A few photos

Cars are smaller here. This was taken on our arctic trip - yes it was cold. And it is rare that I am taller than the car. The size of the car was fine - it was the tires that worried me, because while many of the roads were good (if slow), dirt roads (and those still with snow on them) were a little trickier.

This was taken on a birdnesting island - so close to puffins! It was quite something to see so many seabirds at one time. The reason to go to the arctic in the spring is because so many different kinds of birds nest there and so you get to see birds that are hard to see anywhere else and you see them in breeding plumage - spectacular.Here is David in full birding gear - it really wasn't too cold right there - we were comfortable, but unwilling to take off any clothing!
This is coming to the end of the road on the Veranger Fjord in arctic Norway. The scenery was incredible - jagged gray and pink rocks everywhere - a very harsh landscape dotted with houses. At the end of the road you are facing the Barents Sea (or the Arctic Ocean). We put our hands in as we really didn't want to take off our shoes or anything else. David remarked on the fact that in the US this particular scenic area would have been a national park, but here it was just a mention in the tour guide.

Things I won't want to give up.

BREAD! There is a little market (gourmetish) around the corner from our apartment that has the most amazing bread. We have managed to get some that was just out of the oven - sooooo gooood. We have been trying different kinds, but keep coming back to the first one we bought. In another week or so, I hope to be able to ask for it by name in Norwegian - I pretty much have gotten it wrong each time I go there.

WALKING EVERYWHERE! I love walking and I love being dependent on my own two legs to get around. You see so much more on foot. The public transportation system here is very good (until it breaks down...) and I enjoy taking that, too. Somehow, I feel more independent when I take public transportation. It is not inexpensive to travel on the subway here, but owning a car would be difficult and even more expensive. We recently rented a car - it was nice to just be able to get out of the city and wander without being limited in time or place, but in town it really isn't necessary.

So, you might figure that all that walking would lead to losing weight - but I am afraid that all the bread eating pretty much balances that out! Oh and the cheese, too....

Things I miss...

Well, aside from the obvious such as my cats and friends and family(studio, too), I miss some other things that I wouldn't have thought likely.

I miss my microwave oven. Who knew? I have had one for more than 20 years and I can't remember how to heat up leftovers or remember to defrost stuff for dinner. We are figuring it out, but I am thinking of buying a teeny one... Along with that we are having to relearn how to cook on an electric stove - hence the microwave would be helpful here too.

I miss Starbucks. Not the coffee ( I don't drink coffee) or necessarily the chai (although I do). Most of the coffee shops here do not open early on the weekend and if they do open on Sunday it is not until 11 or 12. So, our Sunday morning breakfast and paper reading routine will have to change. That will likely happen when it starts getting lighter later so that getting up and out early won't seem so appealing. And maybe by then the $7 price for a chai and $6 for a scone won't faze me (a really, really good scone...).

I miss reading a real newspaper on the day it is printed. We have Kindles (e-book readers from Amazon) that we download the paper to, but because we are 6 hours ahead, we can't get it when we get up in the morning. We download it in the evening and read it the next morning. We could switch and read it in the evening, but old habits die hard. So even though I would like to have my chai and a scone on Sunday mornings - the Sunday paper won't come until around 11 or 12 - hmm, just when the nearest coffee shop opens up....

Tuesday June 24

OK - first I am going to post pictures from the beginning of our time here and I will post pictures from our recent trips later (when I have finished annotating them).






















The first picture is of our apartment on the first day we arrived (don't I look jet-lagged?) This was taken in our living room. The mirror in the room behind me is our bedroom - the bed fits between the two walls necessitating 2 entrances. I get some exercise just getting dressed in the morning!

Here is apicture of our first meal in our apartment (salad and toast - really good toast) - sort of all we could afford, but really more like it was all we could figure out on too little sleep and too much language to absorb while in a really tiny market.

We visited the botanical gardens and so much was blooming! Lilacs and all kinds of flowers and trees that were familiar to us from when we lived in Toronto.

The last photo was taken in our neighborhood - lots of big houses with pretty gardens. We were attracted by the flamingo on their balcony - a little bit of Florida in Oslo!

It's Sunny Tonight

Well, it is sunny now at about 10pm. A really pretty light and bright blue sky with fluffy clouds. On the other hand it has been rainy the last few days and chilly as well. David and I took the train to the end of the line and took a hike to a place called Tryvannstua. We got there just as it started to pour. Tryvann means Try lake and stua is a forest building (or living room as directly translated) and these have food and drink available and this one had a nice fire going as well. So civilized and pleasant. It did rain, though, most of the way back.

We had some progress that felt more like a set back in getting our financial affairs set up here. We need a personal ID number to get a bank account (to get paid and pay our bills) and we had to apply for work/residence permits in order to get the number. It was supposed to take at least a week, but we have been waiting patiently for almost a month. Today we found out that our permits had been approved more than 3 weeks ago, but due to some technical error (they say it happens sometimes) the letter was never sent to us. So, off we go to the immigration office and there we find that what was approved does not include the personal ID number and we have to put in an application for that. Another week they say. Well, some progress was achieved.... Every country has its bureaucracy and I feel for people who don't speak the language or know the customs.

Thanks to everyone who has posted a reply. I really appreciate it. I will post pictures here - jut haven't done it yet.

June 12

Here I am again. We have been busy - David at work, and me walking all over town. It takes a while to get anywhere as I keep walking into interesting shops, practicing my 'nei takk' (no thanks) whenever I am asked if I need help. I can't understand when being asked if I need help, but I do know the answer. I think that if I respond to 'Hei!' (or hi! to us) with 'Hello' it would signal that I speak English. I have only been successful once so far in getting through an entire transaction at the grocery store without resorting to English. At least I was prepared for what would be said to me and I could respond appropriately (they always ask if you want a bag for which you are charged). Although it occurred to me afterwards that I didn't actually say anything - just shook my head at the appropriate time.

We have tickets to see the Indiana Jones movie tonight. We are going to the Collisseum which is a huge theater. All seats are reserved like going to a play and we bought our tickets online. Maybe we will learn a little Norwegian from the subtitles...

Well, I am off this afternoon to visit some craft shops that my friend and fellow glass artist Annemarie showed me. It is cloudy and gray and cool, but not raining - yet. That will come tomorrow, I think.

Well, let's just try this out

Hi or should I say Hei!

We are here in Norway and have been for a little more than 2 weeks. It has been a busy and exciting time. And no, I still can't pronounce any Norwegian words correctly (and I certainly cannot understand anything that is said to me except 'takk' which means 'thanks'). I can recognize a few and we have realized how few words are really important when you need to read something - like a label. And how few of those are in our little pocket Norwegian dictionaries.

Hence, this blog - more words than necessary, I am sure, but perhaps this will let me let those of you who are interested know more about our experiences here.

Anyhow, this is all new to me and I will see how it goes....