Today officially marks the end to our first week in Oslo. We’re still settling in, finding our way around using public transit (Ruter) and navigating the supermarkets (look for another post about food). But, all in all, we are enjoying Oslo.
I’m still feeling a bit like a tourist. I feel the need to pack in whatever we can before we have to “leave.” Even if that leaving is next year, it still all feels rushed. We received our letters that granted our Norwegian residency for the year, but we have to wait to get our residence cards until there is an opening at the local police station. I have to wait until the beginning of September. Maybe when I have my card it’ll all feel a bit more real. (But probably not.)
We are living in the Røa section of Oslo. It is beautiful here. We are a short walk from Lysakerelven (Lysaker River) that is the border between Oslo and Bærum. It has been a beautiful place to hike and rock jump. There’s also a swimming hole, but we haven’t tried that yet. We are also near the T-Bane (subway) and buses and within walking distance of supermarkets,
a library, and various stores we still have yet to explore. It is nice to be able to hop on the T-Bane and be in the city centre in around 15 minutes. I have missed public transportation.
So far, we’ve done a bit of more traditional site seeing. Today we plan to ride the ferry to the Oslo Fjords. We’ve been to the Munchmuseet (Munch Museum) which was amazing and Vigeland Sculpture Park, one of the most visited spots in Oslo. We walked on the roof of the Opera House (which everyone should do) and explored city centre.
We’ve been lucky, the weather has been nice. I’m trying to work on my Celsius, so it’s been about 25C (mid-70s) and beautiful. We’ve had some rain yesterday, but today is gorgeous again. It’s been perfect exploring weather. I’ve been drinking a lot of tea and just enjoying this late summer
Oslo weather. It looks like it will remain in the 20s for the next week or two at least and there will be a bit more rain, but we couldn’t have asked for a better start to our time here.
We are pretty much over our jetlag and back to normal summer sleeping patterns. After Lucy decided to stay up all night on the flight over so she could use her seat’s personal media we had a rough couple of days, but now we’re back. I have one orientation next week, but it’s not until 20 August that the kids start school and then I really start my Fulbright. Until then, we’ll be working on getting up a little earlier and going to bed a little earlier
(which is difficult since it is sunny at 21:30 (9:30 p.m.) right now). And, we’ll be exploring our new home.
Until next time.