The Metric System

The cats now have Norwegian pet passports in their little paws. The vet here is really nice, but a little bit shocked by the size of my cats. Poor, chubby Toonces! I must say, I was very pleased when the vet weighed him--even though I know they're equivalent, 9 kilograms sounds much leaner and healthier than 20 pounds. Maybe I need to get a metric scale for myself!

Maybe All I Need is a Rabies Vaccine?

The dogs went to the vet clinic today for their vaccines. In addition to their shots, they came away from their appointment with snazzy new Norwegian pet passports. Not that I'm jealous of my dogs or anything, but I have been living in Norway since August, and I still have no person number and I'm still waiting for permission to live here. I have been well behaved, I go to norskkurs daily, I drive the speed limit...and yet, I have heard nothing from the government regarding my case. But the dogs run around like maniacs, terrorizing moose and pooping in the bushes, and they have been granted Norwegian passports already!

A Vivid Imagination

Last night was a very rainy, spooky night. While out with the dogs, my raincoat whipped around my legs and the tall trees lashed about madly in the wind. Inside, the wind and rain rattled through the fireplace chimneys, and even with all the windows shut, I could hear the howling gusts. Worst of all, the dogs kept racing to the windows and barking ferociously, though I could see nothing outside. I hate when Kevin is away on business trips--my imagination always seems to get the best of me. I ended up huddled under my quilt, unable to get to sleep for much of the night. Don't feel too sorry for me, though. The nights in Norway in May are really short, with true darkness between 12:30 and 3:00 AM. So, yes, I did mangage to scare myself, but thankfully not for too long. I really hope Kevin's trips will be much fewer and far shorter this winter--18 hours of darkness is a long time to be scared!

Bippity Boppity Boo

In our part of Norway, these pretty little white and blue violets are called "natt-og-dag", or "night and day". That's a cute name for them and an apt description of their appearance. But, in some parts of Norway, they are called "stemor" or "stepmother." They are known as stepmothers because that fat bottom petal which is white and yellow is the big, stout, greedy stepmother. She loves to eat lots of butter and she will share some of the butter with her own daughters, the smaller, white petals. But the poor little stepdaughters (the blue petals) are thin and blue and cold and never get a taste of butter! (Maybe they must eat gruel instead?) I thought the tale of woe behind these violets was very imaginative--so many little Cinderella stories taking place in my own backyard!

The Good, the Bad and the Pretty

First, the pretty: the photo above is of little Gjøvik and surrounding Lake Mjøsa as seen from a local hillside.

Next, the bad: Kevin is on his way to Singapore today. He'll spend 5 days there and 4 in the Philippines. He has been on business trips for 26% of the year so far, with no end to the hectic travel schedule in sight. (Although I am very excited about his trip to Vancouver in August--I have always wanted to go there and I will be able to join him on this upcoming trip!)

Finally, the good: Now that Kevin has his person number, I was able to apply for a residency permit. We turned all the paperwork (plus a passport photo that makes me look like a raving lunatic) in to the police station yesterday. I will no longer have to leave the country every 3 months, and maybe at some point I'll even have a person number of my own!

Another good thing happened to me today: It is imperative that we keep the animals' vaccines current, because if they get them even one day past when they were due, it will be extremely difficult to ever bring them back to the U.S. The pets aren't due until mid-June, but being a little paranoid and obsessive, I went to the vet clinic today to set up their appointments. The dogs go next Tuesday and the cats will get their shots the following week. That's great, but that's not why I'm so happy. I explained the whole situation about the vaccines, about how I wanted to bring the dogs and cats in seperately, about how I needed late afternoon appointments as I go to norskkurs until 2:00 every day, EVERYTHING IN NORWEGIAN!!! And the receptionists understood me, didn't have to resort to English with me, and set the appointments up just as I had asked! One of them even told me that I speak Norwegian better than she speaks English, which is a huge compliment since she probably has a couple years of English classes behind her. Was she just being polite and encouraging to me? Probably, but you know that old adage about the gift horse? Yeah, I'm not going to look it in the mouth today, I'm just going to strut around feeling all competent and smart. (Until the next time I flub my pronounciation or completely forget a word or mix up my tenses, which will most likely happen by tomorrow!)

