The mornings are mine

I am grateful to my employer for letting me work from Norway this year — it’s a good job, and I really like my colleagues. One big adjustment has been the time difference. Their day starts at 3pm my time and goes until 11. I am not full time under this arrangement, so I work in the late afternoon and after Annalise goes to bed if need be.

While I do have the occasional late night, I love having so much free time during the day. I drop Annalise off at barnehage at 8:30, so that gives me a lot of time to do whatever I want.

So, how do I spend this time?

Shopping

Die-hard readers may remember that there is no Amazon — the horror! — so we have to go to stores, like we’re our parents or something. Grocery stores and pharmacies tend to have less selection than in the US, meaning that we go to specialty stores more often. And of course we have to know which specialty store, which has proved trickier than it sounds. We have internalized, for example, what is the line between “thing found at a hardware store” and “thing found at a home furnishings store,” but it turns out that’s an artificial construction. Last week I went to three different places looking for a thermos Annalise can take on field trips. I also took a 25 minute bus ride to buy six kilograms of protein powder.

This may all sound mundane, but it’s kind of an adventure figuring out where to buy things. The other day I went to a grocery store across town looking for Italian sausage, still didn’t find them, but discovered they have canned pumpkin and KIND Bars. I also find products I didn’t know existed, such as reindeer antler salt.

Another upside of all these errands is that I can browse the ads, and know I’ll never miss a sale on a two-pack of yellow onions.

There are many things we still can’t find despite valiant efforts, so if you come visit us, consider bringing any of the items below:

• Pedialyte
• Lysol spray for shoes
• Disinfectant for laundry
• Size 15 shoes
• Paradontax
• Canned green chiles (or anything to add variety to Norwegian tacos)

Hiking to hytter

Trondheim is situated on a fjord, meaning that there are mountains on three sides of us, all accessible by bus. When it’s snowy, the city maintains 250 kilometers of groomed ski trails that anyone can access for free. The rest of the year, these ski tracks are used for hiking. There are 5-6 mountain cabins, called hytter (singular: hytte), within this trail network that serve coffee and pastries. Sometimes Gavin and I go hiking together. Sometimes I go with a friend. Often I go alone.

The term hytte is more expansive than just a café — it can also refer to a family’s mountain home. Owning a hytte is an important part of Scandinavian culture and an integral part of friluftsliv, which roughly translates as the outdoor lifestyle. To give a sense of scale, there are 440,000 hytter in Norway, or one for every 1.75 families. Many of them are pretty affordable too. Here are a few examples from the Instagram account Cheap Nordic Houses.

Walking the fjord

There is a popular walking trail along the fjord as well. We took Annalise there often when it was warm.

It also has a nice hytte. In addition to coffee and pastries, it sells Norwegian-style open-faced sandwiches with a lot of shrimp.

Taking a sauna

Gavin and I went on a day date to Havet Arena, a popular sauna. A typical sauna is 175-180 degrees Fahrenheit, so when it gets uncomfortably hot, it’s customary to take a plunge in a cold pool, or in our case, the fjord. The cold was exhilarating and made it possible to be in the sauna for a total of about two hours. I really enjoyed it, but despite drinking many glasses of water, was incredibly dehydrated the following day.

Since we’re in our 40s, we’ve opted not to return for DJ Sauna night.

What else should I do?