Moving to Stavanger? Yeah, lets do that!

Lots to tell you about so get ready to read, learn, and have some fun!  Especially the first two :)  

The last few weeks have been exciting yet challenging.  Imagine, those of you who are married...to move to a different country a week after the wedding.  Now while you're in the country, you try to get a VISA, learn the language, and apply for jobs.  All while adjusting to a new culture and doing your best to understand new daily tasks such as eating a "sandwhich" on one slice of bread, or driving on roads that Americans consider golf cart paths.  Don't get me wrong, these differences are great, and it's what makes each country unique.  Everyday I seem to find things that are new to me, and sometimes it takes some time to get used to.  Just as when people leave their home country and move to America.    Anyway...since I've got my VISA in line, and I'm learning the language little by little each day, it was time to really focus on a job.  Yes, I have a job as an assistant for an electrician, which I'm grateful for, but I'm talking long term.  

So over the past 2 months or maybe less, I've been researching International Schools here in Norway.  Teaching can be difficult let alone instructing in a new language so my best bet was to begin my teaching career in Norway at an International School.  International Schools have many benefits including the fact that they're exclusively speaking in english throughout the school.  Considering english is my native language, this gave me an advantage.   

Typically speaking, international schools are located in larger cities, and this includes larger cities in America as well.  So I searched the larger cities in Norway that are relatively close to where Kristine and I currently live.  This search consisted of Bergen, Stavanger, and Kristiansand.  Haugesund, which is the closest "city" to us, plans to get an international school in the future.  I saw that The British International School of Stavanger had two openings this upcoming academic year.  So I sent my CV (resume), and applied for one of the positions.  After about one week, the principal got in contact with me for an interview, which was about 2 1/2 hours long.  It consisted of me mingling with students during a class period, teaching a lesson, an interview, and then a tour of the facilities.  It was a great experience!   

The pictures are much larger than normal this time.  It's fun to try new things.

So here I am in Stavanger the morning of the interview walking around trying to learn a little bit about the city.  I noticed this road going under some houses and thought it would be fun to take a picture.  

 I was walking around for a few hours because I went to Stavanger with Kristine's father who had work related business there which took place earlier in the day.  This picture is the Norwegian Petroleum Museum.  At least that's how it was translated.  I lack knowledge of this museum but I do know that many people who visit Stavanger also visit this museum as Stavanger is known as the oil capital of Norway.  I'm sure I'll go there sooner or later since Kristine is very much interested in this line of work.  

During my current job, David and I go to the local electrician centrals to connect people's homes to the main network...or something like that.  It's terribly confusing as you can see by this photo.  I just do what David tells me.  I'm glad he knows what he's doing.  

 One day on the job, I looked behind me to find nothing.  Well, it appears to be nothing but what I actually saw was a system of land divided by rock fences.  These are obviously old but it reminded me of how young America is compared to Norway.  Farmers in Norway got rid of the rock in the ground to make way for better farm usage.  Instead of piling up the rocks somewhere, they would reuse them by making rock fences.  The view in real life was much better by the way.      

 Leaving the cabin to go skiing, I took this photo.  It's great being in the mountains when the sun in shining.  

 I went for a little hike in the southwest area of the island last weekend.  I've been to this place before but unfortunately it was raining the first time and I couldn't get any good photos.

On the hiking trails in Norway, you'll often find signs such as this.  I usually don't know what each individual place is, but it still can be helpful as I know of a few.  

 This is a cabin located near a small inland lake which was shown two photos earlier.  This cabin can be used for youth groups, church groups, or people in general that wish to go for a hike and spend some time at a cabin.  

Norwegian courses have begun (finally).  It took a long time for them to begin because there wasn't enough students to fill a class.  So after waiting over a month, I received a letter in the mail informing me when I was scheduled to begin.  These are my books and notebooks for the course.  It's not only great to learn the language in this course but I also learn a lot about other cultures around the world.  There are people from Africa, Romania, Thailand, Ukraine, Poland, and much more.  It's fun to speak with them and to hear their story.  My teacher says I have a VERY American accent while speaking Norwegian...whatever that means.     

