UNI of OSLO is STUNNING! Today I'm on campus to pick up my orientation packet and meet the other students in my programme (that is not a typo...that is how they spell it here.) Uni of Oslo is about 5 subway stops from my student village and only takes about 10 minutes. The campus is beautiful with the well-manicured flower beds and the lush green grounds. The architecture is quite brilliant too (Rachael & Mimi you would be impressed.) The buildings have that scandanavian design feel to it; linear, clean lines and many windows. The first building on the left is where the School of Education recides, Helga Engs Hus. I will spent most of my classroom time in this building. The 2nd picture is the library, George Sverdrups Hus. It has marble flooring and most of it is glass...incredbile!

My experience here will mostly be shaped by the students in my programme. My classmates come from amazing countries around the world; Thailand, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Russia, Serbia, Australia, Ohio (yes, the U.S.), Brazil, China, Ethiopia, Uganda and India. Each of them has worked in some form of educational institution back in their home country and each of them has an incredible personal story. The Chinese lady is on her 2nd Masters degree because it is so competitive to get into a Chinese PhD program. She has been rejected 5 times and hopes that having 2 Masters will allow her more leverage to be accepted. The Russian woman is a divorced mother and has brought Christina, her little 5-year old girl, with her. She is having a hard time finding housing, as the student village has no vacancies for a family room. I have been teaching Chrisitina english words as she only speaks Russian. I would love to give her some english children books, if you would like to help with this please send them to me at: Leasa Weimer, Olav M. Troviks, vei 12, H0402, Oslo, Norway 0864.

The workload for my masters program is pretty overwhelming. They say that we should prepare to study 40 hours out of the classroom. However, I think I might have an easier time with the studies because it is my native language. I can't even imagine trying to learn this material in a language other than my native language. And here is my first bash on American's (more to come later...I'm sure), we are so limited because we only speak one language. Just think of our brain power if we were challenged to learn another language in elementary school. Ok, off my soapbox...

DIVERSITY TRAINING 101! Yep, I am officially getting culturefied! So, I live with 7 others in a flat (a.k.a. apartment). There is a locked door to get in the apartment and then I share a suite (another locked door) with a very nice Chinese woman who is studying Economics. Just the two of us share a bathroom and she is clean, thank goodness! Then, there is yet another locked door to enter my humble abode, a simple bedroom with a nice picture window and a bed, bookcase, table and chair. I am working to spice it up and those laminated photos sure are helping! I am quite impressed with the living quarters here...the room is very clean and the furniture is much nicer than the furniture at CU. I also live with 2 African men, one is a botanist PhD candidate from Zimbabwe and the other is a Biology PhD candidate from Ethiopia. Last night I said, "In America, we would call you 'smart cookies'" and they got the biggest kick out of that. I also live with a Norwegian punk rocker. No joke! He is too cool for words and will be moving out this week to pursue his rockstar lifestyle. He even gave me a CD...insert video of Leasa dancing around to some Norge punk music...SWEET! Then, we have the 2 Polish men. There is an older gentleman (50's) and his nephew (20's). I think they are living in Krinsja student village illegally because neither of them go to the Uni and we are only allowed to have 1 person per room. I am still trying to figure them out. They are one big tornado in the kitchen and cook up some very interesting hot-plates without cleaning up after themselves. Yes, the kitchen is where all of our worlds collide into one big mess, including crumbs on the floor, week-old dishes in the sink and piles of trash. Good thing I like challenges...we are having a flat-meeting this week!

There is a FIRST for EVERYTHING! Yesterday I had quite the adventure. I went to Ikea on a Saturday. Ikea is like Sam's Club but for housewares only. It's a huge warehouse and everyone just goes crazy purchasing linens, curtains, furniture, etc. I had a list but I didn't manage to get through it all because there were so many people and many of the items had already sold out for the day. I think I learned that Saturday is not the best day to venture out to Ikea. They offer a FREE bus from downtown Oslo and it is about a 15 minute hot & sweaty bus ride with about 100 of your soon-to-be closest friends (literally). They pack you in like sardines and the way home is even more of an adventure because people have like 5 bags and large mirrors and bookcases and plants. It is seriously an experience I would highly recommend.

The wash machines & dryers here at the student village are not in English and they are not like anything I have ever seen. After about 10 minutes of studying the pictures, I just pushed a button and the water started filling the front-loader. Woohoo! I figured it out. It is the little things in life, like washing your clothes, that you take for granted when you know how to do it.

