This will probably be quick, as it's getting a bit late, and we didn't get loads of sleep this weekend.
...so we took the night bus (9 hours) to Oslo on Friday night, and used the same method returning. It was quite an experience, but really as comfortable as you could expect such a thing to be, particularly in a country full of winding mountain roads. very good seats, pillows, blankets, and few enough people that we were able to have a pair of seats each for 12 of the 18 hours. Besides, it was the cheapest method (could argue driving would be, but we wouldn't be able to drive and sleep at the same time - and there's no guarantee we'd get a good rate on the rental), and we didn't have to front for a hotel room on Friday or Sunday.
Oslo was nice, but not overwhelming. Of course, everything in Europe is old, compared to our North American history (even coming from Newfoundland, most recently), and there were definitely still moments of wonder, but having recently (last fall) travelled to England, Wales and France, Kes and I have some experience with that. Besides, Oslo is a growing city (growing through the general wealth of the nation - Norway's interest rate went up last week, while everyone else's is going down, for example), so some of the most impressive things (like their new opera house) are actually new. However, if you're looking for new and impressive, well then, Canada has a decent amount of that, too.
So anyway, I don't want to sound too cynical or anything, but Oslo was not overwhelming from a tourist point of view. On the other hand, I think that living there would be a lot of fun - it seemed full of restaurants (the good ones of which were pretty much all non-Norwegian food!) and pubs, and we had a really good time out on Saturday with some folks from the Norwegian national rugby federation.
Speaking of rugby, that's why we were there, nominally - I was getting my Level 2 IRB (International Rugby Board) referee certification. I am hoping that, even though we're a long way away from the nearest club, here in Ulsteinvik, I may be able to use my refereeing as a vehicle to see some more of Europe. For example, there are tournaments through much of the summer that I may attempt to link up with, as a referee.
We did see some of the negative side of Oslo - some neighbourhoods had extreme amounts of grafitti, and I would say that there is an immigrant immigration problem - there are lots of people of colour in Oslo, but we didn't see very many instances where people of different colours were walking together.
Of course, the large number of immigrants makes for great food, and there is Turkish restaurant that has become our new favourite restaurant in Norway.
'night,
Ashley
Monday, 28 April 2008
Wednesday, 23 April 2008
Back in action...
For those who didn't know, I travelled to Duncan, BC for two days last weekend, for my grandfather's funeral. There were (of course) also two days of travelling in there. That's really why I've been away from the blog for about a week. Many of you won't have even known that he died, of course, but many who know have been very kind in their comments - thank you. At the same time, my grandfather was a man who had 101 remarkable years (Well, his first 2 or 3 may have been a bit boring, but I assure you, he probably had more years full of good stories than most of us will ever have a chance to accumulate) - so his passing at the end of a very long, very full, and very productive life was, in some ways, not a tragedy, precisely because he hade done so much, so well. Regardless, enough about that - suffice to say that my family actually had a very wonderful chance to get together, even though I just about fell asleep in my soup dish, thanks to the 9-hour time change.
Sometimes one can expect that much travel to grant deep insights into humanity and the universe. Here, then, is a selection from my thoughts during the marathon of flights (Ørsta/Volda - Oslo - Frankfurt - Vancouver - Nanaimo - Vancouver - London - Oslo - Ørsta/Volda):
- If you are in an airport with moving sidewalks, anywhere in the world, then you can guarantee that, somewhere in that airport, there is a 7-year-old running in the wrong direction along one of those moving sidewalks. (Confirmed in Frankfurt, Vancouver, Oslo and London).
-Lufthansa has really cool trans-Atlantic planes - the bathrooms are downstairs!!! Who knew planes had basements?
-It feels a bit surreal to start your day on a Dash-8 (Nanaimo-Vancouver), and 21 hours later, finish it on one, too (Oslo-Ørsta/Volda).
-Duty-free shopping in Oslo is nuts! They have a special legal setup whereby you can actually go duty-free shopping in the arrivals area, where you pick up your luggage, so that you don't even have to carry all the stuff with you on the plane! People were pushing shopping carts FULL of hard liquor and cigarettes. ... again with the idea that the Norwegians don't mind, collectively, being part of a high-tax socialist state. However, personally, they do everything they can to get around it - especially the part where you pay an arm and a leg for booze.
