home stretch

I've wrapped up 4 classes and have one more to go.  My new favorite study place is the University of Bergen library.  My school, NHH, is about 3 miles away from the city center which is a nice walk on a sunny day or a short bus ride on a rainy day.  But, it's still simpler to head to 'HF'.  And, I meet my friend, Martha, at 8:15 which is *great* motivation to get me up and going.  Keep in mind the sun doesn't rise these days until 9:13 a.m.  Ahhh higher latitudes!! 

And, this has been the library entrance the past few days.  Sorry it's a little burry- phone camera..

Welcome to Bergen!

For some memories of just over a month ago and my last 'relaxing' weekend before hard core finals studying started.  I give you, Italy!  Ahhh, such a great weekend.

Hiking in Cinque Terra

Vernazza- where we stayed for the weekend

On the Mediterranean with Jamie!

Friends from NHH in Milan!  Joe (Minnesota), me, Stefano (Italy) and Coni (Germany)

The Duomo in Milan

And, kind of fun, I've been selected (hired?  I get money at the bookstore- nice!) as a 'blogger' for NHH to write about being an international master student :)

god natt!

lisa liv 

and it begins...

..... Advent that is!  The first weekend of Advent Bergen celebrates with 'lysfest' which translates to Festival of Lights.  Last year I was unable to attend because I was prepping Thanksgiving for 70 international masters students.  This year it was raining hard all day but Martha, Nici and I donned our best rain gear and rallied to partake.  

Wow, wow, wow.  Music, fireworks, and Christmas cheer.

**note: these photos are from the web but give you the idea. Exactly the same tonight but add umbrellas

All I have to say is- Christmas on the Prado (aka December Night), you have met your match.  I just witnessed one of the most spectacular fireworks displays I think I've seen.  And I've seen a lot of 4th of July fireworks!  It was 13 minutes (yes, 13, it's on the schedule) of July 4th 'finale-style' fireworks.  I kid you not.  Insane!  And, everyone is around the lake (picture above) with the fireworks over the lake so you are right under the fireworks.  Annnnnd, they let you carry fire torches here.  I know, right?!  Real fire?!  Ahhh the things you can do in a place where all people respect laws and don't slap lawsuits on each other every 5 seconds. (I know, most Americans are this way too, it's just the few that ruin it for the rest of us).

Anywho, what a fantastic kick-off to the holiday season.  

God Jul!

lisa liv 

Happy Giving of Thanks day!

Wishing you and yours, around the world, a very happy thanksgiving!  It's always a little odd being abroad on a day like today.  There are no turkeys in the windows or Thanksgiving garlands in the stores.  But, I relish in all I have to be thankful and continue to share the idea of giving thanks today here in Bergen.  Seriously, we are so blessed (if you are reading this, it means you are on a computer- you are blessed!).   I am thankful for the opportunity to be living and studying abroad where I have met wonderful people and explored the world.  And, I'm exceedingly thankful for getting to head 'home' in three weeks to spend Christmas and New Years with family and friends in California.  

While I'm not doing a thanksgiving meal today, my flatmates and I did a good ol' traditional thanksgiving dinner last friday night.  We made (and I can say we, they were excited to learn and help in the kitchen) turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing (from scratch!), gravy and a carrot side.  Ida was super and made a berry dessert.  I am very thankful for all the fun I've had with these guys this semester.  They are the best!

Kenneth, Bjornar and Kunt Anders

Here's our spread:

Bjornar very excited for dessert

Tonight on my way home from the library my friend and study buddy, Martha, alerted me to the fact it's a special shopping day where all of the stores are open until midnight- wait, what?!  Has black friday infiltrated the serene and peaceful Norway?  I've never given in to black friday.  In fact, you couldn't pay me to participate in the insanity.  But, today it was alluring.  The shops were right on our walk home.  The night was nice.  There was a holiday cheer in the air.  Music was playing and they were making waffles.  What's a girl to do?  Indeed, shop.  So there I was, amongst the crowds (though, far more civilized... it is still Norway, no pushing and jockeying here) and Elvis was signing Christmas songs on the music system.  I may be away but not much changes.

