From milk fat and wet feet

Almost three weeks have passed and it's time for a little update. Bananas have been replaced by some more reliable sources of nutrition. Noodles, noodles with tomato sauce, noodles with pesto, boiled noodles, boiled noodles with tomato sauce, boiled noodles with pesto. The ultimate wonder food. The initially questionable decision to take kilos of high-quality whole wheat spaghetti in the car has paid off in the end. And even though the regular prices of food are anything but consumer-friendly (even for locals), you can rely on the 80 cents pasta sauce. It may not be the best in terms of taste, but it's a good way to moisten the noodles. Cheese is more difficult. Relatively cheaper budget cheese for pizza consists mainly of coconut fat and milk protein. As my roommate told me, this is done because valuable milk fat is used in other products. This is how the cost of the "grated cheese" can be reduced. In fact, stores have, alongside regular milk, an equally voluminous selection of reduced-fat versions. Compared to these, in the ordinary German 1.5% version, you can practically see the fat bubbles. If there were milk with negative fat content, you would find it here. Unfortunately, the lowest fat content I found was only 0% (tastes like sweet water with a hint of protein in the aftertaste…).

Because, no matter the budget, plant-based fat should not be part of a pasta dish (except maybe olive oil), you have to pay almost double the price of the cheese. So yes - pasta is a nice budget dish, but there are actually many ways to save on food without compromising quality. Bread, rice, legumes bring variety. Trying to bake bread myself was a success and it turned out surprisingly well. I stole the flour mix from a former roommate at a low cost… unbeatable price. However, this kind of bread procurement is not sustainable and the baking process took half of my Saturday, so I will probably go back to buying ready-made bread (sorry to my bread-baking friends back home). Especially since I recently discovered 700 grams of bread for an unbeatable 80 cents (instead of the usual €2.50 - €3.50).

The kitchen in the common room, even with only 4 burners for up to 7 people, is actually never fully occupied, so you always have space to cook. I am now familiar with my Norwegian flatmates and I am sure my time here will be easy. Cleaning, on the other hand, is a bit of a challenge, which could have been anticipated in an all-male household with seven people. But hey - leading by example is the motto.

The bed that has now arrived has noticeably improved the standard of living, so there is always enough energy left for the (admittedly) rare events. The group of 500 Trondheim exchange students has split into several Facebook and WhatsApp groups, and depending on the group, there are interested people for various activities. Hiking, cross-country skiing, and ice skating are popular activities - obviously. And the winter landscape definitely has something to offer. If you like winter, you will find plenty of joy in the multitude of winter landscapes here. Combined with the low-hanging sun, the mountainous surroundings, and the fjord, there is always something to see.

So it doesn't matter if you miss your ski group appointment on a sunny Sunday because you couldn't find a parking spot, arrive late at the ski rental, and therefore can't get any skis and have to go for a hike instead. When bad preparation meets bad luck 🤷‍♂️. You could have just taken the bus with the others, but you have the car… What a dilemma. In the end, I paid just as much with my drive and parking costs as I would have with a round trip bus ticket. You could have also left earlier, but it was absolutely unpredictable that on a beautiful weekend day, the locals would want to go cross-country skiing (*ahem), so I left at the last minute. Well - wearing ankle-high leather shoes, I embarked on a foot sightseeing tour of the "Bymarka". The climb to "Gråkallen" was accordingly challenging. You're thinking, "Yes, this path looks good, there are a lot of ski tracks here..." and then you find yourself knee-deep in one of those ski tracks in the snow. Combined with ankle-high good city boots and pants that don't close properly, it's an unbeatable feeling. Especially when the snow in your shoes gradually reaches the state of "liquid" step by step. However, the view from Gråkallen was worth it:

And of course, Norway in winter would only be half complete without being able to present the "oh-so-magical Northern Lights pictures" to your family and friends. It sounds a bit ironic, and it is. Because in reality, for many people, experiencing this natural phenomenon amounts to finding the right camera settings... myself probably included. This is because the Aurora Borealis is sometimes only visible as a pale strip in the sky, where you could also suspect a slightly brighter cloud. Only a camera can capture the light more strongly. Despite all this, it is still something different when you do get the opportunity to see a slightly more intense light. Especially when this light moves pulsatingly and forms curves and loops. In our case, it was still quite weak, but observing the movement is something special.

The point is, with the Northern Lights, you can definitely have an absolutely magical experience - but they are rare. If you really want to see a spectacle, you have to bring a lot of patience and appropriate clothing. And even then, your feet will be freezing. However, if you follow the Northern Lights report, you can roughly estimate when it's worth going out at night. I am looking forward to March, as they reach a peak intensity there.

Best regards to all readers and see you soon.🙋‍♂️