Well...

The other bidder wouldn’t make a counter offer, so ours was the highest bid and it looks like we MIGHT be the new owners of The Sinking Houses. But let’s just say there are a lot of IFS right now as we are just beginning to understand the incredible number of differences between buying something in Norway and buying in the U.S.

If we buy the houses in our name, the taxes we’d have to pay every month would put us in the red as they only allow a tax deduction of 30% of the interest paid to the bank. It’s one thing to pay taxes on money we make, but it takes on a whole new feel when we pay taxes on money we LOSE every month. We heard from cousins that if we set up a sort of limited partnership first, and buy the houses through the business, then we can deduct 100% of the interest paid AND we pay zero taxes on any money we make until the time comes that we take cash out of the business for personal use. So, that was the route we were planning to go with this. But then when we called the banker and talked to him in greater detail about our plans, things started getting blurry.

It seems if we take out a personal loan to buy the houses, we can get a rate of 4.35% but if we have a loan through a business, we will pay 7% interest. So that changes the monthly payment significantly and pretty much busted Kory’s bubble and his desire to buy these places. But my take on it is, when God opens a door, we always walk through it to its logical conclusion. The door didn’t slam shut in our face today, as it could have if another bid came in, so it’s still open. I would very much like it to close, but more than anything, I want to do what God wants us to do. We have yet been involved in a real estate transaction that we have felt good about, but in every case, God opened the doors and it was a good thing he did. When our house in Mount Vernon “came” to us, Kory was adamantly against buying it because it was “a can of worms” and needed so much repair, but we let God open or close doors accordingly. No one was more surprised than we were when all the doors kept opening and we bought it. And it’s been a huge blessing to us and many others the last ten years. And buying our condo in Norway was a total fiasco and neither one of us wanted to buy it, we couldn’t afford it and we knew we were in over our head, but we prayed and asked God what we should do. Basically he “forced” us into buying it since it was going to be for Aunt Ruth, but He has provided every penny we’ve needed to keep it for her these last ten years as well. So we’ve learned the lesson well that we don’t react to what we FEEL about something like this, instead we pray specific prayers for God to guide us through the process. So we have prayed that if God wants us to buy these places that by Monday morning we will have verbal commitments from four people to rent from us, that the estimated up-front costs to fix the houses up would be under ten thousand dollars and that we would line up a property manager and fix-it guy for when we are not here. Nothing is impossible for God. We shall see.

Legally, we are not bound to buy these houses. They have a completely different system here. Our offer was accepted but we still have the right to walk away and they still have the right to sell to someone else. It’s a bit strange, but it is what it is. So we have two more days of watching and waiting to see what God will do.

And on another front - we had a Christmas party for our last day of school today. The entire school was invited. The school I attend is the largest one in the area as it caters to a variety of students. The largest portion of the student body is foreigners trying to learn how to speak Norwegian, but the school also has a department for disabled Norwegian adults and one department that helps adults to get a degree similar to America’s G.E.D. (a high school diploma). So we were all together today under one roof having a very international party. The party was basically a type of talent show in that any student that wanted could perform something for the other students. Our class had five students read poetry in their native tongue. I prayed a lot before I read the words to “Mary Did You Know.” Afterwards, many people came up to me and said how beautiful that poem was. A woman in my class (that is a Jew) said everyone felt “strong emotions” when I was reading it, so I say my prayers were heartily answered as that’s just what I was praying for. Hallelujah. Some of the other performances were pretty funny as one oriental woman sang Silent Night in English and somehow, it just didn’t sound right. Another woman from the Ukraine did a very sleezy dance that was more suitable for a nightclub than a party at 10am but the guys really liked how revealing her outfit was. There was a beautiful dance by two women from Thailand and they even had the traditional costumes to go with it. One guy from Burma sang “Feliz Navidad” and it was anything but “feliz,” as the beat was very slow. I thought the whole thing was a blast and made for great ending to our semester. Kaleb on the other hand, spent his last day of school in church, and I can’t think of a better place to be right now but I’m so tired, I’m just going to go to bed. My brain hurts.

(The photo today is Kory’s drawing of a photo I took that I posted on Dec. 12th.)

One More Chance

Another bid to buy The Sinking Houses came in today that was higher than ours (we don’t know from who). We countered with a hundred thousand dollars more than our original offer. At this point, it would still pencil out even if just half the houses were occupied, but that’s our final offer. If another higher bid comes in tomorrow, then we consider it a closed door and we will not buy the houses. With the price we offered today we would pay 600,000 kroner per house which at today’s exchange rate is less than $100,000 each. Most houses around here sell for well over $400,000 so that shows just how worthless these houses are considered. As rental property though, they have the possibility to be a gold mine, but the long term costs of owning them as the ground continues to sink, is quite uncertain, so that’s the risk. (Kory looks at it like “nature” has already created half a basement.) I’m glad God knows the future because we completely trust Him to guide us through opening or closing these doors. We will know for sure tomorrow. Kory spoke today to both the attorney and a banker (who is a friend of ours) and at this point, it seems there is a pretty good chance we will get them, but you never know. Kory is so excited he’s nearly floating. I’m a bit more neutral and will be relieved if we get them, but also if we don’t.

