Knock Knock Is Anybody Home?

Yikes! The blogging has slowed down to a crawl again. Somehow, life got in the way without me noticing that anything different was going on. Maybe, I’m just spending a whole lot more time gazing out of the big windows in the new apartment. I did have some projects to complete for school but still….I’m starting to get pretty big gaps between entries.

I should mention, before I forget, that John got in on a cancellation and was able to take his driver’s test. He passed!! Thank heaven. I wasn’t looking forward to taking the bus to buy groceries every week. It would also have sucked if he didn’t have his license when Carolyn was here, and she comes in a week and a half.

I’ve been tracking our shipment and it’s slowly making its way up the Atlantic coast of Spain. The weather here has been amazing the past couple of weeks, so on weekends we’ve been doing more exploring. Easter Sunday we drove up into the mountains that surround us here in Stavanger and discovered that people were still skiing even though the temperatures in Stavanger itself were closing in on 20 degrees. I took a bunch of pics on the weekend but will have to upload them later….really busy with ‘stuff’ (and started to watch Breaking Bad….).

Here Comes Peter Cottontail....

The run on the grocery stores is underway! Norway is about to shut down for the Easter Holidays. It’s only Wednesday but John has a half-day at work today and he doesn’t have to be back in the office until next Tuesday. The shops and the offices are closing up, and even though there are some business hours on Saturday, we’ve been told it’s best to stay home and avoid the crowds. I find that the only time the Coop at Kvadrat Mall is busy seems to be Saturdays, but last night John and I decided to stock up for the week-long hiatus and when we got to the mall it was packed!

I think half of the people were in Coop and those people were being very un-Norwegian and filling their carts to the brim. They were even buying pop! I rarely see Norwegians buy pop, but people were passing me with 4 packs of 2 liter bottles. Seems like there will be a lot of loose living over the next several days. The shoppers also had several liters of milk and juice, bread, packages of sliced meats, cheese, and candy. Lots of candy. Instead of filling Easter baskets, Norwegians fill these adorable hollow cardboard eggs. The eggs are decorated most often with chicks (I think chicks predominate the bunnies here) and some rabbits…they come apart along the long edge and you can fill them with loose candies.

Bins of loose candies have popped up in most of the stores, and people scoop and bag their own. No one seems to care that the bins of candy are open at the top and little kids have been sticking their hands in the bins for the past couple of weeks. No one seems to care at all….probably because all the fresh air around here promotes healthy immune systems. People don’t seem to be all that ‘germophobic’ in general.

I am praying for nice sunny weather for the next few days…dying to get out and take some more pictures….do more exploring. Last weekend it was sunny one minute and pouring buckets of rain the next. On Sunday, we’d had enough of being inside and ventured out to try to find the ski hills south of where we live, in Sandnes. The first half hour of the drive was great but then I caused a deviation from the plan….I spied a yarn outlet store…just sitting there out in the middle of nowhere in particular. There were tons of cars there, so it had to be worth seeing. I mean…these people had obviously driven out to the middle of nowhere to buy yarn for some reason. I started to remember what it felt like to hold a pair of knitting needles in my hands. It’s been years but those addictions never truly go away. I was envisioning projects before I had my seatbelt off.

What we had found was the factory outlet of the Gjestdal Yarn Company. Now I know why I’ve been seeing so many alpacas in my travels along the back roads around here! The yarn shop is housed in a log building with open wooden beams. One side of the building was dedicated to selling yarn, and the other was a good-sized cafe, and shop for selling Norwegian wool products. We didn’t take the time for a coffee and a sandwich, but I checked out the things they were selling and made a few mental notes for Christmas gifts. I also couldn’t wait to get home and call Mom to tell her what we’d found. I was certain she was going to tell me to go back and buy her $50 worth of baby yarn (and sure enough, she did just that).

