Always beautiful...Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Friday, January 05, 2007
God Jul!
That's not Kyrgyz, in case you were wondering, but Norwegian for "Merry Christmas!" (At least, I think I spelled it right; feel free to correct me, any Norwegians out there!) And a merry Christmas it certainly was. Besides the debacle of actually getting to Norway (can't write it all here, but if you're interested, I can certainly email you the whole story!), it was a wonderful and relaxing vacation with my mom and one of my very best friends and her family.
I arrived in Oslo around 10pm on Wednesday the 20th (12 hours after my scheduled arrival!) and finally met up with my mom at our hotel around 2am. From then on, all was bliss :-). For the first few days, I just felt like I could talk for hours and hours without stopping; I just had so much to say and so many stories to tell! We stayed in Oslo the day after we arrived and walked around the city shopping and eating. So many people gave my mom Christmas money for me (thank you), I was able to buy a new pair of pants, a new sweater, a new shirt and a new pair of shoes. I don't really mind dressing drab here in Kyrgyzstan, but it really felt good to look nice(r) in Norway. One highlight of the evening was eating at Burger King! I hadn't tasted a Whopper in who knows how long and boy, was it delicious. Mmmm....
On Friday we headed down to Stavanger (southwest coast) on the train. It took about 8 hours, but it was such a comfortably cozy ride and we got to see so much scenery on the way down. Gunna met us at the train station and then took us on the ferry to Karmoy, the island where her family lives. This was our home for the next week and a half, and a beautiful one at that, just a 10 minute walk from the ocean.
Karmoy was wonderful. The weather was surprisingly warm. Well, maybe not warm, exactly, but much warmer than we expected. Both my mom and I assumed we'd have a White Christmas, but it turns out that it doesn't really snow on the island at all! It was chilly, but nothing like Kyrgyzstan, and a nice break from hats, scarves, gloves, wool socks, and long underwear. Almost like a California winter, in fact. It probably didn't dip far below 40 while we were there.
And Gunna's family was just amazing. They made us feel right at home from the start, and didn't cease to make us feel comfortable (which is a very difficult balance between doting on your guests and not making them feel like guests at the same time) the entire time. We had so much fun talking, playing games, laughing out our parents' attempts at communication (between non-native English speakers and hearing problems, well, you can just imagine), and eating about every 15 minutes. Seriously, I don't think Gunna's mom stopped cooking for 2 hours at a time the entire week. It was so nice to meet Gunna's mom, dad, brother and sister, people I'd heard so much about. Being a part of their family for the holidays made our trip very special.
Most days we slept in until at least 10am (even Mom!), and then lazied around the house until breakfast usually between 11 and 12. That's my kind of life! I enjoyed eating cheese and lunch meat (funny things you miss), and drinking as much coffee, milk, and orange juice as I wanted. Dinner was usually between 2 and 4, and then Supper between 6 and 8, always to be followed by some kind of homemade dessert. You can bet I wasn't too shy about eating just about anything that would fit in my stomach at any given time.
Christmas in Norway seems to be spread out over the course of several days. There's Little Christmas (23rd), Christmas Eve, Christmas, Second Christmas (26th), and Third Christmas (27th). So each day there has to be some kind of special meal. Over the course of these days, I'm sure I ate just about every animal one should eat. We had beef, chicken, fish, pork, lamb, and turkey each on a different day. And the desserts ranged from ice-cream to homemade chocolate cake, rice pudding, vanilla mousse, homemade marzipan, and oh so much more.
The bulk of the Christmas festivities happened on Christmas Eve. We went to church in the evening (which Gunna and her brother translated for us), and then had our supper of crispy pork (the crispy part is very important, as we learned), potatoes, vegetables, etc. After supper we engaged in the Norwegian tradition of holding hands and circling the Christmas tree while singing Christmas carols. Mom and I really liked this and I think we're going to try to start it at home next year :-). Then came the present opening, which is always very exciting. Many people sent presents for me along with my mom, so it was quite special to open real presents with everyone else. And of course we exchanged presents with Gunna's family also (M&Ms and Starbucks coffee were the highlights for them, I think). It was a very festive time.
