Happy Anniversary to Us

Yesterday I was too tired to write anything.  I just packed up and ran around all day.  There were only a few highlights – My Pal Vestina met me for coffee at the mall and we talked for a little while about her future, her month in Lithuania and her man.  I love that she loves my opinion on things.  Then last night we were invited over to some friend’s house for dinner.  Knut is a chemistry teacher at the local high school.  He and Kaleb had a little “knowledge challenge” on the subject of chemistry and both knew all the answers the other asked.  Knut was more than impressed with Kaleb’s answers and was sure he knew more about Chemistry than his students learn in a year.  Kaleb just smirked when he said that. 

I learned from Knut’s wife, Turid, that there is such a thing as “skyld folk,” here in Norway.  She described it as a person you are indebted to.  “Skyld” actually means “guilty,” so it’s a funny way of saying it, but basically, she says, it’s a very old Norwegian tradition, from the days when everyone was a farmer, and if someone dropped by the farm that was related to the farmer’s family, that guest was called a “skyld folk” and was owed a meal and a bed for the night, if needed.  It was an obligation, whether the farmer liked it or not.  He could not turn them away.  But the good news was, that the cut off for being related stopped at fourth cousins… so anyone being a third cousin and closer, got that kind of hospitable treatment, but a fourth cousin was owed nothing.  She said that tradition still lingers, so when I told her that Kory and Kaleb are something like seventh and eighth cousins to the Queen of Norway, she said it was too bad they weren’t third cousins because then they would have the right to stop by anytime for coffee with the Queen.  Funny.

It was good to have Kaleb home for bedtime last night, but alas, he’s gone again tonight.  He didn’t last long at home – just enough to change his clothes, take a shower and be gone again all day with Henrik today and now a sleepover with Andre tonight.  We had dinner with Andre’s parents tonight, as they wanted to talk again about their upcoming trip to America to visit us.

Kory set up a little party for me on the coffee table this afternoon and had coffee and pastries set out, along with a gift he spent too much money on.  It’s our 20^th wedding anniversary today.  My gift to him was that trip on Hurtigruten, and I bought him a wooden carved picture of a Norwegian farm.  He bought me something from the exact same jewelry store where I bought our engagement rings over twenty years ago.  It was thoughtful that he did that, but what he bought were silver salt and pepper shakers, each shaped like a ram’s horn.  I’m not sure the significance of the shape of them, but he did say he got them because after all this time together he knows we are completely different.  He compares himself to the salt, and of course, I’m the spicy one, the pepper.  He said we are so different, but we still go together – like salt and pepper.  The sentiment was sweet, for sure.  I can’t justify the price for such small little objects, but they are a good reminder of our relationship, for sure.

Today I didn’t pack or clean a thing as we found out late last night that Tante Ruth has taken a turn for the worst so we had to go spend some time with her before we leave.  She looked dead already when we arrived, but she smiled when she realized who was there for a visit.  Kory got her talking, although she is very weak.  She kept asking about our condo and what we are doing with it and if it’s costing us money.  She feels some kind of responsibility for it, I think.  Kory tried to assure her God is providing and we’re doing just fine.  We kinda stayed too long as she started losing a lot of energy from talking, but we all found it hard to leave, knowing she’s not going to be around much longer.  We’ve been thinking for the last three years that when we said goodbye, it was for the last time, but now it’s for certain.  Kory told her we’ll be back in a year and she said, “I won’t be here.  I’ll be in heaven by then.”  Kory joked with her and told her to please greet his parents from him and to be sure to tell them what a wonderful grandson they have that they have never met.  She said she would do that and she’s looking forward to the trip.  It was hard not to cry when we left. 

Because we spent so much time with Ruth and had so many errands to run today to unregister us at the “people register office,” to unregister the car and quit the insurance, to drop things off here and there, I didn’t get the condo cleaned and ready for our big exit.  We were stressing about the timing of things this morning, but then decided the best thing to do was just forget the airplane tickets we bought for tomorrow to Oslo and stay on one more day here, then take the airport bus to Oslo on Friday.  We’d hoped to spend time with relatives in Oslo before we left, and hopefully we still can, but it will be a short visit now.  We couldn’t see any other way to take care of all we needed to take care of before we left.  It took a lot of stress off to have one more day, so that’s what we are doing.  All of us were pleased with that decision so we know it’s the right one.  It’s a nine-hour drive to the airport on the bus on Friday, but we don’t fly out until Saturday so it won’t be too bad.  I think we need to take the slow road home anyway, since we aren’t nearly as anxious for our trip home as Aunt Ruth is.

Still Packing...

We took some clean underwear and snacks to Kaleb over at Daniel’s house today.  It felt like we were exercising some kind of visitation rights, since we were there just a short time and dropped off a few things.  He couldn’t be bothered with our questions as to how he was doing since he was glued to a computer screen and inventing some cartoon character to play in a game.  So absorbed.  We barely got a hug out of him and he was off again with Daniel.  Andre was with them all day too and also spending the night there.  They are all wanting to maximize their time together since we leave so soon.  I’m glad he has friends that want to be with him, but sad he’s now entering that stage where they are more important than we are.  Sniff sniff.