I just finished my third week of classes.  I have 9 hours of class each week.  Each week the instructor hands out a sheet called "Ukeplan" as you can see.  It gives me, the student, an idea of what to expect that week and also how to prepare for upcoming classes.  This is actually something I like to do for students while I instruct.  

 A few weekends ago I went to the south region of Norway to be with some friends and to watch Kristine's cousin Daniel perform with his band Tiny Path.  We were in Vigeland which I believe is a town nearest to the southernmost part of Norway.    

 I said I would take pictures for my blog but also for their website.  I'm not the best photographer so I'm not sure if any photos are good enough for their website.  I took many more but only shared a few for the sake of this blog.  

This is their band name/logo/graphic.  

The concert was performed at a church in Vigeland where Daniel's older brother lives.  

 Daniel was giving me a lesson on the drumset before their sound check.  What a great teacher!

Sound check in session...

My good buddy David works the sound for the band.  

This pictures has nothing to do with anything except that it's the drummer's house from the band.  We dropped him off after a performance.  I took this photo because this area reminded me so much of Wisconsin.  It particularly reminded of western Wisconsin in the Eau Claire and La Crosse areas.  It's not often I see landscape in Norway that reminds me of areas in midwestern America.  

The concert is underway.  Having my knowledge of music is great because it makes events like this even better.  Each time I hear Tiny Path perform they're better than the previous time.  

Daniel is a great performer and most importantly, he has a good time.  

Back to this teaching position I was applying for.  During my interview I was told that they didn't have any specific position available for me at the time but they wished to have a music specialist.  This got me excited.  After a week or so, I heard back from the school.  I was asked to come in again and meet with another administrator.  We discussed my career goals and objectives to see where I would possibly fit best within the teaching staff at the school.  During my conversation with this gentleman, he clearly stated that the school wouldn't have a decision made as to if I would be hired for 3-4 weeks.  It turned out that I received a job offer 2 hours after leaving the school.  I was shocked to hear from them so quickly.  I will be teaching mostly music and perhaps a few other subjects as needed.  I'm blessed to have this opportunity so I don't mind teaching any subject.  Perhaps not Math or Science though.   

I didn't take pictures of the school but eventually I will, and then I'll post them on here.  

Information about BISS:

BISS is located in Gausel, a suburb of the city of Stavanger, two hours south of where we currently live.  It was founded in 1977 mostly because many British people moved to Stavanger to work in the oil industry.  There are currently 500 students aged 18 months to 16 years who attend BISS.  Within the student body, there are 47 nationalities (that's exciting!).  The school is divided into 3 areas.  They consist of Pre-School (child care), Primary School, and Secondary School.  I will be teaching mostly within the Secondary School.  These students age from 11-16.  Although if there is a need for me to teach music for younger students, I may get involved with the Primary School.  I believe the Primary School consists of students aged 6-10.  BISS is also a private school.  Their educational philosophy aligns well with what I believe in.  After being with the students and meeting some of the staff I was thoroughly impressed with the school overall.  If you would like more information about BISS, please visit biss.no < that's a website.  You can also find more information about the school by searching for The British International School of Stavanger on facebook.  

Stavanger is considered a large city here in Norway.  The city itself has a population of approximately 130,000 people and the Greater Stavanger area consists of approximately 330,000 people.  I really like cities this size.  I look forward to meeting many more people and experiencing life in a much larger community.           

         

Lets learn about Viking stuff!

It's been awhile since I've posted anything.  The following pictures and events took place over the past few weeks.  Many of them have little to do with one another.  Also, throughout reading this post, you'll read and learn a lot about an ancient Viking village that once was live and well here in Norway.  I made the pictures larger this time for better visualization.  Enjoy!

 This photo was taken on a hike I went on about 1 week ago.  I often see beautiful nature and feel compelled to document it.  Unfortunately I don't always bring the camera with but instead use my cell phone to take photos.  This view is much nicer with a better camera and especially nicer in person.  

This waterfall is real close to where I live.  I often pass it during hiking trips.  

