Skog og Fjord (forest and...fjord)

A few days ago these French people I know (one who lives with me and two female friends who are French) plus the Greek guy I also live with went for a walk through the woods on the NW end of campus. We were going towards the lake nearby, which is polluted by agricultural runoff; but it didn't turn out to be as interesting as the journey there. For example, it looks like this in the forest:


I think it's used by the Forestry Dept. for Silviculture studies and Forest Ecology. It's one of the healthiest forests I've ever seen. The forest floor is so spongy I can easily go barefoot. I was in awe. It was almost silent except for a very low hum of cars from the highway. I think that this forest will be a refuge of sorts for me this year and next year--a place to come and relax and remember what I'm studying for. Who.

I had a good time with the Frenchies and the Greek too. I said to one of them on the way out "I love you French people!" and he laughed. They are so nice. At least these are. There's so many accents around me I'm going to sound funny soon.

On Saturday, the next day I went with Harald, Ninni, Unni, her daughter and her daughter's friend, and of course the dog, all piled into Harald's boat on the Oslo Fjord. It seemed to struggle with so many passengers, but we managed to go quite a ways. We saw the city of Oslo's new opera house:


You can walk onto the roof! We also saw a lot of beautiful islands on the way, like this one:



And here we are on the struggling yet reliable boat:


Unni and I, and now Harald and Ninni:



At one point we reached a small cove next to an island, where Unni told me there were dolphins once who swam with the people there. Unni's daughter, Lill Nora, asked around if anyone would swim with her. I was not really feeling good about swimming because it was already kind of cold when it was cloudy, which it was intermittently throughout the day. But, I thought hey, this is Norway! Do as the Norskies do. As they say. So, to prove myself as a half-ish Norwegian decendant I jumped in the fjord and even snorkeled for 30 minutes:


Picture taken with Lill Nora's underwater camera. This is also from her camera--see if you can spot the crab:


Speaking of crabs, later on Lill Nora and her friend found a dead crab on the beach, and like the sweet girls they are, they made quite the elegant burial site for the little guy:



Unni said it was like watching them revert back to childhood--they are both twelve but have been straddling that line between adult and child lately. This day was about childhood for them:

They were so serious about it. It was wonderful. They named the crab Ludvig the 5th for some reason.

This wonderful day was finished with a delicious dinner and a walk with Unni at sunset with the dog, Selena. The sunset was nice and there was a full moon but I didn't get the moon, just the sunset:


Tomorrow is my first class. With great weekends like these I think I'll deal with studying just fine!

Rainy Day in Oslo

So much has happened that I want to share! I'll start with the afternoon/evening I spent with Unni, who has done so much for me so far I feel overwhelmed. The day we met at my dorm she took me to the nearby town of Drøbak, where there are cobblestone streets, old buildings and it's right along the Oslo fjord. We had typical Norwegian food for dinner, which was off their lunch menu but they were nice enough (or desperate enough for business) to serve it to us. Mine was splatter of sorts of different bread toppings like salmon, egg, ham, etc.:



Then we went to enjoy the fjord by laying in the sun on the grass and then jumping in the water, something I thought I'd never do in a fjord. I got used to it, but it was COLD!



I got my cell phone with Unni too, at a shopping mall in the town of Ski (pronounced like "she") so I got an iPhone, which I don't really need, but they didn't seem to have a cheaper plan....and all right, I like it. I've already texted my friend Finn Ove in Norwegian.

Yesterday was the day the whole group of new International students went to Oslo. And it was raining. All day. Luckily we were going to 2 museums and then were on our own, and once that happened the rain let up somewhat, and completely stopped by 5 pm.

In the morning we went to the Nobel Peace Museum, learning about Fridjof Nansen, who won it in 1922. He was a great explorer before that, going further North than anyone else at the time. And then he dedicated himself to feeding starving people in Russia. That's over-simplifying what he did but it's what I got out of our 45 minute tour. He's a Norwegian hero, and it shows by the silly cartoons they made of him simplifying his deeds for small children. My favorite was the one showing him flexing in the mirror and being in love with himself. Couldn't find that one online but you can see other cartoons here.

