Viking Ship Museum Photos - UPDATED!

The Viking Ship Museum in Oslo is one of our favorite museums. The ships and the artifacts are amazing. The craftsmanship of the ships is incredible. They are ornate - so much so that it is mind boggling that they were actually seaworthy. Their jewelry and metal craftsmanship is as amazing as their skill with wood.

One of the aspects of the Vikings http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking that I find interesting is their religion which is steeped in mythology and mysticism.

The museum in Oslo has a lot of relics that were used by the everyday Norsemen and women which we call Vikings. The textiles, tools, weapons and kitchenware (pots, utensils, etc.) amazed NK who took almost all the photos posted here.

The reach of the Vikings spanned throughout Europe, and into the Africa, Asia and the Americas. Years before Columbus sailed into the Caribbean, "Norsemen and Goths" had visited what we now call North America. Relics have been found at different sites in Canada, the Great Lakes Region and into the heart of America with inscriptions and relics found in Oklahoma.

JH and I have visited some of the sites in the US, including Minnesota and Oklahoma. The Runic writings in Minnesota and in Oklahoma are quite interesting. After seeing the ships in the museum in Oslo the inscriptions half a world away in North America are even more amazing because of the challenges that these ancient men and women overcame to reach the new lands. And to think I complain about flying coach class - whew. I don't think I could have survived the challenges the Viking women lived with everyday. The weather, the human sacrifice, the hard work...amazing.

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FYI: The island that JH's family homestead is on was once a Viking haven. Later it also was home to pirates. A regional ruler had once ordered the scorching of the island to rid it of the bandits (interesting tidbit - huh?).
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The ships which are shown in these photos were found in burial mounds along the Oslo fjord. The ships- Oseberg, Gokstad and Tune are the best preserved Viking ships ever found.

Can you see my head in one of these photos? I think I was wandering around trying to find my little photographer.

A photo of the little photographer. Daddy must have taken this photo. I think I was trying to track down more batteries for the camera. NK took about 30 photos and the camera started to blink low batteries about halfway through his "work" of taking photos. The museum shop had batteries at a price which almost made me cry in pain. FYI: Oslo, Norway is ranked by travel and business magazines as the most expensive city in the world.

I guess on some future posting(s) I will whine more about how expensive Norway is...

NK B-day Weekend

We made it through the first week of school in Norway! NK really likes school. I drop him off each morning and he heads into the school courtyard which has kids EVERYWHERE. A lot of kids ride their bikes and some kids skateboard and one rides a unicycle. Norway.

On Friday he was happy because he knew his grandparents were coming to Gjovik to help celebrate his 9th Birthday. After school he and I and his newest little best buddy ran some errands including picking-up his soccer uniform for the soccer, er um, football tournament this weekend.

On Saturday NK had three games. His team is so cute. Their colors are orange and navy. The sun was shining but it was quite windy during the games. The team had only two practices before the pre-season tournament. Over (Sat.-Sun.) two days they played six games. They won three, lost two and tied one.

Late Saturday afternoon JH's sister and her family arrived for dinner and cake. We had a nice evening visiting and watching the kids chase balls and the cat (poor Forrest). My youngest niece loved Forrest. He loved her for about five minutes and then he scratched her.

Oh - NK has a mobile phone. In Norway kids have A LOT more freedom than in the US. Kids are left along to fend for themselves. They get themselves to school, home again, and they bike all over the place. Already NK has gone from being shy and close to his mum and dad to this Norwegian kid riding around town. He goes to shops, spends money (on hot dogs and soda), and wants to "stay home" when we go to buy groceries etc. Since he will be riding buses and traveling about and since Gjovik is spread across a couple of mountains and two valleys...we agreed that he too could have a phone. I just couldn't have imagined buying him a phone in WICHITA. I mean who was he going to call? Me - and I was always with him.

He is so happy to be 9 years old. He is becoming such a pre-teen. A happy pre-teen. He said he had a great birthday. Of course we miss our family and friends in the US on important days like birthdays...the first day of school...soccer tournaments, but we are proud of ourselves for making this huge leap of faith "work".

Photo of School Chums

A classmate just e-mailed this to me. I thought I would share! I wish my eyes were open!

Of Birthdays & Bears

Sunday is NK's birthday. He is excited to be nine. Today he took snacks to school to share with the two other students (and teachers).

