I’m packed! It was an massive ordeal getting all our stuff into four 50-pound rolling duffel bags, two rolling carryons, and two small accessory back packs.
The house is cleaner than when we came. The sheets will be clean when my landlords arrive. I’m feeling pretty good about what I got done. Anya was helpful, but I had to mastermind the tasks.
We have a 3:30 AM taxi call! I’m praying that my luggage scale is adequately accurate and there isn’t too much hassle with the tax rebate check as the window is closed, so it is done at the luggage drop off. With quite a bit of paperwork, my purchases from some stores that attract tourists can qualify for a 19% sales tax refund. It is purchases in the last 90 days in Sweden and 30 days in Norway! The administration of the program is quite expensive too. I wonder if it really is worth it.
In the morning, I took my last trip to MHS to turn in a couple library books and my keys. It is really quiet there, as most people are on summer vacation. On the bus, I spent most of the time staring out the window to get one last time to soak it all in.
The Gandsfjord view from bus #3.
I realized how 5.75 months ago, I barely knew the bus system, and now it is quite comfortable. When I arrived, most signs were unknown and most of the language was equally unknown. Now, there is a bit of understanding and some beginning Norsk vocabulary that I understand. Anya is way ahead of me, but it is nice to know that I’m capable of learning and getting adjusted.
Now, a short night and a major transition ahead. At least we get to catch up on movies on the airplane.
We will have limited Internet access in Tanzania, so I won’t be able to post regularly. The stories should be interesting though when they do get posted. Keep us in your prayers!
Amidst the packing throughout the day, we had two wonderful times of farewell with food.
Tina, my PhD student colleague, walked down the hill, and we joined her in walking to the center of Sandnes, where she treated us for lunch at the Pastabakeriet. Her family had just returned from Italy and time with her in-laws, as her husband is Italian. Unfortunately, one of her boys was sick with pneumonia for the majority of their vacation, which was a huge disappointment for him. Fortunately, he is much better and a full recovery will come. We passed on our set of Bucky Ball magnets to her boys, as they loved them when they visited us. So, they will have hours of play to come.
Tina has been such a help and an encouragement to me. Her PhD journey started a few months before mine, so I’ve been able to see how the path unfolded for her. She will probably defend her dissertation in November, so unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend and support her with my presence. I’ll do so with my prayers. She greeted us when we arrived with dinner and a couple bags of groceries to tide us over until the stores opened on Monday.
After lunch and more packing, I got a call from Marta, with an invitation to dinner later in the day with the Dahls. We took the X60 bus, which Anya has taken before, but I haven’t. She calls it “Stavanger in a Nutshell,” because you see many different views of this area: farmland with some sheep and cows, vistas with mountains, the university (where I took a philosophy of science course), the Forus petroleum business center, a shopping mall, different kinds of residential areas, and eventually the Stavanger city center (though we got off earlier).
One vista from the bus. The mountains merge with the clouds in the distance.
On the walk from the bus stop to Marta’s, I collected some flower photos.
Kjell was grilling pork chops, and Marta had a great meal, including Anya’s favorite comfort food, mashed potatoes.
I thanked Marta for her gracious hospitality to me and Anya and her voice of wisdom when I was figuring out how to support Anya in the challenges of her cultural immersion in Norwegian and in her school. I told Marta that growing up in the church, I used to have a limited view of hospitality. I thought it was the relegation of women to the kitchen to serve coffee and tea–and then clean up afterwards. Later, through a friend in Intervarsity Christian Fellowship in college, I heard another definition; hospitality is giving another the freedom to be themselves in your presence. Marta, as a translator of the culture, gave this special inter-cultural freedom for me.
So long for now (not goodbye, as Marta says in Malagasy) to my intercultural translator, the gracious Marta.
We bussed home and finished the day’s packing. For international travel, I am allotted 2 pieces of luggage per person. Thus, I have 4 rolling duffel bags between 48 and 49.6 pounds each, according to my travel scale. The limit is 50 pounds or 23 kilograms. As 23 kilos equals 50.71 pounds, I should be safe, even if my scale isn’t precise. We also have two tightly packed rolling carryons, two “accessory” small backpacks, and two travel pillows. I tried to get everything in bags last night to see how close I am to done. There will be some tweaking left to do, adding things and jettisoning others of less value.
