On Top Of The World

Epilogue

2007-11-26T04:36:00.000+01:00

I can't take credit for the lovely photo above. A friend who lives in Gjøvik snapped it from his veranda early one morning. I love all the twinkly lights and the dramatic sunrise over Lake Mjøsa, and I thought it was an appropriate picture for my last post.

Everything is fine--the animals and I all made it safely back to New York two weeks ago, and Kevin joined us a week later. Making a trans-Atlantic flight with pets is not fun, and while the whole process was taken care of by the pet moving company on the voyage to Norway, on the way back to the U.S., I was responsible for transporting the animals to the airport cargo area. Since I didn't witness the loading procedure on the first trip, I was a bit shocked to learn that my beloved animals would be stacked on pallets and hoisted by forklift onto a semi. I lost it as Kermit yelped while the truck door was being lowered, and as I watched the semi drive off towards the awaiting plane, I really questioned my decision to put my animals through this trauma. I traveled on the same plane and was so relieved that at least they had a smooth ride--there was virtually no turbulence. Once I landed in Newark, I called the pet moving company and was reassured that all the animals were just fine and had made it through U.S. Customs with no problems. (All that worry about the malfunctioning microchip was totally unnecessary--Customs barely even glanced at their health documents!) The pets were delivered to the new house healthy and relatively calm and happy, and I am so grateful!
The transport of the furniture didn't go quite as smoothly--the movers didn't finish in time, so the date for the container pick-up was delayed by another week. It is now scheduled to arrive at our house in New York on Christmas day--I guess lounging by the tree and sipping cocoa in my pajamas isn't in the cards this year! Also, even though we actually got rid of a lot of our stuff before the move, somehow our possessions didn't all fit on the container. We have skis, snowshoes, patio furniture, a porch swing and a bunch of tools still in Norway. Hopefully it will be shipped seperately to the U.S., but really, it can all be replaced. The animals made it safely, Kevin and I made it safely, and that's all I care about!
My Norwegian experience was sometimes wonderful and amazing and sometimes lonely and terrible, but I am definitely better for it. I met some incredible friends, I saw some truly breathtaking sights, I learned (kind of!) a new language, and I stepped way out of my comfort zone. Now I'm moving on and embracing my new life in New York. I won't be writing at this site any longer, but if you want to continue reading about American expat adventures in Norway, I highly recommend the insightful and hilarious blogs of Michele http://michelesmistakes.blogspot.com/ and Victoria http://victoriasguidetonorway.blogspot.com/ . And if you would like to see some gorgeous photos of Norway, my favorite photo journal is http://blog.thomaslaupstad.com/ . And finally, if you would like to keep up with me and Kevin and the critters (and all of our missteps and mishaps) I plan to continue writing at http://lakesidereflections.blogspot.com/ .

Ha Det Bra, Norge!

2007-11-11T16:35:00.000+01:00

Midnight sun over Lake Mjøsa--6/20/2007

Kevin, & his parents, Maria & George at Akershus fortress in Oslo--7/24/2007

A pair of fjord horses--7/21/2007

3 moose outside our house--3/27/2007

Me & Kevin on a ferry in Sognefjord--3/23/2007

Kevin, me & my mom, Carol at 17. mai parade in Oslo--5/17/2007

The royal family--5/17/2007

Kevin at our Halloween party--10/16/2006

Kevin & me--1/6/2007

Kevin, me & Anders at the Birkebeiner in Lillehammer--3/17/2007

Kevin & Anders in Ireland--6/30/2007

Nina, Victor, Carrie, Kevin & me at Malahaide castle in Ireland--6/30/2007

It has been quite a year...I can hardly believe it is over.

Sobriety is Overrated!

2007-11-10T21:57:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, Michele (of http://michelesmistakes.blogspot.com/ ) and her husband Ian drove up from Sandefjord for a visit. A few of my Norwegian friends stopped by too and soon we were all sitting around, drinking wine and talking. The conversation was mostly in English but we did flip flop between English and Norwegian. The funny thing is that I had many glasses of wine but I understood everything that was said in Norwegian, and I was able to speak without agonizing over every word. (I remember thinking to myself, in my tipsy state, "Holy crap, I'm keeping up with the conversation! Woo hoo!") I wonder if my biggest obstacles to fluency have been my embarrassment about my funny accent and grammar mistakes, and my constant worry that I might misunderstand what others were saying. The alcohol erased any shame or self-consciousness I had and I babbled away. Maybe if I had consumed a pre-norskkurs cocktail every day, I'd be talking like a native by now! (At the very least, it would have made all the goofy songs we had to sing a lot more amusing!)

Acclimation

2007-11-09T09:06:00.000+01:00

When I talked with Kevin last night, he mentioned that he had experienced a bit of culture shock in New York. He went to the local Wegman's to stock up on groceries but quickly became overwhelmed and had to leave! He said he was kind of tired, and the size of the store and the myriad of choices were just too much for him. Our local grocery store in Gjøvik reminds me a lot of Aldi's--small and dingy with the cans and boxes of food still sitting in their shipping cartons. (Of course if the prices were similar to Aldi's, I wouldn't complain, but alas, they are not.) Personally, I am excited about bright, spacious super markets with attractively presented food, but I will make sure that the first time I go to Wegman's I am well rested and mentally prepared for the food extravaganza within!
(At least we won't have to adjust to a new climate--Kevin said it is really cold and it even snowed in New York yesterday.)

Time is Flying

2007-11-08T15:26:00.000+01:00

Only 3 days left in Norway...I have been alternating through states of euphoria and panic! Euphoria because I can't wait to get settled into the new house and see old friends and reclaim my life. Panic because moving is always a headache, and moving from one continent to another is even more migraine-inducing. A container is to be delivered to our house on Monday and then picked up for shipping on Friday. Unfortunately, the moving company that was supposed to start packing our stuff up yesterday has a scheduling conflict and won't be able to start until Monday. I'm a little concerned about them getting our rather large house packed up and loaded on the container in less than a week--it could still happen, right? Oh well, by next week I'll be in New York and poor Kevin will be here in Norway dealing with the moving company. I had a brief meltdown yesterday after visiting the vet with the animals. The microchip scanner wasn't picking up one of the cats' microchip number--the number that is on every single one of its health documents. Apparently microchips can sometimes migrate or just stop transmitting information altogether...4 days before the animals are due to fly overseas wasn't the day for me to learn about malfunctioning microchips! I started cursing the Home Again people, but luckily, my vet is a bit calmer under pressure than I am--he quickly rechipped the cat and printed up new certificates. I checked with the pet moving company, and I guess my meltdown was totally unwarranted, as microchips aren't even necessary in animals being transported to the U.S. Minor microchip annoyances aside, I think I definitely got the preferable moving tasks. Kevin is racing around madly in New York, meeting with contractors, ordering more tile, doing small repairs and cleaning at the new house. (All while trying to also do his rather demanding job without internet access yet at the house--he found a gas station with wireless access close to home and has become a regular fixture there!) It's not all drudgery for him, though--today he takes possession of his new Prius! It's silver, it's tiny, it's adorable! I just need to accept that the next few weeks will be mayhem, but eventually everything will calm down and life will be great--we'll be zipping around in our cute little cars and living on a lake!

Maybe I Should Have Studied a Little Harder?

2007-11-06T11:46:00.000+01:00

Everyone knows you're not supposed to go to the grocery store hungry, but I did, and I made a few impulse purchases. I generally try to stay away from junk food (unless it's chocolate, which is heart healthy, right?) but in the salty snacks aisle I had a moment of weakness and grabbed a bag of potato chips. The bag advertised that these particular chips were the reduced salt variety, so I put them in my shopping cart feeling not too guilty. I mean, sure, they were packed full of fat, but less sodium is a good thing! Later, while checking email, I was idly snacking on my chips when I realized that my lips were starting to tingle from the saltiness. I was kind of surprised--if this is what a reduced-salt chip tastes like, how crazy salty is the full-salt version? And then I looked at the bag again, and realized my error. It was labeled "Hav Salt." In Norwegian, "halv" means "half" but "hav" means "sea." I wasn't eating "Half Salt" potato chips, I was eating "Sea Salt" potato chips, hence all the brine! Oops! Now I'm feeling quite stupid (and I'm retaining all kinds of fluid!) so I think I'll back away from the bag of chips. I think I'll also back away from the computer--my puffy, sodium filled fingers are making all kinds of typos anyway!

Almost Home

2007-11-05T17:41:00.000+01:00

Kevin arrived at the New York house late on Saturday night safely, but not without incident. During the flight from Oslo to Newark, the pilot announced that because of heavy winds the plane was running out of gas, so they had to make an emergency landing in Gander, Newfoundland to refuel. I'm not a happy, easy going passenger, and I think I would have flipped out a little about an announcement like that! Nothing ever fazes Kevin, though, and he was only slightly annoyed that his very long flight ended up taking an extra hour.
Anyway, he's at the new house now and progress has been made. We have cable (plus DVR--yay!) hooked up, a couple of the rooms have already been tiled, and Kevin has hauled in some of the small appliances we bought on our last trip back. (It's too bad we gave away all of our appliances when we moved to Norway, but now we have the chance to get brand new, shiny things. Like a Dyson Animal vacuum cleaner--I know, I'm incredibly lame to be excited about this, but with so many furry beasts, a good vacuum cleaner is worth cheering about!) Our new driveway is lined with apple and pear trees, so Kevin picked a bunch of Empire apples too--yum!
I can't believe that I'll be in our new home in one week--I have a few last things to do, like take the animals to their final vet appointments for their health certificates, and a bit of sorting through things and giving away what we don't want to move, but this Norwegian experience is almost over for me. I'm trying to take in everything I can--I even got up early enough to catch the sunrise over the lake this morning (pictured above). Not like that was too difficult of a feat--the sun rises at about 7:45 these days, and it is completely dark again by 4:00. I also took the dogs for a long walk through the forest this afternoon, but unfortunately I didn't see any moose or hedgehogs...I am still hoping for one more moose encounter before I go!

Serendipity

2007-11-03T12:56:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I met a couple of online friends, Michele (of the very amusing and thoughtful http://michelesmistakes.blogspot.com/ ) and Liz, in Oslo. Originally, I started writing my blog just to keep in touch with friends and family in the U.S. I never thought that it would lead to conversations and eventual friendships with people I didn't know at all in "real life". Honestly, I think that the people I have met (this includes you too, Victoria!) and the friendships I have made because I decided to write about my random experiences in Norway have been the best, most unexpected, gifts that the past 15 months have provided. Sure, moose and fjords and skiing down snowy mountains are all delightful, but in the end, they are just icing on the cake! (The cake being the wonderful people I have met--you all followed that metaphor, right?)
Enough of that! No one reads my little blog for the sentimental schmaltz, so on with the rambling observations:
Michele and I had lunch at a fantastic Thai restaurant, "Tasty Thai." We were seated by a large window, and midway through our meal we noticed that an infant in a baby carriage had been left unattended outside of the restaurant. It was really cold out yesterday, but the baby was well bundled up, and occasionally we could see a tiny, mittened hand reach up through the blankets. After about 10 minutes, a man returned and pushed the baby carriage on down the street...I really hope that baby did indeed belong to that man! (I remember there was a huge fuss a few years ago after a Danish woman left her baby unattended outside of a Manhattan coffee shop. I guess in Scandinavian countries, this is completely normal parenting behavior, but to my paranoid American eyes, it seems like so many awful things could happen in such a short time...Oslo is a city of 450,000 people! I can't imagine growing up with that sort of ingrained trust in humanity...)
After lunch, Michele and I met up with Liz, and we all boarded a tram (trikk). I always get excited to try something new for the first time, but I think that my first trikk ride would have been a bit more enjoyable had it not been 3:30 on Friday afternoon. The 450,000 people who I just mentioned live in Oslo? Yeah, they were all on that trikk!
Finally, we stopped by a bakery to talk and have some coffee and I was put to shame. When it comes to math, science, history or foreign affairs, eh, I'm not so smart. But if you were, say, putting together a championship Trivial Pursuit team and needed someone to answer all those tricky pink pie entertainment questions, it would be hard to find someone more informed than me. I truly believed that about myself, and then I met Liz. She knew obscure facts and salacious tidbits about every celebrity referenced in our conversation. I was in turn awed and abashed!
Anyway, I had a great time and am still glowing with gratitude...this past year has at times felt so overwhelming and so lonely, but it is amazing what a latte, a little pad thai and some good conversation with friends can do!

