Our Swedish Shopping Spree

As you may know, Norway is one of the most expensive places to live in the whole world. In order to save a little money, some Norwegians go shopping in Sweden, especially for meat, alcohol, and tobacco. Early in the semester, my roommate and I heard about a bus that drives students to a grocery store at the Swedish border, free of charge.

There are buses that take paying customers from Trondheim to Sweden daily, but there is only one bus that takes students for free. Every Thursday it picks up the first 50 lucky passengers to whisk them away to magical land where meat is only double the price as in the U.S., not quadruple.

Untold adventure awaits us!

We had a pleasant ride through the Norwegian countryside:

 Norway is beautiful

Once we crossed the border into Sweden, the excitement was palpable:

Eager shoppers

Sweden is… less beautiful

Our destination, the Coop Extra store in Storlien, Sweden:

Inside was crazy. The grocery store was small and their selection was not great. The fruit and vegetables were well picked-over when we arrived, but they had more than enough of my main target, frozen chicken breasts. We only had about half an hour to shop before the store closed and the bus headed back to Norway. It was a scramble to find all the things on my shopping list in time. A busload of students all looking for a lot of cheap food in a tiny grocery store was just a little hectic. Needing to translate the Swedish to English or Norwegian and convert the prices in my head added to the craziness.

In the excitement, I grabbed some things that seemed like good deals at the time, but turned out to be the same price in Norway. Most of the stuff I bought was cheaper than in Norway, but not by much. If you drive further into Sweden the prices get lower, but stores near the border have inflated prices.

On the way back home we sat behind some Norwegians (the only ones on the bus) and asked what they had bought. They had bought wine, snus, and sandwich supplies for dinner on the ride home. For them, it was not worth it to buy a bunch of stuff that was only a little cheaper than at home. They laughed at how much we bought and how excited we were about the whole process. So, the deals weren't as great as expected, but I saved a little money on groceries and got to go to Sweden. Not a bad afternoon!

Our Swedish loot at home

“I went to Sweden and all I got was this lousy cucumber”

Breaking news: Smør Krise 2011

I’m sure everyone wants to know: how am I holding up in the midst of one of Norway’s most difficult times, the Butter Crisis (Smør Krise) of 2011. I have to tell you, it hasn’t been easy. Just the other day I had to make cookies using margarine. Margerine, of all things! It's a crying shame. But with a little luck and a lot of kroner, you can find real butter in Norway. Just make sure the spread inside the package is real; you never know what kind of trickery goes on during a butter shortage.

Not a lot of things go wrong in Norway, but this is one of them. How does a rich, butter-loving country like Norway become butterless? They've let giant dairy brand Tine maintain a butter monopoly, which was going pretty well for them until recently. This winter Tine was unable to deliver on their promise of butter for everyone, all the time. They blame it on bad weather this past summer and the increased popularity of low carb diets in Norway.  It will be interesting to see if the country reduces Tine's market share or changes its import policies in response to this year’s problems. I support a free butter market, but if I had to pick a company to monopolize the dairy industry, I’d stick with Tine; their products are delicious.

You know there’s a crisis going on in Norway

when you see “butter” instead of “smør”

I was at the grocery store in Jevnaker today and three blocks of butter stood on the shelf, along with an explanation. Translated, the note read: We got some imported butter from Belgium and Ireland. You should be able to use it in the same way that you use Tine butter. We are setting the limit at three blocks per customer so that everyone can have a little butter for Christmas. As you can tell, Norwegians are used to Norwegian butter, and may be mistrustful of things that come from other countries and claim to be butter.

News of the “crisis” is everywhere, but none of the Norwegians I know are going crazy, at least not due to the butter shortage. They say they would never pay an outrageous amount for a stick of butter or be so desperate as to smuggle it over the Swedish border. Then again, those I know have been able to pick up a pound or two at the store when small shipments have come in. They say the situation has been blown out of proportion by media and that Norway should step back and think about what a real crisis is. And I agree. Still, butter makes things taste good, and you never know what you’ve got until it’s gone… and you’re left with crappy margarine.

My relative Inger found real Tine butter in the next town over last week. I think we get to crack it open on Christmas:

Tine smør, the world's most sought-after butter.

Wonder how many kroner I could sell it for :D

If you thought I was white before...

...just wait until I survive a Norwegian winter. You will probably need sunglasses to behold me. Or I'll be so translucent you can see right through me.

It’s a little dark here, to say the least. Tomorrow is the shortest day of the year and then the days get longer again. I can hardly wait. Sunrise in Trondheim today was 10:01am and sunset was 2:31pm. That’s 4.5 hours of “daylight”. When the sun is up for that short a time it doesn’t get very high in the sky, so often in the evening it doesn’t feel like it’s been day at all. But I shouldn’t complain, the very north of Norway gets no daylight at all this time of year.

When it first started to get really dark, I found myself looking for sunlight wherever I could find it. If I was walking and my side of the street was in a shadow but the other side was in the sun, I crossed the street just to be in sunshine for a few more seconds during the day. And if the sun came through a window, I would stand at the window, just soaking it in. Kind of pathetic, but I really missed the sun for a couple weeks.

Lately the sun hasn’t been up high enough to create shadows or come through windows. It’s just not there. And I’ve kind of gotten used to it, just another thing that was very strange at first that I’ve adjusted to. I am starting to understand the Norwegian obsession with being out in the sun during the summer. Short winter days must make the long summer days that much better. Until then, I’ll take my vitamin D and dream of getting a sunburn.

The 12 Days of Christmas

Exams are over and my first semester of grad school is in the books. I've come out of the library where I've lived for the past month, and am making my way back into society. It feels so good to have a little break after studying so hard. I'm staying in Norway for Christmas and I have about three weeks until school starts again. I traveled south from Trondheim to Jevnaker yesterday to stay with Norwegian family for the first part of my break. Then I'll be going to Oslo and Stavanger to visit others. While I'd love to be home for Christmas, I'm very happy to be staying here and spending time with Norwegian friends and family.

This blog has been barren lately, but since I should have more free time to write during this break, my goal is to post something every day for the next 12 days. Can I do it? Probably not. But I'm going to try. I will at least shoot for 12 posts before school starts again. There are a lot of random things to share with you from the past five months, so now is as good a time as any to try to get caught up.

My news for Day 1 is that I tried lutefisk for the first time. I'd like to thank Ingrid and Jon for the opportunity to taste this Norwegian speciality. I was a little nervous to eat it because of its terrible reputation in the USA. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I refer you to this video tribute to the unique fish dish:

I'd only ever heard awful things about lutefisk, except from real Norwegians. Why they still eat fish that's been soaked in lye instead of eating it fresh, I don't know. But some really do love it and its tradition, I guess. Lutefisk certainly has an acquired texture and taste, the former being like jello, and the latter, I'm still trying to decipher. It's eaten at Christmas time, and usually with bacon on top. I expected not to like lutefisk, but it wasn't bad, though the bacon probably only helped my impression. I'm glad to have finally tried it for myself, but now I'm even more unsure what to think. Oh, lutefisk!

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!