We are getting close to the big National Holiday here on the 17th of May so it’s required by all entities to spruce up a bit. We had a little "dugnad" at school today (dugnad means "work party") because all government offices, including schools and daycare centers, must pull weeds, pick up trash and do a little touch up painting if it helps, so their places look their best. There is a strong sense of pride here to have everything in tip top shape for 17th of May. All homeowners should have their lawns mowed and fresh flowers in the pots, so people have been scurrying around getting things in order. Even the old widow guy that lives across the street from us was out in his yard today putting fresh blooming flowers in his pots on the patio. I pulled weeds at school for an hour, others planted flowers and swept up the entrance area. The city was all a buzz with tidying up and it will continue until the 16th of May, I’m sure. Good thing the sun was out, as it made the work almost pleasant. Kory even painted over all the graffiti on the bus stop next to our house. He swears tomorrow he’s going to paint a Norwegian flag over the nice shade of white it currently is. I was thinking it would be nice just to leave it white, but he has too much pride in his land for that.
Kory had plans to be flat on his back all day today, but he felt slightly better so he was able to go vertical. Our friends from our Bible study group, Emmanuel and Ledto, called and asked if he could take them and their new baby to the doctor for a check-up, so he was happy to do that. They invited him over for lunch afterwards and he was thrilled to be served a traditional meal from their home country of Eritrea in Africa. I felt bad as I told him he shouldn’t be going there for a meal - we should be taking them one. Sometimes men don’t get it.
At school today we talked more on freedom of religion. I learned that all children here are required to follow the religion of their parents until they are 15 years old. At that time, they are free to choose what religion they want (or not). If their parents had them baptized into the State church, they are free to write to the State and have their name withdrawn from membership. (They picked the age of 15 because traditionally that is the age of adulthood when a child must go earn their own living.) I asked my teacher why they would need to opt out with a letter and she said because then the government would stop sending their taxes to that church. Apparently, a portion of everyone’s taxes goes to support churches so it’s possible to designate which one gets the money (the bulk of any church’s income comes from tax dollars from the government – not from individual giving.) So everyone should be registered with a church and then they can also deduct a portion of the cash donations they make to that church from their taxes (they can deduct up to 30% of the amount donated.) A lot of people use that as an excuse not to tithe or give any additional money to their church because they know their taxes already pay for it, but the tax is such a small portion of one percent that it hardly counts. We give money to both churches we attend, but we are only allowed to deduct the contributions we make to the one where we are registered. Strange system. And for all the taxes paid by people with no designated church, that money goes to the State church – no surprise there.
I got my laptop back from the PC shop today and they were able to get a full backup copy of my data so I boxed up my computer and tomorrow Dell will send someone out to pick it up for repair. They said it might take three weeks to get the motherboard replaced, so I’m glad we have six weeks before we leave town. Then I got smart and activated the 60 day free trial of Microsoft products on Kaleb’s laptop, and using the portable hard drive with all the files from my old computer, I’m nearly up to speed. It’s tough to type on a Norwegian keyboard, and Kaleb has very little memory in his computer so it’s slower than molasses, but I’m not complaining. I’m just happy I can be connected to the world, so Hallelujah for that. Kaleb however is relishing in the fact he has total control over me now because I’m at his mercy. He says I can only use his PC for 30 minutes a day but I cannot use it at all until I finish my homework, which I never even do. He also said if I let him sleep in our bed I get an extra half hour on his computer the next day and I can also earn an extra half hour if I speak just Norwegian the entire day with no mistakes. That kid is a wheeler - dealer. I can’t imagine where he gets that from. Turid often tells me we are too strict with him. Now I see what she means. I can dish it out, but I’m not too thrilled about taking it - especially from Kaleb.
Kory had plans to be flat on his back all day today, but he felt slightly better so he was able to go vertical. Our friends from our Bible study group, Emmanuel and Ledto, called and asked if he could take them and their new baby to the doctor for a check-up, so he was happy to do that. They invited him over for lunch afterwards and he was thrilled to be served a traditional meal from their home country of Eritrea in Africa. I felt bad as I told him he shouldn’t be going there for a meal - we should be taking them one. Sometimes men don’t get it.
At school today we talked more on freedom of religion. I learned that all children here are required to follow the religion of their parents until they are 15 years old. At that time, they are free to choose what religion they want (or not). If their parents had them baptized into the State church, they are free to write to the State and have their name withdrawn from membership. (They picked the age of 15 because traditionally that is the age of adulthood when a child must go earn their own living.) I asked my teacher why they would need to opt out with a letter and she said because then the government would stop sending their taxes to that church. Apparently, a portion of everyone’s taxes goes to support churches so it’s possible to designate which one gets the money (the bulk of any church’s income comes from tax dollars from the government – not from individual giving.) So everyone should be registered with a church and then they can also deduct a portion of the cash donations they make to that church from their taxes (they can deduct up to 30% of the amount donated.) A lot of people use that as an excuse not to tithe or give any additional money to their church because they know their taxes already pay for it, but the tax is such a small portion of one percent that it hardly counts. We give money to both churches we attend, but we are only allowed to deduct the contributions we make to the one where we are registered. Strange system. And for all the taxes paid by people with no designated church, that money goes to the State church – no surprise there.
I got my laptop back from the PC shop today and they were able to get a full backup copy of my data so I boxed up my computer and tomorrow Dell will send someone out to pick it up for repair. They said it might take three weeks to get the motherboard replaced, so I’m glad we have six weeks before we leave town. Then I got smart and activated the 60 day free trial of Microsoft products on Kaleb’s laptop, and using the portable hard drive with all the files from my old computer, I’m nearly up to speed. It’s tough to type on a Norwegian keyboard, and Kaleb has very little memory in his computer so it’s slower than molasses, but I’m not complaining. I’m just happy I can be connected to the world, so Hallelujah for that. Kaleb however is relishing in the fact he has total control over me now because I’m at his mercy. He says I can only use his PC for 30 minutes a day but I cannot use it at all until I finish my homework, which I never even do. He also said if I let him sleep in our bed I get an extra half hour on his computer the next day and I can also earn an extra half hour if I speak just Norwegian the entire day with no mistakes. That kid is a wheeler - dealer. I can’t imagine where he gets that from. Turid often tells me we are too strict with him. Now I see what she means. I can dish it out, but I’m not too thrilled about taking it - especially from Kaleb.
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