We leave tomorrow on a ferry to Sweden, so today was the last hoo-rah here in Norway. I can’t wait until things are cheaper, but I’m sad to leave. In Sweden and Denmark they understand Norwegian so it will be at least a week before I feel we are out of our comfort zone completely and into foreign lands.
We left Oslo early this morning to drive south again down the same road we were on a few days ago. We had to backtrack to see some cousins we like very much who have a very tight schedule and today was the only day that worked for all of us to meet. We met Hege and Henning Baann (see photo) in the year 2000 when we came to Norway for the Slaatthaug family reunion. Hege’s mom is a first cousin to Kory and I think many of the relatives that lived in the vicinity of Slaattehaugen were asked to house relatives coming from a distance. We were lucky enough to land at the Baanns house, so we got to know them a bit better than the other 200 some cousins attending the event. They have since moved to a gorgeous house right on the water in Stathelle so it’s like staying at some fancy retreat center when we come for a visit. They recently bought a much bigger boat than the one they have taken us out on many times in the past. They also bought a very small, but fast, run-around boat so Henning took Kaleb out for a little thrill ride after dinner and he came back beaming. He hadn’t wanted to go out in the boat because he finally got internet access on his Nintendo here and he was playing some version of Pokemon he had been waiting to play for a long time, but I forced him to go for a boat ride. For once, I think he was happy with my decision. It poured down rain while they were out on the water, but that only made for a more memorable trip. We all stood inside and waited anxiously for their return. Kaleb absolutely loved it. He had a good day, as Hege’s daughter Charlotte was also here with her English bulldog. Kaleb and that dog ran each other ragged all afternoon.
Hege’s mom came for dinner, along with another first cousin who drove down from Oslo to see us. I couldn’t wait to tell both of them they have another aunt, since I was sure we had the total scoop on that piece of family history. Reidun, Hege’s mom, knew right away what I was talking about, but Ingri, the other cousin, had never heard of it. Ingri asked Reidun why she had never told her (they are good friends) and Reidun said, “You never asked.” So typically Norwegian… I’m glad I at least brought up the subject because Reidun then said she heard that the illegitimate daughter’s name was Ronnaug and she was born before her grandparents were married. That was all the information I needed to hit the internet and find her birth record. I tried previously but without a name or range of possible years to check, I wasted a lot of time. Within minutes I found her birth record from 1891 and confirmed everything we had heard. Then I found her in the 1900 census, living on Kaasa, the farm right across the road from Slaattehaugen (I stood on that farm to take the picture of Slaattehaugen in the distance). Ronnaug’s mother got married and had other children, but didn’t raise her. Ronnaug lived on Kaasa until she got married in 1920 and had a baby there in 1921 named Petra. I found the marriage record and birth record for Petra so the cousins were just giddy with this news that they have additional family members. Petra would be their first cousin and may or may not be alive so we made a few phone calls to see if anyone knew of her, but no one did. There are surely other siblings, but the church records aren’t posted on the internet past 1923. There is still more to learn, but what I found today was a good start and the cousins were mightily impressed with my detective skills. I live for this stuff. Now the cousins are talking seriously about doing something in 2012, the 100 year anniversary of the family’s move to Slaattehaugen and they can’t wait to find the living descendants of Petra and her siblings. Norwegians have a LOT of loyalty to blood relatives.
Kory always tells everyone that I write a blog everyday about life in Norway and most Norwegians find it hard to believe there are enough differences or interesting things about Norsk culture to write about. Like today, for instance, we were in the city of Porsgrunn and the jewelry store had one of its picture windows broken. The window was taped up and the owner made a sign and taped it near the hole that said something to the effect that “Some people in this town can’t read. Our opening hours are posted on the door. We are open from 10am-4pm. Apparently our products were needed at a different time.” Obviously they had been robbed, but this is a good example of Norwegian’s expressing their anger in a very nice and non-confrontive way. If there was just one thing I’d say about all Norwegians and Norway as a whole it would be that they are just TOO nice. It wouldn’t hurt to kick it up a notch every now and then.
