Category Archives: cross-cultural living

cross-cultural living

Norwegian Norms

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Ten random observations about the country we now call home…*

  1. If you own only one pair of shoes, that pair of shoes is going to be suitable for hiking. And that pair of shoes will also keep you upright in icy conditions.
  2. If you own two pairs of shoes, the second is likely a pair of Converse.
  3. When you leave home in the morning, you will be prepared for anything. It might rain. At times it might snow. And there’s always the chance you will go on a walk or hike or bike ride (see #1).
  4. Norwegian waffles are great. Like, insanely delicious. But they are not a breakfast food.
  5. When you eat norwegian waffles (sometime after breakfast, of course), you should have brunost on hand. And/or jam & sour cream.
  6. Slow down. At least outside of the major cities, people are not in such a hurry. Drivers rarely honk their horns, and always.always.ALWAYS stop for pedestrians. When people visit in your home, they don’t rush off. When people invite you to their home, they make you feel welcome and are very hospitable.
  7. If the sun is out, you should be, too. (See #1 and #3)
  8. Those shoes I talked about in #1 & 2? Take them off at the door. Oh, how I love this rule! Don’t wear your shoes in someone’s house. It makes sense. They’re dirty, and they’ll bring in lots of yuck onto the (most of the time) beautiful hardwood floors. So wear decent socks!
  9. The price you see on the shelf at the store? Yeah, that price includes tax. So no need for calculating the total cost in your head. Love this, too!
  10. If you can’t eat gluten, I’m sorry. You’re going to miss out on some of our favorite things here. Brod. Boller. Kanelboller. Klippekake. Skolebrod. Vaffler. So many good breads and pastries! Of course, there are lots of other good foods to try. But now it all probably makes sense. If you’ve noticed us looking a little heavier in recent photos, you now know why!
 
 
*this is intended to be humorous. We hope our Norwegian friends will see it as such… We love this country 🙂
cross-cultural living, Language

School time for everyone!

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It’s not just the kiddos that are back in school. Zack and I are getting back into our learning regiment as well. Last week we took the placement test for language class. And yesterday we began classes again.

This week is a bit more informal, filling time while they review the placement tests an get everyone into the right classes. They did an initial subdivision into groups Monday and somehow we ended up in a class with people who’ve been in language school (& Norway) much longer than we have. While the first two days have been exhausting, we are trying to remember that this more challenging scenario is good because it will make us study more.
But we are sad that we won’t get to learn alongside out friends from our first class!
Here’s goes round two…
cross-cultural living, Day-to-Day

Back to school

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Once again, we find ourselves beginning another school year. This is the boys’ second year at their international school (their first full year there). William is beginning PY5 (primary year 5), and Daniel begins PY2. Both seem happy about the new year.

We are happy, too. Happy that for the first time since October of 2011, they are entering a school NOT as the new kids. It was encouraging to see them walk confidently to the building. Encouraging to see faculty and staff greet them by name. Encouraging to see their smiles as they were reunited with friends.

Looking forward to a new year and new opportunities!
cross-cultural living, Norway

Norsk Baking Lessons

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The breads and pastries in Norway are great. I (Jenn) thought it would be cool to learn to make them, even though I’m not much of a baker myself.Thankfully, I have an outstanding teacher! One of my new friends in our city offered to have me over for the day last Wednesday, and she taught me the basics. There is one dough that can be used for a variety of different items. Her excellent lessons left me feeling confident about my future Norwegian baking attempts.

So we started with the dough. From there, you can make boller, skolebrod, kanelsnurrer, klippekrans, and more. S taught me three of the more common items.

A couple of things to help you along…

  1. A boller is a simple roll. Many traditional Norwegian boller includes raisins.
  2. As I am learning more and more, cardamom is a staple of any baking recipe here!
  3. Even if you think you baked a lot, don’t expect these items to last long. Seems like they were gone as soon as Z, W, & D spotted them!

First up: skolebrød. From what I’ve read, it gets its name from the fact that it used to be packed in lunches for dessert, or sold at bake sales.
A delicious boller, filled with vanilla cream, baked, and then topped with a confectioner’s sugar and coconut glaze.
Wow.

