the Student Chaplain. It was nice to finally get out of my room and out to the seaside for a little Norwegian fishing introduction. On the first excursion last Wednesday, Brad and I joined the Masters students and headed to the Kjerringoy Gamle Handelssted aka the old merchant's centre on Kjerringoy. We got told last week at orientation that Kjerringoy is actually translated ... read more

Hilsen fra Bodo! Well it has been about five days since I've been in this new little city. aYesterday was my birthday -- my 22nd actually and it started with getting my new student I.D. from Hogskolen i Bodo. Then it was off to explore the downtown area. The downtown expedition began with a walk inside the Glass Husset -- aka the Glass House (mall) where we were surprised to see a Burger King and the fact that Norwegians can smoke inside. After finding SpargeBank, we went to cash our checks and learned the ins and outs of cashing foreign checks in a country where the primary language is not English. It took a little bit of guess work, but we got it down. Then after lunch, it was just by chance that we stumbled upon ... read more

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 ... read more

I'm in a place called Bodø right now. It's at about 67.3 degrees north - yep, north of the Arctic Circle! But that's not why I'm updating. I was on a train for 10 hours today getting here, which was pretty boring except for the fact that we went through a place called Hell. Yep, there was a sign that said 'Welcome to Hell'! But that's still not why I'm updating. I tried some cookies yesterday in Trondheim. They were actually not that great considering they came from a bakery. 4/10. The Hob-Nob equivalents I bought at the grocery store are better. But... that's still not why I'm updating. I HAVE PHOTOS!!! Had to be very selective, but here are a bunch of them! Huzzah!... read more

Well okay I'm not quite in Bodø just yet. Got about 120km to go - so I'll be there tonight. From there, it's a 4 hour ferry to Moskenes in Lofoten and conveniently there are ferries leaving at midnight so I'll catch the overnighter (except of course there is no night up here as I've already crossed the Arctic Circle) and have my last two days cycling on Lofoten. I've already worked out that if I get to Svolvær there's a bus to Narvik on the morning of the 8th which makes my train connection to Stockholm with an hour and a half to spare. As according to the Lonely Planet Narvik is Norway's ugliest city this should be about right! There is a ski lift 5 mins walk from the centre but alas the season ... read more