BUREAUCRACY! And we thought America had a great deal of red tape. Ha, ha! For the last 3 days I have been running around from this office to that office trying to get my life in order. I had to go to the police station at 7:30 a.m. to get my visa yesterday. There was a 3 hour wait and I forgot to bring an extra passport photo. Therefore, I was one of the lucky individuals who got to pose in front of hundreds of people via the Norwegian speaking foto machine. Humiliating! The best part, I had just rolled out of bed and my curls were all over the place. The picture on my visa will be with me for the next 10 years. Ugh! Nothing better than a bad hair day!

One of the students from my programme, Jason from Ohio, watched the whole thing go down and just laughed. He decided to wait for me, despite my bad hair, and we braved the next bureaucratic journey together...registering for our Norwegian national ID number. Jump on the subway, stop at a few cell phone shops to check prices, grab a water, back on subway and walk around for 20 minutes trying to find the National Registry building. After a 1 hour wait, we turned in the paperwork and were told we would receive the ID number in 6 weeks. Here is the deal, you can't do anything without this number-no bank account, no University ID, no University e-mail and no insurance. Welcome to Norway! In the meantime, I have registered for classes (on-line) that was written in Norwegian, paid my "giro" (bill) for housing that was written in Norwegian and turned in my insurance paperwork that was written in English-yeah!! It may sound like I'm frustrated but I'm not. I knew that was part of the deal coming in. Actually, it is quite fun trying to figure out things in a different language without a dictionary. (I just purchased a dictionary yesterday on Amazon.com.)

Yesterday I also got the student pass for public transportation. Check this out...I got a spankin' deal! For those of us that are over 30, we do not qualify for the student discount, however I somehow managed to pass for under 30. I was with Ali, from Brazil, and she is a ripe 23. We went up to the counter together and the woman didn't even ask for my birthdate. HA! So, instead of paying 700KR=112US, I paid 400KR=64US. That is a monthly fee that I will have to renew and I sure hope that age thing doesn't catch up to me! Jason, the dude from the U.S., is 35 and he went back 3 different times and each time they asked him for his birthdate. Hee, hee!

These photos are just a few beautiful sites to be seen here in Oslo. Enjoy! Most of them are taken off of the "main drag" in Oslo, Karl Johans Gate, which is a 10-block long touristy street that leads to the Royal Palace. It is very close to the Central Train station and there is a great deal of shopping & dining to be had. H&M! There is also a beautiful park as you get closer to the Royal palace (see fountains.)