Whithersoever thou goest

Anya’s second day of school went well, but I only caught a glimpse of it over the phone, as I had a late afternoon meeting on Knut’s Maasai Project. But before I get into that, what Anya told me was that she ran out of money on her pre-paid phone account, because she’s making friends from her class. The extra voucher I bought for her has instructions in Norwegian, and a bit more advanced than she can quite handle right now. So, she’ll ask a friend to help her put the money on her phone. It is a good sign!

I didn’t hear any more when I got home, as she was asleep at 6:30 pm when I arrived. I’ll fill you in tomorrow.

I was at the School of Mission and Theology (MHS) for the first meeting on Knut’s Maasai Project. So, in January 2012, I started my PhD on the Maasai with Knut. I sense he saw a good field for research with very little done with Maasai biblical interpretation. So, he sends a grant proposal into the Norwegian Research Council, which mostly funds petrochemical research, healthcare, food scarcity and other global issues. But Knut’s proposal on Maasai biblical interpretation was one of 12 out of 193 proposals funded! It was awarded 7,000,000 kroner, which at the time was US$1,000,000! Yes, a million bucks on Maasai biblical interpretation from the government of Norway! Now the dollar is stronger so its only worth $908,000 today. Then Knut said, “And I know nothing about the Maasai!” Well, he understands Africa, and he’s a great researcher. He’s read quite a few books now!

His project funds a PhD student and a postdoc, both of whom are from Tanzania. It funds some in-country qualitative research and a couple conferences, as well as part of Knut’s salary. This is separate from my PhD, except that they are collaborative projects. So, I’ve been invited into the discussion. And if my life was more flexible, I would be welcome to participate in the field research with expenses paid. I just can’t figure out how to make it work–(yet?).

So, my little PhD project has grown into a community of scholars! We had our first meeting tonight, and Skyped with the postdoc researcher, Hoyce, as she is in Tanzania awaiting approval for a skilled worker visa. Our conversation included an Ethiopian master’s student with a related theme to mine and a Norwegian farmer who eared a masters in history and a masters in theology (comparing sacrificial practices of Leviticus with ancient Ugarit and the Vikings!). As one who has a love of learning, he’s intrigued with cultural appropriations of biblical texts. Quite a group!

Finally, I learned today that I have a residency permit (photos from yesterday) but not a tax number. So, I still can’t open a bank account. However, I can pay for groceries with cash, and I’ve almost got my shopping system down, based on how much can fit in my backpack for the walk home.

I can’t wait for the morning to hear about Anya’s day at school!

Fortunately, Anya had the best night sleep thus far, sleeping from 6 pm to 4 am. So, she was alert for school. We packed her lunch and walked up for the meeting with her teacher prior to class. Then I walked away, knowing that she was a bit intimidated with the prospect of spending the day in a new school and immersed in Norsk! My spare moments were praying for Anya today!

I bused to and from Stavanger for meetings, chapel, and being introduced at the staff lunch. Each Monday, all the staff meet together after chapel for some fellowship and a bit of an employee meeting while they eat the lunch they brought (everything is a cold lunch). I had a great conversation with one of the PhD students from Madagascar who is working on a New Testament project, but we share the theme of reconciliation. I even made a couple notes! An Ethiopian master’s student has a different but related theme as well (the sins of the parents). I believe I’ll meet him tomorrow.

As I was packing up to head to Anya’s school, Anya called on our new Norwegian phone plans. Anya was already home, and her key wasn’t working. We’ll though it was cold (freezing), I knew she could get into the garage. I encouraged her to dance to the musical theatre music in her heart until I got home. It wasn’t a major ordeal, but it did make the day at school look really good in comparison to trying to get into the house.

I didn’t know that school is out at 1:50 pm! So, they start after 8:10 am (as Anya was welcomed before the other students arrived) and are done at 1:50 pm.

Anya’s seat mate is named Lena, and while she was nice, she wasn’t very talkative between class. Anya was able to track a bit in some of the social studies concepts, though not everything. Math looks really easy! She picked art as her elective. For those who know Anya, that’s no surprise. The art teacher complimented her on her project and someone stated that that was rare for the teacher. However, Anya misses Miss Colleen from middle school (who was perfect for Anya). Some students had heard she was from California and asked her where she lived in California. Later in class, the teacher brought Bellevue up on the screen (sounds like on Google Earth) and then zoomed out to the whole USA. She said that there is not a lot of time to eat lunch, so I need to make a smaller lunch. Well with such a short day, I’m glad the lunch isn’t long.

