24 november 2008

Today i awoke before the sun (which isn't difficult to do at this time of year in Oslo, Norway).
I bundled up early and walked to school in a bitingly cold wind.
In my backpack: 2 pencils, 2 pens, an eraser, a pencil sharpener, my student ID, cell phone, a banana, and some bread and brown cheese.
This was all i needed for my day on the University of Oslo's campus. Today i took my third (out of 4) final exam. It was a 4 hour written essay exam for "Philosophy of Language, Understanding and Action".
I think i did alright.
...All my writing these days is giving me a gnarly, nerd callous on my right hand's middle finger.
But before the morning even began, i was completing my sweet dreams, which had accumulated in sleep, post Thanksgiving Dinner.

Last night I hosted 11 students in my tiny kitchen for a potuck Thanksgiving meal.
when: 6:00pm until 10:00pm
who: international students from my master's program and some american students for good measure
why: to represent the most delicious American holiday of the year! (albeit, in a non-traditional way...)

the Menu:
an assortment of olives, and stuffed pepperoncinis (from our Turkish representative)
celery stix (my gramma's tradition in Missouri)
garlic mashed potatoes and boiled cabbage (from the native Californian)
cooked, and pickled red cabbage (from the German)
roasted and spiced potatoes (from the German)
tomato + potato + carrot + kidney bean stew (from the native Louisianan)
chickenchilinachochipcheesepie extraordinaire (from the Staten Island, NYer)
"jordskokk" soup (from one Norwegian)
"lapskaus", and flatbrød (from another Norwegian)
desserts...
carrotcake (from our Serbian)
gluten-free chocolate cake--surprisingly tasty (from another Norwegian)
pumpkin pie and whipped cream* (from Magnolia!)

*this, i am very proud of. i acquired a winter squash from the oslo farmers market a month ago and was saving it for the occasion. i baked it then scooped out the guts and mixed it with eggs, cultured milk, some sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and a bit of wisconsin's finest maple syrup. i tried a press-in-the-pan pie crust--for my oval-shaped baking dish--with super results! the recipe calls for flour, butter, cream cheese, and salt and suger.

success all around!
Food shared, happiness had, and Thanks given.