Cinco de Mayo IKKE

I was so proud of myself yesterday as I carved out a little bit of study time to not really do homework, but to look back on my grammar book and see where I went wrong and why some of the basic principles in Norwegian grammar are just lost on me. I studied hard and I felt surely I made it over one basic hump – and that is where to put the “ikke.” The word “ikke” means NOT, or DON’T or sometimes STOP – all negative connotations. The killer is, that word floats around in sentences like clouds in the sky. It’s never in the same place twice and I struggle so much with whether I say it before the verb, after the verb, after the subject, before the helping verb… because different scenarios change the rules about where it goes. I studied it and studied it and was sure I had it figured out. Then wouldn’t you know today in class we had a big exercise on where to put the IKKE and I got almost all of them wrong! I give up. I’m hopeless. Even if I look up a word in the dictionary, a minute later I’ve forgotten its meaning. It’s so embarrassing to be this bad. So I didn’t even try to do homework today. I came home from school and Kaleb was already engrossed in his school work, Kory was laying flat on his back (same position I left him in this morning) and the rain was pouring down. I laid on the couch to try and sleep away the disgust I felt for myself and next thing I knew Kaleb was on top of me wanting to wrestle. So much for rest. That boy needs a trampoline.

Tonight there was no cake, but I did get a free dinner. The Good Teacher Inga invited some of the students in our class to attend a dinner meeting to talk about our experiences at our school. None of us were sure what we were in for, but as it turns out it was the monthly meeting of the Soroptomist Club here in Aalesund. The Soroptomists are an international group of professional women that work together to try and improve the lives of other less fortunate women. I know a few of them back home in Skagit County so it was exciting for me to see the “international” part of that group alive and well in Norway. The Soroptomists run the thrift store in LaConner and do other fund raisers throughout the year and use the money to fund scholarships or help battered women’s shelters, etc. It’s women networking together for the good of other women. It’s the same idea here, only they don’t do the fundraising part quite the same because after all, they are Norwegian and pretty tight with their money. I asked one of the women tonight about that missing piece of the action and she explained to me that in America there is such a division between those who have money and those who do not, but here in Norway, everyone has about the same – so there aren’t really “needy” people to help. They do, however, sell lottery tickets for ten kroner each (about $1.50) at each meeting and at the end they draw the number to see who wins the bottle of wine (it wasn’t me). They also pay dues to be in the club and they use that money to help women in Sierra Leone in Africa, but that’s about it. I think here, it’s mostly about networking, but the club has been around for 26 years and there are 36 women in the group – so that’s something. They were all impressed with our class and how well we could speak the language as we all stood up in front of the group and presented ourselves and told where we are from, how long we’ve been here, why we came, and what we are doing now. I was clearly the worst speaker so it was a little humbling for me. I really should do more homework as I’m being left in the dust. My Pal Vestina made the best presentation and both Inga and I were so proud. That girl has a future. (Inga thinks it is so funny Vestina and I are friends, as we are quite the opposites, but we make each other laugh and that’s the glue that holds us together.)

Kory and I are still trying to figure out how the next three months are going to play out. I think I need to go talk with the immigration office and find out exactly when we need to be out of the country, and maybe that will help firm up our plans, but it’s looking more and more like we’ll be home sooner, rather than later. The more we think about it, the more we like the idea of a road trip around Europe in the Spring of next year, rather than in the summer of this year. Everything is so crowded in the summer and it gets too hot in July and August for my liking. (I’ve been able to generate my own heat now for about a year – hot flashes have their benefits.) So coming home early might not be a bad thing especially since we have to deal with our apartment building. We’ll see how it all shakes out.

(Today’s photo I took on our last road trip. The cabins are set under the shelter of the overhanging rocks for protection from avalanches. It’s a good visualization of how I feel about my relationship with God. He’s always been my protection from whatever might want to dump on me – gotta love that.)