The Lord's Day

It was an interesting day today.  I guess if we weren’t church goin’ folks we would have been up in the mountains or down at the sea, enjoying the beautiful sunshine and blue skies God blessed us with, but since we were so thankful for all God has already blessed us with, we went to church, three times, as it turns out, and thanked him for that.

We walked across the street to Philadelphia Church this morning.  Not many people were there because of summer vacations, but we were still glad to see a few familiar faces and to hear a good sermon, most of which, I understood.

After eating a quick lunch at home, we decided to head out to Vigra, a nearby island and see if the British folks we met on Tuesday were home, so we could take them up on their offer for a cup of tea.  They were there, cleaning up after a full house, and they invited us in to hear their incredible story of how they ended up running a B&B in Norway.

Turns out Carol and Clive are very strong Christians and it was really the voice of God that told them to come.  He orchestrated dozens of miracles to make it happen and I sat with my jaw dropped open at the mention of each one - truly a miraculous two-year process to get them to leave England and come here.  They didn’t know the first thing about running a B&B and they had no desire to move to Norway, as they had been here on vacation once and felt a terrible spiritual presence when they walked into one of the old Stave churches.  (I’d have to agree that a heavy spirit of religion and tradition lay thick over this land.  People here know about God but have no interest in making Him personal.)

Once they had it confirmed over and over what they were to do, they put their house in England up for sale and didn’t know even where to consider moving.  Clive asked God if He’d at least tell them the city they should move to and in the middle of the night he heard the word “Aalesund.”  He had never heard of it before but they looked on the internet and found a B&B for sale nearby.  It had been built as a retreat center for some wacko cult religion and the guy that built it got cancer and died shortly thereafter.  He’d built it two years prior - the same time God started telling Carol and Clive to move to Norway, but it took them two years to sell their house and get everything lined up to go. (The photo below isn't there B&B but a nice house we passed along the way there.)

Carol was required by the Norwegian government to take a test about all the ins and outs of running a B&B.  She had to get 40 out of 50 correct before they would be issued a license to open.  Poor Carol didn’t know a word of Norwegian, didn’t understand the instructions she was being given, and just sat with this list of questions and multiple choice answers and asked God on each one, which box should she mark.  She got 42 out of 50 correct and no one was more surprised than the woman giving the test.  Stuff like that happened to them over and over. 

They flew up to buy the B&B in just one day and they met with an accountant they’d heard about for 30 minutes, asking if he’d do the books for them.  He called them in England and told them he’d set up everything for them at the bank, and the bank required a 112,000 kroner deposit (nearly $19k) but he put his own money in there for them and said they could just pay him back when they got to Norway.  When does that ever happen?  Unbelievable stuff like that happened over and over so they knew they were moving in the right direction. 

So it was more than a little interesting to listen to them over a cup of tea.  We then had to take a few minutes and them the story of how God provided our condo in Norway as well, and we all sat there shaking our heads in amazement at the goodness of God and how He works. 

They told us they look at themselves as missionaries (as do we), and the B&B is just a way for them to be involved with people.  They don’t make a living off it, as they have their pensions from England for their own expenses, but they’ve managed to keep the B&B open as God continues to provide business for them.  They’ve been doing it for 16 months now but they are a bit discouraged by how closed the Norwegian Christians are to really wanting to understand God on a personal level.  They’re also kinda homesick as they realize Norwegians don’t socialize with anyone but their own families, and they haven’t made any friends or been invited anywhere in all the time they’ve lived here.  We’ll fix that soon enough.

Every Sunday they hold a Bible study in the living room of their B&B and they said sometimes no one shows up, so we told them we’d show up today.  We had been there for a few hours already so we took a break and went down to a gorgeous beach (see photos!) nearby that we’d heard about last year and wanted to see, so we did get a few minutes in the sun at the beach, afterall. 

Turns out we were the only ones that showed up today, but Clive had prepared a study and he just dove in, talking about scriptures in 2 Peter.  He was well prepared and even kept Kaleb’s interest.  I was surprised Kaleb joined in on some of the discussions we had, so that was a special treat.

