The Day After

Things were pretty quiet today in our little neighborhood. I didn’t venture out much so I don’t know about the rest of the city but it sure had that “day after” feel to it. I was home from school to prepare my Bible study lesson and when Kaleb woke up complaining he didn’t feel good, I panicked. I need the house to be quiet for a few hours while I’m studying and praying, and it’s anything BUT that when he’s around, even if he is sick. I took his temperature and it was normal, but I could tell by the way he was acting he wasn’t up to snuff. I suggested he stay home but he moaned that today was his music lesson and he didn’t want to miss it. So I suggested he go to school and see how he feels and he could always come home early if he is too sick. He agreed with that idea and I didn’t see him again until after school was out, but then he was sick as a dog with a high fever. I asked why he didn’t come home earlier and he said because I didn’t have a car to come get him and he didn’t have much energy to ride his bike home so he thought he’d just tough it out until school was over. He had 102 temperature and slept on the couch all afternoon. I hate it that I let him go to school. He said several others were out sick today too so at least he’s not alone.

After I finished my Bible lesson and prayer time I used Kaleb’s very slow computer to try to buy tickets home again, and this time, I was successful! We will be flying home on Friday, August 7th on Icelandic Air. We haven’t traveled with them before so it’s exciting we are stopping in Iceland on our way home. And as a bonus, they let me just buy a one way ticket for half the price of round trip – like when does that ever happen? So all three of us are flying from Ålesund to Seattle for under eighteen hundred bucks. Not bad. And once I knew for sure our departure date, I started making reservations for our road trip around Northern Europe in July. That took much longer than I expected and I’m only a third of the way done. I spent at least two hours just trying to find a hotel in Berlin, with no luck so far. Uff da. But at least we have our route planned out and with a few reservations under my belt, I’m feeling confident things will fall into place, Lord willing! Things happen, but we always make plans like nothing will stop us and then see if God starts closing any doors. We’ll be spending time in southern Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Northern Germany, Holland, Belgium and Czech Republic. It will be just a “Reader’s Digest” version trip as we will be in each city just a few days, but at least we can hit the highlights and see where we might want to visit again. Deciding what to see in each place is still a project for another day, but at least I’ve begun to make reservations at campsites and hotels.

We had to cancel our normal Bible study group because we didn’t want anyone to get what Kaleb has, so that was a bit of a bummer, but then I was invited to another Bible study group I haven’t been to before. Kristen, one of the Praying Women, holds a Bible study for a bunch of women she knows and most of them don’t attend church. Kristen asked if I could come talk to her group and tell them about “soaking prayer.” (One of my friends in America renamed it “Son bathing” – I thought that was pretty good.) I tried to explain it in Norwegian, but it’s hard to explain being in the presence of God even in English. I did my best, and then we gave it a try. The women were all from the State Church background so they seemed rather skeptical at first, but once they quieted themselves before God, He did the work. A few of them had visions or words from God, which was a first for them, so that was exciting. I prayed for each one of them and it was as if I was “reading their mail.” I don’t know anything about these women, but once again God gave me “words of wisdom” and I said to them things only God would know, so that really got their attention. I love being the vessel and being used to help others draw closer to God. I sensed that one woman needed a lot of wisdom, so I was able to explain afterwards how to lay out a fleece to ask God for guidance. Another woman I could tell was under some kind of spiritual attack so I got to explain spiritual warfare and how to kick Satan out of a situation. Another woman there I just saw as a flower that bloomed right out of the pages of the Bible and I suggested she might find new meaning in the words as she reads her Bible now. Another woman I saw as a lighthouse, shining in the darkness. It was so fun to see what God had for each of the women and to spend time praying together. They want me back. I told them it’s not me, it’s the Holy Spirit, but if I can teach them a few more things before I leave, I would be happy to do that. They are all fairly new to the idea that a person can actually have a “relationship” with God – that He is someone to interact with, not someone who sits idly by watching the world spin around. I’m excited for them as there is so much ahead for all of them if they have a hunger for more. God is so faithful to meet us where we need Him most.

Hip Hip Hoorah!

The sun was shining brightly for all the Independence Day festivities today. I felt terrible for all the women in their heavy wool bunads (the dresses weigh more than 15 pounds), and the men in their wool pants and vests, jackets and knee high wool socks. It was in the 70s today and I was sure some might pass out from heat stroke in the streets as they walked along in the parade or stood on the sidelines watching it go by.

We were up early this morning as I had to cut Kaleb’s hair, much to his dismay, and the squirming and complaining he did showed up in the kind of job I did. As I was standing outside cutting his hair it was as if a national alarm clock went off at the stroke of eight when all the neighbors we could see from our house were out within minutes of each other hanging up their flags. By law, the flags can only fly today from 8am to 9pm and I’m sure everyone was sitting inside counting down the minutes until they could display their national pride. It is quite a sight when every house is flying a flag.

We ventured into the city this morning to see the big parade in downtown Aalesund. The best part is just getting to the street where the parade is and watching all the people funnel into the city wearing their bunads (traditional national costumes), both men and women, and children – it’s all very festive and so attractive. All the people from this area of Norway use the same pattern so it’s somewhat like a uniform in that they are all dressed alike (it’s easy to see who is NOT from their area as their bunads are so different). People line the street waving flags just to watch the parade of people waving flags who are dressed just the same, walk down the middle of the street. It’s never clear who is in the parade and who is a spectator, but mostly the parade is full of children. They begin the "tog" with all the daycare centers and move up in age as the parade passes by. Many of the children are dressed in bunads, or their best clothes as it's a very formal day. Parents accompany some of the younger kids, but as they age, the children go it alone. It’s just a parade of people, all dressed up yelling “Hip Hip Hoorah!” and waving their Norwegian flags. There are no motorized vehicles, no floats, no advertisements, no special interest groups, no politicians and no throwing of candy. (Kaleb was pretty devastated the first parade we went to here in Norway when he realized they didn’t throw candy.) Occasionally there will be a marching band or some singing group going by, but for the most part, it’s just people, happy as can be that their land is free from Swedish rule, congratulating each other on the day and yelling “Hip Hip Hoo-rah!”

We cut out a few minutes early from the parade so we wouldn’t be stuck in the traffic jam to get back home. Kaleb had to be at his school by 1:30 and he needed to each lunch. Filadelfia Church had their café open today, but there was no church service. All the churches cancelled their services today because of the holiday. Often on holidays, churches open up their cafes and serve meals so that no one has to be alone on those days, or for those who don’t want to cook, they can meet their family or friends at church and share a meal together there. We stopped off to greet Tante Ruth and to congratulate her on the day and see if she wanted to join us, but she didn’t. We dined with plenty of people we knew. then afterwards we dropped Kaleb at school and headed home. The parade route went right by our house so we knew we wouldn’t miss it. Kaleb was a little peeved that he was told he HAD to be in the parade. He would have preferred making the choice himself, but since he was told by his teacher he HAD to be in the parade, he was resentful. He just couldn’t figure out how his teacher could tell him what he MUST do on a Sunday. If this day would have been Monday, he would have had no problem with it, but he really didn’t like so much intrusion on his private life. Too funny. Turid joined us as we watched our neighborhood parade come down from the school to our house, turn the corner and head up to the nearby sports center. The kids all took turns carrying the class banner and Kaleb was able to have his turn right in front of our house, along with his friend Toben and Morten (see photo of Kaleb and his bad haircut, wearing sunglasses and the bunad I bought at a flea market - Morten is holding the banner.) At the sports center there were hours of activities for the kids, and hot dogs and cake and coffee and lots of candy as prizes. There must have been a thousand people there – it was like a huge neighborhood party. We ran into several people we knew so we visited to the bitter end. Then an hour later we headed up to the local State Church for a special party for the neighborhood, complete with contests for the kids, hot dogs and cakes and coffee. We saw more people we knew from the neighborhood and several came over to Kory and thanked him for the bus stop painting. We did see some families today gathered around the bus stop for a back drop as they took group photos all dressed up in their bunads in front of it, so Kory was pleased he was able to contribute to the festivities of the day. Hip Hip Hoorah!

Mission (Almost) Impossible

Against Kaleb’s wishes, we went for a hike up in the mountains today. It was the day Kory has thought about more than any other, as our destination was Verpesdalen - the mountain farm he visited a few times as a child. When Kory was a boy, the only way to get to that farm, was to take a boat across the fjord, park it right up next to a sheer mountain side, get out and start climbing. He said there was some kind of pulley system for bringing up supplies, but he remembers so well having to hike straight up the mountain with a million switch backs to get up to the valley where the farm was located (he’s pointing to it in the photo with the fjord in the background). I was a little worried about Kory’s heart and that hike up, so we considered hiring a helicopter to get us up there but Kory thought the journey would be half the fun. We delayed visiting that farm until now because just recently we found out a road was built in 2003 from the backside of the mountain which took care of most of the elevation gain, and from there, a trail was in place to reach the farm via another route. Because the weather was so incredible, we decided today was the day to try and reach it.

