Thanksgiving and the First Snow

Woke up to Trondheim’s first real snow this morning.  It’s been wet and dark and not cold enough for snow lately so I wasn’t expecting the white stuff. What a pleasant surprise!

The excitement of snow helps break up the monotony of studying for exams, so I’m thankful for a little something new to mix things up. Here’s hoping it doesn’t melt in the next couple days like its supposed to!

And since it was just Thanksgiving, a few other things I’m thankful for at this moment in time:

Thanksgiving in Trondheim

I joined a Thanksgiving dinner put on by a friend from California. When we arrived she was a little behind schedule and needed help. As the only other American, I felt it was my duty to stick close and make sure all the fixings got fixed, especially the gravy. I have years of Thanksgiving experience, by which I mean eating, and not preparing, the food. Neither one of us had cooked a Thanksgiving meal before and there were many near disasters in the kitchen (oven randomly turning off while turkey was cooking; burnt, and therefore wasted, turkey neck; spilling hot, though thankfully not boiling, turkey drippings all over my hand; running out of pots and pans and serving mashed potatoes from a wok, etc.). We shared several laughs about how incompetent we were without our mothers’ guidance. But we improvised and made do and things turned out as well as they could have for a first Thanksgiving away from home. The Germans and Norwegians in attendance were impressed and satisfied with the meal, and excited to be a part of an American tradition. There is no substitute for being with your family on Thanksgiving, but the next best thing is being able to share it with others and see it from a new perspective. What a great holiday.

Knowing English

Living in a foreign country for a few months has shown me the importance of language.  I’m so used to communicating one way, but have had to adapt to learning Norwegian and speaking English with non-native speakers. Though I’m sometimes the odd one out because I can’t speak Norwegian fluently, it seems like whole world is trying to learn English, and I am lucky for that. I think I’m the only native English speaker in my program this year, which is kind of weird. As if the subject matter isn’t difficult enough, others have to look up words like “arbitrary” and “constituent” (as my friend did today) just so they can understand what a lecturer is talking about. Having to learn in a foreign language must be pretty frustrating at times. After being around people who are trying to learn English or just get better at it, I definitely have a better appreciation for being able to speak and write it fluently.

Technology

I get to talk and email with people back home and around the world, and I take that for granted. If you think about it, why should I be able to communicate with people so easily? That wouldn’t have been possible a few years ago. Makes me think about my great-grandpa about one hundred years ago. He moved from Norway to Seattle when he was younger than me and could only communicate with home through very slow and sporadic snail-mail. That must have been really hard. I moved across the world, shouldn’t I have to deal with the consequence of less communication? Doesn’t seem fair or right, but technology has made the world small and people close. and that is great. Today I got to “participate” in some of Jackson’s 1^st birthday party through skype.  Watched him devour his first piece of cake, like I was there!

Screen shot: Jackson – 1, Birthday Cake – 0

Lots to be thankful for, these are just a few things… 

...and I’m thankful to be in Norway!

Happy Birthday, Jackson!

My nephew turns one today. I’m super excited, because he is awesome.

But I’m also bummed because I’m not home to celebrate him. Just about the only crappy thing about being in Trondheim is that I’m so far away from the people I love.  Jack and my cousin’s daughter, Cadence, are the two latest additions to our family, and the first of the “next generation.” I got to babysit them both a lot before I moved to Norway so it’s hard to be away from them, but I’m thankful for the quality time we’ve had together. 

One year ago!

I hope I see him again before he can read on his own

It’s really exciting to have little ones running around. I was never much into babies, except when they were related to me. My foray into babysitting began when I was underemployed after college and my relatives starting having children. When you spend a lot of time with someone you start to get attached, you know? I love Jack and Cadence dearly and even though they’re still pretty young, I genuinely miss them. If I have any regrets at all about moving to Norway for two years, it’s that I’m not spending this time with them or the rest of my family. It’d be great if there were a way for me to live here yet be close enough to home to babysit.

I got to skype with my brother’s family recently, and it was a thrill to see Jack in action all over the house. I know he’ll be walking and talking soon, so it's special to see him before he progresses too much more. I’m pretty sure I made him laugh and smile a few times too, so hopefully that means he hasn’t totally forgotten about me. I’ve been worried that the little ones won’t know who I am when I come back home, but I think they have better memory than I give them credit for. A few weeks ago my cousin told me that Cadence says my name when she recognizes me in pictures, which made me really happy.

Both Jack and Cadence have been huge blessings in my life so far. They bring everyone a lot of joy, and it’s fun to see how they impact the family dynamic. One of the coolest things, I think, is how they’ve helped bring people closer together without even knowing it. I know I’m closer to my cousin and my brother because we’ve spent more time together since their kids were born. I’m excited to watch Cadence and Jack grow, and be a part of their lives again hopefully soon.

One last picture... I stole this from Chelsea’s blog because I really like it. Hanging out at my going-away party with two of my favorites (four, if you count Dodo and Gib :) See how unimpressed Cadence is as she delicately holds the cookie just out of Jack’s straining reach:

Can't wait to hold them again!

Julebord on Veterans Day, why not?

Christmas comes early in Norway. During the fall they don’t celebrate the same holidays we do in the States, like Halloween (it’s here, but not a big deal) or Thanksgiving (this is a shame, I'd love to see what Norwegians could do with a Thanksgiving meal). So Christmas is on everyone’s mind much earlier than I’m used to. Stores are selling Christmas goods by October and it’s normal for businesses and other groups to host fancy Christmas dinners (julebord) beginning in November. The student leadership for the masters students at the Department of Medicine organized a julebord for us last night. Part of the reason we had our julebord so early is because everyone will get busier as exams approach, but it’s also normal to have Christmas parties more than a month before Christmas.

I was excited about julebord and looking forward to a hot, traditional, delicious meal. I’m happy to report that my expectations were exceeded. What I found is that julebord means lots of meat. Meat is expensive in Norway, so I don’t eat a lot of it. We had to pay for the dinner but it was "Norway cheap" and I feel I got my money’s worth.

Hungry Hungry Students

Here’s what was on the menu:

Ribbe – Roast Pork Ribs (from a whole side of pork, not just the spare ribs). In other words, bomb. My new favorite.

Pinnekjøtt – Lamb Ribs (not my favorite, but still good)

Medisterkaker – Patties made of ground pork meat

Julepølser – Christmas sausage, smoked and unsmoked varieties

poteter – potatos, of course

rødkål – red cabbage

svisker – prunes, surprisingly delicious (another new favorite)

kålrot – rutabaga

and don’t forget the gravy! Almost as good as my Grandma Dodo’s, dare I say it.

 Ribbe in the front, isn't it beautiful?

As you can see, they go all out with the pig meat at Christmastime. I know my brother and dad would have been in hog heaven (pun most definitely intended) and I hope the whole family can experience julebord some day. The ribbe was some of the best pork I’ve ever tasted, though it’s possible my opinion is skewed because of my lack of meat intake recently. I went slightly overboard and ate more than my fill, it was all so good! About the only thing I didn’t touch was the vegetarian option. It’s 1:00pm the next day, I haven’t eaten since julebord, and I’m not hungry yet.

Besides eating, we also learned about Norwegian Christmas traditions, played games, and had a visit from Santa Clause. But I think you know my favorite part of julebord, the food. Needless to say, I’m glad the Christmas season in Norway is long, and that I’ll be here to experience the real thing next month!