They wanted us to stay for coffee afterwards but we had planned to go to Agape Church tonight as they only have evening services in the summer, since so many are gone this time of year.  We rushed home and I made the fastest dinner I’ve ever made in my life and we ate it almost as fast, all within 20 minutes, then we drove over to Agape.  Tina was there waiting for us as I’d invited her to come along.  She normally goes to Philadelphia but she texted me this morning and said she’d be in the mountains thinking about God, and I texted her back that I’d be in church thinking about her (and God).  (She bought a t-shirt at Yellowstone that said, “I’d rather be in the mountains thinking about God, than in church, thinking about the mountains.”  It’s just SO her.)

It was a great sermon and worship time at Agape, even with only about 25 in attendance.  Afterwards we stopped by Odd and Turid’s house and they tried very hard to get Kory to eat some dinner with them, grilled pork, vegetables covered in bacon, and fried potatoes, but he just drank a glass of water and thanked them for their kindness.  They invited us over for Wednesday dinner and Turid took me aside to ask me what he will eat.  I guess he’ll be getting some fish again that night.

It was a nice night to sit out on their very familiar deck and chat away until nearly midnight, but then all good things must come to an end, so that was the end of our first Sunday in Norway this year, and not a whole heck of a lot got crossed off the to-do list.  There’s always tomorrow. (Photo below is taken after midnight from our deck of the moon moving along the horizon.)

A Non Fat-Free Day!

The socializing continued today, but this time with friends, not family.  I just love the life we have here.

This morning I went in search of applesauce and had no luck.  I anticipated that “challenge” so I brought some small pre-packaged cups of it with me, but security at Sea-Tac confiscated them, saying they were “liquid.”  I knew I needed them for fat-free baking because applesauce is a great substitute for oil in any recipe, so I was high and dry this morning not knowing what to do.  Then I remembered it’s so easy to make it, so I sliced up an apple, added a bit of water and waited at least an hour for that thing to cook down enough to use it in the Pineapple Upside-down cake I made to take over to Sandra’s house.  The cake was better than ever and definitely worth repeating on a regular basis.  I did offer them some vanilla sauce to pour over the top, just in case, but they thought it was so good, they passed.  Incredible.

While I was in pursuit of the applesauce, Kory was busy working on the to-do list.  He fixed the ladder on Kaleb’s bunk bed, repaired the threshold going into the bathroom, and also re-grouted a spot by the bathroom door (see photo above - and check out my "office" behind him). He also re-hung a few things that got taken down.  All I managed to do (while the cake was baking) was scrub the living room rug with soap and hot water.  We’d set it out on the deck last night so the rain would pre-wet it.  Having it professionally cleaned costs more than buying a new one and I didn’t want to do either, so the rain that came today was just what I needed.  Now I hope it dries before we leave town.  Ha.

We picked up Kaleb from his overnighting with Daniel, on our way over to Sandra and Karl’s house (below) in Langevaag, the town where Kory grew up.  They had us over early in the day because they have a three-year-old that goes to bed early, so it was good for us all.  They just bought a fixer-upper so they were anxious to show us around. 

The guy that owned their house previously bought it for 1,200,000 kroner ($200,000) and in the four years he lived there he never once made a mortgage payment.  The crazy thing was, the bank had loaned him a total of two million kroner ($333,333) to fix it up, and he never did. He just kept the money.  He is from Poland and a bit on the shady side as he was making regular runs to Poland to pick up drugs, alcohol and tobacco to sell them for cash in Norway, so the traffic was non-stop to his place, which is on a dead end street.

All the neighbors complained about his behavior and his vicious German Shepherd dog, but nothing was done.  Even the bank was forbidden to foreclose on him because he had school age children and it would have meant they’d be homeless.  In Norway, no one with kids is allowed to be homeless, so they looked at it as a situation that it was better to be a burden to the neighborhood, than to the community, because the Kommune  (county) would have then been required to provide them with totally free housing, indefinitely, if the bank foreclosed.  Crazy system.  It wasn’t until his wife left with the children and moved back to Poland, that the bank could actually evict him.  Even the police had to have a hearing with a judge in order to kill his dog because it was so mean (the guy kept him in a collar with 1” spikes digging into his neck at all times and had him caged up like a wild animal.)  Poor thing.

