Did I dress warm enough? No? Crap :(

NorTHUG LIFE!

There's a Norwegian maxim that goes: "There is no bad weather, only bad clothes"

It's a lie.

By my American, Mid-Atlantic sensibilities, bad weather happens in Norway in every month that doesn't end in July.  I'm not kidding.  There has been either snow, or the threat of snow, in every other month of the year in my two years here.  However, this fact doesn't really deter or affect the Norwegian outlook.  When the weather heads south, they just throw on a boblejakka, a pair of votter and keep it moving.

It is what it is.

(It should be noted, that, as far as proverbs go, Norwegians are pragmatic and don't espouse the most charitable or heart-warming sentiments... For example, here's another proverb: Alder er ikkje å skryte av; ein får den for ingenting... Age is nothing to boast of, you get it for nothing)

I say all of this to say that October is the official end of the plesantries with regards to the meteorological happenings.  August can flirt and even give some "flip flops and shorts" weather, September might even delay packing your summer clothes away, but October... October don't play

Snowmen come to life in October and leave... well, whenever they choose

The above photo is from a week ago.

A friend of mine, a few hours north of Oslo, created the first, snowmen of the season (amongst my friends... further north, they'd been in the snow for two months now).  For perspective, it's already snowed twice in Oslo and is flurrying as I type this.

Please note that I'm not saying that snow is bad weather.  Surely, in December and January, this is the norm.  However, in September and October, this isn't ideal

Anyway, with winter being so 'bout that life here in Norway, it is understandable that some of the biggest stars are the people that make their work in the snow.  

One of those people is Petter Northug.  Not only is he a champion skier, he also is a entrepreneur (he isn't a businessman, he's a business, man!).  His goal is to make sure that we all can live that norTHUG LIFE!

Winter isn't coming... It's already here.

ALT FOR NORGE

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endless waiting and human mario kart

Two things of note:

1)  Oslo is constantly under construction (much in the same way as Baltimore and Washington D.C., yet those two places at least have signs explaining why and when things are "projected" to get better.  In fact, some Maryland signs are a little too forthright).

I bring this up about Oslo because my daily tram ride has been altered due to this being turned into this, yet, strangely, they're leaving this.  Ok, so it doesn't look entirely like they're searching for buried treasure, but  a good two blocks of tram tracks and road have been reduced to rubble.  I'm all about proper, urban maintenance after having lived in the aforementioned Baltimore and Washington D.C. (both having recently had, uhmm, problems with infrastructure in recent years).

Oh well, such is the cost of progress... Not to mention that they're building some really cool things.


2) The best benefit of Oslo's incessant winter has been an opportunity for me to engage in more winter sports. So far, I have been Cross country skiing and walking to the grocery store, uphill, on sidewalks covered entirely with ice.  However, this past weekend, I went toe-to-toe with Korketrekkeren.  Its 2.5 kilometers of downhill terrain covered in snow, ice, and fury that can only be traversed on a metal sled (toboggan, if you will).  Honestly, the only thing that I can compare it to is "a human version of mario kart".  It feels like you're going so fast (clearly, even more so than that video as you won't be holding a camera while doing so).  The whole setting is awesome, too.  Korketrekkeren is on the same mountain they use for ski jump (same as the 1992 Winter Games... in fact, the course wraps around the actual jump).  The metro drops you off right at the starting point and the bottom of the run is at another metro stop so you can just ride back up to the top.  Additionally, there's sled and helmet rental (yes, helmet rental... strongly advised, but not mandatory).  If that doesn't convince you how awesome this thing is, here's my favorite video related to it (which Norwegians insist on calling "sledging").

I'm going back again Saturday!

Rap lyric I'd incorporate into a song if I were a rapper:
You lame and lack, your game for the birds/ You rarely get Ws like Norsk words