For all of you who will get a mass email AND read my blog, here's some more info that I didn't put in my email. Mostly because I'm sending those emails to my mother, my priest, family friends, etc. It wouldn't be prudent to start swearing or complaining about things when I'm on this fantastic voyage, right?
And there's actually not a lot to complain about. The trip was relatively easy. My bag did start to get heavy while I was carting it around in places they don't allow the trolleys. But I knew that was going to happen. I had money before leaving the US, so I don't have any weird Norwegian ATM moments. And everyone speaks English. Pretty much. They have to. I mean, nobody except other Norwegians speak Norwegian. And they do business with many countries. Plus, Norwegian isn't even an official language. I mean, there are many dialects and there's some dispute as to what is considered standard Norwegian. It's not like German or English, where there's Hochdeutsch or the Queen's English and then it becomes regional. No, Norway is all about regions. Or so I've learned from my hosts for the weekend. I've already discussed the country's history with Odd. Yes, that's his name and don't laugh because he's a really nice guy.
It was funny when I arrived at their home. Odd picked me up from the local station (I had taken the airport express) and his wife Marit showed me around their home. And she showed me the bathroom first, saying that I might like to take a shower. I probably did smell at that point, but I think also they knew I'd been travelling for over a day. They've been to Australia from here and can well understand the need to shower after being on a plane or two for so long. So, no dispute there. And they have really yummy bread with goat's milk spread. Now before you get all weirded out by the fact that it's goat's milk, remember that it's good for you and the spread they have is not smelly. Goat's milk isn't really smelly anyway when it's been processed. They have the same brand in Germany. Well, the brand in Germany has the Norwegian flag on it, the one is this fridge doesn't. But it comes in the same triangle package. If you've been to Germany, you know what I'm talking about. It's good stuff. And Odd bakes the bread himself. Well, the loaf that's out at the moment. Nice dark bread with sunflower seeds. His family calls it Papabro - which means dadbread.
Just reading and hearing Norwegian, I don't think it will be too difficult to start learning the language. It's so close to German, except for some of the intonations. Some of the vowels are spoken differently than in German. Like o for example. It just sounds different. And the ends of words - like ker. It's a common ending to a proper name of a town or place. Their home is in Lysaker. Sounds like loos-ak-eir. I write the i in there because the tone of the e goes up a bit.
But I digress. I'll leave the linguistics to myself.
I'm sure I'll have lots more to talk about once I start doing things. I don't think I'll go into Oslo today. It's still snowing and I want to relax. Especially if I end up going to Holmenkollen with these other YFU kids. I'll be sleeping on the ground, probably snowy, in a tent for a night. I'm glad it's not more than that. I'll save up my energy today for that. Maybe I'll just take a short walk around the block. It's all residential where they live, so I won't get too lost or confused. And even if I do, no one will be around to see me get lost. Not that I would be embarassed by it. I've probably got non-Norwegian written all over me anyway. I don't think I'd be pegged as an American, but definitely not a native. I can always pretend that I'm from Germany. :)
And I take back the entry title, because Oslo isn't the Viking capital. Oslo wasn't even Oslo for a long time, it was Christiania. And it wasn't a city that the Vikings knew. Oslo is relatively new. Tromsø, Trondheim or Stavanger would be more appropriate Viking capital cities.
God, I need to stop. I sound like a nerd.