Victoria's Guide to Norway

Proud and relieved

2008-11-05T10:59:00.003+01:00

I'm relieved in a way that I'm sure many of my fellow Americans living abroad can understand. I can not imagine how I would feel if McCain had of been elected knowing the strong feelings that Norwegians and Europeans in general had in support of Obama.

I'm not going to lie, as a girl from Texas, I had my doubts that Obama could be elected because of the color of his skin. Racism is indeed alive and well throughout our country. If I had any doubt all about that all I had to do was open e-mail after e-mail proclaiming that Barack Hussein Obama was a terrorist or worse, a Muslim - gasp!. It was with great disappointment, befuddlement and finally anger that I realized how much fear, hatred and intolerence are still alive in our society.

However, my faith in my fellow Americans has been restored this morning. I can't find the words the words to express the pride I feel as an American. We have made history and have brought about the change we so desperately need.

Recap

2008-09-05T09:09:00.004+02:00

I went to Houston for about two weeks with Mike in June. It was (as always) really nice to be home. During that time I also managed to scoot up to Oklahoma to visit my friend for her baby shower, which was really nice. However I was slightly tramatized during the trip. I HATE flighting. I don't know when exactly this fear started but I wasn't always like this. I think its been in the last five years or so that I've developed this phobia. I've read books and tried my own brand of cognitive therapy in order to conquer the fear. And really, I had been doing better..... until this last trip. On the way to Houston the flight from Stavanger from Amsterdam was uneventful. We arrived in Amsterdam and decided to see if we could upgrade to business class using Mike's frequent flyer miles. No problem! (Suprisingly!) So there we are sitting in Business Class, sipping our mimosas, feeling rather decadent and waiting for departure. As predicted the plane started taxing down the runway, gaining speed, gaining speed, gaining speed, about to lift off..........when suddenly the pilot SLAMMED ON THE BRAKES!! yikes. A second later a flight attendant told us the pilot had aborted the take off. A second after that the pilot came on to say there was a problem with the landing gear and it would have to be replaced. Ok, glad they figured that out before we were airborne. Once everything was fixed we took off and had a smooth flight to Houston.

Now for our return to Stavanger. We were on the small plane from Amsterdam to Stavanger and had started descending for our landing. Getting closer to the landing strip, closer, closer, ears popping, closer, when all of a sudden we starting ascending again! I was really freaked out over this. A second later a flight attendant came on and said the pilot had aborted the landing and they would tell us more information soon. Well like five minutes later (five mintues is a long time when you think the plane has been hijacked and you are about to DIE) the pilot comes on and says they had to have a "do over" because the plane was still too high when he tried to land the first time (or something like that). I am absolutely dreading the next time I have to get on a plane.

So about a week after the I-am-about-to-die flight back to Norway in July, Mike's parents arrived for a two week visit. Lucky them, the weather was pretty close to perfect for their entire visit (and apparently they didn't almost die getting here). The weather was also perfect when Mike's brother and his wife visited. I'm sure everyone thinks we are all lying when we say the weather is usually less than ideal here. Anyway we had a good visit and they especially loved Norway. We took a five night road trip to see (among other things) the glaciers in Fjaerland. Seeing the glaciers was a really unique experience. On the way home we also spent a night in Bergen which I thought was an especially nice city. In fact I could see living there, well you know the grass is greener, blah, blah.

Shortly after Mike's parents left we moved to a different house. Not too much to say about that other than, this house is SO much better. Closer to Stavanger and much more modern.

About two weeks after our move ONS started. The volunteer work that I had done earlier in the year culminated into four days during the last week of August. It was actually a lot of fun. Yes, I did meet the Mayor of Houston and also the Crown Prince of Norway. I also met some really nice people from Houston as well as some REALLY obnoxious people. I was reminded how some people really do buy into corporate bullshit. Puke. I think I always treat people respectfully and kindly no matter their position. I certainly don't feel as if someone is more deserving of my respect simply because of a title on a business card. I had forgotten there are people that try to throw their weight around and talk down to others that they perceive as being less important than themselves (umm, like volunteers).
Anyway other than a bit of unpleasantness from a brunette lady from Houston, ONS was a great time. Oh and I also might have found a new career direction. At the end of the week I walked away feeling like I should be a bartender. You know because I served some people beer and wine, all of sudden I'm having visions of myself as a character in Coyote Ugly or Cocktail.

Speaking of jobs, in case anyone was wondering, no I never found one. I was hit by inspiration about a month ago and decided to apply for just about any job that was advertised in English. After receiving all the rejections and picking myself up off the floor, I have officially retired. Really, I'm so much happier for it.

And now its September

2008-09-04T09:30:00.002+02:00

Can you believe it?? God, I'm going to be dead before I know it based on how quickly time is passing.

I have decided to break my self imposed blogging break. I've actually thought of lots of things I could be writing about lately. I'm sure you wondering what it was that actually motivated me to set up shop and start typing away this morning. Well hold your breath no longer, it was a ridiculous story on CNN. I know you might be assuming I'm talking politics (can we say Palin) but no, this is much much better.

CNN featured a story which talked about California trash. More specifically how people in CA currently have three different trash cans in which they must separate their trash into and drag to the curb on different days. So funny because they actually had people saying how difficult it is and what a hassle. One Californian seemed quite confused by the whole thing.

I'll admit when first arriving in Norway I was a bit confused and dare I say, scared of the trash situation. We also have three different trash bins. Green for paper, brown for food, and black for everything else. Originally I was quite worried that I might accidentally put paper in the black can and Norwegian police authorities would show up to arrest me on the spot. Yeah that doesn't happen and now I'm rather cavalier about the whole thing. (Especially now that I know Norwegian police aren't all that easy to come by anyway). Now that I'm an old hand at Norwegian trash disposal I think its a grand idea and really, its not difficult or inconvenient at all. Well I guess this just proves how worldly I now am. I've come a long way baby (or not, because I'm still scared of taking the bus).

