Life Lessons

Today Kory worked on his “vakmester”(?) (care taker) job for The Sinking Houses. He climbed under them all yet again to try and find some reliable way to measure how much they are sinking. He has to write up his monthly report this week and send it to the lawyer to justify our living here for free. I don’t think the attorney expects him to put in nearly the hours that he is working, but Kory has a certain level of comfort with things and he takes a while to get comfortable. He did measure our living space last night and I have to say I was even surprised that we are living in 735 square feet, as it feels much bigger than that. It’s a clever floor plan and we even have the luxury of a separate laundry room and a full size bathtub in the bathroom – neither of which you will find often in Norwegian houses.

We worked on the tenses of verbs in my language class today. I must say how thankful I am that I’ve been homeschooling Kaleb -- as all that grammatical lingo is still fresh in my head and came in handy. In English we add “ing” and “ed” to verbs to show present and past tense; Norwegians add “r” or “t” to show the same thing. That was one of those “ah ha” moments for me as I would hear the same root word “spise” for instance (eat) and sometimes I would hear “spiser” and sometimes “spist” and would wonder what was going on. Now I know.

Kaleb told me today there is a kid in another class that is really in love with Victoria so he is very jealous of Kaleb and his friendship with her, and as a result, the kid looks for every opportunity to beat up Kaleb. Uff da. (The photo is Kaleb and Victoria – his American friend at school.) We had quite a long talk about that situation and as it turns out, Kaleb actually enjoys the kid’s attempts to get at him as it gives him “an opportunity to try out my Avatar skills.” He has watched this kind of Karate cartoon called Avatar and he’s always going around the house slicing air in half and kicking the dust around. Now, he says, he gets to really put it into practice as he defends the blows. Apparently the kid (already sporting a red cast on his swinging arm) has yet to land one on him and he feels very clever in how he has escaped the attempts. He said it’s not so easy when the kid brings his friend (who has a black eye) along and they corner him in the changing room. At least once Victoria has come to his rescue and he has managed to escaped without injury so far. Kaleb has told the teacher a few times but apparently these two boys are well known as the school trouble makers (hence the black eye and broken arm?) so these are the things you deal with when you go to school. Best he learn it now, I guess. And he wasn’t the least bit upset in telling all this to me -- he kind of had a glimmer in his eye and a smirk on his face as he felt the whole thing was rather entertaining. Luckily the kids aren’t bigger than him and at least he is a bit older and definitely wiser, so we’ll see how it all shakes out over time. Kaleb knows not to hit back so his focus is all defensive but it will be hard on me should the day come they actually beat him up. I pray that won’t ever happen. At least they aren’t going after him because they think he is obnoxious or something – this is just all about unrequited LOVE. And we all know it’s LOVE that makes the world go round – I just hope it doesn’t knock my kid down in the process.

A Funny Language

Inga, my Norsk teacher, went around the class today reading everyone’s homework. I noted she wrote “Bra” (Good) on several papers, but on mine, she wrote, “SUPER” (Excellent). “Super bra” would have been too funny, I guess. She also drew a big smiley face below my paragraph. (You never get too old for a smiley face). It did make me proud. On the bus ride into town this morning I must have written at least twice as much as I had down last night, so she appreciated all the effort I went through and she said it was very interesting to read (as well as mostly correct). Woo hoo. She also complimented me on my pronunciation today and said I was “flink” (capable). I’m having a great time in that class. I enjoy learning the rules of grammar but I also enjoy getting a good laugh out of the language. For instance, if you just say “chew-a-shoe” – you have just said the number 27 in Norwegian. Another funny thing is the saying, (this is phonetic) “Snoop doggy dog.” Isn’t that the name of a rap star or something? But in Norwegian, it means “candy day today” (some kids only get candy once a week – so it’s a common saying) – it’s actually spelled “Snop dag i dag.”

Today in class we learned the crazy system they use here to tell time. The two women from Poland sitting next to me about had a cow over this one. I think Norwegians even wonder the logic in it. If it’s five minutes after two o’clock you say “fem over to” - no problem (five past two). Then when it’s 15 minutes after the hour, you get “kvart over to” (quarter after two). If it’s ten minutes until two o’clock you say “ti på to” (“tee po two” is how you say it), or “fem på to” or “kvart på to” if it’s five or 15 minutes until two. You get the idea. When it’s 2:30, we say “half past two,” but they say, “halfway to three o’clock”, so it takes a bit of getting used to and you can easily be an hour late if you hear “halv tre” and you think it’s 3:30 when actually it’s 2:30. But here in Norway, they don’t just use the hour straight up as the reference point for all time telling – they also include the half hour. So the kicker is, if the time is say 2:20, (or any time between 2:16 and 2:44) they don’t say “20 over 2”, they say, “10 minutes until half an hour until three o’clock” which goes like this: “ti på halv tre.” And if it’s 2:40, they say “ti over halv tre,” (ten past half-way to three). They’ve streamlined a lot of things in this country, but their time telling isn’t one of them.

Kaleb got in trouble a few days ago for being disobedient and VERY disrespectful to me so I took away a few of his privileges. He said to me, “Now all I have to look forward to is school,” so I take that as a good sign. He jumps out of bed in the morning and wants to leave the house as soon as he can (I hope it’s not so he can get away from me). He also loves the after school program, so I say he’s doing fine. He even told me yesterday that when the teacher gives instructions to the class she then tells him in English what she said in Norwegian, but yesterday she said something and when she started to translate, Kaleb said, “I already know,” so I think he’s picking up the language VERY quickly. No surprise there, really. He plays with the American girl, Victoria, a lot at recess. He said they help each other with the language as he knows some things and she knows others. Ironically, her mom is in my Norwegian class.

Kory had the day off today. I think he slept a lot. He said he turned over the long rows of long grass (so they can dry) decorating our front yard but it’s hard to tell (see photo – we live in the fourth house from the left in the center duplex). We need to get the grass picked up before the lawn needs mowing again. It’s been raining this afternoon and tonight (we actually fired up the wood stove as there was a chill in the house) so we’re hoping tomorrow is more conducive to yard work. It was sunny this morning and my teacher commented today what a nice fall we are having this year (it’s still summer by my book, but apparently fall comes sooner here.) One year when we were here for a month in August, we didn’t see the sun even for a day, so I understand her amazement over the weather this year. I think that was the year that Odd said, “Summer came, but I was sitting on the toilet, so I missed it.”

Our One Month Anniversary

We arrived a month ago today and still haven’t received out I.D. numbers – which means we still can’t get a phone or internet access in our home. Ugh. I’m about to die without the internet. I haven’t been too faithful in posting my blog every day because I have to walk half a mile carrying my laptop to do it and I’ve been tired of walking lately. For a while, my laptop stopped picking up wi-fi signals but one of the cousins reset something and fixed the problem, so I’m good to go again.

Kaleb learned how to play Cricket in school today and was apparently the star player as he made the biggest hit in the game. He also started in a soccer league after school at the sports center just a four minute walk from our house. They go year round here so it will be an adjustment to have him gone 4:30-6:00 every Tuesday and Thursday – with games on Saturday. These Norwegians are crazy for their soccer (fotball). I’ve been trying to set a date for a Thank-You party for all the cousins who have loaned us things to use while we are here – and I have to schedule the party around the Aalesund Soccer team’s game schedule, otherwise, no one will come. They’ve been like that about the Olympics, too. One woman on the sand volleyball team is from our neighborhood – her parents live just down the street. There is a huge national pride around Norway’s performance in any kind of competition. When competing in the Olympics they don’t care so much that they win, the just care that they beat the Swedes. It’s okay if they come in 4th place, but the Swedes better come in 5th or they are humiliated. And if you ever consider the number of Olympic medals won by the Norwegians and then you factor in that they only have a pool of 4 ½ million people to pull from – they have to have the highest per-capita success rate of any country in the world. They are a determined lot - and they have succeeding in using that stubbornness for good, rather than evil, in the case of sports.

Kory worked today again on Giske and he’s tired. I’m glad he’s only working two days a week as his body would never last if it were more. And I had another great day at school today and now I have homework. I had to write a paragraph about myself in Norwegian – four days in class and we are reading it and writing it already! Here’s what I wrote:

Jeg heter Mickey og jeg er femti år gammel. Jeg bor på Myrland nå men jeg kom fra Amerika for en måned siden. Jeg er gift og min mann heter Kory. Vi har ett barn, en gutt som heter Kaleb. Kaleb er ni år gammel og han går på skole hver dag, på Blindheim barneskole. Vi skal bo her i Aalesund i ett år og jeg skal lærer mye norsk. Jeg er en forfatter.

Who knows how my grammar or spelling are, but it’s the best I can do. Kaleb looked over Hege’s 9th grade English homework and he found five spelling and grammar errors that her English teacher didn’t even catch. I guess he’ll soon be checking my Norske homework too. (The photo today is Kaleb and his teacher.)

