Back to Normal

I only slept about three hours last night so if I write something that doesn’t make sense, that’s why. I went to school, but for no good reason. My brain was toast and I didn’t learn a thing. At least my body was there and I made the effort. It was good I went so I could make peace with Vestina though. She came out to help me on Saturday but our bus stop was closed because of all the work they are doing in the streets replacing water pipes and she couldn’t find my house because the bus didn’t come all the way down to where we live. When she called to say she was lost we had already started the party and we couldn’t go get her right away. She went back home and she was ticked. I don’t blame her but we were caught up in circumstances beyond our control at that point. She told me today if I was anyone but ME, she would never speak to me again. I told her she needs to be more forgiving, and I invited her over for leftovers. I hope we are still friends. She makes me laugh, and even though she was steaming mad at me, I still managed to make her laugh too, so that’s a good sign. We both understood each other’s predicament and what happened was bad for both of us as I really needed her help at the party, but it’s all over now and hopefully the friendship is intact. Uff da.

I so wanted a nap today after school but I wanted more to spend time with Vestina, so I’m nearly numb and my eyes are burning from so little sleep this weekend. Just as I laid down to take a nap after Vestina left, Kaleb came home from the afterschool program a little early as he wanted to get his homework done so he had time to play with his Ninetendo. Talk about motivation! Sabina came over and helped him finish up and then Kory came home from work and the day literally just snowballed. We had a second cousin and her two kids over to help us eat leftovers from last night’s party and her foster son Benjamin and Sabina and Kaleb turned the house into a wreck, but they had fun in the process. Life is back. Now if I can find my brain somewhere, I’ll be happy.

Last night I went outside at midnight and for the first time in weeks, I saw grass. The frost has been so hard it left a thick white crust over everything. But last night, warm air blew through town and started melting everything. Rain even fell from heaven – something we haven’t seen in a long time now (especially this time of year). The weather forecast said we’d have sunshine today and I went to bed expecting a gorgeous sunny winter day, and I woke up to two inches of snow and more coming down! It was the big wet fluffy snow and the ground was covered in SLUDD (the Norwegian word for slush). Too funny. It really is hard to get bored with the weather around here because I never know what to expect, but once again, everything was just gorgeous with a fresh layer of new snow. It’s finally above freezing though so I imagine it won’t last long.

I was thinking how I could just coast now that Thanksgiving and Kaleb and Kory’s birthday’s are over, but then I looked at the calendar and realized it’s only a few weeks until Christmas! I’m not even sure I’ll get a Christmas letter written this year, certainly no cards out and I haven’t even decorated yet! Good grief. And it’s not like I’m sleeping the days away either, as I have more waking hours than I should but there still isn’t enough time to get everything done. I wonder if it would help if I lived a double life? (Does that mean I get twice as much time or I have to do twice as much work?) Maybe “normal” is a good thing. Hopefully that will be tomorrow’s forecast.

Kaleb Turned 10 Today!

But more shocking than that is the fact I’ve been a mother that long too! And we’re both still alive to talk about it. I still think I should be the one getting a party on Kaleb’s birthday, as I’m the one that deserves it… but such is the life of a mother.

Kaleb had another great day today. He got his favorite breakfast in bed (Dutch babies and bacon) then Tobias came over and went to church with us (his first time ever to go). I felt so emotional about the day that I cried like a baby during worship. I was so thankful to God for all He’s done for us and continues to do, and this one song we sang has a line that says, “All the things that have been done and all the things still to be done in this city” and it just gets me choked up every time. I truly am in awe of God and how my life has turned out. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined I’d be a mother, let alone the mother of such an incredible kid, and living with such a nice guy in such an amazing place. God is soooo good because I know I didn’t do a thing to make any of this happen (well, except I did have sex that one time…)

Anyway, after church today we rushed home to get the house ready for Kaleb’s family party tonight. We only had an hour to prepare then we had to leave to go to Kory’s company Christmas party. His two bosses (who are young enough to be his grandsons), took all their employees out to a special dinner in downtown Aalesund (see photo). The only problem was that all the other employees were sick today except us, so we got to enjoy a nice Christmas meal with them by ourselves. We went to a restaurant that had a Christmas buffet featuring the traditional foods only made this time of year (and some other foods too) so Kaleb was in heaven as there’s nothing he likes more than a buffet. Kory was in heaven because he loves that food (but shouldn’t eat it) and I was in heaven because they all understood English and I didn’t have to speak Norwegian (but I should). Kory gave them my blog address a while ago so I can’t ever write anything bad about them because they read the blog and find out all kinds of personal things about Kory. I couldn’t write anything bad about them anyway because they are really nice guys and Kory likes to work for them. They both have nice wives, little kids and are Christian guys with their fingers in a lot of pies, as we say. Kory sees himself in them thirty or forty years ago – ambitious guys figuring out how to make a living. It was nice to be invited out, even if it did have to be sandwiched between things today, as we had to rush home and set out all the food for the relatives that came tonight for Kaleb’s second birthday party!

We had a house full as the cousins and aunts came in full force to wish Kaleb a happy tenth birthday. I had enough food to feed the neighborhood but I didn’t want anyone to go away hungry. I made Kaleb’s favorite meal – Enchilada Soup and I had other munchies and many desserts and cakes. Kaleb got some nice gifts and more money which he was happy for because he’s been wanting to save up enough to buy a Ninetendo DS (some hand held video game all the kids have here.) The photo of us was taken when he was still in shock over getting it from us as a gift. He couldn’t have been happier. Now his biggest problem is to figure out what to spend his 1600 kroner birthday money on (over $200). Saving it doesn’t appear to be much of an option. All the excitement he has had in the past for saving and investing in the stock market has sort of gone astray now that he’s lost the bulk of his assets like many other Americans. I told him he could invest in the Norwegian stock market and he asked how they have been doing. I told him it’s gone down more than the American stock market so he dismissed that option. All the relatives were encouraging him to spend every kroner on himself but he did say he would tithe his ten percent to God. I told him he needed to set something aside for his future and he responded with, “God will provide.” It's hard to argue with that because He most certainly has.

The Party's Over Now...

I’m wiped out. But it’s a good thing. The party was a HUGE success and even with the few glitches we had, none of the kids knew any different and they all left on cloud nine. I’m sure they will be talking about it for a long time to come. We had perfect weather (although it was about 20 degrees outside), but the party lasted as long as daylight – from 11-2:30, and it was good that we had sunshine since there aren’t light fixtures in any of the houses we used.

The kids were all spellbound and full of suspense as the sorting hat talked to them. They all sat absolutely still listening to Kory’s voice crackle over the hidden walkie-talkie – they weren’t expecting that at all. The games got off to a slow start as some of the kids aren’t nearly as coordinated as Kaleb and even though I had Kaleb and Tobias do a dry run on all the games, things didn’t work out exactly like I had planned and some of the kids got a bit frustrated. They were all challenging games and no one really racked up many points, but at least they were all in the same boat. One kid, Markus, who hasn’t exactly been kind to Kaleb at school and one day even grabbed him by the throat and choked him, did NOT want to be there. He stood in the corner during the games and flipped Kory off when he took a picture of him pouting in the corner. Then he left and walked down the street to go home, but for some reason, came back. Other kids took his turn during the games. He did come eat lunch in the Great Hall and then after lunch his attitude changed when they all made their wizard hats and magic wands. All my science “tricks” worked out perfectly and Kaleb told the kids which spell to cast prior to the explosion or whatever I was doing. They thought that was great fun as all the things happened right on cue. They all got a turn at the mentos in the pop geyser and that was a huge hit. I think the below freezing weather affected the chemical reaction though as they didn’t go nearly as high as they did for Kaleb’s science party in the summer.

Hege (Odd’s daughter) was my assistant today, and she came dressed for the part – like a cat, which is one of the characters in one of the books that Kaleb recognized right away. I dressed up in black and actually came to peace with my hair by letting it just be its natural self, which makes me look very much like a witch so it added to the effect. Kory took some photos and another mom stuck around to help with crowd control. We also had an older brother here so all in all, we had just the right amount of adults. My partner, Vestina, from school, was going to come help with her boyfriend but she couldn’t find our house and had to go back home because they closed our bus stop yesterday due to the work in the streets and the bus went a different route. I felt so badly she got up and took the bus here then had to go back home. We were too busy by then to go get her so that was the biggest regret I have for the day, otherwise all else went well.

