The end of an era

Wednesday evening Espen's class had a type of graduation/party to celebrate the end of elementary school. It was in the teacher's lounge at the school. It was arranged by the parents and the two of the classes teachers were also there. It was a dinner - one long table with all of the kids in the class and smaller tables scattered around for the parents. We had a buffet, and there were speeches and sketches as well as singing and guitar- and piano playing. Finally, the kids each received a fantastic album one of the moms put together with pictures from 1st grade until now. It was a great evening - lasted about 3 hours. These kids have gone in the same class for 7 years, and I think it's a bit strange for them that they'll be split up next year in middle school. Exciting, but strange.

I thought being done with school would mean that I would have tons of free time to get the house organized, have lunch with friends and stuff like that. So far, it doesn't seem to be working quite like I had planned. I have put off so much, just waiting until I was done with finals, that I now have quite a backlash I need to take care of. Much more fun than studying for exams, though!!

Last night was Anders' summer program. We went out into the forest up behind the school, and the kids explained some of the cultural history of the area and performed some short sketches. We ended up at a lake where we all sat down and ate our picnic dinners. It was a fun evening - and luckily the weather cooperated. We've had really warm, nice weather in the 80's (it's humid here, so 85 feels really warm!), but it's starting to cool off now. Yesterday it kept looking like it was going to rain, but luckily none came. Forest fires are starting to pop up here in southeastern Norway, so a bit of rain wouldn't be a bad thing...

I'm done!!!!!

I'm officially a teacher! I had my last final today - and I got an A! I am so incredibly happy to be done... I can hardly believe it...

And now it's Friday evening - 84 degrees outside - and I'm headed out in about an hour to a friend's 40th birthday party. And I bought myself a new outfit after I finished my final, so I'm feeling goooood!!

I'm on the website!

I just looked at the website for Ekeberg School. They just updated it and changed the whole look. If you look under praktisk informasjon and then ansatte, you will see my name under teachers for the 2nd grade (scroll down a little bit). I feel like it's even more official now!

The bad thing is that the teachers in Oslo are still on strike, so I still haven't gotten in there to meet anyone or anything like that...Hopefully the strike will be over before we leave for California!

Blogs everywhere these days...

My stepmom, Mary, has a blog now, too! Interesting enough blog, Mary, but I'm just wondering when you're going to start writing about soccer!!! ;-)

Only 2 more days

My last final is on Friday, at 9:45 in the morning. When that's done, then I'm done. I will officially be a teacher!! I am so excited to be done with college. Looking forward to a spring with no finals.... Everyone keeps telling me that these last 4 years have gone by quickly, and they have in a lot of ways, but in other ways I feel like I've been studying for tests or writing papers forever.

For those of you who think I talk way too much about football, you can stop reading here :-D. Tonight Lyn is playing against the local team, Korsvoll, right up the street at our local soccer field. In addition to the football series in Norway, they also have a tournament. While in the series, teams play against other teams in their same league, in the tournament, teams from different leagues can play against each other. Thus, Lyn, which is in the elite league is going to be playing against Korsvoll, which is in the 2nd division league (the 1st division is between the two leagues). Whoever wins the game goes on to the next game in the tournament, and the winner is out of the running. Lyn will undoubtedly win tonight, but it will be a fun game, regardless.

They won!

Lyn won last night, 2-0. It was a great game!

An update - I got tickets to see Coldplay!! They're coming to Oslo in September. Tickets went on sale at 9 this morning, and after waiting for about an hour to get into the website, I finally got in and got tickets. Almost everything was sold out (!) but I managed to find some seats for me and Gaute and Espen. I can't wait - Coldplay is one of my very favorite bands!

Big game tonight

Tonight Lyn is playing against their arch-rival, Vålerenga. Vålerenga hasn't won a game against Lyn since 1981, despite the fact that they are nearly always doing better in the series. Lyn and Vålerenga are the two top teams in Oslo, so this is a pretty big game. We're going, of course :-).