I would have spent all day packing and cleaning, but I was a bit busy being social, instead.  I went to a prayer meeting this morning for a few hours at my friend, Kristin’s house.  We decided to have a little “soaking time” to see if we could “be still” and hear from God.  While I was lying there all I could think about was all the things I’ve been sorting through, and which things I’ll hold on to - some I’ll keep here, some things I’ll take back with us to America, some things I’ll throw away and some things I’ll give away.  I heard God say, “Now if I did that with you, what things are you ready to throw away – what things are you ready to give away – what things are you still holding on to?”  It was a good lesson, dealing with certain emotional issues.  I’ve been thinking about that all day.

After the prayer meeting I went right back to packing and cleaning.  Tobias came over to get the keys to our apartment, as he’s agreed to be our caretaker while we are gone.  I showed him where everything is and I’m confident he’s the right guy for the job.  How blessed we are.  We don’t have anything concrete lined up for renting out the apartment, but I’m pretty sure it won’t sit empty for a year.  We have several possibilities in the works.

Tonight I had a party to attend with the women from a Bible group I go to.  It was too much food and too little time, but we had a nice visit anyway and it was a good way to say goodbye to all of them at once.  What a great bunch of women.  I love our social life in Norway the best.  The scenery is drop dead gorgeous, the weather - maybe not the best, but the people – that’s the real treasure of this land.

It’s been raining hard most of the day.  I guess I won’t miss the rain.  We’ve only had three days of sunshine since we got here so we haven’t climbed any mountains or spent time at the beach.  I need to remind myself of THAT so it will be easier to leave, as I’ve heard summer has arrived in Skagit County so I can look forward to some sunshine, anyway.

We got a message tonight that our van’s battery is dead in Seattle, so we need to figure out how to get home on Saturday night.  Good thing we had some warning or that would have been a bit of a surprise we wouldn’t want to deal with after traveling all day.  God will provide a way, as He always does.  We are truly blessed to have such a good life.

Packing it UP

I packed five out of six of our suitcases today.  We might make it without having to pay excess luggage fees to get home.  Our place is a wreck right now as things are piled high for different destinations.  It looks like Kaleb’s been living here alone for a week as things are scattered helter skelter.  Hopefully soon I can start cleaning so that we leave this place in good enough shape to rent it out, should the need arise.  So far we have no plans for what to do with an empty apartment for a year.  We don’t want anyone moving in, but we sure don’t mind people staying here for lengths of time.  There’s a difference.

Kory and I worked all morning packing and sorting, then went to Philadelphia Church because Agape had their services out where Kaleb went to camp this weekend.  We opted out of that big event because of the time it would take to get there and back and we needed that time for packing and cleaning, and besides, I had a party to go to!

The minute we walked in the door at church, several people yelled, “Mickey!” like I was a rock star or something, but as it turns out, I was just an answer to prayer.  They had three people show up that knew NO Norwegian and needed to use the translation headsets to understand the service, but no one at church could translate for them.  Apparently, several people there thought that I could do the job so when I walked in, they were all excited they had a translator.  I tried to backpedal and tell them even I only understand about 75% of the sermons because there are so many specialized words used when talking about Biblical things, but they said, 75% is better than 0%.  I tried again to get out of it, knowing I wasn’t fit for the job, but they insisted.

The Bible talks about those who speak in different “tongues” and those who interpret.  Well, I’m certainly not an interpreter, but I prayed God would help me do so, so then I agreed to do it.  What a stresser!  I had to think fast, talk fast, listen intently and try to speak coherently, all at the same time.  I did okay on some normal conversation things, but once the sermon got going, I missed a lot of the points.  I’d start in on a sentence then have no idea where it was going, so I just finished it myself in the way I thought it should be said.  Little did I know I was being listened to by Liv, the church secretary who was with us last week on the Hurtigruten ferry!  When church was over she greeted me with a big hug and a huge laugh.  I told her she should have translated but she had other things to attend to and she just shook her head and said, “In Chile, there is a small city way out in the country and it’s called Better Than Nothing, and that’s what you were, you were better than nothing….” So she thanked me and said I didn’t do THAT bad, and I guess, how would the others who were listening know?  Ugh.

I had to jet out right after the service was over to go pick up The Good Teacher Inga, as we were invited to a little reunion party with some women from my old Norwegian class.  I was telling Inga about the translation job I had today and she said that’s the hardest thing to do in a foreign language so she was impressed I even tried.  I had no choice in the matter.

We had a lovely afternoon out in the sunshine at my friend Melinda’s house.  She made us lunch and we chatted away for hours.  Valesca was also there but she brought her daughter along so she had no time to visit as her daughter is very demanding.  She was really upset by it all so I told her she needs to have an American au pair (nanny) come live with her and take care of her daughter’s needs.  She loved the idea, so now I’ve been given the task of finding her someone who wants to come live in Norway to do just that.  I’m thinking it might not be that hard to do.

So the party was nice, but my time there got cut short because Kaleb called. He was home from camp an hour sooner than expected, so I rushed out of there to go get him.  The undersea tunnel I had to use to get home was closed because some car was stalled and a tow truck had to move it, so there I sat, not knowing how long I’d be.  I called Kaleb and he got a ride home with Andre, then he called me back and asked for a sleepover with Daniel.  I told him I’d like to see him today and he just bawled and bawled and said we were going home in just a few days and I could see him then but he only has a little time left with his friends here.  I had to agree with him.  I feel like bawling, too.  So now he’s at Daniel’s house for the night anyway.  I told Tina, Daniel’s mom, that I was hoping to see him today and she said, “You can have him when we are done with him.”  I thought that was funny.