I actually didn’t think the prices were too bad for good wool. I know the little yarn specialty shop in Halifax is very pricey, and there aren’t many places there that sell wool (or I should say material you can knit with….since Michael’s offerings are mostly acrylic). And it was kind of cool knowing it was all locally produced. A couple of weeks ago, as we were trekking out in the Norwegian boonies we noticed that it must have been shearing time; there wasn’t a fluffy coated sheep to be seen. Every one of them was sporting a slimmed-down, close-cropped silhouette. Those former fluffy coats were being carded, spun, and dyed into dozens of beautiful colors! Right where you could sit and get a latte, too!

I didn’t take any pictures of the place because we walked outside to a huge downpour, and we just dashed to the car as fast as we could to get out of the rain. We decided to head home and postpone the trip up to the ski hills until Easter weekend. It should be an interesting ride the rest of the way….there are some dandy cliffs overhanging the part of the road we did pass on our way to Gjestdal. Which explained why there was a sign at the beginning of the road saying it was open. I thought maybe it was for avalanches but I definitely think it had more to do with rock falls. My mother would freak if we drove her by one of those cliffs because it really looks like the side of the mountain is about to come down on your head. I will have to get out and get some pictures next time.

The weather is supposed to be nice this weekend, so I’ve figured out what wool I want to buy and we’ll be heading out probably on Friday. I checked online and the ski hills are about 2 hours into the mountains. Glad I checked on that or I would have made John turn back after about an hour or so of not finding them. Last weekend we didn’t even know if we were on the right road (but we were)….We REALLY have to stop at the gas station and buy a map! GPS can get you home but it’s nice to know where you’ve been…or just exactly where you are for that matter.

Glorious Sunshine!

Just completed my first week above ground. Seems like I was in that hole in the ground forever! I’m adjusting very nicely to the dizzying heights of the 5th floor, and walls made mostly of glass. Making things even more special, the weather cooperated and delivered week-long sunshine.

John and I have made multiple trips to IKEA to get more things (will it ever end?) and will be making the trek to the big-blue-box one more time tonight to return a lamp, and buy the bedding needed for the guest room bed. Wait until the first guest sees how tiny the room is! It really was meant for nothing bigger than a twin bed, but that didn’t seem too practical so we squeezed in a double. It fits….like a shoe should….with just enough room to turn around while getting dressed. Luckily it also holds a night table and a small wardrobe. Anyway, tonight we’ll go get some sheets and a duvet set for it. Carolyn will be our first visitor and she’s coming in 3 weeks! John and I are making plans of things to do while she’s here, and I’m hoping (as much as I want my things to arrive) that the shipment doesn’t land on our doorstep while she’s here.

Moving Weekend

We got our keys to the new place yesterday. We met the owners who seem very nice and really interested in us having a good experience. They built this huge black binder and filled it with every conceivable piece of paper and appliance manual that relates to the apartment you can think of....such a blessing! Nothing is as unwelcoming as a European washer/dryer combo without a manual. These folks went the extra mile and downloaded English versions for us and clipped them into the binder. We spent an over an hour in the apartment going over everything from how to shut off the water to how to properly care for the floors.

While we were there the IKEA delivery boys showed up with our order from the other night. We dropped by there on Tuesday night and bought 2 new beds, a dining room set, 2 end tables, and a nightstand. We had been there last week and bought some of the smaller things we're going to need to tide us over until the BIG SHIPMENT arrives from Baku....little important things like a sheet, some pillows, dishes, and a bathmat. When all of our household goods end up in one country, we are going to have one hell of a yard sale!  Maybe when this batch arrives, I can go through it and donate some stuff. I'm sure I don't need all of it.

Whenever we go back to Houston we always drop by storage to see what we don't want anymore, and take a couple of carloads to Goodwill. Last January we were really tough on ourselves and actually cleaned out one whole storage locker (we had two)....we gave away a ton of stuff to the folks that worked at the storage place (a small thank you for saving us from "Storage Wars Texas"!!...I'll elaborate later). Many carloads went to charity. I try not to think about those 3 gorgeous patterned rain coats I had for 12 years and never-wore-because-they-never-fit-me; but dang! I know someday I'm going to miss them.

