The Dude

This weekend I found a good little cafe/bar hidden away in Grunnerlokka called Cafe Mir. It is hidden away off the street, occupying two floors of a building covered with some pretty rad art. Downstairs has two foos tables. It is always good to find new places while exploring that I can dig on. I spent a few hours on Saturday early evening exploring. Much of the city center is lit up with Christmas decorations, and it makes the darkness bearable, really.

I also finally went back to the Munch Museum for the first time since SUST 05. I picked up some postcards too. I like Munch alright, he is a good artistic counterpart to Knut Hamsun's early work. They both capture the inner turmoil and dread of early-modernism with its existential crises. I think anyway. And Munch does a great job portraying the dark side of Norwegian society.

This is walking down Karl Johans Gate.

I've been pretty busy the last week updating the reading compendium for Divided States of Europe. Because the program hadn't been run before it needed to be filled out a bit. It needed to be spiced up with easier and less academic readings. The more interesting additions are part of Vaclav Havel's Disturbing the Peace, bits from Darkulic's Cafe Europa that I was reading earlier this semester, Lech Walesa's Nobel acceptance speech, and the chapter on Solidarity in A Force More Powerful. That's the less academic stuff, anyway. There was some heavier additions like Habermas as well as some research from a few Scandinavian NGO's. When the syllabus is complete I'll make it available.

We still haven't gotten the compiled evaluations back from HECUA, though we've been told this week. I'm just glad I've been able to sink my teeth in the syllabus project instead of stressing about the evals and feeling lonely with folks gone or leaving.

I do have a couple friends sticking around for the spring, but no one I am close to right now. Charloette, formerly a SUSTer, will be around. Tim, the German I hung out with a couple times early in the semester, has extended into the Spring. Knut Erik, Martin's friend, will be here of course. I've also met another German I got coffee with last week and we've made similar plans this week. She leaves this weekend but will be back in February.

There is also the small matter of visitors! Cate will be here in less than two weeks! We're staying in Oslo for Christmas, but will go for a week trip to Copenhagen, including New Years, and then to Stockholm. AND, I've got friends coming! That's right, Amanda and Neal ponied up the cash to make the trip: Jan 2-12. I've known Amanda for a couple years, first peripherally through Jane Addams School, then as a roommate of a friend's, then as Youth Farm West Side Program Director. Neal was in Americorps with me this last year, working on the West Side at Guadalupe Alternative Program. He also lived on my block, which led to many unplanned and excellent beers, guitar, and chillin sessions. We all hung out a lot over the spring and summer, and they became good friends of mine.

So things are looking good here overall. The wolf abides.