And today we got a dog, which has Kaleb floating… but we have to give him back on Tuesday. He’s a sweet pup but not neutered, so his hormones are in full control of him right now. We are constantly having to tell him to “sit.” He looks like a black lab mix and he’s only two years old so he has a lot of energy. (See photo of him watching Kory and Kaleb reading Norwegian.) I hope he settles down soon. Tobias and Sabina were here all afternoon and the commotion in the house nearly drove me insane. All three kids were yelling at the dog at the same time they were playing their Nintendogs program on their little handheld Nintendo computers (which responds to voice commands as well). It was chaos. But I do love the fact that our house has become the place to hang out. Even though it’s so small and there isn’t much to do, it’s nice the kids want to be here. But what’s so funny is that their new little computers allow them to go into a “chat room” and as long as they are within a certain distance from each other they can send messages back and forth a little like e-mail. So they all three sit on the couch right next to each other with their Nintendos in hand and do the modern day version of communication – they type up something and hit “send.” It’s a bizarre irony, that’s for sure. But at least when they are doing it, it’s quiet.

Tomorrow is Kaleb and my last day of school for the year. I start a new term in January, but I get over two weeks off for Christmas, as does Kaleb. By law I’m entitled to 3000 hours of Norwegian lessons for free (three school years), but once I am able to pass the Norske Prøve 3 test, the government stops paying for it as that is the level of competency for getting a job. Logically I would no longer need lessons (most people can pass that test in 12-18 months). Once a student has passed the Norsk Prøve 3 test, they get a certificate that needs to be shown when applying for work to “prove” their competency is there, but I’d think just talking to someone would work just the same. It doesn’t take long to realize when someone isn’t getting it. Oh well, they have their rules. We don’t learn just how to speak Norwegian, but to read and write it as well, so the test covers it all. I’ll take the Norske Prøve 2 test in February and I may take the Norske Prøve 3 in June before we leave. If there’s a chance we’re going to stick around a while longer, or we’re coming back again soon, I’ll NOT take it so I can keep getting free lessons. I like going to school not only for what I learn about Norway but we often talk about traditions and cultures and the way life is in our home countries so I’ve learned a lot about many other places as well. I love my teacher and our classroom, but we found out last week we have to move classrooms after the first of the year. I’m not happy about that but our teacher said, “Ikke mas” (no whining), so I must behave. We will be meeting at Nørvøy School where all our administrative offices are located. It’s a more remote location (but still downtown) so I will miss my wonderful walk along the harbor and being right in the heart of things. I guess I should just be thankful I get free lessons (it costs over $4,000 a year if I had to pay, and many students do, so I’m very lucky.) I’m still in awe that we moved here expecting to be so broke and God has provided us with a free place to live, a perfect job for Kory and free Norwegian lessons for me. This year has certainly been incredible. Hallelujah!

And Waiting...

The phone doesn’t stop ringing as the tension begins to build on whether or not we will become the saviors of our neighborhood. We’ve yet to hear a response from our bid to buy The Sinking Houses. Tomorrow is the deadline. I’m not sure why the delay, but God’s timing is perfect. (Maybe it has to do with the fact the Norwegian interest rates dropped today by 1.75%?)

We actually got rain today – something we haven’t seen in ages. It was refreshing! But having cloud cover does make the days darker and seem much shorter. We didn’t get any kind of light in the sky until 10:30 and it was completely black again by about 2:30 so the clear skies help the days seem longer anyway. I guess they put Christmas at the right time of the year as it provides such a good distraction from the shorter days. There is so much to do that being outside really isn’t a priority.

My Norsk class has dwindled quite a bit now that most students are traveling to their home countries for Christmas. Today we just had six in class, which was too bad because we had a little party with some other classes on our floor. We all brought some finger food and played charades. We also had students (including me) read poems in our native tongue. Since I knew most everyone understands English, I wanted to read Luke chapter 2 in the Bible, but my teacher said we had to read a love poem. I found the words to my favorite Christmas song “Mary Did You Know” and read that. It got quite the response. I was a little nervous reading it since half the students at the party were Muslim men, but the ones that weren’t, really liked it. I’m reading it again at the all school party on Friday. I also made fudge to bring, but it didn’t turn out quite right. I can’t get marshmallow creme here so I used marshmallows, but not enough of them so the fudge is crumbly, but it tastes OK. When I set out to do more Christmas baking I also discovered I can’t get molasses or mint extract here. Oh well.

At Kaleb’s school it was “Nisse” day today. All the kids were allowed to dress up like “Nisse” (the Norwegian Santa). They sell little costumes in all the stores for the children, as it’s very popular for the girls to wear little Mrs. Claus dresses and the boys to wear the Santa suit. They come in all sizes. Kaleb just donned a Santa hat (that’s about 5 feet long) and they all ate “Nissegrøt” for lunch. The teachers had made “Risgrøt” and renamed it for the day. (Risgrøt is just Arborio rice cooked in milk to make a rice porridge that all the kids love to eat.) Kaleb ate three bowls full.

