Photo Day

It was over 60 degrees today and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky all day. I love the fact that the weather along the coast of Norway is so unpredictable and it changes like it does. Up north, down south and in the center of Norway, they just have snow all winter long, but here we get snow, sleet, rain and warm sunshine, all within the month of January. Today was exceptional though and everyone was out enjoying it. Many cars got washed today (including ours) and a lot of mountains were climbed, I’m sure. Kory hasn’t done any exercise whatsoever since we’ve been in Norway so I’m a little hesitant to go climb any mountains for fear it will do him in, so he settled for fishing today with Kaleb (see photo of Kaleb trying to unhook his line from some seaweed). Still no fish, but at least they tried and there’s always hope. I stayed home and opened all the doors and windows and got some fresh air throughout the house, while cleaning it up a bit and doing some laundry. I so wished we could have done something incredible today to match the weather, but we did do something that was good. We only have 22 Saturdays left in Norway and I want every one of them to be memorable.

My pal Vestina and her boyfriend came out with all his fancy camera gear and he took some family photos of us down by the beach. It took an incredibly long time though and Kaleb was worn out and stopped smiling about half way through. Minde, the photographer, just wanted to practice on us and he had a lot of good ideas for family photos, so that part was fun, but he’s yet to figure out the attention span of a ten year old that owns electronic devices, so that part wasn’t so fun. Just how long a kid can be torn from their toys, especially when a friend is hanging out in the wings, is a level of knowledge about photography that one can only get from experience. The whole ordeal took several hours and over 200 photos later we were finally done. In most of the photos I think I look fat, Kory thinks he looks old and we all think Kaleb looks bored. Other than that, the background scenery was spectacular and Minde does an excellent job with the camera! We did get a few fun photos that will be worth framing and will be good memories of our time here in Norway, so that was the goal, and we accomplished it today. It turned out to be a Saturday that we might remember even better than most of them, since we’ll have the photos to look at for years to come.

Tobias patiently waited all afternoon to play with Kaleb and he sat quietly behind the scenes and watched the photo shoot, so tonight we treated both boys to a few games of bowling. We had family game night last night with Sabina and Tobias at our house playing games til late, but tonight I really needed to get out of the house. Kaleb and Tobias have been playing bowling on Tobias’ Wii (an electronic game) so we thought we’d see how they handle the real life version. There is one bowling alley in all of Sunnmøre (this entire region) and it has a whopping 12 lanes. I was worried on a Saturday night we might not get a lane, but there was no problem with that. The problem was finding balls and shoes that fit, so we had a wait for a few games to end before we could begin ours. Above each lane in the bowling alley is a piece of paper tacked up for all the world to see just who holds the record for the highest score on that lane. The scores range from 258-290, and according to Tobias, no one, in the history of the bowling alley, has EVER bowled a 300 in that place. I’m sure it would be front page news if someone did. Considering how many world records, and Olympic gold medals, and amazing accomplishment the Norwegians have achieved over the years, it just seems incredible to me that no one has bowled a perfect game in the local bowling alley. Now there’s a mountain yet to climb. I’d take on the challenge myself, if I was any good at bowling, but I didn’t even come close tonight with my high score of 118. If the bumpers wouldn’t have been up, I’m sure I would have only gotten half that amount. But we all had fun anyway, and that was the point. Bowling in Norway isn’t cheap though (like most things here). Kaleb and Tobias bowled 2 games each and then Kory and I joined them for the last go-round. Between the shoe rentals and the price of the games, we were out over seventy bucks. Maybe that’s why no one has bowled a perfect game… perfecting one’s skill would empty one’s pockets. I still get sticker shock over how much things cost here but for the most part, I just don’t look. I buy what we need and thank God we have the money to pay for it. I set out the cash for that week’s allotment and when the money’s gone, it’s gone, and we have to wait until the next week to spend anymore. A few times I’ve spent the whole week’s budget on the first day of the week, but then I like the challenge of making it through the rest of the week without spending a kroner. It’s like a game, and when I make it to the end, it feels like I’ve bowled a 300.

Praying Women

I played hooky from school today. I was going to go for the first hour and then leave to join this group of incredible praying women at ten o’clock, but I was enjoying the comforts of a toasty warm bed on an ice cold morning and I couldn’t bear the thought of getting out of it anytime soon. As I was lying there after I turned off the alarm, pleased with the peace and quiet of the morning, with both Kory and Kaleb breathing heavily beside me, I thought I had all the time in the world because I didn’t have to catch the 7:45 bus. Then at about 7:45 I realized that, while I may be skipping school today, Kaleb surely wasn’t! All those peaceful and cozy thoughts of mine turned to real panic when the big “click” in my brain happened that Kaleb needed to be up and out the door in 15 minutes – a near impossibility. He made it to school on time only because we bought an extra 15 minutes by giving him two bucks to take the bus, as the streets were pretty icy and he couldn’t ride his bike anyway. It was no way to start off a morning I thought would otherwise be relaxed. But once I got a quick lunch made for him, I was able to have a cup of coffee with Kory before taking the 9:10 bus into town to go to a prayer meeting with all the women in the photo today.

There was only one woman missing today from this long-standing group of praying women and that was cousin Axel’s wife, Kari. She flew to Oslo early this morning to go say goodbye to her daughter Roda, who is moving to Australia for one year just for the fun of it (kind of like what we are doing here in Norway.) So Kari was missed, but I sure enjoyed the time spent with these other women. I was able to share quite a few “God” stories with them, talking mostly in Norwegian, so I didn’t feel too badly about missing school. I told them about several tight spots Kory and I have been in where God has come to our rescue in various and miraculous ways. I told them I once said to Kory that I thought God loves me more than everyone else because He is always doing so many unbelievable things for me. Kory then reminded me that God loves us all the same, and He does all those things for everyone else too, it’s just that I notice them more. They liked that. After we talked a while, we spent time in soaking prayer (I love that they want to do that), and then talked some more about what God showed us during our quiet time with Him. I gave them all pretty little notebooks so they could write down all the things God is doing in their lives so they will have their own little love booklet from God. They liked that too. I love that they invited me again today as it was a big thrill for me to be with women who have such a hunger for God and who want more of whatever He has to give. We all left encouraged, even though some of these women are going through incredibly difficult times right now. But God is faithful, and I believe that “all things” will work together “for good,” as the Bible says.

The photo today was taken around a coffee table, and certainly depicts a normal “coffee time” in Norway. The coffee tables here are much higher than ours in America as they use them almost like a dining room table where everyone gathers in the living room and eats a light meal together. Having “coffee” in a Norwegian’s home seems more like lunch, as they always serve open faced sandwiches, coffee and something sweet to eat no matter what time of day. The best china, candles and crystal are also commonly used when having someone over for coffee. Chances are much greater to be invited to someone’s house for coffee, than for a full blown meal. I like it.

I’m always thrilled when I hear from someone that reads my blog, as it encourages me to keep writing. Today, one of the cousins in Oslo that reads it wrote to me and filled me in on the “swallow some camel” comment that I was pondering the origins of yesterday. Bent-Jarle (a preacher’s son), quoted Matt 23:24 where it says, “You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” So that was it – it came from the Bible! I asked so many people where that saying came from and no one knew. I suspected it might be from the Bible, but no verses came to mind so I dismissed it. But now I know. I think it’s funny that Norwegians are quoting scripture and don’t even realize it.

Kaleb published his latest edition of The Weakly Puppy today and I am sensing the end is near. He has found children much more fun to be around than dogs and he is running out of material to write about. I actually think that is a good thing. After next month’s 2 year anniversary edition, he wants to take a break until we get back to America. I’m sure dogs will take on more significance then, since there are no children to play with in our neighborhood at home. So sad.

Funny Words

It would have been a pretty boring, ordinary day if we didn’t have a good laugh over some Norwegian words and expressions I learned in class today. There’s several words and phrases that just make me laugh when I say them anyway, like “snart ferdig,” which means “soon finished” but when I say it fast, it just cracks me up every time as it’s pronounced, “snart far-dee.” It’s used often, whether referring to dinner soon being ready or when I would say, “I’ll be done in a minute.” Say it three times, and it’s evident why it sounds so funny. Of course, “snart ferdig” doesn’t crack me up as much as when I hear someone say “full fart,” which, honest to goodness means “high speed.” There are often huge advertisements in newspapers or on the sides of busses for internet service, and the words that grab my attention every time are “full fart” (pronounced just like it’s spelled.) And certain neighborhoods have “farts dempre” which are “speed bumps.” And when traveling along certain stretches of highway there’s a sign that says “din fart” which means “your speed” and then they have those digital read-outs so it’s clear just how fast a person is traveling. The photo today is of an umbrella at a “fast food” kiosk, the words mean “food in a hurry.” There is lighthouse in downtown Aalesund with huge letters painted on the side that say “sakte fart” (slow speed) so no boats coming in to the harbor make a wake. I can’t imagine the origins of these words, but it’s pretty funny for someone from America to live here and see them everywhere.

