Yes, unfortunately, I am having a lot of trouble sticking to this little blog! I still really want to capture our family's experiences here, and it is especially important to me to be able to give the kids recorded memories of our life in Norway, but I just can't seem to make the time to blog regularly. I even made a New Year's Resolution to blog--I'm embarrassed to type this--once a week. Yikes. I guess I won't make any promises, as we can all see how well I've fared in that department lately. Instead, I'll try to catch up so that I can move along...
In October (October!!), we took a trip to Bergen. It's a four hour ferry ride, and let me tell you, those were four of the longest, most uncomfortable hours I have ever experienced. Those who know me well know that I tend to experience motion sickness in certain situations, and Meredith seems to have inherited that unpleasant little trait as well. I suspected that it might be a problem, so I did have children's Dramamine along for the ride, but I also remembered having read an entire book on this ferry the last time I traveled to Bergen, so I decided not to give the kids the medicine...until five minutes into the journey, when it became clear to me that we ALL should have had medicine. It was near impossible to walk the aisles of the boat without falling over, the sea was so rough. I quickly slipped the kids the Dramamine, but it was too late. Joel got sick first, then Meredith, and then it was my turn...twice. The last time I was sick on a ferry was on a trip to Indonesia, and while it wasn't pleasant then, I didn't have two kids to take care of. At least Meredith slept after getting sick. Joel only wanted Mom, and he screamed and flailed in Ryan's arms for almost twenty minutes before he finally gave up and collapsed in exhaustion. I wanted to help, but I honestly couldn't lift my head up off of the seats. After what seemed like much longer than the four hours it actually was, the ferry stopped, and we were in Bergen. I was fine once we stepped off of the boat. The three of us took Dramamine for the return trip, and all was well, minus being a little loopy from the medicine.
Our time in Bergen was short, but great. We ate delicious fish and chips at the fish market (those of you who know me well also know that I do not typically enjoy fish...however, this fish was so fresh and yummy, and hey, a little deep frying never hurts, either!), rode the Floibanen up the side of a mountain for spectacular views of Bergen, toured a few museums, visited Edvard Grieg's home, and just enjoyed walking all over the city. We stayed in a great hotel right on the water, less than a fifteen minute walk from the ferry terminal. I would love to go back to Bergen before we leave Stavanger...though I wouldn't mind driving or flying next time!
Meredith has had a fantastic first semester (and then some) of preschool. Ms. Joyce, her teacher, has been teaching preschool at ISS for years, and she is absolutely wonderful. She is great with the kids, and Meredith just loves her. Some of Meredith's favorite school activities include playing in the sandbox, baking on Fridays, playing dress up, and learning to write. I am blown away by how much she is learning. She recognizes all of her letters, and most of their sounds. She has learned so many new songs and rhymes. A couple of weeks ago, I got to visit her classroom for the preschool cafe. The kids sat behind little booths, "selling" various food items, counting out kroner (Norwegian currency), and then trading places with us so they could practice being the shoppers. Meredith loves going to school each day, and Ryan and I agree that having her right down the hall from us all day everyday is one of the most incredible blessings of this adventure. If only Joely were old enough for preschool...
Speaking of Joel, he is doing great as well. His beloved Graciela left for Australia last month, and saying goodbye to her was difficult for all of us. She took such wonderful care of him, and he really, really loves her. Fortunately, we have found another wonderful woman to take care of Joel now that Graciela is gone. Trine, who I mentioned in my last post, takes great care of him as well, and because she has her own little boy Joel's age, he finally has a little friend to play with! He spent the first several weeks pitching a fit every morning when we dropped him off, but he has since decided that he really likes it there, so he has cut way back on the drama, which we appreciate! Again, this is a temporary solution, as Trine will be sending her son to barnehage in the fall, and won't be doing in-home care anymore...but it's ok, because our son FINALLY has his personal number, meaning that he is on the barnehage list, too! There is a barnehage that is literally on the way to school, so we could put him in the stroller and walk there every morning, and then go on to school. Of course, I don't want to get my hopes up, but everything has had a way of working out for the best thus far, so I pray that will continue! In any case, we know that Joel will be attending a barnehage somewhere in Stavanger this fall. Since he still isn't really talking yet, and because, of course, it is Norwegian barnehage, we are beginning to think that his first language will just be Norwegian. Stay tuned for updates on that.
One highlight that absolutely should not be overlooked is that Ryan obtained his Norwegian driver's license in December! While I really didn't have any doubts that he would pass the test, it was still a nerve-wracking experience. I, of course, haven't gotten this out of the way yet, and unfortunately, I stress about it almost every day. There is nothing I can do at this point. I am on the list for a test, but in Norway, being "on the list" might mean that you don't hear anything about your actual status on the list for months, so I am just waiting to hear from the driving center. I was actually texted by a woman who was to be my driving instructor, and I had been given a test date of February 14th, but we were in Rome on the 14th, so I had to give up that spot. Who knows how long it will be before another spot comes available? It's crazy to me, actually. In the US, you call and make the appointment for the day you want to take the test, and you go and take it. If you pass, you pass, and if you fail, you sign up for another test. It is quite the process here. Mostly, I'm stressed because it is a very high-stakes test. If I fail, I have to "start over" as if I were a Norwegian teenager--I would essentially have to redo driver's ed, to the tune of 30,000 NOK (for those of you who aren't up on the NOK to US dollar exchange rate, that's roughly 5,000 US dollars, aka, never going to happen, so if I am not deemed a "safe enough" driver, Ryan will be the only driver in our Norwegian household.). I do take comfort in the fact that all I have to do is prove to the examiner that I am "safe enough" driver--that is seriously what it says on Ryan's test page--so provided something unthinkable doesn't happen on the day of the driving test, I should be ok. Prayers would definitely be appreciated!