Tonight we have to pick up the TV we bought, buy a microwave, and we probably should stop by IKEA again to get a handcart or two. We have one (in the shipment) but we have a lot of heavy stuff to take out of the parking garage and up to the 5th floor. L.S. is the only real lifter and toter....I'm pretty useless when it comes to the manual labor thing....

In more good news, the BIG SHIPMENT has left Baku! It cleared customs and was sent out on March 18th bound for the port of Poti in Georgia.....that's Georgia the country, not Georgia the state (something my mother asked me and she's not even American!) From there it's bound for Istanbul, then Bremen, Germany....and from there to Stavanger. It will change ships in every port. The estimated time of arrival according to the movers is April 26th. However, they gave me the tracking info for our container and the ship it's on; and as of yesterday the ship was still in Poti. It was supposed to be arriving in Istanbul today, so it's behind schedule right now. The second ship isn't due to leave port until April 3rd, so I guess there is still time for it to catch up.

I'm following its progress on the 'Michel A' in real-time (weird, I know!)
http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/details/ships/271001050/vessel:MICHEL_A

House Hunting - Part Deux

I said that house hunting was my favorite part of moving, didn’t I? Lucky me! I get to do it all over again without the hassle of having to fly somewhere new to actually do it. I think I also said do-overs can be great…so with that in mind, I made a short list of apartments this morning that L.S. and I can go look at this week. Three of the apartments are almost identical being furnished units on the top floor of a brand new building in downtown Sandnes. That will be close to work for the breadwinner and the top floor means there is a nice view of the fjord for me. The only thing I am not too crazy about….it looks like from the pictures that the nice large terrace is shared by all three units. Cosy….I wonder if the Norwegians are topless sunbathers, like the Danes are.

Appointment all set with an agent who can show it to us at 2PM tomorrow. We have competition, someone is coming to see it at 3…but there are 3 apartments. I hope 78 sq. meters is big enough because the location seems to be pretty good with a supermarket right across the street. Three blocks down the street turns into the pedestrian mall in downtown Sandnes which is great for me, and the train station is only a few minutes walk. I didn’t bother to call anyone else on my list because if this one works out, I’m done.

The agent asked me how long we expected to be here and I told her 3 to 5 years (based on the latest intel), which will hopefully play to our favor. We might need some help since L.S. wants to work out some deal whereby we get to use their furniture until ours arrives (in my dreams). He must have sensed I was plotting a trip back to Canada. I wonder if he’ll accept that we desperately need Miracle Whip and Shake ‘n Bake….oh! I forgot his suit and sport jackets, didn’t I? Those are important! I must go back for them!

To Drive Or Not To Drive

Here is our cute little Volkswagon Polo.

In North America, it would be called a Rabbit. I think it’s considered ‘smallish’ no matter where ever you go. John leased it for the year; it comes with 2 sets of tires, full insurance, and maintenance. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come with an automatic transmission. That means John will be the sole driver since there’s a lot of years between me and my last stick. I guess there’s been the same number of years between John and his last stick, but he’s not allowed t0 express any fear or apprehension with regard to driving. One of us has to man up.

I might (and I mean that in the smallest possible sense) have considered driving the stick shift in Norway except for two things: Stavanger is hilly…mountain goat worthy in some places, and the cost of getting a driver’s license is insane! I don’t want to drive badly enough to go through all the hassle and expense. The public transportation here is safe, frequent, and the coverage is excellent. You can’t spit but hit a bus stop.

John is about to start the process of changing his license over to a Norwegian one. We checked into the process a while ago, and even though this is not to be taken as gospel re: the rules and regulations….my interpretation of them goes something like this….

