Burnt face in March

'Twas a school-less monday today!

Kate decided to give it to us as a "study day." So, naturally, Keisha, Marieke, her friend Florien from Belgium and I dove deep into our studious sides and took a day trip to Silkeborg, a small town about 45 minutes east of Aarhus.

After a stroll through the forest and a lovely stop at a lake, we climbed to one of the highest points in Denmark and enjoyed the delicious view of Danish vegetation in the sun :)

















We had some time to wait for the bus on the way back. A big thank you to whoever owns this lawn!

Now I must go. Class starts at noon tomorrow so I better get to bed right at the very moment or I'll never wake up in time!

In Box

"You’ve only been there for a couple of months. You have another three months to make the most of. Maybe by then, you’ll want to come home(?). If you don’t look forward to coming home that’s no crime. Maybe you’ll find a way to stay a bit longer than anticipated(?)………..don’t tell your parents this either. Europe isn’t going anywhere.............if it does, Canada is probably going to go with it…………you can always go back and explore some more. This is what I always tell our boys. Somehow, someway they always find a way to make travel happen. Trust me, if you want to continue to feel yourself and spontaneous and free……………….you can make it happen. You’re young, determined and ambitious…………..you can make it happen. It’s so wonderful that you’ve found yourself Honey! Now, don’t go losing yourself. Live it up! You’re only young once!"

Solskinsvejr

It used to be a rarity most beloved, but sunny weather in this Denmarkian town are appearing just as frequently as my pile of dirty laundry. BRING ON DE FRECKLES!

I'm currently listening to "Crave You" by Flight Facilities - (a song that will forever remind me of Oslo) - and my window is wide open. There's a breeze blowing that you can hear, and the sun is at thee perfect angle. It's making a golden drop shadow on the tree branches outside while slowly sucking the saturation out of the sky.

Hmmmmmm spring time. It's happening!!!

To celebrate this change of season, Hugo and I took a walk to the beach on Sunday.

iPod, ocean, air. Lovely afternoon, I say.


























...and then, we found a soother tree?

Hahahahaha.

Aarhus is great. You should really come visit!

'Twas a sunny day in Aarhus, and I've been here for 2 months

WOAH now!!!!!

St. Patty's Day, 2011

Location: School.

Situation: Uploading clips from the week of shooting in Oslo.

Lamentation: Only 2 clips out of 360 have transferred. But really, who cares. I'm jamming to Lauryn Hill, Usher, and Blackstreet in the meantime.

And in the other meantime, a story for you!

*

It was a Thursday in Oslo.

March 17, 2011, but not so green as it was gray.

We had an interview with a climate researcher in the morning, then subwayed back to the city centre and proceeded to buying cheap croissants before hanging out on the second floor.

But I knew that this St. Patrick's Day would end on a higher note. A very high note actually, sung with a falsetto in the key of G major. For today was the day I was going to the OPERA HOUSE!

Since January, my cousin Joel had been in Oslo working as an assistant director for the production "Rigoletto." RAD, I know. He went to the University of Toronto for opera directing, and his adventures so far have brought him to Oslo 3 times.

On Thursday, it was SO crazy watching him walk into the lobby of the opera house to meet me. Here was my cousin that I've played baseball and shared many a Christmas day with growing up, and now we're in Norway together. HA!!! So cool. So wierd. The world is so small.

After a lovely dinner in the canteen (that non-opera folk will never get to see), Joel took me on a guided tour of the opera house.

The outside was FANTASTICALLY beautiful.




And the inside was so intriguing...there were so many rooms and behind-the-scene things that you wouldn't expect the building to hold.



I saw the wig and make-up room,

the costume room,


the gym - (HA! The opera house has a gym...maybe not just for lifting weights.)

the practice rooms,

the library,

the ballet studios,

and the stage.

Sadly, sadly, SADLY, my camera DIED righter after that picture was taken. (I'll steal some of Kristin's pictures later to give you a better look.)

But MAN. Standing on that stage in that familiar atmosphere...that airy acoustic silence, and foreshadowing nature of standing at the base of a sea of seats...made me miss ballet so unbelievably much. I miss being on stage dammit!!!

What was cool was that some of my TV amigos came a bit later for a tour as well! The fact that my international friends met someone in my family was almost as weird as seeing Joel myself. It was like a collision of 2 worlds that I truly never thought would happen.

After the tour, it was time for one of the final rehearsals of the show, and Kristin and I stayed behind to watch some of it. We took a seat on the upper level in the wooden seats with jazzy orange seats as Joel took a seat by the sound box in the middle of the floor seats.

And this is where time could have stopped for a while.

There I was, sitting next to Kristin with my cousin below me, getting a private pre-show of Rigoletto, in the opera house, in Oslo, Norway.

BUT, ACTUALLY.

Kristin and I left after about an hour, but before going to meet up with our classmates for dinner, we climbed to the roof of the opera house and took pictures of the city lit up.

Thinking back to that moment, it was definitely a night of surrealness.

