Update 22 February 2009

This month of February has flown by.  Its hard to believe I've been in Oslo now for 6 months, and I have only 4 months remaining.  I've been staying busy with academic work, volunteering at the nursing home, and cross country skiing.  I'm up to 300 km (185 miles) now for my total XC ski distance.  This weekend I plan to go with a few friends for a 2-day ski trip, planning to go ca. 50 km.

I still enjoy spending a bit of time experimenting in the kitchen.  I like to make a loaf or two of homemade bread each week, and last weekend I tried out a classic Norwegian dish: fish balls in curry sauce.  Nam nam, smakte så deilig!  :)

The snow has been piling up here!  We've had quite a few snowy days in the past month, and I see more snow in the forecast. 

On a snowy day as seen from the window in my room

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I took a trip by train to visit some friends in Bergen on 17 Feb.  On my return, I followed the route of the well-known 'Norway in a Nutshell' tourist trek.  The journey included a train ride on the historic Flåm Railway and a boat ride through the Aurlandsfjord and Naeroyfjord.

Train on the Flåm Railway.  The Flåm Railway connects Flåm (2 meters above sea level) and Myrdal (865 meters above sea level).  It stretches 20 km and took 24 years to build, between 1923 and 1947.

Cruising through the Aurlandsfjord

The buildings in the bottom left of the photo give perspective on the magnitude and steepness of the surrounding mountains of the fjord

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On 11 Feb our masters program took a field trip to go sledding down 'Korketrekkeren', or 'The Corkscrew', which was used as the bobsled track in the 1952 Winter Olympics hosted in Oslo.  The run is 2000 meters (1.25 miles) long, and the ride lasts about 10 minutes.  Once to the bottom, you just hop on the subway that brings you back to the top for another go.  Quite a fun ride!

That's my shadow in the bottom left of the photo as I was taking the picture

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On 5 Feb I presented to the Gardermoen Rotary Club.  This club meets in the hotel right next to the main airport for Oslo.

With the incoming president for the Gardermoen RC

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Here are a few photos I took while in London for the Rotary Ambassadorial scholars and counselors conference back in the end of January.

In front of Buckingham Palace

Westminster Abbey

Southwest corner of the UK Parliament building

Big Ben (named after the bell, not the clock!)

Farringdon Station, opened in 1863 as the last stop of the original Metropolitan Railway, which was the world's first underground subway line. 

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