Am I the Last Man Standing?

It was my last day (Sunday)  before the official start of the Orientation week and I decided to take another walk downtown to see what it had to offer. Unfortunately, here in Oslo, Sunday truly is the Lord's Day and lest we be struck dead, honor it we must. This means, to my tourist dismay, that the entirety of the city limits is shut down. Once I got to the Central Stasjon, I went outside and was greeted by a Nordic 28 Days Later; dead silence and a barrenness that Tim Burton would've found simply lovely. I figured i was b/c it was about 9:30 in the morning. So I went to the By Porten Shopping center again and looked for the only thing open, which was a Subway restaurant. I had a Veggie Sandwich and  Coke (which everyone was drinking with their sandwiches as well!) and sat down for a leisurely Sunday brunch. It was nowhere near the lovely brunches I enjoyed at Glo's or Crave on Capitol Hill but it was relaxing nonetheless. After loitering for about an hour and a half I decided to go outside, hoping that things had opened up by then. Doors were still closed as they were earlier in the morning and I proceeded to go somewhere open to spend some chill time. I found a McDonald's Cafe, which apparently was a nice sit-down lounge with sofas and cushioned chairs. 

It was weird walking in and seeing an Asian employee speaking perfect Norwegian to his African co-worker :) Love it! Apparently, Mickey Dee's is where it's at! I had my usual double Americano and proceeded to look for a seat. To the patrons inside, I probably seemed like an American tourist traveling, blogging experience after experience. The looks I got were nothing but intrigue brought on by my obvious passe-ness. There was this poor girl who was obviously being broken up with. I knew by the way her male companion was very steadfast in his statements coupled by her constant questioning and tears. Pretending not to hear, I focused on the old Filipino man who was talking on a cell phone in Tagalog to his compadre, telling him that he was in Oslo. You can never escape your heritage, I suppose :)

I chatted up the beautiful Norwegian girl who gave me my coffee (not Bauhaus but tolerable) whom I asked if anything would open soon. She said that on Sundays the city is pretty much shut down except for a few eateries and places that cater the many tourists that arrive into the city. I guess that even though Oslo is slightly similar to the what I'm accustomed to, there are still those cultural nuances that don't seem to make sense to me, like closing and entire city's businesses on a "natural shopping day".  After waling a bit down Karl Johans Gate (a major tourist avenue) I noticed that this sentiment was shared by the foreign populace. Oh well, I guess this is going to warrant some getting used to.