Something old, and something older

I guess I should probably wrap up blogging about last semester. (Is it possible to be bad at blogging? Because this is getting ridiculous.) So here are a few snippits from the end of last semester without any continuity to tie them together.

After I got in some pretty good training in the fall, Joey (D-I 800m runner. Nuff said.) volunteered to rabbit a mile for some of us in the running club on Thanksgiving Eve. The idea was to run a sub-five minute mile. Even with all the training I did in the fall, I was a little skeptical that I'd be able to run that time. I just followed Joey the whole time, and his pacing was perfect. I felt great on the home-stretch and gave a little kick to finish-off a 4:53 mile with relative ease. Just 3 seconds behind my indoor PR, which honestly was a much more strenuous race. It turns out that running goals are a lot easier to meet if you don't have to think at all (or deal with "that kid" employing the sprint-then-die-hard race structure). I think this event might also support the idea that a reasonable sleep schedule makes training much more effective. But that is just a theory. Like evolution.

The next day my hometown friend Daniel arrived in Trondheim to visit for a few days. He had just finished a few months in Tanzania, and was continuing with a quick tour around Europe. I found out that the activity house at my housing village lends out cots for free. Win! We got together with some of my friends on Friday to celebrate Thanksgiving… with pizzas. This is how we do it in Norway. But really, we just weren't up for trying to prepare a turkey (I wouldn't even know where to purchase one). A great night with awesome people and interesting conversation. Amurrica!

We even got fresh snow while Daniel was in town!

During Daniel's visit also paid a visit to Rockheim (the Norwegian rock music museum) with my German buddy Daniel and his girlfriend, who was visiting. I know nothing about Norwegian rock culture, so the content was kind of lost on me. BUT the building itself had a cool design inside and out, and the whole place was filled with excessive applications of touch-screens and various interactive gadgets that kept me occupied.

 Right before Daniel hopped on the train out of Trondheim, we also made a (very short) pilgrimage to the Nidaros Cathedral. Last summer when I told people back home that I would be going to Trondheim for a year, they either had no idea where that is or they would talk about the awesome Cathedral. I somehow managed to live in Trondheim for a few months and pass by the Cathedral countless times without ever going inside until Daniel came to visit. It was definitely the best (and only) Norwegian Cathedral I have ever visited. But honestly, I love what it adds to the city's skyline.

Christmas comes but once a year. LIES! Norwegians celebrate Christmas an average of five times each winter. (Totally made that one up). Really, every department, club, company etc. has it's own christmas party. Some of these have to be super awkward because normally there is no overlap between your work and your social lives. Then suddenly all of your colleagues are having a dinner party together? Also, apparently Norwegians haven't heard the rule about not starting the Christmas season until after Thanksgiving, because these parties start in mid-November.

The running club held a one of these parties, and I have to say the atmosphere really got me in the Christmas spirit. We had some tasty julegrøt, which the Norwegians translated to porridge, but really it was just like rice pudding. There were two almonds hidden in the porridge (traditionally there is just one). Joachim convinced me that the person who finds the almond in their porridge has to yell, "Mandel!" (Norwegian for almond.) Of course I ended up finding an almond in my porridge. Luckily people didn't hear me over the chatter because I was laughing to much to actually yell. Turns out Joachim was just trying to make a fool out of me. What's new? Later on at the party, the people at my table came to the unanimous decision that if we were attacked while walking home, then I would be the one sacrificed. That's love.

Now that I'm done talking about fall semester, I can finally post about where I spent Christmas. (Guaranteed to be another picture-storybook post!)