Final Reflection

Now that I have been home for a couple of days, it’s time to sit down and reflect on the last couple of weeks in Norway.

I didn’t really look into Norway much before the trip; I looked at the Wikipedia page and read a few articles about current issues facing the country.  I only had limited knowledge of the places we planned to see, so I didn’t really know what to expect from them.  The place I was most excited to see was Svalbard.  I know that not many people can say they’ve been there or even that far north.  The landscapes of the future are held in the glacial ice in Svalbard, its almost like we journeyed back in time on the visit there.  The time in Svalbard made me contemplate that term “glacial pace” and realize how slow that really is. 

The measurement most people use to look back into the past is how many generations ago something happened; with glaciers these measurements don’t work the same. The landscapes that we visited throughout the trip took far longer than one human lifetime to create.

I came to Norway with little knowledge of glacial processes, expecting myself to struggle learning all the terms on the checklist we received on the first day and I left knowing all of them without flashcards or any other form of studying.  I am amazed at the power of learning from hands-on activities. 

I came to Norway expecting to look at Norwegian perception of climate change compared to our own perceptions and ended up looking at Norwegian aquaculture. “Norwegian aquaculture operates in the natural environment that we all share, and that imposes obligations on everyone involved. For this reason, sustainability within aquaculture is more than just a catchword; it is a basic prerequisite for the very existence and profitability of the business.”  I found Norway interesting because of the views of private land in the country; there is none.  Anyone can go anywhere as long as he or she doesn’t harm, disturb, litter, nor damage wildlife or crops of the land.  The concept of freedom to roam is interesting to me because in the United States the idea doesn’t exist.  I think this freedom shows respect for the environment because of the trust that people will not harm the land.  The United States couldn’t implement the same law because people wouldn’t respect the land.  I was surprised at how much of Norwegian law was based on trust.  Many of the parks charged a fee without anyone there to collect it; many honor system rules apply in Norway.

The place I enjoyed the most was Vang.  I liked everywhere we went, but Vang was my favorite.  The hikes around there were amazing and I think it is the place I learned the most from.  I did a lot of research into my newly created project and I really became interested and invested in it.

I remember a quote that perfectly describes this trip for me;  “the best journeys answer questions that in the beginning you didn’t even think to ask.”  I think Norway taught me a lot about things I wasn’t expecting to learn.

Jake's final thoughts

Our course in Norway was an amazing look at a country shaped as much by ice and physical processes as people and the cultures they left behind. Quite unlike anything I had ever done before, this class forced me to experience a country from a geographer's perspective rather than just a traveler's. It is one thing to learn about frost heaving in a classroom and another thing entirely to see it firsthand as we are walking next to a glacier.

My favorite aspect was most definitely our visit to Svalbard (like everyone else, it seems). Traveling above the Arctic Circle - where the sun never sets and the time on the clock doesn't carry as much meaning - was an unbelievable opportunity. Just thinking about how far I was from the North Pole makes me shake my head in amazement. The geology of Svalbard was strange and alien-like yet provided a perfect example of almost all the features we had discussed.

Not only was the geology of Norway unique, but the long history of Norse and Christian traditions in the country made the cultural aspects of the course great. Holding a working, 1,000 year old church lock definitely gives one a sense of just how long people have been settled in the country. The mixing of natural processes and human impacts gives the country amazing diversity and beauty.

Hopefully one day, I will be able to return Norway and see how the landscapes have changed in the time that's passed. This was certainly an amazing opportunity and one I will not soon forget.

Jake

Norway in Review: Jim's Final Post

At the start of 2013, we started looking at vacation options for the summer. We were looking at either Europe or Iceland. I was particularly interested in crossing the Arctic Circle, and there are cruises from Iceland to Greenland. There is even one that takes you to the town of Qaanaaq, which is over 77° north!

On February 18, I got an email announcing the Norway Field Course. I was immediately interested, because it included a stop in Longyearbyen, which is almost a full degree north of Qaanaaq, although its name is not a palindrome. We worked out all the details, and somehow made it happen.

When we arrived in Oslo, a rainstorm greeted us, and we needed to learn which of our credit cards we could and couldn’t use.  We met up with the class and enjoyed $10 hotdogs; this would be the first of many expensive dinners.

We were given a checklist of glacier related formations to check off during our journey, we figured out blog duties, and we were off to Svalbard!

Svalbard was definitely the highlight of the trip, and I hope that I can get back some day! I also have becoming interested in Tromsø, and I would love to visit that city as well. I wish we had better weather in Svalbard, but taking a zodiac out on the Arctic Ocean when it’s choppy and rainy was a great way to feel like we were on an exciting adventure.  I stayed up quite late the first night and enjoyed the endless sunlight! I think I could get used to living there, well except for the prices.

Once we left Longyearbyen, we headed to Stavanger. We took a fjord cruise through Lysefjord to see Preikestolen. The weather was not the most cooperative, but that meant that there were less people on the sightseeing deck! We also got some great photos of Preikestolen in the dense fog!