The Norwegians really know how to build tunnels. The drive to the airport (no, we still don't have a car - we borrowed the company car.) includes a drive through this one:
(Yes, of course, that photo's from the official opening - needless to say, there's not so much pedestrian traffic normally.) - It's 8 km long, and has really steep grades to get down below a really deep waterway. However, it cuts about 30 minutes off the drive to the Ørsta/Volda airport - unquestionably the closest airport, but only since this tunnel opened at the end of February. I think this tunnel will probably do a lot to reduce the dependence of Ulstein and the surrounding kommunar on Ålesund - Ørsta and Volda are decent-sized places, with a combined population of 18,569, an airport (no international flights, but 45 minutes to Oslo), and an arts-focussed university college. Now, the (practically combined) communities are only 25 minutes or so from Ulsteinvik, thanks to the tunnel.
I had my first Norwegian class, yesterday. It went well, although there are only two others in my class - a middle-aged German man who does not want to learn Norwegian, and a younger (but still old enough to have two kids) Austrian man who wants to learn Norwegian, but does not want to learn Nynorsk - the form of Norwegian spoken here in the Western portion of the country. Thus, I was reduced to being the keener everyone thought I was in high school, while the "cool kids" sat at the back of the class and spoke a language I didn't understand. At least in high school it was only figuratively "a language I didn't understand". In this situation, they were actually speaking German.
I'll elaborate on the whole "different types of Norwegian" thing next time (barring some other distraction), but I know that at least some of you have been waiting with bated breath for winemaking results. They are... mixed, I'd say.
The wine, if you think to yourself "fruitwine" (or, of course, "fruktvin") before you taste it, is of medium quality - not so good, but might survive as a 10-dollar special in 2-litre bottles at the liquor store. However, if you think to yourself "Merlot" (which was on the label on the box!) before you drink it, you will likely spit it out.
Kes has found a clever solution - 1 part Morton Especial Rødvin, 1 part Diet 7-up, sprinkle of cinnamon powder. She claims that it tastes like sangria. I claim that the smell of the cinnamon distracts you from the taste of the wine. I think we're actually saying the same thing.
Anyway, we're having our other expat friends over to taste it tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.
Cheers,
Ashley
Sometimes one can expect that much travel to grant deep insights into humanity and the universe. Here, then, is a selection from my thoughts during the marathon of flights (Ørsta/Volda - Oslo - Frankfurt - Vancouver - Nanaimo - Vancouver - London - Oslo - Ørsta/Volda):
- If you are in an airport with moving sidewalks, anywhere in the world, then you can guarantee that, somewhere in that airport, there is a 7-year-old running in the wrong direction along one of those moving sidewalks. (Confirmed in Frankfurt, Vancouver, Oslo and London).
-Lufthansa has really cool trans-Atlantic planes - the bathrooms are downstairs!!! Who knew planes had basements?
-It feels a bit surreal to start your day on a Dash-8 (Nanaimo-Vancouver), and 21 hours later, finish it on one, too (Oslo-Ørsta/Volda).
-Duty-free shopping in Oslo is nuts! They have a special legal setup whereby you can actually go duty-free shopping in the arrivals area, where you pick up your luggage, so that you don't even have to carry all the stuff with you on the plane! People were pushing shopping carts FULL of hard liquor and cigarettes. ... again with the idea that the Norwegians don't mind, collectively, being part of a high-tax socialist state. However, personally, they do everything they can to get around it - especially the part where you pay an arm and a leg for booze.