Morten, Kaleb’s “challenge” at school, didn’t come. I talked to his mom last night and told her he would be really sad if he missed it, but he wouldn’t change his mind. One other kid from Kaleb’s class didn’t come either due to some other obligation, so Kaleb got to have Tobias and his friend William, both from our neighborhood, step into those places so we had exactly 16 kids. They all loved the cup cakes I made, and the treasure hunt for their candy bags and then the final thing, shopping at Diagon Alley. An adult was in each store and they bought their final items to take home. It was impeccably timed (I wish I could take credit for that but it just happened that way) and all the parents were standing out in the driveway waiting for the kids when they came out of the store all pumped up with their arms full of things. Some of the kids came over and bowed to me and said, “Takk for meg” (thanks for me) which is the common way of thanking the host for a visit. Too sweet.

I wish I could have understood all that the kids were saying. Hege said they were all chittering back and forth all day saying, “Isn’t this fun?” and they were noticing every detail and how it corresponded to the movies. They really liked the “magic” that turned 2 cups of cornstarch and ½ cup water that's liquid but turns to solid when it’s picked up. (It’s a very cool experiment that entertains for hours.) And the grumpy kid even left with a smile on his face so I’m sure he’s glad he stuck around. They all loved that they could run from house to house and have so much room for the party, as most parties are restricted to just one room in the kid’s house, so I’m sure this is a party they will long remember. I can’t believe that God provided this place for us as we’ve been planning this party for over a year when Kaleb thought he’d be having his 9th birthday party here in Norway and we had it now, in the absolutely most PERFECT place for it. God is good!

Kaleb mostly got money from the kids, which the most common birthday gift given here in Norway. He got about 850 kroner, which is well over a hundred dollars, so he was thrilled. Tobias’ mom made him the most adorable Harry Potter card to go with the theme and we gave him all the Harry Potter DVDs, which he hasn’t watched yet. I was waiting until he was “older” to see the movies and now that he’s 10, I guess it’s time.

Tobias and Sabina provided afterhours entertainment for Kaleb while Kory and I started the long process of cleaning up. I had to promise to go in and wash the floors of all the houses we used, so that will be my next week’s afterschool activity. I always like cleaning up after a good party or having dinner guests over. It’s like a Zen thing for me as it gives me time to reflect on all the fun we had. And today, we had a lot of fun so I hope it takes me a long time to clean up!

Final Preparations

I took the day off school today. I think I was well enough to go, but I didn’t want to risk it and then be stressed out about the party tomorrow, so it was a good move. I could move at a slower pace in getting things ready, and not have to worry about whether my homework was done or not. It felt a little like cheating, but I’m the only one that loses in this case.

Kory and I spent the entire day in preparation for Kaleb's big Harry Potter birthday party tomorrow. We have four empty houses around us that are now transformed into the four houses of Hogwarts (plus ours). Our house is Gryffindor and the kids will come in to our house first and be sorted by the Sorting Hat. Kory made a huge wizard hat out of some very stiff paper. We set a walkie talkie in the tip of it and he’ll be in another room talking into the hat to tell each child which “house” they will be going to. We have 16 kids coming so there will be four kids in each house. Once they are all sorted, we go down to the house called Slitheran. Inside that house is a room entitled “Quiddich Court” and it’s there that all the games will be played. Each “house” (group of kids) will compete in six different games for points. Kory made three plastic rings that hang from the ceiling in that house and the kids can throw the Quiddich ball to see if they make it through. If they do, they get two points. I drew a bulls eye target with a dry erase marker on a window in that house, and I have some stretchy/sticky bugs that the kids can use to try and earn points like playing darts. I also bought some beetles that work like those cars you pull back and then they go forward. We’ll have a beetle race with those. I have a few other easy games lined up as well. The kids can also lose points for cheating or misbehaving so I’m hoping that helps with crowd control.

The party starts at 11 but I’m hoping by 12 we’ll be ready for lunch. The Huffelpuff house is set up with The Great Hall inside, where the kids will eat. All these houses here have the same floor plan as ours so it’s pretty cool that they all have one big open room we can use for this party. We set up a long banquet table and I have grouped the kids from each “house” together with place tags and decorations that match their house. I brought everything from America so I had to plan out this party before we left. I brought a lot of stuff for it, but I’m glad I did as supplies here are very limited. The Great Hall looks great as I hung glittery stars from the ceiling (like in the movie) and have pictures of all the characters from the movie on all the walls. I got Harry Potter plates, tablecloths, napkins all on clearance for 50 cents a pack before we moved here-- major score. And we’re just serving pizza and hot dogs to eat – typical Norwegian kid birthday party food. Kaleb and Tobias made special labels to put over the pop bottles though so now they have the names of different potions so they can mix at will and see how sick they can get from all that sugar. (Kaleb loves to mix pop flavors – he calls himself a “drink smith.”) Kaleb and Tobias also made "cockroach clusters," which are sitting on the kids' plates (I melted chocolate and mixed in some raisins, then they stuck stick pretzels in the side for legs. The look yucky.) I also put a few gummy worms in their drinking glasses and on the rim.

After lunch we go to the Ravenclaw house and in there they will find the classroom set up and decorated with spider webs and plastic spiders. Two tables are ready with arts and crafts supplies for them to make their own wizard hats and when they are done with that, they will make their own magic wands. I bought super sized pretzel sticks from America they will dip in chocolate then put star sprinkles on the outside. They will need the wands because I will be performing a potions class and they will need to help with the magic. I have a ton of science demonstrations set up – everything from the old baking soda and vinegar explosion to the Mentos geyser in the pop bottle (I’ll be outside for that one). I’m hoping they love this part the best since Tobias said he hasn’t seen any of these demonstrations (I had him as my test audience this week while I was preparing). His eyes got pretty big as he was watching me, so that should be an exciting time. I have a few of the tricks for the kids to participate in as well so I’m glad I have a few adult helpers coming.

After the magic lab the kids will go back to our house to open gifts then to the dining hall again for the awards ceremony, and to eat their little wizard cupcakes. I will award them prizes and acknowledge the top wizard of the day. Then I will give them a clue as to where they can find the Maurader’s Map for each “house” and they will go hunting for their party gift bag. Once they find that, they can use some of their coins to go shopping at Diagon Alley – which is located in the last house we are using for this party. I have set up three “stores” in three rooms of that house and each group of kids can go in one at a time and buy things in the shop with their "gallions" (quarters from America).

All these details are straight from the Harry Potter books and I’m sure none of the kids in Kaleb’s class have even read them, but a few have seen the movies. It’s going to be great, no matter what, as Kaleb has told me Norwegian birthday parties are pretty lame in comparison. Kids show up, hang out, watch the birthday boy play on his Nintendo, they all eat hot dogs, open presents and just run around doing whatever they want. Occasionally there will be one game with no prize and sometimes they get a bag with a few pieces of candy in it. So the parties here are very unstructured, very low key. The kids love them anyway, but I can’t wait to see their reaction to this one!

My First Sick Day

I couldn’t bear to get out of bed this morning. The room was cold, I was snuggly warm and my body just needed more sleep. Kory got up and made Kaleb’s lunch and Kaleb got himself off to school. Tobias came over and they rode the city bus together as the roads are still like skating rinks. I was awake while he was going out the door at 8:10, but then I fell back to sleep until 10:45! That was incredibly late for me and I’m so glad I got some rest. I was up in time to see the sun rise above the mountains in front of our house at 11:30. (It was gone again by 2:00.) I hope I get good rest again tonight as I’m not feeling well enough to go to school tomorrow either. Too bad I don’t get “benefits” for staying home. In Norway, they have an incredible sick leave policy. Each person who works full time gets 12 sick days a year. If they are out more than three days, they go to some kind of disability pay, so they don’t use up those precious days. If they work part-time, they get a percentage of that, so a half time worker gets 6 days off a year. But here’s the kicker: on top of the regular sick days, they also have child sick days. When a child is sick, obviously one of the parents need to stay home with them so they give parents an extra ten sick days a year if they have one to two kids, but if they have three or more kids, those kid sick days go up to 15. Amazing. So it’s possible to have 27 sick days off every year if you have three kids – that’s more than a month! (And they all get at least four weeks vacation a year too, plus a few weeks for holidays). You can’t carry over any sick time from year to year so most people use them up each year. I read a newspaper article a few years back that said on any given day, 25% of Norway’s work force doesn’t show up to work due to “sickness.” And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

If a person is really sick, of course they get disability pay and free medical care. But we know someone that has rheumatism (who DOESN’T when you get to a certain age), and the government not only pays him extra sick leave for the month he must take off every fall for his “treatment,” but they also pay for all his expenses to get that treatment. Because the rheumatism is hard to treat in a cold climate, they send him to the Canary Islands to go to a health spa there! They pay his airfare, lodging and all his meals for one month every year! He gets massages every day, steams, hot packs, you name it. All because he’s a little stiff in his joints and that’s the kind of health care that Norway provides. (Kory is entitled to the same but with his joints as bad as they are, he’d just have to live permanently in the Canary Islands like some Norwegian residents who have health problems that are worsened by the cold – all paid for by Norwegian tax dollars.) The government here takes 7.5% of every kroner earned to pay for their health care system, and I must say, it’s a bargain. Our insurance premiums back home, plus deductibles and other out of pocket not-covered medical expenses way exceed that amount of our income and we’re not even sick. This system wouldn’t work in America though because we have too many lawsuits. They don’t have those here, so it keeps the prices down.