I want to thank all those who were kind and sent Kristine and I a Christmas card.  Everyday around Christmas I was excited to check the mail and see if we would get a Christmas card that day.  For some reason this picture wants to be sideways.  I tried rotating it 90 degrees multiple times but it always went back.  Kim, Justin, Chris, and Sarah:  Thank you all for sending Kristine and I a Christmas card.  I am sorry it wasn't included in this photo.  I took this photo just after Christmas and your card didn't come until one day ago.  

Ahhhh finally!  My parents sent me Mullins Cheese.  In my opinion, Mullins makes the best cheese.  Mullins Cheese is located 45 minutes south of where I grew up.  As a gift for Christmas, I also received moose sausage so that goes well with the cheese I got.  To top it off, I used Ritz crackers.  This is my idea of a great snack.  I could eat this everyday for the rest of my life.   

As many of you have probably seen on facebook, the cabin got pounded with snow.  This photo demonstrates that very well.  Bjørn is standing on 2 feet of snow.  Notice the garbage can next to him and how only half is visible.  Usually there are a few steps behind him leading into the cabin main entrance.  With the snow, we can basically walk straight in.  

This picture was taken from the parking area up the hill and behind the cabin.  It will give you a better idea of how much snow actually surrounded the cabin.  As you may also see, the back right side of the cabin roof is touching the snow on the ground.  When we started to clear the roof, we walked right on without a ladder.  Normally the roof's eave is many feet above our heads. 

   

 I GOT A JOB, I GOT A JOB!!!  Finally, after many awkward encounters with Norwegian employers, and countless applications filled out, I got a job with Eltel.  Eltel is an electrician company.  My good friend David has worked for Eltel as an electrician for many years.  I am blessed to have people like him in my life.  Without him, I could very well still be unemployed.  I am by no means an electrician so I assist David throughout the day.  I work 8-4 Monday through Friday so the hours couldn't be better.  They match up well with Kristine's work hours.  This is the vehicle David and I ride around in all day.    

This is David doing electrician stuff.  To nobody's surprise, I know absolutely nothing about this line of work so I'm in the process of learn as much as I can each day.  David does a good job teaching me.  We mainly do house calls, assisting individuals with exterior cable (wire) problems.   

 Each day, we drive all over Karmøy helping people wherever there is a need.  I'm learning about a lot of places I never knew about.  That's helpful for new fishing and hiking trips.  While David was doing what we're supposed to be doing, I was wondering off taking pictures.  This is a long skinny lake located in the southern end of Karmøy.  It's a small peaceful farming area.  

 This was a fun job.  We were assigned to help a lady with a cable running from her house to a telephone pole.  The pole was located behind her house on a huge rock.  The pole was then 15 feet or so on top of the pole which made quite the view!  While David was up there working, he took my phone up and took a few pictures.  

 The pictures don't do justice as the view in person was much better.  This city/town is called Skudenes and it's the southern most community on the island.  

He also decided to take a picture of me.  We have a good time together.

It's been in the 30's lately here on the west coast.  Normally it's been in the 40's and sometimes even in the 50's.  Now that it's colder, a fire should be made to keep me us from freezing to death.  I just so happen to be hungry for tomato soup so I figured I'd place the kettle on the fire.  It felt odd at first but it also reminded me of how people used to live before the modern day stove.  I think it's fun.  

Okay...now for a little history.  If you don't like history, don't feel bad by not reading the rest of this post.  I'll do my best to be historically accurate for the next portion of this blog post.  This church is called "The Church of Avaldsnes".  This church was built around a once wooden church.  King Håkon IV Håkonsson gave permission to build a church around the year 1250. It was not completed until nearly 1320, and was then the fourth largest in the country.  Just as many churches years ago, it's surrounded my many graves (I took this photo while standing in the graveyard).   

There is a stone next to the church that is literally 2 inches from touching the building.  It's leaning toward the church but has yet to touch it.  

This is a closer look at the large stone that's nearly touching the exterior wall of the church.  

These are all the graves in front of the church.  The church is Gothic in style with stone walls and a wooden roof.  After the sun goes down, the church is lit up real nice.   

 A little fun fact relating this church and WWII:

The German occupation in World War II became dramatic for the church. The Germans asserted that the high steeple was used as a landmark for Allied planes, coming in over the strait of Karmsund (area of water separating Karøy and Haugesund) to drop bombs in the water. German authorities demanded the steeple be demolished. Many people were engaged in the task of saving it, and they persuaded the Germans to let them camouflage the whole church with timber. This was to be done in 5 weeks, but the whole job lasted a year.

