Are we human, or are we dancers?

Well, it's that time of the year again- the sun is coming out, the days are getting longer and all the students are stuck inside studying, and in my case, preparing job applications as well.

But we have still had time for fun as our time in Norway slowly (and sadly) approaches an end.

Before the excitement of the big weekend May 15-17 we had our last Norwegian class. As I really enjoyed my class (particularly writing outrageous Norwegian essays) I emailed everyone in Norwegian and arranged a final gathering after our last class. So, 7pm on the Wednesday before Norwegian national day saw our whole class, bar one, including our teacher gathered on the lawns at the university to "spiser pølser, sitter og slapper av (eat sausages, sit and relax)" in the evening sun. We collected spare change from everyone to buy some disposable BBQs, everyone brought their own food and we had a lovely evening sitting and chatting on the lawn. Our fabulous teacher brought Icelandic herb-based alcohol for us all to try (our teacher had studied in Iceland) and I had to keep up appearances by drinking my trademark vodka og(and) vin. The phrase "jeg drikker vodka og vin" is an oft-repeated phrase in my class, having been one of the first things I learnt and also because it is a useful answer for almost any situation the teacher could ask about!

We were having such a nice time that we decided to kick on at a nearby student run bar, where we stayed until they closed at 11. Following that we walked home and continued at Amatøren, the student pub on campus, before heading to bed at 1, ready to study gynacology in the hospital at 8 the next day.

The BBQ was so fun that I decided to write another email a few days later arranging a similar gathering after our Norwegian exam, which was held on the 22nd of May. The exam was scheduled for 3 hours, but I don't think there were many people left in the exam room after two hours, and many of us left some time after 1 hour. The exam consisted of dictation, grammer exercises and- to my delight- an essay section. I love writing Norwegian essays- it's a great chance to flex my Norwegian muscles and extend my vocabulary. And I get a chance to be creative! The topics in the exam were 1) describe the best weekend you have had in Norway 2) describe what you like to do in your spare time 3) describe what you will do after you finish the exam. Although it had the additional demands of past tense, the weekend one was my choice and an elaborate description of the 17th May weekend followed, including the expression of my desire to return to Norway for the Eurovision next year.

I had to laugh as well: the examination instructions were very detailed and included an instruction that "It is prohibited to go to shops, canteens, post office, bank etc. during the exam". So apologies, I was going to write to you to ask you the answer to question 5, but they wouldn't let me!

Afterwards, it was raining and many of the student cafes were closed, so we enjoyed lunch with our teacher before all going our separate ways. I've really enjoyed learning Norwegian and it seems a shame to stop. On the other hand, so many Norwegians speak good English that I would only ever use it if I came back to live here. I have a reignited desire to learn a language fluently though, so watch this space!

Another highlight of the last few weeks was a return visit to our Professor and PBL tutor's house. Our second to last tutorial with her was held at her house where we enjoyed a very Norwegian creamy, chunky fish soup for dinner, followed by her delicious dessert which is basically a similar to a giant soft hazelnut biscuit-cake topped with peaches and ice cream. She has a gorgeous 230 metre square apartment in the city. The Norwegians in my group however reckon that it would be something like $2-$2.5 million. Maybe out of my league for now.

Sunday night also saw the first of the many farewell parties sprouting up at the moment. The medical students finish July 16, but most of the other students here finish in the next week or have already finished. So one by one our friends are starting to leave. Luckily there are 27 medical exchange students, so at least we are all together!

The farewell on Sunday was for some Hungarian students in my Norwegian class, and we gathered at their house for some 'typisk ungarnsk mat' (typical Hungarian food). It was delicious: a baked dish of potatoes, salami, egg and sour cream. It's hard to write about it without salivating. The dinner finished with ice cream and some interesting conversation!

Probably the best night I've had in a while was last night though. Zoe and Lenka's German housemate (and a friend of mine) heads home tomorrow, and as we (including Zoe and Lenka) have a pathology test tomorrow, he agreed to have the party on Monday instead. We rocked up around 8 for some cake after a beautiful 21 degree day. Things started off quite quietly, but rapidly got livelier. Interspersed with conversation and drinking, a few of us did laps of Sogn on some bikes (often two of us on the same bike). At one point we found a supermarket trolley and gave each other rides down the (very gentle) slope. The air was fresh and warm and the sun had put everyone in good moods, so the party spilled outside as more people came. The sun gradually got lower and the night continued, bringing us inside. A warning from the housing people saw us closing all the windows and continuing our dancing. By this stage there were about 8-10 left and we danced hard until suddenly, it was 3:30am and the sun was up again!

