Its been how long since I left home?

Before I write any further I just wanted to resolve the cliffhanger I left off with last post...in order to cover up the hair that failed to occupy a small area above my right ear, I wore a hat sort of low and tilted over to the side for the entire first day. Then proceeded to go and buy a hair clippers that would with out a doubt handle the 240V that Norwegian electric outlets emit...and on that Tuesday evening I was able to fully shave my head and avoid any further hair malfunctions/catastrophes.

Ok, now that that is out of the way...In an effort to avoid falling any further behind on writing about my Norwegian happenings, I have decided to simply fast forward the last two weeks to the present...but because so much has happened I will give a brief synopsis of some noteworthy items...

Over the last two weeks I have started classes at the University of Oslo (sort of). I am taking three classes, Geomorphology of Nordic Countries, Environmental Geology, and Introductory Norwegian Language...and until today (when I had a full 2 hour lecture in Geomorph) I had only had only met for 20 minutes in both Geology courses (Norwegian doesnt start until next week)...so the transition into Norwegian university life has been slow and easy.

Also over the last two weeks I have met boatloads of new people from both Norway and around the world (if you have looked at any pictures on my Flickr page, many of them appear there...). People from Australia, Canada, Northern Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Spain, Mozambique, Ethiopia, England...and the list goes on. It has been an incredibly refreshing and wonderful experience being able to talk, hang out with, and become friends with so many people from so many places, cultures and experiences. The diversity that I am surrounded by is something that I think I have been craving for a long time...and so now that it is here I am thoroughly enjoying it...

And as one might expect, new friends lead to new experiences...most notably the Australian Pool Party we had in Norway (again, if you have looked at Flickr, there are many, many pictures of this event). It was a spectacular gathering that we had in the middle of our student village...a multi-national barbeque of sorts that also happened to involve an inflatable pool, an Australian flag, disposable grills, and a various forms of grill-able meat...

So all in all the first two weeks of my life in Oslo has been full and wonderful...I have been so many places, seen so many things, met (and made friends with) so many people, and truly enjoyed life...