I found the name and phone number of a guy that posted photos of that farm on the internet so Kory called him to find out about getting there. He told Kory the steepest trail in from the backside was blocked from a big rock slide so he didn’t know the best way to go. He gave Kory another number to call, but Kory thought he’d just find out for himself how to get there. So off we went driving over an hour east from our home, where we took a ferry and crossed the fjord to the other side, then drove up a long valley and off on a side road that took us up to the top of the backside of the mountain. We found the trailhead marker sign so we parked and began our journey. It was in the 70s today and just beautiful so even if it weren’t a sentimental trip, it was worth the effort nonetheless. The scenery everywhere was just spectacular and I think I took about 500 photos. Little mountain cabins with grass roofs and rock foundations, nestled together at the end of a lake, birch trees and blueberry bushes popping out from the rocky landscape. Much of the hike was through mountain meadow marshes where it was like walking on sponges as water squirted up with each step. We did lose the trail at one point and went a long way out of our way before we found it again, but we were so mesmerized by the view we had from our misadventure we didn’t care. We ended up on a rim overlooking the farm! Kory recognized it right away from the lay of the land, where the buildings sat and it’s proximity to the lake. It was a good spot for lunch. But the problem was, we were on the rim, and the farm was down at the bottom of a very steep valley. All along the valley’s edge were just sheer mountain cliffs and we couldn’t see any possible way down. We hiked even higher to see if we could spot the trail and we reached a radio tower but no clear indication where to go. That hike up nearly killed me. I had to crawl on hands and knees, something like rock climbing but without the security of harnesses and ropes, and then when we realized it might just be a lookout trail, we turned around and I slid half way down on my butt. It wasn’t pleasant. It was at that point we realized we might have taken a wrong turn so we headed back to the car. Kaleb was ecstatic as he’d spent quite a bit of energy whining and complaining that we were taking him away from his friends from school. We told him there wouldn’t be time for a playdate today anyway and he just lost it. I was not kind as I was pretty fed up with all his whining, especially when we explained time and time again how important this was for Kory to share the adventure with him. Now he’ll get another chance to do it all over again because we didn’t reach our goal. After four hours of hiking, we made it back to the car and drove to the end of the road to see what was there. There was a large farm just hanging off the side of the mountain and the owners were home so Kory asked them about how to get to Verpesdalen. The guy was very helpful and told him to use the trail coming off his property and he even offered to let us park our car there when we come back. So at least we feel a bit more knowledgeable and it doesn’t seem like that other trail is too steep for Kory’s heart, so we’re anxious to give it another try next weekend if the weather is good.

After we got back down to sea level and crossed the fjord, we headed east again for a few minutes and ended up in the town where Tante Kari is getting her rehab. I told Kaleb we were going into Vardal to visit Tante Kari and he said, “Man, how many Tante Kari’s do we have? We have the one that lives at Moa and now we have one all the way out here?” I guess somewhere along the line he missed the story about her breaking her hip. She was thrilled to see us so we had a nice visit with her. I was thinking I might move in with her because after today’s hike, I’m pretty sure I could use some rehab myself. Uff da, I’m sore.

BBQ Season Has Begun!

The holiday weekend has begun. The city was all abuzz today with street sweepers and pressure washers. Every business in town was washing away winter’s sand dumped on roads when the ice was here. It seems like so long ago now that the lilacs are blooming. Today the air was filled with the smell of scotch broom and lilacs and fresh cut grass. It couldn’t have been a more beautiful day and I’m sure those that could, took off early to get home and use as much time as possible sprucing up their yards. Every house I passed today as I walked around had people out in the yard trimming bushes and hedges, washing off patios and cutting grass. It was like some big collective work party day with perfect weather for added effect. Just as all the Norwegians leave home for Easter week, they all STAY home for 17th of May week (Norway’s Independence Day from Sweden). No one goes to a cabin or out of town, they all stick close by there home and attend the local parades. And there is probably no other time of year everyone’s houses and yards will look better.

I went to class today and had a reading test the first hour. One of the things we read was the rules they have in Norway for leaving a dog in the car on a hot day. Basically, it’s not allowed. What is allowed, however, is breaking the window of the car to get the dog out and taking it to the nearest police station. I thought that was kinda funny. So I guess, knowing your window can be legally broken might be a good deterrent to anyone actually leaving their dog in the car. After our test we went on a guided tour of the local Art Nuevo museum. The man giving the tour was instructed to talk slowly and simply, and because of that, I understood everything he said. It was such a thrill. I’ve been to that museum before but it was fun to have a tour. Our school tries hard to expand our horizons. And The Good Teacher Inga invited any and all to join her after the tour at a café. I was the only one that took her up on her offer, so we had a nice long chat over cappuccino and carrot cake. I loved having her to myself and we shared stories about living in another country as she too took her family to Ireland for a year because she’s married to an Irish Man. She had all the same reasons I did for moving and all the same problems with housing and her boy’s attitudes toward it, so it was fun to compare notes. (Both she and Odd said it was a “sign from God we must stay another year” because I couldn’t buy tickets home yesterday!) We had a “lovely” chat, as she would say, for a few hours, and then I had to go. I took the big leap and drove myself into town this morning and the parking meter was about to expire. There is absolutely NO where to park for free in the city as every street is zoned for permit parking only for the residences there, so it’s mandatory to use pay parking lots when going into town. The parking fee (10 dollars) for the day was still cheaper than taking the bus (14 dollars). Strange.

The comments in the newspaper about Kory’s work of art on the bus stop yesterday just don’t quit. A lot of young people are angry because some of them have had to pay a thousand dollar fine for “tagging” as it’s called here, but mostly, people love the new look. Kory has spent the day admiring his handy work and gloating over all the attention he’s getting for it. One guy wrote in to the paper that it was indeed tagging, but his punishment should be to do fifty more just like it all over the city. Funny. I just hope the police don’t show up at our door. I’m sure the neighbors won’t squeal as they are all so happy with the outcome. It will be interesting on Sunday when the parade passes by our house, to see if anyone takes a picture of it. I know I will.

Kory spent the afternoon over at Odd’s putting up some of the siding on the newly built wall outside his bedroom. He invited Odd and Turid over for a BBQ tonight so we sat out on our little deck and watched the sun go down as the weather was just perfect. (See photo of Kory serving Odd his famous BBQ potato chips – and the bus stop with the flag is visible in the background.) We ate a yummy dinner of BBQd salmon, potatoes and BBQ vegetables (Kory actually grilled up some whale meat for him as he’s going to miss it when we are back home). I love that it’s BBQ season again. Kaleb spent the whole afternoon up at Skåtthaugen playing with his school friends. I finally called him home at 7.30 for dinner but he wasn’t too happy to leave. He should probably just pitch a tent up there or move in with someone.

I spent a few boring hours at home alone, then went for a walk to the store for some groceries. I think I improved my tan a little today, but other than that, the afternoon was lost on me. I should have planned something, but sometimes I get tired of having so many plans. A nap would have been good. It’s going to be a long weekend.

There Was Good and Bad Today

We had a big test today in class so I opted to go to a prayer meeting instead. I guess if I would have prayed more (or done my homework), I could have faced the test today, but as it is, it would have been a waste of time to go. Instead, the prayer meeting was quite thrilling, so I know I made the right choice. Those Praying Women really know how to pray. I love that I get to be with them a few times a month and today there were reports of many answered prayers, so that was encouraging. We also used more time for “soaking prayer” where we just lay on the floor and try to hear the voice of God in the stillness. It was so powerful today! I had a vision of a broken clay vessel that had been glued back together (which is how I often feel) and then I saw something shiny being poured into the pot so the inside looked perfect, smooth and radiant. I asked God how I can get the outside of the vessel to look the same as the inside and he said I couldn't. I then realized it was the glory of God that was poured into me and it’s only through the “cracks” that His glory can come shining through. I liked that vision a lot. Another woman had a vision too and hers was very powerful as well. It’s so fun to get together with women that love to get closer to God.

I decided today was the day to buy our return tickets back to America, but after sitting on the computer for three and a half hours and trying every website I could think of to buy the tickets, I gave up. I even called a few airlines and got no where. I did find out that because of the “economic crisis,” Scandinavian Airlines has dropped Seattle as a destination beginning August 1st, however. I sure wish their website would have said that, as it would have saved me at least an hour trying every possible date to buy tickets from them. Instead it just said I had made a mistake and needed to try again. And Kaleb’s slow computer only added to my frustrations as I’d click on something and have to wait nearly a minute before the screen would paint. I nearly lost my mind. It was in the 70s today and I was inside the entire afternoon trying to do one simple task. Ugh. I was nearly in tears by the time I gave up and Kaleb was in tears when I told him I couldn’t buy any tickets. He thinks he might never see his friends back home again. I assured him tomorrow is a new day and if I call a ticketing agency before 2pm when they all close, I might actually get through to someone. I will NOT take this as a “sign from God” that we are to stay here, however.