We had a wonderful visit with Nathan and Megan over Christmas vacation. It was so great to have them here for Christmas, and the kids loved getting to spend so much time with their aunt and uncle. We had a fun getaway to the mountains for a couple of days while they were here. Ryan and Nathan skied, and Megan and I relaxed and watched the kids. Megan will most likely tell you that relaxing and watching kids is an oxymoronic phrase, and she is absolutely right! In any case, I think we all had a fabulous time.
So, I've skipped too many of the day to day adventures that make this experience so great, and for that, I am regretful. I can only aspire to making this blog more of a priority than it has been thus far! Next up, I need to write all about our incredible trip to Rome before I start forgetting too much about that as well. I will leave you with this little tidbit, however...Joel's new nickname is "Logan", as in Logan from the old movie "Logan's Run", about the dystopian society where your only hope of surviving past age 30 is to run from the bubbled community. Where did Joel run, you ask? Away from us, in the crowded, crowded Oslo airport last night as we were going through security. The mother of two small children was, of course, stopped for the random body pat-down (seriously, people, the only things I'm packing are leftover pounds from the births of said small children), the father of the children was collecting our items from the belt, and so little Joel took it upon himself to stir up some excitement. It was only a matter of moments before he came running back to us with a security guy, giggling and pointing, but those are moments I don't care to EVER relive!
I really, really hope that a next installment will be written SOON!
Friday, February 15, 2013
Friday, November 16, 2012
Living...aka Not the Most Exciting Post I Will Ever Create
Wow, it's been awhile since I last posted. I vowed to keep up with this blog, if for no other reason than to have a record of our life in Stavanger that our family can look back on years from now to help remember this experience. I've fallen behind, and while I don't want to bore you, I do want to remember everything I can, so I may have to break this up into several posts.
Let's see. The last time I posted, we'd solved our housing crisis, and found a temporary solution for our childcare crisis. We love our house! It is wonderful to have the kind of space that we have, and it's so much fun to walk to school with Meredith every morning. She absolutely views the walk to school as an adventure, even when we get poured on. Speaking of getting poured on, it only took two mornings of getting seriously drenched for us to learn that unless there is not a cloud in the sky, we do not leave home for the walk to school until we are fully decked out in our rain suits and boots (now that we are walking to school in the dark, the rain suits are a given). We learned this lesson the hard way about two months ago. It was cloudy, but not raining, and we figured we'd be ok; it's only about a ten minute walk to school from our house. No sooner had we closed the gate out of our neighborhood that the sky opened up and drenched us. Ryan had to go back home to get us dry clothes once we got to school and realized that our clothes were too soaked to make it through the morning. Now, annoying as it is to bundle up every morning, it has become part of our daily routine, and it has made for a much happier, less grumpy me!
Graciela is still watching Joel, and we are so thankful for that. I am secretly hoping (well, maybe not so secretly, as I flat out asked her this the other day) that she will change her mind about traveling to Australia in January, and will just keep watching Joel. We are fortunate enough to have another excellent babysitter, Fredrik, who has taken over for Graciela a few days this fall, but he isn't permanent, either, as he works in the oil industry and goes offshore every few weeks. The last time he was here, I asked him if he really wanted to return to the oil rig, and tried to convince him that watching Joel must be more exciting...ha ha. Seriously, though, we have been blessed by both of these people who have done such an amazing job with our son. We have also found a woman who is interested in watching him starting in January when Graciela leaves. She is Norwegian, and has a son just a few months older than Joel. The only problem is that she lives a bit far from us, and considering morning traffic, we may end up spending much more time in the car than we'd like to. However, it is very appealing to us to have Joel playing with another little boy, and since it doesn't look like barnehage is in the cards for us this year (more on that later), it may be our only option. Stay tuned!
Ryan and I were finally issued personal numbers about three weeks ago. This means that we were able to open a bank account, get on the waiting list to take our driving tests, choose doctors...and obtain discount cards at the grocery store. Believe it or not, the store will not issue you a card if you do not have a personal number. You truly cannot do anything in Norway without that number!! We are still waiting on numbers for the kids, but each hoop that we jump through brings us one step closer to feeling settled and beginning to enjoy life here, instead of just living life here.
This was a pretty boring post, as I'm rereading it, so I think I will close for now. Next time, I will recap our trip to Bergen before so much time has passed that I have forgotten everything we saw and did while there. Sometime in the near future, I also need to learn how to dress this blog up a bit. I read these blogs with great backgrounds, colors, and pictures, and realize how dull this one is to look at right now! I hope to change that soon!
Let's see. The last time I posted, we'd solved our housing crisis, and found a temporary solution for our childcare crisis. We love our house! It is wonderful to have the kind of space that we have, and it's so much fun to walk to school with Meredith every morning. She absolutely views the walk to school as an adventure, even when we get poured on. Speaking of getting poured on, it only took two mornings of getting seriously drenched for us to learn that unless there is not a cloud in the sky, we do not leave home for the walk to school until we are fully decked out in our rain suits and boots (now that we are walking to school in the dark, the rain suits are a given). We learned this lesson the hard way about two months ago. It was cloudy, but not raining, and we figured we'd be ok; it's only about a ten minute walk to school from our house. No sooner had we closed the gate out of our neighborhood that the sky opened up and drenched us. Ryan had to go back home to get us dry clothes once we got to school and realized that our clothes were too soaked to make it through the morning. Now, annoying as it is to bundle up every morning, it has become part of our daily routine, and it has made for a much happier, less grumpy me!
