Norway Study Tour

So we begin our study tour for class on a rather exciting note. Chris R. & Emily & Andrew were missing for a while (but showed up fashionably late to our relief). Our original flight got canceled so we had to take and earlier one (which made them being late even more). When we landed in Bergen, we were full of excitement, it seemed so beautiful flying in.
We make it to Bjerkness Center for Climate Research (where it was extremely hard to stay awake), and afterwards sat around for a long time waiting for our bus. It never came, so we had to carry all our stuff to our hotel. I nearly had a heart attack when I was told it was more than half a mile away. I nearly lost it when I realized it was all steep hills (that normally would be charming but not carrying an extremely heavy suitcase). So it was not fun at all walking to our hotel.
Soon after we make it to our hotel(and my arms were still in one piece from dragging my impossibly luggage), and head off to dinner with a representative from the Climate section of Bergen Kommune. I had the honor of sitting next to her (thanks to my tardiness and not having any seats by my friends), and chatting with her was definetely insightful.
She commented on how interesting she finds it that we (americans) think that the Scandinavians are so sustainable when they feel like they aren't exactly giving it their best. I find it funny how they accomplish more barely trying than we do trying real hard.
Key thing during dinner (beside sitting next to Kommune woman) was consuming fish soup. I HATE fish, stopped eating fish from the age of 4. It was so hard to turn it away because it just felt rude. sigh. there began my vegetarian "safe" status.
I lived life to the fullest in Bergen and tried to absorb everything in as much as possible. The outdoor market full of local farmers and craftsmen were real neat. Spent a ton of money of "stuff" but to me it was definitely well worth it!! In my defense, I did turn away this real cute purse made of seal fur (stupid conscious). Miraculously,"the city of rain" was sunny the entire 3 days that we were there (it rains 265 days out of the year).
In regards to architecture, I enjoyed all the wooden houses tucked into the mountains, seeing some of the floating new houses on the water, and in general how buildings aren't abrasive to nature. They definetely understand scale, density and building based on local situations (even the modern parts).
On that Sunday, we took a train to Oslo. The ride was absolutely breathtaking. Once we got to Oslo however, we had a HUGE let down. I think it would have been ok if we didn't go to Bergen before that. Its a industrial based city and we were put in the wrong section of town, so most of us went through some form of being distraught. We got to see some cool organizations, NGOs and companies (Mandag Morgen, Mitt Klima, and Telenor).
My favorite part of Oslo was going to the Munch Museum (Munch's one of my favorite artists), and the Nobel Peace Prize Museum. both consist of great architecture, interior and of course, content.
Besides the academic part, we did get to go to a huge field w/a big screen TV to watch soccer w/locals. Our first game was Sweden vs. Greece and it was AMAZING watching Sweden win. The Swedes are a very "spirited" bunch of Northern European, and seems to handle their alcohol in very jovial ways. And we came to the conclusion that only the Swedes can pull of all yellow outfits (and still manage to look good).
Last night in Oslo consisted of wandering around trying to find something cool open on a weeknight. We ended up at a Karaoke bar that my classmates went to prior to that night, and it ended up being a lot of fun. We did a number (we=most of the girls in my class), and had a captivated audience, haha. Perhaps we should try out for American Idol when we get back to the states...