Back Home, Y'all

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Well, I've been back in Norway for a couple of weeks now. I have so many topics of ever-changing life in Norway, but I lack the energy to do much of anything these days - let alone write in my blog. So I've kind of been neglecting this blog and just hope for the best in a couple of months. Someone please tell me you can feel human again after a baby is born, right? Right? Or does that happen sometime 18 years in the future?

However, here I am for now and we had a fantastic time going back to Kentucky, but it is good to be back home in Norway.

There are no Amish in Norway, but even so, I'm not
sure what his fascination with the Amish is all about? 

I kind of really missed Kentucky farmland...




I've been back to Kentucky twice since my big move and both times I've begun to notice more and more differences between each place. What was most fun was bringing along my husband for this trip and listening to him grumble at some of the cultural differences and gain some insight from a "foreign" perspective. He was asked several times by men, "Do you like to go huntin' and fishin'?" He also had a lot to say (in other words a lot of mumbling and grumbling) about the difference in air quality between Norway and the US and I have to agree with him there, I like the Norwegian air better as it's a lot less humid - and the water. We both agreed the tap water tastes much better and cleaner in Norway than in the US which tastes of chemicals.

There was also customer service, which I think is better in the US, but when it comes to waiters and waitresses perhaps it's more along the lines of them simply being extra friendly on a working-for-tips basis, which doesn't happen in Norway. Of course my husband had to comment that "the US is more stereotypical than what he thought" particularly with TV commercials. For example, a classic series of a TV commercial break would be after a depressing and paranoia-stricken news lecture, a commercial on a medication where all side effects are listed in a sped narrating voice, followed by a lawyer commercial asking you to call their number for help suing someone or another, followed by another cheesy commercial with incredibly bad acting. Ahhhh, America! :-) However, we are both in love with American food and mutually agree for our health's sake maybe it's good we live in Norway. ;-)

Anyways, the main point of this trip was to cram in as many friends and family visits as possible in a short amount of time. I have now learned this isn't smart! It was nice to see everyone, but it's not so nice to exhaust yourself, which is exactly what I did and dealt with massive elephant cankles during the trip back to Norway.
Swollen ankles....
Thankfully, I can see my ankles again!!!

Not to mention, we were also on a 4 hour delayed flight back to Oslo because someone found a bullet on the plane. Sooo, we had to go through security yet again, and since I refused zapping the unborn with X-rays, I opted out and got another pat down.... this time the security officer told me to stay where I was and walked over to get her supervisor. She asked where my husband was and then got my husband so he could be there while they went through my luggage and asked me to go into a separate room - still not explaining what was going on until we were in the room and she explained I tested positive for nitroglycerin. I was too scared to say anything to her. So I just did everything she said and after another pat down and series of questions, it turns out I wasn't building a bomb, but I had eaten a turkey sandwich before boarding the plane instead. Apparently turkey has nitrates in it. We were never happier to board a plane after all of that!


I did take some time to visit "the real Kentucky" or what I guess I have more romanticized visions of when I'm homesick and dwell on missing home. I even got to catch some lightning bugs! :-) We also made a 6 hour visit to New York when we had a 19 hour layover. I liked New York a lot better than what I thought I would and I'd love to go back again!

Top of the Rock in Manhattan

Times Square

Our trip to the US was great, but it's also good to be back to our Norwegian home and I look forward to coming back to Kentucky sometime next year. I'm sure I'll have a lot to say in a future blog post about traveling with an infant. (Oh dear!)

Comments

H. Bratset said…
Loved this post!! I just love driving through the countryside and seeing all of the barns and white horse fences here in KY. It really is gorgeous.

I laughed when I read the part about the commercials... it's so true and embarrassing. It's hard to explain to people from Norway or other countries how people love to sue people here. The pharmaceutical commercials too!!! Oh my God, it's insane! A girl is walking peacefully in a field of flowers, gazing at her lover/husband/whatever. They walk away toward the sun, hand in hand, while the narrator is listing the possible side effects, each new one worse than the previous, and often ending with "and in very rare cases can cause death." It's totally insane.

I hope you are feeling well, and having a peaceful pregnancy! I always enjoy reading your posts.
July 19, 2013 at 8:12 PM
Arild B. Sand said…
Great description of the pharmaceutical commercials, H. Bratset! People smiling while the narrator says "diarrhea" always cracks me up. :-)
July 23, 2013 at 4:11 PM
Trine C said…
Yes, you do feel human again after having a baby. And you do (sometime, even though it might take time) get your energy back. After two kids, I still think the last weeks of the pregnancy is the hardest part - hang in there and good luck!

August 8, 2013 at 10:37 PM
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