Week 12: Ørndalen!

Good morning!

In stark contrast to some of my previous postings, I actually remembered my camera this week – if pictures are worth 1000 words, you had better prepare for 25,000 word essay.

And if you’re not the sort that takes idioms literally, enjoy!

THE GROOVY GREEKS

(the title is a reference to a riotously funny series of children’s books, “Horrible Histories”, which feature history “with all the nasty bits left in”. Highly recommended.)

In Monday’s Cosmic Geophysics, we were discussing the distribution of air in the atmosphere. Thanks to modern experiments, we know that the atmosphere is densest at the Earth’s surface and decreases exponentially with height (about ten orders of magnitude between us and the Shuttle – on another note, that means that the Shuttle actually has to deal with air resistance).

Without going into too much detail, this exponential relationship is defined by the parameter called the scale height; this is the thickness the atmosphere would have if it was simply a layer of constant density.

The cool part (the reason I tangented into atmospheric physics): the Greeks knew about this scale height. They measured it two millennia ago using (ready for this):

Two bowls of water and a pipe.

Father Murray had it right: we owe everything to the Greeks.

C-Eh-N-Eh-D-Eh!

Monday's mailbox held a special treat for me:

Thanks Mom!

(on another note – I've learned on my travels that the Mounties are a genuine Canadian symbol. I can state with confidence that next to the Maple Leaf (and of course, the associated syrup), the Mounties are something people all over the world know and know Canadian. Oh, and hockey.)

A LONG-OVERDUE TRIM

As you may have noticed from my recent pictures, I’ve been stubbornly refusing to get a haircut while in Tromsø (the cheapest option checks in at about $50 CAD, and that’s not exactly at a reputable establishment). My expanding locks have been endlessly commented on by family and friends, especially over Skype – A Lori was particularly blown away, and that was at Thanksgiving, over a month ago!

Tired of hair constantly brushing my ears, I’ve been trying to find a friend with enough courage to give me a quick trim – with the constant reassurance that all they have to do is make it short. Proving that the French know more than just cheese and wine, Marie kindly volunteered to take on my challenge.

And so, on Wednesday night, Marie came by just after six for my hair appointment! We set up in the dungeons of Elverhøy (my dorm), much to the entertainment of various passers-by. It was great fun, and lasted much longer than a normal haircut would – after all, it was a social affair. The best part: she did a great job. As we discussed, I thanked her by whipping up a standard Canadian university student meal (she preferred that over something fancy) of Kraft Dinner with fried ham and peppers, raw veggies, and dip. It was simple, tasty, and satisfying – and somehow even managed to please the refined French palate..

Oh, and I also whipped up a batch of Eat-More Bars (recipe courtesy of Norine Schmalz via the Wilcox Community Cookbook) – they turned out perfectly, but I think I may have eaten one too many in the cooking process…

Note: the fried ham was more of a cured side of pork than a proper ham – my Norwegian isn’t quite at the point where I can identify cuts of meat (I can, however, tell you which is chicken, which is pork, beef, etc). It’s okay though, because it was still смачно! (I’m not going to translate this one for you, sorry – but Google is more than willing. Hint: it’s in Ukrainian)
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ARCTIC HIGH SOCIETY

Looking sharp with my new haircut, I picked out dress clothes to match and caught the bus to the north of the island, where a few of my Ørndalen friends were throwing a formal dinner. Grace, Linnea, and Josh really outdid themselves, in atmosphere:

presentation:

and attire:

(if you’re just tuning in, that was Grace from UK, Josh from Thunder Bay, and Linnea from Finland – with Loes from the Netherlands almost making an appearance)

Believe it or not, this entire affair took place in the local laundry building! Ørndalen’s kind enough to offer a community kitchen perfect for hosting such things; it was a far cry from Marie and I squeezing around my tiny table at Elverhøy earlier that evening.

As for me, I arrived just in time for dessert and cocktails, and had a great time drinking champagne, eating-More, and taking my turn DJing on Josh's new speakers. (Queen was particularly successful, though the Arrogant Worms and Shoom each made an appearance – gotta expose these kids to Canadian culture somehow.)

Oh and if you’re wondering what I wore? See Grad 2006, Grad 2008, Sheps Formal 2007, Sheps Formal 2008, Darren & Hayley’s wedding, Engineering Awards, etc, etc, etc… It’s good to be a guy.

TIP-TOP OF THE ISLAND!

On Friday, Loes and I trekked all the way up to the top of Tromsøya, the island Tromsø is located on. Granted, the 140 m peak (approximately the depth of the Qu’appelle Valley) didn’t offer the quite the thrill as Tromsdalstinden (the 1200 m mountain I climbed back in September), but we had been told that the view was great and the hike was fun.

Since we are quickly losing daylight (the sun set at 3:30 or so, though twilight lasts for hours), we Carpéd the Diem and set out right after lectures ended. We made our way down the slippery streets:

and, after an enjoyable hike along Lysløypa (the cross-island ski trail), we arrived at the peak just as the sun disappeared. And as promised, the view was awesome:

We could see almost the whole town from here – it was a great spot to take pictures from:

or just somewhere to sit and think:

Thanks to Loes’ camera (with the spectacular zoom lens), we were also able to get a nifty shot of the moon as it peeked over the mountains (note that it was much cooler than these pictures show):

The final shot was taken after we had descended from the peak all the way to Nordspissen, the north point of Tromsøya. The beach (or rather, slimy kelpy rocks) was less than photogenic, but the water made for a nice picture.