I guess Michael Moore was here in Norway when he was working on his “Sicko” movie that talked about the state of healthcare in America. When he found out about the incredibly generous health care system they have here in Norway, he was quoted in the paper as saying he just couldn’t include that in his movie because Americans would never believe it. He went to France instead and interviewed residents there. Too funny.

I mustered up the strength to be a little productive this afternoon and Kory helped me with some party preparations. Kaleb and Tobias helped after school also. Tonight when Kaleb was going to bed he said, “I think this party will go down in the history books of Norway!” He’s pretty excited. So is Tobias. Kaleb has read the entire Harry Potter series four times (one books he’s read eight times). He knows every piece of trivia in every book. I’m sure none of the other kids will even notice the details that Kaleb has worked into the party, but he does, and that’s all that matters. Well, it matters to me, too. I’m giving myself the parties I never had a kid because it’s never too late to have a happy childhood!

Misery Loves Company

Kaleb came home with the sniffles a few days ago and now we all have a full blown cold. I think I’m the worst. I’m staying home from school tomorrow as I just need to sleep. We’ve gone through about five boxes of Kleenex so far and I need to buy more every day. Uff da. I hope it runs its course by Saturday, when Kaleb’s party is happening. Then there’s the family party on Sunday, and Kory’s company Christmas party…. And well, there’ just no time to be sick right now so I’m praying this moves through me quickly.

I’m up later than I want to be but I’m still working on party plans. I want there to be a few surprises for Kaleb so I have to wait until he’s in bed to get some things done. More ideas keep popping in my head so there are more details to work out. I’m sure every kid will remember this party. Turid was going to help me, but she’s flying to Oslo tomorrow to attend a funeral so that’s not going to happen. The husband to one of her best childhood friend’s killed himself a few days ago. He was only 42 with two little kids. That’s the third suicide we’ve heard about since being here. One guy from our connect group at church, his wife intentionally overdosed on prescription drugs a few months ago and left him with a two year old boy to raise by himself, and then a teenage boy in our neighborhood hung himself in the woods a few blocks from where we live. Statistically Norway isn’t high on the charts for suicides – they average about 11 for every 100,000 people, but when it hits close to home it’s hard to think about statistics. Turid said the news has been reporting more suicides now with the financial crisis hitting Norway so hard. The Norwegian stock market has really tanked. Normally they are around 500 points and it’s down under 150, so they’ve lost a higher percentage than the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

I didn’t realize how hard this world wide recession was affecting people here until I started talking to some classmates. Many workers from Poland have had to go home, as there are no longer jobs here. My friend Vestina, her boyfriend works in a fish factory and he’s been laid off – not because there are no fish, but because there are no orders for the fish as they get exported. So Norway is feeling the pinch too but I had no idea. We enjoy three meals a day and a warm house so in my little bubble, life is grand (except that I have a cold.)

Kaleb’s life is pretty grand too as he has been hanging out with Tobias every day. They have been taking the city bus to school together (the roads are still solid ice) and have been together after school a lot. Tobias helped Kaleb with his homework today, which was good for me because I was making dinner and Kory was working on another drawing. And I think it helps Kaleb to stay focused and complete his work as the motivation is right in front of him – Tobias anxiously waiting. Tonight Sabina was here too and she was pacing like a caged animal, wondering how long it would be until he could go play. That kid can sit at a table and do absolutely nothing for a solid hour if he has homework in front of him. But he finally finished and they all bundled up and went outside in the freezing cold, pitch black night and played Hide and Seek. I fail to see the attraction to that whole scenario, but it’s been a while since I was a kid, so I won’t ask. I’m just thanking God that everything we had hoped for in coming here, is here. Hallelujah!

Party Planning

One of my favorite sayings is, “Intelligence is not knowing all the answers, it’s knowing where to find them.” Since the arrival of the internet, we should all be geniuses by now. I use it a lot, but I’m not sure it helps my IQ score. What it does help with is party planning ideas. I saw on one website how to turn an ordinary cupcake into a little wizard by using an upside down ice cream cone. It was a simple idea, which I elaborated on, and the photo today is the final product. It’s my test model, as I need to see if the cone will go soft by tomorrow because I really don’t want to make 16 of these Saturday morning before the party. Friday would work much better, so I made the cupcakes today and froze them and hopefully can decorate them Friday. I found those cute little “silly feet” cupcake holders at Wal-Mart before we left. They were only $8 for a pack of four so I bought two packs thinking we’d have only about 6 kids at the party. When I got here and learned it’s required to have all the kids of the same gender in Kaleb’s class at his birthday party, I went into panic mode. I hadn’t brought enough supplies for 16 kids. I found the cupcake holders on the internet, but shipping them over here was going to be $80 alone. I found them on-line in Oslo, but to buy eight of them would be $80, plus shipping. Who knew such a simple thing was going to run me ragged. I finally bought them via Amazon.com (for $10 a pack) and had them shipped for free to our house in Mt. Vernon, and our neighbor and friend, Nancy Schaub shipped them to me here (plus a bunch of other stuff) for $40. A woman’s gotta do what a woman’s gotta do. The Schaub’s visit in September saved my butt as they brought many extra party supplies when they came for a visit. Most everything for this party is imported from America (but made in China, I’m sure.) I like the looks of my little wizard – it was Kaleb’s idea to add the magic wand. I can’t wait to see how all the kids react to the details I’ve been working on.

I guess if I paid more attention to the details in the Norwegian language I wouldn’t be struggling so much. We got our written portion of the test back today. I passed OK but my paper was all marked up with corrections. The woman that sits on the other side of me didn’t have a scratch on her paper, but then, she’s one of the best students in the class and she’s been here longer. I got dinged on sentence structure and verb tenses. I knew that was going to happen. I was at a birthday party tonight for a woman from our Connect Group at church, and a woman I’d never met before seemed genuinely impressed that I’d only been speaking the language for three months. I explained to her my struggles with the word order in the sentences and the verb tenses and she shook her head in agreement but also said (in Norwegian), “But I can understand you perfectly, and that’s all that matters.” And therein lies the good news and the bad news for me. I know I’m understood, but I don’t’ want to sound like a two year old when I talk. Oh well, I’ll just try to focus on the positive for now.

I wish Kory could focus on the positive. He came home an absolute crank today. We’ve had beautiful sunshine for several days now, but it’s yet it get above freezing. The sun was gone today by 2:30 so the ground doesn’t even have time to warm up. It took Kory a long time this morning to scrape the ice off the windshield, and then the van door was frozen shut and the lock was frozen so he had to monkey with that. He drove to his boss’ house and had to scrape his windshield too so they could take the work truck out to Giske. The truck’s door and lock were also frozen shut. Then after a long cold day of work (hanging insulation, which he hates because it’s itchy), he had to deal with the whole frozen mess all over again not only with his boss’ truck but with our van once he got back to his boss’s house. There has to be a better way, and I’m sure after today, he’ll come up with something. But the ice is really something here. It amazes me that people can drive their cars on the streets as we can’t even walk on them because they are solid ice. Kaleb said he tried to walk up a hill today but he just kept sliding back down it and couldn’t get anywhere. He’s been taking the bus to school because it’s impossible to ride his bike now. We live right next to the bus stop but it takes me five minutes to get there as I have to go out of my way to walk along grassy edges and cross the road with baby steps. We can’t even walk in our gravel driveway as the ice has filled in between all the rocks and turned it into a smooth icy surface. Everyone is saying that winter has come early. This type of cold, ice and snow is often only in February. Lucky us.

At least Kaleb had an uneventful day. After he finished his homework tonight he went over to Tobias’ to play hide and seek with him and his brothers. I’ve never seen him do his homework so fast. It’s amazing what a little motivation will do. If only I could find some….

