Adventures of Norway: Memories in the Making

Hello again,

I know it has, once again, been quite awhile since you've all heard from me. I certainly hope this blog entry makes up for lost time! So let's move on to the good stuff.

 It is crazy to think about how quickly time flies. I have been here in Oslo for two full months now! So, I would like to spend a bit of time trying to capture my favorite moments here in Oslo using pictures and some small captions. Enjoy the next page and a half of photos.

First Passport stamp in Europe. 

Flight into Norway. I was only slightly nervous to finally arrive. ;)

First night out with a new group of friends 

Hiking Group on our first adventure. One of my favorite pictures!

A wonderful day spent on the Coast of Norway. Also, my parents would be happy to know that this was the first day that I got a real injury in Norway (I cut my feet pretty badly on the rocky ocean bed) I'm not actually on vacation unless I get hurt haha

Here you can see me wearing my amazingly ridiculous rain poncho. This Picture was taken on our way up to a Cabin in the woods of Norway. 'The Cabin Trip', as it was called, was one of my first and favorite "adventures in Norway"

This was taken on our way up Preikestolen, a famous cliff face in Norway. Although you don't see the actual famous cliff edge in the picture, I thought this picture did give an example of how beautiful Norway is.

Here's another famous rock fixture in Norway found atop Kjerag. Really the view behind and up this 'mountain' was more beautiful than this picture. I just like it because it makes me look cool :)

This is kind of an inside joke, but this cake is from Denmark. Although Denmark was a great city, I think I will always remember buying an entire-extremely delicious-cake while I was there.

Next up, you can see the large Cathedral near our Hostel in Poznan, Poland. The city was very nice. I'll talk more about that later.

I would like to conclude this part of my blog by posting a few silly photos of my friends. Those photos make some of the best memories.

I hope you enjoyed the last few photos without the captions. Take them at face value and if you feel that its appropriate, have a good laugh.

Now it's time to move on to Poland. I added a photo from Poznan, the city where I stayed along with 6 other friends in Poland. We spent 5 days there and it was probably the most fun I've had in a long time! Everything in Poznan is EXTREMELY cheap compared to Oslo. I enjoyed fine dining, wine, and much more for a fraction of the price in Oslo. I also enjoyed McDonalds multiple times. I was not going to miss the opportunity for a cheap Big Mac, even if I wasn't hungry. We spent a lot of time seeing the city and the attractions within Poznan. To be honest, I didn't take a single picture while I was there. Sometimes its better just to make you all wonder what I really saw. Sorry, folks.

I guess I could spend the time to describe some of what we saw. For example, we did spend two days at the two zoos in Poznan. The new zoo was pretty nice with a large variety of animals I never expected to be living in a Polish, outdoor, zoo. The old zoo had a smaller collection of animals but was still nice to visit. We also spent some time looking around the city. We went to the Archcathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul which is a beautiful church. All in all, the trip was a blast.

I hope you all haven't missed me too much over these past two and a half months.

See you next time for more Adventures of Norway

Adventures of Norway: Crusin' Crazy Down to Denmark

Hello again,

I hope you've all been enjoying the most recent blog entry. I'm proud to say that my blog has reached over 700 page views! That must mean that either I'm more interesting than I though, which is unlikely, or you are all very dedicated. So, a large thank you is in order! I'm glad these entries aren't for nothing. 

Now, let's get down to business. I've been busy (as usual) trying to find the perfect balance here in Oslo somewhere between way too much fun and way too much work. I like to think that I'm probably leaning towards way too much fun, but for my parent's sake (and my bank account's) I'll try not to mention it too much. In all honesty I can't complain yet. I wont bore you too long with the details. My Norwegian is improving with every class session. My history class is still the hardest of all my courses. Best of all, my Norwegian Life and Society class has led me to a view valuable sources for an upcoming research paper. 

But after all of the studying, I do try have some fun. For example, I enjoyed my first professional soccer game this week. Norway's national female soccer team faced off against Belgium at a free event funded by the stadium's sponsors. My friends and I left for the stadium donned in whatever we could find that would make up look like true Norwegian fans. Norway's female soccer team is viewed as one of the world's best teams, second only to Germany one season ago. They showed it on Wednesday and, man, was it fun. Every goal brought the crowd to its feet with cheers and songs. Not for one moment did I feel like an outsider. Don't get me wrong... it certainly wasn't like watching UND vs U of M, but, I can certainly say I enjoyed it. Below you can see a few pictures of the stadium and the game.

A fun time for all here in Oslo. But, I'm sure by now you're dying to figure out what the title of this blog is referring to. Either that, or you're extremely bored. So, without further ado, I give to you one of the best trips of my time here so far: Denmark!

