Norwegian solstice

As luck and science would dictate, the date and time of the solstice was 6:30 a.m. in Oslo (11:30 p.m. yesterday in St Paul.)   Today, then, is the shortest day in Oslo and Ås. The difference from yesterday is just a few seconds, and in any case, it snowed here today and was cloudy all day, so the sun didn't make an appearance at all.   Today's blog has photos from yesterday, mainly because I was too knackered to do a proper job of selecting content.  This is maybe better.

This is Unky Herb in front of the place where Kelsey is living.  There are bikes galore and, up until today, a lot of students.  Most of the students have finished finals and are going home for Christmas, including J.B., a French student that has been a friend and generator of amusement because of his tendency to massacre the English language in humorous ways.  Today she is the only student left in her residence pod.  She's out figure skating on a local pond, while I use her computer.

I meant to include a photo of the big ski jump facility in yesterday's blog, but instead bogged.  The hill and associated museum are at the top of a hill, one that featured icy side walks and cool mountain air.  It was a highlight of yesterday's ramble through Oslo, checking out cultural high points.

The Olympic size ski jump. One of the sports at which the Norwegians excel.

The view from the top of Holmenkollen (the name of the ski jump) - showing a cross country skiing area near the ridiculously high ski jump.

The Daughter of Norway (DoN) told us a couple of days ago that there is a statue of Kate Moss in Oslo.  I thought that she must be joking and expressed some disbelief.  Ever the perfect hostess she led us to the spot where a pop culture sculptor did indeed produce a much bigger than life size statue and someone put it up in a shopping area in Oslo.

The statue of Kate Moss in a shopping area near the Oslo Apple Store.

We also went to the Edvard Munch museum, hoping to see the famous artist's most famous work, "The Scream." I guess it's somewhere else with better security, since it was stolen last year and, although it has been recovered, the authorities seem a little squeamish about security.

There is also a pretty good story about our adventure trying to find a statue of the reclining Buddha at the University of Oslo. Adam's Shinnyo-En groups founder had presented the statue to the University in 1967 and he wanted to see it. It's a long and involved saga, but ends with us stumbling upon the statue displayed on the 4th floor of the East Asian studies building almost by accident while we were looking for an information desk.