We stopped by Bjorn and Inger’s house to say goodbye to them and Tobias and the twins.  They are leaving Tuesday to go on a motorhome trip over to Sweden.  In the process of talking with them, Inger offered to take care of our condo for us and to clean it if anyone uses it, so that was a huge answer to prayer for us and makes us feel very comfortable leaving it all behind.  Whew.  We had just prayed for that very situation last night at our home group party, so God was quick in answering!  Hallelujah!!!

We left Tobias’ place and went over to Cousin Odd’s house again to say HI to his daughter, Marit, who came and stayed with us in America last year.  She lives in Oslo but is home for the summer so we hadn’t seen her all year.  We had a nice chat with them and then it was home and time for bed for us.  I could go house-hopping all night, saying our good-bye’s, but I really hate to think about leaving.

Saying Goodbye

This morning before six we drove Stuart and Judy to the airport and said our goodbyes to them, then went home and back to sleep.  This evening we had to say our own goodbyes to some of our friends from Agape Church, as our home fellowship group there had a little going away party for us.  I really hate goodbyes.

We spent the entire afternoon going through our stuff and trying to figure out what we should take home with us and what we should leave behind.  All the treasures I’ve purchased weigh more then the baggage allowance, so some hard decisions needed to be made.  I hate making those kinds of decisions.

Tonight after the party we stopped by Odd and Turid’s for a late night visit.  Kory has developed a strange looking rash on his face that some of the women at the party thought needed medical attention (they are nurses).  They were worried he had a tick bite that got infected.  Good thing we have Cousin (Doctor) Odd at our beck and call.  He said it was just a rash that needs an antibiotic cream so he wrote down the name of it and we can buy it on Monday.  No worries, he said.  I hate it when I worry about stuff like that.

And that was our day.  I’m feeling too sad to write anymore because I really don’t want to think about leaving Norway.  We agreed we will never travel outside Norway when we come here for only 90 days, as it takes up too much precious time and we didn’t get to spend enough of it with all those we love here.  The only good thing is that I’ve lined up a few days of seeing friends when we are back home, so it will help take the sting out of leaving here.  I hate being lonely.

Their Last Day

Kory took Stu and Judy into town today to do some last minute shopping.  I’d planned a few sightseeing excursions for them, but that had to go by the wayside as they tried to find just the right gift to take to all their family members back home.  They were gone all morning.  Kaleb was still at Andre’s house so that meant I had time home alone myself, which I used to clean.  No excitement there.  I also made some Pecan Squares to take to a party tonight and to give to Bjorn as a thank you for helping us with getting our car off the ferry and back home safely.

After Kory brought our guests back home, he went over to visit Tante Ruth at the Old Folks home for a little bit while Stu and Judy hit the mall next door.  They hadn’t had time for that little attraction in all the time they’ve been here. 

For their Last Supper, Kory cooked up a whale of a meal.  He figured they had to have the total Norwegian experience, so he marinated and BBQ’s some whale steaks.  He thought they weren’t as good as previous steaks he’s done, but Stuart had second helpings, so that was good.

We were all invited to a Santhansaften party tonight at my friend, Valesca’s house.  She lives right across the water from where the biggest fire in our area takes place.  Because it’s so popular, they always burn it on the Friday nearest the 23^rd of June, so that was tonight.  Stu and Judy just wanted to stay home and pack and get to bed early, but Kory and I were up for it, so we went.  We were so glad we did.

I was hoping to see more friends from my Norwegian class there, but they’ve all recently had babies so they are at that stage when they feel tied to home and the baby’s schedule.  The funny thing was, Kory was the only one there born in Norway – the rest were immigrants from all over the world.  We just howled over some of our faux pas in trying to learn to speak Norwegian.  We all had some great stories to share in our difficulties with the language and culture. 

There was one young woman there from Singapore who met a guy from Sweden and they are now living in Norway.  She’s been married to him for three years but hasn’t told her family yet because she’s so worried about the ramifications of it, since they are Muslims and he is not – neither is she, really.  She said she believes there is a God but she doesn’t believe in religion.  So she lives in fear of her family learning this bit of news.  They know she lives with him, however, and that’s almost OK.  I felt a bit sorry for her.  We were all trying to come up with stories she could tell her parents that would be worse than marrying a Christian, so if she told them that first, then hearing the truth might not seem so bad.  Man, did we ever laugh over those ideas.

The big fire got lit at 10pm.  Last year they tried to set a world’s record and built the structure over a hundred and twenty feet tall, but it rained so it didn’t get going until nearly 2am.  Tonight’s fire tower was only about 90 feet tall.  They at least got this fire started before the rain set in, but even still, the initial flame burned about 90 minutes before the structure caught on fire. 

They set a barrel of tar on the very top of the tower and light it.  Once the tar burns up and burns through the bottom of the container, it then coats the inside of the tower with enough tar to keep the fire going, so we waited and waited and waited for that darn tar to get done burning.  There were at least 200 boats in the water surrounding this little peninsula, waiting also.  The boat parade was as impressive as the fire.  Finally, once the tower started burning, it didn’t take long and the whole thing was engulfed.  Then when the tower fell over, all the boats dispersed and went home (after 1am).  We watched the fallen tower burn quite a while before we were ready to leave.  We got home at two.

