Norwegian Elections

Today is the national election (called Valg) in Norway. We have received a ton of mail about it but sadly we can't vote. We did get to experience some campaigning recently downtown - each party had a booth set up and was handing out both educational material along with stickers, candy and the like. One group even gave out roses. As we walked along the row of booths we came to this one:

Let's take a closer look....yes it is the Norwegian Communist Party! Great stuff! We got some educational material and some stickers. And from what we can tell this isn't some crazy tiny party (like the Green Party) they actually win seats....gotta love socialism!

Speaking of socialism- Jason just walked in and told me he just had to admit to a National Radio Communication official that we have a TV. The man was out checking all the addresses that were not registered for the year - why you ask? So we can pay our yearly TV fee to the tune of about $600 a year.....why is that not included in their 36% income taxes or 25% sales tax? The fee/tax to have a TV not for basic cable. Evidently if Jason said we didn't have a TV the man would want to come inside our house to check - not sure what happens if you refuse that but since my renewal visa is still pending it wasn't worth the risk.

Hobby

I was reading an article recently about hobbies which said how healthy it is to have one.  I have never really had a hobby and I think it would be nice to have one.  The thing that caught my attention in the article was that it said you should be really good at something and your hobby is a way to do that.  It got me thinking- what am I good at and what could I do for a hobby?

I came to the conclusion my hobby is cooking.  I do it a lot, I really enjoy it and I am pretty good at it.  So I am going to make it my official hobby starting now!  And I thought I would share some of my hobby with you.  Unfortunately you won't get to eat it but just see it.  My colleagues and Jason are the recipients of my hobby.  I don't work on Tuesday so I plan to cook/bake then and take the goods into my school meeting on Tuesday afternoons.  

Here is my first thing: Cream Puffs!  Always loved them but seemed really scary to make but they came out really well and were fun to make.

The puffs fresh out of the oven

After being hollowed out- Dopler, the sneak, ate the top to this one!

The finished product!

Trondheim Marathon!

My crazy husband decided two weeks ago to run the Trondheim Marathon with basically very little training.  Well the big day was this past Sunday.  We were very interested in how a Norwegian marathon would compare to an American one....we weren't expecting there to be any real comparison since there are only about 150 people running the full and half marathon combined and the entry fee was inexpensive.  

Here is packet pick up.  One guy and a box next to the information desk at a busy mall.  Packet pick up lasted one hour.

Here is Jason's race packet.  Yes it is just his number and safety pins.  But the number is pretty cool.  There wasn't even a map available!
The full marathon started at 11am on Sunday and ran 3 laps on a relatively flat course.  Here is the full marathon start.  Yes they are standing behind a chalk line in the middle of a street.  The street was not shut down (nor where any streets along the course) and the start was the organizer yelling "go!"  The start line was about 5 rows deep- I think about 70 people ran the full marathon including some really old people and maybe 8 women.

Here is Jason along the course.  Notice how uncrowded it is!  I think this is mile 2 or so!

Jason finishing the first lap downtown

It was really nice to have laps since it meant that I could support Jason at 6 different mile markers by just walking across a bridge.  He did amazing - he finished in just under 4 hours!  Quite a feat without really training for it (he did run 18 miles 2 weeks before to ensure he could finish).  He didn't feel great at the end but recovered quickly and hasn't been too sore.  I am super impressed with him!

Here is Jason coming into the finish line "chute"

Here is the finish line - he is running into the local mall (which was closed).  Notice the guy on the left getting money out of the ATM!

The half marathon had more participants and more women which I was glad to see.  It was interesting though- I got the feeling most of these people were out for a Sunday run.  It didn't seem like a big deal to many of these people - and they were running fast!  I did see one guy finish the half in cargo jean shorts- great stuff!

Back to School

School started in Trondheim last Monday.  I have a new schedule and am only working 2 full days and one short afternoon each week.  I will have Tuesday and Wednesdays off which should be niiice!  I worked a full week this week since a colleague was out for college courses.  Our new group of kids seems nice and I think this year might be a little more tame them last year.  