The Countdown is On

I just had to go buy one of those electric candle sets to put in the window today. I was starting to feel like a freak by not having one. Good thing it was only five bucks. I’m sure the electricity will cost more than that to keep it going this month, but Advent is here and we must light the way. I found out in class today that Advent means “to wait.” I don’t know why I didn’t see that one coming, as “vent” in Norwegian is “wait.” Now I know. The Good Teacher Inga is finally back in our classroom after a two week absence. She was wearing purple (the color of Advent) and she brought a purple candle to light. She had to be sure we all knew about this tradition. The one difference I notice here in their advent candles is that they only have four and they are all purple. I told someone about our American version which has three purple, one pink and one white, and they looked at me like I was from another planet. That is NOT proper Advent protocol in Norway, so I best do it as the Norwegians do.

Kaleb was up at six this morning wondering if an Advent gift was awaiting him. He only saw the piece of candy dangling from the Advent hook, and failed to look at the clue underneath it so he was disappointed but didn’t say anything. When I got up I asked him if he was going to look for his gift and he was so surprised he got something more than licorice. I got him a book called, “Why Dog’s Noses are Always Wet.” He loves those kinds of trivia fact books, which is good, because he’s getting a lot of them for Advent this year (I brought them with us).

Kory worked today out on the island of Giske. He found out that the house he is building is owned by Morten’s aunt (Kaleb’s nemesis at school.) It’s a small world.

We got part of our Norse Prøve 1 test back today and I did OK. I missed 4 out of 38 on the part we got back. The toughest part we’ve yet to see, but we will review it tomorrow. I can’t even emphasize enough how tired I am of not being able to speak this language. It feels like I’ll never master it as I still can’t remember the first lesson we had months ago – to put the stupid verb in the second position of every sentence! I so want to say “Can you do that?” rather than “Can do you that?” It just goes against every fiber of my being to make a sentence that sounds so ridiculous, but that’s how these people talk so I’m the one that sounds like a fool when I speak with English sentence structure. Ugh. (Kory takes great pleasure in the fact I’m struggling, as I’ve spent years correcting his English and now he’s got a sadistic streak in gloating over my “challenges.”) Some of the other rules are starting to sink into my brain a bit though, like the past tense verbs and genderizing the nouns, but I feel hopeless when it comes to those sentences. And when someone is talking, I feel much like the dinosaur that gets his tail stepped on and it takes a complete minute for that information to travel to his brain before he can say "OUCH". Once someone says something to me, they need to stop and give me a minute to process all the words to see if I can figure out what they just said. But no, they just keep on talking and I’m lost in a blur of syllables that go up and down with a rhythmic pattern so sing-songy it could almost put a person to sleep. No one said it would be easy. It just kills me though because I’m used to being the best student in class, and now I’m not. There are women in our class, fresh out of high school, so their brains are still in the soaking-it-up mode and they are kicking my butt in terms of learning the language. The student that’s doing the best is from South America, and she’s sweet as pie but my nature is to not like her because she’s better than me. But I sit and console myself all day when I listen to her speak because she has such a horrible lisp that I just tell myself no matter how much she knows this language, no one will ever be able to understand her speaking it. (And it makes me so thankful for speech therapy for Kaleb because he had a little of the same problem but it’s so much better now.) The only good news today was that I got a better score than Vestina, and she’s an excellent student. (She’s my partner at school and I love her dearly but she’s always beating me at EVERYTHING as she gets perfect scores on all her homework assignments and I never do.) So apparently this class is not so much about me learning or not learning the language as much as it is about me being competitive and petty! Go figure. (The photo today is the view out my classroom window.)

After school today I worked on Kaleb’s birthday party – hanging stars from the ceiling above the dining table and making portraits to hang on the walls. I’m trying to “set the stage” as much as possible with the limited resources I have here. Based on Tobias’ reaction to the plans he’s seen so far, I think it will be a hit. I may not be the best foreign Norwegian speaker in this country, but the award for best kid birthday parties is all mine.

The First Day of Advent

We all slept in this morning and barely made it to the eleven o’clock service. The pastor’s wife gave the sermon and she was fired up and let it fly. During the coffee hour afterwards, two women from our connect group asked me to pray for them. One of them had an old whiplash injury that I’m sure God healed on the spot. The other had an old childhood emotional wound that needed God’s intervention, but that one may take a bit more prayer. I was just honored they asked me to pray and I trust God to be faithful in answering. I think people sense that “our God” is a bit different than theirs and they want some of that. Hallelujah!

Tobias came over this afternoon to play with Kaleb. Kaleb showed him his dog newspaper yesterday and not only did Tobias like it, but he was inspired to make his own. He went home last night and created a newspaper for parrot lovers and he sent us a copy. Kaleb gave him a few pointers today and did a little critique of it, but mostly he was encouraging Tobias. He laughed all afternoon at the joke in his paper. Kaleb kept repeating the punch line over and over as he thought it was pretty funny. It’s so nice for Kaleb to have Tobias as a friend. Even though Tobias is a few years older, he’s such a mild mannered kid, soft spoken, and has a good heart. I think his little twin brothers must drive him nuts so he’s looking for a place with some peace and quiet, as he’s been over here a lot. We love that. I guess last night while we were gone, Sabina came over and all three of them were outside playing hide and seek in the dark. They all get along pretty well, and for that, I’m thankful! Kaleb’s world is expanding – Hallelujah!

Today is the first day of Advent. There is a real excitement around here when Advent starts. I spent practically my whole life without even knowing what “Advent” meant, so it’s a bit new for me. Good thing we’ve been going to Bethany Covenant Church for the last few years as they came out of the Lutheran tradition and Lutheran’s are all about Advent. Oh, Lutheran’s came out of the state church of Norway and Sweden, so now it all makes sense. Advent is huge. Everyone keeps asking Kaleb if he has an Advent calendar. In fact, they had him make one in school, so he’s been anxious to hang it up and tonight was the night. (See photo – it’s made of wood with little cup hooks at the bottom to hold a gift or candy or note.) Advent begins the countdown to Christmas, and the candles that get lit on the four Sundays before Christmas “light the way” in anticipation of the birth of Jesus. It’s all very symbolic and special and I’m glad we get to go through the motions here where the whole country celebrates it the same – even if they aren’t all professing Christians. It’s become more of a tradition than a religious thing, but it’s still nice everyone acknowledges it. There’s not a house we’ve passed that doesn’t have some kind of light in their window – either the lighted star, or an electric set of candles that sit on a base in the shape of an upside down v. Many houses have those candles lit in every window and they all got turned on today. It’s so funny how much conformity there is here – no one would dare turn on their lights BEFORE the first Sunday in Advent because “you just don’t do that.” (That’s a phrase I often hear about many things.) There’s a lot of pride in doing things properly, and I’m sure no one “over does it” with Christmas lights like some American’s do, or it would be just downright embarrassing. (And I’ve only seen white lights so far – no colored ones yet.)

So, the countdown to Christmas is on, and the calendar is filling up. The state church sent out a special flyer with all the different religious events going on this month and Kaleb’s school sent home a special notice for all the Christmas related activities going on there. Tonight was the kick-off event as they had the lighting of the school’s Christmas tree at five o’clock. The school band played a few Christmas songs, the school drill team performed a little march to one of the tunes, and after a quick speech, the lights clicked on the tree and everyone cheered. They handed out gingersnap cookies, tangerines and hot Glogg (a very tasty Scandinavian Christmas drink with lots of spices and maybe apple juice as a base but I couldn’t tell). And all of this happened outside on the school playground in below freezing temperatures. I’m so impressed by the hardiness of the bunch, and I’m sure had it been raining or snowing, the show would have still gone on. Kaleb said they won’t allow the kids to stay in during recess, no matter what the weather, they must go outside. And I see kids in preschool with all their raingear on, going down the slides and swinging on the swings in pouring down rain. It rains so much here that they must acclimate kids early to the elements as no one wants to live their life indoors. It’s funny that they have God in a box, but THEY sure don’t want to be.

Customs

T minus six days, as the countdown is on to the big Harry Potter birthday party we are having for Kaleb here next Saturday. Today we started setting up for it. In the Harry Potter books, all the students go to Hogwarts School and they are sorted into four different “houses” and they compete in games during the year to win points for their house. The party is going to be kind of like that, and we even have four real houses to use since our neighboring houses are all empty and Kory has the keys! So we set up one house today to be the grand ballroom where the 16 kids will be eating lunch, another house will be the game room, another will be a craft and activity house and yet another will be Diagon Alley where the kids can go shopping for their prizes based on the points they win in the games. Our house will be used for sorting the kids when they first get here and for opening the gifts toward the end. We have things pretty well worked out now but there are still a few details to do this coming week. It’s a birthday “American Style” so it should be interesting to see how these Norwegian kids handle it. I guess most birthday parties here are fairly routine and follow in the same traditions and customs, so here we go again, shaking things up a bit. Kaleb has been looking forward to this party for over a year as he thought his 9th birthday party would be in Norway last year, but the wait is worth it, since we have the ideal setting now for it take place. I’m so thankful we live where we do as there is NO WAY we could get 16 kids in our house and do anything but stand them shoulder to shoulder. Once again, God provides for all our needs.

