I wanted to post a quick note here to let you all know that I have now uploaded more of my photos to the Flickr set dedicated to my Tromsø photos. Check them out!
Life in Tromsø
4 months ago
Aug 31, 2009
Aug 30, 2009
The Laundry Party and Døgnvill
Here's another update to my continuing series on the strange but fun happenings in Tromsø, Norway. This is another multiple day summary post, because I'm lazy like that.
I'm going to breeze over Monday-Thursday because they were on the whole uneventful. On Wednesday I had my first lecture in Sustainable Energy. The course isn't anywhere near as interesting as I had hoped but I guess that's how it goes. It's much more about theoretical energy physics rather than personal research projects like I had hoped.
Things really got started on Friday when I had my first volunteer shift at the Døgnvill music festival. The tickets were crazy expensive so I volunteered to get in for free. I ended up working the cotton candy and popcorn booth, it was sticky, salty, and sweet! I had a lot of fun though and the girls that I worked with were all really nice. It was just girls in our group so we started calling ourselves The Sugar Babes.
On Friday the music was calmer and the whole mood was more family oriented. Alexander Rybak, the 2009 winner of the Eurovision song contest opened the event and he was a big hit with all the girls. He even walked past our tent and we all screamed when he gave us that charming smile of his.
After my shift I headed out with one of the Sugar Babes named Rose. She was really friendly and invited me back to her place for some red wine. She wanted me to come out on the town with her but I ended up heading back to Ørndalen for the infamous Laundry Party instead since I'd already promised friends that I'd be there.
The Laundry Party is basically a party held in our common house which also doubles as the laundry house. It was a pretty decent party, everyone was there and I hung out with Josh, Grace, Adam, Jamie, Amanda and many more. I also acquired a stalker, a Norwegian guy who I always seem to meet when he's had way too much to drink. Actually, it's sad, but I've never met this guy when he was sober. On Friday he polished off an entire bottle of vodka on his own and then he followed different girls around, leaning right up in their faces and talking. He even got me pinned up against a wall at one point. Thank goodness for male friends who can help you out in a pinch! I left the laundry party around 2 AM before the police showed up to tell people to quiet down.
On Saturday I worked the late shift at Døgnvill from 6 PM until midnight. Out of all the bands I heard I liked Katzenjammer and Dumdum Boys the best. The headliner was, shock and surprise, Snoop Dog! I'm no Snoop Dog fan but it was kind of surreal and definitely worth it to hear him play at a festival in northern Norway.
After my shift ended and I got all the cotton candy out of my hair I headed downtown to the festival after party at Driv. They had three bands playing and a DJ on the bottom floor. I met a guy in line who started talking to me in Norwegian, then in English when I couldn't make out his dialect. His name was Knut and he spoke excellent English and was really friendly so I decided to hang out with him for a while. I was planning on hanging with my friends but I couldn't find them anywhere so I stayed with Knut instead.
We danced a bit and got some drinks and listened to an excellent cover band called Kissing Miss Lissy. They played songs by Deep Purple, Kiss, and other similar bands. Driv closed at 3AM and I headed out with Knut to an after-party-after-party at his cousins house. Turned out that the cousin went to bed before we got there so Knut offered to walk me home instead. The last bus back to Ørndalen left at 3:30 and the next one wasn't until 7:30. I warned Knut about the hike back to my place (it's 11 km!) but he came along like a gentleman and walked me all the way home. It gave us the chance to talk and by the time we got back we were exhausted but knew eachother a lot better. He ended up taking a taxi back to his hotel. He lives outside the city but comes to Tromsø on the weekends. We exchanged numbers so we'll have to see what happens!
Damn this has been such a fantastic weekend so far and it isn't even over yet! I should go get some more sleep but I think it's going to be almost impossible at this point. *big grin*
I'm going to breeze over Monday-Thursday because they were on the whole uneventful. On Wednesday I had my first lecture in Sustainable Energy. The course isn't anywhere near as interesting as I had hoped but I guess that's how it goes. It's much more about theoretical energy physics rather than personal research projects like I had hoped.
Things really got started on Friday when I had my first volunteer shift at the Døgnvill music festival. The tickets were crazy expensive so I volunteered to get in for free. I ended up working the cotton candy and popcorn booth, it was sticky, salty, and sweet! I had a lot of fun though and the girls that I worked with were all really nice. It was just girls in our group so we started calling ourselves The Sugar Babes.
