Designer's Challenge

How someone can look at a room and decide what should go where and what colour it is is beyond me... I'm as baffled and confused as a deer in headlights!!!

If its one thing that I looked forward to when I was young-ER was having my own house and dollzing it up to my heart's delight.  Now that I am actually in the position to do that, I find myself second guessing myself and wondering if I can actually pull it off and have a beautiful well put together home.

The current norm in Norway is the oppuss ( redo/ renovate) one's house at least every 3 years it feels. There is always someone giving something perfectly fine away. furniture, kitchens, appliances. And the one store that NEVER seems to go out of business is a interior store that is geared towards the whole concept of "Hygge" or " Kos" ... which in essence is the art of making your home feel and look super cosy .. as in .. why would u go anywhere else kinda feel.

Like the U.S, there are an enormous number of options to beautify your home.... Unlike in the U.S. things are very expensive... So its been hard to say YES to some things... cuz meh Trini broughtupsy bawling in meh ears.... Dey doh have a place like Chaguanus or Charlotte Street somewhere here?... Ah ... I have not found the Chinatown as yet... but there MUST be one right?.. Dey have Chinee people everywhere... and dey always meking some town.

Between deciding whether to have a shoe stand or a shoe box.. a coat hook or a hanger... I'm just not in my element.  Back in Trinidad we don't take off our shoes to walk into  people houses... and if we did .. we just "put" it dey.  There was no organised place to have ALL your shoes because they are not allowed into a house. 

You have any idea how embarrassing that would be for many Trinis??? I sure you does put on some holey socks sometimes.. or some worn out ones because yuh KNOW it staying in your shoe! .. Well not here Midearie.... yuh go feel the shame of yuh holey... been in church socks.... When yuh walk into someone house and see all the shoes line up dey and yuh KNOW yuh hadda tek off yuh shoes.  And I feeling sorry for dem people who does have sweaty and smelly feet... because yuh know back at home yuh can take it off and air it out... in someone house .. when yuh tek off yuh shoes.. everyone KNOW is yuh foot smelling like cannon ball fruit. Yuh cyah hide here! . no Sireey.

So .. I learnt very fast that the socks need to be in tip top shape and if your feet are smelly, they need to be baking soda shape . But I mean  i digress... the socks was just something that came up ... The lack of inspiration for the house (fear, uncertaintly, lack of imagination .. what ever you would like to call it)

But I am currently in a new phase in life where I am encouraging myself... with God's help I will accomplish things. The goal is to have a home that is both welcoming and Christ filled.
One that reflects me and my tastes ( and well a bit of my hubby's but not too much otherwish i would be living in a medieval palace ) but also is warm and inviting for anyone .... man woman or child.

It is a goal I intend to reach ... even if it might take me a whole lot longer than the average Norwegian.

17th May! Hip Hip Hurra!

The 17th of May Celebrations was something that was told to me time and time again. My husband was very anxious for me to celebrate it!
The first thing that struck me is his comment of ''What are you wearing?' almost 3 days before.
EH? Wha ah WEARING? ... Lemme see ... is 'spring' (uhh....doh mind it real HAIL and ting in de afternoon) but I was thinking .... er .. something warm? like a sweater and a jeans or something? ....
''Well I'm wearing my suit''  hm! I guess that means NO.....
eehhh heeeehhhh??? Suit? Well oui papa! ... Is celebrating watching a parade in REAL style deez people does do oui! ..
I think that MUST be a first? .. Where else in the world do people DRESS up to go watch a parade .... No one even THINKS about 'dressing up' to go watch the Independence day parade in Trinidad.... daiz real sweat marks in yuh nice Boss Suit!
No dearies .... I needed to look for my Spring best. And that was ?? .. Yea ... your guess is as good as mine! ... What is spring clothes ANYWAY? ... if spring clothes is what I see in the stores now ... that is NOT something I am prepared to wear in 10C weather! .. Unless the sun came out in FULL blast and glory I was going to look for something that would not leave me with my shoulders hunched up for the whole day ( how does hunching your shoulders make you warmer anyway? Is there a pychological reason for that?)
None the less the morning of the 17th of May I woke up to a dull blasting sound. Is that someone blasting rock? .. Hitting something? .. no ... those were the canons in Bergen heralding the beginning of the day!
I couldn't wait to put up the flag.  Yes 17th of May is the ONE day that perhaps EVERYONE who owns a flag pole in their yard is expected to put up a Norwegian Flag.  We had one too! :) And I was the eager beaver who woke up at 7 something just to put it out. 
Now if yuh know me .. just KNOWING that it was 10C outside is usually enough to make me a lady and let the guy do the cold work ... but I was enjoying my little childlike glee.

Showered and dressed I had one little summer dress (cuz I don't know the difference between spring and summer in dresses- they looked the same) with a sweater and a jacket over that and some flat boots for walking around.

