This will be an entry of somewhat random thoughts that have occured to me over the past few days. Not quite the story you may expect.
Today I discovered that Kongsberg has no coin operated laundry shops. My evening walks have not shown one, and today the hotel confirmed the suspicion. The only suds 'n duds business is one that will do it for ya... only during business hours. So I did some hand laundering in the bathroom sink tonight,just to get me through the weekend.
The Norwegian work day does differ in some ways from the US days. The lunch break is about 30 minutes and the whole team eats together in the cafeteria. Almost half the folks bring their lunch from home, the other half are consumers of the salad, sandwich or hot offering of the cafeteria counter. The team socializes about town happenings, hobbies, and rarely does the discussion involve work. No one eats at their desk. It's a great team-building opportunity that we (US) have lost in many cases to being more time-oriented. Of every moment in Norway, the lunches is when I wish I understood Norwegian language the most. It spells very, very similarly to Danish (so I can more or less read it). However the pronounciation might as well be Greek.
Maintaining the work theme, in addition to some sodas, (plastic) bottled mineral/sparkling water is the only water to be found at important meetings. It might be plain, or flavored with lime, or even papaya-mango. It's all gassed though. While on the topic of water, the tap water is incredibly good here. I love it.
One of the employees have mentioned that within the past five years, Kongsberg was voted the best place to live in all of Norway. From what I've heard, it's slightly more expensive (home ownership) than other towns in Norway. It can handle the extra expense because there are quite a few technical jobs in the town. It accomodates Volvo (Aerospace), Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (large company), the Norwegian mint, and a ski center (yes, I consider skiing technical). The ski center is downhill skiing at the level of the Poconos (Pennsylvania ski hills). It's no Lake Tahoe or Mammoth.
My weekend plans involve the plans suggested by the local coworkers. They were excited to share with me some hiking and lodging suggestions. So, tomorrow will be off to the highest peak in Norway and Sunday to some other pretty hiking region... if I can make it there this time! Both locations are within 1-2 hours, so it should be fine.
Happy trails!
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