Well, this is my first ever attempt at a weblog. If it's anything like my diary (kept for 1 week at age 13) it'll consist of 5 pages of salacious playground gossip. Then I'll give up because it's too much like hard work. Anyway for now, it's an attempt to keep all my friends and family in the UK and Norway updated as to what is going on in the world of Mr and Mrs Vollset, now we have upacked our spotted hankies and are living in the land of the free.

The first thing I must tell you people, is that the TV is GOD AWFUL...and I really mean that. They have a million channels, none of which is worth watching for more than an hour. Every night I pray to god that John Snow will make a leap across the pond and present a considered informative in-depth news programme-not that I actually take any of it in, but at least you know you're watching quality programming. So far no luck. As anyone who is in a relationship will appreciate, this dearth of decent telly has dire consequences. Einar and I are forced to hold conversations. It's not that we want to you understand. It's just that we have to. Decent (or even crap, but addictive) TV allows you to particpate in what could nominally be described as a collective activity with your loved-one, without actually having to engage with them in any really meaningful way.

So instead of watching TV we avoid talking in other ways. Usually we end up eating something healthy like bread and peanut butter. Or I end up falling asleep. Or Einar opens the laptop and surfs mutely for hours. Initially we solved the lack of TV problem by going out for meals all the time. (As our friends from Newcastle will already know, we are very good at this). This however is not financially viable as a long term option so we have had to re-consider. Tonight Einar may go to the gym after becoming morbidly depressed about his weight this morning. I did tell him he smelled of sausages, which probably didn't help matters. But it was an observation made as I was surfacing after a good nights kip, I wasn't on my guard. Anyway, he's probably at the gym as we speak. This makes me feel guilty of course. As I lean over the keyboard I can feel a roll of fat bunching itself up under my ribcage. That'll be the result of the 3 cookies I ate earlier instead of a rounded lunch with vegetables (and no cookies are not biscuits, they're bigger, chewier and I felt slightly sick after eating 3 at once.) So there you are. My husband is at the gym while I am at home writing a weblog entry and getting fat. My cunning plan to slide into obesity as a couple has been foiled.

In other news, our house is lovely. Very homely, if a little different to what we've been used to in the UK. It's quite a novelty to have a wooden house for me. Of course the viking just thinks it's completely normal. I sometimes worry about termites, or woodworm, but it seems to hold up just fine, even in the foot or so of snow that fell a week ago. It's a 3 bed house (though it feels a lot bigger. ) And as those of you who received an email from me will already know it has a chamber stove which I have just learned has this terrifying broiler thing in it. You turn the gas on, light it, lift this big lid on the stove top and suddenly it's as if the underside of the lid has errupted in flames. I am told this cooks things quickly. Either that or it's a kind of DIY cremation device.

What else...Well, Einar seems to be settling in well at Cornell. The job's going well, he's finding his feet and seems happy. Ithaca itself is a lovely town I think. Downtown is located in a valley with Cayuga Lake at the northern end of it. The city extends up hills on either side of this area. Cornell university and collegetown (where we live at the moment) are at the top of one hill and there are other areas (which I've not seen yet), plus Ithaca college on the other side, or thereabouts.

Cornell university is big by english standards. It's got a lovely art museum and I'm looking forward to seeing the plantations when spring and summer arrive. I've even bought a map with walking trails and information for you to borrow ma and pa (and indeed all our other visitors) which looks like it might be handy. There are also a number of wineries in the region that should be good for a tasting or two.