I apologize for the overwhelming number of posts.

You will please have to excuse the massive gap in between posts. Little known to the outside world, Norway has a thriving troll population who remain infuriated about their inability to use the internet and other convenient technologies on account of their too big fingers and overall lack of mental capacity. In protest, they raided all internet conveying stations in Norway and soiled the equipment with their too big… well; they used the stations as toilets. However, they have been appeased with flocks of goats and sheep that they may do with what they like and the Norwegian Army, for lack of anything better to do, was dispersed for an expeditious clean up.

Now that I am connected to the ether-web again, instead of sharing with you the trivialities of everyday life, I would like to share some photos with context from some of my recent adventures.  

But first, a brief example for those of you planning on visiting the beautiful country and wondering how interaction will be with the locals. 

You and a Norwegian are approaching each other walking opposite directions on the sidewalk.

You: [Walking comfortably holding your head up, looking cheerful and smiling]

Norwegian: [Walking with determination, eyes to the ground, hands in coat pockets]

You: [Still walking comfortably holding your head up, looking cheerful and smiling, try to make eye contact]

Norwegian: [Pace quickens slightly, eyes divert to the imaginary scene on the other side of the road]

You: [cheerfully] Hello!

Norwegian: [trips slightly out of surprise and glares even more precisely at the ground, may have soiled his pants, studdering] Ugh ugh…

You: [slightly perplexed, smiling, continue comfortably onward]

Norwegian: [practically jogging away, confused, to himself] What the fuck was that?

The sketch of one troll who was not content with what the Norwegian government offered in goats and sheep as seen by a witness. 

These next two photos are views from the top of Bø’s local mountain Lifjell (lee-fee-ell). My “Friluftsliv”, or outdoor life, class went up for a morning of skiing and we were all stunned, finally seeing the dramatic landscape we go about our everyday lives in. 

I’ve desperately wanted to go to school near mountains since my first time visiting the Rockies. This suffices just fine. This picture is taken from the student-housing village where the majority of students live. I don’t live there but I get up there enough to appreciate the staggering sunsets that illuminate the small mountains.

This mountain that looks like it got its slope cut off creating a sheer drop is “the beast”. I named it that at least. The lowest cliff jutting out off of it is insanely tall. There are a couple of farmhouses at the base of it that look like a child’s play toy sitting in the shadow of this behemoth. My goal: climb up there with my thermos, sit down, and have a cup of good coffee enjoying the breathtaking view.

Just about two hundred yards away from my dorm is the Bø River, an awesome place to hike.

This photo captures what the majority of the river’s banks look like, or did at least when I took the photo. Awesome sheets of ice oozing down the vertical sides of rock face slip into the river. 

What the small town of Bø lacks in restaurants, shops, and bars is made up for ten-fold with outdoor opportunity. These next few pictures of waterfalls, endless mountain landscapes and big skies are all just outside your door no matter where you live in town, or all of Norway for that matter, even Oslo.  

The final three photos were taken on a class excursion to Rauland. This popular Norwegian skiing destination is manifested over a thousand meters above sea level. The clouds blanketed and smothered the mountainous plateau for our two-day stay creating an eerie and psychedelic disorientation when skiing, being unable to discern the difference between land and sky or up and down. You surrendered yourself to the land in a sense and could only stand at the ready for whatever terrain you found yourself gliding over.

Thanks for checking out the blog, especially if you read it instead of just looking at the pictures. Gotchya! Love to my family, friends, and girlfriend back home. Maybe we'll all get wild here one day. 

Until next time. It will probably be a while so don't hold your breath. 

Vel, har det vært en måned.

