A Moving Day

3 May 2013

Today would have been Tante Kari’s 85^th birthday.  I hope they are celebrating in heaven because there’s not much celebrating the day down here, since we all miss her so terribly.  Everytime I’m at the mall and I see the back of a head with beautiful white hair, my heart skips a beat thinking it’s Tante Kari, but a split second afterwards, I remember it can’t be.  So sad she’s gone.

It was another day not worthy of being out of doors, so I made the best of it inside.  I wrote an article for the newspaper, thankfully, as I’ve had writers block all week. The pressure mounts to produce new material.  What was I thinking when I decided to be a writer?  Someday my brain just won’t go there.

Nothing was on the calendar for today, so I was glad about that, and there’s plenty of leftovers in the frig so I knew I didn’t even have to cook a thing.  Kaleb did schoolwork all day, still sniffing, coughing and blowing his nose raw.  Kory built another shelf for the bench he made for Turid and then spent the rest of the day over at their house, building a fake beam for their ceiling where they’d done some remodeling and tore our a wall.  The ceiling has a big gap in it, and has for years, but now is the time to get that fixed.  They have their sights on selling their place one day so Kory’s the guy to get it ready.

I went to the mall just to clear my head and see if I could come up with some story ideas, and it helped, actually.  I took some funny photos, like a boat sitting at the front of the store like someone’s ship has just come in, and it was full of beer.  And another funny thing was that lying in the candy section of the store (above)  were snack packs of dried fish –as if that really is someone’s “candy.”  It is, actually, to many old folks.  

Confirmations are going on now, 17^th of May is coming up and Russ has started  - these are all three huge events in the life of any Norwegian, and the mall is full of bunads, decorations for Confirmations and high school kids running around in red overalls (below), showing they are “Russ” – seniors ready to graduate.  Russ is a crazy tradition here that lasts for about 3 weeks of non-stop parties and stupid antics that border on dangerous.  I hear them now, at midnight, out in the street honking their horns.  It’s illegal to honk a horn in Norway, so many of their stunts revolve around breaking laws and not getting caught.  Uff da.

Kaleb made a few trips to the mall today too, once I told him that Easter chocolate was marked down to about 80 cents, one third the original price.  They don’t do chocolate bunnies here, they do chickens.  Everything with Easter has to do with chickens, so they had hollow chocolate chickens with a hollow chocolate egg inside with candies inside that which are like M&Ms.  It was a bargain, so he took all the money he’d earned so far and went over and bought chickens!  He figured we’ll be here 8 weeks so he’ll have at least two a week while we are here, then he bought some to take home for his friends.  They aren’t easy to pack, however, but they sure are cute.  He was well pleased with that bargain.

Odd and Turid have been gone all week, taking a moving truck down to southern Norway to help Odd’s son, Haavard and his new wife, pack up their things and move back here.  I made some food for all of them, as I knew they’d be getting in late, and would be hungry, so I baked cookies and made some salmon dip for a late night snack.  Kory took it over to Odd’s place as he told me that Haavard would be staying over there for a few days until he got unpacked in Tante Kari’s place downstairs.  Well, once all the food was gone, here comes the moving truck right to our building.  Many hands were around to help, including ours, and they were unpacked in no time and had no intention of going over to Odd’s.  So much for that brilliant plan.  At least Turid has something to eat, but I knew Haavard’s cupboards would be empty and he’d need something… oh well. 

Haavard has been to visit us briefly in America, but I just met his new wife today.  She is a doctor that will be working with Odd, eventually taking over his practice, and Haavard is a shrink.  I told them it’s good we will now be neighbors because we need them both.  Ha.

Guests Upon Guests

2 May 2013

Today was a day I wasn’t sure I’d get through without the help of God, Kory and Kaleb.  I had invited Kory’s cousin Axel and his wife Kari and their youngest daughter Roda and her fiancé, Greg and Axel’s mom, Tante Aslaug for dinner.  That part would have been no problem, but today was the only day they could do it so there was no changing that date.  Then last week I invited over a few friends for lunch from Agape Church and as it turned out with them, today was the only day it worked for all of them, too.  Back to back guests for lunch and dinner was truly a challenge, even for me.

I made the bulk of the food yesterday for the lunch guests, but it still took me nearly 90 minutes to set the table with all the do-dads that have to be set out in order to pull off a truly Norwegian meal.  Everything has to be put in a serving dish and the table needs to be set just so with the candles burning when the guests arrive.  Whew.  I thought I’d have time this morning to make some cookies or something before they got here, but the minutes just ticked away and I was done about 7 minutes before they arrived, smack on time, as all Norwegians do.  And as tradition goes, there is very little chit-chat before everyone sits down to eat, as most invitations to an event will start right when the food is done, so there are never appetizers or time to linger, it’s like company shows up and you sit down to eat immediately.  At least I was prepared for that today.

