Gratis, ikke Gravid....Free, Not Pregnant.

I chuckle to myself every time I think about this.

Stian's mom and I went shopping for curtains. We went to a few stores and compared thoughts about the different curtains we were looking at. Stian eventually met up with us with impeccable timing - we had just decided on the perfect curtains for the new apartment. I consulted Stian because after all, it was his apartment too, and when he agreed on liking them, we started to look for the correct packages to buy.

We found 4 packages in the right length (exactly what we needed), and then, after turning the packages over and over looking for a price tag, we couldn't find one.

Stian asked me, "How much are these, anyway?"

Trying to be funny with a little Norwegian I learned on TV and in some advertisements, I said, "Hmm. Must be gravid."

He laughed and gave me a funny look. "Gravid????"

Realizing my mistake, I laughed so hard people started looking at us, but managed to correct myself. "Gratis! I meant gratis! Gratis is free. Gravid is....pregnant. The curtains are most definitely not pregnant."

I surely did not intend to say that the curtains were pregnant, but it obviously was much funnier than I planned that little joke to be, and I don't think that experience is something I'll soon forget.

What a great reminder to be light-hearted and open-minded about learning a new language and living in a new country.

Skål! (Cheers!)

The curtains! And only part of the living room.
...please excuse the massive amount of laundry drying in the middle of the room.

Arriving in Norway: A Few Detours, A Grueling Hike, And Making Our Way to the Apartment

Upon arriving in Bergen, a good friend came to pick us up at the airport. Unfortunately, he couldn't fit us AND all of our luggage in his little car, so he took our stuff to his apartment and we took the bus.

Forty-five minutes later, we were reunited with our things. It was time to drive 3 hours North of Bergen to Stian's family home (mind you, this is AFTER at least 18 hours of traveling already...). In order to do that, we needed to do two things: 1) unpack an entire suitcase, shuffle many things around to get to things we would need for the weekend, repack (leaving quite a mess in our dear friend's apartment), and, 2) get Stian's Volkswagen Golf started again.  

The first thing wasn't so bad - only slightly annoying. The second thing wasn't so bad either - mostly hilarious. I only wish I knew where my camera was at the time because it was quite funny to watch the boys push the car out of a parking spot and down a hill with the hope of it miraculously starting. There are just some things I do not understand in this world, and how pushing a car down a hill would get it started again I'll never know. I stood faithfully by showing my support in the matter, but was of no assistance. While the boys worked their magic, I packed (err, unpacked?) and got our things ready to go. Somehow, quite awhile later, they got the car started and we headed for the fjord. 

We spent two great nights at his parents' home, packed up a van with some stuff for the apartment, and then headed to another part of the fjord to his family's farmland for a few days. We went on what was definitely the most grueling hike I've ever been on. We hiked up 1300 meters (approximately 4200 feet), pretty much just UP the entire way, crossed a few rivers, climbed over plenty of rocks, found some large patches of snow to walk over, and made it (about 4 and half hours later) to this, the top of the mountain overlooking the Nærøyfjord:

 : 

              At the most narrow part of the fjord, you can see two patches of trees on the right.
                 The closest one to you is where we started our hike and also where the
 family farm is located.  We were high up!

It was beautiful from the top. In fact the entire hike was beautiful - but tough. More pictures! 

Half way. Ish. 

The group we hiked with. Stian's older brother Tom and a few of his friends.  

Over that hill, there's a few more to conquer!

The grey/white mountain top in the upper left was our destination.

The hubby...happy to be back his homeland. :)

Me bringing up the rear...I don't know how to walk in snow!

On the top of the mountain, getting closer to our destination.

A heart-shaped rock the hubby found!

At the top!

And then we had to go down which, I'll say truthfully, was awful and punishment for the knees. A few hundred meters from the bottom my knees hurt so bad I almost (almost!!!) started crying. They were quivering like I've never felt them quiver and I was nervous that they would completely give out causing me to fall, rolling down the side of the mountain to my death (this thought contributed to the almost crying). The trail was just wide enough for one set of feet, no more, and the edges showed you that if you fell, you'd make a steady descent through shrubs and rocks all the way to the icy fjord water's edge. A week later, my legs have only just loosened up.

We spent a day relaxing in the lovely summer weather before hopping in the van, so loaded down with stuff that I had to crawl via the driver's side to sit next to two suitcases and the gear shift for the two hour drive. 

Our sweet ride...

In that van we squeezed two sofas, one double bed, wedding presents that were awaiting us in Norway, bedding, a box of dishes on loan from Stian's mom (so we have something to eat off of while we wait for our other things to arrive), suitcases, an xbox, and a flat screen tv. That thing was tightly packed! 

And here's a not-so-good-quality (okay, terrible quality) video that I took on the road....(I'm not fooling myself or anyone else by lying that it's a great video, because it's really not). 

We headed back to Bergen to get the keys to our apartment - our new home. Stay tuned!!

Goodbye, USA...Hello, Norway

Oh, how I have missed this blog! It's been too long. I haven't forgotten about it - in fact, just the opposite. I have SO much I want to write about, SO many experiences to share, and I've been constantly thinking about what I want to say, but never quite know where to start.

Maybe you should know about leaving the states and arriving in Norway. What an emotional time! Having to say goodbye to all my friends and family wasn't easy. It was drawn out, exhausting, and once in awhile I wished that Stian and I could sneak off in the middle of the night to escape the goodbye-ing. I realized that plotting our escape would do no good...goodbyes are necessary, goodbyes are healthy, and goodbyes put things into perspective. It's important to say goodbye even if it one of the most difficult things you've ever done.

I got some of the best hugs I have EVER received in the last week leading up to our departure. Oh, there was so much love in those hugs!!! I remember thinking during so many of them that I would never forget how it felt to be hugged liked that in all my life.

We had so much packing to do, and I appreciate all the helping hands during that process. Most of the time, I felt lost. I had to make decisions about what to bring, and barely could because I wanted to be sure my things would arrive to make me feel at home even if I was thousands of miles away in my new life. During the goodbye process, I wasn't a productive packer. I don't know if it was because it all suddenly became real, or because I didn't know what to expect. Whatever the case, I wouldn't have made it to Norway without the help of Stian and my wonderful family. Grandma, I sincerely apologize for the mess I left!!!

I deserted the packing one day to have tea with my mom and sister. While it made my new husband less than pleased (it was obvious with the furrowed eyebrows and general grumpy disposition) by returning 6 hours later (we did some other necessary errands during that time...not just tea!!), I was so grateful for some alone time with them. I think we all needed it.

Despite all the tears (in the two days before we left, Grandma cried if she just looked in our general direction; I cried a good cry before going to sleep the night before we left; the airport was difficult if you looked in the tear-filled eyes of my family; I could barely hold back the STING of sad tears while we waited for our gate to open; etc....), we left and headed for our new life.

After a brief stop in Minnesota and a nice visit with family there, we arrived in Bergen, Norway with all our suitcases, ready to start our lives together.

In Manhattan Beach, headed for the airport.