So what do I do with my time?

Despite how it might appear on this blog, the vast majority of our time is fairly mundane. In fact, there is really no way we could physically maintain all the travels we write about here 24 hours a day. Even if we could, I don’t know that I’d want to. I really like having downtime. There was a point this summer when Gavin was secretly musing about when I’d “top up” on sleep. We were going to bed around 10pm every night, but Gavin was getting up to go to work, and I would keep sleeping until 9am or so. I was seemingly insatiable.

At first it was glorious! A typical day consisted of reading, writing in my journal, going for a long run, and eating. I kept this up for about a month. Then, I woke up one morning in late July little bit disgusted with myself. I was no longer wearing anything but sweats and gym clothes. I had become kind of slovenly. It was time for some structure.

So, I’m now in a good routine, and today I am going to give you the running commentary on an average day, Thursday, October 19, 2017.

6:51am. Wake up. Lie in bed until 7:28. Get up, drink some coffee, putter around. Gavin has been up probably since 6 playing a computer game.

8:36am. Walk four minutes to the NTNU student gym. Gavin is already there, having left home about 15 minutes earlier. (I am the slow one in the mornings.) The gym is adequate; it has a lot of equipment, but nothing particularly new. Most mornings it is almost completely full with students, but on this day it is rather empty. I choose my favorite of the four stationary bikes, which today is not occupied. When I’m done I will sit in the sauna before showering. I usually shower at the gym rather than at home because the gym has a superior hair dryer. I put on jeans to trick strangers into thinking I’m a real person for the four-minute walk home; as soon as I’m back, I change back into sweatpants.

The best of the four stationary bikes.

10:21am. Do some work for one of my two US-based freelance gigs. I can’t overstate how much I enjoy having several hours of quiet time to myself every day. It is so amazing, especially after having spent several years commuting and responding to 200+ emails a day.

2:04pm. Call my mom; it’s just after 8am for her. We are taking an online class together, so we talk about that. Given the six-hour time difference, I find it’s much easier to catch up with family and friends during their morning or lunchtime, since I’m usually asleep by the time the east coast workday ends.

2:37pm. Put back on the jeans and take a walk. Return some library books. Some afternoons I might work from the library or the mall (it has a nice lounge and free wifi), but today I’ve done enough. Go to the grocery store. We will make pasta for dinner tonight, and on a whim I purchase “Fersk Grønnsaks Pasta,” made with 40% peas and broccoli. Gavin will be suspicious of this purchase as he is usually on high alert for any attempts to add more vegetables to his diet.

4:45pm. Gavin gets home, and we start making dinner. He is indeed skeptical of the vegetable pasta, but later dubs it “fine.” I tell Gavin about some research I’ve done into a very affordable weekend trip we can take from Trondheim. Upsides include cost and convenience – we can take a direct flight – and it looks like a pretty place. The downside is that it’s to a place we’ve never heard of (Gdańsk, Poland). Gavin decides the trip is a winner when he discovers a hotel package that includes a cooked goose. (From the website: “This year our goose won the award The Amber Laurel of Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship – Pomeranian Flavours, during Pomeranian Regional Product Day.”) To me, a goose is not the selling point of any vacation, but perhaps I owe it to Gavin in exchange for the vegetable pasta.

Gdańsk.

6:00pm. Have a quick call with my supervisor for one of my freelance gigs. Gavin edits the photos from our trip to Ireland.

7:15pm. Pack up to leave for my weekly running group, which runs a 10k loop through the mountains on the west side of Trondheim. Today I am wearing as many clothes as I would wear to run in the dead of winter in Annapolis, and am just barely warm enough. It is the NTNU computer science running group, and it is hands down the most fit group of computer scientists I have ever encountered. I am always in the slowest 25%. The Norwegians teach me the word knekk (I don’t know how to spell it), which means a short hill, interval, or obstacle that you might encounter while running. Then we discuss the differences in the English words hump, bump, and dump.

Computer scientists and computer scientist enthusiasts.

9:40pm. One of the runners drops me off back at our house. I take a quick shower and call a friend in the US to catch up.

10:45pm. Go to sleep. Because we live in Europe, we each sleep under a separate duvet rather than having a joint top sheet and blanket. I like mine but Gavin’s isn’t quite long enough for him.

Other regular occurring activities: On Tuesdays I go to a Norwegian conversation group, and Wednesdays I hang out with our Canadian neighbor and her two-year-old. On Saturdays if we’re not traveling Gavin and I might go roller skiing or hiking. On Sundays I usually go to the Trondheim Frikirke. We have also joined a curling league that will be starting soon.

So, it’s pretty relaxed. I guess I’m still mostly wearing sweats and gym clothes, but I’ve fully embraced it. Life is good!