After a storm comes a calm…

While I’m typing this, the sun is shining in the North while light, fluffy snowflakes are falling down on the thick white layer on the ground. It’s a beautiful day, and even though two of the three kids have fallen with a stomach flu, we’re all doing well. 

The month of January has been one with turmoil. M. had to drive to the NL for the annual car inspection (APK). We’re still driving with Dutch license plates and can only do this inspection in the NL, even though we hoped on a more convenient check in Sweden. (EU-memberstate) or even in Norway. The good thing was M. came back with a car loaded with Dutch goodies (all kinds of hagelslag (sprinkles for on bread), cheese, stroopwafels, Indonesian herbs, ontbijtkoek, wine, rookworst and even a crate of beer.) and unfortunately with the message the car didn’t make the inspection and we’ll have to come back for (cat) repairments…The cat wasn’t in stock and ordering was going to take a few days. Too long for M. to wait. Next week it’ll be my turn to go for the long way round. A good excuse to meet with friends and family and bring along more needed foodies we miss out here! 

Last week, our landlord V. came to pick up her mail as an excuse to tell us an important message. She came in with many ’sorry’s’ and then told us she wants to sell the house we rent and we need to move out before the 1st of July. You might imagine how we reacted towards this bad news. V. was the one wanting to make sure we’d rent the place for at least one year, better even two. And we were content with that idea, as we were eager to settle in this new country and in need of some peace and quiet. Our first reaction was therefor unbelieve followed by anger… and the rest of the psychological cycle a human being goes through, having to swallow shocking news.  

Dal Stasjon

Having to move has so many consequences. We may have to move to another town, meaning the kids will have to get used to another school and barnehagen. The cost of moving and then the cost of renting a new place. The house we’re renting now has a perfect price and is fairly cheap compared to other 4 bedroom houses. Our house in the NL is still not sold, and even though we’re renting it out we still have dual costs. After weighing all these points we decided to look at it from a brighter side. The moving will give us an opportunity to move closer to Oslo and work, and the thought of moving to an even better house will make things happy and bearable too. 

Having read the news above it’s not all doom and gloom. Recent good news is that the Norwegian state pays me a bit of Kroner for being unemployed and in search for work. Something we had not expected. A bit of the money is useful for taking Norwegian lessons. I’ve applied at a local school in December, but have not yet been enrolled due to a long illness of the person in charge.  I’ve also connected with an account manager from a Dutch company trying to set foot in the Norwegian market. In a couple of weeks we’re going to meet and see what we can mean to one another. Even though I’ve decided to stay at home until the youngest will turn three years old, it’s always useful to network here and there and stand open for new opportunities. 

So our motto, as you might’ve guessed from the header of this entry is ‘Nobody died. No one got hurt. Nothing can beat us!’ We will move towards an even better life!. We will keep you all posted on the challenges we’re going to meet on the way!

Nytt år, nye muligheter!

Time is flying!

We survived the X-Mas holidays well. It was time to relax! M. took two weeks off so all of us were able to enjoy some free time together.  To be honest we didn’t do many exciting things. Just the usual, but at a slower pace. A lot of snow fell out of the sky during X-Mas, and so we enjoyed sledding from a nice hill near our house, hiking in the woods, snowball-fights and other fun snow-activities.

Godt Nytt År!

The first week of January it was time to go back to school, barnehagen and work. Both M. and I had ‘alarm-fear’ …We kept on waking up and were completely worn out on Mondaymorning when the alarm finally did go off! For B. it was an exciting week. She started at the barnehagen for the first time and luckily loves it so far. The barnehagen she goes to offers a routine schedule for the kids: Monday’s it’s ’Hjerteprogram’ (Heartday, probably a poor translation) On this day it’s all about ethics, philosophy, religion and society. A day to talk about what you think and feel, really. Tuesday is Kreativitet-day. Creativity; art and culture. Wednesday is Matematikk/ Motorikk-day. This day is about ‘math’: forms and figures, counting, technique and locomotion. Thursday is Språk-day; communication, speech with elements of the Hjerteprogramm. And Friday it is Natur/ Miljø-day. A day to explore the great outdoors!