And…we’re residents!

So, we’re legal now. I can get a bank account set up, unless this requirement (below) will cause a problem. Why would I need a notarized copy if they see my actual passport? Why would I need to see a Norwegian embassy when I’m in Norway? I’ll keep you posted!

A notarized copy of your passport will also have to be provided. The certification must take place in one of the Norwegian, Swedish or Danish embassies or consulates and sent directly from them. (http://www.danskebank.no/nb-no/om-banken/InEnglish/Pages/in-english.aspx)

A crisp morning–just at freezing–brought a beautiful blue sky. Similar to Seattle, when the cloud blanket is removed at night, it gets freezing cold, but the blue sky and sunshine are brilliant.

Anya stayed home to recover a bit more as a sore throat persists. I took the bus to Stavanger for worship at the Stavanger International Church which meets at Misjonshøgskolen (the School of Mission and Theology or MHS–my school). There are half as many bus departure times on a Sunday, which means I arrived about hour early. Since it was so beautiful and I had time, I took my favorite walk to Litla Stokkavatnet, a small lake with a charming walking path. A thin layer of ice made it easy for the ducks to snatch the bread pieces that were offered by a family, including 2 small children. It was a wonderful walk.

The International Church really is international. Today, I worshiped with brothers and sisters in Christ from all over the world. I’d say the largest group is black, with the second being Caucasian, and a good representation of East Asians and Central Asians. The distinction of this international church is that it is not lead by Norwegians and Americans. It is truly an international fellowship. (One in five Christians in the world today is African!)

My conversations were with people from Fiji (who is married to a woman from Norway), Equatorial Guinea (who is married to a man from Iceland), an American (married to a man from Norway who met in Madagascar), and Melanie, a black woman from Curaçao, in the Caribbean, part of the Dutch Antillies, discovered by Columbus. As part of the Kingdom of Netherlands, she holds Dutch citizenship and went to university in the Netherlands. She is married to man from Zimbabwe, who was a student in Poland, but they met at a Christian conference (IFES) in Germany. They now live in Norway, but he works in the Netherlands.

The worship of this gathering of almost 100 was a glimpse of eternity, when people from so many different cultures can bring voices together in praise of our one God. The music was upbeat, with drums (African), guitar (Asian), bass (South Pacific), keyboards (Norwegian), and lead by three singers (Australian, Asian, and Indian). The music included scripture songs and praise songs with solid lyrics, all of which I knew. I think Anya will be OK here, despite the few youth (though lots of younger ones). As a Lutheran, she’s used to only a few youth in church!

They did invite first-time visitors to stand and introduce themselves. I was the only one, so several came to talk with me afterwards. The welcome was warm and inviting, with a nice spread for a fellowship time after the service. When Melanie learned that I came on the bus from Sandnes, she offered me a ride home. What hospitality–again. Exchanging cell numbers, I have a ride now for the future.

While I have the street address for my house, I know little more about how to get here except from the path I walk from the bus and from downtown. It was impossible to give directions from places I did not know. Fortunately, Melanie pulled out a GPS which gave us a location that was discernible.

This is one of the interesting ironies of this journey; to work toward a PhD, I demonstrate how little I know. I don’t like looking like a fool, but each day, I have an opportunity to learn humility. How does the bus pass work? Or the alarm system? Or the bread machine? Does this recycle? Who do I see for a key card to access the building? What do these instructions in Norsk mean? I need help. Fortunately, there are caring people–and a little help from Google.

I pray that there are a couple caring people in Anya’s class tomorrow–her first day finally.

Tonight Anya said, “Tomorrow, when we wake up, we’ll know who won the Superbowl.” Her last words for the day were, “Go Seahawks!”

Can it really only be 7 days!?! It seems longer, but  perhaps that is the struggling with jet lag speaking. Though, this was our most “normal” day of being awake. Anya even made it to 7 PM. Perhaps the fresh air and long walk helped.

Our housemate, 19-year-old Torbjørn, spent his first night at the house last night. He had 3 friends crashing at the house. While they were not crazy, it was nice to have plenty of quiet and a run of the place. The friends are here again tonight.