Today’s words that made me laugh were referring to an expression they use for when things might not be ideal, but you just have to “tough it out” as we say. Norwegians say you must, “svelge noen kameler” which literally means, “swallow some camel.” I can’t imagine why someone living in Norway would even come up with the imagery of swallowing a camel since camels aren’t anywhere near this country, but I’m beyond trying to figure out most of the reasons why they say what they do. Like the word “født,” (which actually sounds like “foot” to me when it’s being said) means “born.” In the early Norwegian days did all the babies come out feet first, and that’s how they made up that word? “Fred” really cracks me up because that means “peace,” in Norwegian. Perhaps the first Nobel peace prize winner’s name was Fred? (They give those awards out in Oslo every year.) And “hell” in Norwegian actually means “luck” in English. Try to figure out the logic in that one.

One word they use here is “fornøyd” which is pronounced like “for-noid” which also sounds to me like the English word “annoyed.” But the word “fornøyd” actually means “satisfied,” which is quite the opposite of annoyed, so it helps me to remember it’s meaning, but it also makes me laugh to say it. The word “selfølgelig” (pronounced “sell-full-gully”) means “of course” and I laugh every time I hear Kaleb saying it, which he always does if someone asks him to do something. It sounds so foreign and not ANYTHING like “of course,” but I guess that’s why this is a “foreign” language. But then they have all these English words (which aren’t foreign) mixed in with Norwegian, with completely different meanings, like the word, “fag.” The Norwegian word “fag” means a “subject” that one takes in school, or a particular trade, so I often see work trucks with the word FAG in huge letters going down the road, whether it’s a plumbing truck or specialized carpenter van. Too funny. And the word “do” actually means “toilet,” so when in Norway, be careful with the usage of that English word. “Go på do,” (pronounced “go poh do”) is how people here say they need to pee. But I DO like the fact that “love” in Norwegian means “promise” in English (and they have four different words that mean “love.”)

Kory never seems to get the humor in my observations, but Kaleb and I have shared quite a few laughs over this language thing, especially today. But Kory and I did have a few laughs tonight as we went to a Junior High school talent show. Cousin Odd’s daughter Hege had a dance performance in the show but she was toward the end so we had to sit through an incredible line-up of NO talent first. But it was worth the wait as Hege’s dance routine was incredible. She choreographed it herself and that girl can dance like no one I’ve seen dance. The rest of the acts are what would be expected of any junior high age group of kids, but there was one band that played “Hotel California” and it was actually very good. (But it seemed rather surreal to be in Norway hearing some 13 year old belt out an old Eagles tune in English.)

Kaleb finally had an uneventful day at school, Kory worked on his latest drawing, and I came home from school and started planning out our trip to Rome next month. If I go “full fart” I’ll be “snart ferdig.”

Smart Women

Kaleb had another run-in with Morten today – actually, Morten kicked some large rocks at Kaleb and hurt his ankle. Morten then later took an even larger rock and smashed it down on Kaleb’s backpack. All in a day’s work I guess. At least nothing was broken - on the foot or in the bag. That kid is something else.

Kory went under the houses today to take measurements and do his monthly report – possibly the last one he’ll do, as the houses now have new owners and our future is uncertain. The attorney called today to see if we’ve heard from the Ålesund Kommune, but we haven’t. We’re hoping Kory can continue to be the watchman, and that we can continue to live here. We might know more tomorrow.

I had the speaking part of my “practice test” today so I had to stay after school an hour and talk. I passed with flying colors even though I was grammatically incorrect in nearly every sentence. They care more that the idea gets across than they care about proper grammar, so that saved me. We had to carry on a dialogue with other students about all kinds of things. The only comment the judges made to me was that I need to “make room” for the others to talk… that’s the nice Norwegian way of saying I talked a little TOO much. I felt like I was in 1st grade all over again getting in trouble for talking. I had them all laughing though, so I’m sure I got extra points for being so entertaining. Tee hee.

Today in class during our discussion time, we broke into small groups to practice our conversational Norwegian. One new woman to our class is from Brazil and she was in my group. She moved to Norway two years ago when her husband’s job relocated him here – he does something with shipping companies – I’m not quite sure what. She was an attorney in Brazil but she can’t even dream of being that here unless she becomes fluent in the language and goes back to college to learn all the Norwegian laws. She could only say that she had to give up her dream job to come here and she has no idea what she will do with her future, other than raise their one year old daughter. She is a stunningly beautiful woman, dresses in high fashion and speaks many languages. She’s Jewish so she speaks Hebrew, and she’s from Brazil so she speaks Portugese and Spanish. Her English is flawless and she’s also very good at Norwegian. I have such a hard time understanding how people can be so good at so many languages when I struggle so much with one! So much for feeling smart.

When we were talking today she said she had just one brother, but he died two years ago in an airplane crash. She told us that a smaller American executive jet collided with the wing tip of a much larger Brazilian plane. The American jet was able to land safely, and no one on that plane was injured, but the Brazilian plane went spiraling out of control down into the jungle and crashed. All 154 people on board died, including her brother. It took 20 days to locate the plane. He had become a father just 11 days before the accident. She said something that I thought was interesting, because it shows just what the world thinks of America on some level. She said that if the smaller plane was a Brazilian plane and it crashed into a larger American plane, they would have called it a “terrorist attack” even though it was an accident. As it was (I read this on the internet tonight), the Brazilian government detained the American pilots for two months as they were going to put them on trial and charge them as criminals. It was the worst airplane accident in the history of Brazil, and it was America’s fault, in their estimation. But from what I can tell, it was the air traffic controllers fault, and some gauges that didn’t work properly that would have warned both planes they were too close. I don’t know how much news coverage there was of this in America (we don’t watch TV), but it’s been huge news in Brazil. I felt so sad for my classmate as she was telling us where she was when she heard the news and how it’s been since then. Everyone has a story that will break your heart. But then she turned right around and cracked us up as she told us that her mother is a feminist and refused to teach her how to do any kind of housework or cook any food because, her mother reasoned, if she knows how to do it, she will be expected to do it her whole life. So here sat before me today an incredibly gorgeous woman, very intelligent and educated who honestly can’t (and won’t) do laundry or cook a meal to save her life. Her husband does it all, she says, or they hire it out. Amazing. It reminded me of my great Aunt Clara in North Dakota who refused to learn to drive a car because she feared her whole life would be running into town to get things for the men out on the farm and she wouldn’t have a life of her own. (She’s one smart cookie, too.) But when she was 72 I taught her how to drive because her husband was dead by then and SHE needed to get to town. Life happens. Things change.

My World

Needless to say I didn’t sleep much last night as I overdid it the night before. Nothing worse than messing with my body clock, but it was still very refreshing to have an extra day off from school and be down to a four day “week”. Kory likes his schedule too as he says he used to work five days a week and get two off, now he works two days a week and gets five off. We are rather spoiled, I think.

Today our class got the results back from our Norsk Prøve 2 practice test we took last week. Going in to it I was sure I would fail, as I forgot so much over the holidays. Then when I was taking it I thought it was just too easy and I would pass with flying colors. Then after we took it and I started talking to some other students who said it was very difficult, I had second thoughts. I thought maybe it seemed easy because I didn’t fully understand all the instructions, so then I went back to my expectations that I would fail. This test has four parts to it and if I just fail one part, I fail the whole test. They test on listening skills, speaking, writing and reading comprehension. We didn’t do the speaking part, but we did the other three. The listening was the most difficult for all of us and nearly everyone in the class failed that section – except ME! Actually, there were a few others that passed it too, and I didn’t have the high score, but I did get 18.5 out of 22 and anything above 15 is a passing grade. Woo hoo. The reading comprehension section I got 23.5 out of 25 so that was pretty good and my writing was just a passing score as they don’t give points on that. The Good Teacher Inga has every confidence that I’ll pass the REAL test next week, but I’m not so sure as I feel I just got lucky this time. We’ll see. It does encourage me a little when I see just how many failed the test and I didn’t even come close to failing – and also that I don’t really do any homework or give much attention to learning the language other than showing up to class. So, two points for me.

