I Come From the Land of the Ice and Snow....

It's about time I write something on here...but the truth is my life has been consumed with schoolwork and hasn't been particularly interesting.  I'll see what I can do.
One new thing is the snow.  I fully anticipated ice and snow when I planned on moving to Norway but I neglected to fully comprehend just how slippery and icy it would be.  Now, on a good day I'm less than graceful so you give me ice and what my California ass thought would be proper footware and you pretty much have a walking disaster.  No that is too kind, I no longer walk....I waddle.  I'm slipping and sliding every which way and what kills me is seeing how well adapted the Norwegians are.  They seem to just glide as they go from place to place while I am bambi on ice.  I felt satisfied when after getting off the train I slipped and almost fell but then heard the person after me do the same.  I thought to myself..."great, I'm not the only one."  Then I heard them speak English and realized that it must be a foreigner thing.  I bet no Norwegians have webbed feet.  They wouldn't survive without the extra stability of toes.  Survival of the fittest.  What amazes me is that not only is the ground that clearly looks icy slippery, but also the ground that looks completely normal.  It so deceptive because you think you are home free and you hit it and just start sliding.  This happened to me on a hill and I feared I would never make it up.  I have come to learn one trick with this.  If it is sparkly, it is slippery as well.  Beware the dreaded sparkly pavement because it is no ordinary pavement...it is a foreigner death trap.  
On the bright side, I have discovered the joy of crunchy snow.  In an attempt to avoid imminent doom, I started walking on the crunchy snow on the sides of paths.  It was here where I discovered the joy of crunching snow with your feet.  I really can't explain it, but there is something so satisfying about hearing and feeling the crunch of snow under your feet.  It's a form of stress release I'm sure.  I'm convinced its the equivalent to how a cat feels when it scratches a scratching post.  Utter relief from any pent up tension.  So much to Maria's dismay, I tromp around like "like a little kid" in the snow.  This seems to be a good solution to the ice problem but there are hidden dangers involved with this as well.  For instance, stomping around on the side of the path while talking to Maria caused me to smack my face into a tree branch that was hanging over the side of the path.  She laughed pretty hard, but it's ok because the same thing happened to her the next day.  Karma. Anyways, I can chalk this up into two lessons: 1) crunchy snow is great  2) beware of trees.