Day 3, Tuesday

Kjetil and I got up and ate breakfast and showered and went downtown by bus. Today is Anne Marit’s birthday.

We wanted to take the Furnicular tour and go to the top a mountain called Floayen. But I was wearing a very short dress as it had been very warm and sunny when we left . When we got downtown which takes 10 min, the sun had disappeared and it was cold. I didn’t want to go anymore and we just walked around and shopped a little. Kjetil bought a bunch of clothes, a suit, a dress pant, 2 t-shirts and a shirt. I love the style and the colors of men’s clothes here. I have always felt that in America it is hard to find nice clothes for guys. (Now I am having doubts about a shirt that he is wearing ; it is polyster and I feel like I am looking at clothes from 70’s or something, like they wore in Amite Bacchan movies in India and I want him to retun it, but he says that it isn’t easy to return stuff here (it’s good to know that!!!!). They might exchange it but he doesn’t want to do it anyway).

We ate some kind of fish cakes which is very Norwegian and later Cinnamon Rolls that are also very Norwegian . We also had a beer and sat outside in the sun which was playing games. Then we went into Bryggen . These are a group of many hundreds of years old buildings. Kjell tells me that it used to be a place where fishermen came from North Norway with small ships and Germans would buy it from them. It is now a major tourist attraction and souvenirs etc. are sold there. I was very disappointed to see that everything was so expensive. I didn’t buy any yet. I have so many to buy. I have many many beloved friends you know : -))))

I found a Thai Restaurant and an Asian grocery store. I am so happy to have found that because that was a cause of major worry for me. I love Thai food and crave it and eat at least once a week in a Thai restaurant and cook it a lot. It was a relief. NOW, I CAN move here with pleasure.

Kjetil wanted to buy a Hally Hansen jacket as it was on sale but I talked him out of it .

We then walked back to where we were going to catch the bus and bought “Opium” roses for Kjetil’s mom. We got home and sang Happy Birthday to her and gave her the flowers and a gift set we had bought at the bath and body works in Monterey .

Then Kjetil and I changed for dinner. Kjetil wore his new shirt ( the one I have doubts about now) and pants. We had salmon and potatoes and sliced cucumbers in a special sauce. Then we had cut peaches in sauce for dessert.

Soon Georg came with his family for coffee and cake. This is a very very Norwegian thing to do, visit for coffee and cakes. But it is special today as it is Anne Marit’s birthday.

Afterwards, we went to watch Ole (Georg’s son) play soccer. He scored the winning goal for his team. We came home and met with Kjell’s sister Aunt Rita and her husband Uncle Per. Sitting there, among all the Norwegians with a foreign language being spoken around me I felt as if I was picked up and placed there. Like a plant that has been transported to new soil or maybe an organ in a foreign body if you will.

Soon Georg and Anne left and Uncle and Aunt stayed for another hour maybe. I talked to them some and we were all laughing. Kjell showed me a funny cartoon about Swedes. The Swedes and The Norwegians always are always taking digs at each other. The Swedes are what Sikhs are in India . There are so many Sikh jokes.

The family values are very strong in Norway . Cousins are friends, children visit their parents often and everybody gets together a lot and visit. There are no hidden games, no bickering or backbiting. It’s all out there. You say how and what you feel and it’s okay. How liberating is that!!!

Now we are all just relaxing. Kjell and Kjetil are watching T.V. and Anne Marit is showing me her jewllery and we talk to each other from time to time . Just a very nice day in Bergen ….

Today Kjell saw me shuttling between two rooms as I was getting ready, I was putting my makeup on in the bathroom and had my curling iron plugged in in their bedroom as I could use the adapter there.

He says to me in all innocence, “You have much to do!” since I was so busy.