Heidelberg, Germany: 23-28 December

Our journey started in Heidelberg, Germany, where we stayed at a friend's house. The group consisted of Kristie, Travis and I for this leg of the trip. I must give credit to the Heidelberg travel guide we used for a lot of the information mentioned here.

'Hauptstrasse,' reportedly the longest pedestrian precinct in Germany

German Lego man + dog

'Giant House' building, Baroque architecture, built 1707

Old University Building, Baroque architecture, built 1728

The Corn Market with Madonna statue by Peter von den Branden, 1718.

S-Printing Horse in front of the Print Media Academy of the Heidelberg Druckmaschinen.

Former Jesuit College Building

Inside the Jesuit Church, constructed 1712-1759

The Heidelberg Castle with a dormant Christmas market in the foreground

Travis and Kristie, on our way up to the castle

My personal favorite from Heidelberg: The Great Tun. Constructed in 1751 from 130 oak tree trunks, this 8.5 meter wide, 7 meter high spectacle can hold 221,725 liters (58,000 US gallons). Claimed to be the biggest wooden barrel in the world ever to have been filled with wine. This tun comes complete with a dance floor on top, too. Amazing.

The dwarf Perkeo was appointed 'Guardian of the Tun'

The Heidelberg Castle

In the courtyard of the castle. An interesting combination of different architectural styles that blend together well...the Baroque Frederick Building (1607) on the left and the Renaissance Otto Henry Building (mid 16th Century) on the right, connected with the bell tower in the middle.

Panoramic shot

The Gate Tower

We took a little journey along a path up a hill known as the Philosophers' Walk

The amphitheater atop the hill at the end of the Philosophers' Walk

Travis and I enjoying the super tire swing on our way along the walk

Just 10 km southwest of Heidelberg is the city of Schwetzingen, home to the Schwetzingen Castle and an impressive 178 acre expanse of gardens.

Sporting the Christmas colors

Around Oslo, December 2008

Kristie arrived on Sunday, 21 December, and we spent a couple days in Oslo before embarking on our holiday journey. I took her around to see my campus on Monday morning and later in the day we met up with Lucas (another American with a Rotary Ambassadorial scholarship) and his mother for a tour around Oslo.

Aker Brygge (trendy waterfront development) and the Oslo fjord seen from atop Akershus fortress

Kristie and I on our tour of the city

In my classroom. I spent a lot of time in this classroom last semester...like 20-25 hours a week.

Outside of my institute

Kristie and I enjoyed making a gingerbread house (pepperkakerhus på norsk) in my apartment

This was the side of the roof she decorated

And this was my side

A horrible tragedy occurred overnight...we found the house in ruins the next morning

It appears the moist frosting made the structure soggy and weak. I've taken these photos to send along to the insurance company.

January update

Dear friends,

I hope you all had a pleasant holiday season with family and friends.  I enjoyed spending the holidays with my girlfriend, Kristie, who came to visit me in Oslo for a few weeks.  We utilized the time to visit a few European sites, starting in Heidelberg, Germany, and moving on to Rome and Barcelona before returning to Oslo.  The past couple weeks have been a bit busy, but I look forward to posting photos of our travels soon.  I realize it has been a while since I've given an update on my status, so I want to fill you in on recent events.  

I began my master's program courses last Monday, 12 January.  Last semester I had class lectures 4-5 days a week, and this semester will only begin the first few weeks with such an emphasis on in-class time.  Then from mid-February on I will have more time for independent work on investigating my research topic.  Although still tentative, I am planning to focus my research on health care access and its effects on diabetes care amongst Hispanics in the US.  I will be completing my stay in Norway in June and return home to the US.  The fall 2009 semester will be devoted to conducting my field research and the spring 2010 semester for drafting my master's thesis.  In order to deliver my thesis and graduate from the University of Oslo, I'll return to Norway sometime in the latter part of the spring 2010 semester.

My Norwegian language course began yesterday and I anticipate a slight increase in the speed of my language acquisition.  This Norwegian course bears a few more credits than last semester and should be a bit more intensive, with more time for class meetings and regular homework assignments.  Also, I've finally found an environment for complete immersion into the Norwegian language, which leads into my next item of good news that I have established a volunteer position at the nursing home I mentioned in previous communications.

