October 1, 2007

Aug. 5: Oslo — Lillehammer

After walking many miles in Oslo, we were happy to see our bus arrive in the morning. We were surprised to see it was a Swedish bus and perhaps even more surprised to see how young our driver looked. Little did we know that Anders would turn out to be a fantastic driver as well as an entertainer, a modern European man with great fashion sense (remember the tank top), and a swimmer undeterred by cold water. We also could not have imagined how the bus itself—the Moose—became the symbol of our study tour and the inspiration for many jokes and stories. Keith said it best when he declared: "The Moose Rules."


The bus ride to Lillehammer was beautiful and relaxing, and we had an excellent lunch at the Egon restaurant when we arrived. Afterward, we visited the Olympic Museum and the Maihaugen Outdoor Museum, where we had the most wonderful Norwegian guide.

At 4 p.m., we drove over to Nansenskolen, the Norwegian Humanistic Academy, for an outstanding lecture by Erik Cleven on the school's work in conflict management and promoting peace.