It’s been a while since I opened my blog repository.
Looking at unfinished drafts, I feel a sense of debt. I’ve scattered many thoughts without bringing them to conclusion. There must be good reasons for that. Perhaps I’ve run out of sincerity for those topics. I’ve decided not to harbor regrets.
Someday I’ll have to finish them.

Norwegian 🇳🇴

It’s been about two months since I started studying Norwegian. Fortunately, Duolingo has a Norwegian course, making it easy to get started. They’re quite persistent with push notifications, emails, and all kinds of reminders, which actually helped me study every day.

As of this week, I’ve reached the Diamond League.

Let’s be Duolingo friends

I once saw a video about how blessed it is to have academic textbooks in your native language. I felt this both when studying Cantonese and now with Norwegian. For Cantonese, there was only one Korean course from Siwon School, and for Norwegian, I couldn’t even find a Norwegian-English dictionary at Kyobo Bookstore. I experience this when searching for programming documents too, constantly encountering documentation and resources. While studying English diligently is the simplest solution, there’s still an unavoidable extra step for someone born in Korea who thinks in Korean.

This is where LLMs are truly beneficial. With these tools, I can learn all this knowledge in my own language through various methods.

Here’s how I’ve been studying:

• Completing one Duolingo chapter daily
• Solving Norwegian quizzes with GPT, translating books together

  • ChatGPT - Lesetest på norsk

    No description available

    https://chatgpt.com/share/67cdbad4-55a8-8013-b827-893e292ac789
    
• Creating a GPT task to teach me 5 new grammar points daily (The title is a bit strange because I asked different questions initially)

  • ChatGPT - SF 스토리 연재

    No description available

    https://chatgpt.com/share/67cdba56-54b0-8013-8d8c-18651ee68a38
    
• Occasionally listening to Norwegian podcasts and reading news (still challenging)

Based on Reddit recommendations, I bought this book with simple sentences and English explanations:

Naiv. Super.: En norsk-engelsk lesebok - Erlend Loe - Google ����

Naiv. Super. is a story, naively yet poignantly imagined, about a young Norwegian man who suddenly finds himself in a crisis.  To discover what's going on--and to rediscover himself--he drops out of his studies at the university, sells most of his belongings, and moves into his brother's unoccupied apartment.  Through contemplation and play, he sorts through life's meanings, tries to gain perspective on the world, revisits his lost childhood, and becomes obsessed with the concept of time.  After several weeks, he joins his brother for a vacation in New York City, where, with his brother's help, he finds how best to live life. The side-column glossary and Norwegian-to-English dictionary compiled exclusively for this book make this edition of Loe's original text ideal for language learners and lovers of Norway and Norwegian culture.

https://books.google.co.kr/books?id=BqWcDwAAQBAJ&printsec=copyright&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

This grammar book was also recommended, which I consult occasionally for chapter-by-chapter reference:

Norwegian Verbs And Essentials of Grammar - Louis Janus - Google Books

This compact volume offers an integrated guide to both Norwegian verbs and the basics of grammar. All the major verbal and grammatical concepts of the language are presented.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Norwegian_Verbs_And_Essentials_of_Gramma/3uBkQgAACAAJ?

I’m listening to this recommended podcast. Though I don’t understand everything yet, it’s satisfying when I recognize consecutive words:

For news, GPT recommended VG, which I visit occasionally. News articles often contain advanced vocabulary and lengthy compound words, reminding me of Norwegian’s Germanic language origins.

VG

Siste nytt hvert minutt på Norges største nettsted. Nyheter fra Norge og verden, sport og underholdning.

https://www.vg.no/

Going to Svalbard

The purpose of studying Norwegian is to enhance my upcoming Norway trip experience. My refresh vacation plan from the previous post is now only about two weeks away. I’ve been busy preparing various things. Below, I’ll document my preparations for future travelers.

Going to Svalbard - A Dream | 장용석 블로그

Far away between Norway and the North Pole, there lies the Svalbard archipelago. I've made a commitment to visit there someday. I really love snowy days. They feel like a white canvas, and look so clean from a distance. I've often imagined days where the snow is knee-deep, making it difficult to walk, but I haven't experienced such days yet. That's probably because I haven't been to such a place.

https://yongseok.me/blog/en/svalbard_1/

Flights

Since there are no direct flights from Incheon to Oslo, I’ll transit through Schiphol Airport first to reach Oslo. From Oslo, a 3-hour flight on Scandinavian Airlines will take me to Longyearbyen.