The first thing that struck me is almost EVERYONE in the traditional bunad. Bunad is the traditional dress in Norway. They are made of wool and have beautiful embroidery on them.  There are many, many different types in Norway and they each represent a specific area in Norway.  So that makes for nearly 200 of more different types of Bunads there can be.... and I'm just guessing.

I was amazed at how the young and old even many young men were wearing the traditional dress.  Apparantly it has been something that was not always so popular. Bunads are very expensive things. Some bunads can take as many as 300 hours of hand embroidery for the complicated patterns on the women's dresses, and the headdress, gold or silver jewelry, broaches, purses, shoes etc must push the cost of owning one hand made for you to over $10,000kr! It makes for a very expensive 17th of May if you have too many kids .... yea ... ouch!

The parade itself, sorry Norway, was just interesting... not fantastic. It actually occured to me that it was more like a OLE MASS parade we have in Trinidad - placards and all! There was the normal stuff like what you would think - Police, Fire, Army, Marines, Marching bands, School Bands, War II Veterans  and all those great stuff in Uniform.  Then we had Pensioners with placards, Medical students with funny signs like 'Don't stop smoking, we need work', Veteran Vehicles (including an old fire truck) and convertibles (with the "wealthy" in it!!). Then they had schools -Primary and secondary schools, University students with something to say, Radio people, even a Jazz club.  Then at the end they had the Russ - Follow the link and read about it ... its graduation for school leaving students. It sounds like typical school leaving stuff .... great at that age ... questionable the year after!
They walked all along the road and sometimes having 2 sections walking past going in opposite directions ( i was not sure why).  Everyone stood on the side and cheered and waves flags in their beautiful bunads.

Afterwards, I'm told, people usually go to schools around where they live and have hot dogs and ice cream! It sounded like fun, but I'll wait until I actually HAVE to go to one before I wear myself out of the experience! LOL! ENT????

That was what was in the city. However, on our way out to the city we saw many of the children in the area (and parents too) all walking or driving over to the schools and barnehagens in the area to have their own parade in the streets followed by ice cream and hotdogs and a great ole May Fair time! ... That I will have to see later on.

So it sounds like a wonderful day! One to look forward to every year for kids and adults alike.

But now ... I'm jealous .... like I said the most beautiful thing was the traditional dress and the way everyone was a part of it ... I mean even the guys and old men looked sooo cute with their little 3\4 pants and stockings!!!
So another question.... Should I get one?  I'm from Trinidad .. and I thought it would be great to have a 'bunad' of my own .. one that could showcase Trinidad and the migration or something ... one that would blend .. but stand out with its own beauty .. and one that I can proudly wear to show my merging into the country ...
I looked at the Best Village Dresses and thought that might be a wonderful start!!! Including the headdress!!!
Whey yuh say?
All images of the Traditional dress are the copyright property of the photographers and/or TriniView.com, TriniSoca.com and TrinbagoPan.com

Common sense line ... this way..

There is nothing more fulfulling than driving confidently in a place that you have never actually driven yourself.. alone.  And that's what I did today.  I was VERY proud of myself!  no wait .. I AM!  Its one thing to drive in a place with crazy drivers (Trinidad) and quite another to do it in a large very controlled one (Bergen). My trip to Bergen today started just fine.  I gave myself 45 minutes to make the 30 min drive and reached in good time. 
Oopss .. wrong lane and I am forced to turn right with a truck ... ok .. follow the truck Jaemie.  I had never been there tho so I can't even figure out where to turn around.... Ahhh ... a car park, maybe I can 3 point turn?? Nope .. there was a road..... even better.
I ended up heading all the way to the top floor of the car park and parked as far away from other cars as I could ... (hubby has the car door ding syndrome nah)!  crap... it was a little crooked ...  I was certainly not going back to the car ... I had driven around in 5 circles already... before I actually found a spot.
Breathing a sigh of relief I walked in to meet up with a new friend as planned.
 I had a lovely lunch in a beautiful city said my good byes and jumped into the car to drive home.

Uneventful.... yes ... what happens next will scare you.
I forgot the parking ticket in the car.... I remember My husband was always a little impatient behind drivers who have to pay at the exit.  You have 2 lines to choose from .. depending on how many cars, the line is normally easy to choose.... you think it should be a quick simple .. put the card in, machine tells u how much u have to pay and then you put your credit card in, pull it out, Barrier goes up and you drive on.  its not always that easy....sometimes you get stuck behind someone who obviously cannot use their common sense...

Sorry ...I was one of those today.

I reach the machine most annoyed with myself because I know that it does take a little longer and there may be impatient people behind me on this busy second day of school.  I was trying to get out of the city before the rush hour started.
I put the ticket in ... someone can't read signs...... i had to put it in a different way ... duh plucky ..  read!. I had my Card ready... trying to be as swift as I could....
I pulled the card out and looked at the machine ...
Where do you put the card now??? Ah ... here is the sign .... I tried to put the card into the slot... it would not go in... I pushed upwards towards the sky ... pushed away from me.....
I looked at the machine... Some man shouts something angrily from behind.... I'm sure he was trying to help ... only thing is ... I DON'T SPEAK NORWEGIAN!!!! ......

