Getting Used to Norwegian Ways

Hello, Folks! Two weeks and counting here in Oslo, Norway. I have noticed myself already getting used to the currency (thinking more in Kroners than in Dollars nowadays), not questioning differences as much (but still questioning a lot, don't you doubt that), walking everywhere is becoming normal (as in my asthma is not as bad and my leg muscles are insanely strong), and much more.

The image to the left of this text is from a collection of really amazing graffiti I found on my first trek alone in the big city of Oslo. I do not know who did these beautiful works of art but I commend you sir or madame. But back to my first lone trek; being here in Oslo for a year to study I need a residency card and I am granted that through Norwegian Immigration, then I go pick one up at a police station when I arrive. Sounds simple enough, but it surely was not. I walked many miles just to get to the police station because it was impossible for me to reach them by phone and when I arrived I had to sit there for 4 hours in a line of people from all over the world. When the line was at its shortest and I was second to last, the woman at the desk changed and I began to hear yelling and crying; this did not look good and I was afriad to see what would happen when it was my turn. One more person went before me and yelling commenced once more, a lot of confusion and language issues were included. Finally, it is my turn and the woman changes, relief comes over me, I walk up to the woman, tell her my situation and she says "oh, I can do that for you right now, it can be tricky your first time.... Here is the date you need to come back and get your card and that's it." I just thought to myself "wow, all that time wasted sitting in a line, getting anxious, etc. and she hands me a post-it note with a date on it and says 'that's it!'" I guess if you have all your papers in order and have tried your hardest to do everything yourself in the first place, they appreciate that and it pays off a great deal.

After my visit to the police station, I was feeling brave and went to explore to find some essentials I like to have in my vacinity at all times at home. When I went to a pharmacy I began speaking in English, usually prompting the person to speak English as well and he did for two words but then took me around the store explaining everything else in Norwegian. I was confused and completely lost so I said "tusen takk, I am going to another store," and that was the end of that. It is very easy to get by speaking just English here, most everyone understands and speaks it, this was the first person to speak Norwegian to me thinking I would understand them. When I found what I was looking for I remembered I wanted to try the Swedish version of McDonald's, MAX to compare, so I went walking down the big touristy road and found it smack-dab in the middle. I go inside and it is very clean and that was nice; I ordered a bacon 'n' cheese burger meal and waited for my order.

I get my bag of junk food and walk to the soda fountain and notice it says "refills 10Kr" which is crazy to me, we can get free refills all the time in America! That was not the worst part though, I take a bite of the burger thinking about the nice juicy looking burger in the window and it was like paste, wet cardboard, a lot of flavoring to cover it up and maybe a little meat in my mouth and I spit it out immediately! It was absolutely disgusting, I would say McDonald's is better but I do not want to give them too much praise because they are not that great themselves. The fries were yummy and the Fanta here is always awesome, so at least there was that!

At some point in my two weeks here I managed to get sick and I had to go to a doctor. The upside was that seeing the doctor was free for me being under 25, the downside was peeing in what looked like a mini, white, plastic Solo cup. Since it was the first time seeing me for the year that I am here for they wanted a urine sample and when the doctor handed me the weak plastic cup with no lid I was so confused and when he said I had to walk all the way down the hall and back with my urine I was really freaking out. I did my business, and begin walking back to the room; every step I took was as careful as I could be, I kept thinking to myself "don't spill it on anyone, don't spill it on anyone, please don't trip." Thankfully I made it back without a drop lost. Why I am mention my urine sample experience is because in America we pee in a thick, clear plastic cup and get a nice lid that screws on tight, maybe it is just where I went (cutting cost since they see young people for free) but that seems like an unsanitary way to do things. Other than that my visit to a doctor in Norway was nice; he did keep asking if I spoke any Norwegian but each time I said "not really," he said "okay, okay, that's fine" and kept explaining things in English. Either he thinks I should know Norwegian if I am going to live in Norway or he was afraid his English was not that good, haha.

The rest of my week was spent getting to know my new roommates, and my boyfriend's family. Getting to see more of what restaurants are like here, spending time by a fjord and seeing a Norwegian beach for the first time (but there is not much to say there because I spent most of my time there hiding under trees from the rain).

That is all I have to report for now, do not forget to check out more of my pictures on Instagram, Facebook or in the gallery of my website! Thanks for reading, friends!