The Norwegians really know how to build tunnels. The drive to the airport (no, we still don't have a car - we borrowed the company car.) includes a drive through this one:
(Yes, of course, that photo's from the official opening - needless to say, there's not so much pedestrian traffic normally.) - It's 8 km long, and has really steep grades to get down below a really deep waterway. However, it cuts about 30 minutes off the drive to the Ørsta/Volda airport - unquestionably the closest airport, but only since this tunnel opened at the end of February. I think this tunnel will probably do a lot to reduce the dependence of Ulstein and the surrounding kommunar on Ålesund - Ørsta and Volda are decent-sized places, with a combined population of 18,569, an airport (no international flights, but 45 minutes to Oslo), and an arts-focussed university college. Now, the (practically combined) communities are only 25 minutes or so from Ulsteinvik, thanks to the tunnel.
I had my first Norwegian class, yesterday. It went well, although there are only two others in my class - a middle-aged German man who does not want to learn Norwegian, and a younger (but still old enough to have two kids) Austrian man who wants to learn Norwegian, but does not want to learn Nynorsk - the form of Norwegian spoken here in the Western portion of the country. Thus, I was reduced to being the keener everyone thought I was in high school, while the "cool kids" sat at the back of the class and spoke a language I didn't understand. At least in high school it was only figuratively "a language I didn't understand". In this situation, they were actually speaking German.
I'll elaborate on the whole "different types of Norwegian" thing next time (barring some other distraction), but I know that at least some of you have been waiting with bated breath for winemaking results. They are... mixed, I'd say.
The wine, if you think to yourself "fruitwine" (or, of course, "fruktvin") before you taste it, is of medium quality - not so good, but might survive as a 10-dollar special in 2-litre bottles at the liquor store. However, if you think to yourself "Merlot" (which was on the label on the box!) before you drink it, you will likely spit it out.
Kes has found a clever solution - 1 part Morton Especial Rødvin, 1 part Diet 7-up, sprinkle of cinnamon powder. She claims that it tastes like sangria. I claim that the smell of the cinnamon distracts you from the taste of the wine. I think we're actually saying the same thing.
Anyway, we're having our other expat friends over to taste it tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.
Cheers,
Ashley
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
Finally, Some Photos...
Okay, let's see whether I can make Blogger show you some of our photos (of course, I say "our", but Kes is the only one with a camera who hasn't lost it). For most of them, you can click on the picture for a larger version.
Here's the view to the left out our front window. You can see the fjord, and the downtown core is that bustle of buildings below us. The road coming up toward us is Skulevegen. You can sort of make out two towers on the far side of the town - that's another shipyard. (not mine).
The outside of the apartment, looking right. You can see the steeple of the town church, and then, at the end of town, the cranes of my shipyard. There's a ship at quayside right now - the "Island Constructor", that is in the final stages of its outfitting.
Kes hard at work, making wine.
We're not quite ready for a job translating Norwegian winemaking instructions. Not quite yet.
This is our apartment. Just a tiny bit smaller than where we lived in St. John's!
The "Ishall" in Fosen. That's a hockey rink (European size), a curling sheet (just one - straight ahead), and a soccer field, inside a long-track speed skating oval!
This is on the ferry from Vestnes to Molde - that's the return boat, going the other way.
This is from our drive back from Trondheim - remind anyone of Bella Coola?
These are the boats that I'm working on. Now, that was the picture that was released when the contract was signed, so the design has morphed a bit since then, but they're still really cool. Yes, that is the front end pointing to the right. There's a helicopter platform on top of the bridge.
I think I'm going to be lazy for the evening, and just leave you with the pictures. These have been long days at work, due to a visit by the owners to the yard. At the same time, it's rewarding, because I feel like I'm actually slowly becoming a contributor - it's taken a while to get there!
Cheers,
Ashley
Here's the view to the left out our front window. You can see the fjord, and the downtown core is that bustle of buildings below us. The road coming up toward us is Skulevegen. You can sort of make out two towers on the far side of the town - that's another shipyard. (not mine).
The outside of the apartment, looking right. You can see the steeple of the town church, and then, at the end of town, the cranes of my shipyard. There's a ship at quayside right now - the "Island Constructor", that is in the final stages of its outfitting.
Kes hard at work, making wine.
We're not quite ready for a job translating Norwegian winemaking instructions. Not quite yet.
This is our apartment. Just a tiny bit smaller than where we lived in St. John's!
