Concluding blog posts

Hello friends,

Please see below for my final blog posts, including the second half of our journey to Northern Norway, a side trip to Dublin, the Rotary International Convention in Birmingham, and a few shots from our jug fishing trip when I got home. I recommend starting at the 'Harstad, 8-9 June' post and going up.

It has been a pleasure sharing my experiences with you over the past year. I look forward to traveling around the state of Iowa next semester while conducting the field research for my masters program. Then I'll be bouncing between Oslo and La Salle the spring 2010 semester while I draft my masters thesis to graduate in June.


Best,
Dan

A couple farewell pictures from Norway

My host Rotarian, Trond, me, Jack (friend and Rotarian), Travis and Lucas at the end of our Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship term.

My Italian floormate, Francesco, and I at our student housing

Trailer gathering and jug fishing, 27 June

Upon my return home to Illinois, I headed out to our family trailer for an evening of catching up with family and friends and jug fishing. Jug fishing involved dropping a good number (30-40 for us) of empty, sealed plastic jugs with lines connected, complete with hooks and weights. We toss them from a small fishing boat and cruise up and down the water looking for the ones bobbing, signaling we've got a catch. State regulations permit jug fishing only from sunset to sunrise, so we use a large flashlight while guiding the boat and checking the jugs.

The master chefs: Jim and my Dad

My brother Paul and friends Urb, Debo and Jake

A successful evening with 6 nice catfish in total from a few hours of juggin'

Rotary International Convention in Birmingham, 20-23 June

I was privileged to attend the Rotary International Convention in Birmingham, England and was joined by a Rotarian and friend of the Holmenkollen Rotary Club of Oslo. Jack and I enjoyed the convention and a quick trip into the city of Birmingham. I found this to be a great opportunity to witness the diversity and magnitude of Rotary as an international organization reaching across the world.

The opening ceremony, with a speech delivered by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

The theme of the convention was 'East meets West', with the Rotary International President from South Korea and the Convention being hosted in the UK

The city of Birmingham

An advertisement that caught my attention. It appears it is not just the Americans who celebrate on the 4th of July. These creative retailers played on the homophones 'independents' and 'independence'.

Dublin, 17-19 June

I made my way over to Dublin, Ireland on a cheap RyanAir flight for a few days between returning home from our trip to Northern Norway and the Rotary International Convention.

St. Patrick's Cathedral

At the Old Jameson Distillery

Atop the Guinness Brewery enjoying a pint

A funny advertisement claiming the health benefits of Guinness

Empty beer kegs were strewn all about the city outside of pubs

Bodø, 14 June

We were on the last leg of our journey here, and Travis had to leave us a day earlier to get back to Oslo for a course with his masters program. Lucas and I took a ferry to the mainland of Norway to the city of Bodø and stayed the night before our 18-hour train ride the following day down to Oslo. Another gracious Rotarian welcomed us into his home for our night in Bodø. We enjoyed dinner and a fishing trip with Dag and his wife, Evy, during our brief time in the city. They brought us to an area known as Saltstraumen, which is a sound with the strongest tidal current in the world, and renowned for its excellent fishing. We did well that night...

Lucas was the master fisherman this evening, but I liked posing with the many large cod he caught. I did catch one of these, however.

We fished until late into the night, after which we proceeded to Dag and Evy's house to cook up some of the fish for a late night snack.

Moskenes in the Lofoten Islands, 11-13 June

An island further south in the Lofoten region, Moskenes, was our next and final stop around the Lofoten Islands. We camped, fished and enjoyed a noteworthy 10-hour hike during our days here.

Hiking along, joined by my fishing pole tucked in my bag

Travis enjoying the random, beautiful sandy beaches we found along the way

A panoramic view from the top of the mountain we hiked up and down...then back up and down on the way home. The island of Moskenes is relatively narrow at the point we were hiking, and we came from the east side (right side of the picture) and headed over the to west side. Interesting to note how the island is rather symmetical in this area, with a lake and the ocean on either side of the peak in the middle.

Travis and I hoofing up the steep peak

The lake on the west side, with a small river flowing from it leading into the ocean

An unexpected encounter: when we got to the west side of the island along the hike, we bumped into two fellow students from the University of Oslo, pictured here with us.

More dried stockfish on wooden racks

The heads and entrails are removed before hanging

And here are the heads

Hurtigruten and Svolvær, 10-11 June

We hopped on the Hurtigruten, the coastal express liner that travels along the western and northern Norwegian coast, to the town of Svolvær. The Hurtigruten travels northbound from Bergen (west coast of Norway, about the same latitude as Oslo) and heads all the way up and over to Kirkenes, situated near the Russian border in the far north. We took the ship for just a small segment of its southbound journey from Harstad to Svolvær.

Kong Harald, named after King Harald V, current king of Norway

Our route took us on a brief side trip into the Troll Fjord, a beautiful sight with the drastic scenery of tall and steep cliffs plunging into the water below.

The Troll Fjord is relatively short, and the ship drove into this bay-like section and pulled a 180 degree turn to proceed out after everyone on board had their opportunity to marvel at the surrounding natural beauty. It was impressive seeing the massive ship turn around in such tight quarters.

Lucas showing off our article in the local Vesterålen newspaper from our time with the District 2270 Conference

Believe it or not, those are all fish hanging in the distance

The quintessential A-frame wooden racks for hanging fish to dry in the Lofoten Islands.

Dried stock fish

At Magic Ice, a tourist attraction in Svolvær with various ice sculptures and an ice bar

Our boat in ice form

Enjoying a local drink in a chalice also made of ice.

Harstad, 8-9 June

From Sortland, we headed a bit northeast to the city of Harstad, also in Vesterålen. We met a wonderful Rotarian at the District 2270 Conference, Berit, who kindly invited us to stay with her at her home for a few days. Upon arrival to Harstad from Sortland, we met with Berit and headed over to the Harstad Rotary Club meeting. We rented a rowboat our second day and did some fishing, then checked out 'Adolfkanonen' in the evening. Berit and her husband, Lars, were gracious hosts and fed us all sorts of delicious foods...including some hard-boiled sea gull eggs, a local delicacy :)

The five of us, left to right: Lucas, Lars, Berit, Travis and me

Excited for the sea gull eggs...

Left to right: homemade cured trout, shrimp, the sea gull eggs, and a thinly sliced lamb deli meat

At the Harstad Rotary Club meeting exchanging banners

Our workhorse on the rowboat

Not cod...

The evening's catch

The region of Vesterålen is known as the 'Land of Contrasts'. This scene is from just a bit outside of Harstad, northwest of the city.

At the port in Harstad

Lucas, Travis and Berit in front of 'Adolfkanonen' or 'The Adolf Canon'. This heavy artillery is claimed to be the world's largest land-based canon.

Inside the Adolf canon. There was a total of 7 of these canons constructed around the area during World War II by the German occupying forces.

Our tour guide explaining where the 7 canons were constructed, the types of shells that could be used, and the range of the shot...an impressive 56 km (35 miles).

Posing in front of the 40.6 cm (16 inch) caliber barrel

This Adolf Canon's name is actually Barbara, after the patron saint of artillery people.