In May we lost our good friends back to America so we have been somewhat lonely in recent months.  But I have recently been invited to join a "women's group" which meets every few weeks - the first meeting was this week.  It was great to socialize with a group of women from all of the world!  I was invited to a girls night as well this weekend so hopefully our social life will begin to fill up again.  

Tartu

I have added more pictures from our trip to the "new photo" album on the right side bar.

Our last stop on Estonia Tour '09 was Tartu.  It is a cute little college town in the center of Estonia.  We headed there by bus on Monday.  The bus system in Estonia was great- cheap, convenient, and comfortable.  We arrived at our cute hotel and checked it to the "Amanda" room which to our surprise was really a two story junior suite with a living room and mini kitchen and a balcony- we were excited by that.  

Our fabulous hotel in Tartu- Villa Margaretha

We then headed out to see the city.  We found the town square very cute and picturesque.  We toured the university campus and saw all the famous sites.  We walked over the Angel Bridge holding our breath- according to legend the first time to cross you should hold your breath and make a wish- the bridge was a little long but we made it.  We also saw the Dome church ruins on the university campus- half the building is in ruins but the other half was renovated into the university library.  We saw the observatory, many statues and an old pagan sacrificial stone now used to burn notes and books by students.  We also got to see the Russian tradition of brides and grooms locking engraved padlocks onto public areas at the Kissing Stone on campus.  After all this walking we had dinner at a Asian fusion place and then headed to the very cool "Pussirohukelder" bar which is on the college campus and is situated in an old gunpowder warehouse/armory.  We got to experience some good local beer and college flavor- we even got the great experience of Estonia college karaoke.  I think we heard every song in Estonia ever made which all use the same melody including our favorite "Chicago" which was sung twice and used the the word "al capone" several times.  It was a great evening and we even got to interact with the college kids which was neat. 

The leaning building in the town square

Dome church ruins on the University campus- the other half of the building has been rebuilt and houses the library

College students signing traditional drinking songs in the bar inside the old gunpowder warehouse on the University campus

The next day we visiting the KGB Cells Museum (after we found it).  It is in the basement of the former regional KGB headquarters and houses 13 cells that were used to hold prisoners awaiting interrogations or shipment to a prison camp (Gulag).  The displays were very interesting and the cells were almost eerie to see.  I didn't know much about Estonia's history with Russia before our visit but I learned a lot- it was very interesting and pretty sad.  We then went to the Estonian History Museum, brushed up on our history and then headed to lunch.  After lunch we indulged in some nice chocolates at the fancy chocolate store in the town square.  To our surprise our three chocolates each cost more then our entire lunch but they were worth it!  After lunch we saw the University Lock-Up which is in the attic of the main university building and it acted as a prison for students in the 1800's when they committed offenses.  They students couldn't' leave the room, were allowed to study only and they only got food every few days.  They passed the time by drawing on the walls and writing verses in Latin.  It was pretty interesting - you could get 3 weeks in lock up for "deceiving a shopkeeper".  Dinner was at a great place where I had a wonderful steak.  

The KGB Cell Museum

Tartu University Main Building

Tartu University Student Lock-Up

Our last day in town we had a late train to Tallinn so we hung out in our room until check out and then headed in to town to see the Old Anathomicum museum on campus.  The building used to be the medical teaching facility where they preformed autopsies etc and it was quite run down which made it really spooky.  The museum itself is a collection of all kinds of body parts in both normal and sick states and they had some "freak" type items as well including a whole section of babies that included many Siamese twins.  All these "parts" were collected by the faculty between 1890 and about 1958 with a large portion between 1920-1950.  It was weird to know the people didn't give permission or their body to science but they were just taken and displayed without a second thought under Soviet rule.  It was very interesting and very weird. 

Old Anathomicum Museum 

We then found our way to the train station which was literally abandoned and if our guide book didn't tell us that we would have been very worried.  The book told us to "spring" for first class seats which cost about $12.  We were glad we did since the 2nd class looked like a train to the Gulag.  The train people had a good laugh at our expense with several language issues but it was a nice trip.  We finished our trip with alcohol purchases to take home and a nice dinner at a beer hall in Tallinn.  Our flights were early the next day.  I had a wonderful trip - got to see a new place, relax, eat some good food and spend time with Sarah!

