A Very Big Week

The weekend found us getting ready for a very big week. My parents and grandfather are coming for a two week visit, and we spent a good part of the weekend getting the apartment and other things ready. They arrive Wednesday, and we will spend next weekend at Marabu (the cabin in the mountains.) They will then visit Tromso for a couple of days. Then it is off to Denmark on the overnight ferry, then back home again. In between, they will do a bit of exploring around Stavanger.


The weather will be somewhat cooler when they arrive, as highs are only forecast to be around 48. It will also be rainy most of the time they are here. I have advised them to be prepared with good waterproof parkas and pants, as there is no bad weather here, only bad clothing. The sunrise this morning shows the amount of cloud cover they will probably experience most of the time.


We did take a little time out this weekend to go for a little walk around the neighborhood. We'd found some blackberry bushes recently and wanted to pick a few for the freezer. We ended up getting about 1 1/2 quarts, as well as some plums and apples. We had Andrea over for dinner last night and fixed grilled trout, eggplant and zucchini with tomatoes and cheese, and for dessert a baked brie with apple-plum compote. The last thing was a spur-of-the-moment creation which turned out to be delicious. I am happy to forward the recipe - just comment here and I will send it!

Sidney has school pictures today. Hopefully she will do a good one, which we will eventually send out to everyone. I have no idea how they are going to get 24 four- and five-year-olds to sit still and not make crazy faces for the class photo!

Kongeparken and the "Big 4-0"

The weather held out a little bit longer for us this weekend and we took advantage of it by finally visiting Kongeparken (King's Park.) It is an amusement park south of Sandnes. The crowds were virtually non-existent this late in the season and we were able to ride most rides several times with little or no wait.


Sidney, we have determined, is a "coaster kid." Actually, I should start by saying the rules on amusement parks here are a bit different than the U.S. She was able to ride on most rides as long as one of us rode with her. This included the roller coaster, Alpine Slide, and another sort of slide somewhat akin to a flume ride. She loved them all, and by the eighth time on the roller coaster, she was riding the whole way with her hands stretched up high in the air.



There are also a lot of rides that probably wouldn't be legal in the U.S. One of these is a "rescue boat launch." One person sits in a little boat that looks like the rescue boat from an oil platform while the boat is hoisted up a long ramp. The boat is then released for a free-fall down the ramp and launches into the air for about 20 feet of free flight before splashing down into the water. Oh, and did I mention that there is no "ride attendant" on this one - it is controlled by the person riding it. I must admit, it was pretty cool!


The flume ride that Sidney liked was basically a slide with a small stream of water that you slide down in a little rubber boat. You also get air on this one as you go over the humps on the slide. With enough weight in the boat, you can also reach some pretty decent speeds.


Speaking of speed, there was a pretty cool alpine slide. Here you see Kimber reaching the end of the slide. Sidney rode with each of us several times, but liked when she rode with me better because the added weight meant more speed. She also liked that I didn't touch the brake all the way down. Kimber didn't like that part.


There are also a lack of fashion rules in Norway. Eighties fashion seems to be what is in with the kids here. Kimber says she hasn't seen this many sets of leg warmers in 20 years. As the eighties were a pretty big part of my formative years, even I can say this is a bit over-the-top.

Sunday was my 40th birthday. One of the nice things about living overseas is I didn't have to contend with ads in the newspaper that said "Over the Hill" and "Lordy, Lordy, look whose 40!" For the most part, we had a nice, relaxing day that included church and a nice brunch at Andrea's house. Thanks to all who wrote, called and personally delivered birthday greetings!

A little "Indian Summer"

We had a really nice weekend here in Stavanger and the surrounding area. We spent some time with Andrea Mahugh, a new co-worker of Kimber's and mutual friend of Jinni. Kimber met her once before she came here at Jinni's wedding in Cozumel. Andrea is here on a one year assignment as a safety professional, coming from rotations in Equatorial Guinea. It is nice to have someone around that knows many of the same people we know, and especially nice for Kimber to have an American woman about her same age with whom to work and socialize.

We went to Sandnes, the little town south of where we live, Saturday. There is a really nice downtown area for shopping, and it is all pedestrian traffic only. There are a lot of different types of shops in the area, including many "foreign" food (Arabic, Asian, etc.) grocers. We also found a great place to get clothes for cheap (especially by Norwegian standards) and picked up a few more things for our wardrobes.