I've thought about getting a temporary sign to put on the car saying "Forgive me, I speak English and I'm not from here..... just let me squeeze in if I'm in the wrong lane!" .
If I had that on the car, for sure someone would have helped me out in English. 
It was a good thing I chose to not put the top down ... surely I would have been looking around at the other drivers with a helpless bambi look ... ... hahaha.. And on top of that everyone who passed by would have gotten a good view of the idiot woman at the ticket pay machine

Where on earth do you put the credit card? ... By now the driver behind me must have given up on the hope of making that green light... again.... and now just shaking his/her head as I was frantically trying to put my credit card into a crevace designed to perhaps open the machine for maintenance. :s 
and in a state of panic I just shoved the card  in the only available space ....  since 4 cars had passed through in the other lane already.....

Ah ... right ... the same place you put the parking ticket in..... of course ... ... ...

MEGGIED myself right there... cuz I really deserved it!  Meggie? ..

Wrong way again , Coonoomoonoo.
 Then the man behind must have just about opened his car door to come box meh in meh face. and start one big commesse...
Quickly I looked at the sign again and put the bankCard in the right way.....
what now??? What did it say??? .. I have no idea .. : s. it was in Norwegian ... (boy I can't wait to know this language!).... I got back my card .. but there was still no open barrier ...
Why won't it open so that I can drive away and hope that the person behind me was from Timbucktoo or something and not know what to do either....
Yea right ... fat chance but anyhoos...
The Barrier opened when the ticket finally came back out I grabbed it as fast as I could and tried to zoom away.....

At the traffic light, I kept my head down.... I pulled my shades over my eyes and hoped that the person who was behind me did not drive right next to me and give me that dangerous cut-eye look

I started reliving the last few minutes and started digging the hole in road in front of me. Inside, I was Cracking up at myself and how stupid I must have looked. I have no idea who was behind me in the line. I I don't ever want to know ...ever ..... I just wanted the ordeal to be over.

So next time you stuck behind someone and you waiting impatiently for them to do something that you think is easy .... try to help em out nah man eh ..... oh gorm ...

Whey yuh say?

The Beauty of Norway - Askvoll

Norway is a beautiful country.  Its wild and rugged mountains, Glaciers and Wild life is nothing compared to many countries.  Whatever you might want to do... you can do it in Norway.

This past day, my hubby and I drove up to Askvoll. Not only was it only a 4.5 hr drive from Bergen, but it also covered some of the most amazing scenery from your ca!  Imagine as you drive past rugged mountains you can look up to see glacier mountains, past fields of calm sheep, cows and the occasional shy deer if you are lucky. 

Surprisingly, the roads in Norway leave little to the imagination of what it must have been like years and years before....   simply put .. dey bad.... real pothole and ting all over.  But needless to say I understand how it could be so.  It is dreadfully expensive to put down a road since ... hardly likely would a road from Bergen to Tronheim be flat ... or straight. More than likely, it would have be blasted through Numerous Mountains.  Blasting through mountains can be as speedy as 5 meters per day and can be as long as 24.5 km (the longest tunnel in Norway) and costed 125 MILLION US dollars. I can't fault them for not building better roads.  The Main road that joins the west coast big cities is about as comfortable as the road to Maracas !!! ... and between the ferries and frequent one laner areas ... with Motor Homes and Foreigners driving frequently, I would actually say that the trecherousity increases by 100%.  Still it is a beautiful drive.  Unfortunately, it is not as easy, simple or wise to stop all along the way to take pictures... So pictures usually should be taken in sport mode ... or better yet... cycle the road.  This option is actually a big attraction, especially in summer. 

Askvoll Center

The Askvoll Fjordhotellwe stayed at was simple and comfortable with a smell of 100 years in the lobby with a traditional Norwegian Breakfast buffet....

Sognefjord

and i saw another black guy ..speaking Norwegian ..sorry as terrible and close minded as that sounds, I can't understand how people can live all the way in here .... there perhaps isn't even a cinema.... and the next town is miles away along winding roads.  But the charm is definitely here... I can see myself coming up to do white water rafting, Glacier climbing, Mountain Biking, Canoeing, and just plain fishing ... If you don't mind a little bit of rain (ok .. alot of rain), and a little chill, a trip to Askvoll can definitely be worth your while!

1 year olds ... birthday parties .... and the Norwegian Language..

The other day I was at a 1 year old's Birthday party. My little new Niece ... (yes that word still is hard to say .... that means I'm an Auntie.. or Tantie (taunteh) as they say here .. yup that word actually really exists!)...
So admidst the party scene with the kids running around and ..... well ...screaming ... and people around .... well .. talking .... in Norweeeeeeeegian ... I'm sitting around and .... well .... feeling dumb...

