PostdocPartum #1: One month
{525 words, 3 minutes}
Note: I posted the following on facebook a few days ago and am reproducing it here with minor revisions for those not on facebook.
It's been about one month in Norway (and there are 29 more to go). A few short thoughts:
- It's really sparse here. Being in a somewhat distant suburb of Oslo, it feels like the city of Lillestrøm was built for 2 or 3 times as many people as I see in public. Norwegians like their space.
- There aren't any sidewalks on the side streets here but there are nice, wide pathways for pedestrians and cyclists along major roads.
- There are no stop signs, only yield signs. Everyone is always ready to yield, at roundabouts and at crosswalks.
- Almost everything is closed on Sunday. The places that are open are limited by square footage, apparently according to some old law. One ethnic grocery store closes off half of its store on Sundays to comply. If you want something from the prohibited part, you have to ask an employee for help.
- I have seen, on average, at least one roller skier each week. A few days ago, I saw a skiing roller blader, though.
- Expensive alcohol means every party is always BYOB (and guard your stash carefully). However, people do like to share their homebrew and I got to taste some blueberry wine as a result.
- People here are very nice. And they also look very happy. Of the many, many families I've seen being out together, I haven't heard a single crying child or public argument. No one ever looks suspicious or shady; even a loud group of youths walking late at night are just tipsy and being merry. It's such a difference from Atlanta.
- Gender equality is incredible here. At a department meeting, I counted 10 women out of 25 people; that's 40% in a STEM research field. In my research group at GT, there was a time when all 30 members were male; after a year, we had one female join. I don't think the group ever exceeded 3 concurrent women while maintaining a size of 20 to 35 people over my six years there.
- I came at the peak of summer, with clear skies and warm weather. It's rained much more in the past few weeks and already, it's starting to get a little chillier, something like late September or early October in Michigan.
- Some things are universally inescapable; loud music (and other sounds) from the neighbors is one of these things.
- My first month was spent in the IFE guesthouse for short-term and temporary guests. It had the essential furnishings but was still fairly bare bones (I didn't have a microwave and only had an office fridge). I just moved into one of the renovated flats in the guesthouse and it felt like jumping 30 years ahead in technology. Nice furniture from Ikea, a full-sized fold-out sofa bed, an easy chair, a bigger fridge with a freezer, a convection oven, and best of all for nerds like me, a built-in, ceramic top, induction range. Magnets, baby!