Not every barnehagen in Norway offers the same program. Every barnehagen is free to fill in their daily activities as they please. B. is going to a particular one called Lærings Verkstedet. This organisation also own shops where they sell the same educational ‘toys’ they use at the barnehagen. Lots of wooden toys (yippie!), puzzles, games and the ’Logico’, learning system with self-checking.

Close to home, half an houre ride, is a small ski area. People who know us will probably guess what we like to do now that we have so much snow for free! Last weekend N. had her first go on ski’s. She has tried it before, 2 years ago, and really loves it. It was a tough one trying to get her home after hours of skiing! Yesterday after snowboarding/ skiiing, on our way back home N. and I saw our first real-life elk ever. It was a magical experience. What a huge animal it was! I now understand why there are so many accidents on the road with these animals. They stand still, and they sort of blend in with their surroundings so by the time you see them it’s (most of the time) too late.

Surfing, surfing!

We’ve been coping with some severe wheather lately. Normally the north of the country has very cold temperatures, but lately it has been the other way around. Østlandet (where we live, South East Norway) is having the crazy cold temperatures while the North has got a warm -2 C. Last week we hit the -28 C during the day! We didn’t know what was happening when we opened the door and set one foot outside… The car refused to work too, battery out of power. Today it was back to a normal -12 C, and I have to admit it felt nice and comfortable. I guess, I am already getting used to the cold!

Multiple celebrations

With a nasty pain in my lower back (probably from snow shoveling)  I’m writing a new episode on our daily adventures in this country of (at this moment) snow and ice.  

Norway, just like many other X-Mas celebrating countries, is going nuts in the month of December. Most houses look like christmas trees, and most trees look like….trees. In the gardens, around the porches, in the windows many lights, fat (Ho, Ho, Ho!) Santa’s and plastic reindeer in all forms and shapes. In Norway there are both a ‘Julefar’ and a ‘Julemor’. Father X-Mas and Mother X-Mas. They look like the gnomes by the late Rien Poortvliet. (Dutch illustrator, artist) Red pointy hat, gullible faces with big round noses and fat little bodies. 

Gnome by R. Poortvliet

The Julefar was also visiting our small town. The X-Mas tree was set on the little square near the train station. The local brass band were playing the well-known songs, including the Norwegian ones, that belong to this time of year. Kids and adults alike sang and danced, hand in hand and not too exuberant, in a circle around the tree.  

Celebration around the Juletre

To celebrate the new-born child, or was it the heathen aspect; the fact that daylight was returning to us, soon? No, actually it was the first Advent’s Sunday. After the ritual of singing and dancing (the substitute) Santa arrived with his Shetland pony and sled covered in reindeerskin. For all the children he brought a bag of sweets. Many happy faces and a (very dangerous) torchcandle was given to all of us. Off we went, torch in our hands, to the local town hall for a drink and a bite.  

A week later it was time to celebrate Sinterklaas. At the International School of Oslo, where the Dutch School rents space, the old man with his helpers arrived. N. was very scared but at the same time said that Sinterklaas can’t be real, because he was wearing glasses, had a funny voice and on top of that a fake beard…For the sake of making secure she’d receive presents she came up with this idea a week after Sinterklaas. B. was a different story. When Sinterklaas told her he’d received word of her horse and pony craze, and asked B. if she’d seen his horse? B. answered “No, because when you and your horse are on my roof, I’m vast asleep”. I mean, come on, Sinterklaas, is it that hard to understand! S., full of ‘Zwarte Piet’ (Sinterklaas his helpers) turned out to be not so brave when seeing one in real life! When he had eyecontact with one, he hid behind M. as fast as he could! All the kids received a small gift, there was a lot of yummy Sinterklaas candy and other activities organised for the kids. At night packages arrived at our cozy home which made the festivities complete.  

Sinterklaas!

