Halloween-American STYLE!

Here are a few photos from my friends back home that really take Halloween quite serious or not-so-serious after a couple of drinks!!

HALLOWEEN- Norwegian Style!
In true Leasa style, I decided to host the pre-party for the Halloween Costume Contest party we would eventually stagger to like the Michael Jackson "thriller" video. The Norwegians don't celebrate Halloween and so when looking for a costume & Halloween snacks, it becomes very difficult. In one day, I walked the city and pieced together a witch costume that would scare the trolls deep in the woods and a few ingredients to make some blood-curdling grub. The pre-party consisted of a pumpkin (yes, I found a true pumpkin), candles, monster munchies, beer, a big bottle of "Vikingfjord" vodka, a gang of pirates (Preet from India, Francois-the French, Jason from Ohio & Greg-the Aussie), an ambrosial devil (Elena from Russia), a walking pumpkin head (Emnet from Ethiopia), and our token Norwegian from Gothic City (Jo). The vodka was drained at the pre-party which resulted in the loss of one of the pirates but the rest of our international coterie danced the night away and closed down the bar at 3 a.m. Woohoo!

Yes, I DO STUDY...joys of the ORAL EXAM!

The Europeans like to be distinct, including the assessment of student learning outcomes. Therefore, I got to experience the joys of oral exams. Imagine this...you write 2 papers, receive limited feedback on the paper (no grade, just tips on how to reference material) and then you must prepare to be grilled for 30 minutes...all material from the last 2 months is fair game and you must prepare to defend your papers. Take into consideration that you have read over 40 articles and 2 books that total about 1500 pages of higher education goodness, not to mention all of the lecture material.

WOOOOHOO...that's when you split town with your family and head to Italia!

On exam day, your head is foggy, yet the sun is shining...you walk into the exam room and there are 2 professors (experts in quality assessment & management) you have never met before but they exude intimidation. You sit down and they ask, "In one of your papers, you use the words 'internationalization' & 'globalization' interchangeably, what is the difference between these two concepts?" It becomes a game of how many names & theories you can drop in 30 minutes. It was challenging and capricious, yet it fulfilled my expectation of just how difficult a masters degree program should be.

So between all the fun in Italia & my family being in town, I was studying intently. I have to say, I enjoy this material so much it didn't feel like "studying" per say. My dad kept saying, "Pumpkin, you need to study. No hiking for you today." I would laugh and head out to the trails. My former boss kept e-mailing me, "So when do you actually do any school work?"

Sister Julie & Papa BOB--

BACK TO AMERICA!!

Oslo & Italy were too much fun, we're tired!

The Leaning Tower of Pisa! After a delightful stay in Cinque Terre, we journeyed to Pisa for a quick overnight and then an early morning walk to the airport (4:45 a.m.). As you approach the leaning tower you see all of these people striking tai chi poses. Then, you realize they aren't working out, they are posing for an action photo: pushing the tower or holding up the tower. It is quite the spectacle and of course, we joined in the madness!! Woohoo, action photos!!!

Cinque Terre...Five Lands

Riomaggiore

Manarola

Corniglia



Vernazza


Monterossa

Life is GOOD in ITALIA!!!
We hiked 9 kilometers through olive groves, vineyards, enormous cacti under the 75 degree baking sunshine. It was wonderful! Who would have imagined the weather would be so nice in October? We lucked out. Cinque Terre is a picturesque, special place on the coast of the Mediterranean sea with cliffs that plummet into the ocean. We stayed for 4 days in our quaint little apartment in Manarola and our highlights included; hiking everyday on the trails that were classified as "slight" and "average" to the different villages. We didn't attempt one of the "tough" hikes because the "slight" & "average" had us gasping for air and wiping off the sweat. We also thoroughly enjoyed the local spirits; grappa, amaretto, vino, limoncello and PASTA! I do believe dad had pasta for b-fast, oh my! Cinque Terre is known for it's olive oil, pesto, vino, limoncello, dessert wine and ANCHOVIES (we tried it all, except the squirmy little fish-ick!)

Yet another highlight, or might we say wake up call, the italians are ALIVE & KICKING...their culture and spirit is refreshing and energizing! The Church bells strike at all hours and main street comes alive at 6 a.m. with the locals swapping passionate stories in their animated language. We learned early on that you should close your windows before you go to bed. Oh, since the Weimers' love their cats, we couldn't get over how many well-fed and happy cats live in the villages. Dad was like Dr. Doolittle and the cats would just flock to him and beg for love. Overall, the hiking, sunsets, wine-tasting and the gelato were among our fondest memories.

The Griswalds (a.k.a. Weimers) MAKE IT TO ITALIA!!!

As we made our way into warm and inviting Italia...we had our usual "Griswald" moments. Our plane to Pisa was canceled due to fog, which allowed us to eat waffles and explore the small Norwegian airport for about 3 hours...then finally off to Milano!

Once in Milano, we caught the 3 hour train to La Spezia, allowing us to drink our box wine, eat brie, focaccia, olives, meats and of course...Leasa's favorite- Italian dark chocolate!

Arriving in La Spezia, we found that the next train to Manarola would not be departing for about 2 hours...yeah, more waiting...no one really knew whether the train was coming, even one of the official looking train dudes..."maybe it come...maybe it don't...but you wait here...you see". When it finally did arrive dad was well studied in the romantic Italian language, for he had been studying our Rick Steve's book of Italian...gestures, sweet curses and conversing with animals. We finally arrived in Manarola, the second of five villages (cinque terre) along the western coast. Nicoletta, our hostess beckoned us from her window as we arrived into the quiet main street ten hours late. She showed us our little apartment and brought us a bottle of her family's homemade vino. Photos: Big smiles on the train to La Spezia (FINALLY!) (top left), Waiting for the Italian train (top right) Dad waiting patiently for train to Manarola (middle left), Italian dinner-pasta! (bottom right), our home for 4 days in Manarola (bottom middle), YUMMY-Euro style b-fast--NUTELLA (bottom left)

WORDS FROM MY SISTER...

Arriving to Oslo 21 hours after departing Denver....three of the Weimer clan were reunited...in true Norge fashion. Since Leasa hadn't seen the sun for the last couple of days we decided to stroll the streets of Oslo...

...keeping in mind 21 hours of travel and not what most would consider sleep...we kept going with sugar (salty-sour licorice) and good 'ol coffee- Oslo was beautiful to fly in to. So green and lush. The people are very friendly and speak very good english...probably better than us at that point. Dad and I had to catch a bus to meet Leasa in the city center...after spending a few minutes trying to put money into a "parking" machine (luckily a nice man told us it would not get us a bus ticket) we found our bus and were on our way. After touring the city for a bit we came back to Leasa's dorm. Ate some food, met her collegues and made ourselves at home...

College life hasn't changed much...we seemed to fit right in-

After repacking our bags for our trip to Italia we were ready to lay claim to our floor mattresses and call it a night. 4:15 AM was going to come awfully early. Our bodies were tired but our spirits were high...Cinque Terre here we come.