My first full day in Norway

So, it is currently 12 AM, and it is getting dark, but it is still light enough that you could be outside. The weather has been perfect. I am tired, but I feel like I should write something anyway.

My flight to Oslo was about as pain-free as it could possibly get. I had a really nice person next to me on the flight to Copenhagen-an Anne-Marie from Germany who just graduated (from high school, I'm pretty sure, because she is considering what to study afterwards and is taking time off to decide..) and was extremely personable and friendly, so that was really nice. Then I got through the checkpoints in the Copenhagen airport in what seems like record time, and then I arrived at the platform for flytoget in Oslo just before the train pulled up, so all in all it couldn't have been much smoother.

I've been staying with the same folks who sent the book about Oslo to me a long time ago and also taught me how to ski in January, and it's been a very pleasant time. Yesterday we had a very nice dinner out on their balcony before going over to the beaches surrounding the Oslo fjord, chatting about various things including the Seattle area and the changes its seen and that early U.S. presidents (apparently there is a documentary series being broadcasted on Norwegian television on John Adams......!). We walked around there, and it was great to just walk around like so many others were doing, getting out to take advantage of the double-whammy of long daylight hours and really, really good weather. It really lent itself well to great people-watching: people just grilling food at 10 pm, parents trying to encourage their kids who otherwise would have been in bed a while ago to bike down hills, people splashing around in the water....it was really much like the Fourth of July at the lake, but without fireworks or American flags (some Norwegian ones, of course). We tried to scout for bonfires, considering that it was still Midsummer, but we were unsuccessful. It didn't matter, just because it was so nice to sit and look out at the water and the slowly setting sun, whose reflection looked like a Munch painting on prozac, but then I suppose this side of the fjord was the inspiration for many of the paintings, so go figure. Anyway, I had a really great time.

Today I woke up at noon, and figured that meant I should get up and enjoy the rest of the day. We decided to take it easy, and took the tram a little further north from where I've been staying/they've been living and then a very nice walk to Ekeberg Restaurant, a wonderful establishment still in more of the suburbs part of Oslo on the way to downtown. The whole way there as well as the restaurant itself all have a great view of the Oslo fjord/harbor, and as we ate lunch on a very spacious balcony where all the food and drinks are prepared as well (it just felt something like an outdoor party where you had your own table). I had a whole view of the islands in front of me, while behind me lay the city itself, where I could easily spot the opera house, Oslo City Hall, the King's Palace, and all the spots I saw or had been to in January, but this time greener, brighter, and overall more alive. The mood is just more lively overall, and overall there's just a pervasive sense that people are enjoying life. So that's always auspicious for a first day somewhere. A couple with a brand new baby sat next to us, and we struck up a conversation with them. What interested me and what caught me off guard was when I was introduced to them, and they immediately switched from talking about the new baby to asking about my time in Norway in January and why I was studying Norwegian. I was honestly a little surprised, considering I was a stranger and they had a new baby, which is always something people like to gush about. Well, I suppose it's probably not everyday you run across someone who's been studying Norwegian and Norwegian society, policies, etc, and especially not Americans. But anyway.

Then a really nice walk back along the path that led to another tram platform, complete with a camping ground, fields where some of the Norway Cup will be held later on, and a horse riding barn, furnished also with old farm buildings that have been converted into varous daycare centers and restaurants, while the land itself has become a series of picnic and sunbathing spots overlooking the water. Yes, overall I believe that Oslo is an especially people-friendly city.

Once we returned home, I just took it easy some more, which included studying some more Norwegian before classes start up on...Monday?! And that included watching Norwegian TV twice--first the news, and later sommeråpent, a nice summer program. And also ate some very nice Norwegian ice cream. Oh! That's what I watched that I found particularly interesting:

There was a documentary that NRK ran all about the life of Thea Foss, who was one of the early influential founders of Tacoma. So go figure that I learned about local history in Norway in Norwegian. Really quite incredible what you learn about your own country when you're in Norway. Of course, it helps that she was a Norwegian emigrant, so that always increases the interest. The only wierd part was that the narrating was in New Norwegian and I didn't even realize it. La-dee-daaaa.....

Anyway, I suppose now would be a good time to turn in. But it has absolutely been a fantastic, if albeit only 12 hour long, day.