Graciela is still watching Joel, and we are so thankful for that. I am secretly hoping (well, maybe not so secretly, as I flat out asked her this the other day) that she will change her mind about traveling to Australia in January, and will just keep watching Joel. We are fortunate enough to have another excellent babysitter, Fredrik, who has taken over for Graciela a few days this fall, but he isn't permanent, either, as he works in the oil industry and goes offshore every few weeks. The last time he was here, I asked him if he really wanted to return to the oil rig, and tried to convince him that watching Joel must be more exciting...ha ha. Seriously, though, we have been blessed by both of these people who have done such an amazing job with our son. We have also found a woman who is interested in watching him starting in January when Graciela leaves. She is Norwegian, and has a son just a few months older than Joel. The only problem is that she lives a bit far from us, and considering morning traffic, we may end up spending much more time in the car than we'd like to. However, it is very appealing to us to have Joel playing with another little boy, and since it doesn't look like barnehage is in the cards for us this year (more on that later), it may be our only option. Stay tuned!
Ryan and I were finally issued personal numbers about three weeks ago. This means that we were able to open a bank account, get on the waiting list to take our driving tests, choose doctors...and obtain discount cards at the grocery store. Believe it or not, the store will not issue you a card if you do not have a personal number. You truly cannot do anything in Norway without that number!! We are still waiting on numbers for the kids, but each hoop that we jump through brings us one step closer to feeling settled and beginning to enjoy life here, instead of just living life here.
This was a pretty boring post, as I'm rereading it, so I think I will close for now. Next time, I will recap our trip to Bergen before so much time has passed that I have forgotten everything we saw and did while there. Sometime in the near future, I also need to learn how to dress this blog up a bit. I read these blogs with great backgrounds, colors, and pictures, and realize how dull this one is to look at right now! I hope to change that soon!
Friday, September 7, 2012
What A Difference A Day Makes...
Imagine me singing...this was so true for us last week! Last Thursday morning, we woke up with the knowledge that on Saturday, we would have to move out of our transit apartment, and we had no idea where we were moving. We also knew that we only had child care figured out through Friday, and although a wonderful mother of one of the girls in Meredith's preschool class had graciously offered to take care of Joel the following week if we needed help, I knew it wasn't a permanent solution to a problem that really, really needed a permanent solution!
On Friday morning, we woke up knowing where we would be living, and who would be taking care of Joel! Both of these pieces of information were, of course, major answers to prayer. The house we moved into last weekend is wonderful. It's about a ten minute walk to school, a five minute walk to two stores, and it is already starting to feel like a home. The landlord is an American man who is married to a Norwegian woman. They have four children, and are presently living in California, so the woman's parents are the people who will be acting as our landlords. The house has three bedrooms, two bathrooms (none of the other places we looked at had two bathrooms, so this is a huge deal), a nice little backyard, and a park that is practically right outside of our front door. We feel very blessed!
Last Thursday night, I received a text from the girl who had been babysitting Joel that week. She said that she'd talked to a friend of hers, Graciela, who was interested in watching Joel. She is taking the year off, and although she is going to be traveling to Australia after Christmas, we feel so fortunate that she has agreed to take care of Joel until then! She comes to our house, too, which makes things even more convenient. I'm getting spoiled, because I'm sure that come January, we will be taking Joel somewhere every morning, but for now, it's the perfect situation. Graciela is a lovely girl who speaks three languages...so maybe Joel will start speaking Italian or Spanish before he speaks much English! He loves her, too. He runs right to her in the mornings when she arrives, and he gives her hugs every day before she leaves. Needless to say, going to work was quite a bit easier this week than it had been the previous three weeks!
So, last Friday night, we found a take-away restaurant, ordered Sweet and Sour Pork for us, and hot dogs and fries for the kids (what a combo, I know!), went "home" to the transit apartment, gobbled our food, put the kids to bed, and packed up our things. By Sunday afternoon, we had unpacked almost everything, met Graciela, and were ready for the first "normal" week we would have since arriving in Stavanger. It's hard to believe that it's Friday night again, and we've been in our house for almost a week.
A day made a huge difference for us, and I'm so grateful for that. I think things are finally starting to fall into place here!
On Friday morning, we woke up knowing where we would be living, and who would be taking care of Joel! Both of these pieces of information were, of course, major answers to prayer. The house we moved into last weekend is wonderful. It's about a ten minute walk to school, a five minute walk to two stores, and it is already starting to feel like a home. The landlord is an American man who is married to a Norwegian woman. They have four children, and are presently living in California, so the woman's parents are the people who will be acting as our landlords. The house has three bedrooms, two bathrooms (none of the other places we looked at had two bathrooms, so this is a huge deal), a nice little backyard, and a park that is practically right outside of our front door. We feel very blessed!
Last Thursday night, I received a text from the girl who had been babysitting Joel that week. She said that she'd talked to a friend of hers, Graciela, who was interested in watching Joel. She is taking the year off, and although she is going to be traveling to Australia after Christmas, we feel so fortunate that she has agreed to take care of Joel until then! She comes to our house, too, which makes things even more convenient. I'm getting spoiled, because I'm sure that come January, we will be taking Joel somewhere every morning, but for now, it's the perfect situation. Graciela is a lovely girl who speaks three languages...so maybe Joel will start speaking Italian or Spanish before he speaks much English! He loves her, too. He runs right to her in the mornings when she arrives, and he gives her hugs every day before she leaves. Needless to say, going to work was quite a bit easier this week than it had been the previous three weeks!
So, last Friday night, we found a take-away restaurant, ordered Sweet and Sour Pork for us, and hot dogs and fries for the kids (what a combo, I know!), went "home" to the transit apartment, gobbled our food, put the kids to bed, and packed up our things. By Sunday afternoon, we had unpacked almost everything, met Graciela, and were ready for the first "normal" week we would have since arriving in Stavanger. It's hard to believe that it's Friday night again, and we've been in our house for almost a week.
A day made a huge difference for us, and I'm so grateful for that. I think things are finally starting to fall into place here!
Saturday, August 11, 2012
What A Trip...Otherwise Enitled, No More Planes Until a Certain Little Boy Gets Older!!!
Well, we made it to Stavanger on Thursday, August 2nd, after what can only be called the most difficult trip we've ever taken or will ever take. Seriously, we can only improve from here!