Last night we had my friend Maria over with her two kids (her husband was out of town). Her two boys are 8 and 6 and get along really well with Anders and Johan. The weather was gorgeous and we barbecued and stayed outside until 10:00. Norway when the weather is nice is pretty hard to beat!

Almost done

I had my Social Studies oral exam yesterday. I think it went fairly well. It was pretty nervewracking, though. When we got there, we had to choose between two different essay questions. Then we had two hours to make an outline. Then, using our outline, we were to make a half hour presentation of our response to the essay question. I felt like I knew quite a bit about what I was supposed to talk about, but I got so nervous, so hopefully I managed to say something intelligent.

But, now it's the weekend, and it's really sunny and warm. And I only have one final left, and it's an oral exam in English, so I'm not too worried about it. And then I am done and officially a teacher!!

Speaking of being a teacher, I have no found out for sure which grades I will be teaching next year. I'm going to have 2nd grade, and English in the 4th and 7th grades. I'm pretty happy about that. I really wanted to have English with older kids, which is what I'm getting, and I think it will be kind of fun to have little kids, too. I'm not sure yet which subjects I will be teaching the 2nd graders. Ekeberg school had a big planning session scheduled for the afternoon and evening of the 3rd of June where the old and new teachers were to get together and agree on who would teach what subjects and things like that. The teacher's union in Norway is striking right now, though. Not all teachers are on strike, but they're slowly but surely taking more teachers out on strike, and yesterday they announced that starting on Tuesday, all of the teachers at Ekeberg school would be striking as well. So, needless to say, there will be no planning session. I'm kind of bummed, because I was really looking forward to getting to know everyone, but that's the way it is. And, I will be happy if they get their goal of a wage increase! We'll see how long the strike lasts. It's already been going on for a week, and more and more schools are on strike. Not the kid's school yet, though, although they're dreaming and hoping....

Weekend

When we were up at our cabin at Easter, I managed to leave my iPod up there. I use my iPod A LOT, so it was somewhat of a crisis. I took back the old one that I had given to Anders, but I've been really missing my good little Nano. And I really needed to get it back before we leave for California. Since every weekend until we leave on vacation is filled with various activities, Gaute decided to take a quick trip up to the cabin this weekend.

I've been doing my usual - sitting in front of the computer with a stack of books by my side - so I didn't feel like I could go. Espen definitely didn't want to go if I didn't "have to" go. And Anders decided he'd rather stay home, too. Which left Johan, who wanted to go, but not if Anders was staying home. So Gaute told him he could bring a friend, and he was so excited!!!! He invited his current best friend, Benjamin. Anders and Gaute were at an orienteering race yesterday until about 1, and Gaute, Johan and Benjamin left after that. They're headed back again today, so it's a short trip. But they found my iPod!! There's quite a bit of snow still up at our cabin - here's the picture Gaute took with the webcam up at there yesterday.



Since it was just the big boys and me left here at home, we decided to do something fun, too. We went out to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe here in Oslo. I've been to the Hard Rock in Paris, Washington, D.C. and New York, but never here. I thought they would think it was pretty cool, and they did. Lots of cool rock-n-roll artifacts and music videos playing throughout the meal. And they even had a kid's menu, so Anders could have his favorite, "mac and cheese from restaurant".

After dinner, we went to see the new Indiana Jones movie. They had just recently shown the three first movies on TV here, so they knew all about Indiana Jones. It was a pretty exciting movie - we liked it a lot. All together, it was a pretty fun evening. (As long as I try not to think about how much it cost...)

Nordberg Grand Prix

Last Sunday was Nordberg Grand Prix, the soapbox derby. It has gotten to be a huge event, and the prime minister was there to hold a speech and everything.

Espen decided he was too old this year, but Anders and Johan were there in their car again - christened California Cruiser this year!

