Summer break has officially started. I, of course, am as busy as usual. While my apartment is coming along, I am anxious to have it be home. The school year is over, but already I have emails about next year's plans. It is certainly tempting to get caught up in looking to what is to come. I really have so much to be excited about. Next school year will bring new learning and challenges as I assume a new position. Of course, Facebook is reminding me that a year ago I was saying my goodbyes and looking forward to this last year's adventures with wide eyed wonder. Here I am straddling the wonder of last year and the promise of next year. I choose to see this as an opportunity to flex those mental muscles of the Norwegian ideals of life balance and pace that I have been tending. There is so much to appreciate about right now, and I am determined to enjoy this summer in the now and not caught up in what is to come. Last year when I was packing my life into storage boxes and suitcases, I was filled with many of the same feelings as now. One conscious decision I remember clearly was the goal to have expectations of myself but not the experience. Quite honestly, I couldn't have imagined this year anyway! There were experiences I would not want to repeat, some that I am sorry to have missed, and many I would happily repeat. So far this summer, I have poured energy into making my apartment more of a home. Some purchases are large and easy to see, and some are small life conveniences. I guess I didn't understand how ready to leave I actually was living in my last apartment. That is if you can even call it living. Perhaps it took realizing that I need a place that feels relaxing to come home to, or maybe it is knowing that I am staying at the least another year, but I am committed to actually living in this place. Moving my things to another apartment and seeing all that was missing to even have company over, awakened a thought in my heart that how I was living was a slippery slope into neglecting self care. Too many years were wasted on lacking self care, so there is definitely a renewed focus there in the coming months. I even began by purchasing something for myself that I didn't need, but wanted. Another fun experience was spending the weekend in Jaren. What a beautiful area. Among other things, I got to garden a little and walk a couple of dogs. It is amazing how you miss little things in your life and don't even know it until you get to do it again. There was another Norwegian cookout as well. I have to tell you, Norwegians know their food and drink, and I was shocked a bit by the amount of food. We started with pølser and lomper. Here I use the Norwegian words because there isn't really a true translation. You can imagine it as a thick hotdog in a tortilla but that just isn't quite right. Pølser are more like sausages, not hotdogs or bratwursts, that are meant to be grilled and eaten by one person, and lomper, while looking like tortillas, are actually a potato flatbread. So, the cookout...STARTED with pølser. I ate one and a half and was fully satisfied and thought this is great. THEN, the hostess brought out salad, potato salad, and sauces for the pork rounds. WHAT?! And let me just tell you that saying, 'No thank you,' to a Norwegian about food and drink is like saying 'Grandma, I'm full.' Challenge accepted. Sooooo, I tried the potato salad, the corn salad (okay lettuce salad but with plenty of corn), and the pork medallions. There was plenty of drinking which I did manage to say no to, but at the expense of being asked if I was a Mormon or had some religion to not drink. Honestly, that one made me laugh out loud. After that, of course we NEEDED dessert and coffee. Apparently I am not meant to play poker because the look on my face upon seeing more food caused quite the chuckle. It was an enjoyable experience as I got to listen to a good chunk of Norwegian conversation, and the guests were thoughtful enough to engage in English for a good portion of conversation also. I am truly enjoying the more personal level of interactions with people here. This week I will visit with a couple of friends before they leave for holiday, but then on Saturday, I will be leaving for an honest to goodness vacation. Yes, yes, every summer teachers get a 'vacation', but this year I am going to have a vacation in the true sense. I am leaving everything on pause for a week while I travel. This is another way I am keeping myself in the present. Norway has many secrets I have yet to unlock, and more sights I have yet to see. There are still a few things I need to purchase to ensure I have a good trip, so I will have to get that done in the next couple of days. You can expect that my next blog post will happen after vacation but will contain many photos of the travels. All of this isn't to say I have lost sight of my future and do not consider my past. Just today when I entered my weight into Fitbit, I scrolled through to find that I have maintained my weight loss for a year. And this weekend, I was asked how long I planned to stay here which has me thinking on the future. For me, it is an exciting time in my life. I am proud of what I have accomplished, and I want to spend time enjoying the great things I have in my life. So I am off to enjoy the now, and at least for the next two weeks, the future can take care of itself because this girl has some traveling to do!
