Grass Not Greener
The last couple of weeks have been busy ones. We have been getting ready for our super manic period at work (basically the whole of June has been nicknamed ‘Hell Month) and I have also thrown in a trip to England for good measure.
At work I can ‘look forward’ to being at my desk during lots of evenings, plus two of the Saturdays in June – ferie penger and an eventual holiday are the two lights in what currently looks like a long, dark tunnel. However, looking on the brighter side, I keep trying to remind myself that I prefer work when there is tons to do so hopefully the weeks will whizz by and I can look forward to a few weeks of sleep (interrupted only by a visit from my Grandmother!!)
In terms of England I hit Windsor for a flying visit at the weekend. I was literally on English soils for about 30 hours but I managed to get a surprising amount packed in, including dinner at the fabulous Gilbey’s with my uncle, lunch at Loch Fyne, visits to my Grandfather and neighbours, some dog walking with the crazy Sophie and a Godmotherly appearance at my niece’s Christening.
The restaurant trips reminded me of what it is like to eat really GOOD food at a non organ-donating prices and the Christening was way more entertaining than my (albeit limited) experiences of Norwegian churches (there was a rousing rendition of ‘if you’re happy and you know it’ as well as some Godparent vows where we all had to state what we planned to teach little Pheebs).
In a number of ways it was a Kodak moment worthy weekend with good weather, good food, good friends and a drama free family event (all the drama happened after I left for Heathrow thank God). For a few moments, especially when wandering across the Eton bridge and watching all the swans go by, I wondered what it would be like to move back to Windsor.
Luckily the moment passed relatively quickly when I realised that now I get the best of both worlds. I get to fly home and have the ‘isn’t Windsor so beautiful’ experience in blissful ignorance, without having to ruin it by actually living there! That sounds odd I know, but I think I am lucky to be able to go home again and see my childhood haunts within a cookie cutter, picture perfect version, instead of the surely less shiny reality.
Then, on the other side of the fence, I get the imperfections of everyday Oslo. But the longer I stay here the more I appreciate it. Recently I’ve been walking the puppy in the graveyard near our apartment and it pretty much sums up my feelings about Norway – there are things that shouldn’t be there (beer cans and such) and sometimes things happen that are just so out of place and inappropriate (who talks on their mobile at the graveyard!?) but if you look past these then there are a bunch of other things to appreciate – it is so much bigger than I thought, with random paths I hadn’t expected and odd people who, if you have a puppy cute enough, might just even treat you as one of their own.
Mad Dogs and English Women
As hinted at in my previous (ages ago!) post there has been quite a change in the Norglish household. As I sit here writing this a very sweet puppy is curled up asleep on his rug! We have been talking about getting a dog for literally years and, after much research, we settled on a Dachshund (sausage dog!) He is super cute and thus far has been relatively well-behaved (some attempted wire chewing excepted).
Being ‘nybakte’ dog owners has opened up this whole new world of Norwegian interactions. In the three weeks since we got him we have spoken to more people in and around our building than in the last 2 years we have lived here! Granted the conversations revolve around silly dog things and I don’t really know the names of the people, only the dogs, but still – quite the shock! The other day someone even PULLED OVER IN THEIR CAR in order to tell us how cute he is! (He is a bit of a charmer – if me and my boyfriend ever break up the dog will make quite the wingman). He also has the added benefit of making us get lots of fresh air through walks, toilet trips outside 7 million times a day and running around on the roof terrace like mad things! (high wall – very safe)
It isn’t all smooth sailing of course – in a Jekyll and Hyde like trend he manages to swap from little angel into whining, biting demon everytime his teeth start playing up and he can’t resist diving on my jeans practically everytime I do something unreasonable like try and walk down the hallway. But luckily, unlike some other puppies, he hasn’t actually almost killed us.
