Let The Socializing Begin!

I spent the entire day hunting for, buying, and preparing two fat-free vegan salads to take with us to the cousin’s potluck tonight.  I would have thought a few hours, max, but nope, some ingredients were just not that easy to find.  Good thing I brought the dried cranberries with me or that dish would have not tasted the same.  And it’s a good thing I made two dishes that Kory could eat, because he pretty much stuck to what he could have and only took a small amount of food with fat in it, so I was thanking God for that.  He even went jogging today!

I noticed at one grocery store, they’ve started carrying more organic produce and the weirdest thing is – it’s cheaper than the non-organic!  All I can figure is the government is subsidizing that industry because that was quite a shocker – but a pleasant one, at that. (Photo above is the sidewalk at the mall.  The brick wall behind the trees on the right is the mall and the brick building behind the white one all the way on the left is our condo. Our front door is visible on the top floor.)

Every time I go to the store I buy small plants to put on the balcony and by our front door.  Norwegians just love blooming flowers everywhere and it’s so nice to walk down the hallway in front of our condo and see a blooming garden along the way, so I need to contribute to the beauty of it all.  I love “playing house” in Norway. (Photo below is of our front door, all spiffed up.)

My office didn’t get set up nor did I finalize the decorations in the living room because of time constraints, but Kory was able to do a few household repairs and shop for wood to make some shelves in the bedroom, so at least his day involved crossing things off our huge “to-do” list.  As soon as we cross off one thing, we add two more, as we want to fix absolutely everything we can while we are here to leave it in good shape for whoever might rent it in the future.

After sleeping in until 10:30 again, Kaleb left us in early afternoon and rode his bike over to Daniel’s house (five miles away - and in the neighborhood of the top photo) to spend the night.  I then headed to the bank to transfer some money, as it’s flying out of here faster than I want to think about.  Other than walking to the bank and to a few stores looking for cilantro, which I found out is called “coriander” here, and romaine lettuce, which is much harder to find that you’d think… I was in the kitchen all day.  But the party tonight was wonderful as it was so great to see everyone together again.  I even learned a few new things about Norwegian life and also about the lives of the people we love.

The sad news we heard was that Tante Kari has a form of cancer in her blood and she needs blood transfusions every few weeks.  It’s not looking good for her, which breaks my heart.  I could see she’d lost a lot of weight this past year but her spirits are still high and she still lights up when she sees her family, so that’s good.  She’s the youngest of all the sisters though, and previously the one with the most spunk, but now she’s becoming more frail and disheartened by her broken hip that never healed right, the heart surgery she had recently and now this cancer.  She’s 84 but I would have sworn a few years ago she’d live to 100.  Now, I’m not so sure.

Her son, Odd (pronounced “Ode”) was there tonight, along with his two brothers, Ketil and Rune and their ex-brother-in-law, Atle.  Kari’s only daughter, Kari-Anna, died in 1994 of an undiagnosed heart problem, when she was only 31 years old.  She was married to Atle and they had three small children.  It was a tragedy for the whole family.  Even though Atle’s got a new woman in his life, he keeps in close contact with this side of the family, so that’s nice. (Photo above is Tante Kari with L to R, Atle, Rune, Ketil and Odd.)

Dr. Odd looked at my poor little finger that just won’t work right after I took a nasty spill several weeks ago down some stairs at home.  He’s pretty sure I broke a bone in my hand and should have seen a doctor.  Oh well.  My catastrophic insurance wouldn’t have helped any and I had better things to do with the money it would have cost for x-rays and doctor visits, so I’ll just have to live with it.  I hope the pain goes away someday though, even if that finger won’t ever work quite right.

Odd’s wife, Turid, was at the party also, along with Marit, one of Odd’s daughters who is here visting from Oslo. (Photo above.) Turid and I had a nice chat and caught up on a few things.  It seems she’s soon to be famous.  She was asked by a well-known author to illustrate a children’s book that will be published next month!  Very exciting for her and I’m so glad we’ll be around when it hits the bookstores so we can buy a first edition copy.

