Åndalsnes

Since my courses don’t start until Monday, I took a solo side trip up north to Åndalsnes, Norway to see the mountains.  It was an awesome trip!

Monday:

                I took the 7 hour train ride up to Åndalsnes on Monday.  It was a fantastic way to see the country!   The last bit of the train ride is actually a famously scenic section called the Rauma Railway.  After leaving the train, I headed off down the road. Outside of town, I found a trail and headed up a mountain to find a camping spot.

On the train to Åndalsnes!

                                                               The trail up the mountain.

                 My first camping spot; a scenic overlook.  I turned out to only be about a fifth of the                                          way up the side of the mountain, which was very large and extraordinary steep. 

Tuesday:

          Tuesday was my big hiking day.  I went up Trollstigen (the Troll Road), which is Norway's second largest tourist destination.  I can certainly see why!  I headed up the road until I found start of the hiking trail, which used to be the road used to take livestock over the mountain.  It was a long day of excellent hiking.

A rainbow over the valley.  I hiked up from the far end of this!

Heading up the trail.

One of the two waterfalls in the valley.  You can see a bit of the visitor's center where I turned around up at the top.

The view from the top!  You can see the switchbacks of the Trollstigen road.  The hiking trail went up the slope on the left side of the photo.

I came back down the trail to these very picturesque woods and camped for the night.  I really like these woods; they look like something out of a fairy tale!

Wednesday and Thursday:

           After my long day of hiking, I was a bit worn out, so I took it slow for the last two days of my trip and headed back down the trail/road for Åndalsnes.  I caught the train back early on Friday from an amazing trip!

Oslo's First Impression

I have been in Norway for about two weeks now, and I am starting to get more familiar with the city of Oslo.  Although I still have not nearly seen the entire city, I am starting to get a feel for it and learn my way around.
Some things I like about Oslo:
Transportation-
     Oslo is an incredibly easy city to get around.  The public transport system is very good and makes it very quick to get around the city.  There is also very little traffic, so it is easy and safe to walk around.  When I was in London, I felt like the taxis were about to leap forward and hit me every time I crossed the street, but Oslo is not like that at all!  I spotted this on the T-bane (metro) the other day.  It made me smile.

                               I spotted this on the T-bane (metro) the other day.  It made me smile.

The Fjord-
     Oslo is right on  the water, which is fantastic!  One of my favourite areas of Oslo is the waterfront, which is quite picturesque.  I went down there just this morning and bought a whole fish off one of the boats!  I am also trying to learn how to properly fillet a fish.  I think I could use a little more practice!

                                        The waterfront as seen from the National Opera House.

                                                              Hanging out by the water.
The Architecture-
    Oslo has a very Scandinavian look that seems to be fairly distinct.  It is a very open city that is easy to navigate and very fun to be in!

                                                  One of the sculptures at Vigeland's Park.

                                                                     The royal palace.

I am excited to be discovering more and more about Oslo and the rest of Norway.  Next up, I'll post about my side trip up to the mountains!

Mitt nye hjem

Here in Norway, I am living in the Sogn student village, a 15-20 minute walk from campus.  I have a fairly large dorm room to myself, and share a bathroom and kitchen with the other 5 people who share this flat.
Here is our building; love the color!

We are the lowest balcony, and the whole floor is ours.  The room up front is our kitchen, which has been quite a good hangout spot.  None of the six of us seem to be huge party animals, so although orientation week has been party week on campus, there have been people to talk with and relax with at home, which is really nice!

Out that door is a long hallway that I am at the end of, right across from the bathroom.  I won't include a picture of the bathroom, but here's my room!

As you can see, it is starting to get cluttered already.  I do not have much stuff here though, so it should be easy to keep clean!  There is plenty of storage in some cabinets behind the door.
Our area is quite nice- there is a major shopping area around football stadium, which is located at our T-banen (metro) stop, but after that it is mostly quiet residential neighborhoods.  There is also laundry, a post office, and a medium sized grocery store located in the student village.  Having the grocery there is great, although I heard about a much cheaper market a bit further away that I hope to do my bulk shopping at during this semester.
So far we have been doing typical orientation things here.  It has been interesting trying to find my way around a brand new bureaucracy!  Everyone has been very helpful, though, and English speaking to boot!  This turns out to be an especially good thing because I don't think I will be able to take that Norwegian course after all.  It is a short class that requires 75% attendance to take the exam, and my three required excursions for various biology courses mixed with the limited number of Norwegian class lectures puts me right over the limit.  However, I am already starting to learn more and more just by being here.  I think that if I keep at it and put in the effort, I will be able to get around in Norwegian just fine.
Extra bonus picture:
Magpies- one of the many unfamiliar bird species here.  These guys were hanging out just near Sogn!

Arrival

My big adventure has started; I am finally in Norway, after months and months of paperwork and planning!  My very long days of travel went well.  I flew on Aug. 8 from Tulsa to Atlanta to Amsterdam to Oslo, arriving on Aug. 9.  I made it easily, but so far my bags have not, so I am still not quite settled in, which is frustrating.  I have been meeting my 5 flatmates here in the dorm and trying to get to know the city of Oslo, and everything is great so far!  I will update later with a more complete tale, but for now it must suffice for met to say that I am at the start of what promises to be a great trip.