He has a soccer - uh, I mean fotball tournament this weekend. His team has been split into two squads due to the large number of boys on the team. He is on the blue squad. We went to a spot store today to pick-up his uniform. He "chatted up" the store clerk and told him that now that his team has him that they will probably win the tournament. Okay - nothing like a little confidence NK. Afterwards, I asked him to be honest (I meant not boastful) he said, "I was mom". I love this kid.

We have heard reports about bears. There was a bear across the lake. Now, I have heard that there is possibly (?) bear sightings not too far from where we live. Hopefully they don't like husky little Americans. We have reminding NK that he needs to start wearing light, reflective clothing (he has a vest) because we are actually starting to have real nights - with darkness. I guess it will be "all the better to see him with, my dear".

We have had a great week. NK has given us an evening review each night. He recites what he has learned and goes over his day. He is so animated - must be from his father's side of the family!

I will end with saying that we are just so pleased to see the sunshine for the last week. What a difference summer makes - huh? We need since we are going to have the first real winter in many years. Coming from Iowa and Minnesota - I remember real winters. NK loves snow. We will see if he still loves it in April. For now, we will spend time this weekend enjoying the sunshine. Looking across the lake to the mountain side of yellow wheat, seeing the deep blue waters on the lake, the sail boats, the fall flowers...beautiful.

First Day of Adult Norwegian School - subtitle: Where is Uyguristan?

I had my first real day of adult Norwegian Language & Culture class. I had a test on Monday which proved that I have a lot to learn. Today I had class. Like a good student I showed-up early with my sharpened pencils and binder. I was the first student to arrive.

There are sixteen students in my class. I am the only person from the Americas (North & South). Four from Thailand, three from Uyguristan, 2 from Poland...wait a minute where the HECK is Uyguristan?

As soon as I arrived home this afternoon I pulled up maps on the Internet. I could not find Uyguristan. Since the three people from this possible mythical country are claiming refugee status in Norway I was curious about the possibility of the Norwegian government being "snookered" into believing that there is a country called Uyguristan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Turkestan).

Okay, I did more research. Uyguristan is called Eastern Turkestan by the rest of the world. It is a province of China even though they declared and received independence in the 1940's. The ethnic group that comprises the majority of the population are Sufi Muslim. Since my favorite (and only) mystic was Sufi I was more intrigued (for more about my favorite Sufi mystic, Rumi, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jalal_ad-Din_Muhammad_Rumi).

Uyguristans are being killed and harassed by the Chinese because there is a strong separatist movement to rid themselves of Chinese rule. Unfortunately for the Uyguristani's some of their leaders have financial ties to Al Qaeda - according to the US State Department. So the Chinese government and the US government think these folks are all terrorists. Throwing these people in prisons in China and starving them has not gone unnoticed by the Norwegian government, and the Uyguristanis are being allowed to flee to Norway to escape persecution.

Where was I? My cohort group has four Thais, three Uyguristanis, two Poles, a Chechen, a Somali, a Sudanese, a Eritrean, a Turk, a Kosovan, and me. Twelve women and four men. Most of them refugees. Most students are between 23-33 years old.

Two women cried before class. On cried because she was leaving her child in the daycare down the hall. One was tearful because she was nervous. Another lady became tearful in class. Some of the women looked to be Islamic (headdress, names - etc.). I realized how fortunate I am to come from a place like Iowa with world class schools and endless opportunities. I studied at the largest and most prestigious women's university in the United States for my bachelor's degree. I have a masters degree in business. The women in my class are refugees who are fleeing persecution. Wow. I really felt a little embarrassed about my status. These women were nervous because of an opportunity I have grown to know as an entitlement and a right - education. It was humbling.

True to Norwegian style we got out of class two hours early because of the nice weather. To celebrate, a classmate - Aladdin and I sat in a sunny spot in an outdoor cafe and drank cappuccino. Aladdin filled me in on Sudan and the tragedy in Darfur. He has a masters degree in micro-biology and unfortunately he was threatened with death by the Janjaweed who roam around Sudan as death squads.

Did I learn anything in class today? Yep. I learned a lot about how fortunate I am. I learned that a lot of people will do anything to reach a country where there is food, housing, medical care, opportunity and freedom from persecution.

I also learned that I was the third oldest student, the third tallest and the only person who drove to class.

Now I understand why this is a Norwegian Language & Culture Program and not a Norwegian Language & Norwegian Culture Program.

I am quite satisfied with my cohort group and I look forward to the next 20+ weeks of class.

