Food Festival...YUM!

Howdy!

We broke in our raincoats today! It was a drizzly day here in Norway, but we didn't let that stop us! As the saying here goes..."It isn't bad weather, it is wrong clothes..." so...

Today we indeed went down to the food festival in downtown Stavanger (pretty soon we will have our own designated parking spot in the garage,) and boy am I glad we did! There were dozens of tents, some from restaurants around town and numerous others serving up food with local and international flair! We sampled a cinnamon roll, sjokolade (chocolate) muffin, organic ice cream (delicious!), fresh grilled salmon with Norway's version of potato salad (also yummy), an Indian pan (kind of like a tortilla or flatbread), a lamb skewer with sides, and then later, we bought a kilo of fresh shrimp right off the boat at the pier! We enjoyed that for dinner tonight. Other amazing things we saw...an entire cow skewered and being cooked over an open charcoal pit (see picture!) If I had more money and more room in my tummy, I do believe I would have eaten more...Spencer also enjoyed a couple Aass (yes, go ahead and laugh, that is the name of the brand) beers - a stout and a bock, so no worries to all you buddies who have been concerned that he is being deprived!

We then went a-hunting for the Children's Museum and after a brief search, we found it to be closed...no surprise really - still vacation month here! Instead we found a play area that is really part of the Petroleum Museum, but outside. It is like a park, but uses various pieces that go on an ocean rig. The kids (and Spencer) had a great time exploring and we decided a trip to visit the inside of the museum is in our future. It is supposed to be awesome according to all the tour guide books.

Once we got back to the apartment, we logged on to Skype to see who we could chat with. Much to the kids' delight, our little niece Rebecca was available for a video chat. Shortly after that, we heard from my cousin, Kristina and my Aunt Kelly! Yea! We loved chatting! Then, the kids called grandma too! The kids are LOVING Skype, as we are, and fight over who gets more screen time :) They can't wait to see who is "green" so they can place a call!

That is pretty much our day...we decided to save Pulpit Rock in hopes we will luck out with a nicer weather day since it is about a 1 1/2 to 2 hour hike up.

As promised, I am including a picture of the "new" car.

Bank update...we have been able to use our debit card everywhere except gas stations and today we used an ATM and got a current balance - WooHoo! We have also requested a new PIN so we can do the internet banking thing they use here which is supposedly really cool...if we ever get on it!

We own a car...

Today's big news...we are now the owners of a 2005 Ford Focus Station Wagon...now, I just have to get comfortable driving a manual ALL the time instead of occasionally. I don't think I am going to love that, but it is very difficult to find an automatic here and if you do, they are more expensive. We met the seller at the traffic office to pay the taxes and that was the final step. We also purchased an AutoPass, which is basically like the EZ Tag. You pay tolls here when you cross from one "kommune" or community to another and also on bridges and such. The funny thing with that is, you get your AutoPass at the Esso station (Exxon gas station.)

Today was the first really dreary day we have had so far. It sprinkled on and off all day and was very overcast. It is kind of foggy looking out over the lake nearby. It was also quite a bit cooler without the sun. Still, it wasn't so bad and didn't really keep us from doing any of the things we needed to do.

We actually cooked a taco dinner with all the fixings and had our friends Dan, Sheila, and Ella up for dinner. They supplied the guacamole and we did the rest. It was a great meal with our new friends and the kids had a good time playing too! On the topic of food...Spencer has been doing some research and has apparently found a Mexican food restaurant not too far from here. We are thinking it is worth a try! Also, this weekend is the food festival in Stavanger I mentioned the other day. We are definitely going to check that out tomorrow. I was hoping the weather might be okay and we could go to Pulpit Rock, but that may have to wait for another weekend.

One cool thing that happened today - the kids and I had gone to look around the mall for a few minutes and we wandered into the toy store. This woman looked at me and as I walked by she asked if we were visiting here (she had noticed us speaking English) and we started to chat. She (her name is Sue) and her family are also new in town, live just up the way from us, and her boys will be attending ISS (school) also. One is going into 2nd grade and the other will be a 6th grader. Hopefully we will run into one another again in the near future - the school apparently has a strong Parent Association - and can strike up a friendship. They are originally from Canada but have been in Dallas for a number of years prior to this.

Another interesting bit of information - I joined a Stavanger Expat group on Yahoo and put in a query about ladies' hairdressers...got a reply - Don Nell, you will be interested to know this - haircuts here run about 600-800 NOK, or about $100+! YIKES! I have to get mine cut fairly often! Of course, she mentioned that price in the same breath as long hair and layers which obviously doesn't describe me...oh, and color jobs...somewhere in the neighborhood of 900-1300 NOK. I will be keeping my gray, needless to say!