We left Oslo early this morning to drive south again down the same road we were on a few days ago. We had to backtrack to see some cousins we like very much who have a very tight schedule and today was the only day that worked for all of us to meet. We met Hege and Henning Baann (see photo) in the year 2000 when we came to Norway for the Slaatthaug family reunion. Hege’s mom is a first cousin to Kory and I think many of the relatives that lived in the vicinity of Slaattehaugen were asked to house relatives coming from a distance. We were lucky enough to land at the Baanns house, so we got to know them a bit better than the other 200 some cousins attending the event. They have since moved to a gorgeous house right on the water in Stathelle so it’s like staying at some fancy retreat center when we come for a visit. They recently bought a much bigger boat than the one they have taken us out on many times in the past. They also bought a very small, but fast, run-around boat so Henning took Kaleb out for a little thrill ride after dinner and he came back beaming. He hadn’t wanted to go out in the boat because he finally got internet access on his Nintendo here and he was playing some version of Pokemon he had been waiting to play for a long time, but I forced him to go for a boat ride. For once, I think he was happy with my decision. It poured down rain while they were out on the water, but that only made for a more memorable trip. We all stood inside and waited anxiously for their return. Kaleb absolutely loved it. He had a good day, as Hege’s daughter Charlotte was also here with her English bulldog. Kaleb and that dog ran each other ragged all afternoon.
Hege’s mom came for dinner, along with another first cousin who drove down from Oslo to see us. I couldn’t wait to tell both of them they have another aunt, since I was sure we had the total scoop on that piece of family history. Reidun, Hege’s mom, knew right away what I was talking about, but Ingri, the other cousin, had never heard of it. Ingri asked Reidun why she had never told her (they are good friends) and Reidun said, “You never asked.” So typically Norwegian… I’m glad I at least brought up the subject because Reidun then said she heard that the illegitimate daughter’s name was Ronnaug and she was born before her grandparents were married. That was all the information I needed to hit the internet and find her birth record. I tried previously but without a name or range of possible years to check, I wasted a lot of time. Within minutes I found her birth record from 1891 and confirmed everything we had heard. Then I found her in the 1900 census, living on Kaasa, the farm right across the road from Slaattehaugen (I stood on that farm to take the picture of Slaattehaugen in the distance). Ronnaug’s mother got married and had other children, but didn’t raise her. Ronnaug lived on Kaasa until she got married in 1920 and had a baby there in 1921 named Petra. I found the marriage record and birth record for Petra so the cousins were just giddy with this news that they have additional family members. Petra would be their first cousin and may or may not be alive so we made a few phone calls to see if anyone knew of her, but no one did. There are surely other siblings, but the church records aren’t posted on the internet past 1923. There is still more to learn, but what I found today was a good start and the cousins were mightily impressed with my detective skills. I live for this stuff. Now the cousins are talking seriously about doing something in 2012, the 100 year anniversary of the family’s move to Slaattehaugen and they can’t wait to find the living descendants of Petra and her siblings. Norwegians have a LOT of loyalty to blood relatives.
Kory always tells everyone that I write a blog everyday about life in Norway and most Norwegians find it hard to believe there are enough differences or interesting things about Norsk culture to write about. Like today, for instance, we were in the city of Porsgrunn and the jewelry store had one of its picture windows broken. The window was taped up and the owner made a sign and taped it near the hole that said something to the effect that “Some people in this town can’t read. Our opening hours are posted on the door. We are open from 10am-4pm. Apparently our products were needed at a different time.” Obviously they had been robbed, but this is a good example of Norwegian’s expressing their anger in a very nice and non-confrontive way. If there was just one thing I’d say about all Norwegians and Norway as a whole it would be that they are just TOO nice. It wouldn’t hurt to kick it up a notch every now and then.
