Today we had to say goodbye to Bent-Jarle as he flew back to Oslo after attending Agape Kirke with us this morning (Sabina and her mom came also). The sun finally came out so he could see the majestic mountains surrounding our town and he was mightily impressed, as well he should be (the photo today though was taken yesterday in Aandalsnes). It was so nice to have him here and spend more time with him. (He was surprised to see someone he knew at church today - Norway is such a small country.) After we dropped him off at the airport we drove around the outer islands a little since we’d already paid the $40 tunnel toll to get out there - and there was no rush in returning to the city. Aalesund’s airport is located on a fairly flat island just northwest of the city center and you have to take two under-the-sea tunnels to get out there. One of them didn’t have enough space in which to engineer a dip down under the bottom of the fjord and back up again in a safe enough incline, so they had to corkscrew the tunnel down one side and back up the other. It’s somewhat like going into the parking garage at Sea-Tac so that you enter the tunnel and go around and around until you are at the level that is low enough to have a tunnel that cuts through the rock under the water overhead and then corkscrew back up the other side. It’s a bit disconcerting to go in that tunnel when there is so much water leaking down on the windshield we must use the wipers (maybe that’s why they are doing repairs to it now?) And when I start to think about what is over the top of us, and one little crack in the earth or one decent sized tsunami, and we’re done for… well, let’s just say going through tunnels isn’t as bad as going on Trollstigen, but it’s a close second for me. Normal tunnels through mountains are just fine, but the ones that go under the water freak me out a bit, and we were in plenty of them today as all the outer islands here now connect with undersea tunnels. (Uffa meg – “poor me”). But I got to go out to the island of Giske and see Kory’s job site so it was nice to be able to visualize where he’s working. And the fall colors just don’t stop! My teacher told me that this year the colors are more spectacular than usual because there was such good weather all summer and the storms didn’t come and blow the leaves off the trees while they were still green, so between the good weather and the crisp fall we are having, it truly rivals the northeast coast in terms of fall foliage and fantastic colors everywhere we look.
We stopped by a flea market today in downtown Aalesund and got several more treasures. I love what people think is junk – old wooden carved spoons and bowls, little candy baskets, trays and vases all hand made from pewter, crystal candle holders and very Norsk Christmas linens. We bought an entire apple box full of little trinkets and it only set us back fifty bucks, and that included some ice skates for Kory and a Christmas tree stand that wouldn’t fit in the box. Woo hoo. I also got a white table cloth we’ll cut up for Kaleb for a Halloween costume so he can go as a “holy ghost.” I got caught off guard there as I didn’t realize they have Halloween here or I most certainly would have packed him a costume. Halloween is fairly new to Norway and it’s a total rip-off from America, but the kids love it and they go trick-or-treating just the same and dress up in costumes. Older Norwegians hate it as they feel it’s just the stores trying to copy America so they can sell things no one needs, and anything that comes from America is not looked upon too kindly here anyway, so it’s a bit touchy of a subject. I’m not even sure which day it is, but it’s coming soon. Sabina keeps saying it’s next Saturday, but I need to investigate this week so I’m sure to have some candy on hand. They don’t have much for decorations in the stores but I did see one real pumpkin in Trondheim for $30 and decided I didn’t need a Jack-o-Lantern that badly. I haven’t seen any pumpkins here in Aalesund, but I was able to buy a few gourds so that’s the extent of my fall decorations this year.
We went for a walk around the neighborhood after dinner tonight and just as I came in and sat down to do my massive amount of homework, Kaleb came running in and told us Sabina’s mom had coffee made and she was expecting us for dessert. First I heard of it, and not wanting to be un-neighborly, we went over for a few hours to visit. I guess it was as good as doing homework as she only spoke in Norwegian and I had to work hard to understand her as she spoke so fast. She talked a lot about her frustration with the school system not doing anything about bullying. She finally decided to put Sabina in another school after several girls repeatedly beat her up. Sabina had a friend over tonight playing with her who spoke incredibly good English and was quite talkative. All the adults are constantly telling me how well I’m doing in speaking Norwegian but the little friend told me the letter sounds I was making that “need a little work.” As they say here in Norway – “You only get the truth out of drunks and little children.”
We stopped by a flea market today in downtown Aalesund and got several more treasures. I love what people think is junk – old wooden carved spoons and bowls, little candy baskets, trays and vases all hand made from pewter, crystal candle holders and very Norsk Christmas linens. We bought an entire apple box full of little trinkets and it only set us back fifty bucks, and that included some ice skates for Kory and a Christmas tree stand that wouldn’t fit in the box. Woo hoo. I also got a white table cloth we’ll cut up for Kaleb for a Halloween costume so he can go as a “holy ghost.” I got caught off guard there as I didn’t realize they have Halloween here or I most certainly would have packed him a costume. Halloween is fairly new to Norway and it’s a total rip-off from America, but the kids love it and they go trick-or-treating just the same and dress up in costumes. Older Norwegians hate it as they feel it’s just the stores trying to copy America so they can sell things no one needs, and anything that comes from America is not looked upon too kindly here anyway, so it’s a bit touchy of a subject. I’m not even sure which day it is, but it’s coming soon. Sabina keeps saying it’s next Saturday, but I need to investigate this week so I’m sure to have some candy on hand. They don’t have much for decorations in the stores but I did see one real pumpkin in Trondheim for $30 and decided I didn’t need a Jack-o-Lantern that badly. I haven’t seen any pumpkins here in Aalesund, but I was able to buy a few gourds so that’s the extent of my fall decorations this year.
We went for a walk around the neighborhood after dinner tonight and just as I came in and sat down to do my massive amount of homework, Kaleb came running in and told us Sabina’s mom had coffee made and she was expecting us for dessert. First I heard of it, and not wanting to be un-neighborly, we went over for a few hours to visit. I guess it was as good as doing homework as she only spoke in Norwegian and I had to work hard to understand her as she spoke so fast. She talked a lot about her frustration with the school system not doing anything about bullying. She finally decided to put Sabina in another school after several girls repeatedly beat her up. Sabina had a friend over tonight playing with her who spoke incredibly good English and was quite talkative. All the adults are constantly telling me how well I’m doing in speaking Norwegian but the little friend told me the letter sounds I was making that “need a little work.” As they say here in Norway – “You only get the truth out of drunks and little children.”
