My goodness, this country is just downright giddy over the election results. It was the most festive and jubilant day I have experienced since being here. Everyone was congratulating me like I was as happy as they are about Obama being president. I must say, I’m not thrilled, but I wasn’t thrilled with the alternative either. The biggest newspaper in Norway had a full front page photo of George W. biting his lower lip, looking rather sour, and the headlines read: “Ugh! We survived the times worst president.” All the newspapers are full of article after article about the election. One story was a slam against McCain because he had “accused” Obama of being a socialist – as if that were a bad thing. The whole of Norway took offense to that comment, as they are quite proud of their socialism. So Norway has breathed a sigh of relief and they are thrilled that “change” is coming. And most people I talked to today are almost in awe that we have a black president now, as they know for a fact, that wouldn’t happen in Norway. They are still just too prejudice about such things, but they had a woman prime minister decades ago. When my teacher today (a “retired” substitute) asked why I wasn’t as happy as everyone else, I told her about some of Obama’s horrendous policies – like supporting later term abortion and she said, “Oh, that’s murder, that’s not good… but other than that, he’ll be good for America.” Then I told her about him supporting gay marriage and she said, “That’s already legal here,” as if we were behind the times on that one. She said she was worried about McCain becoming president because he’s so old. She said he is the same age as she is and then she confessed that she has a hard enough time running her own life now, let alone a country or the “world.” Honestly, it was a day like no other. Everyone that knew we were Americans only wanted to talk about how happy they are now that things will be different with Obama. I had no idea how our country affects people outside America on such an emotional level. Kinda scary.
Kory started the day off by telling Kaleb what an “abomination” is and how we now have an Obama-nation. Uff da. Kaleb went back to school armed with several packs of Kleenex. Kory was home today and met with a locksmith to break into one of the sinking houses here. The attorney he works for couldn’t find they keys to one house and Kory was worried about frozen pipes, so the attorney said he should call a locksmith. Sure enough, once he got in, there were broken pipes from that deep freeze we had last week. I’m not sure what he does now, but at least he shut off the water and cleaned up the mess.
My girlfriend Jami e-mailed me yesterday to say she heard my name on the radio! Last week I sent an e-mail to KMPS (country station 94.1FM in Seattle) to tell them I listen to them every afternoon when I’m home from school. They have a real “good news” theme going on for their morning talk show so I sent them a copy of a story I wrote that was published in a “Chicken Soup for the Soul” book. The story was called “The Monday Good News Lunch Club.” They read it on the air yesterday – the one day I didn’t have the “radio” on because Kaleb was home sick and I was out of my usual routine. But today, one of the DJs e-mailed me a podcast of it and it was very fun to hear them discussing my story. (I tried to upload it to the blog but it wouldn't work.) They even played a snippet of the Beatles’ song “Norwegian Wood” and they said, “This is for you, Mickey!” How fun was that? It was almost the biggest thrill of the day, until…
We got a package in the mail! Our friend Nancy Schaub sent us three pounds of good “American” coffee! For all the coffee Norwegians drink, you’d think they could at least have some decent coffee beans to grind, but they don’t. (Every time we’ve come for a visit in the past, we “bring our own.”) Norway has the worst coffee I’ve ever tasted. We brought along some coffee when we moved here, which lasted until the Schaubs came to visit in September. Then they brought us more and I just ran out THIS morning, of all things. As long as we can get good coffee, I could stay here forever, but when the coffee supply runs out, I might actually get homesick. But for now, I’m good to go for another six weeks or so. Talk about TIMING! I think I now understand the marketing behind Starbucks. A good cup of coffee goes a long way toward starting the day off right – even days when I find out the next “world leader” isn’t someone I voted for.
Kory started the day off by telling Kaleb what an “abomination” is and how we now have an Obama-nation. Uff da. Kaleb went back to school armed with several packs of Kleenex. Kory was home today and met with a locksmith to break into one of the sinking houses here. The attorney he works for couldn’t find they keys to one house and Kory was worried about frozen pipes, so the attorney said he should call a locksmith. Sure enough, once he got in, there were broken pipes from that deep freeze we had last week. I’m not sure what he does now, but at least he shut off the water and cleaned up the mess.
My girlfriend Jami e-mailed me yesterday to say she heard my name on the radio! Last week I sent an e-mail to KMPS (country station 94.1FM in Seattle) to tell them I listen to them every afternoon when I’m home from school. They have a real “good news” theme going on for their morning talk show so I sent them a copy of a story I wrote that was published in a “Chicken Soup for the Soul” book. The story was called “The Monday Good News Lunch Club.” They read it on the air yesterday – the one day I didn’t have the “radio” on because Kaleb was home sick and I was out of my usual routine. But today, one of the DJs e-mailed me a podcast of it and it was very fun to hear them discussing my story. (I tried to upload it to the blog but it wouldn't work.) They even played a snippet of the Beatles’ song “Norwegian Wood” and they said, “This is for you, Mickey!” How fun was that? It was almost the biggest thrill of the day, until…
We got a package in the mail! Our friend Nancy Schaub sent us three pounds of good “American” coffee! For all the coffee Norwegians drink, you’d think they could at least have some decent coffee beans to grind, but they don’t. (Every time we’ve come for a visit in the past, we “bring our own.”) Norway has the worst coffee I’ve ever tasted. We brought along some coffee when we moved here, which lasted until the Schaubs came to visit in September. Then they brought us more and I just ran out THIS morning, of all things. As long as we can get good coffee, I could stay here forever, but when the coffee supply runs out, I might actually get homesick. But for now, I’m good to go for another six weeks or so. Talk about TIMING! I think I now understand the marketing behind Starbucks. A good cup of coffee goes a long way toward starting the day off right – even days when I find out the next “world leader” isn’t someone I voted for.
