Moving along to Tunvegen, let's start with Kenneth (second from the right, seated), who was the first to depart Tromsø this summer. Right now, he's still outside of Oslo, preparing for his journey to Kosovo with the Norwegian peacekeeping forces. Kenneth, I learned a lot from you, especially when you were destroying my Starcraft battalions. I think I finally came to understand the many reasons why you chose to serve with the forces in Kosovo. I have no doubt that you'll do your country proud. Just be careful, I dare say, about singing those Terrance and Phillip lyrics around superior officers!

This week, Nadia has been in Oslo visiting Paul and the other Arctic Week Offensive Foreigners. From all reports, their reunion last weekend in Copenhagen would have been off the charts if ranked on a scale of One to Highly Offensive. I'll have a chance to visit Nadia and company on Monday when I reach Oslo by train, where I shall endeavor to be mostly non-offensive. Mostly.

Mona was away this weekend at yet another wedding; this one's taking place outdoors and the guests are sleeping in tents. She's going to be doing the cooking, and as I pointed out in a previous article, that means that everyone at the wedding will win. Mona now finds herself completely ''twitterpated'' over Johan, a Swedish gentleman who until recently was often found at Kaffe Å Lars. I've got my fingers crossed wishing both of them the best of luck. Big Sister, you've been a big part of my summer here. Thanks for the bike, the finnbiff, and for putting up with me. You have my respect, and a piece of my heart.

Speaking of Swedes - as far as we know, Karl is still in the middle of his mountain-climbing expedition in northern Sweden. Before he left Tromsø, he gave Espen a special can of Swedish fish. Very special. These fish, called sorströmningn, are buried underground for six months before being dug up and crammed into a can. It's impossible to open the can without causing an explosion. Due to the stench, this operation is best performed outside - and never in the ventilation duct of a post office. Perhaps that's what's wrong with the Swedish Chef - he's hamstered too many sorströmningn!

When he's not resolving how to deal with explosive cans of fish, Espen has made his peace with the desert rat population of Tromsø. Here he is with Lykk (''Luck''), Lizzy and Dag-Frode's new little buddy. With any luck, Lykk will never have to travel across Tromsø by car on a sunny summer's day. Espen's finishing off a bit of pre-Masters Biochemistry before moving on to his Master's work.

It's hard to imagine my Tromsø experience without Espen; he's gone above and beyond the call of duty since the day I arrived at Orndalen. Espen - ''by now,'' as you would say, you're going to be missed. The northern Norwegians aren't very good at taking compliments, but here comes one, Espen: you've been a saint. I look forward to keeping in touch, housemate. And I can't wait to read the second chapter of Folk og Rovere i Tromsamommeby! Nachspiiiiiiiiiiiel!

Espen's friend Dag-Frode is continuing his work with satellites at Spacetec here in Tromsø. The User's Manual he's been working on has reached the 100 page mark, and Frodo's still going strong. He's about the only person around here who loves Flåklypa Grand Prix even more than I do. Frodo, I look forward to hearing about the fascinating high-tech gadgetry you work with in the future, and please, for the love of moose, don't ever use any of it against Canada! It would rock to catch the new Lord of the Rings movies with you.

As her quiet, reflective cross between the Sphinx and the Mona Lisa, Kjersti is ready and eager to return to the third year of her five-year Pharmacology studies. This summer, she's been working in a home for the elderly, which she explained has given her a new perspective on life. Kjersti, your calming presence - and the lulling tone of your nord-norsk voice that read me chapters from Torbjorn Egder's Folk og Rovere i Kardemommeby - will be especially missed.

As Kenneth prepares to go to Kosovo, Chris prepares to woo women with his musical skill. He's been influenced by a host of Canadian talent - from the unique sound of The Tragically Hip to the dark ambience of The Tea Party. He's even named a song after Canadian director Atom Egoyan's film The Sweet Hereafter, which featured a Hip soundtrack. When his first CD goes platinum, I'll be able to say I once proofread his english lyrics!

Thankfully, Kristina never managed to persuade me to sing Karaoke at the Karl Johan, but she was more than happy to dazzle Espen, Karl and I with her beautiful voice.

Kristina and I finally caught up with eachother last night for dinner. We had one of those chats where the hours passed like minutes. As the youngest of six siblings, she expressed to me how deeply proud she is of her close-knit family. It also turns out we fit together like Måsegg and Mack Øl, but it took us a whole summer to figure that out.

Kris, I never did sing at the Karl Johan, but the postcard I promised will be en route to Tromsø as soon as I'm on the other side of the Atlantic. It'll start, ''Heisann og hoppsann!'' and I'll imagine you smiling like you are in this photo when you read it. Miss you already.

As for Knut - protector, chauffeur, best friend and counseiller of Kristina - that picture of you didn't come out as well as I'd liked, so we'll have to do a re-take on New Year's Day! Knut, you and Kris most certainly win this summer's ''Tromsoevaeringene most likely to be found on the town'' award. I never got a chance to say goodbye to you, but Kris is lucky to have a friend like you.

Chris can sing in some comfort in The Bedroom Formerly Known As Kenneth's thanks to angelic Tone's first-class cleanup job. Tone has been visiting her family up north in Finnmark for the past two weeks, and she'll return to Tromsø on Sunday - unfortunately, just as I'm leaving. It turns out that when I first described her as ''Kenneth's efforvescent sweetheart,'' she was left wondering for weeks what efforvescent meant. Tone, just keep that smile on your face and look in the mirror.