One personal victory: I defeated the vertical bog! Apparently, the nasty water-filled spongy ground that soaks your every step is helpless against freezing temperatures – we even hiked up a frozen creek bed without the slightest dampness. Revenge is sweet.

PERSPEKTIVET

Some time ago, Michelle (my Buddy’s buddy – see Week 6 for details) invited me to come check out the local “photodocumentation” gallery (preserving history and culture through photographs). Having rigourously proven that I needed a break from equations, I headed to the Perspektivet museum on Saturday afternoon for a little culture.

While the first floor gallery on Georgian women was off-limits for photography, I was allowed to snap a few pictures from the exhibit on the lives of Russian fishermen. I’m not going to attempt to explain why, but these three pictures struck me:

Feel free to make your own interpretations – as an Engineer, I don’t have much experience in such things, but I seem to recall that’s what art is all about.

On the top floor of the museum (which, in its past lives, was a Mack family house, a boarding-house, a community centre, and much more) was a neat little exhibit on Tromsø’s past; I found the picture of the harbourfront particularly enjoyable:

(if you look closely, you can see the building Driv is housed in – and this postcard is almost 100 years old!)

Oh, and I got to meet Gitta Jønsson, the namesake of my street:

While the Norwegians get a full paragraph, the English were only privy to:

“Gitta Jonsson, a leading figure in Tromso’s socialist movement.”

Succinct translation, that.

And finally, I snuck a shot of Michelle hard at work:

(as I’m sure you’ve guessed, the museum wasn’t exactly swamped with people – I have a hunch that if she felt up to it, she’d have enough time to construct a paper-clip chain large enough to encircle the building. Or something to that effect).

Thanking Michelle for the surprisingly enjoyable afternoon, I grabbed my bike, headed up the hill, and quickly learned how not to attach 2L pop bottles to the back of a bicycle. I think I would have appreciated the geyser much more if I hadn’t just paid through the nose for the bottle at the local 7-11. Live and learn, eh.

HAPPY HALLOWE’EN!

Apparently, Ørndalen is the place to be for a party: following up on the great success of Wednesday’s dinner party, Saturday night found us all in Grace’s kitchen for a spooktacular soiree:

Oh, and they absolutely outdid themselves in the party food category:

Throw a fog machine, spooky music, and a large crow into the mix, and you have one awesome party venue. And just for fun, a few costumes; the good fairy:

The bad fairy:

(yes Tendler, that’s a half-litre can of Strongbow)

The witch:

and, er, Josh the Ripper:

Oh, and my costume? Well, I was going to go as a Russian, but after seeing the Soviet at the museum, I decided to stay true to my roots:

(I also had a bottle of CC in my hand all night. It was a good prop.)

The party was a great success – we head about 50 people show up, so many that the floor started shaking (yes, I was a little worried). Afterwards, we all piled onto the buses for the Hallowe’en party on-campus at Bodega. All in all, I had a fun night and even managed to catch the final bus home for my early morning ahead…

WRECK!

Sunday morning, six intrepid SUT divers risked life and limb by diving in the middle of Tromsø harbour, right in the shipping lanes.

The reason: a real-live-100 year old wreck.

The wreck, named “The Russian” is purportedly a treasure ship of a Grand Duchess; true or not, it’s still a neat story.

After allowing the senior divers (Gerhard, Magnus, and Jon) time to find the wreck using a line from the shore, we launched Little Red Riding Hood (SUT’s inflatable) from the industrial section of Tromsø harbour, and headed out to the harbour for what promised to be an awesome dive.

Unfortunately, the fates were not on our side today. The second group of three became two when Malin ripped her drysuit entering the water (a freak occurrence to the point of being near unrepeatable). Camilla and I continued on down to the wreck, but had to cut our visit short when Camilla signaled to me that she was having issues with her air (I learned later that she was experiencing the first signs of CO2 poisoning, a serious problem 100 feet below). Staying together, we slowly made our way back to the surface, taking great care to degass ourselves on the way up.

As much as you may be surprised to hear this, the excursion was far from a loss; I had the opportunity to lounge in a pleasant little boat with good company as the sun set over the Tromsøysund, and we even broke out the oars for some exercise and environment-friendly propulsion.

It just goes to show; it’s not about what happens in life, but what you make of it.

CLOSING

Random thoughts I can’t fit anywhere else:

• The Shuttle main engines use turbochargers – massive turbochargers. How cool is that?

• I shared Don McLean’s "Vincent" with Loes (about one Dutchman to another); she quite enjoyed it, but informed me that the entire world pronounces Van Gogh’s name wrong – all I can tell you is that if you wind up with phlegm in your mouth, you’re on the right track.

  (“Starry Starry Night…”)

• Oh, and I also learned that salsa and cheese make good waffle toppings.
  

Cheers!