Eastertime in a Foreign Land

Eastertime in a Foreign Land

I hate to harp on this, but we are living in a foreign land. Yes, we communicate in English a great deal. Yes, Easter is celebrated as a national holiday here. And, yet, there are a few things that seem just a wee bit different than in the States. The whole egg thing. I don’t think I’ve seen a small plastic egg anywhere. What I do see are colorful cardboard egg-shaped containers in differing sizes filled with candy and chocolates given to people of all ages. Then there is the proliferation of anything and everything yellow. Yellow candles, yellow ribbons, yellow paper napkins, yellow mini-chicks, etc. You may remember our writing about ‘Red Days’; the days surrounding Easter starting with the Wednesday before and continuing through the Monday following when most businesses are closed. Something akin to Spring Break, only not just for the schools. I would guess that for us retired folk, this should not pose a big problem, except if one was counting on the grocery stores being open whenever one needed something. Basically we need to plan our menu ahead a bit.

I was really hoping to lose a few pounds during these three months of walking, bike-riding, and eating more healthy foods. However, if this week is typical of our time here, that may not be happening. These past five days have been a carousel of meals bookended by tasty offerings. And, obviously, one simply cannot refuse such delights being offered. The first invitation was to join our friends, Astrid and Asbjørn, and their family for Good Friday lamb dinner. They only requested I bring a carrot cake, the same type I brought two years ago for their same dinner. Paul and I don’t get the opportunity to a) eat a meal with these friends very often when we are not here, and b) eat lamb. They commented more than once that we were ‘like family’ to them, so it was a very special time.

The second dinner invitation was from our friends here from Poland. I first met Anna in 2002 when she heard me calling to Ryan in English as I dropped him off at a friend’s house for a birthday party. She quickly walked to catch up with me and introduced herself. Since then, we have shared meals in each other’s homes several times. Funny story (although it didn’t seem funny at the time): last time we were here, I accidentally brought our American guests to a dinner at their home on the wrong night. Anna and Leszek did not seem phased one bit–even though Anna was at work when we arrived. Anyway, this week our dinner at their home was, as always, a Michelin-starred experience. And a very special treat after dinner was the opportunity to view the video of their son’s wedding to his bride–in a traditional Japanese ceremony. Our five-hour evening was not finished until we had our third dessert of the evening. You heard that right.

Finally, we arrive at today. Easter Sunday. As it happens, our home church here does not hold Easter Sunday services, they have a Monday morning service the day following Easter. So, our Sunday was free to attend the service (and breakfast!) offered by the Salvation Army body of believers on the island of Jeløy. Our good friend, Liv, as well as several other people we know, attend there, and we were pleased to join them. What a sweet, sweet time of fellowship and worship this morning celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. God is glorified in all languages. It was funny; as I was trying to describe a typical Easter breakfast that we might have in the States, it seemed quite different than the one here. I described scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes…and she described what was typical here…breads with lots of little things to go on top. What would you have described as typical?

Thanks for tuning in!

Finding Familiar in the Foreign

It’s been over a week since I wrote that I would “post something every three or four days”. So much for promises. I think I shall place the blame on jet lag. And this is why I balk at the suggestion my friends offer: to become a YouTube Travel Blogger. Hah! I would starve if I counted on earning any income from regular travel posts! But, I digress.

So, we’ve been here an entire week now. A week of socializing, coffee drinking, friend hosting, and church attending. All Familiar in the Foreign. The easiest to accomplish has been the socializing and friend hosting. That seems to work in the same manner in whatever country one finds oneself. Invite someone and serve food and drink. We served soup and salad for our first guest, Maria. And we served Quiche Lorraine and tossed salad for our second guest, Maria. She is a friend with whom we are comfortable, so comfortable, in fact, that she deigned to inform me that my coffee was like dishwater. There is a Norwegian word for such a sad category of coffee, weak and light enough to see the bottom of one’s cup. I now know the correct amount of ground coffee required for good coffee over here. Be forewarned.

And socializing comes easily, right? Popping in on my jeweler friend, Andrew, and visiting for half an hour before finally getting down to the business at hand! [this time, I rode the bus to his studio instead of traipsing around the island of Jeløy through the woods by bike like last time!] Our friends here, who, as we have stated often, are the main reason we return to Moss, Norway again and again. Even in this foreign country, we find ourselves in homes we have visited many times.

Ahh, returning to our beloved home church away from home. It was so good to greet these people again like Alice, the retired missionary to Brazil, who, along with her late husband, Per, served the people of Brazil for over 50 years. And there is Grethe, who has shared her rich voice and guitar playing with this body of believers for years. I cannot communicate as deeply as I would like with either of these saints due to my inability to speak enough Norwegian, but we share smiles and earnest greetings anyway.

The views from our windows and from across the canal of the beach, the ferries coming and going, the boats, and the dog-walkers, are peaceful and project a pace of life we admire.

Norway Bound!🇳🇴

I can’t tell y’all how tickled I am to be heading back to our ‘second home’ (based upon the number of months we have lived there over the past 22 years!), Moss, Norway! When we leave a place, we never know when or if we would return, so it is always a pleasant realization when our plans come to fruition. This trip has been in the plans for about a year.

If you are at all interested in our past trips, in 2015, 2018, or 2022, this blog has archives from posts I wrote during those stays in Norway. It also explains briefly how we came to be living abroad in the first place…seeing as though neither of us has any significant Norwegian ancestry.

During this three-month hiatus, our house will be looked after by a good friend as well as utilized briefly by a few other friends from time to time. We love sharing our home as opportunities arise. ❤️

My plan is to post about every few days on life in Norway; the people, the beauty, the culture of their beautiful country. 😍

I hope you enjoy reading and following along on this adventure! Please comment as much as you like!