I love Norway so far. Thanks to all my Fulbright connections, I've had a lot to do both personally and professionally. Thursday Drew invited me to come observe his class. He teaches at a special school for athletes located behind the U.S. Embassy. In many ways, this visit was reassuring. His students participated, they were opinionated, they were funny--everything I like about teenagers in the U.S. They were also very proficient in English. Monday, I'll go to another school with Hilde. It will be interesting to see how the schools compare.
After visiting Drew's class, I went to Grunerlokka, which one of the guidebooks describes as "the Greenwich Village" of Oslo. I'm not sure that's how I'd describe it, but I did really enjoy my afternoon there. I took the trikk (tram) up, catching it just down the street from my apartment. I exited above Grunerlokka and walked into the neighborhood which includes a park, shops, and restaurants (including a tiki bar and a couple of Mexican restaurants).
When it rained last week, I got soaked to above the knees the day I was walking around town. I now totally understand the importance of knee high rubber boots when it rains. I saw a couple of pairs of boots in Grunerlokka but didn't buy any. I did purchase some lentils and spices from one store, but mostly, I walked around, exploring the neighborhood, looking at art galleries and popping into the occasional shop. The area is charming; I'll be returning to Grunerlokka.
Yesterday, Jen and I took the bus to Bygdoy, the last well known part of Oslo that I hadn't yet seen. It turned out to be quite rural--we saw cows and sheep and a lot of trees. The folk museum is out there--one of the places I most want to go in Oslo--but after tourist season all the museums are free, so I'm trying to get myself to wait. We also walked around the Majorstuen area which is a yuppie haven. I have to admit that I loved going into the Centra, a big grocery store that reminded me of Whole Foods. I bought risotto, gruyere, and plastic utensils (I'm hosting the first Fulbright get together on Sunday).
Jen and I had also been in the Fulbright office yesterday--Kevin helped us with some banking questions and we ended up having lunch there, as well. Ole, who is on the Fulbright board, invited us to a Norway Democrats party last night at a pizza place called Dolly Dimple's (I don't even want to understand the name of this chain). So we gathered with American expats last night, eating pizza and watching Obama's convention speech. All week, I've been watching the speeches on YouTube--but it was really fun to be with a large group of people for this speech.
Afterwards, we hung out with Kirsten, Jeff, Kevin, Lucienne, and Ole talking politics. We talked about which speeches we liked best and discussed McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate in addition to talking about all things Norway. Kirsten, Jeff, and Lucienne are students here in Oslo. Kevin works for the Fulbright office, and Ole works here but is soon being transferred back to North Carolina. They are really interesting and funny. I think my favorite moment was Jeff's admission that he got most of his ideas from the pundits--I don't entirely believe him but we all laughed. This was such a fun evening--we closed the restaurant down because we were enjoying our conversation so much.
There has been so much to do here--I think my first totally open day isn't until next Wednesday. I'm still managing to get work done, but I'm also having a lot of fun. Jeff and Kirsten were Fulbrighters last year who decided to stay another year. I can see why.