Blogging Break

2008-06-16T22:26:00.008+02:00

I've been thinking of taking a break from blogging for a while now and I think the time has come. Here is why:

1) I don't write really well. If you are going to do something as public as this, shouldn't you be able to do it really well? Honestly, when I look back over posts I have written, I feel sort of embarrassed. Like, how did I not catch THAT glaring grammatical error? The fact that my spellcheck on blogger has never worked doesn't help the situation either.

2) It has come to my attention that people usually only want to see their name mentioned in a blog followed by the words "is a wonderful person". (Well unless your name is Lindsay Lohan, then it could happily be followed by all sorts of exciting descriptives). I feel I'm running out of things to talk about. I can't write about the funny thing that happened two weeks ago with (or even better, to) someone I know, because someone I know might see my blog and not appreciate having been mentioned. Note - that was an entirely made up scenario - if you are reading this and are "someone I know" I promise I'm not talking about you.

3) I'm not brave. I feel strongly about several controversial issues that I've been tempted to discuss however I'm not brave enough to write about them. I don't really want to start debates in comments and I don't want someone to dislike me (especially if you are someone who already knows and likes me) because of my liberal beliefs. Usually when I write posts I censor myself. If I were a real writer I wouldn't care so much but alas, I'm not a real writer.

4) I started this blog as a way for our friends and family to keep track of what we were doing in Norway. I never really thought anyone else would read it. So now that we have been here almost a year and the hard part is over, my life is pretty boring. Seriously. I'm not saying that in a "woe is me" kind of way. For example, today I woke up, mopped the floors, did laundry, cleaned the kitchen and brushed the dogs. Scintillating isn't it? If I'm not careful I'll be treading in the dangerous territory of discussing what I ate on a particular day, my hair and the dog's bathroom patterns.
I've had to really examine why I'm writing these days. For the most part I keep up with friends and family via e-mail anyway. I sometimes wonder if I'm doing this for ego. I mean its fun to see how many people visit my blog and I love, love, love getting comments. (Well as long as they are nice and say what I wonderful person I am - either directly or indirectly).
Seriously though - I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm lacking the motivation for keeping this going mainly because I don't have a clear purpose. Oh and see comment number 1 for a better understanding of why this wouldn't be a good way to boost the ego.

5) I don't enjoy taking pictures very much and I abhor trying to put them on the blog. Really, it is such a pain in the ass. So I don't do it very often. That completely rules out the possibility of me turning this into a photography blog.

In conclusion I think I'm going to take a bit of a break. A summer holiday if you will. Maybe I can determine a focus for my blog and will resume it in a few months. Or maybe I'm actually going to start an anonymous blog somewhere on the internets where I use filthy language, horrible grammar and talk self-righteously about politics, religion, and sex. Maybe!!!

(or maybe not).

No actually definitely not - I could never have an anonymous blog, who would read it? And then who would leave me nice comments?

Weekend recap

2008-06-02T08:55:00.005+02:00

Unlike last weekends excitement, this weekend was pretty quiet and boring. We spent A LOT of time saying, "What do you want to do now? I don't know, what do you want to do?"

We watched the documentary Sicko which was oh so depressing and disturbing. It makes America look so miserly and greedy. sigh. The actual documentary discusses the excellent health benefits that residents of France, Canada, Cuba, and Britain receive. The whole time I was wondering why they didn't profile Norway. Well actually, as one of the "extras" on the DVD, Micheal Moore did profile Norway. Very interesting and it definitely gave me and Mike (Mike, my husband, not Michael Moore - in case you were confused) some food for thought. Actually we were discussing how much some of our views have changed since moving abroad. I think if you are open minded, you definitely begin to see things from a different perspective. The USA is great and there are so many things I miss, but I can also more clearly see where things should be improved for the betterment of society as a whole. Like the idea that health care is basically determined by publicly traded companies - that just doesn't make sense. Obviously, an insurance company's main objectives is to increase the bottom line in order to keep stockholders happy. That works and makes sense for many industries but how does that make sense when it comes to our health care?

We spent the day on Saturday loading up our car with stuff to donate to Fretex (Norway's Goodwill). We made a pretty big dent in the boxes we had up in the attic. Why is hard to get rid of stuff that you didn't even remember you had, until you see it? Anyway we did a good job and the car was pretty much stuffed full by the time we were done. We still have a lot of furniture that needs a new home, but we are hoping to sell it rather than donate it.

The amazing weather is still hanging around! Really, we can't remember what it was like when it only rained. I think we are going to be in for a shock come November.

More Rod news.......

2008-05-29T15:33:00.001+02:00

http://www.mirror.co.uk/showbiz/latest/2008/05/29/rod-stewart-s-tour-rider-includes-oxygen-89520-20432980/

Funny to think we were there. I didn't see any oxygen BUT he did kick the balls from the stage.

Busy Times

2008-05-29T13:14:00.004+02:00

I was just reflecting yesterday on some of our upcoming plans for the summer, and wow! Its going to be busy.

I leave for Lofoten June 10th and return June 14th. Mike and I are supposed to leave for Houston around June 15th for two weeks (or possibly (hopefully) a bit longer). Mike's parents will be visting from July 18th to August 3rd. During their visit we hope to make a trip somewhere in Europe but we haven't made any definite plans yet.

We found out on Tuesday that all the details of the house we made an offer on were worked out between the relocation company and the owners. We are VERY excited about moving and the move in date is set for August 11th. We were originally hoping to move sooner but this actually works out pretty well because of some of our other plans for the summer.

