In other words: pure decadence with a tiny bit of working / organizing on the side. Ok ok, I might be exaggerating a bit, but not much :D

After all the changes that have been happening at Bleed, the bureau rented a suite at the Oslo design hotel Grims Grenka last Wednesday in order to figure out where we will be heading in the future. So we discussed core values and restructuring steps etc. for about six hours – with some pretty good results I'd say – before heading down to the restaurant for some (a lot of) drinks and some very good Japanese food, served by beautiful Swedish waitresses. After that some more drinks – tequila en masse on the house, I don't even wanna know how much the agency had already payed up until then – and funny conversations. Finally a short chill out session back at the suite before heading home around 12/1 – after all, everyone had to work the next day ;) Summed up: even though I felt completely out of place due to the upper class clientèle and very posh ambiance, it was a very fun and interesting experience.

And oh yeah: Bleed rules.

There, finally managed to take some pictures of the place where I'll be working the next six months. Just noticing myself right now: it's very white. Still a nice working environment, especially cause the people – 5 guys, 4 girls, 8 Norwegians, 1 Austrian – are so cool and laid back.

After my first visit at the place I was kinda thrown off – let's just say, there have been a lot of 'changes' in the studio over the past couple of weeks. Just for the instant of one second I even thought about trying to find another place. After some long talks though, I was convinced to stay and now I'm very happy about the way things went. Because of some staff shortage – Bleed is currently hiring and starting this Wednesday we'll be two interns :D – I've already been assigned to three projects, two of which are very free and a lot of fun. The pressure's quite high but I've already gotten some positive feedback on my work, so it's aaaall gooood.

In another news: I've been to my first exhibition here, called Høstutstillingen, at the close by Kunstnernes Hus. Wild mixture of very different and very fresh stuff from young Norwegian artists – as I was told, it's one of the few good events of that sort in Oslo. And oh yeah, after some 'incidents', my landlord threatened to kick the whole flatshare out of the apartment. Damn.

Below from left to right: work space, conference room, chillout room, lunch room, Bleed's own design shop, fixies!

Discovered the city five hours on foot yesterday. Very hilly, easy to lose orientation, lots of beautiful, well-dressed people (surprise, surprise...) and the occasional tourist here and there – the latter to be distinguished by his lack of style. Also saw a lot of modern architecture, high office buildings and big plazas opposite narrow streets, tiny cottages and cozy parks/gardens. All together a pretty wild mixture. Things I also learned: taking the ferry is quicker than taking a bus, the tourist info isn't where it's supposed to be and you can't buy alcohol in any store after 8 o'clock, on Saturdays already after 6. Wow, that's a tough one...

Yesterday was also my first night out in Oslo. Actually planned to go out to one of the big local clubs where one of my co-workers was DJing that night, but plans change. Entry fee would've been 20€ – yupp, Oslo nightlife is fucking expensive. Anyways, three of my flatmates – Anders, Øystein and Einar – convinced me to join them and so, with a couple of other friends we went to a park, right next to where I live, to see a free open air festival called Kongene På Haugen. Nice location, chilled atmosphere, decent music and lots of alcohol made for a pretty good first night out. Later on we went to a birthday party at a bar/club where the local hip-hop scene usually gathers. Cho, you would've loved it ;)



View from the harbor out onto Oslofjorden.

There it is, my new home for the next six months. Not as decadent as my last two residents, a little messy but very cozy :) I'm sharing the place with six other guys and girls from Norway and Sweden, so far I've only really met three of them though – electrician, media & communications student and a musician studying to become a teacher - all three laid back, nice guys. One more is on vacation and the two girls working as barkeeps I've only seen very briefly. The landlord seems to be quite strict but I think we'll manage.

At the agency I'm off to sort of a bumpy start but things have started to look a bit brighter today. More about that at some other point. For now enjoy these beautifully handcrafted photographs taken with a 16th century pinhole camera and developed onto chipmunk skin...



Hallway, 2x living room, kitchen, 2x my (so far very empty) room.

As of yesterday, 18.30 Standard Europe Time I'm officially on Norwegian ground. More soon...