Update 1 February 2009

Hello friends,

I've finally finished posting some photos and commentary from my travels with Kristie during our winter break.

My time volunteering at the nursing home has been productive. I've developed relationships with a few of the residents in the section where I'm working as well as some of the nursing staff. Two of the nursing assistants are from Spanish-speaking countries, so we enjoy trying to communicate using three languages, with the order of preference going from trying to explain in Norwegian, then clarifying a word of phrase in Spanish if necessary, and finally if all else fails a default to English. Its a fun experience.

Last weekend I attended a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar conference in London hosted by the Rotary Club of Harrow. I took the trip with Travis (a fellow Rotary scholar in Oslo) and a Rotarian named Jack from my host Rotary Club, Holmenkollen. We enjoyed a tour of the city on Saturday and the conference on Sunday. The conference had two fundamental components. The one aspect was a more practical exchange of experiences and thoughts among current scholars of how to improve our remaining time in the scholarship period and in future relationships with Rotary. The other aspect, which served as a sort of theme for the conference, focused on international humanitarian needs.

Last night I went over to Trond's house for his wife, Kirsten's, birthday party. She celebrated her 50th birthday, so the gathering was significant and many friends and family were in attendance. It was a fun evening trying to understand speeches in Norwegian and having conversations with the guests.

My total cross country ski distance has increased to 75 km. I plan to take a day trip with some friends next Saturday to the vast expanse of forest north of Oslo.


Ha det bra!
Dan