I had planned for this to be a short paragraph and loads of pictures…but it’s turned into one of my tomes! Ooops! Feel free to just skip the writing….I won’t be offended. ;-) Well, we made it to New Hampshire (US East Coast) after a week in the UK, en route from Norway. We’ve had a few days to decompress and now the reality is hitting home! We’ve really left Norway! It’s definitely one of those OMG moments!! After almost 2 years in Trondheim, our next adventure is starting. But right now we are homeless!! We just have a vague notion that we’ll live in Petersfield, “Old” Hampshire. But that’s only if we can find a house there! We’ll have to deal with that small issue in August before school starts. I have to say that holiday rentals, RV’s and caravans are all looking very promising right now! ;-) We’ve been forced to extend our stay in the US as the UK visa and immigration process is taking longer than it used to. So poor us, we have to stay here on the lake for five whole weeks, until the end of July. Life can be tough at times! ;-) It’s been a weird, difficult and wonderful last few weeks filled with many mixed emotions. John started his new job in the UK with no break in between jobs. He’s had a less than friendly reception from the Brits (because of what he’s there to do, rather than because of him – long story). But he’ll charm them in time, no doubt. Staying in a pokey, depressing little corporate apartment all alone hasn’t helped matters, but it will be different…once we’re living in our caravan! Ha, ha! ;-) Meanwhile, as John was working, the kids were passed around family…. primarily with my Dad, but also had a nice visit to Wales with Mum and Gra and then to stay with their cousins in Surrey. They had a blast and are not suffering because of their extended summer holiday this year, that’s for sure! A large part of their summer schooling has been spent learning magic tricks (when they’re not singing Frozen songs!). I’m hoping they will be this hotshot brother/sister magician team and earn fortunes turning $10 into $1000! I won’t let you know if that happens! I stayed in Norway to coordinate the movers and clean the apartment. For me, it was a stressful and physically demanding few weeks. The months leading up to it had been equally awful with so much immigration paperwork to do, house hunting, car selling, school searching, account closing, house cleaning, car hunting in the UK etc… But finally it was my last week in Trondheim. The truck arrived and in three days the two guys, Jamie and Arek, superstars from the UK and Poland, managed to fill 60m3 of truck with all our junk from the apartment and storage unit. After all that, I’m now feeling like I should just get rid of it all. We seriously need to adopt some Buddhist habits!! Then began one of the most wonderful weeks ever. I had planned a very quiet last weekend in Trondheim to recover and to say my sad goodbyes…. casual dinners with friends etc.. but it turned into something quite different. Yes, there were indeed some lovely dinners (thanks Kjerstin, Chin-Yu, Tore, Ellen, Mark, Kamila, Adrianne & Maria). But then, totally out of the blue, the weekend was filled with a fantastic mix of amazing parties, loads of dancing into the wee hours, brilliant music and unforeseen encounters with wonderful people. Of course it was bittersweet. Thrown in were lots of sad goodbyes, regrets about not doing certain things in Norway, feelings of ‘if things had been different” and anxious anticipation about our uncertain future. During these last few days, some very odd and some very wonderful things happened. 1/ The day the movers arrived, I had to move my two 26kg suitcases from my apartment to my friend’s house next door. The problem was that I was completely physically exhausted and all day I had been dreading the task of heaving the cases up six flights of stairs. But finally, with Kjerstin’s help, we attempted the chore. However, just as we opened her building door, a blond Incredible Hulk literally appeared from nowhere! Seriously, his muscles couldn’t have been natural…but frankly I didn’t care….this hulk….my saviour….reached down, threw the case up over his head in one swift swoop as if it were an empty cardboard box and RAN up the six flights of stairs! He then ran down and did the same with the second suitcase. By the time he came back down, I was weak at the knees (and probably giggling like a school girl) with tears of gratitude streaming down my emotional and exhausted face. I was so delirious with gratitude that I almost collapsed at his feet! Such overwhelming displays of gratitude are rarely seen in Norway so I think he freaked out a bit and ran into his apartment claiming that he was late for something. He will never know just how much he helped me that day (and I’m sure he will only know me as that weird, crazy, mess of a woman). But for me, he was my hero! That’s ok with me. ;-) 2/ As the stress of the week started to lift off my shoulders, I was on the way home from a dinner out, when Ellen and I stumbled upon an unofficial rehearsal of some African bands that were due to play the next night. Turns out they were connected with the “Africa Love” concert that a friend (Hill) was organizing. I was introduced to a few wonderful people from Senegal and they were super happy to hear that I could speak French to them! I was even lucky enough to meet Omar, a fantastic guitarist who played for Youssou NDour. After that, I got arm-twisted into going to the concert the next night. I’m so glad that I went! There were two bands playing from Senegal – Kemin Fanta and her band and then the amazing Mame Balla Diouf with his gorgeous voice and kind spirit (who Omar plays for)! Unexpectedly, when the second band started, the first band members all came out and joined in with the audience. That’s when the dancing really began! My friends and I basically danced all night with the band and had the most wonderful time. They were such sweet people and great dancers! The second (and my last) night, it didn’t take much to arm-twist me into going out to hear another concert! Luckily for us, Mame Balla and his band (the second band from the night before) were there to watch. So yet again, we ended up dancing all night with them! It was great to hang out with them and I can safely say that we are now dedicated fans of Mame Balla Diouf! Fantastic music, a gorgeous voice, peaceful message and a sweet, kind man to top it off! As I hobbled home at 2:30am with sore feet for the second night in a row, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the randomness of the nights. It was just so wonderful. It reminded me of the good old days ;-) and what it felt to do that every weekend. 3/ I was still grinning at the thought of the fun I’d had once I reached Heathrow airport. But then it faded when I realized I couldn’t find my big strap that I needed to tow my small suitcase on the back of one of my big ones. There was no way I was going to be able to get on the Heathrow Express and through Paddington without it. Just then, I glanced down at the floor to the side of the luggage conveyor belt, and there in beautiful African colours, was a strap!! I looked around. No one was there. I hesitated for a minute and then decided that I was now the proud owner of an African luggage strap! It would forever remind me of my amazing last weekend in Trondheim! I was overjoyed! I’m glad no one was there, as they would have seen me laugh out loud at seemingly nothing ;-) 4/ As I was pulling my bags out of the train at Paddington, this guy runs over to me, all chirpy and jolly and offering his help. I declined but he insisted. Anyway, it then turned out he is some famous golf Super Caddy, John Ronnie” Roberts. He has recently caddied (is that the word?) for Australias Brett Rumford. I think at this point I was supposed to be very impressed, but sadly for him, I do not know any golfers (only Tiger Woods – but that’s not because of his golf), let alone their Super Caddies. But we had a laugh and it was an entertaining encounter to complete my random few days. He gave me his email address…not sure why? Any free golf tickets needed guys? ;-) Since then, I have been to see Dionne Warwick with my brother…..an idol of mine since my youth (Dionne, not my brother!). Dad and I took the kids to see the Matilda musical in London. Then there was more partying at my sister’s super 40th birthday party. It was wonderful to see my family, and again, we danced all night! There’s not much dancing going on here at the lake (except in the living room), but now we’re relaxing, playing in the boats, swimming and finally…. writing!
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 20:40:08 +0000
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