Welcome to Trondheim

Hi Everyone!

I am Rob. If you are reading this, you probably already know me, how about that!

I am studying abroad in Trondheim, Norway this semester (January-June 2013), and I think it might be easier to keep in touch with everyone if I can update in just one place. Please contact me, either in some kind of comment or an email or on facebook, or whatever else you want! I miss home, and hearing from friends and family makes me feel great!

I have actually been here for a week, but I have been trying to get settled in before starting in on a blog. I have lots of pictures from the traveling and the first week, so I will put them up in a soon-to-come follow up post.

From the beginning then: I flew from Washington DC to Newark, then the big Airbus330 to Copenhagen, and finally another little plane into Trondheim. Travel was as pleasant as it can be - I didn’t miss any flights and got where I needed to with minimal stress. I didn’t get much sleep on the plane, and my sleep cycle here has been off since. What can ya do.

Coming to a brand new place, far from anything or anyone I knew was scary. I was not sure where I was staying, how to get anywhere, how I would get food and pay for it, or if Norwegians did indeed speak enough English for me to get by. Fortunately, all of those things worked out in my favor. I found a couple places to stay in the first week - the Nidaros Pilgrimsgard, essentially a hostel for pilgrims to the big, beautiful Nidaros Cathedral, and Bruns Botell, an apartment building some of whose residents rented rooms on the cheap. My American debit card works at ATMs (“Minibanks” they are called here, appropriately) and sometimes at shops and restaurants - when it fails, I pay cash.

Norway may be the most expensive country in the world - that is not hyperbole. It took me a few days to get to the point where I converted from kroners to dollars in my head, partly because I thought I made a mistake most of the time. A Mcdonalds big mac meal? 85 NOK? 17 Dollars!?! I was surprised to say the least.

I have lots more to tell about the first week, but I want to keep the posts somewhat concise, and I want to post it to make sure it works!

Thanks for reading, I probably miss you, and I will post again soon! Rob