Accommodation

While there are several hotels, they’re quite expensive due to the harsh environment (prices seem similar to Oslo hotels). A night or two would be manageable. Fortunately, I found a decent Airbnb and booked it for about 10 nights. Since the town is relatively small, location wasn’t a major concern.

Activities

There’s a website operated by the Svalbard tourism board: https://en.visitsvalbard.com/. You can also use travel agencies like https://hurtigrutensvalbard.com/. The main activities include nature exploration, cruises, snowmobile rides, and dog sledding.
There are also more in-depth multi-day exploration courses, though these tend to be quite expensive due to the guide requirements. I’ve booked a cruise to Pyramiden and a snowmobile tour to the eastern edge of the island.
I’ve also reserved a smaller hiking tour that visits the area near the Global Seed Vault.

Timing

Being in the Arctic Circle, Svalbard experiences polar day and polar night phenomena. During winter, the sun doesn’t rise at all. March marks the beginning of spring when the sun finally appears. While the polar night period is best for observing the Northern Lights, I might be lucky enough to see them during my visit.

Safety 🐻‍❄️

Polar bears 🐻‍❄️ live in Svalbard. There are approximately 3,000 of them (🐻‍❄️🐻‍❄️🐻‍❄️🐻‍❄️🐻‍❄️🐻‍❄️).
Therefore, you cannot leave the town without a guide or a rifle. To venture outside, you need protection from polar bears. Firearms can be rented for this purpose. While I’m not likely to go out alone, I decided to get a permit just in case. The permit must be applied for through the Svalbard Governor’s Office. The process can be somewhat complicated, so I’ll document it for others.

Firearm Rental Permit (as a Korean citizen)

On the Svalbard Governor’s website, you can find a document titled “Borrowing firearms for polar bear protection”:

Borrowing firearms for polar bear protection | Governor of Svalbard

No description available

https://www.sysselmesteren.no/en/weapon/renting-firearms/

This document includes regulations and an application link. There are two types of firearm rental applications, and non-Norwegian citizens should select:

For foreigners, the listed required documents are:

• Scanned passport
• Proof of firearms safety training or military service record
• Criminal record certificate from the last 3 months

I’m not sure if all these are strictly necessary, but here are the documents I prepared, all obtained online:

• Scanned passport
• English criminal record certificate (from https://crims.police.go.kr/)
• Apostille certification for the criminal record certificate (from https://www.apostille.go.kr/index.do)
• English military service certificate (obtained via Toss certificate service)
• Apostille certification for the military service certificate
• Svalbard flight tickets receipt

The criminal record certificate can be obtained from the Criminal Record System (https://crims.police.go.kr/), but only on Windows. While the process seems like it might take time, if your record is clean, it can be issued immediately even in the early morning hours. The military service certificate can be obtained from various certificate issuance systems. I got mine through Toss. Additionally, you need to verify the authenticity of domestic certificates, which can be done through Apostille certification. This is free but requires a digital certificate, which made it somewhat time-consuming.

Apostille Convention - Wikipedia

No description available

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostille_Convention

Once you have all the necessary certificates, fill out the required information on the Svalbard Governor’s website and attach the documents:

I combined each document with its apostille certification into a single PDF before submitting. After submission, you’ll receive an email confirming that your application was received.

About a week later, you’ll receive an email from the Svalbard Governor’s Office weapons officer regarding your approval status.

If approved, you’ll need to pay a fee. Mine was NOK 248, about $30. You must transfer this within 4 weeks, so I promptly sent the payment. International money transfer was a first for me and took a few days. I used Hana Bank, and while the process was relatively simple, there were several fields to fill out.

About two days after sending the payment, you’ll receive your permit via email from the Svalbard Governor. The permit includes regulations and personal information. You should print this and carry it with you.

Before feeling too secure with just the permit, it’s important to thoroughly read the firearm regulations through the Norwegian legal website. Firearms must be handled according to Norwegian law. Be aware that violations can result in legal consequences. Remember that firearm use should be a last resort, and when using firearms, you’re responsible for the surrounding environment.

I’ll write the next part after arriving at the destination.