We’ve been having more open discussions in my Norsk class about different aspects of Norwegian life. Last week we were talking about what it takes to get a job here, this week we were talking about marriage. To get a decent job in Norway a person just needs to be able to speak the language and have the right last name. There is such incredible prejudice against the foreigners that even if someone is fully qualified for an engineer job, for instance, they won’t get it if they have a foreign last name (especially if it’s from an Arab nation). It’s one of the many ways the native Norwegians protest the influx of all the foreigners. Thirty years ago there were practically no foreigners living here and the lifestyle was kept fairly constant, but now with the UN dictating more open borders and all EU countries having to take in refugees, Norway is becoming more and more a melting pot and many people here don’t like that one little bit. So they do what they can to control what they can and keep the foreigners from “melting”. One Arab guy finally changed his last name and he at least started getting interviews for engineer jobs, but still didn’t land one. He’s now a waiter.

This afternoon I went for another walk around the neighborhood (see photo) as the day was cloudy, but mild, and I remembered to take my camera with me. So many photo opportunities; so little time. Kory worked today and again tonight as he went to Filadelfia Church for a men’s work party. All church activities here start at 8:00 or 8:30 at night. Their reasoning is that the parents can tuck the kids into bed and get a sitter easier if the kids are already asleep… so things start incredibly late and go until 10:30, 11:00 or later, like everyone keeps those hours. I find it so odd. Most church activities I’ve been involved with in America try to be done by 8:00 or 8:30 at night so there is definitely a cultural difference in that area. I’ve seen several events around here that don’t even start until midnight.

Kaleb was having a lovely day at school, sitting quietly at his desk practicing his script writing and out of the blue he got body slammed so hard he nearly fell out of his seat – by none other than Morten. That kid can’t even walk past Kaleb without causing a scene, and the teacher was standing about three feet away from the whole thing. So Kaleb and I had a good laugh today as he recreated the incident and showed me what the body slam did to the word he was writing at the time. I’m so thankful he has some perspective on Morten and doesn’t take his actions too personal. Other than that, his day was without incident. He did take about two hours to get his homework done though, and other kids in his class say they only take about 20 minutes, but Kaleb likes to dawdle. Perhaps he should get serious about art as all his homework pages are full of scribbles and doodles of every kind… he’s not much on time management, that kid

Another Day of Rest

I was up until after one o’clock last night so I’m glad I was able to sleep in today. I got up to make Kaleb’s lunch and get him off to school and then I went back to bed because Mondays are my designated Day of Rest! I guess I was even more tired than last week as I set a new record and slept in until 1:25 this afternoon! It helps that the bedroom has black-out blinds which are needed in the summer months when it never gets dark, but it sure can mess with a person’s sleep cycle! Our rooms are like caves. I had no idea it was so late. I was barely up in time for Kaleb’s return from school. Actually, I didn’t sleep that whole time, I was praying for a lot of it, but I still had no idea how late it was. Uff da. After I got up I was able to do some Bible study preparations while the house was still quiet though, so that was nice. Then when Kaleb came home I went for a long walk around a new neighborhood I hadn’t explored yet and saw so many places I want to photograph. I usually take my camera with me everywhere, but I forgot. It was another beautiful day and perfect walking weather. What I saw looked a lot like the photo today of Kory’s latest drawing. I walked down by the water and there are rocks and old boats and boat houses everywhere – so picturesque. (If you double click on the photo it gets bigger.) This drawing Kory did was a compilation of four different photos I took when we had snow. I really like how he does wood texture. As he says, he’s still “practicing,” but I can’t see how he could improve anywhere. He tried something new, which gives him a little thrill… if the picture is turned upsidedown, it’s easier to see that the reflection of the boat in the water is actually a Viking ship. I think he’s going for a little “Bev Doolittle” in his style.

Kaleb came home with a little look of mischief on his face today. His day at school was uneventful but getting there this morning gave him quite the challenge. I tried to get him up and out the door by eight o’clock but he wasn’t moving too quickly so he didn’t leave until 8:10. About half way there, the chain on his bike came off and he was stuck. He said it took him a while to contemplate his options. He knew if he came home, I didn’t have a car because Kory was off to work so that wouldn’t do him any good. He knew if he just walked the bike to school he would be late – something he dreads more than anything. So he just stood there, stupefied, wondering what to do. Then, like an angel from heaven, an older kid he knows from the playground at school – one that has pestered him in the past – came by in a car driven by his mother. They both got out to try and help, and when they couldn’t fix the chain, the mom offered him a ride to school so he wouldn’t be late and he just left the bike behind. He got to school just as the bell was ringing. He stopped by after school to pick up his bike, and the kid was finally able to get his chain reattached so he rode home. He wants to do something nice to say thanks to that kid – who he previously tried to avoid – so all-in-all it was a good situation. I’m hoping Kaleb learns a few things from it and will leave in enough time now to anticipate the unexpected and also, that even kids that might threaten him on the playground, really do have a good heart when the time is right.

I talked with our Bible study group at church yesterday and they agreed that every other Monday was a better schedule – it’s the Norwegian way. No one does anything every week here (except play soccer), so it will keep things on a more manageable scale for all of us… so I REALLY had the day off and in keeping with that theme, I didn’t do laundry, clean the kitchen or make dinner (we ate leftovers). But I did sit at my computer all evening (and last evening until very late), doing research for our friend Nancy Schaub. She came to visit us last September and we took her up to Trondheim to see what her grandfather left behind when he moved to America. Well, we found a farm with her grandfather’s last name but no one was home so she left a note asking for more information. The farm owner called Nancy and told her we had the wrong farm! But the farm owner did some research and found one clue that was enough for me to nail down all the information that is available on the internet about that grandfather and his ancestors back to the early 1800s (so far). And from what I can gather, the grandfather must have left from the city of Trondheim itself because the farms where his parents and grandparents came from got absorbed from the ever expanding city. At least we stayed a few nights in that city, so all was not lost. I just LOVE doing this kind of research. It’s like putting together a puzzle and being a detective all at the same time. It makes me think, even if my butt goes dead in the process, as I get so addicted to each lead I find, I find it hard to stand up and move away from the computer. I guess there are worse things to be addicted to, but Kory is always quick to point out the scripture in First Timothy that says, “…command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies…”. But I’m not a man, so I’m SURE that scripture isn’t about me. Tee hee.

Packaging

It was nearly like a summer day today with unbelievable sunshine and such clean, fresh air. I opened all the windows and went for a nice walk around the neighborhood after church. Kory and Kaleb went for a big “explore” on a street they had yet to venture down while I made dinner. It was almost like there was a parade going on as so many people were out for a Sunday afternoon stroll. Gotta love days like today, especially in January!

Tonight we invited a “samboer” (living together but not married) couple over that we consider our first NEW friends in Norway. Therese and her daughter, Cornelia, came over for lunch a few months ago without Jan Ola. Amazingly, they aren’t related to us or anyone we know. We met them the first week we arrived in Norway because they had a studio apartment in their basement and we were desperately looking for a place to live. We had such a wonderful visit with them back in August we decided to keep in touch. We ran into them at a flea market in the fall and exchanged phone numbers and then I had Therese over in November. She offered to give us a BBQ they were going to throw out so we said we’d have them over for dinner as a thank-you and cook them something from the “grill”. So tonight was the night. Kory grilled up some salmon and I made some other yummy stuff to go with it and they couldn’t have been more impressed. They jokingly said I should open up an American food restaurant in one of the empty houses here as it surely would be a hit. And in the course of the evening we showed them Kory’s art work and they thought we could set up an art studio in one of the other empty houses. Then I got out my latest haul from the Salvation Army store (which I discovered is just around the corner from my new school). I’ve been buying wool sweaters there for about $20-$25 a pop, practically new and most of them handmade. Incredible bargains if I do say so myself. I’m buying them for gifts to take home. One sweater I pulled out to show them was exactly like their daughter’s sweater that Therese’s mom made for her. Same pattern, same colors and it fit Therese perfectly (see photo), so I let her buy it for the 159 kroner I paid for it ($22) so they could have matching sweaters. She was downright giddy. Then she thought I should open up a sweater boutique in yet another empty house. They were full of funny ideas tonight so we had a lot of good laughs. They are really a nice couple and their three year old daughter played well with Kaleb too, so it was a great way to spend an evening. I think they might come visit us in Mount Vernon sometime, as they love to travel. I hope they do.