The party was held at Cousin Axel’s and Kari’s house (photo below is of them).  He’s Tante (aunt) Aslaug’s, son’s.  Aslaug’s daughter, Linda and husband, were also there along with their oldest son, Rasmus, who will be married in a few weeks, so he was there with his fiancé, Karina.  They met while attending music college in Trondheim, but she grew up very near Cousin Axel’s house (in our old neighborhood) and said she remembers when we lived there because she rode the same bus as Kaleb and I, and she listened to us speaking English to each other.  Small world.

We drove past our old house tonight on the way home.  The “Sinking Houses” look much better than when we lived there as there is a real lawn now and everyone has a wooden deck off the back.  The Norwegian flags Kory painted inside and out of the bus stop next door are still there – unharmed.  I guess whenever anyone does any graffiti on the background, neighbors paint over it, but no one has yet to mar the painted flags themselves, as they are considered holier than a cross, even to vandals.

I asked the soon-to-be-bride, Karina, if she was ready for the wedding. The only thing she hadn’t done yet is buy “the morning after gift.”  I had to ask what that was and she said it’s customary that the bride and groom buy a gift and give them to each other the morning after their wedding.  She tried to convince me this was a tradition that came over from America, but when I told her I had never heard of it before, she was genuinely puzzled.  I thought that was funny – that Americans even get credit for longstanding Norwegian traditions.  I think America has had too big of an influence on Norwegian culture already, so I was glad to set her straight. (photo below.)

Everyone tonight asked where Kaleb was and I just pointed out the window, as the house where he was staying was just across the bay and visible with the naked eye (see photo below - it is the white house above the black one).  I got out the binoculars to see if I could spy on him, but no luck, as the angle was wrong.  At least it helped me not miss him too much since I could see where he was.  All the relatives are happy to hear he spends so much time with friends when he’s here and they are all quite concerned with what his schooling will look like this coming year.  I just tell them he’s going to write a book and that we’re kinda taking a year off from academics.  It’s all I know right now, anyway.

Odd got a message on his phone tonight from a smart phone application he’s subscribed to.  It alerts people as to where the police are scanning the license plates.  I thought that was funny.  I guess the other thing they are looking for is to be sure everyone’s car “check-up” is up to date.  It’s required by law that every car get’s an “EU Control” check (European Union) where they make sure they aren’t emitting too much exhaust, that all things work on the car, etc.  Fortunately, we had that done last year, so we are good for another year.  They don’t miss a thing.  I guess when they pull people over, the police immediately remove the license plates off the vehicle and the driver has to find another way home.  The cars just sit on the side of the road until the owner brings it into compliance.  No lawyers get anyone out of that situation, that’s for sure and there is apparently nothing to blame on a “computer mix-up.” (Photo below is of Cousin Linda and her husband, Leif-Eric.)

I found out tonight that Norway is having big immigrant problems right now because everyone knows they are such a rich country.  Axel told me many polish people are coming up this summer to work the strawberry harvest because they can earn more money picking strawberries in Norway than a doctor can make in Poland.  There’s just something wrong with that system.  (Photo below is of Cousin Rune and his wonderful partner, Sol.  He wasn’t too cooperative in getting a nice photo.)

Norway is also suffering from huge groups of Romanians coming in by the hundreds and setting up tent cities outside churches, begging for help.  They are all illegal, of course, but they are playing off Norway’s compassionate socialism and how the country treats everyone equally.  Of course Norway will run out of money if they keep bailing out bankrupt cities, countries and individuals, but as long as that oil in the North Sea keeps pumping, I’m sure they aren’t too worried about going broke anytime soon.

While we were at the party, my friend, Sandra, whom I met in Norwegian class, called to invite us over for dinner tomorrow night.  What a thrill that was.  She then called back later and asked what Kory can eat, so that was even more exciting that she wants to cater to his strict diet.  I told her to just cook Norwegian style and boil everything. He’d be good with boiled potatoes, carrots, steamed cauliflower, salad and even boiled fish, as long as there was no added fat.  She’s British and very relieved it would be so simple.  I told her I’d bring dessert, so hopefully tomorrow it won’t take all day to find what I need to make a fat-free pineapple upside down cake.  At least I brought along the key ingredients for that one. 

(Photo above is of Odd’s wife Turid, and yours truly.  My tan is fading fast due to cloud cover, however.)