Hva skjer?

Today, my friends, is the last day of the World Nordic Ski Championships. Sadly, I did not go. I wasn’t quite up to the challenge of navigating the slush with my 5 week old. I have, however, enjoyed the myriad of spectators with backpack and flag in tow. Apparently, you’re no one if you don’t have a backpack with a flag of your respective country peeking out. We need both hands free for ski poles, people! And if you’re really true to the cause, as far as Norway goes, you’ll be wearing your leather breeches with wool socks pulled up and perhaps a Dale sweater to keep you warm. Please see exhibit A below.

Kudos go to Jana Desrochers for snapping this photo somewhere inside the bowels of the T-bane.

Now while I haven’t made it up the mountain, I did manage to see the ice sculptures on display along Karl Johans gate. If you like Munch, you’ll love these frigid reproductions. While wandering the stalls, I spotted a booth that sold churros-naturally I made a beeline for it. Like so many of my culinary experiences here, I was disappointed. But my disappointment was outdone by the fact that about fifteen minutes later, my tongue started to swell while waiting to pick up my child from school. Panicking, I got out to look for an apotek, or pharmacy. Up and down Frognersveien I went, realizing there was probably one at Solli plass. Dodging cars and busses and trams, I ran in there and asked if they had anything comparable to Benadryl. See? Lookie here, tongue swelling, kind of an emergency, please don’t make me take a fecking number. Oh thank you for your prompt attention! Oh you don’t have anything fast acting. What about this Cetirizine stuff? Oh that won’t act quickly enough. Great, so you’re telling me I am going to asphyxiate? My best bet is to go back and find my car and drive to a legevakt or ER? What if I don’t make it in time? How do I even go about google mapping that with my jailbroken iPhone? That blank stare is really helpful in response. Awesome. Perfect. Tusen takk.

Well, I downed the generic Zyrtec thinking it would be better than nothing, and by the time I arrived back at the school I was feeling better, throat had stopped itching, and the panic had abated. In true Norwegian fashion, a simple outing downtown can always turn into, oh-so-much-more.