I have been so thankful to go on a whole bunch of amazing field trips during my time here in Norway.  I've seen so many cool things and been to so many cool places that I don't entirely know how to give them justice by explaining them.

One observation I keep making is how completely "Norwegian" our tour guides are and how incredibly talented they are.  On that first point, when I say "Norwegian," I mean blonde-haired, blue-eyed... that stereotype.  Not all Norwegians are really like that by the way.  Yet, I wonder, is it a coincidence that so many of these people are the tour guides? I mean, are they the people that go for those jobs or are they given preference?

On the second point, I've loved how talented everyone has been.  I've enjoyed some great shows/ songs/ dances in some pretty cool and authentic places.  While a video can't quite give you that feeling that you're there, maybe I can share some of this incredible talent with you.  Now, let me explain the video that I've included in this post.  I took it in Hamar, a town an hour and a half outside Oslo, where I went with my architecture class.  We were inside this glass/ steel structure that was so perfectly designed to protect cathedral ruins. Coincidentally, the acoustics of this building ended up being perfect for music as well.  Our tour guide sang a beautiful song.

I hope you enjoy it!

Solidarity

Norwegian Solidarity.

How can you not admire the Norwegians at a time like this?  Last night I attended a memorial event downtown along with my classes and all of Oslo.  The streets were full of people all throughout the city as an estimated 150,000 demonstrated their solidarity.  We couldn't even fit into the square at City Hall where the event was supposed to take place.  I ended up on a side street where there were speakers from which I could hear the Crown Prince and Prime Minister.  Everyone held their roses in the air as a show of support and love.  Since there was so many people, the planned parade was cancelled and instead everyone made their way to the site of the bomb blast and cathedral on their own. 

My friends and I made our way first to the cathedral.  There was a large area where people were lying down their flowers and candles. 

We then walked the streets to where we could see more of the damage.  The police had opened up much of the area since this weekend when a couple block radius was shut down.  We still couldn't walk up to the main blast site of course... this area is structurally unstable for even rescue and clean-up crews to complete their work.  Yet, we could see the building from farther back... every single window was blown out and some curtains hung their raggedly.  Debris and glass still littered the ground in certain areas.  Other building had boarded up places where the windows had shattered.  A nearby clock was blown out as well.

Throughout this entire walk, the streets were filled with people.  They were determined to show their solidarity.  They were determined to show their condolences for the victims.  And they were determined to not back down.

Here we are with our roses.

Walking towards the cathedral on Karl Johans Gate.

Outside the cathedral.  This is the place where everyone layed down their roses.

Police crews under a damaged building.

On the News

I spent a good amount of this last Sunday night being interviewed by various news stations in Colorado concerning recent events.  Check 'em out! All you need to do is click on the news source and it will take you to their webpage.

9News

KDVR

And this is the same thing on a different news source:
Coloradoan

Aftermath

Here I am, living in the aftermath of the worst attack on Norway since World War II.  I am struggling to put everything that I feel into words.  I will try, but please understand that there is so much more to this than I can tell. 

Friday afternoon was one of shock and worry.  After my friend had walked into my room asking if I had heard about the bombing downtown, I wasn't sure what to make of it.  I immediately got on the internet to see the news, and it was difficult to understand.  For me, the first time things got really real were when my suite-mate came back from being downtown maybe a block or two from the blast sight.  She walked in stark white and shaking.  She described that she was shopping when all of a sudden she heard this incredibly loud noise and all the windows and building started shaking. There was smoke and ash everywhere and everybody starting running away as windows shattered all along the street. 

My friends and I watched the news all afternoon.  We couldn't believe what we were seeing.  This was our Norway, our care-free, having fun, summer in Norway.  Then it became worse.  I was told just before our dorm meeting that there had been a shooting spree on an island outside of Oslo.  This island was the location for a youth summer camp, for those who would have been Norway's future politicians.  It was shocking, that someone could do this.  That someone did this.  Going to bed, I had heard there had been one death at the downtown bombing and five on the island of Utoya.  I was thankful for such a low count.  When I woke up the next morning, those numbers had risen to 85.  How could that have happened?

