It’s that wondrous Christmas time of year and it’s been consistently cold here, with around 5 inches of snow on the ground for over 3 weeks now. It’s that lovely compressed snow, with enough of it on the ground to make the world look white and bright. Sufficiency is everything …
I knew it was going to come at some point. We have 2 kids, born elsewhere but with fluent Norwegian, with 2 immigrant parents who operate daily in a language that’s not native or totally fluent to them. And we have an 8 year old who doesn’t like to do …
For various common sense reasons and because they love the water, we’ve undertaken to teach the kids how to swim. The husband is a good swimmer, he learned how to swim in school way back in East Germany where it was mandatory on the school curriculum. The communists didn’t do …
It’s been over three weeks since I felt unwell and had some days in hospital, the unwellness manifested in slurred speech and paralysed non-cooperation of the right side of my face. Life suddenly turned into a permanent wink as one eye wouldn’t close properly. Suspected Lyme disease they said, with …
Last Wednesday was set to be an ordinary day really, except for the strange metallic taste in my mouth from when I woke up. I had my coffee, some breakfast and it was still there. It even trumped the super-strength toothpaste I used to brush my teeth. Last time I eat …
It’s autumn break or høstferie here in Oslo this week, which means that all schools are on a break. Kids can relax after all that learning over the last six weeks, before the ramp up to Christmas. Teachers can relax and recharge before that same ramp up. This is when many …
The row of houses on our street have been slowly but surely changing colour since June. That’s when the painting job began. The styre or steering committee for our local housing association had decided that this was the year to freshen up the area and paint the houses. This is all paid …
English is taught in schools here from first class so it’s no wonder they are all great at it by the time they are big people. The main language focus is of course on Norwegian but still, they slowly but surely build up competence in English as well from the …
She started school last week, at the good age of five and three quarters. She had her big new rucksack and all the matching accoutrements; lunchbox, pencil case, water bottle (of course). Anyone who has visited the house since June has had a grand tour of all of the above, …
I never owned a water bottle in my life before I moved to Norway. I don’t mean the light plastic disposable ones that you buy in the local corner shop to feed your thirst on the go and throw into rubbish or, hopefully, plastic recycling when done. I’ve had thousands …
