Way Overdue: Spain, Easter, Most of the Month of April, and Exams!

Wow, my last post was like a month ago, which is totally crazy to me. I somehow have neglected my blog for an entire month, and for that I apologize. I’m clearly not responsible enough for this! And seriously, how did a month go by?! Yikes.

Spain

So anyway, as I mentioned in my last blog post, I spent nine awesome days in Spain! In lieu of a super detailed account, I am going to just give some highlights of my favorite experiences in each city. My (900+) photos on FB should be able to fill you in on any other details that you might want to know. Otherwise leave me a comment and I’ll probably respond to it within the next month ;).

Days 1-3: Barcelona

Barcelona was great—such a beautiful city in a beautiful location; right on the Mediterranean Sea. One of the things that I forgot about Barcelona is that it is Catalonia, so Catalyn is the main language that is spoken there. Speaking Spanish usually ended up with people responding to me in English, which ended up being a recurring theme during my trip. *sigh*

These are the highlights from my time there (not really in any particular order):

• La Sagrada Família; seriously the coolest church I’ll probably ever see. Massive and awe-inspiring. This was my favorite attraction in all of Barcelona, and among the top things that I have seen in any of my traveling.
• La Catedral; beautiful cathedral
• Museu Picasso; art museum for Pablo Picasso—I enjoyed it, but art museums aren’t my favorite
• Montjuïc; very cool park on the hillside—very great views of the sunset and of Barcelona’s cityscape
• Hiking on the hillside by a castle; great views of the sea and of the city
• Església De Santa Maria Del Mar; another cool church
• La Boqueria; HUGE marketplace off of La Rambla (below); I went here for lunch one day and realized how rusty my Spanish skills were
• La Rambla; very long pedestrian street with shops, cafes, etc.
• Walking along the waterfront and beaches
• Getting my first-ever haircut by someone other than my mom (who is a cosmetologist); not as scary as I had expected and it was desperately needed, haha

Days 4-6: Madrid

On the morning of Day 4, I took the AVE (high-speed train) from Barcelona to Madrid. The train ride itself was a trip highlight for me because I love trains and infrastructure, so I was nerding out a little bit, haha. The train’s top speed was 306km/h (190mph!!!), and it only took 2 hours and 45 minutes to travel the 621km (386miles) from Barcelona to Madrid. Mind. Blown. Rail travel in Europe is fantastic! And it was very cool to see the scenery change throughout the journey.

Highlights from my time in Madrid (some of the descriptions were copied from a tourism website; plagiarism is unintentional):

• Plaza Mayor; very cool enclosed plaza with cafes and unique architecture
• Templo de Debod; An authentic 2nd Century BC Egyptian temple in the middle of Madrid; the temple was closing when I got there, but I caught a great view of a beautiful sunset, so no complaints on my end!
• Casa de Campo; HUGE park right to the east of Madrid; I spent an afternoon hiking here, which was a very welcome break from the urban scenery that I had been seeing; great views of the mountains that are near Madrid and some very cool nature
• Madrid Cathedral. Very beautiful cathedral right across from the royal palace; lots of natural light and very serene
• Plaza de Oriente. Beautiful square located in front of the Royal Palace.
• Royal Palace. Huge royal palace (apparently the biggest in Europe), very interesting to see, although royal palaces all seem very similar to me at this point, haha; awesome collection historical of weapons and armor in the armory
• The Rastro Flea Market; GIANT market in the streets of Madrid; I remember learning about this in high school Spanish class, so I figured I would check it out; so many different vendors, I almost couldn’t believe it; I didn’t end up buying anything (I’m not a big souvenir guy), but it was cool to see so many people enjoying the Sunday morning in this market
• Parque del Buen Retiro; park right in the middle of the city; I liked it, but it was super crowded and dirty when I went in the daytime—it was more enjoyable at night (I’m probably just a park snob)
• Gran Vía. Long pedestrian street near the hostel I stayed in; lots of shops and cafes
• Randomly meeting another American (not uncommon at all) in my hostel and going out with her for a night of tapas and drinks! Part of the fun of solo traveling is meeting new people, and I’m glad that I had a chance to meet new people that way. Later that night, we ran into a girl from Minnesota and a guy from Wisconsin in the same bar within 5 minutes of each other. That was a little bizarre—it’s a small world!
• Hanging out with my friend Chloe and her family! This was a definite highlight of my time in Madrid. My friend Chloe is studying abroad in Seville and her family was coming to visit her, so she was meeting them in Madrid. So we met up the day before they got there and hung out. It was so nice to see a friend from home, and we had a lot of fun exploring Madrid. Her family arrived the next day and they were kind enough to let me do some more touring of Madrid with them. They even bought me churros and (a steak!) dinner—talk about generous people! 🙂 Her family reminded me a lot of my own family, which was very welcome, even though it made me pretty homesick!

