Unhealthy snack foods of Scandanavia

Hey there. Since I have basically abandoned my blogging post for a few months, I decided that I wasn't going to bore you with a rehash of all of my summer experiences, but rather share with you some of the glorious and mostly unhealthy snacks I enjoy here.

(My summer has been great. It has been mostly rainy, unfortunately, but long long days and wonderful company.)

Ok, back to the snacks.

1. Mills kaviar. Norwegian. Designed to be eaten on bread with maybe some mayo, maybe some cucumbers, and maybe sliced hard boiled egg. Just shut up if you think this is gross - it is absolutely delicious and I will hear none of your naysaying.



2. Hobby candy bar. Norwegian. I have only eaten this once, not because I don't like it. But it is indeed strange AND good. Chocolate, some crunchy toffee bits and some additional crispiness, and a banana geleé. It is confused about itself, but is tasty and has a nice-looking label.



3. Biskvi. Swedish. Just about the most delicious cookie item. Some sort of very delicious, crispy shortbread with a chocolate mousse lump on top, all covered in dark chocolate ganache. No way to lose here. I couldn't believe how good this particular item was when I tried it.



4. Punsjrolle (sp?). Punch. Roll. Norwegian/Swedish/Danish/German/etc. This is a small roll of marzipan with a punchy-rum flavored marzipan wrapping (green) dipped in dark chocolate on either end. A serious candy for people that don't fuck around with their sugar. Guess that means me. Sort of Christmassy, but nice for any occasion.



5. Borek. Ok, technically, this is a Turkish food, but these are at coffeeshops and convenience stores galore. Like a greek spinach pie with respect to the filling, but more spinach-y, and less greasy, because the outer part is bread instead of phyllo. Here they look like a big, flat cinnamon roll but instead are savory spirals of non-cinnamony filling.




Well, hope you have enjoyed this brief update. It has reminded me to eat more vegetables before they are all imported from Spain. Take care, and until next time - I leave you with this gratuitous beachy picture of drinking from coconuts.

Summer in Oslo

The above picture is actually from Bergen, in the Spring. I hope it fooled you! No! It is NOT cold and misty here at all!

It's been awhile, and it's summer here. In between the last time I wrote and now, my friend Jane came to visit, and we had loads of fun.






Then I went to a conference and got the flu, but still had loads of science fun and got to see my friend Sara!



Then I went to Baltimore and had hay fever and more fun! Got to see my wonderful family and friends also. Reminder: Oslo is not actually located in the past/in a fairyland/near the North pole/in Viking Times, contrary to popular belief. It is a modern capital city, and most major airlines offer daily flights. Just to remind you.




The days are so long that I repent for always wishing for those extra 6 hours of daylight with which I could do innumerable things. I fall asleep when the sky is a dull blue, and I wake up to bright sunshine, and a confused cat, who has been waiting for food since 3:40 am.

It is calm and beautiful here. It is difficult to recognize the Winter city I got used to, so I will stop trying and just enjoy the way things are now, I guess. I have been going to the park with friends and alone, and each time is like attending some sort of outdoor festival, where the main festive event is grilling and playing football/frisbee/bocce/laying there/eating. So, like a basic day in the park. Except the people density is like we're all laying on the ground at Jazzfest in front of the Acura stage. Oslo is not playing around with its enjoyment of summer and vitamin D stores - bring a blanket and edge your way onto the sunny lawn.



I like how people are just full-out sleeping mostly naked in the park, shoes and possessions strewn around them carelessly...by people, I mean myself, of course. It is a nice time. Work is busy but good - the fjord is looking pretty sparkly (see picture above), so I walk that way from the bus to work.

Victor is fur-cleaning full time these days.

Easter weekend

It's Easter weekend in Oslo. Like any holiday weekend in Norway, it extends forwards and backwards from the actual holiday several days - so Wednesday was a work holiday, and Thursday, Friday, and Monday are national holidays. I have walked around, taking pictures at Vigelandsparken, some of which are posted here. Oslo has been completely deserted. Everyone fled the city to go to their cabins, or maybe Palma de Mallorca, or somewhere else where they can enjoy their hard boiled eggs and too much chocolate in peace.




Or so I thought! Today, Saturday, was the one glimmer of hope for me in the middle of this thick mass of holidays, as the GROCERY STORE was open today. So I went. And there were people everywhere. My corner was full of people: old people smoking cigarettes, young people giggling, children blowing bubbles, bums randomly talking to me, etc. It was more people that I have seen in a week, on my doorstep.

