Bon Voyage, Little Kitties!

The cats are en route to Newark airport right now, and in just a couple of hours will be on the plane to Oslo. I am so stressed out, hoping they will make it over safely and comfortably. I spent the day buying them toys and catnip (bribes, so that one day, they will forgive me for putting them through this awful trip!) and buying myself some lovely things too. I have no idea how I'm going to close my suitcases!
My flight leaves tomorrow afternoon and gets into Oslo on Friday morning, so poor Kevin will be the one who will have to get the cats settled into their new home tomorrow. (And he will be the one who has to deal with their carriers--our 20 pound monster, Toonces, gets car sick, I wonder what vile substances he will spew on the plane!) Oh well, after the hell that the dogs have put Kevin through the past couple of weeks, I don't think a little cat puke will even register! Their latest dastardly deed happened yesterday...over the past several days, the dogs have learned to open the freezer and help themselves to hundreds of dollars worth of groceries. Kevin thought he had outsmarted them by buying suction cups and bungee cords to secure the freezer door. Yesterday, the dogs pulled all the insulation stripping from the freezer door in their crazed attempt to find more ice cream. While their attempts to open the freezer and eat another $20 worth of ice cream were thwarted, we now have to buy another $1000 refrigerator!
Poor Kevin! I, on the other hand, have had a wonderful 2 weeks back home. I got the chance to see so many friends, eat all my favorite foods (mmm, Mexican food!), do lots of shopping, and best of all, spend some time volunteering at the animal shelter. It's always hard to see so many animals in cages, but it seems even worse this time of year. I wish that all of them could have the chance to curl up by the fireplace, or play with the packages under the tree!
As nice as it was to be home again, I am looking forward to returning to Norway. We have a traditional Julebord (Christmas party) to attend on December 2nd, and I'm looking forward to doing some cross country skiing, as well as some trips up to Lillehammer for a little alpine skiing. I think now that all of our pets are finally going to be with us, Gjovik will feel more like home. Nothing like sitting on the couch with a kitty or two curled up on your lap, as your dogs gnaw on refrigerator insulation!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm so stuffed I can barely type! I had a really nice day, we decorated my mom's Christmas tree, watched the Macy's Thanksgiving parade, and then went over to a friend's home for dinner.
Sadly, Kevin did not have such a relaxing holiday. He had to work all day, as Thanksgiving is not a holiday in Norway. When he got home, he found that the devil dogs had figured out how to open the freezer, and had helped themselves to shrimp, bagels, ice cream.....the list goes on and on! Then, they were violently ill all over the floor. When I called to wish Kevin a happy Thanksgiving today, he was not in a very festive mood, as he had just finished scrubbing down the kitchen. (The second time in less than a week, as Honey wandered off and wallowed in a mud puddle, then spread the mud throughout the kitchen only a couple of days ago.) Bad things seem to happen in threes--I wonder what the little monsters have planned to cap off their trifecta of evil!
Oh well, hopefully everyone else had a great holiday!

Adopt a Senior Pet!

Just a friendly reminder--November is "Adopt a Senior Pet" month! There are far too many older animals waiting for homes in shelters, and they are often overlooked. Older animals are frequently housebroken, know some commands, and are calmer and less destructive than the puppies and kittens that most adopters want. Lots of shelters are offering special discounts on senior animals this month, and what better time to add a new pet to the family than now, with a long weekend ahead! Check out www.petfinder.com for a list of older pets waiting for their forever families!

Hi from New York!

I arrived safely in New York on Friday night. My flight to Syracuse was delayed, but I can't complain too much, especially after talking to the poor people trying to reach Pittsburgh. Their flight was delayed for 4 hours, then when they finally got on the plane, the food delivery truck hit their plane, so they all had to get off and wait some more! The flight from Oslo to Newark was fairly uneventful, although very cramped as always. Continental has a daily direct flight between Oslo and Newark, but it is a really small plane compared to most international jets. There are 3 seats on each side of the aisle, and 2 bathrooms at the rear and 1 bathroom at the front of the plane. There is always a line for the bathrooms, and one man had the audacity to take a book into the bathroom with him! Oh, hell no!!! That is so wrong for so many reasons! Mainly because I was waiting behind him, hopping around after downing 5 sodas in the past couple of hours! I was also singled out for an extra intensive security check, and the man with the wand was a little too thorough for comfort! When I finally reached my mom's house and opened my suitcases, I found that they had been rifled through as well, and the wrapping on my Christmas gifts was torn. Oh well, at least the security guards didn't eat any of the cookies and chocolate I had packed--I would have been a jet-lagged ball of fury!