On August 28th, I headed out to Denmark with 10 other friends on a cruise ship.The ship was very nice and the prices for food, wine, etc weren't bad either. Below you can see a picture of the luxurious room I stayed in with my roommate Sarah.

If you can't, that was strong sarcasm. I think it was only appropriate, knowing who I am, that I stay in the smallest room possible. I shouldn't complain, however. The room was only 17 dollars for a round trip! The first night was a long, but fun filled night. We started the night off with some Karaoke followed by some dancing. After that we danced some more. And then more. By 3 a.m. most of us had gone to bed knowing Copenhagen was awaiting us. We would arrive at 9:45 a.m. on a beautiful day in Copenhagen. 

Below you can see one of the first sight I saw as we entered the city. Not to bad, am I right? 

Copenhagen was a sight to see. The city is filled with small, colorful houses and large beautiful building. The churches lining the streets of the city were each, in their own way, as beautiful as the last. The weather was sunny, and the company was great. As we moved through the city, we had the opportunity to see the changing of the guard outside the royal courtyard. A band proceeded the changing and moved through the town. 

Below you can see the guards and bend members dressed in full gear. Their stylish hats are not for sale, so don't ask. I found that out the hard way. (Only joking, mom)

After the 'ceremony' if you will, we headed to the famous, or perhaps infamous, area known as Christiania. The Green Light District as it is called, is a small neighborhood outside of Copenhagen known for its 'simpler life' atmosphere. The area is lined with graffiti from one end to the other. Paintings saying "No Photos in the Green Light District" line the walls of almost every building. I'll dance around this a bit, but the Green Light District has a reputation for the "green" that is sold there. You can smell the area well before you reach it, and if you aren't buying, then being there really has no point. So, we left after a short walk through the area. As much as I would like to think Christiania is a 'simpler city', it seemed a bit sketchy for me. 

To cap off our day in Copenhagen we decided to head to a local bakery and enjoy the cheap prices and delicious food. I bought a miniature chocolate cake filled with a chocolate cream and topped with white chocolate which was also drizzled in normal chocolate. That was a bit of a run on sentence, but the important part is that it was the best cake I've ever eaten. Sorry to any family member who have cooked my cake before. I still love your carrot cake, but this cake was amazing. 

Below you can see an assortment of the highlights from Denmark.

Church in Denmark 

Gaurds

Gaurds with band

This picture was taken inside a park that show cased a famous "maze" if you will.

No idea what building that is. It just looked nice. 

These are giant organ pipes. They played really creepy music as we sat in the church. 

Same church as picture above. Wish I remembered the name of it :/

The only thing I would have changed about the trip was the length. We were in Copenhagen for, at most, 7 hours. We headed home that night on the cruise ship again. The trip home was a bit more relaxing if you will. (You could say dancing was beyond all of our capacity after the previous night and day)

To cap off the whole week, I got to go to my first large scale concert ever. (Sorry Hawk Nelson, Fosston MN takes a close second place.) My friend Nils, his girlfriend and I headed out to see famous rap and dj artists Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. It. was. Awesome. I couldn't have asked for a better show! I guess I don't have much experience when it comes to live performances, but either way, I thought it rocked. There was fire, fireworks, confetti, giant balloons, crowd surfing and all that great stuff. It was also really nice to know a lot of the songs instead of listening to a random artist. I honestly had no complaints about the show. I was going to post a video from the concert, but the computer wont let me...

I hope you enjoyed!! I will be heading to Poland in less than 14 days. So, if you've made it to this point than stay tuned for more Adventures of Norway.

I still love saying that. 

It's been gettin' crazy here!

Hello again!

What an adventure the past two weeks have been! I will do my best to put to word what I've seen since my last entry. To help, I'll also attach some wonderful pictures:) (Not all of the pictures are mine, so I will give credit where credit is due, naturally) 

Even though it has been about two weeks since my last entry, I will spend the majority of my time talking about the 13th through the 15th of September. During that time a group of sixteen friends (including me) headed out to the coast of western Norway. We left Thursday morning in three separate cars, each rented for the weekend, and four other girls went by train. It was around a 7 hour car ride. the car ride was actually really fun. But, of course, we all had our hiccups. Two cars would leave for the area of Stavanger at 9 am. The third car would leave at 12. Unfortunately for the third car, which was my car, we were late by around four hours to pick up our car. The pick up time was scheduled for 8 a.m. and we didn't arrive until 12 p.m. So, you can already tell that my bad luck does in fact follow me wherever I go. No worries though, we ended up finding another car from the same service within 30 minutes. Once, we got on the road, we managed to stay relatively on track and we arrived in Sandnes at around 8 p.m. Again, we found trouble. We had no navigation system to lead us to the cabins where we would spend our night. So, after a long and slightly frustrating game of cat and mouse, the others found us and we headed back to the cabins.

