Quality Hotel Grand Kongsberg

... trying to connect with us, even briefly, in Jefferson County. The boys played the early game, 4 pm, in the region's largest basketball court in Sandvika, midway between Asker and Oslo. Sandvika is Norway's best team of this age group, big and fast and skilled. Our boys played very hard and with their usual pedal-to-the-metal speed and intensity, but they could not pull this one out. They lost by 16 in a high-scoring game, 91-75, which represents a ...

... 92. After the games all the players went out with Norwegian players to the pizza place, and I haven't heard much about that yet. All the chaperones were invited to the gorgeous home of a man named Dag who was one of the Norwegian coaches who brought the girls team to Port Townsend in 2002 that home-stayed with us. He and Ola Thomas Morin, the big Norwegian who led that group and was our original contact here, laid out a tremendous feast ...

... train to Stockholm. I reserved a couchette, so hopefully I'll be able to get some sleep on the way, and wake up in Stockholm tomorrow morning. There's free wireless Internet access here in the station, so I'm just taking some time out to do some email and update the blog before I head out to see more of Oslo this afternoon. Yesterday, I spent the afternoon strolling through Oslo. It reminds me quite a lot of Portland, about the same size ...

... has to climb down to help me take my board off and I climb back up with only a story to tell as a result of the fall - which is good news. The rest of the day went as planned, without any problems. I find out that you can drink beer as a passenger in Norway, so that certainly made the drive back better. We spend the night hanging out with a group at Thomas' house and even make a frosty hike to the local pub.

... it is really delicious. In Norway, Santa Claus comes with the presents after dinner, so a man they knew dressed up as Santa Claus and brought the presents. Then he passes them out and we take turns opening our presents. I got SingStar, lots of earrings, a big Norwegian cookbook, a CD of my favorite Norwegian band, a big board of pictures of my friends, and a live goldfish that I named Lola. Silje also got a ...

... should be over. Not yet, anyway. Making Connections, Making Friends Remember how I said that I felt like I had no Norwegian friends, no one to come back to visit when I return to Norway? Though that is still partially true (the coming back and visiting part), it seems that we do have some Norwegian friends after all. :o) Last night, the five of us Americans and two of our Namibian boys went to the Bodega'n, which is the student bar ...

... infection. He also told me to rest for awhile and then I should feel better. So I didn't go back to school until Friday. It was a bad week. I had a fever and was tired and worn out all the time. Then on Sunday I went to my church. It is called Betania. It was family night so it was geared toward children. So it was easier to understand the Norwegian they were talking. It is a nice church. I go with my host sister's friends's family.

... month later. But now after really living here, experiencing the everyday life of this town, I feel more qualified to write about it. So here it goes, the promised blog post on Hamar. Getting Down to the Basics. Velkommen til Hamar, a small farming town of 27,000 located on the eastern shores of Lake Mjøsa, Norway's largest lake. Hamar is in Hedmark County, in Østlandet region, the eastern land of Norway, and is surrounded by some of the best farmland in the country ...

... me some good! Resolving the Conflicts One of my academic interests as a Scandinavian Studies and Political Science major is the role of Norway in international conflict resolution. Why in the world does this small and peaceful country in northern Europe give so much of their time, their money, and their energy into helping resolve conflicts all over the world? With no economic or political interests invested in these conflict-ridden areas, what motivates the ...

... Locks The first stop on the trip was the locks at Vrangfoss, along the Telemark canal. The locks were built around the 1860's, and seem to rely only on gravity and manpower for their operation. We arrived in time to see an old steamer go through the locks - the Victoria and Ibsen have been sailing up and down the Telemark canal since the late 1800's. Cruising the river is a very popular tourist activity, and you can easily combine a one ...