Sandra said the neighborhood was so relieved to have them move in and they have a long way to go before anyone considers them a bad neighbor, as the guy had non-stop parties with drinking, smoking pot, loud music and outdoor sex (in the driveway!) all the time – even in front of the neighborhood kids.  The police would show up, but no arrests were made and no permanent changes ever happened, so a few had already put their houses up for sale and moved on.  The houses aren’t side by side on a street like in America, they are all clustered closely together in a big bunch so there’s neighbors all around.  The previous owner built an “illegal” fence, (too high by building codes), and an illegal garage (too close to the property line) and even the county told them to just take their time in “fixing” those things – so everyone is cutting them slack BIG TIME because they are just so happy that a normal family has moved in.

The sad part for Sandra (above with hubby) was that after they looked at the house and made the offer to buy it for 1,500,000 kroner (a real deal at $250,000), the guy still had 3 months to leave the property.  In that time, he trashed the inside of the house by knocking big holes in the walls, bathtub, and cabinets.  He tore the electrical wires from the ceiling and set a booby trap to blow up the house, which thankfully they discovered, before it was too late.  They appealed to the bank to lower the cost of the house by 100,000 kroner ($16,666), but the bank just gave them 40,000  ($6,666) to help with the costs of repairing it, so they have their work cut out for them fixing things.  They were hoping to offer Kaleb a part-time summer job helping them clean stuff up, do some painting and pressure washing, but he doesn’t want to take any time away from his friends, so he wouldn’t do it.  I’m going to try and help her, though, but what a job. It’s a great house in a wonderful location so I am happy for them and their little boy Karl-Alexander. 

That kid loves me.  All afternoon he kept saying, “Hi-ya Nikka!” to me over and over and Sandra said he doesn’t go to anyone else like he goes to me – hugging my neck, kissing me and wanting to be with me every minute.  I’m sure it’s because I prayed for that little boy long before he was even conceived – I prayed THAT he’d be conceived (they had to go to Latvia for in-vitro many, many times), and I prayed when his twin brother, in utero, died -  that he’d hold fast.  Then I prayed when Sandra’s water broke three months early, that he’d make it, and he did and he’s cute as a button.  So I think, honestly, his spirit is somehow connected to me as I don’t think I’ve prayed for any kid more, except for Kaleb. 

We had a great visit and I’m thankful they now live closer to us.  Kory was thankful he actually got to eat some grilled torsk (cod) and all the other food was fat-free so he felt like a king.  They were so kind to accommodate us.  Karl said last night he was looking on the internet as to “what vegans eat” because he thought it was just salad, but he was surprised to see they eat all kinds of things.  I thought that was funny.

On our way home we stopped by Tina and Are’s house to pick up some dried fish they got for us to take home for our neighbor who loves that stuff (so does Kory but he can’t eat it).  We thought it would be a two minute side-trip and it ended up being a three hour visit.  They were in the middle of making mørsbrød lefse which is a regional food from up north.  Are’s mother is from northern Norway, and this special type of lefse is only made there.  He gets a hankering for it every now and then so today was our lucky day, as we got to stay and eat some! 

What makes this lefse special is not just the recipe for the lefse itself, but what’s put inside.  Normal lefse is coated with butter, sugar and cinnamon, then rolled up like a tortilla and eaten.  But his type of lefse is cooked stiff then set back on the grill right before eating it.  The most unique part is the special sauce that’s made for the inside - full of all kinds of fat:  whole milk, cream, brown cheese, sugar and syrup.  It’s cooked a long time until it thickens, then spread out over the lefse while it’s on the grill the second time.  A dollop of sour cream is put in the middle with a few drops of syrup and then it’s folded so it looks more like a diaper or envelope, than a tortilla.  And rather than eating it with both hands like traditional lefse, it’s opened up a bit and torn to pieces, dipping each chunk into the sour cream/syrup center.  And let me just say it was DEE-LISH!  Man, oh man was it good!  I even had to let Kory have a small bite because it was such an unusual taste, almost carmel-like but not quite.  There’s nothing else like it, that’s for sure.  What a treat.  I’m so glad we stopped by!

So we had a nice long visit with Tina and Are and had some good laughs over their time with us in America earlier this month – mostly about how much I yell at Kory when he’s driving too fast, or too slow, or misses a turn and also about how much weight they all lost eating my fat-free cooking.   I just love the pace of life here, where the focus is on socializing and just hanging with friends and family and the to-do list seems so unimportant on days like today.  It’s good to be back.

