Kaleb woke up this morning and grabbed a “how to draw” book out of the bookshelf and started to follow the step-by-step instructions on how to draw 3-D items with shadows. He worked at it for a few hours until we left for church and he showed a marked improvement. We attended Filadelfia Kirke today and just by chance it was a special service for kids. They acted out key stories in the Bible in a childish way – puppets, children’s theater, Bible reading by children. They had a very impressive stage and props and it was all quite fun. Afterwards they had games for the children and a free lunch for them. We stuck around a while and visited with relatives and folks we know. Charlie, a deaf artist from England that goes to that church, was there. Kaleb had brought along his art work and was looking forward to showing him his latest accomplishments. Charlie had drawn a cartoonish portrait of Kaleb one time we were there and Kaleb was quite impressed with him. Charlie now was impressed with Kaleb and he asked him on the spot if he could commission a piece of art from him – so Kaleb sat after church looking out the window and drawing the mountains and houses below – complete with shading and dimension. Charlie paid him 50 kroner for it ($10) and told him to use the money to go buy a “good” paint brush and then come to his studio for an art lesson. He lives not far from my school, so we’ll have to arrange a time for that to happen. Charlie loves to encourage the artist in everyone and he sure lit Kaleb’s fire. He’s filled several sketch pads just in the last month. Most of what he’s drawn is of his “inventions” (machines and strange alien creatures.) It would be nice if he could draw things that don’t need an explanation -- but Kory says he thinks even Picasso needs explaining.
After church we went back to the “loppemarket” (flea market) to see if they were being more reasonable in their pricing, since they were in the final hours. Yesterday, Kory wanted to buy an old metal lunch box (just a flat tin with a removable lid), and they wanted $25 each for them. Today, they gave us a big plastic grocery bag for $10 and said whatever we could fit in the bag, we could take home – so Kory got three of those metal lunch boxes (“matpakken” they call them), an antique tea kettle, 16 wine glasses, 6 drinking glasses, 5 dinner plates, 4 coffee cups, 3 candle holders, 2 mixing bowls, 1 vase (this is starting to sound like the 12 days of Christmas!) 3 small planters and a variety of other small things. We filled two bags and finally got the bargains we were hoping for. We even bought two nice throw rugs for a dollar (5 kroner). I hate filling our house with “stuff” now but after hosting my birthday party I realized we didn’t have enough coffee cups to go around and we were drinking coffee in shifts, with me washing the cups in between. And we only brought six dinner plates here, so it’s a bit limiting on having company over.
Two things you’ll find in every Norwegian window sill (they have very thick walls here) -- are candles and potted plants. They sell four inch flowering plants in all the grocery stores and it’s “typisk Norsk” (typical Norwegian style) to have all your window sills filled with plants. And you can’t be tacky and just set the plant in the window sill in those ugly black plastic containers they come in - you have to have some stylish looking pottery container to cover it up. Well, they sell the plants for as cheap as four dollars, but the pots are all around $20, so now I’m stylin’ too as I have my window sills all full of plants (in used pots, no less) and candles (in used candle holder). I think I’m set when it comes to all those things “that make a house a home” (as Kaleb likes to say).
I saw a sign in the round-about today on the way home from church that said, “tur heis åpent i dag,“ which literally translated means “walking elevator open today.” I envisioned an outdoor escalator and wondered what that could be. This is another area where Kory comes in handy… he translates. It meant that the “chair lift” was open. Since it was yet another fine day here in Ålesund, they opened up the chair lift near our house that goes to the top of the mountain (used mostly in the winter time for skiing.) We were still in our church clothes but decided to take in the view from the top nonetheless (see photo – downtown Ålesund in straight over Kaleb’s head and our condo at Moa is to the right). It almost felt like cheating – to absorb all that scenery without the huffing and puffing that usually goes along with it, but after yesterday’s hike, I was glad to take it easy. Well, I shouldn’t say it was too easy, as I was under a tremendous about of stress going up and down in those skimpy chairs, as it didn’t exactly feel safe to me. (I was more than a little scared – my body nearly turned to jello.) It was worse than the zip lines I went on in Mexico, as the chair lift stopped frequently to let people off and on and every time it stopped, it bobbed up and down, only adding to my anxiety about how far I’d be falling to my death. Kory and Kaleb found great pleasure in my distress. I know they love me, but sometimes how they show it is a bit warped.
After church we went back to the “loppemarket” (flea market) to see if they were being more reasonable in their pricing, since they were in the final hours. Yesterday, Kory wanted to buy an old metal lunch box (just a flat tin with a removable lid), and they wanted $25 each for them. Today, they gave us a big plastic grocery bag for $10 and said whatever we could fit in the bag, we could take home – so Kory got three of those metal lunch boxes (“matpakken” they call them), an antique tea kettle, 16 wine glasses, 6 drinking glasses, 5 dinner plates, 4 coffee cups, 3 candle holders, 2 mixing bowls, 1 vase (this is starting to sound like the 12 days of Christmas!) 3 small planters and a variety of other small things. We filled two bags and finally got the bargains we were hoping for. We even bought two nice throw rugs for a dollar (5 kroner). I hate filling our house with “stuff” now but after hosting my birthday party I realized we didn’t have enough coffee cups to go around and we were drinking coffee in shifts, with me washing the cups in between. And we only brought six dinner plates here, so it’s a bit limiting on having company over.
Two things you’ll find in every Norwegian window sill (they have very thick walls here) -- are candles and potted plants. They sell four inch flowering plants in all the grocery stores and it’s “typisk Norsk” (typical Norwegian style) to have all your window sills filled with plants. And you can’t be tacky and just set the plant in the window sill in those ugly black plastic containers they come in - you have to have some stylish looking pottery container to cover it up. Well, they sell the plants for as cheap as four dollars, but the pots are all around $20, so now I’m stylin’ too as I have my window sills all full of plants (in used pots, no less) and candles (in used candle holder). I think I’m set when it comes to all those things “that make a house a home” (as Kaleb likes to say).
I saw a sign in the round-about today on the way home from church that said, “tur heis åpent i dag,“ which literally translated means “walking elevator open today.” I envisioned an outdoor escalator and wondered what that could be. This is another area where Kory comes in handy… he translates. It meant that the “chair lift” was open. Since it was yet another fine day here in Ålesund, they opened up the chair lift near our house that goes to the top of the mountain (used mostly in the winter time for skiing.) We were still in our church clothes but decided to take in the view from the top nonetheless (see photo – downtown Ålesund in straight over Kaleb’s head and our condo at Moa is to the right). It almost felt like cheating – to absorb all that scenery without the huffing and puffing that usually goes along with it, but after yesterday’s hike, I was glad to take it easy. Well, I shouldn’t say it was too easy, as I was under a tremendous about of stress going up and down in those skimpy chairs, as it didn’t exactly feel safe to me. (I was more than a little scared – my body nearly turned to jello.) It was worse than the zip lines I went on in Mexico, as the chair lift stopped frequently to let people off and on and every time it stopped, it bobbed up and down, only adding to my anxiety about how far I’d be falling to my death. Kory and Kaleb found great pleasure in my distress. I know they love me, but sometimes how they show it is a bit warped.
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