Goodbye!

After our little "photo shoot" yesterday, Kevin and I took the dogs on a nice hike on the trail that runs past our house. I felt extra Norwegian because I brought along the special candy bars, Kvikk Lunsj, that are advertised for eating on hikes. They are just like Kit Kats, but the commercials always promote eating Kvikk Lunsj when "turing" or going for a hike. I'm always appreciative of another reason to gobble some chocolate...maybe more candy companies should try to link their products with a particular activity. Snickers for car rides, Skittles for bike rides, and Milky Ways before bed. Mmmm, candy! Anyway, it was so great to spend a little time with Kevin, enjoying the scenery and the chocolate, before I leave for a couple of weeks.
Today, I did some last minute Christmas shopping. I really believed I would be able to fit my clothes plus all the presents into one suitcase. I am a fool with no concept of size or shape! I now have 2 suitcases packed to the gills with presents and 2 outfits for me to wear over the next 2 weeks. I guess now I have a legitimate reason to go shopping in the U.S.! Once I unload all those presents, I'll have 2 empty suitcases just begging to be filled with pretty new clothes!
I leave tomorrow morning on the Continental flight to Newark, then on to Syracuse. I can't wait to see my friends who live in the area, and of course my mom. I'm also very excited to see my cats--they do so many naughty things, but wow, the house feels empty without them. I hope they like Norway, we'll find out in a couple of weeks! I'm really looking forward to volunteering at the animal shelter also. I haven't been able to find any sort of animal shelter/rescue here in Norway, and I really miss going in and spending time with the animals and helping them find homes.
It's hard, no matter where I am, I am homesick. When I'm in New York, I miss Kevin, the dogs, the wonderful friends we have made in the past few months, and Norway itself, with its dramatic mountains and valleys. When I'm in Norway, I miss my American friends, my mom, the food (I haven't had sushi or Mexican food or really good Italian food for so long!), TV shows, and all the space. I miss the huge, parklike yards, the massive grocery stores, the wide roads and ample parking spaces. Neither New York nor Norway feel completely like home, but somehow I'm homesick for both. There's always a knot in my stomach, a nagging feeling that no matter where I am, I'm missing something or someone. I suppose that every expat feels this way occasionally, and maybe it gets easier with time. For now, I'll try to forget how hard it will be to say goodbye to Kevin tomorrow, and just try to remember that I have 2 glorious weeks of shopping, socializing and eating ahead of me!

Kevin's Back!

Kevin returned safely to Norway today. It will be nice to spend a little time together, before I'm off to New York. And he brought me some treats back from Asia--I'm very excited about my People magazines! I have been feeling out of the loop of celebrity gossip lately, seriously, I didn't know that Ryan & Reese and Britney & KFed were calling it quits. Now I know--the knowledge doesn't make me any smarter or wittier or more thoughtful, it just means I'm back in the loop in time for my trip to the U.S.!
The cheesy photo above was taken this afternoon--apparently my mom has decided that she wants to send photos out with her Christmas cards, and she threatened that if Kevin and I didn't get a nice picture taken together, she would send out a terrible picture of me to everyone. So, even though I'm 30 years old, I had to pose for my Christmas picture or face humiliation. At least the days of going to Olan Mills are over--a compassionate friend, a digital camera, an Epson printer and lots of pretty snow in the background are all it took to appease my mom. (For 2006 at least!) I think this might be the most compelling argument to date for having kids--at least my mom could proudly show off their photos and leave me alone!

Good Morning

It is gorgeous outside this morning--fresh snow makes everything look so clean and calm. I'm in a great mood because Kevin returns to Norway tomorrow morning after 2 weeks in Asia. And on Friday I get to go home to New York for 2 weeks to visit friends, have Thanksgiving with my mom, and most importantly, get all of the cats' documentation ready so they can return with me to Norway on the 30th. I have a suitcase full of Christmas presents to haul over to the U.S., and I plan to bring the suitcase back full of cheap(er) clothes--there's nothing like wandering around a Norwegian mall and looking at price tags to make you appreciate the wonder that is the Gap! I have a little bit of room left in my suitcase and 2 days to shop, so if anyone has any requests for souvenirs from Norway, let me know now!

