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.
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.
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