I emailed this to a friend but I thought the rest of you might like to know my norway plans as well:
feb: work school
march: barcelona school work
april: school work
may: exams exams
june/july: working work$$
july/august: poland ukraine turkey greece norway
sep: alaska
of course, this schedule is subject to change (and sure to be supplemented with other side trips/adventures)
As for Barcelona, I'm leaving Tromsø on the 17 March and visiting Vågå/Vinstra for a few days, then I fly out of Oslo on the 21, and return the 30th. I'm flying into Girona Airport, which is 100km (63 mil) north of Barcelona, so I will spend a night or day in Girona, then travel down to see the big city for a few days before I further south to see Valencia (there might be a festival there). I might try and see how close to Africa I can get before having to return to Girona to catch my flight to Olso. Of course, this is NOT set in stone!
It's 0˚C in Tromsø and I see this huge dark cloud hanging over the sea. Hopefully it's bringing snow rather than rain. The thin cover of snow we have now is just barely doing its job of providing fun winter activities. The ski tracks have gone to ice, and the rest of the snow around here is dirty and crystallized.
My classes are going well. The opening movie at the
Tromsø International Film Festival this year was The Kautokeino Rebellion, about the Sami uprising in Kautokeino in 1852. This movie has received rave reviews. Generally, most good movies are based on good books, and the teacher of my Sami Nation class brought in the author of the book that inspired this movie to talk to us. Unfortunately, I can't remember her name, or find it on the internet, but I know she's a Danish scholar who had a GREAT presentation. It was incredibly interesting to hear about how these separate events (a religious movement, a farmer's complaint) culminated and lead to the rebellion. Essentially, she explained "the tipping point" to us. Unfortunately, my other classes this week weren't as riveting as this one. Both my professors for International Political Economy and Indigenous Religions speak in such broad, abstract terms it's hard for me to follow what they are actually talking about. Luckily, the texts for both classes are
very interesting and aren't typical textbook reading.
As I've been typing, that dark cloud/fog has been moving closer and closer to the shore. I couldn't see Kvaløya before, but now I can't even see the coast of this island. I really hope there is snow inside of this cloud, because it's actually kind of creepy.
Tonight, there is a "welcome back the sun" festival in downtown Tromsø and also a party at the school, both of which I'm going to have a look at.
I've moved to Åsgårdveien. No hassle at all to change my accomodation, and I think I was very lucky, since I scored the last room available in Åsgard. Moreover, I have a room on the top floor, facing the mountains, and not far away from the bathrooms. Both pictures (taken by my friend and close neighbor, Ignazy) show the view from outside the windows on this side of the building! 
I like my room here far better than the room at Prestvatnet. Here, I have wooden furniture, a long desk along the breadth of the window, cozy textured walls, and a small dark brown bookshelf. It's nice to not have to close my curtains against the parking lot! Also included in my room is a nice closet and a small sink/mirror. I didn't know living in a dormitory could be so homey. It must be the wood.
Today, my last free day before classes, I took the opportunity to go hiking around the neighbor island of Kvaløya, which is the 5th largest island in Norway. My Polish friends, Ignazy and Ula, and I took the bus across the bridge and walked across the narrowest part of the islant to see the fjord on the other side. Wanting to see a different fjord a little farther away, we stuck out our thumbs and the only people who stopped for us were headed to Sommerøy.