Snowballs

It's snowing today. We haven't gotten any snow since Halloween, and much of that has melted into slush, so the dogs haven't been as enthralled with playing outside lately. But this morning I awoke to snow falling and very happy dogs. Unfortunately, Honey really enjoys a good wallow in the snow, so here she is, on her blanket in the kitchen, waiting to thaw out!

More Mountain Photos

Here are some more photos of our trip into the mountains. The top photo was of this crystal clear lake--the mountain reflected in it still has some snow on it. (The photo was taken in September--I'm sure by now, the mountain is covered in snow!)
The vacation cabins all had grass roofs. (And I use the term "cabin" very loosely--these vacation homes looked really nice! Even I wouldn't mind camping if I had a cabin like this to sleep in!)
See the crazy poles--can you imagine knowing that every winter, the snow will pile up that high? Yikes!

Above the Tree Line

In September, Kevin and I took a drive with the dogs up into the mountains, past the Randsfjorden valley, through Bygdin and Beitostolen, up to Vagamo, then back down through Lillehammer and home to Gjovik. I've driven through mountainous terrain before (we used to live close to the Adirondacks) but I've never been above the tree line before. It was the most alien landscape I've ever seen--the only foliage was some sort of red flowering shrub, and green moss growing on all the rocks. There are a lot of vacation cabins up in this area--the skiing is supposed to be fantastic. We took this drive on September 24th, and the roads were already marked with 8 feet poles--I guess so the snow plows and other vehicles don't veer off the roads. In Gjovik, over the last several weeks, some of the roads have been marked with poles too, but luckily they are only about 5 feet tall. I can't believe how much my perspective has changed since moving here--I used to complain about more than 5 inches of snow, now I'm grateful that we will probably only accumulate 5 feet of snow this winter. 8 feet of snow would be terrible, but 5 feet--no problem! I have winter tires and warm boots, so bring it on!

At Last..Pumpkin Pie

I made a pumpkin pie today...I forgot how great a pumpkin pie in the oven smells. My whole kitchen smells like cinnamon and ginger--yum! The pie turned out well except for the crust--I used a mix with Norwegian directions. Maybe I messed up the translation of the instructions, or maybe pie crust here is different than what I am used to. It was more dense and moist than I was expecting, but it was okay. Luckily my Norwegian friends really liked it. 5 Norwegians converted, 4,593,036 to go!

Circles

I am trying to stay positive and adjust to life in Norway, but I encountered a big setback yesterday. I don't have a citizen number yet here, which makes a lot of things much more difficult. Kevin has applied for a citizen number: he had to go to the police station, bring his birth certificate, his college transcripts, and his employer had to prove that there wasn't a qualified Norwegian who could be doing his job. After all this, Kevin was told it would still be months before he got his number, and I can't even apply for one as his wife until he has received his number. I know that I will also have to provide my birth certificate, marriage license and college transcripts. I'm a little worried about the last one--I got a C- in calculus my first semester of freshman year...that's a pretty bad grade, will I be deported because of it?
Anyway, as long as we don't stay in Norway for more than 3 months at a time, we can go on living as we are until we get our numbers. That's not a problem, Kevin travels internationally all the time, and I will be going back to the U.S. at regular intervals, especially over the holidays. The citizen number thing really becomes a problem when we want to do things like open a bank account, order cable TV, or see a doctor. When you have a citizen number, you call the Fastlege office who will assign you to a doctor.
Back to yesterday...I have asthma and allergies, and in the U.S. I went to an allergist who prescribed an inhaler and also gave me regular allergy shots. I have been putting off finding a doctor because I don't have my citizen number yet. I have my prescriptions at a pharmacy in New York, in addition to bringing a stash of medicine to Norway when we moved. I am not getting my allergy shots yet, but that isn't as big a deal as having my inhaler. I really thought I had enough medicine to last me until next Friday when I go back to New York for 2 weeks. But on Thursday, I tried to take a puff on my inhaler, and there was nothing left. Some drugs which are prescription only in the U.S. are OTC here, so first I went to the pharmacy in hopes that my inhaler would be OTC--no such luck. I explained the situation to the pharmacist who recommended I just pop over to the doctor's office next door, explain what was going on, and maybe they could write me a prescription. The receptionist at the doctor's office said no, you have to call this number at the Fastlege office to be assigned a doctor. In frustration, I went over to a Norwegian friend's house, hoping she could explain my situation, in Norwegian, to the Fastlege office. She called, was told that because I don't have a citizen number yet, they can't assign me a doctor, so I should just go to a doctor of my choice and establish myself as a new patient. At this point, I'm more than a little annoyed, because wasn't that what I just tried to do? And was told to call the Fastlege instead? By this time, it was after 3 PM, everything was closing, so my friend suggested that I go with her to her doctor tomorrow, she could help translate, and hopefully I could get established as a patient there.
Friday morning arrived and my friend and I headed over to her doctor's office. She helped me to explain my situation to the receptionist, who seemed to be nodding and smiling...very good signs indeed! She took my international insurance card, put all my information in the computer, and then a doctor took me to his office. He wrote me the prescriptions--victory! He asked me some questions about my previous asthma treatment, and said it seemed like I should probably be referred to a specialist. Yes please!!! He then said, "But I can't refer you because I'm not your assigned doctor." I yet again explained that I don't have a doctor assigned by the powers that be in Norway, I was told that I could just choose a doctor, and I chose him. He then said, "But I am not taking any new patients. I can write this prescription for you today because it is a bit of an emergency, but in the meantime you need to be assigned to a doctor who is seeing new patients, and that doctor will have to refer you to a specialist." Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!! I'm dizzy from all the wandering in circles I have been doing over the past couple days.
But on the bright side, it only cost me NOK 300 to both go to the doctor and buy 2 inhalers. NOK 300 is about $50 U.S., so that's quite a savings. And I'm not going to keel over anytime soon, because I do have my medicine now. And best of all, my father-in-law and step-mother-in-law sent me (and Kevin of course) a care package with Christmas presents and all the ingredients to make pumpkin pie!!!! I'm making one today for some Norwegian friends--they can't even imagine eating pumpkin, it's absolutely unheard of here. Hopefully I'll wow them--my hope is that if I convert enough Norwegians into diehard pumpkin pie fans who start requesting pumpkin, maybe the grocery stores will finally start carrying pumpkin filling. So off I go, attempting to convert a nation, one pumpkin pie at a time!