I didn't ask anyone where they'd been, since I don't know them, but I wondered anyway.






Everywhere I went, it was sunny and full of people and their children. There were multiple saxophone players, one 12-year-old boy carefully playing his electric guitar, and an accordion player. Glad to see the art of busking was simply shut down by the weather and not absent from the Oslo Experience. I walked down by the water, and after a while, I had to leave, because there were too many damned seagulls. Some people erroneously believe that seagulls are charming - that is untrue. They are simply less honest pigeons. The ones here are a little better looking, with nice grey markings, but are equally skilled at dive bombing people and, of course, are still an efficient source of birdshit.




Besides my grocery store, I found a big Asian foods market on the other side of downtown that was open, right next to a Halal butcher. So, naturally, I purchased a couple of red peppers, some coconut milk, Sriracha, and half a kilo of beef liver. That's right.



Sometimes, especially right now, I don't understand why I buy the things I buy. I suppose, in this particular instance, the liver just looked right: shiny, plump, reddish - just unbelievably meaty. I do like liver - this is just quite a bit of liver. This is one instance in which Victor will be of great help.

It is a little after 8pm, and a nice, pale golden light is filling the street outside. This will be delightful for several weeks, I think, and after that, I will have to think about getting some blinds so I can sleep. And after that, buying a UV lamp for next winter. No need to think about it now, though: Spring is more beautiful here because it takes so long to come.

Blog failure

It has been a solid month since my last missive, dear readers, if indeed you are still reading. For this, I apologize.

I could claim many convenient excuses, such as: "I was sledding!" or "I was at a conference and then ate too much and fell asleep for a while!" or "I felt like I had to provide you with some real content, and since I am just living a regular life I didn't write because I didn't want you to feel cheated!"

All those are true, of course.

But here I am, again, still, in Oslo. The sledding was absolutely great. The Korketrekkeren is a bobsled run that was built for the 1952 (? I think) Olympics, and is now a snow-park extravaganza. The idea: rent a sled at the top, or bring your own. Ride down the ~3km twisty hill and fall off and bruise your ass and giggle insanely the whole time. Stand up, grab your sled, and hop on the metro, because that's where the end of the hill lands you. Wait for the metro to take you back to the top. Repeat this until it gets dark or you really need some hot chocolate, or whiskey, or both. I am going every weekend until there is no more snow, which might be June, who knows.

I went to a conference which an assortment of friends also attended - it was a good one. Because it was near Pisa, we then went to Carnevale in Venice. Venice is so beautiful I really don't even want to talk about it, really. So there's a picture up there at the top of myself and a few other people looking pretty pleased with ourselves about the whole thing.

Other that than, just plain livin' here in Oslo - snow and public transportation and science and spaghetti and pool playin and bike riding and a cat and all of the things that make up a nice round life. At least this one. Miss you all and send a note when you get a chance.

EuroLeague

I am watching basketball on Channel 14, SportN. Narrated in Norwegian, courtesy of Viasat. Barcelona is playing Tel Aviv. That's right: Regal FC Barcelona is playing Maccabi Electra and killing - sorry, Israel. Maybe it's because Electra was fraudulently admitted the the Euroleague, being from a place that is not actually in Europe and all. Anyway, it really doesn't matter that I don't understand a damn thing that's being said, because I mostly never watch sports because I want the announcer to shut the hell up. Or maybe it's because I don't care. But my friend Sam likes to watch lots of sports, and he once threatened to rip off Bob Kostas' head if he ever saw him in person.

Hmm - well things are nice and snowy here.

From Oslo and I

It is not as cold as Milwaukee, not even close. And heating and insulation is good, so I am actually not pissed off and freezing all the time. I bought some boots, as walking around in the snow and ice has caused the soles of several pairs of my shoes to separate from the rest of the shoe. So much for craftsmanship. I need some epoxy. This is how a person fixes shoes; I learned this from my dad (thanks, Papa!).

Victor seems pretty happy and has adopted an almost exclusively nocturnal lifestyle. He sleeps under my covers during the day and conveniently wakes up for me to feed him when I get home from work. Then his whole evening is free for running around and biting things, including the new rug, toes, etc. There are also laying around on furniture and cleaning (fur) duties.

From Oslo and I

From Oslo and I

Today I went to the small lake Sognsvann, at the end of Tbane 3. Was quick to get there and a pleasant medium walk around it (coupla miles). I think it may form part of the reservoir system for Greater Oslo, so I tried not to get any dirt in there. Of course, everything was covered in snow, so you'd probably be able to tell if I messed anything up. Going home on the metro (Tbane), I was in the 10% of humans not wearing skiing clothes and carrying my cross country skis. People seem to get hit all the time with them, not in the train but when everyone gets out and is walking.

