Having finished my training, today was my first day working independently! Everything went quite smoothly except for one slight misunderstanding in the morning, but it was an honest mistake and luckily it was fixed without any consequences. And you can bet I will never make that same mistake again! I’m very pleased about not getting lost, and happy with the improvements in my Swedish-Norwegian-Danish communication. Did I mention that one of my colleagues is from Denmark and I’m also working on understanding her Danish, in addition to working on Norwegian with everyone else?
Today the cloudy skies cleared into blue skies and sunshine, which gave me some great photo opportunities on my bike ride home. I have to admit, though, that taking pictures of the magnificent landscape was only part of my motivation to get off my bike. My other motivation was to get my butt off that stupid, uncomfortable bicycle saddle!
As of yesterday, I am one of those People Who Ride Bikes To Go Places. My body is in shock from using all the neglected bike-riding muscles. In the past five years, I rode a bike a grand total of one time. I love bicycles, it’s just that in Canada most places are too far for me to ride a bike, and in Gdansk the public transit is so convenient that I haven’t gotten around to buying a bicycle. Here in Norway, I finally get my chance to be one of those Bike People. It takes me about 40 minutes from Kabelvåg (where I live) into Svolvær (where I work), although I can probably cut that down by half as I get stronger. Part of my work takes me around town to help people in their own homes, so I ride my bike throughout the day as well.
The result is sore thighs, sore arms (evidence of my abysmal upper body strength), but most of all a very sore butt! My ischial tuberosities are aching so badly that I can hardly sit on the couch without it hurting! Who is the sadistic, impractical person who designed the bicycle seat to be so hard?? (Side note: Ischial tuberosity is the anatomical name for the “sit bones” that contact the bike seat/chair/couch/wherever you may be sitting).
Hoping to find a solution, I asked “Uncle Google,” as my pathomorphology teacher likes to say. Apparently it is called a bicycle “saddle” and not a “seat” because you’re not actually supposed to sit with your full weight on it. I’m supposed to be carrying part of my weight with my legs, and when I get stronger apparently it will get better. I always thought that I had quite good leg strength, but my burning quadriceps beg to differ.
Although my body and brain are exhausted, I had a great day and I love riding my bike through town. As I keep saying, the scenery is absolutely beautiful. Here are some pictures from my bike ride home from work today:
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- This is the view the residents get from the care home I work at– Not bad!
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- Biking home from Svolvaer to Kabelvåg
The Life of All Sorts 