Ok, I am sure I had several other observations to share, but they escape me at the moment - the good news...we did NOT go to the bank today! I think this is the only day this week we haven't gone there although there was some email correspondence. We didn't want the bank to worry about us. We are considering renting an office space IN the bank, since we seem to be there so often.

Oh, and here is a weird situation...our bank debit card works at all the stores we go in, however, both attempts to use the same said card at a petrol station (gas) have failed...thank goodness both cars have pretty full tanks, and thank goodness they will take our US credit cards...we are only charged a nominal fee each time...HA!

I am sure you all want a picture of the car...I promise I will take one tomorrow and post it. Don't really want to go to the parking garage in my jammies...!

Oh, and some of you have asked about Spencer and work...I guess I should mention that all is going well at the office. Many people are still on holiday for July, so it has been fairly quiet which has made it easier for him to get away to take care of all these details and stuff that has to be done. I am sort of helpless since I do not have my person number yet. He will be traveling to Oslo pretty regularly starting in the next couple weeks. The good part on that, the kids and I should have an opportunity to visit Oslo too!

God natt!

Thursday, July 29

Not much to report today. Went to the bank AGAIN (mainly because we are unable to access the online bank,) to have the money transferred over for the car we are buying. We should have it tomorrow and after one hopefully quick stop at the traffic office to pay the taxes, it will be ours!

Otherwise, a fairly quiet day! I finally was able to capture a picture of man-capris for those of you who have been asking...

We are looking forward to the weekend and plan on possibly going by the food festival in City Center and hopefully driving and hiking up Preikestolen, otherwise known as Pulpit Rock.

Hump Day!

We are on a roll - it was another beautiful day here in Stavanger!

The kids and I started the morning with a trip to the shopping center across the street to pick up a few things at the grocery store. We went a little before 10 this morning and most of the stores weren't open yet since it is basically equivalent to an American mall. We were wanting to go to the grocery upstairs and the escalator was blocked off, so we thought we would just take the elevator...right until a woman ran over speaking Norwegian, the gist being, "...you can't do that..." I quickly apologized and she then explained that we would have to go outside and around to get to the upstairs store! Oh...got it...now... At any rate, we made our purchases with our new debit card and off we went to look for rain boots for the kids. We scored for Kyla and found a cute pair for only 49 NOK! What a deal! No such luck for Brendan - didn't have his size. We then headed home to drop off the groceries before we took off to meet Spencer at the office.

We intended to have lunch with Spencer in the office cafeteria, but it did not open for visitors/guests until 12:30 and we were in a time crunch since we were meeting our relocation guy, Per at 1:00 to look at apartments. So, we drove into Tanager and found a delicious bakery and ate sandwiches and fresh baked cookies. Then, it was off to look at our housing options...

Option 1: Tanager Harbor (see picture of the view!) - amazing apartment, great view, lots of space and storage, close to office...but, no place for the kids to play and it was being shown without furniture despite the ad saying it was furnished...hmmm...

Option 2: Madla area (where we are now, but different building) rooftop apartment - awesome view, great amenities, great location, more space...but, over our budget allowance for rent...and owner won't negotiate.

Option 3: A few kilometers from where we are now, older apartment (mid-80's) and really nothing we just loved about it. 3 floors, funky smell, pretty worn out furniture...but, cheap!

Option 4: Stay in our temporary apartment - small, but functional, great amenities, great location, plus, kids are fairly settled in and like it here. Plus, there are many places to play and ride bikes, etc., close to school and work too.

So, we did a pros/cons with the kids for each place and pretty much came to the conclusion...stay put! So, that is what we are going to request!

After all the apartment shopping, we headed over to a store called Obs. It is kind of a combo of a Walmart, Sams, and Target. The store was recommended for its variety and has stuff like rain gear the kids need for school. We loved it! It had a full grocery store (with lots of meats, so you-know-who was in heaven!), toys, clothes, outdoor gear, bedding and bath stuff, etc. We found rain boots for Brendan and rain gear for both kids for school! We also purchased some of their school supplies!

