Buddy groups and statues

So, after my last post, I later went to Villa Eika (first time on the campus!) to try a Norwegian waffle, which looks like this:

They are thinner and less bread-like than Belgium waffles, and what's smeared on this one is a tart jelly, which is perfect with the sweet waffle.  Tasty!  The line was really long to get phone cards, so a group of us went off into central Oslo looking on a successful quest for a SIM card.  Later, I met up with someone to go see the Opera house in Oslo, which is big and glass and looks like this:

You can walk up that slanted roof to the very top (it's made of marble, so I would not want to try this in the winter), where there is a great view across the city, islands, and the fjord-which, by the way, is a fun word to say, much better than "bay."

On Monday, we got information packets, then met our buddy groups, with whom I experienced the joys of walking around campus, after which we headed downtown to listen to some speeches and some epic music:

Today, there was a scavenger hunt, part of which involved taking all of our removable clothes and tying them together to form the longest line possible-I'm happy to say that we beat the record!  Then, we engaged in a popular Norwegian pastime-barbecuing on the grass using disposable grills.

Later, the groups were supposed to meet up again for beer tasting, but I got lost and ended up at Vigeland Statue park, so decided to see that instead.  I followed an English tour group for a while, and learned that this is part of the fountain that you don't normally see (it's being renovated right now, so the water is off):

The fountain is called the Circle of Life (insert Lion King music here...), and there are panels along the outside showing different stages in life, including some skeletons and swimming babies.
I took a ton more pictures, because it was really neat, but here is part of the giant tower of people:

But I personally liked looking at the larger statues arranged in rays around the tower, like this one:

They all show different parts of the human experience, from love to anger, hope to survival, and I thought it was really amazing.