The "Ishall" in Fosen. That's a hockey rink (European size), a curling sheet (just one - straight ahead), and a soccer field, inside a long-track speed skating oval!
This is on the ferry from Vestnes to Molde - that's the return boat, going the other way.
This is from our drive back from Trondheim - remind anyone of Bella Coola?
These are the boats that I'm working on. Now, that was the picture that was released when the contract was signed, so the design has morphed a bit since then, but they're still really cool. Yes, that is the front end pointing to the right. There's a helicopter platform on top of the bridge.
I think I'm going to be lazy for the evening, and just leave you with the pictures. These have been long days at work, due to a visit by the owners to the yard. At the same time, it's rewarding, because I feel like I'm actually slowly becoming a contributor - it's taken a while to get there!
Cheers,
Ashley
Tuesday, 15 April 2008
Socialist, not Collectivist
Okay, I think I'm going to get into some dangerous territory here, because I'm going to throw out some generalisations about Norwegian society. I know, I know - I'm clearly an expert, because I've been here all of 21 whole days, but I feel like some things are clicking into place. Please, don't be insulted - if I'm completely out to lunch, let me know.
The idea that Norwegian society is socialist is "common knowledge" - the pension plans, the free education, the high taxes, the subsidies... I mean, there was a case in 2004 where the courts here ordered the government to purchase a car for a man who was too short to ride public transit. ...Not because he couldn't physically use the transit, but because riding on public transit exposed him to traumatic memories of being ridiculed for his height on the school bus as a child. I'm not going to debate the merits of that case, but I think that it demonstrates the accomodations the state feels it must make to provide a social safety net. Another aspect of this is the pension system. This is the sort of sacred cow that the health care system is in Canada (only because there is no sense, here, of any threat or other option to their socialised medicine). Under the Norwegian pension framework, every worker expects to receive, when he/she retires, presuming he/she worked long enough, and at a full-time job, a significant salary from the government's pension funds. By "significant", I mean that the "pension salary" is enough to provide full necessities of life, at significantly above the poverty line.
Anyway, those features, among many others, confirm the label that many people apply to many European (but particularly Scandinavian) countries - "Socialist". However, there is another, seemingly contradictory, aspect here, as well.
That is the individualistic nature of life here. For example, while the government controls alcohol sales through their monopoly, and taxes it very highly, many, many people make their own. While the government subsidises public transit, almost everyone has a car. While the government encourages physical fitness, the sports of choice are individual ones (skiing, speed skating, ski jumping), rather than team ones (say, hockey, or even soccer - though they clearly follow soccer, and play it, it's not nearly the magnitude of many other European countries). I think that this is shown in many of the national heroes, who are often individualistic explorers, people who were the first to ski solo to the north pole, or first to do this or that - rather than people who do things like found movements, or even lead political parties. Norwegian society clearly respects entrepreneurship, and there are successful international businesses everywhere - far more than the population should be expected to generate.
...so Norway is an interesting study in contradictions. It seems to have found its own, successful answer to a number of problems - I don't mind voting for a socialist system, and high taxes in general - but don't get in the way of me going hiking, starting a business, clubbing a seal, or making wine in my bathroom.
Speaking of which, the wine production is complete, but the wine needs to be filtered now. Our supplier of winemaking equipment (the elderly gentleman in the store called "PartyMan") is inexplicably closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Therefore, filtration on Thursday. ...Unless we want to drink something that is currently about the consistency of tomato juice. Still, we tasted it. I hope the filtering improves it - Kes assures me that it will.
Cheers,
Ashley
The idea that Norwegian society is socialist is "common knowledge" - the pension plans, the free education, the high taxes, the subsidies... I mean, there was a case in 2004 where the courts here ordered the government to purchase a car for a man who was too short to ride public transit. ...Not because he couldn't physically use the transit, but because riding on public transit exposed him to traumatic memories of being ridiculed for his height on the school bus as a child. I'm not going to debate the merits of that case, but I think that it demonstrates the accomodations the state feels it must make to provide a social safety net. Another aspect of this is the pension system. This is the sort of sacred cow that the health care system is in Canada (only because there is no sense, here, of any threat or other option to their socialised medicine). Under the Norwegian pension framework, every worker expects to receive, when he/she retires, presuming he/she worked long enough, and at a full-time job, a significant salary from the government's pension funds. By "significant", I mean that the "pension salary" is enough to provide full necessities of life, at significantly above the poverty line.