Tobias came over tonight after Kaleb finished his homework. They played a while with their Nintendos but fortunately, that got old. We decided to do a taste test for three types of “Jul Brus” (Christmas pop) I bought at the store. Turns out we all liked Tobias’ long-standing favorite brand as well. The number of products available now that are made JUST for Christmastime is overwhelming. Every company that makes any kind of food products here in Norway makes something special just for Christmas. I guess that’s part of why so much emphasis is on the food – because everyone waits all year to get that special thing – whatever it may be. Today at the store I saw all kinds of Jul polses, Jul bread, Jul cookies, Jul jam, Jul beer and Jul nuts. Some of it I wouldn’t taste in a million years, but I’m already hooked on the Jul bread (with cardamon) and we really did like that special Jul pop (but we normally don’t drink pop anyway). I’m currently munching on some yummy Jul cookies I hadn’t tried before and I’ve nearly polished off the whole bag of them. No need for Christmas baking when all these little delicacies come pre-packaged.

I bought a Gingerbread house kit at the store, so Tobias and Kaleb spent the evening decorating it (they aren’t quite done yet). We are so used to the Costco kit that comes with icing and candies, so I was caught off-guard when this kit just included the gingerbread house parts and nothing else. Fortunately we had a few things around that worked as decorations. It turned into more of an engineering project for the yard around the house than a house decorating project, but they had fun. At least that’s one more tradition we have back home that we are able to do here and check off the list.

Kory sat home today waiting by the phone and dreaming of buying these houses. He also worked on a Norwegian test he is going to give Kaleb and I on Christmas Day. We will have a panel of judges and the one who speaks the best Norwegian by then gets 1,000 kroner (less than $200). I’m quite confident I can kick his butt, so no need to do any extra studying, but the deck is stacked against me, so I'm sure I won't win no matter what.

Still Waiting...

We didn’t hear a word today from the attorney on whether we get to buy The Sinking Houses or not. Our offer expires on Thursday so I guess we’ll hear something by then. I’m not the most patient person when it comes to these types of things, but I have no option. Kory had a dream last night we got them. One neighbor and one cousin also said they “feel like” we will get them. I’m letting God decide. The excitement builds with each day and we are getting calls from relatives and neighbors here anxious to know if we are going to buy them. It will be the best Christmas present Kory has ever gotten as he’s the most excited one. If we do get them, I hope I get a massage for Christmas.

We’ve had a heat wave come through last night so all the snow and ice is finally gone and we’re back to being in the 50s after being in the 20s for weeks on end. Ironically, our hometown in Washington is having a cold snap right now after being dumped on with several inches of snow. They may have a white Christmas. I sure hope we do. If not, we’re heading inland two days after Christmas so we’ll get our fill then. I found a place about six hours from here that gives dog sled tours. They even teach people how to drive the team and then they take groups on a twenty kilometer trip which lasts about three and a half hours. It’s not terribly expensive and it’s a dream come true for Kaleb, so I just booked it for the Sunday after Christmas. We also booked two nights in a yurt tent next to the dog kennels. The only thing that would make the trip better is if Kaleb could have a dog or two sleeping with him. But we also, just today, arranged for Kaleb to do his first dog-sitting here in Norway so we have a dog coming Thursday that will stay until Tuesday. Kaleb is downright giddy – whooping and hollering and saying, “This will be the BEST Christmas EVER!” Gotta love that.

Kory worked today and this afternoon one of his boss’s suppliers gave the employees a “julebord” – their term for a Christmas party. Literally translated it means “Christmas table” as everything to do with Christmas here is about the food. At the same party was the brother to the guy that built The Sinking Houses, so Kory talked to him a bit and will get in touch with the builder, should we actually buy them.

I had an interesting day at school today as our teacher taught us all the swear words here in Norway. She said the times, they are a changing, as what is considered a swear word now is completely different than what it was when she was a kid, and she’s younger than me. Historically, the most awful words that would never be uttered in anyone’s home have to do with the devil. Either saying his name outright (“he who must not be named”) or calling “on” him. Dastardly words that make even the hearty weak kneed. The Good Teacher Inga even blushed as she wrote them on the board. No respectable person would ever utter such a thing and I couldn’t even find them in the English/Norwegian dictionary (yet I found the American F word there.) But now, the effect of Satan’s name is starting to wear off slightly and even though kids are not allowed to utter it, the new generation has come up with even more repulsive swear words that have to do with “private parts.” Our teacher wouldn’t say them but I’m thinking they are similar to English words. She said it’s good we know some of the words in case we hear our children saying them or if someone tries to teach them to us, so we will know how socially unacceptable they are. Kory laughs about the fact that the swear word that starts with SH in English, is just an ordinary word here. Literally, it means something is soiled or dirty. But it’s also just a common expression that isn’t offensive. He said when his dad moved to America and said it at church, while giving a testimony, he had to educate his dad a little that in America it was a swear word so it shouldn’t be used, especially by Christians. It’s so funny to think of the power of words and how different they are in different cultures. But one thing I do know is that words ARE powerful. The Bible says we have the ability to “bless” or “curse” with just a word. And often what we speak does come to be. It was nearly twenty years ago on December 30, 1988 when I was so angry at my (then) husband, that I jokingly told my cousin, “I think I’ll just run off with Kory and move to Norway.”

