The typical four questions

Every time I meet a new person here at NTNU, I am faced with the same four questions. Since I'm just starting out this blog, I thought running through these questions would be an appropriate way of introducing myself. Here are my somewhat well-rehearsed answers, although I occasionally edit them down depending on how interested my new acquaintance actually seems.

Q: What's your name?
A: Michael

Q: Where are you from? ... What part?
A: The United States... I went to school in Minnesota, but originally I'm from Iowa.

No use getting any more specific when they haven't heard of towns with fewer than 20,000 people. Sometimes upon request I give a city name. Typically their response is a clueless expression, and I'm left doubting that they knew any cities in Minnesota or Iowa in the first place.

Q: What do you study?
A: Materials science.

So this was a lie until classes started a week ago. Still, it was the easiest answer I could provide without explaining my whole transition from math/physics undergrad to materials science grad school. In fact I tried to explain all of this to my flatmate, but I just ended up confusing him. He couldn't believe I could change fields without starting over with a new bachelors program. But yes, I can. Because math and physics are that good.

Q: So why Norway?
A: well... uh... meow.

"Why Norway?" is usually less of a question and more of a statement. And it's always spoken in a tone that suggests I am crazy for choosing to come freeze my butt off for a year in the most expensive country in the world. So I really need a good answer to justify my decision to come to Norway. Unfortunately, this is by far the hardest of the four questions for me to answer. Not because I don't have good reasons, but because I don't have a simple, straightforward answer. Partially my decision was based on NTNU's hilarious commercials, but I sometimes I need people to take me seriously. Accordingly I usually ramble through some combination of the following: Norwegians have a good attitude toward the environment and getting outdoors, NTNU has some of the best energy-related research in Europe, and a good chunk of my ancestry traces back to Norway. Luckily this typically satisfies the Norwegians. I'm often tempted to tack on to my answer a sarcastic snip somewhere along the lines of "And yes, I know what snow looks like: I've seen it in several movies."