Tonight's sunset

Perpetual construction

Oslo, like most major cities in the summer, is doing a lot of construction work. Right outside my building is a construction site featuring 2 ginormous cranes. The control seat of the smaller one is directly opposite my twelfth floor window, the other must be about 15 storeys high at least. Every morning around 5-6 they start working at the construction site. Even 12 floors up with closed windows they're noisy as hell. So that noise lasted from the early morning to early evening. Then there was a company repaving the road right in front of the building overnight, so they would be noisy from 9pm-3am, leaving only a few precious hours of relative quiet. I now just received an email saying that there's going to be four new single room apartments built on floor 13-- fuck. I don't know exactly when week 34 is but that's when it's going to start and it's hopefully going to be finished by the end of the year. Yayyyyy. I'm going to try for a housing transfer as soon as I'm able to in October, more because of the distance from school than the construction (since the external stuff has to end in the winter anyways), but this contributes.

Akershus Festning

Another summer undertaking that can be the bane of tourists is restoration work on historic sites. I know that this is vital work to keep our monuments in good repair for many generations to come but fences and scaffolding can ruin the historic atmosphere and make for some less than appealing photos. I went and explored the Akershus fortress grounds yesterday and found many of the exterior walls covered in plastic and some wire fences around others. The castle area was unfortunately closed for a concert but it was nice enough to look around. Great view of Aker Brygge and some of the islands in the fjord. I also walked around Aker Brygge but didn't really understand the appeal; it was just a bunch of shops and restaurants that I didn't bother to go into. A couple nice fountains/statues. Lots of nice looking apartments that must cost millions.

 Also went and visited one of my favourite spots in Oslo- Sognsvann. Took a nice walk around the lake and took tons of pictures.

 

I still need to buy a pillow so I think a trip to Ikea is in the plans soonish.

Rainy day today so I'm staying in.

In Oslo- The Voyage and Lodgings

On the glorious Wednesday 10th day of August, Ash the Viking embarked upon a wondrous quest to a faraway land. She fearlessly set out in a steel bird to traverse the swan-road of the air. Leaving her homeland and many beloved behind for many seasons, Ash looked only forward towards the next grand adventure. The dangerous beast and capable foe: GRAD SCHOOL.  dun dun dun.

Well, that's enough of that. I miraculously have nothing to complain about the flights, no complaints about Icelandair and none about my fellow passengers. The only kids that cried thankfully did it during the main portion of the flight and not during take-off and landing so it was simply a matter of turning up the music. I was able to watch the take-off, read a few chapters of A Dance with Dragons on my new Kindle, and sleep a little. Flying through Reykjavik is much much better than going through Frankfurt, so much more direct. It was a painless 5 1/2 hours to Keflavik airport and another 2 1/2 to Oslo. I had been worried about only having an hour and twenty minutes between flights but it turned out to be more than enough.

Over Iceland

I knew that the chaos would begin once I arrived in Oslo. Keep in mind that I have over 100 pounds in luggage in two suitcases and a backpack. Disembarked, went through duty-free and got some cheap rum and beer (no cigarettes to the chagrin of a friend :P), and waited around for baggage. A little part of me worried I would be pulled aside. One of my bags contained a drinking horn and a bullet belt. I had checked that belts made of fake bullets are allowed to be in checked luggage but I didn't know if they'd be able to tell from outside the bag that they were in fact fake. Of course my bags eventually came out unopened and I was on my way. I took the flytoget (airport train) to Oslo S/ Jernbanetorget (the main train station in Oslo) where I paid for two lockers to put all my baggage in.
I then went and bought a transit pass and from there took the subway to Kringså which is quite North of the city to pick up my keys. I then took a bus from Kringså to Bjerke to make sure all my keys and such worked. I quickly met my bathroom mate (she's from Ethiopia) and then took another bus back to Oslo S. I picked up my luggage and because I'm stubborn and now knew the bus route decided to take my luggage back to residence on the bus instead of taking the logical taxi. (Thanks to the nice boy who helped me lift a suitcase onto the bus, my arms were jelly by then). Finally got my stuff upstairs and dumped them where they now still currently lie.
You probably don't know where Oslo S, Kringså, and Bjerke are in relation to one another but just take my word that they're not close. Or google map it if you don't believe me. I live in a very inconvenient location.
On to the Apartment.

My room.