And, with that, I'm off to ready myself for another day of studies tomorrow.  And, next week the guys are making me a traditional Christmas dinner- yea!  No Dad, not Lutefisk.  I'll be ready for that on Christmas Eve.  No taking that away from you.  They will be making Pinnekjøtt.

My amaaaaaaazing flatmates

with thanks and gratitude, 

lisa liv 

late night study aids...

.... My flatmate Kenneth got a wild hare to make some 10:30pm waffles on Sunday evening.  What a grand idea indeed!  He made the batter from scratch and didn't have to ask Ida, Bjornar or me twice to help him polish them off.  And, standard Norwegian heart shaped!

yuuuuum

And, Norwegians cover surfing too!  This was in the weekend paper... quite a big wave ride.  I of course told my flatmates these are the kind of waves I surf all the time.  Riiiiiight.  Though, I will admit I can't wait to get back in the ocean when I'm back in San Diego in December

Back to the books.  Finals- they just keep coming.  I'm done December 6th.  I can't believe this is semester number 3 down?!  Woah, it feels like just yesterday I was applying to programs.  And now I'm eating waffles at 10:30pm on a Sunday night in Bergen, Norway.  Goes to show you really just never know where life will take you if you are open to it.

xoxo, 

nerd girl

ps. gossip girl is a little indulgence here and there, especially during finals period :) 

pps. my flatmates and I are doing a Thanksgiving dinner on Friday!  So excited!

sometimes...

.... beer is very necessary in the computer lab.  What can I say?  Marketing totally got us.  Who doesn't want to drink Christmas beer packaged in a red or purple can?

It was 9pm and we were wrapping up a project.  We were feeling all-around-festive.

cheers!

lisa liv 

~sunny days are here again~

Literally. We have had some beautiful sunny crisp days in Bergen in the last week.  This is the Bergen I know and love!  (which of course I'm inside all day studying, but, that's how it goes)  

Though, I must admit I've been having crazy flashes of Christmas.  I'm sure it's because once Christmas is upon us that means I'm through finals, and I want that like I want a new wetsuit for Christmas ( <------- dear Santa, not so subtle hint).  But, the weather feels exactly like a SoCal Christmas.  Even the smells in the air- it's wild!  I'm ready to sing Silver Bells and pull out the mistletoe.

On that note, I just read a really cool blog post I wanted to share about how the kWh cost of solar energy continues to decrease- tres cool!  Solar has it's issues with predictability and the whole the sun doesn't shine and night thing.  But, it's still really encouraging to see and I encourage you to read.  See the post here 

It also makes an interesting point about shale gas.  My personal favorite line is '... special treatment for fracking makes a mockery of free market principles'.  Perhaps that whet your appetite to jump in and read.

Oh dear readers, I am studying energy.  I get jazzed on these kinds of things. 

***********

Ok, something fun for the day.  Do you know about 8tracks?  It's my favorite new place for music listening online.  Remember making mixed tapes?  Yes, totally dating myself.  Or, nowadays, my super awesome music club gals in San Diego- we make mixed CD's and share new music.  

Well, this is the same idea.  People from around the world have signed up, made profiles and put mixes together for all sorts of things- workout mixes, wake up in the morning mixes, sad and weepy breakup mixes, indie artists mixes, mash-up mixes, classical music mixes and... my very favorite at the moment... study mixes!

check it out for free listening here    And you don't have to have a profile to listen

radiantly yours,

lisa liv 

ps. I am on a friggin roll... 3 posts in 7 days?!  that's a new lisa o record.  yes, i want to make a lisa o record too, but, you know what i mean. 

Bergen in San Fran....

.... my dear friend Rachel is in San Francisco for the weekend to visit friends and run a half-marathon.  She happened across this yesterday and sent me this photo.  It looks like a beautiful fall weekend in NorCal.  And, I'm glad to know Bergen is ever present around the world.  Fun!

Wising Rachel, Jeff, Brad and Traci (I think she's running it?) good luck in the half-marathon in a few hours.  Lykke til! ... one of my favorite Norwegian phrases.

It's also my dear friend Bea's birthday today.  She's a classmate and studying abroad in Paris this semester so I'm wishing her a happy birthday from afar but thinking of her today.  Happy Birthday B!!!!!

L and B being silly

And that's all for today folks.

hugs,

lisa liv 

Studying November Away

I'm diving into serious focus and studies for the month of November and plan to emerge again around the beginning of December.  I've even put myself on a facebook hiatus for the month of November.  Woah, this is serious Lisa.

