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.