I have one more day for final packing tweaks, my last trip to MHS to return my keys, and cleaning the house. Fortunately, the process in on target and we were blessed by Tina and Marta along the way.
Anya slept in while I did more packing and preparations. I woke her up for our planned trip to do some errands. I started by going to my Sandnes bank to figure out what to do there. Because I’m short 7 days from a complete 6-month stay, I don’t have online banking privileges, however, I’d like to keep some money here and a bank card for my return next year for the expected defense of the dissertation. (I’ve never “climbed this mountain” before, so I don’t know how steep or how long this climb is, but my hope is that in the late spring, I can defend my thesis.)
We then took the #3 bus to Stavanger. Anya wanted to look for a few gifts. But the main purpose was to visit the thrift store and have Anya help me pick out a little more dressy skirt than my travel clothes for Pastor Nangole’s retirement celebration. We had many good laughs and many groans! Anya found a dress that she loved.
“Please, Mom!” Anya pleads. “I’ll put it in my carry on!” is her response to my concern of limited suitcase space.
We walked out with a grey skirt for me and a colorful and cute dress for Anya!
Then Anya took off to explore a bit and head home on the bus, while I walked to MHS and scanned a few things to reduce the paper to take back to the USA. Providentially, I arrived just as things were closing up at about 3:00 pm. While I did this intentionally, in order to not hog the photocopy machine/scanner, I didn’t realize that they had switched key card entrance mechanisms. So, I got a new key card just in the nick of time. I’ll head in tomorrow to return my keys when someone is around to receive them.
I’m tired tonight. Partly it is getting up early, because my head is filled with tasks. Partly, it is the emotional drain of thinking through all the variables for a major transition that is extended with travels to Tanzania. Fortunately, I got word from a friend in Tanzania, Elizabeth, who will pick up some malaria meds for us and a SIM card for my phone, as we’ll be driving through Arusha in the evening when all the shops are closed. Monduli has less amenities, and with all the counterfeit meds on the market, it is good to buy from a trusted pharmacy. We also have one of two nights in transition nailed down, as I wait for response from the last night’s hotel inquiry.
When we lived in Tanzania, we would often say, “This is Africa,” which means, we can plan wisely through incorporating years of wisdom, but still life in Africa is beyond control. Sometimes, you just do the best you can with what you got. This is why community is so important. The interdependence with others is what sustains life. So, today, I’m grateful for Elizabeth and Nashesha!
This evening, Anya ran 10K for her conditioning in preparation for August soccer practice. This was her second run of the day, though the first one was not one she felt good about. I am so blessed to have a daughter who is healthy and able to run, jump, and kick.
Scott was ready to go at our 9:00 am planned departure time. We rolled the bags downhill to the bus stop, where Scott had learned during his time that the #9 is the one we take to the airport. The bus works slick to get to the airport, and $6.19 (50 kroner) is much cheaper than a $55-60 taxi with only 18 minutes difference in travel time.
The #9 bus back to Sandnes was departing at the top of the hour, so I pulled out the book I brought along (New Perspectives on Intercultural Reading of the Bible, a collection of essays in a festschrift for Hans de Wit) and read outside for about half an hour in the nice weather and sometimes sunshine.
Nice weather here is a high in the upper 60s! The hottest it has been in Stavanger so far has be 74!
In the sunshine, I did a bit of yard work–mostly pulling weeds that had grown while we were traveling. The rest of the day was packing and scratching things off my to-do list.
Getting things done!
In the evening, my back needed a break, so we watched Helen Miren in The Queen. It was cool for Anya to see the Buckingham Palace and say, “I’ve been there!”
Today, 51 years ago, I was born in Williston, North Dakota. I had an inferiority complex to my sibling sisters with their exotic birthplaces; one was born in Taiwan and the other in Hong Kong. Later on I did the math, and I realized that I was made in Hong Kong. I guess I’m not disqualified by birthplace for being president of the USA, but who would ever want this?!? (Oh, I guess there is a growing list!)