It was a surreal but really cool experience walking the 2 buildings home at 4:30 in the morning with the sky looking as if it were lunchtime! I took this picture from my room at 4:30 this morning, so you can see how light it was.


Rumour has it that the weather will be 25 ish on the weekend, so I'm hoping to go for a swim in the Oslo Fjord or the lake at Sognsvann. Everyone thinks I'm crazy, but I really miss swimming! I'll keep you posted!

Anneke

Ha- I nearly forgot to explain the title of the post. It's a song by the killers, called Human. It makes me think of Lenka, because its always playing at her house. I think it fits last night very well!

Pictures from the weekend...

1) birthday girls ready to party (remember: theme was Colours)2) rainbow vodka (my pictures from the party end quite abruptly)3) part of the sight that greeted us the next day...

4) Guess who I supported for the Eurovision? Note outfit is also in national colours
5) breakfast on Norwegian National Day
6) My Norwegian housemate dressed in Bunad
7) Whereas I'm not.
8) 3 hours of schools parading. Once again, the photos end abruptly after about 1/2 hour.
9) More of the colour of the parade.
10) everyone's dressed up! (street sign in background: Henrik Ibsens gata)
11) Just in case you missed it, this is what the Norwegian flag looks like...
12) kids outfit
13) Think ya man on the left is a bit lost.
14) The Palace. If your eyes are good you can see the Royals on the balcony
15) close up of the Royals for those whose eyes aren't good!
16) Spring!
17) BBQ in the evening at Sogn
18) Just in case you missed the flag before (don't worry, its the ground floor)

Massive weekend- Birthday Party, Eurovision, Syttende Mai

Hello again on a dreary Monday after a fantastic weekend!

The fun started on Friday evening as we celebrated the combined birthday of four of the medical exchange students - Me (may 8), Lena (may 9), Sundar (may 11) and Estelle (may 12)- all born in the same year. We booked a party room in the student housing place, invited everyone we knew, set a theme of 'colours' and arranged decorations, nibbles, mohitos and punch to top it off!

We had a great night: lots of our friends came, one of the French girls arranged a (slightly embarrassing) slide show, the Norwegians sang the hilarious Norwegian version of happy birthday (with several choruses and bits where you do actions and spin around- a small sample can be seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mfMhY1HdQ8&feature=related). Lots of people gave us cakes, chocolates and other treats, and a whole group of the exchange students even got together to buy us University of Oslo t-shirts.

Officially, when hiring the party room, you are required to leave by 12am. As it was a Friday we figured people would be a bit lenient, though were prepared to leave if someone complained. At 1am, the night seemed to come to a natural end as people all drifted off to the other major party on that night, held in the attic of one of the nearby buildings. We all went there, but the lack of air in the attic combined with a night of wine, mohitos, punch and vodka saw most of us off home early. The attic party was huge though, version 3 of a series of parties in the same building that are famous for their involvement of the police to close down the party on every occasion. No police apparently on Friday, but soon after I left there was a fire alarm in the building and the fireys rocked up to find revelers everywhere. It seems there were another 2 fire alarms in the same building that night as well, with some rumours that the security people used a fire alarm as a tactic to close down the party. Unfortunately for my friends who live on that side of the road, all the buildings from 40-48 are linked and so if a fire alarm goes off in 42 it goes off in all of them!

Somewhat grumpy about their uncalled-for alarm clocks, the birthday kids gathered the next morning for the clean up. Well, three of the birthday kids, with one still suffering bad after effects from the night before unable to move (not me before you get ideas!). Due to the recycling system in Norway, we managed to recoup some of the cost of the party from the cans and bottles people brought- a whole 74 kroner (around 20 dollars!)

Then it was back home to recover, chill out and prepare for the next excitement for the day- the Eurovision! It was mainly the Aussies who were excited about the Eurovision, the Europeans being embarrassed by it and unsure why we liked it so much. I'd arranged to have a party for it at my house, but when we planned our birthday party for the night before decided it would be a bit more relaxed than my original plans. So we gathered around the TV in my house to cheer, make comments about and laugh at the entries for this year. It's weird watching it here, because they dub it in Norwegian so you hear the English commentary dubbed by Norwegian comments (they don't usually do this for tv shows as they usually use sub titles, but the Norwegians wanted to make their own comments I think!). The German entry (starring a women famous for removing some of her ribs in order to wear tighter corsets and not much else) in particular received some funny comments.