TGIF

It's Friday - yippee! There's something pretty fantastic about Friday afternoons. Even though my only big plans for the weekend are studying, it's still nice to know that I don't have to make any school lunches tonight and that we can sleep in tomorrow. The weather is even fairly decent - I think I'm going to go out on the deck with a glass of wine in just a few minutes :-)

I've been studying like crazy the last few days, trying to get a grip on the stuff I'm supposed to know. I was on the computer from 8:30 until 4:00 yesterday, and I nearly had a nervous breakdown last night, because I felt like it had been a waste of time. But then today I had a great study group, which really helped a lot. The other three in my group are fantastic and we really help each other out. I feel much calmer now, and feel like I might actually be able to get a decent grade on my exam next Friday.

At about 10:00 last night, Gaute and I looked outside and noticed how incredibly light it was. It's been cloudy lately, so the fact that the days have been getting incredibly long has gone unnoticed. Until last night. I went out and took a picture - and here it is:



And now it's time to go make pizza - Friday night, you know...

Great concert

The concert last night was great! We actually considered not going (!), because there had been so much going on during the weekend, and we were pretty worn out. We decided that would be way too lame, though. And we were very glad that we went, because it was a great concert! Both Robert Plant and Alison Krauss are great, and the music they make together is wonderful. And even though Gaute didn't get to see his favorite band Led Zeppelin, he got to see his favorite lead singer, at least!

Cold 17th of May

Yesterday was the big day - the 17th of May. Last weekend it was really warm and nice. Yesterday it snowed! We had to be up at the school at 8:00 in the morning, and it was cold, snowing and windy. Brrr....After the flag was raised and the 3rd graders read the speeches they had written, the kids walked in a parade around the neighborhood.







Then we went home for a about half an hour, warmed up, put on more long underwear, and headed downtown for the big parade there. The weather was, thankfully, much better than it had been up at our house.







And we weren't the only ones there....

By the way...

...that nice spring weather that we had a few days ago - it's gone, gone, gone. It's cold and rainy now. :-(

And, one other thing happening this weekend. Gaute and I are going to a concert on Sunday. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. I bought Gaute tickets for Christmas. Back then it seemed like May 18th was ages away...

This weekend

Johan had another football game last night. He was goalie (we say keeper) again. He is a natural! He did such a good job. I was really proud of him. He and Anders have spent many hours up at the football field (Korsvollbanen) kicking the ball around, and the results are showing up now.

This is a pretty big weekend. Tomorrow is the 17th of May - Norway's Consitution Day. Kind of like Norway's 4th of July. The day will be just as crazy as it always is when you have 3 kids in elementary school. We have to be up at the school by 8 am when they raise the flag. Then there's a parade around the school, followed by the big parade downtown. Then in the afternoon there's a big to-do at the school. We're all pretty worn out by the end of the day.

Tonight is a big game - Lyn against Stabæk. Stabæk is currently ranked as the number one team in Norway, and Lyn is number three (!) so it should be a good game. The 16th of May is a big football day in Norway. All of the teams play against each other, and it's fun to go to the games.

Espen won't be joining us at the Lyn game because he's playing a game himself. His team is in a cup, and the game starts an hour after the Lyn game. Kari and Grim are going to go watch him, and Gaute and the boys and i should be able to catch the last half hour or so.

Time to go make some cookies and cakes for tomorrow!

Johanna

Johan has a set of twins in his class, a girl and a boy (Axel and Siri), and they had a birthday party yesterday. They invited the whole class, and they asked the girls to dress up as boys and the boys to dress up as girls. The girls had no problem dressing up as boys, but not all of the boys wanted to wear dresses. Many of them did, though, including Johan. He makes such a cute girl!



In other news, Gaute was lying pretty low last night after getting one of his wisdom teeth pulled yesterday afternoon. He's had a sore tooth for about a week or so, and finally went to the dentist yesterday. A chip of his wisdom tooth had come off, and underneath it was a big hole! The dentist decided it was best to take it out before the whole tooth broke off. He saved the tooth and brought it home, and it was not a pretty sight!

Spring!

Last weekend it was really warm - as warm as gets around here in the middle of summer. Today it's cooled down a little bit (62 right now at 3:30), but it's still sunny and nice. And all of the spring flowers are blooming.