Anyway, those features, among many others, confirm the label that many people apply to many European (but particularly Scandinavian) countries - "Socialist". However, there is another, seemingly contradictory, aspect here, as well.
That is the individualistic nature of life here. For example, while the government controls alcohol sales through their monopoly, and taxes it very highly, many, many people make their own. While the government subsidises public transit, almost everyone has a car. While the government encourages physical fitness, the sports of choice are individual ones (skiing, speed skating, ski jumping), rather than team ones (say, hockey, or even soccer - though they clearly follow soccer, and play it, it's not nearly the magnitude of many other European countries). I think that this is shown in many of the national heroes, who are often individualistic explorers, people who were the first to ski solo to the north pole, or first to do this or that - rather than people who do things like found movements, or even lead political parties. Norwegian society clearly respects entrepreneurship, and there are successful international businesses everywhere - far more than the population should be expected to generate.
...so Norway is an interesting study in contradictions. It seems to have found its own, successful answer to a number of problems - I don't mind voting for a socialist system, and high taxes in general - but don't get in the way of me going hiking, starting a business, clubbing a seal, or making wine in my bathroom.
Speaking of which, the wine production is complete, but the wine needs to be filtered now. Our supplier of winemaking equipment (the elderly gentleman in the store called "PartyMan") is inexplicably closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Therefore, filtration on Thursday. ...Unless we want to drink something that is currently about the consistency of tomato juice. Still, we tasted it. I hope the filtering improves it - Kes assures me that it will.
Cheers,
Ashley
Monday, 14 April 2008
"Why didn't we buy these books before we moved here?"
Kes just said that (the title of this post) after coming across a really useful-sounding book about Norwegian customs and etiquette on the internet. In some ways, it's shocking just how unprepared we were before we came here - this relocation was not based in a long fascination with this place - it was a really neat opportunity waved under our noses, that we just took a deep breath and jumped at. On the other hand, I think we've both proven our existing abilities and added loads of new abilities in the general category of "adapting".
At the same time, we shouldn't glorify our undertaking - Norway, and particularly Ulsteinvik, has proven to be shockingly familiar and similar to previous life experience in Canada. In addition, the Internet has made life so much easier! Of course there is the basic stuff, like emailing friends and family, and reading news from home. However, some of the most important advantages might not be immediately obvious. For example - it's a good idea to go to a supermarket website (even if it's only available in Norwegian) in advance of your trip, look up all the words you need in your dictionary, get a sense of prices, etc. Thus, when you actually do go to the store, you can do so with much more confidence. Well, that and you're less likely to buy licorice when you meant to buys spaghetti. Still, we ended up getting turkey when we expected chicken the other day. If that's the worst we do, I'd say we're doing fine!
We spent the weekend in Trondheim and Fosen (a region across the Trondheimsfjord from Trondheim proper). We initially thought of doing this because there is a rugby club in Trondheim, and they're probably the closest one to us here (although it's about equidistant to Bergen). The TRK (Trondheim Rugbyklubb) was having an overnight trip to Fosen for a day of training and "teambuilding". We contacted them and they were happy to have us join in and inflate their numbers.
In addition, Trondheim has an Ikea. Ulsteinvik, needless to say, does not. We needed to buy Kes an office chair. She's working from home, and will be for the next several months, so wire-backed, slouch-inducing, butt-bruising kitchen chairs just weren't appropriate for 6- to 12-hour days.