We were in the middle of the Turkish entry, only 1.5 songs from the eagerly-awaited Norwegian entry, when disaster struck. The TV suddenly lost all signal and went all fuzzy! We hurriedly checked all the connections, then rushed for our shoes to run to the student pub at our housing village to watch it there. Tragically, when we arrived, the large screen there was blue and the host was frantically trying to stream it from the internet as the TV connection had apparently failed all over Sogn student village! He tried to recover the situation by playing the music of the various songs over the sound system but the massive crowds of people were starting to diminish as they dispersed to watch it themselves at home.

We left to try and get it on the net ourselves, but my faithful computer was not up to the task and so we returned to the pub briefly before settling on watching in a Norwegian friend's room. So there we all were, 5 Aussies, one French girl and 2 Norwegians piled on the bed watching the Eurovision (the connection by now having been restored and the voting results commencing). Within about 3 sets of votes we knew Norway had done it. The commentator got more and more excited, and all I can remember her saying when Norway passed the threshold it needed to definitely win was "Jeg er...Jeg er...Jeg er" (I am...I am...I am). The next thing we knew, our Norwegians were groaning as they told us she had decided (at 12am) to phone the Prime Minister to hear what he thought! She couldn't initially get onto him, but managed to see what the Minister of Culture thought and finally got the Prime Minister's opinion before they crossed to Oslo for the final votes. The winning entry is here if you're interested, but be warned it will get into your head! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiH4BFTELME)

By this time it was 12:30 and we all headed to bed to get ready for the next day's celebrations. May 17 is Norwegian National Day, and it celebrates the signing of the constitution of Norway on May 17 1814. Norwegians typically gather for breakfast before attending parades during the day and may finish with a BBQ with friends in the evening. We gathered for our own breakfast with eggs, smoked salmon and jam on toast before heading in to town to join in the celebrations.

Equipped with Norwegian national flags and dressed in our nicest clothes (we were warned beforehand that we wouldn't fit in if we wore a Norwegian t-shirt and jeans) we set off for the train station. The weather was stunning and the spring flowers and green, green grass made the day look perfect. At the station there were people everywhere, all dressed up in the national costume and carrying flowers, flags and ribbons pinned to themselves in the red, white and blue of Norway. Everyone was immaculately dressed and there were very few people with face paint or flag boxers or Norwegian tattoos to be seen! Even the dogs had very formal little bows on their collars!

The Norwegian national costume is called a Bunad. I say national costume, but actually there are hundreds of variations to the costume, depending on where the wearer comes from. People can tell where you come from by the costume you wear. Women wear a dress which is a bit like a skirt with a waistcoat on top; as well as an elaborate white shirt underneath, a little bag that matches the skirt and other extras such as silver brooches, a silver belt and pointy shoes. Men wear trousers that go just below their knees, with long socks and a jacket a bit like a tuxedo jacket. They also have a waistcoat and shirt underneath. The dresses alone cost 30-40,000 kroner (around 9-10,000 dollars) and are worn on May 17, as well as at balls, weddings, dances etc. I believe a Norwegian racing driver recently wore one to a gala at which he expressed concern he wouldn't be let it as he would be too overdressed.

Oslo on May 17 looks so different to every other day. There are more Norwegian flags than I've ever seen in my life, people absolutely everywhere, food vendors and balloon sellers and no cars on the streets! The main street, Karl Johans Gate, leads up to the Palace and it is here that a parade (lasting about 3 hours) runs. All the school children in Oslo get to be in the parade, playing music in their school bands, twirling batons, waving Norwegian flags or just marching along singing 'hurra hurra'. The littlest kids are each holding on to a loop of a string in order to keep in line and all are immaculately dressed in their finest clothes or mini Bunads. The Russ then follow with their own parade afterwards, all following the route up the hill to wave at the royal family and get a wave back.

After watching the parade for half an hour or so we began to feel a bit sorry for the King's elbows and retired for a while to enjoy the sun on the pristine lawns. Despite huge crowds everywhere, it didn't feel like too many people. Everyone was relaxing with their family or friends and watching the parade or enjoying the sunshine whilst listening to the singing and marching bands. Hardly anyone was drinking alcohol, and if they were it was half a glass of champagne. Even the severely hung over Russ were not being destructive or anti social- they were happily handing out their cards to the swarms of children who approached them. Other groups of teenagers and Uni students were spontaneously gathering to sing various national songs (including the Norwegian version of God Save the King), and 'Fairytale', the winning Eurovision song was very popular as well!

