So winter is finally over…takk Gud! The flowers are out and everything is growing, probably much earlier than it should thanks to the mild weather. The clocks have changed and the days already feel very long. What's not to like in other words?
The Norwegian lessons are still in full swing and my long-suffering tutor (Trond) must have the patience of a saint is all I can say. We meet twice a week at GDF's office and I never fail to surprise myself at how much I can't remember since the last session. I wouldn't mind but languages were my 'thing' at school but the knack seems to have deserted me. I'm putting it (and everything else) down to age!
Speaking of which, a very significant birthday has just occurred in the Robertson household…in a bid to catch up with me, Mr R turned 50 at the end of March. True to form he was at work on the day and was met with the following scene in his office…
The folks at GDF made a huge fuss…he got a custom-made card, presents and no less than 3 birthday cakes (bursdagkaker) one of which was a home-made ice cream one! All in all, it looks like the experience was relatively painless.
To celebrate, we went away on a skiing trip…sadly not within Norway (thanks again to the mild winter) but to Breckenridge in Colorado. A great time was had amongst some of the best powder conditions we've ever seen. Despite the fact it was the middle of April, Mother Nature kindly provided a fall of 15 inches while we were there! They were in the throes of 'springfest' at the time, which meant a live band called the Gin Blossoms were playing at the foot of one of the peaks. At times you could hardly see the stage but the music was fantastic! Some of the views below…
So when Norwegians ski, they 'gå på ski' (gaw-paw-she) or if they're cross-country skiing, they 'gå langrenn' (gaw-lahngng-rayn). It's fair to say that, such is their love of nature, that a trip to the winter 'hytte' invariably involves a spot of 'langrenn' between parking the car and getting to the hytte itself. Not like some of us folks from Storbritannia (UK) who need to drive everywhere…i.e. 'me'! That said, I've been doing a fair bit of walking and hiking lately, mainly in a bid to minimise the shock to my body when it hit the ski slopes…it seemed to work.
The final word goes to 'katten'…he's just back from a long Easter break at his hytte and has slept pretty much all the time since he got home. Clearly a lot of 'zzzzz' to catch up on! He's getting wiser (and wiser) to the situation though and it was a bit of a job to catch him this time. So much so that he's left me with (another) scar as a reminder…
And on that note…god helg!