My friend, Valesca, is a sales person, and we had given her a copy of one of Kory’s drawings of Aalesund, so she went around and showed everyone tonight and told them all what a great gift it is to give to out of town guests and before we knew it, the orders were pouring in.  So now I need to drop off some inventory to Valesca who swears she can sell anything we give her.  She has one of Kory’s drawings we gave her last year, framed and hanging in her house.  She said everyone that comes over asks her who did that and where they can get a copy, so maybe Kory will have a little art business on the side while we are gone.    It might help pay for that traffic ticket he got. 

Kaleb went right from Andre’s house to a Christian weekend retreat with his pals.  We won’t be seeing him again until Sunday night.  When we get back home in America, we’ll have to reacquaint ourselves with that boy, as we sure haven’t spent much time with him since we’ve been here.

Santhansaften

Kaleb went to his pal Daniel’s house yesterday after we left on our road trip, and decided just to spend the night there, which was a good thing.  He came home early this afternoon so we had a little time with him before he then took off to spend the night at Andre’s house again.  He’s maximizing his time with friends before we head back home next week, but he’s also starting to talk about the friend’s back home and how much he misses them, so he’s preparing for the transition, which is good.  I wish I could do that.  I just get profoundly sad when I think about leaving here.

We all slept in until ten this morning, which meant a late start to the day.  As it turned out, it didn’t matter much because no one had a desire to go anywhere or do anything.  We just hung out at home and unpacked all our treasures from yesterday’s big shopping spree and hung out at home while the rain came down outside on this day of great celebration in Norway.

The summer solstice (June 21) was a huge pagan event in Norway a thousand years ago, with bon fires and often people being burned at the stake.  Once Christianity got introduced, the church created their own celebrations and holidays that coincidentally happened a few days after the pagan ones.  They reasoned that the now Christians would be preparing for their own festivities and wouldn’t have time to participate in the pagan ones.  So, since the Bible says John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, was born six months before Jesus was born, they decided that tomorrow, June 24^th, they should celebrate John’s birthday.  They’d already picked December 25^th (coincidentally a few days after the winter solstice) to be Jesus’ birthday.  (I was shocked when I first learned that the whole world does not celebrate Jesus’ birthday on December 25^th.  Many other countries have His birthday up to a month later.)

Like all good holidays, the Norwegians can’t wait to celebrate them so they do all their festivities the night before.  Today is called “Santhansaften” – Saint John’s Eve – meaning the night before Saint John’s birthday.   The weird thing is though, in order to celebrate his birthday, they do some of the things the pagans did for the summer solstice celebration, but they do it in honor of John.  Weird, but true.  They’ve even steered way off course and some modern fires now burn dummies, so it looks like people are getting burned at the stake.  Even weirder.  But this is such a long standing celebratory day that traditions that must be upheld, so families gather down by the shore where they burn piles and pallets of wood that have been building up over the last few months.  Kids play games and families roast hot dogs and marshmallows and stand around this huge fire (which honestly, is hard to stand within a hundred feet of), and they call it a good time. 

Cousin Odd had planned his own little outdoor party tonight that we were going to attend, but it got rained out.  Kaleb wanted to go down to see one of the local fires so the three of us donned our rain gear and headed out.  I guess if it wouldn’t have been raining, it would have been a better time, but we did run into a few people we know so we chatted with them.  Once the fire died down, we left.

We took Kaleb over to Andre’s then stopped by Odd and Turid’s anyway, just to say hi.  Turid was making Rommegrot, so we stuck around for a little “kveld’s mat” (night food) with them and watched a recap of the Hurtigruten six day tour on the TV.  It almost made me cry to see some of the footage.  It was so beautiful.  I need to buy that DVD.  The locals papers are still writing about the media sensation that program was and that Aalesund didn’t do a darn thing to welcome that ship.  The mayor of our town basically said he was asleep at the wheel and he took blame for it.  Some are calling for his resignation because of it, as Aalesund is now the talk of the country for their lack of enthusiasm over this event and they had a chance to show off their local talents and beauty, but didn’t.  Norwegian pride is a funny thing.

So that was our “at home” kinda day and we are now counting down the hours until we are on a plane heading back to America.  I can’t think about it or I might cry.

The Long Journey Home

Oops - I FORGOT TO POST YESTERDAY!

TUESDAY:

Kory and I couldn’t sleep in this morning, even though we were all up until about two, because Kaleb needed to get up and off to school for his big LAST DAY.  I was tough to wake him and even with Kory driving him there, he was six minutes late.  I guess they can’t do much about it now.  He was glad he went and many of his friends and classmates said they were sorry he has to leave and especially sorry he won’t be back for another year.  I think he likes the whole “absence makes the heart grow fonder” thing he has going on here.  He might just melt into the background if he were here all the time, but as it is, the kids know their time with him is short so they all try to make the best of it.  I was glad to see him come home after school and not go play with friends, however, as I needed a little time with him, too.

Kory took Stu and Judy into town after a late breakfast so they could do some shopping and sightseeing, now that the weather has cleared up a bit.  Kaleb and I just talked and talked.  We cleaned and put things away and went to the grocery store together.  I was so surprised when, without me asking him to do it, Kaleb started bagging up the groceries.  He even knew to put the heavier things on the bottom.  I was so impressed!  He claimed it was because he woke up “on the right side of the bed this morning” but he sure has been pleasant and agreeable and loveable all day.  What a treat.