We hiked to Preikestolen the next day, with thousands of other people. We got to see glacial potholes on the trip, and we focused on the geology of the area.

We headed to Bergen next, where we learned about the cultural geography. We were led around town by a professor at the University of Bergen, and he had a lot of good answers about my questions on glacial isostatic adjustment. We took a short hike up one of Bergen’s seven mountains, and learned a lot about the city. We visited the Hanseatic Museum, and learned about what life was like in Bergen during the Hanseatic period.

We ventured into Norway’s interior, and into the land of glaciers and Stave churches!

We visited with family of our professor, and we enjoyed trout with a dessert of redcurrants and cream.  We also had an opportunity to learn about the refugee center in Vang.

Some of us hiked Besseggen, which was not an easy hike, but it was a lot of fun.  I’d have to rank it as my second favorite hike of the trip, with the first being the glacier hike in Longyearbyen, because I think glaciers are amazing.

After Besseggen, I was a little tired, so I’m glad the next day consisted of visiting Stave Churches, and having dinner with some people from the University in Oslo.

On the final day, we visited some museums. The Viking Ship Museum was pretty cool, I can’t believe how well preserved some of the boats are! The Norwegian Folk Museum was really incredible, and we spent the rest of our day there.  We learned about the Sami people and their culture, we visited a stave church inside the museum, and we learned what life was like in Oslo in the recent decades.

It was quite a trip, with a lot of incredible stuff packed in! I wish we had more time above the Arctic Circle and, if I go back, I will definitely find a way to visit Tromsø and visit their botanic garden. The area around Vang was amazing and gave us tons of opportunities to check off items from our list of glacier related formations.

The trip provided a lot of great memories, great photos, and amazing experiences!

--

Jim

Alt for Norge, Zoe's final reflection

Learning about a new country, culture, people, or landscape is always an immensely complicated and difficult project. You can't really understand everything unless you were born and raised there, and even then there are still new discoveries around every corner. Some places are easier to get a sense of than others, however, and Norway is one of those places. I shouldn't say "easier" really, in many ways it's even more of an enigma than most. But Norway's remarkable geography along with its tolerant yet thriving government (not to mention the happy and welcoming folk who call the country home) have made this unique place infinitely more accessible to foreigners. The enigma, for me at least, is just how this has all come together so neatly and effectively. The people are happy (even on Svalbard in the Arctic Circle, a place that seems more likely to inspire heavy depression than a booming tourism industry, as is the reality), the administration welcomes refugees from impoverished and war-torn areas around the world, and protecting the environment is a major force in the country's continued development and governance.

Traveling around the country we saw an extreme array of environments, practically everything short of a desert. Whether it be plentiful (yet admittedly sometimes unwelcome) precipitation or protective fjords reaching far inland, Norway always has something to offer its guests. Because that's truly what we all are, just guests to this breathtaking land. No one could hope to tame it or change it in any way, for the processes at work here are much more than we can fathom. Immense glaciers leisurely carved the dramatic landscapes through which we traversed long before the Vikings' infamous reign. It seems to me that this is one surviving instance in our rapidly changing world where we are the ones being influenced by the environment and not the other way around.

Our time in Svalbard was so unlike anything I've done before and so amazing in many ways that I think that was my favorite aspect of the course. But to compare Svalbard and mainland Norway is like comparing present day Norway and Ice Age Norway: they're two physically and temporally separated entities of the same body. Overall, this experience was much more than a simple tourist checklist of a country as international travel so often is. It was an opportunity for learning based on practical knowledge and individualized understanding, and that is what I think has impacted me the most. My understanding of glacial processes has expanded greatly, much more than I have ever gotten from years of casual learning about the topic in a classroom. I am so glad I met all the wonderful people that I did in Norway and that I got to have this fantastic experience.

Enig og tro til Dovre faller!

--Zoe

Christine's Final Norway Blog Post

Now that I’ve been home for a few days, and am mostly recovered from jetlag, it’s time for my final post on this blog.  Though I'm still going to blame jetlag for the lack of a creative title. :-P

The premise of this course was to see the impact of glaciers over time.  We started by hiking on active glaciers in the arctic, then traveled back to the mainland and forward in time.  We saw fjords (from sea level and then above via Preikestolen), traveled up the coast to Bergen (a city with quite a history) and then into the mountains in Norway’s interior where we saw the landscapes shaped by glaciers ages ago.  This “time travel” approach clearly demonstrated how the earth has changed over time. 

Our trip to Svalbard was the highlight of this class for me.  Most people never get the chance to visit the Arctic, and I wish we had spent more time there.  I would’ve enjoyed meeting more of Longyearbyen’s residents and learning about life and nature above the Arctic Circle.  Hiking across two glaciers was a class highlight as well. :)  If I ever make it back to Longyearbyen I’ll be sure to visit the Svalbard Museum.  A guide told us he normally finds museums boring, but really enjoys this one.