On Friday the music was calmer and the whole mood was more family oriented. Alexander Rybak, the 2009 winner of the Eurovision song contest opened the event and he was a big hit with all the girls. He even walked past our tent and we all screamed when he gave us that charming smile of his.
After my shift I headed out with one of the Sugar Babes named Rose. She was really friendly and invited me back to her place for some red wine. She wanted me to come out on the town with her but I ended up heading back to Ørndalen for the infamous Laundry Party instead since I'd already promised friends that I'd be there.
The Laundry Party is basically a party held in our common house which also doubles as the laundry house. It was a pretty decent party, everyone was there and I hung out with Josh, Grace, Adam, Jamie, Amanda and many more. I also acquired a stalker, a Norwegian guy who I always seem to meet when he's had way too much to drink. Actually, it's sad, but I've never met this guy when he was sober. On Friday he polished off an entire bottle of vodka on his own and then he followed different girls around, leaning right up in their faces and talking. He even got me pinned up against a wall at one point. Thank goodness for male friends who can help you out in a pinch! I left the laundry party around 2 AM before the police showed up to tell people to quiet down.
On Saturday I worked the late shift at Døgnvill from 6 PM until midnight. Out of all the bands I heard I liked Katzenjammer and Dumdum Boys the best. The headliner was, shock and surprise, Snoop Dog! I'm no Snoop Dog fan but it was kind of surreal and definitely worth it to hear him play at a festival in northern Norway.
After my shift ended and I got all the cotton candy out of my hair I headed downtown to the festival after party at Driv. They had three bands playing and a DJ on the bottom floor. I met a guy in line who started talking to me in Norwegian, then in English when I couldn't make out his dialect. His name was Knut and he spoke excellent English and was really friendly so I decided to hang out with him for a while. I was planning on hanging with my friends but I couldn't find them anywhere so I stayed with Knut instead.
We danced a bit and got some drinks and listened to an excellent cover band called Kissing Miss Lissy. They played songs by Deep Purple, Kiss, and other similar bands. Driv closed at 3AM and I headed out with Knut to an after-party-after-party at his cousins house. Turned out that the cousin went to bed before we got there so Knut offered to walk me home instead. The last bus back to Ørndalen left at 3:30 and the next one wasn't until 7:30. I warned Knut about the hike back to my place (it's 11 km!) but he came along like a gentleman and walked me all the way home. It gave us the chance to talk and by the time we got back we were exhausted but knew eachother a lot better. He ended up taking a taxi back to his hotel. He lives outside the city but comes to Tromsø on the weekends. We exchanged numbers so we'll have to see what happens!
Damn this has been such a fantastic weekend so far and it isn't even over yet! I should go get some more sleep but I think it's going to be almost impossible at this point. *big grin*
Aug 23, 2009
Pierogi Party and the Black Kilt Man
Time for an all-encompassing weekend update. It's been a busy one, and I have lots of craziness to report this time. Especially the tale of the infamous "Black Kilt Man".
Our English speaking potluck parties continue following a letter 'P' theme. Last time it was pizza, this time we did pierogies. Many thanks to Adam and Jamie who did most of the cooking. The homemade pierogies were definitely a success, super simple yet delicious.
The pierogi party was just a warm up for a fun filled evening at Driv. For those of you who don't know, Driv is the local student bar and hangout in Trosmø. It's a pretty amazing place, basically it's an old fishing house out on a dock by the harbor. There's four floors and three "stages" in the building which feature DJ's and sometimes live music as well. It's cozy, but usually crowded, and the candles + drunk students seem to scream fire hazard to me.
After a quick pre-party at 11A Grace and I headed downtown, with a couple of pit stops. First to check out the science party that was going on at campus, and then an accidental bus tour of the island when we jumped on #34 instead of #20. 34 was the party bus that night, we rode into town with a bunch of drunk French students singing Polish drinking songs. Memorable.
There was a so-called "traffic light party" going on at Driv. One of those events where you dress according to your relationship status. Green=single, red=taken, yellow=uncertain. We all avoided the colour theme but had a great time anyway. There were lots of international students there and we hung out for a while and danced a bit. The dance floor at Driv is small but has great lighting and even a fog machine. The music on the other hand is the same pop/techno that you'd find anywhere in Finland. We made it an early night and took a taxi back to Ørndalen around 1:30 since it was cold and rainy and we didn't feel like waiting for the bus.
