I'm not feeling overly inspired tonight - I think that Monday can do that to you, no matter what country you're living in. As a result, just a quick recap, and some observations:
-We went to the soccer game. We were worried that it might be tough to be supporting Hødd this year, as they just (over the winter) moved up a division, so they should be playing against opponents who are a lot better than they're used to. However, it turned out not to be the case. They beat Sparta (from Sarpsborg, near Oslo), veterans of this division, 2-0. It wasn't the best soccer I've ever seen, but it's always fun to be cheering for the winning team. There were probably 1,000 fans there. Refreshments consisted of coffee (no milk or sugar available), various types of sausage-in-a-bun (one was very close to a standard hot dog, but others were available), and something that was basically a cold pancake, spread with butter, sugar and cinnamon, and folded in half. Good, but odd.
-Today was back to work. Another new guy came in today. He'll be interesting to watch, because I have a lot more marine experience than he does, but he speaks Norwegian. It'll be interesting to see who gets up to speed more quickly.
-I think there must be every car brand on Earth represented on the streets of Ulsteinvik. Okay, I retract that, I haven't seen Delorians, Vauxhalls, Ladas or Yugos. Still, there are everything from Dodge Ram pickups straight out of rural Canada to Nissan Micros, which are clearly VW Beetle competitors. There are Skodas (from the Czech Republic), VWs, BMWs, Saabs, Volvos, Peugeots, Renaults, Citroens, Range Rovers, Jaguars, Fords (including an enormous old Econoline van), Chevys, Dodges, Nissans, Chryslers, Minis, Kias, Toyotas, Subarus, Nissans, Mazdas, Audis, Merecedes-Benzes, Opels (German company owned by GM), Hyundais, Mitsubishis - really everything. This is particularly odd considering that there are only two car dealers in town (that I've found yet!) - Toyota and Mazda.
We went out tonight for a couple of hours to meet a young woman who will be coming to Ulstein International (part of the Group) for two years starting this August. This was a Facebook link-up, where she was excited to learn that there were any foreigners in Ulsteinvik. She's from Beijing, but has been going to school in Bergen, Norway. As I've mentioned, she needn't have worried - Ulsteinvik is far more international than you'd guess, but we were happy to go out for coffee, regardless.
'Night.
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