First world problems

This is a first-world-problems post. We are of course thrilled to be here and being here is much better than not being here. However, there are a few things that we are missing, like:

-Abbey. When we first skyped with my dad, she heard our voices and rammed her head into the computer. SO sweet and so sad! Whenever I think of her my eyes well up.  She seems to have settled into her new home and looks pretty content:

-A dishwasher. Certainly many people do not have dishwashers and my family did not have a dishwasher for many years growing up (probably why I absolutely hate hand-washing dishes). Dan has taken over this role while living here. Obviously.

-A dryer. I cannot believe that our apartment does not have a dryer. You would think this would be a standard thing in a place that gets so much rain. It isn't like people can dry their clothes outside on the clothes line. We have come up with a rack-heater system. We only wash enough clothes that can fit on our drying rack and then we leave them overnight by a heater. This makes for some stiff clothes, but otherwise works well.

-Blankets for lounging. This is mostly for me - I like to cozy up with a blanket on the couch, especially when it's raining. Of course we could just go out and buy one, but we're cheap and wouldn't be able to bring it back home with us, so it isn't really worth spending a small fortune on one here.

-American food or really anything besides Norwegian food. This has been a problem. We just can't seem to find anything that we love. We've tried a bunch of different things, but nothing that would become something we would make regularly. What I wouldn't give for a quality hamburger...

-Pandora. I always listen to Pandora while I'm doing data analysis, but it is not available outside the U.S. and Norwegian radio stations are just not the same. I'm blaming this if anyone accuses me of lack of productivity.

-Friends and family. We're getting a little lonely. I figured I would make some friends in my department, but it turns out that almost everyone takes off the month of July, so I've hardly seen anyone in the building let alone potential BFFs. We also thought we would be able to make some friends in the Norwegian class that is offered by our church, but it turns out that class is not offered during the summer. However, we did make friends with a beautiful black cat yesterday while we were snacking outside. I secretly hoped she would follow us home, but she seemed satisfied after we smothered her with affection. Make friends with the neighborhood cat: check.

The next 3 weeks will be spent in Bergen working hard and then we will begin our 3-week trip across Europe (one of those weeks will be a work conference in Germany). We can't wait!

I can't believe the summer is almost over!