I sure wish I would have bought that Norwegian-English dictionary...that would have come in handy. I will purchase one tomorrow from the bookstore on campus.

DUTY FREE DEODORANT-21.62 DOLLARS. Yep, that's right, Oslo is damn expensive. As I was flying here, I read an article in the Wall Street Journal, "Oslo Heads the List of Most-Expensive Cities." Oslo is followed by London & Copenhagen as the most expensive cities in the world to live in. I am experiencing first hand the expensive lifestyle of Oslonians (is that even a word?) I was deodorant-free since Bloomington, so as soon as I hopped off the flight in Oslo I jetted straight to the duty free shop. All they had was DKNY deodorant and it was 21.62 and it was even duty-free. The normal tax here in Oslo is 25%...Ouch! I was so funky fresh I was smelling like a European...but I decided I wasn't ready to convert quite yet and I slapped down my Visa. Deodorant here in Europe doesn't contain aluminum, which is the "antiperspirant" agent. (By the way, some American's believe alumninum is a cancer-causing agent but there is no hard-core evidence.) So, I say give me the alumninum baby!!! Mom, can you send me a case of Secret?

Other high-priced items: Bottle of Lindemans Shiraz (duty free)= 12.70, 1 fitted twin sheet=12.84, 1 small tupperware container=4.82, one load of laundry (wash only)=1.61, Glade plug-in=9.00, 1 liter of orange-juice=4.82. Mom, can you go rob a bank for me, since you are my power of attorney?

I will post pictures soon...I still can't use my laptop for the internet.

TRAVEL TO OSLO... Oh my, where do I even begin? My travels were something to be desired. After 40 hours of trains, planes, layovers, police walking around with machine guns, missing my flights, security lines and subways I have finally arrived safe and sound. There is nothing better than a GREAT travel story. The limo picked me up in Bloomington, Indiana at 3:45 a.m. on August 10. I decided not to go to sleep and just stayed up with 30 of my closest friends from the I-LEAD institute (college students will use any excuse to stay up all night). When I arrived at the airport, everyone was scurrying around trying to make sense of the heightened security. They said, "No Liquids" in your carry-on. So, I figured my toothpaste was coming with me but I soon found out that toothpaste is considered a liquid as they confiscated it, along with my nail polish. Bummer, no toothpaste for 40 hours? I flew into DIA and my 3 hour layover had been cut to 2.5 hours because we landed a little late. I ran to the ticketing counter where upon I was supposed to meet my parents with the Norway luggage. However, they weren't there yet. Ugh! Finally, we met up and I had 5 minutes to check-in before the flight closed...magically, it all worked out. The security line was backed up to the baggage carousels. TSA get's mad props because it only took me less than 1 hour to get through the line.

In Chicago, I had about 3 hours to chill in the United red carpet room. Yeah baby, I could get use to traveling Business Class. Snacks, comfy chairs and wireless. Nice! My flight to London kept getting delayed and finally at 8 p.m. I was sitting next to a nice english bloke who was the Brand Manager for Jim Beam. We had a lot of laughs and were ecstatic when they brought us a little package of goodies, complete with toothpaste...Yippee, no more fur on my teeth. The captain said, "This will be the safest trip since September 12, 2001, so sit back and relax." And that is exactly what I did.

I had missed my flight to Oslo because the Chicago-London leg was sooooo delayed. So, I navigated my way through the Heathrow, London airport and the security with machine guns and got in line to figure out when I could get on a flight. That is when a hot security guy, complete with the great english accent, came by with plastic bags. He explained that NO carry-ons were allowed, only travel documents and wallets were allowed in the plastic bag. Ok, that was the lightest travel leg of my life. I arrived in Oslo about 5:30 p.m. and hopped on the train.

My travel in Oslo was pretty funny. I had a total of 3 large bags (2 rollers and a backpack). Try walking with all of this luggage through a barrage of people and cobblestone streets, while minding the "gap" while loading on the trains\subways. It was quite a spectacle, I'm sure! I finally arrived at the International Housing office at 7 p.m. and was just sweating. I took the first room, complete with internet and a nice mountain view. I'll post pics soon. I don't have connection to internet quite yet...I must wait until Monday to get signed up. Woohoo, I'm in Oslo!!!

