Verbs!

Saturday morning, I left my apartment to participate in a $190 exam that would weigh my future in getting into grad school. After nearly crying after the quantitative part, I continued on with the verbal. I thought I aced it. What's nice about this GRE exam is that you immediately receive your scores.

I rejoiced. I did MUCH better on the math than I thought! And acing the verbal? Maybe I didn't do so hot.

Then I went home brain-dead and packed. In 30 minutes. Then I walked around town for hours.

Then I went to the airport the following day in the drowning rain. Not sure what to do with myself after being accustomed to stress-study-for-your-dear-life mode, I had a beer with a lime that was way too large to squeeze into the bottle. I put up a decent struggle and realized I had an audience. Then I hopped on a plane and slept for 6.5 hours for the first time on a flight. Is this how it's normally done?

I woke up in Heathrow for brunch and it was sunny! Well mostly cloudy with holes.

My Fantastic English friends were already on their way to pick me up - how wonderful it was to bypass the tube, bus, or train with my luggage and to see them immediately. We toured Oxford, where truly remarkable stone structures are called schools, and "Keep Off the Grass" signs are littered everywhere. It was beautiful. How do students manage to stay off the grass?

Approximately two hours later, we shot stuff.

Much to my delight, I am a great shot with my eyes shut. Then we ate a Norwegian Flag of bread before a magnificent feast. So the Fantastic English, much like the majority of the world, know how to use a knife properly during their supper time. Needless to say, I think they were impressed with my cutlery skills, or lack thereof. At least it provided some entertainment for my hosts.

The following day, we said our goodbyes to the Fantastic Englishwoman headed to America-land. Godspeed, though I secretly knew she'd be fine if she lives with that much arsenal.

The remaining Fantastic Englishman and I had oodles of time - a whole day! So what do you do with free time? Head on over to the Safari Park of course!

We found rhinos and marmosets, and promptly sat in the sunshine for a solid 359,124,412 hours in sheer animal bliss, reminiscing the Arctic. Then we saw an extremely violent film for fun. It was a treat.

The next morning we woke up very early, much to the Fantastic Englishman's delight. I was kicked out at Heathrow again so I could make my way north and find Bergen. And I did! I arrived that evening in a daze, found my accommodation on the first try, and even found my Awesome Norwegian Friend who gave me a whirlwind tour of Bergen at night. Simply great! So great, I even wore flipflops.

I went to the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research the following day to meet with contacts that I had hoped would offer good news on a masters program. Luckily for me, Bjerknes was on the opposite side of town so I got to try out my navigation skills and sight-see along the way. I took a shortcut, got lost, asked for help, and sprinted in the hopefully correct direction to make it to my appointment on time. After perhaps 6+ hours, I found out a whole lot of good news and made my way back through the town in a refreshing downpour of precipitation. I was wearing flipflops this day too.

I had to return to Bjerknes the next day to meet with one last person whose office proved to be evasive. Of course, I had forgotten his name so I ended up finding every crook and cranny at Bjerknes except the Unknown Last Person's office. It was well past our appointment time when a colleague showed me his office. We met for 25 minutes.

Returning back into the hordes of precipitation, I discovered penguins and lovely little parks along the way. This day I wore proper shoes; they were soaked through and through.

But enough of that day, I had to prepare for tomorrow! I was going on my Awesome Norwegian Friend's Glacier. What should have been a cake walk to get there proved to be madness, but thankfully I made friends with the loveliest bus driver in the world, Tøre. He looked like a jolly wizard.

There was an accident in a mountain tunnel which delayed our trip, making us miss the boat across the fjord, which then decided to wait for us, but then decided to skip Herand (where I needed to go) so I took another bus to Tørvikbygd and caught a ferry just as it was leaving for Herand, where the Awesome Norwegian Friend immediately picked me up and we teared up through the mountains with a firm grip on the "oh sh*t" handles in the vehicle. She was a good, fast driver.

We arrived with tourists geared up. It was pouring rain and windy, but I didn't mind. Glaciers are fantastic any time of the day unless you're lost, hypothermic, hate glaciers, dislike ice, etc. I loved it. It felt so nice to have crampons on.

That night stretched on with Norwegian and American beers and great company. We scampered together around noon the next day to head out into "the islands" for a day of international rock-climbing.

And Jesus! It was sunny!

Clear, blue sky. Some wind. Simply beautiful on smooth, glacial landscapes surrounded by the sea. My final day couldn't have been better, enclosed by stunning surroundings, sticky climbing rocks, and very lovely friends.

As soon as we returned to Bergen, we raced up Mt Fløyen for a pleasant view of sunset. Evening was spent with a lamb kebab and a final stroll around town before an early morning out.

Then it was hard to leave, again.