Mountains and Lights

I've had many conversations since being overseas (mostly with Patty) about how studying abroad is really a venture to discover new aspects about yourself. Sure there is a lot of cultural and historical learning, but the majority of the information you take home with you is about how you fit into these new environments and what that means for your previously defined self-image. I decided in Norway that for whatever reason, I wanted to grow up and be independent way too quickly. It is really nice to have someone else make decisions for you every now and then, even if they are small. I think I have always understood this, but I needed a moment to realize what it meant to me.

I left for Norway on Wednesday morning. It was an awfully long day of traveling (two planes and two trains), but we arrived in Tromso that evening. The city was beautiful. It was right on the water but surrounded by snow capped mountains, as though someone had taken Tacoma and placed it in Colorado. I couldn't get enough of it. We spent our time sightseeing mountain tops and the Northern Lights. I'm not sure I can remember a time I was so introspective as the night I sat under the city lights and saw ribbons of green float through the night air. It was a glorious sight, something I don't think I can accurately describe. The northern lights are very temperamental and we had to hold our hands up in the air to block the street lights. It seems odd, but the green became twenty times brighter. What was even more amazing was that the locals told us the next morning that the night was saw them was the first time the lights had been out this season. They hadn't had a clear night in months. We got really lucky. I do have pictures, but they had to be taken in a special format with the shutter open for extended periods, so the files are quite large. I'll get all of them up on Facebook soon, but here are a few for now.

To sum up, here is a list of reasons I would love to live in Tromso Norway:
1. Beautiful, towering mountains
2. The Northern Lights
3. Normal Tacos!
4. Curried chicken chimichongas (odd but delicious)
5. Smash (chocolate covered Bugles)
6. Heated sidewalks
7. Friendly people
8. Real coffee (London has terrible taste)
9. The sun orbits really close to the horizon, so it always looks like sunset (even at 11am)
10. Made me feel content

Reasons I would hate to live in Tromso:
1. Cost (large pizza = $40)
2. 2 months of solid darkness in the winter
3. 2 months of solid daylight in the summer

I finished my last mid-term today and everything went well. Tomorrow I leave for Belgium to eat waffles, chocolate, and visit WWI trenches. Wish me luck!