Routines

We jumped right into our daily routine today. Kory was off to work at 7:00am and Kaleb and I were out the door by 7:30. Kaleb had his first day of “SFO” today, which is the before and after school program for kids with working parents. It’s mostly supervised day-care where the kids play a lot, but that’s OK by me. We live quite a ways from any other kids in his class so this way he gets to hang out with them after school a bit. The fact they don’t speak the same language has yet to be a problem. One little boy, Morton, just lights up when Kaleb is around and he’s thrilled we are putting Kaleb on his soccer team tomorrow.

I got a chance to talk with one of Kaleb’s teachers today and she said, “He is a very nice boy,” so I’m shouting Hallelujah to that! We love getting those kinds of reports. Kory helped Kaleb with his reading homework tonight and Kaleb may not understand all that he is reading but he sure sounds good – he’s getting all the vowel sounds worked out and will probably surpass me in no time.

The photo today is of my school in downtown Aalesund - we meet in the top floor of the yellow building. I can’t even say how much I love learning the language. Others in the class are really struggling but to me it’s just connecting the dots. If I hadn’t been around the language for so long I’m sure I’d be frustrated and quit, like many do, as the class is moving very fast, but it’s just the ticket for me. I am having trouble sleeping though as all the new words keep circling in my head and my brain won’t shut off, so that’s the only problem so far.

Kory was putting a roof on a house today out on a nearby island called Giske – the flattest place around here so the houses are very expensive (the prices of houses is mostly determined by how much sun they get as the steep mountains can leave you “living in the shadows” your entire life). One of his bosses (Jonathan) is from Sweden and he says that Norwegian construction is of the highest quality – higher even than Sweden. He said Norwegians demand the best of everything and I can see that to be true. New houses all have vents in every room to the outside, as do the windows, because they are sealed up so tight they need to breathe somehow. Odd and Turid’s water tank for their toilet is built in behind the wall so that only the toilet bowl sticks out. I asked what happens when it breaks – if they have to knock out the whole wall to fix it – and their answer is – “It won’t break.” Things are built to last and very, very few things around here are made in China. Norwegians pride themselves on Norwegian made products and they are the best you can buy.

Kory also found out today that Jonathan’s father-in-law worked as the machinist on a ship owned by Stanley Langacre that was used to take Russian Jews out of Russia via the Black Sea to Israel after the Cold War. Kory worked for two years on a tug boat for Stanley back in the 1960s. It’s a small world.

The blueberry season is coming to an end. Kaleb found the mother of all blueberry fields about a two minute walk from our house so I’ve been able to get five cups in about 20 minutes. I’ve been going every day as we so enjoy those fresh wild blueberries (the Vanilla Sauce has been running thick in our house.) Tonight we got to share some with cousins Odd and Rune (Odd’s brother) who dropped by to bring us a bigger coffee table than the one we had. They were impressed I picked the blueberries myself (I didn’t tell them I used this nice blueberry comb that just scoops them off the bush and deposits them into a little container.) They were also impressed that I had cut all the grass around here by myself (that WAS impressive, if I do say so myself). They called me a “bonde kjerring” (“old farm woman” )– a tough old broad, in other words. They ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

Home Improvements

Another absolutely gorgeous day here in Norway. Before we got here, the almanac predicted Norway would have the best summer in 150 years, and it seems that may be the case. It’s been blue sky and sunshine almost every day since we arrived. Hallelujah.

Our neighbor girl Sabina came over this morning as we were getting ready for church. It was her 10th birthday on Thursday, so today was her party. She was all dressed up and looked like a princess. Kory invited her to church so she came with us. During the coffee hour after the service a few people came and talked to us and as it turns out - one of them was best friends with Sabina’s mom. She said she got goose bumps when she saw Sabina in church, as she’s been praying for her and her mom for years. Sabina loved being at church and said she wants to go with us again every time we go.

Kory talked to some of the neighbors today – actually, they have been coming over to lend a hand here and there as we work toward cleaning up the yard. One old lady came and helped rake up the grass, another old man came and helped us move some things headed for the dump. Apparently they are all so relieved that we are living here and taking care of these houses. One of them said they were very afraid that “blacks” would be moving in here (that’s what they call anyone with skin darker than a Scandinavian). Norway is required by the European Union to take in refugees from around the world, so they divide them up and make each Kommune take on so many. Since the Aalesund Kommune ended up paying out the land owners here for allowing the building permit on this bog, they are partial owners in this project. The neighbors were worried the Kommune would be placing some of the refugees in these houses, which they may do yet – we don’t know. But at this point, it seems we are the heroes of the neighborhood. (The prejudice in this country toward some immigrants is unbelievable.)

Kaleb was at Sabina’s birthday party for several hours today (there were 12 girls – and Kaleb) so Kory and I used the time to put in a nicer patio in front of our house. Out our living room door we had a step that was a bit too far down for my comfort level, and there were several pallets laid out as the “patio.” That patio wouldn’t have been too offensive in itself, but it was covered by a lovely green astro-turf kind of carpet that was as tacky as tacky gets. So I got the pleasure of tearing it up and we replaced it with some wooden squares people use here on decks that improved the looks of things tremendously. And we moved some decent steps from another unit over to our house so I don’t have to hold onto the door handle for dear life every time I “step” outside. (I’m sure the step wasn’t so far down a few months ago, but remember, we’re on “sinking sand.” Everything looks much nicer now, although not quite up to Kory’s standards, but you can’t be picky when you are a scavenger.

I cut Kaleb’s hair this morning – something I have never done in his entire life – but he needed it. (I wasn’t about to pay $50 for a haircut here.) I bought a ten dollar hair cutter kit before we left home and I’m now sure it was a wise investment. I was a bit nervous, but I think I did pretty well for a rookie. Kaleb complained an awful lot about my technique as he felt too many pulled hairs in the process. After I was done and he saw himself in the mirror he said to me, “The service wasn’t that good, but the quality is okay.” Kory probably feels the same about many other things I do. I’m working on that.

Busy Day For Some - Not So Much For Others

The past ten years we’ve had no schedule, no alarm clock, no rushing out of the house in the morning. Now our lives are everything BUT that. Too funny. Especially when you consider that our lives are so scheduled out and we are living in Norway - a pretty laid-back country. No one is ever in a hurry for anything – “This is Norway,” they say, like it’s Shangri-La. A lot of businesses close at three o’clock during the week. The dump is only open until one o’clock on Saturday. NOTHING is open on Sunday. You can’t even make hotel reservations on Sunday because there is no one to answer the phone. Everyone only has a 37½ hour work week, they all get at least four weeks of vacation every year and a few weeks of holiday breaks.

I know we kept pretty busy in Mount Vernon, but it was different. Most every day we’d sit and have a leisurely cup of coffee and talk about what the day will bring. Sometimes when Kaleb and I did school work, we stayed in our pajamas all day. I’d go to town and do grocery shopping maybe once a week – maybe not, as we always had food in the pantry and freezer. Now we have to plan each day carefully – do we have clean underwear for tomorrow, has Kaleb done his homework, do we have food to pack for lunches and something to eat for dinner? (Our frig is small and won’t hold a week’s supply of anything, nor will the freezer.) We’ve had to put a clock in every room of the house because now we have to catch a bus or get to school or work on time. I know it’s like the rest of the world, but it’s all new for us. Kaleb seems to be adapting the best but it sure made my Saturdays busy. All day today I just did “life maintenance” things: I did laundry, cleaned house, went grocery shopping, finished mowing the lawn, and I arranged the cupboards and closets now with all our stuff in them. I’m beat. Kory and Kaleb spent the morning fishing in hopes of avoiding a trip to the store to buy something for dinner – but they didn’t catch anything but seaweed. (I think they left a bit too late – they both wanted to sleep in til after eight and I don’t blame them.)

They have a saying here in Norway, “Everything is bigger in America,” and that is SO true. Oh how Norway needs a Costco to really shake things up. But I do see a lot of wisdom in the smallness of things. The washing machines are much smaller and as a result, don’t hold as many clothes, therefore, you have to do laundry more often and as a result, you need to buy less clothes, which is good because the closets are smaller and don’t hold much. The refrigerators are smaller and that’s good because you never lose track of anything in them so nothing rots, therefore saving money on your grocery bill, which is otherwise HUGE. The sizes of things you buy in the store is MUCH smaller than in America. I buy Oxi-clean at Costco in a two gallon bucket - here it comes in a container the size of yogurt. The cookies are also in a much smaller pack – which has worked to my advantage because when I get stressed out and eat a whole package – it’s not nearly the same number of calories.

So, we’ve celebrated two weeks in our house now and nearly a month in Norway. We are about as settled as we’re going to be and I like it here a lot. I could use a few more pieces of art on the walls, but that may come in time. We actually have more room here than at home – strange as that might be. We have extra room in the closets and cupboards because we didn’t bring too much of anything, so it’s nice living this simple life. We have all we need and for that, we are so thankful. Next week we will investigate signing Kaleb up for scouts and the sports center (YMCA equivalent) and getting started in a home fellowship group or Bible Study. After all, we’re on a schedule.