The next morning, the real adventure started. We headed out for the beautiful Preikestolen over looking the Lysefjord. It was amazing, to say the least! The hike was relatively easy, but fairly steep at certain parts. After leading a fearless expedition up the mountain...from the very back of the line... my friends and I reached the top. It was a view I will never forget. Below, you can see a picture of me with my roommates from the side of Preikestolen. (Picture by Claudia Koening)

The view here was almost indescribable. The cliff edge forms a square. You can see in the picture below what the view of the ledge is like from above.

The view of the fjord was equally beautiful. In the picture below, you can see the fjord creeping it's way through the mountains to reach the base of Preikestolen. Even though you don't see the actual cliff face, you do gain an idea of how long and wide the water stretched. 

The weather was fairly nice on our way up Preikestolen even though it may look cloudy. We headed home that night exhausted from the climb and decided our plan for the next day. Unfortunately, our trip was somewhat spoiled by a lack of planning on all of our parts. We took only three cars, which would sit 15 people for a group of 16. That night the group had decided that it would split up. One group of 5 would take a boat tour of the fjord just around Preikestolen. The other 11 decided to head to Kjerag, a mountain made famous for it's breathtaking view and dare-devilish photo site. Instead of cramming 11 people into two very small cars, we decided to rent a third car. Realistically, we should have done this from the beginning. So, on the second day we headed to Kjerag. Sarah Brenkman, one of my roommates, did a wonderful job leading our group through a lot of the trip to Kjerag. From finding out how hard the hike was, to figuring out how the group could travel to Kjerag. With out her, a lot of the plans we had may never have happened. It's great to have someone around who takes time to care and plan for the group. I think we all help in our own way, but in my opinion she has really stepped up. But, I can brown-nose more later. 

We finally left for Kjerag, rain, wind and all the next morning. To be honest, I was nervous about climbing the mountain. I had a ridiculous rain pancho that was far too small for me and I had never truly climbed any mountain. Those from around our parts know that it is pretty flat back home. So, as the group went on, I did my best to keep up. The rain made a lot of the rock slippery, but thanks to chains running up the majority of the mountain, climbing to the top was possible. 

I don't think I ever saw anything as beautiful as Kjerag. It took my breath away. Truly, I can't even come close to what I saw. So, I'm going to leave the description to the few pictures I was able to take on the way up and at the top. Enjoy.

Kjerag near the top

Kjerag near the top

Panoramic view of valley

Kjerag again

The big rock in the center is famous... you'll see why at the end! Keep reading ;)

The way down... not really 

Water behind Kjerag

I loved this waterfall

Here is the actual way we went down. Just kidding mom, I wasn't that crazy!

 Hopefully those picture did some justice to the trip we made to Kjerag. Now, if you all remember, I mentioned earlier that Kjerag was pretty famous for its dare-devilish photo spots. It truly was one of the best places to take crazy pictures from. So, just to scare my family I thought I would share the following. Please sit down if you already aren't mom.

Trust me, you didn't want to fall off.

I'm not scared...

And to think I made it home alive

Look at that smile!

Hope you all miss me as much as I miss you!

Stay in tuned for more Adventures of Norway!

I like that ending... Its like I have a tv show or something.

It's been awhile.

Hello again,

I apologize for how long it has been since my last entry. I'm sure you've all been sitting at home waiting anxiously to here another breath-taking adventure from far across the ocean. So, I won't delay this train any longer. 

The last week and five days have been just as fun, if not more, than anything I've experienced. My classes are in full swing now and I have no complaints thus far. I am taking Norwegian 1 for international students, Intro to Norwegian Life and Society and Objects and Identities in the Viking Age. As you can tell, my plate is full of Norwegian goodness! The course on Objects and Identities in the Viking Age is by far the most challenging course.

As for all my free time here, I've been spending it wisely! I went to a lake on the 24th with my friends. The view here is absolutely stunning. There are over 400,000 lakes in Norway so it is easy to find some secluded and peaceful water. The next day, we went to the ocean shore off of Oslo. We arrived at a small island and hung out at the shore for the day. Now, if you're ever going to go swimming in Norway, you should read this next sentence carefully; Norway's beaches have no sand. Why is that important? Well, if you want to keep your feet from being sliced open, then you had better bring some sandals. Norway: One, Brent: Zero.