Saturday came and I went downtown with friends (4 boys who could protect me if needed).  We first noticed a difference when the bus had to be re-routed due to police block off a street.  When we hit out downtown stop and started walking down Karl Johans Gate, it was immediately apparent that there was a great police and military presence.  The Storting and its square were blocked off with police tape and soldiers with big firearms.  I even saw a couple dogs.  After walking past that building, we saw where the streets had been blocked off around the vicinity of the bomb.  There was police tape and soldiers everywhere.  Glass was on the street, and we could see where windows had been temporarily sealed up.  Yet but all of the destruction, I had to be impressed how much had already been cleared up.  Cleaning crews were working on sweeping up the glass and debris and it was very clean in areas that I could see.  Of course, that probably does not include the epicenter of the blast... a place where rescue crews still cannot complete their missions due to the unstable building. 

I had mentioned that there was a lot of police/ military/ helicopters downtown, but I also noticed how that didn't feel like a threat to me.  It felt safe.  Everyone was out and about. I saw many people talking with the soldiers and another take a picture with one.  I have to admire how calm and stoic the Norwegians are about the situation.  Of course, it is also very solemn, but it's not panic.  Rather, every person is united together.

Sunday, I again returned downtown.  This time I ended up at the cathedral where people were gathering.  Jens Stoltenberg, the Prime Minister, had made an appearance there that morning.  As I watched, people laid down flowers and candles just outside the cathedral.  It was an extremely humbling experience to see so many people come out and come together to honor the victims of the bombing and shooting.  I myself lit a candle inside the cathedral to show my support and give my prayers and hopes.

Today, Monday, we took time out of both classes to talk about what had happened.  In my Scandinavian Government and Politics we did a free write exercise where we took a moment to write down our feelings and sentiments about what happened. I just want to leave you with what I wrote:


     Today I still feel confused.  Why did this happen? How did this happen? What is going to happen now?

     I feel like I am in shock. I can't believe such acts of hatred can occur.  What sense of feeling can cause these actions in a person's heart?

     I will always have more questions than answers.  Always.  Even with family, friends and news stations asking after my well-being and the Norwegian sentiment, I make up an answer that only begins to say what I want.  How can I ever express all of these feelings in words?  This is personal. This is me.

     I am at a loss of what to do and how to act.  The question of what is appropriate has come up more times than I would like.  I want to help the Norwegian people.  I want to help make sure this won't happen again.  I want to promote understanding and diversity among and within all populations.  Will this even do anything?  If I touch one life, one single life, to change their views and their hatred, I hope I have succeeded.


So if you have asked me this question: How am I doing? How do I feel? How has this affected me or changed me? I'm sorry that I can't answer completely yet or maybe ever.  I'm still figuring this out, but maybe you can begin to understand...

Explosions Downtown

There have been explosions in downtown Oslo.  Today Friday afternoon, explosions went off outside Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg's office most likely from a car bomb.  Nothing is really certain about what's going on. Of course there's a lot of speculation.

Thankfully I was not in the area as I was at school which is maybe 3 - 4 miles away.  I didn't hear anything and can't see any of the smoke.  I'm glad that I had decided not to go back downtown this afternoon like I had planned.  I was in fact in the same area all morning up until about an hour and a half before the explosion. 

I have many friends who were in the area and felt the explosion.  There was a lot of glass shattering for a large radius around the explosion and smoke and ash in the air.  People were running everywhere.  One friend described that the elevator in the building she was in just dropped.  I am thankful she wasn't there.  Another friend described that they felt a woosh of air and heard a loud noise like thunder.  Many other people simply just heard the loud noise and were told to turn around. 

Like I said, there are no concrete reports of what has happened.  We have to keep speculation to a minimum because that can just make things worse.  Please know that I am in a safe place and I will give another update when I know more information.

Alesund and Mount Slogen

Arrived back in Oslo safely last night after an amazing long weekend trip to the Norwegian city of Alesund.  I went with a friend who's from Chicago, and we made quite the adventure!

We spent the first day in Alesund where there was a boat festival going on.  It was fun to see the excitement and the booths.  We sat and watched Funballz for a while, which is where a person climbs inside a clear, plastic ball which is then inflated and the person tries to stand on the water.  It was pretty funny to see people fumbling all around to try to stand up! We also got away from the festival and just walked though the entire city (yes it was small enough to walk everywhere) and we climbed the hill so that we could overlook the area.  I really liked Alesund.  It's a very small city, situated on an island on the western coast of Norway.  Historically, the town was completely ruined in the early 1900's by a fire so when it was all re-built, it was built in the Art Nouveau style. 