When I was making dinner for them tonight I was reminded again just how different some of the packaging is on the food here. Mayonnaise comes in a tube like toothpaste. They just squirt mayo on bread in a squiggly line and don’t use a knife to spread it. Mayo also comes in boxes with a little plastic package inside that needs to be cut open. It’s meant to be used all at once as there is no way to seal up the bag. Some lettuce comes in a package that’s best described as an air pillow as you could sit on it and not hurt the lettuce. Other lettuce comes in a little pot, with dirt, roots and all. All the red peppers and cucumbers and some other veggies come vacuum packed in plastic. Jam comes in a container like a ketchup bottle so the kids can squeeze it on the bread themselves. Most bread is not pre-sliced and comes in paper bags. Everyone always squeezes the bread in the store to see how fresh it is because it turns rock hard in about an hour. In fact, most of the food here goes bad very quickly as the government doesn’t allow all the preservatives we use in America. Starburst candy is prohibited in this country because the yellow dye #2 in it is considered a carcinogen. Norway has pretty strict pesticide and chemical laws but surprisingly, organic food is just now coming on the scene. Food here is very expensive, but even so, I can buy organic stuff here cheaper than at home. Go figure.

I gave a little speech at Filadelfia Church this morning. I spoke on what “church” means to me (I’ve been going my whole life). For part of my talk I shared that after all these years, I went and looked up my old Sunday school teacher, Mrs. Faast, so I could tell her how much of an influence she had on me when I was growing up and how I always felt the love of Jesus coming out of her. She was moved to tears. I was so glad she was still around to hear it, as I’m sure most Sunday school teachers never get to see all the “fruit” they produce from their commitment to teach young children. In my speech I said a lot of other things too, and afterwards many people came up to me and told me my talk was very powerful. I was surprised by how many men were affected by it. They shook my hand and thanked me for sharing. So that was nice. I invited cousin Turid to come to church to hear me talk and she responded with, “Why? I can hear you talk anytime I want. I just need to pick up the phone and call you.” I just love that woman’s practical side.

The 105th Anniversary

Today marked the 105th anniversary of the fire that burned down the city of Ålesund. Every year on this date they do a few things to commemorate the event – as it was the biggest fire in the history of this country – but today, because the date fell on a Saturday – they kicked it into overdrive. I had plans to be downtown today to see and do all there was from noon until after 6pm when the fireworks went off, but Kaleb’s agenda won out. A friend from his class at school, Tobias, (not the one that’s related to us) came over at ten this morning to play for a few hours. Just after he arrived, Kaleb got a call from yet another kid in his class – Andre – who wanted to come over as well. So we had two extra boys with us until seven tonight. They both brought their Pokemon cards and all the boys spent several hours trading cards and learning how to play the game.

It was quite amusing to watch the boys play together. A lot of kids here collect Pokemon cards but the instructions on how to play the game only come in English, so none of the kids know the rules. Kaleb sat and read the rules and translated them to Norwegian for his friends and then they all played practice games together as no one wanted to risk losing any cards in a game. I loved their interaction, but I hated that it was a really mild weather day and they were INSIDE for so much of it. Finally, after several hours, we got them to head down to the beach to get some fresh air, but then they were right back again wanting to play with those silly cards. I also kept trying to entice them into going to town to see a fire breathing guy, climb on old fire trucks, go to all the museums that were free today, attend a walking tour of the route the fire took and see the only house that survived the blaze… but they couldn’t be convinced until about 3:30 and by the time we got to town, most things were closed. The one thing that was still going was the fire department’s ladder truck (see photos). It was set up to give kids “rides” up and down in the bucket at the end of the ladder. They all thought that was pretty cool but it looked a little scary to me. Afterwards we got ice cream and walked down by the water and let the boys throw rocks into it to pass the time. We ran into at least twenty people we know as it’s a small town and this was a big day. We had an hour to kill before the fireworks started so we got a pizza and then crossed the street to watch the show. I’ve never been that close to fireworks before so it was something special and gave the boys all a good thrill.

I couldn’t have been happier with how they all played together today. The only complaint I had was that Kaleb doesn’t fully understand things they say, so I had to stay close by to help translate so they didn’t get frustrated with him when they thought he knew what they were talking about and he didn’t. Because of that, I didn’t get outside myself to enjoy the day, and I just sat at the computer loading photos on to my Facebook account to pass the time. I feel like Kaleb has moved to a new level now though – and that he can almost hold his own with the kids so he’ll hopefully be included in more things. It’s great in the short-run but looking ahead, it will make our trip back home all the more painful for him, I’m sure. But our main goal in coming here was to socialize him and get him fluent in the language so we’re getting close to meeting our objectives. With these boys from his class all seeming to enjoy his company, his weekends might get pretty busy. Hallelujah.

We talked with the parents of all these boys about the “mobbing” situation at Kaleb’s school and none of them had heard of anyone having it as rough as Kaleb has, so apparently he’s “special,” although we have heard a few comments about the school itself. One neighbor said that if the Head Master from a few years ago was still there, this problem wouldn’t exist. Another woman I take the bus with said her friends moved out of the area last year because her kids were getting beat up and since they moved, they haven’t had a single problem in their new school. So who knows what is behind it all. I’m just thankful Kaleb doesn’t take any of it personal. I don’t think it’s as important to protect him from those kinds of situations as it is to teach him how to deal with them. It'd be nice if he could stay standing after "going through the fire," too.

A Sunny Day

The sun was shining yet again today, which puts everyone in a most euphoric mood around here, including me. I only wish I would have had time to go for a long walk to enjoy the fresh air, but I was a little bit “opptatt” as they say here (“busy” is the direct translation but it sure sounds like “up tight” to me when it’s spoken – which is also very descriptive of the times that word would be used.)

After school today Kaleb had his classmate Håvard over for a play date (see photo). This was the first opportunity they have had to spend time one-on-one together so they had a bit of an awkward start and I had to help the process more than I expected. They weren’t sure what to do with themselves and although they could speak basic things back and forth in Norwegian, we learned quickly that Håvard is right up there with Kaleb in many areas – including an advanced vocabulary – which doesn’t work well in our household when it’s an advanced Norwegian vocabulary. Håvard is one smart cookie (he asked how we felt about our new president and then wanted to know WHY we felt that way). Like Kaleb he’s a fast reader and is the best in his class in math (excluding Kaleb.) Kaleb was able to teach Håvard some algebra today because they both were done with the big math test early (it was just doing the times table up to 8.) Håvard caught on to algebra lickety-split and liked it a lot so Kaleb was proud to be his teacher and show him the ropes.

After school I could see they needed to do something constructive so I gave them some challenges to work on together. I got out my “Destination Imagination” book and let their brains go to work for a while. (Destination Imagination is a program designed for gifted kids but all kids can do it. It’s an after-school activity where kids compete in different challenges with simple goals using limited resources and a short amount of time to accomplish the task. Kaleb loves the program. We were involved with it before we left America.) So today Kaleb and Håvard were building structures as tall as they could using only straws, paper, toilet paper rolls and a little tape. Kaleb won the first "challenge" so the next go-round I had them work together building a structure that could support weight. They could only use straws, large marshmallows, paper, toothpicks and a little tape. They had a good time once they realized that if they bit off part of the marshmallow, it would stick incredibly well to the hardwood floor and create a sturdy base they could work from. And this is why I didn’t get in a walk today. The marshmallows stuck very well and the boys were off kicking soccer balls and throwing rocks in the water down at the beach before anyone realized what a mess they’d left behind. And we had company coming for dinner. All in all the boys had a great time together and I am so thankful for Håvard. He has a big desire to learn English so I think he’s partially drawn to Kaleb for that reason, but he doesn’t know it much now so it forces Kaleb to speak more Norwegian – so it’s a win/win. And they do have a lot in common so I’m hoping they spend more free time together and become best of friends.

Between going to school myself, helping the boys after school and making dinner for company, my day was done. We had Kory’s two cousins (who are brothers) and their wives over, plus their mother – our dear Tante Kari. Both cousins are brothers to cousin Odd. We’ve had Odd here many times but the two brothers (Ketil and Rune) don’t live as close so they are a little harder to pin down. We had a wonderful time visiting with them and catching up on what’s new in their lives and telling them all about the happenings in ours. They both have stayed with us in America and we got engaged in Ketil’s house 18 years ago so we have a lot of history with these guys and it was a very comfortable and relaxed evening. They are both now on wife #2 (as is their brother Odd) so we had to fill in some of the blanks for the new women. Tante Kari so loves all her new daughter-in-laws that she said if her boys get divorced one more time she is dumping them and keeping the women. She’s so funny. Last Sunday after church she told Kory he has old fashioned glasses and he needs to be a little more hip and modern (she is 80). She went around taking glasses off different people and putting them on Kory to see which style she liked best on him and then she gave him marching orders to go buy new frames. She laughs all the time and thinks everything she sees and hears and tastes is just the best there is. She took a bite of the Chicken Marbella tonight and screeched out a compliment as she thought it was just so incredibly good. Then Ketil said, “She could eat a plain boiled potato with nothing on it and have the same reaction because she thinks everything is incredibly good.” Now there’s a legacy to leave behind.