The next week went by in a relatively quick flash and before we knew it, the weekend was upon us. The majority of my friends and I signed up for a cabin trip sponsored by the Erasmus Student Network. (It's a European thing) The trip was awesome! The walk up was a brutal up hill walk but it was well worth it. When we arrived, you could look out onto miles of trees and hills. On the other side of the hill, at the foot of a small cliff, lied a pretty large lake. The water is always cold here, but, in my opinion, it has yet to be too cold. The cabin trip lasted one night and consisted of a lot of dancing, pictures, games, and plenty more. It will certainly be a night I will never forget.

I guess that's all I've got. Don't miss me too much, America. ;)

-Brent

The struggles of living alone

Hello everyone! 

I hope you all haven't missed reading of my adventures here too badly! 

I have spent the last few days doing relatively nothing haha. What I have done, has been a struggle. It all started on Monday. I decided I would be a big boy and go find a store to buy some hiking shoes. So, I went to google maps, looked up the store I wanted and head out. Little did I know that I am horrible with directions...actually I already knew that. Anyway, I arrived at my destination, Majorstuen, and got off the Metro. I had been to this store earlier in the week, but really, I was just following a group not paying attention. When I got off the train I did the only logical thing I could do. I decided I would head down a random street and ask someone where I was. Great idea, right? Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. I spent, oh I don't know, one hour looking for a store that was supposedly "down the street on the right hand side". Yeah, either that was a lie or I'm blind. (I'm probably just blind)

After about an hour of walking, I decided to give up and search another day. Now, if you know me well, you'd know that my troubles didn't end here. Today, I went to my first class! And guess what? I got lost. I spent another HOUR looking for a building about a quarter of a mile away from the rest of campus. Lame! I was only about 5 minutes late for class. Yes, I was smart enough to leave early so I could find my class. No, I was NOT smart enough to find it the day before. So, tomorrow I will try to find both my class room and the shoe store all over again. Don't hold you breath. 

Aslo, I had a hot dog the other day. It was amazing. I miss you, American food. I miss you a lot. 

That's all I got. Hope you have a better day than I did!

Brent 

Just my luck

Hello again,

I'd like to start this blog by saying that today was a pretty good day despite the title above. Last night I went to my first night club and so I slept in pretty late. It felt good to sleep like I would in America haha. After I woke up, I made omelets for my roommates. They were pretty darn good if I do say so myself. We have been cooking almost all of our meals from scratch and they have been great. I remember a fellow coach of mine telling me that they had a lot of dried cereal when they studied abroad and I was so afraid I would be eating the same! haha

So, now that I have told all of you the ever so interesting subject of what I eat here, I will move on. After eating "breakfast" I went to the gym with some friends. It will be great to be sore tomorrow hahaha. And so, after all of this, I have finally reached the subject which is the blog title. When I got home from the gym I decided that I was going to cut my hair. As I started my hair clippers, I noticed it was very loud. But, of course, I kept going. Then, it died. It just stopped shaving. Right in the middle of the whole process. Just. my. luck. All in all, it ended up okay because my roommate Sarah was able to continue the cutting process with a scissors. It looks pretty darn good thanks to her!

Well, there isn't much else to say. My classes start tomorrow and I will continue to write in my blog for those interested.

Good bye for now!

Brent

Oh the money you spend...

Hello all,

I first have to announce that I actually live with a Dutch girl, NOT A FINN...the caps was for you Sarah.

Anyway, I hope you have not missed me too much haha! I am having a blast here! But, at the same time, I am ready to SLOW DOWN. The biggest problem with Norway is how expensive it is! I have spent around $500 since I left America. Now, to my mom and dad, please don't freak out! I've bought towels, a pillow, blankets, food, outlet converters(mine didn't work) and some other common college necessities. In all reality I haven't quite spent that much because I have around $150 in cash on me soooo it's not too bad.

My classes are starting this week and I am pretty excited! I am taking three courses, allowing myself more time to travel as I continue my adventure here is Norway. Talk about a tough semester huh? I have to travel all over Europe, meet so many new people, enjoy something most people dream of AND I have to take three classes. It's a hard knock life for this American. For real though, I am having so much fun! I could never have done this without the wholehearted support of my parents! So, here's a shout-out to the greatest parents ever! Love you Mom and Dad! Also, I owe a lot to my Cousin Ina, my Grandparents on both sides, my sister and her boyfriend Andrew for there gifts, and everyone who has supported me! I couldn't be here without you all. But, back to the true subject of my blog: me! (Just kidding...Sort of)

I have seen a lot in the last two days! Yesterday, I went to the Akerhus castle in Oslo. It was AWESOME!! My history senses were tingling like crazy! It was probably one of the coolest places I've ever been. I want to go back and take an audio tour so I can learn more about the castle. As for today, we went hiking. It was a pretty easy hike, but the view was beautiful! Then, we went swimming in a very, very cold lake.

So, now you know all about my life. Until I write again,

Good bye!

Hatt det bra!

Brent