The last week has been really beautiful here in Oslo. I even pulled out my chacos the other day! Perhaps it was still a little cold for sandals but I didn't care, I was just so happy to see the sun out. This past winter has been one of the coldest recorded in Oslo and man does it make you appreciate the sunshine!

Anyways, I have been dying to go hiking so last friday I went for a five hour walk with my friend Carline. While it was a little too early in the Spring to attempt any mountains, this walk still had a little bit of nature. True, Oslo doesn't have the classic beauty of some other European cities, but what it does have is plenty of nature. Some areas of Oslo are almost more forest than city so last friday we sort of walked from one patch of the forest to another. The snow was still knee deep in some places but it was really exciting to see signs of Spring around. We eventually ended up back in the city and I continued on to see some areas I had not been to before. One of the marines on the Oslo fjord has a very cool old rowing club at the end of one of it's piers. It sort of reminded me of a place where some stray dogs might have lived in a Disney movie.

The last few days have been even warmer: up in the teens (C) but I have unfortunately been indoors working on my paper. Nothing like the last minute:) It has been a little frustrating as I have been writing the paper in norwegian and the grammer is a little bit different from english. I feel a little like I am back in grade school sometimes. I finished the second draft today, however, which means that I am mostly finished! Yay! The sun is shining and I am going outside! Yay!

One of the sweetest dogs in the world, Røkke, died a few weeks ago. He was Tommy and Terje's baby and it was very sad around here for a little while. This is where you would typically find him on a weekend day, keeping Tommy company while he read his way through a stack of newspapers.

To dager i Brummundal

I just spent a delightful few days with Per and Astrid Standal, some cousins who live in Brummundal. It was wonderful to see them again after almost five years. They were the ultimate hosts plying me with good food, wine, and great old family stories. They even made sure that I had dessert every night, obviously they knew the quickest way to my heart. Basically I felt completely spoiled by them. The first night I was there, Astrid gave me a Bunad, a Norwegian national costume! I was speechless. I have no idea what I need to do to deserve this type of royal treatment but I am gonna have to figure something out:) On Tuesday we visited their daughter Siri who lives on a ranch with, I kid you not, 45 Icelandic horses. I went riding for the first time in four years and it was great. The horse I rode was named Isildur. They told me it was an Icelandic name but all you Lord of the Rings fans out there probably can guess the initial image that name evoked in my mind. God, I'm a nerd sometimes.

Per, Siri, and Astrid at middag.

Typisk Norsk

Isildur og Jeg

Per and Astrid on a walk nearby their house. It was really a beautiful few days up there. And I thought I would show the cool way the snow has been melting. It has been melting underneath over the rivers and even over the ground. See, it's great because you never know when your foot is going to go through and get completely wet. Really fun!

A few hours back in Seattle and a snowy day (curses!)

Right now I have two weeks off from school. I should technically be working on my paper for my Norwegian class (5-10 pages of Norwegian goodness) but I seemed to always run out of time in the days before I get around to it. Weird. The research has been fun though since the topic is the jazz scene in Norway. Apparently, it is quite popular here and I have been to a few shows. The venues alone are way too cool. So what have I been doing to fill up the days? Not really too much. I have started searching for a job here. Today was probably not the most productive day I could have had though. I spent about an hour on The Stranger's website (a Seattle alternative newspaper) which helped to appease a few pangs of homesickness. I really miss NPR too.

The weather here has decided to be total tease. About a week ago, it really warmed up and the snow was mostly melted. The sun shone and we even saw some plants shoot up. And more people started coming outside to enjoy the weather. There were Norwegians everywhere! Who knew there could be so many? This was definately a good thing too seeing as they are generally nice to look at:) But then it snowed again. We saw some more lovely warm days. Then it was cold and rainy. Yesterday was really beautiful but this morning the sight that greeted my sleepy eyes was more snow. Almost blizzard-like really. However, I have it on very good authority (my friend told me that someone told her) that Spring will come in three weeks from yesterday. So I have marked my calendar and am merely waiting at this point. Yup, merely twiddling my thumbs. But seriously I cannot wait to go hiking! The mountains and forests here are so beautiful. And my chaco sandals are staring at me from my closet.

Well kiddies, that is about it for right now. Below I have included pictures of a what's really an Oslo landmark: the Grand Hotel Cafe, my cousin Tommy and his baby Rokke in the sun, the jazz club Blaa and the saga of Verdens Beste Kake.

Kim posing at the Grand Hotel Cafe (Ibsen's hangout) on a kultur day.

Spring is here! Spring is here! (Sort of).

A little crafts market next to the very cool blues club called Blaa.

Verdens Nest Beste Kake eller Litt Bedre Kake.

Carline and I have done it again! For those of you who don't know the history here I will tell you. Here goes. One day in class about a month ago, someone mentioned "verdens beste kake" (the world's best cake). Needless to say we were intrigued. That night we purchased a mix and attempted to bake verdens beste. I say "attempted" because the result was gelatinous pile. It was really quite ugly. The edges tasted quite good though and we fondly named it "verdens verste kake" (you guessed it: the world's worst cake). Underneath the laughter that this sorry excuse for a cake generated, we were discouraged as we are both quite fond of baking. We were determined to try again. So last night we did just that and the result was less disasterous. It was still a more difficult feat than it should have been with not the prettiest result but it tasted very very good. We are not daunted. We will keep trying until victory is ours!

Carline is thrilled!

Yes, the proud parents of a beautiful creation. Don't worry, I will keep you updated on the saga of the kake.