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[Kagus]

I might have mentioned it before, but I'm heading off to Norway for a school year.  As per usual, I have managed to choose auxiliary program that have absolutely nothing to do with my chosen major, so I will be stretching myself thin in as many different directions as possible. 

Sooo, yeah...  I'm majoring in film, the school will hook me up with a band (I'm frantically learning to play 'lectric guitar, since idiot me had to sign up for the band before actually starting to practice with a friggin' instrument.  If worst comes to worst, I could always play lead triangle), and I'll have activities that include outdoorsmanship, sailing, history, and a few other things that I've forgotten since signing up for them.

Furthermore, this is a case of someone who does not really have a lot of experience in social endeavours (talk?  With those people?) getting thrown into a rather social environment for an extended period of time.  Hell, I even share a room.

At least the school's nice.  Of the nine months I'll be going there (well, not really nine months.  It's more like eight months and a few days, but I still get school funding from the Norwegian government to last me nine months), half the time will be spent on vacation, and half the remaining time will be spent either preparing or having a party.  That, and the film class has a trip to Cuba planned.  Better work on my Santana (they'd like that, right?).

I'm screwed, hoping to get screwed in good time, experiencing terribly deep philosophical revelations, realizing many facets of my life that I had taken for granted may never again feature in my existence, and also highly optimistic.

With a little luck, I might be a pretty damn good psychopath.  Heh.


Anyways, just figured I'd give you guys a little heads up.  I wasn't here to do that for the India trip, so I may as well extend the courtesy now.  And no, I'm not going to stop updating Death and Glory just because I'm at school.  To misquote Everybody In Dune; "the blood must flow".

Oh, by the way, I'm leaving for Norway this Saturday.

Ta,
--Kagus

[umiman]

We should have a competition to see who has been to more places on earth. Leave all these silly xenophobes in the dust. Mwahahaha.

Cheers man, have a great time. Describe it for us when you have the time.

[Kagus]

Naturally.  Hell, if I could manage to stretch out a thread about boring ol' India, writing about Norway should be no problem with all its...  Fish.  And taxes.

Bah, at least I'll have time to work on it.  I keep mentioning halves?  Well, the school promises not to clog up more than half your day with school program-related activities during the active time.  The rest of the time is yours.

Speaking of taxes...  Norway produces its own oil.  It produces enough to be a significant contender in the world oil market with its exports.  So what's the gas price?  About $11 a gallon.

Why?  Because the Norwegian government puts ridiculous taxes on gas.  They do it because you really shouldn't be driving so much anyways since it's bad for the environment.  Take public transport instead.

Well, the public transport has a special collection box where you can deposit one arm and one leg per trip.  Why?  Because the Norwegian government says: "It's just so expensive running all this public transport stuff".


It's really funny looking at the Norwegian government.  Until you realize you're going to be living under it for the next year or so...

[Cajoes]

Oh yeah, everything is expensive in Norway. Strangely enough it's also the only country I know of with a positive state budget.

My guess is that it's because they sit on all their monies like some ancient wyrm of legend.

Good bread thou. Doesn't last a second outside the store, but it's very tasty. No preservatives.

[LeoLeonardoIII]

Congratulations. I suppose all we can hope for if you enter a strange mood is that you're a functional madman ;P

[LASD]

I hope you have a good time here in Scandinavia. I know I do.

Also the gas/public transport prices are pretty much the same in Finland, except that in Helsinki (the capital) and the surrounding area the public transport is in fact very cheap. Currently it costs me a little over 1€/day to use the frequent trains, busses, trams and metro in approximately 25km*25km area as much as I want.

[Keiseth]

That sounds like a blast. Perhaps you'll be needing a bicycle though? Regardless, have fun, Kagus!

[Torak]

Try to find a Battle Reenactment. I'm sure it'd be epic.

[Kagus]

Well, we do have a Viking history building on the grounds, so perhaps we could get in contact with the folks doing prop design and set up a little fun...

As for the bicycle, that would indeed be the best way of getting around.  Except, there's one thing about that...

You know how you never forget how to ride a bicycle?  Well, I never learned.


In other news, I've received well-wishing and offers of "care package" support from a number of people who are significantly more excited about me going to the school than I am about going.  Not to say I don't want to go, it's just that I don't really get excited about...  Anything.  I'm not one of those people who often indulges in feeling emotion.

But I digress...

Turns out the departure date is Sunday, not Saturday.  That means I'll get one more day to pretend I'm practicing guitar, which I'm sure will help out immeasurably.  Technically speaking, it will.  Just not in the way that word is normally used.