By ‘unlike some puppies’ I am referring to my mother’s similarly new puppy – a labrador. My mum must have momentarily forgotten the ‘notorious chewer’ reputation that labradors have garnered when she was turning on her hairdryer after a shower and, quite literally, got a shock. After recovering from the minor electrocution she checked the cord, only to find that it had been chewed through down to the copper! Sophie the lab has also managed to chew through two telephone wires and various shoes. Yet in comparison to my mum’s previous dog Sophie is positively restrained…during a bout of separation anxiety her old dog ate her mattress!
Though completely unplanned it is nice that my mum and I ended up with puppies at around the same time as it means we can exchange silly stories whenever I call her…I especially enjoy that anything bad our one has done is sure to be outshone by something Sophie has done!
Our little guy is now 11 weeks old and is starting puppy classes really soon through Canis. I went to the theory class last night and it was super interesting! We are going to be doing clicker training and each lesson will work on different skills that will be practiced through lots and lots of homework…poor little sleeping bundle. He has no clue what is in store for him!
Norglish goes to Washington!
April 15, 2012
Filed under April 2012
Tags: Lincoln Memorial, Obamacare, Omni Shoreham, Talking to Strangers, Washington, White House
My internet silence recently has been due to a number of reasons (more on this over the coming days) but primarily due to a 10-day trip to Washington D.C. before Easter.
I have always wanted to visit the city – not just because I have studied American history but also because of a long-running affectionate relationship with The West Wing (there is a West Wing quote for every occasion).
We stayed at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, 2 minutes from the Woodley Park metro station. It was amazing, with gorgeous gardens and a lot of interesting history. It has been the home of a number of inaugural balls and the poker evening meeting place of various presidents. It was also featured in The Pelican Brief. We had a choice between a park view with a shower and a street view with a bathtub and my boyfriend graciously volunteered us for the bathtub room (he knows me too well!)
On one of our first days there we got up super early and took a taxi to the Supreme Court, where we stood in line in the cold for hours in order to get in to the morning argument session. On argument days there are three lines outside the court – the VIP line (Congressmen, Senators etc), the whole session line and the 3 minute line. There are a limited number of seats and the police come out to give tickets to those waiting in line. Initially there were 60 tickets handed out, which we weren’t far enough forward in the line to get (some people had camped overnight) but an hour or so later they handed out more tickets, which we got!
We were right at the back of the courtroom and it was freezing (!) but really interesting. The case at issue was Obamacare and whether the individual mandate (the part of the health care act that means all Americans must buy health coverage) is unconstitutional. Some good arguments were made in both directions so it will be exciting to watch over the summer and find out how they will rule! (Sidenote – Justice Scalia is really funny!)
While away we also bought cheap jeans and my boyfriend had what he claims to be ‘the best burger he has ever eaten’ at Harry’s Smokehouse (Pentagon City). We visited the memorials and monuments, though the reflecting pool by the Lincoln Memorial was looking quite unreflective as it had been drained of water for refurbishment.
Unfortunately non-American citizens aren’t allowed to visit the White House at the moment due to a change in embassy policy but we did take some pictures from outside and went to the Visitor Centre. The history of the building was really fascinating and it became very clear why the First Families have tended to go away from Washington during the summer – the city was really hot! I can’t imagine being there in mid-July!
Also very nice was the tradition of George Washington University to inscribe the names and degree details of their alumni on the bricks which make up the courtyards. Something to suggest to my former universities I think!
Norway and America often seem to think that they have similar cultures. While I can see where Norway has maybe adopted some ‘Americanisms’ the baseline attitudes of people seemed very different. While talking to strangers here in Norway is seen as odd by many, the amount of conversations I had with people in shops and lifts in the U.S. (and the UK when I go home) was quite impressive. It was fun seeing the more gregarious chatty side of my boyfriend (who could have easily left me for the turn-down service lady if he had wanted to – he totally charmed her).
Perhaps I’m not being fair… There are some scenarios in which Norwegians can be very enthusiastic about talking to strangers and that is something we will have to get used to now (again more on this next time!!)
