These Are My Twisted Words

A few hours ago, a train from Oslo pulled into the small town of Bø.  Hope and I, along with several other students from the US and around the world, stepped out of that train and into the cars of Telemark University College students.

Hope and I parted ways within minutes of stepping off the train, and I haven’t seen her since.  That was about 7:30 PM local time (12:30 PM for those back home) – if my memory serves me right.  One of the hardest things about this trip has been not having a readily available source of telling time.

I entered the car with a student from another country.  In about five minutes we saw almost the entirety of the town (which is rather small for boasting ~5000 inhabitants).  Biggie Smalls thumped as we pulled into Grivi Studentheim.  This is the dorm I will be spending the next four to ten months at.  The dorms here are different than most of the dorms I’ve had experience with in the past.  Each person has their own room and bathroom, while six rooms share a kitchen and the whole dorm shares things like living rooms.  I must say that even without the separated closet, bathroom and entryway, this room is easily twice the size of the one I paid $456 a month for in Madison this last year.  Once tomorrow has come and I’ve gotten some rest, I’ll take pictures of Grivi to share with all of you.

I thought that traveling with Hope for many – many – hours, cramped together in too-small seats, would easily drive us crazy.  Surprisingly – from my perspective at least – there was little animosity between us at the end of the trip.  We were both grumpy after a cumulative 10-or-so hours of sleep combined over the last 48 hours, but I definitely did not feel like ripping her appendix out or otherwise tearing her a new one.  She may tell you different, but as far as I know, the trip was a real success.  I was very lucky to be able to travel with someone I could talk to for hours and have company during this incredibly long journey.  The seven hour layover in Stockholm went amazingly fast thanks to some epic games of WAR.

But the real fun has just begun.  Tomorrow we have group activities for international students to learn about the school, the campus and each other.  The schedule seems rather full for the next week, but thankfully it doesn’t start until 3 PM tomorrow afternoon.

There has been lots of rain tonight, but the foggy train ride through the Norwegian countryside was beautiful.  I believe I need sleep now more than  any other time in my life.  Goodnight, my friends.

P.S. Only one thing that I know of broke in transit – my shaver.

P.P.S. Myles Coyne: I have a gift for you.