Yesterday I did some studying at a nearby coffee shop where my friend Andrew works, Kaffemisjonen.  It's super to have different environments to study in and it's some of the best coffee in town.  I heart coffee.

Check 'em out here http://www.kaffemisjonen.no/

Back to the books.

love,

lisa liv

seeking new horizons

Taken by my friend James in the Cinque Terre last week

I feel like that's what I've been doing for a few years now.  All growth experiences; enriching, enlightening, opportunities to explore and meet new people.   It's a positive thing but sometimes it's exhausting.  I'm not complaining, merely commenting. 

...feeling stagnant in my career... loosing some drive and direction....traveling to Africa...rediscovering my love of music and creativity.... falling out of exercising.... searching for the next career move... writing a song from beginning to end...spending time with guys that didn't treat me right....allowing insecurities to get the best of me.... meeting wonderful new people through the years... walking 500 miles in Spain with my Dad... taking classes to explore... spending time with guys that did treat me right... finding exercise again... finding surfing again!....moving half way around the world...ultimately busting my patootie to make something happen when I wasn't happy with where my life was.  

All the while I've been surrounded and supported by wonderful people and I'm forever grateful for that.  

Also, I finally feel like I'm narrowing in on what I'm meant to be doing.  I'm not quite as frantically scanning the horizon because I feel like I'm 'tracking' now.  There are still plenty of uncertainties, but that's fine by me.  Something tells me I can handle it.  And, I encourage you to keep working hard and keeping the faith if you've found yourself with a bit of a list like mine above.

Ahhh I didn't mean for this to get so philosophical.  C'est la vie.

cheers to new horizons,

lisa liv 

I'm still here....

but I was here.... and that's why I haven't posted in a little while :)

I had an opportunity, got a bit of a wild hare and found myself on my way to Italy last weekend.  I've never been before and a fun long weekend trip presented itself as a little relaxation and sunshine before I lock myself away for 6 weeks and study study study.  Above is Manarola, one of the 5 Cinque Terre towns.  I met up with my friend Jamie and we hiked, surfed, boated, swam, ate, drank wine, drank cappuccinos and relaxed for three days in the Cinque Terre.  Then I headed back to Milan where I met up with 3 friends from NHH and toured around the city with them for the afternoon and evening.  Gelato was plentiful and I returned to Bergen feeling very refreshed.

I flew Norwegian Airlines to Italy and was pleasantly surprised to find the below on the last page of their inflight magazine.  

Plane travel does get a bad rap for CO2 emissions.  Norwegian seems to be making efforts to reduce their carbon footprint- whop whop!  Tres cool for an Environmental Econ nerd like me.

Lastly, the days are growing shorter quickly.  Here's Bergen by night on my camera phone so not the best quality.  But, you get the idea :)

All is well and I continue to feel blessed.  I feel I have a good mix of school and friends/fun activities going on.  I've found a great 'jam session' to play on Thursday nights at Cafe Opera.  I suppose you could say I'm building up a little fan base and reputation for myself.  It feels good to have a creative outlet.  The last few days have been abnormally nice, especially considering it's almost November.

Bed time!  The bar/club below my flat decided to have an impromptu DJ last night (tuesday night) into the weeee hours of the morning.  I imagine they wanted to capitalize on the nice weather.  Everyone wants to be outside.  Don't they know they have some serious students living above them?!  

I digress.

Goodnight and vi snakkes snart,

lisa liv 

Mitt lille land

'my little country'

Regardless of where life takes me, I will always feel Norway a very special part of me.

I saw the video below today and had to share.  One the things I continue to enjoy and savor about Norway is the incredible beauty of the country.  Check it out....

The Water from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

Also, in the Norwegian theme, I thought I would share a beautiful Norwegian song's lyrics, 'Mitt Lille Land'.  I a lovely tune and I think it shows a lot about the Norwegian people.  See English translation below

Norwegian lyrics….

