Norway-2

I finally have my bearings here so I spent the last week exploring the city. I bought myself a bus pass, found a really good map, and learned the key phrases I needed to get myself back to Åsane just in case everything else failed me. The nice thing about having all of these jobs is that they are spread out all over Bergen so I get to see and familiarize myself with several different areas. Åsane, where I live, is just North of Bergen. Then I work downtown at the architecture office (right off of Bryggen) and for two different women who live South of Bergen in a community called Helgeplasset. My Norwegian lesson takes me to a part of the city called Frydenbo which is on the top of a hill that overlooks all of downtown and the water, and just this week I started a new job, also in Åsane so I can officially add ‘laundry maid’ to my resume! Now on my way downtown every morning I stop by the local soccer field, let myself in to the men’s locker room, and bask in the stench of dirty socks and jerseys for an hour. I thought I could go with out gloves...big mistake. If my professors could see me now!!!
At Riss Landskap I work right across the street from Mariakirken (St. Mary’s church) which, it turns out, is the oldest building in Bergen. I was told the pulpit was the pride of the church so on Monday I made a point of touring the inside and it definitely lives up to its reputation. I also found time during the week to walk through the Fisketorget which is Bergen’s main fish market (scaled down for winter), Torgalmenningen the main square in Bergen where all the big stores and touristy restaurants are (Dolly Dimples pizza place is a big one here), and around the Lille Lungegardsvann, a tiny lake with a fountain in the center of town. I discovered Johanneskirken (St. John’s Church) which sits at the top of a hill in town, and spent an entire afternoon walking through the Picasso exhibit (which was amazing) and the three other art museums that are all part of the Bergen Art Museum. I was amazed at the scope of the collection this little art museum in Bergen was able to muster up. So I managed to cover most of the tourist hot spots although I still haven’t been out on the water and I haven’t taken the funicular up Mount Floyen both of which I’m told I can’t miss.
The weekend was the most fun I've had since I got here. Friday night we made dinner at the neighbors’ house which turned into the most casual gourmet dinner I’ve ever had. They had a friend come cook and he brought fresh tuna and blue shell muscles, so we had seared tuna with sesame seeds, pomegranate, arugula, and balsamic reduction and muscles in a creamy chili and coconut sauce. Dessert was a $200 bottle of wine and ‘crispo' their equivalent of a crunch bar, which also came with a great soundtrack and a foot rub from my ‘boss.’ We spent the rest of the evening music swapping, they introduced me to some really good Norwegian bands and then I got to share some of my favorites with them. On Saturday I went with the Aspelund-Strømme family to a swimming pool in Os. I had planned on reading by the pool but Janne’s brother brought his two month old baby so I volunteered and sat in baby heaven for two hours until they were all done and baby was asleep. Then Kristen was kind enough to give me the grand tour of the area so we drove out to this beautiful hotel in Solstrand and looked across the Fjord to Fusa which is the town I take the ferry to to get to Stranvik, where my grandmother lives. We drove up to the very top of Fanafjellet (Fana mountain), had lunch in Fanatorget (another neighboring city), and then took the scenic route home. It was so nice to get out of town and see the countryside and more of the fjords. Saturday night was all about the city. I had a girls’ night with Helene and a few new friends. We went to Red Sun sushi and then had drinks at the Penguin which was a fun little bar down a tiny cobblestone street in the center of town.
It was good to have a week where everything started to feel familiar and ‘normal.’ The first week I had a hard time transitioning because I realized I’m actually living here. In a way I felt like I was doing the same thing here that I was doing at home except that all my friends and family are at home. Traveling around is a different story because it’s a new place everyday and it is so far from your normal life that you don’t even have time to miss it. It only took a flight around the world for me to realize that I really am a home-body which has actually worked in my favor. This week everything just fell into place, my being a home-body has made it really easy to make Bergen home and I realized that that discomfort and finding my way in completely unfamiliar territory is exactly what this trip is about for me. I’ve found that the key has been to find a good balance between living and traveling, even if it means something as simple as walking a new way to work everyday.