Getting Settled

I was up late last night unpacking boxes so I’m a bit sleep deprived. I had to get up too early to catch the bus into town for my Norske class. I’m still learning things about getting around on a bus route 618. Yesterday the bus was early, so it stopped short of where I wanted to get off and waited five minutes before continuing on. I just got off and walked the extra few blocks to class so I didn’t waste the five minutes. Well, this morning the bus was running late so it just stopped to let people off and took off again. Based on how I read the bus route, the stop after that “waiting” stop was my stop and the closest I could get to my school (although I still need to walk several blocks to get there.) So, this morning I stayed on the bus after that one stop where the driver gets his bus back on schedule, expecting it to turn the corner and go nearer to my school. But the darn bus just went straight. I thought it was going to take a different route to get to the same location, but it didn’t – it just kept going straight. Then I thought it was going to head over to the big bus terminal by the library but it didn’t – it just kept going straight. I think I was in shock being sleep deprived and all, and finally, when it was well over a mile away from the heart of town I saw another Bus 618 heading back into town so I jumped off the bus I was on and ran across the street to catch the other bus, but it took off just as I got on the sidewalk. Then I was standing there feeling like an idiot for staying on the bus so long. I knew I was going to be a few minutes late this morning, but certainly not half an hour! I walked very fast back into town and around the harbor and over to my school, then up four flights of stairs to get to my classroom, huffing and puffing all the way (thank goodness it wasn’t raining), only to find out my class was cancelled because the teacher was sick! Uff da. But it was a good news/bad news situation for me. I didn’t want the embarrassment of being late, but then I was bummed that I had made such a huge effort to get there!

For exercise, I used to get up every morning and walk a mile down to my neighbor Wendy’s house then she would walk back with me. Since I’ve arrived in Norway, I’ve yet to feel the need to walk anywhere just for the sake of exercise, as walking is how I get around here – I walk a mile to the store – I walk several blocks to and from the bus stop – I walk over a mile to Kaleb’s school -I walk half a mile over to a cousin’s house – I walk, walk, walk. I’ve already dropped one pant size, so I’m not complaining but some days I wish I could fly.

Because my class was cancelled I got home extra early from town today, which turned into a huge blessing because then I could unpack all the other boxes (not a thing broke in transit!) before Kaleb got home from school. I did all his birthday and Christmas shopping before we left and I tucked them here and there in the boxes so I was a bit worried he would see things before their time. No worries – everything was out of sight by the time his smiling face came down the driveway. He got to ride his bike to school today so he felt pretty empowered and it showed. He loves the freedom here – to go for long bike rides, be gone over a mile from home, play all day – it’s the kind of life Kory and I had growing up – but American kids don’t really have anymore. He spent all afternoon with Sabina cutting up some of the big cardboard boxes and making little houses out of them.

Kory enjoyed his day off today. He needed to rest his back as it was pretty sore yesterday. He helped me hang things up on the wall so now our house is looking more like home. I’m amazed at all the things I brought and how well they go with the furniture we were given here – even the blanket I bought for Kaleb to snuggle up on the couch with – the color is identical to the pattern on the couch – little things like that which I know are not just “coincidental.” It’s fun to see God in the details.

We Have Our Boxes!

Big day today – the boxes arrived this morning and we collected them from the warehouse at 9:30 tonight. It helps to know the owner of the shipping company, as Kory was at work all day today, and Kaleb and I were in school – so we had no time to run out and pick them up. The shipper was in a meeting all afternoon so we anxiously awaited his call to say when he could meet us at the warehouse. Kaleb was jumping up and down all over the place, he was so excited to see his stuff again (mostly his stuffed dogs). I am thankful to have a few kitchen things (like a garlic press and potato peeler) but also for the umbrellas I packed as I got caught in a bit of rain yesterday. Kory is thankful for his box of hand tools so he can start tinkering again without having to run here and there borrowing tools from different cousins. Oh, the little things in life make it so sweet sometimes.

Kaleb and I both absolutely loved school again today. Kaleb talks most about recess and all the fun he has there, which is great. His English teacher called me today to introduce herself. She told me, “He’s a clever boy,” and she said he was already well entrenched with the social scene there – kids were waiting for him to be done with her so they could play with him – I love that. He brought home a 4th grade math book – easy stuff for him so he was laughing at what they call “work.” I hope all his schooling is that easy as I’d rather have him concentrate on the language – reading and writing Norske – and the social aspect of being here - rather than anything academic.

I tried to finish up mowing the lawn here (there must be at least a half acre of grassy space – the photo shows about 1/3 of it), but the blisters on my hands from yesterday slowed me down a lot and then it rained so I gave up for today. I can’t wait to see this piece of property once the ground is actually visible. Currently there are rows of raked grass lining the place and everyone that passes by just stares at the difference (where’s our Home Fellowship group when you need them?). One guy came by on his bike last night and asked who to contact about buying up these houses (I guess you can actually see them now that the waist high grass is gone). Kory told him the name of the attorney then he lit into me about wanting to buy them before someone else does. I’m completely against it as it’s taking on a huge risk because we don’t know what the ground will do in the future – how much more it will sink, plus it would mean at least a million dollar loan and I rather enjoy not stressing about making payments to a bank. These houses are high quality – too high I think to have as rentals, but Kory thinks if he rents them out for five years then sells the package deal he could double his money. I disagree as I see it as an opportunity to lose everything we have if somehow the houses start cracking apart. So Kory is beside himself. He thinks we are missing out on some God-given opportunity that could be a huge blessing --and I say I’m the God given blessing by keeping him from buying it.

First Day of School

Kaleb and I both headed off to school today (that’s him in the photo in his school yard). I got on a bus; Kory walked Kaleb down the street. Kaleb was quite nervous about the whole thing but when we picked him up at 12:15 he was beaming. He loved it! Hallelujah! He even understood a little of what the teacher was saying too, so that helped. He was very popular and everyone wanted to play with him at recess. So far, so good! The teacher even gave him a glowing report and said he did very well. Warmed my heart. So we have ourselves a little school boy in Norway. Now, we’ll see how it goes once they assign him homework.

As for me, it should be fun. There were about 25 women in my class (no men) from 18 different countries. They require all refugees and spouses of Norwegian citizens to take this class and it’s paid for by the Kommune, but there are others in the class that are paying big money to be there as they are here on work permits (mostly from Poland and Eastern Europe), and they find out quickly how much they need to know the language. It’s like being back in college, as it’s very proper Norwegian grammar. By the end of June I will have mastered the language enough to attend college here (or so they say). I don’t have to go that long, but they recommend that we all do and they pay for me – so I may as well. I love my instructor and today only, she spoke a little English – after that – it’s all Norwegian. But the introduction by the school Rector was all in Norwegian and I understood about 95% of it, so I feel confident I’m going to do fine. The old “A” student in me comes out at such a time as this, so we’ll see how quickly I advance.

I have a 45 minute bus ride to and from school so that will give me plenty of time to read or do some Bible study, as I hate wasting time. My school is right at the edge of Aalesund, near the port where the ships come in, so it couldn’t be any further from our house. I leave at 7am and get home by 1:30pm so it’s the bulk of my day – everyday. It seems so weird to be this structured.

When I got home this afternoon I “mowed” our lawn (photo to follow). Kory had to borrow a piece of farm equipment from his cousin to do the job. The body of the machine looks like a roto-tiller but it has a blade on it that oscillates back and forth like a hair trimmer, and it cuts tall grass. It was meant for small hillside farms when they need to harvest the wheat without tractors. Kory couldn’t use it because it was too jarring on his wrists so I spent several hours cutting down the jungle that surrounded our house. Then the machine broke so I’ll have to finish up tomorrow after Kory fixes it. I pray every day to be a blessing to someone, and today I’m sure I was a blessing to the entire neighborhood, as this place looks so much better now with all that grass gone. And I only had to pull seven ticks out of my skin for that good deed. (Ugh!)

Our Ship Came In!

We got a call today from Oslo that our boxes made it safe and sound so hopefully they will clear customs tomorrow and be trucked to Aalesund Thursday. Hallelujah! It took me the better part of the day to fill out forms and FAX information to the shipper in Oslo to get everything approved. I went to the post office to see if they do FAXing because it was a lot closer than going to the library to send it. Up til now I’ve dealt with the woman at the post office speaking only Norwegian and managed fine, but today I had to speak English to her. “Do you FAX here?” I asked. “FAX?” she asked, “What’s FAX?” I tried to show her with hand signals what the paper looks like when it’s sliding through the machine and I just kept saying, “You know, FAX.” She shook her head and finally said, “No.” Then a woman standing in line said to the woman behind the counter, “Fox” and the postal worker said, “Oh yes, FOX – yes, we FOX!” and she saved the day. Such are the subtle differences in this language – it’s all in how you pronounce the vowels.

Kory went to work again this morning (see photo of him in his new work clothes heading out the door). Now he is home and lying on the living room floor with his feet up on our new couch trying to keep his back from going out. He bent over a bit more than he’s used to while he was laying hard wood floors so he’s taking it easy tonight. At least he has tomorrow off. (He won’t tell me how much money he’s making because he’s afraid I’ll start budgeting it out.)

