My New Norwegian Home

Americans love food. It's a stereotype, it's a fact of life. Food is awesome! After following the Americans in Norway group on Facebook, I've realized a common complaint among Americans is the lack of food variety in Norway. I'm guilty of complaining of the same thing - A LOT. I've made compromises, but for the most part, I've come to terms with it and do as Teddy Roosevelt once stated, "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." This means making a lot of things from scratch and that's okay because I could desperately use the cooking experience and homemade meals are generally healthier. ****Just a side note of advice from one expat to another: Depending on my mood, sometimes it's not a great idea to replicate a family recipe. Even if I follow the recipe EXACTLY, it never tastes the same. It's frustrating and if you're homesick at the time, it just doesn't go over well.***** Due to our daughter's approaching due ...

Finally. The day has come where I have met an American in Norway. The fact that she is an American the same age as me doesn't really matter. It's nice to consult in a friend, no matter where they are from. A person is a person. BUT of course it is nice to speak with someone who has the same type of background and culture as you as well as trying to learn Norwegian with having the same mother tongue. Although she is from busy, high trafficked Los Angeles, California and I am from back woods, rural Kentucky (two different cultures right there) it's very interesting comparing the two states and backgrounds, yet still having the same nationality and other things in common. She comes from a state where marijuana can be prescribed for tons of medical issues and I come from a place which was a dry county and it was illegal to even buy or sell alcohol until a recent vote 2 weeks ago (although Kentucky is one of the largest whiskey and bourbon makers in the world!). I come fro...

While there are a lot of good foods and bakeries that will make you drool, there are also a lot of foods in Norway you can't help but wonder in its strangeness, "People really eat that?" As a foreigner coming to Norway, it's expected that I find some cultural aspects strange or weird. At first thinking people actually eat moose was a bit strange to me, but I've tried some and it's not so bad. If I hadn't known better I'd have thought it were beef. However, US customs doesn't allow "exotic meats" such as moose and reindeer jerky, so in Detroit's airport I had to hand over the jerky I was trying to bring to my family. First and foremost, being so accustomed to chocolately peanutbuttery candy as we have in America it was a bit of a let down when I couldn't find but some makeshift Reese's cups and in place of all the chocolately marshmallowy peanutbuttery candy, I have found an American's worst candy nightmare - LICORICE! ...

Homesickness is a bit unique, isn't it? It comes and goes. There's really nothing to take it away other than "home" itself. You can distract yourself, keep yourself busy, but you know homesickness is there. Possibly even more so during holidays.  Johnny Cash version of My Old Kentucky Home aka the state song  <---- You can listen to this while reading my post if you want to get an extra feel for Kentucky. :-)  It's been over 6 months since my move to Norway and I'm beginning to feel the pangs of homesickness. It's not out of control or anything, but it's well... there. I miss being with family and going to dinner or meeting friends. I miss tickling my little sister, having long talks with my grandparents, visiting and gossiping with my mother or going out for ice cream with my dad. I miss rural Kentucky scenery. I like it here in Norway. I really like it, but really I miss the sights, sounds, smells... so many things about my dear old Kentucky...

In college, I took a Japanese course. Why, I really don't know, after two years of French in high school, I was tired of language but since it was required, I basically said the heck with it and signed up for a semester of Japanese. Anyways, my teacher or sensei or 先生 (if you really want to get technical and yes, I had to look that up) would always say in class everyday when it comes to learning a language:                                          "Practice makes permanent!!!" I've found it so much easier to speak Norwegian with friends from language classes than natives here in Norway. I don't really care too much about my bad Norwegian so much as long as I can make myself understood to my friends, but it's completely different when I speak to Norwegians. Of course I do speak Norwegian to other Norwegians (when I have to) but I know they have a hard time understanding me sti...

A couple of weeks ago, my mother-in-law told me a typical Norwegian quote, "There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing!" I still have no idea how to dress and when I came here with all my "Kentucky clothes" as I call them now, I wasn't prepared at all for Norwegian weather. I just love a quote from one of the Alt for Norge contestants, "The Norwegian weather hates you!"   That really sums it up! :-) When I first arrived here to a very rainy and cool summer, my husband asked, "Where's your raincoat?" I told him, "I've never had one." He looked at me like I was crazy and asked, "What did you do in Kentucky when it rains?" I explained to him if it rained, it would dry soon. Kentucky weather changes from hour to hour, so a raincoat never mattered much to me anyways. And honestly, I've never had much use for umbrellas and raincoats. I hate wearing layers of clothing and I hate clothing (like...

While there are political issues in America (and I feel a much deeper attachment to America than Norway) like healthcare, economy and unemployment, women's issues (though this has been a huge debate throughout the entire campaign, neither of our opponents even mentioned it in this last debate) and many other concerns, I'm NOT going to talk about my political views or anything of the sort because I think that either makes people like you a little less or a little more and really, I'd like people to just like me for what's beyond the person I vote for. And although here on Norway time our presidential debates don't come on the television until 3 in the morning, I just go to this website the morning after rather than confuse myself with listening to each party's exaggerations....  Fact Check! With our upcoming election I wanted to exercise my right to vote. What I had to do was send in an absentee ballot request to the county clerk's office of the previous...

Just a quick update as I've been away on my honeymoon the past week and a half. Today I was surprised to see a web interview I had with a site last month published! It can be found in the link below. I am absolutely thrilled and excited to open my e-mail inbox and find that this is made available on the web! InterNations Any curious expat or soon-to-be expatriate can view the site and see what it has to offer in support for expatriate communities! You can find anything from expatriate blogs to tips and guides on living and working in Norway via this site.

Strange how people can have so much love for a little ball of fur!  I've written about my cat and the difficulties of getting her from Kentucky to Norway. I've been asked many many questions about doing this, so I'll just write an entire blog post on importing cats to Norway since I feel I may be an expert at this now. Just kidding, of course! :-) I will say importing a pet from America to Norway is tedious and expensive. I think Stella had a total of 4 vet visits for vaccines and check ups prior to departure. Each of them costing me around $200. The vaccines must be given to the pet at certain times, so there's only a certain time span some vaccines can be given to the pet. Microchipping and a check-up was the first thing we had to do and that had to be done a few months before leaving. In between 5-10 days of departure we had to have her last check up. To make sure things were done right and instead of waiting on the USDA seal of approval from Frankfort, KY to ...

I just have to say, I'm getting a few e-mails from my readers and it's a very bizarre moment for me to realize I'm openly writing about the craziest thing I've ever decided to do with my life and receive e-mails from other people in similar situations. I greatly enjoy talking to others in situations like mine! It's very hopeful and relieving! I understand when people read blogs like mine, this is the sort of thing they're looking for. I've purposely made this particular blog extremely personal just for this matter. I guess I'll have to start off by saying I would never jump out of a plane without a parachute. I've done research on Norway and have spent countless hours talking to Arild. Being a high-anxiety person in general, I think this is a crazy crazy thing to do, but I am so happy and so excited to be able to experience this! I'm often asked if I'm scared doing this. I'm not. Not at all. I'm scared of falling off the bed in my s...