First 36 Hours in Norway

Here we are, in our new home in Oslo! We’re still finding our way about the flat, the city, and the language, but here’s a report from the first 36 hours.

Arrival in Oslo

Our flight from Heathrow was at 7:30 which given how public transportation works in the middle of the night meant we caught the 2:30 bus from Oxford. The street was eerily quiet, and so was the airport by the time we arrived (just about 4:15; see picture). Despite our predictions, the flight was on-time. We were literally surrounded by literally screaming children and an adult on the flight had a panic attack and began screaming too. But we have good earplugs/noise cancelling headphones. Plus we didn’t go to bed the night before, so we slept through most of this. On the other hand, we’re a bit exhausted, so you might take what we say below with a grain of salt…

The airport in Oslo is modern and pretty, with food and shopping. The lines when we passed through passport control were very short and the officer was eerily friendly. So much so that when he asked where we’d be going in Norway we asked where we ought to go. This kind of mild raillery is not something either of us has ever felt comfortable engaging in while our fitness to enter a country was being assessed. But he seemed so nice. What’s more, he told us: Oslo is a city and therefore it’s no good so we should go up north. We should spend as much time as we can in the country and we must see the fjords. Bergen is rainy but pretty. Trondheim is very pretty with a church. (PS Oslo is indeed a city but it seems pretty good so far to us.)

Food

We can confirm everything you have heard about how expensive alcohol is, and more. So we’ll be cutting back on our posh Oxford drinking life here, which will prove welcome to our slightly-too-tight clothes too. Plus side: they sell Crabbie’s in the grocery stores in Oslo. Food also seems very expensive to us, both in grocery stores and in restaurants. Restaurant prices are about 35% higher than in most US cities, and groceries are more expensive by varying amounts. Plus side: lox and caviar are our new indulgences: smoked salmon is about what it used to cost us in the UK and US, and we just bought a small jar of caviar for $3.50/£3. We are puzzled by some things and delighted by others we’ve found in grocery stores; stay tuned for more. Update: we’ve now bought that teapot, which has improved our lives more than we can say.

General Atmosphere

The light is gorgeous this time of year, and it’s warmer than we expected (low-high 70s F/ low 20s C). The air feels really fresh and the water is amazing to drink. Speaking of water, there are beaches everywhere, including next door to the opera house and all along the port. Everyone seems to be outside all day, including us. The city is very walkable; lots of big sidewalks and good signage and interesting things to see. People have been astoundingly friendly, and there is a general law-abidingness that extends to stopping for pedestrians even when they cross inappropriately (sorry again). We’ve been wandering all around, in keeping with our usual habit of trying to learn our way around as soon as we can.

It is already clear that we will not make much progress in Norwegian, notwithstanding our efforts with Duolingo, because as soon as we hesitate with a response they switch to English. This is probably ok, and we’ll keep it up anyhow.