Riding on the bus

We are now full-time bus riders. After looking at all the options and deciding it wasn't worth the cost of shipping our car, and not wanting to pay for a Norwegian car if we do happen to only be here a year, the bus became our commuting option. Here is us on our first bus ride.

If you ever happen to be bus riders as we are don't ever make the mistake of looking up your route on google maps and comparing how long it takes to get to your destination in a car versus how long it will take you to get there on a bus. I hadn't thought much about how long places would take to get to in a car, just knew the time on a bus. Well one time I forgot to switch it to the bus option and noticed that, if we were in a car, it would take 20 minutes to get to the store we needed, but in reality it was going to take us 53 minutes on the bus! However, once you get past the initial planning of how early you need to leave and the total time it will take to go somewhere, it is actually quite enjoyable to ride the bus. You don't have to worry about traffic or turning on the wrong street. The view is beautiful and you get to see lots of different parts of the city. And it is quite relaxing when you're compelled to take time to just sit. Plus Lily doesn't mind the bus and sits still very well. (And most the time you can we just drive the stroller into the designated stroller section and sit down on the seats next to it while she rides in the stroller.)

On our way to church for the first time. We found it ironic that in Baltimore we drove people who didn't have cars to church almost every week, and now we are the ones on the bus or asking for rides.

Just one good story before I finish. Now it would be boring to talk about the successful bus trips we've had, which is 98% of the time. We did make it to Ikea and back in the rain with a large amount of stuff and although long, it worked out flawlessly. Well, one day we decided to make the journey to Coop obs! since everyone told us that is the closest thing we would find to Wal-mart and where we could probably get the final things on our list we hadn't been able to find anywhere else. So we looked up what bus stop to get off on and found that it was right across the street from the stop and not too far of a ride. Just before the bus stop we passed a Coop obs Bygg and assumed that was it. We had been warned that there were all types of Coops (they do that a lot here) and the different names meant a different store. Coop prix: mini market, Coop Bygg: hardware store, Coop Mega: bigger food store, etc. Anyway, we walk to the store and it was just the hardware store. I was really confused since we had both separately looked up the location and it said "obs" in the title! And since we don't have phone service right now we couldn't look at our GPS or the website. I was pretty frustrated! We decided to just get back on the bus and ride 35 minutes back home. We immediately looked at the route when we got home and we had been right next to the correct Coop! We had walked the wrong direction and just assumed we had the wrong one rather than looking around for a different store. And we should have just asked the clerks... but we still had Norwegian anxiety, ha ha. Later that night I told my mom the story and she asked, "Didn't you have a map of the city and the address with you to make sure you got there?" Ha ha, well no. I guess our digital generation forgets that we can find places without our phones! Duh! Mom, thanks for the lesson on how you should really get around the city,  ha ha.

Luckily, people in the ward are very helpful and although it was a week and half after I wanted our stuff, I eventually got a ride to the Coop Obs! we had been right next to and was able to load up on a ton of stuff because we had a car! Wahoo!

In Norway everyone looks at you like you're crazy when you buy half this much stuff, but in America this would be a normal Costco shopping day. Needless to say, I felt SO much more settled when this big trip was done. And extra happy we didn't have to carry it on the bus.

The Saga of the Washing Machine

As I mentioned in my last post, the story of getting to know my washer/dryer is longer than any other everyday adjustments so far, and I'd like to document the funny (not-so-funny times) with it so hopefully I can laugh about it someday :). The day after we arrived in Norway I knew I had a lot of laundry to do and thought I would take more than at a glance at our washer/dryer. And this is what I saw:

I decided not to wash that day and figured I could wait a little longer before we ran out of clean underwear. Then I could take time to really sit down and figure it out.

