I am posting this blog from the ferry boat Hurtigruten. It's more like a cruise ship than a ferry, but then, Norwegians have a lot of class, so it's not surprising. We will be on it for the next two days traveling north, above the Arctic Circle. (Our cabin is larger than ones we've had on Royal Caribbean.) Friday nigth we arrive at the Lofoten Islands where we will hang out for three or four days, then we'll drive south along the coast and get home by next weekend. Our town, Ålesund, is the most beautiful city Norway, but the Lofoten Islands are suposed to be spectacular - the most beautiful area, by all accounts, and even Norwegians are impressed by them. I just pray we don't have rain the whole time. We couldn't have had a more beautiful day today to set "sail" though - it was warm and sunny all day and I've already taken over a hundred pictures. It's not like there is just one thing to look at, we are surrounded on all side by glorious sights as there are outer islands on the ocean side and the steep snow covered mountains along the coast ( see photo.) Kory said it's like that cineama that used to be at Disneyland where you stand in the center of a circular room and there is something to look at all around. It almost seems that fake as it feels so much like being in a storybook land.
At school this moring we got our tests back first thing and our teacher went over each section with us. They don't grade things here, which is so hard for my competitive self to get used to, but the teacher did note the highest points attained in each segment so we could all compare how we did to the top score in the class. I got the highest score in "vocabulary" but it was just by sheer chance. The test just said, "fill in many words here" and the sentences started with "In the living room you will find..." or "In the kitchen you will see..." and then we had to write down whatever words we knew that could fit the description. Well, my pal Vestina outscored me on every single segment of the test, EXCEPT vocabulary because we were never told you get one point for each word, so I smoked her. She was kicking herself all morning as she knew far more words than I did but I wrote smaller than her so I fit more words on the lines (and I've never been short on words, you know.) Overall, I got 125 out of 140 possible points on the test, which is a high B+ (I can't help myself, I have to put a grade letter on it.) One more point and it would have been an A-, so I didn't do too badly but I made some stupid mistakes. Oh well. I always seem to learn the most from my mistakes - and not just in Norwegian class.
Right after the test review we had a party (Høstfest) - a fall festival. Everyone brought food they made and we combined with another class to eat a little and play some games. Everyone was so excited to have others taste their special dish from their home country. (I liked the oatmeal cookies from the other American in the class the best as I'm not much of an "adventurer in eating" kind of gal.) I made a salmon spread for crackers and I must say, it got gobbled up rather quickly and everyone was asking for the recipe. No one had ever heard of some of the ingredients, so I had to explain which store to go to and exactly where in the store they woudl find things like horseradish and liquid smoke (I was shocked myself when I found them here!) It was fun to share good food. One woman, who speaks very little English and NO Norwegian as of yet, came over to me with her eyes wide open and mouth full of the stuff I made and just said, "Boom-ba!" Whatever that means in her language, I have no idea, but I think she really liked it. We were having some good laughs and then the Russian women got out the vodka, and things got a bit out of control at their end of the table. Our teacher about had heart failure over that one as there is a strict rule about no drinking at school, but she turned her head the other way and just let them have fun (I could tell she was more than a little nervous though.) Apparently in Russia, if there is a party, or if there is food, there is Vodka - even if it is ten o'clock in the morning.
I made a huge error in planning today, as I was so busy packing and worrying about other details that I messed up with Kaleb. I though he got out of school at two o'clock today so we told him we'd pick him up right after school and then drive straight to the ferry which was leaving at three. Well, his school got out at one o'clock (the dismissal times are always different) and he didn't have his bike with him because we were going to pick him up, so he had to walk over a mile home with a heavy backpack all the while wondering where in the heck we were. I felt so terrible, as just as we were leaving to go get him, he walks in, tears in his eyes, thinking that we had forgotten him. He was more than a little ticked. It was one of those gut wrenching mother moments that I hate, as he waited so long at school just standing there wondering what to do, then finally headed home... uff da. It was no way to start a vacation but I'm hoping the memory of it might fade quickly. (I only use the word "vacation" here becuase I don't really know what word to use to describe a trip taken when one is on a year long "holiday" from their already retired lives...).
At school this moring we got our tests back first thing and our teacher went over each section with us. They don't grade things here, which is so hard for my competitive self to get used to, but the teacher did note the highest points attained in each segment so we could all compare how we did to the top score in the class. I got the highest score in "vocabulary" but it was just by sheer chance. The test just said, "fill in many words here" and the sentences started with "In the living room you will find..." or "In the kitchen you will see..." and then we had to write down whatever words we knew that could fit the description. Well, my pal Vestina outscored me on every single segment of the test, EXCEPT vocabulary because we were never told you get one point for each word, so I smoked her. She was kicking herself all morning as she knew far more words than I did but I wrote smaller than her so I fit more words on the lines (and I've never been short on words, you know.) Overall, I got 125 out of 140 possible points on the test, which is a high B+ (I can't help myself, I have to put a grade letter on it.) One more point and it would have been an A-, so I didn't do too badly but I made some stupid mistakes. Oh well. I always seem to learn the most from my mistakes - and not just in Norwegian class.
Right after the test review we had a party (Høstfest) - a fall festival. Everyone brought food they made and we combined with another class to eat a little and play some games. Everyone was so excited to have others taste their special dish from their home country. (I liked the oatmeal cookies from the other American in the class the best as I'm not much of an "adventurer in eating" kind of gal.) I made a salmon spread for crackers and I must say, it got gobbled up rather quickly and everyone was asking for the recipe. No one had ever heard of some of the ingredients, so I had to explain which store to go to and exactly where in the store they woudl find things like horseradish and liquid smoke (I was shocked myself when I found them here!) It was fun to share good food. One woman, who speaks very little English and NO Norwegian as of yet, came over to me with her eyes wide open and mouth full of the stuff I made and just said, "Boom-ba!" Whatever that means in her language, I have no idea, but I think she really liked it. We were having some good laughs and then the Russian women got out the vodka, and things got a bit out of control at their end of the table. Our teacher about had heart failure over that one as there is a strict rule about no drinking at school, but she turned her head the other way and just let them have fun (I could tell she was more than a little nervous though.) Apparently in Russia, if there is a party, or if there is food, there is Vodka - even if it is ten o'clock in the morning.
I made a huge error in planning today, as I was so busy packing and worrying about other details that I messed up with Kaleb. I though he got out of school at two o'clock today so we told him we'd pick him up right after school and then drive straight to the ferry which was leaving at three. Well, his school got out at one o'clock (the dismissal times are always different) and he didn't have his bike with him because we were going to pick him up, so he had to walk over a mile home with a heavy backpack all the while wondering where in the heck we were. I felt so terrible, as just as we were leaving to go get him, he walks in, tears in his eyes, thinking that we had forgotten him. He was more than a little ticked. It was one of those gut wrenching mother moments that I hate, as he waited so long at school just standing there wondering what to do, then finally headed home... uff da. It was no way to start a vacation but I'm hoping the memory of it might fade quickly. (I only use the word "vacation" here becuase I don't really know what word to use to describe a trip taken when one is on a year long "holiday" from their already retired lives...).
