hei hei from oslo, norway.

We made it!  Today is our fourth day in Oslo and we're already starting to get into the swing of things.  Despite missing you, dear friends and family, we are mostly enjoying life here so far. It's hard not to feel overwhelmed by how little we know about this country, these people and the language, but we are reminding ourselves that it's okay and that we will learn.

We arrived on Tuesday and spent the evening unpacking and settling into our little space in Kringsja student village.  Our apartment has a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living/dining room area.  It's quite spacious for the two of us!  On Wednesday we had to do some business in downtown Oslo, as well as shopping for food and apartment necessities.  We also did some exploring around our apartment building and took a nice run to the lake nearby.  To our delight there were a multitude of people running around the lake, dipping their feet in the lake and even swimming!  We felt swept up in the spirit of Norway, which made us run a bit faster, I believe.  We think in the future we can hike on the trails that start near the lake Sognsvann.  It was both rejuvenating and encouraging to run and to be amoungst other runners and nature lovers. Our building backs up to several soccer fields which we hope to play on.  Thursday was the first day of Fulbright orientation for Josh and I spent the day meandering around downtown Oslo.  That night, we both attended a reception that honored the Fulbright scholars at the Nobel Institute where they hand out the Nobel Peace Prize every year or so. Later, we got to try some delicious Norwegian food (for free!), including brown cheese and good chocolate.  We're getting used to the metro system, which we will use daily and is quite convenient. So that's just a quick overview and here are some pictures of our apartment.  We are still working on making it homey and nice.

from top to bottom: first sight of our apartment living room// view from our living room window// first purchases// Josh's shelf// first dinner in Oslo// our letter wall above our kitchen table

This last photo is something quite special to us.  We have put up many of the letters and notes we have already received from friends and family.  We are so thankful for these letters and for our relationships with each person who has written to us.  If you haven't written to us, you can and your letter will go up on our wall!  Pictures would also be a treat!

Write to us at:

Joshua Cranston and/or Rachel Zahniser

Olav M. Troviks vei nr. 34

H0311

N-0864 Oslo, Norway