The next day Josh, Grace and I headed to Old Bodega for a British Pub Night that we had seen advertised. Turned out that it was just us, the Bodega volunteers, and a few of the members of Den Norske Mannskor. Seems like the Norwegian men's choir have the same crazy party animal reputation as they do in Finland. We met a guy in a black kilt who made Grace and I very nervous. Not only did he stare at me and label me "prey" but he talked at length about how the Norwegian vikings liked to pillage, rape, and keep warm in the winter with kidnapped British women. Grace and I spent the rest of the evening avoiding Black-Kilt-Man-Wannabe-Viking and we stuck close to Josh and our other male friends just in case. There were some other nice people at the British pub though and we even got a free Smirnoff Ice out of it all.
After that we headed down to Driv for some live music. The Lame Ducks were playing, as well as a teenage female punk band called Cyaneed. I enjoyed the Lame Ducks but Cyaneed didn't impress me much. Grace and I discovered the Vikingfjord, a tasty but treacherous vodka cooler which cost 80 NOK!
The whole town seemed to be partying in the streets when we left Driv. We saw someone drop down and do push ups in front of oncoming traffic, and ended up meeting lots of random Norwegians since Josh aka the social butterfly kept walking up to people and chattering away. We finally rode home in a taxi and got in around 4. I went to bed and expected to sleep until at least noon...
Only to be woken at around 9 AM by small children shrieking in my front yard followed by some guy singing off and on in Norwegian and playing a guitar. So much for sleeping in, what a bizarre way to wake up after a late night on the town.
Sunday was a calm day, just taking it easy, watching movies and reading. I also went blueberry picking for about an hour, I think I got about 1 L which I froze for later use.
The weekend is finally coming to a close. No class tomorrow but there's plenty to do anyhow. Laundry, shopping, studying, and a meetup with the Tromsø jogging club. I'm looking forward to finding a jogging buddy, I only hope I can keep up them in those killer hills. I went for a 8 km jog on Saturday and just about died running up some of those hills along the ski trail. I have nothing but respect for the long distance runners here in Tromsø!
Driv
Our English speaking potluck parties continue following a letter 'P' theme. Last time it was pizza, this time we did pierogies. Many thanks to Adam and Jamie who did most of the cooking. The homemade pierogies were definitely a success, super simple yet delicious.
The pierogi party was just a warm up for a fun filled evening at Driv. For those of you who don't know, Driv is the local student bar and hangout in Trosmø. It's a pretty amazing place, basically it's an old fishing house out on a dock by the harbor. There's four floors and three "stages" in the building which feature DJ's and sometimes live music as well. It's cozy, but usually crowded, and the candles + drunk students seem to scream fire hazard to me.
After a quick pre-party at 11A Grace and I headed downtown, with a couple of pit stops. First to check out the science party that was going on at campus, and then an accidental bus tour of the island when we jumped on #34 instead of #20. 34 was the party bus that night, we rode into town with a bunch of drunk French students singing Polish drinking songs. Memorable.
There was a so-called "traffic light party" going on at Driv. One of those events where you dress according to your relationship status. Green=single, red=taken, yellow=uncertain. We all avoided the colour theme but had a great time anyway. There were lots of international students there and we hung out for a while and danced a bit. The dance floor at Driv is small but has great lighting and even a fog machine. The music on the other hand is the same pop/techno that you'd find anywhere in Finland. We made it an early night and took a taxi back to Ørndalen around 1:30 since it was cold and rainy and we didn't feel like waiting for the bus.
The next day Josh, Grace and I headed to Old Bodega for a British Pub Night that we had seen advertised. Turned out that it was just us, the Bodega volunteers, and a few of the members of Den Norske Mannskor. Seems like the Norwegian men's choir have the same crazy party animal reputation as they do in Finland. We met a guy in a black kilt who made Grace and I very nervous. Not only did he stare at me and label me "prey" but he talked at length about how the Norwegian vikings liked to pillage, rape, and keep warm in the winter with kidnapped British women. Grace and I spent the rest of the evening avoiding Black-Kilt-Man-Wannabe-Viking and we stuck close to Josh and our other male friends just in case. There were some other nice people at the British pub though and we even got a free Smirnoff Ice out of it all.
After that we headed down to Driv for some live music. The Lame Ducks were playing, as well as a teenage female punk band called Cyaneed. I enjoyed the Lame Ducks but Cyaneed didn't impress me much. Grace and I discovered the Vikingfjord, a tasty but treacherous vodka cooler which cost 80 NOK!