Unfortunately we still lack a D-number, thus a bank account, thus a car. Still, we decided that an excursion was in order, so we sucked up the financial hit and rented a car. We drove up via the "coastal route" - the E39, which is a "Europavei" - European highway (indicated by the "E" in it's number) We assumed this guaranteed a certain quality. Apparently not. Picture the road into Bella Coola, complete with one-and-a-half lane patches, blind corners, and switchbacks (not quite as steep, but still...), except paved. Now, leave that road alone long enough that it develops 6-inch ruts. Wow. Of course, that wasn't the entire trip, but it was the reality for at least a few heart-in-throat moments. However, the views were beautiful, with snow-capped mountains, 3 ferry rides, ancient farms, and numerous transitions between white and green as we gained and lost altitude.
I could fill a week's worth of posts with a description of the trip, from the fun of playing rugby on an artificial grass surface inside a speed-skating oval (the inside of the track also had a full-size hockey rink and a curling sheet), to the really neat reclaimed port warehouses that Trondheim has turned into a trendy bar area, to Kes's experiments with driving a standard (hey, what are rental standards for, right?) to our trip back through the interior, including the Dovrefjell mountains, and the wasteland of snow, on forever.
However, I'm going to work on a Norwegian lesson, and then head to bed - I have a big meeting this week at work, with the future owners of the ships I'm working on visiting from the USA. Normally, I wouldn't be in an owners' meeting. However, this meeting will focus exclusively on "my stuff", so I'm going to have some long-ish hours in the run-up to it.
Cheers,
Ashley
At the same time, we shouldn't glorify our undertaking - Norway, and particularly Ulsteinvik, has proven to be shockingly familiar and similar to previous life experience in Canada. In addition, the Internet has made life so much easier! Of course there is the basic stuff, like emailing friends and family, and reading news from home. However, some of the most important advantages might not be immediately obvious. For example - it's a good idea to go to a supermarket website (even if it's only available in Norwegian) in advance of your trip, look up all the words you need in your dictionary, get a sense of prices, etc. Thus, when you actually do go to the store, you can do so with much more confidence. Well, that and you're less likely to buy licorice when you meant to buys spaghetti. Still, we ended up getting turkey when we expected chicken the other day. If that's the worst we do, I'd say we're doing fine!
We spent the weekend in Trondheim and Fosen (a region across the Trondheimsfjord from Trondheim proper). We initially thought of doing this because there is a rugby club in Trondheim, and they're probably the closest one to us here (although it's about equidistant to Bergen). The TRK (Trondheim Rugbyklubb) was having an overnight trip to Fosen for a day of training and "teambuilding". We contacted them and they were happy to have us join in and inflate their numbers.
In addition, Trondheim has an Ikea. Ulsteinvik, needless to say, does not. We needed to buy Kes an office chair. She's working from home, and will be for the next several months, so wire-backed, slouch-inducing, butt-bruising kitchen chairs just weren't appropriate for 6- to 12-hour days.
Unfortunately we still lack a D-number, thus a bank account, thus a car. Still, we decided that an excursion was in order, so we sucked up the financial hit and rented a car. We drove up via the "coastal route" - the E39, which is a "Europavei" - European highway (indicated by the "E" in it's number) We assumed this guaranteed a certain quality. Apparently not. Picture the road into Bella Coola, complete with one-and-a-half lane patches, blind corners, and switchbacks (not quite as steep, but still...), except paved. Now, leave that road alone long enough that it develops 6-inch ruts. Wow. Of course, that wasn't the entire trip, but it was the reality for at least a few heart-in-throat moments. However, the views were beautiful, with snow-capped mountains, 3 ferry rides, ancient farms, and numerous transitions between white and green as we gained and lost altitude.
I could fill a week's worth of posts with a description of the trip, from the fun of playing rugby on an artificial grass surface inside a speed-skating oval (the inside of the track also had a full-size hockey rink and a curling sheet), to the really neat reclaimed port warehouses that Trondheim has turned into a trendy bar area, to Kes's experiments with driving a standard (hey, what are rental standards for, right?) to our trip back through the interior, including the Dovrefjell mountains, and the wasteland of snow, on forever.
However, I'm going to work on a Norwegian lesson, and then head to bed - I have a big meeting this week at work, with the future owners of the ships I'm working on visiting from the USA. Normally, I wouldn't be in an owners' meeting. However, this meeting will focus exclusively on "my stuff", so I'm going to have some long-ish hours in the run-up to it.