A Few Last Photos from my Mom's Visit

My mom made it home to New York safely...hopefully once she gets a few good nights of sleep, she will fully recover from our marathon tour of Norway! The last couple of days she was in town, we did stay a little closer to home. On Friday, we ventured up to Hamar to visit the Domkirkeodden, the old cathedral ruins encased in glass. While she enjoyed seeing the limestone ruins, she was more intrigued by the baptismal font from 1200. The water was only changed once a year, at Easter, and in the winter the ice in the font had to be chopped up with an axe before the unfortunate baby could be dunked. Babies of wealthy families were a little luckier, as their parents could afford hot stones to warm up the water. Our tour guide explained that although the average life expectancy was very low back in the 1200's, it wasn't because people didn't live to be old, the average was lowered because so many didn't make it past infancy. If a putrid ice bath was their first rite of passage, I can see why so many didn't live to see their first birthday! On Saturday we drove down to Jevnaker to visit Hadeland Glassverk. It was amazing to see the workers create beautiful bowls out of blobs of molten glass. We also got a chance to blow our own glasses and I must say they turned out well. The drive home was a little rainy, but then the sun came out and we were treated to a beautiful rainbow, the perfect end to my mom's trip to Norway!

Yet More Pictures

Last Sunday, our tour of gorgeous western Norway took us to tiny Undredal, home to 134 people and 500 goats, as well as the smallest stave church in Norway (seating only 40 people). We saw a statue of a goat in Undredal, but even after searching high and low, we didn’t see a single real, live goat! We did see the little stave church—it was built in 1147 and originally named St. Nicholas Chapel. The drive to Undredal was so pretty--we passed numerous waterfalls, idyllic pastures and dramatic mountains. We also drove up the west side of the Naeroyfjord (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). The Naeroyfjord is quite wild and lined by high, rugged mountains, and is only accessible by road in a couple of places. We passed very few houses, but we were stopped by a couple of cows, a pony and a fjord horse in the middle of the road. I had been disappointed about not seeing any goats, but these adorable farm animals cheered me up! They were so friendly and curious, and the fjord horse and pony were very interested in eating the carrots and apples we had with us. I could have spent all day petting them and giving them treats, but we still had a long drive to Bergen ahead of us, so eventually I climbed back in the car. As we tried to drive past them, the fjord horse stuck his head in the car for another bite!

More Pictures from our Tour of the West Coast

Here are a few more pictures from our trip last weekend. On Saturday, we went to see Nigardsbreen glacier in Jostedal National Park. The whole area was gorgeous, with so many waterfalls and dramatic snow capped mountains. We then drove through the countryside (and saw so many adorable lambs) to the Borgund stave church. It was amazingly beautiful and intricate, and it is incredible that the church is about 850 years old! On Saturday evening, we ended our day with a ride on the wonderful Flamsbana railroad. My poor mom was so exhausted that she even dozed off a little on the train! Our house guests tend to need a vacation to recover from their vacation with us!

17th of May

The 17th of May is Norway's Independence Day, and we spent it in Oslo on the palace grounds. All I can say is wow! I used to live in Chicago, and I have never seen so many people out in the streets in my life! The main street of Oslo, Karl Johans Gate, was swarming with life--there was a huge parade and thousands of spectators. The royal family came out onto the palace balcony and waved to the crowd for hours as the parade passed by. There were many people in the traditional national dress (bunad) and the clothes were so interesting and beautiful. The bunads from the various regions are really different from each other, and Oslo was full of people from all over Norway. We were thrilled to find my friend Heather (from norskkurs) and her husband among all the people, and of course Heather and I had to pose for a picture with our little Norwegian flags. After the parade, we headed back to Gjovik to rest, and then drove down to Raufoss for fireworks at midnight. Such an amazing day--I'm so glad we were able to be here to experience it!