I had my first official visit to Nordberghjemmet last week on Wednesday, 14 January, and have visited the residents two other days since then.  I look forward to visiting about 2-3 times each week for a few hours each visit.  I started my time focusing on a group of 8 residents in one section of the nursing home,  establishing relationships and familiarizing myself with the environment.  I'm excited for a meaningful and productive few months helping at the facility.  I help with preparing snacks, 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.

I started this semester strong with Rotary Club presentations also.  I gave two presentations last week, Monday to Nordstrand RC and Tuesday to Eiksmarka RC, and have another presentation scheduled for this evening to Hønefoss Øst RC.  I am integrating more Norwegian into my presentation as I progress through the year, and my ambitious goal is to deliver around 90% of the presentation in Norwegian by the end of the semester.  

I'm looking outside my window now and watching an amazing snowfall.  We accumulated about a foot and a half of snow Sunday afternoon/evening, and we have snow in the forecast for most of the next 7 days.  All this snow brings up one very important aspect of Norwegian culture: SKIING!

I went cross country skiing once last semester before winter break and enjoyed falling on my rear and side numerous times.  The learning process was fun and only slightly painful.  Now I'm getting a bit better with the technique, and the fresh snow makes the XC skiing a bit easier, as you don't slide down the hills as fast and recklessly as is the case with an icy trail.  I've logged 38 kilometers thus far and look forward to seeing what my cumulative distance may be by the end of the season.  As you may have already noted, I'm greatly enjoying this ski culture.  The word 'ski' comes from the Norwegian language, and indeed skiing is ubiquitous in Norway during snowy winter months.  Yesterday one of my Norwegian classmates actually skied to class from his home.  Seeing how much is coming down now I might have to follow his example and do the same today!

Have a great week!

Dan

End of semester update, 21 December

Hello all.  I thought I would post some photos and an update from the past few weeks which included the conclusion of the fall semester here.  Kristie will be arriving shortly in Oslo.  We're going to tour around the city a bit on Monday, and then we head for Heidelberg, Germany on Tuesday where we will spend Christmas.  From there we'll travel to Rome and Barcelona and spend a few days in each location.  I'm excited to put my Spanish skills to use for a bit while in Spain.  

I had my Norwegian language course final exam last Monday, and I turned in my last exam for my masters program on Friday.  The last exam covered a course on qualitative methods...new and interesting content for me.

I also had a meeting on Friday with a nurse named Pauline at a nursing home just a bit north of where I'm living.  She showed me around the facility and introduced me to some of the residents.  I'm looking forward to making regular visits starting in January.  Pauline and her husband are hosting a Rotary exchange student from Brazil this year while their daughter is on the same program in Japan.  While it has been a difficult task to find a service opportunity here in Oslo, a Rotary connection has swooped in to my rescue!

God Jul (Merry Christmas) and hope you all have a nice holiday season.

Beautiful, snow-covered University of Oslo campus

These photos are from a few weeks ago...we recently had a surge of warm weather (like 32-38 degrees F) and all of our snow has melted.  I've been reassured there is plenty more to come for a replacement in the near future though.

My master's program, International Community Health, celebrated its '10th birthday' on 3. December with a program of speeches, multicultural entertainment and a luncheon.  

A fashion show was also part of the festivities for the 10th anniversary celebration

Random picture, but I had never seen one of these before.  Its an orange assaulted by cloves and serves as a Christmas potpourri ball.  I snapped this photo at my host Rotarian Trond's house.

On a completely different note, but also involving sticking objects into citrus fruits, we had an 'interactive lecture' on acupuncture in class the other week.  First we practiced on clementines.

Then we tried on ourselves.  I had never experienced acupuncture before and was surprised how it didn't hurt at all...unless you stick the needle in wrong of course.  

I acquired a Christmas tree for my floor to get my floormates and I into the holiday spirit.

Low-cost decorating.  Aluminum foil and ribbon.

My floormate, Misha, and I showing off the masterpiece.

Julebord.  That directly translates to 'Christmas table' and is an important celebration for every office, organization, business, program, club and anyone else who meets regularly in a group to utilize as a holiday gathering celebration.  I went to one with my institute at the university, another for my master's program, and the latest with the Oslo Rotaract club.  

I've enjoyed some skiing recently.  There is a local ski park accessible by public transportation in northern Oslo that I visited for downhill skiing.  I also went cross country skiing for my first time the other week with a friend.  Learning the basics went well I think...but since the snow melted recently I haven't been able to get back out to practice.  Next semester I hope to get out to cross country ski regularly.  Its only a 10 minute walk from my place to hop on a ski path.