Ahhh, things are going without a hitch, until, we get home and I suddenly realize...hmmm, I wonder if the wire transfer of funds went through...? I know they were taken out of the bank in Katy, but we don't know for sure if it was deposited in our Norway account...oops...we have, by this point, used the debit card for numerous things and rain gear isn't cheap...huh...guess we better find out, but of course, it is too late tonight to check until our neighbor mentions the ATM! So, off we go to try it out. It is, of course, in Norwegian and Spencer is frantically trying to translate. We finally take out 200 NOK and next screen...a question...hmmm...another transaction, perhaps? I click "nei" which means no, but wouldn't you know, the question apparently was asking if we wanted a receipt - too late to change our mind now...so we left with 200 NOK and no receipt and still don't know our balance...ahh, the life of living in a foreign country!

By the way, sun is finally setting and it is 9:50 pm, but it will stay light until 11:45 or so.

Tuesday, July 27

What a day!

We finally made it to the tax office today - only had to wait for about an hour, so that was pretty fast from what we are told. Hopefully we will have our person numbers soon! Spencer's was taken care of by ConocoPhillips as was his work permit, but the kids and I had to go do ours once we arrived.

After that, another effort at getting our bank questions taken care of. That in itself turned out to be a quite a big effort for the day! More on that in a minute...

Then, it was off to look at a car that another expat family is trying to sell as they will be returning to the Netherlands on Saturday. It is really a good deal for both of us...we need a car and they need to get rid of theirs...the price is right and we started the process of purchasing the car - a 2005 Ford Focus Station Wagon...yep, that is what we will be driving...I know, not quite my style, but, cars here are outrageously expensive and so many of them are super small, so it really was our best option. To put it in perspective...104,600 NOK or about $16,000 for this car, and that is super-reasonable! We should have a car by Friday!

We ran by the apartment after that for a quick lunch and then had to run Spencer back to work. I was then able to take the kids by to see their new school - International School of Stavanger. It turned out to be a great time to visit! We were given a tour by the Director of the school and ended up meeting one of the 4th grade teachers and one of the high school teachers. Both were very friendly and the 4th grade teacher gave me her phone numbers and additional information on the rain gear and things the kids wear for school. Brendan and Kyla ended up playing on the school playground with her two girls and the daughter of the high school teacher too. Two of the 3 girls will also be going into 2nd grade with Kyla. By the time the kids finished playing, it was time to get Spencer from work.

We headed over to pick him up and as I mentioned yesterday, I am not so direction-minded, but thankfully, my son seems to be and caught me when I made a wrong turn! Way to go, B! So we made it to the office and picked up daddy and headed for home.

Now, back to the banking business...long story short, we were trying to make our first wire transfer of funds from Katy to Stavanger and found out that we did not have the paper we needed to make that happen. Thankfully, we had the sense to put my sister on our account and with several Skype calls and numerous emails, we got the paperwork and all the information ready and she was able to get it to the bank! Yea, Vicki!!! Now to see when it posts in our account here... Our debit card has finally arrived and we are feeling a little more confident since we have some funds to work with and a debit card, which by the way is an absolute necessity here!

Dinner tonight - fiskeburgers (fish burgers)! They were actually quite yummy - Brendan loved them, Kyla wasn't so thrilled, and Spencer and I thought we would definitely have them again! Spencer finally managed to get a few bites down Kyla after he smothered it in melted cheese...go figure!

Tomorrow, we go to look at a few apartments that are available. Apparently though, we are very limited since we are looking for a 3 bedroom, furnished place...only 6 anywhere around here and several are just too far from school and work and 1 is way over our budget (but pics look so awesome!), so we will see what pans out! We may have the option of staying where we are, and that may be a definite possibility mainly because the location is so great. But, that is for another day...

God Natt!
(That's good night :))

Monday...

Well, it was supposed to be a productive day...but...

We discovered this morning that the tax office was closed today, luckily before we trekked over, so today was a no-go on doing our residence paperwork again. We will try tomorrow. Spencer was at work most of the day, so the kids and I hung out here at the apartment, but then decided to venture out on a walk with the intention of walking over to the 3 swords statue area. It is about a mile walk and we started off and I was just hoping I was going the right direction...(for those of you who know me...I am NOT direction-minded, LOL) The good and bad...we didn't make it there, mostly because I was afraid I was on the wrong road so we turned back, but the good news, I was on the right road and if we had just rounded a corner, we would have been there! So, next time, we will go the distance!