Cheers,
Ashley
Friday, 11 April 2008
Busy, busy...
Hi everyone.
Sorry I've been out of touch lately, but I've honestly been too busy. This post is going to actually be pretty short, for the same reason, but I wanted to update things before we went away for the weekend.
Wednesday night, I went to a movie. It was just an American one, "Charlie Wilson's War", nothing really special (though I liked it), but it was nice to feel "less foreign" for an hour and a half. I must admit, though, it's my first experience with being, literally, the only person in a theatre while a movie is playing. (Kes was busy at hime, fighting the good fight with her thesis - when the mood strikes, it's best to ride it as long as she can, because there are days when it's really tough to stare at the computer and wrangle numbers for as long as she does). Still, the facility is really nice, clearly open less than a year, I'd say.
Thursday night we went bowling with our fellow ex-pat friends, Marco and Nadine (Venezuela & Germany). We had a lot of fun, though we demonstrated our general incompetence at 10-pin bowling. Kes and I protested that, had it been 5-pin, we would have been much better.
We're off this weekend to Trondheim (Friday night) and then Fosen (just NW of Trondheim) for Saturday, to hang out with the folks from the Trondheim Rugby Klubb. Should be a good time.
I let the folks from the Norges Rugbyforbund (Norway Rugby Union) know that I was a referee and coach, and have been told that I should set up a club here in Sunnmøre (that's the region that includes both Ålesund and Ulsteinvik), and that I should start refereeing around the country. In fact, the president of the union said today "You know, the head of our referees just retired, and we don't have anyone to fill his position...." I said no, don't worry.
By the way, my email address, ashley.morton[at]utoronto.ca still works, and is my primary personal email address, in case you'd rather not post comments (I think that it might make you log into a Blogger account in order to post - if so, sorry about that. I'll see if I can change it.
Cheers,
Ashley
Sorry I've been out of touch lately, but I've honestly been too busy. This post is going to actually be pretty short, for the same reason, but I wanted to update things before we went away for the weekend.
Wednesday night, I went to a movie. It was just an American one, "Charlie Wilson's War", nothing really special (though I liked it), but it was nice to feel "less foreign" for an hour and a half. I must admit, though, it's my first experience with being, literally, the only person in a theatre while a movie is playing. (Kes was busy at hime, fighting the good fight with her thesis - when the mood strikes, it's best to ride it as long as she can, because there are days when it's really tough to stare at the computer and wrangle numbers for as long as she does). Still, the facility is really nice, clearly open less than a year, I'd say.
Thursday night we went bowling with our fellow ex-pat friends, Marco and Nadine (Venezuela & Germany). We had a lot of fun, though we demonstrated our general incompetence at 10-pin bowling. Kes and I protested that, had it been 5-pin, we would have been much better.
We're off this weekend to Trondheim (Friday night) and then Fosen (just NW of Trondheim) for Saturday, to hang out with the folks from the Trondheim Rugby Klubb. Should be a good time.
I let the folks from the Norges Rugbyforbund (Norway Rugby Union) know that I was a referee and coach, and have been told that I should set up a club here in Sunnmøre (that's the region that includes both Ålesund and Ulsteinvik), and that I should start refereeing around the country. In fact, the president of the union said today "You know, the head of our referees just retired, and we don't have anyone to fill his position...." I said no, don't worry.
By the way, my email address, ashley.morton[at]utoronto.ca still works, and is my primary personal email address, in case you'd rather not post comments (I think that it might make you log into a Blogger account in order to post - if so, sorry about that. I'll see if I can change it.
Cheers,
Ashley
Tuesday, 8 April 2008
In phase, out of phase...
Kes and I have a "rule": We're not allowed to both be sick at the same time - that way one of us is always able to look after the other one. Of course, this doesn't always work (for instance, Kes had a terrible bout with the 'flu while I was in the hospital having my knee looked after just before we left to come here), but we always tell ourselves that we're doing our best to follow it.