Mitt lille land

Et lite sted, en håndfull fred

slengt ut blant vidder og fjord

Mitt lille land

Der høye fjell står plantet

mellom hus og mennesker og ord

Og der stillhet og drømmer gror

Som et ekko i karrig jord

Mitt lille land

Der havet stryker mildt og mykt

som kjærtegn fra kyst til kyst

Mitt lille land

Der stjerner glir forbi

og blir et landskap når det blir lyst

mens natten står blek og tyst

Mitt lille land

Et lite sted en håndfull fred

slengt ut blant vidder og fjord

Mitt lille land

Der høye fjell står plantet

mellom hus og mennesker og ord

Og der stillhet og drømmer gror

Som et ekko i karrig jord

English translation…

My little country

A little place, a handful of peace

thrown out among mountain plateau and fjords

My little country

Where high mountains are planted

among houses, people and words

Where silence and dreams grow

Like an echo in barren earth

My little country

Where the sea pats mild and soft

like it’s caressing from coast to coast

My little country

Where stars glide by

and becomes landscapes when it gets lighter

while the night stands there – bleak and silent

My little country

A little place, a handful of peace

thrown out among mountain plateau and fjords

My little country

Where high mountains are planted

among houses, people and words

Where silence and dreams grow

Like an echo in barren earth

For a listen, click here

hugs from B-town,

lisa liv 

Sunday Skyping

When I am in Norway, my Sunday evenings are dedicated to catching up with family and friends in the states.  I always call Mom and Dad and usually have a nice talk with some other friends and family.  It feels like 'the good ol' days' (or what I imagine them to be)  when people truly took Sunday as a day of rest and would 'call' on each other... stop in for a lemonade and piece of cake or something.  I don't get the lemonade or cake but I do get some good dedicated catch up time with people, and I love it.

This was last weekend skyping with my brother and sister-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Breaks Selection:

 

I would like to personally thank Skype for making this easy and inexpensive.  Innovation, I salute you.

klemmer,

lisa liv 

how convenient

A Norwegian band, Kings of Convenience, have a popular song in America 'I'd Rather Dance with You' and just released a new video for their song 'Me In You'.  They are from Bergen and decided to record the video on Eirik's, one of the two members, rooftop.  Not only does this video give you a stunning overview of Bergen, I realize Eirik lives blocks away from me.  Indeed, my residence makes an appearance in the video.  Enjoy some pretty music and get a really good look at where I live :)

The mountain at the end is 'Floyen', the mountain I tend to reference a lot in my blogs recently.

la la la loving the music,

lisa liv

chasing the sun

Finally, some rays of sun last Friday and Saturday!  I must say, Bergen is really beautiful... when it's not raining :)  Eh, even when it is raining it's a beautiful little place, just a bit trickier to enjoy (like my very wet ill prepared feet today... I thought I could get away with flats. Negative).  The result of all the rain is a very serious enjoyment of sunshine when it comes.  It seemed as if everyone in Bergen was out in full force on Friday afternoon.  I loved the sense of joy and community in the air.  As I walked past restaurants people were at outside tables enjoying each other, sunglasses and a beer.  

I arrived home from school on friday afternoon to my flatmates orchestrating a little BBQ for the park.  We grabbed a one-time-use grill, some burger makings, beer, blankets, veggies and my guitar and headed over to the park.  What a great evening!

Bjørnar, Ida and Knut Anders readying the feast

2 of my 3 fantastic flatmates-Knut Anders and Bjørnar 

Then, to enjoy a little more fresh air and the local mountains around Bergen, some good friends from school and I did a nice local day hike, 'vidden,' from Floyen to Ulriken on Saturday.

Martha, Anette and Eli

Vidden success!  A celebratory beer atop Ulriken looking down at Bergen

Alas, the rain returns.  And so we study until the sun shows up again so we can then scamper outside for some more fun, sunglasses and afternoon beer.

klemmer,

lisa liv 

back in the Bergen groove

There's a saying along the lines of 'there's no bad weather in Bergen, just poor clothing.'  I didn't really get it last year because the city had a particularly nice fall.  Now I get it.  Hello rain!  It's rained almost daily since I returned.  But, I should say it's usually just a little drizzle, never a serious downpour.  Oh, it's good for these SoCal bones right?!  Riiiiiiight.  A little adjusting but, as usual, I'm good to go.

Sorry for my delay, I never intend to go this long.  But, school is picking up and I'm now in the groove of daily life so it takes a little more to make interesting posts.  But, there's always something to share.

