The headlines today read “Here Comes Winter – Again.” I guess they usually have about seven winters around here so this is the second one. It snowed off and on all day with some hail in there, too. Poor Kory had to go to work today. Kaleb and I enjoyed the show from our toasty warm living room as he was home sick again. He was absolutely determined to go to school this morning but just as he was getting dressed he decided he might need to throw up, so that settled it. Poor guy. He loves Tuesdays the best because it’s “gym day,” but he had to just sit around at home and “slappe av” as they say in Norwegian – “relax.” (That’s actually a funny expression because when you pronounce it it sounds like “slop off” – which is sort of what you are doing.) So I didn’t get to take the big Norsk Prøve 1 test today but I’m sure my teacher will let me take it home tomorrow and do it then. At least we weren’t learning something new today that I would miss out on. It’s hard enough getting the information in my head the first time around, but trying to catch up on a new concept is nearly impossible for me. My brain has reached maximum capacity and I still have seven months of classes to go. Only a miracle will get me there.
As much as I don’t like seeing my sweet boy sick, it sure has been nice to have a few days off. I feel like I’ve been on a treadmill since we got here and these past few days have been almost bliss with nothing on the agenda and no school to attend. We just sat and watched the street explode from all the dynamite blasts in front of our house – it was pretty fun. With all the solid rock in this country I’m so surprised someone would even bother to build a house on a bog, like where we live. Theresa, a woman I met here in Aalesund, has a childhood friend that bought one of these six “Sinking Houses” when they were new. I guess most “spec houses” (as we call them in the U.S.) are sold here in Norway with just the shell of the house up and then the buyer is responsible for finishing the inside. That’s what these houses were, so there was a lot of sweat equity in them and the home owners were very attached to them. Theresa said initially when the ground under them started sinking, no one wanted to take responsibility for it and the owners were going out of their minds trying to get something done about it. Tempers flared. It took years. It was in the papers more than any other story in recent history. The builder didn’t feel it was his fault (he built according to code), the Aalesund Kommune didn’t feel it was their fault (but they issued the permit). The insurance company that insures all new buildings for the first five years didn’t want to pay up because the houses were fine, it was the ground under them that was moving and they didn’t insure the ground. In the end, all three had to share in the 15 million kroner (three million dollar) bailout. They tried bringing in truckloads of rock to fill in the gap between the houses and the ground (the houses are built on posts sitting on rock 15 feet down), but it was a never ending pit and the weight of the gravel made the ground sink even more. They had to add skirting around the foundation of the houses because the ground sank over three feet and the floors were too cold because of the never ending draft under them. Eventually, they had to buy back the houses from all the owners and put them in temporary housing until they could find new houses to buy. These are high quality houses, but even just since we moved in, the ground has gone down under our house over five centimeters (two inches), the foundation under our dining room has cracked and a sink hole has developed in our front yard (the houses are in the foreground of the photo above.) It’s such an adventure living here! As long as the toilet still flushes, I’m not complaining. My friend Teresa thinks the houses should just be torn down and forgotten, as do many other locals, but the insurance company is trying to find a buyer from outside this area for the whole lot of them. With the financial crisis hitting Norway too, I don’t think there will be a buyer anytime soon – HALLELUJAH! We just LOVE living here. (Kory still wants to buy them, however. Even though he’s a fix-it kind of guy, I’m not sure even he can stop the ground from sinking.)
This afternoon Kaleb was feeling much better so we worked on the next two editions of The Weakly Puppy – his monthly dog publication. He’s actually spent more time with kids than dogs this month so he’s hard pressed for a feature story. That was my dream in coming here – that he’d find people more interesting than dogs – and it seems to be working. (But I’m still not sure I’m off the hook for getting him a dog when we get home.) He spent the day reading “Cesar’s Way” – written by the Dog Whisperer guy on some TV show that we’ve never seen. Kaleb has recognized all the problematic traits in all the dogs he dog-sits back home and is chomping at the bit to be with them and fix their problems according to what this Cesar guy recommends. I’m thinking we might need to start dog sitting Norwegian dogs soon. We have the perfect dog run already - UNDER the houses.
As much as I don’t like seeing my sweet boy sick, it sure has been nice to have a few days off. I feel like I’ve been on a treadmill since we got here and these past few days have been almost bliss with nothing on the agenda and no school to attend. We just sat and watched the street explode from all the dynamite blasts in front of our house – it was pretty fun. With all the solid rock in this country I’m so surprised someone would even bother to build a house on a bog, like where we live. Theresa, a woman I met here in Aalesund, has a childhood friend that bought one of these six “Sinking Houses” when they were new. I guess most “spec houses” (as we call them in the U.S.) are sold here in Norway with just the shell of the house up and then the buyer is responsible for finishing the inside. That’s what these houses were, so there was a lot of sweat equity in them and the home owners were very attached to them. Theresa said initially when the ground under them started sinking, no one wanted to take responsibility for it and the owners were going out of their minds trying to get something done about it. Tempers flared. It took years. It was in the papers more than any other story in recent history. The builder didn’t feel it was his fault (he built according to code), the Aalesund Kommune didn’t feel it was their fault (but they issued the permit). The insurance company that insures all new buildings for the first five years didn’t want to pay up because the houses were fine, it was the ground under them that was moving and they didn’t insure the ground. In the end, all three had to share in the 15 million kroner (three million dollar) bailout. They tried bringing in truckloads of rock to fill in the gap between the houses and the ground (the houses are built on posts sitting on rock 15 feet down), but it was a never ending pit and the weight of the gravel made the ground sink even more. They had to add skirting around the foundation of the houses because the ground sank over three feet and the floors were too cold because of the never ending draft under them. Eventually, they had to buy back the houses from all the owners and put them in temporary housing until they could find new houses to buy. These are high quality houses, but even just since we moved in, the ground has gone down under our house over five centimeters (two inches), the foundation under our dining room has cracked and a sink hole has developed in our front yard (the houses are in the foreground of the photo above.) It’s such an adventure living here! As long as the toilet still flushes, I’m not complaining. My friend Teresa thinks the houses should just be torn down and forgotten, as do many other locals, but the insurance company is trying to find a buyer from outside this area for the whole lot of them. With the financial crisis hitting Norway too, I don’t think there will be a buyer anytime soon – HALLELUJAH! We just LOVE living here. (Kory still wants to buy them, however. Even though he’s a fix-it kind of guy, I’m not sure even he can stop the ground from sinking.)
This afternoon Kaleb was feeling much better so we worked on the next two editions of The Weakly Puppy – his monthly dog publication. He’s actually spent more time with kids than dogs this month so he’s hard pressed for a feature story. That was my dream in coming here – that he’d find people more interesting than dogs – and it seems to be working. (But I’m still not sure I’m off the hook for getting him a dog when we get home.) He spent the day reading “Cesar’s Way” – written by the Dog Whisperer guy on some TV show that we’ve never seen. Kaleb has recognized all the problematic traits in all the dogs he dog-sits back home and is chomping at the bit to be with them and fix their problems according to what this Cesar guy recommends. I’m thinking we might need to start dog sitting Norwegian dogs soon. We have the perfect dog run already - UNDER the houses.
