That's Where I'm a Viking!

I decided to jet from Oslo back to Oxford a day before Brian, Chase, Taylor, and David - and to spend twice as much money and arrive around 4am in the process - because I wanted to be responsible and get the topics for a take-home essay in my department on the day they were released. This was supposed to be tomorrow. The department surprised us by releasing the topics the day before I left, which makes this whole nightmarish solo version of the Kind of Terrible Race pretty much unnecessary. Yay!

I guess this isn't the worst thing in the world - if your biggest complaint is that you have to leave a day early, your vacation probably went pretty well. Norway was like the perfect blend of sightseeing, romantic canoodling, hanging out with friends, and ethnicizing myself, which I don't think one often finds in a vacation. David and I hit up a couple of the big tourist spots like the National Gallery, the Viking Ship Museum, and the Kon-Tiki Museum and visited the Vigeland Sculpture Garden with Brian, Chase, and Taylor, but we also chilled out and made breakfast every morning, found a squat that we regularly dropped through to pick up ridiculously cheap coffee, went out to Brian's aunt's place for another barbecue and got schooled on the trampoline by a seven year old girl, and then rolled out of bed this morning for a gigantic breakfast that Chase made before going into Oslo. (We somehow also found time to watch Parks and Recreation and Drop Dead Gorgeous, which are pretty much the perfect complement to any vacation.)

I was especially glad that we stayed for Syttende Mai, which began this morning when David and I were sleeping in Brian's cousin's room and a bunch of his friends burst in shortly before five in the morning. We were surprised because we're not used to being woken up at dawn by a crowd of teenagers with what sounded like rape whistles, and they were surprised because they hadn't intended to wake up two American boys sleeping together in their underwear. I think things like this are culturally enriching for all involved.