Highs and Lows of Christmas 2008 December 27, 2008

Low Points:

Trying to sleep with 12 pounds of butter in my stomach after Christmas Eve dinner, realizing that I am almost incapable of actually relaxing (must! do! something!), only reading 1.5 books, and feeling generally miserable on Christmas Eve morning when it really set in that I was spending my 2nd consecutive Christmas away from home.

High Points:

Hanging out with some girls on my floor that I don’t usually have time to hang out with, having free reign of the main building, making dinner on Tuesday night with Heather and Andreas (pesto! feta! bruschetta! glory!), baking 4 times and having a 100% success rate, spending time with two wonderful families on Christmas Eve (pictured above) and Christmas Day, enjoying 12 pounds of butter, sugar, and flour baked into various forms on Christmas Eve (some pictured right), talking to my family on iChat for an hour on Christmas, and…opening my gift from my mom – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2! (cough – nerd alert)

Okay, so being away from home on Christmas is never ideal, unless, I suppose, you are with your entire family on holiday in some amazing location like Vail or Santorini or whatever.  But I survived…I didn’t just survive, I had a good week.  I’m pretty much exactly halfway through my time here, which is amazing and crazy and sad and wonderful and overwhelming all at once.  Sometimes I wish I could stop this train, but here it comes anyway, rushing at me with increasing speed.  The students are back, the New Year’s Festival starts tomorrow, and I leave for outreach in 2 1/2 weeks.  Ready or not, here comes Round 2.

It’s People, It’s People, It’s People December 21, 2008

Ui mai koe ki ahau he aha te mea nui o te ao, Māku e kī atu he tangata, he tangata, he tangata!

Ask me what is the greatest thing in the world, I will reply: It is people, it is people, it is people!

–Maori Proverb

When I first began traveling, visions of Big Ben, Moulin Rouge, and Venetian gondolas danced in my head.  I wanted to see the sights of Europe; tour Anne Frank’s home in Amsterdam, marvel at the splendor of Michelangelo’s The David in Florence, and view Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower.  So I did these things.  But after I hit the “biggies” in Europe, and prayed at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, and saw the Opera House in Sydney at sunset, I started to crave something different in my travels.  New countries popped onto my traveler’s wish list that were never there before.  I wanted to go to Argentina and India and Spain.  I wanted to know more about the people, and how they made up the culture – how they laughed and danced and ate and mourned.  My hunger for glamorous experiences decreased while my desire for authentic interaction increased.

So now that I’m in Norway, it’s not really about what I’ve seen.  I’ve only been to Oslo once, I briefly visited the West coast a couple months ago, and I barely ever venture beyond the farm or Hamar, the closest “city” with a meager population of 30,000.  And yet, I love Norway.  I will always remember my time here with fondness.  It’s not because of the natural beauty (although it’s stunning), and it’s definitely not because of the weather or the food.  But it’s because I’ve loved to hear Norwegians sing their prayers before dinner, and I’ve loved to watch them get excited about Christmas and the first snowfall, and I’ve loved the way they’ve taken me into their homes and their hearts.

Living and working and playing with people from at least 16 different nations, in addition to Norway, has been an amazing blessing.  Sometimes my heart swells when I think about this family I’ve been welcomed into here at Grimerud, when I think of the diversity of personalities, laughs, and gifts that spill out of this place like treasure.  Everywhere I’ve gone in this world, I’ve made friends I want to take with me the rest of my days; collecting them like a stone rolling down a hill.  I’m overwhelmed when I think of the countries I will still visit, the places I will live, the people I will fall in love with there. 

It’s not that I’ve evolved into some completely altruistic traveler.  I still want to go on a safari in Africa and dance in a Greek taverna and bungee jump in New Zealand.  But if you ask me what is the greatest thing in the world, I will reply: It is people, it is people, it is people!

Pop Christmas December 14, 2008

I don’t usually start listening to Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving.  That’s fair, right?  I’m not the kind of person who’s super into it, but I definitely listen to it like 75% of the time for the month of December.  But my love for holiday music is not an unconditional love.  Far from it.  There’s certain Christmas songs that make me want to dance and kiss someone under the mistletoe and give rosy-cheeked children mugs of hot cocoa with candy cane straws.  But then there’s Christmas music that literally makes me turn off the radio and cringe.  I’m not talking about carols here…I definitely have my favorites of those (We Three Kings; Joy to the World, ahem, NOT because of my name, thank you) and the ones that I feel guilty for hating so much (Silent Night, What Child Is This?).  But for the sake of a simplified list, here are my best and worst of holiday pop music:

A Very Harry Potter Christmas December 13, 2008

I’m starting to find ways to be excited about being one of three people left at Grimerud over the holidays.  Besides the obvious: peace and quiet, forced rest, copious amounts of time to catch up on my reading and movie watching; I’ve thought of something else.  I’m going to pretend I’m like Harry Potter staying at Hogwarts over the holidays…I mean, he saw it as a good thing, so why can’t I?  Too bad I don’t have Ron and Hermione to keep me company, and house elves to make me a magical feast every day.  But still.  Whatever works, right?

