Sunrise, sunset.

We are in full swing of ever shortening days in the far north- sunrise around 9:30am and sunset around 3:30pm-.  But, I’m also talking about the beginning and end of this adventure to Bergen, Norway.  I’m posting from Copenhagen on my first leg home to San Diego for the holidays.  What a semester!  I’ve been inexcusably quite on this blog the past month because I was all consumed with finals which wrapped up well.  My last final was Petroleum Economics on November 25^th (how appropriate, Thanksgiving).  After that I launched into a small Herculean effort working together with a small team of American and wonderful German, Italian, French, Finish, Norwegian and Austrian friends to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for about 70 people on the 27^th.  I’ll be honest, I’ve helped with Thanksgiving but never run the show.  With the good help of Mike, another American, and friend Nancy’s turkey thermometer, we successfully baked 7 turkeys.  We also made mashed potatoes, carrots, stuffing (from scratch, no Stoffers over here), gravy, peas and an apple compote for dessert.  This is a picture of me and Thilbaud ('on Erasmus' or on exchange from France) carving up some turkeys for dinner.  I love everyone’s willingness to help.  Thilbaud was so excited about carving a turkey and ended up carving 3 of the 7.  He got all of the possible meat off that bird and had a blast doing it.  The spirit of Thanksgiving was so present in this wonderful international community.

Back to the here and now.  The last few days have been surreal.  I couldn’t help but remember my first encounter with everything around me which is now so familiar.  Grocery shopping for the first time, wandering around Bryggen, listening to the Norwegian language, etc.  It was all so foreign, literally.  I was learning how to do regular daily tasks again.  Observing, learning, trying not to stick out, taking my time to soak things in, trying to be respectful, \and slowing down.  Admittedly, I’ve sped back up a bit, you know me J

As you’ve seen from my pictures and earlier blog posts, I’m loving all of the outdoor activity of Norway and Bergen.  I find myself fitting in very well to that lifestyle.  I’ve even invested in running pants, a good jacket and a neck gator (is that what it’s called?!) so I can continue to run outside.  It’s cold but I much prefer running in nature.  Though, as is typical the world round, there are attractive guys at the gym….  Needless to say, I will never complain about it being ‘cold’ in SoCal again (ahhhh as I was shelping my rolling suitcase over fresh snow this morning to the airport bus… thank goodness for rolling suitcases).  I also find the Norwegian people to be warm , caring and inviting people.  It takes a smile and hello on my end, but, once you get them talking, they don’t stop.  It’s endearing. 

The most wonderful aspect of the whole experience is the new friends.  I feel so fortunate that the energies of the universe brought together the specific people for school and living together that it did.  It’s truly a wonderful and diverse family.  I’m thankful for cooking dinners together, spending countless hours in the computer lab together, playing cards, speaking different languages (brushing up on my Spanish and French), tearing up the dance floor together, exploring, laughing, and learning. 

I’m also thankful for learning, but that’s a whole other blog post.  I feel like I just scratched the surface this semester.  I’ve been introduced to some of the major debates within Climates Change and the many many sectors.  Abate now vs. waiting for the future (let’s talk about the appropriate discount rate!), costs and benefits, petroleum and natural gas, renewable technologies, political interests, and on and on.  Again, another blog entry once I’m home and had some time to digest it all.   Soooo much more to learn and I’m looking forward to it.

I check the clock every 5 minutes to make sure I’m not late for my next flight.  I will not miss that plane.  I’m thrilled to be heading home for almost a month.  Family friends, Christmas, a new nephew, music, and the great Pacific.  I’ve never had the opportunity to say this because I’ve always lived in SoCal- I’ll be hone for Christmas!  Yipeeeee!  You can count on me.

While I’m a slightly starving student and there are times of wondering what I’m doing half way around the world from everything I know, I feel so fortunate to have this opportunity.  Thanks to everyone who supports me.  

Next stop, the windy city.  Then on to San Diego.  

Hope all is well with you.

God Jule!

lisa