On Friday, I head back to Oslo for another two and a half months (I'll be back March 22) at Opera's headquarters. I've really been craving some time with my coworkers, so I'm very happy to be able to work side by side with them again. Opera is chock-full of a bunch of fun, intelligent people and working there is a blast.
When I'm not in Oslo, I'm working out of my home office. It's nice to be able to get up and make the quick commute across my room to work, but there are other disadvantages. An office environment is the obvious place for someone my age to meet people after graduating from college. That's a bit impossible for me as my office is about 2,500 miles away. So, I only really interact with my family and girlfriend. I'd been hoping to get more involved in church, but that's not something I've been able to do since returning from Oslo in late August.
While it's nice to be going to Oslo, there are also some pretty obvious disadvantages. For one, I won't see my girlfriend for two and a half months. We've been growing closer and closer over the past eight months and it's frustrating to have this huge distance between us. In April, when we celebrate our first anniversary, I'll have been out of the country for five of the seven months we'll have been dating. Second, it's the middle of winter in Oslo. This week, the forecast calls for snow. Every day. I like snow, I really do. I may not after this trip. Third, Oslo's long summer days turn into long winter nights. There'll be about six hours of sunlight the day I arrive (9:13 AM to 3:34 PM). I hope I can handle the lack of sun.
This is a trip that I'm looking forward to. It'll help me see another side of a city I really enjoyed during the summer. I hope some time soon I can share the city with my girlfriend, so she can better understand what I see in it and maybe to have her warm up to spending more time there.