Like our cherry tree -



And the tulips along the fence -




Today I got started on studying for my oral exam in Social Studies. It's still over 2 weeks away, but there's a lot of stuff we need to know. I want to use a few hours every day, so that I'm not cramming at the last minute. We can take 30 pages of notes with us, so the key is taking good, organized notes!

Tonight we're having homemade macaroni and cheese for dinner. We haven't had it for months, and Anders made a special request. We're eating really early tonight. Anders has a football game - he has to be there at 4:30. And then Espen has a game at 5:30. I think I'm going to make Norwegian waffles for dessert when we get back. I have a great new recipe for them, and I make them at least once a week for dessert!

This American Life

I have to make a plug for This American Life, a fantastic radio program that I download and listen to as a podcast every week. I just listened to the show from last week, and they explained in an easy-to-understand way all about the housing crisis. I knew a little bit about the subprime mortgage crisis, but only in a very general way, and this really opened my eyes.

Some pics from the last week

Things have calmed down a lot. I have turned in both of my term papers. Still have two oral exams, but that's "just" a matter of studying - much better than writing!

I want to post some of the pictures that I've taken in the last week - here they are:

Last week I took the kids to Burger King. It was a big treat since we don't go there often.



I took Anders and Johan and our neighbor, Sebastian, on a bike ride. The river below our house is really full. Tons of snow in the mountains this year which is all melting now. Up by Lillehammer they're having lots of flooding. Luckily none around here, but the river was really full, and it was cool to look at.





Last Sunday we went on a hike - the weather was nice, but when we got up higher, we ended up walking through lots of rotten snow. Our shoes got all wet, but it was fun. Our goal was a cabin maintained by the Norwegian Trekking Association. No one was there when we were, but it is possible to rent it out to stay in overnight.






The next pictures are from Johan's performance in A Midsummer Night's Dream - the neverending play. He was very cute, and he did a good job, but it lasted WAY too long! And no one knew their lines...






Finally, a few pictures of Johan's first official football game. This year is the first year they're registered to play in a series against other teams. Thursday was their first game. The weather was incredible - about 75 degrees at 7:00 pm - and they won - 6-3!!

This is his team:



And this is Johan - he was goalkeeper in the second half of the game, and he did a fantastic job!

Woe is me

Last weekend was pretty nice. I took several pictures, thinking I would post them here on my blog and write somewhat intelligible commentary to them. Then Monday morning came, and reality hit me like a brick wall. Two huge papers (which each count for half of my grade for the semester) due within one week, and a schedule in the evenings which makes me want to cry. Yesterday, to take an example, Johan was in a play with his after school program. It was from 3 until after 5 (they tried to do A Midsummer Night's Dream with 7- and 8-year-olds, and it took FOREVER). Then we ran - literally - home to eat a quick sandwich, before we headed back up to the school again. The 7th graders had a performance which started at 6. And in the meantime, Anders got himself up to his football practice.

Tonight's schedule is similar...

And, then this morning I realized that Mother's Day is on Sunday. I can't believe it!!! How is it possible that I manage to forget Mother's Day EVERY SINGLE YEAR! There's no way that I can manage to even get a card off in time.

Right now I'm feeling pretty low...A new 4-day weekend is coming up, the weather is gorgeous, and I'll be inside working on my paper.

Feeling sorry for myself is really lame!

Dinner AND a movie

We decided to go all out last night. First dinner, then a movie. And both were very good. We went to Mucho Mas, a Mexican restaurant (Molly, we were there last summer - this is in a different location, though). It tasted really good, and it's pretty cheap for Oslo (everything is relative...).

Then we went to see in the In the Valley of Elah. I had actually never heard of the movie, but we decided to go for it anyway. It was playing at a theater in Oslo which only shows good movies, so if you pick a movie there, then you're pretty safe. Plus, it's pretty easy to find parking there, they have really good, comfortable seats, and they serve wine that you can take in the theater with you! The movie was great - glad we chose it.

Today the kids don't have school, but Gaute has work and I have a class. The kids will be on their own for about three hours in the middle of the day, but, happily, that's not a problem. I really like having kids who are big enough to be on their own for a while. They all know how to use a phone and can call us if there is any problem. Gaute's office is only about 10 minutes away, so he can be home quickly if he needs to be.