Let The Socializing Begin!

I spent the entire day hunting for, buying, and preparing two fat-free vegan salads to take with us to the cousin’s potluck tonight.  I would have thought a few hours, max, but nope, some ingredients were just not that easy to find.  Good thing I brought the dried cranberries with me or that dish would have not tasted the same.  And it’s a good thing I made two dishes that Kory could eat, because he pretty much stuck to what he could have and only took a small amount of food with fat in it, so I was thanking God for that.  He even went jogging today!

I noticed at one grocery store, they’ve started carrying more organic produce and the weirdest thing is – it’s cheaper than the non-organic!  All I can figure is the government is subsidizing that industry because that was quite a shocker – but a pleasant one, at that. (Photo above is the sidewalk at the mall.  The brick wall behind the trees on the right is the mall and the brick building behind the white one all the way on the left is our condo. Our front door is visible on the top floor.)

Every time I go to the store I buy small plants to put on the balcony and by our front door.  Norwegians just love blooming flowers everywhere and it’s so nice to walk down the hallway in front of our condo and see a blooming garden along the way, so I need to contribute to the beauty of it all.  I love “playing house” in Norway. (Photo below is of our front door, all spiffed up.)

My office didn’t get set up nor did I finalize the decorations in the living room because of time constraints, but Kory was able to do a few household repairs and shop for wood to make some shelves in the bedroom, so at least his day involved crossing things off our huge “to-do” list.  As soon as we cross off one thing, we add two more, as we want to fix absolutely everything we can while we are here to leave it in good shape for whoever might rent it in the future.

After sleeping in until 10:30 again, Kaleb left us in early afternoon and rode his bike over to Daniel’s house (five miles away - and in the neighborhood of the top photo) to spend the night.  I then headed to the bank to transfer some money, as it’s flying out of here faster than I want to think about.  Other than walking to the bank and to a few stores looking for cilantro, which I found out is called “coriander” here, and romaine lettuce, which is much harder to find that you’d think… I was in the kitchen all day.  But the party tonight was wonderful as it was so great to see everyone together again.  I even learned a few new things about Norwegian life and also about the lives of the people we love.

The sad news we heard was that Tante Kari has a form of cancer in her blood and she needs blood transfusions every few weeks.  It’s not looking good for her, which breaks my heart.  I could see she’d lost a lot of weight this past year but her spirits are still high and she still lights up when she sees her family, so that’s good.  She’s the youngest of all the sisters though, and previously the one with the most spunk, but now she’s becoming more frail and disheartened by her broken hip that never healed right, the heart surgery she had recently and now this cancer.  She’s 84 but I would have sworn a few years ago she’d live to 100.  Now, I’m not so sure.

Her son, Odd (pronounced “Ode”) was there tonight, along with his two brothers, Ketil and Rune and their ex-brother-in-law, Atle.  Kari’s only daughter, Kari-Anna, died in 1994 of an undiagnosed heart problem, when she was only 31 years old.  She was married to Atle and they had three small children.  It was a tragedy for the whole family.  Even though Atle’s got a new woman in his life, he keeps in close contact with this side of the family, so that’s nice. (Photo above is Tante Kari with L to R, Atle, Rune, Ketil and Odd.)

Dr. Odd looked at my poor little finger that just won’t work right after I took a nasty spill several weeks ago down some stairs at home.  He’s pretty sure I broke a bone in my hand and should have seen a doctor.  Oh well.  My catastrophic insurance wouldn’t have helped any and I had better things to do with the money it would have cost for x-rays and doctor visits, so I’ll just have to live with it.  I hope the pain goes away someday though, even if that finger won’t ever work quite right.

Odd’s wife, Turid, was at the party also, along with Marit, one of Odd’s daughters who is here visting from Oslo. (Photo above.) Turid and I had a nice chat and caught up on a few things.  It seems she’s soon to be famous.  She was asked by a well-known author to illustrate a children’s book that will be published next month!  Very exciting for her and I’m so glad we’ll be around when it hits the bookstores so we can buy a first edition copy.

