People don't walk outside during the winter in Oslo. They waddle. While the city does an excellent job cleaning the streets, the sidewalks are an icy mess. Slipping and sliding is to be expected. Maybe it's only this part of the city, but it's really interesting walking to work. It's been around freezing so far this week, which I can deal with. We're expecting snow just about every day this week and temperatures are going to gradually drop. I'm glad I'm getting some time to get used to the temperature change.
My step-mother let me borrow her laptop and my step-sister let me borrow her external hard drive, so I'm currently sitting at a company flat borrowing someone's Internet to post to here via the laptop while listening to MP3s from the external hard drive. It's nice.
I'm remembering a lot of the lessons about living in Norway I learned last time I was here. It's nice being in an apartment again with two other Opera geeks where we can talk about computers all the time. It's really just nice to be in an apartment again. I feel all cluttered in my room at home and this apartment has high ceilings and minimalist furniture. It's a refreshing contrast to what I came from.
I do miss my family (however much I may complain about them), friends, and home. And Rebekah, of course. I like driving and I won't be behind the wheel for another two months. I'm going to try harder to find a church this time around, otherwise I'll be churchless for the next two months, too. Despite the drawbacks, two months seems to the optimal amount of time to be here. It's not too long to cause massive amounts of havoc in my life at home, but long enough to get some real work done and rekindle friendships with co-workers.
As with my last trip, this visit comes at an optimal time in my relationship with Rebekah. To be honest, I was looking forward to this time apart. We have a lot to think about. It's hard to really step back from things going on in a relationship without some time apart. This gives us that time without having to say, I need some space to think about things.
Mind you, these are all positive thoughts I'm thinking here, but they're thoughts that need some distance to develop the way they need to.
I've already gotten some invites to go skiing and I'm having a great time with my co-workers and roommates. I have a feeling this two months is going to go by real fast. But hopefully not too fast.
PS: Helen, you gotta stop calling Norway, Norwegia.
I've almost said it a handful of times recently. I'm so going to say it and offend someone and it's going to be all your fault.