The first flight, from Sioux Falls to Chicago, was just fine. We had plenty of time, after tearful goodbyes to Ryan's parents and Nathan and Megan, to have supper at the Sioux Falls airport before hopping on our quick first flight. Joel did well, and I figured he would be so tired by the time we left Chicago that he'd just zonk out. Wrong. We had some more supper about an hour and a half into the flight, and Meredith fell asleep almost immediately after that. I managed to rock and sing Joel to sleep (as well as anyone can rock a baby on an airplane) after awhile, and for about an hour and a half, he slept in my arms. He started getting restless after that hour and a half. I hadn't slept at all, because it's not the most comfortable position to have a nineteen month old sprawled out across you, even though said nineteen month old only weighs 22 pounds, and now Joely was up and ready to go. I thought, Ok, we'll walk the aisles for awhile, or I'll stand up with him and bounce him back to sleep. He was having absolutely none of that. For hours on end, literally, he fussed and cried, and by the time we were making our descent into Copenhagen, he was all-out screaming. I could hear people around us talking about him, and I heard someone ask the person she was sitting next to why anyone would bring him on such a long flight. Believe me, I was asking myself that question over and over by that time, too!
About three minutes before landing, Joel fell asleep (go figure). Of course, he was jostled awake when we had to leave the plane. When we did get off the plane, we had to stand in an inexplicable line for about fifteen minutes. Let me tell you, this was not fun, either. No one was moving, Joel was riding in the backpack, and not happy about that, and Meredith, who had slept for nearly six of the eight hours we'd just flown, was ready to run. I could see the lines for both connecting flights and arrivals, so we moved over to the connecting flights area, but still, the line didn't move. We finally started moving, only to find that we would have to clear security before boarding our connecting flight to Stavanger. By this time, I was just a little bit panicked, because we were scheduled to take off in less than an hour.
Well, after waiting in line to clear security, we found that we would have to go through passport control as well. As we joined this line (with only one person working), I looked at the clock and saw that our plane was scheduled to leave in less than half an hour. We finally made it through security, and then were off to find our plane....when we heard our names being paged, and a voice telling us to please board immediately. Well, we were nowhere near our gate at that point. I took off running, leaving Ryan with the kids. When I made it to the gate, the door was already closed. I frantically explained to the woman at the gate that we had done nothing but wait in lines since getting off of our last flight. Thankfully, she must have believed me, because as Ryan and the kids joined us, she opened the door and let us onto the plane.
We made it to the very back of the plane, pretty much dripping in sweat from having run so fast (and we hadn't showered in hours and hours, anyway, so by this point I was pretty thrilled to know that no other new teachers from ISS were on our flight--this was definitely not the first impression I wanted to make! Thankfully, the flight from Copenhagen to Stavanger was only about an hour and fifteen minutes. We fed Joel M&Ms until the bag was empty, and then he pretty much fidgeted and cried until we landed in Stavanger. Oh, it was lovely. We definitely didn't make any friends on that flight, either.
We got to baggage claim and were able to find all of our bags except one. Of course, it was the bag with virtually all of the kids' clothing in it. We ended up getting the bag the next day, but we were the absolute last people to leave baggage claim, pushing two filled to the brim carts and pulling bags behind us as well. Thankfully, our administrators didn't give up and leave the airport! It was good to finally meet them, and walk out of the airport and into our lives in Stavanger.
All summer, I had worried about clearing customs in Norway, due to the fact that our paperwork for our work permits was so severely delayed. Little did I know that the passport control line we'd stood in at the airport in Copenhagen was our clearance! So we live in Norway now, but we don't even have Norwegian stamps in our passports. We didn't have to open up any of our bags, which I'd also been a little worried about, because of the suitcase we'd affectionately named "Target Stavanger". This suitcase was filled with ibuprofen, Vicks vapo rub, children's tylenol, band aids, antibiotic cream...all of the makings for a serious first aid kit. We had also split these things up over a couple of bags, because we'd read that bringing medications into Norway, even those which are over the counter in the States, could cause some trouble, but the one bag in particular was filled. So, it seems that I definitely worried for nothing over that one!
Unfortunately, I didn't worry over nothing about the huge dilemma that we are dealing with in regards to childcare for Joel...but I think I will save that story for another post. I have so much more to write, but I will close for now, and I hope that the next time I post, our worries about child care will be over, and we'll have the perfect person to take care of Joel. For now, we continue to pray that this will happen soon, so that I can begin to really enjoy life in beautiful, quaint Stavanger!
The first flight, from Sioux Falls to Chicago, was just fine. We had plenty of time, after tearful goodbyes to Ryan's parents and Nathan and Megan, to have supper at the Sioux Falls airport before hopping on our quick first flight. Joel did well, and I figured he would be so tired by the time we left Chicago that he'd just zonk out. Wrong. We had some more supper about an hour and a half into the flight, and Meredith fell asleep almost immediately after that. I managed to rock and sing Joel to sleep (as well as anyone can rock a baby on an airplane) after awhile, and for about an hour and a half, he slept in my arms. He started getting restless after that hour and a half. I hadn't slept at all, because it's not the most comfortable position to have a nineteen month old sprawled out across you, even though said nineteen month old only weighs 22 pounds, and now Joely was up and ready to go. I thought, Ok, we'll walk the aisles for awhile, or I'll stand up with him and bounce him back to sleep. He was having absolutely none of that. For hours on end, literally, he fussed and cried, and by the time we were making our descent into Copenhagen, he was all-out screaming. I could hear people around us talking about him, and I heard someone ask the person she was sitting next to why anyone would bring him on such a long flight. Believe me, I was asking myself that question over and over by that time, too!
