Well, September is on the stage and Autumn weather is in Gjovik. Yesterday we stood at NK's soccer, er um, fotball match in sleet. He kicked three goals and saved the day. Thank goodness his team got their long-sleeved jerseys before the game. About two minutes into the game the wind came up along the lake and it started raining and then the sleet arrived.
JH and I had to go to NK's school yesterday. NK doesn't like his teacher. We had an official meeting with the head master (a woman...so is it mistress?), the rector (also a lady) and the teacher. NK really thinks the teacher is a tyrant. So, here I was in a room full of Norwegians who by nature are quite non-confrontational. JH took the lead which was good because the meeting was in Norwegian. I have a strong sense that a lot of good will come from the meeting. We sat and visited like civilized adults and the meeting didn't end like it had in my dreams where I was carted off by the Norwegian police for ripping the throat out of the teacher. Common to Norwegians - we talked and came up with a common action plan. According to what NK had to say, today was the first day that the teacher wasn't pounding his fists on NK's desk yelling "IKKE BRA" (no good).
What NK's teacher didn't know is that I go to school with the mother's of NK's classmates. They described how much they dislike the teacher as well. I also spoke with mom's of Norwegian kids who go to the same school and they were shocked at the behavior I described of the tyrannical teacher. They told me that one year ago the Norwegian politicians had passed a law that basically gave Norwegian students the "right" to say or do almost anything in class and that there have been quite a few problems because the kids were/are getting away with everything and the teachers have no power to reel them in. In fact some parents are going to school everyday to try to help the teachers control the mass of smarty kids misbehaving.
Norwegian schools are different, for instance kids no longer have homework. They can wear whatever they want (one school in Oslo is "trying" to change this), and they only go to school five hours a day which includes lunch and three recesses. Norwegian kids are treated like little adults. It reminds me of an episode of Star Trek where an alien life form starts causing chaos on the Star Ship Enterprise because the alien thinks that adults are being mean to kids because the kids have more rules than adults.
If NK doesn't see major changes by Friday of this week we will send him off to the neighborhood school. Although after school today NK was writing out his homework (first homework all year - I couldn't help but wonder if it had anything to do with the meeting?) which was nine sentences all in Norwegian of course. He is doing such a great job of speaking and writing Norwegian. The other evening we had dinner at the home of one of NK's buddy's. NK played with two boys and the entire time they spoke Norwegian. He had a great time. Everyday he is riding around the neighborhood and hanging out with other boys and he speaks Norwegian to them.
On the other hand...there is me. I am amazed at how little I accomplish in my adult class for Norwegian language compared to NK. My class is still practicing, "Jeg kommer fra USA" which is, "I come from the USA". My class grew to twenty students but has started to dwindle. We added two students from Iraq, one from the Czech Republic and another from Poland. A few of the students don't show-up to class on a regular basis and at least one has quit school to get a job.
I was confronted by one of the Iraqi students. She wanted to visit with me about George Bush. She showed me the cross around her neck and asked me whether I (and I supposed all other Americans) realize that there are a lot of Christians living in Iraq. Without getting up on my stump with a speech on American foreign policy (at least my undergraduate degree is good for something?) I told her that I am sure our governments don't always represent all citizens. I think I got away easy - she hugged me and is now my buddy - even though she mentioned something about "bombing".
To be honest, I don't want to be the face of America nor the face of the American government/foreign policy. I am busy right now just being me. I am trying like heck to learn Norwegian, I am trying to help NK with his transitions and I am trying to help my family stay on track with all the changes in our lives. I am not going to be "the American" in my class.
Last night a semi truck hit the fence outside our kitchen. He tried to turn his truck/trailer in an area where I am sure there just isn't enough room. I was cooking dinner when I heard wood cracking. The entire neighborhood came out to watch the semi stuck in the middle of a turn. He took out the fence some bushes, some landscaping and the poor guy just kept getting out of the cab saying, "I am not the right chauffeur for this!". It upset Forrest who was darting around meowing. Stupid cat finally threw-up and then he was fine. He was in a fight over territory the other night and I am worried that the tear in his ear may not heal so he might look a little tougher than the big baby he really is.
I am afraid to ride the bus. Okay, is that the stupidest thing you have ever heard? I have been dragging my feet and whining about riding the bus. I just don't want to do it. So, I have been getting up early and driving JH and his car pool gang to the next town and then turning around and getting NK. I take NK to school and then I go to school. I pick NK up and take him home. I then go get the car pool gang and return then home and then it is time for dinner. Maybe I just need to get a job? Well, I guess that is why I am trying to learn Norwegian.
Today we studied diphthongs. Remember diphthongs? I didn't. At least now I know Norwegian diphthongs.
In Norway you always need to yield to the car coming from the right unless the car has a yield sign and unless you are on a road with a yellow diamond on the sign. Okay, is that nuts or what? And, let me tell you the people coming from the right DO NOT YIELD. So, beware. It is important to really pay attention or else you will be t-boned. I have had a couple of close calls. Even though I look to the right, I usually do the 'look left' and if I don't remember to look right again there is usually a car darting towards the intersection with a driver who has no intention of stopping. And, due to zoning it seems that there is always (frequently?) something blocking the view, like bushes, trees, signs, etc. I really miss American zoning - well, I miss good zoning.
Also, you cannot turn right on a red. And, everywhere people park going the wrong way on streets. Isn't that a parking violation in the US? It drives (ba dum bum) me crazy to have cars parked all wacky. They do it everywhere here. Oh, and parking downtown is $2 dollars for the first two hours. This place is nickeling and diming, er um, kronering me to death!
Norwegian roads are awful. Today's Oslo newspaper says that Norwegian roads are among the worst maintained roads in this part of Europe. They are narrow - many instance they are hardly wide enough for two cars so there are passing areas which kind of are like bus stop areas - in fact some of them are bus stop zones.
Okay - here is something funny. JH went to a two-day class in Oslo. He and his boss and another guy drove into Oslo each day for the class, The first day the company who was hosting the training gave them golf-style shirts to wear which had the name of the company on the front pocket. Well, the next day JH and his boss both wore their new shirt, and everyone kept mistaking them for company representatives. Ha. JH thought it was hilarious.
An interesting side note: the company doing the training specializes in what happens to metal when it is under different temperatures and when it is under stress. For instance how the composition of the metal changes and how it bends,etc. Since the bridge catastrophe in Minnesota, this company is has been getting lots of calls from states, municipalities, etc., from all over the US due to bridge assessments. I read the Wichita Eagle, the Des Moines Register, the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the New York Times every day and it has been interesting what each paper has been reporting and how wide-spread the problem of again bridges is in the US.
Okay, I thought I was going to write about observations, but I had to change the title of the blog post because I have whined - a lot. Maybe I am missing the US? Maybe I am sick of the cute little way Norwegians inhale too much while talking? I don't know.
We are happy. NK does like school, and it will get better. JH still really likes his job and he is learning a lot of valuable information for an aerospace engineer. I like my classes. We like our condo. Forrest has made some friends - and some enemies.
Tonight JH and NK drove down the lake to Eidsvoll to buy NK's ATV (4-wheeler). NK has been so excited to find the right ATV and apparently, we have found the "right" one. Some weekend soon we will take it to the farm at Myklebust. Maybe we will head out there when my aunt and grandmother visit in a week and a half.
P.S. I REALLY want a diet Mountain Dew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Right now. But since Mtn. Dew isn't sold in Norway maybe a glass of tea will cure me for this evening.
* Archive photo of Ninjas.
