Spise

Spise means “eat” in Norsk (Norwegian).  And they like to do that.  In fact, they have four meals a day.  Breakfast, which is usually cereal or bread with something on it.  Then lunch, which is light and again probably bread with spread or some cheese, or maybe the same toppings but on Wasa crackers (stolen from their neighbor, Sweden).  

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Tuesday, Aug 26

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Cloudy with a couple of showers. Winds will be calm

Realfeel®: 69 °F

High: 68 °F

Tuesday Night, Aug 26

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Partly cloudy. Winds will be calm

Realfeel®: 54 °F

Low: 50 °F

Wednesday, Aug 27

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Cloudy. Winds will be calm

Realfeel®: 64 °F

High: 61 °F

I fully prepared myself to get off the plane last Monday and have to start wearing long underwear for the next 8 months.  And let me tell you, it wasn’t a tropical paradise in Oslo last week.  But I was fine in my cargos and hoodie (plane uniform), hot even, after dragging around all my crap like a hermit crab.

But seriously, we’ve had some amazing weather the week I’ve been in Norway.  Sure we had like one rainy day, but BFD, right?  Because mostly we’ve had these spectacularly sunny days, brisk in the mornings and evenings but warm in the afternoons.  A couple of times I’ve wished I’ve been wearing shorts.  Blue skies with the kind of fluffy clouds that make you want to lie on your back for hours and find shapes in them (I know I’m not the only one who still likes doing that).  Rolling fields of golden wheat, the blue lake shimmering like a pool of diamonds, dark blue fir-topped mountains looming in the distance…okay, now I’m just bragging about the unbelievable beauty I’m surrounded by.

I told my friends that God has been holding back the bad weather so that my transition here will be a little less traumatic (He’s a great Dad like that).  

But maybe He thinks I can take it now, cause it looks like I’m going to have to start busting out all the sweaters and leggings I brought…*heavy sigh* Here we go.

Thus Far

I’ve been in Norway for about 5 1/2 days.  My impressions so far:

Bottle of Coke: 15 – 25 krones (between $3 and $5)

Individual sized pizza: 98 krones ( $18 )

Learning Norwegian: Every ounce of my pride

Seeing this view every time I walk out of the house: Priceless.

 

Obviously, there’s a lot more to Norway and my impressions of it than that.  But it’s crazy expensive, the language is crazy hard (and sounds like they’re singing all the time), and the countryside is crazy beautiful.  So far, I am really glad I’m here.  I’ll write more later!

P.S.

I just wanted to say that leaving this time is really different than leaving last time.  Last October when I went to Australia, I was like, “Peace, yo.”  I was so ready to fly off the edge of my nest and land right side up Down Under.  This time, I’m so sad.  I’ll be going about my preparations and feel a heaviness in my chest and think, “What’s wrong with me?  Why am I not excited?”  Oh yeah.  Because I’m leaving family and friends for a long freaking time.  And this time I know exactly how it feels to be so far away from them.

Sometimes I think I’m a wanderer with the heart of a homebody.

My Daughter the Wanderer

“Not all who wander are lost.”

J.R.R. Tolkien

I feel that tonight (ahem…this morning) on the eve of my departure for another drawn-out adventure/quest thing, I must draw attention to my blog’s tagline.  I thought of this, one of my favorite quotes, today while eating lunch with my mom.  We were talking about career choices and things like that, and she mentioned that she used to tell friends that she has two daughters who are teachers and one who is a nurse.  Now, she says, “My daughter, the teacher” (that would be Sarah); “My daughter, the nurse” (Rachel); and “My daughter, the wanderer”  (that would be me.)  Ouch.  It sucks when I realize all over again how very irresponsible my lifestyle looks to some.  And yet, to me, it seems quite purposeful.  Crazy, yes.  Scary (especially right now), yes.  Aimless?  Never.

Quotable Friday, Vol. 27 (Monday Edition)

“Those who grow, grow through either a crisis or a quest.”

Tom Hughes,

“Hallowed Be Thy Name(s) Part 1″

Christian Assembly, 8/3/08

Tom was talking about people who grow in their faith, grow in intimacy with God.  Last night, after saying the above words, he went on to point out how crisis sometimes pushes a person to seek God harder, to cling to Him tighter.  Sometimes it severs the last frayed rope tying them to the dock, letting them drift unmoored into the storm that’s raging.

But what I was thinking was that I’m glad these past couple years have been a series of quests, instead of crises.  

Mission: Accomplished!

My amazing future brother-in-law, Daniel, helped me figure this out. If you guys ever want to support me financially during my time with YWAM in Norway, you can do so with your credit card by using the donate button on my side bar. It’s through PayPal, so it’s super easy and secure! This is what the button looks like (this one is functional too):

Thank you so much for your support!