Funny thing about this type of school is that it only has a minimum age limit, and you can go back as many times as you like.  There have been reports of people going to similar schools and liking it so much they wanted to do it again.

Then you have the colleges, where the tuition fee is covered entirely by the government (if you're a citizen, which I'm lucky enough to be thanks to multinational parentage), and at least one university has an apartment building that is subsidized by the government for housing students.


So at least some of that money goes to good use.  But yes, most of it does go into the dragon's hoard...  They're one of the richest governments on the planet, and they apparently hold no intention of changing that.

But it is funny looking at the difference in social workers.  Stateside workers have to deal with dozens of different people needing help.  Norwegian social workers complain if they have to handle more than three.

But then again, that's not a real indication.  Complaining about the government is the second most popular sport in Norway, right behind breathing.

If there's some confusion about that statement, allow me to explain that they needed a spot in natural bodily functions when skiing was introduced.  Breathing has been reassigned to the sporting list.

[Cthulhu]

Urist Stoppoverty has complained about the workload lately.

[THLawrence]

I'm majoring in film

Stupid artsie.

Anyway good luck at college. Good thing the government is covering the tuition. I know I'll be deep in debt when/if I get out.

Where in Norway are you heading? If it is to the capital then when you go on your psycopathic rampage then you can go for the big wigs in government.

Have fun failing with your band and watching movies. And on't forget to save time to kill adventurers by the hundreds.

[Kagus]

Sandefjord, down south.  And this isn't a college, this is...  Well, it's something else.  You do get college credit for going, but you can't get a degree in anything.  Or a formal education, for that matter.  Also, the government doesn't cover the cost of going to one of these.

It's essentially a hands-on creative arts... Place.  They've got teachers, but I'm not entirely sure what purpose they serve...  The students take care of most of the "schooling" by simply practicing in their chosen field, using the tools that the school provides.


They've got a few of these scattered around Norway.  It's called a "Folkehøyskole".

Lemme find the list of majors they provide...

# Drawing/painting.
# "Friluftsliv", literally "life in the open air".  Outdoorsmanship.
# Music.
# Interior design. (???)
# Costumes and clothing design
# Film and TV
# Theater/Theatre/Thettrea/THAAARTE

There's one farther up north that has dog sledding as a major...  So, yeah.  Not your standard place of learning.


Might I add that these schools are particularly happy about getting a varied mix of nationalities and backgrounds in their students?  And that most Norwegians will speak at least a little English?  You won't get the awesome citizenship bonuses, but it's still worth looking into if you're interested.  Only thing is, I don't know how many of these schools have webpages in English...

Oh, by the way, Scandinavian chicks.  Need I say more?

Also, the "list" functionality seems horribly bugged...

[Kagus]

Well, this is it.  Tomorrow morning, bright 'n' early, it's zip-a-dee-doo-dah to Norway and my fumbling attempt at entering abnormal society.

Weehee, this is gonna be fun...  Keep your peepers open for a thread popping up here where I will divulge all the details that I have authorized myself to release, and generally babble in an insane manner.


Jay-sus Blank, what have I gone done gotten myself into...

Gonna have a South Park mini-marathon tonight, recently purchased the eleventh season on DVD.  Hopefully that'll hold me over for a while.

On the bright side, I hear you can get really good dark non-alcoholic beer in Norway.


So goodnight and farewell, dear acquaintances.  See y'all on t'other side.

[Keiseth]

The road goes ever onward, down from the door where it began... Good luck!

Edit: I wonder if he'll get trapped in an airport. I hear that happens a lot.

Edit Edit: Maybe he got eaten by Norwegian Land-Sharks. Do they have land-sharks? I was told they had land-sharks.

[Kagus]

No, but the national bird is the mosquito.  Norwegian mosquitoes have been known to carry off small children and pets for later use.

This is a wacky place...  There's a sex subsection for the health and lifestyle portion of a news site (which includes an interview with a porn actress), some woman off in the boondocks found a small metal ball in a loaf of bread (which made the front page of said news site), caviar is one of the least expensive food items you can buy, and breakfast can include a slice of bread topped with a clear gelatin filled with shrimp, egg slices, and carrot chunks.  Which then covered in mayonnaise.  Mayonnaise that is, of course, squeezed from a bag.

I think the environment might contribute a bit to the general insanity...  First you get a summer where the sun doesn't go down, which wreaks havoc with your sleep pattern, and then you get a winter where the sun doesn't come up, which tends to put most people on edge.