Cuz one thing I realised here is that the Language is really what helps you fit into a place faster ... generate the friends .. and create the bonds ... how do you really bond with someone who you cannot communicate with on a greater level other than ... well ... Hi! and Bye ??
The Party itself was like I said a kid party .. .but for some reason or the other ... of which I will learn when I have my own kid and want to celebrate their one year anniversary .... when they don't have the least bit of a clue about what on earth is going on.... there were more adults than kids .... that being said ...please let me make a small point here.. geared directly at my new inlaw family ...
I love you guys ... I think that you are each so special .. in my little mum way of noting how you move with each other ..... I thank God that my husband has a normal family and a beautifully close one as well ... where there are no internal struggles and the such like .... and if there are ... I guess I'll find out one day ... then I'll be so eternally inculcated into the family thatI won't really think it odd then .. would I? ... Just quirky??

So ... I told my husband that I wanted to be able to force myself to learn the language ... so I guess not everyone is perfectly comfortable with the English Language ...and besides that I would have hated to be the ONLY reason everyone was talking in English .. it would have put a downer on the party .. seriously ... can you imagine having a party in Trinidad and everyone had to talk Spanish ...??? Yea .. we would just bring out the Soca and forget about talking ... yuh sure right!! ..
Anyways ... The Language really struck me as I listened to it.... and it will be really hard right now to give examples since .. like i'm sure you can't give any examples in Finnish right now either ... except if you google it ... so don't get all oooie on me....

For a long while ... I sat and listened .. really listened to the language .... Ever saw on Movies how they learn a language over night or something??? or at least in a very short period of time?? .. Well ... I don't know about the speaking part ... but there are quite a few words that are similar to English , Spanish or French ... and that is what makes the whole thing a real interesting thing to listen to.

As I sat there listening to the conversations that were going on around me ... Some things sounded like spanish ... something things sounded a little freenchiiee ..and other things sounded like english with an ice cube in your mouth....(bra, for, etc) So I actually got alittle bit of it ... Sometimes when my husband speaks I can understand a joke or something .... He laughs... I laugh and I feel like I fit in ... of course who knows if the joke I got was the same joke everyone else got ... no worries .. I laughed in a good enough time.

For example... there was something about smoking ... and for some reason I knew that was what they were talking about.... someone asked someone else .. "Do you smoke?" .. and almost like muscle memory I figured it out ... as if they spoke it in english ... it really was very cool ...
They went on to talk more about smoking and I started to fade away ..... I guess I always had A.D.D. in class ... was never a good book girl ... throughout my ENTIRE school life I was given . "Jaemie has so much more potential. Jaemie must work harder".. The Problem with me is that I learn so much faster when I WATCH or copy than when I have to learn it myself....

This brings back memories of before Internet was the Dictionary and encycopedias ... or parents ... which we normally hoped would be faster ... My father was not .. in fact it almost more dangerous to go to ask him something that to go look for it in the library with the books covered in dust battling long legged spiders and ultimately picking up the wrong section of the dictionary. He would go " Ok let's see".... ARGH .. that was the beginning of the end .. he would get book after book and then properly instruct you to read .... in my mind I was " dad ... I asked YOU what was the largest planet.. not how many planets are there, along with 10 other things he had to explain looong before I got my answer ..... if I got the answer at all :S
hmmm ... I'm rambling ... let me get back to the topic ..

So of course during the course of .... I think it was 3 hours hanging out with the family ... I learned a sum total of 1 word... to Smoke ... å rØyke. What a word to learn huh?
Of course knowing the language will help you know when they tell you to come for food .... or that you have to get up and go get it..... Like what happened to me ... yup .. and I'm sitting there like a Queen Bee thinking food was going to be walking my way.... hmm .. ooops .. nope.

(that learning the language thing in one day from the movies .. just BTW is a LIE!)

But I have to admit after all is said and done ... that the Norwegian language is not spoken by that many people and very well may be a dying language. Rosetta Stone has chosen NOT to have Norwegian as an optional language perhaps for this very same reason. But have no fear ... I SHALL conquer the confusing language ....

Then I found out that like Trinidad, there are many different dialects .. and within those dialects, there are different words for the same thing, different pronounciations for the same word ... the best example is "I" Jeg .. which is pronouced in at least 3 different ways depending on where you are from .. north, west or East ... ..... ahhh hhaaa.... riiiigghhtt... okay then.... hmmmm ....

I take solace in knowing that once I can speak the language I'll be able to understand Swedish and Dannish.. Whey yuh say? ...

