Almost time to go home!

It's the holiday season, and all I can think about is food! So, a short blog post on the top 3 things I'm looking forward to eating when I get back to the Twin Cities:

1. Coconut Macaroons (aka Crackaroons) from the Salty Tart bakery in the midtown market

2. Carbone's pizza (from the one on Randolph, of course)

3. A burrito from Los Ocampo at Chicago and Lake, with that super hot sauce they give you on the side.

Oh, and maybe a Surly Furious to wash it all down.

Norwegian Christmas Dinner

Pinnekjøtt

Lutefisk

Multekrem

I had a typical Norwegian christmas dinner tonight, and it was so delicious, I decided I had to blog about it right away. It was a going away dinner for myself and Paula, the Scottish exchange student, and it was a gift of the dental school. We were taken by our favorite instructor here, Gunhild (see earlier post), and we invited a few of the other dental students who have been especially wonderful hosts to us during our stay.

I ordered the christmas dinner that is typical for western Norway, Pinnekjøtt. This is lamb that has been smoked and cured in salt and dried, then reconsituted with water before cooking over a layer of birch twigs. Everyone keeps talking about this dish, so I was very curious about it. I have seen the scary-looking racks of dried lamb appearing in the grocery store for the christmas season, and my neighbor Juliane tried it the other day and was not very enthusiastic, so I was a bit nervous about trying it. But it was really delicious: salty, and a little smokey, and very rich. It is served with mashed rutabagas and potatoes. So yummy.

Gunhild ordered lutefisk, which is another dish I have been quite afraid of. I'm sure all the Minnesotans know about this already, but it is cod that is preserved in lye and other scary solutions until it becomes a bit gelatinous. Truly frightening stuff. But it is served with bacon on top, which makes everything better. And the fish itself was nice and light, it didn't have a funky taste, it almost melted in your mouth. It tasted soft and fresh, and it was almost like sushi. My Minnesotan ancestors would be so proud that lutefisk has won over another convert.

For desert, I had multekrem served with krumkake. Multe is called Cloudberry in english, and it is a rare berry that only grows in northern climates. They have multe yogurt here, and I was previously warned by the other dental students that I might not like it and it's just something that old people like (they say the same thing about brown cheese, which I also love, so I guess I have the palate of an old Norwegian person), but multe yogurt is incredibly delicious. Multe with whipped cream is a traditional christmas desert, and this one was served with krumkake, which are delicate cookies.

Finally, a really fabulous restaurant meal in Norway! Norway isn't really known for its food overall, but this was a really wonderful meal. I have included some pictures from the internet (not my actual meal tonight) for demonstration purposes.

Prague, Thanksgiving, etc

Mom enjoying some Czech beer

Me enjoying some Berechova

Rebusløpet

Cooking our first Turkey

Thanksgiving dinner

WAY past due on blogging, so time to get caught up... What's happened since last post?

1. I went to Prague with my mom.

First, mom came to Norway, and brought the sunshine with her. Our vacation week had almost no rain, so that was very nice. The first night, we went out for dinner, and spent about $100 on 2 cheeseburgers and 4 beers, and they were weird cheeseburgers at that, so we learned the lesson yet again that eating out in Norway is SO not worth it. Our favorite day in Norway was just sitting on top of the mountain, enjoying the sunshine. On a sunny day on Bergen, there's no better way to spend the day. We also had a nice day trip to see one of the fjords, but the trip got to be a little long so we were unprepared the next morning as we left for Prague.

After getting up about 4 am monday, we were very tired when we got to Prague, and all the guide books had us stressed out about not getting ripped out by taxi drivers, so we felt in over our heads when we first arrived. We felt slightly more at home when we saw a billboard on our way from the airport for a musician named Jakob Smolik (Smolik is my mother's maiden name), but we were still a little unsure what we had gotten ourselves into. After a nap, some dinner, and some of the lovely herb liqueur called Berechova, we started to settle in. I was really looking forward to eating out in Prague, since I have been a little deprived in Norway, but many of our meals were very underwhelming. I think it was just because we ate in a lot of the touristy places, so the quality was not so good. Our favorite meal was actually in a Mexican restaurant. After feeling so out of our element all week, Mexican food reminded us of home. But overall, Prague was very nice. Very touristy in some parts, but beautiful architecture. I'm looking forward to my return trip to visit to see my friend Frank and to see the non-touristy side of Prague, because the city definitely has an exciting vibe to it.