Making A Difference

Kaleb felt rather triumphant today. His fever broke so he went back to school. It seems the timing of his sickness was almost a “God thing” since it happened the day after his talk with the Principal. The Principal talked with the Head Master and Ragnhild (his teacher), and yesterday Ragnhild talked with Kaleb’s entire class. Ragnhild told the students that Kaleb was so upset by all the “mobbing” that he wanted to quit school. I think it made a bigger impact that he actually WASN’T in school when she said that. They didn’t know he was sick, of course, they just thought he was fed up and didn’t come. So Ragnhild explained Kaleb’s feelings and also told that some changes were going to take place immediately to reduce the opportunity for “mobbing” (hitting and kicking). First off, they moved Kaleb’s locker space in the changing room to be as far from Morten’s as possible (previously they were right next to each other). Then they reduced the amount of time the kids have to put on and take off their outer clothes in the changing room – from five minutes down to three minutes so they will be in such a rush they will have less time for rough housing. But the biggest change they made is that they now actually have an adult in the changing room – where previously it was an adult-free zone and the location where Kaleb received the most blows by Morten and others.

Poor Morten, he got called into the Principal’s office yet again for probably the 100th time this year for another talking to after Kaleb complained about him. That kid takes more resources than the rest of the class combined. He’s been identified as having ADHD but the government here is very cautious when it comes to putting him on medication. I’m sure he’ll be grown and gone before he gets a prescription for anything as they use every means possible to help a child before they will give them drugs. Morten even has a full time “watch person” now that follows him everywhere and keeps an eye out for his actions, which has reduced his “incidents” a little, but he’s quick and can nail a kid in a flash, even with an adult standing right next to him.

Ragnhild asked to meet with Kory and I after school today and she explained all that they have done and will do to try and change the situation for Kaleb. She seemed quite devastated that he was so unhappy. I told her what I told the Principal, that they just can’t “talk” to the students about mobbing – they must put some consequences to the behavior as well. But she told us that the Norwegian laws are such that they are not allowed to do anything to the students except talk to them and notify their parents. She agrees it’s a hopeless situation and it makes her job very difficult, but she’s an eternal optimist and believes things will get better. She also told Kaleb he MUST tell her of every incident that happens and he also must learn the names of all the kids in the 4th class (all 90 of them) so if he gets nailed at recess again, he will be able to give a name to a teacher. (I suggested he just memorize the boy’s names.)

So Kaleb was very popular when he showed up at school today as many of his classmates feared he wouldn’t be coming back. Two of his favorite boys in the class asked if he was going to quit school. Both boys wanted to arrange a play date with him this weekend, so that was nice. This whole ordeal has at least increased his popularity. He was quite proud of himself for “making changes” that he feels will be good for everyone, but most especially for himself.

Kory and I both had an okay day. More of the same – he worked on a drawing and I went to school. I took the photo today out one of the windows in my new classroom at ten o’clock this morning. (We had a beautiful day today!) Previously, our breaks at that time were quite dark, but now the sun is starting to peek out over the mountains across the fjord. We are wrapping up our first book tomorrow and Monday we get new books. The Good Teacher Inga suggested if there were any grammatical rules we are still struggling with, that this weekend would be a good time to learn them since Monday we kick things up a notch. I still can’t form a proper sentence, so this next “chapter” in learning the language will be such a joy, I’m sure. I keep thinking things will just “click” one of these days but apparently I’ve misplaced my remote control as there’s not a whole lot of clicking going on with me.

39 Degrees

This morning the alarm clock woke me from a dream that I was certain was real. I dreamt we were having breakfast with the Obamas at our house! How funny is that? The girls were playing with Kaleb and asking what type of dog they should get, and Kory and I were talking with The First Couple about what it means for America that they are now in The White House. I told them about the prejudice I grew up with and how far things have come in my lifetime, like they didn’t know that. In the dream I felt so comfortable with them, like we were good friends, and in real life, I didn’t even vote for the guy, so go figure. But that dream has been on my mind all day so I’m not sure I have been well focused on much else.

Kaleb had a sore throat yesterday which morphed into him feeling sick all over this morning. When I took his temperature with a Norwegian thermometer, I had to figure out that 39 degrees Celsius equals 102 degrees Fahrenheit and he really did have a fever. (I’m thankful for websites that do that kind of math because I was pretty groggy and math isn’t an area in which I’m “gifted”.) Poor Kaleb, he stayed home from school with Kory and just laid on the couch watching videos and playing his Nintendo. He was miserable all day with a headache, sore throat, cough and runny nose. I hope he doesn’t share his germs with us.

I slept in a little too long and had no time for my most cherished cup of coffee this morning so my brain was barely functioning all day. I felt like I was in a haze as we were being taught things that I wish I could have understood better. One thing I partially understood was when The Good Teacher Inga told us how to write short notes. Apparently, when Norwegians write notes, they use a cryptic version of proper Norwegian which eliminates the “I” and “you”s and the obvious verbs. The verb endings change to identify who is doing what. “Husk norsk” means “Remember Norwegian” (implied YOU need to remember), but if you write “Husker norsk” (and add that “er” to the end of “husk”) then that means I am the one that must remember to speak Norwegian. ” It’s not necessary to write the word for “speak” because that is an assumed action verb. I think this type of writing must have been invented after the 3M Corporation invented the sticky note pad. Norwegian’s, being the tight-wads that they are, had to invent a whole new language that could fit an entire sentence on one little scrap of paper so they would save money, because Lord knows it might take more than a two inch squared piece of paper to write “Du må huske å snakke norsk i dag.” (“You must remember to speak Norwegian today” – a note I should write to myself.) I hate all these little variations on the theme as I’m still struggling with just the everyday ordinary version of Norwegian. Take note: Hate it.

Kory spent his day drawing yet another scene from this beautiful land. Today’s photo is the drawing he finished a few days ago of the dog sled trip we took in December with the view from my sled. What he’s working on now is a mountain/water scene that he’s making up from four different photos. Ever since he started drawing, he has stopped complaining we don’t have a TV. I however, am an artist-widow as he cannot even carry on a conversation with me about anything when he’s drawing – so then I sit in front of the computer after Kaleb is in bed and watch a TV show on the internet. (Life has all kinds of interesting twists and turns as I’m the one that hates TV.) Kaleb still had a fever of 39° when he went to bed tonight. It’s now 39° outside, which converted, is 3.8° Celsius. It’s hard enough to try and learn the language, but learning this whole Celsius/Fahrenheit conversion might be the end of me.

We missed seeing Tobias today but the other day I tested a word out on him that I heard at school. I asked him if it was a swear word or not (my pal Vestina said it’s NOT, it’s just an expression), so I said it to Tobias. He immediately blushed and had a horribly shocked look on his face, shook his head and said, “I’ve never heard an adult say that word before. I’ve heard kids say it when they are being mean but a grown-up would NEVER say that word.” Kaleb immediately tried to cash in on the deal we have that if I say a bad word he gets a dollar (I don’t really swear but I do say some words sometimes that Kory doesn’t like so we call them “bad” and they cost me a dollar.) I told Kaleb “no deal” as I didn’t know any better. I then had to apologize to Tobias for being so rude after he told me what it meant. And today I told my pal Vestina she shouldn’t say that word anymore because it really is a swear word. She then said THAT word in response. So much for trying to make the world a better place.

An Historic Day

I went back to school today which ended my “oval” weekend. That’s the term they use here in Norway to describe a “long weekend” as we say in America. They call it “oval” because when you circle the days off on the calendar, it’s a little oblong, taking in that one extra day off. It was also the day we got someone new in the Oval Office. What a day. Kory, Kaleb, Tobias and I sat glued to our laptops watching the live news feeds over the internet from Washington DC. In a way it felt similar to two days in July of 1969 I distinctly remember when my mother made us all sit down and watch TV because history was being made that day – when man first stepped foot on the moon, and when Hank Aaron broke Mickey Mantle’s homerun record. I kept telling Kaleb that “history is being made today” and I didn’t want him to miss it. I sure hope he remembers it but he might remember this day for other reasons. Today we went together to see the principal so Kaleb could air his complaints about the “mobbing” problem at school (that’s what they call bullying and hitting).

