The weather started off wet. This didn\u2019t stop the usual, crack commando team from staging an advanced strike into the centre of the town before the remainder of the infantry followed later at their own pace.
\nWe first visited the library to get net access and to read any english language newspaper we could find so as to find out what had been going on in the world. Unfortunately there was only the Herald-Tribune International Edition which didn\u2019t really help. The net connection was better so I managed to get the weather forecast for the next few days and read my Dept. e-mail.
\nWe then walked across town to the Polaris attraction. On the way we passed the Macks brewery and discovered that it contains the British Consulate. Typical!
\nThe Polaris attraction was really a mini aquarium with a largish pool holding four bearded seals. It also had a multi-screen AV-Digital film theatre within we watched a couple of films, one about Svalbard and the other about Antarctica.
\nUnfortunately the cafe wasn\u2019t open there. This was probably due to the tourist season officially ending at the end of August. So, when we left we popped into the local Spar supermarket and picked up some lunch in the enclosed sandwich shop before attempting to buy provisions.
\nI don\u2019t know what Norwegians manage to eat as the food in the supermarkets is terrible. Soups all come in dried form, spagetti etc. comes in large tins with very little sauce and end up as a congealed lump. There are all sorts of not very good salamis and junk food and that\u2019s about it. I came out of there with only a bag of rolls, some milk and some sachets of instant hot chocolate.
\nBy this time my cold had progressed to the point where I was feeling really fatigued and the nose was starting to run. At least the sore throat was going away.
\nThis evening we were invited by Julia to meet other members of the International Student Union. It took some engineering but we did finally make it to the location of the gathering, the Sami cultural centre in the University.
\nThe building has an interesting structure, made from rough hewn logs and polished gneiss with a semi-circular glass outer wall. In the centre of the floor is a large pit designed to sit around with a central fireplace in which a large fire was lit.
\nIt was a fun evening and I managed to mostly fight off the cold for most of it.
\nI\u2019m now, at last, writing up all the events which have happened so far which had failed to do previous nights. I really need to go to sleep now, though I\u2019m not sure how well I\u2019m going to sleep with a running nose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The weather started off wet. This didn\u2019t stop the usual, crack commando team from staging an advanced strike into the centre of the town before the remainder of the infantry followed later at their own pace. We first visited the … Continue reading