Easter in Stockholm

Easter is taken very seriously in Norway. Pretty much everything is closed from the Wednesday before Palm Sunday and stay closed through that Monday. The streets in Oslo are completely deserted. Most Norwegians try to get out to the mountains for last minute skiing or travel to visit their families. The majority of Norway's population is rural, and the government has done a lot to help maintain a high quality of life for the rural residents.

Platform 15 at Oslo Central Station

Deciding that we are terrible planners and would likely not buy enough food to sustain ourselves, in addition to an intense lack of motivation to trek it over to the vinmonopolet, Meghan and I decided we'd take off for Sweden for the holiday.

Train tickets to other parts of Scandinavia are ridiculously cheap. We were able to get tickets to Stockholm on SJE for ~190SEK for both of us (that's like 170NOK, or around 35USD). It's six hours on the track and the scenery is really pretty. I will disclaim that I've been told numerous times that this train journey is no where near the most scenic in Norway, but that just makes me more excited to travel to the West.

Old Town Stockholm, Sweden

The border is nonexistent. There's a small mention from the conductor and that's about it. There's water everywhere up here, I had no idea. If only it had been a warmer March, we would have been treated to some gorgeous lake views and deep, green forests. But, as it is Scandinavia, it was still very white and bare.

Stockholm is markedly different than Oslo. The wealth of Sweden throughout the past centuries is immediately apparent. Its an opulent city and the first real European center I've visited. We got in at night and found our way through Old Town from Stockholm S. It was a great introduction to the city because at night the tourists leave and the locals come out to play.

The view from our boat room

We got a room at the Red Boat Hostel, a refurbished steamship docked in Riddarfjärden. Since travel was so cheap, we sprang for a private room, seaside with a view of City Hall. It was an amazing experience and around the same price as a room at the Radisson. Meghan found it online, and I'd definitely say it was a win.

We made it over to Skeppsholmen on Easter morning to see the Modern Art Museum. The museum had a pretty extensive and incredible collection - from Warhol to Matisse, cubism to surrealism to modern performance.

Meghan pissed that I'm taking her picture on the boat

The main curation was an exhibit showing the work of Hilma af Klint, a geometric predecessor of abstract art. I had never seen her work and it was pretty inspiring. I didn't quite understand or appreciate her early work, dealing mostly with obsessive perserverations on a 'seven pointed star' and some overly Christian interpretations of evolution. But, her later geometric work and scientific exploration (like the Atom series) were quite powerful and reminded me of later process artists like Sol LeWitt.

As a gloss, the Modern Art Museum is extremely well curated and hosts many lectures and tours of the galleries. Attached is the Architecture Museum, which is a tremendous disappointment and I would advise skipping its small showroom containing the history of architecture.

The Red Boat Hostel

Meghan saw her first Dali. My first was at the Art Institute in Chicago, and I can empathize with what an interesting, disturbing and powerful painter he was. We also got a glimpse at Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2 (on loan from Philadelphia), which was very flat in texture and blurry. It was not at all what I had expected.

Statue in Karl Johan's Palace

We made our way back to Old Town and found what looked to be a little bar on the south side of the island. The security guard out front told us that it was a Viking bar that served traditional mead and Viking fare. The basement was over 400 years old and was charred black from open flame smoke. The staff and most of the patrons dressed in medieval garb - "like pirates," Meghan says - and they sang traditional Swedish music as they drank LOTS of mead.

These kids below were singing drinking songs whilst smashing beers. I caught a verse, but they had ten verses in total. All complete with some ridiculous action or catch phrase and all directed at getting very drunk. "Skål" means "cheers" essentially, the rest I may need some help from Swedish friends to understand.




Needless to say, we went to that bar more than once. All in all, a very enjoyable vacation. We ate Swedish meatballs in this little café behind the Opera house and walked around one of the oldest cities in the world. What more could I ask for?

Viking aesthetics

Meghan and I took a trip down the Oslo Fjord a little ways, past Frogner where all the "posh" people live, to the Viking Ship Museum and the Folk History Museum on Saturday. I've been reading tons about the two ships that are housed in the museum - the Oesburg and the Gokstad. Both were built in the 800s and they symbolize the Viking spirit of Norway.

Gokstad ship

The Gokstad is probably the most famous and created a little bit of a stir in the 1880s when it was excavated. The Norwegian government (in its sophomoric state of independence from Denmark) had no laws governing archeological finds. The farmer whose land the ship was buried in was out for the highest price and if it weren't for a wealthy Norwegian philanthropist, the long boat may have left Norwegian soil for good. Laws were put in place quickly after this incident to maintain Norsk heritage.

The boat itself was found in pretty great shape, as it had by buried under blue clay, preserving the wood from moisture. Viking kings were often buried with their ships in mounds with close views to the sea. The majority of these mounds were looted by grave-robbers or collapsed when the wood rotted. Gokstad is among the largest of these boats and was found with 64 shields in its hull. There are spaces for 32 oars. This king was unusually wealthy and sailed with a double crew. Thirty two men slept while the others rowed.