We had to wait nearly two hours to see the principal but I think it was worth the wait as Kaleb felt very empowered afterwards. The principal was more than sympathetic to Kaleb’s plight and he seemed a bit surprised by all the different incidents Kaleb reported. He acted quite concerned by it all and he told Kaleb what a problem Morten has been for him also, as Kaleb is not the only target. I pointed out the insanity of SAYING they have zero tolerance for the situation but putting no meat behind the statement. I suggested punishments similar to what I had in school like having to stay in during recess and write 100 times “I will not kick,” stuff like that. I suggested even staying in and writing a letter of apology to the kid that got beat up if they really want to be polite, but we both made it clear that just giving kids “a talking to” does nothing. I pointed out that they can’t count on the parents to give the kid consequences because on the very day Kaleb got punched in the face four times by Morten, that night Morten was at a birthday party. I told him if it was Kaleb that had done that, he wouldn’t have left the house for a week, party or no party, he’d be grounded. So the school is passing the buck to the parents to do the disciplining and the parents are way too lenient with the kids. It felt good to vent. Even if nothing changes, Kaleb feels better and he has HOPE things might change. He isn’t ready to quit school just yet, so that’s the most important result from the meeting.

Tonight while Kaleb was at a “4th grade class party” Kory and I were invited to go to the Youth With a Mission (YWAM) base in Ålesund to “mingle” with refugees that were invited there for a meal, entertainment and a little Christian message (see photo). There were around 100 in attendance, which was way more than anyone expected to show up. Kalle, the leader of YWAM, has a real heart to reach out to these immigrants from African and Arab nations – many of them Muslims. Some people from both Agape and Filadelfia Churches were invited to come and greet the guests to make them feel welcome, so that’s why we went. Three of the four people from our Bible study last night were there and they introduced me to some others that want to attend also. They asked if we could have the Bible study every week, not every other week, as they liked it so much they don’t want to wait two more weeks for another one. That was good to hear and I’m glad I went, but it was a little uncomfortable for me to be in the room with so many Arab men. (There were only a handful of women in attendance.) Most of these guys go to my school so I see them every day in the halls and they just give me the creeps. They all seem like potential terrorists to me and I didn’t realize how prejudice I was until tonight when I saw Kalle so excited for them all to be there. It was evident he has a genuine love for them and I was ashamed of myself for my attitude toward them. God loves them too, so that is the ultimate goal - to love my neighbor. Sometimes I’m not very good at that.

During the Inauguration today Kaleb and I were whooping it up and Kory (the eternal skeptic) kept asking, “What does THAT mean?” during Obama’s inaugural address. Kory is NOT a big fan of our new president, but afterwards he squeaked out a compliment and said that he felt Obama was an eloquent speaker. I do think it was the first time he’s ever heard him speak since we don’t watch much TV. After the speech was over Kory said, “You could sum up his address to the Nation as this,” and then he quoted scripture from Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” And that promise is there not only for America’s problems in the world today, but also for Kaleb’s problems in the classroom. Hallelujah.

Monday, Monday, I Love That Day!

So today was my second Monday off from school and I like it, I love it, I want some more of it! Kory went to work and I set things out for Kaleb so he could get himself off to school and I could sleep in. (I’m “training him up in the way he should go” – to become self sufficient). I was shocked that I slept until 11:18 and that I needed that much sleep, but thankful I was able to get it. The sun was beaming in the living room windows when I got up – which was a first for a while since the sun hasn’t been high enough to be above the mountains so we could see it – or feel it – or enjoy it. But today, it was OUT and I realized just how dirty the windows have gotten… but since it was my Sabbath, I didn’t even think for a second I should clean them. I just took it easy all day. I prepared my Bible study lesson and prayed and took a long walk through the neighborhood and recharged my batteries for another week.

Kaleb on the other hand didn’t have such a lovely day. He came home rather devastated saying this was one of the worse days of his life and he fought back the tears as he recounted the day’s events. First he said he got started off on the wrong foot. He biked over to Tobias’s house this morning so they could ride to school together. Once there he realized he forgot his helmet so he had to ride back home to get it. Tobias waited a while for him but then took off alone as Kaleb didn’t return quickly enough. So Kaleb had to ride extra fast, and without his buddy by his side, but he did make it to school just as the bell rang so he wasn’t late. Then, during all the breaks at school, one kid or another lit into him. I do believe only one time a kid came after him intentionally and kicked and hit him pretty hard, but the other times he went into the line of fire as he tried to go to the rescue of different kids getting beat up on the playground. The way he describes it, it’s like a war zone around there and the inmates are running the asylum. I have no idea where all the playground teachers are but it seems every day there is some scuffle somewhere and often Kaleb is in on it. If I understood correctly, he got beat up five times today and he had bruises and missing flesh to prove it. Two different kids kicked his shin on two different occasions so he now has matching skid marks on each leg where the skin came off from the impact. I am at a loss as to what to do but Kaleb and I talked a long time about the whole situation and tomorrow we’ll go in and see if we can talk to the principal (although I know it won’t do a bit of good). The only thing that irks me is that they say they have “zero” tolerance for this kind of thing but then they have ZERO consequences for when it happens. If they followed the same line of thinking as the government has with drunk driving for instance, if you get caught once driving drunk you lose your license, pay a huge fine and go to jail – no questions asked. The consequences are so dire that no one dares to drink and drive. So the fact the school SAYS they have zero tolerance for hitting, yet they don’t even kick kids out of school for doing anything bad, makes me wonder why they even bother with all the hype about zero tolerance. Ugh. Kaleb has had enough, he says, and if he gets beat up one more time he wants to drop out of school and have me homeschool him. All I could tell him is it’s partly my fault because he’s an only child. If he had siblings, he would have learned by now that kids hit and kick and he wouldn’t think so much about it, but for him, it’s all such a shock whenever it happens that he doesn’t know how to process the whole thing. Today he said, he fought back – which I actually hate to hear, but I understand completely. So we shall see. Kaleb is ready to go to the newspaper and have them write a story about it as he thinks the whole irony with the school slogan being “anti-bullying” is just a joke.

Kory had a fine day at work but his boss sure didn’t. Jonathan smashed his finger with a hammer so badly Kory said it split into. Jonathan just put a band-aid on it and went back to work. Uff da. Kory usually laughs about little accidents on the job site, but he wasn’t laughing about that one.

Tonight we held our first Bible study on the book of James. We had four people here from different countries in Africa (all asylum seekers). They each have a story that would fill a book so it will be interesting to get to know them a little better. They do have a desire to learn more about the Bible, so that’s the common thread, otherwise, where they have come from and what they have been through is almost unbelievable to me. I’ll write more about them in the future.

The photo today seemed appropriate. It’s a postcard of a place near Bergen that one of Kory’s cousins has been to and stood in the exact same spot – between a rock and a hard place with sure death in one misstep. It would be a good place to go when contemplating the complexities that life often throws our way. I know a few kids I’d like to put there.

Pentecostals

We attended Filadelfia Church this morning so we could meet up with, and give directions to, the people coming to our house tomorrow for Bible study. Many people greeted me at church and thanked me for what I shared last Thursday and Friday – so that was nice. And I got additional invitations to participate in even more events this coming week – one of which was being asked to speak from the pulpit next Sunday and share a little bit about what “church” means to me. They are currently doing a series on the importance of the church in a Christian’s life and they asked if I had something to say on the topic. I’ve yet to find any topic in which I don’t have something to say, so they signed me up and next week I’ll share a little. Kory likes to say that God gave me the gift of gab for a reason and He expects me to use it for His glory, so I’m thankful I can. Hallelujah.

The pastor said something today in his sermon that reminded me of the attitudes I’ve heard that were held by many “State Church” Christians in days gone by. Since Norway has a long tradition with just one church – the State Church (very much like Lutherans) – many generations have been born into, christened, confirmed, married and buried in the same methodology. In fact, The State Church was the only church for hundreds of years in Norway ever since Holy Ole (the Viking) converted the locals about 900 years ago. But about 125 or so years ago, some people broke off from the rigidity and legalism of the State Church and formed the “Free Church.” It was very similar but it still split families apart as parents could not accept the fact their children would “turn from God” by breaking tradition. Then, about a hundred years ago, along came the Pentecostal movement, and that made the Free Church look like a cake walk, comparatively.

The Pentecostal Church rocked the boat in Norway like nothing else had. Most people looked at it as the devil’s work and if children ended up going to a Pentecostal meeting, they might as well kiss their families good-bye. Many parents refused to let their kids back in their homes as they were sure they were now possessed by Satan himself. Kory’s dad, in fact, lost his relationship with his parents (and his inheritance) when he became a Pentecostal in the 1930s. It was looked upon as a cult and blasphemous to God. So the pastor today talked about how in 1964 he became a Christian and went in search of a church that would baptize him as he felt the sprinkling he got as an infant from the State Church wasn’t exactly what the Bible referred to. He told his parents his desire to be baptized by emersion and they said if he did such a thing, he was no longer welcome in their home (he was 17 at the time). It took him a while to find a church that would actually do it and he had to travel many hours from his home to accomplish the task. But it was at the Filadelfia Church in Ålesund (a Pentecostal church) where he found kindred spirits who helped him accomplish his goal and he’s been part of that church ever since (first as a missionary to Africa and now as head pastor.) What shocks me is how clearly these Norwegians have missed the point - that it’s the same God in all these churches and the method in which He’s worshipped is NOT what it’s about. It’s only supposed to be about LOVE. But the real shocker is that some of that mind-set lingers even today. We attended a family reunion in 2000 here in Norway and some of the branches of Kory’s dad’s family that are still mainline State Church would NOT come because there were going to be Pentecostals in attendance and they didn’t think it wise to have “mixed religions” under one roof. (It’s so easy to see why these Norwegians have the reputation for being stubborn and hard-headed, if even the love of God can’t get through to them!)

