Growing on the Dark Side

Yesterday I saw coral reefs. Not in the sweltering tropics, but in my very own backyard of Trondheim fjord.  They are cold corals that grow in the dark cold waters of the fjord.  In fact, I believe cold corals were first described here in Norway back in the 1700's by Gunnerus a Norwegian compatriot of the botanist  Linnaeus.  The ones growing in Trondheim fjord are the shallowest coral reefs in the world growing at 40 m depth.   The most common species Lophelia is mostly white, but then occasionally it has a bright orange hue.  No one really knows why or when they produce the orange pigment.  Growing amidst the corals are white sponges (lower right) that apparently have a special mechanism to clean themselves -- even when found near tar and oil.  No one know how either, but I'd like to patent it.  I could use a self-cleaning house.

We put in a remotely operated vehicle with lots of sensors, videos, and cameras and had the underwater "robots" pilot themselves dynamically along transects of the seafloor.  As part of my project, I am helping Geir and his students with techniques for optical image analysis.   We got to watch the underwater footage live on the screen in the main galley.

So, why do cold corals live here?  They thrive in the cold high flow seawater of the fjord. By the way, fjords  are created by glacier erosion and have steep sides protruding into the water and a shallow sil or threshold to the open sea.  While certainly not as delicious as the food I got onboard the ship today (salmon, apple crisp...mmmm thanks chef), corals are animals that actively feed on plankton and particles they catch with extended tentacles.   If you want to know more about cold corals, check out Sir David Attenborough and his website  http://www.lophelia.org/corals/video-introduction. 

I end with an image of my host Geir Johnsen, faculty NTNU, and myself on the deck of the ship.  Some of us are also exploring the dark side :)

Have It Norsk-style

I admit to being linguistically challenged.  I speak some Danish, but Norwegian has been very hard for me to conquer.  I understand much of it, except the jokes and when discussions turn to subjects such as filtration rigs at work.   I should probably have taken lessons on pronunciation right away, but now it seems beyond the point. When I try to speak Norwegian, it sounds kind of Danish and not nearly as melodic as it should, and I get lots of blank looks.  I end up just repeating it in English which nearly everybody understands immediately.   Most of the Norwegians I know seem to speak English pretty well -- and I mean American English and not the British kind. Ok, they still use "trapezium" for "trapezoid," but their diction and sentence structure seems to be more American in flavor (or should I say flava).

Ode to the friendship bracelet

Much of the television here is from America including the latest hits (American Idol, How I Met Your Mother), repeats of some of our favorite Gilmore Girls, and even occasionally old episodes of MacGyver and Magnum PI all complete with Norwegian subtitles.  The culture doesn't seem to like dubbing and economically it would be expensive to do for all shows in such a small country.  Only the children's programming seems to be dubbed into Norwegian.  The upside for me is that the Norwegian Disney channel is unwatchable for the girls with funny Norwegian accents coming out of their favorite "stars."  What a blessing to experience a whole year without Zack and Cody and Miley. 

There are actually two official forms of Norwegian language:  bokmål (a derivation from Danish and the Danish rule of Norway from 1396 to 1814) and nynorsk. However, it seems like everyone has some special dialect from their own region of Norway that sounds unique to me. 

Goodbye is "Ha det" throughout Norway though.  It is a version of "Have it good (Ha det bra)" shortened to just "have it."  It's nice to tell someone to "have it" when you part.  It's kind reminds me of the Latin "Carpe diem" -- seize the day.   "Have it", dude.

The girls are learning Norwegian in school and Melita, in particular, seems very fond of the language.   Here is a sound clip of Melita reading her Norwegian lesson. You can really get a flavor for the unique beauty of the language.
https://www.box.com/s/61ee8bb16e38c0002996

Annaliese is a bit more reserved about speaking the language, but she has been verbal in other ways.  She learned to type properly in school and has been coming up with lists of words that she can type all with the left or right hand.  She found over 140 words that can be typed only with the left hand -- the longest being "aggravated." 

In the same spirit (we are related after all), I came up with the following poem with some help from Anne last week.  I wish I could say we had had one too many beers when we wrote this one, but sadly no.   I recommend any underage readers close your ears tightly at this point and apologies upfront.

 

Ode to the right hand.

I'll join him upon my pink plump hill.