Now heading from the Church of Avaldsnes to the ancient Viking farm...I took time to research the information you're about to read.  I hope you find the following information to be interesting.

I realize I've taken photos of this once Viking village and shared them but I never really explained the history of this place and the buildings that occupy it.  This is the Leidang Boat-House.  The boat house is a reconstruction of a leidang boat house found in 1991 at Rennesøy in rogaland County.  It is about 32 meters long and 15 meters wide (at the widest part).  This building was a naval defence system developed in the during the Viking age.  The leidang was divided into ship's crews, and a certain number of farms were responsible for providing a ship with equipment and crew.  The leidang was in one way or another a means of taxation and conscription.  The ships had a crew of 90-100 people.

This Viking village is made up of reconstructed buildings that were common during the Viking age.  Most of the buildings have been found during archeological excavations in Rogaland County.  At this Viking farmstead, you can see how a Viking community once lived.  The Vikings are often portrayed as pirates and barbarians, but they were above all, farmers, fishermen, craftsmen, and merchants.  They were also capable seamen who traveled all over on long sea journeys.  And no, the Vikings did not wear helmets with horns.  That's a silly misconception that people should remove from their minds.  Don't let the Minnesota Vikings mascot fool you.  They're terribly wrong. 

This photo was taken to show you a variety of buildings at the village.  

When family and friends come to visit me in Norway, we'll definitely go explore this area. 

As you can see, the boat house is near the water similar to modern day boat houses for easy boat-into-water action.  

A much closer view of the boat house.  It was such a nice day so some of the pictures turned out really well.

The circular building in this photo is called The Round House.  The round house is a reconstruction of finds made during archaeological excavations near the city of Stavanger.  Here, four holes from poles that had held up a roof were found, and around these holes, the archaeologists discovered tofts marking a wall.  This house is made of pine and oak with standing wall boards set on a stringer.  A hearth is placed in the middle and the roof has an opening with a hatch to let out the smoke.  The roof is made of pine boards.  

Ok...so...The large building toward the back left is called the Viking Long house.  I really wish I would have gotten a better picture.  The whole area is fenced off as you can see but a closer picture is possible.  Anyway...the Long House dates back to 950 A.D.  It's 25 meters long.  The curved side walls were typical during the time.  The roof has a double curved shell and is covered with 100,000 hand carved pine shingles.  During the Viking Festival held each June, people can walk inside these buildings which is always fun.  

This is the sign as you enter the Viking village.  It says "Welcome to Bukkøy".

Christmas Has Come!

This blog is all about the Christmas season and the celebration of the birth of our savior.  Many photos may not be directly related to Christmas, but all the events occurred during Christmas time.  I should have taken more photos considering there were many more opportunities.  Enjoy :)

 

 

My parents bent over backward and then some

to help me move here to Norway and also by

sending mail, and packages here.  This sweater 

was a gift from Kristine and I to my mom as

a special thanks for putting forth such an effort on

our behalf.  Kristine's aunt Elin made this by hand.

It's a typical Norwegian sweater.  Elin did a fantastic

job.  My mom is extremely pleased.

This is a Norwegian folk tale book we

sent to America to be kept at my parent's house

for our nieces and nephews to read or have read

to.  It's in English so that will be nice for them.  

Two summers ago I brought home whale

sausage which was very good.  I'm afraid

that this year I couldn't find any so instead

I sent home bacon, moose, and red wine sausage.

Pølse is sausage in Norwegian.  

This was a fun gift we got for new baby

Jace.  It was more of a "welcome to this

World gift".  We decided to send it for

Christmas.  This character is from an old

Norwegian cartoon.  

The cabin in the mountains received a tremendous 

amount of snow recently so Bjørn and I decided to go

up one evening and clear the roof and surrounding area.

Bjørn is clearing the roof while I shoveled the pathway 

from the car to the cabin.  

With snow drifts, there was over one

yard of snow on the roof.  

I posted this photo on facebook awhile 

back but it's worth putting on this blog

to show how much snow there really was.

