The Happiest People in the World:)

So some of you may or may not have been wondering if I am alive...well...I have been hanging out in Houston and Atlanta...the South. I finally leave for Denmark tomorrow, flying through Amsterdam and Copenhagen before finally reaching Aarhus, where my lovely "tutor" will pick me up at the train station.
As I have prepared for my visit such as buying "Danish in 60 minutes," I came across an Oprah episode featuring Denmark. The Danes have been considered the "happiest people in the world" (http://www.physorg.com/news73321785.html) and she wanted to know why...check it out.

http://www.oprah.com/world/Inside-the-Lives-of-Women-Around-the-World/1

I can't wait to find out for myself...until Denmark...

Endless climb 1

It's 12:53 am here. I have pain in every muscle and I'm so tired that I can't form sentences anymore. This is all I can muster. Me, Amy, Laura. Easy road getting exponentially harder to manage. Met guy who told us crazy things happen on this path. Slippery. Sweating. PBJ break. Muddy. Amy turns around. Hiking boots mandatory. Crossed waterfalls. Crawling on hands and knees too often. Raining then sunny. Landscape like a dream. Think Lord of the Rings. Clinging to bare rocks getting old fast. Lost grip and fell in thorn bush. Cussing. Thirsty. No water bottle (long story). Wondering what it would feel like if you fell and your skull smashed into a rock. Death within list of possibilities. Top of mountain. Ate wild blueberries. Squishy moss. Where the frick is the tower? Barren. Got to tower. Drank water. Cold sweat on the downslope. Loosing steam. Don't. Look. Down. Loose rocks. Again, death on mind. Mind over matter. Imagination annoying. Thinking, "Jeff, I love you, take care of Bunsen." Talking to myself to boost self esteem. Moving a little faster. More trees. I think I'm going to make it. Five and a half hours later, Ulriken is conquered by Ashley L Turrittin.

Tomorrow: first day of clinic.

We went on a fjord tour on Friday. Will mention in next blog.

The shit's in here...

We had our first visit to the dental school today, and it was...interesting. We first met with a woman our contact person, Gry Ane, described as "our version of Peter Berthold"- the higher up person in charge of the international exchange program. Peter Berthold, she was not, however. She was a hip middle-aged lady who seemed very laid back. She extolled the virtues of the Norwegian welfare state, one chief benefit was that she, a "rich" person, was not robbed on a regular basis since the poor people were pretty well taken care of, so she thought that was a big selling point. She then leaned back in her chair, letting some belly skin hang out and get a little air. As she stood up to take us on a tour, we discovered she was wearing some fashionable acid-washed jeans. She showed us a few labs and conference rooms, then when it was time to see the main clinic area, she pointed to one of the doors and proclaimed, "the shit's all in here". Needless to say, we were very charmed by her.

She kept apologizing for the poor state of all the equipment, which looked brand new to us. She also said that we might be a little puzzled by the way they do some things here; with endodontics, for example, she said we might find their way to be "quite stupid" (her words, not mine), but it would be a good learning opportunity nonetheless. She also reminded us that Norway is a very informal society, so we should get used to addressing our instructors by first name, which will seem a little strange at first. So we are very excited to start clinic next week. We have one day a week off to study and work on our project, so I think we will find the schedule very agreeable.

We also got our fancy white scrubs today, with scrunched ankles and all. They are pretty spectacular. Hopefully we will have pictures soon.

Man up

Amy and I stayed inside the dorm facilities the entire day. Our blah day inspired me to talk about Norwegians rather than us.

I would like to discuss one aspect of Norwegian society; Americans take note. Gender equality is so engrained into society that it's old news to talk about it. Women are the powerhouses now and they commonly hold high positions in government and business. Without the time to cook and clean, men have had to 'man up' by becoming happy little homemakers. It's the norm for men to cook dinner, wash dishes or laundry and make trips to the grocery store. When it comes to children, Norway is the only country in the world that mandates paternity leave, and, believe it or not, it's longer than the maternity leave. The men do the household duties surprisingly well, and here's the kicker, without complaints. If you ask them about the lack of gender roles or reversal of gender roles, the men defend the women saying, "Well, they work really hard in their career and someone has to do the housework. I do what I can."

In sum, I believe Norwegian boot camp for American men is the answer to our prayers.

