navy beans

My roommate Andre - who is also in the Peace Program - has been in the Norwegian military for eight years. Needless to say he has some extremely interesting stories to tell, and I've learned a lot about peace and conflict just from listening to him talk. But his connection to the military doesn't just benefit me and my classmates academically, it also benefits us socially. I found this out last weekend when he told me, Hanne, Marjaana, and Danaca that we could go to a Navy party on a boat in the Tromso Harbor if we wanted.

"A Navy Party?"
"Yeah, a Navy Party."
"On a boat in the harbor?"
"Yeah. In the harbor."

He promised us that the sailors would treat us like royalty (which they did) and that it would be a great "cultural experience" (which it was). The party was in honor of two sailors who were going up in rank, and we were allowed to join in because...well...we were girls.

A Navy Party - as I discovered by using my keen anthropological/ethnographic participant observation skills - includes (but is not limited to) drinking beer in a tiny room on a Navy boat in the harbor, singing Norwegian pop and rock songs really loudly, playing a game that involves cramming ones body through a small porthole, and occassionally dancing on the table. (No, I didn't play the game. Yes, I did dance on a table.)

We had a great time - got to take pictures of ourselves sitting at the control panel and standing on the deck, and we are all-the-more culturally sensitive because of the whole experience. I'll let you know what military adventure Andre has in store for us next, but I sure hope it involves driving a tank.

Until next time...

my first post

It is not quite November, but there is snow on the ground in Tromsø. It has stopped raining, for the time being, and the snow makes everything a lot brighter. I should be reading right now, but the thought of establishing my own on-line journal was more exciting. So, here is my first installment...and I will try to post some pictures soon, as well.
Peace.