Eek! (A Halloween Tale of Horror!)

2007-10-31T16:18:00.000+01:00

A bit of background, before my spooky story begins. There is no drywall or sheetrock in our house--most of the walls and ceilings are made of pine boards. The exceptions are the ceilings in the living room and the office, where some sort of thin, white, stretchy plastic cover has been pulled taut across the ceiling. It looks just like a typical sheetrock ceiling, and in fact I had no idea it wasn't until I needed to change a lightbulb, put my hand up to steady myself, and was very surprised to feel the ceiling give a bit to the pressure of my palm. Anyway, on with my creepy tale.
Late last night I was checking email one final time before going to bed when I heard a strange noise from above...kind of like raindrops on a tent. Imagine my shock when I looked up and saw something in the ceiling moving! It was a mouse! I could tell because I could see each poinky little mouse paw stretch the ceiling ever so slightly as it ran along over my head, making a scritchy, pitter patter sound. I know to most people, the horror of this story is the fact that there was a mouse suspended above my head in my strange, stretchy ceiling, but I was actually concerned that it would get trapped and die up there, so I consulted Kevin (who had been sleeping). He was, justifiably, not pleased to be awakened by my shrill voice babbling about a mouse stuck in the ceiling, and sagely advised me, "If it found its way into the ceiling, it will find its way out. I'm going back to bed." He was right, as by the time I returned to the office, the ceiling was still. But now I can't stop worrying about the fate of the mouse...what if it cheated death in the ceiling only to later find itself whisker to whisker with one of the cats? As I have established in previous blog entries, Toonces (pictured above trying to squeeze himself out of his kitty teepee) enjoys eating. So far, so good, there are no mouse entrails on my floor, no fat cats smugly licking their chops. Hopefully my spooky encounter will not take a gory, gratuitously violent turn after all!

The Picture Below is Not a Bear!

2007-10-30T13:08:00.000+01:00

It really is such a small world--one of Kevin's childhood friends now lives in Oslo. The last time they saw each other was about 19 years ago, and here they both are, living in Norway. We had plans to get together for dinner last night in Oslo, and decided to meet by the tiger statue outside of the central train station. (Kevin insisted it was a bear statue, until I asked him what kind of freaky bear has stripes and a long tail! I think he has bears on the brain after all the recent bear attacks along the Swedish border! http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2048344.ece ) Anyway, because almost 20 years have passed since Kevin last saw his friend, he wasn't really sure if they would recognize each other. When I asked what his friend looked like, Kevin said, "He has light brown hair, he's about my age..." That didn't narrow it down too much, so when an incredibly inebriated man (who was in his 30's with light brown hair) pulled up to the tiger statue on his bicycle and started screaming, I nervously asked, "Is that him?" Kevin said he didn't think so, but he wasn't completely sure--at that point I was hoping we could just sneak back inside the train station and get away! Luckily, Kevin's friend walked up to us a couple of minutes later (and he was completely sober and not ranting at all!) so we headed up Karl Johansgate to the restaurant. We had a great time at dinner and then went to a fantastic Irish pub for a drink.
Oslo is such a fun city--Kevin's friend told us about one of his favorite bars which has an ocean theme--huge fish tanks everywhere, walls and ceiling painted as if they were underwater. Not only is the decor unique, opera singers perform there nightly--can you imagine drinking a cocktail and listening to opera all while enjoying a submarine view? I know I only have 13 days left in Norway, but I really want to go there! Oh well, I just need to keep reminding myself that I will be back a lot for visits when Kevin travels here for work...there will still be time to make it to Svalbard and Lofoten and even the underwater opera bar!

Three Things I Learned Today

2007-10-28T14:42:00.000+01:00

One of Kevin's coworkers stopped by our house this afternoon. Everyone is always very interested in our house, and I have never quite understood the curiosity. I'm always happy to oblige, though, so we gave this guy the "grand tour" of our house. He told me that the house was designed by Arnstein Arneberg, a very famous Norwegian architect. Arneberg was one of two architects who designed Oslo's town hall (Rådhuset) which you can see here: http://oslo-norway.ca/attractions/radhus.html Kevin and I were really surprised to hear this--why in the world would a house designed by such a revered architect be allowed to slowly fall apart, rented out to riff-raff like us for a pittance? It kind of makes me sad, and I really hope that whoever ends up here next takes good care of the old house.

I didn't just learn that our house has illustrious beginnings, I also found out that the strange, straw wallpaper in our study (which reminds me of the "Trading Spaces" episode where Hildi glued hay all over a living room wall) is very special and in high demand. I guess it's handmade in this area of Norway and decorated a couple of the walls in part of the World Trade Center. It also covers the walls of a famous jeweller on 5th Avenue in New York City...I guess it makes sense that an art-hater like me wouldn't see the value and beauty of the straw wallpaper!

The third thing I learned was that when faced nose to nose with a daschund puppy, my dogs will not mistake it for a tasty hot dog and will not chomp it down in one bite. Kevin's coworker brought his adorable 7 month old puppy to visit, and while I was concerned about Kermit and Honey turning cannibal on the tiny dog, they actually behaved themselves. It was so cute to see all three dogs racing around our yard (although there were a couple of times when I thought the puppy was going to be crushed beneath Kermit's thundering paws). Anyway, now I'm sitting here all puffed up and proud of our special house, our special wallpaper and our special dogs who don't tear little weiner dogs limb from limb!

Teenagers Make Me Laugh

2007-10-26T10:06:00.001+02:00

I had an amusing conversation with a Norwegian 14 year old the other day:

14 year old: I love the show "Fresh Prince of Bel Air"--is that what America is really like?

Me: Um, no, I mean I guess there are a few people who really live in mansions with pools by the ocean, but most of us definitely do not.

14 year old: I also watch "The O.C."--is that how it is in America?

Me: Um, again, no, a tiny percentage of Americans live that way, but most of us do not. Even though lots of our T.V. shows are set in California, there are a bunch of states that don't border an ocean, that get snow in the winter, where average people live in modest houses and drive modest cars.

14 year old: I really like to watch "America's Funniest Home Videos"--is that what it is like in America?

Me: *blink, blink* Um, yeah, actually, that's pretty much how it is in America.

14 year old: Awesome!

Dead Inside

2007-10-25T10:33:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I went to an art gallery with a friend. The gallery is housed inside the oldest building in Gjøvik which was originally a glass blowing factory. Is it wrong that I found the old building (and the gorgeous red tree outside the building) more moving than the art inside? Seriously, I don't know what's wrong with me, but art galleries generally leave me cold. I love Van Gogh (but only his later work, the early paintings which imitate the Dutch masters do nothing for me) but that's kind of where my list of art that I appreciate ends. I have been to the National Gallery in Oslo several times because everyone who has visited us has wanted to go, but other than one Solberg painting, my favorite part of the National Gallery is the architecture of the building itself. Art brings such joy and inspiration to so many people, yet I'm all "meh" when I look at it...I'm dead inside, I tell you!

Woo Hoo!

2007-10-23T22:02:00.000+02:00

I started blogging about a year ago, and my first entry was about closing on the sale of our former house in New York. 12 months have passed and we have come full circle--we just closed on the purchase of our new house in New York. (We didn't actually personally close since we're not in the U.S. right now, but our attorney signed the paperwork for us.) Anyway, it's official--the house is ours! We have a guy lined up to rip out the carpeting and replace it all with porcelain tiles, we have another guy scheduled to install a wrought iron fence to contain the dogs, we have all kinds of crazy plans to blast the back wall out of the lower level and put in glass doors and a patio. It's very stressful but so exciting too. I keep telling the dogs in a manic, high pitched voice that they will have their very own lake to swim in...they just tilt their heads and look worried that I have gone a bit mad and may forget to feed them!

(Sorry about the crappy house picture--we mostly took photos of things like the furnace and the fuse box when we were house hunting. This was one of the only exterior shots I got...oh well, as you can see it is made of brick and there is a big lake behind it. Again, woo hoo!)

A Random Question

2007-10-22T22:09:00.000+02:00

What's with all the bunnies in Norway? Granted, my sample size is pretty small, but among the tiny circle of people I know here, 2 have cats, 1 has a dog, 1 has a cat and a dog, and 6 have pet rabbits. I think that the whole time I lived in the U.S., I only ever met 3 people who had bunnies. Why is there such a difference in my completely non-scientifically gathered samples? Do Norwegians know something about rabbits that Americans don't know? Does anyone have any insight?

Nostalgia

2007-10-20T14:27:00.001+02:00

I'm still in Norway, but I'm not, in psychobabble terms, "fully present." My mind is already in November, in the new house, in my new car, with my old friends, back in my "real life." Every day I tick one more task off the massive list of things to do before we move--today I went to the vet clinic and got the pets' rabies certificates to add to their growing folders of health records. Later, I might start shredding all the newspaper to line their crates, or I might try to purge my closets of a few more things I don't want to bring to the U.S. (Or I might hang out on the couch watching DVDs--Kevin bought me the complete "Ally McBeal" set when he was in China last month and I can't wait to watch all the neurosis!) Even though I'm eagerly moving on, every once in a while I feel a twinge of sadness about leaving. There were three magpies hopping around in the yard this afternoon. I love seeing those dapper, glossy, black and white birds, but they are not found in New York. Neither are hedgehogs (not that I have actually ever seen any here, but every evening I know that there is the potential to spot one waddling along). While there are moose in New York, they don't live in the area where we will be living--I could see one if we go up into the Adirondacks, but I'm never going to look out my window and see one (or three) munching on the trees in my back yard like I was able to here. There are so many other little things about life in Norway which I will miss--the candles that appear outside of open businesses as the daylight wanes, the fresh waffle stands in the streets, the tiny, sweet, juicy Norwegian strawberries, the lit ski trail that winds past our house, the white bark of all the birch trees (even though I'm crazy-allergic to them, they are really pretty). Anyway, I'm definitely elated to be moving back home, but among the feelings of joy and anticipation there are daily reminders of everything I will miss.

Monkey See, Monkey Brew!

2007-10-18T17:16:00.000+02:00

I laughed out loud when I read this article in the paper today:
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2054876.ece
I've never actually had this soda before, but I am definitely going to buy some now!

Søsterkirkene

2007-10-17T14:10:00.000+02:00

I dropped Kevin and his coworkers off at the airport on Monday, and on the way back I noticed a sign pointing to "Søsterkirkene." I have seen this sign many times before and always thought that I should check it out one day. Since I'm running out of days here in Norway, I finally made the detour on Monday to see these 12th century churches in Gran. The popular explanation of why the two ancient stone churches were built so close together is that a pair of sisters had a feud and each had her own church built. Who knows if there is any truth to the rumor--it's kind of hard to track down credible 900 year witnesses! The smaller church is called Mariakirke and the larger church is Nikolaikirke. There is a runestone from approximately 1050 A.D. behind Nikolaikirke which reads, "Aun R.'s sons raised (this stone) in memory of Aufi their brother. God help Aufi's soul." (I wonder if rune translation classes are offered at the university in Oslo? If so, that would be a much more interesting way to obtain foreign language credits than taking French or German classes!) There is a little dairy farm right next to the churchyard--the cows didn't seem overly impressed being surrounded by all that history. I can't imagine going about my daily business in the shadow of these medieval churches, but such is life in Norway...there are ancient smelting pits, burial mounds, runestones and church ruins around every corner.

Woof

2007-10-15T18:36:00.000+02:00

In Norway, it is perfectly legal to wander on to someone else's property as you are going for a walk. Kevin and I enjoy this privilege frequently during our walks with the dogs across the neighboring fields. But something odd has been happening ever since we moved into our house--people will just wander into our yard, stop and stare at our house. We live at the end of a very long driveway, pretty far from any other houses. There is a ski trail which runs through the woods well behind our property, but other than our driveway, there is no path leading to our home. And yet, at least a couple of times a month, I will look out the window to see someone looking back in at me. Most of the time, they stay outside of our fence, but sometimes they will actually come into the fenced in yard. Several times I have gone to the door to say hello, but usually whoever is in our yard mumbles a quick "Hei" and hurries off. One day, two elderly ladies shuffled up to our house pushing walkers. They were the first curious visitors to stay and chat for a while. One of them asked me if I had seen any "spøkelser" yet. I wasn't sure what that word meant, so she made a terrible face, jumped at me and yelled "Roar!" I jumped back, we both laughed, and I told her that no, I hadn't seen any ghosts! Is our house known to be haunted? Is that why so many people wander into our yard and stare at it? It's kind of a creepy idea, but infinitely more reassuring than my other hypotheses that people are curious about the Americans living here and are trying to get a peek at us, or that because we live in such a remote location, criminals are casing the joint! Regardless of the reason, Kevin got annoyed yesterday when he looked out the window to see a man standing against our fence and staring at our house, so he decided to quickly let the dogs out of the door. (This isn't as mean and sadistic as it might sound. First, we do have a fence, so the dogs couldn't actually have gotten to the man. Second, they're ridiculously friendly dogs. They would never hurt anyone, but they are large with big, booming barks, so they definitely startled the man and he immediately left our yard.) Kevin left this morning for a 12 day trip to China, Singapore and the Philippines. He worries about me being on my own at the very edge of town for such a long time, so he advised me, in his most C. Montgomery Burns-esque voice, "If you see anyone lurking in the yard while I'm gone, release the hounds!"

