Reindeer!

The conference ended today at noon, and afterwards I went with a group, guided by kind Lillehammer native and conference organizer Per, and we walked around the open air museum. It's kind of like Old Town in Burlington, only Norwegian. We got an unexpected treat - there was a woman there with a little herd of 5 reindeer. Apparently it's her gig; she mostly keeps them further north but takes them on the road occasionally for cultural events, school visits, etc. They shed their antlers and grow new ones every year, so we saw them in various phases of head adornment.

Last night was a memorable evening. We were treated to a very nice, 3-course dinner, complete with entertainment. When I saw it was a saxophone player, I cringed a little, but he was really good. He uses an old recording device to loop what he's playing, allowing him to build layers throughout the song.

A miracle occurred when I got to Oslo. I found my hotel - accidentally. I had written down careful directions based on Google maps, but the train station was huge and by the time I found an exit I had no idea where I was. For once, my decision to just start walking and see what I found worked in my favor. It was snowing pretty heavily - still is - so unfortunately I didn't get to walk around and explore a little. I'm not feeling super great tonight anyway, though, so probably for the best. I couldn't sleep last night, partly because I was wired and partly because the halls of the hotel were pretty noisy. Some of the Americans stayed up until 3am watching the Super Bowl.

Tomorrow I'm meeting Joe at his hotel and then we are heading to the University of Oslo to start the workshop. There are only 8 students in the class, so it should be a low-pressure situation. More soon!