As the old Norwegian Proverb goes:

"There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes". I also found it said by Sir Ranulph Fiennes - the guy that was the first to visit both North and South poles, walk across Antarctica, and climb Mt. Everest at 65! But, this isn't about him. You can read more here if you like. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranulph_Fiennes
Anyhow, this is a quote that I first heard here in Oslo, and have heard many times since. The Norwegians live by it and are proud of it. No matter what the weather, they are out and active. People don't generally make plans around the weather, they just continue on - I'm sure there are some exceptions. I've seen people running, biking, street skiing, walking, and just sitting in the rain. I even talked to people that were fishing in the cold rain just for fun. And that was without beer. Wow.

The other day I went hiking up a small mountain in the rain. (It wasn't exactly my idea, but I figured it would be fun). I went up with the same couple I hitched a ride with from Bodø. He is from the Czech Republic, and she is from Oregon. We were just making a "pit stop" before we continued the drive. We were told it was an easy hike, taking about 2 hours up and back. It went from sea level to roughly 2300ft. Piece of cake. Well, little did I know that the Czechs are like mountain goats. As he ran up ahead, I huffed and puffed my way up with his girlfriend. She told me they had gone on a hard hike the other day and that the Norwegians are even faster. No sooner had she said that than we ran into a few Norwegians on the trail. On their way down. One pair was a couple in their 60s, dressed in running gear (spandex type stuff) and they were jogging down. I am really glad we caught them on the way down, since I don't know if my pride would have survived them running past me on the way up! But I digress.

Since I have been here in Norway, it has rained probably 50% of the days. That is not to say that it rained all day, but that it has rained at least once during the day. Usually it is not a pouring, torrential rain, but it is rain nonetheless. There have been a number of days where I was able to walk around in a t-shirt and then at some point, get rained on. I am told I have been rather fortunate with good weather. I must say, that the clouds do make for really beautiful pictures when the sun is peaking through.

 For the past couple of days, I have been in Bergen, which has the moniker of the City of Rain - they even had (no longer) a festival every year to celebrate it! In the US, we have Seattle, but it can't hold a bucket to Bergen. According to the World Meteorilogical Organization,  Bergen has nearly twice the number of "rain days" a year as Seattle -235 vs. 122 respectively - and almost two and a half times MORE annual rainfall a year!

So yes, I have been rained on a number of times, but I am putting best foot (and clothes) forward and doing my best to embody Norwegian spirit. I sometimes find myself chanting under my breath "There is no such thing as bad weather..." as I prepare for the day. It would be so much easier to just curl up inside with a hot cup of cocoa and a warm fire! Or maybe hot tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. I think I'm going soft...