We had hoped to spend this afternoon with Tante Kari as she got transferred to a rehab center about 90 minutes from our house and she’s terribly lonely already being so far away, but instead cousin Odd wanted Kory to “help him” put a new door in his bedroom remodel, so that shot that idea. Maybe tomorrow…. And now today we found out cousin Rune (Odd’s brother) is in the hospital. Odd and Rune went out to see their mom yesterday and Rune had to stop three times to pee on the way there. Odd told him to go to the doctor and get his blood sugar checked out and sure enough, it was sky high and he’s now been diagnosed with diabetes. Good grief.

Kory and Kaleb spent an hour over at the bus stop next to our house giving it a new look (see photo). I’m a little bit worried about Kory teaching Kaleb how to do graffiti, however. All the neighbors came out and watched the show. I’m sure the way Kory was dressed increased the entertainment value. One neighbor came and took a photo and sent it in to the local paper. By 4pm it was on their website (http://www.smp.no/) and in just a few hours there were already dozens of comments about it. The bus stop had previously been covered with all kinds of graffiti including swear words and a picture of a red devil. Many people in our neighborhood are glad to be rid of that sight, but some comments on the internet are not so kind. They believe the “clown” should be prosecuted, so it’s a good thing Kory and Kaleb weren’t recognizable in their photo. Kory thinks the whole thing is hilarious but Kaleb is a little worried people will find out he contributed to it. They can always use the “freedom of expression” defense that others have used when caught doing graffiti. We’ll see how far this thing goes, but already it seems to have touched a nerve. The 17th of May parade comes right by our house, so Kory was just adding to the festivities for this time of year, but those in authority might not be so keen on his idea. It certainly is an improvement though as he painted a bigger flag on the backside of the bus stop that can be seen for blocks away. And now all the controversy it has stirred up makes Kory all the more pleased with his efforts. There is a Norwegian word for him that his brother used to call him all the time as a kid – “umulig” – which means “impossible.” And that, he is.

Dugnad Day

We are getting close to the big National Holiday here on the 17th of May so it’s required by all entities to spruce up a bit. We had a little "dugnad" at school today (dugnad means "work party") because all government offices, including schools and daycare centers, must pull weeds, pick up trash and do a little touch up painting if it helps, so their places look their best. There is a strong sense of pride here to have everything in tip top shape for 17th of May. All homeowners should have their lawns mowed and fresh flowers in the pots, so people have been scurrying around getting things in order. Even the old widow guy that lives across the street from us was out in his yard today putting fresh blooming flowers in his pots on the patio. I pulled weeds at school for an hour, others planted flowers and swept up the entrance area. The city was all a buzz with tidying up and it will continue until the 16th of May, I’m sure. Good thing the sun was out, as it made the work almost pleasant. Kory even painted over all the graffiti on the bus stop next to our house. He swears tomorrow he’s going to paint a Norwegian flag over the nice shade of white it currently is. I was thinking it would be nice just to leave it white, but he has too much pride in his land for that.

Kory had plans to be flat on his back all day today, but he felt slightly better so he was able to go vertical. Our friends from our Bible study group, Emmanuel and Ledto, called and asked if he could take them and their new baby to the doctor for a check-up, so he was happy to do that. They invited him over for lunch afterwards and he was thrilled to be served a traditional meal from their home country of Eritrea in Africa. I felt bad as I told him he shouldn’t be going there for a meal - we should be taking them one. Sometimes men don’t get it.

At school today we talked more on freedom of religion. I learned that all children here are required to follow the religion of their parents until they are 15 years old. At that time, they are free to choose what religion they want (or not). If their parents had them baptized into the State church, they are free to write to the State and have their name withdrawn from membership. (They picked the age of 15 because traditionally that is the age of adulthood when a child must go earn their own living.) I asked my teacher why they would need to opt out with a letter and she said because then the government would stop sending their taxes to that church. Apparently, a portion of everyone’s taxes goes to support churches so it’s possible to designate which one gets the money (the bulk of any church’s income comes from tax dollars from the government – not from individual giving.) So everyone should be registered with a church and then they can also deduct a portion of the cash donations they make to that church from their taxes (they can deduct up to 30% of the amount donated.) A lot of people use that as an excuse not to tithe or give any additional money to their church because they know their taxes already pay for it, but the tax is such a small portion of one percent that it hardly counts. We give money to both churches we attend, but we are only allowed to deduct the contributions we make to the one where we are registered. Strange system. And for all the taxes paid by people with no designated church, that money goes to the State church – no surprise there.

I got my laptop back from the PC shop today and they were able to get a full backup copy of my data so I boxed up my computer and tomorrow Dell will send someone out to pick it up for repair. They said it might take three weeks to get the motherboard replaced, so I’m glad we have six weeks before we leave town. Then I got smart and activated the 60 day free trial of Microsoft products on Kaleb’s laptop, and using the portable hard drive with all the files from my old computer, I’m nearly up to speed. It’s tough to type on a Norwegian keyboard, and Kaleb has very little memory in his computer so it’s slower than molasses, but I’m not complaining. I’m just happy I can be connected to the world, so Hallelujah for that. Kaleb however is relishing in the fact he has total control over me now because I’m at his mercy. He says I can only use his PC for 30 minutes a day but I cannot use it at all until I finish my homework, which I never even do. He also said if I let him sleep in our bed I get an extra half hour on his computer the next day and I can also earn an extra half hour if I speak just Norwegian the entire day with no mistakes. That kid is a wheeler - dealer. I can’t imagine where he gets that from. Turid often tells me we are too strict with him. Now I see what she means. I can dish it out, but I’m not too thrilled about taking it - especially from Kaleb.

Is it Friday The 13th Perhaps?

My computer died today, and I was sure I'd die right along with it. When I went to boot it up this morning it just made a few crunching noises like it usually does, and then nothing. The screen was black. My heart sank. I hadn't done a backup in too long. All I could think about was all the photos and videos I may lose if it was my hard drive that tanked. I also wasn't too thrilled about losing my blog entries, but I know I can at least re-type them from the internet (I can't copy anything from it for some reason.) So today was full of anxiety and a bit more stress than I'd like. I went to school and during lunch break I took my laptop down to a PC shop. They said they thought it was a bad hard drive, but I should call Dell support. I called the Dell support center here in Norway and they told me my warranty expired on the 9th of May. I looked up my serial number on their website and it showed that was the ship date, so I called back and said if I had a one year warranty, why wouldn't it start from the the time I received the computer, not from the time it shipped (I ordered it from their website last year.) They agreed to give me a 14 day grace period (first answered prayer). Then I took it to another repair place to see if they could do a backup on it before I sent it in for repair. They took it apart and told me it was the motherboard that was bad, not the hard drive, so that was the big answered prayer. Hallelujah for that! I hate that I trust my computer so much. I should NEVER trust it and ALWAYS back up my files, but I get lured into a false sense of security, like it's my best friend and it just won't let me down. Ha. I'm also thankful Kaleb has a laptop so I can at least access the internet. (His laptop has no software on it so I'm writing this blog in wordpad, so if there are a lot of typos, it's because I have no little red lines underscoring the errors of my ways.)

Kory wasn't too pleased with today either as he stayed home from work and was flat on his back all day. He might be there a few more days, as he is in a lot of pain. He won't go to a doctor or a chiropractor, but at least he's taking ibuprophen to reduce the swelling in his spine. He also broke loose a cap on one of his front teeth today when he crunched on an apple. He's had better days. Kaleb was the only one that was in a good mood, so we are thankful for that. He's learned how to stand on his head so that was our entertainment for the day. He is so proud.

As if all else wasn't enough, school was a real drag today. My Pal Vestina was out sick and no one was there that makes me laugh. Our topic for discussion today was on freedom of expression here in Norway. Norwegians take that freedom to extremes and they allow all kinds of things that would be censored in the U.S. Swear words are never removed from TV or newspapers here. Nude photos are also the norm. Even the youth claim that graffitti is just another form of their right to express themselves, so they don't get prosecuted for it. People are allowed to express themselves as long as it doesn't harm another person, so that's where they draw the line. But one thing that did get censored recently was a movie called "The Life of Brian." I don't know much about it but apparently it was some kind of parody of Jesus. The government here felt it was blasphemous so it wasn't allowed in the country which just made it all the more enticing so people found ways to get it and watch it. Just like the original sin....

