Last Day in Scandinavia

Friday, July 27:

        Today was a great final day in Scandinavia. Because I had the time to go around the city with Megan the day before, I already covered a lot of places on my itinerary. As a result, my plan for Friday was to relax and just enjoy the atmosphere of the city.

        I slept in, went to breakfast, and had some time in the morning to reflect and write in my journal. A little later Michael came by to chat with me, and we decided to go out in the city for some second-hand shopping. The day was sunny and the weather was nice. I was thrilled getting some exercise walking everywhere and seeing some parts of the community that I would not normally be capable of viewing by myself. I was able to visit a few Salvation Army stores and got some great discounts on some clothes! It is really fun for me to go shopping at places like that; although you have to hunt and peck some for things, when you find a great buy it is very exciting. I was able to purchase a jacket that is normally about $131 for less than $30! I also bought a dress for about forty dollars.

Michael took us to a part of the city with some vintage stores and neat finds. It was a lot of fun supporting local stores like these that have made an effort to be sustainable. By the end of the morning Michael had bought a dress and some jewelry for his girlfriend, and we had had fun talking about different things. During the day we even made a stop at a local grocery store and an organic foods store to purchase some snacks/gifts. Michael really helped me learn what products to look for that are healthy and nourishing to the body.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped by a small district in Oslo that reminded me of Christiania. The walls were decorated with drawings and color. I decided to stop and take a picture of the murals. It was interesting to go from one part of the community to another and observe the diversity.

After a fun afternoon, I went back to the hotel to shower and change. Since we would be having a formal dinner with our professors in the evening, I decided to wear the dress I had purchased. Meeting up with the rest of the group at 6pm, we went to Hard Rock Café for a nice evening of music, reflection, and time to share our memories. I ended up ordering grilled salmon and split a brownie with Ms. Berta. (Dr. Whitworth provoked me positively to go the vegetarian route). It was absolutely delicious!

During the dinner, Dr. Kinkade presented certificates to each of us for participating in the trip. Each one was given a specific award that referred to an inside joke from the week. Mine in particular was the “She went where with Michael?” award. I laughed so hard! It reminded me of my adventures in Christiania when Michael and I almost got stranded out on the raft. I had a lot of fun talking about experiences like these with Dr. Whitworth and Ms. Berta. It was sad to realize that this would be our last evening in Scandinavia. 

When dinner was over, I went back to my room to pack and get ready to leave. I could not believe how quickly the past 14 days had flown by! I was so grateful for everything about this study abroad journey. Nothing really could compare to this opportunity.