Our personal tour of Bergen, led by Professor Arnfinn Seim from the University of Bergen, was great!  He was very knowledgeable about the history of Bergen and its people, as well as local hiking trails and the geography of the area.  Since Bergen is on the coast, it is one of the first places to be impacted by a change in sea level.    

I also enjoyed the time we spent in rural Norway.  We stayed in cabins at Bøflaten Camping just outside of Vang, and spent time with Dr. Fielding’s relatives.  They provided a delicious homemade meal, a fun evening, and insight into life in rural Norway. 

My favorite part of Oslo was the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History.  This open-air museum had a variety of “real life” exhibits including the stave church from Gol, which had been moved in the 1880s, a working farm with farm houses and lofts dating back to the 1600s, and an old town complete with summer cottages, workshops, and an apartment building showing life at various points over 130 years.

Though somewhat off-topic for the class, I found it very interesting to see how Norway handles public land, and how Norwegians treat their land.  In Norway, land is available for all to use/traverse.  It seems that nothing is 100% off-limits, and there are just a few basic rules.  These rules are outlined in the Outdoor Recreation Act.  I noticed very little litter, even in popular tourist areas, and an overwhelming majority of properties were neatly organized and well maintained.  I don’t remember seeing any run down homes with 5 inoperable vehicles parked on the lawn. 

While hiking in Svalbard, I asked one of our guides if Norwegians were concerned about destroying the tundra by walking on it, since plants that grow in the tundra have such short growing seasons.  Her response was logical, and along the lines of ‘if we want to study the tundra, we have to walk on it, but everyone treats the land with respect and tries to preserve nature’.  While this is a logical approach, it was somewhat surprising to me.  Hiking culture in the US encourages you to “stay on the trail”, in an effort to cause less damage to ecosystems.  We didn’t see a single “stay on the trail” sign in Norway.  I wonder if the difference in these two approaches simply lies in the fact that Norway has a lower population density… Maybe I’ll research that for a project in the future. :)

So long, Norway, and thanks for the beautiful landscapes and $10 beers!

Reflections

Reflecting back on our trip to Norway, I am surprised with how many different things we learned on such a wide variety of topics. Though I expected to learn about the geology of the country, I was happy with how much we learned about so many other topics. Whether it was meeting local people and seeing their homes, both in the city and the country, traveling by different modes of transport, taking a guided historical tour of Bergen with a local professor, talking with PhD students about their studies, tasting local foods, visiting stave churches and hearing their history, or just exploring the landscape on foot with the descriptions and pointed questions of our professor and TA, almost every moment was a learning experience.

My experience in Norway is not one I will soon forget. The beauty of the country will certainly stay with me, and I have the photographs to prove it. It is not often you get the chance to spend so much time in just one country while traveling, and the understanding I have now of Norway surpasses many other places I have visited.

Being an International Studies student, my knowledge of geology is certainly limited, so it was great exposure for me to learn about the glacial formations and landscapes as I was seeing them firsthand. It is just never quite the same to see these things in a book.
In starting my research for my project, I have really been enjoying that firsthand knowledge. It makes the research I am doing so much more impactful, and gives me such a better understanding of the what and the why behind the numbers and graphs.

HiHi Norway: Lanna's final blog

It’s no secret that Earth’s powerful processes operate on a significantly different time-scale from the one humans are used to: tectonic plates move, trees add rings, rocks weather, and evolution occurs. Most of the time, however, it IS practically a secret to humans how exactly these processes occur and what their outcomes have been. We’ve spent centuries trying to figure out the earth’s secrets, but that’s not nearly enough time for us to fully understand the landscapes that have had eons to form and re-form.

That being said, we HAVE learned a little about how to “read” the landscapes left behind by Earth’s ancient history, and perhaps no landscape allows us to discover a more dramatic and readable story than the one carved by glaciers.

Land bridges appeared and were crossed, plants flourished and died, Vikings sailed and plundered, sheep grazed and wandered, cities were conceived and built, and DU students hiked and pondered—these silent and magnificent features were witness to it all. From moraines to cirques, hanging valleys to U-shaped ones, and patterned ground to crevasses in my favorite place we traveled, Svalbard, the landscapes we saw in Norway were a firsthand testament to the raw power and impact of just one of earth’s amazing processes. Just as the ocean can easily make a person feel like a small paper boat (or a bruise-able and unbalanced Svalbard zodiac rider, if a more impactful reminder is necessary), a glaciated landscape stands as a calm and serene reminder of our place in geologic time; our role in the world as the result of just another earthly process.

I hope life will one day return me to a place as awe-inspiring as Norway; a place that can teach me so much about history, life, and the ways of the world. Even if it doesn’t, though, I won’t have to be reminded to heed some of Norway’s most poignant messages: appreciate the earth for both its strength and its vulnerability, recognize the importance of working with the environment instead of against it, allow the earth’s landscapes to inspire and motivate, and—most of all—never try to operate vans that drive like soggy cereal boxes in towns with small roads and trash cans.

Takk for alt, Norway. Give my best to the governor.