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.