Lots of Goodbyes

Hey all,

This will probably be my last post from Norwegian soil. Tonight is my last night in my bed here before I hit the road to head south towards Germany. I'll be traveling with 5 other people all heading for Germany or Austria. We'll make our way south to Kristiansand taking time to hike and sightsee along the way. The weather's wonderful, so we're all looking forward to pulling out tents out after a long winter.

The last week or so has been packed. I spent most days taking care of final tasks before traveling home. This included buying things to bring back to my family, meeting friends for one final cup of coffee again, going to Hell, and meeting new people as well.

Yes, I did go to Hell and back. It's about a 20 minute drive each way and it wasn't so hot. In fact, it rained. I've driven by this town many times, but a friend and I decided to go there just to take some funny pictures. A once in a lifetime opportunity.

Many of my regular friends traveled north for a week while I stayed in Trondheim to take my last exam. Oliver and I both had exams on the last day possible, so we had to celebrate summer with a big BBQ! I met a group of interns that had just arrived and ended up hanging out with them a lot during the following week. It's a shame that our stays didn't end up overlapping more. I learned how to play Truco, a Brazilian card game that is very addictive. We went out for a night on the town one more time and took a trip to the Dragvoll lakes.

My plans for leaving Trondheim have changed several times. I'm traveling with Anne down to Berlin. She dislocated her patella, so our plans to do some climbing were canceled because neither of us can climb. This gave us a few more days in Trondheim. Then the Bavarian boys had car trouble, and now we will not attempt to make it up to a cabin tomorrow night. Instead we'll meet up and camp by a lake together before heading south.

I'd have to admit the whole thing feels really surreal. I'm looking forward to going home, but it doesn't feel like being home is only 14 days away. I don't think this will be my last trip to Norway. At least I hope not.

Ha det bra alle!
Julie