I'm off to what will most likely be my last English class. Officially, it is the last lecture, but I saw that they have now scheduled another lecture for next Friday, since our teacher was sick a few weeks ago. I think I might drop that lecture, though. She's going to talk about something which is not relevant to my final, and I have become pretty cynical when deciding what I want to spend my time on these days.

Labor Day

Today there was no school. It was really nice last night to have no lunches to make. Making lunches for the kids doesn't take much time. This is Norway, so all they take are two open faces slices of bread with something on them. Anders and Johan almost always go for butter and brown cheese on one set for school and then butter and liver paste for the snack they eat at their afterschool program. This can vary at times, but not much. I had Espen start making his own lunches when he was in 5th grade and already have Anders geared up for doing it next year. Making lunches isn't the biggest deal, but still one more chore that has to be done. And I am so happy when I don't have to do it!



I've been working all day on my English term paper, and I now have 7 and a half pages which are fairly decent. And it's not due until May 9th. I'm pretty happy with that. We're having a workshop in class tomorrow (I have to go to school, even though the kids have the day off) about this paper, so hopefully I can get some more tips to make it even better. But then I need to start working on the portfolio I'm putting together for my Social Studies class. It's due on the 14th and needs a lot of work. Can't wait to be done with school - although the fact that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with this English paper makes me feel much less stressed.

It's been rainy, yucky weather today. The kids have been hanging out with their friends, here and there. I wish it was nice weather so that everyone could be outside, but they have been very well-behaved. A few years, there is no way I would be able to work on a paper and have all of the kids and their friends in the house, but that is exactly what I have done today. That's a sign that they're all getting older, I guess.

I think Gaute and I are going to go out for dinner tonight. We rarely do - last time we were going to, we decided it would be too expensive and went to the grocery store instead :-(. It's nice to get out and share a meal without the kids, though. Espen, our official babysitter these days, readily agreed to watch his brothers. Espen is a fantastic babysitter. He really steps up when we need him to. The house is always clean and the little guys in bed when he has been watching them. He has even been known to read for Johan. We pay him about 10 dollars to watch them for a whole evening. Extremely cheap compare to what we would pay a "real" babysitter, but he's thrilled. We always let them buy some chips and Coke while we're gone, too, so Anders and Johan are quite happy, as well.

Not sure where we'll go tonight. Hopefully I won't be as nerdy as I usually am, spending hours online before we ever go out trying to find the most perfect place...

The new Coldplay single

The new single from Coldplay is available as a free download right now, if you're interested. Which I was. And it's good.

Our life

Officially, I've been writing a term paper today. And I have gotten a lot done. My method is setting my timer for 30 minutes, working like crazy, taking a 15 minute break, and then working for another 15 minutes. It works for me, and slowly but surely a paper is emerging.

But, during my breaks, I've been reading entries on a blog I just discovered recently. Another Salt Lake City mom who writes about her family. I check out these blogs every morning when I turn on my computer. And they inspire me to write more about my family. I want this blog to be something we can all look back on to remember how things were in April, 2008.

So,here's how things are today, April 30, 2008 -

It's about 5:30 in the evening. We haven't had dinner yet. We used to eat dinner pretty early when the kids were younger, but now we rarely sit down before 6, and usually it's closer to 6:30. Today we're going to have baked breaded cod fillets, homemade baked french fries and peas. A few years ago I had a subscription to Cooking Light and starting in January this year I decided to start using those magazines which I've saved and try to make all of the recipes in them for each month. I don't manage to make all of the recipes, but it's a fun way to try out new recipes. They're almost always good and relatively healthy. And the idea that I have to make recipes from this month's magazine appeals to the nerd in me.

Espen went to Gaute's parents after school today. For the last two years, he has gone over there every Wednesday and done some work for them. Things like vacuuming, taking all of their old newspapers to be recycled and stuff like that. They pay him about 10 dollars a week and make his favorite dinners for him. I think they both like the arrangement. They get to spend some time with him - unlike Anders and Johan he's not that in to going over there and hanging out anymore. Gaute and I are happy that he makes some money so we don't have to give him any :-).

