First 2 weeks living in Oslo

Rainy days are the best to be at home writing. For the first time since I arrived here 2 weeks ago, it's raining. Outside the window the thermometer marks 6.5 degrees Celsius. It is not a problem for me. I will go out soon to meet a new friend who is teaching me how to cook some nice recipes. It was time for me to start cooking. I see how powerful my wishes are. Back in Brazil I imagined it and now it's happening. I imagined an older lady who was friendly and was happy to teach someone how to do something. Happened, and thanks to her my dinner yesterday was successful. I know it can sound silly but I've heard so many times that I was not good at the kitchen that I was really afraid of trying. And I'm overcoming it :)

I have been using the internet as a tool to help me making new friends. It's working, I already have some networking here and was invited to a few parties. I'm taking it easy on the partying thing because it was not what I had in mind when I moved to my boyfriend's place in Oslo. I did enough partying in Rio de Janeiro on the last years. Even though people said I would be bored to death here, I must say that they were wrong. Last Sunday my boyfriend took me to a jazz-soul party full of international students and new musicians playing live. SUNDAY night. Entrance free. Yesterday I went to a couchsurfing meeting and it was very nice. Met some intelligent people and have a few more new friends here now. I'm doing well.

The Norwegian culture is still unknown but I have no doubt that I live cultural shock often. It can cause misunderstandings. Starting with food, I found really weird that my boyfriend eats green bananas with bread. When I visited Mari I found out that her husband eats the same. Well, on this case, he leaves a few bananas to get mature so I can eat them while he eats the green ones. No problem!

The butter-cheese is another new thing to me. The shape looks like a toothpaste but it's eatable. They have different flavours such as ham, shrimp, caviar etc. Incredible! The ham flavoured is good.

The transportation is amazing. You can check on the internet how long it will take for the next tram arrive so you don't need to stay waiting at the bus stop more than the necessary. It's also a strategy for the winter days when nobody wants to be in the cold outside. Clever Norwegians ;)

People seem to be really closed but I met a few very opened Norwegians. And although they have a very serious look on their faces, when you approach them to ask for information they are friendly and helpful.

Most of the people know that here is a tremendously expensive city and that is correct. But since I am not working yet, I have been managing to spend days without spending 1 krono. How? I eat at home, bring a bottle of water with me ( here it's dry so it's necessary to drink lots of water). And I don't buy anything. I have a transportation pass that allows me to get any transportation anywhere inside Oslo. Perfect!

Norwegians almost don't touch cash, they have transport pass and credit cards that they use for anything, even for the smaller amounts. Eating out is expensive and mostly not worth it. I've tried three restaurants this time and the food did not taste special.

I almost forgot to say: I'm loving it. It is great to be back here and this time I like the city much more than the previous time. It's clean, it's organised, there are many cute buildings and beautiful people. There are so many different cultures mixed on the streets of Oslo, really multicultural. It amazes me. That's one of the things that I love about Europe and here it's not different.

Oslo is a nice city. Although it's the capital of the country, the city conserves a lot of nature.