Village Life

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Lillesand is a very cute little village on the southern coast of Norway. The water is only about 3 blocks from Jeanette's flat and you can see it if you look just around the corner of the buildings. Southern Norway is dotted with islands anywhere you can see. I have heard recently that it is known as one of the best places in the world to sail. It's times like these that I would love to have a sailboat of my own or my kayak to explore with. Last night we went on a charter from Lillesand to Kristiansand and I looked at the homes on the water with envy. There were tons of nooks and crannies where kayaks could explore in relatively calm water; only the tide being much of an influence. These homes were amazing, they sat or perched on whatever rock they could find as close to the water as possible. Most of them did not even have roads or paths leading back up to some road. They had boat docks, where I assume, they would take their skiff to the nearest landing where their car was likely parked. We wandered in and out of these random islands, sometimes coming uncomfortably close to some rather large rocks closing in on both sides of the boat. I'm guessing since the entire area was carved by glaciers, that it must have been deeper than it looked between the rocks.

Lillesand has been fun to explore. There are tons of little shops, all within short walking distance from Jeanette's flat. The first couple days, I am annoyed to admit, I was rather intimidated and didn't want to do much exploring inside the shops. I walked around the town, scouting out where everything was, listening to people chat in what I assume was mostly Norwegian, though, I must admit, I've met far more Germans and Danish people, then Norwegians since I've been here. After the first day, while Jeanette was at work, I finally plucked up my courage, and ventured into my first store. I had had problems with my computer cord not working properly with the plug adapter, so I wanted to find another cord and get connected as soon as possible. I walked boldly into a shop that said something about electronics (it was the only word I could guess), and asked if they had any transformers or a power cord for my computer. I received a very short, terse “No” to each question. I felt a little dejected and wasn't entirely sure if he was terse because he didn't understand me, or because he didn't like me being in his shop. So, I wandered around a little more and then went back to the flat. The next day, I went looking for the library. I knew they would have computers with Internet, so I went in search for the library. Probably my favorite thing about it, other than the amazing view of the harbor, is what it's called in Norwegian: Biblioteka. I eventually discovered that I could bring my laptop with me to the library and get free wireless, so in the afternoons, this is how I usually started out my day.

Another day, I had the opportunity to follow Jeanette to her work, where she works as an engineer for a construction company. I was able to go to the tunnels that they are building with one of their geologists. She was a very nice German lady and she dressed me up in some rubber boots, overalls and a hard hat and took me into the tunnels. They are carved right out of the rock, sometimes reinforced with shockcrete, and I was able to see the face of the rock that they had carved into. She explained to me some of the tests they do to check the rock type and stability and some issues they had with the sulfuric rocks in the area. It was really interesting and seemed very similar in some ways to techniques I've learned in some of my geology classes. I still can't get over how fascinating the rocks are here. I'll post a couple pictures for those who aren't terribly board by rocks.

I haven't really bought much since I've been here. As expected, prices are borderline obscene and on my meager salary, there is no point in spending all my money. Anyway, I took more satisfaction in the fresh fruit and vegetables available at the markets, including raspberries which I haven't had in who knows how long. Surprisingly, they were cheaper at the market here then they are in Alaska. The money system here is based on the Norwegian Krone (Crown) which is about 5.7 to our $1.00. I think it's quite a bit nicer looking than ours too. But then, I believe most money is.

Most nights, Jeanette comes home around 6:00 or 7:00 and we eat in. Our meals consist of mostly fresh vegetables, which is fantastic, but occasionally we would have some of her friends from work over for drinks or even one night, we went out to a restaurant in Lillesand with a bunch of people and had a great meal. It was actually pretty reasonably priced too. Jeanette and I ate for only $50 for the both of us (very cheap here) and I had a burger that was so huge, I had to eat it with a fork and knife!

It's been quite pleasant hanging out in Lillesand. I've even made a friend with one of her friends as well, a very nice girl from Germany. I'm hoping maybe the two of them can visit me in Iceland sometime. Jeanette and her boyfriend Ola are also in the middle of a move to Kristiansand and so some nights we have spent there. It's a much larger city, with not much of the village feel, but quite beautiful and there are tons of things to do there. Tomorrow I plan on exploring the trails that lead into the woods just down the street.