Bumming around in Bergen

Yesterday was very productive. We registered for our classes, got a free SIM card at the Student Center, found a phone for Amy, went to IKEA by coach bus, found a 'Princessakake' for Amy's birthday, and then made the steady climb home with our goods. When Amy finally broke down and bought her new SIM-compatible phone, I asked the guy if they sold a lot of this type of phone to foreign students. He replied with, "We sell a lot of them to bums. We call it the bum phone." Yes, it may have been the cheapest phone at 4oo Kroner, but we were a bit amazed at bums being able to afford a $60 phone. So going forth, Amy will be reachable on her bum phone. IKEA was an interesting adventure. A free IKEA bus picked us up and drove us 20 minutes to the outskirts of town. We were glad to purchase some missing touches to our rooms (hangers, plants, etc), but weren't exactly thrilled with the prices. I ate dinner at the IKEA restaurant, wanting Swedish meatballs but changing my mind at the last second to "whatever the person in front of me is having." I wound up with a plate of two large flour dumplings, 2 weiners, a slice of ham, and some sort of mashed cauliflower side dish (hello meat sweats). Once we finally made it home, we were exhausted (as we tend to be every night), and Amy made a splendid Italian dinner. We drank wine, chatted, and then busted into her lovely Swedish cake made of Marzipan and jam. Our neighbors, Doug the hippy from Montana and Laura the German girl, joined us in obtaining a major sugar high in celebration of Amy's 29th birthday. Today, we woke after noon and decided to tackle Ulriken mountain, which happens to be the largest of the seven moutains and nearest our dorm. We packed a lunch and headed out to find the trail head. Amy and I were somewhat apprehensive of the climb knowing it had a reputation of being dangerous. In fact, people have died on the trail. We started out strong, climbing precarious rocks and stopping for water and a good view, and we finished with heaving chests and exhausted hamstrings. The last part of the climb was rugged and challenging, and when we were ready to trek down the mountain we panicked. The temperature was dropping and the steep decline was too daunting. We opted for the funicular for the return. When we got to the bottom it was raining and chilly and we were satisfied with our last minute decision. Ulriken, we will return and conquer!

Nachspiel

Ashley and I had a revelation tonight: we suspect our interest in study abroad stems from the fact that neither of us had a proper first year of college: Ashley had too much time with the nuns at St. Scholastica, and there just wasn't enough partying in general at Northwestern. So we are attempting to make up for lost time, living it up in the dorms. Tonight, we sat around the dorm kitchen drinking beers, having snacks, quoting movies, and capping the night off by throwing water balloons off the roof at the drunken med students. Very juvenile, very fun.

Our first weekend in Bergen was awesome. Our last post ended with us quietly getting caught up on emails at a bar in the city center. After we left the bar that night and headed on our half-hour walk home, we ran into some cute Norwegian boys (fancy that), and Ashley was kind enough to play winglady for me as they convinced us to walk back to town to have a drink with them.

One conclusion we have reached after a few short days here is that the Norwegians like to party. As the drinking is rather expensive here, they like to drink at home before and after the bar to save money. They have adopted the German terms 'Vorspiel' and 'Nachspiel': roughly translated 'pre-party' and 'post-party' (one alternate translation offered was 'foreplay' and 'afterplay', which we had a good chuckle at). So after the bar, not wanting to miss a Norwegian cultural experience, I attended my first Nachspiel with our new friends, while Ashley had the good sense to go home.

The next day, we were awakened at the ungodly hour of noon when Synnove arrived to take us for our mountain hike. Bergen is surrounded by 7 mountains, so hiking is a favorite pastime. I huffed and puffed my way up like an obese geriatric, while svelte Norwegian grandpas jogged past with a smile. After our hike, we swam in the ocean, then hit the fishmarket to pick up some fresh shrimp (2 kg to be exact, which for those not familiar with the metric system, is a sh*t-ton of shrimp). I was a little freaked out by having to rip the heads off and by our friend Yi-hu's suggestion that the brain is the best part, but still enjoyed them nonetheless. For dessert, we had some Norwegian waffles with brown cheese (geitost), which tastes bizarrely like a combination of peanut butter, cheddar, and sugar, but is entirely delicious. This is a dorm tradition started by Yi-hu called 'Vaffel Sondag', or 'Waffle Sunday', so that was another first for us this weekend.

Today we concerned ourselves with practical matters, like FINALLY getting an internet connection at our dorm, which was no small task, and still not accomplished for Ashley. Next step: getting a phone.

Blogging at the Bar

Amy and I stumbled upon an internet cafe a couple of hours ago. An empty quiet little eatery. Two hours later it's loud and packed, people are lined up at the bar for drinks, every table is taken and here I sit blogging on my computer. NERD ALERT. So excuse the brevity. Soon we will be making the trek back to the dorm and I will devour some lox and cream cheese on bread. Let's hope Amy's flip flop sandal holds up for our walk home. She tripped on a cobblestone street and I MacGyver style rigged a hair band onto her shoe to get us through the night. We continue making friends, very randomly, who are connected to our dorm (Alrek). Pretty soon we will know the entire building through our misfortunes. This place is a fairy tale and I'm totally enchanted. Tomorrow we are going on a hike and a swim in a lake nearby with Synnove.

Arrived in Norway

Ashley and I have arrived safely in Norway. We don't have our internet cables yet (no wifi in the dorms, seriously? Get with it, Norway), so we are hanging out at a bar with wifi, sipping our outrageously priced beers.

Our travelling was pretty uneventful. Ashley was mildly harrassed by a drunk person on the plane, and later we missed our bus stop and had to lug our suitcases up a giant hill, but otherwise things went smoothly.

Synnove, a Norwegian dental student we met while she was on exchange in Minnesota, was kind enough to pick up our room keys for us since we arrived late. However, without a phone to call her, we were locked out of our dorm until we could reach her. But we met some nice young gentlemen in the lobby, fellow dorm residents, who not only let us use their phone, but cooked us dinner and shared some wine with us. Norwegian hospitality is pretty top notch!

The Beginning of Farewell

Amy and Ashley left for Norway tonight...we miss you already. Bon voyage ladies!

Yesterday we finished our last (real) final of dental school history! We thought it would be appropriate to celebrate with our lovely friends and say farewell until 2011...we will miss you and come visit us.