We were off by bus to church this morning. The Stavanger International Church joined the Anglican congregation for worship in the Bishop’s Chapel right next to the Stavanger Cathedral. They only worship in this small place during July when they have so many people off on holiday. But it was a moving worship in a wonderful place with rich acoustics.
The Bishop’s Chapel
The priest gave one of the fullest and focused sermons I have heard in a long time. He carefully wove in the Amos Old Testament text with the Gospel text from Mark in a way that the Gospel message was so clear and compelling.
The congregation also sang “Happy Birthday” to me and two others.
Afterwards, Anya took me to the French Bakery for decadent pastries and tea.
Lovely! The pastry too!
Life is still too short to not take a nap, so I had a nice nap. Scott arrived back from time with his cousin shortly after I awoke. The rest of the day was packing and preparations with a nice break for a walk to dinner at a nice Thai restaurant not too far away. This was Scott’s birthday treat!
My to-do list is slowly being blackened out, and most of the important planning pieces for Tanzania are in place, with just a couple transition and confirmations in process. Still, my Meyers-Briggs “J” temperament is not settled until everything is done (which is never is), and the unknowns are managed (which they never are), so again, I’m learning that one of life’s biggest lessons is learning to trust God. Fortunately, I have 51 years of God’s amazing grace, steadfast love, and caring providence to remind me.
After travels with too many restaurant meals, I’m needing to get out and walk for some exercise. Here are images from along the way.
Beautiful and colorful flowers
The first is digitalis, commonly known as foxglove. and the latter is a yellow version of what we have in Tanzania called lion’s paw with orange blossoms.
The end of my walk was at the hill above our house.
A panorama shot of Gandsfjord with Sandnes at the far right
I now know how to use the panorama function on my iPhone, so this is a glimpse of the 180+ degree view.
There was more preparation for Tanzania, but we also needed some good light hiking shoes for Anya for time in Tanzania. So, after a late lunch, we took off by bus to the largest sporting goods store in the area called XXL. We found a pair that she liked. Fortunately, they will be 19% discounted after a tax rebate. I also think it prudent to buy a dressier pair of shoes for Pastor Nangole’s retirement celebration on July 19, as I only brought more casual skirts for travel. I still need to figure out a skirt that is more dressy than my indestructible polyester khaki skirt from my favorite Value Village thrift store, so I’ll visit the Salvation Army thrift store in Sandnes on Monday.
On the way out of the mall, we realized that there were no buses from the mall area after 3:20 PM! So, we ended up walking about 2 km or 1.5 miles to a road where the #2 bus stops. After 15 minutes, the bus arrived, but it was the Smeiaheia #2 bus, which doesn’t go close to our house! Why does the #2 route have two different routes which aren’t identified on the chart or on the app!?! This is why Smeiaheia is our word of frustration. Yet, we did take it and change to the number 3 bus at another mall, but it meant waiting another 25 minutes. I thought that we might have walked home just as fast, though Anya would not have enjoyed it at all.
After homemade pizza for dinner, we watched the first half of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and then Anya went for a short conditioning run.
There’s much to to still in preparations, and I realized I should do a complete back up of my computer and photos and send my external harddrive back with Scott on Monday for safekeeping.
Most of the day was spent organizing and packing to leave Norway on the 17th. I do best with plenty of time to prepare and methodically work through all the stuff.
However, the twist is that we go home via Tanzania. Unfortunately, we have all our winter coats, boots, and sweaters that will be lugged along as this is the most affordable way that I can think of to get things home to Bellevue.
Scott lives in Bellevue, and I figure I would have been able to send a couple rolling duffel bags with him paying for extra bags–EXCEPT for the lifting of the 50 pound bags in the customs area of Seattle. Scott had back surgery recently and can’t lift more than about 30 pounds without risk of injuring his back. I could get the duffel bags on the bag conveyor and arrange for friends to meet him at the airport to get them off the luggage carousel, but there is the customs area where there are no porters to help the bags. The bags have to be removed from the carousel, wheeled through customs, and then put back on the conveyor to be picked up at the international arrival luggage carousel. I even emailed customer service at Sea-Tac airport, but they did not have a solution for me. Anyone out there know of an option?
Anya went for a run this morning to condition for fall soccer. She’s missing all the summer conditioning, so I’m glad she’s working on it. I did take a packing break to pull a few weeds and mow the small lawn.
