One Month – Mega the Norsk

I have reached the one month point for my time in Norway. That fact is both surprising and not surprising. It is surprising because it is hard to believe that I am already one-third of the way through my Fulbright visit to Norway. (I am adding on three additional weeks of vacation after the completion of the Fulbright visit.) It is not surprising because that first weekend in Bergen feels like a distant memory from where I am at today.

The first full weekend in Norway, with the Winter Seminar and Ski Weekend still stands out, by far, as the most significant and fun part from my first month in Norway. In the three weeks since then, I feel that much of my effort has been spent in getting settled into daily life in Bergen and trying to make that daily life more efficient. My logic behind that approach is that if I make the daily life super efficient then that will provide me more time and opportunities to include more fun and adventurous experiences into my visit. I took my first day trip outside of Bergen (more below) this past weekend. I am making progress in the plans for a long weekend to Oslo, for later this month, and to Tromsø for next month.

I am absolutely feeling behind when it comes to the progress on the research project with studying extremes in temperature and precipitation. This is partly natural as frequently research projects take awhile to get rolling before they take off in spurts of significant progress. The slow start is also because the responsibilities with my research group/projects back in the U.S. have been chewing up more of my time than anticipated. I will undoubtedly be facing this balancing act between Norway and Colorado for the remainder of my visit. I feel reasonable with the “teaching” aspect of my visit. The initial, or introductory, seminar went very well. I have scheduled a closing seminar for my last day of the Fulbright visit. There is a workshop for me to give that has been discussed but is not finalized and on the calendar yet. I have been attending group meetings for the NORCE Polar Research group and University of Bergen atmospheric dynamics group and weekly weather discussions.

Daylight	Sunrise	Sunset	Length
Feb. 8	8:37 AM	5:09 PM	8:32
Mar. 8	7:17 AM	6:23 PM	11:06

I made my first day trip out of Bergen this past Saturday. I took the train to Voss, which is about and hour to an hour and a half east (inland) from Bergen. Along the way to Voss, I stopped to buy a Norwegian sweater at a factory store in Dale.

*The train station at Dale with an outbound train.*

*The Dale of Norway Factory Store where I bought my Norwegian sweater.*

*The view from the train between Dale and Voss.*

Voss is considered the adventure heart of Norway. It is similar to places in the mountains in Colorado with it being dominated by skiing during the winter months followed by a shift to summer outdoor activities. There was still downhill skiing in Voss, as indicated by all of the people with skis, but I did not see the skiing as it was on the other side from where I was at in Voss.

*The town of Voss with the gondola to the top of the mountain in the center of the photo. Notice as well the paragliders descending from the top of the mountain.*

I was able to do a walk/hike along a lake in Voss. There were amazing views along the lake as it as a combination of ice/snow, fog, mountains, and a sunset. The following are some of my photos. I ended the day in Voss with dinner followed by a train ride back to Bergen.

If interested, I have posted more photos on my Instagram page: @megawx