Updates Coming Soon

We know we have been slacking at updating our blog...but trust us updates are coming soon.  In the mean time enjoy a nice little video that describes Norway almost to the "T." Even Norwegians have to agree (partly because it is made by a Norwegian)!

 This Is Norway

Better Late Than Never

As many of you can probably already guess, life has been non-stop go go go for both of us and we’ve finally found some time to sit down and write this long over due update. To begin let me go back a little ways to Thanksgiving, Megan’s Birthday, and Mini-Honeymoon trip #1 (also known as Copenhagen)…

We decided to take our first European trip to Copenhagen, Denmark during Thanksgiving weekend. It was our Mini-Honeymoon #1, Thanksgiving, and Megan’s Birthday all rolled into one! The trip started out in true Griswald Family (The Vacation Movies) style:

·      30 minute delayed flight from Stavanger

·      Running through Oslo airport (layover was originally only 50 minutes, that is if the plane was on time)

·      Missing the last Copenhagen connection for the night and being rescheduled for the 6 am flight the next day, thus making an unexpected free night stay in the hotel by the airport

·      Celebrating Megan’s birthday a little early with some duty-free wine and our free 500 NOK food/beverage vouchers

·      Sleeping through the wake-up call and all alarms and waking up at 6am by sure luck

·      Missed flight #2, miraculously got rescheduled for the 7 am flight free of charge, and finally made it to Copenhagen

Once we got there things got much better.  We were able to check into our room right when we got there so we didn’t have to haul our stuff around for the day.  That first day we did a bunch of shopping, as we didn’t feel like doing all the sites after our flight fiasco.  The second day of our trip was spent viewing the sites.  I feel like we saw just about all of them without having to take a bus, train, taxi, etc.  That night we went to Tivoli Square for the Christmas market, which turned out to be a blast!  With this year being our first away form families we had very little, if any, Christmas decorations, so we bought numerous ones during our trips at the various Christmas markets.  On the third and final day we relaxed, enjoyed more of the good food and pretty much bought all of our Christmas presents to each other.  Luckily on the way back we were able to make our flight on time, and enjoy a Starbucks coffee.

Sorry for the delay....

First off let me apologize for the delay in not updating our blog.  Between school (me), work (both), and traveling we have had very little free time.  Also, information about our “Megan’s Birthday Trip” can be found in another post.

With that being said, what has all happened here….

One weekend we drove out to Brykedal, and the candle factory.  It was a beautiful drive in the mountains.  To get there you cruise through some of the most breathtaking U-shaped valleys and along some amazing lakes.  On the way out there the sun was trying to peak through the clouds but was struggling and on the way back there was a slight rain.  Once we got there we bought tons of candles and had a traditional Norwegian meal.  I had a meatball dish (I can’t remember the actually name) and Megan had a fish dish.

When we moved here we needed phones and we figured we wouldn’t be using them a whole lot.  At that time we decided to get pay-as-you-go phones.  The problem was they were unreliable at times.  So we decided to upgrade and broke down and bought iPhones.  After much research we discovered that if we buy them here unlocked we can use them even when we travel to other places (with a SIM card of course).  So, needless to say, birthday presents came early this year.

Since, most of the vacation time was used on the wedding we are staying here for Christmas.  While on “Megan’s Birthday Trip” we actually bought most of our gifts for each other, as it was slightly cheaper there.  We still bought things here but we won’t know what until Christmas.  We baked cookies that are familiar to us:  pizzelles, moons or Russian teacakes, peanut butter balls, and pfeffernusse. If we where to do a “typical” Norwegian Christmas we would decorate our tree on the 23^rd, but we already bought and decorated ours from a boat that brings them into the harbor from up north.  On Christmas Eve we would open all of our presents with family and eat a dinner consisting of ribbe, julepølser, pinnekjøtt, lutefisk, kålrabi, potatoes, sauerkraut and more.  We actually had all that at Megan’s company Christmas party (minus the lutefisk).  Since my birthday is Christmas Eve instead of trying to fight for a reservation at a restaurant or try to cook some of these foods, we are celebrating my birthday a day early by going to a local restaurant where we can get such foods again. Here is a link to find out more about them Norwegian Christmas Food

Also if you want to come visit, right now all you need is a suitcase full of real butter and you could sell it to get your ticket paid for.  All joking aside, this is a problem here this year.  Norwegians in general started a low carb, high fat diet just before December.  Combine that with milk production decreasing in Norway, you get a butter shortage.  The country has tried to import butter, but no one will unless we lower our taxes.  So, we just have to deal without butter or we have to risk our lives against elderly women….