The Wait is On

The photo today was taken about 3:30 in the afternoon. It wasn’t completely dark, but very close. The lights of the town across the fjord (Sykkelven) are visible. The brightest lights are those of ferries crossing over to our side. Even in the “night,” it’s beautiful here.

So, the wait is on. I delivered the bid to the attorney this morning for us to buy The Sinking Houses. He seemed a little bit excited we placed a bid and he said he’d call as soon as he heard anything – and that it would be “soon.” We were hoping “soon” meant today, but alas, it did not. We have no idea how this will play out but we are at peace with whatever happens.

The attorney’s eleven year old son sent Kaleb a photo of his dog and wrote up a few lines in English for Kaleb’s dog newspaper. We had given the attorney a copy of The Weakly Puppy a while ago because he has a dog. He showed his son and I asked the attorney today if his son had gotten the copy we sent of the latest issue with their dog in it. He said he had gotten it and it really inspired his son to make his own newspaper. Unfortunately, he said, the content was all about their extended family members and it was too embarrassing to share with anyone because his son wrote about how much each member of their family makes per year. He got all his information off the website here that makes public everyone’s income. As it happens, the attorney’s father is one of the most famous (and richest) artists in Norway so I’m sure that boy had much to say. I just think it’s funny that Kaleb has now inspired two kids here to make newspapers (the other kid did one on parrots).

Kory worked today out in his old hometown of Langevåg. He got to work indoors so he was pretty happy about that. I couldn’t figure out why his paycheck last month was so much bigger than usual, especially since he took a week off for his birthday. Turns out he gets vacation pay! He only works two days a week, and he gets paid for days off. Go figure. And when using vacation pay, the government doesn’t hold out any taxes, so he got way more than we expected. Hallelujah. I guess full time employees get an automatic five weeks of vacation a year, no matter how long they have been with a company, and once they are over sixty years old, they get another week added to that. And vacation time accrues immediately – no waiting for one year to take it. A much better system than we have in the U.S.! “I’m likin’ this life,” as Kaleb would say.

Kaleb spent this evening making Christmas presents. He just sewing closed a stocking that we filled with rice so it’s super easy to do but a very fun gift. The rice bags are so nice in the wintertime. We put them in the microwave for a few minutes and then we set them in our bed down by our feet and off to sleep we go with toasty warm tootsies. Sometimes I drape one behind my neck to relax my muscles a little. Sometimes when I’m cold to the bone I put one on my chest in order to fall asleep, as it’s so cozy warm. (I hope everyone getting one has a microwave.) They are a great gift idea as everyone can use more than one.

Kaleb was anxious to finish up his homework and gift making so he could play his new Nintendogs game he just bought today. I’m not sure it was a good investment however as he’s supposed to train the cyberspace dog by talking to it and he sat for a good 15 minutes yelling at the top of his lungs at this electronic hand-held mini-computer and he couldn’t get the dog to do a thing. He finally just melted in a pool of tears he was so frustrated. I’m thinking they programmed it that way for a reason, and if so, I’m thanking God. Puppies aren’t easy to train. It’s good Kaleb learns that. I like things that emulate real life. Children aren’t easy to train either and I’ve had the same kind of meltdown after yelling at Kaleb repeatedly. But someone is a marketing genius when they can call that a “game” and charge $50 for it.

Christmas Traditions

We tried to have a “traditional” day here in Ålesund like we do every year in Seattle, but it wasn’t quite the same. Normally, one day in December, we go downtown Seattle and vote for our favorite gingerbread house at the Sheraton Hotel, we put our hands on the glass at The Bon (Macys) to make the train move, Kaleb has his photo taken with Santa, we ride the monorail, we see the lights and walk around looking at all the decorations, we ride the carousel and we are inside Pacific Place before 6pm sipping hot cocoa so we can watch the snow come down inside the building that Kory helped build. It’s always the same and we love it every year. Kaleb was moaning and groaning so much that he was going to miss that day, so I assured him we could find new traditions here in Norway that would be just as good, and today was the day for it. Unfortunately, none of it was even close to being the same, but it was still a great day.

Sabina spent the night last night so she was at our breakfast table and went to church with us this morning. Tobias wanted to go to church too so we picked him up and we all headed over to Agape, but they were closed! Somehow we missed out on the tidbit of news that they were NOT having a Sunday morning service because of their special Christmas service tonight, so we high tailed it over to Philadelphia Church just in time. And it’s a good thing we went there too because they asked Kaleb to light all the Advent candles as they sang one of the traditional Advent songs. His timing was perfect and he was proud as a peacock to be up front lighting matches and setting the wicks to flame. Earlier this week he had a total melt down because he was promised a big role in the Christmas show at His Place Church in Burlington this year but our move prohibited that. He so wants to have the starring role in some production as he’s very good at memorizing and he can be pretty dramatic when he wants to be. Agape Church had a great Christmas program tonight and they asked him to be in it – but as one of the lantern carriers (there were no speaking roles for children). He considered it an insult, not an honor and he cried buckets. Being asked to light the candles during the church service this morning at Philadelphia almost made up for his other loss, so Hallelujah!