Around this period, I had the ‘banketletter’ cravings , a Dutch treat made around the Sinterklaas festivities. (Mashed almonds and other ingredients wrapped in filo dough.) Very sweet, heavy but above all very yummy.) M. decided to see if he could make it himself. The Dutch cookbook came out of the kitchen drawer and fresh almonds + other ingredients were bought. With blisters inside his hand palm from mashing the almonds, M. finally had the filling of the banketletter made. Now it had to stand in the fridge for a week (oh no, a whole week!) before wrapping it in the filo dough. A week later we baked the letter in the oven. And it tasted so very good! So glad M. made enough of the stuff so we can eat ’til we drop (and explode) on New Years Eve 2009!  

Last week, Julefar also came to visit the pølser farm (sausage farm) of one of N. her friends. First there was singing, pølser (of course!) and a non-alcoholic drink which reminded me of glühwein. The father of N’s friend was dressed up as Julefar and came down the mountain on his langrennski’s. (cross-country ski’s) With a light in one hand and a sack full of candy for the kids in the other. The kids all sang, as loud as they could and received their surprise. N. was not to be fooled. This was obviously her friend’s dad!  

Julefar at stabbur

Besides the festivities, all kids (In Norway from age 0-18, including parents with children in that age) received a vaccination against the ’svineinfluensa’ or swine flu. Many people, like us, and so I’ve heard in other European countries, have wondered if they should or should not go ahead with this specific vaccination. In the end we decided to go for it anyway, just to be on the safe side. So many stories have invaded the internet, there’s no hierarchy and it’s therefor hard to tell which ones are true or false. I have decided not to go for it personally. The flu is slowing down, arrived at its highest peak a few weeks ago, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be fine. With that in mind I’m ready for a long two-week X-Mas break with the fun of snowboarding ahead! First I’ll have to get rid of this terrible back ache though…

Knerten, trolle and Sinterklaas

Knerten!

  In the past week we had a taste of some true Norwegian festivities.

Trolle!

 At school the annual Fall festival was celebrated by all the kids. We, the parents and siblings were invited to see what the kids had made: “knerten” (Knerten is a wooden twig who can speak — title of a major kidsmovie this season, directed by Åsleik Engmark.) and trolls (a stone with a troll-face painted on it). For those of you who don’t know the story about the trolls; trolls change into stone when the sun sets and a troll is still up and about! These artifacts were also for sale: 20 NOK (€ 2, 40) a piece for a good cause. All classes sang a few songs and danced little folk dances. After the singing and dancing it was time for a walk in the woods. We decided to pass as it was freezing cold, and we were already standing outside (still) for at least an hour. S and B also got tired, it was close to bedtime. So, time to go home where M. prepared good old-fashioned hot cocoa for the frozen bunch!

N her class singing like angels...

Believe it or not, but Sinterklaas (St. Nicholas, a Dutch tradition celebrated on December 5) and his Black Petes helper friends have also arrived in Norway. Let me tell you, they made themselves heard last night. Wooden shoes were set neatly near the fireplace and three singing children sang their ‘Sinterklaas’ songs out aloud to make sure our red dressed Saint with sheppard staff in his hand,  would not pass our cozy house. All of a sudden a loud noise was heard and sweet goodies (pepernoten and schuim, thanks Oma Hera!) were strewn in the room by…someone? Our friend, who made the kids very happy, was never to be found afterwards. And so all kids went to bed very excited, ready for the next morning. Had they been sweet and well-behaved, or not? If the first something nice would surely be found in their wooden shoe! 

Wooden shoes waiting for sweet candy for well-behaved kids!

The Dutch School in Oslo organises a Sinterklaas Day on the 5th of December. Of course we will all go meet him there. We hope all our kids have behaved well this past year and not one of them will be taken back to Spain. Although, I’ve got to admit, a nice warm holiday away from the cold would suit me just fine!…Maybe I should start misbehaving right now… 

Family in town!

October, our third month, has almost come to an end. Halloween is soon to be, M can’t drive on his motorbike to work anymore due to the cold and ice. Our first visitors have experienced a bit of our new life in this pretty country.