Just after lunch, we went for a walk into Sandnes, which is about 1 km (or .6 miles). I showed the promenade, where a street has been blocked off for walking down a cobblestone area lined with shops. We went up a block to see the old Lutheran church, built in 1882. We went on to the bus stop, seeking to buy a “flexi pass” but their customer service is closed on the weekend. Good thing that the website says that I should be able to buy one on board tomorrow, as we’ll head to the International Church of Stavanger worship service which meets at my school. While the tourist information office was closed (though the door sign indicated that it should be open), we found the local mall, where we sought out the apotek–or drug store. Anya stated, “It sure isn’t Bartells!” which is one of her favorite stores, as it has a bit of everything. This place was tiny, but I was scoping out what over-the-counter meds are available (that I can understand) for when I need to replenish the meager stock I brought. (They do have ibuprophen cream, which we can’t get in the USA.)

Our trip home brought us past the grocery store to stock up for the weekend, as grocery stores are closed on Sunday. We are limited to what we can comfortably carry for 1 km home in my back pack and lighter things in the shopping bag Anya carried.

One little detour on the way home brought us to a yarn store I discovered earlier in the week. It was filled with beautiful yarn and not-so-beautiful prices. I miss the 40% off coupons for Michael’s and Joanne’s! Anya has an online English course to keep up with her Washington state graduation requirements. She can’t stand it! She says that it is so slow and so boring and so easy–things she has studied before. So, I invested in the yarn to have some crocheting (in Norsk “hekling”) when she’s listening to the “slow and boring” teachers. This activity runs in the family! When my dad was studying Mandarin at Yale and had to listen to hours and hours of audio tapes, his farm boy hands needed something to do. So, he knit my mom a dress–one of her most prized possessions that she recently passed on to me.

The last bit of news is that my gracious PhD supervisor drove about 12 miles to pick me up and take me to the “big” mall. Because I don’t have my Norwegian ID number yet (which may take 2-8 weeks), I needed help to get SIM cards for the phones that I brought for Anya and me. I knew that phones would be expensive here, but I needed unlocked GSM phones for Europe, so I bought and brought two iPhone 5cs. I figured that I can sell them when I leave, as they would be 25% less as ALL purchases of goods have a 25% tax. (Food is only—15%!)  Knut let me buy SIM cards for a pay-as-you-go plan under his name. While it will be less expensive to call or text me with a Norwegian phone, we’ve mostly been communicating through email, so not a significant expense. This again is just the blessing of Knut as a full-service PhD supervisor. Airport runs, schleping bags, being hosted for a meal by he and his dear wife, taking me to get SIM cards under his name, what a blessing!

Anya’s better! The fevers are gone. However, she stayed home following typical school guidelines of not attending school for 24 hours after a fever to be clear of being contagious.  It also means that she can do the dishes and help with the laundry!

We tried out the bread machine!

The instruction panel is in Norsk, so with the help of Google translate, we figured out our settings. The result is not beautiful, but tastes good. If you have tips how to get the loaf out with two fixed paddles in the bottom, just let me know.

Shopping for groceries this year seems less expensive. Actually, it is! The dollar is really strong right now.

In January 31, 2013, $1 = 5.46 Norwegian Kroner. Today, the markets closed at $1 = NOK 7.81. In other words, I can buy 43% more groceries for the same dollar! No wonder my Scandinavian students were complaining this past semester, as they were trying to buy things in the USA. So, if you want to do international travel, now is a great time to get more bang for your buck.

There was more Hebrew study for me today, working from Van der Merwe, Christo et al. A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999. This is a more technical grammar than what I use when I teach beginning Hebrew, so it has more explanation of the rationale for vowel changes, but as a reference grammar, it does not lay it out in a friendly and instructional format. However, I’m using this one, as it is in my Logos software, and thus, nothing more that I had to carry.

What I re-learned today:

• autochthonous:
  1:  indigenous, native <an autochthonous people>
  2:  formed or originating in the place where found<autochthonous rock> <an autochthonous infection>

  — au·toch·tho·nous·ly adverb

More of my favorite things:

• Washing machines! When we lived in Africa for 3 years, clothes were washed by hand by our helper, Diana. However, with machines, which provide pretty clean clothes with little effort, the economic impact on society is huge! See Hans Rosling’s argument that the washing machine is the greatest invention of the industrial revolution? http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_and_the_magic_washing_machine
  (Oh, and front loading washing machines are great!)