After our tour we walked around a bit near one of the ferry ports. I saw some sparrows and got really close to them, because they are more used to people. I remembered when I was seven in a cafe near Frogner Park (I think?) and a bird ate out of my hand. The birds were not fooled that I had food:


Their loss. Next we went to the Norwegian Folk Museum, where many really old, and some really really old, houses had been painstakingly rebuilt in this one location for posterity. In the first house, made in the 1600s, we were serenaded by Norwegian folk musicians.


Listening to her first song, a cappella, brought me very close to tears. It was a song about calling for her lost cow, which in those days (and now as well?) I think really would bring one to tears. Then they played hardanger (what he's holding) and danced as well.

Here are some of the houses from the outside. I titled this one "Wait, when am I now?"


It almost looks like the woman from the past is stepping into the older, yet modern woman. Note the grass roofs.

For dinner I met Sverre, who heard about from my dad's cousin Nancy, who is probably related to me somehow very distantly. He showed me where the bombing happened after we ate. I didn't want to take pictures at first, and I'm sure everyone reading this has seen some already, but here's what I took:


Roses adorning the fence that keeps people away from the Parliament building, seen in the background.


There were a lot of broken windows boarded up surrounding the area, but this one at a news building was particularly dramatic.


Finally the sea of roses outside Oslo's main church. Sverre told me there were so many at one point it was up to knee height. And people are still bringing them, but less than before. They have composted many of the first batch.

I guess I'll end this long entry with the tiger, or tigeren (as is his title), in front of the main Oslo station:

Behind him is a hotel being remodeled, not where any bombing occurred.

Norway

Well, here I am at last. Daughter of Norway is in Norway. The flight wasn't so long but I couldn't get much sleep. I watched some Icelandic shows on the plane and every announcement was in both English and Icelanic. Norwegian and Icelandic are similar, but I think they are more different than British and American English.

I'll start with some pictures of my dorm. I have my own room that I can lock with a key, and then I share a common area with kitchen, sitting room, toilet, and shower with 5 other people. I found out today that the reason we don't have 3 of our roommates yet is that they will be Norwegians and so they will come next week after the International student orientation events are over. Here is my room:


Close observers will note the sweet orange colored duffel bag from Gino. I was surprised to see one other orange colored bag of almost the same design at the baggage claim. The room is much tidier now after I finally put stuff away this morning. I was going to do it yesterday but I fell asleep almost immediately at 9 PM. Here is the view from my window:



It was a rare sunny day--others here have told me it's been raining a lot, and sure enough it's been raining almost the whole day today.


My building is called Børsen, with the unfortunate meaning "Stock Exchange". I thought I was in an Environmental school. Here is a view from outside:



We are on the second floor. So far it's me, a guy from Greece and a guy from France (Brittany). I of course told him about visiting my cousin in Nantes and spoke a little French at him. He took it in stride. They are both very nice and I'm looking forward to getting to know them better.

As promised, the sun really did set extremely late last night. Here it is after 9PM:

In midsummer it can be setting at 11 PM. I went out and appreciated the sun even though I was really tired. I went to a few places on campus and I walked to the grocery store, about a mile and a half away. The store clerk knew I wasn't Norwegian somehow--I'm still trying to figure out why. He was an Asian guy and probably spoke way better Norwegian than I.

In terms of classes and my major, I haven't heard much talk of ecology yet, but Norway as a whole is much more ecological than the states in some ways. They compost as well as recycle, and just looking at the country form the sky I could see many more forests than I usually see. I talked with a really interesting guy from the US about his travels to Nepal and Bhutan doing sustainable agriculture. Really cool.

Oh this is disgusting--I can barely stay awake! I guess that's all for now til my jetlag wears off!

Michigan 2011

Seeing as it's my last day of vacation in Michigan (if this was my journal there would be lots of stars and shine lines around that) I might as well finally blog about it. There will likely be overlap with Santini's entry but I've vowed not to look at hers until I'm done.