The party was held at Cousin Axel’s and Kari’s house (photo below is of them).  He’s Tante (aunt) Aslaug’s, son’s.  Aslaug’s daughter, Linda and husband, were also there along with their oldest son, Rasmus, who will be married in a few weeks, so he was there with his fiancé, Karina.  They met while attending music college in Trondheim, but she grew up very near Cousin Axel’s house (in our old neighborhood) and said she remembers when we lived there because she rode the same bus as Kaleb and I, and she listened to us speaking English to each other.  Small world.

We drove past our old house tonight on the way home.  The “Sinking Houses” look much better than when we lived there as there is a real lawn now and everyone has a wooden deck off the back.  The Norwegian flags Kory painted inside and out of the bus stop next door are still there – unharmed.  I guess whenever anyone does any graffiti on the background, neighbors paint over it, but no one has yet to mar the painted flags themselves, as they are considered holier than a cross, even to vandals.

I asked the soon-to-be-bride, Karina, if she was ready for the wedding. The only thing she hadn’t done yet is buy “the morning after gift.”  I had to ask what that was and she said it’s customary that the bride and groom buy a gift and give them to each other the morning after their wedding.  She tried to convince me this was a tradition that came over from America, but when I told her I had never heard of it before, she was genuinely puzzled.  I thought that was funny – that Americans even get credit for longstanding Norwegian traditions.  I think America has had too big of an influence on Norwegian culture already, so I was glad to set her straight. (photo below.)

Everyone tonight asked where Kaleb was and I just pointed out the window, as the house where he was staying was just across the bay and visible with the naked eye (see photo below - it is the white house above the black one).  I got out the binoculars to see if I could spy on him, but no luck, as the angle was wrong.  At least it helped me not miss him too much since I could see where he was.  All the relatives are happy to hear he spends so much time with friends when he’s here and they are all quite concerned with what his schooling will look like this coming year.  I just tell them he’s going to write a book and that we’re kinda taking a year off from academics.  It’s all I know right now, anyway.

Odd got a message on his phone tonight from a smart phone application he’s subscribed to.  It alerts people as to where the police are scanning the license plates.  I thought that was funny.  I guess the other thing they are looking for is to be sure everyone’s car “check-up” is up to date.  It’s required by law that every car get’s an “EU Control” check (European Union) where they make sure they aren’t emitting too much exhaust, that all things work on the car, etc.  Fortunately, we had that done last year, so we are good for another year.  They don’t miss a thing.  I guess when they pull people over, the police immediately remove the license plates off the vehicle and the driver has to find another way home.  The cars just sit on the side of the road until the owner brings it into compliance.  No lawyers get anyone out of that situation, that’s for sure and there is apparently nothing to blame on a “computer mix-up.” (Photo below is of Cousin Linda and her husband, Leif-Eric.)

I found out tonight that Norway is having big immigrant problems right now because everyone knows they are such a rich country.  Axel told me many polish people are coming up this summer to work the strawberry harvest because they can earn more money picking strawberries in Norway than a doctor can make in Poland.  There’s just something wrong with that system.  (Photo below is of Cousin Rune and his wonderful partner, Sol.  He wasn’t too cooperative in getting a nice photo.)

Norway is also suffering from huge groups of Romanians coming in by the hundreds and setting up tent cities outside churches, begging for help.  They are all illegal, of course, but they are playing off Norway’s compassionate socialism and how the country treats everyone equally.  Of course Norway will run out of money if they keep bailing out bankrupt cities, countries and individuals, but as long as that oil in the North Sea keeps pumping, I’m sure they aren’t too worried about going broke anytime soon.

While we were at the party, my friend, Sandra, whom I met in Norwegian class, called to invite us over for dinner tomorrow night.  What a thrill that was.  She then called back later and asked what Kory can eat, so that was even more exciting that she wants to cater to his strict diet.  I told her to just cook Norwegian style and boil everything. He’d be good with boiled potatoes, carrots, steamed cauliflower, salad and even boiled fish, as long as there was no added fat.  She’s British and very relieved it would be so simple.  I told her I’d bring dessert, so hopefully tomorrow it won’t take all day to find what I need to make a fat-free pineapple upside down cake.  At least I brought along the key ingredients for that one. 

(Photo above is of Odd’s wife Turid, and yours truly.  My tan is fading fast due to cloud cover, however.)