The very first post

Hello everyone! It has taken us a while, but we've finally managed to get this blog up an running. Our first three weeks in Norway have been really busy, and it appears the next few weeks will be much of the same. It was wonderful coming back and seeing my parents and the rest of the family, they're all very much enjoying having us (Isabelle) around once again. My parents are going on a holiday next week (actually, my father is fleeing the country to avoid celebrating his 50th birthday which is coming up February 12), and my mum is a bit worried about what it will be like not seeing Isabelle for a whole week!

Isabelle is settling well in child care; she's starting to understand that we're not leaving her for good everytime we drop her off, and is even getting used to the cold weather. She's found herself a new best friend in another 2-year old girl called Maria, and it's getting hard to seperate them at the end of the day. The photo on the left is from the playground at barnehagen - Isabelle just loves playing outside in the snow. The child care centre actually updates their web-page on a daily basis, putting up a brief report of what's been happening and some photos taken throughout the day. So there will be lots of photos of Isabelle coming up on that site, you can find the link on the right hand side, check out "dagen i dag" (the day today) and "dagen i går" (the day yesterday) to get the latest news.

James and I are both pretty busy trying to work out the basics of our theses. They're not due untill the 20th of June, but we're both already feeling the pressure of finishing on time. In addition to his normal workload, poor James has started chipping into the hundreds of hours of Norwegian culture and language classes he'll need to eventually get a permanent residence. Over the next 5 weeks he'll be attending culture and society classes for 2 hours every day, and he'll also be doing three hours of language classes twice a week. Obviously learning the language will put him in a better position for the coming job hunt, but it still puts a lot of strain on his time - but he's a very smart boy so I'm sure he'll manage somehow!

Last week we got some good news as I got offered a graduate position with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Oslo. I've decided to accept the job, and I signed and sent off the contract yesterday. So come August I will start working in Assurance 1 at PwC Oslo. I'll tell you a bit more about the job itself and my impression of the company in a later post, but it is important to mention that they do offer exchange possibilities to branches in other countries (including for instance PwC Melbourne). Also, their offices are located so they can be accessed from the platform at Oslo Sentralstasjon (central station), which means commuting to work will be pretty sweet!

Today my mother and I took Isabelle and my cousin Nora (4 in March) swimming at one of the nearby indoor pools. The girls had lots of fun, and they're both so confident in the water. The two of them have been spending a fair bit of time together since we got back. Every week we go to the neighbourhood church for a music/singing group, and we also normally catch up on the weekends. It's wonderful how they enjoy each other's company so much. Here's a photo from the pool earlier today:


In a couple of days Jackson (James' best man from the wedding) will be visiting, and we're really looking forward to seeing him again! We're also pretty excited hearing that Pa Gaz will be joining us in the Northern hemisphere come April. I'm sure there will be plenty more to tell you over the next few weeks, but even if not stay tuned because we'll definitely put up some more photos of the baby! Lots of love from the three of us.