Kaleb met his teacher today – Ragnild (they call them by their first names here). We went up to the school (everything is UP from here – we’re in a sink hole!) to see where he goes tomorrow and where his classroom is – if you can call it that. Each grade level has its own entrance to the building and the kids all enter into a changing room where they take off their outer wear and hang it up and put on their “indoor” shoes, then they sit on their bench until the teacher comes to get them to take them to a learning area. There are 90 kids in the 4th grade this year so they have four groups of kids. Kaleb has 28 kids in his class “4C”. They break into even smaller groups for different subjects. The teacher said she can give Kaleb an 8th grade math program and a 2nd grade Norske reading book, all of which is good news to me. At least they target individual learning at the level where the kids are at. Very cool.

I found out there is a before and after school program too so that solves my dilemma of what to do with Kaleb on the days that Kory goes to work. Hallelujah! It will aid in getting Kaleb socialized and speed up his Norwegian language skills. They do lots of fun stuff too but mainly they help the kids get their homework done (it’s a program similar to the one our church does for the migrant kids in Mount Vernon only this one is run by the Aalesund Kommune and it’s for all kids with working parents). If Kaleb goes three days a week it costs $250 a month, which seems like a bargain to me. I was so happy to hear about that option! And there were some boys there today (in that program) that will be in Kaleb’s class and they were thrilled to meet him. They were all chattering away, excited that Kaleb’s changing area was next to theirs and they got to meet him first. They were so cute and it pleased Kaleb to be so welcomed. I’m glad we put Kaleb in the 4th grade and not 5th (as the school had recommended) as those little 4th grade boys don’t quite have that “edge” that older boys have and Kaleb has been pretty protected -- so emotionally I think he would fit best with the younger boys.

The teacher asked him today if he is excited about coming to school. He said, “I’m excited about tomorrow and then we’ll see after that.” He’s practical, if nothing else. I start school tomorrow too so I’ll miss walking him to school on his first day as I have to take an early bus so I’m not late. So now both Kaleb and I will be experiencing the same thing at the same time – and Kory gets a little quiet time at home. Too bad we had to travel half way around the world for that to happen. I think he’ll be shouting HALLELUJAH a lot so maybe it won’t be so quiet after all.

New Horizons

Kory started work today! (He'll only be working half-time so he doesn't exceed his Social Security limitations.) His boss is a Christian and young enough to be his grandson, yet he is ever so thankful to have Kory on his team – the old pro that he is. Kory was up at six this morning (that hasn’t happened in recent memory), packing a lunch and preparing for the day. He was out the door at 7:15. So weird, after ten years of retirement, to send him off to work! And he even came home with a smile on his face. His boss stopped and bought him all new work clothes – special outfits all the carpenters wear here – super high quality waterproof fabric with built in pockets for everything – including knee pads and a tool belt. I’m sure the pants and jacket cost at least five hundred dollars so obviously his boss wants to keep him around for a while. Woo hoo. Kory is now wondering when he will have time for fishing, but until our boxes get here, there’s no pole anyway, so he might as well work!

Kaleb and I took the bus to town to register me for the Norske Language School. I was thinking this would be some casual conversational class, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. This is downright serious Norwegian grammar – five days a week for six months – four hours a day! Holy cow. I guess I won’t be getting a job any time soon as there will also be homework. On the one hand, I’m thrilled to be able to learn Norske better, read and write it, but on the other hand, I’m having a logistic problem with Kaleb’s school hours. We will be going to school at the same time but my school is much farther than his, and on the days Kory is working, I can’t leave Kaleb alone for an hour before school starts to get himself ready and out the door… so I’m in a slightly freaked out mode right now. The Registrar at the school told me I could tell my instructor that some days I’ll just be late so I can catch the later bus to see him off. So… we’ll see how things jell after Wednesday (Kory is taking that day off to help both Kaleb and I get to school on time!) I also asked if I could take days off every now and then (especially when we get company) and she said it is possible – just let the instructor know. But then they add that time to the end of my school as I’m required to go 250 hours. They will actually pay for me to study Norwegian for three solid years if I wanted it – but it’s obligatory to do the 250 hours in order to stay here. (The permission we have to live here is permanent, so they are treating me like I’m never going to leave.)

After Kaleb and I got home this afternoon we picked blueberries and had a big bowl of fresh blueberries and Vanilla Sauce waiting for Kory when he came home from work. Kaleb was very glad to see him as it was his first day to experience that feeling of waiting for his Papa to get home from work. I am glad we were gone most of the day or he would have worn me out with the non-stop, “When is he going to get here?” question. Uff da.

Tonight we got a sofa - actually two of them - from cousin Rune! Our living room has been sparsely furnished this past week, but now we look a bit more settled. Kaleb saw a store today with household decorations in it and said, “Oh look, there’s a store that has all those little things that make a house a home.” (I guess he’s used to my clutter.) Our house here looks very “Scan design” with NOTHING on the walls or sitting around taking up space. (He keeps saying this place isn’t our “home” because none of our stuff is in it. I tell him that “home is wherever the love is,” but he’s not buying it.) We just keep waiting for our boxes to arrive. One of these days we hope our ship will come in - literally.

It Takes The Cake

Kaleb decided he wanted to go to Agape Kirke this morning as they have a kid’s program, and Filadelfia Kirke doesn’t. I must be among the youngest ones at Filadelfia, as opposed to one of the oldest at Agape. They have children in abundance at Agape, and more on the way, from the looks of it. It’s a very young, hip type of place and most of the members speak English, as we found out after church. (Even the pastor is imported from England, but his Norwegian is so good you’d never know it was his second language.) They have a nice coffee and cake hour following their service and a few people with impeccable English came and sat and talked with us for quite some time (first time visitors get free coffee and cake!). It was so nice to be able to talk again! Kory thinks I talk too much in general, but whenever we have visited Norway in the past, I’m pretty quiet and he does all the talking (in Norwegian, of course) so he makes up for lost time. But it’s been three weeks now and my vocal chords were starting to atrophy so I was thankful for the friendly folks at Agape Kirke! Plus we found out all kinds of helpful information from them, as there are many Norwegians there that have married people from other countries. I got the low-down on the Norwegian Language school, public transportation, and directions to a good beach just down the street from where we live (see photo).

There were a few funny/different things about the Agape Kirke that may or may not be just Norwegian. The pastor hangs out in the parking lot before the service, and welcomes people right as they get out of their car. That was a nice touch. (Maybe it was just because it was another beautiful day here and he wanted to be outside - I’m not sure.) And during the service, when they take the offering, they pass around pots (the kind you put plants in) to collect the money. I thought that was a good visual of “sowing seeds” in the Kingdom. Kind of poetic, really. And they always announce that if you want to use your bank card, you need to go out to the lobby to their ATM type machine and you can donate that way if you don’t have cash. (Donations to charities are not a tax write off in Norway so they don’t bother with keeping records.) They have no checks in this country, and most people NEVER carry any cash on them, they just use their debit cards for everything. Pretty funny to do it in church, I think, but it’s practical here.

So after church we headed to Emblemstranda (the beach at Emblem) and soaked up some rays on this unusually hot August day (Kory and Kaleb are sitting on the rock in the photo). It was so hot we couldn’t stay out of the water (which is MUCH warmer than the Pacific Ocean, I must say). This beach is about a six minute drive east of where we live. I’m sure it’s an official “park” of the Kommune, but there are no signs directing you there. Once you turn off the main road you are on a tiny single lane road snaking through quaint little farms on the way down toward the water’s edge. It seemed somewhat like we were trespassing to get there. We encountered a few cars on the road, which had to back up quite a ways before we could pass them. Pretty antiquated, but kinda fun. And the beach was great – full of agates and beautiful stones, (I came home with more than a handful) with crystal clear water, sandy bottom and views to die for. There is just no where you can go in this part of Norway that doesn’t have a view to knock your sox off. It never ends!

We had to cut our time short at the beach because we were invited to a surprise birthday party for Kory’s cousin, Axel. He turned 58 today and his wife had a party – with lots of cakes and coffee. There is just nothing like Norwegian cakes. (If I ever learn how to make the Marzipan cake we had tonight, I’d weigh 300 pounds as it’s hard to stop eating it.) I went to take a picture of Axel and one of his many cakes (the Marzipan was the most photogenic) and he said, “Wait, I have to cut it first.” Apparently, their tradition is to take a picture with the happy smile, holding up the first piece of cake. And strangest of all – they always sing “Happy Birthday to You” - in ENGLISH! These Norwegians figured out how to cross the Atlantic five hundred years before any other Europeans could do it – and they’ve yet to write their own Happy Birthday song. Go figure.

The View From On High

We climbed a mountain this morning! I made sure we took it slow – told Kory I was out of shape (tee hee) – but really, I was making sure he wasn’t over doing it. He hasn’t climbed a mountain for a long time and I wanted to be sure we made it to the top. And we did – HALLELUJAH!

It was the perfect day for such a thing as you can see from the video below (sorry about the wind noise). Kaleb was rewarded with several dog sightings along the way. My heart broke for the poor pups – all of them on leash. It’s illegal to have dogs off leash – even in the mountains. They are concerned the dogs will scare the birds and deer away, so they must be contained. It just doesn’t seem right to be on a trail in the woods with a dog on a leash. Oh well, such is the logic of the Norske people.