The whole town seemed to be partying in the streets when we left Driv. We saw someone drop down and do push ups in front of oncoming traffic, and ended up meeting lots of random Norwegians since Josh aka the social butterfly kept walking up to people and chattering away. We finally rode home in a taxi and got in around 4. I went to bed and expected to sleep until at least noon...
Only to be woken at around 9 AM by small children shrieking in my front yard followed by some guy singing off and on in Norwegian and playing a guitar. So much for sleeping in, what a bizarre way to wake up after a late night on the town.
Sunday was a calm day, just taking it easy, watching movies and reading. I also went blueberry picking for about an hour, I think I got about 1 L which I froze for later use.
The weekend is finally coming to a close. No class tomorrow but there's plenty to do anyhow. Laundry, shopping, studying, and a meetup with the Tromsø jogging club. I'm looking forward to finding a jogging buddy, I only hope I can keep up them in those killer hills. I went for a 8 km jog on Saturday and just about died running up some of those hills along the ski trail. I have nothing but respect for the long distance runners here in Tromsø!
Driv
Aug 20, 2009
PDA's & The Big Fat Summary Post
In my last blog entry I wrote about day 2 & 3, before the introductory program had even begun. I haven't had the time (or the motivation) to post since then so now I'm going to summarize the events of the past week quickly before moving on.
The introductory program began on Wednesday and it continued on through the weekend before wrapping up on Monday with a tedious lecture on sources in the morning and a nice candlelit lunch at the student house in the afternoon. The highlights of the introductory program include making many new friends (most of them from Canada!), a nice sightseeing of Tromsø by bus, the fantastic Norwegian waffles at Cafe Bodega, a visit to the University museum, and the free Second Hand Market on Saturday.
I'm slowly finding my way around the city, I even invested in a monthly bus card to make traveling cheaper and easier. I've also taken the time to explore the island a bit on foot. On Saturday after the Second Hand Market I went hiking with my friend Adam from his apartment in Elverhøy to my place in Ørndalen. We followed the ski path most of the way, that's going to be a nice thing come winter. The path is incredibly well maintained and it's even lit by streetlamps at night. We saw lots of things on the way, the walk was about 6 km. Lakes, mountains, hockey rinks, ski ramps, soccer fields, and plenty of Norwegians out walking, jogging, and biking.
On Sunday I stayed home and relaxed while most of the other international students went on an excursion to a place called Grøtfjord. In hindsight the trip probably would have been fun. I went on my own little hike on Sunday to the summit at Ørndalen. It's steep but only about a 10 min walk. There's even a little book at the top that you get to sign when you've made it all the way up.
Other things of interest, we had a totally spontaneous pizza party at our place yesterday. Mike (my Canadian housemate) invited a bunch of people over and we made pizzas from scratch. A good time was had by all and the pizza crust was some of the best I have ever had. It was made by an American expat who's been traveling abroad for about 8 years. Apparently he worked at a bakery at some point during his travels, he even knew how to toss the dough up in the air like a pro!
Today I tried to go to my first lecture on Sustainable Energy only to discover that I didn't have a lecture today. Oops, well at least I know where the Physics campus is now.
On my way back from town I saw one of the cutest PDA's. I've already noticed that Norwegians seem to be much more open and warm than Finns are, Public Displays of Affection seem to be well accepted here. Today I was riding the bus and it stopped by the hospital to let passengers off. There was a doctor there in scrubs waiting for someone. It turned out that he was there to meet his girlfriend/wife. She had a dog with her, a cute spaniel that she carried in her arms off the bus. It was so cute to see how the guy first took a picture of the girl and the dog with his phone and then gave them each a kiss and a hug. Now that's the kind of guy that I'm looking for, someone who's just as happy to see me as he is to see the family pet.
I also stopped at the Horse (Horze) store in the Utsikten plaza and browsed for a bit. After walking around a bit I also discovered that the Stakkevollan swimming hall is only about a 10 mins walk from my house. That's going to come in handy during the dark months.
There we go, that's life here so far. More updates should come soon as I've got lots of plans for the weekend. Tomorrow should be my first lecture as well. For real this time!
To do list:
- Visit Sivertsens Kafe downtown, supposedly the only vegetarian restaurant in Tromsø
- Find some jogging buddies, I need some motivation to scale those hills on a daily basis
- Figure out where the nearest riding stable in the area is, I need another horse fix
The introductory program began on Wednesday and it continued on through the weekend before wrapping up on Monday with a tedious lecture on sources in the morning and a nice candlelit lunch at the student house in the afternoon. The highlights of the introductory program include making many new friends (most of them from Canada!), a nice sightseeing of Tromsø by bus, the fantastic Norwegian waffles at Cafe Bodega, a visit to the University museum, and the free Second Hand Market on Saturday.