Kanelsnurrer, or skillingsboller… or for our American friends, cinnamon rolls!
We made a LOT of these. This was a pic I snapped quickly as we were taking them up from the trays.

Finally, we made klippekrans, or kringle. The word klippe is Norwegian for cut, and comes from the fact that you use scissors to cut it before baking. Our variation included a thin layer of vanilla cream, and chocolate.

So if you notice us looking a bit ‘thicker’ around the waist in the coming months, you’ll know why 🙂
celebrate, cross-cultural living, Norway

syttende mai

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The seventeenth of May (syttende mai) is Norway’s National Day, or Constitution Day.

Our city is not that big and the celebration was HUGE, so I can’t imagine what it must be like in a big city like Oslo! The day includes two parades, bands, music, lots of food, traditional clothing (bundad), cook-outs, flags, and so much fun.
*Each area of Norway has its own traditional design for the bunad. You can visit THIS SITE to check them out. We live in Vestfold.
Here are a few pictures from the day. It was incredible, overwhelming, and unforgettable!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cross-cultural living, Day-to-Day

Unpacking

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About nine months ago, the movers pulled into our driveway in Georgia. They boxed kitchen items and toys. They carefully wrapped beds and other furniture. And most of our personal belongings (what remained after several yard sales and countless trips to drop donations at thrift stores) were placed in some faraway storage facility, awaiting our arrival in Norway.

Nine months later, I sit in our home on another continent. Awaiting the arrival of another team of movers. This team will come today with all of those boxes and furniture. And after almost three months here, we will finally get to unpack and really settle.

I don’t know exactly what to expect today. I imagine there will be surprise as we see things that we’d forgotten were around anymore (many things were packed when we sold our house back in September 2011). There will be excitement as the boys unwrap beloved toys. Maybe some disbelief as we wonder why in the world we thought it necessary to pack some of the items for the move. And probably a little anxiety and frustration as we try to find a place for everything!

One thing is for sure: this weekend promises to be a busy one!

cross-cultural living, Language

Spisebord

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We sat at a table as we ate lunch today. The first time we’ve sat as a family at home around the table for a meal since we left Oslo in mid-February. We are thankful for a great deal we found on Norway’s version of Craigslist. We are now the proud owners of a lovely table and 6 chairs! Can’t wait to see who might end up around this table over time 🙂

And while we’re talking dining tables, I’ll share a bit of humor with you…

A dining table is called spisebord [SPEEH-seh-bord] in Norwegian. It is a combination of the words for eat (spise) and table (bord). You see, in Norwegian, when you describe something it becomes one word. So you put SPISE and BORD together: spisebord. Take a look at the funny picture one of our Norwegian friends posted on Facebook. It shows you how we can really mess up the language with just the incorrect use of a space. Dining table? Or eating a table? 😉

 

 

cross-cultural living, Day-to-Day, Norway

Sandefjord Photo Shoot

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Last Saturday we went walking around the city, doing some filming for a video. The boys needed to answer some questions that they received from a kindergarten class in Georgia, and we thought it would be fun to do it in video format!While we were out, we snapped some more pictures of our city (… and of course our boys!). This place really is beautiful – and it still looks very much like winter. Can’t wait to see it when everything is in bloom!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cross-cultural living, Day-to-Day

Home

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After several weeks, we are starting to feel more at home here. The boys are in the third week of school and doing great. An we (Z&J) started language classes today.

I’m attaching several pictures. I never know in what order this crazy app will post the pictures! But here’s what I’m including:
-We take victories anyway we can get them. I got a haircut using my limited Norwegian and the hairdresser’s limited English (she did a lot better than I did!)
-We spent Saturday at a conference in a nearby town. It was a beautiful place. And bonus: they had English interpretation via headsets!
-Friday William was invited to a birthday party for a school friend. So while he was gone, we treated Daniel to McDonalds.
-Being from the southern US, we were unfamiliar with these big metal electric blocks that thaw the ground in order to dig a grave.
-Daniel was excited to help us grocery shop today, with a kid-sized shopping cart!