A Year Has Passed

A year ago today, we arrived in Norway, excited to begin our new life here. I'm a bit of a technophobe, so I had no idea what a blog was back then. Instead, to keep friends and family up to date with our progress, I sent out emails which I dubbed "Norsk Newsletters." In celebration of a year spent here (wow, has it really been that long?) I thought I'd share some excerpts from those first bewildered letters with you--I think I've actually come a long way!

"We live at the very edge of town, surrounded by forest. It is a gorgeous setting, but something screams in the woods every night. I don’t know what it is, a wild cat, a screech owl, a troll? Whatever it is, it is loud, and the dogs barking madly at it are even louder, so the whole living on the edge of civilization hasn’t been quite as peaceful as I had hoped! Oh well, hopefully whatever it is will hibernate this winter!"

"Kevin and I went to a dinner at the inn owned by his company. The main course was reindeer—eek! I discreetly filled my plate with potatoes and vegetables, but the portly man sitting next to me bellowed, “You didn’t take any reindeer!!!! Don’t you eat reindeer?” I almost replied that I would rather eat Santa Claus himself than Comet or Cupid or Rudolph, but I restrained myself. I tried to explain to him why I don’t eat meat, but the poor guy just looked perplexed as he shoveled heaping forkfuls of reindeer meat into his mouth. I turned back to my plate and fervently hoped that dessert wouldn’t be tooth fairy soufflé with Easter bunny sauce!"

"Our furniture arrived in the container. The truck driver had quite a time maneuvering the huge semi backwards up our very long, narrow and twisty driveway. By the time he finally reached our house, several small trees and our lamp post lay in his wake. When he parked, the movers jumped out. There was an American, a Pole and a German. The company is owned by a Norwegian, but it is most cost efficient for him to hire foreign labor. Hmm, an American from San Francisco is considered cheap labor here! I was very amused at how frightened the movers were of spiders. There was a small spider web on our tent, and the German was sure it must belong to a black widow, or some other terribly poisonous American spider! I had to carry the stupid tent to the garage, as none of them would touch it. It was an interesting move—the American drank many beers while he worked, and then had the brilliant idea to burn all the packing material, instead of hauling it away as was contracted. I came out of the kitchen to find a huge bonfire going in our front yard, the plastic bubble wrap producing some toxic fumes. When he noticed that I was more than a little unhappy about the situation, the American suggested that I could use the huge charred spot in the lawn as a barbeque pit. Great idea, and if I ever decide to grill a moose, I now have the perfect spot!"

"I visited the vet last week to establish Kermit and Honey as patients. I think that Norwegian vet care will be the one area where we will actually save money. There are no heartworms in Norway, and for the most part, no fleas either. The vet did explain that there are no dog or cat fleas, but the birds and “the little roly-poly animals” have fleas that can occasionally jump onto dogs. Of course I had to figure out what these little roly-poly animals were, so the vet and I engaged in a game of charades, and finally I correctly guessed hedgehogs!"

"I have been talked into trying a couple traditional Norwegian dishes. (No, not lutefisk, I don’t think that will ever happen!) I had a taste of sour cream porridge, and yes, it is as terrible as it sounds. Even with loads of cinnamon and sugar on it, wow, that is definitely an acquired taste! I accidentally tried fiskekake—it looked like cheese so I took a bite. I’m not a big fan of tofu, and fiskekake has the gelatinous consistency of tofu with a creepy, fishy taste. Really unpleasant stuff! I have tried the infamous brown cheese. It’s okay, I guess, if you like your cheese nutty and sweet, which I don’t!"

Hmm, maybe I haven't actually come that far...I'm still not a fan of the brown cheese or fish cakes, I haven't ever tried lutefisk (although I have had a couple of unpleasant rakfisk enounters) and when I think of reindeer, I still think of Rudolph, not dinner. I have no idea what was making that racket in the middle of the night, but after experiencing all the birds twittering in the middle of the night this summer, I'm guessing it was some sort of an avian screech. The grass has grown back in our yard after the scorching of 2006 and our yard has occasionally provided munchies for a moose family, but I haven't seen a single hedgehog. I'm still looking, though! It's been a year of highs and lows, and in the end, I'm grateful for the experience.