What a Weekend in Oslo Entails

As I sat with Niels, my Belgian friend from EPS, and Zach and Thomas, both friends from SDSMT, on the train in Oslo Saturday night back to the student village, we recapped what we had done that weekend to make sure that Niels and I had seen all of the must-sees in Oslo. My version of that list turned out to be rather quirky, and I decided it was worth sharing. Don't get any weird ideas about Oslo--it is a truly a wonderful city that I loved visiting, especially since I got to see good friends from home. But anyway, here's my list of what a weekend in Oslo might entail.

 What a Weekend in Oslo Entails
Note: Items appear in no order; this list is not exhaustive

• Go to the store Moods of Norway just to see the famous pink tractor and gawk at all the price tags.
• Eat a meal made up almost entirely of products made by TINE, the dairy monopoly.
• Walk around the Vigeland Park make attempts to interpret some of the 200-some sculptures, especially the 14 meter tall monolith that is essentially a pile of bodies. Appreciate the art and beautiful landscaping nonetheless.
• Watch 18 year olds scamper through the train stations toting their shopping bags full of beer for russ, a ridiculous event in which teenagers indulge in binge drinking and wilderness sex to celebrate finishing 13 years of school.
• Eat brown cheese and jam for breakfast and imagine yourself as a Norwegian eating copious amounts of the stuff.
• Approach the fake swan in the river that is actually a penis from just the right angle so you actually think it's a swan at first.
• Eat pie at the Mathallen.
• Laugh at the fact that you just spent as much money on dinner as you did on your round trip flight from Helsinki. And decide it was worth every euro.
• Not only see the anarchy building, but go inside the anarchy building, a feat which almost no EPS Oslo students have accomplished.
• Order an 8 euro beer and shrug because it's Norway.
• Make a point to use to the bathrooms at the opera house because they are both free and insanely nice.
• Never wait for a train. It's not koselig to wait for trains.
• Speaking of which, hear all about the word koselig from your friends' Norwegian friend and then search out every possible scenario that can be described by that word. That used book sale in the library? So koselig.
• Take the train all the way up the hill to see the world's only steel ski jump. Think it's cool even though the fog and rain are inhibiting the view.
• Hear about the ridiculous nuances of the Norwegian language, like how nobody actually speaks legitimate Norwegian and everyone has his or her own dialect that they think is far nicer than all the other dialects. That's what it seems like anyway.

Mathallen - Market Hall

The dinner the cost as much as my flight

The sculpture park

Street art