My First Week Above the Arctic Circle

Hello!! Hei hei, velkommen. As many of you know I, Callie Christianson, am currently skipping and humming throughout the realms of the Arctic. Yes, I am in Tromsø, Norway taking a semester while attending the University of Tromsø. Tromsø is located on the small island of Tromsøya just north of the Arctic Circle. Substantial parts of the urban area are also situated on the mainland to the east, and on parts of Kvaløya- a large island to the west. Two bridges and a tunnel to the mainland connect Tromsøya, and the Ice Cathedral is right on the mainland coast always looking over the harbor--so pretty. It is a small, beautiful, hospitable city of about 68,000 residents and lots of obnoxious seagulls.

YES: it is cold. And YES there is a lot of sunlight this time of year. It was about 50° F on arrival and immediately stepping out of the plane the crisp air took hold. However I feel that at this season, it is more so refreshing than anything else. One of many advantages about coming from North Dakota is that we are used to below freezing winters, but here the island is blessed with a warmer coastal breeze keeping the temperatures more constant throughout the seasons. From what I am told it shouldn’t be any colder than 20° F in December, and for that I am rejoicing! The daylight/nightlight has been something to get accustomed to. About two weeks before we arrived Tromsø had just finished the season of the Midnight Sun. The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon occurring in summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle where the sun remains visible at the local midnight. The opposite phenomenon, polar night, occurs in winter when the sun stays below the horizon hroughout the day. Right now there is darkness, I would not go as far to call it night but darkness from about 11:00p until 1:30a. It is strange to grasp that while I am Skyping back home until three o’clock in the morning the sun is definitely coming up.

I don’t believe the light has been too much of a factor of my cycle but the fact is that even five days since my arrival my body clock is still out of whack. I need to sleep and eat more on a regulated schedule—and I believe I will get that once the hassle of orientation is finished. This place thus far has been overwhelming, yet wonderful.

View from the plane, I am in Norway!!

Chronologically, Ashley Jacobs (the other Concordia student who is in the Exchange Program with me) and I had some trouble getting on our 6:00a flight last Sunday, but we got things figured out enough to where we caught the 6:00a flight on Monday. It was a blessing in disguise because then I got to spend just one more day with my incredible family—and the Winkels:) We took off from Fargo, then flew to Chicago, then to Newark, NJ and had a six-hour layover. The overnight flight wasn’t terrible; just a lot of scattered sleep and episodes of New Girl. Our flight left Newark about two hours later than scheduled so coming into Oslo we missed our connecting flight. After talking with information desks, we had to decide whether to wait in Oslo until the following morning to head straight to Tromsø, or fly to Trondheim, get through a seven-hour layover and then arrive in Tromsø late that night. We chose the latter. On the flight from Trondheim to Tromsø I made friendly conversation with a man from the Finnmark region of Norway and asked him many questions about where I will be living the next half year.

Arriving in Tromsø, first thought: beautiful. I know I have said that time and time again, but it is the sincere truth. Even through the chaos of travelling, it was wonderful finally being in this city. After some help from some people with the university, we got on the bus (as of now, the bus system is completely intimidating) and were dropped off near our residential hostel, Stakkevollan—a 20 minute walk from campus and a good bus ride to the city center. Two new friends, Bill (from Egypt, third year student at UiT) and Tricia (from Kansas, here for Masters Program for two years) helped us carry our baggage down to the houses. In conversation we realized that we didn’t have Internet yet, so Bill graciously let us use his computer to type a quick hello to our families back home. Ashley and I split ways, her building is two down from mine, and finally I was able to sit down and take in where I was. Well, I turned up the music and even though it was 11:00p started unpacking everything until the good hour of 3:00a.

Ashley, Bill, Tricia, and the other few international students who live in Stakkevollan agreed to meet up before starting to walk to campus the next morning. We met a few more friends, and the walk was lovely of all sorts. Beautiful bay and mountains on one side and friendly looking homes on the other. In comparison to home, everything was so very green—and pretty. UiT’s campus is small and through the past few days we have seemed to come to know the place well enough. We went and registered for orientation and with tea and coffee in hand and we started to mingle with other students, asking the same questions concerning name, the country they are from, where they live here, and what they are studying. I realized that interesting, wonderful people surrounded me.

Orientation was orientation. Went through the ins and outs of the university, how to register, and information about the city and some other helpful suggestions and demands—of course broken up by tea and coffee breaks:) Wednesday night we walked over to another student hostel, Ordalen, and met many other international students for a BBQ, making friendly conversation and eating yummy hotdogs. Thursday was just another day of orientation, but it was comforting when I could look at the same crowd of people and recognize faces here and there. After being at the campus for some time, Ashley and I walked back to enjoy a night to ourselves. Friday afternoon, the international students were given bus tours of the city and then went to the city center to have dinner at the student house driv. driv is this huge wood building, like a classy barn, that has a stage and bar on each of the five levels, and on the bottom a larger stage with an open overlook from the second floor. After dinner, a majority of the students went to apply for bus cards. It was a bonding experience for all of us—standing in line for two hours really holds ya together.

Friday night there was a welcome party at driv. We took the bus to the city center and walked to the student house. Once inside the atmosphere was incredible. The music was so very loud and everyone had a smile on his or her face. It was quite the scene and we jumped on in! It was especially fun knowing every other (American) song that they played. Lots of techno, lots of salsa, lots of pop. We stayed out as long as our bodies let us, knowing we were still recovering from jetlag, and we rode the bus back to the hostel and skyped until the sun came up…so 3:00a:) Saturday, the ISU (International Student Union) held a second-hand market for the international students. We went to Café Bodega (on campus) hung out with other students, drinking tea and eating waffles while some others went through the mounds of donated goods that will make our stay more comfortable and affordable while being here in Tromsø. Later that day, the ISU provided a movie for students to watch also if they’d like. We watched “Across the Universe” which made both Ashley and I feel bittersweet, yearning for home. While walking back to our hostel, we discussed the challenges that will and have already come with studying abroad. It has not been easy so far but I am very glad she is here with me:) We decided to walk into the grocery store near our hostel to grab some food and left with hotdog buns and yogurt. While heading out the door, we ran into our neighbor Adnan (from Pakistan) and he invited us over for dinner. After lively conversation, our stomachs were finally full and we’re very grateful for our new friends.

Above scenic Grøtfjord, Norway (I tell about Grøtfjord in my next post)

So far, it has been nothing less of an experience. I will try my hardest to keep up with new blogposts because I know that this one is pretty late. I will write later today about the past three days. I hope that you enjoy it:) Ha det!!