My New Norwegian Home

I am now finished watching the season of Lilyhammer. I have to admit, I really liked the show. I don't think I liked the main character, I thought he was sexist, violent, manipulative, and "righting wrongs" for freedom's sake. All things that make the show entertaining I suppose. I do like the show though and it really helps watching with learning the language. In some ways I think it gives the wrong image of the country as in the American gangster main character disapproving of what I would best call "way of life" for Norwegians. It's breeding ground for ethnocentrism from an American point of view, BUT again this is what makes the show entertaining! All 8 episodes tend to show some aspect of this and the theme of the show is based around that while still maintaining the story line. This is an extremely  minor part of the show, but for example, ( I will try to tip toe my way around trying to give away any spoilers!!!) in one episode it shows the non-vio

Something I listen to quite often is this Norwegian girl on youtube. Her videos are really helpful in learning the language. I think I'm beginning to realize now that when I take my classes in August they may be a bit slow paced for the sake of others that say have to learn an entirely new alphabet and what not, so a lot of my learning will probably be done on my own or well, simply being immersed in the culture.We'll just have to wait and see, but that is my assumption.  Karin's Norwegian Teaching  Anyways, I find this young lady's videos interesting and extremely helpful. I am now finally able to pronounce "clothes" properly in Norwegian now! Klaer. :-) I've been able to spell it, but I find pronunciation tricky with this word as well as many others. Oh and I also learned a new sentence today as well. Jeg er sikker. Which is, "I am sure." So this morning I wrote to Arild, "Jeg er sikker." He wrote back in English, "Sure about

One thing for certain is the difference between Norwegian and Kentucky/ American news. Our news channels have stories filled with kidnappings, murders, shootings, weather, assault charges, robberies, politics, war, etc. etc. etc. and then we have commercial breaks with advertisements of anti-depressants. Their news is well, more innocent. Here's the perfect example of this difference. One is the main news story today in Arild's town, Skien. The other is the main news story for today in the Louisville, Kentucky area. Who Can Save the Little Duckling?   <----- Skien, Norway Louisville's Most Notorious Murder Suspect in Court on Assault Charges  <----- Lousiville, KY, USA Saving a duck trapped in fishing line (and attempts at contacting police over this issue) and a trigger happy murdering thug. Our news is on total opposite ends of the spectrum! I just thought I'd share this amusement today! :-)

I think one thing Americans are very well known for worldwide is our love of food. I've started my own little project of learning how to cook(this goes back to my mission of trying to get Arild to eat like a normal human being) and so I bought a Norwegian cookbook and have been trying some recipes from it. So far most things have turned out okay with the exception of some potato dumplings gone horribly wrong. For the most part the cookbook is filled with fish recipes. I'll skip that. Then there's some more very Norwegian dishes like reindeer this and that. I won't even express my opinions of reindeer stew or even lamb. :-) So far, I've been interested in the potato recipes (there are so many!) and bread and dessert recipes. Of course! I have recently been enlightened on how spoiled (that is the best term I can think of) Americans are when it comes to food choice. It does make sense though! America is probably one of the most if not the most diverse country in th

We're still in winter and apparently February 2nd shown us we will have 6 more weeks of it according to the national tradition of Groundhog's Day. I've recently realized something, well I realized it when I was in Norway, even more so now since we did have a few cold days recently,but Norwegians have great insulation in their homes! They should anyways since they live in a cold climate. Arild thought this was funny when the other day I was complaining about being cold and shivering and told him I wish I were back in Norway. :-) In Kentucky, I come home and I turn the heat on and wrap in a blanket. At my new home I was comfortable inside wearing a tanktop. I was also a bit weirded out when I walked barefoot into the bathroom for the first time because the floor was amazingly warm. I took into consideration Arild told me before that the floor is heated, but what I thought he meant was the vents were in the floors like they are in some homes. Nope, the actual floor is heated!