About three minutes before landing, Joel fell asleep (go figure). Of course, he was jostled awake when we had to leave the plane. When we did get off the plane, we had to stand in an inexplicable line for about fifteen minutes. Let me tell you, this was not fun, either. No one was moving, Joel was riding in the backpack, and not happy about that, and Meredith, who had slept for nearly six of the eight hours we'd just flown, was ready to run. I could see the lines for both connecting flights and arrivals, so we moved over to the connecting flights area, but still, the line didn't move. We finally started moving, only to find that we would have to clear security before boarding our connecting flight to Stavanger. By this time, I was just a little bit panicked, because we were scheduled to take off in less than an hour.
Well, after waiting in line to clear security, we found that we would have to go through passport control as well. As we joined this line (with only one person working), I looked at the clock and saw that our plane was scheduled to leave in less than half an hour. We finally made it through security, and then were off to find our plane....when we heard our names being paged, and a voice telling us to please board immediately. Well, we were nowhere near our gate at that point. I took off running, leaving Ryan with the kids. When I made it to the gate, the door was already closed. I frantically explained to the woman at the gate that we had done nothing but wait in lines since getting off of our last flight. Thankfully, she must have believed me, because as Ryan and the kids joined us, she opened the door and let us onto the plane.
We made it to the very back of the plane, pretty much dripping in sweat from having run so fast (and we hadn't showered in hours and hours, anyway, so by this point I was pretty thrilled to know that no other new teachers from ISS were on our flight--this was definitely not the first impression I wanted to make! Thankfully, the flight from Copenhagen to Stavanger was only about an hour and fifteen minutes. We fed Joel M&Ms until the bag was empty, and then he pretty much fidgeted and cried until we landed in Stavanger. Oh, it was lovely. We definitely didn't make any friends on that flight, either.
We got to baggage claim and were able to find all of our bags except one. Of course, it was the bag with virtually all of the kids' clothing in it. We ended up getting the bag the next day, but we were the absolute last people to leave baggage claim, pushing two filled to the brim carts and pulling bags behind us as well. Thankfully, our administrators didn't give up and leave the airport! It was good to finally meet them, and walk out of the airport and into our lives in Stavanger.
All summer, I had worried about clearing customs in Norway, due to the fact that our paperwork for our work permits was so severely delayed. Little did I know that the passport control line we'd stood in at the airport in Copenhagen was our clearance! So we live in Norway now, but we don't even have Norwegian stamps in our passports. We didn't have to open up any of our bags, which I'd also been a little worried about, because of the suitcase we'd affectionately named "Target Stavanger". This suitcase was filled with ibuprofen, Vicks vapo rub, children's tylenol, band aids, antibiotic cream...all of the makings for a serious first aid kit. We had also split these things up over a couple of bags, because we'd read that bringing medications into Norway, even those which are over the counter in the States, could cause some trouble, but the one bag in particular was filled. So, it seems that I definitely worried for nothing over that one!
Unfortunately, I didn't worry over nothing about the huge dilemma that we are dealing with in regards to childcare for Joel...but I think I will save that story for another post. I have so much more to write, but I will close for now, and I hope that the next time I post, our worries about child care will be over, and we'll have the perfect person to take care of Joel. For now, we continue to pray that this will happen soon, so that I can begin to really enjoy life in beautiful, quaint Stavanger!
Monday, July 23, 2012
The Afters...Expected and Unexpected
It's been a long time since I last posted! Back then, this adventure we're about to embark upon was as real as it is now, but it didn't seem that way to me at the time. Back in February, it was something we were going to do at the beginning of August, after Meredith turned three, after we finished another school year, after a trip to Milwaukee, after an anniversary trip, after Ryan finished another summer of grad school...the list of "afters" could go on and on. Today, as I write this, I feel that I am out of "afters", other than those which are directly related to our big, game-changing move, save one (which I will talk about in a moment). We will board a plane bound for Stavanger, Norway, next week Wednesday, after we have finished sorting through things in our house, packing our suitcases, and saying our last tearful goodbyes to dear family and friends.
I am almost completely consumed with thoughts of Norway and the many ways our lives will change just days from now. All of the afters I've mentioned have been expected and planned for. The one I haven't yet mentioned was not expected, planned for, or welcome, but it's here, and has been here for nearly three weeks. We will leave for Stavanger just days after I have had an appointment with the elbow specialist at Sanford Orthopedics to determine whether or not I need to have surgery on the two ligaments in my elbow that are torn.
Yes, as if we needed to add one more "after" to the already lengthy list, this one has joined the bunch. About three weeks ago, I fell while running, and immediately knew that I had injured my elbow or arm in some way. I was running with my sister in law and a friend of ours, both of whom tried to convince me after the fall that we needed to just turn around and walk home. We were only about 3/4 of a mile into our four mile run, and I was determined to run those four miles, so instead of turning back, we continued on once I'd had a little breather, because while I knew something didn't feel quite right, it didn't really feel wrong yet. We finished the run, and by the time we got home, I knew I was in trouble.
The next day, I saw my doctor, and while he couldn't find a break in my elbow, he said that the swelling around the bones was a strong indication that there was in fact a break somewhere. He put me in a splint and sling, and instructed me to return in a week for another x-ray. The second x-ray showed a marked decrease in swelling, and the break was still not visible to my doctor, so he sent me home without the splint. The next day, however, he called with news that the radiologist was concerned about a possible break somewhere in my arm, so I was to go for an MRI the following week. At this point, I was starting to panic about the amount of time I had before our departure, but I kept thinking that the MRI would show nothing more than a sprain. After all, even in the splint, I'd been using the arm, and once I was out of it for those days between my second appointment and the MRI, I used it as if nothing were wrong.