Highlights, in list form a la cousin Emily:

1. The beach. It sounds a bit cliche to say there is magic in the air here, but I've thought so for a long time. The weather was perfect the entire time since I got out of my car and stepped into the beach house. I said to the sky (weather gods?) as I was driving through the deluge of rain, "Ok, I'll take this now. As long as the rest of the time is sunny I'll take the rain now." And who knows, maybe it worked. Swimming was good, laying on the beach was hot but still good, and my now traditional jogs to the pier and back were also good. There wasn't a really wavy day like Nikki likes but I'll take the sun and be satisfied.

The view from the top of this thing is also great:

See:



2. The concert and going out on the town with Nancy and Brad. Nancy and Brad took me out to have a good time in Grand Haven, where we had some drinks, danced and played pool. I have never played pool so well before--I even made a shot where I bounced the ball off the side into a hole. Makes me want to play again someday.

The concert, Skillet and Theory of a Dead Man, were not really my style of music to begin with but I really got into Skillet's music and even a few songs of ToDM. Skillet is two men and two women in the main band with a guy on violin and a guy on cello for some songs. The sound was epic, and even though they're a Christian rock band they didn't rub your face in it. Plus being at a concert during sundown is pretty awesome. Nikki and T.J. and I all lived up to T.J.'s namesake and Totally Jammed out to the music.

3. The beach at night with Nikki. In the absence of Emmy, Nikki joined me on the beach this year. It was such a clear night with no moon, so the stars were especially bright. We saw the biggest shooting star I have ever seen down there, so much that Nikki asked if it was a firework. Sylvia said the next morning that it was Nature's firework. So true.

4. Breakfast of oatmeal, blueberries and raspberries. Yup.

5. In our trip to downtown Holland, Nikki and I aided the economy by buying books (one I certainly don't need--Tina Fey's book--but will provide me with entertainment I'm sure) and I bought the kids ice cream at that place that's also a chocolatier. We were provided with another kind of treat--there was a street magician performing outside down the street! We watched him make fun of the teenagers around him, steal a 20 dollar dill from one of them only to cut it out of a lime later on, make balls disappear under cups, turn into oranges and make a honeydew melon appear under his hat. We tipped him (with actual money) and then go the heck out of there before he could steal a twenty from us. Or made fun of us, or something. Definitely not an ordinary event!


On this last night I walked almost to the pier with this classy lady:



With whom I hope to be biking with again tomorrow morning. After I see the stars one more time tonight. She seems very healthy, robust even. That biking does wondrous things. Plus it's like flying.

The last sunset for me here was double:



But really last night's was the best, as it was so clear. Didn't get a picture of it. I wish I could have gotten a picture of Santini that night, as she was bundled up against the cold (hoodie pulled tight and everything) as we were waiting for the fireworks to start, for an adorable effect.

Going back to work is going to suck! And I'll be putting in my two week notice in a week and a half, so I'm nervous for that. I was hoping that we wouldn't have any company parties before I left, but we will be having one next weekend. At least I won't be putting in my notice before then--that would be awkward! Counting down to Norway...and when I get there, I will be blogging more often. An it fits with my blog name, finally.

Ice Age Trail

This past weekend I had a great time with my dad and bro who came to visit me for father's day weekend so I could show them a good time in Janesvegas (Janesville) and Mad Town (Madison). We visited the capitol, I showed them where I work, and we went to the world's largest Culvers (woo!), among other fun things, but I want to focus a bit on the Ice Age Trail. It's a biking/hiking trail I have discovered literally a mile from where I live and have enjoyed (and also been very frustrated by) these past two weekends.

The Ice Age Trail traces the approximate outline of where the glaciers stopped over 10,000 years ago, therefore it goes across the entire state of Wisconsin.



I'm in Rock County on the bottom. Here's the sign near my place and my bike next to it. Looks rarin' to go.



