On the Bottom Half

Let the kroners fly...

Oslo is the most shockingly expensive city I have ever experienced. Kr (that's Norwegian Kroner) 27 for an espresso equates to about $5AUD. Eeek. However, yesterday evening was the first time that I was able to get into the city to try and experience a little of the real Oslo. In a short course I did back in February in Canberra, the one that was extravagantly funded by the EU, I met a fellow who's studying for his PhD in Tromso (northern Norway). As it turns out, he is in town for the Congress and we ran into each other. He took me off the tourist strip and into a couple of back-Oslo pubs, which made for a great night. However, the volume of the music at these pubs necessitated yelling and I woke up this morning with a case of what I'll call beerandnoise-induced laryingitis. There was finally some sun yesterday; it has been cloudy and rainy since arriving. This is not a problem, really, I like the rain.

After the days activities, a companion and I went to the supermarket to grab some Heineken cans, which grow out from the supermarket shelves in the 500 ml variety. Then, to drink them, we went to the brand spankin' new Oslo Opera House, which is made of Italian marble the colour of cosmetically-whitened teeth and Norwegian granite with green mica throughout. In this place, you can literally have a drink ON the house. It's a shame it isn't free. Take a look at left... Unfortunately at this point, the six separate pieces of my sunglasses would have been most useful as a single whole.

Probably the highlight of my morning was due to my acorn bladder, which required a stop at the WC (toilet) in the train station before heading out to the conference venue for the day. I've heard of pay toilets in Europe, but wasn't sure when I would experience them for the first time. It turns out that that time was yesterday and it costs Kr10 to answer nature's call in downtown Oslo.

The major sponsor of the Congress is the recently merged Norwegian state oil company called StatoilHydro (that's Shtat-eel-heedro). I was wandering in the corporate expo space when I stopped at the StatoilHydro booth and started flipping through an interestingly-shaped pamphlet describing the company, employees, reserves, production, and corporate values. One of the booth staff came over and started chatting to me about my history, giving the hard sell about living in Norway, the benefits of working for StatoilHydro, and that with "expertise" (a phrase I've never thought applicable to anything related to me), migration is not a problem. I was basically told to apply for one of their exploration positions by explaining my current situation in their e-mail contact form. He gave me a send off with the whole: "here's my card, if you're interested or have more questions don't hesitate to call or e-mail, and let me know if you need me to get in touch with HR for you."

Couple this with the in-class visit at Monash by Apex Minerals on Thursday 31 July asking the students to come up for a chat in the tea room if they wanted a job, and the employment picture in Earth Sciences regarding resource exploitation is very rosy indeed.

Update two...

posted by Kyle @ 04:15