I'll link him in my oily lip.

I'll lull him on my yolky boil
My only milky hump

If any of you feel inspired, come up with some "handed" poems and send them my way.  We could start a revolution.  "Ha det."

Survived another birthday season

In our house, mid-March to mid-April is birthday month.  We seem to have little girls underfoot the entire month -- lots of giggling, sweets, and festivities.  This year we also had a slew of visitors to join in our celebrations.  After Colleen, my friends Rebekah and Tai came out from California for Easter and then our neighbor Anne from Rhode Island. I'm not sure which group got the more authentic experience -- the snow or the sunshine -- but I can say that having blue skies and long days has dramatically improved all moods. 

While spring is in the air, I still have to make sure the girls don't escape the house wearing flip-flops in 0 degree weather.  However, I can happily report that Annaliese and my feet are ready for flip-flop action after hundreds of small fishies nibbled on our toes in a mother-daughter pedicure for her birthday.  I was very proud of the way Annaliese bravely plunged her foot into a vat of hungry fish.  She's like a "fish whisperer".  After a long Trondheim winter in heavy boots and socks, we had lots of rough patches to keep the little fishies busy.  

Annaliese's birthday pedicure



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Speaking of dead skin, we also had a Crazy Dinner birthday bash for Annaliese and 13 of her classmates.  The reason I say "dead skin" because this was the secret code for the grated parmesan cheese at the dinner.  Anne and I drummed up many other clever ones including "savory eyeballs" for meatballs and "curdled scream" for butter...However, I think the best part was the amuse-bouche consisting of candies like fishy sweets, blood red sweets, garlic sweets, and more deliciousness.  A selection of birthday photos, mostly taken by Anne below.   It takes a village and my friend Siv helped out with the party, as well as older sister Melita.  Thanks everybody!



Anne teaches how ot make friendship bracelets

Well it is late and I may need a bit of rest now after all of the partying. I proudly note that we have gotten nearly every house guest out on skis who has come to visit!  Really, there's nothing better than some fresh snow and tracks, even if it does happen in April.   As they say, when in Rome.




With Rebkeah and Tai in our Bymarka backyard a week ago. 



Snow Falling on Bunnies

Yes it is Easter week in Norway.   All of the shops are closed Thurs (today), Friday, Sunday and Monday.  There will be a brief interlude on Sat. where we can run to the shops for some dishwashing powder and other last minute items before everything is "stengt" again.  While you can't buy any food or clothing or go to restaurants, Statoil will be open for all of our fueling needs.  And, importantly, I can refill on espresso or cocoa for free with my 2012 Statoil cup.  I will also be on hand to feed any foreigners who missed the "everything is closed" memo and are slated to starve this week or exist solely on oil and coffee.

The snow is falling and the girls, friend Natalie, and Colleen made a snow'bunny'man to celebrate.   We are also just back from a lovely trip to Åre, Sweden where we all skied cross country (even Colleen had her first try EVER!! -- see video) and did assorted resort activities including pool, sauna, mini-golf, read the Hunger Games out loud, and played lots of games of 'Oh Heck.'   Melita and I did a great day of downhill skiing too, while Annaliese shocked herself in the traditional "ice" bath in the sauna with Grandma.  

The resort town of Are is about 2.5 hour drive east into the continental highlands of Sweden and many make the drive just for the cheaper shopping at the supermarket.   However, it is very quaint and set right on a mountain slope at the base of a large lake.



View from our hotel window of the ski mountain



Also, listen carefully to the following clip where Melita and I heard lots of wolves howling in the woods (or maybe just a pack of excited dogs).  Dog sledding is pretty popular in this part of the country and Annaliese even had a school trip where she got to mush her own team of pups.  They were learning about the Sami people in northern Norway who have a language rich in words describing weather, nature, and reindeer copulation.   They also reportedly have over 100 words for snow.   I think the translators were duped and these are not really words for snow but just words for the days of the year (since it apparently snows every day of the year). 

  

Finally we end with some shots of our lovely walk through Bymarka park all the way to Lian.  Celebrating Easter with 4 feet of snow on the ground is a new experience for us.  Maybe the girls will come up with a word, like the Sami people, that could encompass their profound thoughts on the snow falling such as "this sucks" and "I would rather it rain" and "spring is for flowers."