It's the little things

Got sleep... That's better. The bad news is that it's 1 a.m. and I'm wide awake. So, I thought I'd bring the blog up to date while I have the opportunity and a window of internet access. I realize the challenge is that every moment is filled with new discoveries and observations that it's hard to succinctly capture the experience in this format. That said, I think a series of stream-of-consciousness bullets of the highlights is the best way to go...

It was a looo-o-o-o-ooong series of flights. But there were highlights of the trip, like...

• Having a pint at the Guiness Pub in the Newark airport watching a Yankees Boston game and sharing a table with loud and excited Yankees fans. When I left, the Yankees were up 3-0 at the top of the 8th :)
• I found a currency exchange station across from the gate where my flight to Oslo boarded. So, I managed to get Kroner (Norwegian currency) before leaving the States.
• At the gate, waiting for the flight to board, is when the dominant language being spoken around me shifted from English.

I'm happy to report I managed my first experience in an international airport where English is not the primary language well. From the moment I got off the plane I was struck by the little things (to reference Pulp Fiction)...

• The Norwegian airports don't have carpet. In fact that seems to be true almost everywhere. Everything is open spaces with a lot of natural light with hardwood floors and tile.
• The airport snack and magazine stand had fresh fruit and vegetables available and it was no big deal. A welcome difference from the preserved and packaged land of the States.
• Should have slept more on the plane, but once we flew into daylight (even though I was conditioned to think of it as the middle of the night) I was awke, up and full of vim & vigor.

It's been rainy / foggy so far. The temps have been (I'm guessing) in the 50s. I met several classmates in the Oslo airport and we were met by another student who has been here (and will be at the camp as a Fellow, I believe) and we got a ride to our hotel. They drive on the right side in Norway, but it was interesting to look over at the driver's side and see a speedometer in kilometers. The nice thing is that I bet that car could do close to 200 easily. :)

I'm loving our hotel.

• Again, hard wood floors.
• The complimentary coffee comes from a cool machine that grinds and makes fresh (and strong!) coffee. Not the in-a-pot on-a-burner complimentary coffee you see in the States.
• It took me a LONG time to figure out how to turn on the lights in my room. It turns out there is a slot where you have to insert your electronic key card in order to make the lights work. That way, as you take your card when you leave the room, you won't leave lights on unnecessarily. I spent some time unpacking in the dark using the light from my iPhone until I figured that out. :)

Four of us then spent the afternoon walking around the area near our hotel, trying to stave off sleep as long as possible. Highlights included...

• Grabbing a bite at a local eatery. We ordered what we thought was a light meal for the four of us, but by the time the food arrived, it looked like we had enough to feed 8-10 hungry people. Whoops. :) Looks like we need more practice with this.
• The culture does indeed seem to be quiet and reserved. In the restaurant, everyone was eating very quietly and speaking in soft tones. There weren't the typical American TVs or piped-in music playing that we're accustomed to. We were all self-conscious as we talked in our usual "eating out in a group" levels of volume and realized how much we stood out from the rest of the crowd. It was very peaceful as we adjusted, but different. If this continues to be the norm, it will take time to adjust from the sensation that one is eating in the library.
• I did a double-take when I went to the restroom. I saw the male / female icon on the door, which to my experience means there is a second set of 2 doors on the other side, or it's a 1-person capacity restroom. Nope. Not in this case. :) Just a truly unisex, multi-user restroom. When in Rome... :)
• Our hotel is right on the water where there is a marina.
• Physical activity is very common here. One doesn't have to avoid 100+ degree temperatures, for starters. :) There was a constant flow of individuals and families out walking and biking around.
• I had fun going into and navigating a couple of the little shops that were open (imagine a small store that is part drug store, part convenience store, except fresh food and produce is more dominant than anything packaged and preserved).

One of my fellow students said that Bod0 (where we are staying tonight) has a population of about 40,000 and the island where we are going for camp has a population of about 500.

And on that note, I'm going to take another crack at getting a bit more sleep. But, I leave you with an amalgam of some of the photos taken so far. Some may lack a bit of context without reading the entry above. (I'm thinking of the photo of all of the food that arrived at our table and the photo of the fresh produce at the airport, for example). Also, on the note of photos:

• I have a feature on my iPhone that lets me take panoramic photos (thanks Rob Czysz!) I attached a couple here and will take more. Note that, thanks to the magic of Panoramic photos, all 4 of us appear in the same photo- We each took turns standing in the space of the next shot in the series. My favorite part is that Kerk & Naddy weren't actually standing next to each other in real-time. The magic of photography. :)
• The other folks you see in the photos are typically fellow students. Conversely, they also took photos of me. We'll send each other our photos. So, I'll eventually have and post Tom photos here as well.

Group Panoramic Shot

Panoramic shout in front of our hotel

A lot of food. :)

Produce at the Airport

Oslo Airport

It's a bit cold and rainy today. :)