People from the EU and one or two other countries can do a straight exchange of driver’s license without any testing. People on a short list of countries such as Canada and the U.S. can exchange their licenses, but have to do a road test. Everyone else has to complete a Norwegian driver’s training course, just as if you were a brand new driver starting out in Norway. “Trafikkskoler”….driving schools are everywhere! It’s a very big business because you can’t take your teenagers down to Motor Vehicle to get a learner’s and then teaching him or her how to drive. Before they can get in a car, they have to take 4 days of classes on rules of the road, emergency situations, and first aid/CPR. Everyone has to attend ‘trafikkskole’. John says it costs about $10,000 to get licensed for the first time, from scratch. I really think they want to keep people taking the bus as long as possible. They must have financing plans.

John has a Canadian license so he is able to do an exchange with a road test only…if he flunks the road test, it’s my understanding that he gets busted back to the full meal deal…..classroom and a minimum number of hours behind the wheel with an instructor. He can drive on his Canadian license for 3 months in Norway. He has up to a year in which to make the exchange of turning in the Canadian license for a Norwegian one, after that he loses the privilege of skipping the theory tests and avoiding the driver ed classes. He was a bit confused by that at first, he thought since he had a one year grace period for the exchange, that meant he could drive….but he can’t…his Canadian license is not valid in Norway 3 months from the date he entered the country.

The driving schools set up the appointment with the police for the driving test. John finally called one…he’s got one month to go until he’s hoofin’ it to the bus stop. He found out that the soonest appointment for a driving test was in mid-May, but an extension is possible. (We hope!) He got some information about costs. He’ll get a 90 minute lesson in a dual control car with an instructor and the use of a dual control car for his test (a requirement here). The school will book him and take him to his appointment at the police station. It will cost about $2000! And he didn’t think to get that added to his contract prior to signing. Hopefully, his employer will reimburse it.

They definitely won’t reimburse mine so I’m going to forgo the switch. I can take the bus where I want to go (or walk), and save my $2000 for many pairs of nice comfy shoes. I can picture me attempting the exchange, and the road test, not passing….thereby wasting my $2000, and then being in the position of having to shell out 5 times that amount in order finally get a license….by which time we’ll probably be moving! I’m a bit of a gambler but still! John says I could take the test in an automatic vehicle, but over here that means I am not allowed to drive a stick….so, there just isn’t any point.

At least I won’t have to worry about constantly looking to my right as I drive.

Section 7 Rule # 2 from the Norwegian Rules of the Road….“Drivers have an obligation to give way to vehicles approaching from the right.” If the road you are traveling on doesn’t have a golden diamond symbol along it, then there are no yield or stop signs where smaller roads are intersecting it. Essentially, people entering the roadway from your right are not going to stop and look to see if anyone is coming before they enter the road. They’re just going to breeze on through, and it’s up to you to watch for them, spot them, and then yield as they turn onto the road. It’s freaky! John is getting used to it, but I’m still gasping half the time. I think it’s the dumbest rule ever, but maybe it’s designed to slow people down…and it works for that. You can’t go humming along at the speed limit without paying attention to what’s happening around you. The rest of the rules are here.

None of the above sounds like any fun. I can’t honestly say I feel any loss of independence not being able to drive….odd since it used to kind of upset me not to have a car in the driveway. And there are alternatives....

***John dropped by the motor vehicle office on Monday and turned in his Canadian license for a temporary Norwegian one. He has 3 months to complete his preparation and get a full Norwegian license. The process has begun!!***

05Mar 2014

Hiccups And Frustrations - Six Weeks In

Just when everything seemed to be under control…..

Our furniture hasn’t moved. John finally made contact with his old employer, who is supposed to be paying the bill and they came to an agreement….of sorts. John is proposing to handle the destination charges at this end, and that the old employer will handle the shipping and the Baku storage charges at his end. Initially we were supposed to pay the storage, and the other guy the destination fees, but the other guy thought the destination fees were too high. If he agrees he will save about $2000 that we will cover just to get this ball rolling.