I know it says "hike or ski" but most people, at least over half that I saw, were bikers. The trail reminds me somewhat of the Gateway trail in St. Paul, with beautiful forests mixed with not-so-beautiful industrial/residential scenes. There are many areas I see that they are restoring to native prairie, aspen parkland, woodland, etc., and are in varying states of health, but as usual they are overrun with invasive weeds like dame's rocket, reed canary grass and others, but even so there's wildlife living there and especially in the case of the woodland areas the air is much cooler.


Ahhh....so nice. There's also the Rock River, which the trail runs along for quite a ways, and crosses at least once. I saw people fishing over it recently:


They should be visible but if not those black spots are some kind of bird of prey. I like to go fast, stand on my pedals and pretend I'm flying too. One of my favorite quotes in a book was in Jarid Manos' book "Ghetto Plainsman": "Being on a bike is the closest a human can get to flying." So true.

There was only one major hill, which actually turned out not to be part of the trail.



I did bike it, but the combination of steepness and the demoralizing appearance of a golf course at the top took a lot out of me. I ended up turning back earlier than I wanted to. It was not clear where the trail continued, which is a frustrating part of this trail. Both ways I've gone so far are difficult to figure out after 5-9 miles. I need to print out or copy down the street names of where the bike-specific trail stops and where it continues. I knew it would be too good to be true to have a bike-specific trail unbroken across the entire state, like they make it sound on the website, and from this sign:




I love Interstate State Park. I probably won't bike to it though. Maybe someday....for now, biking out 10 or so miles and then biking back is good enough!

Wisconsin Life

I kept meaning to blog but I get so busy, forget, or just don't feel like staring at my computer screen now that the weather is so nice! For the most part...anyway, here's an update:

1. I went pheasant "hunting"--I use quotes because my boss, who invited me along with other coworkers and the president of the company and his son, bought about 20 pheasants and after putting them to sleep and releasing them into the prairie we and the president's dog flushed them out and shot them. Just before this, my boss taught me how to shoot a 20-gauge rifle (I think that's what it was) and we all practiced on clay pigeons. After we got the birds (a few got away) I got a lesson in cleaning them and took 4 home, gave 2 to the neighbors, one to my roommate, and I cooked one in a stir-fry. It tasted like chicken, which in this case makes sense.

2. I finally found a place to go salsa dancing here. And was it ever a good one! I danced until my feet were sore with a couple of really good dancers. Still not as good a place as my stomping grounds (or prancing grounds) back in Minnesota.

3. We had a job in a town called Racine on a hillside at a college right on Lake Michigan. It was a hot day and the lake really cooled us off and sent me into a really relaxed state, thinking of Lake Michigan on the other side every time a seagull cried or I listened to the surf. It made the job (which wasn't my favorite--fixing erosion matting) go much easier.

4. I went to a Norwegian festival--Syttende mai--in the nearby town of Stoughton, where they have a lot more (and more in your face) Norwegian heritage. I ate open-faced salmon sandwiches and yes, rommegrot. The traditional Norwegian folk dancing by the local highschoolers was a highlight, as was rosemaling. Now that takes talent!

5. My boss took me to a sort of hunting club fundraiser banquet, where there was a real live auction, some free drinks (meaning my boss's friend paid) and free dinner (another of my boss's friend's paid). I bought some raffle tickets for a gun, just for fun and to give the money to conservation efforts which my boss assured me they do. The group is called Wisconsin Waterfowl Association. One of the items for raffle was unfortunately a piece of taxidermy-ed deer butt with a bottle opener attached to the guess-where. I was disgusted but not too surprised, and my boss and his friend of course hooked on to my reaction to tease me relentlessly. I wasn't bothered by their teasing--I know to most people in the room it was funny but it was a symbol to me of the objectification our culture does of non-humans, the earth, and often of women. I come from a mindset that all life is sacred, and denigrating another life-form like that is a sin. I only hunt if I'm going to eat what I kill, not turn it into some parody of itself--including mounting heads and other nonsense.

Finally, a comment on Wisconsin culture. I didn't think I'd find it that different from Minnesota but there is something about it. The beer drinking--and drinking in general--for one seems a lot more excessive. Maybe that's just a country thing. Also, the accent is different. I will continue to observe these strange peoples...

