Ski-weekend at Hemsedal

We have had an enormous amount of snow this year. It's been snowing almost daily and the whole city is a winter wonderland. You can see the view of our balcony and our street. In addition, we have gained three hours of daylight since Christmas, which is very good for the soul.



This past weekend we ventured out in to the mountains, to Nesbyen, and spent the weekend skiing at Hemsedal with family and friends. It was fun, active, and celebratory, as I got a really exciting job offer last week. I (Anton) will be working as a Program Advisor (programrådgiver) at Fokus, a Norwegian NGO working to improve the situation of women in the developing world (www.fokuskvinner.no). Needless to say I am very excited and can't wait to get started this week. The job will involve some traveling, to Latin America and Africa! It is a relief to finally be going into a relevant job where I get to use my experience, education and language skills.

Skiing was a blast. The ski center has 40-ish slopes, all of them generously covered in fresh snow. Elray tried carving skiis for the first time and got to like them, and I stuck to snow blades. The cabin we stayed at was very "koselig" (a ubiquitous Norwegian word that translates as cozy).