I asked the pastor from Agape Church (who is from England) what he thought of the whole Harry Potter thing, as I know many Christians in America get pretty uptight about it and I didn’t want to have a themed party like that here if anyone would take offense or if it was going to upset any Christians that get invited. He said there are no negative connotations to the book here in Norway as it’s just fiction, no different from “The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe.” He said he heard an interview once with J.K. Rowling (who is a Christian) talking about how she intentionally worked in the basic gospel message and a lot of scripture into the books and how the story is all about the battle that rages between good and evil (God and Satan). So he said it was no problem to throw such a party (thank goodness). He also mentioned that a friend of his grew up in a house where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were often dinner guests, as his friend’s father was close friends with the two of them. What a life that must have been.

So today Kory ran around getting tables and chairs from cousins, and Kaleb and I got the boxes of supplies out of the attic and moved things to the different houses where they belong. Nothing too thrilling about the day, but tonight we were invited to a dinner party over at cousin Odd’s ex-wife’s house, so that was nice. Kory met her years ago when he came to Norway when he was in his 20s before she was married to Odd. We run in to her every now and then so she invited us over to meet some of her friends. (Kaleb stayed home with Tobias and they watched movies together.) I don’t know her at all, but I was thankful I didn’t have to cook dinner tonight, so it was a real treat to go out. Plus I like seeing people’s houses and to observe what the customs are for different occasions. I guess one custom is that when you go to someone’s house for dinner, you get very dressed up. We were completely under dressed tonight as everyone else was looking mighty fine. Oh well! Our sloppy American lifestyle came shining through. And the other things that’s a bit different is that when someone enters a room for the first time, everyone stands up to greet them. If you already know them, you just shake hands and say “Takk for sist” which literally means “thanks for the last” but the full meaning of it is “thanks for the last time I saw you… I remember it so well and have such good memories of it.” And if you don’t know the person, you shake hands and say your name and a standard greeting – i.e. “Mickey, så hyggleig,” (which literally means “so comfortably nice” – “to meet you” is implied and not always said.) Then that scenario gets repeated with every person they don’t know, so that the person who just walked in repeats saying their name to everyone there. I think it’s a bit strange on one hand because wouldn’t it just be assumed their name was heard the first time by all standing there? But on the other hand, it’s easier to remember their name if you hear it over and over again, so there is some logic in that custom.

There’s really nothing like having dinner and dessert in a Norwegian’s home. There is a lot of emphasis on the beautiful table setting and everyone has nice china, silverware, linens, and centerpieces. The coffee table is also “set” for dessert as everyone moves into the living room and pulls up chairs around the coffee table for coffee and dessert, with fancy china dishes and spoons and candles burning. It’s the kind of ambiance that I’m not sure was ever part of American culture, at least not the crowd I’ve hung with, but then, I was raised in a trailer court so it’s hard to compare anything to that! My ex-husband used to say, “You can take the girl out of the trailer court, but you can’t take the trailer court out of the girl.” Maybe that’s why we were under dressed tonight? I guess I’m still comfortable being white trash.

Just Another Day in Norway

It feels so weird today – to not have the day off school. I count on this four day weekend to get a lot done for Christmas – so I’m a bit off my mark. I need my routines and traditions more than I realized. I must have some kind of internal annual clock that keeps me moving along, but now, I feel like I’m floundering. It probably doesn’t help I was up til 1:15 this morning and then up again at six to go to school, so my brain is really slow. At school today I could barely understand anything being taught. I just wanted to sleep. But there was one woman in the class that just broke down in tears because the concept we were working on was just too hard. I think it was best I was a bit dull in the brain or I might have cried too – but I didn’t have the good sense to even understand I was overwhelmed with the concept. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

Norwegians may not have Thanksgiving, but they are still proud of their Christian heritage so Christmas is really a big deal and they go all out for it (but we are lacking in the “after Thanksgiving day sales” here.) I love all the Christmas decorations in the stores – they are so elegant (as are most Norwegian home decorations). The reigning colors of Christmas here are red and white – and everything has hearts on it. It’s like we’re approaching Valentine’s day or something, but hearts represent the love of Christ so they do hearts like you can’t believe. There are no snowmen, and I’ve yet to see a manger. I’ve seen a few angels and the Norwegian version of Santa and his wife are everywhere (Jule Nisse is his name). Some of the stores also have decorations in Purple and silver or black and silver, but you won’t find a single red and green anything here, so that’s different. And linens (table cloths, doilies, towels, etc.) are huge here any time of year, but at Christmas they go all out with stuff like that and have lots of Christmas linens in the house. They even change their kitchen curtains to a Christmas fabric that usually matches their tablecloth or placemats. Some people even have bedspreads just for Christmas.

Tradition here in Norway is that the first Sunday of Advent (this one coming up), the lights go up – whether they are on the houses or electric candles in the windows. They also have these cool paper stars with holes in them and a tiny light bulb inside so the light shines through and they hang those in the windows as well, so this weekend houses will literally start to shine around here. No one puts their tree up before Christmas Eve however, but I’m just sure I can’t wait that long so we might look a little odd with the tree up half way through December. Normally we go up to Mt. Baker on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and cut it down and get it up soon after that, but with Kaleb’s birthday coming next week, and 16 boys in our little house, I’m sure a tree wouldn’t survive – nor would any decorations. So, I’m holding off decorating for Christmas until after the 7th this year. At least all my presents are bought and wrapped and I don’t have to do that (I bought everything in America and brought it with us.)

I helped Kaleb today to finish up his latest edition of The Weakly Puppy (his monthly dog newspaper). He has such little time now with all the homework he must do, so he dictated to me a funny story he made up about Santa letting his dog deliver the presents on Christmas Eve. He hasn’t even had much time to spend with dogs this month so he was in a panic about what to write about – until the possibility of fiction entered his mind. It soon will be two years ago that he started that paper. Every time he publishes one I wonder if it will be the last one, but he just keeps on going. That stubborn Norwegian blood can be a good thing.

We all pretty much had uneventful days today (it snowed a little though and Kory drew more pictures – see photo). The highlight of mine and Kory’s day was a long afternoon nap while Kaleb was over at Tobias’ house playing hide and seek with him and his 4 year old twin brothers. Somehow, the afternoon just whizzed by so we had a late dinner and then watched “A Christmas Story” with Tobias as he came over this evening. I was able to download that movie from a website a cousin told me about, so I hooked my laptop up to our TV via a cable I bought that streams video, and wa-la – we had a high tech movie night. The only problem was, it was in black and white and I’m not clever enough to figure out why that happened, I was just glad to get the movie to show up on the big screen. Simple pleasures are the best.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hallelujah! We have so much to be thankful for! It was fun to shake things up a bit this year by having our traditional turkey day feast here in Norway. I made turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, yams, beets, asparagus, cauliflower, cornbread, pumpkin pie, pecan pie and apple cake, (plus some appetizers). Everything was yummy. I must say, except for the turkey and pumpkin pie, it didn’t feel much like Thanksgiving at all though– for a variety of reasons – but we still can thank God for all our blessings.

The biggest “difference” in this day is that both Kaleb and I had to go to school and tomorrow is not a day off either. But on the upside, all the stores were open for those last minute things we needed. We did miss our hand-picked “family” back home as they make this holiday our favorite one all year (normally it lasts for more than just the meal… as some sleep over and the fun and games last well into the night.) But on the upside, all the guests at our table this year were actually related to us, so that was a new twist. We made them all say two things they were thankful for. It took some of them a while to come up with something, as giving thanks isn’t really a Norwegian thing (but cousin Odd did say he was thankful we are here!). It was also fun to watch their expressions as they tasted foods they’ve never even heard of, like stuffing and yams with marshmallows. The pumpkin pie didn’t go over too well, but we were glad for that - all the more for us. (I was worried we wouldn’t have enough.) The pecan pie was a hit. Good thing I made them both.

Last night I used a knife to test the pumpkin pie to see if it was done. I let Kaleb lick it afterwards and he said, with a dreamy lilt in his voice, “Ahhhh, it tastes like home.” And I guess that is what was missing this day for me. Thanksgiving is more about traditions than it is about the menu, so it just wasn’t the same. Kory really liked it though as he felt like it's more about the food than anything else. (Why am I not surprised by that.)

