NTNU Orientation

Orientation week is almost over, but I've done a lot. There were a lot of presentations about how to get set up in Trondheim and groups you could join. The Sports Center (Idrettsbygget) is really cool here. They've got a 30m climbing wall at the Dragvoll campus and a bouldering cave at Golshaugen (it's about 3m tall and across but the floor is covered with crash pads and the walls and ceiling with climbing traverses).

Even cooler are the Cabins owned by NTNUI (the Sports Center Association). They're out in the country or along the fjords, and students can rent them for 30nok per person per night. You can take a bus part way there then hike or ski to the cabins and stay for the weekend. That's pretty much the coolest thing ever.

There seem to be two primary pass times here in Trondheim: Drinking and Hiking. I can't do too much of the former (with beer at 12nok at its cheepest), but I love the latter. People like to get out of town and be in nature, and to illustrate this part of Orientation Week was to hike in Bymarka, the park west of Trondheim. It was muddy (it always rains here), but beautiful nonetheless. We climbed to a ridge overlooking the fjord north of Trondheim:

That was Thursday, and after hiking and dinner I got to go to my FIRST EVER football match! Did you know that in other countries they call soccer football and people play professionally? It's like American football or baseball or something! And it's not just the World Cup; people play all the time! I went to see Rosenborg (the Trondheim club) and Aek (from Cyprus) play a qualifying match for Euroleague. Neither team was very good, but it was fun to go; I've wanted to go to a match for a long time, but they're not so common in the US. Here's me at the game:

Classes start on Monday. I'll be taking "The Marine Physical Environment", "Spreading of Pollution" (is that an Art of... or Practice of... kind of class?), "Port & Coastal Facilities", and either "Safety/Reliability Analysis" or "Dynamic Response of Marine Structures." More on that to come.