Kory was so thankful he didn’t have to work today as the weather took a big turn toward COLD and the wind was blowing so hard it unsnapped the snaps on my coat as I was walking toward the bus. Snow has completely covered all the mountain tops around here, almost down to sea level. (The photo today was taken last Saturday, however.) We had a mix of snow/rain and lots of sleet and hail today, but just as much blinding sunshine. I guess this is why Aalesund has the reputation of “shifting weather.” Honestly, every five minutes the weather changes. I’ve never seen anything like it. Umbrellas are useless as the wind is so strong it flattens them in a second. It’s time I invest in raingear and a “rain jacket” for my backpack. When in Aalesund, do as the Aalesunders do. Kory spent the day inside running coaxial cable to hook the TV up to an outdoor antenna, as he’s determined to get some kind of TV reception. The nights are getting just a little too long for him, and he swears we’ll all learn the language quicker if we have TV. Uff da. (At last report, all his efforts were in vain as he couldn’t get any channels – ya hoo.)
Kaleb had a fine day at school and I wish I could say the same. We tried to climb up to the next step in grammatical rules today, but I’m afraid most of us fell off half way there. We were introduced to past tense verbs. It was my understanding that you just add a “t” to the end of verbs and there you have it, but it ain’t that easy! You see, most Norwegian verbs end with the letter “e,” so if the verb has two consonants right before that ending “e,” then you put a “t” onto the end to make it past tense (so it’s “et” like our “ed”). I was almost right with my VERY simplistic idea of how to make a word past tense. But what I learned today is: if the verb only has one consonant before that final “e”, then you take away the “e” and put “te” at the end instead of “et,” except of course, unless that solo consonant is a “d” or a “t,” then you must remember to use “et.” Got it? And that’s only the first two rules for past tense verbs. Another possible ending is “de” which is used if the verb doesn’t end with an “e” but ends with a “v,” “g,” or “ei” instead (which doesn’t happen all that often, I guess). But then there is the “dde” ending you must use if the last letter of the verb is anything BUT “v,” “g,” “e,” or “ei.” And then we were told about all the “irregular” verbs that don’t follow any of the above rules. And from my experience, there are as many irregular verbs as there are the ones that end with “e.” Let’s just say it was a bit much. We were told we must memorize all the irregular verbs as they have no lovely rules in which to memorize. I’m sure someday it will all gel, but for now, I’m trying hard not to think about it and it was all I could do to write it down just now.
During lunch break today I was sitting in the back of the room checking my e-mail and one of my classmates asked me what the word “formue” means. She was looking at a website that used that word. The website is the latest hit in Norway – one the government set up just last week – which shows everyone’s tax return; how much they made, how much they paid in taxes, and how much “formue” they have (the total value of their personal property, including money in the bank – which gets taxed separately.) There are only 4.5 million people in this country and in the first week alone, that website got 1.2 million hits. Lots of people are apparently wondering how much their friends, family, neighbors, and ex’s make… and now it’s all right there for the world to see. I guess the info has always been a matter of public record, but one had to go into an office and ask for it. Now they can just find it out themselves in the comfort of their living room. The local newspapers even have a direct link on their homepage websites so you just type in the name of a person, which “state” they live in, and up pops the info, complete with the year they are born so you know you have the right “Ole Olson.” Incredible.
One local I talked to thought the reason the government might be doing this is so they can find out who is NOT paying enough taxes. It’s more likely now that someone would turn in their neighbor if they see something suspicious. If their income doesn’t support their lifestyle, then there is a chance they are getting “black money” somewhere (money received “under the table”), which is obviously illegal. I guess the jails are full of people who have little “businesses” on the side and don’t pay taxes for it. Taxes are a big thing here and we have paid them for years in Norway –even though we have never made a cent. Because we own a condo, we pay income tax on the money we receive in rent from Aunt Ruth, even though the amount we paid out for the loan is much greater than the income we receive. They have different tax rules here and we can only deduct 30% of the interest we paid to the bank… so even though we lost money every month, they calculate it as a gain and we have to pay taxes. Strange system. So I’m not sure the money reported on their tax lists is such an accurate picture of what people really have, but it’s something to look at, for sure. For a country full of people known to be so “closed,” I think it’s hysterical that they have all this financial information so “open” and readily available. The website even makes little bar charts so you can compare the amount you make with others born in the same year, or in your area. But the funniest thing of all is the word “formue” -- it literally means “too much.” And while I believe the intent was to say “you have too much, therefore you will be taxed on it,” my take on it is, they have provided “too much” information.
