Our rooms at Kansleren Student Housing have very loud buzzers. They are either outside the building for anyone who wants to visit us, or, if you live inside the same house, there are buzzers on each floor. This morning mine went off at 9:00am, I went out to the hallway and my friend said “Are you coming?” I got ready within minutes and about 8 of us took the tram #17 to school. At the university they had music and speeches (in Norwegian) for the new students.

We ran into my student buddy Vilma from Lithuania (she arranged to pick up the keys to house before I arrived, showed me the way to my new home, and shared a piece of cheesecake with me on Evan’s birthday).

She was happy to see us and offered to show us her favorite store for fruit & veggies and other fun things. If you buy produce at the regular supermarket you would spend a fortune, because everything is very expensive here. Fortunately Vancouver isn’t the cheapest place to live either and I am a little used to the steep prices. Anyway, today I ate my fresh Norwegian plums on the way home and later I will eat a green salad with more ingredients than just lettuce.

I found my way home without a map. YES!

Sunday morning some of us went down to the Oslo Opera House, is it ever beautiful. We decided to come back at night time for the free open air concert. Once it was time to leave for the concert, it rained and everyone was tired. Fortunately we decided to go anyways!

The Norwegians are well equipped fora rained-out classical concert and a surprisingly big group of people braved the rain. Just before the start of the concert, there was an announcement in Norwegian, the audience got up, and we thought that the performance was cancelled. Quite the opposite was true. They arranged for us to see the concert inside the opera house. Since there were too many people to fit in the opera, they also arranged to have two shows that night. We were in the second group, were greeted with a glass of white wine to apologize for the wait, and got to watch a ballet performance, a pas de deux (a duet in which ballet dancers perform the dance together) from both the nutcracker and swan lake.

The concert started shortly after and we got carried away in the world of classical music. There was an amazing orchestra, a choir, and of course a few Opera singers. One women had everyone’s attention, maybe because of her voice, but mainly because of her dress that didn’t quite contain her boobs.

I was close to tears all evening. I was sitting in the Oslo Opera House with my new friends, my heart warmed by music and a glass of wine. It was so lovely and I missed all of you tremendously.

Last night some of us went shopping for food just up the street from where we live. We were too tired to figure out what to eat and my friend remembered that she had pasta, tuna, and sauce at home. So we each bought a beer (yes,1 beer), OR NOT: “Sorry, no alcohol after 6.”

Fortunately, I still had some pear cider at home. It was perfect with the tuna dish. Is it ever nice to chat in the kitchen with good company, drink, and food. That’s all I needed to feel at home away from home.

All I bought that night was laundry soap. The lady at the store didn’t even say “No laundry on a Saturday night!”

Today we took a trip to Vigeland Park, a famous sculpture park in Oslo with over 200 sculptures by Gustav Vigeland. My favorite so far!

When we left a bird pooped on my arm, for good luck.

It turns out that I needed to bring all my kitchen utensils… but I didn’t.

“Thank you” person-that-used-to-live-here for leaving 4 bowls (varying sizes), some spoons, and the lovely orange pot. I managed to put some jam on Knäckebrot (crisp bread that is pre-cut), eat yoghurt and potato salad (I couldn’t find the potatoes in all that sauce). Haven’t tried to cook yet, because I don’t have a knife to cut stuff and everything seemed too complicated.

This evening I chatted with Irina from the Ukraine in the common kitchen. She made my day (semester!) by giving me 4 cups, a knife and some forks, and permission to use whatever I need. Wow. That was nice.

Now it’s like 4 star camping for me in my student kitchen!

Lesson learned: Should have brought the knife that Laurence offered the morning of my departure.

Life is so different when all you have to do is get up and wait for the day to unfold. It’s certainly 10 times nicer to wake up on a sunny day. Here is my view this Thursday morning:

Thanks to facebook I already know all the other women in my program. Most of them don’t arrive until next week, but today I arranged to meet Daniela, my first new friend. We found our way to Oslo University College/ Høgskolen i Oslo  and had a look around. I’ve read that part of the university is build in an old brewery, we must have been in a different building.

I also bought a bus pass for 590 NOK (106 CAD). We just got on the nearest tram, went to the last station, Rikshospitalet, and went back the same route. Easy. That seems to be a good way to see the different areas of Oslo.

Hello friends and family!

I’ve made it to Oslo. The nice thing about Oslo is that I don’t have to say good-bye to anyone (yet).

The last few weeks in Vancouver were filled with good-byes, they were lovely but quite sad. I am still sad, cry lots, but I am also ready for the new adventure. Thanks for making my time in Vancouver so memorable. Believe it or not, I am probably thinking about you right now…

When I moved to Canada almost 14 years ago, a women at the airport said to my crying friend “Don’t worry, she’ll be back!” Which made us cry even more, because the move was permanent. My move to Oslo is just temporary, so if you’re reading this, don’t worry, I’ll be back. If you can’t wait, you’re always welcome to visit.

Once I arrived at the airport in Oslo I took a bus into the city to meet my student buddy. She had already picked up the keys to my new room. We dropped off my luggage and went on to see the city. She invited me to cheesecake and tea and made me feel a little better.

I’ve also found out that I live just across the street from a huge park. It reminds me of Stanley Park, though the park and trees are much smaller.

It’s time to sip my overpriced pear cider while watching an episode of Madmen (before jet-lag knocks me out).