Day 1 Observations

I arrived in Stavanger around 11:30 AM, which was roughly on-time. Stavanger is on the southwest coast of Norway. It sits on a peninsula at the mouth of a large fjord. South of Stavanger is filled with rolling hill and lots of farm land. This part of Norway is "warmer" than the rest of the country due to the westward winds from the ocean (much like Oregon). It is also rainy, much like Oregon. To the east are the mountains that make up most of the country.

Check it out:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=stavanger,+norway&ie=UTF8&z=11&iwloc=addr

On this particular day it was not rainy at all. It was 60 degrees and sunny. Apparently it's been raining for the last month. It was a little colder than I'm used to, but I'm certainly not complaining. The nastier weather is sure to come soon.

When I arrived I went to the duty free shop, and then straight outside with my bag. I was surprised that there was no immigration. I guess immigration was the guy who glanced at my passport for a second in Amsterdam. Considering that I will be working here for two months, I found this odd.

The cab ride into town was interesting. The cab driver was an older fellow. I offered to lift my large bag into his car but he insisted on doing it. He wasn't able to and I finally had to help him. He then spent most of the cab ride talking about how that was the heaviest bag he's ever seen and it must have weighed 50kg. It was heavy but it was probably closer to 27kg. Anyway, he gave me his card and insisted that I weigh the bag and send him a message with the final verdict. Maybe I'll tell him it was 40kg so he won't feel bad.

My hotel is suppose to be one of the best in the city. It sits on the top of a hill overlooking the bay, and it is in fact quite nice. However, all day they were doing repairs outside my window which prevented me from napping. So I ventured out and walked around town for awhile.

Stavanger is a small city of about 100,000 people which is the same size of my home town of Bloomington, Indiana. Walking around it feels very old-school European. The roads are cobblestone and they randomly wind in all directions. The shops are small and everyone seemed to be walking to whereever they were going.

Most of the signs and literature are in Norweigen, but everyone speaks English. Thus it's not really too much of a culture shock so far. The things I've noticed are minor differences and are mostly amusing. Here's a list:

Power consumption - This country is in no way short on power. They control the majority of the oil in Europe. However, they are very energy conscious. For example, in order to use electricity in my hotel room, I must insert my card into a power slot. This is frustrating if you are watching tv or working on the computer and need to leave the room. But I suppose it works. They also encourage you to reuse your hotel towel to avoid using the washing machines.

Recycling - These people recycle. In general they are just environmentally conscious. It's part of their culture.

Driving - The rules for driving are slightly different. For example, if there's a yellow diamond, then you must always yield to the right. But the amazing thing are the cross walks. They always stop at cross walks if there are pedestrians; and pedestrians always use the crosswalks. There is no jay walking. People just cross the street and assume drivers will stop. My instinct is to assume that the Texan in the giant truck will run me over, so I stop and wait. I think it irritates them but it will take some time to get used to this idea. Oh, I haven't seen a single truck or SUV.

I think I'm going to move into an apartment next to some of my other team members. The apartments are much nicer than a hotel room, and food is no issue because there's are small stores all over the place. I like the apartment too. The neighborhood reminds me of Bloomington.

Tomorrow is the first day of work. It will be interesting. Here's a link to my Norway picture album. I'll let you know when there are updates.

http://picasaweb.google.com/joaphill42/Norway#