Okay, so here it goes...
May 17 is Constitution Day in Norway (think 4th of July...) It is arguably the biggest holiday in Norway. It is a huge day-long event celebrated with parades and festivities. Stavanger had 3 parades in town - one was the Children's Parade which all the schools, including ISS, took part in. The other 2 were the RUSS parade, which celebrates the graduating high schoolers and the "People's Parade," which all the clubs and organizations are involved in. The really awesome thing about it is all the amazing traditional dress the people wear called bunad. The kids were instructed to wear something "smart" which basically means a bit dressy - like church clothes. Spencer and I didn't realize that meant spectators too...sadly, the two of us were very under-dressed for the festivities... The kids marched and sang in the parade and we joined thousands of people along the parade route.
Here we are following the Children's Parade. Well, at least we will know to dress better next year!
So, a few other things that have been going on...Spencer finally started his driving lessons and they are nit-picking him to death...he is about to go absolutely mad and has now insisted they schedule his driving test. He will be fine though! He just needs to get it done! He is so busy at work and having to be away for driving practice is not helping matters. He had hoped to get it done before we headed back to visit, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. Hurry up and wait, I suppose...
A big bright spot in my weeks has been my phone calls with Sharisa in Chester, UK. She is my friend who is an expat there with her family and we managed to catch each other for chats on the phone 3 weeks in a row!!! If their summer plans fall through, the kids and I are looking to make a little trip over to visit - all my friends here tell me Chester is lovely, so crossing my fingers we will be able to work it out soon, if not this summer then in the fall!
On Friday, May 20, our school family here suffered a terrible tragedy when one of our high school rugby players collapsed on the field during an international rugby and soccer tournament being hosted at our school. Despite resuscitation efforts on the field, in the ambulance, and at the hospital, Stephane passed away. It was a very sad week as the students, teachers, and ISS family dealt with the loss. The memorial service was this past Friday, the 27th.
PWC hosted two movie events in the last week or so. One was for the movie club - we saw a movie called "The Beaver" and what can I say about this one? Ummmm, no... The second movie was actually a special showing of the new children's movie, "Rango" so I took the kids to see it. It was cute and the kids had a good time seeing a movie.
Last week was also the spring luncheon for the COP Spouses Group. Ronda, or fearless leader, planned a lovely lunch held at a brand new B&B here in town. The owner of the B&B is a friend of hers and we were some of her first guests for a luncheon! It is a beautiful old house that she has fixed up and will officially open for guests very soon!
In addition to all the day-to-day stuff, my "duties" along with Wendy as the new COP Spouses Welcome Committee has kept me busy! There are several new families here so I have managed to make contact with several and taken a couple of the ladies out to lunch to meet some other expats a couple times. One very exciting addition is that one of the families that has moved here and is temporarily staying in our building has a son (Jack) about Brendan's age and a daughter (Emily) just a bit younger than Kyla which = instant and readily available playmates! The kids have hit it off and are playing every opportunity they get! As a matter of fact, they will be having a sleepover tonight since tomorrow is a school holiday (Ascension Day) - and yes, totally weird that holidays fall mid-week here!
On the weekends, we have tried to get out a do some fun things - we recently took a drive over to the candle factory in Byrksjedal, made a trip over to the Figgjo porcelain factory, and most recently, the car museum. I am including a few pictures from the car museum.
We still have several things to look forward to this week and next as school ends on June 9. Both kids will have their end-of-year parties on Friday, there is primary school field day next week, along with the recognition awards assembly! Lots to do! I will try to squeeze out one more blog before we head to Katy for our much anticipated visit! Dreams of favorite restaurants, family, friends, shopping...all dance in our heads!
Cheers until next time!
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