Roligheden Barnehage

I do stuff like… go on an excursion to Roligheden Barnehage.

This morning we had our last excursion for our International and Comparative education class. We went to a kindergarten that was actually right across the street from my apartment. When we got there the supervisor had a PowerPoint explaining the history and main aims of the barnehage. We sat in little chairs and drank little cups of tea and coffee. After the presentation we had a little tour of the little school; she showed us where the students take naps … outside. There was a little room filled with strollers that opened up to the outside, this is where the students take their naps… year round.

Four days a week the nature groups go outside no matter what. Today we got to observe what they do when they are outside in the nature. I was quite surprised at the sight before me. There were two four-year-old boys sitting on a log carving wood with knives… sharp knives. Not only was I shocked that the boys were not really being supervised, I was also caught off guard by how well they handled the knives.

Right behind the carving boys I looked up to see three small girls easily climbing up and down the massive rocks. On the other side there was a boy climbing a tree and counting pinecones while under him was a game of impressively played soccer by the children.

Beyond the small soccer field was one of the helpers harnessing up a small girl who then scaled the miniature mountain and then repelled back down with her rope as if it were as simple as walking. She hurried over to join her two of her friends that were getting their little lunch packs out of their little hiking bags. It was then that I realized that these were the tiny skiers I had seen everywhere all winter.

I stood wide-eyed and just watched the children as they explored and had adventures that children in America would be never have. The supervisor said they hadn’t had any major accidents and that the children were always safe. It is no wonder why Norwegians love nature so much they eat, sleep, and are practically raised outside.

Excuse Me?

I do stuff like... attend a Norwegian rummage sale.

Friday night I got an email from a Norwegian friend asking if I wanted to join her and another friend at a rummage sale in the morning. Despite my obvious desire to sleep in on Saturday morning I cheerfully replied that I would love to. Which is true, I did love to. I walked over to her house in the morning and we drove about an hour to a school in Grimstad. As we pulled up, the parking lot and even the lawn in front of the school was polluted with vehicles. We got out and walked up the hill to see the front area flooded with furniture for sale; everything from tables to chairs to pianos.

We meandered our way around the crowds of people and stacked furnishings in order to make our way into the building. I took a deep sigh of relief when we entered, thinking we would avoid the majority of the populace. I realized how mistaken I was when I looked up into the hallway and rooms that were overflowing with people. From my personal perspective I wouldn’t say that Norwegians are purposefully rude by any means. However as far as I have been told, there is no Norwegian word for “excuse me”. So you can see how they would be labeled rude in a situation such as this.

As we set foot into the first room I was immediately shocked at how many people could voluntarily be in one small room at a time. A room that would normally have a twenty person max limit was surly violating the fire code while occupying fifty or sixty people all shuffling around trying to “shop”. I barely glanced at the tables overflowing with antique items displayed for sale. My eyes were glued on Miriam so that I wouldn’t get lost in the frenzy of purchases.

Imagine yourself in one of those big blow up obstacle courses… now think about how obnoxious it is to have to run between those towering pillars that just push you back and forth like a pinball. This, my friends, is how I felt for the next few hours. It was not even a slight nudge followed by an immediate apology. Full-grown adults would try to squeeze into spaces that not even my right leg alone would fit into. There were bodies smashed up against other bodies. I’m not even Closter phobic and I began to experience shortness of breath. Lets just say I made my wall to the hallway whenever it was plausible. I don’t mean to complain at all, it was rather comical to watch and be apart of such a Norwegian function.

Visit

I do stuff like… get visited in Norway by two ‘very special’ people!

The days had been counted down and I looked up at the big blue star drawn on my calendar. I was pacing around my small room, it was five hours before they were supposed to arrive and I had yet to get a confirmation email about our ride, I prayed and prayed I was just being overdramatic and that everything would work out perfectly as planned. (Which of course you’d think I know by now is never how it works). Anyway an hour before their plane came in I got an email saying, “See you soon”. My ride had been confirmed, more pointless worrying I had done and more answered prayer from the Lord.

The fifteen-minute car ride seemed like five seconds (due to engaging conversation) and when I looked up we were at the airport. I checked my watch and ran inside expecting them to be making their way out immediately. I went inside and leaned against a wall staring at the closed door that read “International Arrivals”. The doors would slide open and people would be reunited with friends and family that had been gone. I’m fairly certain they had to have been some of the last to come through the doors and when I saw them, two familiar comforting faces I couldn’t help but run to them. Three months for a baby girl not to see such influential people is a long time. My mom and sister had finally arrived in Norway! (I was of course immediately filled with sorrow that my whole family couldn’t have come however I was ecstatic to see Kat and Ken).

As you can imagine the next week accelerated by and I suddenly found myself curled up on my red futon wondering if the past few days had been real. They were in fact real; I sat and thought of memories from the time we had spent together and laughed to myself as I recalled the picnic we took on the mount and how scared Kathy was to get to the edges and how Kendra just ran around and sang and danced all over the cliff, and the random pictures that were snapped.

I thought back to our trip up to Oslo we had taken with a good Norwegian friend of mine here. How we had met new people (some not so friendly that I will leave nameless) and others very welcoming. I thought about the opportunity we had to walk on top of the new opera building in Oslo as well as visit a park that had hundreds of nude statues surrounding it. One of the highlights of the week had to have been the evening we had a lovely home cooked Norwegian meal of scaled fish and potatoes.

Recalling us lounging on the couch after dinner to unwind from the busy day and noticing something out of the corner of my eye, I remember glancing up to see a mouse, yes a real live mouse, crawling out of the ceiling, down the wall, and into an old guitar sitting on the ground. I somewhat urgently told mom to look and when she finally peeled her eyes off of her email she too saw the rodent and then Kendra; I laughed as I think back about how I made my way to the kitchen to let them know that they had a mouse in their guitar. I’m not sure how to relay that information calmly and politely. Anyway the elderly man grabbed a Kleenex and walked into the living room to get it. A Kleenex? What were you going to do with a Kleenex? Did I mention that it was alive and quickly moving? At this point I think we left and drove back in disbelief and laughter at the events of the evening. (I could recount some stories about the other house we stayed in but I’ll leave those out for now, I’m sure Kathy and Kendra would love to share them with you).

Back to now, as I remained wrapped in my comforter on my futon I glanced over at my calendar looking at the new month astonished that their visit was over. I can’t believe we’re already in April, before you know it I’ll be the one coming out the doors at the airport; however I don’t want to count down, I want to take hold of the remaining time I have here and be thankful for every moment I have left.