We're #1!

The United Nations Development Program has rated Norway the #1 country to live in for the sixth year in a row. People are rich, educated and they live forever here. Seriously, the oldest man in Gjovik is 106, he lives in his own house and goes to the cafe for coffee every day. Maybe the cold is a preservative? Or maybe it's the rakfiske? I personally believe it's all the pastries everyone eats. Which reminds me, I should go eat another piece of weinerbrod, you know, for health reasons!

If you want to see which countries made the top 20, here's the link to the article:
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1526813.ece

Kon Tiki & Ra II Museum

The Bygdoy peninsula in Oslo is home to several interesting museums: a sea-faring museum, an open air historical village museum, the Vikingskiphuset, and the Kon Tiki & Ra II museum. This museum is a wonderful tribute to the explorations of Thor Heyerdahl and contains the 2 crafts plus incredible artifacts from Easter Island, Polynesia and Peru. The first photo is of the Kon Tiki (a balsa raft sailed from Peru to Polynesia) and the second two are of the Ra II and Kevin with the Ra II (a papyrus boat sailed from Morocco to Barbados). In a nutshell, Mr. Heyerdahl and his colleagues wanted to prove that ancient peoples could have reached other continents using their "primitive" boat building methods. Hmm, that's a pretty pathetic nutshell...for more information about their amazing adventures, go to:
http://biblioteknett.no/alias/HJEMMESIDE/kon-tiki/Expeditions/
I knew absolutely nothing about Thor Heyerdahl and his expeditions before going to the museum--Kevin and I made the drive down to Oslo specifically to see the Vikingskiphuset, but that museum didn't open until 11 AM, and the Kon Tiki & Ra II opened at 10:30 AM, so it was a happy accident that we arrived at the Bygdoy peninsula a little early and stumbled into the world of Mr. Heyerdahl.