Mike and I plan to try to travel somewhere in Europe in September. We are considering Greece or Spain or Prague or a bicycling vacation is still in the back of my mind. So many options.

I'm excited about all of our plans and I have a feeling the summer is going to fly by.

The weather has been gorgeous lately, not only are the days much longer but the sun has been shining. It has actually been warm enough on a couple of days to wear shorts (not that I feel like wearing shorts in public because I feel like Fatty McFatty but that is a post for another day - or now that I think about it, not at all). The sun has been rising around 4:30am and setting around 10:30pm. It is nice to have such long and sunny days. Supposedly this summer is predicted to be the best summer Norway has seen in 150 years. If the last few weeks has been any indication I would say they must be right.

Putting the classic in Classic Rock

2008-05-27T20:41:00.005+02:00

Friday we saw Rod Stewart. Live. Playing in Sandnes.

I'm not sure why we went. Well that isn't true, I know why we went. Because we are the kind of people that always fear we might be missing out something (and sometimes we are correct, but Friday night wasn't one of those times).

Last week Sandnes hosted a Classic Rock festival. So for about three nights straight Mike and I laid in bed listening to thrumming bass lines and wondering what kind of fun we could be having if we were not laying in said bed and were instead shaking our groove thang in a classic rock sort of way.

When Mike got home from work on Friday we decided what the hell. We put on our best walking shoes (note I said walking, not dancing) and headed to downtown Sandnes. Once there we spent an exorbitant amount of money on two tickets. This was an outdoor concert with no designated seating or standing areas. After securing a drink we headed to the very front. Seeing as though we paid way more money than I would EVER consider paying to see Rod Stewart in the States (wait, would I ever consider seeing Rod in the States?), we were going to be in the front row, dammit. And front row we were. We were able to see him up close and personal. In fact I was sort of concerned he might look at me and wonder if I was having a good time. I made sure to glue an excited smile on my face and clap everytime he was in front of me. (I didn't want to hurt his feelings).

SO I have learned that he is the ultimate white guy as evidenced by his dance moves. Although I don't think he is trying to be anything other than that, so no problem there. I have to admit I felt pretty young, which was nice. I also liked his backup singers. They were cute and he also had the required-for-a-band sexy blonde girl saxophone player.

All kidding and snarkiness aside I suppose he did a pretty good job. The problem wasn't Rod, the problem is that I'm not a Rod fan. Actually I had never given Rod much thought before Friday night, so I guess I can chalk this up to something else I have learned about myself since living in Norway. I'm much more of a Prince kind of girl (before the Jehovah's Witness conversion). Or Eminem (which truly goes against all of my feminist leanings. truly).

And.

I'm.

Forever Young.

To which I say.....meh

2008-05-23T12:29:00.003+02:00

Really I'm not trying to be a wet blanket or a lame duck or any other euphemism you can think of. BUT, why aren't things just easy sometimes?

So the house we are interested in renting - the owners seem to not really want to move until September, however we have to move by August 8th. A bit of a conflict you see. They have a tv mounted on the wall which we do not want and they do not want to take down. blah, blah, etc, etc. So really it's up in the air. Too bad because we felt really good about this particular place. Although it isn't within walking distance of town, after looking at several places that are within walking distance we decided having a bit of privacy and a yard outweighed the walking-to-town-benefit. The idea of living in an apartment and always being concerned about noise and the dogs completely stresses me out. So even if we lived within-walking-distance-to-town I'd probably never leave the house for fear the dogs would bark and someone would yell at me upon my return home. This could lead to me developing agoraphobia and well, that wouldn't be good.
We are still waiting to hear what the outcome will be, maybe we will have to start the house hunt again.

I'm over my F is for funk feeling from yesterday. My darling husband told me all of the ways I am valuable (well probably not ALL of the ways as it was only like a five minute conversation, but it was enough to assuage my delicate ego) and I felt better.

And this is hysterical - Mike's company prints a newsletter periodically (not sure exactly how often). The upcoming newsletter is profiling the project that Mike is working on. There are a couple of lines about him........AND ABOUT ME. It said something to the effect of: "Victoria is really involved in the ex-pat scene, volunteering and has PUBLISHED HER OWN GUIDE TO NORWAY ON THE INTERNET". oh my. Thankfully Mike was provided with a copy to proof before the newsletter is printed and shipped. I immediately told him that he had to remove that bit about my guide to Norway. As if I'm an Ambassador to Norway or something. ha! Plus, although overall I'm happy to be here, I'm not always a glowing endorsement for the expat life (please see yesterday's post for a fine example).

F is for funk

2008-05-22T09:53:00.004+02:00

My time and thoughts lately had been pretty consumed with trying to find a new place for us live. Now that we've found it (although the dotted line hasn't been signed yet) I think I'm in a funk. Again I've got time on my hands and that usually leads to my thoughts becoming overly analytical and introspective.

It has been a year this month since I've had a regular job. Its such an odd and almost frightening feeling. On one hand, I've become quite accustomed to having my own time and setting my own schedule which is sort of liberating. On the other hand I feel so..........(worthless is the word that comes to mind but that is a bit strong I think)......unproductive. People are still telling me that there are lots of jobs to be had in Norway and you just have to keep trying. However if I take a step back and look critically at my resume, it's not that great. When Mike and I moved from Texas to Oklahoma I had four different jobs in three years. It's all perfectly reasonable and mainly because we moved to a small town and as I met more people I was able to secure better and better jobs. It would have been crazy not to move up when I had the opportunity.

