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.