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Hva skjedde indeed. I learned a lot this weekend. The North Sea is fucking cold, not that you can get a native to agree. I need a basket in my fridge with proper pålegg supplies. And you should absolutely not drink four cups of something poured from a jug by a smiling Norwegian! I honestly can't remember if I was invited or if it was simply assumed I was going but either way Friday afternoon I found myself on the back of a motorcycle headed to a cabin by the sea. My first visit there had been just the couple that owned it, Tony, and myself. I was understandably nervous but I needn't have been. I was greeted with elbow bumps (sigh...Corona) and invited inside where two hours passed like minutes. There was a certain formality in that first meeting along with purposeful maneuvering by the host couple to each get a few minutes alone to talk to me. Honestly as a good friend, I recognize the move and respect it. This time however, I was grabbed and hugged like a long absent friend. There were more friends to meet, and I had all of ten minutes to ready myself to swim. It really should have been a bigger red flag when in the walk to the sea they explained to me the meaning of grøftefyll which basically means you're so drunk you've fallen and can't get up. But I was too worried about this swim. I've waded and walked and dipped my toes, but these people were running off the end of the dock and jumping in. I settled for sitting on the beach with my toes in the sand while they tried to convince me it was warm and refreshing. (My ass!) The first of many, "here try this" moments came while we waited for our feet to dry so we could walk to the cafe to join everyone else for a quick stop before going back to the cabin for dinner. Dinner was a seafood lovers dream with fantastic conversation and where my understanding of party etiquette snuck up to chomp on my ass. I of course had my drink of choice but ever eager hosts were happy to share and have me try ALL the favorites. Have you tried this? became a phrase that meant here take this! And everyone knows if someone toasts you drink. Let's just say after dinner I was ready to swim. In a moment I just can't stop thinking about, I took Tony's hand, ran to the end of the dock, and jumped. I let myself sink a little and enjoy a moment of utter pride and contentment before I kicked for the surface realizing it's still really fucking cold. The view, the feel, the taste...you have to have it yourself. There aren't words that can paint that experience and do it justice. I'll reluctantly admit the second jump wasn't quite as cold but I won't go so far as to say refreshing. Funny side note, Norwegian men measure cold water temperature in centimeters. The rest of the evening is a blur of music, fun conversation, and wonder. Still even in hectic, busy moments I look at the view and think, I live here. While the sights make staying so appealing, the people are the true treasures of Norway. Now when I think about whether to stay or not it's faces flashing along side the sites and work. And I can tell you the language barrier doesn't have to be as big as people make it. It's a bonding point that I'm eager to explore. There's a certain kind of love that comes with a person patient enough to help you understand words where none exist in your own language. There's so much more I could tell. My heart is bursting but I think I've rambled enough. Although I will mention that I almost got to experience grøftefyll first hand when an enthusiastic doggo wanted to play. I'm still not sure how he didn't knock me off the porch. The only downside of this weekend is that my body doesn't handle alcohol like it did when I was in my twenties so the motorcycle ride to Tony's home had to wait until evening. Luckily it rained, so I can call it a rain delay. That ride has me eager to see more. There are just so many wondrous places in Norway. And I get that chance in July! I rode the train home this morning trying to process everything and find the right words to paint the experiences of the weekend, but I'm stuck on that one moment of taking his hand and jumping. Here I am sitting on two weeks worth of silence from my keyboard but with a buzzing mind. Some of my silence stems from stories that are not mine to tell that still weigh on my heart. I find that as my children age the problems are more complicated. Even though they have proved to be resourceful, resilient, and reliable men, my mom heart still aches to help. Probably the worst is knowing that all I can do is love them through it. Much of my silence is based in a desire to not provoke or delve into issues that are causing strife right now. As an educator, it is hard to see so much information go unchecked and get reposted. It is especially hard to see hatred and division within your own family and friends. My go to response has been to put people on restriction so I am less tempted to comment and think on their nonsense. To me, Black Lives Matter, Love is Love, I can support the police and still think there are bad apples in