I can finally breathe!

I started a norskkurs at Rosenhof on the 26th.  That same day I found out we would have a test over chapters 6-10 on the 4th (today.)

Uh oh.

I had been going to a free course run by a local church but we didn't really go over any grammar, just reading out dialogues and occasionally translating a few words.  It was a terrible class and we had only "studied" up to chapter 4.

So, I had to teach myself six chapters, two verb forms, adjective agreement (et pent skjerf), pronouns, and hundred of vocabulary words.  I have spent the last two weeks drinking coffee (which I never drink) with my nose in a textbook.  Dinners have been lackluster, knitting projects growing dusty, and a husband somewhat neglected.

But I can breathe now!  It's done!  I have to wait until Wednesday for my results but I'm pretty sure I did well enough to continue the course.  As soon as I finished I know of two major errors I made (death to irregular verbs!) but I'm pretty sure I selected preteritum or perfektum appropriately in the essay.

Tonight I will curl up on the sofa with my wonderful husband and relax.  I will not study at all until Wednesday night!

Good news!

I'm finally legal!  After being unemployed for six months (one to visit relatives, one before getting married, and four waiting for UDI to approve) I am allowed to find work, go to a doctor, and most importantly, sign up for a language class!  I visited the Oslo Voksenopplæring office on Monday to get placed and I think I passed to level A2!  I applied to take courses 3 or 4 days per week, which should be a pretty intense courseload but I can do it.  I mean, I studied two languages in college at the same time (French and Japanese) so I think I should be able to handle 12-16 hours a week of just one.

I've also started babysitting!  It's not glamourous or exciting but it's really nice to have some pocket money and not have to ask my husband to buy my hairspray or the occasional Walter's Mandler (when it's onsale, like it is at Meny right now.)

Please keep your fingers crossed that I will get into a language class soon!

All over the place!

My computer's power cord broke.  After two weeks of using my husband's computer I'm still not used to it.  I'm always typing "itæs" instead of "it's" thanks to three new letters of the alphabet.  Ja ja, a new cord is in the mail and then I can check all of my favorite bookmarks and not have to sign out of my email anymore.

I also started a norskkurs yesterday!  It's only once a week for an hour and a half but itæs it's free aside from purchasing the workbook. (I found the book as a free pdf online a while back.  I told the teacher it was a photocopy, hee hee!)  We're going through very simple basics that I already know most of but I still learned a bit and the practice is wonderful.

Today, my husband left his lunch at home so I took the t-bane to his workplace to make sure he gets fed.  I walked the long way home by stopping through the bookfestival on Karl Johan (it wasn't quite open at 10) and then noticed a farmer's market near Aker Brygge.  If only payday had been yesterday, I would have stocked up on homemade meats and cheeses and juices.  When I lived in New York, I would have to walk through the Union Square Greenmarket to get to work and it turned me into someone who can't ever pass up a farmer's market without at least walking through.

I think it's time to get some homework done (YAY!)

knit knit knit!

Stitch and Bitch is back on!  I am so happy that, even though I left the boring facebook group, I was invited to join the new (and secret!) stitch and bitch one!  Now if only I can convince my husband to give me 40kr for some pecan pie.   Cafe Fedora's is amazing!

Bummer :(

Got some rather disappointing news today.  Looks like I'm going to have to wait at least another six months before my residence permit is approved.  That means no work, no language class, no health care until then. My church is having a free weekly language class, which should help but I'm not expecting much from it, aside from learning liturgical Norwegian.
And then, in my malaise, quit a facebook group that had been my only social outlet here.  It might have been foolish, but I can only read about strangers' kids and their fear of vaccines causing autism (ugh.)  I did a four course graduate certificate program focusing on autism when I worked with preschoolers on the spectrum so people expounding on pseudoscience and lies makes me pretty angry.

But, I started a new scarf for winter, cleaned up the apartment, and made a smashing dinner.

Little victories... :/

Memories!

My husband has been very into mountain biking lately and a video he watched played this song.  Took me back to high school, when I was all mod revival and wore a bubble flip everyday.

Generic update

I had written a long post about the attacks in Norway but I've decided that the best way to honor the memory of those we have lost is to keep living and be thankful for what we have.

I walked downtown to Clas Ohlson to buy a rolling pin.  I've been improvising with a can of copped tomatoes and an old .5L Solo bottle.  It's quite the workout, ladies.  GOODNESS.

Oslo is covered in flowers.  It's already quite a green city but now it is like walking through a rose garden with little shopped hidden among the petals.  Absolutely lovely.

I think it's now time for another Finishing School!

B is for Bras - Did this one a bit ago.  I love the bras at Lane Bryant (for rounder ladies only) but I've also had really good luck at Target and H&M.

C is for Clothes - Also did that one just before I moved here.  I donated quite a lot of stuff to the best thrift store in North County San Diego and I'm pretty happy with my wardrobe.  It's more "vintage inspired" than reproduction or actual vintage but that is was little to no clothing budget for many years will get you.  I hope my residence permit is processed soon so I can start buying vintage/reproduction dresses!

D is for Dream - My biggest dream right now is to go back to school.  I have a BA from Michigan State University in social science so it's not very useful in Europe.  I'm extremely interested in University of Oslo's program in Cultural Heritage Preservation.  It's a wonderful blend of social science, art history, museum management, and chemistry.  I'll have to be absolutely fluent in Norwegian before I can start but I'm sure I'll manage!
One of my other dreams is to visit all 50 US States.  I'm at 39 - 11 more to go!  This might be pretty hard to accomplish, since my husband has absolutely no interest in visiting remote states but I'm still going to try.  I also want to cross the equator and circumnavigate the globe, which should be completed in a few years when we go to Japan.

Time to start making a bacon and zucchini pizza!  OH YES