I watched more of the NRK2 TV show about the Hurtigruten today, reliving each port they stopped in.  It’s like the ship has become a rock star now as everyone in all the cities where it stops come out to greet them, screaming and wanting high fives by the cameramen.  Totally funny.  Each port has had marching bands, some have had kids dancing, drill teams, gymnastic teams, senior’s folk dancing, classic car shows and fireworks.  They don’t miss a beat – whatever they have to offer – they are showing their stuff on national TV.  It’s even making the headline news about how this show has broken all kinds of media records and superseded anyone’s expectations by a long shot.  They’ve even had trouble with their website because it can’t handle the load for all the people logging on around the world to watch the coverage.  What a phenomenon.  It’s been a hoot to watch and all I can think is how dead these towns were when we were there just a few days ago.  Therein lies the power of the media.

I had just a normal day of cleaning, laundry and making dinner so there isn’t much to write about.  But we are taking a big road trip tomorrow to visit the farms where Stuart’s other grandparents came from – so we had to investigate ferry schedules, routes to take and exactly where the farms are at, so that took a little time tonight.  It will be a long day tomorrow and Kaleb will be alone again, but I’m pretty sure he’ll manage just fine without us.  

WEDNESDAY:

We were up and out the door early today.  Our goal was to visit Stuart’s mother’s side of the family farms – where her parents were born and raised and lived before they moved to America.  We needed to leave quite early because it’s a long drive there and back, but I didn’t want to leave too early, because we’d be passing through Molde on the way and we all wanted to revisit the one thrift store we were at before. 

Before we even got to the first ferry over to Molde, Kory got pulled over for speeding!  In all the driving we’ve done in Norway, that has never happened, thankfully.  He was going only six miles an hour over the limit, and the ticket was $500!  There’s no way out of tickets here, so we just have to pay it.  Ouch.

But on the upside, it turned out that Molde has two thrift stores and an incredibly cheap antique store, so that took put us all in a good mood and took up the rest of the morning.  We all got some great treasures.  Stuart had to buy another piece of luggage as the ones they have are now bulging at the seams. 

The guy that owned the antique store gave Judy some free stuff as a welcome to Norway gift.  He was very kind.  He even rounded DOWN all the stuff I got, which was cheap to begin with, so I was pretty pleased with that stop.  I got an old bread kneading bowl, at least 100 years old, for $28, a yarn spinner at least that old (with one part restored on it), for $28, a hand carved relief picture of a Norwegian farm (that Kory wanted) for $57 and the usual pewter treasures for next to nothing.  He even threw in an old wire whisk, at least a hundred, if not two hundred years old, for nothing.  If my friend Paula ever comes to visit me again, she’ll need to bring empty suitcases.  He had huge pieces of 200 year old furniture, totally painted with rosemaling in mint condition, for only two thousand dollars.  He said his prices were at least half of what we should pay, and I believe it.  He complained that the new generation of adults in Norway belong to the “minimalist” way of thinking where they don’t even hang anything on the walls or have any decorations out at all.  It’s driving him out of business.  Now that would be a tragedy.

So after our splurges (mostly mine) in Molde, we had to drive about an hour, take a ferry, then drive almost another hour to get to Surnadal.  The minute we arrived in town, Kory spotted another thrift store, and it was open!  We were all pleasantly surprised since we’ve had such a run of bad luck on the ferry, finding only closed thrift stores.  But Stuart really wanted to find something from this one since it’s in the town nearest to where his grandmother grew up.  The problem was, both Stu and Judy have tried to pack up their stuff into the suitcases they brought, and realized they don’t have room for another thing.  Stuart found something small and lightweight.  And once Kory told the woman working in that store about this being Stuart’s ancestral town and all, she gave both Judy and I a little treasure to take back home.  She wanted to know which farm we were heading to, and if we’d made contact with any family in the area.  We told her no family lived on that farm but she was sure she could find some shirt tail relatives to visit anyway.  It was getting so late already, we had to try to bow out of that proposal and I could see she was genuinely miffed that we had Americans with us that came all this way to find their roots and wouldn’t take time for a cup of coffee with someone they are related to.  I felt kinda bad about that and I guess it’s the opposite of that nice warm welcome American’s get when they DO show up at a distant relative’s house.  We had to just graciously bow out and hit the road.

We stopped to get directions a few times to the Sande farm.  All along the way Stuart started chuckling when we passed different areas with names he recognized from people he grew up with in Skagit County.  It was common for one area to get saturated in America with people from the same region in Norway because after the first brave soul goes over and makes a way, others soon follow.  Such was the case in this Surnadal/Rindal/Meldal area of Norway – they landed hard in Skagit County.

We found our destination for the day - the "white house with the gate," Stuart got out and we took a few photos, he pondered his grandmother’s life on this farm, then we talked to the guy that lived there and found out it was the wrong house.  Kory called it “false labor.”  It was the next white house down the street… so we got back in the car and went down there.  I rang the doorbell right away, so as not to have another rush of emotion come over Stuart, only to find it’s not the right place either.  The woman there confirmed we were at “Utistue” the exact house where Guraa lived (see top photo).  She gave us permission to go around and take photos and then she went and got her husband, who is very interested in the whole immigration thing.  They talked with us awhile then invited us in.  She wanted to offer us coffee but we told her we didn’t have time for that.  They got out the farm history book so they could see how Stuart is connected to their farm (they bought the farm in 1970), and they showed him a picture of the old barn they tore down in 1980.  Stuart has a photo his grandmother gave him of that old barn, so that was meaningful.  They also got out an immigration book I’d never seen before of all the people that left that area.  It had the records for his grandmother in there with the exact date she left, that she left out of Trondheim to New York, and the name of the ship she traveled on.  She was 24 years old at the time.  It showed who she traveled with and everything.  Very cool piece of information to have, so the guy just gave Stuart the whole book!  I’m sure he just needed a copy of a few pages, but having the whole book is kinda cool (if he learns to read Norwegian) because it has a lot of history in there even of Skagit County – where they settled and what they did for a living.  That was an unexpected treat.

