Jumping In--Literally!

Here in Norway, you are considered extra-tough (and probably extra-crazy) if you go swimming in the sea before the 1st of April. Being that we have the Norwegian Sea as our backyard, some of the staff challenged the students to go for a nice winter swim this afternoon. There were 6 of us total who decided to take the plunge. Basically, the feat consisted of jumping in off the dock and swimming as furiously as possible (while remembering to breathe!) to the ladder taking us back to shore. And boy, I don't think you know cold water until you've swum in the Norwegian Sea in March! Okay, maybe if you did it in December, you'd also have a pretty good idea :-), but nonetheless, it was freezing! The initial impact sent a shock through my body, but somehow, despite my tingling toes and racing heart, I passed this rite of passage and have lived to talk about it--hopefully without any irreversible damage to my central nervous system. And apparently, I get extra points for bravery since I'm from California and I don't know what cold is to begin with. "Even the California girl did it!" people were saying at supper tonight. Anyway, it was part of the experience, and when else will I ever get the chance to say I swam in the Norwegian Sea before April? If the pictures aren't good enough proof for you, I've also got a video for the record :-). More adventures to come!