Oh, what fun we had today! We went to Agape Kirka again today because Sabina, the neighbor girl wanted to go with us – but we were also pleased that her mother came along, too! So we all walked together down the street on this absolutely gorgeous “fall” day. Apparently it was “kick-off” Sunday throughout Norway as the churches all had a special pot-luck afterwards and at Agape, there were lots of activities for kids – with a clown making balloon animals and someone else painting faces. The congregation also presented the pastor with a new podium and side table (for his water glass) made by a welder (very sleek looking scan design). The pastor was very shocked and quite pleased with it all.
Kory and Kaleb stayed on for the social hour afterwards but I just grabbed a quick bite and headed home. (There was more food there than at a Royal Fork Buffet -- it must be where the Lutheran’s got their start on pot-luck socials as I’ve never seen such a spread of food.) I had to get home and set out the food for our own party and right at 2:00 we got company. I made sure everyone knew it was “An American Party” so they wouldn’t come formally dressed or expect a formal seating arrangement. When I told Ketil, one cousin, that it was “American,” he said, “Should I just show up in my underwear then?” as he was poking fun at how incredibly casual we are in America about things. I even planned ahead and brought paper plates (something you would only use here if you were at the beach), and I dared to set out plastic forks and cups (but I set out regular ones too just in case someone was offended). I was so worried that I spent all this time making some special things to eat, and no one would like my combination of flavors, as most Norwegians like food fairly bland (except for those nasty sausages). But as it turned out, the food was a HUGE hit and everyone ate seconds and thirds and wanted recipes and kept asking “You made this?” like it wasn’t comprehensible to them, for some reason. So we enjoyed an absolutely beautiful sunny afternoon out on our “deck” at the sinking houses (you can see just how much they have sank in the photo – just below the beige siding they have added extra skirting to keep children and pets from going under there.) We ate, we laughed, we soaking up some sunshine. Turid commented that it was good to bring laughter back to this area as there had been so much complaining and negativity since the ground started moving. Everyone that walked or drove or rode their bikes by, turned their heads a little bit extra hard today to see who in the world would be having a party HERE. And the only thing I’ll do different next time is to be sure to have enough coffee! I completely underestimated the amount of coffee that 20 people could drink in one afternoon and I ran out! About then, people started going home. (I still had pop and beer and wine though, but without a cup of coffee in their hands, the conversation nearly died.)
We had just enough time to clean up and head to the airport and pick up Willy and Nancy Schaub. Their flight was an hour late so we got to drive around the island of Vigra a bit and watch the sun set. Beautiful place. And finally, the Schaubs arrived – looking VERY tired and surprised it was such a long journey to come here (Willy hadn’t slept a wink in about 30 hours). I had saved out a sampling of the food I made for the party today (good thing I did as everyone devoured it all), so they got a plate of left-overs before crashing for the night. What a day!
Kory and Kaleb stayed on for the social hour afterwards but I just grabbed a quick bite and headed home. (There was more food there than at a Royal Fork Buffet -- it must be where the Lutheran’s got their start on pot-luck socials as I’ve never seen such a spread of food.) I had to get home and set out the food for our own party and right at 2:00 we got company. I made sure everyone knew it was “An American Party” so they wouldn’t come formally dressed or expect a formal seating arrangement. When I told Ketil, one cousin, that it was “American,” he said, “Should I just show up in my underwear then?” as he was poking fun at how incredibly casual we are in America about things. I even planned ahead and brought paper plates (something you would only use here if you were at the beach), and I dared to set out plastic forks and cups (but I set out regular ones too just in case someone was offended). I was so worried that I spent all this time making some special things to eat, and no one would like my combination of flavors, as most Norwegians like food fairly bland (except for those nasty sausages). But as it turned out, the food was a HUGE hit and everyone ate seconds and thirds and wanted recipes and kept asking “You made this?” like it wasn’t comprehensible to them, for some reason. So we enjoyed an absolutely beautiful sunny afternoon out on our “deck” at the sinking houses (you can see just how much they have sank in the photo – just below the beige siding they have added extra skirting to keep children and pets from going under there.) We ate, we laughed, we soaking up some sunshine. Turid commented that it was good to bring laughter back to this area as there had been so much complaining and negativity since the ground started moving. Everyone that walked or drove or rode their bikes by, turned their heads a little bit extra hard today to see who in the world would be having a party HERE. And the only thing I’ll do different next time is to be sure to have enough coffee! I completely underestimated the amount of coffee that 20 people could drink in one afternoon and I ran out! About then, people started going home. (I still had pop and beer and wine though, but without a cup of coffee in their hands, the conversation nearly died.)
We had just enough time to clean up and head to the airport and pick up Willy and Nancy Schaub. Their flight was an hour late so we got to drive around the island of Vigra a bit and watch the sun set. Beautiful place. And finally, the Schaubs arrived – looking VERY tired and surprised it was such a long journey to come here (Willy hadn’t slept a wink in about 30 hours). I had saved out a sampling of the food I made for the party today (good thing I did as everyone devoured it all), so they got a plate of left-overs before crashing for the night. What a day!
No comments:
Post a Comment