I’ve been in Norway for a month now and it has paid me more than I thought it owed. The past month has been filled with what the Norwegian culture is known for: snow sport. My first day out on the shred stick was an epic pow day at Vrådal, a smaller mountain with one high speed lift that left you close to the peak with a t-bar to take you further if you wanted. The mountain had one groomed run a little over a mile long that diverged into a park half way down. The rest was an off-piste, waist-deep powder and cliff laden mountain face for your taking. Yes, it was awesome. My second Norwegian shred excursion was nothing short of a mission commencing with a 5 AM train trip with Kongsberg Ski Center at the end. Kongsberg is renowned for its boarder cross course that annually holds the European Cup Championship. On the way up the mountain, whether it be by their one high-speed chair lift or one of its two t-bars, one thing is for certain. This place is beautiful. The top of the mountain boasts a breathtaking view of the small town and nearby lakes nestled into the surrounding glacier-shaped mountains. 
The options of several mile or more long runs and two perfectly shaped terrain parks awaiting you at the top can keep you and your cronies entertained well into the night.

On the way to Morgedal, home of Sondre Norheim, the creator of modern skiing. 

A home overlooking the valley of Morgedal, half way up to Norheim's cabin. 

The view from Norheim's cabin. 

Amidst all the perfect shred is perfect cross-country skiing just outside of your door. Two-planking. I never thought that skiing, especially cross-country, could be so much fun. Although, I’m sure the views Telemark offers while you're exhausting your self, your sweat-soaked jacket steaming in the below 0 biting air, helps you to enjoy your awkward first tramps. Those initial unsure-footed outings become gliding traverses through the worlds cradle of skiing. Open farm fields, tall pine, and snowcapped peaks your only, and beautifully overwhelming, audience. When you ski bad, you get worked. When you ski great, you get worked. When you are done skiing, you are exhausted, and happy. 

Love to the family and friends back home and abroad.

Det er rart å rekonstruere din følelse av hjemme. 

Settling In

Arrival! After shaking off a few rough days of shock and homesickness I was able to get out and start realizing why I came to Norway in the first place. This place is beautiful! Surprised Norwegians are constantly questioning me and my American friends on our choice of studying in Norway. My answer is usually, "I don't know, have you looked around lately?" Well, thats not what I really say, but you get it. The people are super different than from what I raised on. They are suspiciously shy in their public demeanor. No body looks up when walking around, they keep their eyes on the ground in front of them. My Dad always said, “Never look down, make eye contact with people”. Well, not always, but he told me that when I was young and we were walking around in the ghetto. A buddy and I make it a point to be the friendliest mid-westerners from the states embellishing every “Hallo” as the awkward Norwegians try to slink past. He, Tyler, even started running and fist pumping next to an old man driving a van. The guy replied with a couple enthused honks. In this smaller town filled with shy people, you also get local guys who drive around their ten-years-too-old junker cars blasting American top 40’s or goofiest Euro-techno doing doughnuts and fish tailing for hours. Literally. At any given time there will be at least three of these guys out on the road so, given the minuteness of the town, it’s impossible not to notice. Apparently in the spring, they do the same thing, except with their massive John Deere tractors. Jason Aldean doesn’t have shit on these back country Norwegians.

 

·      There is only one word to describe the weather thus far: perma-dump. It snowed continuously for the first three days and nights I was here. The snow fell in fine, powdery, light flakes and settled on everything perfectly creating a perfect picturesque winter-scape. The reason the snow able to nimbly settle upon on the most exacting surfaces such as telephone wires, fences and the like is the absolute absence of wind. I haven’t felt a gust yet. The temperature, surprisingly, has not been much colder than Milwaukee’s. On Monday January 10, I saw the sun for the first time since arriving. The skies were clear of clouds, fog, and snow and you could finally realize the raw beauty that surrounded you. Stupefying mountain scenery surrounds Bo. These mountains tower over the beginning rows of the Rockies but do not quite match the Rockies’ highest peaks. They end with shear drops that I can only guess were formed by the same glaciers that sculpted the valleys of mountains in which all of Norway’s fjords lay. I hope to be making a ski trip to mountains this weekend with a couple of buddies to get a better a look at everything Norway has to offer. 

Last Night in the States

Well, it's my last night in the U.S. of A. Everything is looking promising except for the Packers who can't seem to get going in their playoff spot game against da bears. I'm looking forward to a delicious homemade lasagna dinner with the family and wild out night out with all the o.g.'s.