Back in action...

For those who didn't know, I travelled to Duncan, BC for two days last weekend, for my grandfather's funeral. There were (of course) also two days of travelling in there. That's really why I've been away from the blog for about a week. Many of you won't have even known that he died, of course, but many who know have been very kind in their comments - thank you. At the same time, my grandfather was a man who had 101 remarkable years (Well, his first 2 or 3 may have been a bit boring, but I assure you, he probably had more years full of good stories than most of us will ever have a chance to accumulate) - so his passing at the end of a very long, very full, and very productive life was, in some ways, not a tragedy, precisely because he hade done so much, so well. Regardless, enough about that - suffice to say that my family actually had a very wonderful chance to get together, even though I just about fell asleep in my soup dish, thanks to the 9-hour time change.

Sometimes one can expect that much travel to grant deep insights into humanity and the universe. Here, then, is a selection from my thoughts during the marathon of flights (Ørsta/Volda - Oslo - Frankfurt - Vancouver - Nanaimo - Vancouver - London - Oslo - Ørsta/Volda):

- If you are in an airport with moving sidewalks, anywhere in the world, then you can guarantee that, somewhere in that airport, there is a 7-year-old running in the wrong direction along one of those moving sidewalks. (Confirmed in Frankfurt, Vancouver, Oslo and London).
-Lufthansa has really cool trans-Atlantic planes - the bathrooms are downstairs!!! Who knew planes had basements?
-It feels a bit surreal to start your day on a Dash-8 (Nanaimo-Vancouver), and 21 hours later, finish it on one, too (Oslo-Ørsta/Volda).
-Duty-free shopping in Oslo is nuts! They have a special legal setup whereby you can actually go duty-free shopping in the arrivals area, where you pick up your luggage, so that you don't even have to carry all the stuff with you on the plane! People were pushing shopping carts FULL of hard liquor and cigarettes. ... again with the idea that the Norwegians don't mind, collectively, being part of a high-tax socialist state. However, personally, they do everything they can to get around it - especially the part where you pay an arm and a leg for booze.

The Norwegians really know how to build tunnels. The drive to the airport (no, we still don't have a car - we borrowed the company car.) includes a drive through this one:
(Yes, of course, that photo's from the official opening - needless to say, there's not so much pedestrian traffic normally.) - It's 8 km long, and has really steep grades to get down below a really deep waterway. However, it cuts about 30 minutes off the drive to the Ørsta/Volda airport - unquestionably the closest airport, but only since this tunnel opened at the end of February. I think this tunnel will probably do a lot to reduce the dependence of Ulstein and the surrounding kommunar on Ålesund - Ørsta and Volda are decent-sized places, with a combined population of 18,569, an airport (no international flights, but 45 minutes to Oslo), and an arts-focussed university college. Now, the (practically combined) communities are only 25 minutes or so from Ulsteinvik, thanks to the tunnel.

I had my first Norwegian class, yesterday. It went well, although there are only two others in my class - a middle-aged German man who does not want to learn Norwegian, and a younger (but still old enough to have two kids) Austrian man who wants to learn Norwegian, but does not want to learn Nynorsk - the form of Norwegian spoken here in the Western portion of the country. Thus, I was reduced to being the keener everyone thought I was in high school, while the "cool kids" sat at the back of the class and spoke a language I didn't understand. At least in high school it was only figuratively "a language I didn't understand". In this situation, they were actually speaking German.

I'll elaborate on the whole "different types of Norwegian" thing next time (barring some other distraction), but I know that at least some of you have been waiting with bated breath for winemaking results. They are... mixed, I'd say.

The wine, if you think to yourself "fruitwine" (or, of course, "fruktvin") before you taste it, is of medium quality - not so good, but might survive as a 10-dollar special in 2-litre bottles at the liquor store. However, if you think to yourself "Merlot" (which was on the label on the box!) before you drink it, you will likely spit it out.

Kes has found a clever solution - 1 part Morton Especial Rødvin, 1 part Diet 7-up, sprinkle of cinnamon powder. She claims that it tastes like sangria. I claim that the smell of the cinnamon distracts you from the taste of the wine. I think we're actually saying the same thing.

Anyway, we're having our other expat friends over to taste it tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.

Cheers,

Ashley