Bjorn & the Fish Farm Survived

* This is a photo from our archives of NK feeding fish at the fish farm in Belize.

There were big waves in the area near the fish farm in Belize, but JH's brother (Bjorn) is fine, and apparently so are his fish.

Thanks for the e-mails and concern.

Dean

JH's brother lives and works in Belize. He manages a fish farm off the coast of Belize City near a small Caye. We haven't heard from him since Hurricane Dean roared ashore along the Mexico - Belize border which is just north of Belize City.

We are keeping our fingers crossed that Bjorn and his colleagues are safe, and that by some miracle the destruction to the countries impacted is minimal.

We will keep you posted.

First Day of School

FYI: This photo wasn't taken today. LeeAnn took this photo of us while we were in front of the Royal Palace.

First day of school here in Norway. JH had the day off of work for the big occasion. NK was a little grumpy this morning. We saw this as a good sign. He was always grumpy in the morning in Wichita and he loved school!

We had packed his backpack and lunch bag last night - so we were ready! JH and I were the only two nervous people in our family. NK was excited. You may remember that he is going to the main school campus in downtown Gjovik for the intensive Norwegian language program. As quickly as he can learn Norwegian he will transfer to the neighborhood school. Parking was a mess. The school has about as much public parking as his school in Wichita did - none. JH dropped us off and NK and I went to the office until JH came along. We met his teacher Eirik. He is probably a 60 year old fellow with a near constant big grin on his face. Very friendly.

NK has two other kids in his class. A boy about his age and a girl a couple of years older (my guess). Both are from Poland (not siblings). Neither speak Norwegian. NK said she speaks more Norwegian than the "other kids". He really liked his first day. He said he won't want to transfer to the neighborhood school because he likes the main campus too much - we will see. He goes to school for five hours each school day. He didn't get any homework and he was happy about that. I guess he will have more time to read Harry Potter.

I took a test today. I did terrible. I am not accustomed to being a big loser, but I was today. The test was to determine my level of Norwegian for my language program at the college. It started out easy and became difficult - fast. I could actually keep up with the test when I got harder, but I had to write the answers all in English. It was mostly verb conjugation and sentence structure. When I turned the test in I mumbled to the proctor that grading my test would be a joke and that they should just assign me to the beginner class. She told me to speak with the "office".

I went to the office - and it had been a long time since I was sent to "the office". While I was explaining my failure to the director, the proctor came running up the stairs and said that I understood Norwegian - she had looked at my test. Due to my English answers she said I understand quite a bit of Norwegian but that starting in the beginning class would be good so that I could learn sentence structure.

I start class on Wednesday - in the beginner group. I will go five days a week for 3.75 hours a day. Since I start at 9AM I can take NK to school and fetch him after my class.

We have solved the crisis of not having a car every 3rd week. Since JH will need the car to drive his car pool NK & I were going to need to ride the public bus. Okay, this area gets six feet of snow - at a time. We live on a mountain. We would need to walk 1/4 mile to the bus stop and then 1/4 mile from the bus stop to the school. Our neighbor who has a grandson NK's age said she or her daughter would drive NK to school on the weeks we are car-less. So now it will just be me schlepping along and falling in the snow. I am very committed to learning Norwegian, but I may home school myself very third week! Maybe I can find another student in my class who I can pay a few Kroner to drive me to school.

I went to the doctor today to transfer my records. Since I have Congestive Heart Failure, I thought it would be best to meet the doctor and get my records transferred. I am also going to need to get prescriptions for my medicines. The doctor actually came out to the waiting room to collect me - on time. Just like the dentist did. He told me to call him Egon. I guess he is about my age. Like most Norwegians, he speaks English. We had a good visit while sitting in his office. He told me to come back in October for a flu shot and to schedule a heart check-up. I didn't let JH come inside the doctor's office because I don't want a translator. I had been nervous - but the visit went fine. Another hurdle!

Tonight, NK is giddy and excited about school tomorrow. He is practicing his new vocabulary and he seems quite happy with himself. His parents are proud of his too.

Where Is Waldo - er uh, Where is NK &/or LL?

NK had this idea for the kids - and some of the adults who read our blog to take photos with him or I (LL) in the photo. These are group photos of people - kind of like a Where Is Waldo book where Waldo is hidden in plain sight. Can you spot someone you know is these photos? Let us know!

Okay - this first photo is an easy one...JH, NK & LL!