My Own Koselig Attempt December 12, 2008

Oh yeah.  I’m SO Norwegian.  Look how koselig!  It definitely adds to the Christmas spirit in my room…oh, and my mom just sent me a freaking sweet advent calendar from Starbucks.  Yay!  Not that 25 Swiss chocolate truffles will make up for being away from home for the SECOND Christmas in a row, but they sure won’t hurt.

What’s a Koosh-Lay? December 11, 2008

Let me tell you something.  You know NOTHING about Norwegian culture until you comprehend the complex, layered connotation and denotation of the Norwegian word koselig.  The literal translation is usually “cozy.”  I’ve also seen “comfortable,” “homey,” and “snuggly” used.  It’s pronounced kind of like KOOSH-lay.  Norwegians have cornered the market on koselig.  They are koselig masters, koselig experts.  

You know how I mentioned that it gets pretty dark and pretty cold here?  Ahem.  REALLY dark and REALLY cold?  Well, instead of falling into depressive slumps every year from November to March, or moving to Hawaii, Norwegians have “made do” like only Norwegians can.  That’s one of my favorite things about Norwegian culture – they know how to buck up and work with what they have.  So they were like, “Hey, what can we do with this cold, dark misery that is Arctic winter?” and THAT, my friends, is when the candle was invented.

Okay, not really.  But seriously, you can’t have a koselig time without candles.  So Norwegians use them all the time, but especially in winter.  They use little votives and big pillar candles and slender tapers in elegant candelabra.  Everyone has these special Christmas candle stands, like, everyone.  Some houses literally have one in every single window.  So you run from your car into your friend’s house, or a cafe, and it’s all warm and snuggly in there, with candles lit and maybe a fire blazing, hot things to drink and definitely good things to eat.  (For example, Norwegians love vafler, waffles, when enjoying a koselig evening…they’re not like Belgian waffles, they’re thinner and floppier.  Glob on  some jam and a little sour cream, fold in half, and enjoy!) Candles, warmth, hot drinks, sweet treats, and even cozy music are all essential to the koselig experience.  And if you’re with people you love, and who love you, well man, that’s koselig on top of koselig!

So if you want to feel Norwegian this winter, pull down the shades to block out that blazing Californian sun, light some candles, grab a cup of hot cocoa and some horse meat (ha!  I mean, waffle) and think of me.  

Next time: the beauty of Swedish fika.

Random Christmas Memories December 9, 2008

We didn’t have the boys that particular Christmas, meaning my stepbrothers were spending actual Christmas Day with their mom and half brothers.  Their other family.  So we celebrated a few days early, our blended family of seven (1 boy and a housekeeper short of the Brady Bunch) gathered to exchange gifts and carry out a couple of our annual traditions, like bickering about lyrics to Carpenters’ Christmas songs.  (“Gee, the traffic is terrific” – um, isn’t the sarcasm OBVIOUS in this lyric?  Apparently not to everyone).  So of course, after less than an hour, there’s a squabble.  Everyone is throwing in their opinion as loudly as possible, and then my stepbrother Tim says above the noise, in an exasperated tone, “Can everybody stop fighting?  It’s our fake Christmas, for God’s sake!”  

Classic.

Oh, thank you Lord for the blessing of a blended, dysfunctional family.  And there is not a trace of sarcasm in that statement.

Moody Moose Buttons December 7, 2008

Guys, I’m sorry I haven’t posted all week. I feel so ashamed, especially since you’ve really pulled it out lately with the comments. (By the way…if you really loved this blog so much, you can always browse the archives!)  But it’s pretty much because the thought of this blog has bored me to tears lately. Not that I don’t have ideas…cause I do. You bet your butt I’ve got a bunch of amazing, thought-provoking, laugh-out-loud, tear-jerking ideas for posts up my sleeve. But then when I actually sit in front of my computer I’m just like, “Blech.”
Plus it’s winter. Which means every day after dinner, when the sun has already been down for three hours, I have to sit there slapping myself awake until KRIK or lectures or small group or whatever. And it’s cold. So I’d rather sit here and listen to Dashboard Confessional and feel like an emo teenager then really think about writing a good post.  Damn.  I promised myself my next post was going to be positive.  I really don’t hate my life…there’s lots of great things here!
I promise a warm and fuzzy post is coming soon! Maybe.  Uh, until then…puppies, puppies, puppies.  Yay!