I must try this "skiing". Who knew?

Fond readers, if there are any of you, I shall leave you now. I will make a fervent effort to post more often, perhaps regarding details of a strange and seemingly unintelligible ad campaign involving vintage 50's photographs and chicken. Until next time!

Sara's visit, New apartment, and Various Discoveries

Hello! Did I wait too long to write this? Answer: maybe. Now no one is interested in what I am doing. Well, fine: it's been busy here in Oslo, and I am going to tell the anonymous internet anyway.

Sara's visit: My wonderful friend Sara K. just came out to the Oslo for a week. We had some good times. Among them were the couple of times she helped me schlep large, unwieldly suitcases across town to my new, sparkling apartment. More on that later.

It started to snow here. It kept snowing. It snowed again last night. Every time I am not paying attention, there is more snow. I almost fall down all the time. Few other people that are not tottering old people seem to have this problem, but I bet my snow legs will come in.

Anyway, Sara and I wandered around this snowy city. At one point, we noticed that we sitting at a table in bar that had us and also a bunch of Rutger Hauers of various ages and stages of drunkenness. Also, we went to the best park in the world that doesn't sound that great: Frognerparken. Sara made Obama Sunrise cookies for the inauguration and I helped her decorate them - they were cute and tasty, and eaten up rapidly by all of my coworkers (like most humans, residents of Norway will come to any event where you say they will get something ingestible for free). We went to a great restaurant, apparently named after my cat (http://www.restaurantvictor.no/), and then had tapas her last night here. The bar was populated by real imported Spaniards who, of course, were charming in the loud and slightly intrusive way that so becomes that beautiful people.

As I mentioned previously, I have a new apartment on the 4th floor of a building (1940), which came with stuff in it, including plants. It is located proximally to other buildings, transport, people, and 3 different 7-11s, which are prolific here. There is some sort of bronze statue of a lady with a guitar visible from my window, and I can hear street noises enough to make me comfortable but not enough to wake me up in the middle of the night.

I received one request to discuss the food available in grocery stores. Sausages - an incredible variety of sausages. Many look like, but do not taste like, hot dogs. Some are dried and sliced. Also, small containers of mayonaissey salads designed for putting on little baguettes with other stuff, like salmon and hard-boiled eggs. Normal fruits and vegetables that cost a lot more than I am used to. Interesting yogurt and culture milk products. Very yellow, tasty butter and cheese. Granola with dried fruits in it. Fish cakes and dumplings. Also, however, lots of items related to tacos, pizza, and pasta. Lots of hot beverages available for consumption, as could be expected, resulting in a highly caffeinated, alert populace.

It is Friday afternoon: about 4:30pm. Almost everyone is gone, but there a few people holding on writing papers or theses or blogs or playing pool. I am going home now to transport Victor to the new apartment and lay around in piles of stuff I need to put away again and watch snow fall.

This is the first post of what can only be described as a shameless attempt to avoid writing emails to everyone. I love you all, but I would rather nap. So this frees up some time for you to tell me about your life when I talk to you: listening is easier, and I talk plenty. Hurrah!

In any case, I am here in Oslo, Norway, with an excellent, robust feline (Victor). Besides the travel, which irritates him, he does not seem to care where he is as long as there are birds, cat food, pets, and comfortable sleeping surfaces. Replace the cat food with snacks and I'm not so different.

I am currently staying in Lilleaker, a close suburb to Oslo, that is pretty close to Simula, whose offices are at a converted airport, IT Fornebu. For this reason, I feel like I got a job in space. Space is great: there is complimentary coffee and fruit, and a pool table, to be used only from 12-1 and after 4pm. Despite the niceness and closeness to work of my current living situation, I will probably try to move to some sort of expensive hovel in the city center, because I like to be close to stuff and other people. Where I am now would be a great location if I were forcibly isolating myself from humanity in order to write a brilliant first novel, or if I were on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and needed some quiet time. Since neither is true, I think I will move.

I think I'll probably write this every Sunday or if something especially amazing happens, just so you know when to eagerly hunch over your computer, anxiously waiting for my post. Is there anything you are curious about that I can tell you? About my experience in Oslo, I mean - if you are bi-curious, or want to learn to make kimchee, there are probably better people to ask. Anyway, send me an email or post a comment, and I'll get back atcha.