Too Prepared

2007-10-14T12:26:00.000+02:00

Back in July 2006, as we were packing up all our wordly possessions for Norway, I had a money-saving idea. I had heard how expensive toiletries were in Norwegian stores, so I decided to stock up in the U.S. and haul it all over. I filled two shopping carts full of shower gel, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, dental floss, shaving cream, razors, lotion, lip balm and sunscreen. As the cashier started to ring up my purchases, the lady waiting behind me asked me if I had lots of daughters? I told her that I had no children. At that point, she started getting a little nervous about why I was stockpiling toiletries and asked me if I knew something that she didn't. Obviously I should have just explained the logic behind my shopping spree, but I was kind of paranoid that perhaps smuggling $400 worth of toiletries into Norway was slightly illegal. (In retrospect, first, the customs officials have their hands full with the gallons of alcohol and tons of meat smuggled over the Norwegian border every day--no one would have cared about my soap! Second, did I really think that the nosy lady in line behind me at the local WalMart was some sort of Norwegian government mole trying to bust an American soap smuggling ring?) Anyway, she didn't seem satisfied by my lame explanation that I really hate going shopping so I just stock up once a year. Suddenly the cashier and a couple of other customers were involved in the conversation and the paranoia and conspiracy theories were running rampant. As I stuffed my bags of toiletries back into the shopping carts, I firmly restated that no, I had no advance knowledge of any reason to stockpile goods, so everyone should just calm down and continue shopping normally! By the time I reached my car, I was cracking up--even if I had some kind of information and was planning to hole up in my bunker, wouldn't it have made more sense for me to buy canned goods and bottled water instead of shower gel and shaving cream? I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that smelling nice and getting a close shave are less important to survival than adequate nutrition!
Now that we are moving back to the U.S. in a short month, I am annoyed with myself for buying so many toiletries. We still have unopened bottles and tubes and tubs galore which will now have to be moved back. Oh well, at least I won't be freaking out about smuggling goods back across the border--they're just returning to their rightful home after a lengthy Norwegian vacation!

It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times...

2007-10-12T17:06:00.000+02:00

Last night, I took the train down to Oslo to have dinner with Victoria of the hilarious http://victoriasguidetonorway.blogspot.com/ . She is even funnier and sweeter in person, if that is possible, and I had such a great time chatting with her over dinner and drinks. I was having so much fun (and perhaps one too many cocktails) that I kind of lost track of the time. When I did finally check a clock, I realized that I had about 15 minutes to get from the bar on Aker Brygge to the central train station. After an evening of drinking cocktails, I really needed a bathroom, but there was just no time so I figured I'd use the facilities on the train. We were able to hail a cab quickly and somehow I did end up at the train station about 2 minutes before my train was scheduled to depart. I barely had a chance to say goodbye to Victoria, and took off running for my train. I reached the platform, panting, red in the face, but extremely grateful that the train to Gjøvik was still there. A lady stopped me and told me that there was no reason to rush, the train had mechanical problems and had been cancelled. She said we would be picked up in about 10 minutes, and I stupidly assumed she meant that we would be picked up by another train. Um, no. We were herded onto a couple of little shuttle buses. Everyone was speaking quickly in Norwegian and I got really confused, but another helpful woman explained that if I was indeed going to Gjøvik, I should get on the bus. At this point I was rather unhappy about the whole situation because I still really had to pee and there was no bathroom on the little bus. Also, I tend to suffer from motion sickness on buses, but luckily I was prepared and had a Dramamine tablet in my purse. Unfortunately, I didn't have anything to drink, but I figured that I could probably swallow it dry. Yeah, that didn't quite happen...instead, the tablet got lodged halfway down my throat. I tried subtly coughing a couple of times to no avail. I decided that since I was already well known among my fellow passengers as the slightly tipsy stupid American who couldn't figure out that I was supposed to get on the bus, I didn't want to also be known as the slightly tipsy stupid American who was making nasty cat-hacking-up-a-hairball sounds, so I gave up. It was a loooonnnngggg ride. I kept my legs tightly crossed while my face turned green, but I did eventually make it home without further incident. Seriously, as bad as the bus ride was, it was totally worth it--I am so glad I got the chance to meet Victoria in person. If we have an opportunity to get together again, though, I think I'll drive!

It's Only October!!!

2007-10-11T13:40:00.000+02:00

You know what I said yesterday, about it being so hard to adjust to driving differences? Scratch that. What's really hard to adjust to is going from sunny, 80 degree weather to snow! The dogs are slightly more enthusiastic about our frosty yard than I am--I didn't know it was possible for them to be more cheerful and frisky than they are every day, but today there was an extra bounce in their steps and a twinkle in their eyes as they romped in the snow. As for me, I'm just worried about driving on the slippery, slushy roads. Today is not the day to forget about the "yield to the right" law and have to slam on my brakes!

Travelling Woes

2007-10-10T22:21:00.000+02:00

In my opinion, the worst thing about travelling is the adjustment period once you return home. I have never been particularly good at driving in Norway--it's not all that different from driving in the U.S., but with the round abouts, all the signs in kilometers, and a couple of baffling driving laws, I sometimes find myself making stupid and dangerous errors. Especially after spending a couple of weeks in the U.S. with its wide lanes, huge parking spaces, stop signs, traffic lights and high speed limits. To me, the most frustrating and hazardous Norwegian law is yielding to traffic coming from the right. Instead of stop signs, as you approach an intersection you must slow down and if anyone is coming from the right, you must stop for them. This is a tough rule for me to wrap my American brain around, and today, as I was driving back from the grocery store, still a bit jet lagged and stupid, I kind of forgot all about it. Oops! A huge dump truck careened out from a side road right in front of me. I slammed on my brakes, all my groceries tumbled from the back seat of the car to the floor, and I might have released a stream of obscenities. Thankfully, I didn't hit the truck, but I was shaking, my adrenaline was pumping and I broke out in a cold sweat. I have no one to blame but myself and if I had hit the truck it would have been completely my fault. I drove soooooo slowly and cautiously the rest of the way home...hopefully by tomorrow my brain will have caught up with the rest of my body and realize that we aren't in New York any more. On the flip side, whenever I arrive back in the U.S. from Norway and I first pull out onto the thruway, I feel like I am flying...until I look at the speedometer and see that I'm going a paltry 55 m.p.h.

(The photo above is of the Chicago skyline as seen from O'Hare airport.)

Foliage Photos

2007-10-08T23:24:00.000+02:00

On Saturday, Kevin, my mom and I joined the masses in the Adirondacks for some Columbus Day weekend "leaf peeping." I'm not sure who coined that term, but it cracks me up, so every autumn I liberally pepper my conversations with it! Anyway, it was a warm, gorgeous day, the leaves were stunning and I took tons of pictures.

We're safely back in Norway now and it is decidedly colder than it was in New York. I am bundled up in layers and feeling pitifully cold, tired and jet lagged. It could be worse--I could be cold, tired and jet lagged and on another plane back to the U.S. right now. Yep, I almost didn't make it through passport control today at Gardemoen. The stern woman stamping passports spent a long time rifling through mine and told me that I have been in Norway too much this year. I was a bit taken aback, as I had understood that as long as I didn't spend more than 3 consecutive months in Norway, I wasn't breaking any rules. Apparently, I was wrong. Luckily when she looked me up in the computer, she saw that my 1 year residency permit is waiting for me at the police station, so she reluctantly let me through with a stern warning.

Even though I wasn't exactly welcomed back to Norway with open arms, our pets have become cherished Norwegian citizens. When we arrived home, there was a note on the kitchen table from the boy who takes care of our cats for us when we're out of town. He wrote about how much he loves our cats and how much he will miss them when we move. It was the sweetest letter, I swear I almost teared up while reading it! Later, we drove out to Randsfjorden to pick the dogs up from the kennel, and the lady who runs the kennel got a little misty eyed saying goodbye to our dogs. She even sent a big bag of chewies with them as a final farewell. I can see why the pets have made such a positive impression on everyone who meets them--they are joyful, friendly and cuddly and I am so glad to be back at home with them now!

Wacky (and Delicious) America

2007-10-07T21:55:00.000+02:00

While waiting here at the airport for my flight back to Oslo, I have had a chance to reflect on the last couple of weeks in the U.S. I had a great time and am still very happy and excited to be moving back, but with all due respect, the U.S. is kind of food-crazy! On our Delta flight out to the midwest, our rather eccentric flight attendant made a speech about juvenile diabetes...she then proceeded to hand out sugary candy to further raise awareness about the disease. Isn't that akin to handing out cigarettes to raise lung cancer awareness? I cracked up (as I gobbled down the sweets)! In Iowa, we went to a restaurant that advertised deep fat fried macaroni and cheese nugget appetizers. As I was laughing about the insane amount of saturated fat that must be in each congealed, cheesy morsel, my friend Cathy told me that she had recently seen a Paula Dean cooking show where Paula taught her viewers to whip up deep fat fried pats of butter! Seriously!?!? And I still can't get over how many new candy products have emerged on the market since I first moved to Norway. Mint flavored 3 Musketeers, Take 5 bars, a soft, cakey version of Oreos...the list goes on and on. (No, I didn't actually sample all of these treats, I just noticed them in the grocery store. I swear.) Anyway, I'm off to the land of rakfisk and lutefisk now...hmm, maybe that deep fried butter doesn't sound so weird after all!

Wonderful Weekend

2007-10-02T21:18:00.000+02:00

We had the best time in Iowa City this past weekend! Kevin and I met up with one of my best and oldest friends, Jen, and her husband Steve, and we had an amazing time reminiscing and catching up together. I might have had a bit too much to drink (and WAY too much to eat!) but it was seriously the most fun I have had in so long. We're back in New York now, wrapping up a few loose ends with the new house and the new cars before the big move. I guess this is the last visit home, as the next time we're back in New York it will be for good. I'm ready, I'm excited, I'm still freaking out a little...

Fun with Statistics

2007-09-28T17:40:00.000+02:00

Kevin and I flew to Iowa City yesterday for my college homecoming. It has been fun being back in my home town, but I can't shut up about how much everything has changed since I was in college. A lot of my favorite haunts have been replaced with new businesses but some things have stayed the same, like a plethora of Mexican restaurants in the area--yum! We were in the mood for some Mexican food, and we passed a restaurant with a big sign advertising $1.99 margaritas. The last margarita I had was in Oslo and it cost $20. That is 1000% more expensive! Being an avid bargain hunter, I of course needed to drink up some of that sweet, lime flavored savings! The margarita was big, strong and delicious...I decided to save more money and order another one. That was also big, strong and delicious, and I felt even giddier about all the money I had saved. I considered saving even more by going for a third margarita, but unfortunately, that kind of logic buys nothing but a headache the next morning--ow! Anyway, we're meeting friends shortly and we can't wait to keep bar hopping and "bargain hunting."

Why Am I Still Awake?

2007-09-20T22:27:00.000+02:00

My bags are packed, the dogs are at the kennel, and I should be in bed, gettting a good night's sleep before my flight tomorrow, but I'm too jittery. I'm not a big fan of flying (even though I have logged thousands of frequent flier miles this past year) and I'm off to the U.S. again in the morning. I'm flying alone this time, and as anyone who is nervous about flying can attest, it is infinitely preferable to be seated by a loved one and be able to grab his hand during take-off than to be seated by a stranger who will neither let you grip his hand nor rest your head on his shoulder once the Dramamine kicks in!

