We woke up at six this morning to sixty degrees outside! There was some tropical storm in the Caribbean that blew this way and brought with it incredibly warm air, and a bit of rain as well, but apparently tonight we’re in for the worst of the wind. Both Kaleb and I left the house in total darkness this morning at 7:30am and I realized he doesn’t have nearly the amount of reflective gear that he needs. All the kids here wear “dingal-dangels” hanging from their coats, backpacks and bikes (they are reflectors on a string that move around so oncoming cars can see them.) I went to the store after school and bought reflective arm bands and vests. I guess the reflectors come free from any bank if you ask for them, so that’s tomorrow’s task.
Today my pal, Vestina, had her turn at poking fun of English. She asked me what I did over the weekend and I told her “We had company.” “Company? Why use that word, ‘company’?” she asked. “Before you use ‘company’ for two people coming… now you use it for just one person?” And I realized it is kind of a funny word to use – since the other use for it has to do with a business. She was quite confused by it and when I started thinking about it, I was too. Maybe because I was up past midnight doing my homework and then couldn’t sleep because of the coffee I drank too late in the day. Everything seemed to confuse me today.
Our good teacher Inga tried to explain the use of sub junctions today and how they don’t follow normal grammatical rules in Norwegian. (I’m still not even sure I know what a sub junction is.) Before she finished the entire explanation she turned and looked at me and said, “And I don’t know WHY that is Mickey!” I guess I ask “why” too much. But I did ask her “how” we would ever know when a quote was over in written text if we use a colon at the start of the quote when there is nothing at the end (Friday’s lesson). She stood like a deer in headlights, scratched her head and said she didn’t know, but it would be best if we used quotation marks, or the double karat like the newspapers use to show a <
Today my pal, Vestina, had her turn at poking fun of English. She asked me what I did over the weekend and I told her “We had company.” “Company? Why use that word, ‘company’?” she asked. “Before you use ‘company’ for two people coming… now you use it for just one person?” And I realized it is kind of a funny word to use – since the other use for it has to do with a business. She was quite confused by it and when I started thinking about it, I was too. Maybe because I was up past midnight doing my homework and then couldn’t sleep because of the coffee I drank too late in the day. Everything seemed to confuse me today.
Our good teacher Inga tried to explain the use of sub junctions today and how they don’t follow normal grammatical rules in Norwegian. (I’m still not even sure I know what a sub junction is.) Before she finished the entire explanation she turned and looked at me and said, “And I don’t know WHY that is Mickey!” I guess I ask “why” too much. But I did ask her “how” we would ever know when a quote was over in written text if we use a colon at the start of the quote when there is nothing at the end (Friday’s lesson). She stood like a deer in headlights, scratched her head and said she didn’t know, but it would be best if we used quotation marks, or the double karat like the newspapers use to show a <
>. And then she also said it is customary for authors to show dialog in a book with a dash before each direct quote without any other marks so that it looks like this:
– So when are you going to ask me? inquired Kaleb.
– Ask you what? said Mickey.
– How it went with Morton today?
– How did it go with Morton today?
– Well, he starting hitting a friend of mine and she started crying so I went over to help her and then Morton and two of his friends turned on me and started hitting me instead!
And that’s how Kaleb’s day went. I was pretty proud of him for helping out his friend at school, and he claims that even though he received several blows by Morton and his cronies- he is developing “thick skin” and it didn’t hurt too much. (I think he was a little pumped up about coming to someone’s rescue, too.) At least he is finally at peace with Morton and understands it’s nothing personal. We prayed again for Morton today as that may be his only hope in changing the situation.
Kaleb’s foot is getting better but he decided to just drop out of soccer all together. (I had him soak his foot in vinegar a few times a day and I bought some tea tree oil to put on it – as suggested by a friend – and all the swelling and blisters have disappeared!) Kaleb decided he doesn’t like being gone from home so much and with the after school program lasting 2-3 hours, then rushing home twice a week for a 90 minute soccer practice, it was just too much. I totally agree, as the weeks are just flying by and it seems like we hardly see him. I’m so thankful as I couldn’t bear the thought of him out in this horrible weather all winter playing soccer! (We’re lightweights, I know.) He also needs additional time to do his homework as they are beefing things up a bit and he was up until 9:30 tonight and still didn’t get it all done. Uff da. Most of the hours were just bad time management on his part (daydreaming) so I’m threatening him with no trick-or-treating this year if that happens again. (I’m no lightweight when it comes to school work, however.)
Kory had a wet day at work and came home just a tad bit crabby. As winter sets in I’m sure he’ll be dreaming of “retirement” again real soon. But the dollar is getting stronger every day so maybe in the dead of winter he won’t have to work at all… poor thing. His bones are old and tired and his joints are very painful, and even though he likes to see how Norwegians build houses and he enjoys the mental process of carpentry, I’m sure he’d just as soon stay at home as well.
As difficult as the Norwegian language is for me to learn, I really LIKE going to school and NOT being home all day. Not only am I learning the language, but it gives me something to write about. I heard a quote in college once that went something like this: “Those who can do, do. Those who can’t do, teach. Those who can’t teach, teach teachers.” So I guess I’ll add one more little snippet to that soliloquy and say, “Those who can’t do any of that, write.”