Edmondas has earned his self-proclaimed title, ''The best hitchhiker in the world!'' After a more traditional train trip down to Oslo, he plans to continue his Norwegian hitchhiking escapades and see Stavanger before heading east through the rest of Scandinavia en route home to Lithuania. Best wishes to you on your journeys, Edmondas; you're quite the adventurer and, as far as I can tell, you are the best hitchhiker in the world.

We're all missing Shannon (seated, second from the left) for exactly the opposite reasons. Without his sense of humour and the volume of his voice, there's been a void at Kaffe Å Lars since he left last week to visit Tamsin outside of Stockholm in Sweden. Unless something really crazy happens, I'll be dropping in on the two of them next week some time. Shannon, I think you'd be surprised to know how much I've learned from you this summer. I'm proud to have been made an honourary Newfoundlander, and I can't wait to visit you out there. Long may your big jib draw.

Shannon's place at Kaffe Å Lars has indeed been vacated, although we've somehow managed to keep having fun without him there. As Australian bartender Luke noted as we had a pint at Shannon's spot on Tuesday evening, ''Shannon would have wanted it this way.''

This is actually a tremendously rich picture. That green mug was formerly filled with a ''Bayman,'' a quadruple espresso with chocolate that Shannon designed and Luke perfected. (Note the chocolate dispensers.) The coca-cola glass on the left should be filled with water for a Bayman chaser. The Mack-øl glass contains just that. That's Shannon's lighter beside the cigarette, and if you want to frustrate him, play with it. The milk comes from Tine, the dairy that employed Karl while he was here. The Norwegian word for the cake on the right made up a large part of Shannon's Norsk vocabulary. Also of note is the orange juice squeezer to the left, and the Kaffe Å Lars shorts on Luke, who is identifiable by his ring.

Luke, I finally got a chance to post this photo of you at your favourite vantage point overlooking Tromsø. I know this spot has special meaning for you - thanks for sharing it with us for my last nachspiel of the summer. Best wishes to you and your sweetheart as you move back to Australia. Cheers, mate, and thanks for all the pints.

Joanna made sure we could still have it the way Shannon would have wanted it by filling our glasses, smiling her trademark smile and enduring my Canadian-trying-to-speak-Norwegian flirtation. She's been working two jobs - the other at a local clothing shop - to save up money for a trip abroad next year. It's going to be a well deserved break. She gave me the cutest ''tusen takk'' card, a beanie giraffe that spent an evening peering out of my pocket, and even a kiss. Jo, I'll never forget your parting words: ''I'll see you in heaven!'' Femtifem tusek takk, og skål!

Flanked by hordes of gorgeous Norwegian women, Stefan plans on hanging around in Tromsø for the next little while. In Switzerland, he's been studying in a program at an Applied Science university that sounds very much like a Canadian ''Co-Operative Education'' program. When women aren't dangling off him, he's loving his job here at the University of Tromsø, where he works with network routing and secutiry. Enjoy the babes, the nets, and the rest of your stay, Stefan!

Kafarsken! Liz-Iren, one of Stefan's Scandinavian babes, has found a new and wonderful way to advertise this web site! We already have over 2,000 hits now from over 20 different countries. Imagine what will happen now that I have Leg Ads, too! Liz-Iren and I said goodbye on Thursday night, after she and Dag Frode hosted a dinner of rømmegrøt - Norwegian porridge - at her place. She's heading into her third year of undergraduate Biology, and when she finishes her undergrad work she plans to head elsewhere for the Norwegian equivalent of a Master's Degree.

As for me, I've had to remove all of this stuff from my Orndalen bedroom bookshelf. The schitzophrenic reading list on the left provides a strangely appropriate resumé of my summer. From bottom to top are Society of Mind, Learning and Memory, Unified Theories of Cognition, Scandinavian Folk and Fairy Tales, Artifical Life, Teach Yourself Norwegian, Fodor's Boston, Karius and Baktus, and When the Robbers Came to Cardamom Town with its original Norwegian version, Folk og Rovere i Kardemommeby.

That's Darth Maul's Sith Infiltrator hovering above my Midnight Sun Marathon medallon. The postcards are from my dear Grandmom in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and my parents, who visited beautiful Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada this summer for their 30th Wedding Anniversary. (Congratulations again, Mom and Dad!) The greeting cards behind the postcards are from my parents, given to me at my graduation from Queen's University back in Canada at the end of May.

The piece of looseleaf dangling down on the left-hand side is from my early Norwegian lessons with Tone. I believe that particular paper reads, ''Sa fin du var i kvell!'' Femtifem tusen takk to you, Tone - and to Espen, Kenneth, Tone, Mona, Kjersti, Kjell, John Markus, Karen, and everyone else who helped me learn a little Norwegian.

Let me reiterate to all my new friends that they've got a place to stay if they want to visit Boston next year. And yes, that means that I, too, finally have found a place to stay in Boston, just outside the MIT campus. I move in on the 30th of August, just in time to start school on September 1st.

Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall; all you have to do is call. Or e-mail. I hope you do.