With Valentine's Day approaching I think it's fitting to talk about long-distance relationships. Who in their right mind thinks, "I want one of those." the answer is this, no one. Long-distance relationships are hard. Well, actually I should probably say high maintenance as that's a better term for it really. This relationship is remarkably easy and well worth the wait and hassle of getting to the end of my Kentucky life/ the beginning of my life in Norway. I feel like I've been friends with Arild and have known him my entire life in many ways, but in others such as being with him in person is still quite new. We try to make our relationship as "normal" as possible. When we first decided we wanted a relationship out of this, it certainly wasn't how your typical relationship begins. We were friends of course and had met as pen pals, but once we decided we really liked one another and would like to meet up sometime we had to discuss the pros and co

A quick update on a show that is now aired on Netflix,  "Lilyhammer"  Lillehammer or "Lilyhammer" as we Americans pronounce it. It is a city in Norway, by the way and if you're familiar with The Sopranos (I know. I know. That HBO show about the Italian mafia or something?) Steven Van Zandt stars in it. I watched the first episode last night and I can't make a judgement on it yet, but it does hold some interest for me since 1) it's located in Norway and 2) it will help with my language learning and 3)it shows A LOT of Norwegian culture and this can be good and bad because well, good as in you can see aspects of the country, interests of the people, etc and bad because well, it maintains an outdated view of Norway for its American viewers. I'll go back and watch the 2nd episode of course. :-) There are few differences between Norwegian and American TV. They watch American TV shows, thankfully and they also have their own Norwegian channels as well. S

 Every visit we've had, we have always given each other small gifts (pictures, candy, t-shirts, etc.) This last trip Arild gave me candy as well as a magnet of a troll family! He's mentioned quite a few times I need more magnets on my refrigerator and I think this is just adorable. :-) I'm thinking they need names. :-)  This came in the mail today!!!!! The cake topper! :-) I can't wait to put this on a shelf in the living room! <3  May 18, 2012  <3

In searching for an airline approved carry-on bag for Miss Stella, I think I've finally found one.... MAYBE! Unfortunately it doesn't come in purple, which is the color I think matches her best. It's a crazy cat lady thing, I'm sure only crazy pet owners would understand being peculiar when it comes to picking colors of items for their pets. :-)  Click to View Stella's Potential Carry On I also ordered some more wedding supplies and I think I'm getting very close to being finished with that now! We now have a personalized cake topper so we can keep it on a shelf in the living room (my plan for it) and since I was originally fond of butterflies on wedding cakes, then changed my mind, then went back to the idea and today I'm in the mood where I really don't care, it's cake and it's going to be devoured by 30-50 people so it really doesn't matter! So I ordered the royal blue butterflies I thought were cute. I now picked the time to alter my d

Phew! I'm needing to take a break from my parenting class! I'd almost say that it is the most difficult class I've ever had. As it should be of course, parenting is the most difficult job in the world I'd imagine. I've decided to take this class as an elective because I think it would be beneficial. Only recently I've decided I actually want to have children one of these days and although my friends daily posts on facebook about cleaning up poo off the floor and terrible two's deserving its rightful name sometimes sounds downright horrible, I'm 100% certain this is something I can't live without experiencing for myself.  I've had classes concerning marriage, family, and now I've decided to take an elective in parenting strategies. In reading textbooks surrounding these topics I've noticed a lot of talk about two countries in particular being great when it comes to support in these areas; those countries being Norway and Japan. I've fo

Great, but very delayed news! We now have a venue for the wedding and have started on invitations, looking at wedding readings and I'm now working on setting up a date for getting my dress altered which will hopefully be the same date as Stella's international move check up. :-) YES!!!!! One room of the southern styled home we're renting for the wedding reception.  Two things I want to bring up, one being my comfort level at my new home and the second, flu shots. Oh well let's make that three; my first dream in "Norwegian." It was a strange experience entering my new home, which Arild recorded. I've seen it multiple times on Skype, so I already knew the layout, but I was extremely comfortable and felt right at home once I was there. Perhaps it was because I already made my mark before entering with all my junk that's already there. Not to mention a few pandas here and there. A sure sign I've personalized my "territory." He has soc