The 17th day without sunlight

Hello world,

The perpetually grey sky is already darkening. Nightfall comes to Oslo quickly these days. A few weeks ago, at the start of November, as the first light snowflakes fell, a PhD student nodded at the window and told me, with the stoic acceptance only long-term Scandinavian residents (and natives) manage, that November is the worst month in Oslo.

Now I understand why.

November is not cold, or no colder than one expects of a city at the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska. Nor does Oslo have the true Scandinavian mind-numbing,spirit-crushing darkness one finds above the Arctic circle, where the sun has set and will not rise again until February Instead, November in Oslo is grey. The sun rises and sets behind a wall of clouds. Sometimes there is rain, and sometimes there is snow, but there is never sunlight. At times, the sun threatens an appearance; the clouds part and reveal a hint of the pure, blue sky that somewhere, someone else is seeing. We find ourselves cheering on the wind - come on, north breeze, you can shift that cloud! - but to no avail. Grey days fade to twilight, to dark Scandinavian nights, and the cycle repeats.

Furthermore, the clouds actually feed on the energy and willpower of Oslo's residents. The city is in some sort of autumn coma. The Norwegians, I am told, are waiting for real snow and December (whichever comes first), when everyone can start looking forward to Christmas and skiing weekends in the mountains. I'm looking forward to it too. Really, I'm looking forward to anything to break the monotony of so many shades of grey.

But now, I am off, to purchase baby oranges, coffee, and possibly sample a 7-11 doughnut. On a completely unrelated note, 7-11 has mastered the art of being an extremely suspect institution regardless of location. Even in Norway, one of the safest, cleanest, most naive countries in the world, 7-11 cloaks itself in an air of seedy disrepair. It's truly bizarre. Equally bizarre is TGIFriday's transformation of itself into a trendy spot where Oslo's businessmen and other cool kids go to dine, see, and be seen. Why 7-11 hasn't managed the same transformation, I cannot say.

Peace