The next day we took a fjord cruise through the "fjord surrounded by pointy peaks."  It was a pretty ride... and we stopped in a town called Oye.  Oye is a small valley town with basically a few houses and one hotel/restaurant.  After a couple uncertain steps, we made it up to a mountain cabin three hours later.  I absolutely loved the cabin... no running water, no electricity, friendly people.  It felt good to get away from everything.  The cabin was also cool due to the fact that it was owned by a national trekker's association.  For me that meant that it was cheaper to stay and all I had to do was clean up after myself, and the people there were interesting to talk to and learn from. 

The next morning we started up to the summit of Mount Slogen.  It's a mountain that even some Norwegians won't do because it's so steep.  After some slow-going, we made it to the top for an incredible view.  It was totally worth it with a great view of the fjord and mountain range.  Coming town was hard and tiring as it was so steep, but we made it down in good time to take the ferry back to Alesund.

The next day we explored the islands around Alesund.  We stopped at a cave and checked it out. We also walked around an island and found a medieval church and graveyard.  Even though it was a little chilly, we also stopped at the beach and played in the sand for a bit... our crab castle was awesome. 

I'm really glad that I decided to go to Alesund and the surrounding area.  It was a great trip to explore another area of Norway, and it was also a great experience to meet so many more people on their adventures, Norwegian and otherwise.  This has been such an amazing experience.

Busy Busy

Things have been busy busy for me!! But also so amazing... I am having so much fun.

I have so many things to tell about and so little time to get everything down that I want.  Since my last post, the best things that have happened are the Norwegian Cultural Evening, my excursion to Jotunheimen Park to hike Bessagen, and my photo shoot for the cover of Viking Magazine.

I can't wait to tell all about them and show some awesome pictures, but I just got out of my midterm for Norwegian Architecture and am thinking I'm going to eat some lunch. Don't know what's in store for today... maybe going to downtown Oslo, but I definitely have to pack.  I leave in the morning to go to Alesund for my long weekend.  Check it out! I think it looks awesome : http://www.visitnorway.com/en/Stories/Norway/Fjord-Norway/Alesund-Sunnmore/ .

Well, ta ta for now!
Danielle

4th of July in Norway

In Norway, I may not have seen fireworks and grilled outside for my 4th of July, but it was every bit amazing, if not more!

I started the day with morning classes.  In my Scandinavian Government and Politics class, we went over the political parties of Norway.  It was a lot of information that I need to study so I can remember! Next, I went to the Norwegian Architecture class where we took an excursion to Akershus Fortress (for the second time).  The first time we went, there happened to be a royal visit so we were not allowed inside.  Instead we took a tour of the outside, which was still cool.  On the 4th, we went back and took our tour inside to complete our understanding.  It was a really interesting building... I think I will have to live in a castle like this one day.  It was also really interesting to hear all of the ways that the Fortress is used today.  For example, it is used for some royal functions as well as a royal burial place.  We saw right into the mausoleum where the old kings and queens were kept.

After classes, I spent the afternoon at Sognsvann.  It's a really pretty lake with hiking trails all around it.  On the 4th, I headed up with some friends to go swimming... yes it was a bit cold, but it actually felt pretty good.  At least it wasn't icey cold.  While swimming was awesome, it also felt amazing to just lay in the sun on the dock.  My friends were telling me that it looked like Minnesota (where a few of them are from), but to me, it's definitely different than Colorado.  There are as many leafy trees as pine trees and it's just more green overall.

That night, I tried some Norwegian folk dancing.  Everyone was having a good time trying out the moves and I played a good guy part since there was too many girls (as usual).
I ended my night with good conversation.  It is so interesting to hear everyone's points of views on different topics.  I love that I can come together with people from all over the world and be able to talk and understand where they are coming from.

I'm really loving my time here in Oslo.  It seems like such a magical place to me.  I love that the outdoors are incorporated into the city with many green spaces, hiking trails, and such.  Now, I am really looking forward to my hiking excursion this weekend.  It is going to be intense as it is 7 hours up a steep rocky slope, but I know it will be worth it. 

I'm still in disbelief that I am spending my summer in beautiful Norway.

Hiking and Akershus Fortress

I went hiking up by Sognsvann Lake with classmates from Norwegian Architecture.

Roommates :)

I liked that the canons at the fortress were pointing at this humongous cruise ship.

Akershus Fortress: If you notice, there have been many different layers of renovation done. It looks really interesting!

Here I am at Akershus Fortress which sits in the Oslo Fjord.

Here I am with members of the choir (wearing their tradition bunads) that welcomes us at City Hall.

Kevin Mebust, a member of the choir, and I at City Hall for our welcome reception.