Last weekend marked the first PAC-12 football game ever.  Weird.  I don't think I can ever really feel comfortable with the number 12 behind PAC.  It's 10, people.  Dare I point out PAC stands for pacific and I think we are using that term rather liberally with the new additions to the conference.  But, what do I know.  I'm an economist in the making. (I'd also like to point out USC won the first PAC-12 conference game!  Fight On!)

Last weekend also marked the first NHH American Football game ever.  NHH, my school here in Norway, decided to start up an 'American football' team in the spring.  The movement was lead by Norwegians and the team is almost all Norwegians.  My friend Michael from America, also here in one of the international masters programs, played QB in high school and at a small college so he's stepped in at QB. Sticking to my cheerleading roots, I had to go support my team (but I will leave the cheerleading glory days to my high school years).  Check them out, they are in the blue and white-

Just got back from a swim at the student center with my friend Martha.  Time for bed, Thursdays are my longest day with 6 hours of class back to back.

sove godt og søte drømmer

(sleep well and sweet dreams)

lisa liv 

some new lisa liv music

Here's a live recording of a song I wrote and recorded last weekend.  I wrote the lyrics while I was at Kreklingsus and fleshed out the song over this past weekend.  I was laying in my bed at the cabin thinking 'this is all really wonderful and I wish my dear friends and family could be here to experience it with me.' I'm loving meeting new people but a part of me longs to be able to share these memories with friends and family back home.  The quality is a little rough (i'm no audio engineer) but I wanted to share.

I Think of You by LisaLiv

i think of you,

lisa liv 

on tur

Vi går på tur means 'we go for a hike' but I like how in english it sounds like 'go on tour.'  How very appropriate- we go on a tour of the mountains.  

My new flat is at the foot of Floyen, one of the 7 mountains around Bergen.  Floyen has lots of roads/trails up and around on top.  There's also a funicular, the Floybanen, for people less interested in a good uphill walk and more interested in the great view from the top.

Floyen has become my training ground. Here's some pictures from my run last Thursday (click on the photos to enlarge them)-

a good breather and stretch break at the top

I live by the little pier all the way in the harbor

on the way back down the mountain

This weekend has been rainy so no running or walking up Floyen.  I did find my way to the pool at the student center and have decided swimming is one of my new favorite things.  Reason 267 why it's so much better living in city center!

Wishing you a wonderful Sunday.

Wet hugs from rainy Bergen,

lisa liv

chocolate!

Norwegians love chocolate.  The company 'Freia' has a good lock on the market here and have some yummy varietals.  Kvikk Lunsj (sounds like /quick lunch/) is the official hiking chocolate.  Anyone who's anyone has Kvikk Lunsj on the trail.  It's just like a Kit-Kat bar-

My dear friend, Erin, gave me some Chuao Chocolates as a going away present, and I decided to bring them to Norway to share with my new flatmates.  Chuao is a super crafty artisan chocolatier local to San Diego.  They've come up with some unique mixes such as 'dark chocolate with caramelized honey' ' dark chocolate with chipotle, salt and popping candy' (yes, this on is like pop-rocks in your mouth) and 'dark chocolate with pasilla chile, cayenne pepper and cinnamon'.  

This is what my flatmate, Bjørnar, thinks....

I quite agree.  Check out Chuao here.  Tonight it's coffee, chocolate and some Corporate Finance all set to the soundtrack of Ray LaMontagne and Andrew Bird, two artists my flatmates are unfamiliar with.

Next week is the 75th Anniversary of my school, NHH, and the King will be at school.  Wahoo!

klemmer,

lisa liv

Kreklingsus

/Krekling/ like a blueberry but not a blueberry for that is blåbær in Norwegian.  Google translate is saying 'crow berry'?  Is there such a thing?  Either way, this is krekling-

/sus/ something along the lines of wind

I've just arrived home from a weekend away at Hallingskeid for the BSI hiking group's opening weekend trip, Kreklingsus.  Kreklingsus is a hiking and music festival to kick off the semester and they asked me to play some music.  I was thrilled at the opportunity.  