She also did some sorting for packing and some algebra 2. She Skyped this evening with her friend, Sami, who has been a positive influence since kindergarten.
Later after dinner, we were making no-bake cookies together (yum), and we realized that we were out of oatmeal. So, I walked to the grocery store with one of my favorite routes to gaze upon the beauty of the fjord. I’ll miss this walk. There were some beautiful flowers along the way. Here’s one for you.
Someone’s beautiful tending to a luscious flower bed
Mom eye surgery went well, but there remains some irritation. Prayers for comfort and healing continue.
We only have 9 days left in Norway! That caught Anya by surprise! I’m working on closure and transition, while Anya is working on completing her algebra 2 coursework before school starts. Rather than killing her love of math by taking an online course with the frustrating interface like she had for her required online English course, we were able to secure permission for her to work on her own to prepare for pre-calc this fall.
In the mid-afternoon, Scott and I went to Stavanger for Scott to buy a couple things that he wanted to get before he left Norway. Here are a couple images from Stavanger this afternoon.
The juxtaposition of a 3 masted frigate replica from the late 1700s and a humongous cruise ship in the harbor caught my attention.Just passing through the new Starbucks (the closest entrance to the mall), I saw this sign.
Then we visited his cousin in Stavanger. Scott will be with him until Sunday afternoon. That will give me some good time to work on wrapping things up and transitioning back to the USA.
I’m also praying for my mom who is having eye surgery today to repair a previous cataract surgery, including stitches! So, please join me in praying for my mom and her recovery from surgery.
We felt it Providential that we were able to get out of London on the day before the Tube (subway) strike started. This system carries 4 million travelers each day! What chaos! Here’s the BBC news on it: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-33438700
The Tube icon
So, we are home! Even though we are a bit tired, we are amazed how well things went. For being newbies to London, I think we did amazingly well. There are things that we hope to go back someday to see in more depth or things that we didn’t get to, but that doesn’t tarnish the stellar experiences we had. Anya is planning on living in London someday, so if this comes to pass, then I’ll have the opportunity to spend way more time at the British Museum!
We slept in a bit, but wanted to get to the Tower of London and see the Crown Jewels. This is another UNESCO World Heritage Site! I love to see as many as I can when I travel.
The Tower of London
We headed right away to the Crown Jewels. The line was relatively short, especially when compared to when we came out! The line had grown probably 8 times longer (or more) than when we got into the line!
Pictures aren’t allowed in the Abbey, so here is one they have posted on their website.
The ceiling at Westminster Abbey (photo: http://www.westminster-abbey.org/)
Before I was thinking about the no photo policy, I took a picture of one of my heroes, William Wilberforce, the abolitionist featured in the film Amazing Grace.
William Wilberforce who relentlessly strove for the end of slavery
After our tour of all the dead dignitaries’ graves and memorials (See the 3,300 names from Queen Elizabeth to Lewis Carol), we waited for the Evensong worship. Because we were near the front of the line, we got to sit in the front row of the Quire (choir loft), so amazingly close to the boy choir!
We were right behind the center lamp to the right of the choir. This is a Getty image from William and Kate’s wedding, so the choir looked the same, but we looked like tourists not like these fancy dignitaries! The Queen is in yellow. Go directly above her hat to the center of the front row to see our great seats for the Evensong!
The Abbey is across from the Parliament Building and Big Ben, which stimulated conversation about the power struggle between church and state in European history since Constantine.
Big Ben
We took the Tube “home.” Anya is our Tube specialist. We just tell her where we are going next, and she figures out what Tube line to take to which station in order to switch to whatever other Tube line we need, and then to get off at the right station. It really is great!
We had dinner at the Westfield mall close to our “home.” Anya had some time to browse before we headed home to close our day.
We have been so blessed with good weather, special opportunities (like sitting in the Quire today), good health, and that we get along quite well, even after all these days. While we just scratched the surface of London, we saw quite a bit at a manageable pace, with enough time to pause and enjoy the moment, sometimes with a cup of tea.
We’ve been enriched by architectural beauty, important history, majestic worship, and theatrical thrills. But now, I’m tired. Good night!