We sat at the top of Emblemfjell quite a while and took in the view. It was fun to see our house from on high. We were above the tree line and could see well into the fjords. It was breathtaking. I can see why there is a deep love for this country by people who have left it. There is no other place on earth like it. And a day like today isn’t the norm – it was warm and crystal clear.

This afternoon we were invited to a birthday party. One of the cousins (Linda and Leif-Eric) have a daughter, Nina, that is 13 today. She looks 18, sweet as pie. Hard to believe she was 12 yesterday and now she’s a teenager. We had dinner outside on a lovely Saturday evening overlooking the fjords. Lots of cakes and coffee followed.

These Norwegians love their cakes. Every kind you can imagine. It’s not like us where we serve one cake, big or small, depending on the number of people expected – they serve several cakes, chocolate cake, cheese cake, cream cake (nut cake is my favorite). They also had bowls of candy, cookies, cheese doodles (considered dessert here?) and jello of every flavor, oh, and lots of ice cream… all with Vanilla Sauce at the ready. Cousin Kari says, “We don’t leave until all the cakes are gone.” And they aren’t kidding. The only weird thing I noted about the cakes is that they don’t cut them symmetrically. If it’s a round cake, we might cut things in nice pie shaped slices… but not them, any old mis-shapen hunk out of it will do. Same thing with the rectangle cakes – no square cuts for them – you just slice of any old which way and eat as much as you want. Considering how many ways these people are orderly and precise, it surprises me they are so sloppy with their cake cutting. I guess it’s gotta come out somewhere.

Vanilla Sauce

Our boxes were supposed to arrive today in Oslo, but we didn’t hear a thing. Not good. I was hoping to have Kaleb’s school supplies before school actually started, but it doesn’t look like the boxes will make it by Wednesday unless there is another miracle in the works. I guess I should expect one, eh?

Turid and Hege walked over this morning so we got to take them to “our” beach and have a picnic lunch. In all the year’s they have lived here, they had never been down to that beach so it was fun to expand their horizons and share the beauty with them. It was a gorgeous day to be by the water. (In the photo, Kaleb is pretending to be headless and Kory is pretending to be fishing.) Yesterday it rained all day – heavy rain – so today the air was crisp and clean and the sky seemed extra blue. On the way back we picked lots of blueberries so when we got to our place, we had fresh blueberries with Vanilla Sauce poured over the top.

There is nothing in our world that you can compare with Vanilla Sauce. It’s something the whole of Norway is crazy about and as Turid says, “The blueberries are just an excuse to have Vanilla Sauce.” Actually, anything is an excuse to have Vanilla Sauce – they put it on everything! The most popular food items are jello, fresh, frozen or canned fruit, chocolate pudding or ice cream. In every house in the whole of Norway, you will find Piano brand “Vaniljesaus.” Even at the neighborhood grocery store they have our equivalent of a salad bar, but with different chunks of fruit and the “dressing” is Vanilla Sauce. I’ve yet to see a vegetable salad bar anywhere.

I can understand the craze, that stuff is good! It tastes like the custard inside a donut, only with more vanilla flavor, and it’s real runny. It’s made from whole milk, cream, sugar and powdered vanilla (of course). We’ve had it many, many times over the years as it’s a common after dinner treat (not really dessert however, because dessert is usually a fancy cake of some kind, served later with coffee.) Tine (pronounced “Tina”), a Norwegian company, makes Vanilla Sauce and on the front of the carton it says “original recipe since 1971.” Turid thinks that’s about when the craze started. She said as a kid there was a rum flavored sauce that was used on many things, but once the vanilla flavor hit the stores, it became a national sensation – for 37 years now. (Should have bought stock in that company, I guess.)

I was thinking about the whole vanilla situation the other day and I’m wondering if the reason they have vanilla in a powered form is because our liquid vanilla at home is alcohol based. Norwegians tax alcohol so much, they must have been in a quandary as to what to do about vanilla extract. If they taxed it the way they tax one can of beer (which sells for $13 by the way), no one could afford their precious Vanilla Sauce and there would surely be a revolt similar to The Boston Tea Party. Making their vanilla into a powder solves the whole problem and keeps all the alcoholics from drinking up their national supply of vanilla. Who knows. It’s fun to try and second guess the politics of Norway.

Kaleb and I sat and tried to read a children’s book in Norwegian today. We’re going to have a contest as to who can learn the language the quickest. (I think my Norske school starts next week.) Everyone entering the country between the ages of 16 and 55 is obligated to take 250 hours of language lessons – for free. (America could learn a thing or two from Norway about that one.) I guess I’ll have to thank the alcohol drinkers of this country for that, as I’m sure some of the exorbanite taxes they pay filter down to pay for my free Norwegian lessons. Tusen Takk. (Thousand thanks.)

Recycling

The person who used to live in our house apparently liked to drink, as he left behind several bags of “recyclables.” Kory told Kaleb he could take them to the store and turn them in for the deposit. I felt a little funny about it however… being Christian and all… and having our kid schlep a trunk full of alcohol containers off to the store. Had I known how much money he would get, I would have nixed the idea for sure and done the task myself, but today was the day to clean out the garage.

Inside the grocery store is a vending looking machine set into the wall. Behind the wall is an entire recycling center. There is a circular opening in the middle of the machine that goes all the way through the wall so you can see into the back of the store. You set the bottle or can into the hole onto a little conveyor belt (and it has to have the opening facing toward you or it gives a nasty alarm, as we found out), and the can or bottle gets sucked back into the machine onto another conveyor belt where it is spun around until it’s barcode is read. If it’s a large pop bottle, it goes straight on through and sets on some conveyor belt behind the machine. If it’s an aluminum can, or small plastic bottle, an arm comes down and sweeps it into a bin on the left. If there is no barcode or if it can’t read the barcode because the can is squished so that it can’t spin on the conveyor, then it is rejected. A metal arm swings down and sweeps it to the right where it is returned back to you at the bottom of the machine. Kaleb soon figured out that if the can was squished and got rejected, he just needed to set the can in with the barcode showing on the top so the scanner could read it. The machine tallies up all the credit and spits out a paper ticket that is then taken to the cash register and turned in for cash. It took Kaleb quite a while to process all those bottles and cans, but it was not what I would call “work” as he had so much fun doing it. Each can is worth one kroner (20 cents), and each pop bottle, fifty cents, so he made over fifty dollars! What a deal. And outside the store, we were told, were all the recycle bins for metal, plastic and glass (they pick up all the paper in a special bin at your house on garbage day.) We took the wine and whiskey bottles that were left in the garage to the big recycle bin outside and put them in there, only to realize a moment later, that it was a bin to recycle clothes and shoes for children and there was no way to get them back - oops. (We later found where the smaller bins used for metal and glass were located so that shouldn’t happen again.) Uff da.

Our next stop was the bank, and only after looking all over the car for my wallet, did I realize I had set it inside my canvas shopping bag (they charge 50 cents for each plastic grocery bags here) and left it on the floor by the recycle machine! It had about $300 cash, all my credit cards and driver’s license. We made a quick u-turn and went back to the store. Someone had picked it up off the floor and set it on the nearest vacant check-out stand. Everything was in my wallet, untouched, which got me to shout HALLELUJAH! today.

Kory and Kaleb spent all afternoon over and Odd and Turids. Kory helped Odd lower the ceiling in his basement to cover up some electrical wires. (That Kory is a handy guy to have around and there are no other carpenters in the family so I think he might be busier than he planned to be while we are here.) Kaleb spent the time playing with Hege and making “bolle” (bread rolls). I stayed home and had a good nap, got my desk organized, and spent time writing. The house was so quiet with the boys gone - what a treat.

I love how close we are to family here. There hasn’t been a day go by that we haven’t seen at least one of them. The picture today is Odd (pronounced Ode), Turid (Turrey), and Hege (Hay-ga), on their balcony just after dinner around 10 pm Tuesday night. They have provided our “home away from home” every time we come to Norway. Turid manages our condo and does our taxes for us every year too so I hope while we are here we can do enough things to even the score. They all have a heart of gold- for which we are ever so thankful.

Missing The Dogs

Kaleb came walking into the kitchen this morning with a red face, runny nose, tears in his eyes, asking if I could keep a box of Kleenex in his room. He had been sitting in there, clutching a picture of Duchess, his favorite neighbor dog back home, crying his little heart out. He misses her so. Even after he wiped his eyes, blew his nose and got a big hug from me, he went back in his room and cried some more, letting his tears drop on the glass of the picture frame as he stared into her eyes. He then sent her an e-mail that said how much he missed her. He was spiraling downwards into a dark pit when the neighbor girl Sabina showed up and some switch got flipped and he was out the door riding his bike up and down the streets of Myrland. He was gone all day and never even came home for lunch. I saw him through the window – flying by on his bike several times with Sabina and her friends. I tried to get a photo of all of them together but they were going too fast. I’m so thankful for Sabina!