Unfortunately, and a bit shockingly, the MRI showed two breaks in my arm, and two torn ligaments in my elbow. A visit to the orthopedic clinic eased my mind somewhat; even the orthopedic physician's assistant could not see the breaks in my arm on the x-rays, because they are so small. The concern, however, is with the torn ligaments, and last week I learned that they may require surgery to repair. I continue to wait, however, because my appointment with the elbow specialist (he must be the best, because he's ridiculously busy) is not taking place until this Thursday. Since my first doctor's appointment in what may someday become known as The Saga of the Elbow, I have been telling every doctor, nurse, and receptionist who will listen that we are moving to Norway on August 1st. Perhaps this doesn't matter to anyone because a) the elbow really isn't in as much trouble as I fear it may be; b) Dr. Hurd at Sanford Orthopedics really is the best and is impossible to get in to see; or c) no one believes that we are actually leaving the country, not to return before the middle of June, 2013. I'm guessing it's probably b), but I'm hoping for a), because I'm fairly positive that surgery six days before flying across the Atlantic Ocean will not be happening. I'll have an update on Thursday afternoon!
So...we will leave for Norway after I have met with the elbow specialist, and when we board the plane, I will know whether or not I will be having surgery on my crazy elbow in a country where I do not yet have a doctor. We will leave after we've finished cleaning and organizing our house, after we've finished packing the too many suitcases that will accompany us on our journey, and after we have said these last difficult goodbyes. I hope that after we get on the plane, I can take a deep breath, relax, and know that we have done all we can to prepare for this amazing adventure...that is, after we've gotten the kids to go to sleep!!
I am almost completely consumed with thoughts of Norway and the many ways our lives will change just days from now. All of the afters I've mentioned have been expected and planned for. The one I haven't yet mentioned was not expected, planned for, or welcome, but it's here, and has been here for nearly three weeks. We will leave for Stavanger just days after I have had an appointment with the elbow specialist at Sanford Orthopedics to determine whether or not I need to have surgery on the two ligaments in my elbow that are torn.
Yes, as if we needed to add one more "after" to the already lengthy list, this one has joined the bunch. About three weeks ago, I fell while running, and immediately knew that I had injured my elbow or arm in some way. I was running with my sister in law and a friend of ours, both of whom tried to convince me after the fall that we needed to just turn around and walk home. We were only about 3/4 of a mile into our four mile run, and I was determined to run those four miles, so instead of turning back, we continued on once I'd had a little breather, because while I knew something didn't feel quite right, it didn't really feel wrong yet. We finished the run, and by the time we got home, I knew I was in trouble.
The next day, I saw my doctor, and while he couldn't find a break in my elbow, he said that the swelling around the bones was a strong indication that there was in fact a break somewhere. He put me in a splint and sling, and instructed me to return in a week for another x-ray. The second x-ray showed a marked decrease in swelling, and the break was still not visible to my doctor, so he sent me home without the splint. The next day, however, he called with news that the radiologist was concerned about a possible break somewhere in my arm, so I was to go for an MRI the following week. At this point, I was starting to panic about the amount of time I had before our departure, but I kept thinking that the MRI would show nothing more than a sprain. After all, even in the splint, I'd been using the arm, and once I was out of it for those days between my second appointment and the MRI, I used it as if nothing were wrong.
Unfortunately, and a bit shockingly, the MRI showed two breaks in my arm, and two torn ligaments in my elbow. A visit to the orthopedic clinic eased my mind somewhat; even the orthopedic physician's assistant could not see the breaks in my arm on the x-rays, because they are so small. The concern, however, is with the torn ligaments, and last week I learned that they may require surgery to repair. I continue to wait, however, because my appointment with the elbow specialist (he must be the best, because he's ridiculously busy) is not taking place until this Thursday. Since my first doctor's appointment in what may someday become known as The Saga of the Elbow, I have been telling every doctor, nurse, and receptionist who will listen that we are moving to Norway on August 1st. Perhaps this doesn't matter to anyone because a) the elbow really isn't in as much trouble as I fear it may be; b) Dr. Hurd at Sanford Orthopedics really is the best and is impossible to get in to see; or c) no one believes that we are actually leaving the country, not to return before the middle of June, 2013. I'm guessing it's probably b), but I'm hoping for a), because I'm fairly positive that surgery six days before flying across the Atlantic Ocean will not be happening. I'll have an update on Thursday afternoon!
So...we will leave for Norway after I have met with the elbow specialist, and when we board the plane, I will know whether or not I will be having surgery on my crazy elbow in a country where I do not yet have a doctor. We will leave after we've finished cleaning and organizing our house, after we've finished packing the too many suitcases that will accompany us on our journey, and after we have said these last difficult goodbyes. I hope that after we get on the plane, I can take a deep breath, relax, and know that we have done all we can to prepare for this amazing adventure...that is, after we've gotten the kids to go to sleep!!
Friday, February 17, 2012
Jim, The Game-Changer...and a Peek Into the Past. WARNING: This Post is LONG!!
I've spent a lot of time this past week just letting the reality of our new adventure sink in. I've also started the early stages of planning. At the suggestion of my mom and aunt, I have begun filling a notebook with questions I need answered and to-do lists that I know will eventually number pages and pages in length. There is so much to think about, and much of it is stuff that simply wasn't on the radar when we moved to Singapore ten years ago. Back in 2002, we had to graduate, get married, wait for the movers to come and pack up the wedding gifts that we did ship to Singapore, and count down the days until July 22nd, our "game-changing" day. Today, we have a house, two children, and a life here in Sioux Falls, so I'm guessing that preparing to move overseas will be just a tad more involved this time around!
In addition to all of the planning and thinking, there have been many overwhelming waves of gratitude. When we moved to Singapore, it soon became clear that we had embarked upon the journey and experience of a lifetime. The opportunity to work at SAS and learn from the experiences of the students we taught and the teachers we worked with was incredible. Living in Asia and being able to travel the world, all while doing what we both knew we were called to do, was nothing short of a gift from God. The memory of all that we were able to do while in Singapore is flooding back this week, and the realization that a second experience of a lifetime is upon us really makes me stop and thank God for this wondrous blessing. This time, it is magnified by the fact that we have two beautiful children to share it with!