But God has worked miracles in my stubborn Norwegian because after church today we BOTH cleaned the house. My idea of clean is completely different than Kory’s though as he thinks if nothing is sitting out on any surface then the house is clean. The toilet can be black and crumbs can be all over the counter, but if everything is in its place, then all is right in his world. I’m just the opposite – I don’t mind the clutter, but if the floors need to be vacuumed or the bathroom sink is full of toothpaste spit, then the house needs some attention. So in that regard, we are a good team as he focuses solely on putting things away, and I go for the grunge. It was supposed to be a day of rest, but we had company coming for dinner and the house was far from presentable. We invited over a couple (and their 3 kids) from our home fellowship group at Agape Church. They live in our neighborhood and we really like them so it was nice to have them here. Sabina and her mom came for coffee and dessert afterwards so we had a nice evening chatting about all kinds of things while the kids played together. It wasn’t intentional, but I do believe we are all Pentecostal. I guess I need to shake things up a bit and meet some of the State Church neighbors as well.

A Lazy Day

Today was fairly laid-back. We slept in and hung out in our jammies until noon. We made several phone calls this morning lining up social engagements for the next week as now we only have 23 Saturdays left in Norway and I want them all to matter. When we first got here it seemed like we had all the time in the world to have everyone over for dinner many times in the course of a year, but here we are, more than half way through the time and some folks haven’t even come over once. It reminds me of when we moved into our unfinished house in LaConner and I made a “punch list” of things yet to do. I made the comment to Kory I hoped the list was completed in less than two years as I didn’t want to live longer than that in a construction project. He laughed and said “Some things on that list won’t even be done in ten years.” I thought he was joking, but we have owned that house now over ten years and he was right. Time passes way too quickly. So, I have my list of people I want to have over for dinner while we are living here and I’ll be darned if we’re going to leave this place without making at least one meal for them all (Kory is related to a LOT of people.)

It was such a gorgeous day – very mild temperatures and partial sunshine so we had to get out and enjoy it a little. Kaleb didn’t seem to care that the weather was conducive to being outside – he was content to be curled up in the corner of the couch reading a book or playing his Nintendo. It took quite a bit of “encouragement” (bordering on threats) to get him out of the house. Tobias rode his bike over so the two of them took off for a long bike ride. Kory and I walked over to Odd and Turid’s, then Turid and I walked in the direction the boys were headed. It was just a normal kind of nothing-special day, but it was nice. Turid and I walked all the way to the shopping center at Moa (4 kilometers) and had a cup of coffee. Kaleb and Tobias met us along the way and I gave them each some money to go buy something at the store. I’m sure they spent an hour trying to figure out how to spend their money as they didn’t want to have even one kroner left over when they walked out. They were quite proud of their choices as they got some things on sale and were able to get chips AND a little candy, which they ate while watching a movie later in the day.

Tonight we went over to cousin Linda’s house for another wonderful evening of good food and conversation with her and her husband, Leif-Erik. We called to invite them over to dinner at our house, but they insisted we come to theirs, so now they are still on my list! We talked with them about a lot of things (we stayed til after midnight). Leif-Erik is a radio personality in Ålesund so Kory was picking his brain for tips on what to do and not do when we go back and speak on the Christian radio station. It was good to have some “insider” perspective on the whole thing and I think it helped Kory feel more comfortable. (I, however, never seem to be uncomfortable with the idea of talking about anything, to anyone, anywhere.) We talked a lot about the differences between America and Norway regarding their health care system and taxes. We also found out that Leif-Erik’s uncle (who used to be Prime Minister) was responsible for taking away all the “frequent flier miles” here in Norway. They had a big problem with figuring out how to tax that system because it just wasn’t “right” that one should get something for free and not pay tax on it. So apparently the political strategy in Norway is, if it can’t be taxed, it must be banned. (Airlines are no longer allowed to offer free flights to their frequent fliers. It’s the same idea behind carpenters not being allowed to work on their own houses – it’s too hard to tax those things so they just make them illegal.) Apparently the tax system here rules EVERYTHING and that’s why the natives complain so much about them, but at least they get something tangible for all the money they pay - like health care.

Leif-Erik had out their home videos tonight of their month-long trip to America nearly five years ago. They stayed with us for five days back then and I’d forgotten half of what we did, so it was fun to see it all on a big screen TV – like watching some kind of travel show. Kaleb got a little homesick for our house when he saw it on the TV but he noticed right away all the things that are different now from five years ago. It was also good for me to see just how many of those incomplete things have actually been checked off that “punch list” in the last few years. Sometimes I wonder where the years go and why it seems we are always so busy, but then seeing that video reminded me of many things – we have had a lot of company, we have completed a lot of house projects, and Kaleb has grown up a lot. That’s enough. (And none of it was taxed, so Hallelujah, we have it good.)

Hallelujah!

I’m completely overwhelmed by the goodness of God and all I can say is HALLELUJAH! I was invited to attend a women’s prayer meeting today – a group of six women that have been meeting every Friday for many, many years and praying not just for their own needs but for their church and city and nation as well. Truly these women have a heart for God and they know how to pray. But today they asked me to tell them about “soaking prayer” so I shared the same thing I shared last night at church and they were intrigued by the idea of not ASKING for anything but just giving God their quiet presence (the Bible says, “BE STILL and know that I am God”). After my talk, they all wanted to SOAK, so we sprawled out on the floor of the house where we were meeting and invited God to show up. When we were done, I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house. One woman said she actually felt God stroking her hair, letting her know He was there. She could feel His presence like never before. They all said that. No one could talk for quite a while because everyone wanted to keep feeling the feeling of having Him near. How cool is that?

Afterwards we ate lunch together, and then they asked if I would pray for each of them. I didn’t know these women (except for one) but I prayed for things that just came to my mind and as it turned out, it was for very specific things for which they each needed prayer. Amazing. They asked if I could come back every week. (I had to skip the last two hours of my Norwegian class to attend, but some things are just more important than learning Norwegian.) So it was an incredibly uplifting time for me and the women there. They asked if Kory could start a men’s soaking prayer time because there is nothing currently happening at their church just for men and they see great benefit in the men drawing closer to God too. So he will talk to the pastor about that soon. Hallelujah! I’m in awe of how powerfully God moves and how faithful He is to love on people and let them know just how real He is. It’s the coolest thing.

Everything else today paled in comparison but it was still a very good day. Kaleb went back to school and was happy to go and Kory had a nice morning alone and completed his drawing of our dog sled trip. Tobias came over right after school and Kory took the boys fishing to help break their addiction to electronics (but they caught no fish). We told Tobias he gets to come along with us to the resort in February. His eyes got as big as saucers and the smile on his face was huge – it was the sweetest thing. Then he and Kaleb sat on the couch for at least an hour checking out the website of the resort to see all there is to do and planning out their time when they will be there. Too cute. After dinner the boys played a common treasure hunt game played in the winter here in Norway – someone hides a reflector and the kids each have a flashlight and go hunting for it. (Reflectors are big here as everyone wears them dangling from their clothes when they walk near the street in the dark.) At first I hid it in the empty house next door, but then they wanted to go looking for it in the grass (the ice and snow all melted over night), so I just opened the door and tossed it as far as I could and it kept them busy for a good 15 minutes each time as they scoured the yard with their flashlights looking for it. (It was kind of like playing a slow motion version of “fetch” with a dog.) In the process they found 9 ½ kroner (about $1.30) as the coins hidden in the grass reflected light almost as well as the reflector. Pretty funny.