It was a great day, nonetheless, even if I did have to go to school and hurry home to get the turkey in the oven. Kory helped a lot with preparations, so that limited my stress but I was still concerned that everything would turn out OK and on time. And at the last minute some sickness affected plans for two guests so Kory was on the phone to several other relatives and neighbors trying to fill the would-be empty seats at the table. Sickness was rampant so many couldn’t come, but we did fine – Kaleb’s third cousin just down the street wanted the experience of an American meal, so he gladly came over and ate with us, as did the son of another cousin. I was glad for Kaleb to have a kid in the house, otherwise he would have just sat in the corner and read a book all night instead of playing hide and seek and slow motion kung-fu with Tobias. Then after dinner several neighbors and a few cousins came over for coffee and dessert. The party lasted until ten and the last ones to go were the parents of the kids, so Kaleb had a great time running around – outside and in the pouring rain. (He’s turned into such a Norwegian, as they don’t let anything stop them from playing outside.)

As I was putting Kaleb to bed tonight he sounded so confused and befuddled when he said, “I just don’t know what I’m going to do.” I asked what he was talking about and he said, “Stay here, or go back to America. I just love having all the relatives so close to us and being with all the friend’s I’ve made here. I don’t know if I want to go back to America.”

Uh oh.

-

We've Been Here Four Months Already!

Today was another anniversary… the months just keep ticking by and we’ll be back home in Mount Vernon in a flash. I try to savor everyday but some of them feel quite routine and ordinary. Today was a bit of an exception though. The Good Teacher Inga has been sick for a week now so we’ve had a few different substitutes. The one we had the last few days is from Serbia and she came to Norway only two years ago and is already teaching the language! She admits she’s “gifted” in languages as she speaks nine of them fluently and understands about a dozen more, but can’t speak them. Holy cow. She was good too – as we could understand her perfectly and she was very good at sympathizing with the insanity built into learning Norwegian. It was also easy to see some of her feelings about the insanity of some of the Norwegian laws. The chapter we are on in our textbook now deals with “normal” Norwegian lifestyles and families so there was much discussion about what is “normal” and what is not. In Norway, you will lose your kids to foster care if you are ever seen slapping them (even their hands) or spanking them. It’s absolutely forbidden to hit your child in any manner. The government here feels that a good talking to is all that is required to keep them in line because “violence begats violence.” I see how well that’s working in Kaleb’s school. Good grief. (But I think they made that law because of all the immigrants coming into Norway, as some of their cultural norms are to beat their children, so the pendulum had to swing wide to the other side.) And there is considerable emphasis placed on what constitutes a “family” and how it’s just not the norm to get married anymore – but living together and having a couple kids – that’s perfectly normal. It seems the only ones getting married these days are the homosexuals, as last year the government made it a law that gays are now allowed church weddings. It made for some interesting discussion.

A plumber came out to our house today to “fix” the sewer pipes under our house and one other. Because the pipes are attached to the building, when the ground sinks down, the pipes go with it so they will soon separate at the joints if longer flexible pipes aren’t installed. It was downright comical when the plumber came here. He started swearing (taking the Lord’s name in vain) and practically yelling (in Norwegian) “How could anyone have built houses like this?” He just kept swearing and saying that over and over like he couldn’t even believe he was witness to such an awful thing. (Kory kept telling the guy, "We don't swear here - we say, "HALLELUJAH!") Kory finally got him calmed down so he could do the work. There is so much emotion around these houses it’s incomprehensible to both Kory and I. I guess it’s that high standard of living, and quality of building things that gets people so upset. One guy I know told me that Norway builds the best of everything as it’s the only way they can stay competitive in the world market because it’s so costly to produce anything here. So I guess if you are used to top quality everything, to see something actually break must be an insult to the entire nation.

The boy that I’ve been praying for every day has been calling me no less than a dozen times per day now. What I think is happening is that he’s actually gotten so much better that he’s not even comfortable with his own thoughts – he thinks everything is a spiritual attack. Kory and I had to laugh today as he called up for prayer because of these “attacks.” I gave the phone to Kory and he just drilled him over and over – What is the problem? What are the thoughts you’re having? What can I do to help you? And the boy just kept answering “I don’t know” to everything. Finally, Kory got a bit perturbed with him and said, “You MUST tell me what you are dealing with, otherwise I can’t help you.” Finally the boy said that he was being, ”tempted to eat food that wasn’t healthy.” So he’s come a long way if that’s all that’s bothering him now. We are both shouting Hallelujah, but that kid still needs prayer. I think he’s been so tormented for so long he doesn’t know what “normal” feels like. Poor thing. Kory told him before he calls us the next time, he must read the book of Romans, as there are a lot of answers to things that bother him in there.

I’ve been busy today baking pies and preparing for Thanksgiving tomorrow! We’re inviting over a few cousins and aunts for the traditional Thanksgiving meal, but what a challenge to find the ingredients! The biggest turkey I could find was only 9.5 pounds… and if it weren’t for the Schaubs visit in September I wouldn’t be able to make Pumpkin Pie (she brought pumpkin and vanilla and brown sugar), and thanks to cousin Bjørn's trip to Kansas, I have pecans for Pecan Pie. They might not taste just right though as some spices needed to make those pies aren’t anywhere to be found. I had to buy a bunch of spices with names I’d never heard of and open them up like Christmas presents to see what was inside. But, unfortunately, everything I needed wasn’t available. Oh well. No one will know, but me. The one big bummer is that I can’t make cornbread because I can’t find cornmeal anywhere. I thought I hit the jackpot until I got it home and opened the box and saw it was cornstarch instead. So much for my Norwegian reading skills.

The Snow is Melting...

I had a major “click” in class today. We were learning about different pronouns as the Norwegian language has different words to say “hers” or “his” in a sentence, depending on whether the “hers” or “his” is the object or subject. And when dealing with people that don’t always know exactly what the object or subject is in a sentence, these kinds of lessons can be quite painful. It’s not just knowing when you say “hennes” or “si” for “hers,” (“hennes” being the word used if one is referring to the object, and “si” is if it’s the subject) but it’s also necessary to know the gender of the noun you are referring to that belongs to “her”. “Her purse,” for example is “veske si,” “her house” is “huset sit,” “her car” is “bilen sin.” Notice that the ending of the pronoun “si” changes, depending on the gender of the word – whether it’s masculine, feminine or neutral. The click was, I finally GOT IT! Man, that felt good. I’ve been struggling with the use of pronouns because they have a lot more of them than we do in English and I could never figure out when to use what. But the light bulb came on today so Hallelujah! And it also came on for me with Kory. Often, when Kory is retelling me a story of some kind, and there are two or more people involved in the story, he completely loses me and I have no idea who did what, as he uses pronouns all the time and never refers back to the name of person #1 or person #2. Now I know why! Norwegians solved that problem by inventing other words that keep the pronouns straight so it’s easy to track who the “he” or “she” is in the conversation. Since we don’t have that in English, when Kory talks to me he just converts everything in his mind to the simple “he” or “she” and it’s perfectly clear to him, but to me, it couldn’t be more confusing. I’m always having to ask him “who are you talking about?” And often, when I’m writing about Kory and Kaleb, I have to mention their proper names in the sentence so it’s clear which “he” I’m referring to, but in Norwegian, I wouldn’t have to do that because of the extra set of pronouns used for just such occasions. At least THIS complicated rule makes some sense! I feel so much better. One major milestone down; a thousand to go.

Kaleb had a fine day today too. His teacher gave him an 8th grade math book as the 4th grade one was just too darn easy. In looking over the 8th grade one, it’s still too easy, but at least it will cause him to think more than the other one. He thinks school is laughable, and I do agree with him to some extent. Their attitude here is to make learning fun so they do a lot of creative things with the kids. It makes me wonder though when the real learning kicks in. I know their educational system is superior to the U.S., so they must make up for it in later years as the 4th grade is mostly just fun and games and very low expectations. I’m not complaining, as it’s the perfect environment for him to learn the language and develop more social skills, but it would concern me if he were going to be here the rest of his school life as it’s really “not allowed” to excel (I was surprised he got a higher level math book). They are very concerned that all the kids feel the same and do the same and have the same opportunities. We’ve heard from more than one person that not that many years ago the schools wouldn’t allow anyone to write left handed because then they would be different and not feel “the same” as everyone else – so they made them sit all day with their left hand tied behind their backs and the students were forced to learn to write with their right hand. That is socialism at its best. They don’t do drastic things like that now but I’m sure some of their policies, they will look back on in twenty years and wonder what they were thinking.