Climbing Eldsfjellet

Yea.... ok ... so my husband, my brother in Law and my neighbour were sure trying to ... well .. ummm ... to say it nicely ... kill me the other day.
This hill ... yes its a hill... Is about a 10 min Drive away from where we live. Its on the same Island and the last time I walked up that "hill" it was in June Last year. It was a cold and windy day and on top of the hill is notorius for being very windy .... after all .. it is the highest point on the island.
Eldsfjellet is translated as "fire mountain"..... this I found out AFTER I climbed the thing. So Hubby and I are happily enjoying an afternoon back home and his best man and neighbour called to invite us up this ... hill.... Would I like to go .. my hubz asks .... with MUCH trepedation.. I agreed. In my mind now .. I'm wondering, what on earth am I trying to prove? .. I'm huffing and puffing like a cow climbing a vertical tree on the Small hill right behind our house and I'm trying to go up a Fire Mountain with 1 guy who is pretty much fitter than I am ... one guy who has been doing it fast enough but often enough .. and one guy who just earlier that day .. ran up the bloody thing! ... Obviously, I've lost my mind, and if I thought that my competitive spirit was going to rise to the competition ... I think I overestimated it .... severely..
We reached the ... hill.... and started climbing .. me in a sweater and everyone else is lighter tshirts. Just the beginning of the climb was enough to make my heart sink. I totally forgot how many muscles I had in my bum and my thighs oh no wait ... I didn't realise they existed! Oh the Pain ... I tried to keep my face from showing my extreme Distraught but I think there was a tell tale sign somewhere, since one of the guys kept asking me.."Why do you keep looking at me with that evil eye?" Hmm Go figure....
I pushed along going basically up steep stairs for about 20 mins. It doesn't sound like that long does it? But if you warm up with "Go climb a 60 Degree mountain... yuh kinda get alittle puffed in about 20 secs ... I kid you not ....

oh shut up you fitness freaks ... I'm not talking to you today ....

There came a point where my breathing became as as laboured as a rhinoceros in labour .... I chose to leave out the noises ... after all I was the only girl amidst guys and I really didn't want to seem like I was about to keel over. My brain no longer functioned for talking, smiling or laughing. All I could do was think about where to put my legs.... look for trees to hold on to ... and hope that no hoggorm snake would be in my path ... sunbathing .. since it was a warm enough day. There were norwegian jokes being thrown around all around me.... guys laughing ... I really was not even trying to understand ... I suddenly wondered how on earth did I get this unfit? Where did all this flubber come from? I used to be so fit and be able to walk the Paria hike .... with ease .. in fact there was a time when My brother and I actually ran it for a bit ... good fun.... I was remembering all the President's Award hikes through some interesting terrain ... all the hikes that I would be at the front of the pack .... and now ... I'm wheezing like some overgrown gorrilla ... breathing so hard it felt like my throat was bleeding... my eyes were starting to glaze over and my thighs and buns were screeming to me" STOP you DITWIT .... I'm on STRIKE!" My nose were burning, running and hurting all at the same time
all i could hear in my mind was " Just keep pushing Jaemie, Don't you Dare let these guys think you are a wimp" ...
ahhh Too late ... all of a sudden my legs gave way and my and I had to stop. I was breathing way to hard for my own comfort and everyone around me was telling me that I'm doing great .... huh? Yes .. great for a 1000 Ton Leatherback turtle on Turtle Beach in Tobago .... GRUNT >.... GRUNT..
oh for shame... so much for feeling all competitive and trying to look like I can rival guys in their natural setting....
Reaching the top was such a relief. I can't thank God enough for giving me a great hubby who basically pushed me the last few meters. Yea .... he's so great !!:) .. awwwww..
Just like giving birth the moments of pain and labour are forgotten once the child is born ... well... ok for me it was not immediate ... I was subjected to paparazzi pictures of which I no longer had the energy to quickly smile in my infamous way.... so after a few moments of catching my breath, I looked around.
seriously people ... Norway is one beautiful country.... I'm such a sucker for views, Landscapes and nature that my husband didn't really need to sell the country too much ... I just love the green around me. That day was a great clear day, so we could see so far ... and we were not being blown over like is the usual on top of Fire Mountain.
God creates the most Awesome paintings ... all the time.....
Heading back down ... of course .. is so easy ....... a Cave man can do it...
Whey Yuh say???? Fire Mountain anyone?

The Bergen Fashionista

Ok .... So ... I've come from a Tropical Country .. where women do bare alot of skin ... and that's the culture .. the tight clothes etc .... tank tops allllll the time ... short pants and lots of dresses to keep cool. And I would say I had my style .... it was ... tropical casual..... as in .tshirt and jeans... and then I had my little light and cute halter tops etc ... so now that I have to cover down to my wrists to keep warm (the short pants and ting was never really my ting anyway) I'm floundering around like the fat seal from Happy feet where in Trinidad I'm the seal in the water and in Bergen I'm the seal on the ice.. ..... Flubbub ... Flubbub ... Flubbub ..
Back in 1998 I went to London for a Work and Travel Visa. I came back from London MUCH more conscious of what I wear ... and I'm sure heading into any Fashionista Big City would do that to one... the only thing is that I'm now living in an island off of the second biggest city in Norway ... so .... think of .. Toco style .. maybe????? yeeea...... hmmmmmm ... Questionable...