We spoke to the movers in Baku, and depending on the availability of a 20 foot container…and the schedule of a container ship with space. It could take between 40 to 60 days for our things to arrive once the movers receive a P.O. from the old employer. He hasn’t sent them one yet. I’m afraid the Easter bunny will be here before that happens. We have to be out of here on March 30th as this place has been rented. So, in a month we have nowhere to go. John might be able to bunk in the other staff apartment if both bedrooms aren’t occupied, but I can’t see myself going there…no way! I’ve been checking plane fares on Expedia. I might just slip on back to Canada to await the arrival of our container if it’s not here….well…there is no “if”; I can do simple math as well as the next person. It’s not going to make it.

Wait!….to top it all off…John just sent me a Skype message that says the owners of the townhouse  we rented are going to sell it, for financial reasons, and are breaking the lease. I guess “no house” goes with “no furniture”….

This weekend we’ll have to start looking again, and it might be best if we looked at furnished places only so what ends up happening with our furniture won’t matter. But, it does matter! John also said that instead of 6 months to a year, his boss thinks we’ll be in Stavanger for 3 to 5 years! We aren’t really sure we want to stay that long, but if it’s a possibility I’ll want to get my own things and use them. If we store this lot, that will mean both my previous life, and my current one, are waiting for me in climate controlled storage….and will be for a long time to come. Where did I sign up for a total renovation?

In other news, John was contacted last week by a recruiter about job that would give him the option to live in Dubai or Houston. We’ve lived in both places and liked them both….he told him to go ahead and pursue it…sometimes “do-overs” are as good as, or better than, fresh starts. These odd coincidences are beginning to pile up….hmmm.

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Just turned on my new favorite TV show…Masterchef Australia…and they’ve taken them off to Dubai for a week….AND they’ve shown our old apartment on the Palm Jumeirah about 5 times in the first ten minutes of the show. Seriously, weird….

Grocery Shopping

The supermarket…..you never know what you’re going to get. Outside of North America I know I am not going to get Miracle Whip. In Dubai, I’m not going to get beer or wine unless I’m at the right supermarket, and out of curiosity happen to ask someone what’s behind those big old steel doors on the outside of the building.

What was the very first thing I did when I got to Norway and dropped off the bags? I made John take me to check out the grocery store. There was choice of several since close to the bunker; none of which are very big when compared to the ones I’m used to back in Canada or the U.S. Somehow they manage to cram everything you’d need in them, mostly saving space with narrow aisles. I’ve been in a few stores where the aisles are so narrow you’d be hard pressed to pass another cart. I’m avoiding those ones since no one yet understands me when I say “Unnskyld meg” (excuse me). I think it’s supposed to sound something like “unshool my”….but I’m not quite there yet. Maybe I’m just too timid to enunciate properly…maybe all that’s coming out is a wee mutter.

The store we went to that night was one of the many incarnations of the Co-op. It was okay…a 5 on a scale of 10. We haven’t been back. We’ve found that the Co-op at the Kvadrat Mall is the biggest store so far and it seems to have everything we need. What surprised me is how many Old El Paso products there are. Norwegians must love their tacos because there’s a whole aisle dedicated to Mexican food supplies. The Italians, the Chinese, and the Indians are competing for space one aisle over.

The bread here is amazing! Most loaves are put on the shelves unsliced and it’s up to you to slice it and bag it yourself. I first thought that this was so a person could slice it to whatever thickness they preferred but apparently not, there is no adjustment on the bread slicing machine. There are lots of different varieties available, all of the ones we’ve tried have been delicious. I’m surprised at how trim everyone is here considering the amount of bread and cheese there is in the Norwegian diet….must be all that carb burning cross-country skiing!