We headed over to the palace to see the Royal Family's drooping arms as they stood on the balcony and it was then I realised that I didn't have my phone on me, despite having it about 20 minutes before. We called it and messaged it to no avail, although it took a number of tries to get through as the networks were all clogged with people wishing each other 'Gratulerer med dagen!'. I retraced my route to look for it, crossing the parade in the meantime and despondently returned without having found it. We tried calling it again, and this time someone answered. Luckily, he was just where I'd been looking for it, and I crossed the parade again and was reunited with my phone by a friendly man who responded to my profuse thanks with his assertion that it was "absolutely a pleasure!"

An afternoon enjoying the sun concluded with a pleasant stroll around the harbour area with its flags everywhere, which looked absolutely magical in the shimmering sun. We then headed back to Sogn for a rest in the sun before setting up out dinner for the evening- grilled vegetables and sausages (with salmon) on the portable grill. We had a very nice evening following the sun, with music playing through our open window (including several repeats of Fairytale) and concluding with a movie before bed.

Norwegian National Day was a fantastic day and an interesting experience. It's determinedly non-militaristic, full of national pride without going over the top and is all about kids. The parade was full of blond, blue-eyed Scandinavians, but also represented the slowly increasing ethnic diversity of Norway with gorgeous kids of all races in their nicest clothes or Bunads waving the flags and singing along. The royal family is very highly respected and it is a very exciting thing for the kids to get to wave to the king. Furthermore, the parade was definitely the main attraction and the streets were lined with people waving to the kids, enjoying the music and strolling in the sunshine. People were also allowed to join the parade at the end and get their own wave from the King. Coming home on the train at the end of the day, it was lovely to see all the groups of families all dressed up off to have a BBQ or a nice dinner somewhere. I guess also the positive experience of finding my phone added to my regard for the honesty of the people here!

Pics coming soon: more computer mischief.

Anneke

Norwegian Birthday

Hello again!

Thanks for all the birthday messages and cards I received- it was so nice to find messages on my phone, letters in my mail box and emails in my inbox!

We returned from Copenhagen on Sunday morning and settled back into Oslo. On Sunday night I got a massive shock when I went into the kitchen to find a middle aged lady scraping the ice out of our freezer and speaking to me in a language I didn't understand! I left the kitchen and accosted one of my housemates in the hallway to ask who was defrosting our freezer when she told me it was probably the mother of another of our Spanish housemate. When I headed back into the kitched we managed to have some sort of conversation, as her mother is a doctor. She spoke to me in Spanish, I replied in English and we acted out the rest.

We were back to uni on the Monday. This time I was in the gynacology outpatients section and spent my mornings attending different clinics and assisting in various day surgery cases. I met a very interesting Norwegian doctor there, who has lived all over the world, speaks many different languages and absolutely loves Adelaide, where he lived for some time. Within a few minutes of attending his clinic he had invited all ten of the Aussies over for lunch! We conversed about Australia and travelling as we went about the days cases (the patient was under anaesthesia).

Tuesday afternoon we had an anatomy exam which we are required to pass before we can sit the real exam in June. The exam consists of writing the names of the 70 structures they had pinpointed on photos, specimens and models. Sounds like a challenge, but this exam was a bit of a joke, as despite having lecturers stationed in each room, everyone was freely sharing and comparing answers. Strangely everyone got very similar marks for the exam....

On Wednesday afternoon the Norwegians had another exam, which tested their prescription writing skills before they got a temporary license which allows them to work in hospitals as doctor's assistants over the summer. Lena and I took the opportunity to cut my hair, which is now a lot shorter! Lena was a fantastic hair dresser and now has an alternative career should medicine not work out for her.

All week the weather was fantastic as we planned what to do on the weekend for my birthday (Friday) and Lena's birthday (Saturday). Thursday afternoon saw huge hail storms and Friday brought mist and rain. It was the first time I've used my umbrella in Norway, but it was bad timing for the weekend we had planned.

After class on Friday morning we gathered at Lena's house around lunchtime to set off on our hiking trip. Lena presented me with a gorgeous little Stachelschwein (porcupine) jewellery piece, which is related to a German song I like and the German I have been learning, so its very sweet.