All this snow means skiing and snowboarding. 

There are three steps leading toward the

main door of the cabin.  There was so much

snow that the bottom layer was compacted and

acted as the new ground to walk on.  It was even 

with the first step.  It was difficult to shovel.

The wall on the right is as tall as me.   

Considering the previous information, Karl Newman 

and I came up with an idea to earn some money.  This

is our flyer for advertising.  He's from the Upper Peninsula

of Michigan so we think a good snow removable business

name is "The Yupper Scoopers".  

Christmas Eve was spent at Kristine's

uncle Arne's house.  Including me, there

were six Americans.  It was GREAT! 

I apologize for the dark picture.    

Kristine's cousin and I having a good time! 

Anna and JD all smiles for Christmas.  

As Christmas Eve approached I realize this may

be my first Christmas without snow.  Here on Karmøy

we rarely get snow.  The only time I've seen snow is

inland toward the mountains.  I was happy that it

finally snowed on Karmøy for Christmas.  The snow

is gone now.  

For Christmas, my parents sent cheese from Wisconsin.

Not just any cheese, but Mullins Cheese.  Mullins is 

located just south of Wausau, WI.  It's the best cheese 

in the world.  I was so grateful for them sending this!

Also, they sent a really nice cutting board that my uncle

John had made.  

Kristine bought me skis for Christmas.

Now I can be more Norwegian by spending

weekends in the snow, moving from one 

location to the other.  It's what they do here.  

Christmas day was spent at Kristine's grand

parents home.  So all of the relation on Sølvi's

side of the family was there.  Daniel and I have a 

good time, basically always.  

Daniel took my phone and took 

many photos.  He might as well be 

a professional photographer.

He got a nice photo of Eivind.

So dreamy...

Kristine's little cousin wanted to be in

this photo with us.  

Every year, this side of the family plays a game.

There are many presents in the middle of the circle

of people.  

We roll dice and who ever gets a 1 or 6 grabs a gift

from the pile.  Once all the presents are gone, round 2 

begins.  

During round 2, we get to take gifts from other people.

If you get a 1 or 6, you take gifts from others in hopes

of the 10 minute timer to run out and you have many gifts

still remaining in your possession.  

When I was trying to take photos, Daniel got in the way.

This game was a lot of fun.  People yelling and

moving all over the place stealing gifts from others.  

Most of us were nice and didn't take gifts from the

younger children.  

Daniel and Anna are happy with their gifts.

Kristine's little cousin got firewood.  Lucky him! 

I got WD-40.  Never know when the

bike chain might need this.  

This is our back window view after the snow. 

Behind our home, there are a few trails.

It's fun to walk around back there, especially

when there's snow like this.  

The snow was very wet because of the 

mild temperatures Karmøy normally

experiences.  

This snow lasted about 4 days. 

After Christmas, Anna, Eivind, Bjørn and myself

went back up to the cabin.  I needed to try out my

new cross country skis.  

We dropped Eivind and Anna off at the slopes 

so they could do downhill skiing and snowboarding.  

Getting ready for the ski trip.  My other

ski pole was in my hand during this picture.

I'm not quite good enough to ski with just one.

For those of you who don't know, Kristine's ancestors

immigrated to America in the late 1800's.  This Amdahl 

family has a farm now in South Dakota.  This is a really

great photo that illustrated both farms.  The original farm

in Norway, and the homesteaded property in America. 

We got this photo as a gift for Christmas from Mim.   

Last Sunday we went to Sandnes to celebrate Christmas

at Kristine's aunt Britt's house.  The sunset was great

that evening.  Much better than this picture shows.  

The Packers are NFC North Champs!

I'm stoked, and cannot wait to see how 

we they play in the playoffs.  

It's typical for Norwegians to buy a lamb leg each

Christmas.  The leg is salted and hung to dry.  They

eat it by slicing thin pieces with a knife similar to beef

jerky in the states.  

A nice view during a hike on Karmøy.  

My friends dog Lucas posing near the 

little water fall.  

In the middle of Karmøy, there are freshwater lakes

all over the place.  My friend Tørres and I 

hiked for 3 1/2 hours around many of them

with our dogs.