The weather wasn't all that great Saturday, but we made the most of it (there is no bad weather in Norway, only bad clothing selection). We finished off the day by having a "breakfast" for dinner of blueberry pancakes (from our supply we picked last week), hash browns and bacon. The vanilla lattes were the icing on the cake!


Sunday was much nicer, with the best weather we've had any time recently. The sun shone all day and temperatures were in the upper 60's. We went to church, then picked up Andrea and went to Dalsnuten for a hike. Dalsnuten is a great introductory hike for the area, as it is not difficult and offers a lot of reward with the tremendous view. We didn't mean for the hike to take the entire afternoon, but we met some people along the way that stretched out the time a bit.

Sidney had a little meltdown at the top, as we left the fruit we packed along in the car for when we returned. As the weather was nice, there were lots of people up top taking in the view and sunshine, with many of them picnicking. She kept saying "But why won't they share some food with me?" We finally convinced her to go down to the car to get her snack, and as we were going down, we encountered some very friendly Norwegians cooking pancakes on a camp stove. They were offering them to anyone that passed, and of course Sidney was more than happy to take them up on the offer. We sat and chatted with them for about 20 minutes, and of course Sidney charmed them all.

One thing I would like to point out is that the trails and hikes are much more social areas that you will find in everyday life in Norway. Generally, people are very friendly on the trails - they say hello, they like to chat, and they are usually pretty happy. Being outside and enjoying nature is something people here genuinely enjoy, and it makes them feel pretty good. It is not unusual to find people sharing their food, chatting, and always willing to lend a hand on the trails.

After leaving the pancake group, we met up with one of Sidney's schoolmates and her family. They are from Italy, and Sidney and Gaia get along quite well. Gaia is also a little mountain goat, and Sidney is getting much better with her climbing as well. It was quite entertaining to listen to them both talk non-stop all the way down the hill.

We finally got home and got some necessary housework done. We look forward to a few more days of this nice weather, as is forecast for the remainder of the week. We know it will change soon, though, as the low on one of those days is supposed to be 44.

Alvheim

So it is nearly always Kirk who updates the blog. However, every once in a while I get the inkling or feel the guilt to do my part. That is usually when you get the rambling story that I have been keeping notes on for a month or so.

First, I have been out to Alvheim twice. It is incredible. What a lovely vessel. Alvheim is located on the edge of the Norwegian and UK sectors of the North Sea. As a matter of fact, on a very clear day, you can see one of our UK assets, the Brae platform. The map shows Alvheim at the top and Brae at the bottom.



The gas produced by Alvheim goes to the UK. The oil goes to tankers. Alvheim is an FPSO (Floating Production and Storage of Oil) vessel. The maximum number of personnel on board is 120 although we run near 80 normally. Alvheim is tied to a turret that is stationary and the vessel rotates around the turret according to the wind and waves as well as needs for orientation for offloading, etc. The vessel receives gas and oil from subsea through the turret. We offload oil every three days or so. Oil is received and processed before being stored on board. Gas is immediately treated and sent into the pipeline to Scotland.






The vessel is fantastic. It is 250 meters long and over 40 meters wide. Throughput is as much as a small refinery, around 140,000 barrels of oil per day. It is really phenomenal when you think of everything that happens on this ship. This picture shows the vessel in port in Haugesand. It does not normally sit this high in the water because of the load it normally has on board.

And now on to other random thoughts and observations. First, an update on church. We are very happy with our small Anglican church. Sidney sees Pastor Pete at school as well for a bible study and songs every Wednesday. I think the most unique thing about the church though is that those under 20 (and even under 12) out number those over 20. As you can imagine, if there is no Sunday school, worship is quite busy with all those little people running around.

Also, people bike everywhere here and in any weather. They also carry anything. I see two regulars while I am waiting at the bus stop every morning. Both older gentlemen, carrying any wide range of things, from shopping baskets, to bags, and sticks. One day we also saw someone biking with a bookshelf on their back. Reminds me a bit of a bicycle version of an Ikea commercial.

I am still combining the bus and walking to work. I walk about 10 minutes to the bus stop then ride the bus into Stavanger. The bus is always crowded now that school is back in, sometimes standing room only. I then walk another 20 minutes or so from the bus stop to work. The other day I got trash dumped on my head. The apartments here have underground trash receptacles, one each for paper, organic (food scraps), and general trash that you put the trash in and it goes underground into the large bin. A bit like and underground dumpster. Then they lift the whole thing out and it dumps out the bottom into the trash truck. Well, I was walking by one on the way to work and they opened the bottom as I walked by. At least I wasn’t alone, several other people were also walking by and we all got some of the contents of the organics bin dumped on us. It was great. Otherwise my walk to work is generally very nice as I walk through the oldest part of Stavanger and it is well maintained with flowers, etc.