On of Lena's housemates had booked a cabin in the woods for a night, and we stopped briefly at the supermarket (below), caught the train and then hiked about 6km through forest, past lakes and over streams to get to the cabin. Luckily the rain stopped and we even saw the sun. The walk took about 2-3 hours and it was so pretty in the forest.
This is a frog we saw along the way- look in front of the rock
Once we got to the cabin we had to light fires and candles, fetch water from the lake and set up for the night. The cabin was in a clearing in the middle of nowhere, and we were the only occupants for the night. Everyone picked a job and before long we were all sitting round the table enjoying our version of spaghetti cabonara, accompanied by various liqour selections.
After dinner, I decided it was time for a swim in the lake. Unfortunately everyone else wimped out, and it was a hard job even convincing them to come to the lake to watch! With my three supporters I set off to the lake for a quick dip- although I did get up to my neck in the freezing water, then enjoyed the feeling as the blood returned to my numb limbs. The fire was blazing as we made it back and settled in for a night of singing, drinking, playing games (including some crazy German drinking games, which had to be translated before we could play!) and relaxing by the fire. As the night continued, the marshmallows came out to be toasted and we even made bread in the fire.action shot of us making the bread

Midnight saw a changing of the guard as my birthday ended and Lena's began. Simon, Manuela and Felix presented us both with presents: me a university of Oslo mug and Lena a university t-shirt. The festivities continued as one-by-one people dropped off and headed to bed, the last around 4 in the morning.

This time of year, the sun sets around 10pm and rises very very early, so when I woke for about the third time at 8am I thought it had to be around 12! Things happened very slowly as we ate breakfast in the sun on the front deck, cleaned the place up, took a group photo and packed our gear ready for the hike back, some more worse for wear than others.

We took a different route back and there were people everywhere- the young and old hiking, cycling, jogging, walking dogs on a pleasant Saturday afternoon. Bleary eyed and slightly ill, we looked quite a sight as we headed to the metro train station and back home again.
An afternoon of recovery was followed by a delicious dinner of German gnocchi at Lena's, followed by cake. Zoe and Lenka presented us both with very nice presents: a Norwegian mug each and a necklace for me and bracelet for Lena. Hilariously, Lena's mug suffered an accident on the way to Lena's and so a sheepish Zoe presented Lena with a broken mug complete with a birthday bow on it. No one minded though and we laughed all night about the mug's accident.

Next Friday we're having a massive birthday party with two other exchange students whose birthdays are tomorrow and Tuesday (all born in 1986). Then on Saturday, there's a casual gathering at my house to watch the Eurovision song contest, followed by the event of the year in Norway- Norwegian national day. So, we're in for an fun week!

Happy Mothers Day and best wishes to you all,

Anneke

April in Oslo

Two posts of pictures today, see below the pics from Copenhagen, and here the pics from various April activities.1) BBQ at Bygdøy (the island)
2) the crazy aussie...
3) Taken from our BBQ site, the beach in the distance (near the grass) is the nudist beach
4) Afternoon tea in the sun at Sogn (student village)
5) explanation about the Tampa
6) model of the Tampa at the Norwegian maritime museum
7) the Scream in the Munch Museum
8) Oscar won by the Kon Tiki film
9) Kon Tiki raft
10) Ra 2, the reed boat
11) mobile phone, 1980s exhibition, Norwegian Folk Museum
12) 1986 newspaper headline: Chernobryl, 1980s exhibiton, Norwegian Folk Museum
13) Stave Church, Norwegian Folk Museum
14) Flowers on the war memorial, Anzac Day
15) Anzac Day Service

Copenhagen Pics

1) Wind farms at the entrance to Copenhagen
2) map mounted on the free bikes
3) Leaving Christiania (entering the EU again)
4) even the dogs like bikes
5) Nyhavn
6) near our picnic spot, just to show you how beautiful Copenhagen is (and how nice the weather was)
7) Us and the free bikes, near the little mermaid
8) The little mermaid
9) street scene- note the wide bike lanes separate to the parked cars and pedestrian foot paths.
10) The postie's bike
11) bike traffic lights
12) first of a series of shots of gorgeous spring flowers from the Tivoli. Indulge me please, it's been a long winter!
13) Inside the Ticoli
14) Tivoli
15) group shot at the Tivoli
16) You can guess where this is by now...
17) need I explain?
18) You get the idea...
19) more Tivoli flowers
20) Theatre at the Tivoli
21) NOT the Tivoli! This is Fredricksberg Castle
22) gorgeous stroll by the lake

23) sun set over the water on the way home

24) almost down....