Days 7-8: Seville

I also took the AVE to Seville (Sevilla in Spanish). Not as fast as the one from Barcelona to Madrid, but still faster than any other train in the United States. (*cries*) I should mention here that I was in Seville at the height of Semana Santa (Holy Week). For Holy Week, different brotherhood organizations from local churches organize MASSIVE processions in the street with wooden floats of Mary and Jesus (carried by people). The processions are a very important cultural tradition for Spanish people, and it was really interesting to see them from an outside perspective. Although to be totally honest, I got a little annoyed by the processions when I was trying to go specific places. The streets of Seville are super narrow and very confusing, and I would often walk down a street and run into another street that was either packed with people or closed off due to the celebrations. But it was still a good time in Seville!

Highlights of Seville:

• Plaza de España; huge plaza with a fountain, canals, and really cool architecture; I went on a walking tour that stopped through here, and I wish that I had gone back here to see more of it!
• Maria Luisa Park very cool urban park (apparently the only park near the city center) near the plaze
• Las Setas; very weird honeycomb/waffle shaped sculpture/awning/observation deck (look at my photos—it’s impossible to explain without seeing picture of it); very cool views of Seville and the surrounding area from the top of it!
• Real Alcázar de Sevilla; I almost didn’t go here because I have been to a lot of royal palaces throughout my travels and many of them seem really similar to me, but I decided to go here after the recommendation of another American traveler who I met in Spain; This place was incredible! So much unique architecture, massive gardens, ponds, etc. It was a definite highlight of Seville. I spent almost an entire afternoon here, and it was well worth the admission price (student discounts FTW!).

Day 9: Málaga

I took a train from Seville to Málaga early in the morning on the 9^th day. It was still dark when I finally got to the train station (after getting lost in the streets of Seville for a worrisome amount of time—almost missed my train!). Only having one day in Málaga (and not knowing much of anything about the city), I planned on using the day for relaxing and hanging out at the beach. And that is exactly what I did. I spent most of the afternoon at the beach. I swam in the ocean for the first time ever (for about 5 minutes, because the water was super cold). But I mostly laid out on the beach and enjoyed the day, even though it got cloudy and was cooler than in Madrid or Seville (both of which were HOT, especially coming from Norway). My Irish skin burned to a crisp when I fell asleep on the beach (even though it was cloudy—darn solar radiation!), which was not fun at all. Yes, I had sunscreen, but I couldn’t reach my back so I didn’t bother applying it. Solo traveler probs, I guess. *sigh* After my time at the beach was up, I went back to the hostel and walked around the city a bit. I went to a very cool castle/garden at the top of a very tall hill, which offered some great views of the city and the sea. I wanted to go into the castle, but I had somehow left my wallet at the hostel, so I couldn’t get in. Oh, well! I spent the evening relaxing and getting ready for my long day of traveling back to Oslo the next day, which went off without issue.

Easter

I spent Easter by myself in Oslo. A lot of the day I spent on Hangouts calls talking with my family; I even got to experience a bit of the annual Schwarz Family Croquet Game/Fight, which was highly entertaining. It was fun to talk to my family, but video chat isn’t the same as being there. And I definitely missed out on some great food. I went to Easter Mass in Oslo (which was in English) that night and it ended up being a pretty uneventful day.

Most of the Month of April

So it’s almost the end of April, which is totally crazy (I’m going home in like a month!). I have spent most of April finishing up readings for classes and getting organized for exams (which start tomorrow/technically today—shit!). I’ve also been running a lot more, ramping up for this summer. (The trails of Oslo have destroyed my trail running shoes. And my huge feet mean that I am making do with what I have for the rest of time here, because I haven’t seen my size in any stores.) And I would be lying if I didn’t say that my Netflix addiction has been out in full force—thankfully I have managed to tone it down now that I am entering into the beginning of the end…

Exams

My exams begin in about 9 hours (yikes!). I have a take-home exam that becomes available tomorrow, which I have two weeks to complete. And then a few days before that exam is due, I have a written exam (on May 6^th). And my last exam is a paper that is due on May 18^th (although I want to finish it before then). So right now is really the beginning of the end, as I will be spending most of my remaining time in Norway on my exams (which make up all of my grade, so the need to do well is very real). Not really sure when I will be updating my blog next, but I will make an effort (for real this time).

As always, thanks for reading!