Kory and Kaleb disappeared for a few hours down to Tante Kari’s condo after the ladies arrive, so Kaleb could do some school work and we didn’t have to listen to his non-stop coughing and nose blowing.  It also freed up the airspace, so we could talk about whatever we wanted.  As it turned out, we talked a lot about adjusting to Norwegian life, as one of the other women that came has just been here for five months and only married three weeks ago.  She talked about the daily depression she has to fight in order to stay here, which is something I’ve heard repeatedly from others that married Norwegians and live in this dark, rainy, cold land.  She also talked about the coldness of the people, which even Norwegians will agree to.  It’s not so easy to make friends here with the locals, but being in a church environment really takes care of that problem, as many are friendlier than non-church folks.

So we listened to each other’s stories of how God has brought us through tough times, some told of miracles and prophesies they’ve had and we all felt better having been together for a few hours – plus they loved the food I made, which was a bonus.  I made a pasta salad with no recipe, just threw stuff together that Kory could also eat, and it turned out pretty good.

When they left at three o’clock, Kory, Kaleb and I kicked into hyper mode to help me clean up the living room and kitchen, get a load of dishes going in the dishwasher and start preparing for the next meal.  Kaleb peeled carrots while Kory cut up potatoes and I prepared the fish.  I’ve been baking Torsk in parchment paper lately for company, as it’s easy to do and there’s no added fat for Kory and it tastes downright yummy… so we were operating at super speed and by the time the next wave of guests arrived, dinner was in the oven and minutes from being served, right on schedule.  Whew again.

We had a lovely evening with the Wikanes family (above), talking mostly about travels we’ve all had to different places around the world.  Roda and Greg (from England) are quiet the travelers and also very adventurous with the foods they eat and experiences they’ve had – like skydiving in New Zealand, eating puffer fish in China and running naked on the beach in Vietnam.  They have been together almost four years and have only worked in order to save money for their next big adventure, but now they are getting married in August and will probably settle down a bit.  Greg’s not sure of the life he’ll now have here in Norway, but he’s a man in love, so it shouldn’t be too bad. 

I asked Greg what his biggest observation is about life in Norway, versus life in England and he said, “they don’t put the top piece of bread on their sandwiches,” which I thought was funny since the Earl of Sandwich is from England and he is credited with inventing that top piece of bread for ease of travel.

Kory so kindly cleaned up the dinner mess after everyone left.  I’ve been limited in my washing duties since my finger is still healing and it’s very sensitive to touch things.  At least all the dead skin is off now so it doesn’t look so horrible, but I’ll have one terrific scar to remind me of my stubbornness for not getting stitches. 

The snow/hail/rain and sunshine continued today.  We woke up to white on the ground and it was snowing during dinner.  Kaleb, at one point, yelled outside, “Would you just make up your mind?” as about every fifteen minutes, it was something different.  We did have a peak at the sun as it was setting tonight (top photo), so that was a treat, and we saw that all the mountains around us are now covered in a thicker layer of snow, so I’m not sure I’ll be climbing up any those anytime soon. 

I hate to complain about the weather, especially since Seattle is getting quite the stretch of sunshine in the next week, as our life is so blessed in so many other ways, but it does seem a bit ironic that they had nothing but sunshine all winter here, and now that we show up, the rain has returned.  Funny, God, really funny.

May Day

1 May 2013

Today was a “red day.”  That’s how they describe holidays in Norway – because they appear on all calendars in red, rather than black ink.  People are free from their jobs, all businesses are closed and schools take a break.  It’s their “Labor Day,” so we were treated to a marching band (above) in front of our condo building and Norwegian flags flying high overhead on an otherwise very quiet day, except for the strong winds whipping everything to and fro.

Kaleb was still feeling a bit punky, so he expected to spend the day in bed again, until his friend Daniel called, then all of a sudden he was up and out the door.  Kory was gone all afternoon working at his cousin Odd’s house repairing a hole in their flooring, which left me home alone.  It was glorious.

I spent most of the day packing up more dishes and glass things I want to bring home with me, so I’m getting suitcases and small boxes of things ready in case any future visiting Norwegians come with empty suitcases.  Glassware is heavy, so I can’t pack too much in one place, but I got a good deal of it tucked away today so that takes some stress out of the coming weeks.

I’ve invited a few friends over for lunch tomorrow so I spent another few hours today making food for that event.  In the midst of my cooking, the doorbell rang and it was our old neighbor, Sabina (above), who stopped by for a visit.  She was about to attend a confirmation meeting at Philadelphia Church next door, but had an hour to kill so she thought she’d come see us.  I loved visiting with her while I was chopping up things.  We talked about all her good memories from her visit to us in America 18 months ago, and about all her memories of us as her neighbor almost five years ago.  We spoke in Norwegian, so it was good practice for me.  It’s nice to see she’s all grown up and I was glad she stopped in.

Tonight we were invited to the 40^th birthday party for Pastor Mark from Agape Church.  We went a little early and stopped by Cousin Bjørn’s house to drop off some tools Kory borrowed.  We talked with Bjørn about the possibility of them coming to visit us again next year in America, and we also got to see Tobias (above) for the first time since we’ve been here this year.  He’s all grown up, too!  They want us to hike up Norway’s highest mountain with them next month, but the part of walking over the top of a glacier for one hour just doesn’t set well with me.  I take about twice as long as the normal person when out on a hike, and I hate to slow them down that much.  They are mountain climbing folks and I’m just a newbie to it all and not in that great of shape… Ugh.  Maybe I’ll feel differently after I hike up a few mountains this month, but so far the weather hasn’t cooperated with our schedule.  Maybe it’s a blessing that it hasn’t.

