A Trip Above the Arctic Circle

Hi everyone! It has been a while since I have updated this blog, and for that I apologize - I know you have all been waiting with bated breath for another of my oh-so-awe-inspiring posts in order to access my vast insights into the world of foreign living...What's that? You haven't been sitting at your computer night and day, refreshing your browser in the hopes that I would grace you with my presence? I am shocked. Anyway, last week was winter break here, and I took that name to heart and planned an arctic adventure trip. One of the other instructors, Kate, and I went to Tromsø, Alta, and Karasjok for five days. Here are some of the highlights from the trip:

This is the view from the plane on our way into Tromsø. As you can see, the sun is setting and making the sky look really cool. 

Again, the pinkish/ aqua sky against the mountains is really pretty.

And how about another picture from the plane for good measure.

This is the harbor in Tromsø. It is a very nice and cute city. It is apparently known as "the Paris of the north" because it is so pretty.

Plus there is a random walrus statue there, so obviously Tromsø knows what's up.

Also, at the Tromsø Museum there is a giant "Thumbs Up Lizard" for no apparent reason. Ten points for Tromsø.

From Tromsø we went on our camping trip about 30 minutes outside of the city. This is a lavvu, or a traditional Sapmi (indigenous arctic people) tent. This is where we spent the night. 

Here is the inside of the tent. Don't let the fire and reindeer pelts fool you, it was f**king cold in that tent. 

Here is me in my sweet winter gear. While the snow suit was actually very effective and comfortable, the boots weighed about 10lbs a piece. 

This is one of my dog friends. They were all really friendly and loud. We played with the dogs and then had reindeer stew for dinner. Then we waited for the main event of the night...

The Northern Lights! Considering this night was the only night all week that had good solar wind activity, we were really lucky we got to see them. And I actually got a picture, which is supposed to be impossible with a point-and-shoot camera!

Oh, you know, just huddling under some reindeer hides, like normal...

This is where the sled dogs live. There were a ton of them here. 

Getting ready for the ride.

Here we go! It was really fun, and the dogs are so excited to run that they try to run the other sleds down. Our driver Robert was also very friendly and informative.

Thanks for the ride, guys! It was super cool. After this we were off to Alta and then Karasjok - on a 12 hour total bus ride...

This is the Sapmi Parliament. It was a cool looking building in the tiny town of Karasjok. I also got to see some reindeer on the way to Karasjok on the bus, but I didn't have my camera out :(

  And then this painting tried to steal my soul. Contemporary Norwegian paintings (the ones at this particular museum anyway) are creepy. Sorry to stereotype, but seriously...

So, yeah, that is my trip in a nutshell. As you can see, I took a lot more pictures in Tromsø than in Alta or Karasjok. So much of the end of the trip was spent traveling between places that I really didn't get a chance to take pictures. Overall the trip was great. We didn't get to do any reindeer herding this time (due to the fact that the herds are in the mountains at this time of year - a fact that I was unaware of because I did not plan this particular part of the trip...), but oh well, no trip can be perfect. I feel like the trip was overall successful, and while I didn't get to spend time with the reindeer, I ate enough of their brothers and sisters to last me a lifetime. Seriously, everyone in Northern Norway pushes reindeer on you like its some sort of street drug. The rest of my winter break should have been spent grading papers, but I really just laid around and planned more stuff for my Ireland/ Scotland trip. Considering half of my students haven't even came back from break yet, I don't feel too bad for not having their papers for them. Well far away friends, I think this is it for now. Until next time...

When Language Barriers Cause Extreme Embarrassment

Hi far away friends! Sorry it has been a while since I have updated this blog, I will try and do better in the future. In all honesty, I haven't really done much that has been particularly noteworthy. I booked a bunch of trips, but I will want to blog about those adventures as they happen, so I will wait until I have fun pictures and stories to tell to discuss those matters. Overall, life here in Norway for the last couple weeks have been just that: normal, everyday life. I go to work, do some reading, shop, talk to friends and family via skype, you know - just regular life things. One thing that I have not been doing nearly enough is working out, which led to my most current endeavor: signing up for and actually going to a gym. For those of you who may not know, I f**king HATE exercising. Like a lot. I hate sweating, I hate wearing ugly workout clothes, I hate gym shoes, I just hate it all. But one of my recent goals in life is to not die of a heart attack by the time I am 30, so I decided to get healthy. So far, I have lost quite a bit of weight - like enough weight to equal a small adult or a very big child. Here are some comparison pictures:

This is me in 2011 at my friends Chris and Katie's wedding.

This is me today. I really did just come from the gym, so please don't make fun of my crappy hair or the fact that this outfit makes me look like I just came from an interpretive dance class. I had a different  shirt on, but it was so sweaty I couldn't bear to photograph and publish it.

So yeah, a pretty big difference. I am of course not finished with my whole "be healthy and avoid type 2 diabetes" plan; as a matter of fact I have quite a ways to go before I will consider this goal accomplished. Anyway, in order to counteract my natural aversion to exercise and keep on the right track, I have to be penalized in some real and measurable way if I do not work out. This is where joining a gym comes into play. Losing money is the only way I can trick myself into going to the gym. Because while I am lazy, I am far more cheap than I am lazy. Having to actually pay a fee to join a gym is the only motivation I have found to make me get up and go work out. Not concern for my health, not a desire to be the best version of myself I can be - the only thing that has worked has been seeing that money come out of my account and knowing that if I don't exercise, I am basically paying a "lazy-ass tax" every month.

The good news for me is that a new gym called "Fresh Fitness" (I seriously can't deal with that name, but whatever) just opened up here in Moss that does not require a contract and is pretty reasonably priced. I decided that I would join, and today was my first day. This is where my good intentions hit some snags. First, I had to register. They actually have a handy kiosk so that you can sign up and pay your first month's fee all by yourself. Unfortunately, it is of course in Norwegian, which I do not read or speak. So luckily the front desk girl spoke wonderful English and helped me through it. Then I had some problems getting into the actual gym part because the sign explaining how the card-activated door works was in Norwegian as well. I finally walk into the facility and towards the locker room, or what I presume is the locker room - again, Norwegian language problem. I wasn't really paying that much attention, open up the door and notice showers, lockers, and benches, so I figure I have made it to my destination. "Good job Errin"- says my inner voice. There is nobody in the room, so I quickly get dressed, put my shoes on, and fill up my water bottle. Then I realize I didn't ask if you had to rent lockers, so I gather my things and head out the door to ask. Just as I am walking out of the door, another person opens it and walks through. This person was most definitely a guy. I look at him, he looks at me, and he just cracks up laughing. I manage to laugh a little, but I mostly wanted to vaporize at that moment, never to be seen again. In my haste to try and figure everything out and get things under control, I failed to notice that the figure above the word "garderoben" (the Norwegian word for locker room, for those who are interested) did not, as I thought I saw, have a dress on. Now, I don't know how many people know this, but I actually embarrass quite easily. I turn beat red and really, really hate myself for quite a while after I do something mortifying. The problem is, I do embarrassing shit all the damn time. I fall down a lot, I say dumb shit, I break and spill stuff all the time - I am just a hot mess. You would think that because I do stupid things all the time that the embarrassment would lessen, but alas it does not. I seriously wanted to die. And I hope I never see that guy again. Or the other people that undoubtedly saw me make this mistake, as there were several people in the area when I walked out of the men's locker room. Oh well, I did have a nice workout. And, let's be honest, this really wouldn't be my life if I didn't do at least one thing while in Norway that reminded me that I am still the same ungraceful doofus I have always been. Well, I think this is it for now. Until next time...