I believe with 100% of my being that going to Norway is part of God's plan for our family. I also believe that God has lots and lots of helpers here on Earth, and I'd be remiss in my gratitude if I didn't mention the one who has certainly helped orchestrate this next adventure, much as he helped orchestrate the first. Many of you reading will know who I'm talking about, but for those of you who don't, he is Jim, or Jim, the Game-Changer.
Back in March of 2002, Ryan and I were about to be married, and at that time, we had no idea where we would be living after that happened. We had applied for jobs in Longmont, Colorado, and I'll be really honest--the thought of moving to Colorado terrified me (I laugh about that now). I already felt like Decorah, Iowa, where I'd spent the last four years going to college, was too far away from my family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Why in the world would I move even further away? Well, I would move further away because a) we needed jobs, b) my husband-to-be really wanted to live in Colorado, and c) I was totally, completely, 100% ready to follow him wherever he wanted to go because, hey, I kind of loved him. :)
The phone rang at about 7:00 on a Sunday evening early in March of 2002. Ryan and I had just spent the afternoon shopping for wedding bands. Since we were poor college students with no jobs in sight, we absolutely bought the most inexpensive wedding bands we could find. I won't tell you how inexpensive they were...but I will tell you that I have spent more on an oversized box of diapers than we spent on my wedding band. Anyway, the phone rang, and it was Jim. At the time, he was still Jim, the education professor we highly respected, but after that particular phone conversation, he would become Jim, the Game-Changer. This story could be extremely long, so I'm going to do my best to shorten it up for you. I feel like I need to include it, though, because we truly do owe these opportunities and experiences to this man who believed enough in our character and teaching abilities to stick his neck out for us not once, but twice.
Jim had just run into a friend of his, who also happened to be the Superintendent of Singapore American School. He was in the States for the job fairs, and was trying to fill an elementary general music and orchestra position. He asked Jim if he knew of anyone who might be a good fit. Jim told him that he knew of a couple who hadn't yet graduated, but may be interested in a move overseas. He was calling me now to verify that that might be true. He assured us that this would be an unbelievable opportunity, one that we really wouldn't want to pass up. Ryan and I spent the next hour learning all we could about Singapore, and decided that if the man from the Singapore American School wanted to give us a chance, we were ready to take it. Four days and as many interviews later, we were set to move to Southeast Asia!
Fast-forward ten years. This time, I was on Facebook when Jim the Game-Changer messaged me. We were chatting back and forth, and he told me that he had accepted a position as the Middle School Principal at a school in Tokyo. I should mention that Jim the Game-Changer and his family have years and years of overseas experience, having lived and taught in Norway, Japan, Libya, Saudi Arabia...if he's reading, hopefully he'll correct me if there's anywhere I've missed! Jim then mentioned that he was going to the job fair in Boston. He asked if we were at all interested in heading back overseas. Ryan and I had known since we moved back from Singapore that eventually, we wanted to go overseas again, especially so that we could give Meredith and Joel an international experience. When he said that there were positions in Norway, we said that we were absolutely interested. Here's why.
Norway is the place where I was originally bitten by the overseas bug. Eleven years ago, the summer before I student taught, I traveled to Norway with Jim and a group of education majors from Luther. We spent three weeks observing, assisting, and teaching in classrooms at the International School of Stavanger (ISS). It was the most incredible experience, and it opened my eyes to this world of international schools and international education that I truly never knew existed. I can still remember having a conversation with Jim about looking for jobs overseas, and about how amazing it would be to someday teach at ISS, thinking in my mind as we were talking that I could never be fortunate enough to actually have it happen. Besides, at the time, I had no idea what Ryan thought about teaching overseas, and because it wouldn't just be an elementary position, but a music position that we would need as well, I figured it was nothing more than a dream. Now, eleven years later, that dream has been realized, and I just know that we are meant to be in Stavanger for this next chapter of our lives.
So, Jim was the Game-Changer twice. He changed the game from completed applications to a school in Colorado to full-time teaching positions at Singapore American School, and four years of visiting countries like Thailand, New Zealand, and China, to name a few. This time, the game was six years in the making, but it has been changed again to give us the chance to experience Europe with our children. Those who know us know that we believe that God is the ultimate "Game-Changer", but as I said before, I also believe He's got lots and lots of helpers here on Earth, and Jim has certainly been one of those for us. We are so grateful to him for the role he has played in all of this. After we were offered positions at ISS, I joked with him that I owed him my third-born child for all of the help he'd given us. Then I assured him that a third-born wasn't in the plan, so it would have to be something else. I figure the least I can do is give him credit in this little blog. He was our professor, our mentor, and our cheerleader, and he has always been our friend. Mange tussen takk, Jim. We thank God for putting you into our lives!!
In addition to all of the planning and thinking, there have been many overwhelming waves of gratitude. When we moved to Singapore, it soon became clear that we had embarked upon the journey and experience of a lifetime. The opportunity to work at SAS and learn from the experiences of the students we taught and the teachers we worked with was incredible. Living in Asia and being able to travel the world, all while doing what we both knew we were called to do, was nothing short of a gift from God. The memory of all that we were able to do while in Singapore is flooding back this week, and the realization that a second experience of a lifetime is upon us really makes me stop and thank God for this wondrous blessing. This time, it is magnified by the fact that we have two beautiful children to share it with!
I believe with 100% of my being that going to Norway is part of God's plan for our family. I also believe that God has lots and lots of helpers here on Earth, and I'd be remiss in my gratitude if I didn't mention the one who has certainly helped orchestrate this next adventure, much as he helped orchestrate the first. Many of you reading will know who I'm talking about, but for those of you who don't, he is Jim, or Jim, the Game-Changer.