Another thing I noticed is how long the meat keeps in the fridge. I was a little dubious about the best before date of my ground beef being 10 days away from the day I bought it, but I gave it a shot, and it was fine. Same for the chicken breasts (2 weeks), the cooked bbq. chicken (3 weeks) and the stew beef (2 weeks). They must have a different process for preparing meat to make it last so long….maybe it’s irradiated. I seem to remember there was something I heard back in Canada during one of those big meat recalls about irradiated meat solving a lot of bacteria problems. And I always kind of wondered how the Danes could label their chicken Salmonella-free. They must have zapped those little microbes with some gamma rays or something. (I've since learned that the meat isn't irradiated, it's just got a shorter time from hoof to table here....so it's fresher when it hits the grocery.)

So far the quality of the food has been excellent. I’ve noticed there are several hydroponic greenhouse operations in the area, and many barns that have big signs advertising strawberries. Can’t wait for summer! It looks like I’m still going to have to bring a few things over with me the next time I come back. The selection of garbage bags is pitiful and they are so “delicate”….barely make it to the bins upstairs. I find myself buying grocery bags to substitute. Nobody sells laundry detergent in large containers….everything comes “bachelor” sized. Typical for Europe, the selection of household products is a tad light. But there’s enough to get the job done. I can handle it because I was delighted to find they sell green pickle relish at all of the stores I’ve been to so far. That makes up for a lot of things.

All in all, I have no major complaints about the grocery stores here except one; you are your own best bagger…actually you are the bagger. No one packs your groceries for you. When they hit that conveyor belt past the scanner, you’re on your own. It was the same in Denmark. John and I had a system to get through the process with as much dignity as possible. The Scandinavian cashier doesn’t stop for nothing or nobody. Once she’s rung you in, and collected payment (either a pound of flesh or first-born son), she’s onto the next customer. There are 2 sections to the post scanner belt, and you just want to hope that the person behind you has a very small order, so she can be out-of-the-way for person #3. It gives you a little breathing room for the packing. It’s not so bad when there are two of you to handle the order, but going it alone makes for some fast hands.

All grocery stores are b.y.o.b or bring your own bag. Nice sturdy plastic bags are available for purchase at 1 kroner a piece. Unlike, Denmark, there is no wine or hard liquor section in the grocery store, but you can buy beer for $35 a dozen before 8pm on weekdays, and 3pm on Saturdays. They keep it in the section with the pop and the home-brew equipment.

I’m sure I’ll have more to add as I get more excursions to the grocery under my belt, but so far it’s been a positive experience…..very relieving since fast food options are not so fast, and way too expensive for what you get. We’ll be eating home a lot more here, because even though food is expensive in the grocery store, eating out is way over the top!

Decisions About What To Take

A few years ago, an Air Canada check-in agent asked me (out of pure curiosity) just what kinds of things were in my suitcases. He wanted to know what were the important, just-cannot-live without-them kinds of things that would prompt someone to pay $200 in extra baggage charges. On that particular trip, I had......

• a Costco size box of Milk Bones
• 24 velvet coated clothes hangers
• 4 bottles of green pickle relish
• 3 squeeze bottles of Miracle Whip
• 2 boxes of L'Oreal Excellence Cream hair color
• a large roll of heavy duty Reynolds Foil Wrap (also from Costco)
• Ziploc freezer bags in 2 sizes
• 2 extra large bottles of Tums and Zantac (L.S.' favorite snack)
• 4 tubes of Crest toothpaste
• 8 trade paperback novels
• 6 boxes of Kraft dinner
• 244 Red Rose teabags
• 3 Black and 1 of each color of Canon #6 printer ink
• 6 Packs of Swiss Chalet Gravy Mix
• 1 Costco pack of Shake & Bake
• 2 Costco size boxes of Quaker Granola Bars

I probably forgot a few things....then...and now. In preparing for the move to Stavanger, I had a good idea of what wasn't going to be available because we recently spent 2 years in Denmark (and all Scandinavian countries are the same, right?). I knew I would need Miracle Whip and green pickle relish. The dog died 2 years ago, so I don't need the Milk Bones. I've learned to like Colgate toothpaste, I now have an e-reader, Ikea sells good quality ziploc bags, and I can get the L'Oreal here if I am willing to pay $36 bucks for it. Since the price of extra baggage has skyrocketed lately, I was determined to be more discerning with my choices. I also told myself, I'll come back in May and reload.

