Any day Kaleb has license to pinch people is a good day for him. No one celebrates St. Patrick’s Day here in Norway except The Good Teacher Inga, because she’s married to an Irishman and tonight, she said, they will eat cake. Otherwise, no one here cares that it’s Ireland’s National Day, but we wore green anyway just to keep away from Kaleb’s pinches. I felt badly for Tobias and Sabina as he couldn’t wait to pinch them as they walked in the door, but I tried to explain it’s not fair if they don’t know about the tradition. Kaleb turned a deaf ear to my logic and as a result, neither of them stuck around too long.
That wasn’t the only “pinch” making the news in our household. We got an e-mail from the attorney today saying we must move out yesterday. This all has some familiar ring to it. When we were in the midst of trying to buy these houses, out of the blue we found out we had three hours to close the deal. Now we find out we were supposed to be out yesterday. News to us. I’m not sure if there is just a gross miscommunication going on or if the attorney is just really bad at meeting deadlines. Kory will go downtown tomorrow to talk to Aalesund Kommune to see if we can get a rental agreement with them as soon as possible. He’d been negotiating with a guy that was supposed to get back to us, and he never did, and now he’s on vacation. The attorney said we can’t wait until next week. The sale of the houses closed yesterday and the insurance company is currently in breech of their contract because they were supposed to turn over the houses empty. Kory is still waiting for our 30 day notice to move out, but I’m sure the attorney forgot that was part of our agreement, so here we sit, not just squatters now, but law breakers. It seems like quite the mess at the moment but somehow Kory is sure it will all work out. Odd and Turid are preparing their guest room, just in case. If we have to move, I’m thinking we should just pull Kaleb out of school and take our trip around Europe for a few months and go home early, as moving in and out of places is NOT how I want to spend my time here. So we’ll see how God gets us out of this one.
The Good Teacher Inga is finally back at school. She’s been out for over two weeks with the flu and we’ve had one substitute after another. I’m so out of synch with the class because of her absences but also because of mine. Tomorrow we have a big three chapter test, and I don’t even want to study because I know I’ll fail no matter what. It’s all Greek to me as we are learning way too much stuff now and I just want to cry and not go anymore. It’s not that it’s terribly hard, it’s just that my brain can’t retain any more information. When Inga asked for a volunteer to attend an administrative meeting today, I jumped at the chance as I’m starting to feel hopeless in ever being fluent. Apparently it’s the law that all schools in Norway have quarterly meetings with students, teachers and administrators to talk about anything that needs attention. Apparently twice a year a doctor comes into each classroom and checks the ergonomics – the classroom setup, lighting and tests the air quality. There is some construction going on in our building as they are adding an elevator so the doctor recommended that all the students “lufte seg” (air themselves out) during the breaks . I threw in my two cents worth and then was invited to stay for another administrative meeting after that one because it’s also required that two students must be present when the budget is approved for the coming year. They went over some basic agenda items, talked about the budget and asked for our approval. Such a formality, and for what purpose, I have no idea, but it’s all part of the socialistic mindset that everyone must be included in all decisions, I guess.
Actually, there was one good thing that happened today - I helped a neighbor clean her house as she’s moving down the street. She introduced me to some “old time” miracle cleaner called “Krystal soda” which is safe for the environment. (I have no idea what’s in it.) It’s some powdered stuff that goes in water and she just threw buckets of water on the walls of her soaped up scummy shower stall and let it sit for a few minutes. Then she got out a hand held steam cleaner and steamed the shower stall and I took the squeegee to it and it was miraculous how sparkly that glass and tile became. I spent a good ten minutes with my jaw dropped just kicking myself for all the hours I’ve spent cleaning the bathtub enclosures at our apartment building in Seattle, and from start to finish, she took less than ten minutes, used no elbow grease and got results I’d never get even with hours of scrubbing. I’m buying a case of that stuff and bringing it home with me, plus the steamer, which she says is only about $35. Unbelievable. I’ve never been more excited to clean soap scum in all my life. Maybe if I could figure out how to use it on my brain, I might have better luck with my Norwegian.
That wasn’t the only “pinch” making the news in our household. We got an e-mail from the attorney today saying we must move out yesterday. This all has some familiar ring to it. When we were in the midst of trying to buy these houses, out of the blue we found out we had three hours to close the deal. Now we find out we were supposed to be out yesterday. News to us. I’m not sure if there is just a gross miscommunication going on or if the attorney is just really bad at meeting deadlines. Kory will go downtown tomorrow to talk to Aalesund Kommune to see if we can get a rental agreement with them as soon as possible. He’d been negotiating with a guy that was supposed to get back to us, and he never did, and now he’s on vacation. The attorney said we can’t wait until next week. The sale of the houses closed yesterday and the insurance company is currently in breech of their contract because they were supposed to turn over the houses empty. Kory is still waiting for our 30 day notice to move out, but I’m sure the attorney forgot that was part of our agreement, so here we sit, not just squatters now, but law breakers. It seems like quite the mess at the moment but somehow Kory is sure it will all work out. Odd and Turid are preparing their guest room, just in case. If we have to move, I’m thinking we should just pull Kaleb out of school and take our trip around Europe for a few months and go home early, as moving in and out of places is NOT how I want to spend my time here. So we’ll see how God gets us out of this one.
The Good Teacher Inga is finally back at school. She’s been out for over two weeks with the flu and we’ve had one substitute after another. I’m so out of synch with the class because of her absences but also because of mine. Tomorrow we have a big three chapter test, and I don’t even want to study because I know I’ll fail no matter what. It’s all Greek to me as we are learning way too much stuff now and I just want to cry and not go anymore. It’s not that it’s terribly hard, it’s just that my brain can’t retain any more information. When Inga asked for a volunteer to attend an administrative meeting today, I jumped at the chance as I’m starting to feel hopeless in ever being fluent. Apparently it’s the law that all schools in Norway have quarterly meetings with students, teachers and administrators to talk about anything that needs attention. Apparently twice a year a doctor comes into each classroom and checks the ergonomics – the classroom setup, lighting and tests the air quality. There is some construction going on in our building as they are adding an elevator so the doctor recommended that all the students “lufte seg” (air themselves out) during the breaks . I threw in my two cents worth and then was invited to stay for another administrative meeting after that one because it’s also required that two students must be present when the budget is approved for the coming year. They went over some basic agenda items, talked about the budget and asked for our approval. Such a formality, and for what purpose, I have no idea, but it’s all part of the socialistic mindset that everyone must be included in all decisions, I guess.
Actually, there was one good thing that happened today - I helped a neighbor clean her house as she’s moving down the street. She introduced me to some “old time” miracle cleaner called “Krystal soda” which is safe for the environment. (I have no idea what’s in it.) It’s some powdered stuff that goes in water and she just threw buckets of water on the walls of her soaped up scummy shower stall and let it sit for a few minutes. Then she got out a hand held steam cleaner and steamed the shower stall and I took the squeegee to it and it was miraculous how sparkly that glass and tile became. I spent a good ten minutes with my jaw dropped just kicking myself for all the hours I’ve spent cleaning the bathtub enclosures at our apartment building in Seattle, and from start to finish, she took less than ten minutes, used no elbow grease and got results I’d never get even with hours of scrubbing. I’m buying a case of that stuff and bringing it home with me, plus the steamer, which she says is only about $35. Unbelievable. I’ve never been more excited to clean soap scum in all my life. Maybe if I could figure out how to use it on my brain, I might have better luck with my Norwegian.
