Apartment

Unfortunately the videos are sideways, sorry, will take into account for next time, but for now you shall deal with it.

So this is the apartment I moved into last night. I love it so far, pretty cool neighborhood, not the nicest in the city but very multicultural and lots of good spots to eat and drink as well as the sweet park. As I described in the videos, the guy I'm renting from LOVES gadgets and electronics, remote control lights, remote control door lock, an audio/video system that as close as I can tell must have run the guy at least $6k. Plus it's got a great view off the balcony and is right next to a metro stop. So basically my landlord seems to be a version of me from the future who came back in time to set me up with a sweet apartment since he knew I was coming.

Today I also made my first trek out into the Nordmarka and visited Songsvann (popular local lake) and hiked through the woods and hills. It is absolutely gorgeous and only a 25 minutes door-to-forest metro ride. Since I've posted a lot of pictures of greenery lately, I'm going to save those for tomorrow and leave you with the apartment videos for now. Time for a shower and then to give a go at the local bars and nightlife, wish me luck.

Beautiful Day

The weather was far better today and so I decided to take my camera with me to take better pictures than those gloomy ones I showed yesterday. First off a better picture of the Royal Palace, I thought the Queen would appreciate it.

Yay royalty!

Also nearby is a very special Norwegian landmark, the Nationaltheatret, Norwegian for National Theatre. I know you all are impressed by my rapidly progressing language mastery.

Yay theatre, I guess. Ugh, opera is sooo much cooler...

As "Norway's largest and most prominent venue for performance of the dramatic arts" it is a very popular place for annoying tourists who want to get in people's way to ogle and take crappy pictures. Not me of course, I am an artiste! Much like this flamboyantly suave fellow...

"Hey there sailor!"

Apparently Ludvig Holberg here is actually a very important and influential part of the history of Norway, but I dunno, he seems like a fruity pederast to me. I mean look at him! I can just hear him saying, "Hear little boy, want some candy?!" I took candy from a stranger once. ONCE.

Anywho, on to Slottsparken, the first of Oslo's gorgeous parks that I saw which is situated just behind the royal palace.

I think the pictures speak for themselves with this one. The city in general is full of trees but the parks are something else entirely. Visiting Oslo in summertime is most definitely recommended.

Next up is Frognerparken, the city's largest and most popular park and also home of truly impressive Vigeland Sculpture Park. The sculpture park is very cool and the park in general is a very happenin' place. Even on a tuesday evening it is full of people grilling (over what appeared to be open fires in random locations on the grass), playing soccer, sunbathing and just generally chillaxin.

The Bridge

The Fountain

Closer The Fountain

The Monolith

The Wheel of Life

The Monolith was particularly rad, kind of reminds me of The Tower of Babel but with more guy on girl action. These Nords got the right idea.

Today also reinforced a lesson I've learned since my time here, there are two very different types of crosswalks in Oslo, those with lights and those without them. The ones without lights are like no-fly zones for cars, if you even look like you will start to cross one cars will practically crash themselves to let you through. The ones with lights on the other hand appear to be a sick game that Norwegians have invented that involves speeding up, scaring, and attempting to slaughter any nearby pedestrians. I swear that a driver today swerved at me because I was took close to the curb for his liking. Walkers beware.

Random additional notes of the day:

- I found a local lax team to join up with, super stoked for that.

- So far it seems like the most popular American sports gear I see rocked by the locals are Nationals hats, Jerry Rice 49ers jerseys, and of course goddamn Yankees t-shirts

Until next time.

Picture Time!!

Ok so it's been raining and shitty out the past two days, but I wanted to take some pictures anyway just to get something up here. So here goes.

Karl Johan's Gate

So first is Karl Johan's Gate which is like the main strip in Oslo leading from the central train station to the Royal Palace which you can see in the distance.

Royal Palace

Pretty sweet, although the eponymous Karl Johan was a Swedish king who ruled during the foreign occupation of Norway and wasn't terribly fond of the concept of Norwegian independence. Nevertheless, the palace today houses the current king and queen and the street is the central point of the city. Tourist traps include an obligatory Hard Rock Cafe, numerous trinket shops, and these guys...

Guy who has a really shitty job

Yes, it seems like there is some sort of cruel European based organization which encourages people to dress up as ancient soldiers or pretend to be golden statues, blah blah blah... profit! Needless to say he was obviously smoking and possibly using several other drugs in order to make it through the day without trying to kill himself with his cardboard axe. But I digress.

One sweet thing lining the side of Karl Johan's Gate is the Eidsvolls plass known as the "National Mall" of Norway.

Mmmm, it's nice but not quite the same scale (everything smaller in Europe). One thing that I guess it does have over the Mall is that body of water in the middle known as the Spikersuppa which during the winters they turn into an ice skating rink. That's pretty rad and I most definitely look forward to it.

Time to stop for now, but before I go I want to say that I passed Level 1 of the CFA so I am fucking awesome! Lastly, I signed a contract for a permanent apartment which entails a post in and of itself.

Slottsparken

So Oslo has a tone of trees and parks all over the city and goddamn are they gorgeous. Just went on a run taking me through the Slottsparken and Frognerparken, and what they lack in size compared to Central Park, they completely make up in beautiful detail and variety. Also topless sunbathing. That too is nice and fairly common, especially when the weather is as nice as it is this time of year. I'll try and take some pictures of the park and the area I'm in later on. Time to snack on some brunost.

Week One

Ok, so I'm finally getting the hang of this living in another country thing and I figured it was time to start this endeavor which I'm sure I'll get made fun of. As the title of this blog suggests, I will attempt to document my transition and experiences as I live and work half way around the world away from my home of the good ole USA. Wait does that sentence even make sense?

Anyway, one week in and I'm starting to settle in to work. Everyone in this city speaks awesome English and have been very friendly. The city itself is beautiful (pictures eventually will be shown) and quite the contrast to NYC. Actually, it's probably most similar to the Park Slope area right next to the park, 'cept with less WASP moms pushing strollers. Instead, lots more blondes. Lots of 'em.

So number one thing I'm trying to take care of right now is to lock down a permanent apartment so I can move out of this closet that the company set me up with for the first two weeks. It's mad small, about 20 square meters. Right now the apartment that I'm on the verge of getting is fully furnished/decked out, pretty big (by European standards) and has a hilariously awesome landlord. The guy is from Oslo originally, but has lived around and is now about to move to Australia. His previous professions include cook, horse racer, Doberman Pinscher breeder, software development company owner, and currently professional diver. So pretty much awesome. I'll give the full apartment breakdown once I get in there, keep your fingers crossed for me.

Also, last night I had my first after work drinking excursion and inevitably got into a discussion over the socialized healthcare with a self-professed Norwegian communist. I don't know how I keep getting myself into these situations but I am putting a stop to it now. No more politic talks, I swear!!

Now to go for a run in the Slottsparken.