Ha Det Bra, Norway! April 20, 2009

This is my last night in Norway.  I will miss so many things about this place.  Here’s my top ten:

1. Brown cheese.  On a brown Wasa with raspberry jam.  Preferably at 10:30am on a weekday.  With a cup of English Breakfast tea.

2. The Living Rooms at Grimerud.  I love having our morning meetings in there, and also having times with God in the middle living room overlooking the fields and the lake, Mjøsa.

3. The spectacular views of Mjøsa and the countryside and the sunset around Grimerud.  Pretty much, the all-around beauty of this place.

4. Going to Ola and Gro Elisabeth’s log cabin and having dinner and sitting for hours talking about a million things.

5. The DTS.  Staff and students.  Oh, man.  Good times.  Ebby singing, Kim whining, Andreas beat boxing, and everyone in between.

6. Singing and hearing people sing in Norwegian.  Also, singing prayers before meals.  Okay, I never actually learned any of the Norwegian ones, but I still liked hearing it!

7. Running around in my socks all the time.  Honestly, I don’t know if I can wear shoes in my house ever again.

8. The simple relaxation of “country life.”  Sitting out in the sunshine in front of the main building, or having brunch with Magni at Bisben…I just can’t relax the same way in the city.

9. The word vær så god.  Seriously, how did I ever live without it?  Also, being able to respond with just “Mmm” in many situations.  Norwegians don’t waste words!

10. And of course: the people, the people, the people.  Vicky bossing me around with her “Joy Dear.”  Being goofy with Matilda and Rickard.  Long talks with Magni and Dina in Bisben or the dining hall.  Heather and Andreas, beautiful girls Synnøve and Anne Randi; Heidi and Maggi; the Franzens; little baby Marianna; sweet Svein Ola; crazy-intense Chris; adventurous, childlike, creative Miuky; hilarious Christina and Ebby…there are just too many to name.  

It’s been a wonderful time here in Norway and I will cherish these memories for life.  Tusen takk, my Grimerud and Norwegian friends, for an amazing season.  Ha Det Bra.

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.

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.

Be Ye Thankful November 27, 2008

Hmm.  So it’s Thanksgiving.  Just another day around here at Grimerud.  The sun rises around 8 am, sets around 3:30pm and everyone goes about their lives.  I’m trying REALLY hard not to be depressed about the fact that I am missing Thanksgiving for the second year in a row.  Blah, it’s such a bummer!  Everyone here has been saying, “Hey, can’t you just make some turkey or something?”  But it’s not about the food…it’s about the people, and about the feel in the air, and about seeing my dog waddle around at the end of the day trying to keep herself from falling into a food coma.  Good times.  BUT.  I’m totally thankful for a lot of things.  You know, the usual…friends and family and my health and the fact that I have always had everything I needed.  I’m also thankful that I’m here in Norway (okay, maybe not this exact day, but for the most part) and I’m thankful that God is so generous and decided to make my dreams of seeing the world come true.

Last night I was complaining to my mentor that I didn’t know what to do once this DTS is over in the spring time.  I have a big basket of options and I’m not sure if I should just close my eyes, stick my hand in, and pick one or if I should lay them all out on the table and make some pro/con lists.  Or ask God to dissolve all but one.  That would be cool.  But when I was whining to Heather, I remembered something I heard Erwin McManus say in a podcast a couple weeks ago.  He was speaking to people in this exact situation, people who feel like they have a lot of options for their future and just can’t decide.  Erwin said to be thankful.   How many people, women especially, are born into a world without any options?  It’s a sobering and humbling thought.

So I am thankful.  I’m thankful that my life is a colorful assortment of adventures and experiences and gifts, that God’s beauty and love chase me down wherever I go on this green earth.  I’m so thankful I’m coming to know a God who does these things, and doesn’t give up on me when I act like a spoiled brat every other day.

Psalm 23 (The Message)

 

Psalm 23

A David Psalm

 1-3 God, my shepherd! I don’t need a thing. 
   You have bedded me down in lush meadows, 
      you find me quiet pools to drink from. 
   True to your word, 
      you let me catch my breath 
      and send me in the right direction. 

 4 Even when the way goes through 
      Death Valley, 
   I’m not afraid 
      when you walk at my side. 
   Your trusty shepherd’s crook 
      makes me feel secure. 

 5 You serve me a six-course dinner 
      right in front of my enemies. 
   You revive my drooping head; 
      my cup brims with blessing. 

 6 Your beauty and love chase after me 
      every day of my life. 
   I’m back home in the house of God 
      for the rest of my life.

Even Steven October 15, 2008

To be fair, I WILL miss many things about Norway when I leave here.  Case in point: brown cheese. 

Maybe one day I will blog about the rest of the list.  Right now my eyeballs are burning and I think that means I need to veg out with a snack and half an episode of Gilmore Girls before hitting the sack.

Sicky Pants October 12, 2008

I’m sick today.  Considering the travel I’ve done, the climate change, and my crazy schedule, I’m surprised it’s taken this long for the cold virus to find a chink in the almost invincible armor that is my immune system.  But I woke up today with a sore throat and a stuffy head and a general feeling of misery in my own skin. 

You know what’s worse than being sick?  Being sick in a place that is not home.  

Withdrawal September 22, 2008

I had a dream about Golden Spoon last night.  Seriously not funny.

Spise August 27, 2008

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).  

P.S. August 14, 2008

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.

Jerusalem, I Didn’t Forget You… July 16, 2008

This morning I woke up with an Israeli song in my head.  A year ago today I was there, in Israel, finishing up the trip of a lifetime.  (More on that, click here.)  And in the past year, I have not been able to get that land out of my head, my heart, my blood.  Going back is not even an option.