Anya’s fevers continued today, which means she won’t be going to school at all this week. The weekend should be good for plenty of time to return to wellness. However, the body’s need to sleep while sick will delay Anya’s jet lag adjustment. Again, the weekend will provide more time.

I stayed home with Anya working on online banking, Hebrew, Norsk, and preparing for laundry and bread making (using the breadmaking machine) tomorrow. So, I now know that the Norsk word for yeast is tørrgjær. I can spell it, but I don’t think I can pronounce it.

With a light snow outside, I felt warm inside all day.

Here’s some of what I learned today (I’ll spare you the Hebrew and Norsk):

• A hard slate roof can last up to 200 years!
• Schools in Norway don’t provide lunch. Everyone brings their own.
• Norwegian paper currency: I read a bit about each of the five people on the five bills. Two of five people are women! The woman’s face on the 200 kroner bill is Kirsten Flagstad, an opera singer who made it big in the USA at the Metropolitan Opera but returned to Norway during WWII. Evard Munch is on the 1,000 kroner bill. Others include a Nobel literature prize winner (the other woman), a multiple Nobel science winner, and a collector of folk tales.

A few of my favorite things:

• Heated tile floor in the bathroom!
• Good tasting water, drinkable from the tap.
• Knowing that we’re thought of and prayed for here in Norway!
• Congratulating (and thanking) my parents on their 59th wedding anniversary!

What was going to be Anya’s first day of school is put off due to her developing a fever. All the airplane and airport germs with the stress of jet lag took its toll. She was feeling physically miserable and emotionally disappointed. Fortunately, she was wise to determine that sleeping to get well was more important than not sleeping to get on this time zone.

When she was in a good place of not fevering and while sleeping, Anya knew that I’d be taking off to walk to town to hit the ATM and the grocery store.

I spent the day (between naps) taking care of Anya, doing some Hebrew review, learning more about residency in Norway, and reading about my PhD adviser, Knut’s, research grant on Maasai biblical interpretation (http://www.mhs.no/?597). How wonderful is my adviser? He gets so interested in my project about the Maasai that he submits and his competitively selected for a research project on Maasai biblical interpretation to the Norwegian Research Council (NRC). The NRC is the Norwegian governments vehicle for funding research, which I hear mostly funds petrochemical and health care research, but has a generously funded Knut’s project on Maasai biblical interpretation. This prestigious grant will fund a PhD student and a postdoc student, who are both from Tanzania, raising up a scholarly conversation group related to my work! While this is Knut’s project and my priority here is research and writing my dissertation, this is tangential support for me and helps position me in intercultural scholarship.

What I learned about Norway today:

• Next time I walk around town in the rain, I’m wearing my rain pants. I’ve seen many Norwegians do this on prior trips, and I packed them along, but didn’t wear them today. Fortunately, my Hot Chilis long underwear kept me dry and warm. (They are even Helly Hansen, a Norwegian brand, that I bought many years ago at REI.)
• For us introverts, Norway is great! Even the grocery store workers in the aisles won’t ask you if you need any help finding anything. I was going to get out without any conversation (though I did reply “Nei” when the cashier asked in Norwegian if I wanted a bag–which you pay for) until the stevia jar I was buying wouldn’t scan on the register.
• In Norwegian news: “It was another challenging day of being prime minister for Erna Solberg on Wednesday: More than a million union members walked off their jobs nationwide in the afternoon to protest her minority government’s work rule changes…” (http://www.newsinenglish.no/). That’s one in five Norwegians! It was focused on public transportation, so being home with Anya meant that I was oblivious to this until I checked the news.

Anya woke up at midnight again and I made it to 3 am but with a nap before the day really got rolling. We don’t do jet lag well, but I’m adjusting a bit better, probably thanks to black tea.

So, Anya was eager for the day, but probably because she was hoping we would be able to get the identity number we need to buy a SIM card and get local cell phone access. Well, it looks like we have to wait about 2 weeks to get our ID number, which we need for the SIM card and to open a bank account.

We learned a lot today about Norway’s immigration, but our first lesson was about Norway’s weather. It was raining a light mist when we started uphill for the #2 bus. However, the sidewalk had considerable ice and made it difficult to ascend. Fortunately, the Norwegians coming downhill demonstrated that walking in the street is more manageable.