Stuart talked to the guy a little about the stories of his grandmother going up into the hills all summer with the animals and the guy told him the cabin where she stayed and made the butter and cheese, got washed away in a snow avalanche in 1935.  He also said it takes a good 2 hours to get up to the top of that mountain if you walk, but it’s now possible to drive a car up there because they put a power station up there (where they use the water from the lake, which drains down through turbines inside the mountain and creates electricity.)  Stuart got lots of tidbits of information to chew on in later days.

We didn’t leave that farm until after seven, then had almost an hour drive to the next farm.  We’d stopped at the church his grandmother was baptized in and the one she was confirmed in and he visited the grave of his great grandparents (see church photo above).  We also found the church his grandfather was baptized in, which wasn’t far from the farm where he grew up.  We had another “false labor” moment on the Berg farm, however, as we got the wrong “white house” again, but we ran into a neighbor who pointed us to the right place.  There was a “stabbur” (shed) there that was older than the hills, and the house that stood was the one where he had lived (see photo above), so we took a few more photos, had a few moments to ponder the meaning of it all, then headed back at 9:30.  We didn’t arrive back home until 2:15am… so it was a long drive, but free of speeding tickets, no flat tires, and no problems along the way.  Hallelujah!  Mission accomplished.

It's Great to be Home!

I felt like crying most of today, I was just that homesick.  Kaleb and I have talked on the phone several times.  He tried to plan a little welcome home party for us, but couldn’t keep it a secret because he needed to know too many things from me in order to pull it off.  It was so sweet he even thought of that.  He said he wanted us to have a little snack when we got in so late and also he “wanted to make it nice for us.”  So many times I’ve worried he was going to turn out to be a selfish kind of person, but after what he pulled off today, I guess I shouldn’t worry so much.  He was very thoughtful.  His caretaker for the last 12 nights even said so.  She sent me several messages telling me how nice and polite he was and he was no trouble at all to have around.  Time went too fast, she said, but for me, it just drug on and on.

The first day on our ferry trip Kory gave a copy of the watercolor he did of the Hurtigruten ferry in the Geiranger fjord, to the captain of the ship.  The Captain, being polite and all, invited us up to the bridge.  I didn’t want to feel like an opportunist, so we didn’t take him up on his offer, as other passengers have to pay about twenty dollars for the privilege of going up there to meet him.  Well, today at lunch, he stopped Kory and told him we were free to come up to the bridge at 3pm today, so we decided we should go.  He couldn’t have been nicer.  He asked me if I were Norwegian and I told him I’m from America.  He asked how come I speak Norwegian so well.  I told him I had to go to Norwegian classes when we moved to Norway but I didn’t really learn proper Norwegian, I learned the dialect from Aalesund.  He said, “I can tell.”  We talked the whole time in Norwegian so I did OK understanding all he said.  It was all polite chit-chat and he asked for the address to my blog as he wants to read what I write about Norway.  I told him I wrote about the Hurtigruten for this week’s article, then I remembered that I said I got a little bored on it, so I didn’t want to give him the address!  Talk about being in a pickle.  I decided to leave the address with the receptionist before we got off the ferry tonight, but I may have to re-write it just for my blog so I don’t get the guy upset with me.  He invited us back anytime we want to bring the nice weather along with us that we have enjoyed this week.  I told him that was up to God, not me.

So that was our excitement for today, except of course, the excitement of finally seeing Kaleb again.  I just moped around, packed up my things and talked to Kaleb as much as I could prior to our departure.  Our group had our last supper together and had a few good laughs then I worked on a photo book for this trip – and it’s nearly already done.  I didn’t even get off the ship in any of the stops today.  Once we were closer to civilization, I could get an internet signal so I used the time to communicate with a few people and read some news.  Part of the problem with the 12 day long journey is that I really have missed being in touch with my friends so I got kinda lonely and really wanted to be home – either one of our homes.

We got in just after midnight.  Kaleb called me about 15 minutes before we docked and he could barely talk, he was so tired and trying to stay awake, but he warned me he might fall asleep.  He told me he planned a party for us and a few surprises, so he wanted me to wake him when we got in.

Cousin Odd drove our car into the city and parked it next to the dock so we were home in no time.  Kaleb was sound asleep on the couch.  He’d made little cucumber finger sandwiches – he even cut off the crusts and cut the sandwiches in triangle shapes.  He put out a nice serving tray and had chocolates on one side and the sandwiches on the other.  He had nuts and pop and a hand made plaque he’d made at school that said KORY MICKEY KALEB on it that we can hang near our door (as is the Norwegian tradition).  I tried to wake him but he was out cold.  I just sat and held him for the longest time until I couldn’t stay awake any longer either.  We ate up the sandwiches and soon thereafter, called it a day.  Oh, it’s good to be home!

Five Seconds of Fame

I set the alarm this morning so I wouldn’t sleep in and miss the encounter we had with the MS Nordnorge – the ship that’s beaming 24 hour a day coverage to NRK2 TV here in Norway.  I made a sign with Norwegian flags attached that said HI KALEB and I intended on him seeing it.  I called him a little before eight to be sure he was awake.  He wasn’t.  I had to call twice to wake him.  He tried to turn on the TV at Henrik’s house but couldn’t figure it out so he had to wake up Henrik.  There were a few moments of panic as I saw the ship approaching and he couldn’t find the channel on TV, but finally he saw our ship and we both settled down.  I miss him terribly.

