Hello from Trondheim! After a 12 hour travel day from Lausanne (no joke), I finally arrived back in Trondheim late Friday night. My journey entailed: a bus to the Lausanne train station, the EuroRail from Lausanne to Zurich only to arrive 3 hours early for my flight from Zurich (laying over in Oslo) to Trondheim; last was a 45 minute shuttle bus from the airport. Anyway, it was worth the beautiful sights in Switzerland (of which I am posting some more photos here).
Something I forgot to mention about Switzerland: despite the little mountain town Flim being so quiet, we were awoken at 7am to the sound of loud church bells that continued for what seemed a fortnight. But - they eventually stopped, and my suspicions that this was to awaken the town and get their butts to church were right. Obvious, maybe, but I've never heard as many bells in my life than I did in Switzerland. And - I saw some awesome cathedral's as well (see pics).
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| Main campus building @ NTNU |
I had quite the interesting experience the day after I arrived back into Trondheim. A friend of mine owns a car but doesn't have a license and wanted to buy some new Ikea furniture. So - he asked if I would drive him, and of course I obliged. The traffic laws compounded with a noisy bright red Mitsubishi made for a scary, yet thrilling trip across town. In Trondheim, you get a yellow light before both green and red lights show, and the right lane is always a bus-only lane. Also, there are quite a few red arrows for right turns, so you can't turn on green unless it's a green arrow. So - as you probably guessed - I was in the right lane quite a lot (by accident) and had troubles remembering when to yield. Besides that, there are dozens of round-abouts in town; the Norwegian alternative to traffic lights. We managed to fit more furniture that I ever thought possible into the little Mitsubishi.
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| The city of Lausanne from the Catherdral |
This morning, I decided to go jogging in the mountains again. They are very accessible by bus and foot, so I just hopped on the bus and ran about 4 miles along lakes and farms. Every time I go, I am able to go a little further and see more of the mountains. Soon, I will make it to the top and share the photos of the fjords and city. I went with a couple Russian friends to the top of the fortress and BBQed some hot dogs and pork - with a disposable grill we bought at the grocery store.
I have a couple of new plans scheduled: toward the end of this month I will travel up north (about 600 miles?) to Tromsø to visit another NSF scholar; I'll crash on her couch and see a different part of Norway. In mid-October, I will give a guest lecture to Norwegian students in Psychology about adolescence. And, at the end of October, I will visit Bergen to collaborate with scholars at the University of Bergen.
...oh, and work is going well. :)
Until next time!
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| A house close to the flat we stayed in when we hiked the Alps |
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| The view from the top of my hike today, just outside the main city of Trondheim |
Something I forgot to mention about Switzerland: despite the little mountain town Flim being so quiet, we were awoken at 7am to the sound of loud church bells that continued for what seemed a fortnight. But - they eventually stopped, and my suspicions that this was to awaken the town and get their butts to church were right. Obvious, maybe, but I've never heard as many bells in my life than I did in Switzerland. And - I saw some awesome cathedral's as well (see pics).
I had quite the interesting experience the day after I arrived back into Trondheim. A friend of mine owns a car but doesn't have a license and wanted to buy some new Ikea furniture. So - he asked if I would drive him, and of course I obliged. The traffic laws compounded with a noisy bright red Mitsubishi made for a scary, yet thrilling trip across town. In Trondheim, you get a yellow light before both green and red lights show, and the right lane is always a bus-only lane. Also, there are quite a few red arrows for right turns, so you can't turn on green unless it's a green arrow. So - as you probably guessed - I was in the right lane quite a lot (by accident) and had troubles remembering when to yield. Besides that, there are dozens of round-abouts in town; the Norwegian alternative to traffic lights. We managed to fit more furniture that I ever thought possible into the little Mitsubishi. 
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