Off to the school on the bus. Fortunately, Tina told me that road construction means the bus doesn’t stop right at the library, so we were prepared to get out and walk a bit–more uphill–but with less ice in Stavanger.

I’ve been given the former office of the rector from his faculty role days (the head of the school), who now has the rector’s office. The rector let me in and welcomed me among his plethora of books. I had a quiet place to do some work on my laptop. Anya had a quiet place to nap, as she pulled the two sitting chairs together as a small bed.

After our “brown bag” lunch, we were taken to the police station to deal with our immigration paperwork. I guess in a peaceful country, you need to find things for the police to do!

Our airplane tickets have us in Norway almost 6 months–6 days short of a full 6 months. This means that I won’t be a “resident” and I will have a different number (a D-number instead of a personnummer). While it is not a huge issue, it would have been nice to be a real resident!

I’m so grateful that most Norwegians are very fluent in English, like our bus driver.  However, tomorrow, Anya has a Norwegian immersion experience, as she is off to school. Fortunately, she has met her teacher, who was very welcoming and relayed that the class is excited to welcome an American. English and Spanish should be pretty easy classes, and it sounds like most of the subject matter she has covered already in Bellevue’s aggressive educational environment. This will be good for learning Norwegian as she won’t have to focus on both subject matter and language learning! However, she’ll have quite a challenge of language learning ahead! I can’t wait to hear her stories tomorrow!

Anya woke up at midnight or so. I stayed asleep to about 3 AM before we got up and started getting more settled.

At 10 AM we walked up to Anya’s school, Giske Ungdomsskole, to meet her teacher, Jan Magne Johansen. He was very welcoming and said that the class was excited to meet Anya! He clarified what we hoped to get out of this educational experience, and I think he was encouraged that our focus was learning Norwegian and a cultural exchange. Most of Anya’s prior school work has covered the content she will see this spring semester, but she’ll be doing it in her third language.

I’m just pleased that in this lower secondary school for 8-10th grade is homeroom based. So, Anya will have Mr. Johansen and the same students for what seems to be about half of her classes (not math, PE, art, or Spanish). So, it will be easier for Anya to make friends.

On the way back, we took a little walk to the grocery story and explored this cross-cultural experience. Our Norwegian is limited, but we figured out mostly what we wanted. Anya has an intriguing description on her blog. http://recentlyrelocatedtonorway.blogspot.no/

It is tough staying awake this afternoon, so I went for a walk to downtown Sandnes, which is about 1 km (.6 miles) away downhill, toward the fjord. There’s a section that has been closed to traffic and makes a nice walking promenade with a collection of shops and restaurants. It was pretty quiet mid afternoon on a Monday.

We’re really dragging now and will be crashing tonight at 5 PM, which is 2 hours later than Anya made it to yesterday! Tomorrow we’re off to immigration!

With blessings,
Beth

A 9.5 hour flight gave us time to catch up on some movies but neither of us got any sleep on the plane, as it is our typical awake time. A tight time frame to go through Schengen (EU) customs with security and to our connecting flight had us walking fast and passing by our favorite duty free chocolate and candy. Yet we made it with about 5 minutes to spare!

My PhD adviser, Knut, and his new PhD student, Zephania from Tanzania, picked us up. I wasn’t sure he’d get 4 rolling duffel bags, 2 rolling carry ons, and 2 back packs with 4 people in his Rav4, but then I learned that he was a tour guide in Israel for a time, and picked up 8 people with luggage to fit in a van. He is really good at packing, and that is something coming from me and my missionary packing gift.

Knut and his wife, Berly, hosted us for lunch, which is wonderful because grocery stores are closed on Sundays in Norway and restaurants are really expensive. After lunch, Knut brought us to Sandnes, about 10 miles (16 km–as we have to get comfortable with the metric system!) south of Stavanger.

Our house is a classic Norwegian home, I think built in the early 1900s, with wood siding and round slate (real stone) roof tiles.

Anya was so jet lagged, that she slept and didn’t join me for a walk up the hill to my friend Tinas. We stayed there in 2012 for an overnight. I was hosted to a wonderful meal and time with friends and their 2 boys (4th grade and kindergarten). They bought some groceries on Saturday as a welcome gift to get us going. I’m learning so much about hosting others having been welcomed so well. Tina also gave me important news about road construction, which changes the bus stop–which is no longer right at our school–and where the closest grocery store was.

Off to bed and deep sleep until…