Elections and coffee

We just finished our first hike since the elections happened in Norway and I can say that we were are still in mourning that election season is over.   Yes it's true  -- we miss election season.   What possible connection could there be between hiking and elections?  Food of course.  At the start of our hiking trails, there would be a collection of colored booths with people handing out coffee, juice, cookies, and chocolate.  I guess it is perfectly legal to "buy" your votes in Norway by handing out freebies.  No commercials on TV thankfully, but lots of  free handouts.    Actually, the friendly Norwegians seemed surprised that this would be considered unusual, but I must admit that election season would be much better with free coffee around.  

I would mess with the volunteers and say that I wasn't going to vote for them because the other booth had better coffee.  Not sure they appreciated my humor.  One team really outdid themselves with a plastic coffee-dispensing backpack  - no joke, I drink tons of black norwegian coffee.  Actually, I must admit that the red party (the one with the rose icon) was my favorite because they gave out free red roses at the grocery store (I'm not picky these days ;-)  

The actual parties were hard to follow in that there seemed to be a multitude each with its own color and hip logo.  The chart above is the election results showing how the rose team (yeah!) pretty much won out over the blue teams, but there was a little doled out to everybody (including the green shamrock party).  The Arbeiderpartiet or "worker/labor" party  (more liberal) seemed to have their day over the Høyre or "right" party (more conservative).  Those red roses and coffee really paid off I guess. 

The only other big news in town is that one  of the coastal express ferries, MS Nordlys ("northern lights"), caught on fire and is now close to a watery grave unless they can right it with a giant crane.  We were thinking of heading out on a ferry one of these weekends to taste the reportedly excellent pancakes.  Having once lived through a ferry that nearly tipped over in Long Island Sound, I think that maybe the pancakes aren't worth it.  But, then again, what better way to go down on a sinking ship...

Sunday with Saint Olav and the Stave church

This last Sunday we went to church.  This particular church exemplifies all the best church has to offer:  comfortable pews, power point projectors instead of hymnals, and lots of touching and laying of hands.  Ok, I repent, that is my idea of hell.  This church was the antithesis of modern with a woodsy tar smell, quiet, stark and very very old.  We went to a museum containing one of the few remaining "Stav(e) churches" left in Norway.  This 1000+ year old medieval wooden post and beam church is only steps from our house at the Folk Museum and is named after the enormous wooden posts at the corners or "Stav" that hold up the entire structure.  Amazing to be sheltered by 1000 years old wood specially grown slowly to be strong and resist rot.   

The Stav church represents the taming of the wild Vikings and their conversion to Christianity.  Who is credited with gently and lovingly, more like brutally and aggressively converting the heathens?  The great Saint Olav.  Having grown up in Minnesooooota near the great college of Saint Olaf, I'm ashamed to admit that I never learned anything about this particular historic figure.  Take a look at the picture on the left. Jesus?  Close,  that is Saint Olaf.  He spent his life trying to convert the Vikings with the mighty sword (not the bible but an actual sword, upper left panel), but wasn't successful until he was stabbed in battle and died (lower right panel). You see, his finger nails grew and apparently he did not decay after dying (upper right panel). 

I know you're probably thinking what I am....too much pickled herring.  Yes, that could embalm anyone for at least three days.   But, the folksy people of Norway didn't put two and two together and they  converted to Christianity.  Here is a photo of my children looking captivated enough to convert in the Stav Church on a rainy day.

Apparently, St. Olav did such a good job of converting the masses that the state still requires religion class in school.  To the teachers credit, however, it is more like a mixture of world religions/sociology with therapy 101 (write down and discuss feelings words).  Where can I sign up?

Conversion by order of King Sverre

Hiking and waffles

Family weekends in Norway are spent on the beaten trails, either on foot, mountain bikes or skis.  Are the children in Norway different from Americans?  Do they really want to get out there and exercise with their parents more than American kids?  Maybe, but I'm inclined to think not.   The Norwegians have discovered the art of bribing with sweets.   You don't just hike up a mountain for the pure satisfaction of getting to the top (ok maybe some of us elderkids).  No, you hike for warm waffles and hot chocolate.  Yes, the Norwegian woods are filled with Hytta or mountain huts, often with grass roofs, where you can buy warm, homemade foods.  You can't drive to these hytta -- oh no you can't.  You have to use some calories to get there.   For those who know Melita, this type of bribery works especially well.

This last Sat. the girls and I hiked the Ladestien winding up and down along the coast for about 3 km until we reached SponHuset where we had some yummy waffles with strawberry jam and whipped cream.  Then we rested our full  bellies on some warm rocks like harbor seals before heading back along the trail. 

 The scenery was spectacular and the fjord looked so inviting we almost felt like dipping in.   Melita made a you tube video, for those of you who are interested in her videography.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-PWOXwPL5A&feature=related

I leave you with this thought.  Waffles and jam could perhaps be the best tasting food on the planet -- warm homemade waffles with a touch of cardamom.  Norwegian waffles have a special shape with 5 hearts joint in a point and you can pull apart each heart to sample individually. Maybe Americans need to embrace the hike for waffles concept in our quest to eradicate obesity.   Some hard work ("Calories out"), get you some warm homemade ("Calories in").   

