Little Brick Houses for You and Me: Four Years Ago. . .

On May 14th I was sitting at my job staring at a computer screen for 10 hours. All day I kept thinking about what I did on May 14th of 2006. . .I left for a 2 month study abroad trip in Oslo, Norway with 15 of my law school classmates. I was feeling pretty terrified about the trip. Compared to how I know them now, I barely knew the others on the trip. Of course, after a few weeks we were like lifelong friends, sharing hotel room beds and tiny ferry cabins on our weekend adventures, consolidating loads of laundry and walking tipsy through the city streets arm in arm at all hours of night. I remember turning my cell phone off right before boarding the red eye flight around 10 pm in the Newark airport in New Jersey and hardly believing that I wouldn't hear a familiar voice for weeks. ( I didn't, either! I communicated with everyone through instant messaging and other internet methods!) We landed in the beautiful and serene Oslo airport the next day feeling haggard and jet lagged. A kind Norwegian student met us and made sure we made it to our new home for the next two months. I was living in a room with my classmate Mike, who I barely knew. (We hit it off right away and stayed good friends after). During one of our first nights, when we were still jet lagged, I woke up in the middle of the night and sat up. He was awake also and we realized we had both awakened at what would have been dinner time at home! This wasn't my first tangle with jet lag and I will never forget the first night my family spent in Yemen when I was wide awake and hungry all night but didn't understand why. It is a crazy experience and it is fascinating how circadian rythms affect us.

At the beginning of the trip it rained every day. . .it was hard to get used to because it wasn't just a downpour like we have on the Great Plains. It was a constant light rain that never quit. When May turned to June it got nice out and we went to the beach after class many days. I used to buy these gummy strawberry candies from the bulk candy bins at the convenience store where we bought our train tickets to head to the beach. . .my mouth is watering just thinking about them! I haven't seen them anywhere here. . .

I better get on with this. . .I could write volumes about my memories of Norway and Yemen. . .but I am just going to share some photos of Norway so I can remember it. It was an amazing time and I still feel the urge to have such adventures. I think it is something everyone should try. (By that I mean that everyone should step outside the box and do something that makes you uncomfortable. It is very invigorating.)

This the law school! It's so beautiful. . .I can't believe I went here every day. It is located on a main street in Oslo, Karl Johan Gate. It is only blocks from the Royal Palace!

This a close up shot of the entrance of the law building.

This is Nyhavn in Copenhagen, Denmark. I loved the city of Copenhagen! We went there on a ferry for a long weekend.

That is a shot of me when we went north of Oslo, past Lillehammer and into the mountains for a weekend. We went hiking and also white water rafting. We stayed at a historic farm that now is an inn. It was one of the more fun weekends I've had in my life (seriously!)

That is at Tivoli, a famous park in Copenhagen. It was Walt Disney's inspiration. The two girls are my classmates.

This was taken on Constitution Day, which is tomorrow! The 17th of May! This day was kind of a blur because of the jet lag. Two of my classmates slept through it and got up at 7 pm! I experienced the whole day. That is Karl Johan again, the street in front of the law school. It was packed with people! They really party on this day. It was very cold and rainy and there were so many umbrellas you could barely move through the crowd!

This a McDonald's we encountered in Bergen, Norway, during a weekend trip! We ate there! It was the same food as any other McD's.

This is a historical part of Bergen. Bergen is a beautiful city.

This looks like a sunset but it was taken around midnight! It was on one of the longest days of the year. We experienced the "midsummer" celebration, on the summer solstice. It never gets dark this time of year and we stayed out all night and at 4 am it was as light as if it were noon.

This was taken on a Fjord tour we took near Bergen. It was so beautiful! Dierks Bentley, a modern country singer, has a song called "Prodigal Son's Prayer" and the lyrics of the last verse say "Father meet me in the cool green valley, in all of your glory, when my days are done.." It was on a cd that was released around the time if this trip. I couldn't stop thinking that this was the cool green valley that he imagined could be heaven. The air smelled like flowers from blooming trees! The water in the fjords is turquoise from the glacial water, although this photo doesn't show the color very well.