The attorney that is handling these sinking houses came out for a visit today. He told us they are unable to find any buyers for the houses so the insurance company is considering renting them out. We’ll know in a few weeks if we will get neighbors. He said we can hand pick them, so that would be good, but it sure will change our experience of living here. It’s so quiet now as we must sit on at least an acre of land and no one else is around. Kory will also have more work to do if the houses all get occupied, but the upside might be that kids could move in that Kaleb could play with – who knows. I’m just thankful that we can live here. I was worried he was coming out to tell us they sold the houses and we would have to move by Christmas… but I trusted God whatever happened would be for the best. He never lets me down.

Kory decided to take the whole week off because of his birthday and Thanksgiving, so he spent the day drawing. He finished up this very detailed (and large) drawing of the waterfront in downtown Aalesund. I took the photo of him yesterday from about the same spot I took the first photo he used to draw the picture. Cool, huh? He’s still “testing” himself and won’t admit yet that he’s an artist because everything he’s drawn so far is just “practice.” (Double click on his drawing to see the incredible details up close - especially in the reflection.) I think he prides himself on being humble.

Happy 65th Birthday to Kory!

Who would have thunk it – Kory made it to 65!!! We are so thankful that his heart keeps on ticking. He likes to say, “You’re only as old as the woman you hold,” but these days, that’s pretty old! And when you get that old, getting “stuff” for your birthday isn’t as important as getting the right food (see photo). So today was a day for his favorite foods. Fortunately for me, none of them were in my repertoire of culinary skills, so he met me after school in town and we went out for lunch (he took the day off work). There is a café in the center of town that makes all those nasty Norwegian foods that the locals love. They had potato balls (and all the trimmings) on the menu so Kory was in hog heaven. Then for dinner he had “Bacalao” – which isn’t Norsk food at all – it’s from Portugal. The key ingredient in Bacalao is dried klipp fish which is only produced in Norway – so the Norwegians borrowed the recipe and now they are hooked on the stuff. Turid makes the best Bacalao I’ve ever had but it’s possible to buy it in the store and heat it up at home, so that got me off the hook for dinner as well. Actually, for more than just dinner, as it’s a three day process to make Bacalao. First the fish must be purchased and then soaked in water for two days to soften it up and take all the salt out (so the water has to be changed frequently). Prior to the soaking, that piece of fish could be used as a lethal weapon – either as a club (as it’s hard enough to knock someone out cold), or as a stink bomb if left alone in a warm room for too long. (I’m thankful I didn’t have to have it in the house.) Once the fish is “prepared” then there’s something about adding several cups of olive oil, chopped up red peppers, tomato puree, onions and potatoes. It’s just so “complicated” I don’t know that I’ll ever figure out how to make it (tee hee.) It all cooks up in a thick stew and it’s eaten with flatbread. It has a very interesting flavor. I like about the first three bites, then I’m done, but Kory can eat enough for both of us. At least he got what he wanted, for one day a year anyway.

We were going to have a party at our house tonight with all the cousins and aunts over, but Tante Ruth wouldn’t venture out, so we asked Tante Kari if she would let us use her place so Ruth could be there since they live next to each other. Tante Ruth always remembers everyone’s birthday. Every year she calls all her nieces and nephews and their kids on their birthdays to greet them. Usually we are gone for our birthdays but we can count on the fact there will be a birthday message waiting for us on our answering machine when we get home. So it was just too heartbreaking to think she, of all people, would not be with Kory on his birthday – so we took the party to her. It was a good plan as it saved me the trouble of cleaning house and being hostess. It was also good for Tante Kari to have people in her house tonight because it was on this exact day, 14 years ago that her only daughter died.

Kari-Anne (Kari’s daughter) was always complaining about one thing or another but nothing was ever found to be wrong with her. Her brothers just thought she was a drama queen and a hypochondriac and Odd did as much as he could for her whenever she felt really sick (he’s a doctor). Well, one day she called him up complaining again about how poorly she felt and he went over to her house and checked her over and couldn’t find anything that could be causing her misery – and then she just died, right in his arms. They didn’t know until after she was dead that she had been born with some kind of heart problem that went undiagnosed all those years. So naturally, it was quite a shock to the entire family, but devastating to Odd. (He really hasn’t been the same since.) She was only 31 and had three little kids. Tante Kari mourns her loss everyday as she was always nursing her or watching her kids when Kari-Anne didn’t feel well. So it is quite the sad story and it was good for everyone to be together today laughing and having a good time celebrating Kory’s birthday rather than sitting around being sad about Kari-Anne (or so I hope.) Kory had a good time anyway, and that counts for something. (I did buy him a nice Norwegian sweater though, which he likes a lot – see photo.)

It snowed off and on today and never got above freezing. Kaleb skied all the way to school with a heavy backpack on his back and was pretty tired by day’s end. We were so proud of him for wanting to do that as it’s well over a mile to his school and it’s all uphill. He said three other kids skied today but they live very near the school. He thinks tomorrow he might just take the bus.

As for me, I took another section of the big Norsk Prøve 1 test today. I’m sure I passed, but I’m also sure I could have done better. I only slept four hours last night so I was beat. I was up late because I was determined to e-mail the video we made on Saturday. The file was too big and FINALLY I figured out how to compress it and mail it off to our church in Mount Vernon at one o’clock this morning (maybe it had something to do with the house finally being quiet and I could concentrate better on the task?). Our church is having a Thanksgiving Eve service and they wanted us to send a message about what we are thankful for this year so they could play it during the service. We never want to miss a chance to give God the glory for all he has done in our lives. So Hallelujah, the video got there! And Hallelujah Kory is 65 – now he gets ALL the senior citizen discounts!

We Got More Snow!

We have seven inches of snow covering everything around here. And there must be at least an inch plastered to the west sides of all the buildings as well, as that’s where the storm came from. It took Kory several hours this afternoon to free our car from the aftermath of the storm. The snow is so beautiful in every direction and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky today - so that’s the upside. The downside is that the streets are solid ice with crunchy snow on top. It makes for quite the noisy walk and painful landing should one slip and fall (so says Kaleb). We walked to church this morning. Kaleb skied (see photo). I think his skis will become permanently attached to him this winter as he’s just loving his new mode of transportation. He plans to take them to school tomorrow too. Just as well for me, as it saves me two bucks for the bus fare. He skied all around the neighborhood –stopping in to see who was home. This afternoon he was out playing with Sabina and a friend of hers and he used his skis for a sled as he sat down on the back side of them and zoomed down a steep hill several times. He’s just loving this weather. I’m sure it’s in his blood.

We went to Agape Church this morning (I’m so thankful it’s within walking distance to our house.) The sermon was given by a woman that moved here eight months ago from Puerto Rico (she married a Norwegian she met at Bible school in Australia). She gave an excellent talk that I’m sure was just for me. She is feeling the same way I do about many things – the difficulty with learning the language and being able to understand all the dialects and how the language barrier keeps her from being used by God as much as she’d like. God told her to focus on making a difference in just one person’s life (she used to teach children’s Sunday school in Puerto Rico so she’s used to influencing many.) I felt fairly validated by that, and it was so good for me to hear it.

I’ve been meeting with a teenage boy regularly and he calls me at least once a day for prayer. He has a lot of self-esteem issues to work out and he is struggling with “voices in his head” telling him bad things. But little by little, he’s getting stronger spiritually and is able to see God working in his life. He said last week that he was so frustrated with a bunch of kids at school and he asked God why they are so mean to him and God revealed to him the pain each one of them has and how they are just reacting from their own pain. He then asked God what the pain was that was plaguing him so terribly and God told him it was because he has no father (he’s illegitimate and he has no relationship with his father – who lives in Israel). I got to share with him how God promises to be a father to the fatherless and how God has fulfilled that role so well in my life. He just needs constant reassurance that God loves him, that he’s a child of God, that God has forgiven his sins and God only wants the best for him. One minute he can feel all that goodness and the next he is overcome with demonic thoughts that would scare anyone. Kory has agreed to start taking him places and meeting with him regularly to have some man-to-man talks with him (he’s 15). He does need male mentoring as all his mom’s family have pretty much turned away from the two of them because of the voices in his head and what they cause him to do. So, I was encouraged that working with this boy is enough, if that’s God’s plan for me right now. But I’m also convicted that I should be working harder to learn the language as I really don’t do homework every day and if I did, I’d be much better than I am at speaking Norwegian. (It’s just so hard!)

