My town Kristiansand

For most of you a place where you call home is where you live.  Well here is a description of my town where I have grown roots as here I live with my fiancée and our son.  I live in Kristiansand the fifth largest town in Norway, with a population of 85,681 persons as of 1 January 2014 located in southern Norway.  I have lived here for more than two years.  Before that I lived in a small village outside of Kristiansand with population of about 200 which was my first location after my immigration from Iceland.The city was named after its founder King Christian IV in 1641. Many nick name "Palmekysten" or palm coast ( of course there are no palms here). Nick name is due to the fact that kristiansand is a vacation location for many locals and good tempreatures in summer ( most of the time). 

  

 

Here in Kristiansand are located some of the larger Oil rig service companies.  I work at National Oilwell Varco as a project manager in vertical pipe handing.  National Oilwell is the largest of the oil service firms here due to the fact that it is American company based here in Kristiansand with 3500 employees here in Norway.    Kristiansand has what most towns have to offer with some more extras such as the country’s largest Zoo and the largest shopping center in Scandinavia (mall). The town is not very densely populated such that most of the inhabitants live in private homes located in two main suburbs.  

 

 

We have a small airport with some few international departures ( quite small actually) and train station down town. There is also a large ferry that sails between Denmark and Kristiansand daily. So transportation is okay antough the airport could have more departures direct to other european cities. Perhaps in the future.  For now we have to use the travel opotunitiese we have here locally with conections from Oslo norway and Amsterdam Holland (most common direct routes from here).  

The town center has some nice cafés restaurants both with traditional Norwegian cuisine and also international type restaurants.  My favorite is actually Indian Mother India www.motherindia.no and the Food Asylum Japanise sushi resturant www.foodasylum.com/. The town center is at its best around Christmas time when the streets are teaming with life of shoppers before Christmas and in the summer when the cruise ships arrive.
   We have some many other towns; cinema, theater, library, a football team ( FK Start) and so on.  Kristiansand and the local area is also called the bible belt by many Norwegians due to many Christian parishes of many types here in the southern part of Norway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kristiansand is a wooded area as most of the southern part of Norway and you do not need to go far to have a picnic with the family.  Think last Sunday I drove 5 minutes with my daughter took with us some firewood and hotdogs sat by a nice local lake in the local woodlands.   For the outdoors person this is heaven as from here you can hike, ski and fish just a few minutes away from my neighborhood.

 

 

 

Normally in summer we stay in the shore line cabin located just 30 minutes from Kristiansand and enjoy the costal life and in winter we take ski trips and hike in the local woods.  I have never been so much out side in nature as here.  Maybe because I like living here and enjoy the opertunities that I get to see and experience the area and place I call home, Kristiansand and Kristiansand municipality area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have not been so active skiing the last year due to infant parenthood, but I think that time will come soon. In fact I had never been cross coutry skiing until I moved here. Altough I come from Iceland skiing is not so popular sport where I come from. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here pepole have it in theyr blood to enjoy what the seasons and nature gives you and I like that.  Kristiansand and Norway is a nice place to work and live.   

November settles in

The autumn has been warm this fall. 12 degrees green grass and no frost. Now that we are closing to the holidays we are preparing ourselves to the cold that we are used to here in Kristiansand in winter.  I remember when I first came to Norway, more snow that I have ever seen In my life and I come from Iceland.   The temperature was minus 15-20 and the snow was here until end of May.  I remember seeing a person on skis on the frozen Mandal River. Now almost five years later it is warmer.  Global warming or not this is not normal either.

I always get a sense that Christmas is near when November begins.  Christmas presents need to be organized and finance around Christmas planned.

Yesterday it was father’s day.  I am so lucky to be the father of a ten year old girl and a six month old boy.  Got a father’s day gift delivered to me when we woke up with some nice things to our little one to enjoy.   I then spent the afternoon with my oldest one ( that lives with his mom) in the woods hiking for few hours.   We stopped at a local lake and made a bonfire and grilled hot dogs over the fire. That I have not done for a while. Warmed my heart and enjoyed the company.  

I wonder why we don’t celebrate thanks giving.  So many reasons why we should be thankful:

• I am thankful for that I have a family. Not all do appreciate their own.  Remember some people have no one.
• I am thankful to be living in Norway and appreciate all the freedoms we have as a society and here in the Nordics we are free to live our lives are we best feel fit.
• I am thankful to have a roof over my head and food on my plate. So many in the world have to eat to survive. I however have never thought of food as survival but as a given right. Roof over my head is not something that all have.  We must remember that. 
• I am thankful that I am a father to two and have a spouse that I appreciate more and more every day.
• I am thankful for my health. Remember to appreciate yourself.  Treat yourself with respect and treat your body as your temple.  You only have one, now take good care of it.
• I am thankful for that we have not experienced war where we live. Today millions experience war every day. Thankfully we don’t. Appreciate that.
• Be thankful for the people that have made a positive difference and or helped you and had a pisitive influence in you life.

 So why are we complaining? Some one does not have all the good things in your life. 

Now surprise your nearest and dearest with an invitation for a good turkey dinner and warm welcome although this is not a local custom in some places.