However now that I'm in Norway, I know I'm competing with lots of other people who are looking for the few non-engineering, english only jobs out there. I can see my resume probably falls to the bottom of the pile pretty quickly. Add to that, I don't have a masters degree and it becomes pretty clear that I'm not the most desirable candidate. To say the least, this is incredibly humbling. I also know that when we move again, I'll have start this whole process over at some point.

I will be the first to admit that I haven't really tried all THAT hard to find a job. There are still avenues I haven't explored fully, like calling temp agencies and persistently asking for an appointment, applying to all the American/international companies here, following up with the companies I have applied with, reformatting my CV to a more Euro style. I also know I could get a job waitressing, teaching English or doing something like that but I'm just not motivated for any of it. I think it has something to do with the fact that I dread the whole process and also knowing I'll have to do it again in a couple of years.

So I guess I'm still trying to be content and at peace with where I'm at right now. It's challenging though. As much as we know our self worth shouldn't be defined by what we do or how much money we make (or not), it can be difficult to know how our self worth SHOULD be defined. I don't think my challenge is not having a job, I think my challenge is to feel valuable even though I don't have a job.

Tuesday was a big day.

2008-05-21T08:32:00.006+02:00

Oslo is already back to his normal self and I'm exhausted. Mike and I picked him up at the vet yesterday evening. He had been neutered and also had an absessed tooth removed. (The vet said he found it accidentally). He was completely awake when we arrived and I could hear him whining from the waiting room. The vet was trying to put one of those cone collars on him but he wasn't having it. So she asked us if we could come to the back and help. I stepped into the room where he was cowering in the corner. As soon as he saw me he came running happily up as if he wanted to be rescued. That is when I grabbed and held him in a death grip while the vet put the collar on. I felt a bit guilty for that.
He is supposed to wear this collar for a week to prevent him from licking the stitches. I'm not sure how we are going to manage that. He can't sleep in his crate (where he is used to sleeping and will sleep peacefully for 8 or 9 hours) because of the cone. Last night we put him in our bedroom and hoped he didn't pee on the floor in the middle of the night. All night I was listening to him whine and walk around bumping into everything with his cone. Poor thing.

We found a house yesterday! It isn't within walking distance of downtown Stavanger but it has great bus connections very close by. I'm told the buses run every 10 to 15 minutes to downtown Stavanger and it only takes 10 minutes to get there. The house feels PERFECT! The layout is great, it is modern and updated, there is a fairly large and private back yard. We are asking the owners to put up a fence for the dogs. We will still have to sell a lot (most) of our furniture because it is definitely smaller than the house we lived in before but we are actually excited to downsize. It feels so much simpler.

Yesterday I booked tickets to visit Lofoten in northern Norway with my friends Emily and Michele. We are making a little girls trip to celebrate our life in Norway. (Ok I just made that up about celebrating our life in Norway but it sounds good right?) Anyway we are leaving the second week of June and staying in a cabin for four days. Thankfully the cabin has running water and electricity, so I probably won't die while I'm there.

2008-05-20T13:28:00.002+02:00

I just dropped little Oslo off for his neutering appointment. Funny thing, the vet actually had me in the room while she sedated him. At home, you are shielded from all that stuff. As far as I know, when I drop my dog off at the vet they have one big doggie pj party and roll around in stinky stuff until their heart's content. However, here I got to see Oslo drop like a bag of rocks. Well not really, she injected him (while I held him down and he sqealed like he was being murdered), then she left the room and told me I could leave when he was asleep. It took a few minutes but eventually it looked as if he had died in the middle of the floor. So that's when I left.

Awww, poor baby. I did feel bad for him BUT (and this is the reason why I shouldn't have children) I kind of, sort of don't want to go pick him up. It is so PEACEFUL at home right now. Sable is laying quietly in the sun, I'm typing and all is quiet and calm in the house. Sigh. Of course I'm going to go get him, of course I will, but it is sort of sad that I don't really want to.

I must say that he is a smart little puppy or I am just some sort of dog training phenomenon that should have her own show. He knows sit, down, here, roll over, stay, off, drop it and no. Now of course he is young and easily distracted so I wouldn't say he is solid on any of it just yet. Of course being consistent helps a lot. As Mike said the other day, I do all of the training and he does all of the UN-training. We are working on that.

We are scheduled to see three other places this afternoon. Hopefully one of them feels "right" to us.

Chop, chop

2008-05-19T11:28:00.002+02:00

Tomorrow little Oslo will be nuetered. We are all so very excited.

The house hunt is still on. We are having a difficult time making a decision. The first place we looked at is the most appealing so far. It has everything we are looking for except for a yard for the dogs. We are trying to weigh up the pros and cons.

And confession time............ remember when I wrote that post about the suprisingly high cost of birth control pills? Yeah well I opened the package and guess what - there is a three month supply in one package. Who knew?? So although I really wanted to take the wuss way out and never mention it on this blog again, that would be pretty dishonest. At least now you know I'm not a dishonest person, I may be other things, but I'm not dishonest.

Housing Update

2008-05-16T07:31:00.003+02:00

Decisions, decisions.
We've seen two places this week that we like very much. On Wednesday evening we looked at an apartment that is about a 10-12 minute walk to downtown Stavanger. It is a really nice area of town with convenient access to grocery stores and some very nice areas for walking. The apartment is actually part of a free standing house. The homeowners asked us to bring the dogs with us so they could decide if they would feel comfortable with renting to people with dogs. So naturally I brushed them, clipped their toe nails, sprayed them down with doggie perfume and prayed they wouldn't do anything to embarrass us. We wanted to make the best impression possible. It worked! (let it be known that I do brush the dogs and spray them with doggie perfume on a regular basis, NOT just when we are trying to make a good impression). The owners said the dogs were lovely and we are welcome to rent from them if we would like. The apartment is on the ground floor and the owners will live in the top floor apartment. It is 127 sq meters and very nice. Much nicer quality than the house we currently live in. The only downside is that there is no yard to speak of really. In order to take the dogs out we would have to walk down a long driveway and cross a street. The other concern that I have is noise. I think it just feels strange to share a house even though that is very common here. I can imagine us always feeling concerned that we (or the dogs) are being too loud. That makes me feel a little uneasy.