So Pastor Mark’s birthday party was well attended and once again we got caught off guard.  None of us dressed up, as that church is very relaxed and even Mark wears torn jeans and a t-shirt to preach on Sundays… but we forgot about how formal Norwegians are for parties and people were wearing fancy clothes, suits and ties, and here we were in our regular street clothes we’d had on all day showing up like something the cat drug in.  I hate that.  But it was fun to be there anyway and to hear the speeches and to sing along with a song they re-wrote the words to for Mark’s benefit.  That’s a very common event at confirmations and weddings, to rewrite familiar tunes and make it a personalize kind of thing, but I hadn’t heard it at a birthday party before.  It was a Christian song we sing on Sunday’s but they were making fun of the fact that he’s not a young man anymore. 

Last week I was at Agape and watched a movie that included very risqué scenes of people having sex, to show the tragedy of human trafficking, and this week I’m at Agape singing a song written for the pastor that included American swear words.  Those are things I just don’t expect to experience in church.  I had to skip over the swear word or I would have had to pay Kaleb a dollar, since we have a deal that if I say a word I don’t want him to repeat, I pay him.  We both thought it was pretty funny they used the “sh” word in a Christian song (above), sung to the pastor at church, though, but here in Norway it’s just an ordinary word and has no bad meaning.  Still, I wouldn’t say it and it was kind of embarrassing.  I’m such a prude!

I had a nice relaxed visit with a few folks at church before we rolled out of there at 11:15.  Norwegians stay up late and we haven’t been to bed before midnight for several nights in a row now.  It took Kaleb a while to burn off all the sugar he’d eaten from all the cakes they had – 28 cakes for about 100 people!  Every kind of cake imaginable (above is just one of two big cake tables) and Kaleb fixed himself three plates full of them as he wanted to sample them all.  Good grief.  To say he was bouncing off the walls was not a figure of speech.  That kid couldn’t settle down for anything.  I just hope I can sleep now that I had to have some coffee to go with those cakes and I’m trusting it will be nothing but sweet dreams for me.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

30 April 2013

I guess I won’t whine about the rain, since we woke up to snow on the ground and it snowed off and on all day today.  Things can always get worse.

Kaleb has complained the last two days of a sore throat.  This morning, based on the moaning I heard coming from under his covers, I knew he wasn’t any better.  I let him stay in bed all day and once his math was done, he watched TV and played on his computer.  He has no fever or other symptoms, but I loaded him up on Vitamin C and echinasea and will trust he’s better by tomorrow, which sadly is a national holiday (Labor Day) and it would be nice if he could spend it with his friends, but not sure if that will happen.

Kory and I bit the bullet today and headed down to the tax office for the long wait to see someone about how to properly fill out our tax return.  We got all the t’s crossed and I’s dotted and I hope we’re good for another year and maybe we won’t have to pay any additional taxes – but that jury is still out until we get our corrected statement in the mail.  At least we got our questions answered.

Today was the first day with nothing on the calendar and I was looking forward to a day at home with no where to go and nothing to do, but it didn’t shake out that way.  I had to grocery shop since all the stores will be closed tomorrow, and I am most thankful the Norwegian government subsidizes organic produce so it’s exactly the same price as regular.  More and more organize produce is coming, too, so I’m always surprised when I actually pay less here than in America for organic… apples for instance are 4 for $1.50.  I think I pay close to a dollar for each organic apple at the co-op back home.  Can’t understand it, but I love it.

Friends stopped in unexpectedly (below) for a visit late this afternoon, too.  I should know by now to have cookies or cake or something always at the ready, as it seems dropping by is a major pastime – which I actually love – but hate it if I have nothing prepared to offer them. 

So we had some social time today and a lot of time spent watching the snow out the window.  I packed up two suitcases full of dishes and other household items I want to take back home, and I have plenty more yet to pack.  We haven’t been too aggressive yet about renting out the condo, but we will hit it hard by the end of May if nothing else has come up.  I hate to start un-decorating our place, but I must. 

We stopped by the thrift store on our way home from the tax office and there were only a few things I couldn’t live without.  It’s my only thrill, so I need it at least once or twice a week or pure depression sets in.  So many treasures, so little time.

I couldn’t believe we didn’t turn the heat on all day today – or at all since we’ve been here for that matter.  Our condo is so well insulated, I guess, as it’s been right at freezing all day outside, but our place is toasty warm.  Gotta love that kind of efficiency.

Kory has been drawing a little today. He keeps trying to draw faces, but they just don’t turn out right.  He needs to stick with buildings, as he’s good at drawing those, but he likes to challenge himself.  He can tell if it’s any good if I’m able to recognize who he is drawing, but today’s face remains a mystery, but going to bed is a sure thing.  I'm beat.