I'm slowly finding my way around the city, I even invested in a monthly bus card to make traveling cheaper and easier. I've also taken the time to explore the island a bit on foot. On Saturday after the Second Hand Market I went hiking with my friend Adam from his apartment in Elverhøy to my place in Ørndalen. We followed the ski path most of the way, that's going to be a nice thing come winter. The path is incredibly well maintained and it's even lit by streetlamps at night. We saw lots of things on the way, the walk was about 6 km. Lakes, mountains, hockey rinks, ski ramps, soccer fields, and plenty of Norwegians out walking, jogging, and biking.
On Sunday I stayed home and relaxed while most of the other international students went on an excursion to a place called Grøtfjord. In hindsight the trip probably would have been fun. I went on my own little hike on Sunday to the summit at Ørndalen. It's steep but only about a 10 min walk. There's even a little book at the top that you get to sign when you've made it all the way up.
Other things of interest, we had a totally spontaneous pizza party at our place yesterday. Mike (my Canadian housemate) invited a bunch of people over and we made pizzas from scratch. A good time was had by all and the pizza crust was some of the best I have ever had. It was made by an American expat who's been traveling abroad for about 8 years. Apparently he worked at a bakery at some point during his travels, he even knew how to toss the dough up in the air like a pro!
Today I tried to go to my first lecture on Sustainable Energy only to discover that I didn't have a lecture today. Oops, well at least I know where the Physics campus is now.
On my way back from town I saw one of the cutest PDA's. I've already noticed that Norwegians seem to be much more open and warm than Finns are, Public Displays of Affection seem to be well accepted here. Today I was riding the bus and it stopped by the hospital to let passengers off. There was a doctor there in scrubs waiting for someone. It turned out that he was there to meet his girlfriend/wife. She had a dog with her, a cute spaniel that she carried in her arms off the bus. It was so cute to see how the guy first took a picture of the girl and the dog with his phone and then gave them each a kiss and a hug. Now that's the kind of guy that I'm looking for, someone who's just as happy to see me as he is to see the family pet.
I also stopped at the Horse (Horze) store in the Utsikten plaza and browsed for a bit. After walking around a bit I also discovered that the Stakkevollan swimming hall is only about a 10 mins walk from my house. That's going to come in handy during the dark months.
There we go, that's life here so far. More updates should come soon as I've got lots of plans for the weekend. Tomorrow should be my first lecture as well. For real this time!
To do list:
- Visit Sivertsens Kafe downtown, supposedly the only vegetarian restaurant in Tromsø
- Find some jogging buddies, I need some motivation to scale those hills on a daily basis
- Figure out where the nearest riding stable in the area is, I need another horse fix
Aug 19, 2009
Flickr Photos
Ok, my blog posting so far has been sporadic at best. I'd like to promise that it will get better, but knowing me and my blogging apathy, I'm not so sure. I do like taking pictures on the other hand, so I figured that even if I don't manage to write down a bunch of text about my adventures in Norway I could at least post some pictures. Without further ado here's the link to my Flickr photostream with a set called "Life in Tromsø". Enjoy!
Snowyowl88 at Flickr
Snowyowl88 at Flickr
Aug 14, 2009
Day 2 & 3
My second Tromsø update. These will become more frequent now that I have my own internet connection at my dorm and I don’t have to drag my computer to the library or to the campus to go online.
In my last update I wrote about the trip to Tromsø and our first night. Here’s a short summary about the first few days.
On my second day in Tromsø we did some sightseeing. First we went to the store and bought some food, which gave us the opportunity to complain about the outrageous norwegian prices. Then we traveled into the city center and did some exploring. We visited Polaria, the polar display center, and Emily really enjoyed the seal show. Personally I liked the film about Svalbard. Then we went to Åsgård so that my mom and Emily could check into the youth hostel where they had a room booked. After that we went to dinner at a really nice chinese place downtown called Tang. Good prices and excellent food, I’ll certainly be going there again. After that we went back to Ørndalen so that my mom and Emily could pick up their bags. We said goodbye and they headed to the hostel while I went to a BBQ party that was held for all of the new international students living in Ørndalen.
I quickly made friends with a Canadian boy named Josh and a British girl named Grace. We started calling ourselves the “English speaking club” since everyone else seemed to be grouping off and speaking Italian, French, Russian etc.
