We stayed up late (bearing in mind Houston is 6 hours behind us) watching the polls come in on the 2nd and were elated at the results. The split Congress forces everyone to have to talk to each other now and prevents legislation from just being rammed down our throats. Don't let us down class of 2010! I even snapped this picture of the front page of a Norwegian paper the night of the 2nd before any official results were in:
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| The caption says, "USA's Pres. Obama likely to lose majority in Congress" |
Definitely made me smile.
Anyway, more stuff about Norway...
We have two comforters on our bed. One each. It was the same way in our hotel. Obviously found this kind of weird at first, until you think about once the weather gets colder. When each person has their own comforter to wrap around them there is less air under the blanket than when two people share one comforter, so it makes sense. But I've lived in cold climates before and never seen that, so kind of neat.
Our hotel and every apartment we looked at all have heated bathroom tiles. I have certainly been spoiled by this and it is very nice in the evenings as the weather gets colder. Also nice to not have that cold shock on the tootsies when you go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
Our oven is only about a third of the size of the one back home. Don't ask me what I'm going to do for Thanksgiving! They sell whole chickens here, but its not like buying them back home. Chicken is not the cheapest thing at the grocery store - fish is (pretty obvious). Plus chicken just isn't the same as turkey, but I have yet to see any turkey anywhere. I have seen venison though. Let's just say the menu is still TBD.
About our new home. It's 2BR/1BA with a large open kitchen/living/dining area and a gas fireplace. The owner furnished it for us and the 2nd bedroom, which was rather small, now has a HUGE desk in it so we can use it as a den/office. There's lots of closet space in our bedrooms, but no dressers, thus no drawers! Interesting to get used to, but the closets have shelves to help organize folded clothes. The kitchen however does have large drawers for storing pots and pans and other goods. It actually makes it pretty easy to get out what you need when you're cooking. There is a big storage room in the basement, separated into what could pass as kennels - separate areas divided by strong mesh wire. They're actually storage spaces for every resident. Very nice because we can put things like our skiis and empty luggage down there to keep them out of the way when they're not being used.
Our building has a common area like the one back home, but apparently this is quite new for Norway. It has a little gym, a coffee machine, entertaining areas that can be closed off from one another, and a larger kitchen for entertaining, plus two large patios, one of which is covered in grass. The neat thing is there is a concierge. Its apparently included in part of the fees that the owner pays to the building (like a HOA) and he can help arrange things like dry cleaning or help us find our way around town. We haven't used this service yet, but sounds like it will come in handy.
Well, time to get back to unpacking boxes! More later...
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