After the presents, we sat down again for dessert of rice pudding. This is another Norwegian Christmas tradition. There is a whole almond put in the pudding and everyone takes a helping and eats, hoping to get the almond. If you get the almond, you have to hide it in your mouth and not tell anyone. Then when everyone has finished, you guess who has the almond. And whoever has it gets a chocolate covered marzipan pig! :-) Gunna's dad got the almond this year, but Gunna and I ended up eating the marzipan pig after New Years. hehe.
After dessert, we decided to play our own game of Apples to Apples. To explain shortly, it's a game where everyone is trying to convince a judge that their word is best described by a previously chosen adjective. I think this particular game of Apples to Apples was the most hilarious game I've ever played, hearing arguments for why scissors are more amazing than Jesus, why Napoleon Dynamite is sillier than Lisa Freeman, and why World War II is more exhausting than George W. Bush. It was quite late by the time we finished, but I think a great time was had by all. Oh, and I guess I should mention that I won :-).
After Christmas we took several small outings with Gunna's family--walking on the beach, a trip to a small harbor town with amazing waffles, a trip to see a fjord, and a trip into Haugesund to visit 2 of the staff from my SOI. On the 27th, Gunna's sister and brother-in-law came, which meant that the Medhaug house was quite cramped. So for a few days, mom and I rented rooms in a nearby house Gunna's mom had found for us. As it turned out, there was no one else renting rooms at that time, so we had the whole house to ourselves! It was really nice and cozy. We were able to lounge in the living room in our pajamas, read on the couch drinking hot cocoa, and cook--one night we made smoked sausage and french fries (couldn't find any tater tots). By this time, I'd felt like I got most of the most important story telling out, but it was just so nice to BE with mom.
One day we took a day trip into Stavanger and did more eating and shopping. Perhaps the most exciting part of the whole day was eating at Subway! From the moment I heard they had Subway in Norway, I knew we had to eat there. This is the likes of things volunteers talk about together, mouths watering. And it did not disappoint. I ate an entire foot long turkey sub by myself :-). And it couldn't have gotten any better except that they had DR. PEPPER! I've had entire conversations with volunteers about Dr. Pepper, with longing, and there I was, washing down my turkey sandwich with one.
Right before New Years, we moved back into the Medhaug house. Mom and I weren't expecting to be able to stay with them so much, but they were so welcoming and fun to be with, we were so grateful for such wonderful hosts to share the holidays with. Some days we just stayed inside talking. Gunna and I came up with about 5 ideas for more videos (none of which actually materialized, but these things are often funnier in the planning stages; that, or we were lacking the inspiration of our Papa Steve--you ARE the wind beneath our wings, you know). And many days we began in a devotion and prayer with the family. The sense of the Holy Spirit was sweet.
We celebrated the New Year with another gigantic meal, delicious dessert, sparklers outside, and prayers of thanksgiving for the last year and expectation for the year ahead. When I look back, God has truly been good and faithful this last year in Kyrgyzstan, and it felt good to stand at the end with Him still by my side. Then to turn around and look forward with joy and excitement for what the year ahead with Him will hold.
I couldn't have spent my holidays in a better way. It was a wonderful vacation, precious time with my mom, fun time with a good friend, and sweet time with a new family. Now I'm back in Kyrgyzstan--is Norway really over already? Still in Bishkek for the time being, but heading back to Talas tomorrow. While I might have managed another week, or month, or year in Norway :-), I am looking forward to getting back "home" and seeing my students and volunteer friends again. I'm excited to see what the next 10 months in Kyrgyzstan hold.
I've posted a ton of pictures because I'm at the Peace Corps office right now and I can do it for free! I will probably post more later, though, because these are only the pictures from my mom's camera. Her battery died about halfway through the trip, so there are several more from my camera I'd like to post when I get back home to my computer and camera cord. Until then, enjoy these and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! May we be transformed more into the image of Christ this year.