Flash forward ahead to a few days later when Barrett is at work and Lily is sleeping so I have no more reason to procrastinate washing. I pulled out my iPad with google translate ready, perfectly confident it couldn't be that different than washers and dyers I have used in the past. Well I was wrong! It probably took me 15 minutes just to translate the two rows of buttons and the vertical row. I figured the vertical row must be indicators of where the cycle was and I found out tørk meant dry. However, what kind of dry is "cupboard dry" and "iron dry"? That's not really indicating heat is it? I got discouraged and decided I didn't want to start the task of translating around the dial, and would just ask my landlords for help.

In the mean time I posted a picture on Instagram/Facebook and got some great responses. Here are three of the best. From my all too funny past coworker, Melanie, she said: "I would wash the clothes on Finskyll, press the button sensitiv and start the wash. And then I would pray real hard that the lights don't come on for 'Slutt' or 'Overdose'. Good luck" Ha ha! Thanks Melanie. And my good friend, Julie's, husband Nate (which I'm sure he'll be happy about being quoted in my blog ;)) said "My vast knowledge of Norwegian tells me you should avoid the Slutt setting. Just trying to be helpful!" And from another past coworker whose intelligence is obviously way above mine, Denise said "I'm thinking that the sentrifug setting has a really fast spin cycle that separates the lights from the darks", with a picture of a medical needle by it. Um, I had to look up what centrifuge even meant when I was translating, but Barrett had to explain the other reference to me which had gone right over my head. At least I got some good laughs while waiting to do my wash. And don't worry, there is no translation for slutt or overdose. My landlord didn't even know what they meant. Maybe just there for a good laugh??

Anyway, back to the story, that night we went to talk to my landlord about several things and I asked about the oven and the washing/drying machine settings. When I specifically asked about the cupboard dry versus iron dry they smiled a little and started explaining how cupboard dry is dry enough that you could hang something in the cupboard to finish drying, while iron dry means you would need an iron to finish drying it. So... iron dry is less dry? Yes. Of course that makes sense. Huh? Can't I just have low, medium, and high dry settings? My landlord came down and looked at the rest of the settings, and just to make the story even better he repeatedly said he didn't really have much to do with cooking or washing. He did awkwardly translate most things, of which I found out the dial does pretty much everything and that there was an option with temperature settings under a colors section and a whites section. Okay, perfect I'm good to go. So I do the wash and experiment with drying settings. Since timed dry only lasted for 11 minutes I decided I guess I'll test the cupboard/iron dry. On the clothes I didn't want dried on high I tried iron dry and this is what came out.

Man, they weren't joking that you have to iron as these dry! And the clothes are still very hot when they come out so I don't think this setting is actually a low dry setting, just for less time. Maybe our clothes have shrunk. I'm sure we'll find out over time.

I got my first week's load of washing done and felt fine. Maybe a little annoyed I'm going to have to hang dry pretty much all of my clothes, even after they've been dried in the dryer, and that they'll still come out really wrinkled. Also take into account that the washer and dryer are the same machine so I have to wait for one load to completely finish washing and drying before I can start another load, and the washer and dryer settings are both about 100 minutes separately for each cycle. I told myself "Okay, I need to accept that washing is going to take a lot longer than it did before. But I have plenty of time at home to do that." 

On my second attempt I actually felt pretty confident and finished my whites with no problem. Then I go to take out my next load and what did I find? The load had been dyed a pinkish color. 

 It's hard to tell in the first picture so I tried to zoom in, but the white in that shirt is far more pink than it looks.

Luckily it was a small load so I took it out to assess the damage. After calling Barrett over, of course. Normally little things like this totally push me over the edge. I'll start growling out of frustration or sometimes if the moment is right, even shed a couple tears beating myself up before I can handle the situation calmly. But for some reason, this time I stayed relatively calm and we decided that only a couple items were worth the effort to try to fix. In trying to understand what bled and why, I explained to Barrett that the clothes haven't come out cold like I would like a cycle of colors to be washed in. After a couple questions I realized my common sense is not great.  There's only a cold setting in the sensitive or handwash side of the dial, so I had just been washing in the coldest setting of Celsius on the color and white side. Well, the cold is 30 degree Celsius, which Barrett reminded me is about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Duh! I could have figured that out. I guess now I'll be washing everything as sensitive since that is where the "Kaldt" setting is. 