The next day (day 3) I headed downtown with Josh and Grace to do some shopping and eat pizza. The pizza at Dolly Dimple’s was expensive and not all that impressive. Probably the last restaurant visit for a while since I’ll be living on a strict budget until my student money comes in the middle of september.
To finish things off here are a few pictures of my dorm room in Ørndalen. I will take some outdoor shots ASAP.
1) My bed (read couch)
2) The view from my bedroom window, not bad eh?
3) An overview of my room in general
4) The corridor, my room is the first door to the right
In my last update I wrote about the trip to Tromsø and our first night. Here’s a short summary about the first few days.
On my second day in Tromsø we did some sightseeing. First we went to the store and bought some food, which gave us the opportunity to complain about the outrageous norwegian prices. Then we traveled into the city center and did some exploring. We visited Polaria, the polar display center, and Emily really enjoyed the seal show. Personally I liked the film about Svalbard. Then we went to Åsgård so that my mom and Emily could check into the youth hostel where they had a room booked. After that we went to dinner at a really nice chinese place downtown called Tang. Good prices and excellent food, I’ll certainly be going there again. After that we went back to Ørndalen so that my mom and Emily could pick up their bags. We said goodbye and they headed to the hostel while I went to a BBQ party that was held for all of the new international students living in Ørndalen.
I quickly made friends with a Canadian boy named Josh and a British girl named Grace. We started calling ourselves the “English speaking club” since everyone else seemed to be grouping off and speaking Italian, French, Russian etc.
The next day (day 3) I headed downtown with Josh and Grace to do some shopping and eat pizza. The pizza at Dolly Dimple’s was expensive and not all that impressive. Probably the last restaurant visit for a while since I’ll be living on a strict budget until my student money comes in the middle of september.
To finish things off here are a few pictures of my dorm room in Ørndalen. I will take some outdoor shots ASAP.
1) My bed (read couch)
2) The view from my bedroom window, not bad eh?
3) An overview of my room in general
4) The corridor, my room is the first door to the right
Aug 11, 2009
First Tromsø Update
I finally made it to the library with my computer so now I have to chance to write up a blog post.The trip to Norway was long and exhausting but exciting as well. I traveled to Tromsö with my mother and my little sister Emily. It was the first time any of us had ever been to Norway. We left on Saturday evening around 6 PM. First a train from Karis to Helsinki, then the night train (including sleeping car with beds, yay!) from Helsinki to Rovaniemi. From Rovaniemi we jumped on the Lapin Linjat bus to Tromsö. The bus took about 8 hours but the scenery was certainly worth it. We saw 18 reindeer wandering around, the bus had to swerve several times because the reindeer didn't move. At this point I dug out my camera and started to snap a few shots.
The bus to Tromsö wasn't particularly full, most of the passengers only rode a short distance and then got off. Only eight people and one dog traveled the whole way to Tromsö. The dog was incredibly well behaved and very sweet.
We stopped at Kilpisjärvi for a small break and that was when the scenery really started to become spectacular. It happened to be a cloudy day and the fog and clouds shrouded the mountains and made them seem even more impressive. After about six or seven hours in the bus we finally got tired of sitting and even the great scenery didn't help. When we caught sight of Tromsö we practically cheered.
Once in Tromsö we had to take a taxi to the airport so that I could sign the contract for my dorm and get my keys. Then we jumped in another taxi ride to my apartment. All in all, Tromsö is much bigger and more spread out than I ever would have imagined. And the student housing is out in the middle of nowhere, you need to ride a bus to get practically everywhere. It takes 10 mins to the store, 15 to the campus and about 30 to the city centre!
The first night we slept at my place, my mom and Emily slept on a mattress on the floor. The next night they had a room in a hostel in a place called Åsgård. It was an all right first night, except for the fact that I have just a couch in my room and no bed. Hopefully I will get that fixed soon since the wooden armrests really dig into my neck when I try to sleep.
That's about all that I have the energy to write for now. These posts will get better when I'm settled and have had a chance to process things a little better. Oh, and here's my address in case anyone wants it.
Linnea Nordström
Tunvegen 10/A10
9018 Tromsø
Norway
I'll also be posting more pictures as I have time to sort through them and pick out the good ones. For now here's some info on the ones in this blog:
1) Reindeer crossing the road in Finnish Lapland
2) The mountains just as we crossed into Norway
3) Driving up to Tromsö
4) The view from the street outside my dorm
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