Olympiske Fjellhall

The 1994 winter Olympics primarily took place in Lillehammer, but some skating events were in Hamar, and the ice hockey matches were here in Gjovik. The photo to the left is the 6,000 person capacity hockey arena which was built for the Olympics--if it doesn't seem that big, that's because it's actually built into the mountain. Architects decided that a huge mountain cavern would best represent and celebrate Norway's legendary mountainous terrain and its notorious cave-dwelling trolls. (I think it's more representative of Norwegians' love of tunneling--there are tunnels everywhere here! Why build a road over a mountain when you can burrow right through it?)
Anyway, it's a great local resource. When we first moved here, I signed up with a friend for a yoga class at the fjellhall. I was kind of nervous about the class--I had never done yoga before and was scared I wouldn't understand the teacher. To my great relief, she taught the class in English. Thank goodness--I don't know the translation for "downward facing dog"! Yoga is brand new to Norway--the teacher actually had to import the yoga mats from England! There was a man in the class who always brought a furry little sheep's pelt to sit on. Everytime I would peek over at him, cross-legged, meditating, sitting on a dead animal, I would get the giggles--he was part "sensitive new age guy" and part cave man! As I said, I've never been to a yoga class in the U.S., but I can just imagine the jaws dropping if someone waltzed into a class and unfurled a furry hide!
Sadly, my yoga class has now ended, so no more twisting myself into a pretzel each Wednesday. Even sadder, no more cafe lattes and pastries at the fjellhall cafe after class!

Vikingskipshuset

Wow, I realize I have been waxing poetic about the sky for far too many posts lately! The whole point of this blog is to entice people to come visit me in Norway, and I don't think sunrises are gonna do that! But maybe Vikings will! One of the most popular museums in Norway is the Vikingskiphuset, which houses 3 actual Viking ships from the 9th century. 2 of the ships are remarkably well preserved (the ship above is the Oseberg). The ships were dragged ashore to be used as tombs for nobility. The dead were entombed in wooden tents in the bottom of the ships, along with horses, dogs, food, furniture, sleds, clothes and jewels--you know, the basic provisions for an opulent afterlife. The whole ships were then buried in clay within valleys of the Oslofjord region. When they were discovered in the last century, the ships had already been looted and the jewels were long gone, but so many other treasures remained. Sculptures of dragons and serpents, intricately carved sleighs and furniture, tools, camping gear (8 foot long tent poles with carved dragon heads)...there is so much and it is absolutely amazing.
My favorite city in the U.S. is Boston. It's so beautiful, so old, so full of history--I always get chills and goosebumps when I stand on a cobblestone street and look around and think of all those people immortalized in my American History books who have lived there. Boston is a city full of ancient burying grounds, Federalist architecture, cobblestone streets, and every time I go there, I am awestruck...Boston was founded in 1630. Wow, 1630, that's so old! But now I'm in Norway, and I have found a new frame of reference for words like "old" and "ancient." Everything in the Vikingskiphuset is 800 years older than Boston...my mind is officially blown! (I guess I should never visit Rome or Athens--my head would probably explode!)

Just Another Sunrise

I think I might be the only person in Norway not lamenting the waning daylight. The sun rises around 8 AM and sets around 4:30 PM now, and I'm not complaining one bit! I love to sleep in, so I'm not generally conscious for sunrises. But 8 AM is totally do-able! And by December, the sun won't show it's sleepy head until after 9 AM--even better!
When I lived in Iowa City, I had an apartment on the Iowa River. When I was moving in, my new neighbor said that watching the sun rise over the river every morning made paying the rent worth every penny. I started laughing--I knew I would not be getting my money's worth! Luckily, my neighbor owned the greatest dog in the world--big, goofy, shaggy, cuddly--getting to pet the dog and talk in funny voices while he cocked his head in dopey adoration, well, that was worth the rent! But nope, no sunrises for me!
For the next couple of months, I'll be able to see the sun rise every morning over Lake Mjosa. I promise that at some point in the near future I'll stop posting all these sunrise photos. The novelty will eventually wear off, but right now, I'm making up for 30 years of missed sunrises!

Full Moon

The moon was absolutely gorgeous last night! I was doing some Christmas shopping (no procrastination for me this year!) and when I came out of the store around 4:45, there the moon was, ridiculously huge and beautiful in a pink sky. Luckily I had my camera with me so I was able to capture the moment. While I was in the parking lot, Kevin called my cell phone from Shanghai. I started babbling about the moon and he said it was gorgeous there too. It was 10:45 at night in Shanghai at the time. The fact that Kevin was so far away but at the same time looking at the same beautiful moon as I was made him seem so much closer to me. (I know, I sound like Fivel the mouse in "American Tail" singing "Somewhere Out There," don't I?) It was nice--it has been a really long time since we have gone outside together and gazed at the stars.
By the time I returned home with my shopping bags, the sky had gotten darker and the moon had risen higher into the sky, so I got another photo of it shining through the trees. I am homesick much of the time here, but on evenings this beautiful, high on our wooded hill overlooking the lake, I realize that I am beginning to love Norway.

