We chose the worst time of the year (summer) to move to Norway and start looking for work, as between June and the end of August Norwegians take their summer holidays, which means that most businesses come to a halt, including the recruitment of new staff. There were a few ads here and there, but upon sending an application we would receive an automatic reply that applications would be reviewed at the end of August. So, it was pretty much a given that we would not be able to get into work before September.
For me (Anton), there was the additional issue of having to learn the language. Though I am entitled to 300 hours of free language classes by the Norwegian state (as Elray’s spouse), there were (surprise, surprise) no classes starting before the 18th of August. I used the summer months to study Norwegian on my own. I also used the summer to get back into a healthy gym routine, something I missed in Burundi.
During the long months of summer we did have one nice short trip—to the area around Bergen, on the west coast of Norway. Elray’s college friends Peder (from Norway) and Sarifa (from South Africa) got married in a picturesque town on a fjord, which only took us 8 hours by train followed by 2 hours on a bus (which at one point had to get on a ferry). It was a fun-filled weekend where we got to see Judith (some of you met her at our wedding in Croatia) and some other friends.
My language class finally started at the end of August at the “Rosenhof skole” and I LOVE it. There are roughly 15 students from all over the world in my class, most of us having come to Norway due to love. The teacher is from the west coast and insists on using her local pronunciation because it is an advanced level class and we should be able to understand people from all over Norway. This is one thing that struck me as very interesting: Norwegians have very strong allegiances to their local dialects and it is accepted that one should be able to keep using the dialect even in communication with people from other parts of the country, and even in the media. This is in addition to having two official written languages: Bokmål (also known as Dano-Norwegian, used by about 85% of the population) and Nynorsk (“new Norwegian,” used by the remaining 15%, mostly in the west of the country). The language issue stems from the time of independence and has never been fully “solved” except in the sense that both forms are officially equal.
I realized it would be difficult to get a proper job in my field until I was fluent in Norwegian and have therefore pursued an alternative, though temporary, route: I got a job at a pre-school at the end of August. I work with 4 and 5 years olds as a pre-school assistant and have enjoyed it so far. It takes a lot of energy and by the end of each day I am exhausted, but it can also be a lot of fun. I have realized how undisciplined Norwegian children are, which has made me learn all sorts of vocabulary directed at stopping fights, lowering the noise level, and reminding them that they should clean up after themselves. My colleagues are extremely nice and welcoming. The plan is to stay at the pre-school until the end of the year and apply for other jobs in the meantime.
As far as Elray is concerned, after many applications as well as interviews, he will be starting his new job tomorrow (6.10) with Norwegian Church Aid as Peace Corps Program coordinator. He is extremely excited, especially since he will be traveling to South Africa for a week in November already. His job will entail coordinating the North-South and South-South exchange within the Norwegian Church Aid system.
As you can see, life is good. We are starting to make friends here (though very, very slowly) and are considering getting a dog! If we can get the permission from the homeowners’ association, we will get a Danish-Swedish farm dog. They look a lot like Jack Russels but are supposedly much tamer and quieter.
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