In our family, packing is my job. Me, and me alone, is responsible for what comes and goes, and how it gets there....mostly because nobody does it better, and I haven't been shy about gently letting John know his attempts at it are monumental disasters.

For this move, the heavy lifting was already done. A moving company had come to our apartment in Baku, packed everything up and took it off for storage until we knew where we were heading. Right now that's where everything still is....sitting in Baku. We've told them it's to be shipped to Stavanger, but now it's waiting for John's former employer to cough up the money to pay for it. Until he does that, nothing's going anywhere. Can I interject that I have a bad feeling about this....and have since the day it was crated up and carried off? I asked John at the time if there was any chance we could become permanently parted from our stuff, and he assured me everything would be fine. I trusted him, but I hope I'm not sorry I didn't pull from the shipment those things I really didn't want to lose. The shipping cost from Baku to Stavanger including the packing, storage, and local delivery charges comes to $14,000! John is going to choke on that bill if he has to eat it...and I'll probably never let him live it down.

But, for now, back to the packing at hand. I have 6 suitcases to fill. We brought 5 with us, but I was in Orlando alone for 2 weeks; I went shopping. Some things are going to have to be put in storage at the daughter-princess's apartment. I checked the average monthly temperatures for Stavanger and discovered the average high for July and August is only 19 degrees Celsius. There didn't seem to be a need for summer clothes and a dozen pairs of flip flops. All of the winter clothes we had in previous years ended up being packed by the movers, and are warming their cartons in a Baku warehouse. We had to buy all new stuff, including boots, in order to survive the cold Canadian winter we hadn't expected to experience when we first arrived in Canada. Those things had to come, along with a few summer clothes...in case the opportunity (or necessity) arose to escape the dreary, rainy winter weather in Stavanger...as in go somewhere sunny. I got most of the clothes in, abandoning one fall jacket, 3 pair of shoes....and accidentally forgetting John's suit, and all of his sport coats. Something I just realized the other day....man really should take responsibility for his things! I wonder how long until he realizes they're missing.

In the process of packing, I discovered that I had actually brought the Apple TV with us. That was a relief. I really thought I had left it with our shipment. This will get me through some long days faced with foreign language television. I didn't buy any food this time...choosing to live on the culinary wild side, and get used to mayo over Miracle Whip (it's a Canadian thing). I really wanted to get my extra winter coat in there, so I made the sacrifice. There will be no Miracle Whip in Norway....

As usual all of the bags were stuffed to airline capacity. Being a pro, I can usually get within half a pound without going overweight. I asked John to book us a minivan cab for the trip to the airport. What have got with me this time??

• the last 3 seasons of Breaking Bad on DVD
• 2 Paderno saucepans with lids
• 2 extra large bottles of Tums and Zantac
• 1 box of L'Oreal Excellence hair color (because I'll pay $36 once but not twice)

I did not pack the giant sized Toblerone chocolate bar, though; thinking why carry chocolate to Europe? I regret that decision now.

The Decision To Move To Norway

Just before Thanksgiving, John and I were en route to Florida in the little grey Saturn, when a call came from a head hunter about a job in Kurdistan. I think we were somewhere along I-81 in northern Virginia. A few minutes into the call, it dawned on us that the job this headhunter was pitching was one John had already been offered and turned down for the not-so-spiffy compensation package, and lack of warm fuzzy feelings about the company.