Kevin leaves Shanghai tomorrow, and after spending a couple of days in Norway, he will join me in New York on Wednesday. On Thursday, we will fly together to Iowa for the University of Iowa's homecoming weekend. It's hard to believe, but it has been 10 years since I graduated with my B.A. so it seemed like a good year to go back and reminisce with friends. (Of course, had I known last spring that we would be in the craze-inducing process of trying to relocate from Norway to New York, I probably wouldn't have booked the tickets...oh well, we're going to have so much fun, and really, spending a weekend enjoying parades, football and a trip down memory lane might be exactly what my addled brain needs!)

Oh, the pictures above are of Randsfjorden. The dogs' kennel is located on the shores of that gorgeous lake--kind of like a canine 4 star resort!

Where in the World is Kevin?

2007-09-19T12:59:00.000+02:00

To find out, click this link!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20829511/
Yep, that's right, he's in the middle of all that craziness. I just talked to him and he's fine. He said the storm didn't live up to all the hype, and I think I might have detected a bit of disappointment in his voice! Anyway, he's warm and dry and kicking back a beer with a few of his coworkers right now.

My New Favorite Word

2007-09-18T13:48:00.000+02:00

My favorite word in the Norwegian language has always been pengepung. It means coin purse, and it is just so much fun to say! Everything changed a couple of nights ago, when I learned a new word that made me laugh out loud: smilehull! It means dimple, but literally translated, it means "smile hole." How cute is that!?! Unfortunately, like pengepung, smilehull is a tough word to fit into everyday conversation...

Fun with Beer and Music

2007-09-16T15:21:00.000+02:00

Last night, Kevin and I went with Anders and Nina to an Irish music festival in Dokka. The concert was held in a huge tent furnished with long wooden picnic tables and benches, a booth serving up Irish stew and not so Irish pølser (hot dogs), and lots of beer, wine and Irish coffee. The first act was "Lassie and the Lads", a Norwegian group that performs traditional Irish music. They were fantastic, and I never would have known that they weren't Irish until they started chatting with the audience in fluent Norwegian. I must say, it's pretty easy to make me happy--a nice glass of wine and a rousing rendition of "Whiskey in the Jar" put a smile on my face all evening long!

Next up was a dance troupe doing Riverdance-esque footwork--very impressive! Some of the drunker audience members were standing up on the picnic tables and benches, trying to dance along--not as impressive, but really funny! The last performer of the night was Johnny Logan, a three time Eurovision winner. Before I moved to Norway I had never heard of the Eurovision contest, but it is a 50 year old continent-wide talent contest in the E.U. Each country presents a singer or a musical group (complete with crazy dancing and costumes that put ice dancers to shame). After watching all the different acts on T.V., everyone in the E.U. can vote for their favorite act. Last year's winner was a group from Finland called Lordi who dressed up like some kind of dinosaur/gladiator hybrids, and this year I believe the winner was a singer from Serbia.

Anyway, Johnny Logan has won this contest in the past and is hugely popular in Norway. I also liked his performance, but my enjoyment was tempered slightly due to a full glass of beer being chucked through the air and landing squarely on my head. I think it might have come from the drunk girls dancing on the table behind us, but I can't really say for sure. All I know is that I am very grateful that it was just Norwegian Ringnes beer--I think a glassful of thick, authentic Irish beer like Guinness running down my face would have been a little nastier! Oh well, even though I smelled like a brewery on the drive home, my hair is super soft and shiny today!

Two Things

2007-09-14T20:00:00.000+02:00

Thing the first: I am OLD! Tomorrow night, we are going to an Irish music/dance festival in Dokka which begins at 8 PM and ends at 2 AM. I really want to go, but I keep thinking about how tired I am going to be, how I had better get to bed early tonight...when did sleep become such a high priority in my life?

Thing the second: Kermit the Dog has a hot spot which he refuses to leave alone. I took him to the vet today and got some cream for his poor leg. The vet recommended putting a sock over his leg to keep him from gnawing on it any more. The vet also said that if the sock doesn't discourage him and his leg doesn't heal, we will have to get him an Elizabethan collar. 99.9% of me really wants the pup to heal quickly, with just the trusty sock, but .1% of me thinks the Elizabethan collar would be awesome! You know, for all the photo ops!

Stress

2007-09-13T11:55:00.000+02:00

Wow, things have been moving fast around here, my head is kind of spinning! We have already had movers to the house to look at all of our furniture and estimate how big our container will need to be. (Answer: very big. We need to get rid of a lot more than a box of rocks to be able to squash our stuff into a smaller container!) All the people from this particular moving company have been really nice and accomodating--I don't foresee any unsanctioned bonfires in our yard this time around! But really, I don't care that much about our belongings getting back safely--they're just things which can be replaced if necessary. I am freaking out about the animals, though! It's ridiculous, I know, they all made it to Norway safely, and they'll make it back to the U.S. safely. No one seemed to suffer any long term psychological issues from the first voyage--the cats haven't developed catnip dependency problems, their catnaps seem undisturbed by airplane nightmares, the dogs continue to chase sticks and woodland creatures, their appetites are insatiable as always. We are using Continental Airlines--their cargo area is kept at the same temperature and pressure as the passenger cabin, and they have a direct flight from Oslo to Newark. We are using a pet moving company to arrange all the details for us, and they will pick the animals up and get them through customs in Newark, and then drive them up to Syracuse. (The dogs' carriers are too big to fit onto the small jets which fly up to Syracuse, and also, I just feel better knowing that there will be no issues with them trying to make a connecting flight.) It was insanely hard to get the animals into Norway (a non-rabies country), but it should be much easier to get them back to the U.S. All they need is proof of a current rabies vaccine, a letter from our Norwegian vet stating that they have resided in Norway for at least 6 months, and a health certificate issued by our Norwegian vet within 10 days of their flight. Importing animals into the U.S. is only slightly overwhelming, versus the mind-melting difficulty of getting them to Norway. I can handle this, right? I keep reminding myself that at least for the animals, there is only one terrifying day of travel that they must get through. They don't have to go through all the anxiety and worry in the weeks leading up to the move--that mental distress is all mine!

Gjøvik Pictures

2007-09-11T23:42:00.000+02:00

I'm not a huge fan of modern Norwegian architecture, but I think some of the older buildings are really beautiful. Above are a few of my favorites in Gjøvik: the first is a very old restaurant, Spiseri. We always take visitors who wish to sample moose or whale or reindeer, as traditional Norwegian cuisine is on the menu. I guess the union used to meet on the top floor and at one time people who worked at Kevin's company weren't welcome to eat in the restaurant, but luckily for us, the old tensions have settled and we have never been driven out halfway through our meal! The second building is one of the many bakeries in our town. Seriously, for a town this small, Gjøvik is very rich in pastries. I think Norway in general is not for the glucose-intolerant or Atkins Diet devotees! The third photo is of a church in the center of town, built in 1882. I don't know much else about it (but I have a hunch the denomination is Lutheran!) The last photo is of our train station. Norway is full of lovely old train stations, but I think this is one of the prettiest that I have seen. Anyway, that's our town (at least for another 2 months!)...I realized that the majority of my photos are from other bigger, more well known cities, but since most of my time in Norway has been spent in Gjøvik, I figured I should devote at least one blog entry to the little town best known for all its white houses along the lake.

A Trifecta of Rarities

2007-09-10T15:16:00.000+02:00

This past weekend was a strange one...first, Gjøvik was pelted by pea sized hail for a couple of minutes on Saturday. Our Norwegian friends said that they had never seen such big hail before--I guess the mountains generally protect this area of Norway from any kind of extreme weather. It wasn't big enough to damage the car, but the poor flowers took a beating!

The second unusual happening of the weekend made us dusty, gritty and a little sore. We got in touch with our inner stone masons and helped our friends build a wall. I'm talking mixing our own concrete in a big mixer (I was in charge of shoveling gravel into buckets to be added to mixing concrete), building up an iron framwork, and creating a stone facade for the outside of the wall . Kevin and I used to be DIY pros--we gutted our beautiful 1880 Victorian and spent the next 3 years restoring it. We (and when I say we, I mean Kevin) wired, plumbed, installed dry wall, swirled plaster ceilings and refinished hardwood floors. In my defense, I did most of the painting--that counts for something, right? Anyway, we did all that work, finally finished the house, and then promptly sold it and moved to Norway. Since moving here, other than refinishing the floors and painting the master bedroom and guest room last August, we haven't done one bit of DIY. It has been nice to relax on weekends (and I love the fact that my hands are super soft and uncalloused again!) but every once in a while, when we hear that someone else is tackling a home improvement project, we get a little nostalgic for back-breaking labor, and foolishly volunteer ourselves for the task. It was actually a lot of fun (I think a mid-afternoon waffle break is a tradition which we will have to bring back to the U.S. with us) and in the end, the project helped us to lighten our load of stuff to haul back to America.

Which brings me to rarity number three. Kevin and I have very different ideas of what should be thrown away and what should be moved from state to state, country to country. I am a minimalist at heart--I feel like if we haven't used something in the last 6 months, we should either give it away, recycle it or toss it. Kevin has been accumulating things for 35 years and believes that nothing should ever be thrown away, EVER, because what if one day you need it? Seriously, early in our marriage, I threw out a bunch of old, ratty, holey socks and T shirts...big mistake! "I could have used them for rags, how could you have gotten rid of them!" he complained. Occasionally, if I really believe that we are holding on to something completely worthless, something that he doesn't even remember having, I will sneak it out to the trash, but generally, I just watch the piles o'crap amass in the garage, the basement, the attic. Kevin has a big box of rocks which he collected during childhood, which has moved with him from Poughkeepsie, New York to Potsdam, New York to Iowa City, Iowa to Chicago, Illinois to Oriskany Falls, New York to Gjøvik, Norway. I have asked him several times, while packing for various moves, if he was planning to take the big box of rocks along again...the answer was always a resolute yes. But, now that our friends are building a stone wall, he has donated his box of rocks to them! And as he was explaining that he collected the rocks, many of which contain fossils, with his deceased grandfather, I felt like the biggest ass in the world for ever asking him to get rid of them! Anyway, our friends were touched that he would give them these interesting rocks that obviously meant so much to him, and they plan to use them at the top of the wall where they can be easily seen. And we don't have to haul the big box of rocks back with us! Everybody wins!!! Woohoo, what a weekend!

The International Language of Fat Cats

2007-09-08T12:17:00.000+02:00

So the furnace guy (not the twirly mustache guy, someone else) came a couple of days ago. He spent two hours working on the furnace, but between my crappy Norwegian and his rusty English, he really couldn't explain to me what was wrong, or how to avoid the problem in the future. In fact, the only successful communication that we had occurred when he saw Toonces. He exclaimed how big and fat the cat is (in Norwegian, which I actually understood). Then he peppered me with questions about how much the cat weighs (20 pounds), how old is the cat (6 years), how did the cat get to be so fat (I don't know, he doesn't eat that much, he has tons of toys to play with and kitty condos to climb on, he wrestles and plays chase with Honey the dog, there is nothing physically wrong with him according to the vet, he is just, um, big boned).

(This conversation took place while I was in my pajamas. Kevin called me from work very early in the morning to let me know the furnace guy was on the way...as the doorbell was ringing. So I was wearing green flannel pajamas and my bright red rubber rain boots, because inexplicably, they were the only shoes I could find in my rush to get to the door. Yep, Toonces and I are all kinds of awesome, real American ambassadors!)

What Makes A "Good" Expat?

2007-09-06T00:10:00.000+02:00

Last week while in the U.S., I talked with a woman who had spent 7 months with her military husband in Germany several years ago. She said she hated every minute of it, and that looking back, she still feels like she lost 7 months of her life. I also have met several Americans who moved to Norway years and years ago, who now consider Norway their true home. We have Norwegian friends who have lived in Brazil and Singapore--they absolutely loved Brazil and would move back there in a heartbeat, but they were so miserable in Singapore that they left a year earlier than intended. What ingredients are key to a successful expat experience? In the case of our Norwegian friends, in Brazil, they didn't speak Portuguese when they first moved, their apartment wasn't finished so they ended up living in a hotel for the first 6 months there, but because they were welcomed so warmly by the Brazilian people, they had a wonderful experience. In Singapore, they had no problem communicating in English, they had a brand new, huge apartment and a housekeeper, but because they found the people to be less friendly, their expat experience was ultimately unhappy.

