Easter Eve

As with all good holidays, Norwegians can’t wait to celebrate them, so tonight actually, was the big Easter dinner in many houses in Norway.  Strange, but true.  Tomorrow is pretty much a non-eventful day around these parts, but we’re sticking with American traditions and having ham and asparagus and other such American delicacies, and inviting friends over to share the day with us.

Because we do plan to attend church in the morning, I had to make a lot of the meal today so I have just a minimal amount to do when we get home from church.  The sun was shining so I wasn’t the least bit happy about being in the kitchen, but I had to do what I had to do.

I ran into Tante Kari on the way to the grocery store (it was open only for a few hours this morning).  She wanted to know if I saw the photo of her that her granddaughter posted on Facebook yesterday when she was there for a visit.  I told her I had seen it.  She said her phone’s been ringing off the hook for all the people who saw it and she seemed a bit confused as to who could see it and who couldn’t.  Later, she came over to our place and asked if I would log on and show it to her.  She squealed in delight over each comment people posted under her photo.  She then went next door to her sister’s place and started bragging that she was on Facebook, like it was some nationally broadcast TV program or something.  She was quite proud.  When Tante Kari saw all the “friends” I had on Facebook, and how many of them are here in Norway, she told me I have more friends here than she does, and she’s lived here all her life.  Funny.

I wasn’t about to spend the whole day inside, on the computer or in the kitchen, so I told Kory at 1:30, we were going for a hike, ready or not.  Well, that turned into 2:00 before I could actually wrap up a few things, but nonetheless, it was another gorgeous day and I longed to be out in it.

A few weeks ago we noticed a signpost to a trailhead a few hundred feet from our building, so we thought we’d go for an explore today and see where it led.  We had only 30 minutes to go one way before we had to turn back, because we were invited out to a big traditional Easter dinner at Kory’s cousin, Linda’s house, so we had to be back in time for that.  So off we went, mostly walking down streets, past houses we’ve never seen, and on into the woods.

The good thing about our little explore was to see how many wild blueberry bushes there are in the woods within just minutes of our place.  When we come back again next year I’m sure it will be in August, so we’ll be having plenty of fresh blueberries then. 

We tried to find the main trail to some hilltop lookout, but got totally turned around and ended up on some guy’s farm.  Again, it was nice to know we wouldn’t be yelled at for crossing his field and tromping around on his place, but we never did make it to our intended destination.   At least we have that goal for another day, and we certainly enjoyed some nice views from where we were (see photos above.)

Cousin Linda has one of the nicest houses we’ve been in in Norway (see photos below).  It’s always a pleasure to spend time there.  After the traditional dinner of lamb, cabbage, potatoes, etc…we were treated to a little concert by her two boys – both incredible musicians.  Rasmus played the piano while his younger brother, Henrik, was on the cello. It was a pretty high class evening, but that family rubs elbows with the elite of Norway since Linda’s husband’s uncle used to be Prime Minister of Norway.   They also own a house in Turkey, so they were telling us the places we shouldn’t miss when we go there in ten days.  Fun.

Linda’s husband went and got Tante Ruth out of the old folks home tonight so she could join us for dinner.  She sat by herself in the corner while we ate because she needs help to do anything.  It was pretty sad to see her sitting there – can’t see, can’t hear much and can’t walk.  Uff-da.  After dinner, everyone took turns sitting up next to her, shouting in her ear so she could hear them.  Linda’s teenage daughter, Nina, really got her talking (see photo).  She was asking Ruth about her childhood and what she did during the war.  She asked why she moved to America and what it was like there.  Of course, Ruth had no idea all ears were on her.  I told Nina to ask her if she ever had any boyfriends.  Kory always suspected she had some, but whenever we have asked her about it – she said she never did.  Nina asked her and Ruth just lit up and said, “Oh yes, I had MANY!”  That was news to us and I’m sure she wouldn’t have said that if she could see who all was listening.  She then told her she didn’t marry any of them, even though she had the chance, because she didn’t love them like they loved her.  She even revealed that she was caught naked once by a guy when she forgot to lock the bathroom door.  He proposed on the spot.  That was pretty funny.  She didn’t really want to come tonight, but I think she was glad she did.

Kaleb came home tonight from his big ski trip.  He had a good time but in the last hour of skiing, hurt his foot during a fall on the slopes.  The snow yesterday was perfect powder, but today, after a day of hot weather, it got pretty slushy and miserable for skiing.  Kaleb said he sat on his butt to get down off the top of the mountain because it was straight down and he was a little bit scared.  When he got to the bottom he had to go over a jump and then he landed wrong and hurt his foot.  Once again, he’s big-dealing it for us, but I’m sure he’s fine.  At least the swelling in his gum went down so he’s not whining about that now.

He got his feelings hurt a little last night, he said, when they were all playing Monopoly with different rules than he’s used to.  The other boys formed alliances and cooperated together, but there wasn’t anyone for him to join up with so he felt they were all out to get him.  Such is life, but he teared up when telling me about it.  He’s really into playing fair, so it hurt his feelings a little.  I think it’s good for him.

Kory went to a special Easter eve service at Philadelphia Church tonight while I helped Kaleb decompress from his trip and get him to bed.  I also needed to do a few more things for dinner tomorrow and get all the Easter eggs ready to hide.  Hunting for Easter Eggs is NOT a Norwegian tradition, so I brought some plastic eggs with me from America so the kids tomorrow can have a little American culture along with their American meal.  I made up some Resurrection Eggs that tell the story of Jesus’ crucifixion, so I’m hoping that will be a good tool in helping them all understand a little better the reason we should all be shouting HALLELUJAH!