I think the same needs to apply to "homesickness", or culture shock, or whatever you want to call it. Unfortunately, today we both hit "I don't want to be here" moments at the same time this afternoon after I got off work, and really reinforced our own negativity. It was pretty crappy. Now, we realized what was going on, and we were fine by supper (Kes's cooking usually puts me in a better mood, anyway), but it did go to show us how important it is to remain positive.
There wasn't any specific incident or anything, that put us off, it was just a bit of a "blah" feeling. The challenge here is that it is really easy to blame any negative feeling on the fact that we're in the middle of this big adventure. ("God, this place makes me sick to my stomach! ... wait... Oh, nope. It was just gas.") For example, we were kind of bored tonight, and ended up watching TV and surfing the internet. Our initial reaction was to say "there's nothing do here". Still, the idea that our lack of stimulation was Norway's fault is ridiculous - everyone has those nights, no matter where you live.
So, we have plans to go to a movie tomorrow night (there's an English one on at the Sjøborg hall), and have a "double date" with our Venezualan/German expat friends to go bowling (Yep, they've got a 10-pin bowling alley here) on Thursday, then on Friday we're renting a car (still can't buy one, because I still don't have a tax number), and driving to Trondheim for the weekend. We really can't complain - life is pretty good.
The company gave me a cell phone today. For those who have a desire for large phone bills (or who want to call me through Skype), the number is +47 (Norway country code) 991 20 844. I would love a phone call, or even a text message, but please do a time-zone check, first, if you're going to call! You can find out what time it is here right now from this webpage: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=288
The sun is already setting really late, even though we're only two weeks after the equinox. Sunset today was 8:42 pm, and by next week, it will be past 9:00pm. Sunsets here are wonderful, as the sun goes down over the Atlantic, looking west from our hillside vantage point.
The wine is burbling along in the bathroom (we're keeping it in the bathroom, because it's the smallest space to heat it up to the 22-24 degrees that we're trying to keep it at.) I wonder
how it will turn out!
Off to bed now - maybe tomorrow will bring a D-number!
I think the same needs to apply to "homesickness", or culture shock, or whatever you want to call it. Unfortunately, today we both hit "I don't want to be here" moments at the same time this afternoon after I got off work, and really reinforced our own negativity. It was pretty crappy. Now, we realized what was going on, and we were fine by supper (Kes's cooking usually puts me in a better mood, anyway), but it did go to show us how important it is to remain positive.
There wasn't any specific incident or anything, that put us off, it was just a bit of a "blah" feeling. The challenge here is that it is really easy to blame any negative feeling on the fact that we're in the middle of this big adventure. ("God, this place makes me sick to my stomach! ... wait... Oh, nope. It was just gas.") For example, we were kind of bored tonight, and ended up watching TV and surfing the internet. Our initial reaction was to say "there's nothing do here". Still, the idea that our lack of stimulation was Norway's fault is ridiculous - everyone has those nights, no matter where you live.
So, we have plans to go to a movie tomorrow night (there's an English one on at the Sjøborg hall), and have a "double date" with our Venezualan/German expat friends to go bowling (Yep, they've got a 10-pin bowling alley here) on Thursday, then on Friday we're renting a car (still can't buy one, because I still don't have a tax number), and driving to Trondheim for the weekend. We really can't complain - life is pretty good.
The company gave me a cell phone today. For those who have a desire for large phone bills (or who want to call me through Skype), the number is +47 (Norway country code) 991 20 844. I would love a phone call, or even a text message, but please do a time-zone check, first, if you're going to call! You can find out what time it is here right now from this webpage: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=288
The sun is already setting really late, even though we're only two weeks after the equinox. Sunset today was 8:42 pm, and by next week, it will be past 9:00pm. Sunsets here are wonderful, as the sun goes down over the Atlantic, looking west from our hillside vantage point.
The wine is burbling along in the bathroom (we're keeping it in the bathroom, because it's the smallest space to heat it up to the 22-24 degrees that we're trying to keep it at.) I wonder
how it will turn out!
Off to bed now - maybe tomorrow will bring a D-number!
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