After the first full week...

Sorry for the delay in posting about what I am up to. A disclaimer about this post, it will be a long one.

I'm beginning to settle into a routine here, usually getting to school between 8 and 9 and leaving around 5. At school, I've mostly just been reading about what I'll be working on. Almost everything that I've learned before coming to Norway and the Structural Impact Laboratory here at NTNU has to do with earthquake engineering. It turns out that there are very few earthquakes in Norway, and while they focus on impacts here, I have never had to learn about impact loading of structures or the related fields. This means that I've been trying to bring myself up to speed on impacts through a crash-course (clever, no?) of reading papers and books on the subject.

I've found two books through the library that have been very helpful, and several papers through the internet, as well as from students and professors. Two of these papers happen to be written in Norwegian. I know very, very little Norwegian, but I've been trying to wade through them through the best of my ability. It turns out that Google Translate works far better than any translator I have ever used, and while it is not perfect, it helps me get 50% of the words. With the help of Google and a very basic understanding of the Norwegian language, I can sort through the papers and get the gist of them. I've made up lists of words that I could guess meanings of and then took them to the professor I am working under, Tore. He got a laugh out of my attempts to do so, but told me I was doing a good job, and encouraged me to continue. I doubt he expected me to do something like this.

I've found out a bit more on the testing that I will be a part of here in the lab. It turns out that there is very little instrumentation that is used for the tests. They use a load cell which is used to measure the force exerted on the pipe section during the tests, and they use a pair of synchronized high-speed cameras to record how the object deforms. That is all they plan on using for these tests. Professor Tore told me that I may have an opportunity to work with one of the technicians on another set of tests for him to better understand how the high-speed cameras work. The professor is very interested in blast- and impact-loading of structures, and one of his other projects involves lightweight protective structures. He is looking into how to best use lightweight materials, like aluminum, to protect things from harm. Simply put, he's shooting bullets at aluminum plates and seeing how well they perform as armor, while recording the entire test with high-speed cameras. I'm looking forward to being involved, or even just observing these tests.

While I was at the University of Washington, I met a student who was doing the reverse of what I am doing now. Victor came from NTNU to study geotechnical engineering at the University of Washington. He's now back at NTNU and he has been incredibly kind to show me around and help me better get to know the place. He's also been nice enough to let me tag along to events and meet some of his friends. Last Tuesday we went climbing at an outdoor climbing wall, which I took a picture of part of and you can see it below:

It would have been impossible to have this climbing wall if it was not covered as this one is, but that covering only protects you from direct rainfall. It doesn't keep out the 30-32 degree F chill, nor does it keep some of the holds from getting slippery due to 80% humidity. Such conditions are normal for them, so it made for an intense night of climbing. What I'm trying to say is that here in Norway, climbers and vikings are one in the same.

This year, NTNU is holding their student music festival, Uka. It happens once every two years and the goal is to raise funds for the student organization. Luckily I chose this year to come to NTNU because had I come a different year I would have missed it. They have many people performing over the span of two weeks or so, all in this giant tent that can fit about 6000 people inside:

On Friday, I went with Victor to see the band Franz Ferdinand. I find it very fitting that the first concert I go to in Norway is of a Scottish rock band. There was an opening act provided by a local Norsk band called Datarock. The tent was completely packed with people and while it was in the mid-30's outside, it must have been 70-80 degrees F inside. It was quite a shock to come out of the tent, with slightly compromised hearing and a blast of cold air. After the concert, we went to a bar in downtown Trondheim called Lille London, or "Little London". Decorations for this pub consisted mainly of statues or pictures of Winston Churchill, pictures of the Tower Bridge in London, and statues of 19th century British Jungle explorers, pith helmets and everything.

Friday also consisted of the wildest weather I have ever been exposed to. The day started off overcast and quickly moved to rain, before the sun appeared, after which it hailed. It then moved onto rain again before merely being overcast. Following this trend it then snowed, grew sunny again before gently misting and finally ending the day with a light snow. Unbelievable. The first snow stuck around for a day and I took a picture of it outside the dorm area where I'm living:

You can see one of the dorm buildings in the background. It clearly has three windows, but there are actually six floors, which confused me at first. There is a staircase that runs up the middle of the building, and the floors on either side of it are staggered. I hadn't seen anything like that before.

