Bugs, Bright Lights, and Roller Coaster Rides

It's official! Summer is here, the nights are long and bright, and everyone is outside enjoying the ever-present sun! So much has happened in the past month, and it is difficult to know where to begin!

Invasion of the Dandelions!
As Spring progressed in the middle of May, dandelions overtook every patch of dirt in southern Norway! I have never seen SO many dandelions in all my life! They find places to grow in the asphalt and in tiny crevices in rock walls! Norwegians spend quite a bit of time on their lawns and gardens, thus, seeing Norwegians out uprooting dandelions, trimming trees, and mowing is a regular occurance here. :) Just as quickly as the dandelions popped up, they quickly disappeared, giving way to other types of wildflowers that grow a bit more sparsely and do not threaten to overtake whole yards and roadsides as the dandelions did. Just an interesting sidenote, the Norwegian word for dandelion is Løvetann, or Lion's tooth.

Bright Lights
Summers in Norway are very sunny! The sun never goes down completely, resulting in very bright nights! :) It took me some weeks to adjust my bedtime... I wanted to stay up late because it always felt too early to go to sleep! :) The sun is extremely bright at a very early hour, so I really must go to bed at a decent hour here! Because the days are so long and warm, there is a lot of activity out on the streets, especially in Oslo! There are street musicians, statue actors, beggars, demonstrators, open flower, produce, and cheap goods markets, etc... There is always something going on in downtown Oslo! I have really enjoyed wandering around Oslo in the daytime and evenings! I just can't get enough of that town. :)

Apartment Search
Vegar and I began looking for apartments several weeks ago. The market is really good now, and we considered buying something. Everything is very expensive in Oslo, though. So we have decided to save for a year and then next summer see what options we have with apartment buying. It seems silly to rent and put money into someone else's pocket when we could own and put money into our own pockets. So we will see what happens in the months ahead. :)

Kelly's Education
Last weekend I visited the University of Oslo. I knew it was close to Vegar's apartment, but I had no idea how CLOSE it is! It is perhaps a quarter mile or half mile... just a couple of blocks! It takes a couple of minutes to be on campus! Very very convenient!

Norwegian First: I will have to begin Norwegian language classes in Hamar in August. I will take classes there until moving to Oslo in January. Then I will continue with language courses there. If I had enough undergraduate credits in science classes, I could begin graduate school immediately without needing to learn academic Norwegian. (Graduate school is taught in English, but undergraduate courses are only in Norwegian. *pout*) Thus, I am concentrating on Norwegian first, and then perhaps I can begin my year and a half of science credits in Fall 2007 or Fall 2008.

BUGS!
A couple of weekends ago, Vegar and I went for a five hour walk around this area I am living in near Hamar. The hike is called Ottestadstien. Along the trail, we came upon the yuckiest thing! Thousands and thousands of catterpillars had formed webs over trees... they were hanging everywhere by the thousands... forming small coccoons and covering the trees in that white silky webby stuff. :) We found out that it is a night moth that is currently devestating forests in northern Norway... they fear that there will be a belt of dead forest stretching from the sea to sweden! Click on a photo below to see more pictures of these crazy bugs!
























A Thousand Glees
Tysenfryd... A thousand feelings of glee. :) This is the roller coaster park in Norway. There are three roller coasters and several other rides... Tidal wave, something like the Superman at Six Flags, the wooden roller coaster, the Loop roller coaster, and then a new super fast one that does several cool loops and G-force drops! :) We had a wonderful time there last Saturday! :) Vegar got quite wet on the tidal wave ride... We enjoyed the ride that rolls and rolls upside down over and over again! Weee! And then the roller coasters... ah! Isn't life exciting?! :0D

Vegar standing very close to the tidal wave part. He almost got soaked! I don't think I have ever seen him run so fast! haha!

Vegar and I on the ride that rolled around and around, upside down for a very long time!

The Longest Day Ever
Summer solstice is the longest day of sunlight in the year. In Norway, summer solstice comes around the time of St. Hans' day. St. Hans is John the Baptist. They celebrate his birth with barbeques (AKA grilling sausages at home or on the lake), bonfires on the lake, and spending time with friends in this late night gathering. :) I made delish shish kebabs for us to roast. Num Num! We had a fun time visiting some of Vegar's friends on the island where Vegar spent his early childhood. The island is very lovely, mainly farmland, with beautiful views of the lake! :)
Trine, Vegar's mom, making the kebabs with the bonfire behind her. ----^