Do Norwegians really wash all their clothes in warm to hot water and then air dry everything? Maybe sometime when I'm in the presence of a native Norwegian and the topic comes up, I'll ask how they do their wash.

Since we don't have a car, and I don't know Norwegian products, I waited a couple days until a friend in the ward was taking me out shopping and told me where I could find something equivalent to Oxi, which is my go-to for stains. I did find some sort of Oxi at the store and soaked everything twice, this shirt three times, but NONE of the color came out. I swear if I had my normal stuff it would have worked. But, oh well, this shirt and Lily' pajamas (which don't matter much) are the only things that are really noticeable so I guess goodbye to this shirt.

I started wash again this morning. It's 3:00pm and my first load is still drying. I'm sure everything will go just fine this time around. Wish me luck!

Changes in the little things

I have developed a whole new empathy for missionaries. Especially those who go out of the country and are submersed in a different language. They are brave! There are different experiences when you have a family out of your native country versus being a missionary. But I am grateful I have Barrett to experience this with me and that others aren't depending on me to learn the language quickly. With that said, here are just a few of the minor, everyday things that we adjusted to the first few days we moved to Norway. Most has to do with small items in our apartment that help us live day-to-day, and grocery shopping. What I did expect: everything to be in Norwegian, the neighborhoods and surrounding scenery looking different, walking and riding the bus everywhere, and not having the ability to fully communicate with people in public places. What I didn't expect: for my microwave, oven, stove, and washer to not only be in Norwegian but to literally have completely different functions. I'm not sure why I thought appliances would be the same over here? And I didn't expect the shock of not knowing what to buy or what to cook, leaving me hungry all the time. Again, these things aren't that important and life changing, just altered the way we do things everyday.

We noticed the two comforter thing when we were looking for apartments in Norway. Well, here it is. We have two separate almost full-size comforters to use and not sheets. It is nice is some ways that I'm not always taking most of the covers from Barrett (he says:)) and you do get your own space. But it makes it hard to cuddle when you're going to bed when you have to ask your spouse if they can lift up their comforter for you to join.

I walk to the market about 3 times a week, which has actually been nice. It gets me out of the house, encourages me to interact with Norwegians more often, and walking 2 minutes to buy food is so much nicer than getting Lily in and out of the carseat twice and carrying groceries from the car. 

Here we are slicing bread for the first time. We were informed about the need to slice your own bread here, so that wasn't a surprise. So Barrett, being Barrett, looked up a video and was a pro at it the first time. Me, being me, didn't really pay attention and asked just a few questions afterward. When I went to do slice bread by myself for the first time, it wasn't quite a disaster, but let's just say some bread fell on the floor and the slices didn't get in the bag going the same direction. Don't worry, I made sure I was by myself when I attempted the bread slicer on my own. Better luck next time. (I did make sure to pay attention to how Barrett did it today at the store.)