We live on a dead end street so there is very little car traffic going by – just a few cars to the houses beyond us. After the houses is vacant land, and then past that – a cemetery – so it almost feels like home here. (Kory’s grandparents are buried in that cemetery.) The best thing about where we live is the whole front of our house is nearly floor to ceiling windows and we can sit all day and watch the foot traffic. Everyone walks their dog or rides their bike past our house. It’s part of a huge loop that people make a few times a day, either to get exercise or to walk the dog. Kaleb sat for a while yesterday and timed the dogs. On average, a dog walks by every seven minutes. It’s nice to see so many people outside! I guess they get cabin fever with the long dark winters. Turid told me in the summer, the outdoors becomes everyone’s living room. I guess that’s why they all have tables and chairs in both front and back of the house. Most people also have a roll out awning covering the back of the house so they can still be outdoors if it rains. And as Odd says, “If it’s summer, we eat outdoors.” (And they do – rain or shine!)

I think the loneliness set in this morning for Kaleb because he was with just us for the bulk of yesterday and never saw Sabina. She was off to a friend’s house for a sleepover and Kaleb couldn’t understand why she would do that on the day they had decided it was HIS day to pick what they would do. I’m sure she never understood that agreement, as her English is pretty limited, but he swears she did. At least all is right in his world now. I LOVE that he is getting this “kid” time… something he sorely lacked in our neighborhood at home.

Kaleb and I picked more blueberries today (free food – woo hoo!). We bought a berry picking tool so it went quickly (I got two cups in about 20 minutes and Kaleb got three cups in the same time frame). It took longer to clean them, than to pick them, but now I have some in the freezer to make Lemon Blueberry cake for when company comes over. This afternoon I went for a three hour walk around the neighborhood. I love looking at all the houses and immaculate yards (not ours, however). People paint their houses with high gloss paint so they all really do shine. I timed the walk to Kaleb’s school – 20 minutes from our house. Now he will have real stories to tell his grandchildren about walking a mile through the snow to get to school, and it’s won’t be an exaggeration. (They have no school buses here – everyone really does walk to school.) Kory spent the day driving rods into the ground and getting his measuring system on the buildings set up – waiting for the ground to move. Remember that Carole King song, “I feel the earth move, under my feet….?” Well, I hope I don’t need to start singing it anytime soon.

Differences

Kaleb has always loved to cook – he says it’s just like science – you mix things together and you never know what you’re going to get. He’s declared that once a week he wants to make a special soup he calls “High Five.” You take five of any and all kinds of ingredients (carrots, onions, potatoes, celery, red pepper, mushrooms, garlic cloves… whatever) and you cut it up and add it to the pot. At home, Kory used to make a mean chicken broth after we baked an organic chicken in a clay pot, but here, we have to settle for bullion cubes til our kitchen things arrive. Kaleb made High Five Soup last night using some root vegetables he picked out at the grocery store that we’d never seen before. We have no idea what you call the veggie he is holding in this photo (it substituted nicely for a sword, however) but it sure tasted good in the soup (he only used half of it). He also added rutabagas, but didn’t hold to the FIVE rule on that one as they sell them the size of cantaloupes here so he just cut five big pieces off the thing and put it in. And it’s always so good, we give him a High Five when we eat it! He’s pretty funny about the “five” rule… five different spices (five shakes each), stir the soup in one direction five times, then reverse directions for five stirs, then repeat for five times. Nothing is ever easy with this boy. But he invited Sabina over to taste it so she stayed for dinner and asked Kory where the meat was in the soup, as they always have lots of meat in their soup. Kory explained it was vegetable soup, but the concept was lost on her. Kaleb said grace (in Norwegian) and she was a bit confused by the whole thing so last night Kaleb and I prayed for her.

Today we spent another five hours driving around looking for little things to help us get settled. We don’t know what things are called so it takes forever to find them. Asking a store employee is worthless since they don’t fully understand our poor descriptions of things, so we just do our best. And in most cases we are trying to describe things they have never seen or heard of - like a night light? Yesterday, I spent a good twenty minutes trying to find vanilla and baking soda. I had no less than four people try to help me. I’m going to assume they call baking soda “natron” for now, as I bought some and will try it out. But when I asked the employee if I can use it not just for cooking but to brush my teeth, clean things with it, etc., I got a most definite “NO.” So either they aren’t hip to the many great uses for baking soda, or I got the wrong thing. I’ll soon find out. And as for the vanilla… finally, a customer in the store overheard my repeated description (“black water” was the best I could come up with in my limited Norwegian vocabulary) and she handed me a container with some kind of powder in it, clearly marked “vanila” and wondered what my problem was. I spoke again in Norwegian, saying “no, black water” and then she told me (in Norwegian) that her daughter-in-law was from Australia and she had the same problem – she wasn’t used to cooking with the vanilla powder, but that’s all they have here in Norway. Go figure. She also told me her daughter-in-law only lasted five years here and then went back home. “Too many differences,” she said. I don’t know if she was referring to the marriage, or the vanilla.

Details

I tried to get the internet and house phone hooked up today, but that was impossible since we don’t yet have our official Norwegian ID numbers. I will surely die if I have to wait two more weeks to have internet access in my home. (Turid calls me a “blog-a-holic” since I’m constantly looking for non-secure wi-fi connections in the neighborhood to get a signal and post my blog.) She tried to help me out today but she went down every rabbit trail on Telenor’s website to find out how to subscribe via the internet, and got nowhere. She then called the company and got into voice jail for which there was no return, so she had to call again, only to hear a recording that it was a twenty minute wait to be helped (at least there are some things here that are the same in America.) When you pay 50 cents per minute to be on any phone, you don’t sit on hold for too long, so she hung up and called the store at the mall where we got our cell phones. She knows the guy that works there and he told her – thank goodness – our efforts were in vain anyway until we get our Norske ID numbers. (At least we didn’t have to wait 20 minutes on hold to find that out.) I guess they don’t have such things as illegal aliens in this country because you just can’t do a thing here without their social security number equivalent. Turid also showed me how to pay bills on-line, the Norwegian way. It’s similar to America but with a lot more security steps to jump through as it’s their only option for moving money around.

I also went to the post office today to register our address as being active again. I have to fill out paperwork and send it in to some central location so they know we are here (and yes, they need to know our ID numbers for that, too). People also take their mailboxes with them when they move, so we had to buy a new one. Axel called the Aalesund Kommune to get our garbage service activated. Odd wrote down the current meter numbers on our electrical box and called the power company to register us with them. The meter boxes are inside the house so they never come out to read them, it’s all done digitally. Can’t wait to get that first bill. Even though I now have a dryer, I still hung up clothes today to save on electricity (but I do that at home, anyway – I just only do it in the summer. They do it indoors here year round.)

Kory spent most of the day on his “watchman” job here at The Sinking Houses. He went around and talked to all the neighbors, measured all the corners of the houses and “got familiar” with the place, as he calls it. He’s going to drive some rods down into the ground on each corner, then nail a ruler to the buildings so he can measure how much the ground moves. Currently it’s sinking at a rate of two inches per month and I guess the sewer lines have broken several times as they don’t take all the movement too well. (If that happens again I guess we can call the place The Stinking Houses.) Kory managed to round up some closets, light fixtures and window coverings from some of the other houses here (he has keys to all of them now). It will be sold as a package deal to some investor so we don’t feel bad using things from the other places and it saves us thousands of dollars in not having to buy them.

Kaleb spent the whole day playing with cutey girl, Sabina (see photo). It’s so nice he likes to be with kids his age - Hallelujah! She turns 10 next week. They watched Ben 10 on her TV, rode bikes, played with Alfred the dog next door, jumped on a neighbor’s trampoline and picked more blueberries for pancakes. The pancakes they have in this part of Norway are called “Svela” (probably not how you spell it but that’s how it sounds). But figure this– Norwegians eat French fries with a fork and knife, but they eat pancakes with their hands! They sprinkle sugar or jam or a thick kind of syrup on the pancake and roll it up and eat it like a burrito. But their pancakes aren’t like ours… Svela is special to just this area in Norway and the key ingredient is something called “Hjortetakksalt.” I bought it a few years ago and brought it home so I could make Svela and it’s a powder that smells exactly like ammonia (or pee, whichever you prefer) and the scary thing is, if you translate that name Hjortetakksalt, it means “thanks to the deer salt”… so ya gotta wonder what’s in there. (It makes the pancakes a little bit rubbery so they can be rolled up without breaking.) So Sabina had her first taste of American pancakes today and she looked at me like I was crazy when she discovered blueberries in them. She preferred the ones without. I guess she’s used to the pee.

It's Better Than Home!

We went to Filadelfia Kirke again this morning. It was a great sermon, given by the secretary of the church. I guess in the summer time they rotate who preaches so the pastor has time off. She used to be a missionary in Chile so she speaks perfect Spanish (and English), but her Norwegian was so fast I only understood about half of what she said. I could tell it was good though because she was talking about the power of the Holy Spirit and I could feel it in my bones.

After church was over a woman came up to Kory and I (we met her soon after we got here) and she asked us to pray for her. She didn’t say what the problem was but that didn’t matter to God as we joined with cousin Axel and Kari (and the woman that preached), and we had quite the prayer time right there in the aisle. I could barely stay vertical as I felt God moving on that spot. I’m anxious to get a report back from her on what God has done as I know it was something good!

