Result of no wireless in the kitchen

Laura: Hallo David. Wie geht es dir?

David: I’m good. You?

Laura: Danke, mir geht es sehr gut! Was hast du heute gemacht?

David: I went cross-country skiing earlier and fell really hard on my ass. What about you?

Laura: Ich bin heute auch Langlauf-Ski gelaufen und ich bin ebenfalls hingefallen.

David: Did you hurt yourself?

Laura: Nein, zum Glueck nicht! Aber die anderen mussten auf mich warten, weil ich meinen Skistock verloren habe. Ich brauche mehr Uebung!

David: I need more practice too. Maybe I will go out tomorrow. Do you have classes tomorrow?

Laura: Ja, ich habe morgen eine Vorlesung, aber ich weiss noch nicht um wie viel Uhr. Vielleicht gehen wir ja gemeinsam Langlauf-Ski laufen. Ich bin aber wirklich sehr schlecht! Gehst du heute zum Jazz-Klub?

David: I was only going to go if Fran went. You going Fran?

Fran: Mmm, no se. En realidad tenia ganas de ir pero me parece que anoche tome’ demaciado. Quizas es mejor si me quedo en casa. Que te parece?

Laura: Mir geht es aehnlich wie Fran! Ich habe gestern zu viel getrunken und sollte heute lieber zu Hause bleiben! Ausserdem habe ich Uni! Wir sollten einen ruhigen (!!!) Kringsja-Kitchen-Abend verbringen! Oh, Irene, dass riecht ja herrlich! Was kochst du?

David: That smells great. Can I try?

Irene: Certo che e’ buono!! E’ un ragu’ italiano!! Come sapete… siamo i migliori cuochi al mondo!!

David and Laura: Yes, you are/ Ja, das stimmt.

Vigeland Park

Back to front

I will start at the end, and then work backwards.

I am sitting in a padded chair inside the emergency dentist office at 7:05 p.m. 15 minutes go by, and then 30. It’s now 7:35. I don’t know if the wait is a good thing or bad thing. Finally, Kevin walks through the doors. His lower lip looks worse than before. It’s now twice the size and the small cut is now white and bright pink. At least now the severed part of his front tooth is back in its original spot… and out of the cup of milk it traveled in.

I am partly to blame for this. Accident definitely, but this isn’t the first time I’ve almost killed someone on the soccer field. First, on sand in Spain, second on snow in Norway. Here’s what happened. Loose ball, Kevin the goalie dives for it. At the same time I try to kick the ball before he gets it. I miss the ball, slip/fall from the momentum, and then my shin plunges into Kevin’s face.

Yepp…

Pre-almost-killing-Kevin

Power to the Kringsjå

There is a saying here that, “Norwegians are born with skis of their feet.” It’s true. While I struggled to put one ski in front of the other, kids who looked 5 years old glided right past me. I bet their diapers are waterproof. Cross-country skiing (difficult for me in the beginning) is great. It’s the fun alternative to jogging. I have yet to go out with Instructor Jan (my roommate) but hopefully he gives me some pointers. (I wrote this paragraph a couple days ago and didn’t really want to delete it, so excuse the awkward placement)

It has been 13 days since I arrived in Oslo. And in all (except for the first) I’ve meet someone new, interesting and welcoming. You would think they would be Norwegians, but it hasn’t; they have been from all over the world. It reminds me of Dorchester, that same energy and acceptance.

That’s all I got right now. Too much is going on in that tiny head of mine! Jared please teach Mom and Dad how to download/use Skype. I want to see everyone.

Welcome to Oslo

All right, all right here we go

I think it’s only fitting that I start my first blog post from Oslo a little tipsy (a few beers, a shot of Mexican tequila, a sip of French wine, not too much).

Where do I start? First of all, I’m an idiot! It took me almost three days to configure the Internet just because I typed a capital I instead of a lowercase l (L) in my password. Well finally, I am up and running!

First running joke of the semester: Rodrigo from Brazil “the baby” (19) is the youngest of the exchange students thus far that we’ve met. He hears a sizable amount of “We should ask your mother first” jokes. But it’s all in good fun.

My roommate arrived last night. His name is Jan, a soft-spoken skier/snowboarder from the Czech Republic. My other suitemate is Francesco de Argentina, but studies in Italy. With him, came a big group of Italians who love to cook, drink and have fun. I’ve meet someone from almost every continent except for Australia, but hopefully we get a “kiwi,” someone from New Zealand, so we can talk to him or her about the TV show, “Flight of the Concords.”

The first day was tough. Kevin and I arrived to find a corridor empty and silent. We had no idea how to work the oven (still kind of don’t) and had nothing to eat. We had no sheets, no pillow. Poor Kevin used his towel as a pillow. However, it has gotten better, much better!

Shane and Diane, the other two University of Maryland students, arrived today so it is starting to feel a little bit more like a home away from home. We have yet to meet another American, but I’d be fine if we were the only ones.

The picture above is of a box of ginger bread cookies. I decided to get a box to welcome the incoming exchange students. On the top of the box, I taped a piece of notebook paper and wrote the word “welcome.” As students arrived, I had each of them write the word “welcome” in their home language. I felt it was a good way to represent where we are from. Hopefully, it will continue to grow to display all the nationalities here in building 24 (probably the best building here in Kringsja!).

P.S. I had nothing to do with the terrible drawing of Europe. (Fine it was me… I can’t draw).

Preflight Post

Last three dinners before I leave the states for six months: packaged sushi, hamburgers, hotdogs, and baked beans, and spaghetti with meatballs. I will miss my American Achilles heel, a grilled Hebrew National hotdog drenched in mustard and ketchup in between a potato roll bun, Mac and Cheese with an extra pack of the condensed orange powder Kraft calls cheese, and most of all, the burger. I’m not referring to the fried brownish slab McDonalds serves, but a juicy half-pound rare beef patty sandwiched with a fresh piece of tomato, lettuce, and American cheese. I don’t even eat this stuff very often, but the thought of not having it readily available at my fingertips makes me a little bit sad.

Besides food, there are so many people I will miss. As I was writing that last sentence the only image that came to mind was of my four Pomeranian dogs (not people), Misha, Boris, Vladi and Nadia. There is something about those little four-legged creatures I will miss so much. I don’t even know why; they bark all the time, sometimes pee or poop in the house, and try to hump my legs (I’m looking at you Misha). The people, yes.

I went out to lunch (not sure if it was a date or not) about a week ago with someone I recently met. For those of you who don’t know me very well, I don’t normally put myself out there. I tend to avoid people I am most interested in. But this particular instance was different; I went for it (I guess). Even though this girl may not ever want to text or call me again (not that it was a bad date, I think both of us had a great time), it felt good. Instead of sitting and watching something pass me by, I did something. Hopefully this is a new David, especially because I will be in a foreign environment. I hope to explore and take advantage of everything presented to me. And hopefully this blog will capture these moments. Not for family and friends, but also for myself.

I know the tone and theme of this first post is all over the place, but stay with me, it’s my first one!

Pre-departure song stuck in my head: The Strokes – I’ll Try Anything Once