"Norwegians have a wall. Once you get past it, they are some of the nicest people on Earth."

I think this has to be the best advice anyone has given me about Norwegians. After hearing this I can definitely see it, and it makes it so much easier to deal with things. With some people it is so easy to feel shunned (for lack of a better word) by them. For example, sitting 2 feet away from someone without any sort of acknowledgment of my existence. So for the first while here it's been pretty easy for me to feel like I'm the size of a pea. However, the past couple days I have really been trying to see things from the "wall" perspective, and it has really helped! It's not that I was offended per se before because I totally understand the situation, and I don't expect people to speak English all of the time, but body language can be pretty intimidating sometimes. I'm not sure if I am explaining this the right way, but now that I know that it's a wall and nothing personal, I can control what I do to change things. I like it because I am forced to be outgoing and out of my comfort zone in order to get past the "wall" that people put up. So, it's a win-win situation. I am starting to meet some truly amazing, nice, genuine people after I get past the "wall" and in return I am able to break down the "wall" that I have built for myself. It's a fun social experiment.

I think I'm doing ok with adjusting here. Things are completely different. There are some things that I really really miss (like good cleaning products, including dish soap that actually works, and carpet) but because I am surrounded by wonderful family and friends, it is starting to feel like home. I miss my family that lives in the States a lot. I think one thing that is making it ok though is that Glenn's side of the family is a lot like my family, so in a way it still feels like they are here. Not in a weird Twilight Zone way either. Well, enough with the philosophy. Time to post some pictures of Nico, which is what most of you want to see anyways. (See next post)