Tobias stayed on for family game night and we had a few rousing rounds of Aggravation. That kid likes to laugh. We all had a good laugh poking a little fun at his English as I came in 3rd place for one game and he said something about me being “turd.” Norwegians don’t ever pronounce the “th” in words – they just say it like a “t” so we had to explain to him that “turd” in English has another meaning. When he found out what that meaning was, he laughed more than the rest of us. I know the feeling, as there are many words that I mispronounce and I’ve seen a few people blush when I’ve been talking. Just one wrong vowel sound and a sentence can take on a whole new meaning, so I guess it works both ways. I tried not to laugh today when the women were talking about soaking prayer, as every time they said it in English, it sounded like they were saying “sucking prayer.” In a way, it might be a more descriptive (but perhaps a little crude) way to say it. I heard when they were talking to each other about it in Norwegian, (they don’t have a word that really means that) they described it using the Norwegian word for “sinking.” (A word I’m all too familiar with since moving into The Sinking Houses.) I’m just glad God shows up, no matter how we say it or what we say, and I’m sure He’s having as much fun as we are in the process. And I'm positive He likes to laugh, too.

Soaking Prayer

Yesterday Kory was invited by his bosses to attend a trade show in a few weeks at a very fancy hotel/resort about two hours drive from here. The weekend is subsidized by a company demonstrating all their new construction products so it’s a cheap get-away and families are welcome to come along and enjoy the pool and other amenities. Kaleb is a big fan of the five star hotel scene so he was jumping up and down over that news last night. As I envisioned a day at the hotel with Kaleb (and Kory off to construction classes), I thought it might be prudent to invite Tobias along so Kaleb would have someone to swim and hang out with while I read a good book (something I’ve yet to do since I’ve been here.) I made the HUGE mistake of telling Kaleb last night, right before he went to bed, that Tobias’ mom said it was OK for him to come along. That did it. He couldn’t sleep a wink. He was awake for hours thinking about it and then wide away again at 4am and couldn’t go back to sleep. So this morning he had a terrible breakdown over how tired he was, and apparently the lack of sleep made him feel quite ill. He stayed home from school today hoping to sleep, but sleep didn’t come. Kory’s patience was worn thin by the time I got home. Kaleb was crabby all day because Kory wouldn’t let him use his Nintendo or watch videos all day or go play with Tobias this afternoon. Kory didn’t want to “reward” Kaleb’s day off school, so the two of them butted heads. Normally when Kaleb really is sick with a fever, I let him watch videos all day so he’ll stay in one place and rest. He had that expectation today and was sorely disappointed. He was asleep by seven o’clock tonight though so I’m sure tomorrow will go much better.

We had a heavy dusting of snow a few days ago and it’s been in the 20s ever since, so it’s still white outside. I love it! Today we had glorious sunshine and crisp cold air and I’ve been waiting for such a day to run several errands after school. I spent an hour in the “alien” office waiting my turn to ask a question. I wanted to find out what the rules are around renewing our residence permit for another year, and I’m hoping what the woman told me wasn’t the least bit correct. She said herself she didn’t know all the details, so I’ll have to go back another day and ask another person the same question (as it’s never the same answer). Our permission expires July 30th but we want to go on “vacation” in July and August around Europe and come back to Norway in September to drop off our car before flying home. She said we can’t renew our permit any sooner than June 30th and if we leave the country we have to be back by July 30th (not an easy thing if we’re driving around the south of Spain by then). She also said it could take 1-3 months for our paperwork to be processed so then we’d have to come back here just to sit and wait and miss the rest of the summer vacation. We could NOT renew it, but then she said we would have trouble coming back in September – why, I don’t know. Ugh. It wasn’t time well spent, but at least I wasn’t home with the crabby boys.

But the day ended on an up note as tonight I spoke for a few minutes at a prayer meeting at the Filadelfia Church. I talked about “soaking prayer” (a term used to describe just being STILL and soaking in the presence of God.) It’s not a time to ask God for anything, it’s just an opportunity to be quiet and see what He wants to do. It’s been very powerful in my life and I was able to share some things God has done for me while soaking. The talk was well received. I could see on the faces of the 20 or so people there that they understood perfectly what I was getting at. Afterwards the leader of the group stood up and invited everyone to come up and start the prayer meeting, but the Pastor of the church said he thought maybe we should all take about 20 minutes and just SOAK and see what God does. They are a Pentecostal bunch, but they are still conservative Norwegians, so I was surprised they would do it right there and then… but they did! And it was good. Then afterwards we prayed out loud as a group for about half an hour. When the prayer meeting was over several people came up to me and told me how powerful my talk was and then shared what God did for them while they were soaking tonight! One woman said she sits still before God a lot but she never thought to ask Him to just come love on her (like I shared) and she said she felt Him kissing her face over and over and it made her cry to feel she was that close to Him and He loved her that much. She then invited me to come with her next month to go to the women’s prison in town and share the same message, as she said, “Those women need to know God can love on them too!” So Hallelujah! And another woman invited me to another prayer meeting tomorrow to share with a different group of women about soaking prayer because she was so impacted by it she wants her friends to know about it too! God is good. The Holy Spirit is alive and well and touching people’s lives in Norway. Hallelujah!

A Good Talking To

Kory finished his latest drawing today of the Borgund Stave Kirke (built in 1180). His attention to detail is incredible. Everyone who comes over, I show them his sketch book of drawings and they “ooh and aah” appropriately and make all kinds of comments about what an incredible artist he is. He gives them a little giggle and a shrug and always says, “No, I’m not an artist. I just put some lines down on a piece of paper.” I hate his smugness, but I love the results. I’m thinking I’ll make copies when we get home and give them as gifts or make my own line of greeting cards or use them as illustrations in the book I’m going to write about Norway…. The possibilities are endless! He’s already planning his next drawing – of our dog sled trip! Woo hoo.

I had yet another mind boggling day at school. I always wonder why I forget to do my homework at night and only remember it in the morning on the way to school. I’m sure it’s because I really do want to forget everything I’ve learned that day as most of the rules go against anything that makes sense in my world. Like today we learned the two different words they use for the word “when.” One word “da” is used only if you say “when” in the past tense, like “When I was nine years old ....” The other word for “when” is “når” (pronounced "nor") and that is used for the all future references to “when” like “When I retire ....” Okay, so that’s a fairly easy rule to learn and just takes some practice to put into place. But just as soon as The Good Teacher Inga taught us this rule, she told us that this entire region NEVER uses the word “da” – they always use the word “når” for everything – that it’s part of their “dialect” but grammatically incorrect. Yet all other Norwegians use both words properly so we must learn it or we will surely fail the competency test. (I’m certain that if the locals had to take a competency test similar to the one we must take, they would all fail.) Learning this language is hard enough, but all the variations on the theme push me over the edge.

At least Kaleb had a pretty good day today. He used some of his work time at school to get ALL his homework done so he was a free agent this afternoon. I had a friend over for coffee after I got home so Kaleb played on his computer in his room waiting for Tobias to call and then he was off and running. Tobias came over here after dinner and we had quite the discussion about the whole bullying situation at their school. Kaleb had a little run-in with Morten today as Morten said something to Kaleb in a hostile tone, but Kaleb’s Norwegian wasn’t good enough to understand what he said so he just laughed, which precipitated a punch to the stomach. Ignorance isn’t always bliss, I guess. Tobias told us about what happened to his friend at school today – that some bully punched a hole in his friend’s side with a pencil tip and was called into the principal’s office for a little “talking to.” When he got out of the principal’s office he went up to Tobias’ friend and bit him hard on his shoulder and then pulled his pants (and underwear) down in front of all the kids at recess. The only consequence the bully got was another talking to, and they called his parents to inform them what happened. It’s incredible to me how much tolerance they have for this kind of behavior especially when they take pride in their “zero tolerance” for bullying! Kaleb just got his school sweatshirt with the logo and school slogan on it, and translated to English it says, “Blindheim Children’s school – where friendship is correct and bullying is not.” Gotta love that.

Kory had an opportunity to deal with a little situation of his own today too. Several days ago he noticed one of the downspouts on the garage went missing. He looked around to see who might be doing work on their house and saw it was our closest neighbor. Kory walked over there and sure enough, there was the missing downspout lying in the yard. He pondered the whole situation for days and finally decided to seek the advice of Erling, an old retired guy that lives across the street and is a friend of the neighbor with questionable character. When Kory finally saw Erling outside today he went over and started telling him about the missing downspout and before he could finish the story Erling said, “I know where it’s at,” as another neighbor actually watched the one guy stealing it and told him about it. (I guess calling the police didn’t occur to him.) Erling offered to go over and get it for Kory because he’s pretty good friends with the sticky-fingers neighbor. Erling retrieved the downspout and even installed it back in its rightful spot. Erling said that guy doesn’t have much respect for people’s property (apparently he has a little drug and alcohol problem) as one time that guy cut down all the trees across the street from his house so he had a better view of the mountains. The woman that owned the land (and trees) yelled at him like he’s never been yelled at before. According to Erling, every time the neighbor sees that woman now he runs for cover. So maybe those “talks” they give the bullies at Kaleb’s school just need a little more volume.