Photo of the front of our new house.
We keep seeing more signs of spring in Gjøvik. We only need to drive to the other side of Lake Mjøsa to see spring. There is little to no snow across the lake. In Gjøvik it keeps snowing. After a wonderful sunny day last Saturday it has been snowing for a few days…although a few minutes ago the sun crept out. Maybe it will expedite the melting of the snow so I can see spring flowers (I am not sure of today’s temperature)!
Photo of the side of our new house.
JH & NK took advantage of a warm (above freezing) sunny day on Saturday to go skiing. There is probably only a month left to race down the slopes. I had lofty ambitions of packing, but I got no further than a list…well, actually a plan. I made the list and started my plan to move. Most things are still in storage, but there are a lot of things we won’t need for the next few weeks until we move into our house. Books, DVDs, decorative items, and extra clothes are all going to be packed first. I made another list of things we need to buy. Nancy…I know you remember how much stuff I sold or gave away before we moved. Due to the size of our shipping container and the fact that our electronic items from the US won’t work in Norway (without a transformer) we purged. Well, now we need desks, TVs, bookcases, desk chairs, blinds, curtains, an entertainment center…blah blah blah…the list goes on.
Thank God for IKEA. We plan to head to Oslo this coming weekend and stock up on our needed items. I think we will need to park NK with Maggie’s family (sister in law) or with friends, because a day at IKEA would kill NK. He can’t handle that much shopping. And, since I have a list, divided by rooms, and store departments we should have a fairly efficient day…but NK will freak out.
We are adding bathroom and laundry room (combo) to the house. Since it has four bedrooms, plus a den, and it only has one bathroom…we are converting a bedroom into a large bath/laundry/mud room galore. So of course we need all the bathroom components picked out. We hired a design team which we had to turn loose since the decided to go crazy with out money…well, they hadn’t spent any yet…but we gave them the boot. I know what I want…something basic (CHEAP!) and so I will pick it all out and we will have contractors do the professional stuff like plumbing and electrical and we will do the rest.
I still really look forward to our trips to Oslo. Just last evening we went across the lake to Hamar and it was a big deal. Maybe because we live in a valley or maybe because it is Norway…I feel very contained. The flat lands and wide open spaces of Kansas (I keep listening to the Dixie Chicks’ song Wide Open Spaces) really spoiled me and I think that psychologically I developed a strong affinity to the big sky and flat terrain. Strange, since I always wanted to live in the mountains, and now here I am missing flat ‘ol Kansas.
A few weeks ago we went to the Alicia Keys concert. I love Alicia Keys, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alicia_Keys! JH had surprised me with 9th row tickets and so JH, Maggie and I grooved. We sat in the wrong seats to start with and we grumbled about our bad seats. Good thing that before the concert started that the rightful owner of the seats enlightened us about our predicament and we gracefully sashayed to our 9th row center stage seats. So, getting out of the mountains and Gjøvik and down to the society of Oslo and seeing my girl Alicia really was cool. Again, these getaways keep me content with life in Gjøvik…okay, that and the view.
We still have dark nights…they are just shorter now…but in a few months we will hardly have nights at all. The stars have been amazing! The clear mountain air and the limited lights…wow, we have had some great, crisp stargazing nights. Last night I bought a patio heater so that I can sit out on the big deck at my new house and star gaze anytime I want…even when it is chilly. The view is awesome during the night…and the day. At night we will look up and during the day we will gaze up and down the valley and across the Mjøsa. Do you know what a diabolo is?
Well, NK is a diabolo freak, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabolo. For the last six months he has spent a lot of time developing tricks with his diabolo. Last week we ordered a trick diabolo from a circus supply company in England. He is getting so good that we have been threatening to sell him to a circus…and of course NK would like to be in a circus…so our threat appears to be more of a promise. He now wants a diabolo that can be ignited. I have him convinced, for now, that his new trick diabolo is going to have to suffice. No igniting!
Photo of NK's Room...of course this is how it looks now...three weeks before we move in. A girl that goes to NK's school lives there now. NK can't wait to have this huge room with a great view of the lake and the valley.I am finally getting into the swing at the office. It sure is A LOT different that my jobs in the US. Here, we get ½ hour lunch and everyone eats together at long tables in the dining room. It kind of makes me feel like Harry Potter. Also, I am awed at how paper-free the work environment is, and, how portable with wireless, and all electronic gadgets and communication. It is so efficient. Also, we get to wear whatever we want, unless we have a presentation to do – or else. Many women wear skinny Capri’s (jeans, cotton or wool) in or out of their knee high boots with cotton or cashmere sweaters. Men wear jeans and brushed cotton shirts. Well, most of you know how dreadful I would look in anything skinny…like a sausage! So I have opted for mostly dress pants, jeans and turtle necks of cotton shirts. I have noticed how this dress code really puts mostly everyone on a more level platform. CEO, VP, file clerks, engineers, contract administrator, IT, secretaries… everyone kind of looks alike. So euro, huh? It reminds me of when I thought a Bureau Chief at the State of Iowa Department of Economic Development was a copy room staffer and I gave him a copy job to do for my department. He howled about it for a long time. Here, support staff is rare. Everyone does their own stuff. So, we are all more alike than different, despite titles and responsibilities. I keep pulling up my organization chart to figure out who people are and what their responsibilities are. People go by their last name and our titles are really more about responsibility than social climbing. This is all quite different form my US experiences…but okay.
Photo of our new dining room.We work 37.5 hours a week, we get 5 weeks vacation and we all have the same high standard of nationalized health care…I keeping thinking…what is the catch? Well, so far I haven’t found it. After work we go home (at 3:30!) and eat dinner with NK and he keeps saying, “Wow, it is so early. We have so much time to do stuff and to hang out together”. Okay, so this is Norway. We get a lot of time to hangout together. It really makes my constant bitching about Norway seem pathetic. I guess it is just my on and off homesickness and my still culture shock. Maybe once we move into our new house in a few weeks Norway will feel like…well, home. Maybe.
I thought I would post a few photos of our favorite chef in Norway. No, it isn't a Norwegian. She is Eritrean, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eritrea. She is also our favorite childcare provider. Kristina has been an au pair helping us out when we need her...and she is fantastic. She and NK are tight. She is so good with him and he loves her...of course she has a Play Station III...and she is a great cook!
Kristina and her "friend" came by the house for dinner one night...and of course Kristina cooked. We had reindeer stir-fry over long grain rice. Yummy. Kristina is a 'real' chef, a trained chef. She did her training in Lebanon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon, and now gets to practice her recipes on us. Her homemade carrot cake with (also homemade) cream cheese frosting is to die for! Even NK loves it and he isn't a carrot eater!