Ok dont get me wrong .. there are many people who look very nice .. but I've found that to try to buy clothes, I get what the MAJORITY of people are wearing .. which ... I have to admit .. with the extra ... dot dot dot... pounds I've Put on since I'm married ... is not a flattering look for me.... and I think its Frumpy... is that how you spell that? ..
Anyhoos ... I walk into stores and I can't figure out how to put things together.. ok except ONE store .. H&M ... really lovely things... but its so hard to wrap my head around buying summer things when it's cold outside!! What is up with that???? :) .. hahaha...

So .. You must be wondering by now .. what on earth is so bad???
Well let's start with the Tights..... as in panty hose ... its worn with everything .... with shoes ... whether its open-toe or not!!! ACK! Fashion Faux Pas in my tropical mind!! ...
And how can one where A short pants with tights??? .. eww .. what is that?? if its too cold to wear a short pants ... don't wear it at all!!!
Ok ok ok I've seen in Vogue etc ... High heeled shoes with mid calf high plaid socks and thought ... oooo nice .. but it was almost ALWAYS paired with a pencil skirt or preppy looking pants ... (and maybe I just can't see the panty hose in the pictures) ... and it looks cool ... somehow ... its not looking cool here :( ...
They also wear the "in" thing for summer .. look shirt-like tops with tights that stop anywhere from mid calf to the ankle...
remember those tennis shoes .. white that you used to wear to Phys Ed? .. or P.E. As we called it in NAPS? ... well they wear those .... happily .... ewww .. those where things we HATED .. with a passion ...
Its so hard to find a pretty shoe .. because all the shoes are ... well.. ugly .. sorry .. I love you Bergen .. but OMG can you get some decent Shoes.... the shoes you will see here are equivalent to your granny's granny's styles... oh about 50 years ago.... so you can imagine .. there are lots of clogs and weird shapes, colours etc.... I suppose with summer looming we have some open toes peeping out with some other passable styles.... but .. ummm .. gorsh ....(fades away into daydream thinking of the shopping trips to Puerto Rico with Nestle Peep and the awesome awesome shoooeesssss!s!!!! ...... sigh .. fades back in) ....

I'm desperately trying not to fall into .. what everyone is wearing so I've found myself seeking out London magazines and carefully trying to figure out what IS my style with extra clothes on ....

Would it be edgey? , preppy? ... Country? simple? plain? .. God forbid it turns into OLD lady .. simply because that's what the teeny boppers are wearing around me ....

So this week we are in Oslo for My husband's Work and the style here is a normal mixup of weird to Business .. which u expect for a captial. But one thing I've seen that is just wrong is a short pants ...a short tights and stockings..... WHAA???

*shaking head*

The sun is now looking like its peeking out. So I'm going to go out .. and I've gotten the ok from my Husband to do a little shopping .. note I said a little ... :) ...
Wish me well ... and hope that I don't end up on the wrong end of the Fashion Ladder.
Whey Yuh Say? ... Some tennis shoes??? Nei Takk!

Campaigning is over

So I've been to Norway twice before we moved here, and for some strange (And yet great for my husband) reason, the weather was always pretty nice. I had heard about the Bergen weather that its raining all the time... that its slushy snow in winter etc etc all the terrible things.... Well I never saw any of that before... what on earth are they talking about?
I was boasting that I brought the great weather... when I was here in January 2009, it was a lovely little winter.... cold .. but not too cold. Mind you my husband was telling me that it doesn't get too cold only like -5 C So I was thinking.. oh .. that's something like Sydney Australia weather... something I had been through .. survived ... and really enjoyed.
Of course this time I totally forgot about the fact that Australia is a DRY place while Bergen is decidedly WET.Needless to say, the winters are totally different no matter WHAT temperature they are!. Australia had some beautiful winters! Perfectly clear blue skies. In fact alot of the time that i remember the sky perfectly blue and clear was in Winter. hmmm But then again when it was warm .. who was looking up at the sky for some weather blues relief right?
The Second time I was here was in June... and boy was it lovely!! ... people were out and about and we actually had a few days of some serious tropical weather. Now let's get the tropical weather in Bergen in perspective. This simply means that you have weather at around...ish.. 30C... However, the winds in Bergen are enough to bring that temperature down to about 25. So stay out of the winds... oh and stay out of the shade .. because it IS the SUN and not the air around you that is warm... But that particular week was lovely...
Imagine I'm sunbathing on our back patio taking in the sun ... I just came from Broiling sauna like heat in Jacksonville, USA, and before that the lovely Mild June weather in Tobago.... so how is it that I'm already as tanned as I can get .. and I'm stripping down to a bathing suit top to take in SUN?... Yea I thought it odd to ... like.... I KNOW that its rare.. so let me take in some Vitamin D while I can. So I forgive all Trinidadians (my brother included) who run away to cold places and call 10C warm weather... not pointing any fingers ... (fingers pointing to Canada)

Anyhoos... enough daydreaming about Australia, Mild weather in Tobago and 2009's June... I'm in Bergen 2010 now ... (slaps herself to wake out of the dream). And its NOT dry... according to my husband's Best friend, (and joke about politicians, Heaven and Hell) ...The Campaigning is over .... and once he got me here ... there's no turning back .. so the weather no longer needs to co-operate with him....