I was also bummed out because I read a newspaper article today that said 40,000 teenagers will be Confirmed in Norway this year, and of those, only 37% say they believe in God. I think it's blasphemous that they are allowed to go through with it. When I questioned my teacher on that, she said Confirmation is now just a tradition that came out of Norway's religious background. "They needed a religion in the old days," she said, "because everyone had to struggle so much just to survive. But today we know more and have more information and we don't have to believe what the Church says." How sad. I told her the Church and God are two different things but I'm not sure she understood the difference.

A Walk in the Rain

I love Mondays because it’s my day to skip school. I used the quiet time to do some Bible study and prayer. It’s never a bad day if it starts off like that. The sun was shining this morning and I had a strong desire to go for a bike ride or a walk, but I really didn’t want to be gone from a quiet house, as it’s empty so rarely. I told myself I’d get some exercise when Kaleb got home from school, but by then, it was raining. As luck would have it, cousin Kari called up this afternoon and asked if I wanted to go for a hike in the mountains – rain and all. This is where the saying, “There’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes” comes into play. I put on my rain pants and coat and off we went. Surprisingly there were several other people up in the mountains doing the same. It felt pretty good to hike in the rain as the air was so clear and the temperature a bit cooler. We hiked up past the farm called Østrem (see photo of the old barn there), which happens to be the farm where Kory’s grandfather’s family is from. Kory never knew his grandfather, nor did Kory’s mother, Jenny, know her own father. Jenny was illegitimate, the product of two teenagers away from home, working on the same farm for a summer. Their parents thought it best they didn’t get married since they didn’t really love each other so Jenny was raised by a single mom until her mother married another man when Jenny was eight years old. Jenny’s mom and step-dad had three girls together, and they are all the Tantes we love so dearly here in Aalesund. But as we found out in later years, Kory also has a few half uncles and an aunt from the Østrem side of the family.

After Kaleb was born I got very interested in family history and started doing research to find the names of all those who had come before me. I thought it might be nice for Kaleb to learn “from whence he came,” so I began the endless search for dead relatives. I wanted to go back eight generations on all branches, just to see if I could. It took a few years, but I’ve been pretty successful at meeting that goal. On my mom’s side of the family, all her great grandparents came from Norway and I found the location of all the farms they came from, and then I visited them all. It was one of the highlights of my life, as I then went to North Dakota and visited the homestead sites where they landed, so I was able to connect the dots. I had the same desire for Kory’s side of the family but I couldn’t get very far due to this whole illegitimate thing. Families here are good at keeping secrets, so it wasn’t easy to find out information about Jenny’s father. I spent a day down at the local library, reading microfilm and I found Jenny’s birth record, and once I did, I found her father’s name. I then found an old local history book with his name in it and it said where he had lived and the names of his children. I looked in the telephone book to see if any of his children still lived around here, and sure enough, we found one son not far away. So on a trip to Norway ten years ago, Kory called up his Uncle Per and introduced himself and said he would like to meet him. Per was sure Kory had the wrong number because he had never heard his father had an illegitimate daughter, but Kory assured him he did. When Per hung up the phone he told his wife he’d just gotten the strangest phone call. He said a guy from America called to say he was his nephew and that his mom was his half-sister. Per’s wife said, “Yes, that’s right.” Per was shocked. He then asked his wife how she knew this to be true, and she told him she had heard it about fifty years earlier. He asked her why she didn’t say anything to him about it in all these years and she said, “Because it never came up.” And that is an excellent example of the quintessential Norwegian communication style. They just don’t talk about unpleasant personal things. We have since met Per and his wife, and his sister Berit and her husband, but their other brother died before we had a chance to meet him. We were hoping to have dinner with this group of “uekte” relatives last night but they had to postpone. (“Uekte” is the word they used to use for “illegitimate” - it means “not real.”) They are a wonderful group of relatives we are delighted to now know. Jenny had no desire to meet them however as she was terribly embarrassed and injured by the whole scenario and didn’t want to be part of that family. Kory intentionally waited until after she died before asking about her father. (Protocol and pleasantries.) But Jenny’s sister, Tante Berit, is a little bit sad they never met.

Kory came home from work in a sour mood as he hurt his back even more while lifting something today. I didn’t think he should have gone to work, but he did. He was moaning all afternoon, even after taking some ibuprophen and a hot soak in the tub. Poor thing. Kaleb came home from school whining and crying too, but it was just his way of trying to get out of doing homework. He is so tired of doing it and I am so tired of making him. Ugh. I spent all my free time today working on plans for our summer road trip. It’s like shooting at a moving target, but fortunately I’m not tired of it yet.

No Mother's Day Here

Last November, when it was Mother’s Day in Norway, I ignored it. It was too close to Thanksgiving and didn’t feel right to celebrate ME at such an odd time of year. I was holding out for today. But, as I’ve come to discover since living here – being the only one trying to uphold an American tradition in a foreign land, just doesn’t work. A normal Mother’s Day for me back home would involve breakfast in bed, a homemade bird house by my sweet boy, and being waited on hand and foot all day. Not so today. For one thing, Kaleb spent last night with a friend, so there wasn’t even anyone to be a mother to this morning. No breakfast in bed, no coffee, no greeting… a day lost and forgotten on this mother. Oh well, there’s always next year.

Kory and I went to Agape Church this morning. It was a packed house. It seems a small Pentecostal church meeting in downtown Aalesund on Saturday nights, pulled the plug. I’m not sure what all was going on there, but the pastor of that church came and asked the pastor of Agape Church if he could send his “flock” to Agape. They all showed up this morning – including the former pastor. It’s all a little weird, but they did it – they combined the two churches with the hopes that our pastor will branch out one day to do Saturday night services back in the middle of town. Interesting dynamic there and I’m sure there’s more to that story, but I thought it was odd that a church would just shut down all of a sudden. In the US they tend to die a slow death….

We sat by Sabina (age 10) and her mom after church at the café and had coffee and talked. Sabina told Kory how much better his Norwegian is since he’s moved here. Considering I couldn’t speak it at all when we came, I went looking for a compliment in all the wrong places. I asked Sabina if she thought I had improved a lot too in these last several months and she said, “Yes, but you say all your words wrong.” So much for that.

We expected to pick Kaleb up from his sleepover before church this morning, but he called just as we were leaving to ask if he could stay on and play for the day with his friend Andre. Our priority now with him is to get him well connected to some Norwegian kids, so we had to say yes. He couldn’t have been more pleased. We told him we’d come get him before dinner, as we had invited Kory’s uncle and his wife, and his aunt over for dinner (they are Kory’s mom’s half brother and sister). But Uncle Per called this morning to say they couldn’t make it tonight so I called Andre’s parents and invited them and their kids to come eat the food I had already begun to prepare. As it turns out, I saved the day at their house because it was Håvard’s (Andre’s dad’s) turn to make dinner tonight for his family, and he forgot, and they had nothing planned and all the stores are closed on Sundays. They were thrilled to be invited and they even liked the food. Their oldest son didn’t come because he has a big exam tomorrow he needed to study for. I started complaining how difficult it is to learn Norwegian with the two official languages here and all the dialects. Janne (Andre’s mom) agreed with me. All children here must learn both languages and her oldest son was home studying for his grammar test in Nynorsk (the language Kory speaks.) Janne said her son was so frustrated with the language he shouted out, “It’s surely NOT from God!” So it comforted me to know even the locals have a hard time with all the grammar.

It was nice to have some of Kaleb’s friends here for a change. Tobias came over and all the boys were outside playing hide and seek all evening. Janne commented again just how polite Kaleb is and that he always says please and thank-you. Last night she asked if he might need to use the bathroom before he went to bed and he said, “Yes, thank you.” She thought that was pretty funny. She said she’s never heard a kid laugh so hard as Kaleb laughs when he watches a movie. He does enjoy slapstick and for as little as he sees any TV or movies, I guess he has a lot of pent up laughter just waiting to come out. They enjoyed having him around so that was good, but it was sad for me to only see him a few minutes all day today. When I was tucking him in to bed tonight he finally remembered what day it was and then he wished me a Happy Mother’s Day and asked if I liked my present – a day off from being a mother. Ha ha.

A Cannon Day

I was in my bathrobe until three this afternoon. There was no reason to get dressed, so I didn’t. Kaleb was up early and off to Skaathaugen (a neighborhood about a mile away) to play with his friends from school and Kory spent the entire day over at cousin Odd’s house working on his remodel (see photo). I enjoyed my morning cup of coffee while in my snuggly bathrobe and thought I’d just keep the coziness going since I was home alone. It was another one of those days where we tentatively planned to go for a hike, but the weather never looked secure enough, so all bets were off. Fortunately Kory and Kaleb had a plan B, but I didn’t, so I just worked on my friend Paula’s family research. I am so jazzed I can actually read Norwegian books and do the translation! I have so many family history things back home that are written in Norwegian so I’m anxious now to see just how much I’ve learned.

