Longer Days

7:00 Saturday, 8 February 1986

Dear ones,

The length of our daylight has improved considerably in the month we have been here. I’m up a bit earlier than usual. I usually get up about 8 – it is just beginning to get light out now and we will have daylight until 5 or a little after.

Today we are planning on going downtown to see the Resistance Museum. And Vince wants a McDonald’s hamburger. Last Saturday he and I took the trikk downtown – he had never done it so I was showing him how. We went to one of the big book stores to get that book on Norwegian Resistance. We bought 3 – he has read them all, I’ve read 2 1/2 . Two were quite small.

Sunday was another fun day. We got to Ottar’s at 2 – actually at 5 or 10 after – we missed a couple of turns. I’m the map reader. Ottar’s grandmother and Mom’s grandma Hoganson were sisters, which makes me and his daughter third cousins. His daughter, Bjorg and son-in-law Arnulf Stenfoss and their 2 daughters were also there. Berit is 17 and Bente is 19. The girls had or are having English in High School (gymnasium) and Bjorg and Arnulf had it 25 years ago when they were in school so with their English and our (Vince’s) Norsk we got along. Had a good dinner – roast reindeer, boiled potatoes, gravy, mixed vegetables, and then multeberries in wh. Cream. After seconds of everything, we retired to the coffee table, where we visited; Ottar showed me pictures of the old homestead which he still has and uses for a summer home. It wasn’t long before we were served coffee and an ice cream dessert with krumkaka and cookies. Ottar’s wife, Signe, had served potato chips at dinner (she probably heard that all American eat them) – they were passed again as was a basket of fruit and a smaller basket of candy. Whew! It was after 7 when we left. Jené is going with Bente (she is working in Oslo –her folks live in Kongsvinger, a small town an hour NE) to Kongsvinger next weekend. And they asked us if we would like to come out so suppose we will get an invitation some time, too.

Monday Jené trudged off to class and Vince off to the Univ. I was attempting to write a couple of letters and do 2 loads of laundry. I finished the letters and got them mailed, but I didn’t get the 2nd load of clothes done. I took the noon trikk downtown to meet Jené when she got out of class. She got a pair of warm winter boots and then we walked to McDonald’s for a hamburger. Then we went back to the station (downtown it is a subway) and went out to Blindern, where some of the Univ. is. The lecture (in English) class for foreigners on Norwegian life and culture started at 3:15 – goes until 5. We were at least an hour early but watched people and read the mail (which I’d grabbed on my way out). We had a letter from Eleanor (Peggy) – she is teaching this semester at a small college in Stephenville, Texas. She is the only black faculty member and the only female faculty member in the Speech Dept. This first lecture was an introduction and was on the geography of the country. I liked it – Jené thought it was boring. Vince gave us a ride home. He went to choir practice after supper and I finished the second load of clothes and did a third. I’m wondering if Mrs. (Fru) Gjonnes does a load a day – that way there would be room in the “dryer”.

The week seemed like it was going to be fairly quiet, and it really was. Vince decided to stay home to study and write on Tuesday. Before I had a chance to get at anything, the phone rang – it was Jane Smith inviting me to go with her to LCW at the American Lutheran Church. That was fun – met a young lady who graduated from Luther in “78 and knew who Mark was. Her hometown is Madison, MN. Her husband is in Foreign Service. Visited with the preacher briefly – he’s from Madison, Wis. And knew Gerhard Naeseth. The speaker had been to the North Cape (the furtherest north in Norway) in Jan. and showed slides of her trip. Think they were still in sunless days. We heard sometime in Jan. that Tromso had celebrated because they’d had 1½ minutes of sunlight. Tromso is north of the Arctic Circle but south of the North Cape. It would be depressing to live there!

After I got back, decided we needed groceries. Vince has been going along with me – to buy the fish, I think. We carry the groceries home in plastic bags, which we purchase at the store. We can bring them along and re-use them – (we also use these bags for our garbage disposal). And we pack the groceries into them ourselves. It’s not hard to spend 4 or 5 hundred kroner a week – that’s equal to about $60.00. But it feels like more because you peel off 5 hundred kroner bills, and your mind thinks of hundred dollar bills.

Vince stayed home again on Wednesday. Wed. nite Hal (from downstairs) came up to see if I was going to be home around noon on Thursday. Katie their 8-yr.old gets out of school before Jill, her mom, gets home from class – Jill and Jené go to the same Norsk class. So I was. Katie was only here for about 20 min.

We watch quite a bit of TV in the evenings. Jené picks out all the American and English films. We do get 5 minutes of news each hour on the Armed Forces radio station so suppose we get the most important stuff. Vince likes to watch the music shows – and he gets quite a bit out of the commentary.

We still haven’t had any thawing weather but we haven’t had much snow since that 2nd week or so when it seemed like it snowed every day. It hangs around 20-25 F.

Will try to answer some of the questions – Holmenkollen is the big ski jump – if you watch ABC or NBC Sports in mid-march you should be able to see the international ski jump competition. We have talked about getting tickets. Guess the King even goes to that. This week they have been having Norway ski jump competition.

I think Norwegians like strong coffee – but mine gets like I usually make it. Except this neat percolator I discovered isn’t really automatic – it just keeps perking away so I have to remember to time it. Think a lot of people make boiled coffee and others have the coffee makers – like Bunn or Norelco.

Guess I make meals similar to what I’m used to. We do have fish (boiled) 2 or 3 times a week. Had Torsk (cod) from Lofoten Island the other night – that was exceptionally good. We have had roast beef, (not as tender as I make at home), hamburgers, pork chops, lamb stew, homemade beef soup with dumplings. Norwegian pancakes (more like crepes).

Well, we’ve eaten breakfast and the rest are ready to go so I’d better hurry along. Heard from Dawn a couple of times – guess she was just waiting to hear from me first. She sent some pictures of Heather taken when they were at our place. Guess they haven’t seen any snow since they were in Iowa – at least they hadn’t when she wrote. Haven’t heard from the boys so assume no news is good news.

Got a letter from the Norse Club – they each had written a line or 2 at their meeting. That was fun.

We’re going back to Kråkstad tomorrow – we”re taking our camera this time – and hoping for sunshine – it is cloudy today. We are invited for coffee to another cousin.

Thanks for the mail – got 3 letters from you in the same day.

Love, Verla and Vince