Mitt nye hjem

Here in Norway, I am living in the Sogn student village, a 15-20 minute walk from campus.  I have a fairly large dorm room to myself, and share a bathroom and kitchen with the other 5 people who share this flat.
Here is our building; love the color!

We are the lowest balcony, and the whole floor is ours.  The room up front is our kitchen, which has been quite a good hangout spot.  None of the six of us seem to be huge party animals, so although orientation week has been party week on campus, there have been people to talk with and relax with at home, which is really nice!

Out that door is a long hallway that I am at the end of, right across from the bathroom.  I won't include a picture of the bathroom, but here's my room!

As you can see, it is starting to get cluttered already.  I do not have much stuff here though, so it should be easy to keep clean!  There is plenty of storage in some cabinets behind the door.
Our area is quite nice- there is a major shopping area around football stadium, which is located at our T-banen (metro) stop, but after that it is mostly quiet residential neighborhoods.  There is also laundry, a post office, and a medium sized grocery store located in the student village.  Having the grocery there is great, although I heard about a much cheaper market a bit further away that I hope to do my bulk shopping at during this semester.
So far we have been doing typical orientation things here.  It has been interesting trying to find my way around a brand new bureaucracy!  Everyone has been very helpful, though, and English speaking to boot!  This turns out to be an especially good thing because I don't think I will be able to take that Norwegian course after all.  It is a short class that requires 75% attendance to take the exam, and my three required excursions for various biology courses mixed with the limited number of Norwegian class lectures puts me right over the limit.  However, I am already starting to learn more and more just by being here.  I think that if I keep at it and put in the effort, I will be able to get around in Norwegian just fine.
Extra bonus picture:
Magpies- one of the many unfamiliar bird species here.  These guys were hanging out just near Sogn!