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Published: October 6th 2008
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Dan conquers the island
During a walk on the island Gressholm (or something like that). I know some of you are wondering, "What happened to Dan & Danielle's blog? I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what crazy adventures they got into next!"
Or maybe you were just waiting for us to get into
one crazy adventure.
Well, now that Dan's gonna be gone for the next four days (Booo, field trips! But I hope he has fun.) I have some peace! Or...I have nothing better to do than to curl up on my bed by my window with a cup of instant cappuccino and a bowl of oatmeal. Plenty of time to make a post.
I did get to have an adventure, as a matter of fact. But, it wasn't very fun. At least I learned a lesson. Basically, I got lost in Oslo in the middle of the night...in the pouring rain...but I got home eventually. This is why we don't let our boyfriends leave us in a pub, especially when we have terrible navigational skills. (Don't worry, I was with friends...and he will never do it again!) Once I realized I really didn't know where I was going I just hailed a taxi and went home.
Lovely tree
All of a sudden all the leaves on this great big tree in our apartment complex turned bright chartreuse. And then three days later, all the leaves had dropped off. But don't worry--I am all in one piece. Well, I lost my umbrella, and that was a bummer. And I'm also down 219 kroner in cab fare, but that's chump change around here.
Other than that, not a lot going on. I truly am sorry that we are not more exciting people. I guess we really just miss the homeland and feel like we'd be having more fun with the people we know and love. Doesn't that make you feel special??
It is just hard to get out and about during the semester, I suppose, since we are planning around two people's schedules, instead of just one. Dan can't afford to skip any classes for the purpose of a weekend trip because his field trips are making him miss several other classes, unfortunately.
But we do have a few fun things coming up.
1. This coming weekend, we and a Canadian friend have planned a Thanksgiving Dinner. (Did you know Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving? They do--in October!) Her parents are ambassadors (oooh, I know!) and so she lives in a house in a really nice area of town. So this Saturday we'll all go over there,
Vaffel!
This is a Norwegian waffle. I usually eat one or two of these a week because Filologisk Forening serves vaffler og kaffe every Tuesday and Thursday. We sit around and yak. From top right, clockwise: brown cheese, blueberry jam, raspberry, strawberry. (The white is sour cream.) and us North Americans will be bringing traditional food to share. I'm excited! But I swear I haven't seen any turkeys in the stores....
2. That same weekend, our buddy leader (Camilla) is having the group over to her family's house (in the suburbs of Oslo) for the Norwegian traditional autumn meal. It's not like Thanksgiving, because it's not really a holiday, and it doesn't even occur on a specific day, but everyone eats it every year. It's called fårikål, and it's basically lamb and cabbage stew seasoned with salt and peppercorns. Very simple, rustic Norwegian farm food.
According to Camilla, this is how you make it: "You layer the cabbage and the meat in a big pot with water, and sprinkle in the whole pepper. Then you boil it. And you boil it some more. Then you boil it more. Then, when you think it's done, you keep boiling it. Then you eat it for a week." It's the meal that keeps on giving, just like Christmas ham or Thanksgiving turkey. You get to eat it until you never want to taste it again. FUN! 😊
3. In a few weeks, the humanities college student society
Like so
You fold the waffle over and then dig in. Or do like me and make a tiny taco out of each quarter. (Filologisk Forening, of which Dan and I are roughly members, though we haven't done our volunteer time yet) is having the annual cabin trip (in Norwegian it's called hyttetur, I think).
Background info: everyone in Norway has a little cottage/cabin in the countryside called a hytte, and they go on vacations there all the time. (Like, seriously, everyone--when one Norwegian does something, it's like they all have to do it...something about social democracy, I guess.) By the way,
hytte is one of those Norwegian words that features a hard-to-pronounce vowel. You pronounce
y the same way you pronounce the vowel in
ski--also conveniently a Norwegian word--but you purse your lips up. Thus whenever foreigners say such words they feel a little idiotic. (Which you express with the phrase "Jeg føler meg veldig dum!") Well, try it! Make your lips into an O shape while saying "heetah!" NOW YOU KNOW HOW IT FEELS.
Anyway, so we get to go on a weekend trip to the cabin. There will be hiking and games and all...but mostly the students are concerned with the basement full of beer that the cottage is told to contain. So, think of it as a huge
Norwegians love candles
Seriously! It's especially apparent at the annual walk beside the river. Candles line the path, and every so often there's something to see along the way, like a band or even fire jugglers!! three-day frat party in the nice Norwegian nature...but instead of trouble-making, misogynistic frat boys, you have shy, egalitarian Norwegian boys and girls that act much
less shy after a few beers. It should be entertaining, to say the least.
4. In early November, Dan and I are going to Trondheim with Camilla and Ingrid (and I don't know who else at this point). It should be pretty groovy, and it will probably be as far north as we venture. Amusingly enough, it's only halfway up the expansive latitude that Norway stretches. It's one of the girls' favorite Norwegian cities, so it's sure to be a good time, despite the lack of sunlight we'll be experiencing. (Speaking of, I think I need to start taking vitamins...!)
5. In late November (around "real" Thanksgiving time) my family is coming! YAY! As you may know, my parents are going to Göteborg (i.e. Gothenburg, Sweden) to pick up a factory-fresh new Volvo for my mom. (Perfect excuse to drive to Oslo! It's only four hours away by car.) So of course my sisters would not suffer being left at home, so they are coming too. Ciera's actually flying directly into Oslo. And
Fire guy
He was pretty cool. so Dan and I will rent some extra beds to put in our rooms and my sisters will stay with us.
I'm not sure what we'll do, but I'm really, really hoping I get to go to Sweden over the weekend when they go back (and then I will just take the train back to Oslo, I guess). Dan will probably have to stay home, which is sad, because there aren't enough seats in the car (four hours in a sedan with a Dan-sized boy on your lap--sounds bad, huh?).
6. Our friend Scott (i.e. Casey O'Rourke's scrappy little brother and a former TU-gardener) is going to be backpacking and hobnobbing his way through Europe for 8 months, starting pretty soon. He doesn't have an exact itinerary, but he will probably come stay with us at some point, and we might try to meet up with him again when we do our traveling at the end of the semester.
Well, I guess it is just taking us a while to get started and do interesting things. But it looks like we'll have a lot to do, huh? Now if I can only survive the next four days
The river
All glowing, looks cool, huh? by myself. (And Dan has another one of these fieldtrips in a few more weeks!)
And one more thing: anyone who is particularly interested in my cooking exploits should check out my food blog-- http://smorgasbroad.blogspot.com/
Love you and miss you,
xoxoxox
Danielle
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Mira H.
non-member comment
Locations?
Hi Dan and Danielle, I found your blog when I was browsing pictures of Oslo a couple of weeks ago and I love reading about the fun stuff you guys do in Oslo and looking at your pics. I was in Oslo this summer and I absolutely fell in love with it and would love to move there one day. Anyway, I was wondering if the picture of the river lit with candles is taken in Gamle Oslo, and the Water's edge is taken in Aker Brygge? Thanks! mira