The bulk of my day was spent near tears as I’m so frustrated with my laptop I could scream. As much as I love technology and all that it brings, it sure can bring a level of pain not experienced in any other way. We recorded a video clip and I’ve been unable to e-mail it or condense it or upload it or anything. I tried everything but even when I read the help instructions it tells me to click on options that don’t even show up on my computer. Ugh. I needed to “lufte meg” (“air myself out” – as that’s how they say “go for a walk” here), so Kory and I tromped through the frozen snow over to Odd and Turids for a little visit this afternoon. The beauty of the walk was enough to get my mind off my troubles, but they were still there to greet me when I got back home. No solution is in sight. Double ugh.

After dinner Sabina, her mom and a friend came over for popcorn and cocoa and we played a few rounds of Golf (a card game). I think that’s what I love the most about living here in Aalesund – the close proximity to people and how free everyone’s schedule is to just drop by and visit. Life isn’t too complicated here and everyone lives so close. In a way, it’s like island living, because it’s on a peninsula and the next biggest city is six hours away, so there is not often a reason to leave. And why would anyone want to?

A Big Snow Day

Last night just as we were getting ready to go to bed, I opened the front door to feel the power of the storm (it seemed too detached just watching it all through the window.) The door opens facing east so it was difficult to keep it open as the wind was very strong and blowing from the west. Because it was so tempting, I grabbed a handful of snow, closed the door, and nailed Kaleb with it. He was fresh out of a warm bath and only had on his bathrobe. He thought he’d retaliate so he ran to the back door to grab some snow off the porch there. Only problem was that that door opens to the west (where the storm was coming from) and he had such a strong grip on the door handle, that the wind got a hold of the door and flew it open full force – with Kaleb in tow. It was the most hysterical sight, as one minute he was standing in front of the door, and the next, he was literally, gone with the wind. It blew him out of the house, over the porch and onto the ground next to the steps. He was naked under his bathrobe so he got baptized in a pile of snow and needed rescuing. It was just too funny. Once he warmed up, we had an indoor snowball fight (and then had a big mess to clean up afterwards.) I’m sure he’ll remember that “Norway moment” for years to come.

The blizzard lasted through the night, but joy came in the morning! We woke up to blue skies and the prettiest white blanket lying over all the land. We enjoyed it as much as we could and we didn’t have to go far from our house to do that. Hills are everywhere – perfect for sledding and skiing. Kaleb was a natural on his cross country skis. So much so that he used them for downhill skiing as well. We have a big hill in front of our house and he went up and down it several times. (see video at the end) Sabina had her sled out but Kaleb liked skiing better as he said, “they feel more natural for me.” Boy is he ever a Norwegian. I on the other hand, haven’t skied for twenty years so I wasn’t nearly as graceful. We bought top quality cross country skis and boots and poles for me too – all for about ten bucks at a flea market and it was my first chance to try them out. Kaleb and I had several races back and forth across our lawn. He won every time but I still burned up a few calories in the process. It was a beautiful day, but it didn’t last long as the sun didn’t show up until after nine and it was gone again by three (darkness prevails now).

We had a big outing tonight as cousin Odd’s daughter, Hege, was the Fairy Godmother in the ballet Cinderella. Because the roads were dastardly, we decided to take the bus into the city. We went in a little early so we could walk around town and go have a bowl of soup at Lyspunktet – the café run by Youth With A Mission. The building where that café is housed is on the first floor of “Missions huset” which is a building owned by the Missions Church of Norway/Sweden. It’s the church that gave birth to the Covenant denomination in America (and where we are members). The building has a lot of memories for Kory because his grandparents lived on the top floor there during and after the war. It is there that he used to stay when his mom shipped him across the fjord when she got tired of him. He was quite nostalgic tonight reliving some of the memories in that place from those days.

Hege (pronounced Hey-ga) is an exceptionally gifted dancer. She loves ballet the most and it sure showed tonight. Hege’s mom, Turid, heard somewhere that if you sit for an hour or two a day in front of loud speakers playing music with a good beat while you are pregnant, your child will grow up to be very good at dancing and music. It must be true, as she did that when she was pregnant with Hege. Hege was clearly heads and tails above all other dancers on the stage tonight. She has the rhythm in her bones and it comes out of her naturally. Most of the other dancers just looked like they were trying to remember their next move. So we enjoyed that part very much, but once again I was taken aback by the cultural differences between America and Norway. The production tonight was put on by a dance club. There were over 300 kids participating so they worked in every kind of dance possible in the three hour performance. (We definitely got our money’s worth as it cost $100 for the three of us to go.) But some of the music they played was just downright obscene. They played some rap music for some of the hip hop dances and there were little boys Kaleb’s age dancing to American music that had the most vulgar swear words in it I’ve ever heard. I didn’t know they even made music like that, but then to have it be at such a “family friendly” production was incredible. I don’t know if they just didn’t understand what was really being said, or what, but apparently they are not affected by that kind of language like we are. Uff da. I know I must be getting old when I complain about the music, but I was mostly concerned for Kaleb, as he just hasn’t heard that kind of language. I asked him afterwards if he heard swearing in the songs and he said he did, but fortunately, the words he heard were the words on the mild side (and that he’s heard before). I’m sure the other words and phrases went right past him – I hope so anyway. Who would have thought we’d hear that at Cinderella? Good grief. This country is full of surprises.

A Blizzardy Day

It hasn’t stopped all day – snow pelting down, fueled by a strong wind from the west. It’s not the delicate, fluffy snowflakes that are fun to catch on my tongue. No, what we have today are little frozen balls of ice (like hail) that arrive with such force it feels like someone is throwing pebbles my way. Heading into the wind is a most painful proposition. I’ve never been outside in such weather. It’s best experienced from inside my igloo, but I had to go to school today. The journey there and back literally took my breath away and nearly knocked me over several times from wind gusts. Uff da. It’s an exciting storm and it’s long from over. I wore snow boots today but that only helped my feet. The rest of me needed body armor. What a day. Kaleb took the bus to school as the bike was clearly not an option, nor was Kory driving him there. Kory braved the elements and walked down to pick him up this afternoon though. It was a long walk back home. The snow is so dry it won’t form into balls for a good snowball fight, but a fight would seem pointless since every drop of snow is such an assault there would be no need for snowballs. Good times. Kaleb finally got to try out his “new” cross-country skis that we bought at a flea market. He knows how to ski downhill, but the Telemark skiing is new to him (see photo of his first lesson at four o’clock this afternoon. He did great.)

My school is doing a good job of exposing us to all the culture this town has to offer. Today we got to go to the theatre and watch a play put on by the local university called “Et rom for kjærlighet” (A Room for Love). I’m thinking it was their dress rehearsal because all the students got in for free. The play lasted 70 minutes and there were three actors. The young woman looked almost exactly like Renee Zellweger and she was extremely talented. In fact, all three actors were brilliant and the play was incredibly well done. I wish I understood more Norwegian so I could have picked up on all the good lines, as I know there had to have been some because the subject matter was so rich. It was about a young woman that falls in love with a guy she didn’t know was a crook. He gave up his life of crime when he met her, but just one last time he decided to rob a place to get enough money to buy her a ring. He got caught and the bulk of the play took place while he was in prison. The other actor was the mother of the young woman, trying to talk sense into her to stay away from the guy. It was so European. The characters in the play were smoking and drinking and swearing. The couple in love even had conjugal visits so there was partial nudity. It wouldn’t have been so bad with all of those edgy elements, but more than half the audience was junior high age kids. Somehow that didn’t seem right to me as I’m sure it would have been rated R in America, but Europeans have much different standards when it comes to those types of things. So it was all quite interesting.

The government auditors I met yesterday were in my class today “observing” how it was going. When they left, one of them said to me, “Are you sure you’ve only been taking this class for three months? You are VERY good at speaking Norwegian.” So that was a big thrill for me as these people don’t know me and they genuinely seemed impressed. Woo hoo for me. (But I still feel so inadequate!)

Sabina came over this afternoon and drank hot coco with us after school. Her and Kaleb made up a little game where one named something in Norwegian and the other had to say it in English and vice versa. It had to be something they could see at that moment, so it was very fun to listen to them expanding their vocabularies. Kaleb is doing so much better than I am at speaking Norwegian and I’m glad now he and Sabina can actually talk back and forth – not just say a word here or there. Life is good.

We SKYPEd Grammy J tonight – she’s Kaleb’s adopted grandma and our spiritual mentor and we miss her terribly. That SKYPE thing is just too much fun – free video communication over the internet – gotta love that. We have SKYPEd a few friends now and our home fellowship group back home. It sure takes the sting out of any homesickness that might be building up but I am SO not homesick.