So, I'm driving and John is taking his call...it hits me that I had seen a job posted for Norway on this particular headhunter's website the day before. I start wildly gesticulating and whispering 'ask him about the Project Manager's job in Stavanger!!!' John gives me his best combination of 'What are you talking about?' and 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' looks. I can tell he is getting annoyed, but I persist....he finally inquires...and long story short; here we are in Stavanger.

For John it meant his Florida holiday was cut short by 2 weeks. But it was hard to feel too sorry for him since he'd been pretty much on vacation since June. I was just about to ask him if he was retiring. We didn't think he was quite ready for that yet...so off he went, with a suitcase full of new winter clothes we bought at Macy's black Friday sale. I stayed behind in Orlando, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. He flew to Norway to check out the company, the position, and the fine print. I expected nightly reports about the weather, the restaurants, and the grocery stores.

It all checked out and the best part was...it was a job he could get really excited about. The company was small, but not brand new. They wanted him to oversee the roll out of a new product; to take it through testing phases and into the market. I think the idea gave him goosebumps (the good kind)....the kicker being that the market they wanted to explore first was North America, and we would be expected to move to Houston in 6 to 12 months. Perfect! We have been anxious to get closer to home for a while, become a little more settled...maybe even buy a house....close to a Kroger....close to Rotel tomatoes because it's the little things you miss the most sometimes.

While John was away, a wrinkle in the plans turned up in the form of a job offer with a big company in Singapore. I had high hopes for continued time in nice hot weather (excessive humidity notwithstanding). I could picture myself planted in an air conditioned high-rise where I could still afford a housekeeper. John, however, couldn't deny his affection for the Norwegian job, so he decided to let the Singapore one go. Sigh....Hope he's not sorry when he sees his first paycheck and most of it is missing.

I'd say the biggest negatives about coming to Norway are the high taxes and the high cost of living (gas costs more than $10 per gallon). The company has given us a housing budget. We might be able to find something we like within it, but from checking out rental prices online, it seems like it might be a bit light, and we'll have to kick in some money of our own. It's not exactly free housing either, the value of the rent is added to income each month (as is the company car), so you have to pay income tax on it. This is the same in most countries, but it's something it took me a while to remember when I was trying to figure out how much money we would net each month.

On the positive side, there were plenty of reasons to come here. Most people speak English which makes life so much easier. You can actually rinse your fruit and vegetables with safe-to-drink tap water. The scenery is very nice, and there is a terrific public transportation system. Buses are clean, frequent, and go everywhere; live close to the commuter rail and you've got it knocked. There is a reliable public healthcare system so you don't have to leave the country to get your annual check-up or see a doctor, for that matter. There probably isn't much in the way of government corruption. Where we lived last, in Azerbaijan, people spoke either Russian or Azeri; you get by with a few words and some hand signals. In Azerbaijan, it was best if the tap water didn't come in contact with your food; buses weren't recommended for expats, drivers were; and "no thanks" on the doctors....come to think of it I was never healthier than when we lived there, though. It was nice that you really didn't need a prescription for anything at the pharmacy, you could just go in and buy what you need...not so nice that you had to try and communicate your needs with your hands.

Another plus was that Norway would be an easy sell to our families back home. My mother becomes an authority on every single place I tell her we are considering for a move. She used to comb through her stacks of National Geographics looking for relevant articles and photos, but now she has Google, and she knows how to use it. I get her feedback much earlier in the decision process than I once did. 

John reported back that it rained most of the time; the stores are closed on Sundays; and that the restaurant food (while priced in the stratosphere) was at least better than what you got in Denmark. Moreover, he loved the company and the people at the new office. The fix was in. He'd be back in Orlando in time for us to drive up to Canada for Christmas. We''d stay long enough to celebrate the New Year and #1 son's 30th birthday, then off we'd go. The date was set and the tickets were bought....January 19th we'd be flying to Norway.