We took the train out on Friday afternoon and had a mellow evening of grilling dinner and some evening music.  Yesterday, Saturday, was full with a day hike, afternoon games, dinner, evening games, music and 'nattspeil' (after-party).  It was neat to be back at Hallingskeid because it's the same cabin I went to for our Easter trip in April (see an April/May post to see the same place covered in snow).  It's pretty wild to feel familiarity in a place here in Norway.  I often feel like everything is new.  Every new destination is something unexplored.  All of a sudden, I'm becoming a local.

I borrowed these pictures from a lovely new friend from the trip, Marita Fløtre.  Apologies for the facebook business on the lower left hand corner. 

I believe there were about 50 people participating in Kreklingsus, mostly because the event is limited to the amount of people that can fit in the cabin for music at night.  Most were Norwegian with a handful of internationals.  While I spoke mostly English, my Norwegian is coming along and I continue to learn new phrases such as 'helt sykt!'  This most closely translates to 'crazy!' or 'insane!' or, our favorite word of the weekend, 'awesome!'.  My new Norwegian friends liked to point out how much we Americans use the word 'awesome'.  I am the worst, I use the word all the time.  I need to find a new go-to adjective.  I don't know if I will ever use awesome without thinking of Kreklingsus, we had some good laughs at my slip-ups.

There were some different activities planned on Saturday including multiple hiking options, a fishing trip or blueberry picking.  I opted for one of the more mellow hikes.  It was still a good 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) and a really nice group of students studying at all different universities around Bergen.

 

And, the music!  Playing music on Saturday evening was very special.  I got to play a mix of originals and covers by candlelight for one of my most attentive audiences ever.  No amplifiers...no electricity for that matter.... just a one room cabin in the middle of nowhere Norway with 50 people.  They sang with me when they knew songs and were engaged with my original material.  One of life's dear memories.

Ida is playing and I'm to the left

Now to prepare for the week ahead.

thankful for a wonderful first week back in Norway,

lisa liv 

jet lagged but good to be back in Bergen

I had the strangest experience yesterday, my first morning waking up in Bergen.  I woke up, and, for a good 2 minutes, I thought I was in San Diego.  It was one of the most bizarre things.  I thought I was downtown and needed to move my car out of a meter so I wouldn't get a parking ticket.  What?!  I was wracking my brain to figure out where I had even parked.  Wow, wow, wow.  Needless to say I had a good laugh at myself when I realized I was in Norway. 

It's good to be back.  How can you not smile upon arriving to this?

True, sun would be better.  But, Bryggen (above) never gets old to me :)  And, I'm now living in 'Sentrum,' or city center, two blocks from it- yea!  Bryggen is also where I catch the bus every morning up to school.

And, the business school kids are so hip here in Norway.  Check out the new street art installation at my school for the program '...... capitalism?'  As the lead line asks 'what happens when you mash an elitist academic institution like the Norwegian School of Economics with the anti-authoritative counter-cultural street art movement?'  Check out more here

Classes are under way and I'm feeling pretty well settled in.  Is it bad I'm already getting stressed about the semester?  I think I'm going to go with some classes that I somehow feel intimidated by (hello Corporate Finance) but really just need to buckle down and make it happen because I'm sure I will learn a lot.  And, you know me, I somehow never like to make it too easy on myself.... 

I've already spent over $50 at the grocery store and feel like that's gotten me nothing more than bananas, nectarines, a few rolls, breakfast cereal, milk, herring (yea to be back in Norge!), cheese, lettuce, almonds and carrots. Mom and Dad, I promise I will put together well balanced and nutritious meals but you know how the prices go.  

And, if you've ever talked to me about food in Norway, you've most likely heard about Norwegian carrots.  I still maintain they are the best carrots I've ever tasted.

my new flat.... working on decorating

Today is typical rainy Bergen.  But, yesterday was lovely and sunny.  I even wore open-toed shoes and a skirt.  This is pretty big deal and rather clearly defines me as 'not being from Norway'.  I reveled in every minutes of my foot freedom.  And, I have to enjoy my golden tanned legs from the summer since in a few months time I will be back to pasty white.  *sigh*

A photo from yesterday as I walked home from the bus stop....

That's the update from Bergen for now.  It's been great to re-connect with friends and meet some new people.  I'm living with 3 Norwegians this semester and they welcomed me warmly upon my arrival.  We are having a flat dinner tomorrow :)

klemmer!

lisa liv