I have been thinking about being an expat a lot lately, probably because my experience is drawing to a close. I don't know why I never got over my homesickness, why I had such a hard time adjusting to life in Norway. I think part of it might be the that the town we live in is small, in a rural setting. Because so many of the people who live here have always lived here and there are very few transplants, perhaps it's a more insular society than say, Oslo or other larger Norwegian cities. I suspect, though, that my dissatisfaction has more to do with my personality than with any demographics of the area in which we live. I don't like change, and although we have moved frequently, each move has been hard for me. I love the idea of growing roots in an area, of being able to give crazy, random directions like, "You take a right by where the Jenkins' barn burned down 5 years ago, drive 2 houses past the yellow house with the 3 legged dog in the yard, and you're there. Can't miss it!" Our stay in Norway was originally supposed to be 3 years, but after a year, I felt so sad. Our life in New York was still recent enough that we could have it back, friends and all, our life in Norway still felt very empty compared to the life we left behind, and even if we met more friends and began to feel more at home here, we would just be leaving it behind in a couple of short years. I guess it stopped seeming novel and interesting and started seeming a little pointless to me.

I think that the language barrier was also a huge difficulty for me. I tried really hard to learn Norwegian, but after studying intensively for 5 hours a day, 5 days a week for 5 months, I realized that I was nowhere near fluency. I was at the top of my class, my teachers were so impressed with my pronounciation and grammatical ability, but in every social situation I was in, the conversation flew past me. I have never felt so frustrated with myself as I did at those parties where everyone was laughing and joking and having a great time while I sat there in a fog of incomprehension. That being said, would I have been happier in England or Australia, where I could speak my native language? I don't know, I still might have been homesick, and again, I'm not overly adventurous...but maybe I could have been involved in enough interesting, stimulating, funny conversations which would have energized me and helped me through the harder times.

Oh well, I guess it's a little late for me to learn the secret of being a successful expat as we're moving back the second week of November. (The photo above is of our new backyard overlooking Oneida Lake in New York.) But I really am interested in how some people are able to start over completely in a brand new place and create something wonderful for themselves. I know that some expats read my little blog, so please comment freely if you know some things (or lots of things) that I don't!

Foliage, Fall, Furnaces and Facial Hair

2007-09-04T23:51:00.000+02:00

It was a gorgeous, crisp day today. The sun was shining and Lake Mjøsa was a brilliant blue, but wow, was it ever cold! The thermometer didn't reach 55 and the wind was whipping up on top of the hill at Eiktunet where I stopped to take some pictures. I have been in denial all summer long, believing that the weather would eventually warm up, but I think it's time to admit defeat and pack the short sleeves and sandals away. The newspapers have announced that fall is officially here in eastern Norway, and this blustery day, in addition to the already harvested fields and the red and yellow foliage forced me to face the truth...sigh. I do love autumn, I just wasn't quite ready for it yet.

It's definitely time to crank up the furnace, but unfortunately nothing happened when we turned it on tonight. It gave a couple of encouraging sputters, and then silence. Kevin sent an email to the landlord, so perhaps he will quickly contact the furnace repairman, and by tomorrow evening I will be able to feel my fingers and toes again. I'm not looking forward to the furnace guy's visit...he has a crazy, twirly mustache reminiscent of a 1920's movie villain, and while I know that the polite thing to do is look him in the eye when he talks to me, I can't help but stare at that odd, waxed and curled mustache, bobbing and weaving as his mouth moves. Hmm, maybe I should wear sunglasses tomorrow, so he can't see my eyes fixated on his facial hair. I'll be wearing several layers of clothes, plus big fuzzy slippers, a hat and mittens, so amongst all that wardrobe insanity, maybe he won't even notice the shades? Or maybe he'll just chalk it up to hypothermia!

Warning!!! Extreme Cuteness Ahead!!!

2007-09-04T00:24:00.000+02:00

We're safely back in Norway now, and after a long evening nap, I'm wide awake at 12:30 at night...cursed jet lag! I downloaded my pictures from our trip to the U.S. and couldn't resist sharing these little bundles of joy with you. A couple of my friends are fostering litters of kittens for the local animal shelter until the babies are old enough to be spayed/neutered and adopted out. I was so happy to get the chance to snuggle with these little guys, and I can't wait to get back to the U.S. and start volunteering at an animal shelter again.

Progress

2007-09-01T20:15:00.000+02:00

Kevin and I have accomplished a lot this week! We bought a house, we bought 2 cars (I am now the proud owner of a red VW Beetle--meep, meep!), we measured our new yard and ordered fencing so that the crazy dogs can be contained, we measured our new house and picked out tiles for the floors, and best of all, we got to spend lots of time with our friends. This past week has really reinforced our decision to relocate back to the U.S.--we have missed our friends so much and can't wait to live so close again. Tomorrow, we fly back to Norway. I need to come up with a plan to see some more of the country in the 2 months we have left. I hope we can still fit in a trip to the southern coast and I would love to do some hiking in the mountains this fall. Also, I don't think the "Norwegian Experience" is complete without a trek across the Swedish border to buy cheap groceries and liquor...maybe that should be next on our agenda!

Home Sweet Home

2007-08-27T21:17:00.000+02:00

It has been a crazy weekend which thankfully culminated in us putting an offer on a house! I don't want to say too much more and jinx everything, but it looks like by November, we should be enjoying life on a lake...

Way Up There

2007-08-23T22:59:00.000+02:00

For the next week and a half, I'll be in central New York, not so much "on top of the world" as somewhere in the northern hemisphere. I'll leave you with some pictures way up north, above the tree line...still not quite the Arctic Circle, but way, way up there.

Nope, I Am Not An Intellectual Giant

2007-08-22T11:48:00.000+02:00

Because I have an adolescent boy's sense of humor, I found the following Aftenposten article extremely funny:

http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1949645.ece

I especially found the whole "Save the environment, shoot a moose!" mentality of the article hilarious (although obviously misguided and ridiculous).

Changes

2007-08-21T23:49:00.000+02:00

I couldn't say anything before I knew that Kevin's coworkers had all been informed (just in case any of them reads this blog) but the announcement was made yesterday, so now I can announce it here:
WE'RE MOVING BACK TO THE UNITED STATES!!!!!!!!!!
Norway is a lovely country, but I have been incredibly homesick pretty much the whole time we have lived here. I really tried to grin and bear it for the sake of Kevin's career, but over the last couple of months, it became apparent that he wasn't happy living abroad either. He loves his job, but was willing to give it up in order to move back to the U.S. again. Luckily for him, he won't have to...after a long talk with his boss, it has been decided that he can continue in his role as CFO from the New York office (although he will have to travel to Norway 1 or 2 weeks every month with occasional trips to Asia).
Originally, we were supposed to go to Vancouver together this Friday, but with the new developments, we'll be going to New York instead to look for a house in the Finger Lakes area. Beautiful lakes, wineries, in close proximity to so many wonderful people...I can't wait. It's crazy, everything is happening so fast that my head is kind of spinning, but in a good way! Every so often, I remember some random little thing that I have missed since we moved to Norway and I get excited all over again. (A good example is Diet Coke--Coca Cola Light just doesn't taste the same. And don't even get me started about free soda refills in restaurants! See, I'm all giddy and screechy all over again, just thinking of the beverage possibilities!)
Anyway, assuming we do find a house next week, it will probably take at least 2 months to close, so I'm guessing we won't move until November or December. I'm glad I still have some time to have a few more Norwegian adventures, and once we move, I plan to travel back to Norway occasionally with Kevin too. I still want to travel above the Arctic Circle, I want to check out the islands along the southern coast, I want to see polar bears on Svalbard. More than anything, though, I want to go home, and it looks like that wish is coming true very soon!

My Dogs Enjoy Grazing

2007-08-20T19:36:00.000+02:00

15 kilogram bag of Science Diet dog food...510 NOK ($85)

1 Kong rubber chew toy...180 NOK ($30)

The knowledge that my dogs prefer sticks and grass clippings to their very expensive, veterinarian recommended toys and food...PRICELESS.

A Year Has Passed

2007-08-17T20:31:00.000+02:00

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.

A Fearsome Creature

2007-08-15T18:08:00.001+02:00

I was wandering around the open air museum on Oslo's Bygdøy Peninsula when I stumbled upon this ferocious looking tree. Does anyone else see the angry little tree troll? It's not just me, right?

I Was Industrious Today

2007-08-13T22:50:00.000+02:00

I drove down to my friend Heather's house today--her farm is about 3 hours away from our house, across several large mountains. I was dubious about our plan to pick raspberries as I drove along, watching the ominous looking sky. The first photo is of the town of Bagn, shrouded in fog. By the time I made it to Heather's house, the sky had cleared and the sun was shining. We walked up a really steep hill with our little buckets--I was winded before I had picked a single berry, and I still had to contend with balancing on the rocky hillside, overly friendly flies, and a nasty, stinging plant called "Burning Bush." Ow. Being industrious is tough! I would make a lousy farmer--Heather filled her whole bucket in the time it took me to pick about 25 berries. She has plans to make jams and pies, and she has been making juice out of the blueberries and currants she has already picked...Kevin and I ate the 25 raspberries I proudly toted home tonight on ice cream, they are all gone now.

The second and third photos were taken at Heather's farm--the sun didn't last very long. Oh well, I do like the effect of the dark, rolling clouds in the pictures. The last picture is of a couple of the many sheep I ran into today (not literally, obviously!) during my drive. Norway is chock full of moose crossing signs, but I have never seen a moose near one of the signs (in fact, the only place I have ever seen moose has been in my own front yard). Norway is also chock full of sheep crossing signs, and I have noticed that without fail, wherever there is a sign cautioning drivers to look out for sheep, there will be sheep...lots and lots of sheep grazing, napping, wandering down the road. Amazingly, everyone manages to weave around them, even on the most difficult, twisting roads, and all the roadside sheep live to "baaa" another day.

If You Like Sheep, You'll Love Muskoxen!

2007-08-12T21:18:00.000+02:00

The last time we went to Maihaugen (the open air museum of old Norwegian buildings in Lillehammer), we met an interesting lady knitting in one of the little houses. Her name is Wenche, and she hand spins and knits muskox wool. She said the wool is 8 times warmer than sheeps' wool, and it is softer than angora. Her website is: www.moskusdesign.com (It is in Norwegian, but at least there are lots of pictures for those who don't read Norwegian!)

Sommerslagere

2007-08-11T22:26:00.000+02:00

Kevin and I went to a great outdoor concert last night in Gjøvik. Two of the performers, Trond Nagell Dahl and Trond Lien, are pretty famous in Norway (and if I understood enough Norwegian to watch NRK TV, I might have seen their show, but since I have been on a steady TV diet of American DVD's since we got here, I hadn't heard of them before). The music was fantastic, a fun mix of 70's and 80's covers, Norwegian and Swedish hits and even a surprisingly good rendition of Bob Marley's "Could This Be Love." (This is actually the second time we have heard live reggae music since we moved here...last September, we went to a carnival where Ravi was performing and he did several reggae tunes too. It's kind of funny to hear reggae so far north, performed by such blonde people, but I must say I have been very impressed by the quality of all the live music I have heard here.) Anyway, at the concert last night, the singers bantered with each other between the songs and the audience roared with laughter. I really couldn't follow the jokes, because in order for me to understand Norwegian, the speaker must talk slowly and clearly and not use slang (and also use very small words). I felt very frustrated with myself, but at least I was able to appreciate one really funny moment of the concert. As the evening grew dusky, a bat started circling the stage, hunting for bugs. The female singer noticed the bat, and apparently the bat noticed her too, because it started swooping around her head. The singer was such a pro and she managed to keep singing as she tried to run away from the bat--even her surprised shrieks were right on pitch! One of the guitar players almost fell over from laughing so hard, and the whole audience was cracking up, especially when the bat flew right between her knees. It finally flew off into the night, much to the poor singer's relief. (When Kevin's dad was visiting, he asked us if there were bats in Norway. We said we didn't know, as we had never seen one. Now we can answer with confidence that yes, they do live here, and they seem to appreciate a good '80's medley!)

Speaking of Old Stuff...

