Last day of school today. I just finished my last final. I have one paper I need to write tonight and email to my teacher tomorrow, but otherwise I'm done with this semester. The end-of-term tea party and the paper, and then I'm free...
Anyway, playing catch-up again.
Sarah and I slept in in Olso and didn't leave the hostel until nearly 11, but after spending the night before in the airport, we rather needed the sleep. I had my leftover pizza for lunch, and then we headed back to City Hall and the fjord, because we wanted to take a ferry over to the Norwegian Folk Museum. We were supposed to buy our tickets on the ferry, but we accidentally avoided paying by sitting on the deck outside. We didn't realize until the way back that the guy checking/selling tickets only did it inside, because we sat inside the way back. Except at that point we didn't have enough cash for a ticket, of any denomination (they would have accepted Euros or pounds), we just had credit cards. And the ferry people ran the ferry continuously and couldn't wait for us to go find an ATM, so...we used the ferry for free. We would have been willing to pay, but you know, I can't say I'm sorry we ended up not having to.
The Folk Museum was pretty cool (and paying for a ticket in was where I used the last of my cash). It was an open-air museum, with Norwegian buildings ranging from several decades old to about eight hundred years, the church. In one of the houses they were making traditional lefse, which is a sort of slightly sweet flatbread. Sarah told me I had to try it, so I did, and it was really good. Sarah also told me that around the end of November/beginning of December, PLU (her school, and also in Tacoma) hosts this kind of fair thing and people come who make traditional lefse, so I think when that comes around I'm going to go to PLU and get some.
Sarah has a Norwegian friend named Even who came to Oslo at two to spend time with her and show us around. He took us to the opera house, which I wouldn't have thought of going to, but it was really interesting. Not a traditional building at all -- it sort of reminds me of the Scottish Parliament, but mostly in the sense that what seems like it should be an old traditional building is instead really interesting modern architecture. The roof of the opera house in Oslo was this long slope, so we just walked up the roof to the top and looked out on the fjord again, which was quite cool.
After that we took a tram to the sculpture park, which was...interesting. It was very pretty scenery, and a beautiful day, but all the statues were of people, and all of them were naked, and not even in sculpture sections of museums have I been surrounded by that many fake naked people. For the most part they did not come across as sexual despite the nudity, but I really don't think I have any way of describing them without it sounding sexual, so I think I'll refrain and just show the pictures I took.
That was really about all we could think of to do for Oslo, so it's a good thing we were only there for two days. The three of us just ended up going back to the main shopping street of Karl Johans Gate and finding a nice spot by one of the fountains to sit around and chat. I ate the last of the food I brought, and then we took the bus back to the airport of Rygge, where we spent the next ten hours.
I got even less sleep on Saturday night than I did Thursday, though we got to the airport in enough time for me to have gotten more. It just took me a long time to get so tired that I could fall asleep even there. Also, around two in the morning this girl and her friend from Turkey came in, and we just started chatting about being students traveling. I enjoyed that, even if it meant even less sleep.
I was up at five, which was not fun, and on the plane not long after six. What was nice, though, was that all the scheduled passangers got on quickly and so we were able to leave early, and get back into London half an hour before scheduled. We were then able to catch an earlier bus back to Baker Street, and therefore I managed to get home by ten, rather than eleven. I started laundry, and then I took a nap.
The election here has finally resolved itself. David Cameron of the Conservatives as new Prime Minister, and Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats as Deputy Prime Minister, with a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, the first coalition in decades. It's too bad I'm about to leave, because this would be fascinating to watch play out first hand -- men of two different parties as PM and Deputy PM! Especially considering they're the right-wing and the further-left-wing parties! I'm going to have to keep up with what's going on when I go home, because this is just too interesting. I got to watch Gordon Brown give his resignation speech live, and go to see the Queen and recommend she ask David Cameron to form a government, and dude this was just so cool.
I got my final papers done in enough time for me to spend two evenings this week seeing shows. Last night I saw Avenue Q, which was awesome. Absolutely hilarious. I think it was pretty obvious who the Americans in the audience were, though, because there were some things we laughed at that most of the people there didn't. In the final song, they started listing things that were "only for now", and I was amused when one of the things they listed was Gordon Brown. This was the first show where that was not applicable, because it was last night that he resigned. Still, I very much enjoyed the show, even if it was in London and not New York. I just hope it's not too prophetic, because this time next year I'll have a BA in English...
My finals are done, now, though, and almost all of my preparations for Europe. I have booked all of my hostels, and have also added up how much all of the hostels will cost me. What's left over in my bank account will be used on food, inner city transport, and seat reservations on trains (I may not have to pay for a ticket, but I still will need reservations for many trains, but plain reservations are a lot cheaper than tickets), and of course souvenirs. I've got one suitcase packed, then tonight I'll pack up a box to send home, probably by sea because that's cheaper and I don't really need it to get there sooner than the three weeks or so it'll probably take. Then I can do the last packing, because on Saturday I leave with friends for Cardiff, and only on Monday will I leave the UK.
I...don't want to think about it right now. I've been making all these plans for Europe, but trying not to think about the reality of actually being there. I mean, I'm looking forward to it, but it means the end of my big semester abroad. I'll confront the reality later. For now I still want to pretend I don't have to leave in just a few days. Sigh.
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