Magpie

This little guy in the photo is a magpie. I photographed this particular bird in Oslo, but we have tons of them in our own yard. I guess magpies exist on the west coast of the U.S., but I had never seen one until we moved to Norway. Magpies are related to crows, ravens and jays and are known for being very intelligent, curious and talkative (hence the phrase "chattering magpies"). These birds can mimic the calls of other birds and can even learn to imitate some human words. I'm pretty excited about the prospect of teaching our little Norwegian magpies some English...hmm, it might be a little depressing if the magpies can learn English faster than I can learn Norwegian!

Mangiamo!

I made spinach lasagne last night for some of my Norwegian friends. No big deal, right? Oh, but it is a big deal--I haven't made lasagne or anything else Italian for years. You see, we lived in Chicago, and then in central New York for the past 6 years. These are areas of the country with large pockets of Italian Americans and some of the best Italian food ever! I would never have dared to make any kind of pasta dish for guests in Chicago or New York. I think that using sauce from a jar is a capital offense in those parts of the country--I even know people who make their own gnocchi and fettucine!
But now I'm here in Norway, and the only Italian restaurants in town are owned by people from the Middle East. I'm not knocking pizza drizzled in kebab sauce, or calimari fritti served on a bed of rice with pineapple sauce, I'm just saying I now live among people who don't have preconceived notions of what authentic Italian food tastes like. So I went grocery shopping and bought lasagne noodles, ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, tomato sauce, spinach and garlic. And yes, the sauce was in a jar (store brand, no less!), the Parmesan was in a can, and because I couldn't find ricotta, I ended up substituting cottage cheese. Anyone with a drop of Italian blood running through their veins reading this post is probably recoiling in horror right now! Luckily, I was cooking for Norwegians, and they loved it! I had to laugh when they marvelled at how long it must have taken me to prepare the dish. (These are people who spend 3 months making rakfisk!) I think my lasagne took about 10 minutes to slap together, and then an hour in the oven. So obscenely easy for such high praise! From now on, just call me Chef Boyardee!

Birkebeinerrennet

Last weekend, Kevin and I drove up to Lillehammer. It's a picturesque little town at the northern tip of Lake Mjosa, about a 40 minute drive from our house. Lillehammer hosted the 1994 winter Olympics. (The U.S. coverage of the games was dominated by the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan scandal.) We are planning to go to the Olympics museum someday, but we just wanted to wander around and see the town on this visit. As we were walking along, we saw this statue in front of the library. At first I was indignant, obviously 4 out of 5 pediatricians do not recommend hurtling yourself down a mountain while holding a baby! Then it dawned on me that, no, this statue is not a monument to child abuse, it actually is a tribute to the Birkebeiner Skiiers.
In 1200, Norway was split into two main factions, the Baglers and the Birkebeiners (literally: birch legs, as they were so poor they wrapped their feet in birch bark instead of proper boots) fighting for control over the country. When the Birkebeiner king died in 1204, his infant son, Hakon Hakonsson, was in grave danger, as he was the heir to the Birkebeiner throne. To protect Hakon from the Baglers, on Christmas day in 1205, two of the Birkebeiner warriors skiied the child across the mountains to safety. Hakon survived and became King Hakon Hakonsson IV, who is best known for bringing peace and stability to Norway.
To commemorate this courageous and heroic trek through the mountains, in 1932, the Birkebeinerrenet was born. It is a 54 km. ski marathon, through the mountains, from Rena to Lillehammer. As if skiing 54 km. isn't arduous enough, the participants are required to carry a 3.5 kg. backpack to signify the weight of the infant Hakon. Hundreds of people participate each year--I will not be one of them this winter, but I do plan to go and watch! (Because in Norway, there's no such thing as too much vigorous exercise, after the snow melts, there is also a mountain bike race and a running marathon in celebration of the journey.) If you want to know more about the Birkebeinerrent, (or if you want to participate) here's a link to a good web site: www.birkebeiner.no And for you Americans who can't make the trip over but would really like to experience the torture, I mean, excitement, there is an American Birkie held in northern Wisconsin. Here's the link to that website: www.birkie.com/
I do have cross country skis, but I think I have to master getting past the driveway without falling over before I take on a marathon. Maybe in a couple of years...but I think it's much more likely that I'll always be cheering from the sidelines with a hot cocoa in one hand, a waffle in the other! If you want to join me, the Birkebeinerrennet will take place on March 17, 2007. (I'll even put some Bailey's in the hot cocoa in honor of good old St. Pat!)