Pretty Pictures

As promised, here are a few photos from our trip to the fjords. The first photo is of a fjord horse at the Sogn folk museum. These horses have a distinctive black stripe in their blonde manes and are even better at navigating steep mountain trails than donkeys. This particular horse was a total ham, posing for pictures and seeming to enjoy all the attention from the tourists! The second picture is of a row of fishing shacks in Walaker, along the Lustrafjord. We tood a ferry from Walaker to Urnes to see the oldest stave church in Norway (circa 1135). The last photo is a view of the Lustrafjord from Urnes. Lots more pictures to come, but now it is time to go to bed--we're off to Oslo tomorrow morning. We plan to see several museums tomorrow, and then we have tickets for the 17th of May celebration on the royal palace grounds. I can't wait!

The Shock and Awe Continue

My mom continues to be amazed by Norway--she was stunned by how much snow was still on Highway 53 by Sognefjord. We had a great tour of several fjords, the glacier in Jostedalen National Park, and Bergen. (I'll post more photos later.) As much as my mom loves the scenery here, she is not so fond of the food. She didn't enjoy the smoked salmon at all, nor is she a fan of lefsa, cloudberries or Norwegian pizza. After tasting the famed brown cheese, she said "I have a preconceived notion of what cheese tastes like, and this is not it!" Oh well, at least she loves the candy at the Gjovik chocolate factory, so I guess she won't starve to death in the next week!

The Cutest Pony EVER!

This adorable little guy was hanging out in a pasture north of Lillehammer. As soon as I saw him, I slammed on the brakes, jumped out of the car and started taking pictures. I assumed he would continue munching on grass at a distance, but as soon as he saw me coming towards the fence, he trotted right over. We took my mom all over today and saw lots of gorgeous scenery, but petting this pony was by far the high point of my day!

My Mom Has Arrived!

My mom made it safely to Norway this morning, and ever since she arrived, she has been relentlessly falling in love with all things Norwegian. She loves the mountains, she loves the lakes, she loves the clouds, she loves the churches, she loves the houses...we stopped many times on the way back from Gardemoen to take pictures. She even insisted on a photo of our guestroom, where she is thrilled to be staying. I must say, her enthusiasm is contagious, and it is fun to see Norway through new eyes--it IS a gorgeous country, the ancient churches are amazing, and, yes, I'll say it, our guest room is fabulous. (It was mustard yellow with institutional gray carpeting when we moved in--those pine floors took hours to sand smooth, and I agonized over whether or not that lovely violet color would be too vibrant for the walls. After all that work, it is nice to have someone appreciate the room so heartily!) The only time we had to reign in her giddiness was in Gardemoen, when she stopped short in front of a poster and gasped, "Nissen? What does this say about the nissen?" (Nissen are the little Christmas elves here, and my mom is obsessed with all the trolls and elves in Norwegian fairy tales.) I had to gently explain that, no, the poster wasn't advertising any merry little holiday elves, but was in fact promoting Nissan cars. Kevin was polite enough not to burst into hysterical laughter--me, not so much! I can't wait to hear what new joyous exclamations tomorrow will bring!

As Requested, A Cat Picture

Keera requested a photo of the cats...unfortunately, they haven't been overly enthusiastic about posing for me lately. If it isn't nap time, it's food time or whirl around like a dervish time, so my cat photos have been a little lacking. I will keep trying to catch one basking in a patch of sunlight, but in the meantime, here's Abner. His photo was taken by my friend Carrie, who took care of the cats until they were allowed to join us in Norway. Her husband Victor decided to amuse himself with Photoshop, so while Abner was actually just hanging out on a coffee table, in the doctored photos, he appears to be enjoying travelling the globe.

Fencity Goodness!