We were told to all go up on the top deck to wave to the other ship, but just a handful of us were disobedient in that regard, and stood on one of the lower decks that faces forward.  It was a good thing.  Kaleb actually saw us waving the sign and Kory’s sweatshirt and the camera zoomed in on me close enough that he saw me head on, talking to him on the phone!  Very exciting for us both.  We talked the whole time our ship was being filmed.  I asked Kaleb if I should go up on the top deck, since he said they were getting more airtime, but he responded with, “No, it’s chaos up there!  I’d never find you.”  And so it was, so we stayed put.

My friend Paula, in Colorado, that stayed up til after midnight last night to watch the live streaming on the internet.  She picked us out of the crowd, too, based on the clues I’d given her on where we’d be.  She sent me a photo of it today, and sure enough, that was us.  Other friends in Washington were also watching the live stream and they did a screen shot and we could see ourselves on the outside deck, so we definitely had our five seconds of fame today (tee hee), as half the country is still watching that program.  And when the going gets a bit boring on the program, they replay some of the more exciting moments of the past, so we’ve been on a couple times today, as I’ve even seen from the TV in our cabin on the ship.  Too funny.

(There's a hole right in the center of this rock.)

We still haven’t had any bands playing when we’ve arrived at different ports like they have, but we sure have been smiled on by God as we’ve had another incredible day of blue sky and sunshine.  I just didn’t get out in it much since I decided to get another article written for the LaConner paper and I needed some peace and quiet in my room to do that.  At least that’s crossed off my to-do list.  Now that we are almost home, I have a to-do list again.  This party is soon over.

Cousin Kari saw a couple of whales a few days ago off the back of the boat and I saw some dolphins jumping in the distance, but other than that, I’ve been surprised by the lack of sea life visible on this trip.  I’ve seen several eagles and other shore birds, but nothing too exciting.  The mountains and islands make up for a lot though and I’m sure I’ve taken several thousand photos, as I seem to average several hundred a day.  Making a photo album is going to be painful - too many choices.

Well, today we docked in some pretty cute towns and we got out and walked around a little, but it’s Sunday so everything was closed.  I’m thinking the timing of this was terrible for shopping’s sake, but Kory was relieved.  He thinks we have no more room for anything anyway, so he wonders why I keep buying so much stuff.  I have a lot of friends, I tell him, but that’s how I justify buying it all, then I have a hard time giving it away because I love it so much, too.  Ugh.

This morning on the top deck they served cod liver oil in a commemorative spoon as we crossed back over the Arctic Circle.  To drown out the flavor, some type of berry wine was offered to wash the nastiness away.  I opted out, so I didn’t get the spoon.  Kory got one though.  Stuart went through the line twice.  He’s got more Norwegian blood than I.  That fish oil taste has a way of coming back on you and I didn’t need any reminders today that I crossed the Arctic Circle.  I know we’re heading south as I’m counting down the hours until we are home. 

Only one more day until we are back in Aalesund!  We’ll be back at midnight tomorrow night.  Kory confirmed with Odd that he has our car and will leave it for us near the dock when we arrive so we can drive ourselves home.  Kaleb will be waiting for us at home, I hope.  I’m anxious to see him.  This trip has been wonderful, but really, at least three days too long for me, maybe more.  I would have liked it better if all the thrift stores we encountered were open when we arrived.  It was just painful to see so many nice things through the window and now be able to buy them.  I had that happen twice today.  I think the rest of the group could just keep on sailing, but I’ve run out of projects to do and I’m getting anxious.  I guess tomorrow I’ll start working on the photo album of this trip as there’s not much else on my to-do list I can accomplish from a ferry.  We’ll be back home in America in twelve days and then I’m pretty sure my to-do list will keep me good and busy.

Homesick Day

I so want to be back in Aalesund right now.  The weather has been perfect here, but now we are covering ground I’ve already seen twice and I’m not much for repeating vacation locations.  Ugh.  At least Kaleb called just to chat, which helped, but may have hurt, too.  He’s sounding worn out and wanting us to be home.  Two more days until that happens.  Double ugh.

The weather today could not have been better.  It was warm and many people were in their bathing suits lying on the top deck.  It’s hard to believe we are still north of the Arctic Circle!  Incredible.  We were able to get off the ferry a few times and walk about some small towns, so that helped a little, but I’d still rather be walking around our town of Aalesund.  Kory and I took a few naps in the sun today so we are looking like we’ve been sailing in the Mediterranean rather than the North Sea.

This program on the Norwegian TV station that is doing the “Minute by Minute Hurtigruten” is a huge success.  Each and every port that boat arrives in has been welcomed by all kinds of people and marching bands and enthusiasm.  When I mentioned at breakfast this morning that Aalesund was the only stop that didn’t do a darn thing for the ferry’s arrival, Tante Aslaug piped up and said, “Yes, but all those other towns are not giving the viewers an accurate picture of what it’s like to take the Hurtigruten, because when we arrived, we never got a marching band.  But in Aalesund, they are letting everyone know how it really is.”  I thought that was funny.  Norwegians are proud of what they do – no matter what.