After church we took Sabina home and kept Tobias with us for the day. We all donned Santa hats and went into the center of town to see what we could do that may rival our Seattle Christmas day. I had heard there were horse and carriage rides, a little Christmas village with arts and crafts and special foods would be sold, and that the two malls downtown would be open from 2-5 today (only open the two Sundays before Christmas and only during the hours when church wouldn’t be happening). So off we went to see the lights and sounds of downtown. I don’t know what happened to the carriage, but they just had a couple horses people could ride around the streets and somehow, the appeal wasn’t there. The special food booths they had included dried reindeer meat and dark goat’s cheese – neither of which appealed to me. So off to the malls we went where Kaleb managed to spend a little of his birthday money on Pokemon cards (a terrible investment, but he was happy.) Kory found some clothes at 70% off so he expanded his wardrobe a little. But there was no Santa, no train, no carousel, no monorail, and minimal amounts of decorations, but we did manage to find hot cocoa and a nice star shining on top of a nearby mountain (we all had a good oooh and aaaah over that one). Oh well, we aren’t in America. We just need to tune in better to what the Norwegians do, I guess.

We headed back to Agape Church for their Christmas program tonight and it was over the top professional and well done. They even had fake snow that almost rivaled the snow at Pacific Place. Kaleb and Sabina carried lanterns and Kaleb didn’t complain a bit. Tobias and his parents, twin brothers and grandparents all came too, so that was a huge added bonus for us. Afterwards we sat around drinking hot glogg and eating pepperkake cookies and had a chance to visit with the family (Tobias’ grandfather is a cousin of Kory’s mom). It was all so “kosleig” as they say here (comfortably cozy). A few people at church said they heard us on the radio yesterday and one woman said it was the most powerful talk she’s ever heard on that show. She said she sat at home with tears streaming down her face, so I guess our message reached across the airwaves as we had hoped. Hallelujah!

Tonight we typed up the bid to buy these houses, which I will take to the attorney tomorrow morning. It’s up to God if we get them, but if it were up to the neighborhood, we would definitely become the new owners. We were told by more than one person there would be a loud protest if the Kommune bought these houses for refugees as the impact to the neighborhood would be severe. I think we will become the neighborhood heroes if we are able to pull this off. It’s a little beyond my comfort level but Kory claims he was born for this kind of stuff. He loves “distressed” properties. I hope he feels the same about a “distressed” wife should we actually buy them.

Hittin' The Air Waves

Kory and I were on the local Christian radio station today! We talked mostly about how God works all things together for the good (my favorite promise from God). I shared many stories of God working in my life – the story of my miraculous foot healing last year; of giving my house away in Astoria, Oregon to become a battered women’s shelter; how God comforted me when my dad was murdered; and how it is we came to live in Norway. Kory shared a bit about his life history and the pain of going through a divorce but how his life is so good now he can hardly believe it. It went VERY well and the woman in charge of the program asked us to be regulars on the air with her! (She’s quite the prayer warrior, that woman– she paced for about an hour before the program, praising God and praying up a storm.) So Hallelujah! We had several friends and family members listening in and they all said they thought it went well. (We also had several friends praying for us in America so I know that made a huge impact.) I had a translator as my Norwegian is too embarrassing to even try to speak my mind yet, but maybe by June I’ll be able to share from my heart in this challenging language. Both Kory and I were excited for this opportunity and we are in awe of how God works. We never saw this one coming.

Kaleb had a very fun time on his sleepover with Benjamin and Kory and I enjoyed being able to sleep in this morning and have some quiet time to ourselves. On our way home from the radio station I took the photo today just a few houses down from where we live. It was another awesome sunset. We’ve had these nearly every day for weeks on end, but I’m often not in the right place to take a photo. The sunrise this morning was even more spectacular but I didn’t want to go out in the cold to get a good angle.

After we brought Kaleb home, we weren’t in the house two minutes before the phone rang and it was Tobias, and the doorbell rang and it was Sabina. They were both here in a flash and they stayed the entire evening (actually Sabina is sleeping over because her mom had a few parties to attend). I love that Kaleb has friends! It’s all so new for us as there are no kids in our neighborhood back home, so this is such a different life here. We love the pace of everything too. We stopped by the grocery store this afternoon and ran into several people we know. It’s like that everywhere we go. We saw cousin Odd at the store so we invited him and his daughter Hege over for dinner so he didn’t have to cook (Turid was working). As usual, we had a great evening just visiting. Odd and Kory debated the pros and cons of buying The Sinking Houses and what things would need to be done before they could be rented out. Odd goes back and forth on his opinion of whether or not we should buy them. Fortunately, we’re letting God decide for us. Odd and Kory also got on the conversation of the farms that dot the edge of these incredible mountains around here. In the old days people built farms straight up the sides of these mountains because they were desperate for fertile ground to farm, but it also happened that when the tax collector came a callin’, they could pull up the ladder and avoid paying the tax. They are summer homes now but they have quite a history to them. Kory’s dad was a lay-minister back in the 1940s and he used to go up into the mountains and hold church services at some of the homes. Kory remembers one place very well that they visited and he’s been wanting to go back there ever since he was a kid (he has a nasty scar on his knee from that visit). Odd helped him locate where it is on the map and I found photos of it on the internet so Kory is very excited. We must visit that place before we leave Norway or I’m sure Kory will feel incomplete in this journey. I just hope the hike up the mountain doesn’t kill him.