We rushed home to get something to eat before heading out to pick berries. Before we could put one bite in our mouths, some cousins had gone on a bike ride and came by to see our place (they don’t live real close to us), so we had a nice visit with them (and Kaleb offered them a cup of tea.) Just as they were leaving, Odd and Turid and Hege came by to see how things were going for us. We never get this kind of attention at home! We had the opportunity to tell of our miracle last night with the house not burning down, and even those who may not believe in miracles, raised their eyebrows in amazement.

We finally got to go berry picking around four o’clock and I was glad to get at least three cups of blueberries, because Kaleb must have eaten twice that amount, as well as handfuls of raspberries, red currants and gooseberries. The wild berries here are like blackberries in the northwest… it’s hard to keep them out of any vacant land and there’s plenty of vacant land in our neighborhood. We’re in heaven (now I see why Kory jokingly calls this place “the holy land.” I froze some of the blueberries for later but I promised Kaleb blueberry pancakes with bacon for dinner tomorrow. It’s very Norske to have pancakes and bacon for dinner and they can’t get over the fact we eat it for breakfast.

On our walk, we ventured past our “point of panic” on the peninsula along the Vegsund Fjord where we were last night when we got the news from Kaleb about leaving water boiling on the stove… and we were even more impressed with “our” beach! It’s beyond all expectations in terms of beauty, serenity and privacy. We were the only ones there for a long time (maybe the fact that Aalesund’s soccer team was playing a game during that same time had something to do with it?) There are several picnic tables along the shoreline so we’ll enjoy many a lunch there in the next year and it’s a fantastic place to take any visitors. (It’s a view that’s guaranteed to beat anything we have back home.) We are in paradise here! I told Kory (that’s him in the photo) I never wanted to leave, and Kaleb said (as he was throwing rocks in the water), “Well, we could go home every now and then for a visit, but I wouldn’t mind staying here either!” (Remind us of that in the wintertime….)

Tonight we went to an evening service of the Agape Church, which is right in our neighborhood -- lots of young people and energy and the power of God. Kory shouted HALLELUJAH several times and I’m not sure anyone even heard him as they had an all out rock band and they were rockin’! There was only about 50 people there (not counting the kids) but I guess that size church is normal around here. I’d like to go back. Kaleb just told me (as I was writing this) that he really, “felt the spirit of God in that church we just went to.” He said he’s only been to two churches where he felt the spirit in such a powerful way (“it’s like a warm, tingly feeling inside” he says) – this church and the Russian church in Mt. Vernon. He surprised us tonight as he was entering into worship with his arms raised to heaven, eyes closed, singing and praising God (some of the songs were in English). He usually sits in church and reads books, so I know it had to be the power of God to get him to put down a book.

Oh, we are so blessed.

A Few Surprises

We spent seven straight hours shopping today for things we need. Ugh. And we spent well over $1,500 on mostly little stuff… stuff I should have packed up from home (in retrospect). But we were surprised to find a few bargains out there… like some high quality folding outdoor chairs (that will work well indoors too) for 70% off (we only paid $16.50 each). Woo hoo. We went to the hardware store, the “Linens and Things” equivalent, the grocery story, the almost “Ikea” store and the closest thing to the “Dollar Store” Norway will ever know (but nothing is under $5). I bought most everything on my list and Kaleb even found a duvet cover with nothing but dogs on it, so he was thrilled. It was fun to see what’s available, should we ever have money again.

When we got home, the neighbor girl, Sabine, was waiting for Kaleb. She’s ten and speaks some English (I’m sure she doesn’t understand much of what Kaleb says because he won’t speak slowly enough), but they played for hours together anyway. She started teaching him some Norwegian phrases, which warmed my heart. They rode bikes through the neighborhood and went to her grandmother’s house and watched a little TV. They talked about Ben 10 and Pokeman and Kaleb introduced her to the neighbor dog, Alfred. Two peas in a pod. It was exciting for me to see him kick into this whole “kids to play with in the neighborhood” thing that he doesn’t have at home. (I hope dogs will become less and less important and real people fill the void.)

After dinner we headed out for a little walk to explore the neighborhood. Just as we were leaving, cousin Kari came by with Anne Lisa (the woman we were going to rent the house from initially). Kari wanted to show her how God provided for us so she could stop feeling so guilty about changing her mind. We had a great time showing her our place and telling her how it all came about. Kaleb put water in a pan on the stove to offer them some tea, but they couldn’t stay long. I turned off the stove and after they left, we headed out again.

We were completely surprised to discover a little cove about a five minute walk from our house that’s perfect for swimming, rock skipping, fishing and picnicking (see photo). There were wild blueberry, raspberry and gooseberry bushes lining the path to get there so we’re going back tomorrow to pick more berries. We kept wandering through some woods along a peninsula and discovered yet another beach opening up into the nearest fjord. It was breathtaking.

We were enjoying the absolute serenity of the scene before us, the colors in the setting sun (at 10:30pm), the sound of the fish splashing as they jumped out of the calm water, the quaintness of the little boats along the shore, the coziness of the boat houses with grass growing on their roofs, the invitation from the picnic tables along the beach… it was all more than we could take in. Kory and I were feeling so blessed as we realized that God gave us everything we wanted out of living in Norway – kids and relatives in the neighborhood, quick access to the sea, and mountains close by. We were almost giddy with excitement but we just wanted to take deep breaths and enjoy the moment. And then Kaleb piped up, “Good thing there’s hot tea waiting for us when we get home.” “WHAT!!?” We both asked. “I turned the water back on right before we left,” he said.

Both of us went from absolute calm to unbelievable panic as we were sure the house was now on fire. We had been gone from the house at least 45 minutes, maybe an hour while we explored the shoreline around this cove and nearby peninsula. You’ve never seen anyone scramble over slippery rocks and through wooded trails faster than Kory. I’m not nearly as sure on my feet as he is so I got slightly damaged in the process of trying to keep up. I yelled at Kaleb to run on ahead and see if he could beat Kory back to the house (then I wondered why I told him that because what was he going to do when he got there?) I started yelling out prayers of protection “In the name of Jesus!” Oh, how I prayed (while looking for smoke in the direction of the house.) I only had hope in the protection that God promises and I was calling down all the angels I could to put the fire out…. Kory and Kaleb got to the house at the same time and Kory found the oven on the HIGHEST setting under a 2 quart pan that had about five cups of water in it initially. There was still a small sliver of water bubbling (about 1/3 cup) in the bottom of the pan! I was a total miracle Kaleb even told us about it!

We had quite the safety talk with Kaleb after that about heat sources and that he should NEVER leave the house with anything left on. It was a lesson we hope he never forgets. Both Kory and I are so full of adrenalin that we can’t get to sleep now and it’s well past midnight. It’s a miracle similar to Hanukkah but instead of the oil in the lamp lasting eight days… the water in the pot lasted over 45 minutes. (You’d think we’d already had our share of miracles, but apparently not.)Aug 8, 2008

We're In!

It’s 10:30 on Friday night and Kory and Kaleb just sat down to their first dinner in our new house! Kory wasn’t too happy about cooking dinner at the end of a long day, but I don’t know how to make Fiskeboller (fish balls) and Kaleb really wanted some for a celebratory meal. Food is supposed to taste better when it’s cooked with love, so I’m steering clear of this meal….

Kory met with the attorney today and signed an agreement for our living arrangement. He will give us 30 days notice if someone wants to buy this place, so I’m now praying no one buys it for at least a year as this moving business is a lot of work. But I have to say, I’ve never experienced so much family support in all my life. Axel and Kari loaned us a big bed, lamps, rugs, living room chairs, footstools and an office desk and chair, bookshelves, washer AND dryer, microwave, night stands, TV, heaters, stereo (and temporary linens until our boxes arrive). Odd and Turid loaned Kaleb a bed and a few small tables and Rune gave us a kitchen table, chairs, couches and coffee table. We are set! I wouldn’t have needed to ship any kitchen items as Axel and Kari have everything times two or three, but who knew? And things went so fast with so many hands participating. Hallelujah! It’s good to get the big stuff in before our boxes get here but it’s kind of like camping right now as we have minimal supplies. But this house is cozy and quiet and just downright “dreamy” as my friend, Joni, would say. Thank you, Jesus!

The View From Myrlandvegen

This would be the view from our house if it weren’t sinking! Actually, this is the view from the roof of our house. We can see the tops of these mountains from our living room, but as a friend that used to live on Mercer Island once said, “I don’t have a view, but I have a view of a house with a view.” And such it is in our neighborhood. We move in tomorrow!

Today was a big day. Kory had a job interview and got a job! A nephew of a cousin here has a building business and he needs more carpenters. Kory told him he doesn’t want to do anything that will hurt his body (he is getting old, you know), and he only wants to work part-time, and all that was fine with the guy. He has a house he’s building about a five minute drive from our new home, so it’s a sweet deal. Kory thinks all the money he will earn will be his own “pocket money,” but I know it’s God’s way of providing for the things that completely blindside us – like getting the oil changed on our van and getting a $220 bill for it… stuff like that. (How does Wal-Mart do it for $13.97?)