-TJS

More Exploring, Norwegian Academics, and Free Time

Whoops, I forgot to write that follow-up post regarding the content that I had originally written about and then lost in my previous post… Sorry, y’all. I’ve been busy settling into my life here in Norway, and despite the fact that my phone has been constantly reminding me every few hours for the past week (which is so annoying—why do I do that to myself?) to write that follow-up post, I have not done that. Oh, well. You can’t miss what you’ve never known, so there… But I will be talking about most of that stuff in this post anyway, so you’ll know, ‘ya know?

But anyway, enough of that:

Yesterday marked two full weeks since I have been in Norway. Wow. Part of me finds that difficult to believe, but another part of me is surprised by how confident I am in my surroundings for only having been here for 15-ish days. Most of this confidence probably stems from how much exploring of the city I have been doing in my free time. Norwegian universities have a different way of conducting their courses (compared to US universities), so I basically have a ridiculous amount of free time on a weekly basis. (More on the course structure later in this post; keep reading.) I’ve been using this free time to get out and explore my surroundings. I’ve gone running (and accidentally discovered some beautiful forest trails!), walked around an outdoor sculpture garden, explored Oslo’s waterfront, hiked around an awesome lake, and explored Oslo’s incredible public transportation network. Earlier today I saw an incredible sunset over the Oslo Fjord from on top of a hill, which was incredible! (It’s the featured image on this post; check out the rest of my photos to see more.) And tomorrow I am picking up the cross-country skis that I am renting for the season from the student athletic organization, so I will be able to explore the outdoors like a true Norwegian! Seriously, SO MANY people ski here (and they use public transportation to get to the ski runs too, which is awesome)—I’m excited to have another way to get to know my surroundings while exercising.

Getting back to the academics that I briefly mentioned earlier: for a Norwegian student, 30 credits is typical for a full-time load. Each course is usually 10 credits, so most people take 3 courses (and that’s what I am doing). These credits will convert to 15 standard credits back home at UMN, so it’s equivalent to a pretty typical semester for me, at least in terms of credits earned. However, that’s where the typical part ends. (I mean, obviously this semester isn’t typical for me: I’m 4000+ miles away from home and on a different continent in a different country. Duh.) Norwegian universities are based heavily in independent learning, so there is only one lecture a week for most courses. And then there are a lot of assigned readings (which I’m told are not like in the US where you can usually get away without doing them). There is also no homework in the sense that I am used to. Course grades are based entirely (high stakes, much?!) on a written final exam, a semester paper, or a take-home exam. I have all three of those grading methods between my three courses, so I will get a good sense of Norwegian examination protocol.

So because of this, I only have three classes (and one seminar for one of my courses) once each a week. And my schedule is very compact, so I only have class on Mondays and Tuesdays here… Which is totally insane and not at all what I am used to. At UMN I always have class at least Monday through Thursday, and usually (but not always) on Fridays. Going from five days of class per week down to two has been really weird to adjust to, and I know that it will take discipline and effort on my part to be an effective student in the face of so much free time. But it also brings up an important question: What am doing to do with my free time?

It’s an interesting situation, to say the least. Obviously I am going to be spending a decent amount of this free time on learning the material via the assigned readings. But when I finish those each week, my options are wide open. Which is awesomely terrifying. I hope to spend a lot of this free time outdoors, enjoying Norway’s natural beauty via outdoor recreation. I am also planning on doing a decent amount of traveling throughout Europe—I already have flights booked for Denmark and Germany in February when my sister, Laura, comes to visit! (And I also might go to London next week, which would pretty awesome!) And knowing me, I will also be spending some of this free time watching Netflix. (Lame, I know.)

On a final note, I just realized that I talked about my academics but failed to tell y’all about the courses I am taking. (*facepalm*) As I mentioned, I’m taking three courses. I’m an environmental sciences, policy, and management (ESPM!) major, so naturally the course that I am most excited about is “Environment and Society”. This course will be analyzing the environmental science and the issues around this science from an international, human geographic perspective. Much of my coursework has focused on the scientific aspect of the environment, so I am really excited to be apply to apply this knowledge to view these truly global issues from a global, geographic lens. The two other courses that I am enrolled in aren’t really directly related to my ESPM major, but they count toward the liberal education requirements that I need to graduate from UMN anyway, so it’s cool that I can take them here. These courses are “Norwegian Music for International Students” and “Norwegian Life and Society”. The music course is not music-theory-based, so I am glad about that! And the life and society course will help me to learn about and more completely understand the culture that I am immersing myself in for the next 4 months. It should be an interesting semester, and all three classes have been going well so far!

Well, that’s all for now! There will be another post coming your way within the next seven days. (Heh, that rhymed. :P) Thanks for reading, and check out my photos if you haven’t seen them yet and would like to!

-TJS