Norwegian classes are getting harder and tiring, they are also great fun and I have made some really nice friends (some who speak English but some who don't) and with the ones who don't I have hilarious conversations with in the little Norwegian we can speak coupled with hand gestures and strange noises. There is one Croatian women I really like but she speaks no English so we try really hard to converse in Norwegian but I can't yet say everything I want to say and it's very frustrating but also very amusing. I feel like a child again.
Last nights dinner was a simple affair as I had not been food shopping, but I did manage to throw together a delicious meal of pasta,chopped broccoli mixed with lots of Pecorino cheese, butter and black pepper.
I am also officially sick of snow. Go away now.

Mandag

Hey, Norwegians! You know that thing that sticks out from the side of your steering wheel?
Well, it's called an indicator and it helps people see which direction you plan to go in and you need to use it! What you don't need to do is drive so close behind me so that I can see up your nostrils. If you try to push me to drive faster I will slow down to about 10mph just to annoy you. I'm awkward like that. Do you need to stare quite so much cause I'm driving a British car? It's just the same as your car, it just has the wheel on the opposite side to you. No big deal.
When driving in Norway the motto seems to be " You look after yourself, I'll look after myself and hopefully everything will be ok" Do you ever let anyone pull out in front of you? Give a little wave to let someone else go? Slow down to let anyone in? No, because you all just think of yourselves, and it stinks!

Sunday

In between digging ourselves out of the snow in the morning and then digging ourselves back up the driveway in the evening came lots of thick,soupy fog. We drove (slowly) to Henrik's folks for lunch and a big walk by the (foggy) fjord. I love where they live so much and can't wait for Summer to get back swimming in the water.

More snow

Ploughing snow is hard work, but after the hard work comes fun.
Our driveway is a fucker to plough but great to sled down!

Snowy Sunday

Lat night: Lentil,carrot and bacon soup with a fresh crunchy greek salad (I finally found good proper Greek feta, none of that Apetina nonsense that everyone here seems to think is good feta. It's not!) Followed by Rosemary's Baby and a seinfeld marathon. (Did you know that Amazon delivers free to Norway? I just found out a few weeks ago and we have been ordering like maniacs. Just be warned that if your order goes over £20 then customs will sting you for about £20 in charges, so it's best to make lots of little orders!)
This morning: A whole load of snow has been dumped on us. I've given up worrying about our door being snowed in as it never manages to come all the way down the stairs, thankfully!
Going to see Henrik's folks today and will practice my new Norwegian on them (even though their English is fab!)

Wandering around junk shops in the snow after a very slow start to the day.
(I woke up at 11.45am today which is something I never do!) I think the language learning has wiped me out this week. God Helg! (Good weekend!)

Since moving to Norway a lot of my recipes don't work out the same as they did in England but the one that was bugging me the most was my pancake recipe, they were no longer plump and fluffy mattress type affairs so I had to rethink my recipe and of course use Henrik as my taster/tester (the man has hollow legs so he never seems to gain weight) as I tried out many different types . This is our favourite one (Henrik even requested them for dinner last night) they are light and fluffy and I don't even mind the bit of salt that's in them....
p.s I can now count up to 100 in Norsk (without looking at the words!)

No school today and it's really nice to have a breather from language learning. Amazing that after just 7 days I feel as though I'm emerging from my own little world and starting to understand more of what is being said around me. It's nice and is really making me feel more at home. Have also met really nice people on my course (from all corners of the globe) and it's so good to have people to moan to about the weather and the high prices!
(no recipe for those cookies, just threw together lots of seeds,raisins oats with a sugar/water mix and baked them on a low heat)

My main problem about learning a new language is that I'm usually a total smart arse and love to pull up Henrik on his English (which, by the way is brilliant, no Norwegian accent, excellent vocabulary and grammar that beats mine hands down) So I'm struggling because being in his country and learning his language is a very humbling experience- and it means I'm not right all the time anymore, and I hate that!! Oh, how the tables have turned!
(Thank you to Henrik who spent 2 hours with me on my homework last night whilst I cried and stamped my feet like an infant!)
*****************************UPDATE**********
Turns out my homework (that made me cry due to the sheer amount) is not due until Monday, so what I crammed into two hours last night I actually had 5 days to complete it! Seems I have not yet learned enough norwegian to understand simple instructions ! At least now my weekend is homework free! Yipeeee!

Scones & Snow

My Norwegian class starts at lunch time and it's too early to have lunch before I leave so I come home at 4pm famished! Yesterday I whipped up a quick batch of scones (been trying not to bake as I really don't need to be eating cakes!) So I had just one and saved the rest for old Hungry Horace (Henrik!)
Last night the snow started to melt as temps went up to 2c and the noise as it started to fall off the roof was freaking me out,as I had no idea what it was at first! Now temp has gone down again and the snow is falling!
Oh, and if you like baking then you should go and visit Siri over at the transplanted baker (Siri is also a Norway transplant too, but has been here much longer than me!)

Sunday afternoon

Henrik got the i phone 4 last week and I have been hogging it since. Must let him use it!
My only complaint is that Hipstamatic makes me look like I have stubble! (beard pic not shown for reasons of vanity!)

Sunrise

It's already +2c so Im hoping some of the snow is going to melt today as we spent way too many hours at the weekend clearing it from around the windows (and yes, I realise the star light is a christmas decoration but I'm keeping it there until the clocks change and things get a bit lighter around here!)

Afternoon in Oslo

We walked for hours,stopping for food and drinks and to visit Henrik's office, by the time we arrived home my ears were so frozen i feared they may fall off!
Thanks to you all for your support with the language learning and reminding me that I'm actually getting three languages for the price of one! Norwegian, Danish and Swedish! (Although I must admit that I cannot understand the Danish accent at all as they seem to "swallow" their words but Swedish I can understand better as it sounds like a softer,nicer version of Norwegian!)