Sorry for the lack of entries but sleep has finally become a priority.  I am exhausted.  We are always on the go and meeting new people every day so the energy it takes to be "on" catches up with you.

We had the big parade and celebration today (much like 4th of July) but with nearly 100% participation.  Unfortunately we also had the coldest 17th of May in 50 years.  It didn't get past 39 with strong winds and light rain throughout the parade.  We were up and going at 730 for speeches  and then got to warm up before hitting the main childrens parade.  Amazing how they maintain this tradition because literally every school age child marches in each local parade along with all of the local bands.  The upcoming graduates all wear special pants for the last week leading up to today and are pretty much excused for all of their pranks and otherwise bad behavior.

We are touring every major historical site and I probably know more about Norwegian history than US... ;)

The people are great - we are being taken care of with unending kindness and generosity.  I have a professor whose english is definitely more British than American who is absolutely a crack up.  He cannot resist telling stories everywhere we go and with pretty much anyone for an audience - including the men's room at the formal clubhouse.  He is very charming and has lots of great stories to tell.  We are being fed so often that I am having to turn down food and drinks several times a day because I can't keep going like this without some regular exercise.  Tomorrow is a 10k hike which should help.

It stays light until after 11pm and sunrise is around 4am so you have to keep the blinds shut.  The showers are drained into the floor of the bathroom, the toilet flushes by pulling up on a nob ont he back tank so no swirling just a whoosh like an airplane toilet.  They call the bathroom a toalette or toilet so you have to get past asking where the toilet is or you will never get to go.

They take our pictures and do stories in the newspapers in nearly every town so far.  I probably get my picture taken 20-30 times a day but have barely used my own camera for photos of myself.  When we do it takes 5 minutes to coordinate all of our cameras and train people how to use them - not worth the effort.

We are all in love with the Norwegian ice cream (real cream used) and the "brown" cheese which is a blend of goat cheese and regular.  Tomorrow night I get Chinese food because all of the restaurants are closed forthe holiday weekend.  Looking forward to it for a change of pace.

I added a photo from Rade where there was a supercar in the restaurant parking lot.  They told me it would cost millions in US $ but I have no idea if it is true. Don't recognize the brand but it was custom built for a man who sells custom yachts and is extremely well off. 

That is all I have for now - lots of great stories but I am still cautious about what I post even to this blog.  Suffice to say we are "bonding" as a team and are having a lot of fun.