Learning Norwegian

I have lived in Norway for 2 1/2 months now, and I'm embarrassed to admit that I still speak almost no Norwegian. Sure, I can say "Hi, how are you?" and ask for a cup of coffee (most essential!) But I can't have a conversation or say anything remotely witty or urbane in Norwegian. (Not that I say that many witty and urbane things in English. My ability to make people laugh generally stems more from the fact that I'm a klutz and bump into things and fall over a lot.)
I have signed up for Norwegian classes, but they don't begin until January. In the meantime, I have a stack of books and CD's to study. I'm also extremely lucky to have some very patient Norwegian friends who try to help me increase my vocabulary. I have found that if I can't come up with a mnemonic device to associate with a new word, I forget the word immediately. I learned how to say "spoon", "knife" and "fork" a couple of days ago. The Norwegian word for "fork" is "gaffel". This sounds like the English word "awful" with a "g" at the front, so this is how I can remember the word for fork--"I will be a (g)awful dining companion if, when seated at the table, I grab my fork and say "gaffel" like a moron!"
I used to be relatively good at learning a new language--I picked up French fairly easily and even minored in it in college. I don't know if Norwegian is a more difficult language or if I have just gotten too old to learn a new language proficiently (the adage about teaching an old dog new tricks comes to mind). I think the age thing might have something to do with it--it seems like every time I learn a new Norwegian word, an English word just falls out of my head. I was talking to a friend in the U.S. on the phone the other night, and I found myself saying, "You know, that long, flat thing in the kitchen, by the sink, where you chop stuff." I couldn't remember how to say "kitchen counter"! Oh well, even if I never learn Norwegian and become too senile to remember English, at least I'll always be able to provide comic relief by promptly falling on my ass when I step out into the snow!

Sunrise over Lake Mjosa

I took this photo on October 13 from our patio. We have a nice view of Lake Mjosa from our house, and the sunrise was so spectacular that morning that I had to capture it. Norway is really beautiful and there have been so many moments that have taken my breath away. Luckily I happened to have a camera handy for this one. Now don't you want to come visit us?

Rubbish

The Norwegian garbage removal system has been very challenging to learn. When we first moved here, we were given 3 containers for refuse--a barrel for recycled plastic, a barrel for garbage, and a barrel for kitchen waste, plus little brown paper bags to put the kitchen waste in. (I guess all the kitchen waste is composted somewhere.) We were told that garbage was picked up on Thursdays, and in the first couple of weeks after we moved, we created a lot of garbage....and it wasn't picked up. I saw the garbage truck pull up, and then a man jumped out and looked at our garbage, and then took our plastics and left. It turns out that they only pick up one of the containers each week, so garbage is only picked up every 3 weeks. I swear we're not all that wasteful, but our garbage can is really small--if crammed, maybe 2 garbage bags will fit in it. But we produce more garbage than that, so we always seem to have an extra bag sitting outside the can. Kevin really wants to create less garbage, but we don't always see eye to eye on what is garbage and what is kitchen waste. I think if a paper towel is used to wipe up a spill in the kitchen, it's still a paper towel, and therefore garbage. Kevin argues that if the paper towel has food on it, it is kitchen waste. I know, scintillating discussions take place at our house!
Anyway, people in this town take their refuse seriously--many have built little houses for their waste containers. It snows a lot here, so I guess it makes sense to try to keep everything dry. All these little garbage sheds are actually kind of cute, just big enough to hold the 3 containers, and painted to match the houses. But then the waste management people decided to throw a wrench in the gears--they delivered another barrel to all the houses for recycled paper and cardboard. It's been a big problem for a lot of people--we even know some who have decided to tear down their little garbage house and rebuild to accomodate the new container! Our house didn't come equipped with its own little refuse container shed, but I really found myself wishing it did a couple of days ago after our big snow--sweeping a foot of snow off the cans and then prying open the frozen lids while holding bags of garbage and kitchen waste was not a good time! Kevin's always up for a DIY project, I'm sure he'll be thrilled to hear that I would like a garbage shed, white with a black roof to match the house!
Oh, by the way, after talking to Kevin about the rat incident, I was pleasantly surprised that he didn't think I was nuts to bring a rodent into the house, he actually sympathized about the poor little thing too. Although when I lamented the fact that the ground was too frozen to bury the rat, and I felt so callous throwing it out in the garbage, he was annoyed, saying, "A rat is organic material--you should have thrown it out with the kitchen material for composting!" Yup, scintillating conversations abound at this house!