An Interesting Day

Just when life seems to be routine and ordinary, we have a day like today. The first shocker today was in my Norwegian class when I learned that it’s against the law in Norway to do laundry on Sundays or Holy days. I hope I don’t burn in hell for that one, as I’m sure I’ve done that more than once already. It’s also forbidden to have any clothes hanging outside on the line or mow the lawn on those days. (It sounds like we’ve moved to the town of Lynden, Washington!) I guess they take their “day of rest” very seriously here. I was thinking since none of the stores are open on Sundays, that it’s a perfect day to get housework and yard work done, but nope, that’s out of the picture now. I’m surprised we haven’t had a visit from the local police for surely we have violated all “day of rest” laws they have. But now I know, and we must obey. There is just no end to the surprises we encounter while living here.

But the biggest surprise of today was that Kory got a call from the Ålesund Kommune because they wanted to come out and look at The Sinking Houses. Kory had to scramble to get all the party mess from last weekend out of all the houses before they came. The attorney said he expects them to make an offer on Monday! The Kommune (county) will use them to house refugees. Kory has wanted to buy these places ever since he heard about them but many things prevented that from happening (mainly me). But now the dollar has gotten stronger so we aren’t as broke, the interest rates here have dropped, the sellers have reduced the price and we don’t want to be homeless! So we are working up a bid this weekend to present to the insurance company to see if we can buy them – cheap. God will lead as we often feel we are in over our heads when it comes to financial things but we trust God to open and close doors. We will be happy with whatever happens. If we don’t buy all six houses, we trust God the Kommune won’t kick us out before June so Kaleb can finish up school here. If we do buy them, we are pretty sure we have renters for all of them already as people have been asking us all the time if they can be rented out and we have a waiting list. I don’t think we’ll have trouble making payments to the bank but we may have troubles with the sinking ground under them. We shall see. God will guide.

Kaleb had another fine day at school and is now on his first Norwegian sleepover with Benjamin – the foster son of a second cousin of his. They are the same age and Kaleb can now speak Norwegian well enough they can play together. Kory and I enjoyed a quiet evening at home with me wrapping Christmas gifts and Kory drawing another scene of downtown Ålesund. I’m so not ready for Christmas, but I must plod on. I lost an entire week just preparing for Kaleb’s birthday party, so preparing for Jesus’ birthday came in second place this year.

The photo today was taken yesterday at high noon. The sun sets now about 2pm. We’ve had clear days with temperatures in the 20s for a week. The ground is frozen solid and finally today I bought some sandpaper shoe attachments that work well on ice. I’m so afraid I’ll slip and fall so I don’t go out much, but now I may. The moon was full tonight and just spectacular, lighting up the snow covered mountain tops that surround us. We feel like we are living in a storybook land as everything is just so darn gorgeous. We absolutely love living here. I was so dreading the “long dark winter” but now it’s only nine days until the winter solstice and the days start getting longer again. The time is going by too fast. Today would have been my dad’s 76th birthday but he died at age 62. It hardly seems possible he’s been gone that long. I’m glad we will have an “eternity” in heaven, otherwise when we get there I’ll feel like we got ripped off if we can’t stay forever.

The last surprise of the day came about 8:30 tonight when Sabina knocked on our door and told us the pizza was ready and we were to come over to her house to eat it. I just love the spontaneity of that family. Without even knowing if we are home, Sabina’s mom does something up big and calls us when it’s ready. Kory and I dropped everything and went over for a lovely evening of food, wine and visiting. They were the first to hear of our plans to buy these houses. Tone (Sabina’s mom) said the whole neighborhood would be supportive of it – hopefully because we are nice folks, not just because they don’t want refugees moving in. She’s sure I can go around the neighborhood with a collection plate and get everyone to chip in something toward the purchase price, as no one wants the Kommune to buy it. (Wouldn’t that be nice.)

An Opportunity

They do those small town things around here where all the newspapers have one page devoted to wishing local kids a Happy Birthday. For free, anyone can send in a congratulations and little message to any child for their birthday and include a photo, so “when in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Kaleb saw it before I did, as a friend pointed it out to him yesterday. I wanted it to be a surprise and it was. Of course, he thinks it’s normal that his photo shows up in the paper, as it’s happened so many times in his life already. What a kid.

