Holiday Message from the North Country

Destination Norway

We finally did it. We really did it. We sold it, we gave it away or we packed it. And then we moved to Gjøvik, Norway, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gjovik. We talked about it for years and then after a job opportunity that JH couldn’t resist, we put a sign in our front yard in Wichita and we took a leap of faith.

JH is working as a rocket scientist at Nammo, developing technology to send things into space. NK started his Norwegian experience by bicycling around the city and joining a soccer – er um, football club. He now spends three days a week at a school where he is in an intensive Norwegian language program. He spends two days a week at the neighborhood school. I spend five days a week in an intensive Norwegian language and culture course for immigrants.

We started the year with gusto. NK was active in a competitive basketball league and later a soccer team. His team won the league championship and NK was named the best player. JH enjoyed his position at Bombardier and especially enjoyed the colleagues and friends who share(d) his obsession with making things fly. I worked for SER Corporation and also volunteered for various groups and programs.

We traveled to Belize this past spring and spent some time playing in the Caribbean sand and we enjoyed the sun, music, food and relaxed people of Belize. It wasn’t long after we returned from Belize that JH left for Norway, and NK and I wrapped-up the Wichita “ends” – we packed, sold the house and cars, said a lot of goodbyes to friends and at the end of June, we joined JH in Norway – with a cat in tow.

We have traveled a lot in Norway. Of course since JH is a Norwegian and we have traveled in Norway we have some sense of what we want to see - and what we want to see more of! The beautiful coast near Ålesund, the rugged mountains of western Norway, the Stave Churches, the Arctic landscapes, and the vibrant culture of Oslo have all been amazing. We have taken some side-trips to Sweden and a birthday bash in Prague, Czech Republic. We are staking our trips and trip wish list through 2009. It is still unreal that the splendor of Norway is our new environment. Looking out my windows to the mountains and the pine forests, I often whisper to NK, “We aren’t in Kansas anymore”.

With all the excitement and hoopla in 2007, we really miss our family and friends in the US – and beyond. We have had some family and friends visit Norway – and we are making new friends who have made Norway seem more like “home”. Norway seems like a good-fit, but it isn’t without our struggles of culture shock and frustrations of trying to figure out the tribal rules of our new culture.

We still have our passion for the environment and social-economic change and justice. NK is so quick to point out the eco-friendly lifestyle in Norway, and the lack of the extreme of poverty we have seen in the Americas. Since NK was our appointed recycling expert in the US, his job is a lot easier in Norway – where Norwegians have a culture of environmentalism and eco-friendly lifestyles.

Our goal for 2008 is to continue adapting to a Norsk lifestyle. We plan to travel a lot – including a summer trip to the US. We hope that you have a safe and peaceful holiday season, and we hope to spend some time with you in 2008…and we will leave the light on for you (we always have room for travelers!).

LL Myklebust – and JH, NK & Forrest

lmykle@gmail.com
http://www.freelonnie.blogspot.com/

World AIDS Day!

Today is World AIDS Day. During this holiday season, please give generously to your charity of choice. There are so many fantastic charities performing work around the world that the opportunity for you to give is - well, almost endless.

There are a lot of excellent charities and non-profits that do work with people living with HIV and AIDS. On this day that people around the world celebrate life, remember loved ones and work to support education and research to stop AIDS, I will donate to Positive Directions in memory of Doug Glaze. Positive Directions is a non-profit in Wichita, Kansas that provides services to people living with HIV & AIDS, as well as tesing and education.

http://www.positivedirectionsks.com/

Winter Wonderland & Sticker Shock in Norway

At school my teachers have said that winter doesn't start in Norway until December. Well today is December 1, and winter is definitely here. It actually started to arrive earlier this week.

We have had a lot of snow. It has snowed everyday this week, and it is still snowing. A friend of ours back in Kansas, Michelle, said that her little boy thinks NK lives at the North Pole - and Gjøvik really looks like the North Pole this week!

NK and JH are anxiously awaiting using the new skis and snowboards they have bought - but since NK has a nasty cough it won't happen this weekend. Thus, there have been some long faces...okay, just NK's pity-party because he wants to be a snowboarding boy. JH explained that we have the entire winter to ski. And since Norway has LONG winters - we have plenty of time to hang-ten down the mountains of Norway.

For some reason yesterday we started getting CNN. I am so HAPPY! I really like BBC, but they are so obsessed with India and Pakistan. I here more about India and Pakistan on BBS than I do about the rest of the world - combined! In fact, TV in Norway is strange altogether. We get a lot of American TV, most of it is subtitled but the TV targeting young people and children is dubbed.

There is a lot of TV from the US that I am pretty sure is probably developed for overseas markets. A lot of it is like stuff that runs on cable in the US. In Norway we do not have the same type of censorship that the US has. Nudity and profanity have no limits - none. Radio has no limits either. I didn't realize how many American stars have r/x-rated work on radio and videos overseas.

We get a lot of TV sitcoms that are in the comedy genre. We can see a lot of 'That 70s Show', and 'Will & Grace'. I have a much better understanding of how some of my clients at SER were so isolated in the US. I could do that here in Norway too. In fact it is hard not to. I could read all the US news online, hear it on radio, watch US television, speak English everywhere I go, etc. I have been trying not to stay wrapped-up in Americana (of course I love being an American), because it seems to delay my getting through the steps of Culture Shock. And lately, I have been stuck in the angry phase - where I hate Norwegians and everything in Norway - okay, except my big boy and my little boy.

I think some of my culture shock isn't really culture shock - but rather sticker shock. This country is so freaking expensive. Norway is a very wealthy country. The quality of life for years has been number 1 in the world (it was just nudged out of number 1 by Iceland), but affordability is a real issue. Oslo is the most expensive city in the world to live. It is just nuts. I find myself getting real resentful over the price gouging in this country. I know that it is expensive to get products to Norway because most things are imported, but the taxes on consumer goods is 25% and 14% on food. So a $50 (US dollars) costs an extra $12.50 in tax! And so on...crazy.

Okay so the schools are great, retirement is great, medical care is great - but boy are we paying for it! I keep having to remind myself that I am investing in Norway.

I have applied for a few more jobs. I have a couple of hot leads, but we will have to see what sort of barriers my language skills - or lack thereof bring.

I have been working hard to learn Norwegian. I can carry on regular conversations in baby language and I have a big enough vocabulary to say anything I need to say, and now I am really focusing on verbs - past, present and future tenses of verbs. It is so hard. I can use the verbs, but remembering how to use them is tough. Of course NK is doing a much better job than I am. He is flying through his Norwegian lessons. He easily speaks in Norwegian to his teachers, classmates and teammates.

We have attended some cultural events recently. JH and I attended a performance of an all male revue. At the end they ended with - well, this is Norway right? They ended with their ends. Bravo!

We took NK to Oslo to see Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical on roller skates - Starlight Express. It was awesome. Due to the size of the stage, they had to reseat some patrons - including us - to better seats. Yahoo.

We have continued to see the museums in Norway. Last weekend, JH and NK rode the train to Oslo to see the Technical Museum. NK was a little reluctant because he thought he wouldn't like it. He loved it!

These last photos here show our house and our car. What a mess. The tractor that plows our driveway got stuck up the street. I have been having a hard time getting up the street to our house from the highway. Once I turn off the highway it is a two block climb at a fairly steep angle to get to our driveway. Unless I really "hit it" I lose traction and start to slide backwards. Fun - I know. At least NK really does think it is fun. About as fun as driving JH over the mountain to work at 7AM in the dark on a road barely wide enough for two cars to pass, with snow coming down like crazy - on ice. Fun - yep, Norway is fun.