Wednesday, October 21, 2009

To Norway? Or Not?



A little over a week ago Woodley got the news that he has been accepted to a PhD program in Oslo, Norway to study computational linguistics (helping computers better understand and process human language). Needless to say, this has created quite the stir in our house.

He applied for the program earlier in the summer so we knew an answer would be coming at some point. All summer we've been saying things like, "well, we'll decide what we're going to do next year once we find out if Woodley got accepted to graduate school" or "maybe we'll be in Norway next year." Now that the answer has come our tune has shifted a bit but, since Woodley hasn't yet decided whether or not he should accept, I spend my days wondering, "will we actually be moving to Norway in a few months???"




Woodley has now visited Norway twice. Once to do some research with the professor who would be his advisor (about 4 years ago) and with me on our honeymoon (which is where these pictures come from).




On our honeymoon we spent a few days in Oslo and visited the university (since even back then Woodley was considering going to graduate school there) and then took the Norway in a Nutshell Tour. Our visit to Norway was my favorite part of the honeymoon trip, but then it was summer, and we were on our honeymoon. :) I imagine it would be quite a different thing to move there for 3 to 4 years. Since Oslo is roughly at the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska, we know that it will likely be quite dark and cold in the winter.



But it does sound like such an amazing adventure! And I think if the decision were just up to me I would say yes right away, perhaps without thinking it over as much as I should. Woodley is much more careful about big decisions like this though. I am anxiously awaiting his decision!



Who knows, this time next year I might just be figuring out how to be a classic housewife in Norway!


Here I am with a four leaf clover that I found on a hike while we were staying at a lovely hotel at the edge of one of the Norwegian Fjords. It must be a sign right? Good luck for us in Norway?


I just love the Norwegian countryside! (some of my ancestors came to America from Norway so I think it would be tons of fun to get to experience Northern Europe a bit)

Oh! It's time to go on a walk with my lovely husband. I'll have to post more pictures and musings about Norway later... I'll keep you updated!

~ElizabethRose~

1 comment:

  1. Oh! That would be so exciting. I'd love to see Norway. If you go, it will be interesting to read about learning to be a housewife in Norway.

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