In the morning, my woolen glove sticks to the icy unopened car door. While breathing out, the warm dampy air makes big clouds come out of our mouthes. A thick layer of ice needs to be scratched off the car windows. N is a good help. She’s the first one outside, opens the door on the passenger’s side and sticks the key in the keyhole. She then starts scratching the ice off the windows with me and tells her younger brother and sister to sit in their seats.  When done we both sit down and I rather not look at the dashboard showing the ‘outside temperature’. I do it anyway…and think to myself, another beautiful sunshiny day. And ok, it’s freezing. Off we go to school.

S. turned two in the first week of October. It was a party; M. his parents, brother and his 3 year old daughter were all here to make it a wonderful day. Besides that we spent a day in Oslo to see Vigelands statues in the Vigelandspark and showed a bit of our daily life here.

Three statues falling down in Vigelandspark, Oslo

Last week my mother and Hera the dog came to stay with us. We hiked in the woods behind our house. Playground for Hera, my mother and our kids. At school N’s teacher asked my mother and I to sing a Dutch song known in many languages. Afterwards, N asked me to please never do this again. She had to listen to her Norwegian classmates all day singing the Dutch version of “Father Jacob”. Especially the ‘bim, bam, bom’ turned out to be a blast!

Mom, Hera and kids in 'our backyard'

Good news for B. While picking up N at a birthday party of one of her school friends, I spoke to a few mothers about the barnehagen in Dal. The system here is that the municipality takes care of your application. After you’ve applied through the internet, you just have to wait until ‘they’ call you. We called once to ask how long the waiting list is, but we didn’t receive a very fruitfull answer… One of the mothers I spoke to told me just to go inside and have a word with the manager of the barnehagen. I did, and was so happy to get a positive answer back: B. her moment of integration has arrived. She starts at the barnehagen in January. Hurray, hurray!

Hyttedrøm på familiefjellet!

Friday morning it was time to encounter our hytte (cabin) dream in the snow. After a 5 hour ride we arrived at the hytte-park. Rune, the guy who had offered us this free weekend, invited us in his small office. Coffee, lemonade for the kids, and a Norwegian sweet treat. Part of the deal was to listen to an exciting salesspeech about the area, the pieces of land that are for sale and the fantastic view on top of the mountain, Rune would not let us go yet… A small hike onto the ski slopes right next to the hyttegrounds. The kids have their own slope. And then a steep ride on a gravel road up the mountain to experience the pretty view; upwards a snowcapped mountain, downhill, birchtree surroundings: land for sale and please note: no neighbours in sight!

After 45 minutes we were glad to finally be led to the hytte. Just before Rune stuck the key into the hole, he turned around (our eyes widened and we both thought:”Oh no! Please leave us alone now!”) but he was anxious to know every detail of our stay. Where were we planning to go, and if we needed him we should give him a ring and please call when we wanted to see the pieces of land up on the mountain so he could answer all our burning questions. Wow, what an unnatural thing for a Norwegian to do. Most salespeople here are not too keen in doing business like we’re used to.

Røros

On day two we headed up to Røros. A beautiful town with houses painted in skyblue, bright green, yellow and red-brown. A mining museum which is on the Unesco World Heritage List and…it started snowing. Icy winds drove us back to our hyttedrøm. The kids got all excited from the snowfall. We’ve never experienced snow in the beginning of October. My internal seasonal clock is confused and tells me it’s February instead of October. In October it should be Fall-like. The weather slowly changing to colder temperatures, rainfall, harsh winds and rotten leaves on the damp earth below me. Certainly no snow. We waited until the world around us slowly changed into one covered in a soft, thin white blanket. 

Land for sale

All five of us got dressed and even though it was dark outside, we all made first tracks in the crispy snow. The next morning more snow, more playing outside and a snow-angel. Until we had to go. Had to go. Stand in line on the motorway with the rest of the hytte-owners.

(If you ever read this: thanks Rune, for this great weekend!)

Home is where the hea(r)t is!