My room is quite nice. The biggest of all student rooms I've lived in. Bed's quite comfy and so is that red chair (despite it being covered in stains :S). No closet in the room only a big cube-y shelving unit thing that I know will get very disorganized very quickly.

The bathroom: quite small. Doesn't really have a shower stall which is slightly annoying. Only a shower curtain that divides the room but doesn't really prevent water from spreading and the toilet gets soaked as well. There's also a heating element on the wall that I haven't fully figured out yet but is probably the best thing ever in the winter.

The Kitchen: Pretty big and nice. It's covered in notes about cleaning up after yourself. Big red-flag. I'm not exactly sure how many people I share this with. The bathroom-mate said 5 but she didn't seem sure and there's definitely more rooms down the hallway. I tried to draw a little picture to show what the hallway looked like...but it didn't work out. Probably because I'm still not sure. The first time I wanted to leave the apartment I felt lost in the hallway because it's just a sea of closed doors and you can't just open a knob you have to turn the lock as well so I was worried about getting caught trying to get into someone's apartment. But the maze was not enough to vanquish Ash the Viking.
From the picture of the kitchen you may be able to notice the best thing about this apartment.
THE VIEW! 

From the 12th floor I can see from the Oslofjord to Homenkollen ski jump to all over Marka. It's beautiful. Of course you have to look past a construction site and two giant cranes...but it's beautiful. The pictures don't do it justice and I really wish I had a card reader to show you pictures from the other camera (I got a dslr cam from my brother- thanks Mark). There's a horse race track just beside the building so I can also look down into the horse paddocks and see part of the track.

The view from my room is also pretty awesome, especially at night. After the sun sets there's a beautiful light blue/ greenish glow from behind the mountain forest. Pretty sure it's not the northern lights but it's pretty nonetheless.

again pictures don't do it justice

Anyways, lots to do, things to unpack, people to meet.
Fare thee well,
Ash the Viking.

Moving to Oslo

The time is almost here. On Wednesday I will be leaving Canada for Norway. I won't be back for at least a year when I hope to get funding to come back to a conference being held at my alma mater. If I don't go to that it may be years before I return. It's a really strange feeling to be saying good-bye to so many people when you know you'll probably never see the majority of them again. Of course everyone says "We'll see each other again" and insist that yours is an everlasting friendship but realistically, at least in my experience, this isn't true most of the time.
I've barely started packing. I'm allowed bring two bags as long as neither exceed 50 pounds but then there's the hassle of getting my luggage to my residence. It's largely an issue of pack or purge and I'm getting rid of quite a lot of clothes. It's hard to really decide what to bring and what I'll need to buy once I arrive. I don't know if I need to bring kitchen utensils like cutlery or pans. I know I'm capable of going without numerous comforts but in many cases I don't want to. For example, on my last three month trip to Oslo I didn't have a curtain, sheets, or a pillow. As a result I hung a fleece blanket in the window but it only covered half the window that let in the midnight sun all night, I slept in a sleeping bag, and I used a blow-up neck cushion with a t-shirt draped over it as a pillow. Not exactly luxury living and not something I'd like to repeat for the long term. I could get by with a lot less clothes than I'm packing but I've spent quite a significant amount of money on band shirts and hoodies and I actually do wear them all. Then with pants I'm only bringing one pair of jeans (plus the pair I'll be wearing on the day of travel), simple black pants, a pair of dress pants, and maybe a pair of capris. Another issue with moving to Norway is that I also have to prepare for winter. My trenchcoat weighs a good couple pounds by itself and my hoodies are bulky. What I'm going to have to do is pack up a couple shipping boxes and have my mom mail over the things that I won't need right away.
Once I'm done packing I'll post a list of what I'm bringing.
Still so so many things to do and only a couple days to do them.

