I’ve now lived in Bergen for more than nine months, and while I’ve loved my time in this damp little city, I never lost the sense that I was just a visitor here. I never confused Fantoft with home, and especially in the winter, I missed the United States and the people that I left when I came to Norway.

Something shifted in this last week. I found myself saying that I was on my way home, meaning not the U.S., but Fantoft. When I looked over the city, the buildings and roads and mountains felt like my back yard in Michigan, or the stretch of ocean from Nubble lighthouse to Kittery Point, or the bike path from Carrboro to UNC. Finally, Bergen feels like home.

This week has been one of the best of the entire year. I went to an Ylvis concert, where I photobombed someone for the first time ever, finally learned what the fox says (wha-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow). I hiked from Floyen to Ulriken, had an amazing night out, and led of my best classes of the year. I participated in Norway’s National Day, had some fantastic conversations with friends old and new, and watched fireworks from the top of a hill 6 kilometers away.

I leave Bergen in 11 days. Last weekend was probably the last weekend I’ll spend in the city. I still miss my friends and my family and my girlfriend and Argus the dog, and I’m still excited to come back home (June 10th!). But Bergen will always be a special place to me, and I’ll be sad to leave. This almost certainly won’t be my last post from Norway or Bergen, but now that I feel like I belong in Bergen, I also somehow feel ready to say goodbye. So, to borrow a brilliant comment from my friend Kevin: So long, Bergen, and thanks for all the fish.

Anyway, here are some pictures from the past week. I think they convey how wonderful this week was better than I could. A few supplemental thoughts: Ylvis gives a better show than most ‘serious’ bands. It’s usually best to bring food on 7-hour hikes. The Norwegian National Day is not complete without a Norwegian grandmother’s meatballs (my co-teacher invited me to her family's lunch). We Americans need to dress up for the 4th of July, and we also need to invent an ornate, medieval-inspired national dress with details so precise that you can tell which town the person wearing the costume comes from. Café Opera is the most fun bar on Earth, and I’ve got to go visit Kevin and Andrea in Florida. Finally, Bergen might well be the most beautiful city in Europe even if the weather is usually pretty shitty.