The mayapple flowers are blooming! I love their colonies--they look like they could shelter tiny magical creatures.

Later!

Burn Baby Burn

I've arrived in Edgerton and so far have worked 3 days (12-13 hours each day! I've already almost worked 40 hours this week) for my new job at a different native landscaping company. It is now burn season, so on my first day they got me started on one of their massive burn sites. They told me that most of the land they burn in the spring and fall is CRP land, or Conservation Reserve Program, that pays farmers to not till some of their land, especially if it isn't that good for farming. They feel like massive burns to me because I only ever did tiny 2 acre or less burns, and these are 25-50 acres per burn unit. Yesterday we burned 154 acres in 3 or 4 (depending on how you look at it) different pieces. It's easier that way. I've learned a lot about burning that I didn't know or forgot, and I am feeling a lot more comfortable communicating on the little two-way radios. I say 10-4 when I understand some order and I am going to go do it.

I had a private moment of glory (it really wasn't a big deal, but I was proud of myself) when I was walking the perimeter of one of the larger burn units to join the crew on the other side, and I saw that the fire had crept over the burn breaks and started a bunch of dry grass on the other side on fire and was burning through the fence into the neighboring field. I radioed for help, trying to keep the panic out of my voice and mostly succeeding, and my coworker on the four-wheeler with the water tank got there pretty fast and we put it out.

I wish I could post pictures of the burns, because once the head fire is lit, it's a beautiful, exciting thing. Tiny twisters of smoke and ash and sometimes flame are a common sight, and there is nothing like a sunset behind a cloud of smoke. But, I'm worried about melting my camera, even though there's a guy who has one on the crew to document the fire. Plus, back in one of my posts from 2008, on Xanga, when I was working for the Nature Conservancy, I put up a picture of myself in front of the fire:

Which, in retrospect wasn't a huge deal since is was a prescribed burn, or purposely set, and pictures are often taken on prescribed burns to document it. I feel kinda lame now for doing it but I have a cool picture! At least I'm not this guy:


Seriously. Who does that? Apparently this guy.

One one of our burns on Tuesday, there were pasque flowers! They look like this:



Similar or related plant to crocuses, that appeared on Gino's blog. They are the harbingers of spring. Yes, we did burn them, but their roots are long and there's plenty more that hadn't come up yet.

And now about my town: Edgerton, WI. It's 10 minutes north of Janesville, and 30 minutes southeast of Madison. The people I work with are from all over, but mostly WI. One guy from MN! And one woman from Illinois. What is the term for those: Wisconsanite? Illinoisian? Is that right? Anyway, here's a picture of the bungalow I'm sharing with a guy who also moved here from MN:

We're on the right. It's pretty nice. Steve, my roommate, just bought us a couch for $10 at the thrift store. It's not a bad couch either. Makes me wonder if it's cursed... There's 4 nice cedar-looking trees in front:

Maybe to block the noise from the street. Seems like everyone and their grandmother has a motorcycle or something without a muffler. The population is around 5,000 according to Wikipedia. Also according to Wiki: "Known locally as "Tobacco City U.S.A.," because of the importance of tobacco growing in the region, Edgerton continues to be a center for the declining tobacco industry in the area." Near my place is an old tobacco plant that looks defunct but is still there for history? I don't know. What I do know so far is the grocery store is a Piggly Wiggly:


See Dad? I parked to leave space for the geezers.

There is also some Norwegian roots here, shown by this family insurance company called Jenson's:

See the Norwegian flag? As I drove by this when I first arrived, I thought, oh a good sign. I haven't mentioned yet, but I was accepted to the Norwegian University of Life Sciences for a Master's Degree in International Environmental Studies. Even though I enjoy the work I've been doing, I think I'm going to go for a shift that lets me still work on making a difference but I get a year-round job with health care and benefits--I don't care if the salary isn't high, just enough so I can support myself. Also I want to explore the Norwegian roots of our family and learn Norsk. More on this later. Maybe much later.

That's a lot but thanks for reading!