So now .... after I write that lovely blog about lovely weather it slaps me in the face with a day like yesterday ... and now today ... sigh.
its just about ooohh i figure 9 C outside ... but um ... the winds are enough to blow that 9 C right through you... at 34 km/hr!

But that's ok cuz now I understand what keeping the weather forcast on your igoogle settings is all about .... Yuh know how we in de Islands does Look the calendar year over EVERY year and check out de long weekends and mek plans for dem? .. Well I think people here look at the weather forcast EVERY DAY to make plans... Rain? .. um stay home... Sun .. AH Picnic.... Sun with Chances of Rain ? ... Let's go hang out somewhere????

Whey Yuh Sey??? .. Love de weather God Gih Yuh Yes!! .. Cus Somewhere else somebody Loving up they own!!! ..

Bergen Weather

It's been a week since my move to Norway and I have to admit, I've been loving the weather here so far. Its been an airconditioned kind of world as we Caribbean people would say. Its fascinating also that you go OUTSIDE to be cool and INSIDE you are warm. It is the total opposite in Trinidad. You are smeltering outside in the relentless heat and then you run inside for the respite of aircondition. Even in the shade is a welcome rest from the burning rays of the sun, whereas here, its the opposite. You actually avoid the shade cuz then it gets cold. Whey yuh sey dey???
Today was the first time that it was overcast and I have to admit I actually like it like this more.... terrible I Know!. But it was actually warmer.. I did my first set of sweating today ... like getting dressed or outta the shower like we do in Trinidad. Then when we went outside I was so pleasantly suprised to have a warm breeze.. I could have happily driven with the top down TODAY ... but it somehow it seemed to be "almost raining" to my husband... ah well ... Convertibles would never work in Trinidad .. who wants to have a burnt head every day ... ??

I'm still fighting to get into the time zone. If you have any suggestions please let me know .. But I'm dying for sleep! I wake up at a decent hour like 8am or 7:30am .. but end up running back to that warm place called bed. Only to wake up at the 2 pm mark ... ARGH ... wrong time zone!!
I'm supposed to be learning Norwegian and I've sort of given myself a time frame... but we are still unpacking so that is perhaps not going to happen until I have absolutely NOTHING to do BUT learn the language...lol ... ok that will NEVER happen . i WILL always find something to do!.
But seriously ... 3 months? think I can do it? .. I'm confident that at least i can blurbler my way thru a conversation ... excluding business and fancy talking ... give me a 5 year old and we can have a great conversation!

So let's see how the weather and the Fluency in the Norwegian language works with me .. Shall they coincide? Or shall I be blurbbering my way with a 5 year old quite to france in Winter?
Whey yuh Sey? eh?

skive med pålegg

I moved from having bake and saltfish with orange juice or smoked herring (thoroughly cooked) and fry bake, or just the good ole corn flakes and milk... to having Skive med pålegg. Mind you this is pronounced for us good ole english/ trini folk as shiva meh pohrleg. If you are still unsure.. its just 1 slice of bread with something ontop. Of course why we can't put TWO slices of bread with something inbetween is beyond me... so here i am trying to balance things on ONE slice of bread like smoked trout.... yes ... trout that looks basically raw. I can't really complain about the taste ... i'm just waiting for the great side effects this much fish oils should bring me. Then you have interesting pastes ... cuz who wants to put all the things together from scratch ???

So you have shrimp paste which is like diced up shrimp with mayonaise, you have like a liver paste ... and some other interesting things.... Pancakes are NOT breakfast ... it is a crime to have anything sweet for breakfast ..except orange juice ... and coffee mind u .. is not usually taken with milk or even sugar.

Nope breakfast is not for the sweet tooth ... so all those things we have for continental breakfast like croissants and buns are forbidden.

Lunch by the way is ALSO 1 slice of bread with a topping... Dinner I suppose is where it all happens and its usually done early ..like around 4 pm ... but that's another blog .. because it is serious business!!!

so Whey Yuh Say? .. Skive med pålegg anyone??

Um ... a Shower Cap please?

Whey yuh Say??? A Shower Cap???? uhhh .. no .. we don't have that!