My LAST days in COLORADO! What a ride this has been and I'm not even in Europe yet. It is amazing to think about all of the logisitical details that I have taken care of this last month, it's hard to believe I'm still smiling. It's pretty magical how all of the details fell into place including renting out my townhome, finding a home for "Kili" the cat (thanks Megan & Chris), selling the X-terra (has anyone found the keys to my ski rack?), canceling my cell phone service, health insurance, car insurance and packing and moving everything to my parents (thanks mom & dad). On top of all of that...I shed many tears as I said goodbye to all of my peeps and my Boulder life. I would be lying if I said I wouldn't miss Colorado and all it means to me. My last few days in Colorado were filled with memories. I totally relaxed at the beautiful Breck house with my hot, dark-featured male dawg, Hunter. Hunter & I entertained my parents for a few days and hiked Peak 8 everyday. The Breck trip was capped off with a boat ride with Brent on Lake Dillon. Beautiful! The last few nights in town were filled with friends, friends and more friends; everything from overflowing boxes of sake to pedicures to crying in my Corona. I think I'm ready. Who knew it would take 2 FULL days to pack my 2 suitcases for Norway? It's hard to put everything you need for 4 months in 2 suitcases that must weigh under 50 lbs. We Americans are materialistic, pack-rats who love our "stuff".

CU Later!
I was honored to be in the presence of about 90 of my favorite peeps from the CU-Boulder community at my going away party Monday, July 24. It was quite overwhelming and memorable all at the same time. I cannot describe how much I will miss CU and all of the individuals I have worked with over the last 10 years. As I reflect back on some of the events I have been involved with over the years, there are a bunch that stand out...Dave Matthews Band at Folsom, Spike Lee, BB King, Rudy Guiliani, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Michael Moore, Hanan Ashwari and the largest Poetry Slam in Colorado. One of the most challenging, yet rewarding programs that I have been intimately involved with is the CU GOLD leadership program. It was a bumpy 4 years in the works and now it just continues to grow and spit out amazing student leaders.

HOLLA...goes out to all of my students! It was "tight" to see your "mad" heeping plates of coconut shrimp & chicken satay at my party and of course your big smiles and well wishes. I love working with my "superfly" students and will miss you all dearly!! Stay in touch & go make a difference in this world, "aiight".

YO, I'M OUTTA HERE!

As I prepare to head out of the the beloved U.S of A., it just wouldn't be right to forgo a party!

Here are pics from my "party in the park"-Chataqua park, Sunday, June 17. It was a hot day, topping out at 98 degrees but the beer, babies and bocce balls kept everyone entertained. Thanks for coming out everyone, your support means the world to me!

I leave for Indiana August 2 and fly back to DIA on August 10 with just enough time (3 hour lay-over) to swap out luggage and get on my flight to Norway. Nothing like cutting it close!

Oslo, Norway--my first stop! I will study here from August to December. I've always wanted to be a big city girl and here's my chance to live in the capital of Norway. The population is 550,000 (close to the size of Denver). These photos are of the downtown area, which looks very quaint, COLD and resembles the rooftops of CU-Boulder. I will be right at home with the ice-skating rink and the pillars on the University of Oslo building to remind me of the CU Norlin library, "Who knows only his own generation remains always a child." However, the sun factor may make me realize, "I'm not in Colorado anymore, Toto." When I arrive in August, the sun will set at 10 p.m. and rise at 5 a.m. and when I fly home in December (to hit the Rocky Mountain slopes) the sun will rise at 9 a.m. and set at 3 p.m.

This is Tampere, Finland...right in the heart of a lake district. I will be studying here from January 2007-June 2007. I will enjoy 3 seasons of Finland; the dark & cold winter, the lively spring and I will get a peek at the summer beauty. The city has a population of 430,000 and about 14,000 students at the University. The average temperature from December to February is -4 to 14 degrees. Yowser! Good thing there are over one million Finnish Sauna's (seriously) to take out the chill. I understand the Finns like to hit their vodka too! Finland is a member of the EU (European Union). So, those Euros will come in handy here.

Aveiro, Portugal--Ah...sunlight and a different language. Perfect! Make your reservations to visit me in Portugal from August 2007 to December 2007.

Whenever I say "Portugal" everyone's eyes light up.

Aveiro looks very quaint and is said to be the "Portuguese Venice". There are canals and riverways throughout this small village of 50,000. The University student population makes up a fifth of the population. Aveiro is big news to all of you futbol fans...it is home to a first division futbol (soccer) league and they just built a 39million (US) dollar stadium. Watch out mom, I might be bringing home a World Cup hottie that can event row a boat.