Last night we looked at another apartment that is also part of a home shared by the owner. The apartment has been completely redone and is a very high standard. Although it is smaller than the other place and a bit of a further walk into town, the space feels good. This time the owner lives in the lower level apartment. Unfortunately the stairs are very narrow and cramped and we can't see a way to get our overstuffed furniture in. The owner liked the fact that he could rent it unfurnished. He knows the stairs might pose an issue and explained that he was just going to furnish it with IKEA stuff. IKEA furniture is pretty minimalistic and often comes unassembled, so it would probably go up the stairs. Unfortunately our huge Pottery Barn couch and king size bed won't. The really disappointed thing is that they would actually fit into the apartment nicely if we could just get them in.

Of course we have several months to find a place so we could just continue looking. Tough decision.

Good news

2008-05-14T08:19:00.006+02:00

Interestingly enough, on Monday we learned that our landlords are moving back. They notified the relocation company that is handling our lease last Thursday. So we have until August to find a new place. This is good news for us. It basically means we get a do over! Mike's company will now pay to move us, the deposits, etc, etc. I'm sure they will even have movers come pack up all of our stuff (which I like) and unpack it at the new place (which I'd rather do myself). As you can imagine I've been scouring the classified ads for houses, of course we are very quickly reminded of all the barriers that were there when we first looked last July;

1). Space
2). Location
3). Dogs
4). Price

Larger houses or apartments do not come cheap in Stavanger (smaller ones aren't really cheap either) which is why we ended up living in Sandnes. I feel quite strongly that one of the reasons I haven't been as happy as I could be is because, as I mentioned before, we are trying to live our same American life here. Instead of taking advantage of things that are uniquely Norwegian or European we are living in a big house in the suburbs, driving two cars, and wondering why we aren't as satsified as we were before. All of those things worked for us in the US but one of the reasons for moving to another country was to have the experience. I want to live in Stavanger where there is a sense of culture and excitement (compared to Sandnes). I want to walk out of my front door and see lots of other people out walking, talking and socializing. It would be great to meet my friends at a coffee shop without having to drive 30 minutes, figure out parking, pay for parking, and worry about trying to avoid traffic on the way home. I want to be the person that walks to the farmer's market in downtown Stavanger every other day to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. If we lived in Stavanger, we could actually have people over for dinner and drinks! We might actually have a social life again.

So all of that comes with a very hefty price and brings me back to our list of obstacles. We have to be willing to compromise on something because we can't have it all.

Price - we aren't willing to pay more than we are paying now. If I had a job it would be a bit different. However, I received two more rejection e-mails last week, so that front isn't looking so hopeful. The best way I can think to give us a raise is to find a place at least a little less expensive than what we are paying now and sell one of our cars. Houses and apartments in Stavanger routinely go from 20.000 to 28.000 kr per month (or more). This can be for a larger house or a small apartment - dependent upon location. We want something less expensive than that.

Dogs - This isn't a compromise. We aren't willing to get rid of them. Yes they complicate things significantly, but so do kids. I'm not saying that dogs are like kids, but you understand my point.

Location - I would really like to be within walking distance of downtown Stavanger. This means more expensive though. There are a few areas that are a bit cheaper for whatever reason (there aren't really "bad" areas of town). To me it doesn't make much sense to move somewhere where I still have to drive into town. That would preclude us from selling one of our cars and therefore we wouldn't have much of a savings.

Space - This is the one where the compromise is going to have to come in. It isn't easy. We had a 2400 square foot (225 sq. meters) home in Oklahoma. Of course that house was full of furniture. Naively we brought all of that furniture with us. The places that we can afford in Stavanger that are in a desirable location are going to be around 1000 square feet or less. That means trying to sell at least half of our furniture. That doesn't even count the "stuff" we have. Its not an easy feat for several reasons. One- some things have sentimental value. Two- most of our stuff is newish and in good shape. We will be taking a loss on it probably. Three-I'm not sure our big American style furniture is what Norwegians are interested in buying.
This is however, what most expats seem to do. I know only a few people who live in a house as big as ours. Those people have kids. Most people also rent furnished apartments. I can definitely see the appeal of that. The space isn't such an issue when the whole thing is already furnished.

I've found two places in our price range so far that are willing to accept the dogs and in a good location. One is an apartment on the second floor of the building. It has absolutely GORGEOUS views and is about 785 sq. feet (73 sq. meters). This isn't so ideal for the dogs though because it will be a significant hassle to take them out. The other place is actually part of a house. The homeowner lives in the basement apartment and is trying to rent out the upper floors of the home. It is right around 1000 sq feet (96 sq. meters). He said he likes dogs and has no problem with them. It also has a pretty decent size yard. (Thanks Erin for the pictures). This sounds much more desirable for the dogs. We haven't seen the inside of either place but we hope to see the latter one sometime this week. I hope we like it and can see some sort of potential. The good thing is that we have plenty of time to look. Although I hear the housing market gets quite competative during the summer months, so the sooner the better.

If anyone wants some big American furniture, let me know. :-)

The week that was

2008-05-12T09:08:00.006+02:00

Last week Mike's brother and his wife (Dave and Rhonda) visited us from the US. In between arguing with Dave about a variety of sociological issues (Dave and I have differing opinions on many things but in a good way because its obvious that I'm right) we did a TON of sightseeing. It was really good for me and Mike to have a reason to get out and see so much of the country. Dave is a history buff and was interested in seeing Viking artifacts. In my opinion most things he found interesting just looked like a pile rocks but Dave tried to impress upon me the SIGNIFICANCE of the cave or the rock or whatever. To make their visit even better we had gorgeous weather. It was pretty much perfect and now Dave and Rhonda can't imagine what I could possibly have to complain about.