Anders went to his afterschool football academy today. I went up and watched the last half hour. They have a really fun time. The boys in the 4th grade are a pretty tightknit group, especially the ones who are into football. He doesn't go to his regular afterschool program on Wednesdays and Thursdays when he has football academy, but comes straight home when school is over at 1:30. He changes into his football gear, grabs a water bottle and rides his bike up to the football field. We are so lucky to live so close to the school and to the football field, the two main focuses of the kids' lives!

This whole school year, Anders and Johan have been walking home together at 3:30, when they are finished with their afterschool program. I've had to pick Johan up the last few weeks when Anders has been at football academy, however. Today Johan really wanted to walk home alone, though, so we let him do it. He ended up walking home with our neighbor who goes in the same class, but he was really proud of himself. He even has his own key now.

Gaute's been working hard, as usual. He goes to work every day - he is officially a consultant for Guard Systems - he and another guy have made one of the tracking systems they use. But, Gaute being Gaute, he has many, many things he is working on on the side. If you look here, you'll find some of the stuff he works on in the evening. He spends a lot of time on all of that stuff, and although I do complain at times, I don't complain too much, because it's all starting to produce a pretty good extra income (did I mention that we're headed off for a week in Paris this summer?)

Well, dinner's almost done. Time to go down and set the table. Espen has football practice from 7 until 8:30, and then there's a very important Championship League game between Liverpool and Chelsea that I can't wait to watch.

And tomorrow and Friday there's no school - Labor Day weekend!!!!

Bergen

I just spent the last few minutes uploading pictures from our trip to Bergen onto my Facebook page. Facebook has a much better and faster system for uploading pictures than Blogger does, so I've decided to just post a link to my album there, rather than upload all of the pictures again (yes, I know that was a run-on sentence). So - here is the link.

We had a fun time. The weather was crappy, but it was really good to see Tori and Sindre and their families!

By the way, get a Facebook account, those of you who don't have one already!!

Off to Bergen tomorrow

Tomorrow we're taking the train to Bergen. Gaute's sister's son is being confirmed on Saturday. Confirmations are really big in Norway, and nearly all 14-15-year-olds are confirmed. Originally, the confirmations were religious, and a lot of them still are. For those who are not religious, the Norwegian Humanist Society also has confirmation ceremonies. As a type of right-of-passage into adulthood. This is the type of confirmation Sverre is going to have. His older sister, Runa, was confirmed two years ago. The weather during that trip was gorgeous, and we've had a week of really nice weather now, but it's supposed to rain all weekend...

The wedding

On Saturday, my stepbrother, Dan, got married! They have had a website set up for the wedding, and when I checked it this morning they had posted pictures from the wedding. I wish I could have been there. It looks like everyone had a really good time! And it made me feel really homesick for my family...My mom and my sisters - and my grandma - looked great! Can't wait to see you guys in about 8 weeks!!!

Party tonight

For the last few months, seven other moms and I have been planning a party. We've invited the parents of all of the 2nd graders at Korsvoll school. Some of us have been to a similar party for the 4th graders' parents, and it was a great party, so we decided to do the same thing for the 2nd graders.

We've rented the local sports hall (been to oh so many parties there), and have hired a catering firm to provide tapas. We've also hired a DJ who will playing classic hits from the 80's ;-). 92 people are coming to the party!! And it's a sunny, nice day -should be really fun!

Twenty hours working at McDonalds

I filled up my car with gas today, and it cost me $117 - yes, one hundred and seventeen dollars, not kroner. And it's not like I'm driving around in a big SUV or anything. I know that Americans are complaining a lot about how gas prices have really gone up lately, but they've gone up here, too, and until a gallon of gas costs NINE DOLLARS A GALLON, which is what I paid today, then I don't want to hear any more complaining.