At one point when we were outside, Kristin went back inside to the washroom, so I just turned on my iPod for a bit to accompany the nightscape in front of me. I put on "Be" by Common and just starting laughing.

There was a time when I was listening to this song while walking underneath the Gardiner in Toronto, on my way to work. Now, I was standing in front of a glowing opera house in Europe. HAHAHAHA! Tell me that's not the most insane thing you've ever heard.

~

St. Parick's Day really isn't a big drunk fest over here as it is in Canada, but in keeping with the yearly March 17th semi-tradition, the crew went looking for a bar to spend the last night in Norway in. Sadly, it's hard to keep a group of 19 people together when you're wandering a bit aimlessly through city streets, so we got separated. But Kristin, Rui, Rob, Thorsten, Marije and myself stumbled upon a place called "Underwater Pub." It actually looked like a setting from a Pirates of the Carribean movie, complete with fish on the walls and sea decor everywhere you looked.

But guess what. Instead of "yo ho and bottle o' rum tunes"...to illustrate the emerging theme of the day, this place had live OPERA singers !!!! Apparently every Thursday, you can listen to some show tunes and classical arias over a pint.

We enjoyed 2 sets of free music and when that was over, we turned the place into a dance floor like we always do. Yes.

Last year on St. Patrick's Day, I was cleaning up empty beer glasses until 4 in the morning.

This year, I interviewed a Norwegian climatologist and I saw my cousin across the ocean. I stood on a stage, I listened to live opera in a pub, and walked through the streets of a Scandinavian city.

It was 4 a.m. by the time we got to sleep, only to continue our Norwegian excursion 4 hours later with a tour of Parliament.

Just a hop, skip and an adventcha I tell you!!!!

Love, Oslo.

From Oslo to Aarhus

After a 7 hour journey from a bus, to a plane, to a bus, the international TV students are out of Norway back in the D-Twizzle (a.k.a Denmark).

Despite the ridikalus food prices that broke everyone's wallets, I completely enjoyed myself this week. Yes!!!

I took pictures of a sunset, I laughed at one point until tears started streaming down my face, and saw my cousin!!! (Full details about that and my opera adventure tomorrow!) It feels like we've been gone a solid month! And at the moment, I'm ready for a long sleep that will not be disturbed by a morning alarm.

But first, a snack...

I was welcomed home tonight by a very large package lying on the table in the common room from my grandparents!!! To my great surprise, it was filled with St. Patty's Day paraphernalia, little chocolate bunnies, another box of Kraft Dinner...AND ONE BOX OF TRISCUITS!!! I'm having a rosemary and olive oil crunch party at the moment! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa :)

But yes. Sleep. Soon. Very soon.

Holla at me. I love Oslo.

Beautiful.

Transcribing some interviews on the second floor - the place which we dubbed our own hang out spot for the week.

Funny note about Parliament...we got a tour of the building this morning and the guide informed us that the members have Pizza Day Fridays and go on skiing trips together. European politics do sound more fun.

This is Dave Fanner, reporting from Oslo, Norway.

And this is Kimberly Ivany, re-visiting her viking roots on Karl Johans Gate.
Of course.

Chill work day, salmon-wrapping play, magical moon ray

We had an interview. It was short. So we had much time to take pictures.


Marije, Wendy and Rui are doing a story on fish in Norway. They got free salmon. We made wraps.






There was a sunset. There were lights in the water. There were boats parked along the harbourfront.

Norway felt like Canada, and my friends were standing with me in Toronto.

So wierdly awesome!!!









...and there were stars too.

Ain't no mountain high enough baybeh

Today was the day Team Hopping Beaver (a.k.a Dave, Hugo and myself) went on a mission to shoot NATCHA (nature) in all it's natural splendour in the mountainous north of Oslo for our ecotourism story!

The sun was shining, the snow was glistening, and it almost felt as if I was in Canada. It all very much resembled Whister, British Columbia!

It all started with a subway ride to the very end of the line.

When we got to the station, we walked into one of Oslo's national parks. Here, we see a Davous Fannacious and a Hugolous Pilon-Larocia in their natural habitat: on top of a frozen lake, filming the surrounding scenery.

We also filmed within the forest itself, clearly putting the pro in professional.


After about an hour at this location, we got back on another train and rode it to IT'S most northern point. We were determined to get a golden shot of all of Oslo from a bird's eye view.


...which we FOUND! Dave decided to climb on top of the subway shelter in order to film it properly.

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeet.


It was so awesome to see the city from way up there!!!


After we got the money shot, we got back on the train, rode it 4 stops down, and got off at Holmenkollen, the location of the ski championships!!!


Unfortunately, during our filming session in the forest, we didn't see much wildlife. But we did find a mammoth at the bottom of the ski track.


And we spotted Norwegian royalty.


And! I even channeled my inner child and threw myself down an icicle slide. (I now know why my back is sore.)


After about 5 hours of brisk fresh air and wintery fun, it was time to go back to the hotel for some complimentary tea and well-deserved chillen tymez.

End Day 3!