On Monday we hiked Pulpit Rock. What a difference it was to hike it in the sunshine minus the snow and ice. It was so much easier. On Tuesday we went to Stavanger and walked the city, including "Old Stavanger" and Dom Kirke (the historic church). We also visited the Stavanger Archeological museum. There were lots of (significant) rocks in glass cases there. On Wednesday we went to the Island of Karmoy where we visited a recreated Viking settlement. Thursday we visited a tourist attraction called the Old Iron Age Farm and some other historically significant caves and rocks in the Rogaland area. On Friday we were given a tour of the Sandnes Garn factory ("garn" is Norwegian for "yarn") and learned how yarn is manufactured (Rhonda is a knitter), then drove the ski resort of Sirdal. On the way home we hiked Manafossen where we were rewarded with views of a dramatic and beautiful waterfall.
All in all it was a great week and we really enjoyed the time we spent with Dave and Rhonda. I think they were also quite enamored with Norway. Honestly seeing it through their eyes has also given me a fresh perspective (all the sunshine doesn't hurt either).

In other news Mike and I have decided we need to stop trying to live our American lives in Norway. We are realizing that our house is way too big for the two of us and really having two cars seems excessive here (not to mention very expensive). It would be nice to be able to live in downtown Stavanger. We would get a smaller place and sell one of our cars. We are still trying to figure out how to make all of that happen or if we can even make it happen. I really hope our landlords decide to move back. That will make all of this much easier.

Doctor Visit

2008-04-28T12:03:00.005+02:00

I had my first Norwegian doctor visit today in order to get a refill on my birth control pills. When I called to make the appointment I was told the doctor was from Sri Lanka and spoke both Norwegian and English fluently. I am happy to say that we had no trouble at all communicating. She was extremely personable and friendly. Another bonus - no exam! As a woman in the US you are required to have a yearly pelvic exam in order to receive prescription birth control. In Norway you only have to have one every three years (as long as you have less than three partners per year). The doctor was very thorough and took her time with me. She took my blood pressure and told me it was "text book perfect". Yay me! She didn't weigh me and I was sort of happy and sort of disappointed about that. I was kind of looking forward to hearing my weight in kilos, it sounds so much better than what it is in pounds. She also did an ultrasound which I had never had done before. Anyway it was all good and she pointed out all sorts of interesting thing in my abdomen that you usually only hear about.

One thing I'm a bit confused about and perhaps someone with more Norwegian knowledge can shed some light for me. I had to pay approximately 150kr (I can't find my receipt now but I know it was close to that) at the doctors office. So divide that by 5 for the US equivalent of about $30. In the US the co-pay was $20 - so that is about the same. Now the birth control pill that I'm on is a bit pricey both in the US and in Norway. However I thought that medical expenses were covered here. In fact that has been why I've been pretty much at peace with the huge amount of taxes that we pay. Not so. The birth control pill is 230kr a month. That is approximately $46.00 a month. In the US my copay was about $20.00 per month. I am honestly a little frustrated by this. We pay a huge amount in Norwegian taxes, which I don't really begrudge as I understand that is what helps to make Norway one of the safest and best countries in the world to live. I know that we won't benefit as much from the Norwegian tax system since we won't be living here that long. However I was really hoping that we would see some of the benefits.
Now I think if I were pregnant in Norway, my doctor and hospital visits would be covered. I find this frustrating. I am honestly curious - what exactly does the high tax rate here cover? Is it just children and emergency medical care? Does it cover the cost of college education? Does it provide for some type of social security system?

Overall the doctor visit was good though. She was very kind and ironically, her husband works for the same company as Mike. Although she said they are separated, so we couldn't totally bond over that one. We did discuss IUD's and the fact that she has one and really likes it. Hmmm, I wonder if that is cheaper than the Pill?

Creepy

2008-04-24T08:55:00.006+02:00

Some of you might remember that I had written a post back in November about a boy that had been run over and killed minutes after I had driven by. Sadly enough, yesterday morning I had a similar experience. On my way back home from grocery shopping I noticed there had obviously been some kind of accident. The left side of the street was blocked off (it is a two lane road) and there were several ambulances and police cars gathered around. The police officers were still letting traffic pass on the right side. As I slowly drove by I saw a blanket covering something in the middle of the street. I purposely didn't look too closely and was hoping that maybe there was a gasoline spill or something. Once I arrived home I told my friend Erin about it and she was able to find the newspaper article explaining the accident (in Norwegian). Apparently an 81 year old man was crossing the street and was accidentally run over and killed by a tractor. So sad.

It is really bizarre that I've lived here for less than a year and have nearly witnessed two pedastrian fatalities. I am super cautious when I'm either driving or crossing the streets here. Yielding to pedestrians takes a bit of getting used when coming from the US or at least from Texas or Oklahoma. We just don't do that, but here at any pedestrian crossings you have to stop if someone is crossing the street. Sounds simple but it takes a little getting used to. I pretty much always drive in a super paranoid state. Oh and I used to ALWAYS yak away on my cell phone while driving at home - not here though. That is probably a good thing.

Here is the article in English: http://web3.aftenbladet.no/english/englishnews/article630290.ece

Dog Sledding

2008-04-20T20:21:00.009+02:00

Today we went dog sledding!

