Easter Time

Hello everyone, and HAPPY EASTER!!!  Allow me to bring everyone up to speed.  Since the last blog post, the search for an apartment in Stavanger is heating up, lots of skiing has occurred, sheep have had their baby lambs, and we believe Blake has a new family.  I prefer just to leave it at that, as I try avoiding the conversation about Blake.  It's still hard on  me.

Anyway, Enjoy!!!   

Oh yea!  Way to go Wisconsin Badgers in the Final Four.  That's great!!! I hope they win the national championship.  Maybe there's a way to watch it here in Norway?  

Can you say greatest t-shirt known to mankind? 

Kristine's father surprised me with this last week.  

The sheep are back and ready for summer.  

Lambs represent Spring time here in Norway, just as the return 

of robins in Wisconsin.  It's nice to see them.

Since I haven't been in Norway during the Spring time, I've never

been around lambs.  Their fun to watch run around and play with

one another.  Their my little buddies.  I sometimes catch myself

watching them play for up to 10 minutes at a time.  

Last weekend I was at the cabin for a few days.  That of course

means lots of skiing.  Some of Kristine's cousins, aunts, and 

uncles were with us too.  

This is where we set up camp for lunch.  Just off to the right

of the ski trail.   

In the last blog post I mentioned that I would write about Norwegian

homes and architecture.  I was also hoping to write more about

 Stavanger.  That'll have to wait as other events came up sooner.   

I believe for this ski trip there were 18 of us total.  

It's very typical for Norwegians to stop for food

during a ski trip.  As we go along, we periodically

see groups of skiers with their ski poles and skis 

stabbed in the snow next to them during the break.  

The log with slits down the sides is used for heating a pot or pan.  

The small grills to the right are used once and then disposed.  

Daniel being himself.  

Cute babies playing in the snow with Kristine's 

cousin.  

Kristine's mother enjoying the nice day we all had together! 

On this day, we traveled about an hour inland from the cabin

to cross country ski.  We started here, crossed the lake, and then 

skied some more before stopping for food.  

On this day, I was persuaded to try downhill skiing for the first 

time.  It was interesting.  I learned really fast how important

breaking a stop skills are.  Although it was my first time, I 

couldn't help but notice how good small children were at skiing

and snowboarding.  WOW!  Literally 4 year olds flying down

the slopes like they're pros.        

In a similar fashion to cross country, we too set up camp for the

day while downhill skiing.  

It was difficult to get a great picture of how high the mountain 

was.  High for me at least.  The tracks that make this circle are

actually caused by small kids driving little snowmobiles around in

a circle.  

So Spring has come and as I stated on facebook, that means

lots of food to grill and fish to be caught.  Should be a good time.  

To set up camp, someone usually brings a small shovel to make

benches for people to sit on.  

I think it would be fun to make these same trips in the Summer.

Perhaps hiking with some freshwater fishing along the way.

I can't think of a better way to spend a Summer's day.    

Since baby's come along, they need transport.  This is how it's 

done.  They get attached an adult and enjoy the ride.  I REALLY

wanted to ride in this but nobody wanted to pull me. 

Daniel and I are flying to Oslo in a few weeks to 

visit some friends.  It'll be a great trip.  I expect him

to bring his fanny pack.  

So Craig Morgan is coming to Norway.  Yes, you 

read that correctly.  He's my second favorite artist.

Unfortunately his concert is far away and I imagine

quite expensive.  Hopefully he decides to come back 

so me and some friends can go see him.  Craig and I 

are practically best friends so I feel terrible not going

to support him... 

Skiing is more difficult than it looks

Update:  Last blog post I spoke of Kristine and I moving to Stavanger as I have been offered a position at The British International School of Stavanger.  That has not changed (thankfully), but what has changed is how much I've learned about the process of purchasing property.  We're looking to purchase an apartment in Stavanger.  I've been renting since the age of 18.  Being more than 7 years later, hopefully that ends soon.  I'm looking forward to owning property.  

Moving to a large city isn't 100% great.  Although I'm looking forward to the change, it'll be much different from living on Karmøy.  Karmøy is a nice place to raise a family, and get to know your neighbors.  It's a close knit community that reminds me of small town USA.  When friends and family come to Norway for a visit, you'll see what a clear difference there is between Karmøy and Stavanger.  Also, since Kristine and I will be living in an apartment right in the city, it's not ideal for Blake.  I hope and pray to find a nice home for him to go to before we move.  He deserves a great family to live with.      

This past weekend, Bjørn, Sølvi, Anna, and I went to the cabin.  

It was a great day for being out on the mountains.  

Everyone knows Norwegian live, breathe, and bleed skiing.  

Because of this, they often take long skiing trips which means

we need to stop for food that we bring in backpacks.  

Throughout this trip, there were many hills (kinda).  All joking

aside, I was terribly scared.  For those of you who don't know, I'm 

afraid of hights.  Taking the ski lift up and then skiing back down 

is not my cup of tea.  There were many times I took the skis off 

and walked down the slope.   

The snow was packed hard and many places  had hard ice layered

on top.  That means we go a lot faster down the hills which I'm

not great at but still learning.  I fell 4 times with only one of 

them being painful.  I can feel the aftermath still.  At on point

after falling, I had snow go up my nose, turn into water, and create

large discomfort within my sinuses.  Ugh....     

We were on the roof of Norway.   

The elevation was about  4,593 feet.  That's not terribly high

but considering we're not far from the ocean, I think it's pretty 

high.  

The trip took just under 6 hours with a few breaks.   

Way off in the distance you can see other skiers coming along

the pathway.  

The view is far better in person.  My iPhone 4 can only do so much. 

We skied about 12 and a half miles.  That's 10 more miles than 

I thought I would ski this whole year.    

On a clear day, Norway is the most beautiful country.   

For some reason, I always find myself taking photos of areas

near the water.  I love being by the water.  I cannot wait for

warmer weather to come this way.  I'm getting restless waiting

for a good fishing season to approach.    

Something about being around the water simply excites me.  

Hopefully someday I'll own a place on the water.  That's my goal.  

I tried to take a picture of the school I'll be teaching 

at.  The sun was in an unfortunate position.  I'll take 

better pictures in the future.  

I have no memory of where this is.  I thought the picture turned 

out well despite my finger getting in the upper corner.  

This picture wouldn't rotate properly so I do apologize. 

 What you see here are advertisements for apartments

 in Stavanger.   Lately, I've been actively searching 

for a possible apartment to live in.  Kristine and I

have gone to Stavanger once thus far to look at a few places

and I expect us to make more visits.  It's an exhausting 

yet enjoyable process.  I've learned a great deal about the

 Norwegian real estate market.   

This past Friday I was asked to play at a church near our apartment.

It was a worship night for the youth.  It's not easy to see, but I'm in 

the back left.  It's good to play when given the chance.  I don't have

near the opportunities that I did in the states but I hope to play more

in the future.  Perhaps in a few years I can start up a jazz band in 

Stavanger???  That would be great.    

This was a rather short post.  I haven't been busy with new activities.  

Next blog post will be about Stavanger.  I'll talk about the things I like about it,

how it's unique, and why I look forward to moving there.  Also, I'll post

a few pictures of Norwegian properties so you all can see the architectural

 differences between typical American homes and Norwegian homes.   

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.