After our walk, we came back and made lunch - PBJ for Brendan and grilled cheese for me and Kyla! A very traditional American lunch if I do say so myself :)

Spencer came home a little early with the intention of going to the bank to do our first wire transfer...ha, that was not to be either, so we were batting zero on the chores! We drove into Stavanger and parked, headed to the bank, and yep, you guessed it, summer hours...closed early...so alas, another chore for tomorrow! Since we were there, we went ahead and walked around the harbor area some more and visited a very old church right in city center called Stavanger Domkirke, a medieval stone cathedral that still holds services. It has a beautiful full wall of stained glass and huge wooden doors - gorgeous! We wandered around the cobblestone streets and enjoyed another day of beautiful weather. In one area there were some little children feeding pigeons and it was so fun to watch them - they were giggling and laughing and Brendan and Kyla joined in. At one point, a pigeon landed on this little boy's (maybe about age 2) head and it was hilarious to watch him!

After we left the city center, I had my first driving experience and it wasn't so bad...now if I can just learn the streets...! We stopped at a grocery store called Helgo that had been recommended by the folks we met at church. It was by far the best of the 3 grocery stores we have been to as far as selection. Spencer was able to get a couple beers and we found chili beans and purchased stuff to make soft tacos and various other things - all of which fit in a hand-held plastic basket! That little trip to the store only cost us 460,57 NOK which is about $75-$80 in the US.

From there I continued to drive us home. We dropped of the groceries and drove over to the 3 Swords to climb around a bit. The kids put their feet in the water and found some little crabs and some mussel shells.

We then came home to cook some dinnner - but, that ended up not so great either...technical difficulties with the stovetop...so we spent the next hour using Google Translate (thank goodness for this handy little internet feature!) to translate the manual only to figure out later that the problem was the pan we were trying to use...can't use aluminum on this kind of stovetop - go figure! In the meantime, I was improvising dinner for the kids - definitely not gourmet, but we managed. And, now we know which pan is a no-go!

Funny thing I feel the need to mention today...the men here all wear man-capris...I guess I should take a photo for you to see...I asked Spencer and Dan (our neighbor) if they were going to get in on the fashion statement and you can guess what their reply was!

Anyway, that's all for today!

Sunday, July 25

Happy Sunday, everyone!

After a good night's sleep, we decided to visit one of the English-speaking churches in the area called the International Church of Stavanger. What a blessing it was! We were welcomed by several people and came to find out that one of the ladies is a high school teacher at the school the kids will be attending (International School of Stavanger.) We were able to get lots of information on where to purchase things like rain suits and school supplies and were given several phone numbers in case we needed any help. We ended up going to lunch with a couple who were here visiting (he is here for a couple weeks for work and his wife was visiting this weekend)but they lived here in Stavanger for about 9 years. She also was a teacher at ISS. They were a wealth of information and told us about a food festival (right up our alley) and several stores that I am sure will be favorites (one is called Obs and is similar to Target!) We also got the name of a barber for Spencer and Brendan! They had a map of the area and pointed out numerous places we should visit including a cannery and a candle-making factory! We thoroughly enjoyed lunch at Dolly Dimple's Pizza Pizza and making new friends!

We took a different route home from lunch and took in some amazing views of some of the fjords nearby and we are looking forward to taking a boat tour of some of these areas to get a closer look! We headed back to the apartment and the kids were invited down to the neighbors to watch a movie, but that didn't last long because we are lucky enough to be having another beautiful day here in Stavanger with lots of sunshine, so we headed out to the park and to feed the ducks at the lake and walk a bit. Dan and Sheila showed us this tire swing on the lake path and we took a little hike down some rocks to stand at the water's edge so the kids could toss rocks into the lake.

The one funny part...on the way back from our lake walk, we noticed a sign near where we feed the ducks...first time any of us have noticed it, but we are now pretty sure it says not to feed the birds and ducks...ooops! No one has bothered to tell us, so apparently we just look like silly Americans!

A few other things we have learned: 1) July is vacation month here and it is sometimes difficult to get things accomplished because many people/businesses drastically cut hours and such. 2) You should not look people in the eye and say "hello" - it bothers them greatly because it indicates you know them and they fret over who you are and why you said hello to them. 3) The bread here is fantastic and that includes the pizza crust - thick like pan pizza, but light so it is not so filling! Yum! and 4) Spencer discovered yesterday evening that there is a strict cut-off time for purchasing beer and he was seconds too late... and they do not sell beer on Sundays at all. As a matter of fact, most businesses and stores are closed on Sundays.

For those of you wondering about the "Midnight Sun" it is truly a strange thing! The sun starts to go down about 9:30 pm, but it stays bright/kind of dusk-like until about 11:30 pm. Then the sun comes back out about 3:15 am. You truly have to watch the clock because otherwise you lose track of time and it is really late before you even realize! We have all adjusted to the light better then we have the 7 hour time difference, I think!