I arrived in Oslo around 10pm on Wednesday the 20th (12 hours after my scheduled arrival!) and finally met up with my mom at our hotel around 2am. From then on, all was bliss :-). For the first few days, I just felt like I could talk for hours and hours without stopping; I just had so much to say and so many stories to tell! We stayed in Oslo the day after we arrived and walked around the city shopping and eating. So many people gave my mom Christmas money for me (thank you), I was able to buy a new pair of pants, a new sweater, a new shirt and a new pair of shoes. I don't really mind dressing drab here in Kyrgyzstan, but it really felt good to look nice(r) in Norway. One highlight of the evening was eating at Burger King! I hadn't tasted a Whopper in who knows how long and boy, was it delicious. Mmmm....
On Friday we headed down to Stavanger (southwest coast) on the train. It took about 8 hours, but it was such a comfortably cozy ride and we got to see so much scenery on the way down. Gunna met us at the train station and then took us on the ferry to Karmoy, the island where her family lives. This was our home for the next week and a half, and a beautiful one at that, just a 10 minute walk from the ocean.
Karmoy was wonderful. The weather was surprisingly warm. Well, maybe not warm, exactly, but much warmer than we expected. Both my mom and I assumed we'd have a White Christmas, but it turns out that it doesn't really snow on the island at all! It was chilly, but nothing like Kyrgyzstan, and a nice break from hats, scarves, gloves, wool socks, and long underwear. Almost like a California winter, in fact. It probably didn't dip far below 40 while we were there.
And Gunna's family was just amazing. They made us feel right at home from the start, and didn't cease to make us feel comfortable (which is a very difficult balance between doting on your guests and not making them feel like guests at the same time) the entire time. We had so much fun talking, playing games, laughing out our parents' attempts at communication (between non-native English speakers and hearing problems, well, you can just imagine), and eating about every 15 minutes. Seriously, I don't think Gunna's mom stopped cooking for 2 hours at a time the entire week. It was so nice to meet Gunna's mom, dad, brother and sister, people I'd heard so much about. Being a part of their family for the holidays made our trip very special.
Most days we slept in until at least 10am (even Mom!), and then lazied around the house until breakfast usually between 11 and 12. That's my kind of life! I enjoyed eating cheese and lunch meat (funny things you miss), and drinking as much coffee, milk, and orange juice as I wanted. Dinner was usually between 2 and 4, and then Supper between 6 and 8, always to be followed by some kind of homemade dessert. You can bet I wasn't too shy about eating just about anything that would fit in my stomach at any given time.
Christmas in Norway seems to be spread out over the course of several days. There's Little Christmas (23rd), Christmas Eve, Christmas, Second Christmas (26th), and Third Christmas (27th). So each day there has to be some kind of special meal. Over the course of these days, I'm sure I ate just about every animal one should eat. We had beef, chicken, fish, pork, lamb, and turkey each on a different day. And the desserts ranged from ice-cream to homemade chocolate cake, rice pudding, vanilla mousse, homemade marzipan, and oh so much more.
The bulk of the Christmas festivities happened on Christmas Eve. We went to church in the evening (which Gunna and her brother translated for us), and then had our supper of crispy pork (the crispy part is very important, as we learned), potatoes, vegetables, etc. After supper we engaged in the Norwegian tradition of holding hands and circling the Christmas tree while singing Christmas carols. Mom and I really liked this and I think we're going to try to start it at home next year :-). Then came the present opening, which is always very exciting. Many people sent presents for me along with my mom, so it was quite special to open real presents with everyone else. And of course we exchanged presents with Gunna's family also (M&Ms and Starbucks coffee were the highlights for them, I think). It was a very festive time.