2007-08-09T11:00:00.000+02:00

E16 is a major highway in Norway, connecting Oslo and Bergen. Even though E16 is a busy thouroughfare, traffic is sometimes brought to a halt by sheep wandering in the road. In addition to the occasional farm animal and all the gorgeous scenery, there are so many things to see along this highway. On our most recent drive back from Bergen, we made a quick detour to see the old road that used to connect the eastern part of the country with the west. There is an old, abandoned farm at Galdane which sits high on a hill, overlooking the river and the ancient road. Kevin said he got chills looking up at those old buildings, imagining all the road weary travellers who must have stopped by along their exhausting hike across Norway. The road is just a grass path now and it looks like parts of it have eroded away into the river below. Still, it seems like a nice place to go for a walk and be tranported back in time a few centuries.

Pictures of Really Old Stuff

2007-08-08T23:06:00.000+02:00

I don't have too much to write about these days...Kevin is back to work and school hasn't yet started for me, so I'm just hanging out with the beasts, reading, cooking and spending time outside in the long-overdue nice weather. Since I have nothing much going on now, I thought I'd post some pictures from when Kevin's parents were in town. One day we drove up to Beitostolen to take a hike with the dogs, have a picnic and enjoy the interesting scenery above the tree line. Mother Nature wasn't too cooperative, so we ended up leaving the icy rain of the mountains as soon as Kevin's dad had a chance to make and throw a snowball (he lives in Florida, so it was a treat for him). Even though our day didn't turn out quite as planned, we ended up having a great time on the drive back. There are a lot of ruins and remnants of an ancient society in the Slidre valley area so we stopped to walk around and take some pictures. That big rock in the protective gazebo is called the Einang stein, and it is actually a grave marker from about 300 A.D. etched with runes. The Einang area has been turned into a nice little park with a walking trail that leads tourists from one ancient site to the next. There is an old smelting pit and several burial mounds (third picture) from the 400's. The last photo was taken by Foss where several thousand year old stone carvings of moose have been found (I'm guessing the red paint was added at a later date to help preserve them and make them more visible). Kevin and I have begun to pay more attention to the road signs in Norway, and we have noticed that whenever there is a white sign with a 4 leaf clover shape, it's generally a good idea to pull over and check it out, even if we can't understand the Norwegian writing on the sign. This clover symbol means there is some sort of tourist attraction--sometimes it's a stave church, sometimes it's a waterfall, sometimes it's a museum, and sometimes, like in this case, it's a bunch of really old stuff that's worth taking the time to pull over for!

A Short Rant

2007-08-06T23:02:00.000+02:00

Last summer, about 4 days before we moved with the dogs to Norway, I got Honey's dog license renewal in the mail. Partly due to the insane stress I was under, and partly due to the fact that Honey was leaving the country later that week, I kind of forgot/ignored the letter. About a month in to our stay in Norway, I received a summons to go to court with a fine of $200 for failure to renew Honey's dog license (and a nasty letter about how failing to vaccinate my dog against rabies is a threat to public health). At this point, I saw red...you would not believe the veterinary hoops I jumped through to get the dogs to Norway. Not only had Honey (and Kermit) had their 3 year rabies shots less than 10 months before, but they had also had another 1 year rabies vaccine the previous month, in addition to having their rabies blood titer levels drawn (at $200 a test). I called the town clerk in my little village, slightly hysterical. Our town was tiny, only about 720 residents, and she immediately knew who I was and that I had moved to Norway. She was very reassuring on the phone, explaining that the local dog control officer was a tad overzealous, and that she would just explain to the judge and get the case dismissed. I thanked her profusely, breathed a sigh of relief and, assuming the dogs records would be expunged from the village computer system, forgot about the whole ordeal. A couple of months later, in December, I received a letter regarding Kermit's license renewal, along with a second, more threatening letter. (Our mail is forwarded to Kevin's company's U.S. office in Auburn, and then at the end of the week, forwarded on to us in Norway. Apparently the dog control officer fired off the second, more menacing letter after she heard no response from the first, but the 2 letters arrived together at our house.) Since we were planning to go back to New York for Christmas, I decided to drive down to our former town and straighten the whole dog mess out in person. Again, the town clerk remembered exactly who I was and laughed about how ridiculous it was that I would keep getting these license renewal letters. She also apologized for the nasty tone of the second letter, saying that the power-crazed dog control officer would sit in the office, firing off these letters and laughing to herself, saying "Gotcha!" The clerk promised me all would be taken care of, and wished me a merry Christmas. Again, I blithely assumed this whole fiasco was over, that everyone in my teeny village now knew that my troublesome dogs and I lived on a different continent, and that we would never hear from them again. I was wrong...I just got another letter in the mail regarding Honey's dog license renewal. I suppose I should call the village hall immediately and hopefully avoid another court summons. That should take care of the situation until, oh, about December when Kermit's license will again be due. (I know that being a dog control officer is a tough and very necessary job, but my little village is full of unlicensed dogs who run freely through town. I think this particular dog control officer's priorities should be a little more about educating all the irresponsible dog owners about proper canine care, and a little less about trying to collect $2.50 in licensing fees from dogs who live in Norway...I'm just saying.)

Pictures from an Abandoned Farm

2007-08-05T17:09:00.000+02:00

We took the dogs for a long walk this afternoon over to an old, abandoned farm on a hilltop. The farm is owned by the owner of Kevin's company, but due to strict laws in Norway restricting the use and sale of farm land, it has been deteriorating for years. It's kind of sad to see such old buildings falling apart, but it is a nice place to go for a walk and get a pretty bird's eye view of Gjøvik and the lake.

Brrrr

2007-08-04T16:38:00.000+02:00

We have now lived in Norway for almost a year, and in the past 50 weeks, there is a sentence I haven't uttered once. I have never ever in our time here complained, "I'm too hot!" I used to complain about being too hot on a regular basis in the U.S. I can be a touch overdramatic at times, and I might, once upon a time, have even shrieked that I was melting, or something to that effect. When I was in grad school in Iowa City, my crappy apartment didn't have air conditioning, and on one particularly balmy evening (106 Fahrenheit at 10 PM) I may have even had a Scarlett O'Hara-esque tantrum, shaking my sweaty fist at the sky and yelling, "As God as my witness, I'll never live without central air again!" Well, we have no air conditioning here and I have never needed it (although there have been a few times this summer that I would have loved to have fired up the furnace). We're on our way out the door to see a movie and I'm wearing jeans and a sweater. Not a lightweight, short-sleeved summer sweater, but a heavy cable-knit garment. It's August and I'm wearing wool! (In case anyone was concerned that Kevin no longer gets to hear my constant bitching and moaning about being too hot, never fear, I still bitch and moan to him, now I just complain, "I'm too cold!")

Surrounded

2007-08-02T12:39:00.000+02:00

Lately, we have been under surveillance...the cute little kitty above has been spying on us. She sits on a stump outside of our house, peering in our windows, or she hides in the bushes, taking notes as we walk the dogs. I don't know what her story is, but I don't think she is a stray. She's not thin and when I offer her treats, even the canned food that's like cat crack to our felines, she isn't interested. I am a little concerned that she might be in heat as she is extremely friendly and affectionate, but hopefully she is just a really nice cat. (If she is in heat, there is no shortage of tom cat company in the neighborhood, so I really hope that her owners are prepared to care for ensuing kittens. But hopefully, they are responsible people who have spayed her and she is just ridiculously friendly and enjoys rolling around and trilling.) Kevin calls her "Watcher Cat"--terribly creative, I know...that is the reason that he has never been allowed to name any of our pets. (That and the fact that he insists that "Satchel" is a fine name for man or beast!)

Anway, Watcher Cat is not the only creature to have taken an interest in our yard lately. Around 3 in the morning, Kermit and Honey went nuts, barking madly, standing on their hind legs at the open bedroom window. I shooed them out of the room and returned to the window to try to see what was upsetting them. It wasn't light enough for me to see anything (damn that approaching autumn and the retreat of the sun!) but I distinctly heard something large and lumbering tromping through the yard, sticks cracking under foot (or paw or hoof as the case may be). I'm guessing it was probably a moose, but Kevin said that it might have been a bear, as they are occasionally spotted close to our town. I must say, if given a choice of critter encounters, I would gladly opt for a purry, roly-poly, overly nosy little cat over a bear (or a moose) any day!

Pictures from our West Coast Trip

2007-07-30T11:51:00.000+02:00

Here are a few photos from our recent trip north and west in Norway. The first two were taken in Trondheim: the first is of Nidaros Cathedral, built in 1070 and the buial site of St. Olav, the second is of the 1861 Gamle Bybru (Old City Bridge). The third picture is of one of the many fjords we saw, I believe by Molde, but at this point it's hard to remember! The fourth was taken in Ålesund--in my opinion, the sunsets over the Ålesund harbor are the most beautiful I have ever seen! The fifth and sixth photos were taken at the Jostedalen glacier near the arm of the Boyabreen. The last photo is of Kevin and his parents at the Tvinne waterfall outside of Bergen. We saw a lot, we did a lot, we drove a lot...I hope everyone has fully recovered!

Experimenting with the New Camera

2007-07-30T08:59:00.000+02:00

So my new camera can take pictures in sepia and black and white too...somehow the goofy dogs look a little more dignified!

31

2007-07-29T12:30:00.000+02:00

I slept in until 10 this morning, and finally got out of bed to find Kevin making chocolate chip pancakes and coffee. He was up bright and early baking me a chocolate birthday cake (he even made the frosting from scratch!) and wrapping my gift. He got me a new, very nice digital camera, as we haven't been able to repair the flash on my old camera..damn ghost! The new camera is charging right now and I can't wait to try it out--it has a better zoom than my old camera in addition to improved picture stabilization. I still have tons of photos from our trip with Kevin's parents taken with the old camera to post, but stay tuned for clearer, sharper images to come! (I'm so excited about my new camera that I'm not really freaking out at all about getting another year older!)

A Napoleon Complex?

2007-07-26T00:24:00.001+02:00

We were originally going to take Kevin's parents on an insane road trip all the way up to Tromsø, but because our usual catsitters were both on vacation this week, we ended up having to take a much shorter trip. We drove up to Røros, over to Trondheim, down to Ålesund, briefly visited the Jostedalen glaciers, on to Bergen and we finally spent 2 days in Oslo. Even though we didn't get to see everything that we had hoped to see, we saw a surprising number of the "world's biggest and best" sites. Since their arrival, Kevin's parents have visited the world's biggest cavern for public use, taken photos at Scandinavia's smallest stave church still in use, driven past Europe's deepest inland sea, driven through the world's longest tunnel, seen Norway's most visited stave church and admired the world's oldest steamboat still in use. Unfortunately, we didn't venture quite far enough north to experience the world's strongest ocean currents! (I'm sure they saw more superlative sites, but I can't remember all of them at this late hour.)
This fierce pride is also apparent with Norwegian food...there is a dessert called "Verdens Beste Kakke", or "World's Best Cake". I consider myself a bit of a cake connoisseur, and I can say rather definitively that Verdens Beste Kakke is nowhere near as delicious as a gooey chocolate cake, in fact, I don't know if it would even make the Top 10 List of Best Cakes Worldwide! At a gas station stop in Dale, I bought a couple of baskets of strawberries from a vendor who assured me that they were the world's best strawberries. It was all I could do to restrain myself from cracking up--I think the only reason I politely nodded and smiled instead of giggling maniacally was because earlier he had complimented me on my excellent Norwegian speaking skills!
Anyway, what is this national obsession with everything being the biggest, longest, first, oldest, best? Norway is a relatively small country--does it suffer from a nationwide case of Napoleon's complex? Or is it just trying to draw attention away from its rather dubious distinction of being the world's most expensive country? (Speaking of expense, the photo is of a toll bridge we crossed somewhere between Trondheim and Ålesund. It cost us close to $30 to cross it--not only were we charged for our car, we were also charged for all 4 people inside of the car. Even pedestrians are charged to walk across it! I guess in addition to all the biggest and best sites they saw, Kevin's parents also got to ride across the world's most expensive bridge...if there is actually a pricier toll bridge out there, I probably don't want to know about it!)

Question: What's Cuter than a Fjord Horse Foal?

2007-07-23T02:27:00.000+02:00

Answer: Absolutely nothing!

Summer Skiers

2007-07-18T23:50:00.000+02:00

We took Kevin's parents up to Lillehammer today to see the Olympic Museum and ski jumps. We were thrilled to see the competitive skiers out on the jump, whizzing by on their porcelain tracks. It was a little surreal to see all those skiers in their racing outfits, riding up the chair lift and then whooshing down the ski jump in July!

