The Office

Hi peoples...so since it seems to be a trend that i begin posts with comments on the weather in Bergen let me first tell you that we have been blessed with some gorgeous spring weather in the last couple of days. Clear blue skies and beaming sunshine. It has really made J and I smile and we realise just how fabulous it will be here in summer. When it is sunny, everyone just gets out and enjoys it. The town square is packed with people, all the outside seats at pubs are full and the shores of the lakes are surrounded by lazy sunbakers. I even took half a day off work yesterday to hang out in our little sun swept garden with j and the hounds. Really beautiful. But...speaking of work, today I thought I would post some pics from the office so you can all get a sense of where I am spending almost all day everyday. Okay then, let's begin the tour with a photo of the office building from the angle it greets me on from my walk into work each morning. The windows you see in the roof are mine! It may seem strange to be in the attic, but the angle of the windows actually allows me to get sun nearly all day, which is awesome.

Then we have a shot of the entrance to my office. To get to it I walk through the office of the PhD student working on the project with me - the fabulous Kamilla. The notes on butchers paper that you see to the left of the frame are Norwegian phrases for me to learn, things like "I am sorry I don't understand" and "Have fun at..." (or what literally translates as "Have a cosy time at...") etc

The next shots are from within my office. It is hard to give the sense of space shooting from within but you get the idea nonetheless. The ferns on my meeting/creative space table were in the room the first day I arrived, placed there by my totally out there but lovely project manager Roger. Nice welcoming touch I thought.

The next shot is just the view out the window from my desk. The main mountain you see is the biggest in Bergen - Ulrikken...mmm...must climb one day!

This next shot is of the time plan for 2007 that I have been working out over the last couple of days. Note that each colour corresponds to a different part of the research project. I hope you can appreciate how much work will be involved in following this through and how much fun I had playing with coloured pencils for the hour or so it took me to draw this up!

The last photo I have for you today is one taken as I walk from the office to the bus stop. While I always walk into work, some days I am too tired to be bothered walking home and then I take one of the super mega fabulous Bergen buses. I never have to wait more than about 10 minutes for one to swing by and there are so many bus stops along the way, I can usually start walking and just catch one as it passes. The public transport here really puts the rail services in the gong to shame, although there is something far more romantic about a train than a bus. Lucky I have such a romantic view on my way to the bus stop!


Now you have been totally spoiled for photos so hopefully that will get you all through the weekend. I hope they have managed to give you a good sense of where I work - the fabulous Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities at the University of Bergen, Norway. Kisses til next time....