2. Ashley and I attended Rebusløpet

Rebusløpet apparently means something like treasure hunt. I still have only a vague idea of what we were supposed to accomplish, but Ashley, Paula and I had fun dressing up in trashy outfits, riding around in a party bus, and enjoying a few beverages with our classmates. Once again, we witnessed first hand Norwegians and their top-notch partying skills.

3. Thanksgiving!

After recovering from our hangovers from the rebusløpet, Ashley and I cooked an all-American thanksgiving dinner for our dorm friends. Since Ashley is going home before actual Thanksgiving, we decided to have it early. We spent an absolutely absurd amount of money to get a turkey in Norway in October, but it was totally worth it. We pulled out all the stops: Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and of course, pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Ashley and I were very impressed with ourselves for pulling it off. The party went until 1 am, as the wine and whiskey started flowing, and second and third helpings were had a by all.

Having Thanksgiving early has actually come back to bite us in the ass a little bit: you know how everybody eats way too much during the holidays, from Thanksgiving until New Years? Well, we started our holidays a month early this year, and we can't seem to stop eating. It doesn't help that the days are getting really short and it's dark all the time, and it's still raining all the time. I definitely have a wicked case of Sad Bastard syndrome, as Paula calls seasonal depression.

4. Stavanger

I went to Stavanger with some girls from dental school: Janne (Stavanger native and our kind host), Ida, and Paula. We had a lovely girls weekend of shopping and going out. Things got a little crazy when we got separated, and I forgot that I had all the phones and wallets in my purse, but we had a fun night and got some good stories out of it.

5. Countdown to Ashley's departure

Sadly, Ashley is headed home soon, but for a good reason: interviews for her Pediatric residency! So we are trying to make the most of her last days here. We have been using this as an excuse to eat too much of all the Norwegian foods we love, like waffles and brown cheese, and boller with sour cream and jam, and pastries, and chocolate, and...you get the idea. Our german friends Laura and Juliane are planning a farewell dinner with Spaetzle and Streusel, so we are looking forward to that. We will also have a final hike on Ulriken for Ashley on Saturday, followed by a little kitchen party so we can have a proper farewell. Stories to follow...

More Norwegian in Me

The coast

Exploring

Our group, heading back to the cabin

The cabin, near Gulen, Norway

Hiking around the island

Sunniva, attempting to get the fire going

To all who follow the blog, I know I'm quite a bit behind in blogging. So many things have been going on that I can't keep up with the writing. Plus, it has been especially hectic now that I am coming home early. For anyone who didn't know, I currently have three interviews for a pediatric residency. Life is waiting and it's time to get back home.

Before I go, I thought of a few more things about the Norwegians that I connect with:

- They LOVE hazelnuts and hazelnut flavoring. Hazelnut cookies, hazelnut cereal, hazelnut coffee, hazelnut icecream. It's all heavenly.

- They take their dogs with them everywhere they go. Dogs are allowed practically everywhere: grocery stores, boats, and shopping malls to name a few. People walk their dogs in the middle of the city with no leash and it's perfectly okay. So great!

- Being a brunette is special. The blondes are a dime-a-dozen here, and being a brunette really catches the guys' eyes.

- They are very determined people. I went away this past weekend to a Norwegian girl's family cabin on an isolated island along the coast. She started a fire in the old-fashioned fire place, but the wind and rain was pushing the cold air down the chimney. The smoke wasn't able to go up the chimney and billows of smoke were flowing out of the fireplace. Relentless, she continued trying to get the fire hot enough to push the smoke out the top. No such luck. After an hour of fanning smoke out of the windows, coughing, and making most of our group get out of the house, she gave up.

I will be writing one last blog, "The German in Me" very soon. I went to Germany and Switzerland for 7 days and have to share a few of the things I observed. Stay tuned and thanks to all who have been active in their emails, comments, etc.

Ode to Comments

Ok, so I was hoping a few more people would leave comments on the blog. Ahem, Jeff, Mom, Sally...?!?! Dianna is kicking your butt in this area. Pick it up... or no blogs for you!

When I'm Eighty-Six

My Danish friend (and fellow dental student) , Julie, invited me to go sailing with her grandfather last weekend. She had been telling for the past couple weeks that he really wanted to meet me…I thought…why of course:)

We took the train from Aarhus to Vejle, the town where her grandparents live. When we arrived her grandmother had a wonderful Danish meal for us and we proceeded to the fjord for the day.

Julie’s grandfather, Erik, is one the most fascinating people I have ever met and I am grateful I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon with him.

Here’s why…

· He just turned 86 yrs. old and has been sailing for over 70 yrs.

· He competes every Thursday and still wins regularly…He proudly showed me all of his sailing competition prizes and his most recent…a pretty nice Helly Hansen jacket.

