Sommer Panage

So, I own a home now in Oslo 🎉

Interior photos will come later but it's a little 55 square meter, 2 bed (gotta have a guest room for visitors!) in a lovely old block in the Sagene neighborhood. (If you're from SF, think Noe Valley vibes).

I planned to rent for my first 1-2 years here, but when my landlord unexpectedly sold my unit, I decided I was probably wiser to buy a place.

I'm so excited to fully move in soon and settle in!

Something flipped in my brain a while ago that's really helped me. Whenever an interaction feels uncomfortable (note: NOT unsafe), I take it now as a good sign. It means I have something to learn.

I used to avoid these moments, and I still feel that pull sometimes. But over the past few years, I've found that by having them, I become less scared of them. And by being less scared, I'm more open to new experiences and conversations than I ever was before.

I have started referring to Claude as "she." 😈

Just finished my A2 Norwegian class! Feeling pretty good at the basics - I can survive most common everyday situations and understand a surprising amount of Norwegian.

Up next, B1. I'm going to try a different approach and see what I like better. For A2, I did a class. For B1, I'm going to try self study + a weekly tutor and see what I like better. The classes were awesome, but the hardest part for me is speaking and my hope is 1:1 tutoring can help me there.

In love with this training space here in Oslo.

Also really happy with the progress I’m making in this sequence. It includes movements I couldn’t even do a year ago…let alone put into choreo. It’s still far from polished but it felt really good today! #aerialrope #circus

Practicing Norwegian every day with an LLM is hands down my favorite use of the tech. (I'm using Lumo right now.)

I've created different conversations to work on different skills, and no matter what, I have it correct me when I make mistakes. I've noticed big improvements in my Norwegian since I started doing this, and I'm excited to see how far it will take me.

In the end, nothing will beat talking to humans, but this is a game changer for day to day practice and consistency.

Landlord just decided she wants sell the apartment 25 DAYS after final lease was signed!!! 😡😭🫨

Trying to decide if it's time to learn about the tenant protection laws here in Norway and dispute it or just move out and move on. 🇳🇴🏡

The frustrating part is that I don't have enough time to wrangle a home purchase, so I'd bet stuck renting again and I am VERY tired of moving!

On the bright side, getting 3 days off for easter was lovely. 🐣

I'm at that weird phase of learning a language (Norwegian) where I understand a surprisingly large amount (of the Oslo dialect) but I can say VERY little. And when I do talk, I sound like an llm trained on children's books and a single grammar table.

@schwa@mastodon.social OH YES I AM SUBSCRIBING

RE: @_maxobermeier@hachyderm.io

I love Max's take here on owning things...on our relationship to products.

While I'm not a "true" minimalist, more and more, I find myself being very thoughtful before making any purchase, especially of a non-consumable. Max touches on a lovely idea here: that we should consider not just the give, but the take and the balance and maintenance of everything we buy--big and small--and ask ourselves: does this fit?

@schwa@mastodon.social you joke but I was actually wondering "how many friends do I have who want a free trip to oslo...? ... and is that cheaper than movers...again"

@schwa@mastodon.social love it. I grew up on that...which honestly might explain some things.

Hey folks! I'm going to be in Oslo, Norway this winter (nov/dec timeframe) -- do you live there / near there? Would you want to meet up for a coffee? LMK!

@antistasisats@mastodon.social thanks for the video! so a few things that maybe could help:

• try to have chest even with or even just slightly lower than legs
• keep rope in right arm and close to the pole
• I tend to think about really driving with the leg far from the pole in a slight turn out, almost kicking back and around

have you done the role into wrapped back flag or "flag olé" as it's called? that helped me a ton to get started on this one!

I found this video super helpful! https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQWQRt9jEc-/?igsh=MXZsYmlpNXMzcGppeA==

🧵[1/2] After moving to Norway, the dust has settled and I'm finally able to compare my comp and taxes. It's interesting!

• My gross salary dropped ~ 42% in Norway.
• My rent dropped about 7% BUT my place in Oslo is larger and nicer than my place in the Bay Area. On avg rents here are about 40% cheaper than San Jose.
• My effective income tax rate in the USA was about 35%. Norway: about 43%. **However there's also wealth tax here which will shave about 1% off my global net worth each year.