The FANCIEST of all passport stamps (and the rest of my weekend)

My weekend started bright and early Saturday morning - I had to be downtown at the Foreign Police station by 8:30 am in order to stand in line to apply to be a Norwegian Resident. I showed up around 8:15 and took a number- 117. Unfortunately, they were only on 33. Usually the police stations aren't open on Saturday, but since there are so many non-EU international students attending BI (my school) and University of Oslo, they have a whole day dedicated to helping foreign students get all the permits necessary to live in Norway for the semester. Since I had not applied for my permit from home (closest location to do so is in Texas) I opted to do it when I got here. For the most part, it was a pretty smooth process; I submitted my paperwork around 9:30, they told me to go home and come back in a few hours. Since I had forgotten my camera I ran home to grab it, and decided to take a couple hour nap while I waited. Then it was back to the police station. I had taken another number (which was somewhere in the 460's by noon) and sat down to wait - again. As I was sitting there- the head of exchange at BI saw me and told me I didn't have to wait- I could just go back to the window I had been to earlier. So I did- and 10 minutes later she was pasting the FANCIEST stamp I've ever had! In reality, it's a visa and not a stamp, but either way- I'm excited to have another entry!

It was around 1:00 pm (or as I *should* say: 13:00- I need to transition to the 24 hour clock) and I decided to take the tram down to the waterfront and visit the Nobel Peace Center (Nobels Fredssenter). This museum opened last summer and is very modern with many interactive exhibits- it was a very interesting museum and I learned a great deal. I don't want to sound too "boring-museum-y" but: Every year the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded at the Oslo City Hall (Oslo RÃdhus) on the10th of December (the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death). It was outlined in Nobel's will to present this award in Oslo (all other Nobel awards are given in Stockholm) "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses". Perhaps the most interesting thing I learned was not that Nobel was a VERY rich man, and when he died he left his fortune to recognize the most significant efforts in sciences and peace, but rather HOW Nobel amassed his fortune: he invented dynamite and ballistite (smokeless gun powder). Nobel's inventions contributed to millions of deaths, causing Nobel great guilt and a desire to repair some of his damage by promoting peace.

After the museum I spent some more time walking around downtown and decided to head home around 18:00. When I got to the subway station there was a train in the station, and all the monitors said it was Linje (Line) 5: Storo, so I ran and jumped on. A few minutes later when we started off in an opposite direction did it occur to me that perhaps this might not be the train I wanted! Oh well. I rode the Line 2 all the way to the end, where I briefly got out to see the amazing view (I was high in the hills on the outskirts of Oslo) and then right back onto the train back into town so I could catch the right train! When I got home I decided to go on another walk around the neighborhood - I hadn't gone uphill from where I lived yet (cause really- who goes exploring UP-hill?) It was a workout and I didn't really find anything of interest.

Next day was Sunday and this was a lazy day for me. I took my school book to Frogner Park to do some reading. I think I did much more people watching than reading though. I must say one oddity I was not expecting was for my books to be written in "British" English; as are all my class presentations and handouts and stuff. I was prepared for all the extra "u"'s (harbour, favourite, etc) but I wasn't prepared for all the "organised programmes." Just another thing for me to adjust to! On my way home I did some grocery shopping and then I went for another long walk around my new favorite park. Not a bad way to spend a lazy Sunday. Figure I better enjoy the weather while I can - I hear winter comes quick in Norway! :)

Then on Monday, since I didn't have class, I decided to be a tourist yet again - I headed up to Holmenkollen. I made my way to the train station and found Line 1: Frognerseteren, and 30 minutes later- I was REALLY in the hills on the outskirts of Oslo!! Holmenkollen is a "world-famous" ski jump. Ski is actually a Norwegian word because Norway is the home of skiing, and Holmenkollen is the home of ski-jumping where as early as 1892 ski jumping competitions were held on this hill. The walk, sorry I mean HIKE, from the subway station was entirely uphill, and rather steep at times. By the time I made it to the site, I was already exhausted! And I still had several flights of stairs to climb. The tower only had one elevator, and it was NOT a long ride- it was all climbing! It is difficult to describe the jump- I'm pasting one picture here, but I encourage you all to check out my kodak gallery because it was a pretty cool structure. Unfortunately, it will be torn down in the next two years so they can rebuild a bigger and better one - I believe in an attempt to bid another winter Olympics (Lillehammer Norway hosted in 1994). I'm glad they hadn't started tearing it down yet and I hope they'll have some competitions here this winter - I think this would be an amazing event to witness!

By the time I got home Monday night I was sore and tired! Good news is - I'm losing weight. Bad new is- I've been sore since I've gotten here! But its been a lot of fun so far, as overwhelming as it can be sometimes! So Tuesday is back to school for me, and the start to my second week as a Norwegian Student. I'll be sure to post all about it!