Category Archives: cross-cultural living

celebrate, cross-cultural living, Day-to-Day

Ett år i Norge – Happy Anniversary to Us!

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One year in Norway – time sure does fly! One year ago today, we landed in Oslo. We flew from Vancouver to London to Gardermoen. Very little sleep during the flights. A 9 hour time difference. Eighteen bags and four backpacks.

 

 

 

But coming around the corner and seeing Torben, Espen and David was so sweet. And God is so good. He has provided in countless ways over the past 365 days. A good home with a kind landlord & family, who we are happy to also call friends. Good progress in language. A great school for the boys. Many local partners. A reliable car. A city we’ve come to love and call home. And many, many great friends.

A year ago on February 1, we were road weary and overwhelmed. This year on February 1, we celebrated with waffles (made by our little chef), skiing (on our own skis!!), homemade pizza (our family favorite here), and snowfall.

 

 

 

cross-cultural living, Travel

Nordic Life: Langrenn

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This past weekend we experienced something that is very common and popular in Norway this time of year: cross-country skiing (langrenn).Our friends invited us to a cabin for the weekend. It was a good time of getting to know each other better, relaxing, eating lots of good food, and skiing.

Okay, more falling than skiing. But either way, it’s quite a workout!

We had fun, and I think the bug has bitten. We are working to get all four of us outfitted with skis so we can begin doing this on a regular basis.

And I have to say that if we are all still friends after the weekend, that’s saying a lot about their patience! They were great teachers, and we are very appreciative of their hospitality and support. And when I say support, I mean that in multiple ways: from encouraging words and pointers, to getting us up and down hills – literally!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cross-cultural living

What do you miss most?

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It is a question we are asked often. We get it via emails, Skype or FaceTime from friends and family in the states. And we get it from friends here as well.

What do you miss most from America?

Other than family and friends, there is not much that we can think of. We will occasionally have a moment where we miss a food item or a favorite store, or maybe some familiar convenience. But most of these moments are temporary or seasonal.

And such is the case with our latest item that we miss…

We miss having a garage!

Want to know why? Not because we don’t like walking outside to reach the car, or that we miss having climate control. No, it is more about the 30-45 minutes we currently must spend each time we need to leave. Shoveling the driveway and around the car. Brushing the car off. Shoveling under the car. De-icing windows. Thawing the wipers.

Today the snow around the car was knee-deep on me (Jenn). It is quite an adjustment for a couple who’ve spent most of their lives in Georgia!

Here is a picture of our car,
taken a couple of days ago

 

cross-cultural living, Day-to-Day

Vinteren er endelig her! (Winter is finally here!)

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Over the past couple of weeks, as we sat and watched news reports of record lows in the US, we wondered what exactly was going on around us in what so many call the Cold North.

We wonder no more. After a wet Christmas with temps never getting even close to freezing, winter has arrived in our little corner of Norway.
The snow began early Sunday morning. It was a nice light ground cover that brightened things up considerably. And then the snow returned Monday afternoon. It hasn’t been incredibly heavy overall, but it hasn’t let up a lot either.
As I type, the boys are out in the driveway, working on a (hopeless) attempt at a snowman, trying out their snow scooter, and developing some very rosy cheeks!

 

 

 

celebrate, cross-cultural living

Post-turkey Wrap-up

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Last week was exhausting but great. We worked hard, setting up tables, creating centerpieces, translating food descriptions, and making enough food for a LOT of people.

Thursday turned out well. We got to dine with 42 of our friends. We introduced them to all of our families’ traditional Thanksgiving foods. While some weren’t that different, I have a feeling a few may have seemed odd. In particular, we saw interesting reactions from the sweet potato soufflé, cornbread dressing, heavenly hash (mandarin oranges, pineapple, coconut, marshmallows, and sour cream – yeah, that does seem weird!), and green bean casserole.
But overall, a lot of food was consumed, and it seemed that everyone enjoyed themselves. Looking forward to next year… after we rest up!
Zack preparing turkeys
Daniel was amazed at the amount of dressing
we prepared!
Cooking, cooking, and more cooking! We were thankful
to have access to a large kitchen all week.
Zack prepared homemade cranberry sauce.
All I can say is – yum!
Macaroni and cheese – the boys both
requested this
So much food!
My friend Hege prepared one of the turkeys –
and her presentation put ours to shame!

 

 

 

 

 

celebrate, cross-cultural living

Thanksgiving Prep

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We decided that a good way to share one of our favorite holidays with some our friends here (and help ward off any holiday blues) was by holding an American Thanksgiving dinner.

It all started well. Just a few friends in our home. But much akin to one’s stomach after Round 3 of turkey and dressing, it slowly began to grow.
Last count had us in the neighborhood of 40 or 50 people. Thankfully, a local church is letting us use their facilities.
We’ve roasted two turkeys already, with two more to go. Tables are set. Sweet potatoes are mashed and awaiting their sweet topping. A large pan of cornbread dressing is ready to go in the oven.
I’ll check back in soon and let you all know how it went!

 

 

cross-cultural living, friends, Travel

Language Barriers?

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It is amazing to see how kids quickly find ways around language barriers. We spent last weekend with dear friends in Jena, Germany. Our kids only know a couple of words in German, and theirs know about the same amount in English. But did that stop them from playing and having fun? No way!

 

 

 

cross-cultural living

The last piece of the puzzle, and a short update

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Next week will be 8 months since we moved to Sandefjord. Yesterday, after many months of waiting and praying, the boys and I finally received our Norwegian personal numbers (kind of like a US social security number). We are relieved to finally have this final piece that really makes us “official!”Summer is definitely over and fall has arrived in our city. It is quite beautiful as the leaves change from summer green to shades of orange and yellow. The weather has cooled off significantly, and we’re seeing a bit more rain than before.

The boys continue to really enjoy school. We had their fall conferences this week and got positive reports for both of them. We discussed their strengths and set some goals that they will work towards over the next few months. I’m really impressed with their teachers and the way that they work with our children on such a personal level.

Zack and I continue to press on with language school. We will have our level 2 language testing soon. October 28 will be the written portion, and then we will take the oral exam on October 30. We are nervous and excited about this next milestone in our journey to fluency!

It’s always fun to get postcards
from friends around the world!
Livingroom Slumber Party!

 

Celebrating two friends’ birthdays last weekend

 

Hanging out at the park after church

 

The boys return from fotball in the park (soccer)

 

Sometimes you just need to lie down
on the heated tiles in the morning 🙂

 

Just outside of their school

 

Celebrating our language teacher’s birthday

 

Our neighbor’s son celebrated his birthday yesterday,
and brought us some of his cake – YUM!!
celebrate, cross-cultural living

365 Days Later

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A year ago, we woke early at a hotel by the airport, boarded a shuttle bus, and then made our way onto an airplane. We said good-bye to our home country and anxiously prepared for our first field assignment.Two flights later, we we arrived in what would be our home for the next 3.5 months: the beautiful and big city of Vancouver.

I remember that first day in Vancouver. We were exhausted, nervous, a little sad, and very much overwhelmed. We boarded the (wrong) SkyTrain towards our apartment in Surrey, and finally made it there. We were excited about the cool views from a very hip high-rise apartment. We were hungry. We needed to go grocery shopping. We didn’t know where anything was. We wandered aimlessly, searching for what would become our routine: grocery stores, shops, restaurants, coffee, etc. While it wasn’t always easy, we really enjoyed our short time in Canada.

It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since we left our normal. And yet in some ways, it seems like even longer than that!

A few photos from our journey out of the US a year ago…