I had a chance to talk to Kaleb’s teacher yesterday and she said his 8th grade math book was the highest one she could get for him (it’s still too easy), so she agreed that after the first of the year she’ll let him do the algebra book I brought with us. Kaleb can turn his corrected assignments over to her and she can record how he’s doing. That makes all of us happy as he was starting to forget some of the rules in algebra, plus he was bored to tears with the math they are doing. He finished up the whole book already and it’s supposed to last til June. He just sat in class and worked out all the problems while the teacher was explaining the concepts to the other kids, so he recently ran out of things to do during the math hour. He was so excited when I told him he could go back to Algebra. He said he likes to make his brain work. (I don’t like that he figures everything out in his head. I keep getting after him to write things down, but he thinks it makes it too easy to do it that way. Ugh.)

The big news today is that we had lunch with a woman who has a program on a Christian radio station here in Ålesund and she asked if we can come and share some of our “God thing” stories to her listening audience this Saturday! Both Kory and I are excited to tell people how God works in our lives, so this is a wonderful opportunity He has put before us. (I will have a translator as my Norwegian would be too embarrassing for us all.) She is the mother of a woman in our home fellowship group and her daughter has been telling her things that we have shared and they both felt they were good stories that needed a wider audience – so HALLELUJAH! We trust God will use it for good and we’re excited to be His “vessels.”

Well, I guess yesterday must have been some kind of national “Juleverkstad” day as I went to my school this morning to see that it had been decorated with all kinds of Christmas things my classmates made while I was gone. In the newspaper I saw an article today about some of the crafts made in another school. It’s incredible how synchronized things can be around here, but traditions are traditions. It’s quite lovely to be part of something so big, and Christmas is BIG here in Norway. HALLELUJAH!

Today in class we learned the differences of a few words in Norwegian that there is only one of in English. “Think” for example has three possible words to choose from in Norwegian. There is the word “tenke” – which is the actual act of thinking. Then there is the word “synes” which is what you think when you are giving your opinion and you know for sure what you think of it. Then there is the word “tror” which is the word you use when you aren’t quite sure what you believe but you “think it might be so.” It’s interesting that they use the word “tror” to also mean “faith.” I guess they go off the Biblical definition that “faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” It’s possible to use all three words in one sentence when I’m speaking about what I’m THINKing (tenke) about the Norwegian language because I THINK (synes) it’s very difficult to learn and I THINK (tror) I may never learn it properly. English is just too simple.

The other words we learned were the two words used for “a lot” – “mye” and “mange.” The kicker here is that you use “mye” when you are UNABLE to COUNT what you are talking about, and you use “mange” if you CAN count it. So you have “mye” snow, but “mange” snowballs. You drink “mye” coffee, but “mange” cups of coffee. But what gets me is that they don’t even follow their own rules because they have a “for MYE” tax (a penalty tax you must pay if you have assets greater than your debts – and obviously you CAN count how much that is). And when you want to give someone a huge thank you, you say “mange takk” – a lot of thanks, which obviously you CAN’T count just how thankful you are. It’s these little things that keep me awake at night when trying to learn their rules of grammar. I guess if I just don’t THINK A LOT (tenke mye), I’d be better off.

Juleverkstad

We got a notice from Kaleb’s school last week that today was the day for “Juleverksted” and the only part of the memo I understood was “foreldrene” and “hjelpe” (“parents” and “help”). I assumed they were asking for volunteers, and for what, I did not know. (We encounter many "unknowns" here.) But yesterday I told my teacher I wouldn’t be in class today so I could go to Kaleb’s school and help with “Juleverksted.” She smiled and said, “Oh, yes, that will be fun.”

So this morning both Kory and I went to school with Kaleb. Turns out it was an entire day devoted to making Christmas crafts. I guess the kids can give them as Christmas presents if they want, as they made two really sweet (and involved) things. The first half hour of school was devoted to lighting the Advent candles, placing another figure in the manger scene that the kids had made, singing some Christmas songs and having the teacher read a chapter in a Christmas book. (I guess the days of that ever happening in American schools have passed.) Even though Norway is so liberal in so many ways and many never go to church, they hold tight to their Christian traditions for fear that other religions (mostly Muslims) will take over. They make a big deal of Christmas, and next week the school will even take the kids to a church service on their last day before the break.

The crafts they made were so clever. One was a Julenisse (Norwegian Santa) and the other was a Christmas tree. The teachers in the school came up with the craft ideas. There is a sweater factory near here so a teacher went and got the heavy cardboard rolls (bobbins?) that the yarn comes on. They are tapered so they are wide at the bottom and thinner on top. One of the bobbins turned into a Santa and the other a tree. I helped at the station where the kids had to hand sew the red felt hat for the Santa. At another station they cut out brown felt for the body and at another they glued on lamb’s wool and a wooden bead for the nose. It’s the classic “Nisse” around here – where the hat sits over his eyes and the beard is so bushy only its nose is visible. Too cute.