It was a gorgeous day, as it has been all week. We set out this morning for Sirdal where we would become real dog mushers (sort of, well not really). Sirdal is mostly known for its great skiing, not necessarily its great dog sledding. It is about a 1.5 hour drive up, up, up from our house. The drive was positively stunning. Norway must be one of the most beautiful countries in the world. The mountains and fjords are so dramatic. Unfortunately the pictures I took of some of the views don't do it justice. Even more unfortunate our camera died about half way through the trip.

This is Odd the dog musher and his dogs. Odd has owned as many as 52 sledding dogs at one time. He currently has 32 dogs.

The dog sledding was a fun experience. Really we just went around several times in a giant circle, but as you can see below, I probably couldn't have handled more than that anyway.

Here's Mike getting ready to take the first ride.

This is me:

This is me falling:

This is the sled (without me):

I swear, I must be the most uncoordinated person EVER! There were four of us who went sledding and I was the only one who managed to fall. Not once, but twice. How embarrassing. Odd was very sweet about it and said I wasn't the first and wouldn't be the last. Let's hope so.

Here are some non-sled dog pictures (for comparison purposes):

Sled Dog:

Non Sled Dog:

After we went sledding Odd took us to his home which he also rents out for company and private parties. He had some interesting stories to tell, including the fact that he sold a team of sled dogs to the president of Kazakhstan. It was a really intriguing story. What does it say about me that all I could think about the whole time he was talking was Borat? I was able to refrain from making any Borat jokes, comments or references. Odd already witnessed me falling off a sled going fairly slowly on fairly flat ground in a really wide circle. A Borat comment might have made him send me packing.

Just a funny thought

2008-04-18T11:16:00.003+02:00

If I wanted to be a phone sex operator could I? Not that I want to be but its sort of an interesting question. Does Norway even HAVE phone sex lines? If they do, could I speak in English? I'm sure some of those naughty words are pretty universal. I could call myself Thor.
Kidding - thats a boy's name. (Well actually that might work in some circles). If I wanted to go with a Norwegian girl name I could call myself Sif. She is a goddess of fertility and married to Thor. sexy!

Awkward Norwegian moment #5,632

2008-04-17T08:32:00.003+02:00

Yesterday morning I decided to take full advantage of the sunshine (yes, SUNSHINE!!!) by taking the dogs for a long walk. During our journey I saw an elderly lady walking her two shelties (and smoking - now that is talent. I can barely walk two dogs and chew gum at the same time). I've seen her before but in true Norwegian fashion we've pretty much ignored each other. Her shelties are very yappy as shelties are quite famous for being. (This is why everytime Oslo barks I kick him). Anyway yesterday we made eye contact and I smiled at her as I walked past. Well she started talking to me. I apologized and said do you speak English? She said no but continued to talk to me in Norwegian. I'm not kidding, I stood there for about 10 minutes listening to her. I just smiled and nodded like a complete moron. It was sort of awkward - I hope she didn't ask me any questions or if she did I hope the answer to them was yes. I ended the conversation by saying your dogs are very pretty (in English of course). I wish I could learn Norwegian by osmosis, how convenient would that be?

Wednesday already??

2008-04-16T08:06:00.004+02:00

Time is flying! I can't believe its already Wednesday and a week since my last post. Since I've gotten so involved with the Stavanger Chamber of Commerce I've felt pretty busy. Today I've reserved for a fun day of laundry, house cleaning and blogging - exciting!

Friday night we had the pleasure of Michele and Ian's company. We all had such a great time. We have quite a bit in common and shared lots of laughs and conversation over dinner and drinks. I wish we lived closer to each other, they are exactly the kind of couple we would like to hang out with.

I heard some interesting news last week. I randomly met a lady who is a friend of our landlord. She told me that our landlords will be moving back to Sandnes in the autumn. I asked if she meant moving back into their house and she said yes. If that is true that means we will be forced to find a new place to live. Mike and I were excited to hear this news and we are hoping it is true. We haven't been happy with this house from day one and this would be an opportunity to start over.

The weather has been really nice so far this week. Its still a bit chilly but the sun has been shining every day. I hope this might be an indication of what the summer months will be like.

Vet, Volunteer and Visitors

2008-04-09T16:42:00.003+02:00

I took Oslo to the vet yesterday for his vaccinations (ha! ANOTHER V word). He is now fully immunized and microchipped. I went to the appointment fully prepared to beg and plead for him to be neutered. Norway does have an ancient law that actually says spaying and neutering is illegal. The vet was a man so I was even more concerned that my request might go unheeded. I was needlessly concerned. As soon as I asked him he said no problem and just make an appointment for Oslo when he is about six months old. I am SO happy. I wanted him neutered sooner rather than later.

In other puppy news, he is getting much easier to live with. He is actually very sweet and very smart. I would pretty much say he is housebroken in that he always lets us know when he needs to go out. The limitation is that he still can't hold it very long but that will come with some time. It seems that Norwegians feel Oslo is a strange name. I'm not sure why. I was thinking if I heard someone named their dog Texas or Dakota or Calli I wouldn't think it was odd. Maybe Norwegians don't really use places as inspiration for names.

The volunteer project that I'm working on is turning into quite an extravaganza. We have found out that the Mayor of Houston will be visiting our tent, so I will get to meet him personally. It is also likely that the Norwegian press and media will be at our tent as well (hey maybe I will be on tv!!!). Really calling it a tent isn't doing it justice. It will be a tent but not at all like what you might be picturing. The tent will have a bar, a dance floor, a mechanical bull and room to seat 56 people for dinner. In addition to potentially meeting Bill White I'm meeting all sorts of people here in Stavanger. There is a band that was quite famous in Norway called The September When. The band dissolved because the lead singer wanted to pursue a solo career, which I believe he has done successfully. Well the band is reuniting for the first time in several years to play at the ONS festival. Today I met the lead singers wife. She was very nice and asked me specifically for my contact information -which I thought was sweet of her.