After the presents, we sat down again for dessert of rice pudding. This is another Norwegian Christmas tradition. There is a whole almond put in the pudding and everyone takes a helping and eats, hoping to get the almond. If you get the almond, you have to hide it in your mouth and not tell anyone. Then when everyone has finished, you guess who has the almond. And whoever has it gets a chocolate covered marzipan pig! :-) Gunna's dad got the almond this year, but Gunna and I ended up eating the marzipan pig after New Years. hehe.
After dessert, we decided to play our own game of Apples to Apples. To explain shortly, it's a game where everyone is trying to convince a judge that their word is best described by a previously chosen adjective. I think this particular game of Apples to Apples was the most hilarious game I've ever played, hearing arguments for why scissors are more amazing than Jesus, why Napoleon Dynamite is sillier than Lisa Freeman, and why World War II is more exhausting than George W. Bush. It was quite late by the time we finished, but I think a great time was had by all. Oh, and I guess I should mention that I won :-).
After Christmas we took several small outings with Gunna's family--walking on the beach, a trip to a small harbor town with amazing waffles, a trip to see a fjord, and a trip into Haugesund to visit 2 of the staff from my SOI. On the 27th, Gunna's sister and brother-in-law came, which meant that the Medhaug house was quite cramped. So for a few days, mom and I rented rooms in a nearby house Gunna's mom had found for us. As it turned out, there was no one else renting rooms at that time, so we had the whole house to ourselves! It was really nice and cozy. We were able to lounge in the living room in our pajamas, read on the couch drinking hot cocoa, and cook--one night we made smoked sausage and french fries (couldn't find any tater tots). By this time, I'd felt like I got most of the most important story telling out, but it was just so nice to BE with mom.
One day we took a day trip into Stavanger and did more eating and shopping. Perhaps the most exciting part of the whole day was eating at Subway! From the moment I heard they had Subway in Norway, I knew we had to eat there. This is the likes of things volunteers talk about together, mouths watering. And it did not disappoint. I ate an entire foot long turkey sub by myself :-). And it couldn't have gotten any better except that they had DR. PEPPER! I've had entire conversations with volunteers about Dr. Pepper, with longing, and there I was, washing down my turkey sandwich with one.
Right before New Years, we moved back into the Medhaug house. Mom and I weren't expecting to be able to stay with them so much, but they were so welcoming and fun to be with, we were so grateful for such wonderful hosts to share the holidays with. Some days we just stayed inside talking. Gunna and I came up with about 5 ideas for more videos (none of which actually materialized, but these things are often funnier in the planning stages; that, or we were lacking the inspiration of our Papa Steve--you ARE the wind beneath our wings, you know). And many days we began in a devotion and prayer with the family. The sense of the Holy Spirit was sweet.
We celebrated the New Year with another gigantic meal, delicious dessert, sparklers outside, and prayers of thanksgiving for the last year and expectation for the year ahead. When I look back, God has truly been good and faithful this last year in Kyrgyzstan, and it felt good to stand at the end with Him still by my side. Then to turn around and look forward with joy and excitement for what the year ahead with Him will hold.
I couldn't have spent my holidays in a better way. It was a wonderful vacation, precious time with my mom, fun time with a good friend, and sweet time with a new family. Now I'm back in Kyrgyzstan--is Norway really over already? Still in Bishkek for the time being, but heading back to Talas tomorrow. While I might have managed another week, or month, or year in Norway :-), I am looking forward to getting back "home" and seeing my students and volunteer friends again. I'm excited to see what the next 10 months in Kyrgyzstan hold.
I've posted a ton of pictures because I'm at the Peace Corps office right now and I can do it for free! I will probably post more later, though, because these are only the pictures from my mom's camera. Her battery died about halfway through the trip, so there are several more from my camera I'd like to post when I get back home to my computer and camera cord. Until then, enjoy these and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! May we be transformed more into the image of Christ this year.
The family at Christmas Eve dinner (Mom took the picture). From left to right: Gunna's brother Endre, Gunna's dad, Gunna, me, Gunna's mom. If I look a little scary, I think it's because I had to sit there smiling for a long time for many pictures... this must have been near the end when my mouth was getting tired :-)
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