Kory helped at the tree station, which was a far more involved project (see photo of Kaleb working and his best friend at school, Håvard, holding up his tree). The kids had to cut out rounded pieces of felt to be layered and glued on the base of the tree. Then they had to paint a Styrofoam ball with gold paint for the top star. They went to another station to string some tiny beads on thin wire to wrap around the tree for decorations, then they used gold stickers to finish it off by placing them on the tree in various locations. It was all detailed work and took up the entire day (8:30-1:00) just to make those two things, but they are keepers. All the kids did them, no one complained, no one goofed off. It was quite impressive to see 90 nine year olds working so feverishly. There were about six parents there to help the four teachers and we were all busy the whole time.

A lot of the boys at school recognized me from the party on Saturday and they all said it was the best party they had ever been to. I guess Morten (who didn’t come) heard all about it on Monday. He came up to me and asked if we were going to be here next year because he would very much like to go to Kaleb’s next party. Too bad, so sad for him. He missed out. I tried to tell him ahead of time, but he wouldn’t hear it. Oh well. He also said he had a gift for Kaleb and he’d like him to come over after school and get it. His mom was at school today too so we talked and she invited us over, so we were there for about 45 minutes after school and Kaleb and Morten played very well together! They were both interested in the same things (Ben 10, Pokemon and Nintendo), so maybe we’ve crossed a bridge. We’ll see. I hate to get my hopes up yet, but I am a big believer in miracles.

A Good Sleep

It’s amazing how much better I feel today! The fog has lifted. I slept for 9 ½ hours last night and I’m back to normal. Hallelujah. And I forgot to mention yesterday that Kaleb heard from nearly every kid in his class that was at the party on Saturday. They all came up to him at recess and said what a “good time” they had. Some said the word “good” about a hundred times, just to emphasis their point. So the report is in, and the party was a hit. Mission accomplished. Jeg er glad for det. (I’m glad for that.)

This week in my class, The Good Teacher Inga is meeting with all the students one-on-one to give them individual feedback and to hear their plans for further study in the course. My meeting with her was today. She was very generous in saying I was one of the best students in the class. I showed her my Norsk Prøve 1 exam results (with all the red pen marks on my writing page) and asked how that can be. She told me that my written text was at a very advanced level, even though I didn’t have all the technicalities correct. The judges look at whether I’m able to express myself in many different ways, not just at how technically correct it all is. I guess it’s common for beginner students to start all their sentences off with “Jeg…” (“I…”) and their sentences are very basic and short. But not me, I try to write like I do in English, and then figure out how to translate that sentence into Norwegian, even if there are words or expressions I don’t yet know. (Then I get all the more creative in figuring my way around it.) So she was mightily impressed, and that was good for me to hear. I know I could be so much better if I just did an hour a day of homework, but I always just do it in less than 15 minutes on the bus each morning and never give it my full attention. I feel a little bad about that, but that’s how it is. But now I’ve signed up for the Norsk Prøve 2 test in early February so I need to get serious and push myself in order to pass that as it’s much harder than the Norsk Prøve 1. So we shall see. I’m always up for a good challenge and learning this language has been the biggest one I’ve had since Kaleb was born. (Well, staying married to Kory hasn’t exactly been without its challenges, so I guess I should do fine on the test.) Inga also said she appreciates that I “include all the students” (I’m not prejudice, I guess) and she likes that she knows where she stands with me. (That trait in me hasn’t always worked to my advantage, however.) She was glad to hear I plan to stay the course and keep going until the end of the school year in June.

In class today we talked a little about Christmas in our homelands and more about Advent and Christmas traditions in Norway. The 1st to the 24th of December is referred to as “Advent” here and a lot of people wear something purple during this time. Inga emphasized again that Advent has a religious meaning but it’s become a “tradition” practiced all over this country, even if people are not professing Christians. Lighting the Advent candles every Sunday, setting the Advent candlesticks or Advent star in the windows, giving children Advent gifts every day (mostly just a piece of chocolate), those are all traditions that go with this time of year and they are very serious and special to Norwegians. They want new immigrants to “fit in” so they spend time teaching us all how to be a proper Norwegian. I like that. I’m thinking we fit in here just fine.

Kory worked yesterday and today out on the island of Giske. I took today’s photo on the way to the bus stop from my school in the city. Giske is the flat-as-a-pancake island beyond the lighthouse – and that’s the moon shining overhead. Nighttime comes quickly this time of year. (The moon is never even visible in the summer months.) Kory came home and zonked out on the couch, just like the old days when he was working full time. We both helped Kaleb with his homework as he’s more than motivated to get his week’s worth of work done sooner rather than later, as his ability to play on his Nintendo hinges on its completion. What an incredible motivator. I never knew he could move so fast. This morning he was up at 5:45 and had breakfast eaten, teeth brushed, chores done, dressed and ready for school by 6am so he could play with that game before school. Normally we can’t even get him out of bed before seven o’clock and then it takes forever to get him to eat or get dressed and we’re constantly having to hurry him along. I wonder how long the excitement of that game will last. He hasn’t read even one page in a book since he got it so I’m already thinking we’ll have to limit its use soon, but for now, I’m thanking God there is a fire under his butt and I don’t have to be the one to light it.

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.