New Roommates

Trolltech rents out two apartments in the building for new employees or for visiting business officials. Originally Trolltech only had one apartment. Now that the company is expanding, they realized they needed more housing for the overseas recruits. Two Trolltech employees happen to rent an apartment in the same building as Trolltech’s. When these guys moved out, Trolltech took over their lease to provide the extra space needed. The apartment we live in is on the second floor and the official Trolltech apartment, with a sticker on the door to help locate the correct apartment. We have been sharing this apartment with Simon. Simon has been here about three months, but started at Trolltech as an intern a few years ago. Simon has recently moved out after finding his own apartment. A few days after Simon left we were told that we should expect a new roommate named Jerry on Friday. Well Friday came and the door buzzed. The voice on the other end said his name was Jason. So Jerry turned in to Jason. Jason comes from Canada, and will be moving in with his girlfriend as soon as she arrives from her job in Germany. We are trying to help Jason get used to the city and give him the information he needs to know about Trolltech and Oslo.
One the fifth floor lives two other Trolltech new hires. Boris, who is from the Czech Rep. and Zach who moved to Pennsylvania after being born in Poland. Boris had to find an apartment fast, in order for his wife Lilly and two year old daughter Emma to join him. To be able to get an apartment, you first need a bank account due to the fact that all money transactions are done thru bank transfers. This process makes checks unnecessary. In order to get the bank account you need what is called a “D” number. Think of a “D” number as a social security number. Boris’ “D” number finally came in, and he was able to find and move in to an apartment in a matter of a week. He only lived in the apartment for two months.
Zach has lived here for three months. He has not had a strong drive to find a new apartment, as it is just him. He has looked on-line a bit for an apartment, but has yet to decide on one. Now that Boris has moved out, Zack’s new roommate is named Anders. Anders is native to Norway, but has been working in the US office for six months. We were not expecting a new roommate the night Anders came, but I was awake because I could not sleep. At about 1:30 A.M I heard the sound of keys in our door. I figured that someone in the building had simply stopped at the wrong floor. When I called out that they had the wrong apartment, Anders replied he was supposed to be in the Trolltech apartment but his key was not working. Apparently no one at the office had told him to go to the top floor. He had seen the sticker on our door and assumed that was where he was supposed to go. I told him where his apartment was, and hoped that Zack was expecting a new person at this hour.
It has been interesting having roommates. We go out together now and then to museums or pubs. We visit each other for dinner or movies in each other’s apartment. It is nice to have people near by that are going thru the same thing as us. They also come in handy when we are trying to find out necessary information, like where things are or how to perform certain errands. I do wish that there were more girls around, but I am getting used to the boys.