City Living

First off, I changed the permisions on the blog so people can freely post comments.  I promise to do better and respond to any readers out there.   Just ask away.

Today is a glorious sunny day in Trondheim and there is this sense of impending "winter doom."  Not sure why exactly, but you just have to go outdoors when the sun is shining.  This morning however, I had to spend a little time at the Politi, which I apparently was required to do within 7 days of arriving, but I had to wait to get my residence permit which just arrived from NYC.

Me in the mirror of Politi with big wooden doors that swing open

I rushed over at 8 am and got Seat #24 (out of #26) and immigration doesn't even open until 8:45 am.  It was a huge tip from my friend Noriko from Japan to get there early.  The crowd was pretty diverse (asian, russian, middle eastern, indian, african, etc..) with mostly students here for the international degrees at NTNU.  My permit is for one year and renewable...watch out people... and I can work here for 20 hr/week (side job as a bar maid?), travel within the Schengen countries as a resident, and get free healthcare.  Not bad at all.  They took my passport and I  had to get another passport photo to insert.  It wasn't pretty.  The woman said there is a saying that if you wake up and look like your passport picture, then you must be sick and should go immediately back to bed. :))

But, I have talked about the beautiful countryside and biking/hiking.  However, the downtown in Trondheim is absolutely beautiful with canals, cobblestone streets,  historic architecture and lots of modern buildings and sculpture.  It is a big city with a population of 260,000 including surrounding area, but very clean and safe.  The traffic into downtown is pretty horrific, even from my house, in the morning and many people bike.  One of main bridges went out and there is some road construction, so cars pile up at the roundabout on the bottom of the hill. Yesterday, I was a bit late dropping the girls at their bus stop and I followed their blue netbus one stop in the lane reserved for buses and taxis (yes, I could have been arrested, but would have played the dumb blonde american, which I do very well).

The buses are well run and can take you anywhere in the area, but I work in the sticks (up along the fjord) and it is easier and cheaper (yes even with gas at $10/gallon) than taking the bus $4 each way.  The girls get a free bus pass courtesy of the Norwegian government to go to school.  Fun to see those very small cars here (see photo below). The car fits sideways in a parking spot inteaded for parallel parked cars...small indeed.  And, I have to admit that I am fond of the British "Top Gear" which regularly airs on the BBC entertainment.  I don't even like cars, but they converted a corvette engine to power a kitchen blender -- that's funny stuff.  It blended bricks and raw meat...mmm...

I finished writing an Encyclopedia chapter on Remote Sensing of Ocean Color and am feeling a moment of respite before I leap into my next project. I'll send you a copy when it publishes.