Yesterday was a fun day! It was "Tourist in your own city" day, which meant that we could go down to the city hall and get a pass which gave us free admission to all museums in Oslo, plus free public transport. We wandered around downtown and went into a few museums. The kids don't get downtown very often, so they thought it was pretty cool. Then we walked over to the new opera house which just opened on Saturday. Yesterday it was open to the public and we got to walk around (and on) it. (That is not snow on the opera, by the way. It's made out of white marble.) It was incredibly expensive to build, but it is so cool!! You can walk all around on the roof and it goes straight down into the water. Here is a series of pictures of the opera, and here for pictures from the grand opening on Saturday.

Yesterday afternoon, Espen had another game, and he was captain once again! The weather was quite nice when the game began...


...but went downhill pretty fast.


But, the good news is that they won - 6-4! And Lyn won their game last night, too, and they are leading the series at the moment!

No words necessary

Low energy

I've been feeling pretty low on energy lately, and I think a lot of that has to do with the weather. We've had rainy, cloudy weather for weeks, and I'M GETTING REALLY SICK OF IT! I want nice spring weather!

And I want to be done with all of the papers that are due within the next few weeks. I'm severely lacking in motivation to get them done. I will be so happy to be done with school....

But, it's Friday! Tonight is homemade pizza night, and then good Friday night TV entertainment....

Lupine Hill Farm

My mom was inspired and is putting together a blog, too!

Lupine Hill Farm

Go, Mom!

Football nerd

Until my kids started playing football, I had never seen an entire game. And the first games they played when they were in first grade didn't exactly inspire me to become a fan. But something has happened the last 3-4 years. I love football.

Last night Liverpool played an important game in the quarter finals of the Champions League. It was such a great game, and they won, and I couldn't have been happier!

Heia Lyn

Lyn's first home game last night! It was about 35 degrees, raining and windy, but we put on warm clothes and showed up. And were so glad - it was a great game. They won - 3-1!

Looking ahead to the weekend

It's Thursday evening....I have a paper due on Monday, which I am trying as hard as I can to get done by tomorrow afternoon. I have lots of fun stuff planned for the weekend and sitting in front of the computer is not one of them.

Saturday night Gaute and I are going to a party. Should be a fun one - it's an annual party that we've been to several years in a row now.

Sunday night we have free tickets to the first home game that Lyn is playing this season.

Fun, fun weekend!

Downhill skiers

I've been so wrapped up in the whole job search this week, that everything else has been put on the back burner.

But, I felt I should publish these pictures from Easter vacation. On Saturday we went to the little ski hill 5 minutes from our cabin. They were having a race which anyone could take part in. Espen was a bit too cool, but Anders and Johan were into it. I forgot my camera at home, so these pictures are taken with the camera on my phone. Better than nothing, though. The weather was absolutely gorgeous that day, and we had a really good time!

I have a job!

I finally made a decision - I called the principal at Ekeberg school today and accepted his offer of a job there! They were the first school to offer me a job (and my first interview). In the meantime, I've been to interviews at 4 other schools and gotten one other official offer (and would most likely have gotten offers from the other schools as well). The school that offered me a job yesterday was a junior high. They wanted me to teach English and Norwegian. I had to really decide if I wanted to be at junior high or elementary school. And the fact that there is less grading at the elementary level (they don't get grades until 8th grade in Norway) was a big factor. What finally made me decide that this was the right place, however, was the fact that whenever I mentioned Ekeberg school, people were just going on and on about what a great school it was and how the teachers were all so nice. I decided that that is what matters more than anything else.

Ekeberg is an elementary school. At this point, they're not sure which grade(s) I will be teaching, but the principal said that they will have decided within the next month. I am so excited! I feel really good about having accepted this job. I know people who have worked as substitutes at the school and who have done their student teaching there and everyone really seems to like it.

And it is so nice not to have to think about it anymore!!!!

St. Patrick's Day

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day - and we had green cupcakes!

This week is Easter vacation in Norway - no school for anyone. Gaute is working this week, but Thursday through Monday are national holidays here - all stores are closed and no one works. So, we're off Wednesday evening to our cabin. Lots of snow up there so we're going to get in some last skiing for the season.