Firewood for Pyromanic Boy

Fire – Today was a glorious day. Thousand liter of firewood was delivered at our doorstep. The kids, excited, all helped us carry the logs inside the house. Down the stairs into the livingroom, stashing them up next to the huge fireplace. M. can play ‘pyromanic boy’ again! Believe me, if he can’t find an excuse to BURN he’s ill…

Now don’t think we don’t have any other resources then the fireplaces to warm up the house. We do, but as M. says, and we don’t always agree, but on this one we do, “we are no pussy’s!”. If you have a fireplace and logs, then BURN instead of flicking the ‘on’ button of the electric heater.

Season- King Winter is slowly moving into the country. First snow has fallen in mountainous areas and we measured a frosty minus 5 Celsius on the thermometer last week. (at night). During the day it’s still beautiful. Sunny mostly and about 15 degrees. Leaves are slowly changing colour, from greens to yellows and reds. The days are shortening, Sun up at 7 am. Sundawn at 7.15 pm.The smell of Fall is in the air. Yep, the season is definitely changing!

School life- N. is picking up school great. She’s learning the language well and knows how to pronounce words

Fire!

better than we do, and it sounds so Norwegian too! She has also started to learn English. B. is in a lesser position. After 4 months of school in the NL, she’s now at home all day with a mother and a silly 2-year-old, her brother S…She misses her friends in the NL, social contacts, school life. We’ve applied for a place at the barnehagen, but she’s on the waiting list. We hope she’ll be able to go there soon. Meet other kids her age, learn the language and other new challenges. B. has been visiting the local stables too. Her big passion, horseback riding, will be fulfilled soon!      

Hytte- Next week is Fallbreak for N. M. is taking the week off. On the agenda: a weekend away to Røros. We were offered a free hytte-weekend when we visited the cabin market a few weeks ago. The man who offered us this free weekend wants to sell a piece of Røros-land to us. What he doesn’t know, is that we’re not going to buy any. Not now anyway. We can’t wait to experience this typical Norwegian way of life! Afterwards we’ll have to find an excuse for not buying…

Visitors – October will be ‘family month’. Our first visitors will arrive;  M’s brother + daughter, M’s parents, and later that month my mother and Hera, her (guide)dog. The kids are already excited and fighting over who’s going to sleep where!

Solrik og idyllisk hytte med fjellutsikt…

Reading the newspaper on Saturdaymorning, our eyes fell upon a page filling advertisement: “Hytte- og tomtemesse 5. og 6. sept.”.  A ‘cabin and property market’. It was held at a spot close to Oslo where different cabinproducers have an example-cabin built.  Having seen all the traffic jams on Friday and Sundayafternoons, (explained to you earlier in ‘Impressions”) we were ready to get a feel of this bit of Norwegian culture.

Blue plastic overshoes set ready at the front door so, we, dear customers, can slip them on and start experiencing cabin-life to the max. Inside, upstairs and outside on a porch. We entered the first cabin. Built of wood, wooden floors, a kitchen and a living with a small fire place. A tiny hallway leading to cozy, small bedrooms filled with traditional wooden bunk beds. A bathroom, with or without sauna! Wet towels and shaving cream revealed they were in use. The sellers, coming from different parts of Norway, need a shower too. Sometimes stairs to a small attic or extra bedroom. The smell of a warm lamb-roast (with a good glass of something) would definitely make this sweet picture complete. 

En idyllisk hytte...

Imagine, a cabin set in the countryside, far away from buzzling towns and cities. Dark long nights, a full moon, a thick layer of snow reflecting the sky, ice frozen to the windows while everything inside is warm and cozy. And perhaps, a howling wolf is heard, far enough not to be frightingly disturbing, in the valley below. Yep, we are convinced now. A hytte would be wonderful to own, even to get stuck in a traffic jam for twice a weekend!

PS. One of the sellers offered us a free night in a cabin in Røros!

Nasi goreng, kip saté and Grolsch!

Woke up this morning, ate breakfast and while doing so wrote down our grocery list for the oncoming days. Slightly irritated and sick and tired of the few vegetables we can choose from: broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and yet another potatoe, we decided very quickly we were going to check out a different grocery store today. One that is known for it’s foreign food products, including the Dutch colonial products from a certain brand (starting with a ’c’ and ending with ‘mex’) we jumped happily through the doors and overjoyed found the aisle with the Asian products. Whoohoo! There they were, winking at us. The packages, in warm yellow and orangy-red. They looked so much nicer than at home too; pindasaus, nasikruiden, sambal oelek, ketjap and even crunchy kroepoek!