I’ve been torn between being outside and again wanting to be inside watching that darn program.  It’s so “Norwegian” in that there is no dialog, it’s just cameras all over the boat, showing what’s going on outside the boat.  In America, they certainly would break for commercials or have some kind of commentary, but here in Norway they just let the scenery speak for itself.  I also think they may be trying to set a record as it’s 163 hours of non-stop filming.  It’s also being broadcast over the internet so people can watch it around the world.  I’ve sent messages to a few people in America to watch it on-line and Kaleb will be watching it tomorrow morning when we will be meeting up with that boat.  Hopefully he’ll get to see a glimpse of us.

We were entertained briefly on board today by a marching band that was attending a competition in a nearby city.  That was kinda cool… sailing along with live music on the top deck.  We also re-entered the Trollfjord and took more photos up close and personal of this very narrow opening the ship is able to maneuver in and out of.  Quite the experience, for sure (see photo).

Kory just cracked me up today when we were lying on the top deck, sunning ourselves, and he made the comment that we have such an incredibly good life he doesn’t understand it.  I told him I’m often in shock over it myself and I get stumped when people ask what we “do” because I know they wonder how we can lead such a carefree non-working lifestyle.  I’m never sure what to say to them.  Kory said, “When people ask you that – just tell them we plan vacations and then go on them.”  I must have laughed for ten minutes over that one, because surely it’s the truth.  I still don’t understand God’s blessing us to this degree, but I do know that it’s like the Bible says, that He’s “poured out so much blessing on us we are not able to receive it all.”  I feel that daily in our lives, but especially now when we are standing at the buffet tables at lunch on board this ferry.  The food has been incredible.  My only regret is the limited amount of it I can get in my gut.

(fish drying racks in the Lofoten Islands)

Happy Birthday, Tante Aslaug

Tante Aslaug turned 86 aboard the ferry, Trollfjord, today.  We stopped in Hammerfest this afternoon where she took a sightseeing trip around the city and at dinner tonight one of her granddaughters that used to work on this ship, had flowers delivered to our dinner table.  The whole dinner staff came and sang the traditional Norwegian birthday song to her and she got an extra large serving of marzipan cake for dessert.  She was overwhelmed with all the attention.  It will be a birthday she won’t soon forget.

We had incredibly sunny weather today and even warm temperatures on the top deck when there wasn’t a cross breeze.  I’m sure everyone enjoyed a little snooze in the sunshine today as it was nearly intoxicating. 

I’ve been torn between wanting to be outside in the sunshine and wanting to be inside watching the “minute by minute” coverage of another Hurtigruten boat that’s going on the same route we are on, just a few days behind us.  Today they were in Aalesund and up in the Geiranger fjord.  The coverage of their voyage is addicting as they have 24 cameras on the ferry and they are zooming in on everything they pass.  Of course the locals have gone nuts for this so many smaller boats are shadowing the ferry and people that live along the shore are waving flags and holding up signs.  Every port where they arrive has been greeting them with marching bands and huge crowds (except Aalesund).  It’s absolutely 100% coverage with no commercial breaks.  I think it’s going to be 163 hours of nonstop filming to cover the trip from Bergen to Kirkenes.  We will be meeting that ferry tomorrow evening so I just made a HI KALEB sign to hold up, in case they zoom in on our ship, too.  Everyone on board is talking about it and the newspapers say that half of Norway is watching it.  They are so proud of their coastal ferry system, with good reason. 

I wasn’t able to get ahold of Kaleb all day as his phone battery was dead.  Finally, at midnight he called us when we were walking around the town of Tromsø.  He was just fine but had some stories to tell me when we get home.  He’s glad there is only two days left of school, I think. 

Tromsø was alive with all kinds of drunks in the middle of the night.  The sun was still shining brightly so it was a unique experience walking the streets at that hour.  We passed by one hotel where a bunch of people were out on the balcony and they started singing to us.  We stood there and listened for a long while as they found it pretty entertaining to have an audience.  I think previously they were just singing to the wind.

We also got off the boat today at noon in Hammerfest, the city that boasts it’s the world’s most northern city – even higher than outer Sibera.  It wasn’t a particularly cute town but it had a lot more going for it than Kirkenes.  Unfortunately, the streets were all ripped up as they are setting down new cobblestone, so walking the streets wasn’t terribly pleasant.  Hammerfest got hit the hardest during the war and every single building and house was destroyed so what it was like when Kory’s parents met there, will never be known.  Their engagement/wedding rings that I wear around my neck on a necklace were purchased in that town in 1939.  I couldn’t even find a jeweler today.  And we asked if there were any antique or thrift stores and one guy said there used to be but no one wanted to buy anything second hand, so it shut down.  I guess there wouldn’t be that much cool old stuff anyway if everything burned sixty years ago.  It’s a growing town, and it shows, with many large condo complexes popping up along the waterfront.  It has over 51 nationalities living in that town of only 10,000 people.  Just off shore on a small island is a natural gas processing plant.  They take the gas up from under the sea, freeze it down to 160 degrees Celsius and it reduces the size by over 600 times.  They put it on container ships and ship it to Spain and America.  Norway doesn’t even use it themselves but they sure employ a lot of people because of it.

Tonight, our ferry stopped in the middle of nowhere and a small fishing boat came right up next to it to deliver fresh shrimp from the sea.  Everyone enjoyed a feast out on the top deck.  This certainly isn’t a cruise ship, but the nice little extra touches they provide keep it from being terribly boring.  I still would rather be home, however.