Back in Ulsteinvik for a While...

Well, I went back to Canada for a week, and then I spent last weekend in Oslo, refereeing the Nordic (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway) club champions' rugby tournament, but now I should be home for over a month - a first since I've been here!

The visit to Canada was a 10-year reunion for my high school (Pearson College) - In the period immediately preceding the reunion, I realized that 10 years is really an awfully short period of time. I mean, sure, some people have kids, one guy is bald, and many of us are married (only one pair of graduates married, that I know of), but there are also many who are still in school (Ph.D's, usually), or certainly still in the early stages of figuring out what life will hold for us.

Yes, I know - you never really know what life will hold. Still, at age 28/29/30, really only the first few serious moves have been made, after all that build-up of training and education. Therefore, the reunion is not so much a "report back on how life has gone", as it is a "snapshot of a work in the early stages."

Then, of course, the other factor in play was the self-selective nature of a reunion - who's going to spend the time, energy and money to show up at a reunion just to comment on their failings? Thus, pretty much everyone who came was doing really well - even including the occasional perma-student - Most were doing something interesting, and had neat stories to report.

Of course, the school asked us for money while we were there. Specifically though, it asked for very little money, but from as many of us graduates as possible. The point was made that 10 dollars a month - even 10 dollars a year - added us to the list of "alumni who support the college". The longer that list is (relevantly, the higher the percentage of alumni who support the college), the easier it is to approach other donors, because it demonstrates that the school is doing something right. Pearson College really is a pretty special place - for those who don't know much about it, it's a 2-year "end of high school" school, with 200 students from 80+ different countries attending at once. It is "private", in that it's not run by the government, but it's full-scholarship - you can't pay to go, even if you wanted to (though they clearly ask for donations once you're finished!) - more if you're interested at www.pearsoncollege.ca.

This last weekend I was in Oslo for the "Nordic Cup" - a rugby tournament between the champions of the leagues in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. It was a lot of fun, and there was an assessor there from France, to evaluate my ability as a referee, so if things go well, I might get the opportunity to take on even higher-level games. The tournament was won by the Swedish team, which was probably expected, but the Norwegians gave them a real run for their money.

The nice thing for me about the schedule was that Saturday was free (games were on Friday and Sunday). As a result, I had a chance to play a bit of "tourist" in Oslo for the first time (even though I have been there several times). The city core was bustling, particularly because it happened to be the Oslo Pride Parade. It doesn't have anything on the Toronto festival, of course, but it still meant there were lots of people in a party mood in the downtown. That, and many large men without shirts, dancing to arabic-themed techno music. Huh.

The main pedestrian-only boulevard in the downtown, Karl Johans Gate, is a really great street - lots of buskers, people selling political buttons (I bought one that says "Tog til Ålesund!" - Train to Ålesund. I know that the button-maker saw it as a political comment on using trains vs. planes for environmental reasons, but I mostly think that I would sleep better on a train than the overnight bus.), coffee shops (where I got yet another price-shock - $30 club sandwich and I didn't even get fries!), and hordes of people who just clearly enjoyed being out downtown on a sunny day.

One thing that I've noticed about Oslo (and this was confirmed by a friend I visited for breakfast on Sunday morning) is that it doesn't really connect with the sea. It has a port, and there are ferries that go overnight to a number of places (Copenhagen, Kiel, and others), but there are very few views of the ocean from the city, very few marine-focused industries (at least, not focused on the ocean accessible from Oslo - they might be offices for a company that operates in the North Sea, but they fly to Stavanger before they ever smell salt water), and limited numbers of real waterfront walks/parks. Of course, there are some, including their big new opera house (Photos at this link), but it's nothing compared what I've felt in Vancouver, Victoria, St. John's, Halifax, or even London, England (where the ocean is miles away, but the waterfront is a fundamental feature of the city).

So yes, now back in Ulsteinvik for a good stretch, here. I think I need to explore my neighbourhood a bit more, and this will be a good chance - there are several other little towns in the area that I haven't visited, and some good, easy hiking to be done.

Oh, yeah, and maybe get the car fixed. Living without 5th gear should not be permanent.

Cheers,

Ashley