The Running of the... Sheep?

We decided to take advantage of Marabu (the Marathon cabin in the mountains) again this weekend, as Sirdal (the nearby town) was celebrating "Sirdal Days." The biggest draw of the festival is the traditional parade of over 5000 sheep that are brought down out of the mountains to the festival ground. This takes place on Friday night, and is attended by over 8000 people. We had a prime location, as we were just at the turn where the sheep are taken back off the road and onto the trail to the festival grounds. It took about 30 minutes to get all the sheep past, and it was quite a spectacle. There were no people running in front of them daring the sheep to stampede them, though. After arriving at the festival grounds, the sheep are sheared, and many are taken away in these nice trucks with the name of an organic meat company on the side.

We took our time getting up Saturday, as we had been at the festival until around 10 pm. We then drove to Lysebotn to show Jinni the mountain scenery and the road with 27 switchbacks in a 7 kilometer stretch. We saw several people going up to hike Kjerag, but we all agreed that it was far too windy, cool and wet to enjoy a hike there ourselves. We then drove down into Lysebotn and had a picnic on the front porch of the town church (out of the wind and drizzle!)



After lunch, we took a leisurely drive and saw some wonderful waterfalls. The rain had a lot of water coming down the hills, and the heavy cloud cover added to the dramatic effect over the fjord. This area is popular for BASE jumpers (people that parachute off the top of the cliffs) because they can get over 30 seconds of free fall, but the weather even had all of them in.


We encountered another shepherd rounding up his herd along our drive, so we stopped to watch for a little while. His Border Collie was fantastic! The skill of the master and dog and the strategy involved was a sight to see. The dog even takes advantage of terrain to gather the sheep in.


We also met a horse along the way. He was standing partially in the road, so we rolled down our window to say hello. The horse enjoyed the attention, and even seemed to want to get into the car with us. He followed us for a little way, and was sad to see us leave without him!




We returned to the cabin and spent a few hours picking blueberries. We picked a total of 15 cups that made it into the freezer, as well as those that ended up in our stomachs (mostly Sidney's!) Kimber is now addicted to blueberry picking, regardless of the fact that we have no room for any more in the freezer.







After picking blueberries, we grilled chicken on the barbecue for dinner. After dinner, we roasted marshmallows over the remaining coals. We then built a fire in the fireplace and settled down for a game of Ludo, a board game we discovered at Mark and Jasmine's in Germany.


We got up and cleaned the cabin this morning before returning to Stavanger to get ready for the week ahead. Before leaving, we noticed a toadstool growing behind the cabin. I wanted a picture, since the ones with the red tops look almost cartoonish in their appearance. I did not notice the toadstool's "visitor" until I got home and downloaded the picture onto the computer. Se if you can pick him out!

Kimber is scheduled to go to London this week for an overnight trip. I have to finish up baseline assessments on the Reception class at school and start getting my room ready for the student with whom I will work.

Many may remember that when Kimber was interviewing for the position in Norway, she actually was considering a position in Gabon as well. Recent activity in Gabon has been interesting, to say the least. The president (formerly the longest serving African head of state) died a few months back, and recent elections have led to violence from the opposition parties. Port Gentil, the town we would have lived in, has seen the worst of the effects, with oppositionists even breaking into the jail and freeing all the prisoners. From what we have heard, those that are acquainted with us are okay.

That being said, National Geographic has an article in the September 2009 edition rating Norway as the "Least Likely Country to Fail". Interestingly, Canada was rated as less likely that the U.S. to fail among the countries in the Americas.

Our neighbors

I haven't posted recently regarding our "neighbors", so I thought I might share this with you.


The soccer team's Team B played a game Monday night - in the rain. No idea what the outcome was, but it looked like the other team was giving them a pretty good run for their money. This view is from our back sitting room.


Another ship is in port at the facility on the other side of us. It is the MSV Fennica, and is a Finnish icebreaker/offshore service ship. More information on the vessel can be found at www.finstaship.fi/fi/pdf/fennica.pdf, including a drawing that shows what the vessel's keel looks like. Pretty cool!