Kaleb called this afternoon and said his friend Andrea wanted him to sleep over tonight, so I walked over to Odds to get the car so I could run some pajamas and his toothbrush up to him. If the neighborhood he was in wasn’t at the top of a very long and steep hill, I would have walked it over there, but I just didn’t feel that spunky or motivated. When I got over to Odd’s house and watched Kory and him working “together” on the bedroom expansion I had to laugh. It reminded me of the car mechanic shop signs that say, “If you want my advice, it will cost you $20 an hour. If you want me to fix the problem, it will cost you $40 an hour. If you want to help me, it will cost you $60 an hour.” I’ve seen Kory do jobs like Odds from start to finish in just a few days. But with his cousin the doctor helping, it’s taking him probably ten times longer. Odd is very interested in the process of how it’s all put together and he needs to stop every now and then to talk about what a good job they are doing and how much he likes the idea of this remodel. It was comical to watch the process. Kory has a tremendous amount of patience (and skill) so they make a good team.

Tonight we finally got to take Turid out to celebrate her birthday. Normally when we come to Norway every year, we take Odd and Turid out to the nicest restaurant in town as a thank you for putting up with us, and for all Turid does throughout the year on our behalf. We didn’t do that last summer when we came and stayed with them for two weeks, and now that we only have about six weeks left, the clock is ticking. We used Turid’s birthday as an excuse to take them out and thank them once again for all the support and help they constantly give us in adjusting to our life here. The restaurant we normally go to, Sjøbua, is now closed on the weekends. Apparently the chefs decided they didn’t like working the weekends so now that place is only open Tuesday to Friday. What a shocker. Turid said the owners are very accommodating to their employees (obviously) and the restaurant has been around for so long they can still survive with just weekday business. So we had to try another restaurant that just opened up a year ago, and as it turned out it, was much better than Sjøbua! It was a fresh seafood place and what I call a “good food” restaurant. Kory calls it “shi-shi” while he lifts his nose in the air as he says it, but there’s nothing wrong with enjoying a fantastic meal every now and then. The only problem with doing it in Norway, however, is that it costs an arm and a leg. But I’ve become blind to the prices of anything here otherwise I wouldn’t even breath the air, but just for an example as to what things cost… I was the designated driver so I ordered a small glass of sparkling water ($6.33), Kory ordered a glass of red wine ($11.85), Odd ordered a beer ($10) and Turid ordered a bottle of white wine ($135). The way the dinner menu was set up, we could either order a three, four or five course meal. I ordered the three course meal which included a small bowl of yummy curried apple soup, some fresh fish, the best baked potatoes I’ve ever eaten in my life and some pureed yams. It also came with a small slice of cheese cake for dessert ($81 for the three courses). Everyone else ordered the four course dinner which was the same as mine but also included a skewer with two pieces of nearly raw tuna fish on them (glad I missed out on that one) to the tune of $97.50 a plate. All-in-all with coffee and a few extra beers for Odd, our bill was $618.83 (at today’s conversion rate). This is why we only go out once a year. I’ve just gotten numb to the prices here but I know I’ll be doing the happy dance once we get back home and can afford to eat out a few times a month. The funny thing was, just as we placed our orders for dinner, Kory’s cell phone rang and it was Emmanuel – one of the guys from our Bible study whose wife is pregnant. Kory had told them he’d give them a ride to the hospital if they needed it. When he saw it was Emmanuel, our hearts sank, thinking he’d have to rush off to the pick them up, but as it turned out, Emmanuel was calling to tell us Ledto had the baby last night and all was fine with her and Gospel (their new little boy). Odd wasn’t the only one who thought today was a “cannon” day (what Norwegians call a really great day), Emmanuel and Ledto felt the same. So Hallelujah for that!

Sixty-four Years Ago Today...

The flags were flying high in Norway today. It’s the anniversary of the end of German occupation during World War II. There are certain days, by law, Norwegians can fly their flag and today is one of those days. They are such a proud lot of people, I’m sure they would fly it every day if they could. If there is a birthday in the house (or the King’s castle), or someone has been baptized, confirmed, or married it’s also allowed to fly the flag. Easter, Christmas, New Year’s Day, and 17th of May (Independence Day) are national holidays that paint the landscape red with flags flying from every pole. So many people fly flags here it’s just a pretty sight whenever it happens.

I went to school today but it was pretty boring because My Pal Vestina was sick and not many others showed up. I mainly went as an excuse to get into town to pick up some books at the library. I ordered the farm history books for the area in Norway my friend Paula’s great grandparents were from, so I was anxious to dive in and see what more information I could discover. I’ve spent at least ten hours today working on that little project and I’ve got a dead butt to prove it. Fortunately for me, Kory was over at his cousin’s house all afternoon building his bedroom extension and Kaleb didn’t come home from school right away, so I had plenty of time to concentrate on translating the words and connecting the dots. Kaleb asked if he could go home with a classmate after school today and I thought it would be for just a few hours, but I finally called him at 7:30 and told him he needed to come home. He loves playing with those boys from his class and I love that he can, and does. I also enjoyed the quiet in the house as Kory didn’t get home til nearly 8pm either.

When I was in town today there were four Russ (soon to graduate) girls at the crosswalk – two on each side of the street. They are easy to spot because they all wear red overalls. I’ve been asking a bit more about the whole Russ tradition (pronounced Roose) and it seems they are “required” to pull pranks as part of their graduation process (it’s a self-imposed requirement.) The graduates attend a lot of parties in the spring of their last year of school and they all wear hats to them with homemade tassels sprouting out of the top. Each time they accomplish a prank, they attach something that symbolizes the prank, to their tassel. There are long-standing traditional pranks, and then there are pranks each class makes up new every year. The goal is to get as many items on their tassel as possible before they complete school. So today, the girls were standing side by side on each end of the sidewalk, and as people were crossing the street they would reach out their hand to shake whosever hand was crossing and then they said, “Velkommen til andre side.” (Welcome to the other side.) They giggled as they did it, but they are required to shake everyone’s hand apparently, and the locals obliged. Tobias told me today he saw some Russ guys on a tricycle riding around and around in a round-about – right along with the cars going through it, so some of the pranks are a little dangerous. I heard about one where a whole group of Russ kids locked arms and walked very slowly onto a ferry – causing all the cars behind them to not be able to load until the Russ kids had gotten on. It’s silly things but they seem to have fun while they are doing them and the adults just roll their eyes and put up with it.

Before we came to Norway I went to a naturopath who told me I should probably not eat wheat. I rolled my eyes because bread is my favorite food. I kinda forgot I was told that, but ever since I’ve been in Norway I have felt older than my years. Every time I moved, I ached (standing up was the worst). I couldn’t figure it out until just a few weeks ago I remembered the whole wheat thing (no pun intended). Norway’s bakeries produce the best bread I’ve ever tasted, so it’s no wonder I would forget (selective memory). I finally decided to see if my aches and pains were related to some kind of wheat sensitivity and I cut out eating bread and crackers and fresh bakery items (how sad). But the saddest thing was, I immediately felt better! It only took one day of eating no wheat, and I could tell the difference. I wanted to cry. It’s like Kory being here and not being able to eat all those disgusting sausages they make that he thinks taste so good, but dares not nibble on. So now we are on an even-keel. We both have foods we shouldn’t eat. I haven’t eaten bread in weeks (I did have a little cake the other night, however), and I can’t believe how much more energy I have. I guess in some people, wheat causes inflammation, and I’m one of them. My knees even stopped hurting once I stopped eating wheat. Go figure. I guess I’ve abused my wheat privileges and now I must pay the price. Sometimes, when life is so good it doesn’t seem it could get any better – it doesn’t.

A Fairly Normal Day

We had good spring weather today – pouring down rain one minute and beautiful blue skies and sunshine the next. It was like playing the lottery when I went outside as to whether I’d make it to my destination without getting wet – even if there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. All day long it was like rolling dice – the clouds would come and they would go and when they came there were as dark as could be and I couldn’t even see the buildings next door for all the rain coming down. It was pretty exciting. There was a rainbow in the sky nearly every time I looked. I loved it.

