Classes Begin!

The study part of studying abroad has now begun! This week I had my first Topology and Biologically Inspired Computing lectures.
Topology started basically the way that all advanced math courses start, talking about sets, functions, equivalence relations etc. (a lot of parallels with both Algebra and Analysis!), but I can see how it is going to get difficult pretty soon. My understanding at the moment is that a major part of topology is proving that different objects are in some way "the same" by coming up with continuous mapping functions between them. This is not so bad when you are thinking about a circle and a square, or even the real numbers and the open interval between 0 and 1, but one of the famous topology jokes is that, in the eyes of a topologist, there is no difference between a coffee cup and a doughnut, and that seems slightly harder to come up with a mapping for.
Biologically Inspired Computing is also pretty exciting. There were over 150 people at the first lecture (the lecture hall was over full and some people had to sit in the aisles!) and I think that is because the material is so interesting and such a hot topic in computer science today. We will be looking at behaviors in biological systems, like learning or swarm behavior and investigating how we can create algorithms inspired by those behaviors to solve problems ranging from creating robots that help the elderly to writing algorithms for self driving cars. Really cool stuff!
Another major part of this week for me has been inserting myself into different clubs and groups. I've done some more running with the track club, which continues to be lovely as something that convinces me to actually to speed work. I also did a few workouts with the cross country ski club. On Monday, I went to circuit training, which was very reminiscent of the training that I did for nordic in high school, lots of body weight work! I haven't done so many dips in a row in a long time. It started out really innocently, with 90 seconds of plank, supermans, push ups, sit ups and lunges. But once you do that 3 times and another circuit a few times, it gets pretty hard! We ended with a wall sit competition, and I did not lose! It was a lot of fun and a great way to meet some more people! I also was able to borrow some roller skis, boots and polls and join them for some roller ski intervals up to Holmenkollen, which were challenging, but also felt really good. Finally, I went to a meeting with the mountain club, which is unfortunately slightly less organized than it has been in past years, but still has equipment and enthusiastic people to go out on some trips in the future!
Other activities have included trivia night at a student pub, which was surprisingly fun and more runs filled with nature and broken up with berry picking.
Other than that, I've been continuing to get my bearings, getting books, figuring out laundry etc. , things that have all been adventures in and of themselves.