My New Abode

So, today is my second full day in Norway, and so far, so good. I know where the mall, some bars, the library, the train station, and the grocery store are - so I feel like I am set. My apartment is quite nice, much more room than I am used to. Note the lovely pictures:

My Bedroom: the bed is huge and it has a walk-in closet big enough to use as a dressing room. It makes my giving up my awesome bed and "closet room" in Grand Forks for the semester less painful.

The Living Room: it is quite spacious and has a fireplace, but I am afraid that I will burn the place down, so I will stick to the electric heat, thankyouverymuch.

The Office/ Spare Bedroom: again, really big and nice. If anyone wants to come visit, I have room for you, that's for sure!

The Kitchen: I have successfully made oatmeal, cut up carrots and apples, and boiled water in here thus far. Hopefully the culinary endeavors become a little more advanced in the following weeks, or I am going to be seriously hungry - and sick of oatmeal, carrots, and apples.

The Bathroom: this is seriously the biggest bathroom I have ever had. The sink/ vanity area is separate from the toilet area, and...

The Shower Room: that's right, the shower has its own room - complete with heated dressing area. Pretty sweet if you ask me.

I really like this apartment. It is the whole second floor of a house and actually also has a second sitting area, but I forgot to take a picture of it, mostly because I haven't really been in there and I doubt I will use it much. I will post pictures of the outside and the view from my window in an upcoming post dedicated to Moss and ACN in general. I think this is it for now. I gotta tell you guys - I am pretty proud of myself for remembering to do this whole blog thing. 2 posts in 4 days, not too shabby - for me at least.

The First Travel Day

Here I am on my first leg of the journey. I still look okay, and not like the sleep deprived mess I was when I actually got to Norway

Hi anyone who has chosen to read this fairly narcissistic little project I have decided to start. I am assuming that if you are reading this that you know me personally and are interested in my recent decision to teach for a semester in Norway. And since I am assuming that most of you dear readers already know me, you can imagine how counter blogging, or public writing at all, is to my personality. I can honestly say that I have never been a blogger or even a journal writer. Frankly, dedicating time to any task that has no consequence if not accomplished has never been on the top of my priority list. It is the reason why I have so few hobbies; my apathy toward anything other than those things that have dire consequences if not completed (such as failing or disappointing people I admire) always wins out in the end. In addition, I find my writing voice (much like my speaking voice) a little grating, so I don't make it a habit of subjecting others to it (very much unlike my speaking voice, which I try to subject people to on a constant basis). Anyway, this blog will be dedicated to chronicling my journey to Norway, the teaching experience I have at the American College of Norway, and the travelling I do throughout the semester. I am writing this blog for two reasons: 1) It is an easy way to keep track of all the things I will do over the next semester. Let's face it, I am never gonna be a scrapbook kind of gal...and 2) It will give me a way to let those who are interested see what I am doing without repeating the same information over and over. So, in the spirit of getting started on the right foot, I am writing this first entry on the bus from Oslo to Moss. The bus has Wifi, which is very cool, considering the last bus I was on could only offer the smell of urine and a homeless guy puking in the back - what up, Cincinnati Metro! Both plane rides were easy and uneventful. It was interesting having all the announcements made in Norwegian first, then English (thank god for the English, guess who didn't bother to learn the native language of the country she moved to...this gal). Two of the exchange students from UND were on my flight, so we navigated the Oslo airport as a team, which is always good. While they are here to study and I am here to teach, it makes me feel less alone to have other UND people around. There is little else to tell right now, but I wanted to get this first blog post in before I forgot. I have no idea how frequent they will be, but I will try to be consistent (of course, that could mean that I consistently forget to write anything, and let's face it, that would be par for the course). Bye for now.