Monday, the 7th of June. This week promises to be great weather. (If it’s good weather in southern Norway it’s usually stormy up north, and vice versa) I took a bike ride in the Botn area and saw my first tulips of the season. Temperature was only about 50. I received notice that my residence permit has been approved. Tuesday morning I took my paperwork back to the police station. They will let me know when my passport can be stamped with the permit. The Folkeregister people took back my application and will process it. I don’t think I’ll need to go back to that office any more. Tuesday is a great arctic summer day – you only need one pair of long johns!
Thursday evening I played a few accompaniments for the men’s chorus here. This year is the 100th anniversary of Bjørnsterne Bjørnson’s death. You ask, who? In the 19th century Bjørnson was more famous than his contemporary, Henrik Ibsen. A hundred years later practically no one outside of Norway has heard of Bjørnson. He received the Nobel Prize in literature in 1903, was a prolific writer, poet, and fighter for human rights. He is the author of Norway’s national anthem, Ja, vi elsker dette landet (Yes, we love this country). The Norwegian national anthem isn’t much better than the Star Spangled Banner (musically), but at least the texts speak of peace and love, not guns and bombs exploding. The men’s chorus presented a concert consisting of several pieces with Bjørnson texts.
The weather this week has been great. All early flowering plants are in bloom. Saturday I cycled to Alstahaug and back (32 km roundtrip). This time it didn’t seem so hard. Maybe I’m getting in shape. I walked around the Petter Dass Museum and bought a few cards. In Saturday’s mail delivery came my new resident number/tax number from Folkeregister. Now the only bureaucratic item left is to get my passport stamped with the resident permit.
Sunday was a busy day. At about 9:40 am I met our senior minister-dean and his wife at the office and we drove to the ferry connection to get to the island of Tro. There were about 20 people attending this 11:30 service at a school. After the service we took the ferry back. Olav Rune (senior minister-dean) and his wife Marit invited me to dinner at their house. They grilled some pork tenderloin, sausages and mushrooms. We ate outside with their daughter Marta under a summer enclosure. The weather wasn’t so warm, but at least there was not a steady rain. After coffee and dessert I went to the church to prepare for the evening service at 6:30. Everything went well.
At the end of week 23 (June 13) sunset is about 1 am, sunrise is at 1: 15 am. The sun is now spinning around us in one large circle.
Monday morning: there must have been a power failure during the night. Both of my electric clocks were two hours off and my alarm clock was two hours late. Tuesday I waited about ½ hour in line at the bank to get a new credit card. My new resident ID number requires that I get a new credit card which gives my id number. I can’t access my bank account by computer but at least I can continue to buy things by credit card at the grocery store. The bank official said a new card has been ordered and it will be in next week. On Wednesday the staff at church had a going away party for Kristine Almås. She directs the gospel choir and the Friends choir. Wednesday evening I attended the church council meeting. They wanted to know my thoughts and intentions on the choral program.
Scandinavia has a fixation with the microphone. Last weekend I watched a Danish program on music on television. A wind group (flute, oboe, clarinet, flute, horn and bassoon) played a few pieces together, and then each player demonstrated his instrument. The music was all classical – mostly baroque. At the end they had a vocalist with a microphone sing something in a pop style. I don’t understand this mixing of styles, and I probably never will.
The church in Sandnessjøen has two groups of singers in which each singer has a microphone. Maybe Scandinavians have a karaoke complex. I don’t understand it. I’ll ask some musician friends who can explain it. At the Friends concert they used a cd player as accompaniment: music minus one. (Which reminds of the definition of a castrato: music minus two).
Friday I played for a end-of-term ceremony/church service for a nursing school. I keep on forgetting that there is no separation of church and state here. The ceremony marked the important step for the graduates. The service included 4 hymns, prayers, a biblical reading, sermon, Lord’s Prayer, creed, and Ten Commandments.
Friday afternoon I finally got a car, actually I’m leasing a small van. The vans are cheaper to rent/buy than a passenger car. The van I have is no longer than a regular car, but it is higher. There is only one passenger seat, so if I have more than one guest I will have to rent a regular car. But on the practical side I can put my bike in the back.. Not having driven a car in nearly 2 months it was a little strange at first.
After the summery weather last week, we’re back to early-spring weather. This past week was mostly cold and rainy, but at least it didn’t snow.
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