Kaleb had a fine day at school and I wish I could say the same. We tried to climb up to the next step in grammatical rules today, but I’m afraid most of us fell off half way there. We were introduced to past tense verbs. It was my understanding that you just add a “t” to the end of verbs and there you have it, but it ain’t that easy! You see, most Norwegian verbs end with the letter “e,” so if the verb has two consonants right before that ending “e,” then you put a “t” onto the end to make it past tense (so it’s “et” like our “ed”). I was almost right with my VERY simplistic idea of how to make a word past tense. But what I learned today is: if the verb only has one consonant before that final “e”, then you take away the “e” and put “te” at the end instead of “et,” except of course, unless that solo consonant is a “d” or a “t,” then you must remember to use “et.” Got it? And that’s only the first two rules for past tense verbs. Another possible ending is “de” which is used if the verb doesn’t end with an “e” but ends with a “v,” “g,” or “ei” instead (which doesn’t happen all that often, I guess). But then there is the “dde” ending you must use if the last letter of the verb is anything BUT “v,” “g,” “e,” or “ei.” And then we were told about all the “irregular” verbs that don’t follow any of the above rules. And from my experience, there are as many irregular verbs as there are the ones that end with “e.” Let’s just say it was a bit much. We were told we must memorize all the irregular verbs as they have no lovely rules in which to memorize. I’m sure someday it will all gel, but for now, I’m trying hard not to think about it and it was all I could do to write it down just now.
During lunch break today I was sitting in the back of the room checking my e-mail and one of my classmates asked me what the word “formue” means. She was looking at a website that used that word. The website is the latest hit in Norway – one the government set up just last week – which shows everyone’s tax return; how much they made, how much they paid in taxes, and how much “formue” they have (the total value of their personal property, including money in the bank – which gets taxed separately.) There are only 4.5 million people in this country and in the first week alone, that website got 1.2 million hits. Lots of people are apparently wondering how much their friends, family, neighbors, and ex’s make… and now it’s all right there for the world to see. I guess the info has always been a matter of public record, but one had to go into an office and ask for it. Now they can just find it out themselves in the comfort of their living room. The local newspapers even have a direct link on their homepage websites so you just type in the name of a person, which “state” they live in, and up pops the info, complete with the year they are born so you know you have the right “Ole Olson.” Incredible.
One local I talked to thought the reason the government might be doing this is so they can find out who is NOT paying enough taxes. It’s more likely now that someone would turn in their neighbor if they see something suspicious. If their income doesn’t support their lifestyle, then there is a chance they are getting “black money” somewhere (money received “under the table”), which is obviously illegal. I guess the jails are full of people who have little “businesses” on the side and don’t pay taxes for it. Taxes are a big thing here and we have paid them for years in Norway –even though we have never made a cent. Because we own a condo, we pay income tax on the money we receive in rent from Aunt Ruth, even though the amount we paid out for the loan is much greater than the income we receive. They have different tax rules here and we can only deduct 30% of the interest we paid to the bank… so even though we lost money every month, they calculate it as a gain and we have to pay taxes. Strange system. So I’m not sure the money reported on their tax lists is such an accurate picture of what people really have, but it’s something to look at, for sure. For a country full of people known to be so “closed,” I think it’s hysterical that they have all this financial information so “open” and readily available. The website even makes little bar charts so you can compare the amount you make with others born in the same year, or in your area. But the funniest thing of all is the word “formue” -- it literally means “too much.” And while I believe the intent was to say “you have too much, therefore you will be taxed on it,” my take on it is, they have provided “too much” information.