We haven't been able to show George and Maria any Norwegian wildlife yet, but at least we got a picture of them with the stuffed moose at Nikker's in Lillehammer. George also got to try some moose sausage from a street vendor...he said it was "robust." We leave tomorrow morning for Trondheim, and I'm really hoping that somewhere along the way, they get to experience some moose who are still alive!

Trekking with Trolls

2007-07-17T17:16:00.000+02:00

Kevin's dad George and stepmom Maria arrived safely in Oslo this morning. They are exhausted and napping right now, so I have a little time to post a few more photos from our trip to western Norway from 2 weeks ago. We drove to the "Troll Stige," or "Troll Ladder," a steep road which zig zags up a tall mountain. Of course I had to get a picture of the sign with the hiking troll! The views were incredible although the drive itself was a little nerve racking and nausea inducing! This was the first time I had been to this part of western Norway, and I was very impressed by the high, jagged peaks. The mountain range in the fourth picture is known as the "Troll Wedding," I'm not sure why. Norway is so beautiful, I can't wait to get out there again and explore with Kevin and his family!

In Newark Again

2007-07-14T23:58:00.000+02:00

Kevin and I are back in the Newark airport, this time waiting for our flight back to Oslo. I have had the best week, but it wasn't nearly long enough to see everyone I wanted to see and to do everything I wanted to do. I think Dunkin Donuts stock skyrocketed this past week, as I guzzled gallons of iced lattes! Temperatures were in the 90's on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday...everyone around me was complaining about the heat, but after constant cold and damp in Norway, I really enjoyed the summery weather. On Wednesday the weather turned and we had some thunder and lightning--I didn't realize how much I have missed thunderstorms until I heard that first rumble. We get lots of rain in eastern Norway, but in the past year, we haven't had a single storm.
I really feel recharged after this vacation. In addition to the excessive caffeine consumption, I also did some retail therapy and indulged in a fabulous spa day. I always thought that if I won the lottery, the first thing I would do would be to hire a housekeeper, but after an hour of being rubbed into a boneless puddle of goo, I have decided that a masseuse would be a far better decision! Best of all, though, was all the time I got to spend with my friends...my greatest fear about moving abroad was that I would lose contact with the people who mean the most to me. Luckily, I have some really wonderful friends, and this past week, it felt like no time at all had passed since the last time I saw them. I laughed and talked so much my throat is a little hoarse now!
My vacation was almost perfect, except for a pesky ghost. When we were in Dublin 2 weeks ago, we all took a ghost tour. We went to the 40 steps inside the old wall of the city, which is allegedly haunted by a lady in green. Our tour guide mentioned that many tourists' cameras break at this site. I didn't give it another thought until the next day, when Carrie and Victor mentioned that their camera wasn't working and they were worried that all their pictures would be ruined. My digital camera still seemed to be working fine, and I was able to take lots of photos throughout the day...but as evening fell, I found that my flash no longer worked. I was very disappointed that I wasn't able to take any evening or interior shots during my stay in New York (several of my friends have very cute cats or dogs, so the majority of the shots probably would have been of their pets). I guess I'll try calling the folks at Canon to see if they have any suggestions, but I'm not really sure how to explain that a phantom broke my camera...maybe I'll just tell them the camera must have gotten banged up in my suitcase!

Stuck in Newark

2007-07-06T22:04:00.000+02:00

Kevin and I are in the Continental lounge at Newark right now--free beer and snacks, woo hoo! I will fly on to Syracuse and he is off to Las Vegas for work. I had no problems getting through passport control in Oslo today. (On the way to Dublin, I was questioned because I have been in Norway for so long. I explained that I had applied for a residency permit and I showed the letter I had received stating that my application was being processed. The passport control woman was not pleased that I was traveling out of the country with a pending application and she was very hesitant to stamp my passport and let me through. My letter states that it will take approximately 8 months to process my application, and there is no way I'm going to stop traveling for that length of time, so I guess I'll just continue to risk being scolded every time I leave the country!) Anyway, no problems getting to Newark today, but now my flight to Syracuse keeps getting delayed. I am so excited about getting home, and all I can think about is getting a Dunkin Donuts iced latte as soon as I land, so this delay is torture! Even though we have visited some amazing places lately, I'm feeling a bit like Dorothy today. There's no place like home, there's no place like home!

Western Norway Pictures

2007-07-05T09:10:00.000+02:00

In lieu of actual content, some more pictures! These are from our trip out west to Ålesund. I promise, at some point I will actually have time to write, but not now...we're off to Oslo with Carrie and Victor to see some art museums.

Dublin Pictures

2007-07-03T02:57:00.000+02:00

We're back from Dublin--we had a fantastic time, and in the morning we're off to the Geiranger fjord. I'm ridiculously tired, so off to bed I go. I really hope I can keep my eyes open tomorrow!

Sneakier than a Sneaky Thing that Sneaks Around

2007-06-29T12:50:00.000+02:00

That's me, super sneaky! We're about to leave the house, and Kevin thinks we're going to my friend Heather's wedding in Nore. Today is Kevin's 35th birthday, and I have actually bought tickets for us to go to Dublin this weekend. A couple friends from the U.S. and a couple of friends from Norway are meeting us there. I can never keep secrets, and the fact that I haven't blurted something out yet is pretty incredible...I just have to keep my mouth shut for about another hour!

Not Quite as Pretty as Wildflowers

2007-06-28T23:39:00.000+02:00

This morning, I awoke to my cell phone ringing at 8:00. (Yes, now that my norskkurs is done until August, I have been a lazy, lazy sloth. Sleeping in, reading out in the yard with a cold drink, rough life, right?) Anyway, it was Kevin on the phone, informing me that men with a dumptruck and a backhoe were on their way over to dig up our oil tank and replace it with a new one. I was not pleased with the timing--friends from the U.S. are coming here on Monday, and I really felt that they would have enjoyed our freshly mown lawn and field of wildflowers a bit more than the muddy pit and mound of dirt which presently dominate our yard. Oh well, that big orange backhoe is rather fetching, don't you think?

Maybe I Love My Camera Too Much?

2007-06-27T16:02:00.000+02:00

I love, love, love my digital camera. It's a Canon, and Kevin gave it to me for our 5th anniversary. I take it with me everywhere I go and I take way too many random photos (but the beauty of a digital camera is that every stupid, random shot I take can be erased with the click of a button).

Last Saturday, during our rain filled mountain trip, we drove over to Slettefjell. We were above the treeline for much of the drive, and there were even several large patches of snow left. The dogs absolutely love snow, so even though it was a soggy, rainy day, we decided to let them have some wintery fun sliding down a snowy hill. Kevin walked them up to the top of the hill while I stood at the bottom, trying to capture their excitement with my trusty camera. I wanted to get the right angle, so without looking behind me, I took a step backward, tripped over a rock, and landed flat on my back in a huge, icy cold puddle. (I'm guessing it was a lovely slurry of freshly melted snow and lemming pee.) Even as I fell, all I could think about was my camera, and as my whole body splashed into the puddle, my right arm reached skyward, holding my camera out of harm's way. I wallowed my way out of the puddle, soaking and freezing, but feeling very triumphant about saving my camera. Kevin found the whole incident hilarious...luckily he also had a spare change of clothes in the car, so I was able to forgive his laughter once I was wearing dry pants again.

(Oh, one other sign pointing to the fact that I might love my camera too much? I actually took a picture of the stupid puddle!)

Water, Water Everywhere

2007-06-26T23:08:00.000+02:00

I was concerned that maybe our Beitostolen hytte would be rustic with no indoor plumbing--I shouldn't have worried! There were actually 2 bathrooms and a full kitchen, cable TV, a big fireplace, comfy beds...it was so nice! The first picture is of the hytte and the second is of our view from the hytte balcony. The rest of the photos are from our hikes around the area. I was so worried that there would be no running water in our hytte, but in fact, the whole weekend I was surrounded by running water. It poured Friday, Saturday and Sunday--I have never been so cold and soaked, but I really did have a great time. The mountains around Beitostolen are gorgeous, full of waterfalls and lovely vistas. Even though the sun never showed itself, all the mist and clouds were beautiful in their own spooky way.

Some Really Old Churches

2007-06-25T17:21:00.000+02:00

We were in no hurry to get to Beitostolen, so we decided to take any interesting detours we came across en route. We saw a sign labeled "Kirkeruin", or church ruins, so we drove down to see the ruins at Mo. The church is from the 1200's and is the smallest medieval stone church in Norway. We were unable to drive to the church, as it is in a farmer's pasture, so we left the car at the road and walked in the rain down to see the ruins. Some trees have been planted around the church, and there is a small sign giving a bit of information, but it would be very easy to miss this tiny piece of Norwegian history--I'm really glad we didn't!

Photos 3-5 are of stave churches in the Beitostolen area. The first is in Lomen, the second is in Høre, and the third is in Hegge. All of these stave churches have free standing bell towers which can be seen in the pictures. We got to tour the last church in Hegge, but unfortunately were not allowed to take interior photos. At least I did get a picture of the ornately carved doorway.

All of these churches were in a very small area, less than an hour's drive apart from each other. Norway is just full of little treasures everywhere you look--road trips in this country are fascinating. (Although very time consuming, at least if you're driving with me! I want to stop at every waterfall, every stave church, every random goat by the side of the road!)

Critters

2007-06-24T22:36:00.001+02:00

We're back from our weekend in the mountains safe and sound, although a bit damp and chilly! I have tons of photos to go through, but for now, I'll leave you with some cute farm animals we met along the way. We took lots of winding, scenic, back country roads and were greeted by many curious beasts. Several of them felt no need to move out of our way--while I was grateful for all the photo opportunities, the poor dogs in the back of the car were going nuts, barking and banging their snouts against the rear window. Luckily, a juicy carrot will make even the most stubborn cow budge a bit, so we were able to drive on before the crazed canines had given themselves concussions!

The Weather Outside is Frightful

2007-06-22T11:36:00.000+02:00

I'm trying to pack for our weekend in Beitostolen...it's not going so well. It is pouring rain and really cold at our house, and I checked the weather in Beitostolen--today's high will be 9 degrees Celsius, with a low of 2! It is officially summer but it looks like I'm going to have to pack jeans and sweaters and raincoats. I really wish I had checked the weather before I started packing, as right now my suitcase is full of sandals and shorts and swimming suits. I guess they'll be going back to the closet. We have to bring our own pillows, sheets, towels and blankets, plus our own shampoo and soap to the hytte. Luckily, it seems that I'm married to Ross from "Friends" (remember the episode where he took all the apples and pinecones from the bowl at the front desk?) Kevin stays in lots of hotels and he ransacks each and every one of them for the little bottles of lotion and shower gel. We even have a little collection of shower caps and shoe shine cloths because if it's not bolted down in the hotel room, he will take it! I checked our massive cabinet o' tiny toiletries and found a bunch of bottles of lavender scented shower gel and shampoo--woo hoo! Even if I'm soaking wet and freezing all weekend, I'm going to smell like a meadow!

Greedy

2007-06-21T01:22:00.000+02:00

This photo was taken at midnight by Lake Mjøsa--it was still light enough out to read (although maybe a little squinting would have been required). Today will be the longest day of the year, and I must admit I'm kind of sad about that. I have been loving all this daylight and I'm really going to miss it as it fades away. Obviously the days will become shorter very gradually, and I still have a few weeks of midnight twilights ahead, but I am already dreading the darkness of fall and winter. I guess I'm greedy--I don't care if the southern hemisphere is gray and gloomy, I want to keep the sun right here!

Norwegian Puffin Dogs

2007-06-19T00:48:00.000+02:00

I came across this article during my puffin research: http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=743
I was incredibly excited about the possiblity of seeing a puffin while on the west coast, but now I really want to see a puffin dog! Norway is chock full of rare, fascinating animals...puffins, puffin dogs, hedgehogs, muskoxen, polar bears...sometimes I feel like I'm searching for the elusive snuffleupagus!

A Quick Fix

2007-06-18T13:22:00.000+02:00

Last week I wrote about how homesick I was...I feel better now. Shallow as I am, the Dunkin Donuts coffee and stack of People magazines that Kevin brought back with him from New York really helped! (I suppose the fact that he himself is also back from New York didn't hurt, either!) Plus, we have lots of fun plans for summer to anticipate. Kevin's company owns a hytte up in Beitostolen, and every weekend they have a company-wide lottery for its use. We won, so on Friday we will pack up the dogs for a weekend in the mountains. I'm not sure how rustic the hytte is, so everybody pray for indoor plumbing with me, okay? Friends from the U.S. are visiting us during the first week of July and I think we'll try to see the Geiranger fjord and the art nouveau architecture of Ålesund (and hopefully a puffin or two on the surrounding islands). We are going to the U.S. for the second week of July (Kevin has a trade show in Las Vegas and I'm going to New York to see my mom and friends). The last two weeks of July, Kevin's dad and stepmom will come to see us. We're planning to drive all the way up to the north of Norway, past Dovrefjell and the muskoxen, through Trondheim, up to Tromsø and then over to Svalbard to see the polar bears. Who has time for homesickness? Not me!

