4 am

It's four am. I'm in studio, and by studio I mean a computer lab and a classroom in a building that locks its doors at 11pm and opens around 8 am. In a few short days we have completely destroyed the third floor in building D at the University of Stavanger, Norway. There is enough trace paper to fill the Fjord at the bottom of the hill. (it's really deep) Yup, there is a fjord at the bottom of the hill and we are still at studio. hmmm late night swim?
For those of you who understand what 'studio' really means, it is obvious that tomorrow is our final review. We present our concepts for a new town square, Nytorget. This translates to the 'new market.' It's not new and it's not a market but it has great potential. We were informed this afternoon that the local news station will be covering our presentations. heeee.
What's really great is that in 27 hours I will have this project done and will be on a flight to Deutschland! The Norwegian students are planning a big party tomorrow night after our review. I already pitty the person who sits next to me on the plane!
damn happy birds! They have no sense of time here.

22:22

It's 10:22 here in Stavanger and if you were judging by the sun you might think it was 6pm. It will be darker around 2 am, but not much. We arrived here at the University last night after 10 days of planes, trains, buses, taxis, and adidas. Traveling is the life for me, fortunately everyone speaks english. Takk, means thank you and hello is hello in Norwegian. That's all I know.

This photo is from the amazing dinner that our professor, Mark and his wife Kirsten prepared for us. Fresh shrimp, caught that morning and the most beautiful salad you've ever seen. They have a home here which is built on Kirsten's childhood farm. There is a Fjord in the background, you can just see the tops of the hills and a bit of the water. Yes Jen, this is the land of Fjords.




Most of the activity is here in the main harbor, especially durning the summer when most people take a months vacation. We have a lot to learn in the US.
Allison and I arrived at the Sola Airport and met a couple of American travelers who informed us of a Sand Volleyball-World Tour, taking place in the harbor. Everything is beautiful. The water, the architecture, the people (Ani was right!) It's quite a package.






This is Prekestolen, the Pulpit rock. The photo is of Helene(Norwegian student), Allison and me. Yes, we are close to the edge. It was a great day hike and though the picture doesn't do justice, you can obviously see the reward for reaching the top not to mention a lake to swim in at the bottom. This hike was my first chance to chat with Mark and was an incredibly educational walk back down. I have a lot to learn and I am in the right place for it!

Spell check doesn't work! I'm paralized!

I should have known...

... there would be no time for blogging. As one wise professor says, GET OUT! OK. Right now I am in a posh hotel in Helsinki, Finland watching the Italy and Germany duke it out for the cup. The crowd looks like something out of an old Mophia movie. No joke, half of Italy decided to watch this game in the lobby of this hotel. After a few days in Oslo and Stockholm we arrived in Helsinki by ferry, it's more of a cruise ship really. I have never seen such an amazing sun set and watched it come up again in a matter of a couple gin and tonics.
My time is already up on this computer, please excuse any spelling errors as it is quite a strange key board. More when I can!

Brag-Time

So I lied, this just wouldn't be my blog if I didn't brag about the little smoochies in my life. Aric is the newest addition to our growing family. He was born in the fabulous month of February and I finally met him last week. He has the best nature and is ALL smiles. I don't think we could have ordered a better baby. It makes me so happy to see him at the farm and soon he will be climbing trees and scraping his knees with his cousins who already adore him. But for now I will take advantage of the snuggly and immobile little peanut that he is.
Oh, this is just the begining!

The blog...

Blogs away! With my trip to Europe just around the corner, I thought what the heck, why not start a blog. Of course my intention is to keep track of the many adventures I hope to have in the next couple months. Where in the world am I? Right now I am in the first coffee shop to grace the prestigious town where I grew up. The last few days have been spent relaxing on my parents farm and being pampered by my Mom and spoiled with the attention of my friends and family. This is the point where I would normaly start bragging about how cute and smart my nephews are and that I am looking forward to hangin' with my neice next week. Just know that I'm bragging in my head and I won't go into detail. Yet.
That's all for now.