This morning, Kevin built a fence for the dogs! Yay!!! We have been looking at fencing materials and have been shocked and horrified at the prices. We knew the dogs really needed a fenced-in yard to run in, as those 5 walks a day aren't nearly enough to curb their energy, but we kept putting it off due to the astronomical cost. Kevin realized that we had a big roll of chicken wire in the garage, plus tons of free logs in the forest, so he drove a few posts into the ground, used some of the surrounding trees for support as well, and weighted down the bottom of the chicken wire with logs. Instead of paying thousands of dollars (a 2 meter long piece of premade wooden fencing cost 480 NOK, or about $80) for a fenced in yard, we paid nothing! The fence probably is not very strong, but I think as long as one of us is out there supervising the dogs, it should contain them just fine! Plus, the chicken wire is almost invisible, so we didn't lose our pretty forest view. I know it sounds like we're about one split rail away from "Little House on the Prairie" right now, but the high prices here cause some serious "do it yourself" madness! It has been a great day--the dogs spent a blissful afternoon romping around and relaxing in the sun. I'm completely giddy about not spending a penny on our fence. Although, I am a bit worried that there is some random Norwegian "homemade fence tax" bill that will suddenly arrive in our mailbox! (Really, I'm not paranoid, we recently received a TV tax bill--$300 a year for the privilege of watching the expensive TV that we already paid for!)

A Little Whimsy

This cute statue of a chicken and piglets is on the main shopping street of Gjøvik, Stårgate. I don't know the story behind it, but I thought it was adorable and felt the need to share!

Happy Belated Labor Day!

The first of May is Labor Day in Norway. It was celebrated in Gjovik by a parade and political speeches. It fell on a Tuesday this year, so lots of employees had Monday off as well for a nice 4 day weekend. I was grateful to get all that time off from school, as the weather is too nice to be cooped up in a classroom. I joked to a classmate that I have "senioritis"--I just can't get motivated to study when sitting out on my patio with a good book and a glass of wine is an option!

Speaking of senioritis, from May 1-May 17, graduating seniors are "russ." The teen in the photo is "russ" as you can see by his red overalls. The next couple of weeks will probably be a little noisy around here, as the students drive their russ vehicles around, perform silly pranks and drink copious amounts of alcohol. It looks like a lot of fun, but I do question the timing--the students will take their final exams after the 17th of May. After all that excess, I wonder how well they will do? To read more about the "russ" experience, click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russ .

Foraging for Food

We had some of Kevin's colleagues over for dinner on Sunday night, and I took the opportunity to get advice about things to see and do while my mom and friends are here. We were advised that the 17th of May (Norway's Independence Day) is best seen in Oslo, so I have booked a hotel room there. We are also going to take them to Jostedal National Park to see the glacier, to the fjords, to the Oslo museums, to Lillehammer...I really want this to be the perfect vacation for them, I want to show them everything that is special and beautiful about Norway. Sadly, I already know that my mom is going to be sorely disappointed. She keeps talking about seeing hedgehogs and red spotted mushrooms on her visit. I also would love to see a hedgehog, but in the 8 1/2 months that we have lived here, I haven't seen a single one. I have seen the beautiful red mushrooms with the white spots in our yard, and they look just like the toadstools in fairy tale books. I asked our dinner guests if the mushrooms would pop up by the middle of May and was told no, they don't appear until autumn. And then I was quickly told, "But don't eat them, they are highly poisonous!" This is the fourth time I have been told by someone to not eat the spotted mushrooms. Do I really look like the kind of person who, while out for a walk in the woods, would randomly start eating things from the forest floor? I am much too scared of bugs to even pluck something out of the earth, let alone pop it in my mouth! I freely admit that common sense isn't always my forte. I have run with scissors, I have talked to strangers, and I have even eaten a container of yogurt a day past its expiration date. But I have never foraged for dinner under a log!

(That being said, I am totally excited to go mushroom hunting this fall. But obviously I will take anything I find to the mushroom checking station. And of course I will make Kevin do the actual picking and carrying--again, I'm really scared of accidentally touching a bug! I'm sure he can't wait to be my mushroom slave!)