Today I planned to do some island hopping in the Olso fjord, but I had a bit of an unexpected obstacle this morning. I went for a run around Sognsvann like I have been doing the past few mornings (more about this later). I thought my roommate had left for work, but like always I put a note on the door saying not to lock the door to our suite because I only bring my access card to get in the building. Well, I came back about an hour later and what-da-ya-know....locked. So begins my adventure: I went to the SiO office and it was going to cost 250kr to call the caretaker to unlock my room. Not doing that. I message Remi on facebook (because why would roommates ever exchange phone numbers?) and waited for a response. Jera (my flatmate) and her husband were having breakfast with a friend so I ate some cornmeal stuff with yogurt (surprisingly tasty) with them and just hung out for a while. Finally I decided I would go to campus to look for Remi. I knew what building he worked in and that he was doing an internship on fish, but nothing else. A good start, I thought. Alex, Jera's husband, decided he wanted to go for a walk so he came too. Luckily he had just met Remi the other day and could add some information to mine. For example, Remi is studying the development of the fish, cod specifically. We ended up only having to ask three people to help. A woman with a slightly British accent was the most helpful and pointed us to exactly the right area of the building. From there on it was luck. We happened to walk past an open door and see Remi sitting there. I think he was surprised and a little worried when he saw me, and I think he felt badly for locking me out. An honest mistake. I was just happy to have a key so I could go shower! (which I haven't done yet...hey, this story needed to get told) I really like Jera's husband (just so ya'll know his name is actually Alejandro-how cool is that?!) We had some good conversation during our outing. I think he enjoyed himself. He got to see some of campus and get some nice outdoor pictures.
I think a shower is in order before I continue. Hold tight.
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In other news:
Last night I went to Akker Brygge to dance. I'm not sure if I explained how this works. Basically if you were an outsider you would be walking along the docks and suddenly run into a bunch of people standing around watching about 15 couples swing dancing. We get a lot of people that stop and watch, and they often applaud after the songs. There are some really great swing dancers that come. I love watching the older people dance. It's so awesome to think that most of them have been dancing since they were younger and continue to find joy in dancing. I would like to be like that when I'm older. Actually last night I danced with a couple of those older people. There is this one guy who is always there. You can't help but watch him. He goes craaaazy. Hopping around and kicking his feet up and throwing his hands up and just making all kinds of faces. It just looks fun. He seems like quite a character-he's got a tattoo that stretches across his chest (not sure of what). I know because he always wears his shirt with half the buttons undone. Anyway, he asked me to dance and all I know is rock step. I think he was doing some Lindy Hop but the rest may have been made up. Anyway, I danced with him twice and it was a ton of fun. I had a little trouble following at first but after a while I just decided to stop trying to figure out what he was doing and just go with it. The other older guy I have no idea what kind of dance he was doing-much slower and no hopping. He was even harder to follow but he was doing a pretty good job of leading. There was another old man that was very good. He was fun to watch too. I didn't dance with him though. Another exciting bit of news: I learned the basics to Lindy Hop last night thanks to an American named Alex who is visiting his parents (who are living in Norway for who knows what) over the summer. I was so excited. I even danced a couple of dances. We mostly just did the basic steps but I think I did quite well. Now when I get home I won't be starting from scratch when I learn Lindy. I plan to try to go to Buffalo on Tuesday nights to dance and I would LOVE for anyone and everyone to come with. You don't need any experience, nor do you need a partner (Thank goodness because my boyfriend refuses :p). From what I've read it's a half hour mini lesson and then just a free dance.
Not much more to tell...I had a nice run this morning. My legs were pretty sore but I got it done. Whenever I run here, not just Sognsvann but anywhere in Norway, I get distracted. Sometimes it ends up being a walk because I decide to explore somewhere new. Other times I just get distracted by beautiful things. Today it was the ducklings. I have seen them the past three days and they are just as mesmerizingly (sorry for bad spelling) cute every time. I also have been stopping at a dock that is basically the halfway point in my run. It's on the opposite side of the lake so even if there are people at the lake, there usually aren't many there and I've been running pretty early so it has been really empty. I just stand on the dock for a few minutes staring out at the lake, watching the ripples come towards me, breathing in the Norwegian air. It's one of those moments you could make last forever.
I'm not sure what I will make of my day today. I'll probably head downtown later. I broke my sunglasses yesterday so I think I'll have to buy a new pair. I don't think I can last for 11 more days without any. Jera has invited me to eat lunch with her. She's making something with buckwheat? Sounds..interesting. And I'm sure it will be good. She always makes tasty things.
Ha det bra!
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