City Living

First off, I changed the permisions on the blog so people can freely post comments.  I promise to do better and respond to any readers out there.   Just ask away.

Today is a glorious sunny day in Trondheim and there is this sense of impending "winter doom."  Not sure why exactly, but you just have to go outdoors when the sun is shining.  This morning however, I had to spend a little time at the Politi, which I apparently was required to do within 7 days of arriving, but I had to wait to get my residence permit which just arrived from NYC.

Me in the mirror of Politi with big wooden doors that swing open

I rushed over at 8 am and got Seat #24 (out of #26) and immigration doesn't even open until 8:45 am.  It was a huge tip from my friend Noriko from Japan to get there early.  The crowd was pretty diverse (asian, russian, middle eastern, indian, african, etc..) with mostly students here for the international degrees at NTNU.  My permit is for one year and renewable...watch out people... and I can work here for 20 hr/week (side job as a bar maid?), travel within the Schengen countries as a resident, and get free healthcare.  Not bad at all.  They took my passport and I  had to get another passport photo to insert.  It wasn't pretty.  The woman said there is a saying that if you wake up and look like your passport picture, then you must be sick and should go immediately back to bed. :))

But, I have talked about the beautiful countryside and biking/hiking.  However, the downtown in Trondheim is absolutely beautiful with canals, cobblestone streets,  historic architecture and lots of modern buildings and sculpture.  It is a big city with a population of 260,000 including surrounding area, but very clean and safe.  The traffic into downtown is pretty horrific, even from my house, in the morning and many people bike.  One of main bridges went out and there is some road construction, so cars pile up at the roundabout on the bottom of the hill. Yesterday, I was a bit late dropping the girls at their bus stop and I followed their blue netbus one stop in the lane reserved for buses and taxis (yes, I could have been arrested, but would have played the dumb blonde american, which I do very well).

The buses are well run and can take you anywhere in the area, but I work in the sticks (up along the fjord) and it is easier and cheaper (yes even with gas at $10/gallon) than taking the bus $4 each way.  The girls get a free bus pass courtesy of the Norwegian government to go to school.  Fun to see those very small cars here (see photo below). The car fits sideways in a parking spot inteaded for parallel parked cars...small indeed.  And, I have to admit that I am fond of the British "Top Gear" which regularly airs on the BBC entertainment.  I don't even like cars, but they converted a corvette engine to power a kitchen blender -- that's funny stuff.  It blended bricks and raw meat...mmm...

I finished writing an Encyclopedia chapter on Remote Sensing of Ocean Color and am feeling a moment of respite before I leap into my next project. I'll send you a copy when it publishes.  

Banking at the Post Office

And now a brief discussion of Norwegian banks.  Most banks in Norway have one person standing at a desk with a computer-- there are no tellers, no money, and definitely no ladies waiting in line to deposit  large pouches filled with pennies. After speaking with the school and the billing agency, I was told that I could simply go into a Norwegian bank and pay the bill with my visa.  Apparently, if I've learned anything over the last year, nothing in life that deals with papers, bills, and service personnel is "simple."   After being led to two different "shell" banks downtown (i.e., no money), I finally found one that actually had thick walls, large glass doors, and lots of bank tellers.

I took my numbered slip like at the DMV and when my number came up, my friendly teller said I couldn't pay with an American visa but I could do so around the corner at....hold your breath...the post office.  Yes, the bank at the post office is apparently the place to change foreign money.  On the left side of the post office is where you can mail packages.  The rest of the post office is filled with tellers that exchange money.  After taking a number again, I approached my post bank teller and after a bit of effort, we still had no luck paying the bill with my foreign visa.  So, strike 4.  She told me to get cash from the ATM and I patiently explained that the limits of my cash withdrawal, in weak dollars translated to strong Norwegian Kroner, would not enable me to withdraw that amount of money unless I was at a casino in Connecticut.

The only redeeming moment was that the nice lady, suffering from a slight Parkinson's tick aka Janet Reno, was able to look online to give me the name of the Bank and location that the account belonged to (Sparebank Midt-Norge).   Armed with this knowledge, I then proceeded to pay the bill via my online banking.  I found a website that gives S.W.I.F.T numbers and I got the IBAN number from Sparbank website.  The only problem was that I couldn't find Sparbank Midt-Norge on the list of Norwegian Banks provided online.   My breakthrough moment was discovering that this bank was listed as Sparbank SMN (with the M being Midt and the N being Norge -- no idea what the S is for unless it is Sparbank, but Sparbank Sparbank Midt-Norge seems a bit redundant to me).  Yes, miracle of miracles, after calling the school, calling the bill processors, visiting 4 different bank branches, and one nice post office employee, I was able to actually pay the bill.  My children can stay in school.