Sambal Oelek!

Quickly we filled our basket and ran over to the beercorner. Time was running short, it was almost closingtime for beerselling. Fast as he could, M. scanned 33 times up and down the shelfs and suddenly saw them; cans with bright green labels, down at the lowest shelf and it did not start with an H and ended with ‘eineken’…

Yum! Grolsch!

It was bottled in Enschede, it costs a fortune (€ 3,82 for a can of 50 cl, no sorry, 500 ml, that makes it sound better!) Oh man, but how good that tasted that same night! Als een gouden engeltje die op je tong piest! And the nasi… We know how ridiculous this must sound, but we both agreed we hadn’t eaten this well in weeks!

Impressions

Facts: Norway is about 9x the size of the NL, and has got about 4,6 million inhabitants. It’s the fifth largest country in Europe. Long: 1600 km, and at places (North) only 8 km wide. There are three languages spoken in Norway: Bokmål, Nynorsk and Sami. The first is most commonly used. (85%) Supermarkets are open until 10 or even 11 pm. After 7 pm (weekdays, in the weekend even earlier!): beer is no longer sold at the supermarket. Wine and liquor are sold in a Vinmonopolet, a state controlled store.  The beer tastes bad; Michel and his British colleague are making plans to brew their own. I agree, for some reason there is a metal-like after taste. And not just from beer out of cans. Building a house is something else here. The houses Michel has seen, (and the few I’ve seen) make us wonder. The quality is called ‘good standard’ and in most occasions probably true, but…we’ve seen that a good standard can also mean a sloppy one. Floors and walls? Not straight at any point in a room, the sink in our bathroom (as an example): not bolted well enough against the plaster wall. (Most houses have no stone walls) Meaning it slightly leans forward and the water stays in the sink instead of being led towards the drain. The tap (bath) is too short and the water falls on the edge of the bath first, before finding it’s way into the tub.  Michel’s previous house: you could roll a ball from one side of the room to the other without touching it!

The workweek for many Norwegians stops at about 3 pm (in Summer) on Friday’s. Actually at 2.15 pm the work literally stops and most Norwegians go home and say: “Har det bra!”. Many Norwegians own a hytte (hut). On Fridayafternoons this causes a long line of cars from Oslo (and other cities) towards the mountains, on Sundays, vice versa. 

Hut traffic on Sunday afternoon

Norwegians are proud of their democratic system. Like we’ve written before, the Constitution was voted for by peasants and political figures alike. The fact that everyone is the same is a wonderful principle, but who will make a decision, when no one in particular seems to be in charge for the end result?

You can shop taxfree twice on flights to Oslo; once in the country you’re leaving and once in Oslo.  Normally you can only buy taxfree when departing. You must like fish in Norway because it is food #1 over here. Recently the Aftenposten reported that Norwegians eat the least amount of vegetables in Europe . Michel has noticed that most people here eat their vegitables near raw, even fruit; banana peel still green, plums still hard as stone and it’s eaten! Meat is cooked overdone. Only fish seems to be cooked right. Luckily we are our own cooks, so we won’t die just yet!

This will make you laugh. We felt like stupid foreigners a couple of weeks ago. The washing machine was only washing hot washes. We couldn’t understand why. Michel had bought this Swedish brand machine here in Norway and called the shop where he got it from. The mechanic showed up. Opened the machine from the back. Checked it out, scratched his head and mumbled something like ‘I’ve never seen this before’. Well neither had we…He had to order a special part in Sweden which would take a week. Meanwhile, our dirty laundry was rising towards the ceiling. In the meantime, Michel had a chat with a Norwegian colleague at work about this problem. The colleague then asked Michel if he had used the right tap. Excuse me? Yes, there are two in most Norwegian houses. One tap for cold, and one tap connected to the boiler: hot water. You can probably guess what had happened! I called off the mechanic, but still wonder what special part he was going to order?