I left school early today to attend The Praying Women’s group. It gives me a great opportunity to talk in Norwegian and also more practice listening to it being spoken. Those women talk fast and I’m getting pretty good at following along. Often I understand all the words, but the meaning is lost on me so I need to ask for clarification, but for the most part, I’m holding my own. The Good Teacher Inga says I shouldn’t be so hard on myself – that I’m doing very well and even if I don’t speak properly, people are able to understand what I mean, and that’s all that matters. And my good friend Paula even wrote me an e-mail and said she was impressed when she was here visiting that I was able to talk to everyone and understand them when they talked back – so I guess that’s something. I just know I sound like a two year old when I talk so it’s embarrassing for me, but it certainly doesn’t keep me from talking. That would be a downright shame if I couldn’t talk! But even My Pal Vestina said I need to knock off the complaining. Okay, already….

Hearing a language being spoken is so important so that’s why I keep going to school. I have so much yet to learn. Kaleb doesn’t hear much English now and it’s starting to show. That kid reads a lot – so often he learns a new word without hearing it spoken first and it’s always funny when I hear him use that word for the first time and he doesn’t really know how to pronounce it. Yesterday when we were talking about discrimination and people’s prejudices against each other, I told him wars are started sometimes because one group of people think they are better than another group - for the silliest reasons. He said, “You mean like the protest –ants and the Cath-a-holics in Northern Ireland?” I totally cracked up over that one. He might have coined a new phrase “Cath-a-holic” – gotta love that. And what about those protest-ants? But he was nearly crying the other day when he realized he now uses both English and Norwegian in a sentence without even thinking. He’s worried no one will understand him when we get home if he says something in Norwegian accidentally. I told him they would just say, “What?” But all three of us are guilty of using the easiest words in both languages so we often talk a mixed sentence - but we all understand each other so it’s our own version of “Nor-lish”, a secret language used only in our household. (It sounds better than “Eng-wegian.”)

A few days ago I realized Kaleb’s hair looked kinda funny. His bangs seemed to be off for some reason so I tried to straighten them out and there wasn’t enough hair to cover his forehead. I asked what the problem was and he said he cut his bangs at school. He was playing with some kind of putty the teacher uses to hang papers up on the wall and he got it tangled up in his hair and couldn’t get it out so he just cut it off. I was thinking he looked kinda dorky these past few weeks but I couldn’t believe it took me so long to ask why. So much for being an attentive mother. (See photo of him “playing” with other boys and check out those bangs.)

Kory rested his back a little this morning but then got up and cleaned house before I got home from the prayer meeting. He was walking kinda funny when he went over to cousin Odd’s house to help him on his bedroom expansion. Odd said his mom, Tante Kari, isn’t doing too well. We’d hoped to go visit her tonight in the hospital because she had her hip replacement surgery yesterday, but she’s feeling terrible and doesn’t want any company. She needs prayer, and lots of it. Poor thing.

The days are getting so long now it’s hard to get to sleep. I have been up until after midnight the last several nights and the sky is still a nice shade of blue when I go to bed. The sun is up before 5am - so summer is fast approaching. I love how the seasons are so defined and the days change so dramatically from summer to winter. The tulips are all in bloom now but the hard rain has taken its toll and breaking off the pedals. Isn’t it interesting how our lives are sometimes reflected in nature?

Answers

Kaleb came to me with tears in his eyes today saying he wants to move back home NOW. He had a tough day on the playground and as he said, “It was the last straw.” I guess he’s been the object of discrimination in the past, and today it just hurt too much. Apparently several kids team up to play games at recess and in the past when he’s asked if he could join in, he was told “no” for various reasons – none of them justifiable and all quite unfair. Once it was because he was in 4th grade and all the kids playing were 3rd graders, so they didn’t want him to join. Once it was because it was kids from Class B in 4th grade playing together and he’s in Class C and they didn’t want him… but today it was because he isn’t “Norwegian.” He even argued and said he is 75% Norwegian by blood, but they excluded him anyway because he wasn’t born here. He was devastated and he just cried and cried as he talked about it. It gave me a good opportunity to explain to him what prejudice is like and how sad it is to be discriminated against for the silliest thing like skin color or where a person is born. I felt terrible for him but I promised that God can use that experience for good and someday he might meet someone who is discriminated against and he’ll be able to empathize and say he knows how it feels. He agreed to forgive the kids and to focus on positive things at school rather than dwell on the negative. He did say none of the boys from his little circle of friends have ever excluded him, so that was good. Then he comforted himself after our talk by typing up his ideal school schedule for when we get back home. I know he’s looking forward to being homeschooled again, but this is why we came here. He needs to experience life.

Kory went to work today, against my better judgment. He was still hunched over in pain from over-extending his back, so I’m pretty sure he was thinking of his bosses and their obligations, not his own comfort. I’m just glad he didn’t hurt it worse today, but he’ll probably be on the couch for a few more days. He is so “old school” here in Norway, as it seems employees nowadays look for any opportunity to call in sick. There are such generous policies here for any and all kinds of conditions that it’s amazing this country produces a thing. Today in class we had a big discussion about maternity leave and how the all new fathers are now “forced” to take four weeks off after their baby is born. Women MUST take nine weeks off, with an option to take up to 11 months off with full pay (or 12 months off with 80% pay) if they so choose. The discussion was on whether or not the government should force these policies on people or if people should be able to choose what they want to do. The government is set up a little different here in Norway – the citizens never get to vote for anything other than who their politicians are. There is never a vote given to the people over any policy or law – it’s all decided by the politicians after MUCH discussion on the topic, which is reported in all the papers on a regular basis. So rather than realizing how incredibly lucky fathers in Norway are that they get a month off with pay, they complain about the fact they don’t get to choose to do that – that it’s forced on them. Too funny. And now the politicians are talking about four weeks not being enough and they may increase that up to three months in order for the fathers to bond better with their children. I think it’s odd however, that they want all this bonding time with the parents to their baby, but then parents must put their child in daycare (even if the mother isn’t working outside the house). The government feels strongly that all children should be in the “system” from an early age so they learn how to be socialized. They didn’t like it at all that foreigners were keeping their kids home until they went off to school – and the kids couldn’t speak the language properly, nor did they know how to behave, so they say now that all kids must enter daycare at age one. And there really are discussions now among the politicians as to who should be most responsible and given more authority for raising the children - the government or the parents. Scary stuff.

Well, we got answers today to a few things we’ve been unsure of, so it seems we’ll be heading back home in mid-August. When school is out we’ll be able to take a six week road trip to visit relatives in southern Norway, then go on to see Denmark, northern Germany, Prague, Belgium and Holland before driving through southern Sweden and hopefully visiting friends on the way back to Aalesund. We need a few days in Aalesund to say our good-byes and then we’ll fly home around the 10th of August. Our house sitters in Mount Vernon will be leaving sometimes after the 17th of August, so we’ll hang out in Seattle (and maybe Montana) with friends and family before we plant ourselves back in Skagit County. I’m sure we won’t want to leave home, once we are back there, so we need to get all our visiting done before then. At least now we know what will happen. We had so many uncertainties but now things are falling into place and we have a plan - but we’re totally open for anything God might do to change them, however.

Cinco de Mayo IKKE

I was so proud of myself yesterday as I carved out a little bit of study time to not really do homework, but to look back on my grammar book and see where I went wrong and why some of the basic principles in Norwegian grammar are just lost on me. I studied hard and I felt surely I made it over one basic hump – and that is where to put the “ikke.” The word “ikke” means NOT, or DON’T or sometimes STOP – all negative connotations. The killer is, that word floats around in sentences like clouds in the sky. It’s never in the same place twice and I struggle so much with whether I say it before the verb, after the verb, after the subject, before the helping verb… because different scenarios change the rules about where it goes. I studied it and studied it and was sure I had it figured out. Then wouldn’t you know today in class we had a big exercise on where to put the IKKE and I got almost all of them wrong! I give up. I’m hopeless. Even if I look up a word in the dictionary, a minute later I’ve forgotten its meaning. It’s so embarrassing to be this bad. So I didn’t even try to do homework today. I came home from school and Kaleb was already engrossed in his school work, Kory was laying flat on his back (same position I left him in this morning) and the rain was pouring down. I laid on the couch to try and sleep away the disgust I felt for myself and next thing I knew Kaleb was on top of me wanting to wrestle. So much for rest. That boy needs a trampoline.

