Maple Syrup/Poutine

So mostly it's been same old, same old around Bodo. We had quite a bit of free time last week because of cancelled classes, so there are a few things I can update on:
On Weds, we went to the waterpark downtown (as I said in the last post!) and it was really quite neat. They gave you an arm band with a little microchip in it which was your access to the change rooms and lockers. You would wave your wristband in front of the machine and a locker would pop open. Then you could put in your things, close the door and wave it again to close. I thought it was pretty cool. The water park itself had 4 pools (lanes, wavepool, kiddie pool and wading pool) also diving boards and 3 water slides. One of the slides even had different light effects as you slide down (strobe, rainbows, stars), it was alot of fun.
Then over the weekend, Tomomi and Laoka who are 2 students studying here from Japan, helped everyone to make sushi. We used smoked salmon, artificial crab, cucumber and even managed to get ahold of an avocado. The salmon around here is amazing, nothing like I've ever had at home, it's so fresh!
To repay everyone for the sushi, John and I (a fellow Saskatchewanian) made some poutine on the next day. It was quite good, and everyone liked it even though we used regular cheese instead of curds and powdered gravy. Also, thanks to my wonderful parents, some maple syrup arrived yesterday so I shared that as well. In Norway, they don't often use syrup like we do at home, they have corn syrup and a really thick molasses-y syrup for baking. They tend to eat pancakes/waffles with jam, fruit or a sweet brown cheese. One of my Norwegian friends tried maple syrup for the first time. I saw maple syrup once in a grocery store (Made in Canada was on the label!) but it was very very expensive.
And finally today I took an AfroPower Jazz dance class at the local gym. It was all in Norwegian, but still easy to follow along and really great fun. I've taken a few fitness classes there so far and am glad that I decided to join up.

The most exciting news of the week is that I am leaving Bodo tomorrow to travel to Tromso, which is quite a bit further north. I am going with 7 other international students and 3 other U of S students who are studying in Tromso have graciously offered to be our guides and provide floor space. The reason we are going is a Sami festival that takes place this week. The Sami are an indigenous northern people in Norway. We will return on Monday evening, and hopefully I will have some more great pictures to post.