Just as a final side note, I passed my driving test as well.  So we are both licensed to drive until we are 100 in Norway!

Canons by the lookout tower.

The lookout tower.

Harbor at night.

The local school in Sentrum.

Having fun...

I want one...

Drive to Byrkedal.

Drive to Byrkedal.

Watching guard over the farm houses next to the candle factory.

One of the many beautiful lakes...wish the sun was shining...

One of the lakes.

It's been a few months...

We have been keeping quite busy here in Stavanager. Since our last update quite a few significant things have occured.

First off, summer came to an end as Loren started his final year of grad school. As everyone knows, the first few weeks of school are usually more lax, but the pace soon quickened as Loren added not one, but two jobs to his plate. He has been coaching swimming for the British International School of Stavanger (BISS) and has also picked up private lessons for ConocoPhillips expat families. He's working his way up the company, one swim lesson at a time.

As for Megan, she has been keeping busying working and passing her driving test. That's right, she now can legally drive in Norway for the rest of her life, or at least the next 99 years! The main differences with driving here is that there are rarely any stop signs and traffic lights. Instead they are replaced by roundabouts galore and this thing called the "right rule." The "right rule" is applied when you are on certain roads you yield to the person to your right (just like if two people stop at a 4-way stop sign).

We've planned our first "honeymoon" for Thanksgiving weekend. We will be spending 3 days and 4 nights next to Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark. During this time we will be exploring the capital of Denmark and attending the Christmas Market! You'll have to wait until after the trip to find out more!

One final note before we go get some dinner, we now have 2 modes of transportation. Our first big purchase were 2 mountain bikes, both on sale. Originally we thought that we could get by with just those and public transportation, but needless to say we were wrong. So instead, to celebrate Megan passing her driving test (also after multiple weeks searching online and riding bikes in the rain), we bought a car! It's a 2005 VW Golf (bright blue!!!)!

Pretty sunrise from our bedroom.

Gorgeous sunset from our balcony.

Three massive winter tankers in the harbor.

Unique architecture in Sandnes.

Drivers side view of the electric bullet. (That is not our parking spot so don't critic the parking job)

Front view of the electric bullet. (Loren is grabbing his iPod after reversing into our parking space.)

Another Update

So what have we been up to...

Since the last update there has been two different "festivals" here in Stavanger.  The first was the food festival, otherwise known as Gladmat.  There was just about any type of food you wanted, mainly from local vendors.  We bought two fresh cheeses a smoke cow milk and a specialty goats milks and one sausage that had mustard seeds, dried tomatoes, and bell peppers on the outside.  While we were there with some of the other expats we decided to go to Lervig beer tent.   After I talked to one of the brewers, who happened to be from Jackson, Wyoming, our friend got a text about the bombing.  After that Megan and I split about 10 sample plates from different tents and walked home stuffed to the brim.  Luckily we went that night because due to the tragedy in Oslo, the festival was cut short by a day.

Last weekend was the Tall Ship Races.  The harbor was just PACKED with what I heard someone say were "old school sailing ships."  The ships started to arrive on Wednesday and stayed in the harbor until Sunday.  During that time some of the ships "open" and allow people to tour them.  Just like you might expect the biggest and neatest ships had the longest lines so Megan and I went to the smaller of the large ships and got to walk on two of the decks!  Sunday when the tall ships left, we were fortunate enough to take a ship out to watch them go out to sea.  On the boat we were served a lunch buffet and drinks, which made the trip even better.  Some the ships had the crews line up and sing sea shanties.  It is kind of hard to describe exactly what it is like so I hope the pictures give you a good idea.


Besides the festivals we have just been living life!

Picture I took of the memorial for the victims of the Olso tragedy.  This was on the cathedrals steps.

One of the ships for the Tall Ship Races.

Another one of the ships.

Mural on the back side of a ship.

Who ever said that the a doesn't have courage?  He is on front of the ship!

The large Russian ship on the way out to sea.

Some of the ships on their way out sea.  They had to watch out for the 'pedestrians.'

The only ship with sails that are not white.

The coolest ship here!  Possibly the only all wooden one too!

The intricate detail on the back of the coolest ship!

Just handing around waiting to go out to sea.

East side of the harbor.  I have the other side but am having problems uploading it.