First few days in Norway

Tuesday: 27 April. London/Heathrow had a fairly warm and sunny day. Temperatures were about 21 C / 75 F.

Arriving in Oslo, however, I saw that the countryside was still winter brown. Although in the last grip of winter, most of the snow was gone. My relatives (Turid & Gunnar) met me at the airport and I stayed with them 2 days. Wednesday morning it snowed a bit but nothing accumulated. On the flight north on Thursday I could that the mountains and higher elevations covered in snow.

Sandnessjøen: I arrived at about 2 pm on Thursday. The parish administrator picked me up at the airport. She drove the 5 plus miles into town. Rounding a bend in the road there suddenly appeared “The Seven Sisters”, a beautiful mountain range covered in snow. The town itself is rather ordinary, but the surrounding mountains are magnificent.

Friday was rather cold, about 5 C/40 F. I had a rehearsal with the minister for the large confirmation services on Sunday. Everything went well. After lunch I tried to get an ID number from the Norwegian Register (the equivalent of a social security number) but only applied for one. It should be issued within 14 days. But without that number I can’t open a bank account. My package of books and music arrived that I sent over last week. Later that afternoon I bought lots of groceries to prepare for the long weekend. (Very few stores are open on the 1^st of May – Labor Day in Norway).

I still haven't received my residency permit. It will probably come sometime in May. Without it I technically shouldn't begin working in Norway. To get around that I received special permission from the police to begin work on Sunday, the 2nd of May. Things are very different in a country with no separation between church and state. I'll be learning a lot in the next few weeks.

Now it's just getting everything organized before I leave. Tuesday morning Brett took my harpsichord. Tuesday afternoon I sent a mail sack to my address in Norway. Wednesday I sold my car. I've started packing but I'll probably have to take everything out and only bring essentials. I plan to bring 2 suitcases and one carry-on.

New Adventure

As many have heard I have a new adventure in front of me. About a year ago I lost my full-time job. So I began to look east to Norway. They need qualified organists and musicians. Last month I received the call that I was hired. At the end of this month I’m moving to Norway to serve as interim organist in Sandnessjøen in Nordland County. The name of the kommune (municipality) is Alstahaug. My title will be kantor-organist. It is a full-time appointment for 11 months. I will be serving 3 churches: Sandnessjøen, Alstahaug and Tjøtta, as well as 3 chapels that have occasional services. Sandnessjøen is north of Trondheim about 5 hours by train. The town is about ½ degree south of the arctic circle. I’m very excited about this. My new address will be Høgåsveien 3, 8800 Sandnessjøen, Norway. The kirkekontor (church office) address is Kirkeveien 22, 8800 Sandnessjøen. The south-bound Hurtigruten stops in Sandnessjøen at 1:30 pm. Please stop and visit me. You’ll get a cup of coffee and a tour. (The north-bound boat stops at 4:30 AM).

Our ancestors came to America as the land of opportunity. I’m going back to the old country for opportunity and adventure. I sometimes feel like a combination of Askeladden and Kjerringa mot strømmen. The Ashlad got results from unexpected places, and the ornery women who went against the stream did the opposite of what was considered sane.

In this season of Easter joy I thought I would like to end this column with funny stories and jokes. Some years ago a couple from Lexington moved to Scotland for a year after their retirement. After a year was up they returned to Massachusetts and were asked what the weather was like in Scotland. They replied, “We had 9 months of dreadful weather. Then came winter.”

In filling out the forms for my move to Norway I have to fill out a residency permit. In Norwegian it’s called oppholdstillatelse. I found myself writing oppholdsforlatelse which means residency forgiveness. As they say, it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission.

Some years ago when Dan Pinkham was music director at King’s Chapel in Boston, he was practicing on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. The telephone rang and Dan answered it. The person on the other end asked, “What time is your Easter sunrise service”? Without missing a beat Dan replied “11 am”.

A Norwegian pastor loved to walk in the woods and ponder the Holy Scriptures. One day, deep in the woods, he came across a bear that was very, very hungry. The pastor thought, “This is the end of me”. But he fell on his knees and prayed fervently to the Lord to let the bear be converted to a Christian (thinking this might help). After a few seconds the bear fell on his knees and began praying the Norwegian table prayer: I Jesu navn går vi til bords, å spise og drikke på ditt ord. Deg til ære, oss til gavn, så mår vi mat, i Jesu navn. Amen.

(English equivalent: Lord, bless this meal which I’m about to receive. Amen).

Thank you everyone. Wish me luck. I look forward to seeing you next April.

Vennligst,

Andrew