When we came home from our first shopping trip it seemed like our cupboards were still bare. And since I'm still in the nauseous stage of pregnancy and need to eat every 2 hours, not just because I'm hungry but because it keeps me from getting sick, I really noticed the lack of snacks. I knew America was a snack nation, but I didn't realize how much. When I woke up that first night all jet lagged and wide awake I was starving. It felt like my belly was being eaten from the inside out. Each shopping trip I get a little more adjusted, and with a lot of help from our friends, I'm finding that they do actually have most of the food I bought in America. Maybe no more snacks than Ritz crackers, raisins, and yogurt, but I'll get there. I also had this silly epiphany yesterday when I was feeling a little panicked that I couldn't plan dinners because they don't sell cheddar cheese here, I have no spices, etc. I asked a lady in our ward (who is from America but served her mission here and is now married to a Norwegian so has lived her for 8 years), where I could find many items I didn't have yet after repeated shopping. She offered to send me the names in Norwegian and sent me some pictures to go along with it. Wait, maybe I haven't been buying this stuff because I don't know the Norwegian names for them?? Ha ha, duh! I would just buy what I recognized and kind of stand dumbfounded at the shelves I didn't recognize, leaving that aisle empty handed. (Side note: just to give myself a little credit, I probably would have been looking the names up on google translator while in the store but we have no data service yet and it really is overwhelming to try to look up the name of every item on your list when you're not sure they even sell it in this country) Anyway, shopping this morning was so satisfying! They really do sell all the items I need! I just needed to know the right names.

Next, appliances. This is the dial for our oven. Wait, there are different settings on an oven besides bake and broil? Our microwave, stove, and dishwasher are different too, but self explanatory.

But the washer? Woah that's a lot of Norwegian words all smashed together. I had never heard of a combined washer and dryer. And it can have that many functions?

I'll leave the tale of learning the washer/dryer to my next post...

The adjustments are getting easier everyday and soon I'll be the one teaching new expats how to shop and use their appliances (maybe). But one thing that I love thinking about is that no matter where you live we're all doing the same things. Women all over the world are dressing children, putting them down for naps and bedtime, gathering food for their families, cooking, cleaning, and making time to get together to socialize. There are hundreds of ways to do these tasks in every culture, but we all have to meet those basic needs to live. We do live in Norway now, and I am learning how to do my normal tasks, but that's just it. I'm still doing what I've always done. Living life.

Velkommen til Norge!

We made it to Norway! Wow it has been a whirlwind of change since we got here. Some changes you expect and some you don't. Before I explain too much, here are a couple pictures of saying goodbye to family before we left.

Barrett's family took us to the airport, so we said goodbye to my parents first. It really was sad. We look all happy in this picture, but I definitely shed a few tears driving to Barrett's family's house. We had been in limbo long enough that we were ready to get started in Norway, but it's still hard knowing you (and especially Lily) won't see them for a really long time.

 Lily LOVED "Lukie". They were pals for sure and she always asked where he went if he was out of sight. He would also wait at the top of the stairs when she would wake up in the mornings.

Us and all of our many bags. We did ship several boxes and Barrett's bike, but other than a few things in there, this is our life for at least the next year. It seems like a lot, but have you tried to fit all of your stuff into 6 bags? It gets tight. Fast.

Luckily we did have all of Barrett's family to help us with all those bags! It looked like we were all going on vacation, ha ha.

 Saying goodbye to Lily :(

Getting ready to take-off on our first flight. Our total travel time was about 17 hours. We left Salt Lake at 5:00pm and arrived in Minneapolis around 8:00. We had a short time to walk to the next gate and stand for a little bit, until we had to board the next flight to Amsterdam.

 Lily was amazing on the flights! She only got a little restless on the first 3-hour flight, but played with her toys. Then before take-off on the second flight we put her pajamas on and did her bedtime routine. She was out quickly and slept the entire flight, waking up only a short time before landing. We were lucky to have two seats to ourselves on the side, which was perfect. Barrett was such a trooper and held Lily the entire flight, so I could get up and go to the bathroom all through the night, ha ha. They fed us 2 meals and we watched movies and slept. It was an 8-hour flight, but it really went by quickly. (Sorry for the blurry, front camera selfie)

When we arrived in Amsterdam it was early in the morning for us, but midday there. The last flight was a little delayed, but it was nice to be out of the plane for awhile. We also had a few new rules on this flight which we didn't expect. Lily was supposed to have her own boarding pass and she had to be in her own buckle. They have cool attachments that buckle to the adult seat so she can strap in while on your lap. She didn't like that very much since she was used to getting up and down as she wanted. It was also our first taste of Norwegian and not being able to understand anything. The last flight was only an hour and a half, but it was the hardest for me. We actually all fell asleep during take-off because we were so tired, ha ha.