Back in March of 2002, Ryan and I were about to be married, and at that time, we had no idea where we would be living after that happened. We had applied for jobs in Longmont, Colorado, and I'll be really honest--the thought of moving to Colorado terrified me (I laugh about that now). I already felt like Decorah, Iowa, where I'd spent the last four years going to college, was too far away from my family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Why in the world would I move even further away? Well, I would move further away because a) we needed jobs, b) my husband-to-be really wanted to live in Colorado, and c) I was totally, completely, 100% ready to follow him wherever he wanted to go because, hey, I kind of loved him. :)
The phone rang at about 7:00 on a Sunday evening early in March of 2002. Ryan and I had just spent the afternoon shopping for wedding bands. Since we were poor college students with no jobs in sight, we absolutely bought the most inexpensive wedding bands we could find. I won't tell you how inexpensive they were...but I will tell you that I have spent more on an oversized box of diapers than we spent on my wedding band. Anyway, the phone rang, and it was Jim. At the time, he was still Jim, the education professor we highly respected, but after that particular phone conversation, he would become Jim, the Game-Changer. This story could be extremely long, so I'm going to do my best to shorten it up for you. I feel like I need to include it, though, because we truly do owe these opportunities and experiences to this man who believed enough in our character and teaching abilities to stick his neck out for us not once, but twice.
Jim had just run into a friend of his, who also happened to be the Superintendent of Singapore American School. He was in the States for the job fairs, and was trying to fill an elementary general music and orchestra position. He asked Jim if he knew of anyone who might be a good fit. Jim told him that he knew of a couple who hadn't yet graduated, but may be interested in a move overseas. He was calling me now to verify that that might be true. He assured us that this would be an unbelievable opportunity, one that we really wouldn't want to pass up. Ryan and I spent the next hour learning all we could about Singapore, and decided that if the man from the Singapore American School wanted to give us a chance, we were ready to take it. Four days and as many interviews later, we were set to move to Southeast Asia!
Fast-forward ten years. This time, I was on Facebook when Jim the Game-Changer messaged me. We were chatting back and forth, and he told me that he had accepted a position as the Middle School Principal at a school in Tokyo. I should mention that Jim the Game-Changer and his family have years and years of overseas experience, having lived and taught in Norway, Japan, Libya, Saudi Arabia...if he's reading, hopefully he'll correct me if there's anywhere I've missed! Jim then mentioned that he was going to the job fair in Boston. He asked if we were at all interested in heading back overseas. Ryan and I had known since we moved back from Singapore that eventually, we wanted to go overseas again, especially so that we could give Meredith and Joel an international experience. When he said that there were positions in Norway, we said that we were absolutely interested. Here's why.
Norway is the place where I was originally bitten by the overseas bug. Eleven years ago, the summer before I student taught, I traveled to Norway with Jim and a group of education majors from Luther. We spent three weeks observing, assisting, and teaching in classrooms at the International School of Stavanger (ISS). It was the most incredible experience, and it opened my eyes to this world of international schools and international education that I truly never knew existed. I can still remember having a conversation with Jim about looking for jobs overseas, and about how amazing it would be to someday teach at ISS, thinking in my mind as we were talking that I could never be fortunate enough to actually have it happen. Besides, at the time, I had no idea what Ryan thought about teaching overseas, and because it wouldn't just be an elementary position, but a music position that we would need as well, I figured it was nothing more than a dream. Now, eleven years later, that dream has been realized, and I just know that we are meant to be in Stavanger for this next chapter of our lives.
So, Jim was the Game-Changer twice. He changed the game from completed applications to a school in Colorado to full-time teaching positions at Singapore American School, and four years of visiting countries like Thailand, New Zealand, and China, to name a few. This time, the game was six years in the making, but it has been changed again to give us the chance to experience Europe with our children. Those who know us know that we believe that God is the ultimate "Game-Changer", but as I said before, I also believe He's got lots and lots of helpers here on Earth, and Jim has certainly been one of those for us. We are so grateful to him for the role he has played in all of this. After we were offered positions at ISS, I joked with him that I owed him my third-born child for all of the help he'd given us. Then I assured him that a third-born wasn't in the plan, so it would have to be something else. I figure the least I can do is give him credit in this little blog. He was our professor, our mentor, and our cheerleader, and he has always been our friend. Mange tussen takk, Jim. We thank God for putting you into our lives!!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Welcome to Our Scandinavian Adventure!
Welcome, family and friends! If you are reading this, I have to pat myself on the back, because it means I've actually succeeded in publishing my first-ever blog post. I've wanted to start blogging for awhile, but have hesitated because I've wondered whether or not anyone would really want to read my blog. Since our family is about to embark on a huge new adventure (which some of you may be interested in reading about :) ), I thought maybe it was time to give this a try.
So, on to our huge new adventure...on August 2nd, our family will be moving from Sioux Falls, SD, where we've made our home for the past six years, to Stavanger, Norway! We have accepted teaching positions at the International School of Stavanger, and while leaving Sioux Falls will be difficult, we are absolutely thrilled by the opportunity to teach and live in Norway. As many of you know, Ryan and I lived and taught in Singapore the first four years of our marriage, and one of my few regrets about our time in Asia was my failure to truly document our experience. I'm hoping that won't be the case for our Scandinavian adventure!
I hope to be able to post often about the excitement and challenges that lie ahead for our family. Thanks for reading!
So, on to our huge new adventure...on August 2nd, our family will be moving from Sioux Falls, SD, where we've made our home for the past six years, to Stavanger, Norway! We have accepted teaching positions at the International School of Stavanger, and while leaving Sioux Falls will be difficult, we are absolutely thrilled by the opportunity to teach and live in Norway. As many of you know, Ryan and I lived and taught in Singapore the first four years of our marriage, and one of my few regrets about our time in Asia was my failure to truly document our experience. I'm hoping that won't be the case for our Scandinavian adventure!
I hope to be able to post often about the excitement and challenges that lie ahead for our family. Thanks for reading!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)