Speaking of the Wild....

Speaking of the "Wild", I had a couple of my own little wilderness adventures last night. First, I came home in the evening to find these little tracks running through the yard--anyone have any ideas of what could have made them? I thought maybe a rabbit, but there are no front paw prints. What walks on just two feet around here? I'm no zoologist, but I'm pretty sure we don't have monkeys or wallabies around here! And the tracks certainly don't look like they were made by a bird. I'm not up on my troll lore--do they hop? Did a Norwegian troll leave these funny little hippity hoppity tracks in my yard?
After spending far too much time contemplating the pawprints, I heard a noise coming from the forest. Some twigs crunching, and then breathing. That kind of wet, snuffly breathing sound that horses make. I froze and peered into the darkness, but I couldn't see a thing. Stories of moose charging at people started running through my head, so I whirled around and raced for the safety of the house. Once inside, I could laugh at myself for being ridiculous, and then I ate some leftover Halloween candy, for courage of course.
I still had to take the dogs outside, so I put my hat and gloves back on. I opened the door, looked around, listened...nothing. So I let the dogs out the door, and Honey immediately saw something. She barrelled up the hill furiously as I chased her. When I reached her, she was excitedly hopping up and down...on a rat. It was on its back, kicking and trying to get away. I really don't think she wanted to hurt it, but when she gets excited, she tends to pounce. The cats have been victims of her enthusastic pouncing before, but a 20 pound cat can handle an enthusiastic dog a lot better than a tiny rodent. I grabbed her by the collar and dragged her back inside, then went back to check on the rat. I know, I know, it's a rat, it's at the bottom of the food chain, most people kill them (and most people would probably be thrilled to own a rat-stompin' dog). But I felt so bad for the little thing, it was so scared. It was still in the snowbank, alive and breathing, but not moving. I scooped it up in a towel and brought it into the house to assess its injuries. (At this point, if Kevin is reading my blog from his hotel room in China, he's screaming, "You brought WHAT into our house!") The rat was actually really cute, not like a big, scary New York City sewer rat, but more like a little, brown gerbil. It wasn't bleeding, but it kept moving its head in a strange motion, so I think it was seizing. I tried putting some Karo syrup into its mouth via syringe, as sometimes the sugar rush will snap an animal out of a seizure, but it didn't help. So there I was, sitting on the floor with a seizing rat wrapped in a towel, and I really was able to see the absurdity in the situation, but I couldn't stand the thought of putting the rat out in the snow to die. Unfortunately, the rat never regained consciousness, and it died about 10 minutes later. Still, I hope I was able to make it a little more comfortable in its final moments. And I'm also really glad I didn't leave it in that snowbank last night--the idea of chasing Honey down this morning and wrestling a frozen rat-cicle out of her mouth does not sound like a good time!

The Wild

When we lived in Chicago, Kevin had a 30 mile commute to work. (Which took almost 2 hours if traffic was bad.) In New York, he had a 70 mile commute--3 hours in a car, every day. It was brutal. Here in Norway, we live about a mile from his job. He doesn't drive, instead he treks down a steep, rocky, twisty, muddy trail. In rainy weather, it's more of a creek than a trail. He has all kinds of special gear for his commute--a backpack briefcase, water proof hiking boots, gaiters, waterproof pants and a huge parka. The one thing he didn't take into consideration is the fact that as winter approaches and daylight wanes, his commute is now in the dark, both coming and going. He needs to get a miner's helmet or something, as he needs his hands free for balancing, especially now that the trail is covered in snow and ice. Unfortunately, he hasn't yet found a head lamp and a couple of days ago, he really needed one! He was hiking along in the pre-dawn darkness, and suddenly he smelled something...something that smelled like an animal. Kind of like musk and wet fur, definitely an animal. But it was dark and poor Kevin had no idea of what kind of animal he was smelling, and even worse, where the animal was. Not wanting to run smack into a moose, he stood very still and listened. After a while (a very long while, as he was standing in mud and slush in the dark fervently hoping not to be headbutted into Sweden by an angry moose) he heard twigs snapping, and the smell dissipated. Kevin continued on to work and apparently promptly forgot the whole experience, as he still hasn't bothered to look for a head lamp.
As I write this, Kevin is somewhere in the air on his way to Shanghai. Hopefully he'll have a good trip, and hopefully he won't have a moonlight encounter with any pandas!