Here in Oslo, it's not very wintry, though. Although it is pretty chilly (below freezing at night), we have no snow, and we took out the trampoline over the weekend. Which is always the best sign of spring around here!

Second-graders

Johan has had a loose front tooth for a while. After a lot of wiggling and pulling, it finally came out Friday night.

On Saturday, his best friend Alexander came over - and he was missing the same front tooth as Johan. The two of them looked so cute together!

More about jobs

Today I had another great job interview. I was very happy with this school, too. They were very interested in having me work there, although they couldn't officially offer me the job yet. Although they did let me know that if I got offered a job somewhere else, I should let them know, and they could probably arrange something...

And, what do you know, this afternoon I got a call from the principal at the first school where I had an interview on Tuesday, and they offered me a job! I was more surprised than anything else. I thought the interview went pretty well, but they didn't seem that enthusiastic. Plus, they had gotten 65 applications...But, now I have an official offer from that school. I'm pretty sure that I'd rather work at one of the schools I interviewed with yesterday and today, though. And next week is Easter vacation here. So, tomorrow I think I need to decide which of those schools I liked best and then call them and tell them the situation. If I'm not going to take the job, then I'd like to let the school know as soon as possible so that they can offer it to someone else. It's really exciting, but it's making it hard for me to concentrate on anything else!

And I have a paper due tomorrow that I haven't even started on. So, now it's time to get going on that...could be a long night!

Litt av hvert

Just a few things -

Korsvoll school had a dodgeball tournament for the oldest kids, and Anders' class made it to the final round yesterday - the first time a 4th grade class has ever made it to the final! They lost the game to the 7th graders they were playing against (not Espen's class), but it was extremely close. The 7th graders all came up to them afterwards and congratulated them and said they had played really well. And the 4th graders walked around with huge grins on their faces for the rest of the day!

On Tuesday, Lynus Club had a big kick-off since the Norwegian football season starts at the end of the month. The kids got pizza and they got to meet all of the players in this season's lineup. Big excitement! They made a video and put it up on their website. If you look carefully you can see Anders, Johan and me. Espen was their, too, but he was a bit too cool to be walking around with us.

I took Espen to the orthodontist today. Last time he was at the dentist, she recommended that we make an appointment for him with an orthodontist since his bite was a bit off on one side in the back. The orthodontist said that the problem was minimal, and that he might not need braces at all, but if he does it will only be on a few back teeth. Espen was very happy - I guess he thought that he was going to walk out of their today with a full set of braces on his teeth.

I had a great interview yesterday. I really liked the school a lot, and it seems like they really liked me. They said that they'll let me know either way on the 28th of March. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. But- I have another interview in a few minutes with another school which also seems really good, so we'll see what happens....

One interview down

I had my first job interview today. I think it was my first job interview ever, actually. All of the jobs I've had before have been jobs that I've gotten through other people.

I think it went pretty well. The interviewers were friendly and nice, and I got a good impression of the school through them. I wish I could have seen a bit of the school, though. They had allotted a half hour for the interview, and there was someone waiting to come in after me, so there was no chance to get shown a little bit around the school. They said they're going to make their decision in a couple of weeks, so we'll see what happens.

Yesterday I got two more phone calls from schools that want me to come in for interviews. One tomorrow, one on Thursday and then one the week after Easter. They all seem like good schools, so I'm pretty excited. After going to this interview today, I can't wait to go to more interviews.

Mini-cello concert

The Norwegian government has been sponsoring various cultural events for the schools the past few years - sending kids to concerts and theaters, as well as sending instructors to the schools. This winter, they've had music instructors for the first graders. They're learning how to play "mini-instruments" and then having concerts where they show off what they've learned. They only have two practices before the concert, and I think they did a great job. The kids think it is so much fun to play a real instrument, and they think it's extra cool that their parents come to the concert.

I took some videos, but it seems that Blogger is having some problems uploading them right now. I'll try to post them later.

Another interview...

I got up this morning and checked my e-mail, and there was a message from the principal of another school who wanted me to call him today and arrange a time for an interview. Yippee!