Mike and I looked at couple of houses in Stavanger on Monday. We are still toying with the idea of moving. The houses are all just so expensive. The one I liked the best has a great location and an awesome view. The owner of the house is an elderly gentlemen and was very sweet. By word of mouth we heard that he referred to me as "beautiful". So naturally I adore him and would LOVE to pay him a huge amount of money to rent his house every month.

Finally, I'm so excited to say that I finally get to meet Michele of My Grand Adventure on Friday! Her and her husband, Ian are traveling to Stavanger and will be staying the night with us on Friday night. I already feel like I know her through her blog but I can't wait to meet both of them in person!

Books

2008-04-05T22:35:00.005+02:00

Anyone who knows me, knows I read a lot. I've always been a big reader. I remember easily reading every Beverly Cleary book in the library (several times!) followed up by Jack London's books, followed up by all of The Little House on the Prairie books. Actually Little House on the Prairie probably came first since I can remember having them read to me.

By the time I was 11(ish) I had graduated to Stephen King. I loved reading his books but I remember having to put "Thinner" under the bed before I could go to sleep at night. I didn't want that scary bloody handprint on the cover staring me down all night. I think I read every book he had published at that time (except for that whole Dark Tower series - I could never get into that). Around the same time I discovered Dean Koontz. I adored Dean Koontz - for years I would avidly await his new releases. However, something changed. Maybe it was him, maybe it was me but whatever the reason I'm no longer infatuated with his books. I'm not so much in love with Stephen King anymore either. Again, I'm not sure if it's me that has changed or if it's him.

Of course as a teenage girl there was also the practically required reading of Judy Bloom (sometimes I still ask Are You There God? It's Me Victoria. Most men probably won't get that reference. I made a Are You There God joke to Mike one day and he was like, what are you talking about? Have you found religion?) Throw in some Danielle Steel and V.C. Andrews and I think I had quite a varied repertoire of teenage reading.

Books have always greatly affected me. I have a difficult time understanding how someone could not like to read. As soon as I open a good book, I'm immediately transported to another world. Sometimes books are an escape, sometimes they are comforting, sometimes they are educational and sometimes they are life changing.

Three days after I turned 21 my boyfriend at the time was killed in a car accident. A year to the month after Rick was killed, my aunt who I was close to died. For several years after I would read books related to death, the after life and grieving. I found a great deal of comfort in those books. Now I wonder if I reread them would I be disappointed? We tend to find whatever it is we are looking for (good or bad) in life, books included. I tend to think if I read those same books now I might find them to be lacking or unrelatable.

I've always been interested in health and nutrition. This makes sense because I'm a bit of a hypochondriac. (I used to worry that I might have a brain tumor, this was also around the same time I wanted to be a mortician, around 12 years old - maybe it was all that Stephen King). I've read TONS of books about health. After reading The China Study I stopped eating meat. Subsequently I read more books regarding the meat industry and I can't see myself ever eating meat again.

More recently I was in a memoir stage. Show me any book talking about drug addiction, self mutilation, homelessness, eating disorders, depression or lobotomies and I was all over it. There is nothing like reading about someone else's REALLY messed up life to make you feel better about your own not-so-screwed-up life.

Lately I've mainly been reading pointless chick lit type books. However I try to occasionally throw in some books with a little more sustenance. Last night I finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It was such a bleak book and so sad at the end. I'm amazed (and grateful) that there are such talented people in the world that are able to put pen to paper and bring people to tears.

I asked Mike to buy a couple of books for me while he was in Houston. One of the books I requested is called A Dog Year. I'm both looking forward to and dreading reading it. I HOPE it isn't one of those books like "Marley and Me". I HATE crying. Mostly because I'm not a very attractive crier. I don't understand these women that can cry so cutely and daintily. I look like some sort of monster and the effect usually lasts for a day after. Although I think really only my mom can immediately spot the puffy eyelids that would indicate a good cry was had. Well and of course I can tell - in my mind I look like a burn/bee sting victim. So anyway I try to avoid crying (really my appearance isn't the ONLY reason, I'm not that shallow. Crying is also messy). I think A Dog Year takes place over the course of one year ( and not a DOG year) - hopefully no one dies.

In closing I would like to say that so much of my brain capacity was taken up with books that I could never perform simple algebraic equations. That is why I married someone who doesn't like to read but can do complex mathematical equations at the snap of a finger.

Dog Park

2008-04-04T14:24:00.003+02:00

So today I took the dogs to a dog park! It was so nice. Mike's boss's wife called me earlier this week and asked if I wanted to get the dogs together. (She is the one that we dog sat for a while back). Originally we thought we might go the beach with them. Apparently there is a particular beach where people take their dogs to run around. However the weather was pretty horrible this morning so she suggested we go to the dog park. Actually its a trail much like all the trails that surround Sandnes. However, it is understood that people go there to let the dogs run and play off leash. Officially the dogs aren't supposed to be allowed off leash after April 1st but I guess no one pays attention to that rule so much at this one trail. As soon as we got there we met a few other people and dogs. One lady was American and had a German Shepherd. We didn't talk too much but she was very friendly. Everyone else was incredibly friendly and nice as well. Dogs, the great unifier. We let the dogs run and play for about an hour and half. Sable was quite the popular girl - she was surrounded by a bunch of boys wanting to hump her. sexy. Perhaps the highlight of our excursion was when Oslo peed in the car. That was really cute and heartwarming.

Mike will be home soon. Apparently his big meeting this week has gone really well. He has been really stressed and working some very long hours in preparation for this meeting. We have both been looking forward to this week being over.