The Day Before Rome

The Good Teacher Inga heard my cries today. I complained bitterly that the class is moving along so rapidly I’m lost in a fog. Others in the class nodded in agreement. Inga looked surprised. The reason she is The Good Teacher Inga is because she cares. She decided we can slow things down a bit and have more time to comprehend all we are learning. Honestly, I was nearly ready to drop out because I just couldn’t keep up with the amount of homework and how hard everything is. I’m still not that great with basic grammar but now we are learning more advanced things like how to build compound words like “underholdingsprogram” which tricks the eye because there are so many English looking words in there, but the meaning isn’t obvious. “Program” means just that, same in both languages, but “underholding” means “entertainment” – why, I do not know. When two words are combined together there must either be an “e” or an “s” between them, unless of course they are short words and then nothing is required, but there are no specific rules on when to use the e or the s. Imagine that. I’m still trying to figure out who came up with this stuff, and I think I might now know. Some guy named Ivar Aasen went around Norway about a hundred years ago and wrote down all the words used in different areas for the same things, and came up with a nice “blend” of them all and then wrote the first Norwegian dictionary – of sorts. I guess he’s Norway’s version of Mr. Webster. If he were alive today, I’m not sure I would hail him as the hero the locals do. There is a museum dedicated to him in his home town (not far from here), I’ve seen ferries named after the guy and of course he’s a big figure in the history books. I’d like to wring his neck. Of course, I have no idea how bad it was before all these grammar rules came in to play, but I’m not real fond of the ones they are using today, that’s for sure. At least I get to skip the next two days and the following week is winter break, so hopefully my batteries will be recharged when I come back.

Kory had his heart test today. They found “something” that didn’t look right (no surprise there), so they ordered more tests for him (including an angiogram) for the first week of March when we are back from vacation. He has to go to Trondheim for the test, however, which is a six hour drive from here. He’s not wanted an angiogram before (they go in with a little camera and see what things look like on the inside of his arteries), but now he feels more at peace with it, so he’s getting it done. After that he’ll see what the doctors say and we’ll go from there. He said the cardiologist he spoke with today said that America doctors have a reputation around the world for being a bit “too eager” with their patients, and Kory agreed, so we’ll see what the Norwegians think.

Kaleb had a fine day at school today and isn’t terribly thrilled about going to Rome tomorrow. He was looking forward to more play dates with his classmates during the break and he doesn’t like to miss Thursdays because that’s the day they have “forming” (hand crafts). I hope he changes his mind when we get there. He worked a little after school today on the two year anniversary edition of The Weakly Puppy, which is due the day we return. I can’t believe he’s been at it for two years. I’m glad he’s taking a little break after this because he hasn’t even petted a dog in at least a month. He is losing interest in them, I dare say. Sabina was over all afternoon and they played games together on the computer. I’m so shocked over how little kids move around anymore. When I was a kid we played kick-the-can and hide-and-seek, but now they just sit on the couch and look at one computer screen or another. These last ten years in Norway have been quite transforming as the internet has taken hold and satellite dishes are the norm. It has changed the culture here for the kids as much as mother’s being part of the work force. This is really the first generation to grow up without a mom at home, and with so many outside influences. It will be interesting to see what happens in ten or twenty years. One recent survey taken asked parents what they thought was important for their children to learn and 92% said “to follow instructions,” but only 11% said they thought it was important that they learn to work hard. That ranking was just below the 12% that thought it was important for the children to have a religious belief. Divorce is now at 50%, but that only measures those couples that actually got married. Living together couples far exceeds “ektepar” – literally translated means “real couples,” but refers only to married couples (as if couples NOT married are “unreal.”) About a hundred years ago all the illegitimate babies were recorded in the church book records as “uekte” (unreal). There are so many hidden agendas in the words that get used in this language. But I like the fact that Rome is spelled Roma here and if you spell that backwards, it spell AMOR (which is Latin of course, for love), and I’m lovin’ that we are going there tomorrow!