Tonight there was no cake, but I did get a free dinner. The Good Teacher Inga invited some of the students in our class to attend a dinner meeting to talk about our experiences at our school. None of us were sure what we were in for, but as it turns out it was the monthly meeting of the Soroptomist Club here in Aalesund. The Soroptomists are an international group of professional women that work together to try and improve the lives of other less fortunate women. I know a few of them back home in Skagit County so it was exciting for me to see the “international” part of that group alive and well in Norway. The Soroptomists run the thrift store in LaConner and do other fund raisers throughout the year and use the money to fund scholarships or help battered women’s shelters, etc. It’s women networking together for the good of other women. It’s the same idea here, only they don’t do the fundraising part quite the same because after all, they are Norwegian and pretty tight with their money. I asked one of the women tonight about that missing piece of the action and she explained to me that in America there is such a division between those who have money and those who do not, but here in Norway, everyone has about the same – so there aren’t really “needy” people to help. They do, however, sell lottery tickets for ten kroner each (about $1.50) at each meeting and at the end they draw the number to see who wins the bottle of wine (it wasn’t me). They also pay dues to be in the club and they use that money to help women in Sierra Leone in Africa, but that’s about it. I think here, it’s mostly about networking, but the club has been around for 26 years and there are 36 women in the group – so that’s something. They were all impressed with our class and how well we could speak the language as we all stood up in front of the group and presented ourselves and told where we are from, how long we’ve been here, why we came, and what we are doing now. I was clearly the worst speaker so it was a little humbling for me. I really should do more homework as I’m being left in the dust. My Pal Vestina made the best presentation and both Inga and I were so proud. That girl has a future. (Inga thinks it is so funny Vestina and I are friends, as we are quite the opposites, but we make each other laugh and that’s the glue that holds us together.)

Kory and I are still trying to figure out how the next three months are going to play out. I think I need to go talk with the immigration office and find out exactly when we need to be out of the country, and maybe that will help firm up our plans, but it’s looking more and more like we’ll be home sooner, rather than later. The more we think about it, the more we like the idea of a road trip around Europe in the Spring of next year, rather than in the summer of this year. Everything is so crowded in the summer and it gets too hot in July and August for my liking. (I’ve been able to generate my own heat now for about a year – hot flashes have their benefits.) So coming home early might not be a bad thing especially since we have to deal with our apartment building. We’ll see how it all shakes out.

(Today’s photo I took on our last road trip. The cabins are set under the shelter of the overhanging rocks for protection from avalanches. It’s a good visualization of how I feel about my relationship with God. He’s always been my protection from whatever might want to dump on me – gotta love that.)

"Rest" Party

Today was my official day to skip school so I could prepare my lesson for tonight’s Bible study. All went well as I savored the quiet of the house. Kory was off to work, Kaleb to school. I prayed, I read, I studied. Days like today go too quickly. The sun was out so I took my new bike for a spin to see how it rides with new tires, and it’s like a different bike. I am so “fornøyd” (satisfied.) I rode down to Kaleb’s school to meet up with him for the ride home. It was such a nice day.

Kaleb did his homework in record time and then we went for another bike ride together on a little “explore” around the neighborhood to see where different paths lead. He complained a bit that we had no specific goal in mind, but the problem really was that he’s been without electronics for so long he wants to make up for lost time and riding a bike with his dear old Mama just wasn’t his idea of a good time today. I took the hint and we headed home. Kory came in the door all hunched over and immediately had to lie down as he strained his back at work, so that was a bit of a bummer for him. We had an early dinner and then our Bible study group came, so we worked our way through the fourth chapter of the book of James. There’s some powerful stuff in there so it was good to have a discussion about it.

I got a text message today from the woman who schedules The Praying Women (a weekly meeting I attend as often as I can.) Kristen wrote me in Norwegian, and I understood the words, but not fully the context. The message, when translated, said she apologized for the short notice but wondered if I was available to come to a rest party tonight at her house at 7:30. I wrote her back that I could come if it was OK I came late because my Bible study ended at 7:30. It was. Then I spent the whole afternoon trying to figure out what a “rest” party was. When we meet for prayer at her house, we often do “soaking” prayer – where we all lay on the floor and are just still before God. Sometimes one or two of us falls asleep. I was wondering if that’s what she was referring to as “rest” and maybe she forgot we called it “soaking” prayer, but then I wondered about the word “party” after it – because it’s really not a party when we are praying. Then I wondered if it’s some kind of party like a Tupperware party, but they just sell things used for “resting.” Norwegians delight in doing nothing, so it would make sense to me there could be a company that would try to capitalize on that one. I just couldn’t figure it out, but I knew enough to know I better dress up a little, as any and all parties in Norway are cause for a bit of formality.

After our Bible study was over I drove over to Kristen’s house. (I’ve only driven our car a handful of times since we’ve been here – and never more than a mile away – so this was a big outing for me tonight as she lives several miles away.) When I got to her house, I immediately understood. Kristen’s daughter had her Confirmation this weekend. I found out it’s customary after weddings or confirmations to gather up all the leftovers and have another party a day or two later to eat up the REST of the food. Her daughter was confirmed on Saturday so she had a small family party yesterday to eat the REST of the cold cuts and regular food, but she saved all the cake leftovers for us Praying women and the women in her own Bible study group. Two points for Kristen! There were about ten of us there tonight, facing at least a dozen partially eaten cakes and it was as if I’d died and gone to heaven. I don’t know why or how Norwegians can make such good cakes, but there is just nothing that can compare to them in America. Normally I don’t eat cake as there is just nothing to them, but Norwegian cakes are incredible. I had to have a little piece of each one and plenty of coffee to go with it so I’m sure I’ll be awake all night. (I keep thinking I’ll start losing a little weight one of these days, and then something like this happens.) I like this “rest party” very much. The women were surprised we don’t have such a thing in America but I told them we usually pack up leftovers and send them home with people - but this Rest party idea is way better because it extends the celebration just a little bit longer.

Kristen asked me to share a few stories with the women – including about how my foot got healed. We talked a lot after that about why God heals some people and not others and how hard it is to accept His choice when it seems to make no sense to us in the here and now. Of course we don’t have God’s perspective on things and there are no easy answers, but as the old song says, “Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God… through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to depend upon His word.” He hasn’t let me down yet, and I don’t expect He ever will.

Happy Birthday Times Two

The reasons to celebrate just don’t stop. With a large family all living so close by, there is never a week without cake. Last week it was Hege’s baptism, this week it was birthdays times two. Today was both Tante Kari’s 81st birthday, as well as her cousin Oddrun’s (pronounced Ode-run) 75th birthday. Unfortunately, because of Tante Kari’s broken hip, she wasn’t feeling much like celebrating so there wasn’t really a party for her. We stopped in for a visit and to bring her a gift this afternoon however, but it was tough to see her in so much pain. She gets a hip replacement on Wednesday.

Since all the sisters live next to each other, we can’t very well go visit one aunt without stopping in to see the others, so we also had a visit with Tante Aslaug and with Tante Ruth. Ruth went on and on about having the awning over the deck and how nice it is to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air. I planted some pansies in her flower pots so she was proud to show me how much they’ve grown in the last few weeks. She couldn’t have been more pleased, so it was good for us to hear how well she is doing. They use the word “thrives” here a lot (trives). We are always asked, “Trives du her i Norge?” (Thrive you here in Norway?) Everyone always wants us to thrive, and today we found out how well the plants on the deck are thriving as well as how Aunt Ruth is thriving with the awning. Good to hear.

Kory and I were thriving well this morning without Kaleb in the house. We were actually able to have a very long uninterrupted talk because Kaleb had spent the night with a friend. We were so engrossed in the conversation, we sort of missed church. Agape didn’t have a service today because of the three day weekend and Filadelfia just had Confirmation (no regular service). I wanted to attend a Confirmation, but the conversation we were having was more important. We talked about many things but mostly about when we need to head back to Washington. One of our upcoming vacancies in our apartment building in Seattle is from our current on-site manager, so we have to figure out Plan B, since he’ll be moving out soon. Within the next week we will be buying our tickets to come home – possibly in July rather than September. We figure we can always come back and do our European road trip next Spring, but things at home are piling up and it stops being fun here if we have too many uncertainties there. We promised Kaleb a trip to Denmark to go to Legoland so we will probably take three or four weeks anyway and travel around a little before we head back, but it won’t be all we had initially planned. Life happens.

Tonight we were invited over to Kory’s mom’s cousin’s house to celebrate her 75th birthday together with all her family. Oddrun is from the Solevaag clan that grew up on the original family farm where Kory’s mom was born. Kory’s mom’s uncle inherited the Solevaag farm and raised all five of his kids there, Oddrun being one of them. All the siblings (except one) live right on the same street as that farm and some of their children and grandchildren also live just a stone’s throw away, so it’s not too hard to rally the troops and call them all together to celebrate. That is one tight knit family. (See photo of the five Solevaag siblings and us. Oddrun is to the left of Kaleb, then there’s Kitty, Olaf, Arnfinn and Terje.) All their spouses were there, most of their children and about half of their grandchildren were all together in one house – at least 35 of us, eating dinner, drinking coffee and enjoying the 11 cakes made for the occasion. Birthdays are no small matter and we so enjoyed being part of that celebration.

