Productivity & Pie (We've come to Norway, part 3)

Today, Alaina and I parted ways after breakfast (which ends at 10:00 and which we took at 9:55) because we each had some important business to attend to. Alaina went to have intellectual conversations about theology, history, and methodology, while I pounded the pavement, determined to make some connections with Oslo coworking spaces. 

Alaina took lots of notes. See below.

I took lots of notes too, but of a different sort. You see, I visited three coworking spaces with no map and no smart phone. (Whaa?!) What I had to do was look up each place I wanted to see, ask google maps for turn by turn directions, and then write those directions on little pieces of hotel notebook paper. See below.

Yikes. Did I mention that it was cold and rainy? It didn't matter. I had an umbrella and the determination to navigate this foreign city with no grid, streets that change names, and addresses that don't really make sense. And I did.

The first place I stopped was called MESH. It was pretty neat.

They were getting ready for a gigantic event, so a nice young man gave me a tour and then I retired to their coffee shop (yes) for a latte and some work. I ordered my latte and then tried to pay. In Norway, they use these funny little "chip and PIN" machines. I knew they were funny and little, but it wasn't until after I failed to use it properly, causing a line to form behind me, that I learned that none of my cards would be accepted by it because none of them had the "chip" of "chip and PIN."

Once this realization was made, I was embarrassed (she had already made my latte), so I just left the place and headed toward the next space, but not before snapping this photo of the outside of MESH with my phone. Red carpet!

I couldn't find the next place for a long time and thought of just going back to the hotel. Between this and my card being rejected from a second coffee shop, I was feeling very frustrated and in want of coffee. My day had become a bit of a mess.

Finally, I was able to sit outside of a restaurant and steal their guest WiFi. That was a turning point. I emailed my contact at the space and he met me outside. Their space was much more casual. It was a collection of very small companies. Their unique amenities included arcade games AND a chef-woman who's job it was to cook them lunch every day. I was given a tour, many introductions, coffee, and mineral water.

Feeling refreshed and finally caffeinated, I pressed on to my third location, 657 Oslo. Their space used to be an arts school, but they had transformed it into a very cool coworking space for creatives.

After more coffee and some very pleasant conversation with one of the space's employees, I hit the road for the last time, umbrella up, scarf wrapped twice around my neck.

I made it back to the hotel without getting even a little bit lost. This was pleasing because I had already had a whole lot of conversations with Norwegian strangers that included me pointing to my notes and muttering. I also saw about six H&Ms, but I didn't shop at all. That's how focused I was.

A couple of hours later, Alaina and I reunited and then attended a dinner party with about ten hospitable Norwegians, only a couple of whom I had met before. We had a grand old time. (Norwegian parties are much like American dinner parties.) Some of them were more excited about speaking English than others, but we couldn't complain because we don't know Norwegian at all.

This post was written as a part of a blogging game. The players are The Creative Collective and the topic is A Mess. See what the others are saying.