On Saturday, I finally managed to get bedding and pillows at Ikea, so I no longer sleep in my sleeping bag, which is a nice change. One interesting thing that I realized is that in the U.S., one of the novelties of Ikea is the Scandinavian food that you can get there. In Norway, the same novelty doesn't exist. There still is food sold there, and according to Victor, there is some novelty still because it is Swedish food sold in Norway, but I don't think its nearly the same as it would be in the U.S.

This past weekend had the finest weather I've had yet in Norway, with blue skies and sun most of the days. Because of this I wandered all over the city and took a few pictures. There is a river that runs right through the city, called Nidelva, I believe, and several photos of it are below.

This is a picture that was taken when it was overcast, and is the river bank opposite of the cathedral that I showed a picture of in a previous coast. The white building at the top of the hill is some kind of old fortification. Apparently in the summer time there are many BBQ's and other gatherings that happen in that area. It seems to be the Trondheim equivalent of Gasworks Park.

This is a picture of the back side of the houses that line Skjopmannsgata, or the "Merchant Street" that runs along the river. Most of these houses have been renovated, but originally merchants used to live in them. They used to have small cranes that protruded out from the face of the building and boats would pull up right next to them and they would unload goods.

Here is a picture of the river as it nears the fjord. Boats are anchored here, and there is an old dry dock that is just outside the bounds of the picture.

Sunday evening had a beautiful sunset that I took a picture of from my dorm window. It reminded me of the Northern Lights a bit. Apparently in winter time, you can see the Northern Lights from Trondheim, but they are rather faint because of the light pollution.

Here is the picture of one of the main buildings of NTNU, at the north side of campus. It houses several classrooms as well as the main library. I thought it looked rather nice lit up at night so I took a picture. It is one of the few beautiful buildings on campus.

The building I work in is on the south side of campus, and it is much less beautiful. It is just a cluster of buildings on the hill, and much less beautiful with modern architecture. The gray skies don't help its appearance.

There have been several more realizations I've had throughout my time in Norway so far:

- Norwegian coffee is quite different from coffee that I am used to in Seattle. I think the way the beans are roasted or the quality is different, because it doesn't taste nearly as good. Also, they have a tendency to brew a pot of coffee and then let it slowly cook on a burner for several hours, giving it a burned taste. I'm growing used to it, but I already know that when I come back to Seattle I will be in heaven.

- I've said it previously, but food is very expensive in Norway. One interesting realization I've had is that in the U.S. it is generally cheaper to eat food that is bad for you than it is to eat healthy, whereas in Norway it's just as expensive to eat unhealthily as it is to eat a healthy meal. In some cases, it's actually more expensive to eat junk food than it is to eat food that's good for you. Because of this, I've been eating healthy meals. Cheers, Norway.

- I've also been trying some different kinds of foods. Fish is very readily available here, so I've been enjoying pickled herring, as well as sardines and some other kinds of preserved fish. I bought a can of something that looked like peppered sardines, but it turned out to be a ground fish cake in the can. My first thought was that I had opened a can of cat food, because that is what it looked like to me. After double-checking to make sure it was not cat food, I discovered it tasted fine. It was just the surprise of getting something completely different than what was expected that made me wary.

- It's not just food that is expensive. Everything is expensive. A single ride on the bus is $5 USD. I just got back from the post office to buy several post cards. 12 post cards cost $20 USD, and I still have to pay for postage. Lame, Norway.

- I've discovered that I have relatively good pronunciation of Norwegian words, because Victor and others have complimented me on it. Except for one letter that for some reason, gives me incredible trouble. The Norwegian letter ø is something that I cannot properly pronounce. In talking to people, I generally have to repeat words with that letter in it several times until my meaning is understood. With Victor and his friends, it has been the source of several good laughs. Still, I feel that 28 out of 29 letters is something to be proud of.

Apologies again for the length, but I think that some of that is due to the many pictures I posted. I'll try and post more frequently so that you don't have to suffer through paragraph after paragraph of text.

Farvel!