Detail of the ribs of the Gokstad

Long boats themselves are amazing innovations for the time. They are extremely shallow, allowing them to work further up rivers. They are easily beached and launched, making raiding a quick and efficient process. The English world was not ready for the Vikings with this new technology, and had relied heavily on inland protections from foreign marauders - an idea that these long boats made obsolete. On top of that, chieftains often owned many more than one boat in their fleet and would lash them together in lines to fight on sea. The whole concept is fascinating to me and definitely lends insight into how the north trade routes functioned.

Oesburg ship

The Oesburg has a little different history. The ship was a burial site for a Viking queen - most likely Queen Åsa - and there were two women found in the remains. There is, of course, a lot of mystery surrounding the identity of each woman. What is remarkable about this ship is the amount of daily items that were found accompanying the bodies. This find alone has informed what life in the 800s was like for Vikings and other northern tribes.

There was a belief in the afterlife for these people, so many were buried with objects that would aid them with travel. This included oxen, horses, sleighs (sledges), and food. The Oesburg ship was found with all sorts of food preparation items and tools - axes, shovels, etc. - giving a clear picture of the technologies of the day.

A sledge found with the Oesburg

The most fascinating part for me was the fact that these ships were built without any measuring tools or plans, using a seemingly haphazard shipwright approach called clinker building. All adjustments were made by eye and the tools used were far from precise (nothing at all resembling a plane or drill). Yet, the ships upon completion were beautiful - still are, even after hundreds of years underground - and among the fastest in the world. A replica of the Gokstad was made in the 1880s for the World's Fair in Chicago. Granted the creator took some liberties in his design, the ship sailed from Norway to Chicago in less than a month, reaching speeds of close to 20 knots in open ocean.

It's an unlikely feat, even by today's standards, but gives credence to the capabilities of the Vikings to raid and terrorize England for so long.

All of this history (even if just a snapshot from a few short years in the late 800s) lends me some insight into the collective mind of Norwegians. It's been said that Norwegians gained their psychological and sociological views from interaction with the sometimes harsh and unforgiving landscape that surrounds them. They have been forced to make everything for themselves, until very recently - their clothes, their tools, their homes, their music and their art - and that this self-reliance has fostered a sense of pride in individual aesthetics and duty. There is a sense in Norway that everything has been hand-crafted and fine tuned - that each line has been contemplated and every curve was manipulated with an intent. It's a very palpable sense when you walk around the older sections of Oslo, or look at the ship yards around Aker Bryyge.

Politics and foreign affairs have followed this mindset, with the understanding that the self should govern the self (not a central power or authoritative control) simply because the individual knows whats best for them. That each should share their wealth in times of abundance because we all share our poverty in lean times. There is an idea that countries with better weather and, consequently, more idle populations have the leisure to create drama in political realms and the time to create struggles for power - the opposite of the wants of Norsk farmers.

More on this topic to come.

Lover blog

You can check out how Meghan feels about the move and Norway on her blog:
YAY Norway! YOLO. DONE.

Money

Money makes the world go round - sweet, hard currency. Right? Well, not quite in Norway. Hard currency is pretty outdated and most Norwegians don't touch paper money. Checks don't exist, at all. They're considered archaic and unnecessary.

Everything is done by debit, credit or electronic transfer. There's barely any physical banks - I can only think of DNB - and most people can carry out all their business by text message.

This took me some time to get used to.

Bills come in the mail, the first time (you are expected to supply either a cell number or an email address after that). At the bottom is a giro or faktura, which contains the banking information about the company you owe money to. You go online to your bank - I use Skandiabanken - and type the kundeidentifikasjon (customer ID) number of the institution you owe cash to and send off whatever amount you need. It all happens instantly and you can save the payment information for your account to make regular payments at scheduled times.

Your paychecks come in this form as well, very similar to direct deposit in the States. Your employer is required to withhold taxes to be paid to the tax authority, so the amount you're paid is all yours without hidden costs.

Taxes are handled by text message or email, as well. You don't have to file your own copies, the tax authority takes care of all the paperwork. All you have to do is press a button that states that you confirm the amount you've paid and owe no more or less. Quick, painless, and very prompt.

Besides all of this, the physical currency here is gorgeous. The idea of universal design and accessibility is apparent in the design, as well. The Krone has different sized bills for each denomination - something I always wished the States would do.

The bills celebrate modern Norwegian heroes, natural phenomenon and landmark constructions.

The 500 kroner note has Sigrid Undset on the front. She won a Nobel Prize (surprise, surprise - did you know that the Nobel Hall of Peace is in Oslo?) in Literature in the 1920s. She's most famous for her trilogy about medieval Norway called Kristin Lavransdatter. The wreath on the back of the note is an artistic rendering symbolic of that series.

On the 200 kroner note is Kristian Birkeland, a scientist noted for researching and discussing electromagnetics. Most importantly, he explained how the Aurora Borealis works. On a darker note, he also created the first rail gun (coil gun), which is a very deadly and, admittedly, very cool piece of weaponry. The back shows off the aurora and polar north, which Birkeland was known to travel and witness many times.

