I Learn Something New Every Day

We got tons of snow over the weekend, and with temperatures hovering around -10 Celsius, it looks like the snow wil stick around for awhile. I love the way snow-covered trees look...I love snow in general. Everything looks clean and peaceful, and even at night, all that snow reflects the moonlight and makes everything blue. So pretty.
We got most of our snow on Saturday, but we didn't let it stop us from driving up to Lillehammer for dinner with our friends Nina and Anders that evening. There is a tapas restaurant that we wanted to try (and thank goodness we tried it when we did--apparently the concept of tapas is not catching on in Lillehammer and the restaurant will soon be switching to more traditional fare). Anyway, our friends politely pretended to be very impressed with all my Norwegian progress, even though I am not capable of interesting conversation yet. I can ask people what their names are, where they are from, if they are married, if they have children, what their telephone number is, how old they are, and if they are a man or a woman. Seriously, is that not the most ridiculous and insulting thing for me to know how to say? Can you imagine me asking someone if they are a man or a woman? My class is called "Norwegian for Foreign Speakers" but if they keep teaching us how to say such tactless things, it should be renamed "How to Speak Norwegian and Make Strangers Cry"!
Speaking of tactless things to blurt out, over dinner I had several glasses of sangria, so I worked the courage up to ask our companions something that has been puzzling me since we moved here. What is up with the little gasp of air that people take when they say "ja"? No other words are said in this way, and when Norwegians are speaking English, they don't gasp when they say "yes". I have also noticed that women tend to do it more than men do. (See, I don't have to ask someone if they are a man or a woman, I just have to listen for the gasp when they say "ja"!) Our friends burst out laughing and told us a really funny story about the weird "ja" sound. Anders was at a business meeting with a couple of other Norwegians in Brazil, and during the coffee break, one of the Brazilians approached him to ask if his colleagues were okay, because they kept wheezing and gasping for air. Anders had no idea what this man was talking about, he hadn't noticed anything strange. Later, after a particularly loud inhalation, Anders finally realized what the Brazilian was referring to, and then couldn't keep from laughing every time someone said "ja". I guess that the "ja" is said while inhaling to express agreement and understanding for what is being discussed. (This would explain why my Danish papirklip class sounded like an asthmatics' convention!) I still didn't understand why it seems like women seem to make this sound more than men, and Nina quipped that it is because women are so agreeable and always say "ja", whereas men always say "nei"!
Another interesting thing I learned at dinner was the difference between a hot dog in Gjovik and a hot dog in Oslo. Hot dogs, or "polser", are a huge deal in Norway, but I guess the way they are eaten varies greatly. In Gjovik, people like their polser wrapped up in lompe (traditional potato-based flat bread) and then stuck in a hot dog bun. In Oslo, the polser goes in the hot dog bun, and they just slap the lompe on top of the whole thing. I'm still a little confused as to why people feel the need for so many carbs with their hot dogs! Anyway, on the main highway between Gjovik and Oslo, if you order polser, you will be asked if you want it "Oslo style" or "Gjovik style". I found this so funny, but again, I had consumed many glasses of sangria!
I'm glad Kevin and I had such a fun night out with our friends, as he had to leave the next morning for a week of working in the U.S. office. He made it to Amsterdam, but because his flight had been delayed taking off out of Oslo due to weather, he missed his connecting flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. He spent the night in the airport hotel and enjoyed the first 8 hours of sleep he has had in a really long time. The poor guy has been working so hard, and I have to say I was relieved that he was forced to take a little break on Sunday! He is safely in New York now, working like crazy. He is in finance, and January is always a rough month due to year end audits and reports which have to be done. Hopefully February will be a lot easier for him...I don't think he will be allowed to bring his laptop to Portugal with us!