Getting ready for ski season!

Last weekend there was a great ski swap meet where we were able to get some fabulous downhill ski gear at ridiculously low prices either second-hand or on sale at the shop where it was taking place.  We're decked out with boots, skis, bindings, poles, and goggles.  Out to one of the local sports shops to get the bindings fitted to our boots (for free, how nice for a change! lol!)  Plus we're going to get the skis waxed once at the store to make sure they're all set for the start of the season.  The weather is miserable right now, lots of rain and fog, but still makes for some nice pictures and scenery :-)

For now, here's are two more videos - one from our first snow (yay!) and the other from Oktoberfest Oslo :-)

Tomorrow, we're planning to spend Halloween at Hadeland Glassverk - about an hour south of town...stay tuned! :-)

What would you do in Norway?...

I've been pouring over the internet and through some books and know what's piqued my interest, but here's your chance to have some input...

What would you do in Norway if you were here?  Doesn't have to be right away, but I'm curious what y'all will find and to see what y'all find most exciting about Norway :-)

Checking out the Royal Palace

Walking up to the Royal Palace to check it out for the first time.  A little unnerving at first since there was next to no security around!  Very different from checking out the White House...



I did manage to finally make it into the US Embassy for some business, but it was quite an ordeal.  Apparently the locals call it "Fort Knox."  There's a small security room with all the usual scanners and one of those chemical detection machines, but only one person can go through there at a time.  And the guards were rather surprised that I showed up around 3:00pm to talk to someone.  They said normally all business takes place between 9 and 12.

Here's a little video of one of the bigger intersections by our hotel where most of the buses and trams stop:



So there's a few video snippets to share.  I figured some things are better/easier to show you rather than just tell you.

Notice all the beautiful colors of the leaves!  It was so relaxing walking through the parks around the palace and the smell of the fallen leaves on the ground and the crisp cold air.  It has been interesting watching the sun throughout the day since we've been here.  We're so far north and since it is winter time the sun does not rise all the way to the top of the sky.  It gives the illusion of having a day of perpetual sunset because at it's peak the sun is only about as high as it might be an hour or two before setting back home.  It makes for some great photos! ;-) Here's one I took hiking down at the lake Songsvann the other weekend:



More later, enjoy the picture and videos for now :-)

Hei fra Norge!

We're here...we've finally found an apartment...we're enjoying all the new experiences :-)

So its been about two weeks since we got here.  We've been in a nice hotel overlooking the fjords and the new opera house.  Tyler's in his new office and its a great building with a wonderful view.  It's been a fun change living in the colder weather, wearing sweaters and jackets.  The change in humidity however has taken some getting used to - we've both agreed we're getting a humidifier when we move into our place next week.  The hair, skin, eyes, and throat have not been happy with the lack of moisture in the air.

Some interesting things we've discovered about Norway:

• The entire country has a smaller population than Houston.  Even though we're in the capital and living in the city, it's been nice because it doesn't feel very crowded.
• We don't need a car!  They have a great public transportation system - a combination of buses, trams, a subway, and trains.  For about $100 you can get a month-long pass that gives you access to any of the buses, trams or subway cars in Oslo.  It's very convenient and its only about a 10 minute bus ride for Tyler to get to work from our new apartment.
• It only takes a 20 minute bus/subway ride to get out of the city and into nature :-) we've been hiking a few times and there's even some ski trails that you can get to that way in just a few weeks.  Very nice to have an easy escape and the landscape around here is just breathtaking!
• Great mix of cultures - so far we've had Norwegian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Italian, Greek and Moroccan food!  And its all delicious :-)
• Eating at restaurants is VERY different.  It's not about getting people in and out as fast as possible.  The waiters let you sit and enjoy being out with friends/family, they properly time your courses, they do not try to get you out of your table as soon as possible.  We were actually turned away from a restaurant on a Saturday because we didn't have reservations and all the tables were full, rather than waiting for someone to leave.  Dinners sometimes last 2 hours!  It was a little un-nerving at first, but we're enjoying it now that we know what to expect.
• Tips are not as big a deal over here and the norm is only about 5% at dinner
• This is not Texas - chivalry is lacking here.  Gone are the days of a gentleman stepping aside to let you out of an elevator first or holding the door open for you.  I've been trampled over a few times.  Tyler got out of his seat on the bus once to let this young woman sit down instead and he said she was so shocked and thankful that he would do such a thing.
• Ugh, my biggest frustration thus far has been with things like the elevator, buses, and subway.  Folks, you gotta let the people in there out FIRST before you get in.  They actually have posters up in the bus and subway stations asking people to please do that.  Obviously its no big deal, but it gets exasperating when there's a hoard of people blocking the entrace to the tram, pushing to get on, and there's another hoard standing at the door, pushing to get out.  Or when a full elevator gets down to the lobby and yet no one can get out because some genius with a rolling bag is pushing his/her way on before anyone has even gotten out!  Anyhoo...
• Black licorice is very popular here.
• It seems like there's an H&M on every other corner!  It's great because I love that store, but its like the old Starbucks gag - kind of silly.
• Apparently our feet are huge over here.  Well, Ty's feet were pretty big in the US anyway - 13 wide - but I'm just a 9.  We discovered this when we went shopping for our ski stuff and tried to get ski boots.  They only had one pair that was my size and Tyler was told he'd need custom boots!  So he's shopping for them in the US while he's in TX for meetings.

What we've learned/been told about the socialist side of things thus far:

• There is a minimum income tax of about 50%
• There is a 25% value added tax - we noticed this when we first went out to eat
• There's a refund for returning plastic bottles.  But instead of it just being just a couple cents like it is in the US, its 35 cents for a 1.5L bottle!  Another interesting tidbit - apparently they re-use the big bottles.  Not as in melted down and re-molded; as in sterilized and then refilled.
• Despite all the taxes and the socialism, there are still homeless people.  They're not prevalent, but we see one or two almost everyday.  Now that we're settling in I'm curious to learn more about what services, if any, are available to them either through the government or charities.  I'm actually curious to learn if there are any charities.  Again, its only been two weeks and we haven't started any language classes yet so everything is still very new.
• You can't buy over-the-counter prescriptions.  They don't exist here.  All your meds come from the doctor.  We were actually informed of this before leaving so we have a good stash of tylenol, pepto-bismol, and such just in case!

Anything I miss (shopping wise)? Not yet, but we're not in our new home yet so I haven't really done much grocery shopping except for snacks for our hotel room.  I have done a little price comparison on some random things to give you an idea of the cost of living:

• Big Mac combo - about $14
• bottle of nail polish - about $17
• box of hair color - about $20
• gas - about $2 per LITER; that's about $8 per gallon! Apparently about 75% of that is taxes!

Alright, that is kind of the short version of what we've gone through out here so far.  More soon :-)