The Once and Future King- T.H.White

This is a true masterpiece of medievalism. There were several times when I laughed out loud from the humour of the scenes that were very obviously an inspiration for parts of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. White takes Malory's Morte Darthur and retells the famous stories with grand understanding and humour. The first book of the novel consists of Merlyn's lessons to Arthur in his childhood. While at times the book seemed to drag a little; it was always a pleasure to read about "Wart's" experiences with the animals. I especially liked the contrast between the ants and the geese and the direct comparison between the warlike natures of ants and humans despite young Arthur's inability to see war as anything besides noble and exciting. The first book is crucial in understanding King Arthur's later ideals of chivalry and his quest to make a better world. While at times in Malory's text you want to smack Arthur for being such a doddering old fool while Lancelot and Guinevere get it on, White makes you sympathize with him. A poor man who has no choice but to ignore his wife and friend's infidelity or inflict upon them the full rigours of his own laws. White did not make Lancelot the charming beautiful hero of chivalric legend but he is instead an overly pious ugly man. While White makes him less appealing physically, he removes a great deal of Lancelot's brutality that is found in the original text. Guenever is the same over-emotional wretch of a woman from Malory and most Arthurian texts.
I did enjoy the inclusion of other medieval stories such as that of Robin Hood (or rather Wood) and Tristram and Isolde.
This is a must-read for any fans of Arthurian literature. I should have read it long before now.
Quotes:
"the best thing for being sad is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then- to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the thing for you."
"At a military tattoo perhaps, or at some old piece of showground pageantry, you may have seen a cavalry charge. If so, you know that "seen" is not the word. it is heard- the thunder, earth-shake, drum-fire, of the bright and battering sandals! Yes, and even then it is only a cavalry charge you are thinking of, not a chivalry one. Imagine it now, with the horses twice as heavy as the soft-mounted hunters of our own midnight pageants, with the men themselves twice heavier on account of arms and shield. Add the cymbal-music of the clashing armour to the jingle of the harness. Turn the uniforms into mirrors, blazing with the sun, the lances into spears of steel. Now the spears dip, and now they are coming. the earth quakes under feet. Behind, among the flying clods, there are hoof-prints stricken into the ground. It is not the men that are to be feared, not even the spears, but the hoofs of horses. It is the impetus of that shattering phalanx of iron- spread across the battlefront , inescapable, pulverising, louder than drums, beating the earth."
"There would be a day- there must be a day- when he would come back to Gramarye with a new Round Table which had no corners, just as the world had none- a table without boundaries between the nations who would sit to feast there. The hope of making it would lie in culture. If people could be persuaded to read and write, not just eat and make love, there was still a chance that they might come to reason."

Book Review: When You Are Engulfed in Flames- David Sedaris

Rating: 2 stars
Why I got it: It was in the bargian book section of Chapters and I had heard a lot of good things about Sedaris. I also really liked the cover.

I don't read short stories. I'm much more inclined to pick up a sprawling epic than a book of short stories yet for some reason I have bought several over the years, one of them being When You Are Engulfed in Flames. The book jacket called these stories essays- but essays are something I know well, they start with an introduction which contains a thesis and then continues to argue whatever point the thesis makes. These were not essays as I know them and the genre of personal essay confuses me. This is basically a collection of exaggerated recollections from what seems like a rather mundane life. There were moments I thought things could get interesting when he mentioned the drugs and alcohol but apparently they were covered in a different book and those vices have been given up. He also should have a wealth of cultural exchanges and comments because of the different countries he's lived in but apart from a comment on Japanese toilets and language lessons, you could barely tell that he had ever left his bedroom. Perhaps once again these are told in other books but I have no interest in hunting down the possibly interesting sections in a man's life. Even the parts that were interesting I often couldn't help but feel that there was so much more potential for humour or that I personally had a more extreme or engaging story about the same topic. Other reviewers have remarked that Sedaris makes the mundane funny and interesting but not for me. There was a handful of weak chuckles throughout the book but I didn't find anything hilarious. The book somewhat reminded me of a blog, which would be fine if that's what is was and I had come across it online and not paid $10 for it. Overall, I was unimpressed with the book and doubt I'll buy anything else from Sedaris.
Quotes: "I have often heard of cigarettes compared to friends. They can't loan you money, but they are, in a sense, there for you, these mute little comfort merchants always ready to lift your spirits. It's how I now feel about macadamia nuts, and these strange little crackers I've been buying lately. I can't make out the list of ingredients, but they taste vaguely of penis."

"If you have never spent whole afternoons with burning ears and rumpled hair, forgetting the world around you over a book, forgetting cold and hunger--

If you have never read secretly under the bedclothes with a flashlight, because your father or mother or some other well-meaning person has switched off the lamp on the plausible ground that it was time to sleep because you had to get up so early--

If you have never wept bitter tears because a wonderful story has come to an end and you must take your leave of the characters with whom you have shared so many adventures, whom you have loved and admired, for whom you have hoped and feared, and without whose company life seems empty and meaningless--

If such things have not been part of your own experience, you probably won't understand what Bastian did next."
- Michael Ende - The Neverending Story