Gavin and Allison Fall Down is a recurring series where we try Norwegian winter sports and recount our shortcomings for your amusement. This week: Ski Jumping.   The Granåsen ski jumping park is located 20 minutes southwest of Trondheim by bus. The main attractions are the K-90 and K-124 hills, and competition can be viewed from […]

Welcome to Gavin and Allison Fall Down, a recurring series where we try Norwegian winter sports and recount our shortcomings for your amusement. In this inaugural column, we bring you curling. We came across the Trondheim Curlingklubb while doing research on activities we could do with our friend Peyton when she came to visit, with […]

We’ve moved!  This apartment was furnished to us thanks to the frankly extraordinary NTNU International Researchers Support office, who provide support, the språk kafe, and social events for the non-Norwegians in the NTNU community. Our apartment is newly renovated, after being taken back from student housing/condemned.  Apparently, it used to be quite the party building.  Google […]

Mac Mason and Susanna Ricco are among our most intrepid friends. Mac, who has been previously featured on this blog as the other stoic roboticist, is an Alaska native who regularly climbs glaciers, fights off bears, and lets his friends shoot his high-powered handguns, (which may or may not be wise). Susanna was a college […]

[Ed. note – I want to express my sincere thanks to Anne Elster for her generous hospitality this summer. Thanks for letting us live in your house, drive your van, and eat your raspberries. We really appreciate it!] Dear Gavin, Today we are moving into our permanent Trondheim apartment, which regrettably means that we will […]

A couple of weeks ago, I promised you a report on the world of competitive rollerskiing. That world came to us last weekend in the form of the Toppidrettsveka Rollerski Championships, so I’m here to answer your most pressing questions on the subject. Is this an Allison sport or a Gavin sport? This is most […]

As both a lawyer and a public health professional, my perception is keenly tuned to pick up on health and safety risks. One constant tension in the public health realm is deciding what should be regulated, and what is just a normal hazard of living. In state government I had a front row seat to this […]

Gavin spent this week at the International Conference of Machine Learning in Sydney, Australia, so I took the opportunity to do something that I know he would not want to do: a three-day silent meditation retreat at a monastery on the island of Tautra, 90 minutes northeast of Trondheim. [googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d28409.310645271857!2d10.5770669256931!3d63.57485298497467!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x466d480769250f49%3A0x8da9b506e3159ea9!2sTautra!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sno!4v1502219624276&w=600&h=450] Tautra has been a haven […]