Update 28 March 2009

Dear friends,

The month of March is coming to a close and Easter is just around the corner. I'll be enjoying Easter in a popular Norwegian fashion with a ski trip to the mountains. The snow is melting quickly now in Oslo, but the ski conditions high in the mountains should be great. The trip will be for a few days, going from cabin to cabin on cross country skis.

I have been especially busy with academics in the past couple weeks. I've been preparing for a Literature Review presentation which I will be giving tomorrow to my supervisor and an external examiner. My eyeballs are strained from the long hours of scanning through the many research articles and other literature available related to my topic, but I'm thrilled with the amount of information I've encountered in the hunt.

Below you'll find a collection of photos from my experiences in the past few weeks here. I think you'll notice a trend with what I do in my free time...

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On Saturday, 21 March, I participated in the Birkebeinerrennet, a 54 km cross country ski race from Rena to Lillehammer, just a few hours north of Oslo. The race is a popular one in Norway, with around 14,500 participants this year. I enjoyed being immersed in the energy and excitement of all the people present, and felt the event was a truly Norwegian experience, doing what many Norwegians love to do: ski. I finished the 54 km in 6 hours 45 mins. The best time was 2 hours 37 mins. Let's just say I wasn't in a rush.

No need to worry about what wax to use on your skis, they had complimentary stations for everyone to get their skis prepared before the race.

14,500 participants, with groups of skiers released every 5 minutes over the course of 2 hours. I was impressed with how efficiently the race was organized and executed given the number of people.

Coming from Rena

Going to Lillehammer

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An assortment of other ski pictures:

On the journey home from a cabin west of Kongsberg along the Knuteløpet. This trip was mentioned in my last blog post.

This is the cabin we stayed at on our trip near Kongsberg. The cabin is one of 450 sprinkled across the country under the administration of the Norwegian Trekking Association (DNT)

Beautiful snowy day

With my friend, Janne, on a day trip near Oslo. Janne is a Norwegian classmate in my masters program. We were just clarifying our coordinates here.

Blue skies and great conditions up in the mountains.

A very different experience skiing in the mountains as compared to the forests around Oslo.

Update 12 March 2009

The semester is chugging along nicely.  I'm looking out the window now to yet another beautiful snowfall...all the Norwegians tell me this winter has been exceptional with regards to the amount of snow, and I couldn't be happier!

My time at Nordberghjemmet, the nursing home, is also going well.  I go a few times each week for a few hours each visit.  I spend my time with one section of a floor consistently, so I am developing relationships with the 8 residents of that section.  I have connected especially well with 4 of the residents, and we look forward to seeing each other and talking when I come for a visit.  Now that I'm a bit more established in my volunteer position and comfortable with the facility and my surroundings, I'd like to get a bit creative and outgoing.  I spoke with one of the nursing assistants tonight and planned a waffle and movie night for next Monday when I come.  Waffles are a Norwegian favorite, especially with brown cheese (often made with goat milk) or sour cream and jam.

I began a course on topics in health policy last week.  The course is offered through the master's program in health economics, policy and management at the University of Oslo and will continue to meet through the month of March.  I appreciate the content of the course because it focuses a great deal on comparing various health systems in different countries.  In learning about other countries' health systems I actually get a better insight into the characteristics and function of our own system in the US.  I find the material especially interesting as we welcome some possible changes in the health system back home.

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The following are pictures from a cross country ski trip I took with some friends the last weekend of February.  We started in Kongsberg and went 24 kilometers west to a cabin to spend the night.  I normally don't have my camera with me when I'm skiing, as I'm afraid of breaking it during a fall or by getting it wet, but my brave friend Christoph brought his and took these photos.  I thought it would be nice to provide a little insight into what I am always doing in my free time.

This route we took had us pass through a downhill ski slope, hence the chair lift.

This is what the prepared tracks look like, with the slots grooved into the ground to guide the skis as you go.

A view from above of the city of Kongsberg in the distance.  Random fact, the city of Kongsberg is home to the Royal Norwegian Mint, 'Det Norske Myntverket'.

We also made the local newspaper with our adventure.  We just happened to be going home on Sunday along the same route as a cross country ski race and were interviewed at one of the refreshment stops along the way.  This image is from the website of the newspaper in Kongsberg.  We were the 'friend trio' from Germany, the Netherlands and the USA mentioned.

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These photos are from the sledding trip I took with my master's program back on 11 February.  I lifted these photos from Rose, a classmate in my program, on Facebook.

It looked like a winter wonderland that day!  Shuhana was enjoying it in the picture here.

With Rose, the other American in my master's program.  She's from Texas.

A message for outbound ambassadorial scholars

This message is intended for the participants in the Mid-America LINK Rotary Foundation Regional Outbound Scholar Orientation Seminar in Kansas City.

I'm Dan Sadowski, a Rotary Ambassadorial scholar for 2008-2009 currently studying in Oslo, Norway, in a master's program of International Community Health. My hometown is La Salle, Illinois, and I spent four years in Des Moines, Iowa at my undergraduate institution, Drake University, from 2004-2008.

I plan to share with you my experiences in getting a service activity/volunteer position lined up here in Norway. I can remember the engaging and enlightening presentations and activities I experienced at last year's outbound scholar orientation, and much of what I learned there has come to benefit me and enrich my experience this year as a Rotary Ambassadorial scholar.

One topic, however, that was racing through my head throughout the conference, and continued to linger in my thoughts during the time before departure and even upon arrival was: What sort of service activities will I be able to embrace during my time in a well-organized welfare state, where the state assumes comprehensive responsibility of all its citizens?

This issue proved to make getting a service activity arranged an especially active and laborious process. As per my interest in health, my desire was to establish a volunteer position in some sort of health care facility. When I arrived to Oslo in the fall I was excited to get started with service soon, as it is an essential component of the Ambassadorial scholar year, so I began to ask around and make contacts immediately. I spoke with a classmate that works at a Norwegian public health institute, contacted a Rotarian pediatrician in Oslo, emailed my interest to an online volunteer coordinating service, inquired at the Red Cross, and physically visited a local hospital to inquire; none of which proved successful in my quest to volunteer in a health care setting.

Then came serendipity. A classmate in my master's program recommended I offer my help at a nursing home in which he previously worked. I went to the facility and mentioned my classmate's name, which helped establish my credibility. The concern of language came up (since I spoke quite limited Norwegian at the time) and the effort seemed to be put on hold until I improved my language skills to an unspecified level. After that, a Rotary connection swooped into my rescue. A nurse at the facility heard of my interest to volunteer, and having a daughter currently on a Rotary exchange program in Japan, she happily took me under her wing to get established with the position!

Now I go to the nursing home 2-3 times a week, for about 2-3 hours each visit. I help with preparing meals, read (i.e., attempt to read) the Norwegian newspaper and articles with residents, help putting residents to bed, assist in other daily care activities, and, of course, socialize with everyone. I am pleased with the variety of activities in which I am allowed to participate.

So my message to all, and especially those scholars going to a welfare state, is to not give up in arranging your involvement in a quality service activity. Start making contacts as EARLY as possible, as it took me a full semester to get my position lined up! People are suffering all around the world, some to a much greater degree than others, but there is always an opportunity for you to better the lives of a marginalized group.

Hope you have a great conference. Ha det bra!

Dan