Maihaugen Stave Church

2007-06-16T22:53:00.001+02:00

Our field trip on Thursday included a tour of the Garmo stave church at Maihaugen in Lillehammer. The church was built in the late 1100's, but many of the interior decorations are from the 1600's. This was the first stave church that I have been to where interior photographs were permitted, so I thought I'd share a couple. I don't know if I'll ever get over that feeling of awe that I always experience whenever I step through the door of a building this old!

Rabbit Ears

2007-06-14T19:31:00.001+02:00

Norwegian students go on lots of field trips during the month of June. After the long winter, the teachers feel that it is important to get the kids out of the classroom and into nature. Luckily for all of us "Norwegian for Immigrants" students, our teachers also feel that June field trips are necessary. In the past couple of weeks, we have had a field day outside, playing volleyball, bocce ball and soccer (or fotball, as it is called here) and a trip up to a hytte in the hills to plant pine trees and walk through the forest. Today, we went to Lillehammer to see the Olympic ski jumps and ride the chair lifts, and then on to the Maihaugen open air museum to learn about Norway's agricultural traditions.

I have really enjoyed these breaks from the normal school day, as my brain is beginning to feel a bit sated after 5 1/2 months of intensive Norwegian. I know I have learned so much, but I get frustrated with myself too. When I was little, we were the last house in the neighborhood to not have cable TV. We could get PBS fairly clearly, but it took some effort to view the other major networks. I would fiddle with the rabbit ears on top of the TV, and when it seemed like the reception was clear, I would very slowly release them and gently back away from the TV. Sometimes that would work, sometimes as soon as I took one step back, the static reappeared. I kind of feel like speaking and understanding Norwegian involves a similar process. Sometimes I can have a really decent conversation--I understand the other person, he can understand me, I can even crack a joke or two. Other times, I have to ask the person to please repeat himself (or even resort to English), and I am unable to string more than a few words together without making a stupid mistake. I don't know why my Norwegian "reception" is so inconsistent--my mathematical abilities, although poor, are very consistent from day to day, as are my English grammer skills. I'm a little scared to move or even breathe too deeply when I'm immersed in a Norwegian conversation that is going smoothly--if I take one step to the right, maybe the reception will become fuzzy and I'll suddenly blurt out a string of nonsensical "Norwenglish". I'm not sure what to do about this problem, other than to continue to plug away at this difficult language, and maybe put some tinfoil on my head!

Homesick

2007-06-13T14:30:00.000+02:00

The sun is shining, there's a gentle breeze, and our yard is full of gorgeous and fragrant flowers (pictured are lupines, ball-blomst, not sure what the magenta ones are called, and lilacs.) Everyone told me that I would love Norway in the summer, and I can't argue, it is really beautiful. Except that I am ridiculously homesick. I sat down to lunch in the school cantina today, and got a little depressed as I looked at my umpteenth thousandth slice of bread and cheese. I desperately wanted a honey grain bagel with honey walnut cream cheese from Bruegger's, with a tall iced latte on the side. It's not just my favorite foods that I miss, I miss my friends, I miss being able to speak easily with everyone I meet instead of racking my brain for the correct words and still making stupid grammatical mistakes, I miss helping out at the animal shelter...I guess I miss some big things and so many little things, and today it just feels overwhelming. I know this feeling wasn't actually brought on by a bagel. It was my American friend Heather's last day in Gjøvik...her husband is done with school here and they will now live on their farm 3 hours away full time. She was a connection to home, she understood all of my American pop-culture references, plus she kept me supplied with Life Savers--cherry, mint and wildberry flavors! I know the sadness will pass and I'll soon be excited and fawning over a cute pony or puppy again, but right now I'm wallowing in all the good-byes I have had to say over this past year. This sadness isn't about which country is better, the U.S. or Norway. They are both wonderful and amazing, and they are both maddening and frustrating. It's just that right now, only one of them feels like home to me, and it's not Norway.

A Bunch Of Really Cute Dogs

2007-06-11T17:24:00.000+02:00

Kevin and I went to a canine agility competition in Gjøvik yesterday. I had the best time--so many adorable and incredibly talented dogs in one place! I knew that border collies were fantastic at agility, but I couldn't believe the wide variety of breeds competing. There was a tiny long haired chihuahua who was amazingly quick--I had no idea that a chihuahua could do an obstacle course like that! I was also surprised to see a very independent shiba inu competing--he did the course, but in his own good time! Poodles, shepherds, collies, spaniels, terriers...they were all so well behaved and all seemed to be having so much fun. I started toying with the idea of getting Honey and Kermit involved in agility training. I was swiftly brought back to reality when we returned home and I told the dogs to "sit"--Kermit gave me his paw to shake and Honey flipped over on her back for a belly rub. I think they still have some work to do...

A Day in the Numedal Valley

2007-06-10T11:55:00.000+02:00

Yesterday, we had a fantastic time in the Numedal Valley. We drove down from Gjovik through the mountains on some very scenic, very twisty roads. (Thank goodness for Dramamine, I wouldn't be able to survive Norway without it!) First, we visited my friend Heather and her husband Ove. They have a gorgeous farm outside of Nore (top photo) and it kind of made me want to twirl around and burst into "The Hills Are Alive"--but I managed to restrain myself. We then drove to a stave church in Nore, and luckily for us it was open for tours. We weren't allowed to take photos inside, which is too bad because the interior was incredible. All the walls and ceiling had intricate paintings, and even the pews were carved. Back in the day, people had to bring their own pews, so the richest people were able to afford very detailed carvings on their pews (not to mention a prime location close to the pulpit) while the poorer families had to sit in the rafters with plain pews.

The highlight of the day for me was our dresine ride. Dresines are tricycles that roll along railroad tracks. We rented one at Veggli Vertshus: http://www.veggli-vertshus.no/default.aspx?MenuID=9313

The views were amazing, and it was really neat (and incredibly cold) to go through the old railroad tunnels. Who knew exercising could be so much fun!

Saturday, 1:30 A.M.

2007-06-09T23:16:00.001+02:00

Janteloven

2007-06-07T22:14:00.000+02:00

I was talking to a Norwegian friend, and she said that she hates it when people ask her what she does for a living. She is embarrassed to say that she isn't employed. (The vast majority of Norwegian households are dual income--housewives and stay at home moms are pretty rare here.) I was taken aback, because my friend does work. She rents a studio which she goes to every day and she paints. Her paintings are really beautiful! When I asked her why she doesn't just tell people who ask about her vocation that she is an artist, she said, "Oh, no, I couldn't, they would think that I think that I'm something!" Um, what? Aah, janteloven raises its ugly head. In the very flat, egalitarian Scandinavian society, individual acheivement and expression aren't necessarily admired. It's a difficult concept to explain, but a couple of the basic tenets are: "Don't think that you are special," and "Don't think that you are good at anything." You can read more about janteloven here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jante_Law
Anyway, I expressed surprise that the simple statement, "I am an artist" would cause any ill will. My friend explained that because she hasn't gone to an accredited art school, people would scoff at her assertion of being an artist. Hmm, first of all, who asks an artist for their CV before deciding whether or not their art is any good? Second, when we were in Amsterdam, we visited the Van Gogh Museum. His work is incredible, and I don't think anyone out there would question his reputation as an artist, but he didn't go to art school, he was self taught. Third, the "if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck" argument. If someone rents a studio, paints all day, and creates beautiful paintings that others are willing to buy, then isn't that person an artist? (I guess there is some flaw to that logic. A person who spends his days slicing people open is only a surgeon if he has completed medical school. Otherwise, he's just a sociopath with a knife! But I think art is a bit more subjective than medicine!)
I don't think that all Norwegians agree with janteloven, but unfortunately for my friend, many still do. Luckily, her husband isn't one of them. When she said that she couldn't tell people that she was an artist because they would think that she thought that she was something, her wonderful husband replied, "But you ARE something!"

Missing the Madness

2007-06-06T00:06:00.001+02:00

I think that per capita, the U.S. can claim a greater number of "eccentric" people than Norway can. In our little town of 750 in upstate New York (which my mom referred to as Peyton Place), we had more than our fair share. We watched them with amusement and lovingly gave them monikers. Kevin's favorite was "Caveman". He was a very large, very hirsute man who walked along Main St. dressed in short shorts and nothing else. No shirt, no socks, no shoes, but he did carry a big stick wherever he went. I was intrigued by him, but the character that I liked best was "Lawnmower Man." He also dressed only in shorts, but instead of walking down Main St., he drove a riding lawnmower. He always had a beer in hand, and kept the rest of the 6 pack in a basket balanced on the front of his mower. One day, he got himself a little dog, and from then on, the dog would ride in the basket with the beer. The only time I regretted living in a town with such colorful citizens was when we had to put the house on the market. I remember hanging out in the gazebo in the park across the street from our home, watching as prospective buyers toured the house. "Lawnmower Man" lazily circled around the block, and I fervently prayed that the real estate agent would keep the interested parties inside and chatting until the lawnmower had vanished around the corner! Luckily our house sold quickly, and I like to think that "Caveman" and "Lawnmower Man" are still passing by it several times a day.

But here in Norway, I haven't met anyone who was particularly off kilter. The only people who have made me do a double take are the roller skiers. These people are so enthusiastic about cross country skiing that when the snow melts, they cruise the streets on little skis on wheels, poles in hand. The most avid ones even wear their spandex skiing outfits. Obviously, they're no substitute for "Caveman" and "Lawnmower Man", but they do make me giggle.

Two AM Twilight

2007-06-03T22:53:00.000+02:00

Kevin's flight from Asia arrived at Gardemoen at 11:30 on Friday night, and I drove to the airport to pick him up. From the time I left our house at 10 PM until the time we arrived back home at 2 AM, the sky never got any darker than a deep twilight. I don't usually enjoy missing out on sleep, but this sky was worth it!

Next You Add Just a Pinch of Ammonia...

2007-06-01T16:56:00.000+02:00

My American friend Heather knows a lot more about Norwegian cooking (and cooking and baking in general) than I do. She gave me a really old recipe for tebrød, and then, because I think she realizes how fundamentally lazy I am, she came over to my house and made it for me! It's so good and buttery and for the past couple of days I have been gobbling it up! Plus, it's the only recipe I've ever heard of which uses horn salt (ammonia smelling salts), so I decided to share:

Fullu Tebrød
200 g. (14 T.) butter
200 g. (1 cup) sugar
1 t. vanilla sugar (1/2 t. liquid vanilla)
1/2 t. horn salt (ammonia salt)
300 g. (1 1/2 cup) flour
1 egg
ground almonds & sugar
2nd beaten egg

Beat butter and sugar together until light. Add in first egg, vanilla and horn salt. Mix well and add flour. Mix well . Dough will be buttery. Make 3 long logs on large cookie sheet. Brush logs with 2nd beaten egg and sprinkle on almond-sugar mixture. Place in preheated oven (300 F/152 C) and bake until barely golden on edges. Try not to open oven door during baking. Cut logs into 1 inch strips before completely cool. Store in fridge in an airtight container (they dry out very easily).

These cookies are seriously buttery and decadent, and I'm not sure if any will be left by the time Kevin gets home from Asia tonight...I will try my best to restrain myself.

The Metric System

2007-05-31T19:06:00.000+02:00

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?

2007-05-29T19:12:00.001+02:00

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

2007-05-28T13:54:00.000+02:00

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

2007-05-25T15:35:00.000+02:00

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

2007-05-23T14:29:00.000+02:00

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

2007-05-22T21:05:00.000+02:00

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

2007-05-20T22:16:00.001+02:00

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

2007-05-19T07:29:00.000+02:00

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

2007-05-18T09:34:00.000+02:00

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

2007-05-16T00:05:00.000+02:00

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

2007-05-15T00:01:00.000+02:00

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!

2007-05-10T22:40:00.000+02:00

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!

2007-05-09T19:38:00.000+02:00

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!