The 100 kroner note bears Kirsten Flagstad's visage, one of Norway's famed opera singers, who worked with the Metropolitan Opera in the early part of the 20th century. Coupled with her is the floor plan for the Oslo Opera House, one of Norway's most distinguished architectural achievements and an extremely popular public park near city centre.

The 50 kroner note has Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, a children's author, folklorist and environmental activist. He was a zoologist and is the most celebrated folk tale author in the country. The back shows some water lilies and other natural elements.

The coins are pretty standard, on the other hand, and more driven by the ancient Sami roots of Norway. The 20 and the 10 both have the King's portrait; the 5 has a wreath and the 1 has a cross. The backs are also pretty standard Norwegian imagery. The 20 has a viking long boat, most likely the Oseberg ship (which was likely owned by Queen Asa in the 800s; I could go on and on about this early history, but I'll save it for a later post). The 10 has a modern depiction of the roofs on stave churches, some of which still stand 900 years later.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while; I've been reading tons and trying to learn as much as I can about Norwegian culture and history. More on these findings will come soon.

Picture post

Some people have been asking what Opera looks like on the inside. It's quite beautiful. I snapped some shots of the 5th floor - where we do our documentation and localization work, as well as web design, UI design, server coding...pretty much everything. Our workstations are motorized so we can work sitting or standing, and there's plenty of window to take in the woods that surround the building.

Seating that faces the woods behind Opera.

Workstations on the 5th floor of Opera.

The 5th floor (my floor) of Opera.

 I've also been asked many times what the food here looks like. It's fish. Truly, it's almost entirely fish. Apparently kids love fish burgers - the ones below are 80% fish! - and true Norsk/Swedes are pretty into pickled fish or mustard fish. I haven't tried either. I'm waiting for Meghan to come so we can suffer together.

Fish burgers (fiskburger) are everywhere around here.

Various pickled and mustard fish jars.

Flat structure

A building in Grünnerløkka, near Brugata Station.

On the question of food, the food culture in Norway is only now starting to grow. There are a great many immigrant restaurants that are pretty good - I had Punjab Tandoori today in Grønland and was thoroughly impressed.

Norwegian food, in its traditional sense, consists of fish and potatoes. Mostly, the Norwegians have a pretty limited palate and I've been told it's hard for any new or gourmet restaurants to survive because Norwegians will say any food is good. These places don't get a lot of feedback from the customers and end up dying off due to lack of business.

Building facades inside of Ring 1.

That said, food is a good place to start introducing the idea of a flat structure, which most Americans will be baffled by and probably disagree with. Norway works on the idea that everything is equal. This is not idyllic, as in the States, but more literal. All things are equal. What this means is that shitty food costs almost as much as gourmet, bottom shelf liquor almost as much as top. Most tourists complain that the prices are outrageous, and that may be true if you are seeking a cheap inadequate meal. But, if you like anything that's been crafted, and I mean truly fine tuned, you'll pay only slightly more than getting the cheapest shittiest thing. This is good, in my eyes.

The Royal Palace in Slottsparken (the Palace Park).

My first meal out was at a little restaurant/bar in Grønland with a coworker. We had steak with a hollandaise sauce, beautifully fried potato wedges, mushrooms and spinach in a house dressing for around 200NOK. For comparison, you can get a pizza and soda from the kebab shops ("where you have to be drunk to eat there") for 185NOK.
Same goes for drinks. I was under the [wrong] impression that cheap liquor meant a lower price, not true. For well vodka and soda, you'll pay 90NOK. For a truly amazing, mouth watering, blow-your-mind cocktail of top shelf quality - at, say, No. 19, the best bar ever - you'll get your ambrosia for 115NOK.

The Atlantic, as seen from Aker Brygge.

This is the flat structure.

It extends past just buying goods. Work places mainly operate on a flattened hierarchy, where managers and subordinates work at the same level - likely the same level of pay, and most certainly, the same level of decision making regarding your hours and workload. Norwegians are prompt, because its damn near impossible to be late if you're your own boss.

Regarding public transportation, I couldn't have asked for a better system. There are busses, trams, a subway system, trains to other cities, ferries to other countries. These are all on the same ticketing system and, for the most part, you can get anywhere in Scandinavia for a very cheap rate, 24 hours a day. Since Norwegians are extremely attached to the wilderness, most of this transportation will take you outside of city centers, as well; and there's almost never a day I get on a bus without seeing people on their way to the ski slopes.

The Fortress from the northeast side.

Although I've been walking more than riding the bus (for fitness and to look good for Meghan when she gets in), I have many choices in how I want to get somewhere. The busses are always on time and during peak hours you won't wait longer than 5 min. to catch a ride.

Tonight, I'm headed down to Grünnerløkka to meet up with some expats. I'll try to take more photos, when I get the chance and give you guys a better idea of the cultural details. I'm still learning myself, you know.

My kind of art in Aker Bryyge.

Picture post

Just a quick post of pictures. First, downtown inside Ring 1. Then, per request of Ben, my building and apartment. Will write more in depth tomorrow.