Kaleb was pretty peeved with me as we picked him up early from his sleep-over so he could come with us to the party. He wanted to bring his Nintendo DS game to play, figuring he’d be bored to death in the presence of so many old people, but we told him other kids would be there so he couldn’t bring his DS. Turns out every single kid – all six of them there – brought their Nintendos! Kaleb got tears in his eyes and wanted us to go back home to get his, but by that time our car was already blocked in and we couldn’t leave. He managed to entertain himself by watching the others play and when one got tired, he was able to borrow theirs. It was the funniest sight, all these little boys sitting side by side on the couch with their faces planted right in front of a little computer screen – playing “together” – as the technology allows the machines to interact if they are near each other. I’m not sure what it’s doing for his social skills, but his small motor skills sure are improving with the work-out his fingers get. And perhaps this type of interaction is more indicative of his generation anyway, but I don’t think it goes as well with coffee and cake.

An Incredibly Boring Day

The weather was most unpredictable today so we scratched our plans to go for another hike (my body is thankful for that). Instead, we cleaned house. Kaleb had arranged a sleepover with a friend for tonight so I told him we wouldn’t take him there until his room was clean. It took him nearly all day to clean it, but it was pretty impressive by day’s end. I used the time to clean my desk, which tends to get overrun with paperwork and little bits of this and that. And Kory used the bulk of his day changing out the tires on my new/used bike. He was concerned I’d have a blowout sometime soon, so he solved that problem. He likes to solve problems.

Our big outing today was going to the mall at Moa to buy some groceries. We ran into a few people Kory is related to so it almost felt like it was a social outing, not an errand. I also ran into a woman that used to go to my Norwegian class – she got a job stocking produce at the supermarket. She doesn’t like the job so much but she said it’s better than going to class. The mall was packed today. Since all the stores were closed yesterday and will be again tomorrow – there was a run on groceries. We were there around 2pm and many of the shelves were already empty. I guess it also has to do with the fact it’s Confirmation time so many people are having parties this weekend, but it was almost scary looking. There wasn’t a loaf of bread in sight, and an entire aisle of meats was just empty. The grocery store must have been a madhouse when the doors opened today. I’m still not used to NOT being able to buy what I want when I go to the store to buy it. It always catches me by surprise that some basic item like bread or eggs or milk might actually not be there when I go. I’m such a spoiled American.

We saw a lot of “Russ” (pronounced Roose) kids at the mall today. Russ is defined in the dictionary as “sixth former” so I have no idea what it really means, but when I looked up “sixth former” it said something about studies at the “videregaaendeskole,” which is what they call high school. I do know that starting May 1st every year, all the kids that are going to complete “high school” begin their shenanigans. High schools here are more like trade school/community college type things. Kids are only required to attend school for ten years so the last three years are optional. If they go, they have to pick a specific course of study and when they are done, they are certified in some trade, or prepared academically for further study in a field if it requires advanced education. So all these kids we would call soon “graduates” are called “Russ.” And for some reason, after May 1st, they all wear bright red overalls everyday for the last six weeks of school. The overalls have all kinds of things printed on them – weird sayings, the Norwegian flag, handprints… it’s all very artsy. I’m not sure if they order them that way or customize them themselves, but they are pretty darn proud they are finishing up school and they want to be noticed, that’s for sure. Also, a lot of Russ kids go together and buy bright red vans and they all paint their names on the sides of them, along with other slogans and symbols, and they drive them around town honking their horns and drawing attention to themselves. These vans get passed down from one graduating class to another and I think there is a special permit they must get just for these six weeks because I see those vans parked behind buildings the rest of the year and no one drives them anywhere – but now they are out on the roads enforce. The local newspaper had an article on the number of traffic tickets issued to Russ vans the first night of Russ. Russ students also design bright red business cards they get printed up with their picture on it (usually with some corny pose), their personal motto and contact information. Younger kids collect these Russ cards like my brothers used to collect baseball cards. Even Tante Kari has all her grandkids’ Russ cards stuck in the mirror in her entryway – so I’m not sure what’s up with that either, but it’s a long standing tradition here. The Russ kids pull pranks on each other and there is a lot of tolerance for the mischief they make. I’m not sure they break many laws but they do a lot of crazy things and have a lot of parties, that’s for sure. I guess it’s a time they all get to act out and be childish one last time before they enter the work force or go on to higher education. It’s a little different than in the U.S. as graduation itself is somewhat dignified and a more formal event, but here it’s quite the opposite, as they don’t even have a graduation ceremony.

After Kaleb left for his sleepover, Kory and I were incredibly bored as we couldn’t think of a thing to do. We will not be good empty-nesters, I’m afraid. Kory wanted to go to a movie but I didn’t want to spend the money. We now have one vacancy at our apartment building in Seattle and two more on the way. The economic crisis is finally hitting us. We may need to go home even earlier than expected if we don’t find some renters soon! Yikes.

The First of May - International Worker's Day

It’s a National holiday all over Europe and most of the industrialized world today – a day for celebrating how far worker’s rights have come, but also a day to protest if some feel they haven’t come far enough. Most people here in Norway have nothing to complain about, so a marching band here or there might go down a street blasting out tunes, but otherwise, people are up in the mountains or at their cabins just enjoying the day off. We took to the hills today as the weather continues to be outstanding for this time of year. Kaleb perfected his flying skills (see photo) once we were on top. It was a rough landing, but he’ll do anything for a goofy photo. The hike up was slow so as not to overtax Kory’s heart. I appreciated having that as an excuse as the going is pretty slow for me these days too – my knees sometimes feel like they are going to give out on me so I go slow and steady – so afraid I’ll fall. Tante Kari’s fall a few weeks ago broke her hip and now we found out yesterday the pins they put in her to repair the break didn’t hold so she has to have hip replacement surgery next week. I’m extra cautious because of stuff like that because I know I’m not getting any younger and I’m beyond trying to impress anyone.

The spring wildflowers were out in force today and made the two hour hike up ever so pleasant. We also encountered plenty of dogs, which kept Kaleb happy. The hike up was without incident, but the hike down provided one of the funniest moments I’ve experienced in a long time. If anyone would have seen it, it would have been embarrassing, however. It was so hot today I drank a little too much water while we were sitting on top of the mountain. On the way down, nature called. I went off on a side trail and then into some bushes to relieve myself. I had forgotten to bring my walking sticks that my friend Paula gave me, so Kory found a stick I used to steady myself when stepping down from uneven surfaces. I used the stick to beat around in the bushes and make sure no poisonous snakes were lurking nearby, as they often end up, literally, biting people in the butt when they using nature in such a way that exposes their behind. I was confident it was a safe location to pee and when I was done, I used the stick to help me stand up, but it broke in half and I lost my balance and fell head over heels backwards into the bushes and down a little hill. I didn’t go far but I got a few scratches on my butt and plenty of little branches in my hair and places I’d rather not say. I was so worried I’d encounter a snake as I made my way back up the hill and while looking for my camera (it went flying out of my shirt pocket as I rolled backwards). I couldn’t help but giggle all the way back to where Kory and Kaleb were waiting for me and when I told them what happened, Kaleb nearly collapsed in laughter. He wanted all the details, as I’m sure he will repeat them time and time again. He insisted on seeing my scratches when we got home, and then he howled all the more. I guess I’ll be the butt of that joke for years to come. Too funny.

We didn’t spend as much time up on the mountain as we would have liked to because we were invited to Benjamin's birthday party. Benjamin and Kaleb have played together several times over the years as he’s a foster grandson to Kory’s cousin Axel. We were happy to be invited to Kenneth and Miriam’s (Axel and Kari’s daughter's) house for a wonderful outdoor BBQ and time with the whole family. And after the party was over and everyone went home but us and Axel and Kari and Tante Aslaug, we all watched a movie together. But it wasn’t just sitting around watching a movie in someone’s living room kind of thing – no – this was something special. Kenneth built an incredible movie theatre in the basement of their house that is one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced. One wall is just the screen and it’s set up to show movies made with Blue-ray high definition quality so the picture is crisper than anything I’ve ever seen before anywhere. And behind the screen wall is a room with a huge movie library, so we got to go in and pick the film of our choice. The surround sound vibrated the furniture when the volume increased, but the whole room is sound proofed so none of the sound escaped and woke their baby sleeping upstairs. They bought special comfy couches to sit on that are so deep our legs couldn’t touch the floor - so we got to recline back with our feet up and watch the show (we picked “Ratatouille”). Kenneth even stair-stepped the floor so those in the back row sat up higher than those in front so every seat was a good seat. What an experience that was. Now Kory and Kaleb are conniving and planning on how they can do the same in our basement. We could never do something as extensive as Kenneth did, but I really think the boys will keep harping on me about it - maybe hoping I’ll just settle for a flat screen TV with some kind of cable hookup when we get home. I’m holding out as long as I can.