The other big thing that happened today was a meeting we had at Kaleb’s new school with the rector and the school principal. They are two very serious men and they seemed quite concerned that we decided to put him in their school. They talked rather sternly to Kaleb about how important it is for him to obey the rules and not be a disturbance and they questioned our reasons for homeschooling him all these years. It was a little stressful for me as it was a bit like an interrogation, but I understood their concerns. At this point Kaleb would be a tough fit anywhere, but I do believe he’s a quick learner and he’ll buck up. The Blindheim Skole, where he will go, is a sort of experimental school in that it has NO classrooms – it’s all open teaching – big areas where the students congregate and move from area to area depending on the subject. So one student acting up can disturb 70 kids all at once and they have zero tolerance. How sweet is that? It’ll be like boot camp for his social behavior. And one really great thing is that a girl Kaleb’s age (named Victoria) came from America last year and goes to the same school. They will put him in her class and she can help him learn the language (similar to what Kory did after he moved to America and another kid – Roar Danielson - came over from Norway the year after… they are still friends to this day and it’s through that connection I met Kory.) So we shall see how it all goes for Kaleb. (Victoria’s father is Norwegian, and her mother, American, and she’s here to stay.)

We also went downtown to one of the few second hand stores in the area and bought a few things. It was fun to do a little nesting. Thankfully Kaleb didn’t notice the person that owns that store sounded very much like a man but looked an awful lot like a very ugly woman. I think the sex change operation didn’t do what he/she was hoping and he/she certainly needs to take more hormones to pull the whole thing off. Welcome to ultra liberal Scandinavia.

Kitchen Sweet Kitchen

This is my soon-to-be new kitchen. Sweet! (I took the photo while standing in the living room.) Can you find the refrigerator and dishwasher hiding behind their wooden facades? It’s totally high buck stuff, Bosch appliances, and a touch control totally flat stove top. Hot dog. I love that the whole house is so small it cleans up in no time. I went over and finished cleaning it today while Kory completed the finish carpentry work for Odd and Turid. Kaleb came with me but he sat up in the attic reading books. He asked if the attic could be his “domain” since it’s so cozy up there and has the cool “secret staircase” leading to it (it’s one of those things you pull down from the ceiling.) The attic is unfinished but pretty large and it could be a good romper room up there. At least it will be warm in the winter and it adds at least 50% to the square footage of the house. Nice.

There are some interesting differences in houses here versus the ones in America. In Norway every room as a door threshold that sticks up from the floor anywhere from half an inch to several inches. It’s hard to get used to stepping over it to enter a room and it’s a great way to stub a toe. Bathrooms don’t come with towel racks or toilet paper holders. (They are stand alone items that you take with you.) Windows don’t have screens on them here – they pivot usually in the middle -- and open up so half the window is inside the house and the other is sticking outside. Everyone hangs their bedding out the window on either super hot days or super cold days as they say it kills the bugs (they all use down comforters so who knows what bugs may live in there.) No one has wall-to-wall carpeting – everyone has tile or wood floors (or linoleum) and they all take their shoes off when entering. Usually the entry ways have heated floors to dry the shoes quicker. And the most expensive difference (besides the fact that you have to buy all the light fixtures and heating elements) is that rarely does a bedroom have a closet in it. Everyone has to buy closets for each room! I think we’ll be OK because we can borrow closets from different places, but that’s a funny piece of furniture to be packing around with you when you move. Why don’t they just build them in since everyone needs them anyway?

Kaleb met the dog next door today and I must say he’s in heaven. He has found “The Norwegian Duchess,” as he says. Duchess is our old neighbor dog (brown lab) that he just adores and the main reason he didn’t want to go to Norway -- because he didn’t want to be without her. But God had his back covered and we will soon live next door to a 10 month old Boxer named Alfred. Kaleb and Alfred ran around his yard today for at least an hour before they wore each other out. Alfred’s owner, Matt, was thrilled Alfred has someone to play with. I met Matt yesterday when we were searching for “the lost boy” (Kaleb), and he’s a friend of Joseph Kloven… and as it also turns out, Matt is probably a 4th cousin to Kory! In talking to him today (he’s from California and his English is PERFECT – ha), I found out his mom is from the Østrem farm just up the street here. That’s where Kory’s grandfather is also from so once I get the family tree uncovered and connect the dots, I’ll be able to prove it for sure, but at this stage I’d bet money on it. How funny is that? We’ll be neighbors with another cousin! But around here, that’s not too hard. In fact, Matt told me that once he starts dating a girl, and before he kisses her, he has to get a bit of family history from her to be sure they’re not related.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Last night we went back over to the “sinking houses” (aka – our new home) and there was a double rainbow stretched out across the sky – right over the place. Coincidence? Not. God has kept his promise once again (He never fails). HALLELUJAH!

Apparently we are moving into the most talked about piece of property in all the land (at least in this state, anyway). Turid knows the builder and he’s had more than his share of stress lately. The same guy that built these places also built a multi-story condo building near downtown Aalesund that just a few month ago was knocked off its foundation by a huge rock slide. The building slid twenty feet into the street, collapsing the first two floors – instantly killing five residents asleep in their beds. Turid’s daughter’s boyfriend’s mother lived in that building – on the fourth floor – but she survived. It was huge news in all of Europe. The builder once again, built it solid (the fact that the top four floors survived intact is amazing), and to code (same as with the sinking houses), but the piece of the hillside that gave way was so massive no one could have predicted what was to come. Around here, parts of the mountains “calve” off like glaciers and every time it happens, something devastating ensues.

The most recent catastrophic event was in the 1930s at a place called Tafjord – not too far from here. A colossal chunk of the mountain side went crashing into the fjord below. It created a monstrous tidal wave that wiped out an entire town – only a few people who were up in the hills above the reach of the killer wave, survived. Buildings, people and livestock were forever gone. The town was rebuilt and there’s now a roadside marker to remind all who pass by, what happened. Too sad.

The most heart-wrenching story I’ve heard yet is about a farm right at the water’s edge. The small piece of tillable soil could only support one small farm but the family there had about 13 kids. Across the fjord was the nearest town so they had to row the boat over regularly to get supplies. I guess it was an otherwise calm, peaceful day when the parents rowed over to go to the store, leaving their children at home for the afternoon. The hillside above their home and all the rock supporting their farm just suddenly dropped into the sea. Their house, farm, land, animals and all their children were gone in an instant – as they looked on helplessly, from across the fjord. (I’m sure they must have been thinking about the book of Job in the Bible after that happened.) It was more than a hundred years ago but when the story is told by the locals, the emotion in which they tell it is as if it happened yesterday. Beyond tragic.

The houses where we will live have posts under them sitting on solid rock 50 feet down, so they aren’t going anywhere, but as the old Christian hymn says, “On Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand…” and that’s pretty much the case at Myrlandvegen 83B (our new address). And who should be surprised – “Myr” in Norwegian means BOG! So our new street name literally translated is “Bog Land Street.” Anne, from our home fellowship group back home, e-mailed me yesterday to say she is sending us life-jackets. Ha ha. I do think I’ll try to find a life-ring from a boat though and nail it up to the outside of the house – just in case we need it.

I know many prayers were said on our behalf over this whole housing situation as I’ve received so many e-mails of encouragement. I must say, living relatively FREE in Norway is above and beyond all my expectations and is a HUGE blessing, so if you prayed for us – thanks so much! God didn’t just answer the prayers to provide us with one house, we actually now have six of them – and they are all FREE. Who could have imagined that? HALLELUJAH!

I spent the day cleaning the one place we will live (eventually I’m sure I’ll clean them all) but I’m preparing the way for Friday’s onslaught of furniture that all the cousins are more than anxious to loan us. (Today’s photo is my soon-to-be new bathroom – so European – I love the cool shaped sink set into the Corian-like countertop – oh la la.) All the money I set aside to buy little things we need to set up a home is still sitting in the bank. I don’t think I’ll need to use it for that after all. Maybe it’s time for another Hallelujah party?

Kaleb spent this rainy day reading and playing on the computer. Kory spent it putting up trim around some bedroom doorways for Odd and Turid (we feel we should earn our keep at this point).

Tonight we had a visitor from Seattle – Joseph Kloven and his new Norwegian wife, Camille. Joseph’s father and Kory’s father were best friends in Seattle, and now both the “boys” are back in Norway (Joseph is young enough to be MY son, however). Joseph works for Youth With A Mission here in Aalesund and he married a woman from Kory’s hometown of Langevaag, where they now live. We took them over to see our new place and Kaleb decided to ride his bike over. There was a bit of miscommunication about the path he was to take to get over there and we ended up losing him for quite some time. I was starting to panic, but I prayed instead. Kory was driving around looking for him and Joseph, Camille and I were walking the streets asking neighbors if they had seen him. I did get to meet one of our immediate next door neighbors, who is a guy from California, no less, and a friend of Josephs, coincidentally. Or not. (Small world stuff.) Anyway, it turns out Kaleb headed back to Odd and Turid’s when he couldn’t find us and Turid drove him back over to where we were walking the streets in a daze. I was starting to cry by then, but Kaleb was sobbing. He didn’t follow the plan we had so I hope he learned a lesson in all that. The only consolation for me was knowing that someone hadn’t stolen him… and that eventually he’d turn up… but it was one of those parenting moments I hope don’t happen too often.