Ok so finding a Shower Cap in Bergen is surprisingly harder than I thought. Ok ... but should I be surprised? .. I've moved from a majority Ethnicity in Trinidad to a minority in Norway. Of COURSE finding Afro things will now be like hunting for a hibiscus in the Tundra Snow. The comments I got about this is ... Its only for rich people.... use a swimming cap... check here... or here... or here.... a pharmacy? ... a hair saloon.
So let's look this over .. why is this? ... Surely SOMEONE MUST use Shower caps? Why then are they available in hotels? ... for style? .. or is it that Rich people don't wash their hair everyday?.. yes ... the joys of having Afro Hair in a place where it cost as much as 5000 KR just to "relax" your hair!! .
Pennywise in Trinidad was most happy with me .. since I bought about 5 Dr. Miracle Hair Relaxer products to do my self. Yes I knew that before I came here it would be a riduclous price... i DID visit the place before I said yes to the man.... I knew what I was getting into when it came to straightening my hair. It was the Shower cap part that blew me away.
It didn't help when we went around asking and people's eyes were popping out of their heads as if we were swearing at them or we were asking for the most ridiculous thing they had heard in a while.
So plastic bag on head I humbly shower... thinking of my little shower cap that I left home. No worries people...I am resourceful.
Caucasion people get to wash their hair every day ..... we mixed hair and afro hair beauties will be left with some serious Brittle if we ever attempted that!

Now its not just a shower cap that is hard to find ... its a large container of petroleum jelly, or vaseline for the parched skin the dry air creates, its the Baking Soda, Bicarbonate or Soda that is impossible to get!! ok .. they do have it online at a "everything" store, but it costs 200kr for a kilo... and a BOOk about the great 500 uses of Baking soda costs 99kr. go figure... According to my neighbour 's mom I would only be able to brush my teeth once a week for it to be cost effective!

We take for granted all the things that we are used to. Like most migrated people, I'm tempted to travel home next time with barely anything in my suitcase and tote home a suitcase filled with baking soda, vaseline and hair products. Or I can just adapt to my new home. I'll think about what i'll do.... but for the meanwhile, I'll just enjoy the shock of lack of what I'm used to....
Shower Cap?? Whey Yuh Say??

Norwegian preparation

It has been a short time in the making ... this migration. A decision was made and in 4 months we (my norwegian husband and I a trinidadian girl) made our way to Bergen. It was 2 months of waiting for a visa and hoping that it would come through... and then exactly 3 weeks of mad rush selling everything we owned, telling people and telling my parents; admitantly the hardest thing I've had to do in a very long while.
We got a car sold on the very last day that we were in the Island of Trinidad but still have not sold a weight bench (if you are interested please let me know!)
The trip to Norway was not without its hickups of course.
After willing myself not to cry, I succeeded only to burst into tears as the plane taxiied down the runway in Tobago and I saw my father's Hotel, The Golden Thistle Hotel zooming past the window.
I suddenly remembered everything with crystal clear vividness.
I remembered my Younger brother as he walked away from us eating lunch, My dad's expression as I walked up the Departure stairs, my mom as she came up to us at the departure gate and hugged us as much as she could, the last time I saw my good friends, liming ( a trini slang word meaning hang out) with them in my old bedroom talking about boys... the difficulty with which I stood in front of my church to encourage them and how they have all made such an impact on my life.
There is much that Tobago has taught me. It has given me the confidence to be my own person, to have my own opinions and form my own ideas. It was the first time I was a manager - A grossly difficult task - handling people.

Needless to say, crying and thinking about these things the poor girl next to me must have felt uncomfortable, while my husband was trying to to comfort me on the other side, feeling a little embarassed I'm sure.

Before the trip I did ship some stuff ... yes I did... however things just kept popping up .. I swear!! .. I found myself with 5 suitcases between us both. No.... 3 belonged to my husband ... I had 2 ... don't mind the 2 suitcases was still too much for the Virgin Atlantic Flight since they have reduced free checked to only 1 ... yup... the joys of Airline extra charges. We tried to help them out some more with over weight charges. I'm sure we are in their good books for next time we travel.

Norwegian Airlines however, could not find our booking once we reached to London and waited for a 12 hour layover, since someone must have been playing farmville on FB while at work and messed up the Bergen Flight. That made checking in 5 suitcases (when you get NONE free) a little more exciting. We are also on their happy books with the over weight payments.

Ah .... Bergen ... 10C ... warm and lovely .... yea right! .... an empty house greeted us ... tomorrow we start to unpack and I start to enjoy my lovely new life in Bergen with my husband.

Let's see how long it takes me to get into the right Time Zone. So far I'm doing terribly, since it is 12:32 am and anyone who knows me.. knows that the last thing I am is nocturnal.

Everything is going Great! .. What more can I ask for? ... a Perfect Husband, my own home to decorate and coo over ... and a brand new wardrobe at some point in time!
Whey Yuh Say Bergen ? HERE I COME!