the barrel, and politics has strayed too far from caring for citizens into a lagoon of pointless bullshit that causes more division than unity. Also, I feel like I really need to say this...there is no prize for the biggest trauma, and you cannot use your experience to judge someone else's. But that is enough of that. The summer break itch is strong in the kids and staff alike. It has been a rough school year with COVID19. There were too many hours spent like a traditional classroom from my childhood. When you limit a teacher's ability to access manipulatives, books, toys, and shared resources and space, there isn't much left. This year will be one I remember, but purposefully I am choosing not to focus on the effects of COVID. My students and I still have much to celebrate, and rightfully so. This group of little people went from timidly greeting me and struggling to ask to use to toilet to openly celebrating the fact that they know words such as investigate, observation, digraph, phonics, and principled. The other day when I asked them how they thought I expected them to act for a substitute teacher, one girl said, "We should be caring learners because it is a hard job to teach us sometimes." Another boy said, "We should be principled learners and do what we know is right." Insert mind blown emoji, right? I'm a bit envious of their broad understanding of the world that comes from English being a second or third language even. They truly should be proud of every centimeter of progress they have made this year. The parents are just as awe struck but disappointed that I will not continue to loop with their students. I cannot count the number of times I have been told that the students just love me, and in those moments it sounds to me like the parents are in shock of the strong bond we have in such a short time. In Norway, it is typical in public schools that students have the same base teacher for grades one through seven. This leads to a culture of respect for teachers that I did not experience in the states. Before you prickle and say teachers are loved in the states, that is not what I am saying at all. Here, I have an office outside of my classroom, and I am absolutely NOT expected to answer emails after school hours or on the weekends. I once emailed a mom on the weekend to check on a student that had left school on a Friday to have his chin stitched up. Her reply was along the lines of thank you for checking but you do not need to spend the weekend worried about my son. Trust me, it is just different. For myself, I have been given an opportunity to grow as an educator and to explore my own passions as well. Next year, I will not only continue to teach my first graders, but I will also be able to guide teachers in the implementation of technology in the classroom. While I am only allowed two hours a week, I think I can work magic in those two hours. Anyone that knows me well, knows I am totally nerding out on this opportunity! Probably most important for me is that I am ending this year feeling like I have a plan and a place that will be full of new adventure and learning. But as I said, that itch for summer is nagging at all of us. Many of us are looking forward to having a chance to be outside and together. Even though international travel is significantly more difficult and even discouraged, domestic travel is being touted as THE summer to experience here in Norway. I will attend a small midsummer party and take at least a week of travel. In keeping with my attitude against saying no unnecessarily, I have agreed to take a week long motorcycle and camping tour of a piece of Norway including Trollstigen. Yes, pictures will be taken! This week, I moved into my new place. The difference in my attitude is noticeable and even more than before I am anticipating the possibilities here. This place really feels like a place I can make a home and be happy to return to every night. My first hours in the apartment were spent surrounded by other teachers celebrating those leaving, Friday, my new job and place, and actually having some down-time. It was an amazing way to pour positive energy into my new home. They even surprised me with a card that said, "Never leave us". Just...wow. I had originally intended to hire a moving company because who wants to ask their friends to move them to the fourth floor? But in the spirit of not saying no, I agreed to move everything with one other person. By the way, I have real furniture now, so that is a scary prospect. Thank goodness we only ended up carrying one piece up the stairs! It went swimmingly, and we were actually able to spend Saturday night enjoying a beer on my new patio chairs outside. Sunday I began the real work of organizing the place. My list of things I want is plenty long, but I have a great start on making it mine. I will post better pictures when I get a chance, but for now, I am off to work with a contented smile and a happy heart. |
Nellie HillJust a woman leaping outside her comfort zone and telling the tale. Archives
April 2024
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