Well, now it’s official. I only FELT like I was failing in Norwegian, but today I got hard and fast proof that I really am. We had a three chapter test last week, which we got back today. Out of 39 possible points, I got 17. The Good Teacher Inga was quite concerned. She said I’m going backwards and doesn’t understand my “progress.” I told her my memory is full and I haven’t been able to find any more that will work with my brain. I’m on overload. I’ve hit a wall. She said I should relax a bit – and what? NOT do homework? NOT go to class? Then it will be worse. I’m fading fast. My classmates didn’t appreciate all the moaning I did today. Inga did say that I do OK with writing and speaking, so I shouldn’t be so concerned that I flunked the vocabulary and grammar part of the test. But she said that I must practice verb tenses, adjective endings, etc., etc., which amounted to everything we’ve learned so far this year. And that’s about right – I’m not sure I have learned ANYTHING properly – I just get by, but never get it right as it’s yet to sink it. I keep waiting for the big click, but it hasn’t come. I want to crawl under a rock.Kory had a much better day than I. He was invited to go fishing with his boss’ father-in-law, so he was out early this morning fishing for torsk (a type of cod). The weather was perfect for being out on the fjord, but after a few hours, he didn’t catch a thing. The guy he was with caught a good sized torsk so he gave it to Kory. Kory then took it over to his aunts so they could clean it, cut it up and eat it. Tante Aslaug was elated to get the fish head. She said she hasn’t eaten a fish head in a long time and they have the best meat, so she was just tickled pink to get it. We would have eaten torsk for dinner tonight except that today was a long-awaited day for Kory as his Tante Kari taught him how to make Potato-balls. He loves those things and I have no interest in ever making them because they taste so nasty, so he got private lessons today and filled his gut with them for dinner. Lucky him.
I stopped by Tante’s Kari’s after school to see how Kory was doing in the kitchen (see photo) and they both took a little break to visit with me. Tante Kari couldn’t wait to tell me that she had coffee with a friend this week who started telling her about this amazing radio show she heard on Saturday – some woman named Mickey from America – and Tante Kari was so proud to boast that she was my aunt. That was nice to hear. I obviously do much better at talking English on the radio than I do at taking Norwegian grammar tests. Kari also said it will be just “tragic” when we have to move back to America. (She’s very expressive.) Kory visited Tante Ruth today too, who now has glaucoma and has gone blind in one eye. Tante Ruth was hoping to have surgery on the other eye to prevent total blindness but they haven’t been able to operate because her eye pressure is too high. They have tried twice now so I worry Tante Ruth may go blind altogether. I had a dog once that had glaucoma and when he went blind in one eye, it was just a matter of months before the other one went. Tante Ruth is already full of cancer, so I can’t imagine what other horrible thing can befall her. Uff da.
Kaleb didn’t have much homework today so I challenged him to an algebra contest to see who could get the most correct answers in 30 minutes. He won as I only got ONE right. I don’t know why I did that to myself, especially on a day like today when I already feel like such a loser of a student. Oh well. It gave him a thrill to beat me. Tonight he was invited to a birthday party for a kid in his class. He would have had a better time if Morten hadn’t beaten him. He got kicked, punched, scratched and his hair pulled. He said he wasn’t the only one – half the kids were crying by the end of the party. What a nightmare. And all that time I was home with the house to myself enjoying the quiet and preparing my next radio spot. I figure I may as well focus on something I’m good at to get me out of the dumps. I don’t know why I need it so quiet when I work, but this house has its drawbacks. Back at home I could just disappear upstairs for the day, but here, we are all together in the same room all the time so it’s a bit difficult to concentrate. I think I have A.D.D.
I got out a few Easter decorations tonight as the holiday is creeping up on me and I haven’t decorated. All the stores now have their full inventory of Easter paraphernalia and it’s slightly different than in the U.S. There isn’t an Easter Basket in sight. Every store sells cardboard eggs that open up – anywhere from the size of our plastic eggs to the size of a football – and that’s what the kids get on Easter morning - an egg next to their bed full of candy. That’s it. They don’t do egg hunts, they have no baskets – just candy, and lots of it. And all the decorations here are mostly of the chick and duck variety - not many bunnies - but lots of yellow. Easter here is all about the yellow. I think I could use some yellow.
