oh. hei. lenge siden siste.

Wow. Is it really 2014? Hm. I'm not sure when that happened (well, actually, I do know when that happened. I was present for it amidst a town's fervent attempt to all become rocket scientists at once).

The past few month or so has sledded by (hehe), I must say. We had snow; it was pretty and slippery and bright all at the same time. Then it melted. Now it is dark and cold, but surprisingly cozy most of the time. The Norwegians know how to face the winter with grace and good cheer, also juleøl helps.

I went to Copenhagen (that's in Demark), met a bunch of signed language linguists from all over Scandinavia, drank "cheap" beer, wandered around the fantastical world of Tivoli, accidentally stumbled into Christiana, ate vegetarian food, did some work, learned some more Norwegian Sign Language (and some Norwegian for that matter), and then went home.

A few days later, we went to Oslo. More specifically, Nesodden. No snow there either, but Jeanine was there! And we all had a lovely (alcohol joy-filled) Christmas. Vincent got to try all sorts of awful Norwegian delicacies, and there was aquavit for all. Good times.

Most recently was a New Year's Eve party filled with good food, good drink, and good company.

Now the New Year begins.

Godt nytt år!

bergen. pilefletting. and yes it is getting dark; stop asking.

It's been a bit busy the past few weeks. I took a work trip to Bergen (the second largest city in Norway, in the south west), where I had a two day meeting conducted entirely in Norwegian Sign Language and spoken Norwegian. It was very productive. And, if I may say so myself, I did relatively well considering I've only been in the country for 4 months, AND they speak a different dialect, AND write in a different language there.

Also. I met a troll. A friendly one.

When I got back, I took a pilefletting class and made this!

I weaved this basket by hand using dried strips of tree parts. It took only six hours. And I only almost cut my finger off with a pair of plier-scissors.

Let's just say that while it was fun and I had visions of becoming a great basket weaver, renowned across Norway and the world, my practical side says that this is probably one of the last baskets I will ever weave. It's not sad though. I have this one. And it is pretty big, you could probably put like 20 onions in there. Or as I told Anna, at least 6 bottles of wine.

With those adventures behind me, I look forward to the next month which holds a trip to Copenhagen, a few company parties, and Christmas in Oslo. And apparently I am going to learn how to ski. On snow, frozen water. In the dark.

Because yes, yes, it is getting dark now. This photo is from today at 4:30 pm, and actually makes the sky look lighter than it was. Think middle of the night dark.

Hm.

Ladestein is a nice place to be.

Vincent and I have an apartment in Buran, Trondheim. And one of the great things about our location is that we're only a kilometer or two away from Ladestein, which is a trail that hugs the coastline around Lade. It goes for more kilometers than I can run, and the views of the fjord are, well, they are wonderful. I like it there.

Last night, I went for a walk around Ladestein with my new friend and colleague Torill.

Apart from her lovely company, I also had the chance to practice taking photographs of sunsets with my new camera. You see, usually I am running that trail, and we all know that Lindsay should not carry expensive things while running. Also, I rarely never run at night--again, that's just asking for trouble.

So, here you are: The view from Ladestein on a gorgeous summer evening.

I was happy with how the photos turned out since I only have a camera, and not any other fancy equipment. I guess the view and the weather helped out a lot. Thank you nice view. Thank you perfect weather.

self-revelations

This weekend I learned two things about myself.

First, I am a cookie monster. I think the year and a half without an oven gave me cookie-withdrawal that didn't manifest itself until now. It's ugly. But, if you want cookies--come on over.

Second, I hate building furniture. It makes me very cranky and causes bruising. "It's like legos" is complete crap. That's just the kool-aid IKEA gives you. But, I don't like kool-aid. And I don't like building furniture.

I think it's important that we always continue learning about ourselves.

beware of drunk mailboxes.

I'm starting to get emails in Norwegian, mostly from my work.

The problem, though, is that Lindsay doesn't really speak Norwegian. I mean, don't get me wrong, I know like five sentences. But that doesn't really cut it for the day-to-day email necessities.

So, I've been turning to Google Translate for most of my email-reading needs.

This is part of a translation of an email I got yesterday:

As recently as today, some of you received a message that the mailbox is allegedly drunk, with a link to validate your e-mail account.

My first question is: how can mailboxes even afford to get drunk? The cheapest six-pack I can find is still like $25.

Sheesh. Share the love mailbox.

Although, to be fair, I guess my mailbox (if they're talking about mine) is only allegedly drunk. Not certainly drunk. Maybe I should not rush to judgement.

Also--I haven't quite figured out why my allegedly drunk mailbox would like me to validate my email account. If it's so drunk, I doubt it's very concerned about me getting my email. But, perhaps Norwegian mailboxes are just that damn hard-working and caring.

Oh for the love of drunk Norwegian mailboxes. Why can't we all be like you?