Parnu

On Friday we took a bus to Parnu which is the spa and beach city of Estonia.  Our bus ride was 2.5 hours which was the quickest and most direct route but we drove through the tiniest towns on the smallest roads- I swear we only went 30 kph for at least an hour!   We arrived in Parnu and we were starving so we headed to the local pizza place for lunch which was yummy.  Then we wandered the city, it was raining so we couldn't go to the beach.  We saw the main street, the beach and it's promenade and the mud bath building that made the city famous - unfortunately it is closed down now.  

The main street

We also saw St. Catherine's church and the Tallinn gate which was part of the city's fortification in medieval times.  We then when to a nearby spa hotel and booked massages and treatments.  We had a light dinner at a local restaurant then Sarah went to her massage.  We had the same masseur.....unlucky for us the masseur spoke no English.  Sarah had a nice massage and I was excited for mine the next day.  While Sarah was getting her massage I found a cute coffee house and had a hot chocolate and read.  We then played cards in our room till we were exhausted.

Inside the local Eastern Orthodox Church

The mud baths that made Parnu famous- they are now closed

We found an excellent bakery in town and ate breakfast there everyday.  They had fresh donuts, pastries and my favorite kolaches!  The next day I had my massage- I had opted for a honey massage- it sounded different and relaxing.  Boy was I wrong....it was the most painful massage ever!  It wasn't really even a massage but more of a skin treatment - it was sticky and basically felt like an indian burn....I kept thinking "this part will be over soon -it can't last the full hour" - nope it lasted the whole hour!  If my masseur spoke English I would have asked for something different but I was out of luck.  The same day Sarah had a milk bath that was nice but they didn't give her a towel or tell her she needed one- obviously the Estonian version of a "spa" and our version were slightly different.  Later that day we shopped (it was still raining) and had dinner at a Tex-Mex place- which was humorous to say the least but the margarita was good.  Then we headed to a bar that was inside the walls of  Tallinn gate for a drink.  

The Harmonica Festival!

The next day as you might have guessed it was cool and overcast again so no beach for us.  Parnu really relies on the beach so there is not a lot to do besides beach stuff - so when it is cold it is struggle to entertain yourself.  Well we saw that there was a "parade" today so we went to see it.  It was basically 5 guys playing some instruments walking down the side walk with regular folks following- so we joined it and were members of the Estonian parade!  The parade lead us to the old beach salon which has an outdoor amphitheater so we paid our $4 and sat and watched the Baltic-Nordic HARMONICA Festival.  It was actually pretty fun - we had a nice lunch and some beers and took in the sights of small town Estonia.  We stayed there for a few hours.  Later that evening we had a nice Italian meal with fresh homemade pasta.

Sarah enjoying a beer with some great harmonica music!

Haapsalu

On Thursday we took an hour and 45 minute bus ride to a small town called Haapsalu.  The town was made famous by the restorative mud baths that the Russian czars loved.  The town itself is pretty small - I think 12,000 people.  After we hiked with our luggage to our hotel we set out to find some food.  We found a great cafe - we struggled with the menu which was in Estonia for 15 minutes with no luck before a waitress came with the English menus (oops!).  

This is the old train station that was built specifically for the czars so they wouldn't have to stand in the open air to catch the train - the covered platform was huge! 

After lunch we toured The Episcopal Castle and Church in town.  There is a great tale about a lady being walled up in the church walls for some offense and she can be seen on the first Saturday after the first full moon of August- we missed her by mere days! 

View from the top of a castle tower

The town was pretty small so there was not a lot to see but it had a great casual beach atmosphere so we wandered the town then headed to the hotel to relax on the grassy "beach" in front of our hotel. We wandered back into town for dinner and picked up some "long drinks" on our way home which are basically mixed drinks in a can.  We noticed lots of people drinking them so we thought we would give it a try.  There were many varieties- our favorite was the rose wine and tonic (sounds gross but it was good I swear!)

View from our hotel

One of the many cute "lace" houses in Haapsalu

Enjoying our long drinks!