· Over the summer he and his wife used to sail together for a month and just returned from a three-week trip in August.

· He is the president of his local rotary club and welcomes exchange students from all over the world for a sail on his “Spar ES." When we arrived to the Spar Es he had put a U.S. flag on the boat just for me.

· When we were getting ready to get off the boat (or so I thought) he told me sit down and said, “This is the best part.” He pulled out three orange Fantas along with his favorite candy and proceeded to chat about our lives.

· He was a member of the 40 Club and was kicked out after age 40…so when he turned 41, he and his friends started there own club called the 41 Club….and after 45 yrs., he and the other members still have weekly meetings where they invite interesting people to lecture to them on various topics.

· Before he retired he worked in sales of farm equipment and traveled all over the world…very interesting stories…and I can’t remember all the languages Julie said he speaks fluently!

· Every picture or ornament in his house has a great story to it. (Granddaughter made it, a great uncle who sold umbrellas, uncle who was a bishop and the only Catholic in his family, view from summer home, elephant tail from travels, etc.).

· He competes weekly in bridge and ping-pong…Last week he ranked number with his partner in bridge!

· He and his wife complete a crossword puzzle everyday and in the evening help each other out to solve it.

· Early in the day I noticed a book on the coffee table, which I later found out he purposely left for me to see. It was called “George W. Bush…the Great Accomplishments during his Presidency.” Later during dinner he asked if I voted for Obama, I didn’t know what to say because I thought he was fascinated with W, so I just tried to smile. He started laughing and ran to get the book. He told me to open it…it was all blank white pages!

· He was taking his wife to Oslo this weekend to visit his other granddaughter.

· He showed me pictures of a whale that had committed suicide in the fjord and when the Spar Es sailed right next to her Danish Majesty's Yacht Dannebrog. And after asked me if he knew of anyone else who could show pictures on the television like he just did.

· He is on Facebook.

I could go on…I hope to be so great at 86!

The Norwegian in Me

My grandma is 100% Norwegian, and being Norwegian has always been a part of my family. I have had fun in the last 45 days or so analyzing the culture in order to better explain myself. These are generalizations which are hard to prove as being Norwegian, but are noticeable differences I've only seen here. Whatever the case, I'm going to pretend this explains my quirks.

- They don't walk around smiling all over the place. They have this stoic, no-nonsense unemotional affect. No bogus fake smiles. And they stink at chit-chatting with strangers.

- They get a little or a lot of alcohol in them and then dance like maniacs. They're really aggressive and even the Germans are scared of them. I feel like I need a mouthguard on the dance floor as elbows and foreheads are flying. They'll partner dance and run right into you with full force. No one says "sorry" or "excuse me."

- They love chocolate. No messing around with that hard, bitter garbage called dark chocolate. Its smooth, sweet, and melts instantly on your fingers like butter. The other day, my patient at school told me (completely serious) that Nordic countries have to eat a lot of chocolate in order to stay warm. That's the best excuse I've ever heard - chocolate for physical survival.

- They're not that skinny. However, they're not obese either. No one gawks if you've got a little pudge.

- They love wearing skinny, black running tights in all possible situations. Shopping at the mall, getting some groceries, having dinner... the possibilities are really endless.

- They air dry their laundry on metal racks. (I've been doing this for years.)

- Girls lift free weights in the gym and not 2 and 4 kg weights. They're pumping like 10 kg plus weights. (1 kg = 2.2 lbs) They love squat lifting, too.

- They like modernism and uncluttered decor.

- Girls don't wear a lot of makeup. Enough to accentuate the points of focus, but not pageant style at all. Very natural.

- Seafood is a major part of their diet. *When I was 6 years-old, if you had asked me what my favorite food was, I would tell you crab.

- They eat liver paste regularly (AKA pate). Nummy!

- They use paprika spice on tons of things. (My grandma always has this on the table at meals. When I was little I would call it 'red salt.' Great on cottage cheese.)

- Structured child-rearing but not over-protectiveness. Parents let their 9 year-old son bike across town from soccer practice and their 3 year-old walk on railings over precarious cliffs, but they're strict with other things. For instance, kids are only allowed to have candy and pop on Saturdays. They call it Lordag Godt (Good Saturday). Kids also get a spoonful of cod liver oil every day. Bedtime is always 8 o'clock, except maybe 9:00 if mom and dad have company over. (I can only hope to be like this as a parent.)

- They love Yorkies! They're everywhere. I get really excited to run and pet them.

- They ride mopeds. Seems crazy considering how much it rains here, but they are great in a town with limited parking space and high gas prices.