Photos of Moving-In of Stuff Day

And then the long anticipated delivery came! The truck with our freight arrived over an hour early. Of course the first company (Coral Sea Shipping - crooks) abandoned our container at the docks in Oslo and made off with our money. So if any friendly attorneys out there want to go after some scumbags e-mail me. They also took our money for insurance. Well, anyway back to the good news. The new company delivered the container as promised. It was an emotional moment for us. Exciting and emotional. For me it meant that this isn't a vacation...but more permanency for our lives.

The truck driver, JH and I began to unload. The truck driver wasn't part of the deal, but he volunteered to unload...and he worked hard! After about a 1/2 hour JH's team of colleagues showed up to help unload. All of the team worked hard.

After a while I tried to direct traffic to at least get boxes in the right rooms. My strategy worked - a little. Five guys were unloading and moving faster then I could direct so I just started saying, "Put it in the living room". Famous last words. As you can see we couldn't even walk into or through the living room.

The unpacking went fast and the pizza arrived on time. After some hot pizza and cold drinks the reality of unpacking the boxes returned to me. I had forgotten about the hard work of the packing/unpacking in my glee to see the container.

JH and I spent the next 48 hours unpacking, repacking and rearranging and NK was our utility player. He provided comedy relief and reminded me to take breaks to cook - fish cake & peanut butter sandwiches!

It has now been a week since the delivery. We have made great strides. I mostly unpack and JH mostly moves things around. NK is once again the utility player and a great snuggle buddy when I need breaks.

Tonight we secured a storage place. Unlike in the US where storage facilities are EVERYWHERE, they are few and far between especially in this area of Norway. We found a guy with a big farm not too far from our condo, he rents out parts of his barn for storage. He has a room which was formerly a cold storage locker, and it is a perfect size for our extra boxes. We really had to trim down what we kept in the condo. So most of our art and household decor went into storage.

JH and NK made two trips to the storage locker tonight and it will take two or three more trips tomorrow. I continue to try to find places to put the things we NEED (like my jewelry). We are going to need to buy a few more wardrobe closets for clothes and coats etc. Even after trimming down our wardrobes since we come from the US where most people have way to many clothes (especially me) we still need more space.

Over the weekend I hope to get through the boxes on our deck. Half of them are holiday decorations anyway!

During the unloading of the container, Forrest nearly had a fit. He almost started hyperventilating. We tried to console him and we were ready to put him in his kitty crate when we found him sleeping in the entertainment cabinet. Good kitty.

Cycling Boy

NK begged to rent a bike in Oslo. The City of Oslo rents the bikes but they do not rent helmets. I kept my fingers crossed that he wouldn't end up with a concussion.

He entertained us and some other people in the Oslo Fjord area as he did tricks. He was having so much fun that it was enjoyable watching him have fun. Definitely more X-Games then Lance Armstrong.

Look at this smile.

Rain, rain go away - please (doesn't Kansas and Iowa need some rain?)

The attached article is about the flooding at a community west of where we live. Good thing we live on a mountain...

http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1934288.ece

We received our crate/freight on Friday. It barely rained on Friday and it didn't rain during the unloading. The story is coming up on the next blog post. I have just been swamped and nearly exhausted unpacking. We all have.

Gjovik Photos -Updated

The Skibladner, the 151 year old paddle wheel ship in Gjovik, provided a great backdrop for this photo. Once again it was a fairly cloud day until the sun started to set behind the mountains and the rainbows started appearing.

We had just returned from a shopping trip on the other side of the Lake Mjosa. Another state (Hedmark) or "flyke" is on the opposite side of the Mjosa. As we were winding around the shore and back into Gjovik we thought we saw the Skibladner in Gjovik (home port).

The people who took the evening cruise were leaving and the crew was preparing the boat for the evening.

One of the rainbows we saw while returning along the Mjosa.
In the Fjellhallen in Gjovik there are 70-80 reproduction of runic and/or viking carvings. The Fjellhallen is the stadium built inside the mountain in downtown Gjovik. It was constructed for the 1994 Olympic games. It was the venue for the ice hockey games.

I was surprised by the site. It wasn't as big as I thought it would be. It is an interesting site though because the walls are the actual rock walls of the cavern created by blasting into the mountain.

There is a swimming pool close to the entrance which pre-dated the Olympic hall. There is also a rock climbing wall - literally on the inside of the mountain wall. There are also rooms and studios for yoga, karate, and other sport clubs.

The arena is used for ice hockey (of course), concerts and other civic and regional events.

NK said that he might play Olympic hockey someday.