But when we woke up for the snack I got really sick. I had been a little nauseous on the second flight, but not like this. I don't know if it was the smaller plane or just that we were tired and had been on 3 flights. But I was so close to being sick that Barrett grabbed a bag for me when we were landing. I don't know how I made it but I sure was grateful when we got off that plane.

We contacted the bishop in the Stavanger ward before we moved and he connected us with another American family. They offered to pick us up from the airport, feed us dinner, and then drive us to our new home. So nice of them! I love the Church! It has to be true for so many people to be incredibly Christlike and giving of themselves. I am always surprised with how willing people are to help. We don't have a car (which is one of the big adjustments) and many families in our ward have reached out to give us rides already. Anyway, we had a groggy dinner at the Meads, asking all the questions we could, and taking in as much as our brains would hold, before we arrived at our apartment.

It looked exactly like the pictures. That sounds funny, but it was surreal standing in front of this house you had looked at knowing that when you were there you would be in Norway. Norway! Anyway, here are some pictures of the outside.

Our landlords live in the top two levels and we are in the basement. They are very nice and have twins that are a few months younger than Lily and have already been good playmates. Things like this are such a blessing in a foreign place. That's the window into our living room. It's a basement, but doesn't really feel like it (thankfully) because we are above ground.

 The pathway to our front door is to the left of the picture above. Don't worry I will take some pictures of the inside and post them eventually. It is really small, but very nice inside, furnished, and has plenty of space for what we'll need short-term here.

Just to put a plug in for visiting Norway... :) Now that wasn't such a bad flight to Norway right? Takes a little while, but you get some meals, drinks, free movies, and sights of different countries. And just to entice you more, here is a sneak peak into a little of the nature. We went on a couple minute walk to the lake nearby our house and found this beautiful scenery!

Anyway, we want visitors. So let me know if you're interested. Then we can hold a sign for you at the airport that says "Velkommen til Norge!"

Random pictures...

Some random pictures to finish up the summer posts.

Barrett's family owns an old scooter so we went for a summer night ride.

I love golf. I really do. I don't remember how much I miss it until I get to play. This picture is when I played with brother and dad, which I only got to do once.

 These couple are from playing at one of the family reunions. We had back-to-back weekends of family reunions with both sides of Barrett's family.

We sold my car :( It's amazing how attached you get to something, but I love this car. I have countless memories of driving the many, many miles to client's houses while I was working. We sold it to a great family, and the daughter who is going to be a senior at Brighton High School will be driving it. One sacrifice of moving, ha ha.

A couple more from family reunions.

Barrett's mom caught this cute one. These girls loved Lily.

 Lisa Falls up Little Cottonwood Canyon. Go if you haven't been. It's perfect for kids because it only takes a few minutes and then there are great falls they can play in when they get there.

Lagoon with the extended fam. This was Lily's first time going on rides and she did great!

 We found out I was pregnant the day before Lagoon and since we hadn't told anybody I was careful to go on a couple rides but acted sick. Well, I thought this swing ride would be mellow, but then I really did get way sick. We went home after that, ha ha.

 Lily seemed fine with it.

I really wish we had been able to take Lily camping this summer, but it just didn't happen. Dinner at a ward campout was the closest we got.

We were able to make it to the Ogden temple open house with my mom before we left.

These white booties look a lot cuter on little feet.

Lily always asked to go in the backyard to "fwing".

She also loved this tent that was up in Barrett's parents' house most of the time. But of course the camping chair and the sippy cup had to be in there with her.

We also made it back to Park City to use our alpine slide passes, and Lily rode with us. We went on the Alpine Coaster, which was seriously so fun. Go do for a date night sometime, it's worth it.

Phew. I think that is finally the end of our busy summer!