I have officially been living in Tromsø for a month, and I am starting to settle into life in the far north. I've noticed a lot of changes over the last month, in both myself and in Tromsø. I have learned a lot about how I deal with new, and sometimes rather challenging situations, and I am realising more and more that life can be as hard, or as easy as you decide you want it to be. This is such a beautiful and amazing place that it makes having a positive perspective really easy. Moving has definitely been good for me, and I'm sure I'll learn a lot more in the coming months and years.
The change in Tromsø has been astounding. When I arrived, there wasn't a green leaf in sight, there was snow on every horizontal (and some not so horizontal) surface, and it was cold! In 4 weeks all the snow in the city, and a lot of snow on the mountains, has disappeared, and Tromsø has turned into a botanical garden of greenery and flowers, with yellow daisies and fluffy dandelions adorning the sides of the roads, soaking up the sunlight and car fumes. The area outside my bedroom window has turned into a Durban-esque jungle, in comparison to what it was a month ago, and one gets a sense that if we let them, the plants would take over completely. Below are pictures I took on my second day here, contrasted against photographs of the same views taken a month later.
All this nice weather does mean that I have spent a fair amount of time barbecuing (that's braaiing for the the South Africans) and at the beach, and I even had to buy myself a bikini! Because the weather doesn't usually allow for it, not many people own proper grills, and so everyone buys these disposable things called "engangsgrill". Coming from a country where braaing is taken really seriously, and a typical braai consists of a big wood fire (only charcoal if the wood is wet, or not available), with meat comprising of giant hunks of bloody steak, or chops and boerewors, with maybe some chicken (to satisfy vegetable requirements of the meal), and perhaps an obligatory salad, it was a huge change for me seeing people barbecuing hot dog sausages and fish fillets on tiny charcoal-fueled disposable tin foil "grills".
Another surprise for me is that people actually swim in the 5ºC arctic sea here. I put my feet in, went numb, and rapidly moved back onto the beach. It's going to take me a while to get the courage up to fully submerge myself!
A few other things I've noticed:
1. I thought Cape Townians talked about the weather a lot, but people here are on a whole other level! I'd say the majority of conversations I have had have included something about the weather at some point, and I am amazed at how everybody seems to religiously follow the weather prediction websites. I guess this behaviour is a response to the rapidly changing nature of the weather here, and the fact that people really need to take advantage of it when it's nice.
2. The rain here is not real rain. It is drizzle. It's the kind of rain that happens in Cape Town after the proper heavy storm rain when things are calming down, and starting to clear up, except here it continues for hours, and hours, and hours.
3. Fizzy drinks are significantly bubblier... in fact they're so bubbly that a mouthful sometimes brings back memories of having pop rocks as a kid.
4. When talking about dates, Norwegians talk about week numbers. For example, someone might ask: when are you teaching? The appropriate norwegian response would be something along the lines of: week 5 and 6, and then week 35. Google calendar does not have a week number option (well, at least I can't find it if there is one), so I have had to label weeks manually.
And finally, on arriving at the gym, I discovered that there is an place in the entrance area where everybody leaves their outside shoes. Initially it made me nervous leaving my shoes (especially my nice leather boots) in a place where they are at the mercy of any opportunistic person, but then I realised that this is Tromsø, and you can leave clothes hanging in a tree and come back a few days later and they'll still be there! So far, my shoes have been fine. Fantastic!
The change in Tromsø has been astounding. When I arrived, there wasn't a green leaf in sight, there was snow on every horizontal (and some not so horizontal) surface, and it was cold! In 4 weeks all the snow in the city, and a lot of snow on the mountains, has disappeared, and Tromsø has turned into a botanical garden of greenery and flowers, with yellow daisies and fluffy dandelions adorning the sides of the roads, soaking up the sunlight and car fumes. The area outside my bedroom window has turned into a Durban-esque jungle, in comparison to what it was a month ago, and one gets a sense that if we let them, the plants would take over completely. Below are pictures I took on my second day here, contrasted against photographs of the same views taken a month later.
Left: Photographs taken a month ago. Right: The change in vegetation and snow cover a month later!
The longer I live here, the more funny little things I notice that I am not used to, or have never experienced before. I have (apparently) been incredibly lucky with the weather, and Tromsø has had more beautiful, sunny, warm days in the last 3 weeks than it apparently had the whole of last year. This does mean that the people here truly appreciate the sun, and it is hard to find Norwegians inside when the weather is nice out. A yoga class I attended last week was even moved outside onto the roof of the gym because the teacher could not bare the thought of being inside on such a beautiful day. This appreciation of the nice weather is awesome, but it also means that Norwegians seem prone to randomly taking their clothes off (presumably to get a tan) whenever and wherever they feel like it, and I have seen a lot of half naked, rather pale (or red) people walking along the street, or lying on patches of grass. I even saw a granny walking her dog in a bikini.
All this nice weather does mean that I have spent a fair amount of time barbecuing (that's braaiing for the the South Africans) and at the beach, and I even had to buy myself a bikini! Because the weather doesn't usually allow for it, not many people own proper grills, and so everyone buys these disposable things called "engangsgrill". Coming from a country where braaing is taken really seriously, and a typical braai consists of a big wood fire (only charcoal if the wood is wet, or not available), with meat comprising of giant hunks of bloody steak, or chops and boerewors, with maybe some chicken (to satisfy vegetable requirements of the meal), and perhaps an obligatory salad, it was a huge change for me seeing people barbecuing hot dog sausages and fish fillets on tiny charcoal-fueled disposable tin foil "grills".
Left: A disposable grill as bought from the supermarket. Right: A small, non-disposable pink bucket grill and a disposable grill, in use.
Another surprise for me is that people actually swim in the 5ºC arctic sea here. I put my feet in, went numb, and rapidly moved back onto the beach. It's going to take me a while to get the courage up to fully submerge myself!
Left: People swimming at the beach in the freezing cold Norwegian Sea. Note the snow on the mountains in the background. Right: Norwegians at the beach.
A few other things I've noticed:
1. I thought Cape Townians talked about the weather a lot, but people here are on a whole other level! I'd say the majority of conversations I have had have included something about the weather at some point, and I am amazed at how everybody seems to religiously follow the weather prediction websites. I guess this behaviour is a response to the rapidly changing nature of the weather here, and the fact that people really need to take advantage of it when it's nice.
2. The rain here is not real rain. It is drizzle. It's the kind of rain that happens in Cape Town after the proper heavy storm rain when things are calming down, and starting to clear up, except here it continues for hours, and hours, and hours.
3. Fizzy drinks are significantly bubblier... in fact they're so bubbly that a mouthful sometimes brings back memories of having pop rocks as a kid.
4. When talking about dates, Norwegians talk about week numbers. For example, someone might ask: when are you teaching? The appropriate norwegian response would be something along the lines of: week 5 and 6, and then week 35. Google calendar does not have a week number option (well, at least I can't find it if there is one), so I have had to label weeks manually.
And finally, on arriving at the gym, I discovered that there is an place in the entrance area where everybody leaves their outside shoes. Initially it made me nervous leaving my shoes (especially my nice leather boots) in a place where they are at the mercy of any opportunistic person, but then I realised that this is Tromsø, and you can leave clothes hanging in a tree and come back a few days later and they'll still be there! So far, my shoes have been fine. Fantastic!
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