Velkommen til Norge!

Our journey to Norway began several months ago.

Or perhaps it really began a year ago.

Strike that.

This journey to norway began generations ago. My great great grandparents each left Norway for America in search of a better life. Once in America, they met, had a family, and for two more generations they remained solely of Norwegian descent. This is my paternal heritage and as a result the Norwegian surname has continued on to me. Names have real power. And because of my name I have strongly identified as being Norwegian. I suppose that is not the only reason. My Norwegian heritages comprises the largest portion of my ancestry, and is quite evident in my appearance. I have always carried a soft-spot in my heart for all things Norwegian, even if only mere trinkets of the culture: lefse, krum kakke, sayings like, "Uffda." I knew that one day I would travel to Norway, the first generation in my family to do so (to my knowledge) after more than a century away.

Yet it is also true that this journey to Norway began a year ago. I was nearing the end of my doctoral studies in Developmental Psychology at the University of Washington. I was what they considered "ABD" -- that is, All But Dissertation. My data were collected, analyses begun, and I was on track to finish writing my dissertation in another two quarters. I decided to apply for a Fulbright Fellowship to spend a year conducting research in another country. To be honest, I did not initially consider Norway. I wasn't aware of anyone doing research in my area in Norway and, as a result, thought it would be a long shot. It wasn't until Joan (my husband's mom) suggested that I look into it anyway. To my utter surprise and delight I discovered a group (The Center for Study of Mind in Nature) at the University of Oslo that was interested in similar issues. I contacted them immediately, sending them my CV and a description of my research interests. Initially I received the standard reply, "Thank you for your interest in being a Visiting Scholar at CSMN. We will circulate your CV and Research Statement to the faculty for consideration. You can expect a reply in two weeks." Okay, I could wait two weeks. An hour and half later I received a second email from CSMN, "We have reviewed your materials and are delighted to invite you to be a Visiting Scholar to CSMN for the 2010-2011 academic year." YES! I could hardly believe it. This was the first major step to my receiving the Fulbright.

Karl (my husband for those of you who don't know us personally) quipped that it would be fun to sail to Norway. I agreed. And this became another start to our journey to Norway.

At that time we had my grandparents' sailboat, Eagle, a 29 foot Ericson sloop. They had given us Eagle 5 years before when they retired from sailing. I had grown up learning to sail on Eagle and had had many adventures with my grandparents aboard her. In fact, it was on a trip as a young girl with my grandparents to Catalina Island that I learned the meaning of "panic." We had encountered rough seas as we approached the Isthmus. After we made it into the safety of the harbor, my grandma said that I had done so well in the rough water, that I hadn't even panicked. I asked what panic meant? When she explained I replied, "Oh yes, I panicked!" But I also had complete faith in their ability as sailors. So while I was scared, I knew I was in capable hands. When my grandparents offered Karl and I to take Eagle to Seattle, I knew it was a gift of their most treasured possession. For me, it was a gift of the spirit of sailing that we could share with our nephews and niece. It was also a gift of the memories that I had with my grandparents. She was more than just a sailboat. But Eagle could not take us to Norway. She was light and agile, but not built to cross oceans. Sailing to Norway meant finding a new home for Eagle and finding a new boat that could safely take us on our journey. We were very fortunate to find a family that fell in love with Eagle. Like my grandparents, they had young grandchildren they were eager to share sailing with. And they would love Eagle as she deserved to be loved. Around this same time, we found Sophia, a Hans Christian 38 cutter, a boat built for crossing oceans. It was in Sophia that my grandparents gift of sailing would continue. In April, 2010 we set off from the west coast of Mexico  and arrived in Norway in early August of that same year. The chronicles of that trip can be seen here:
http://www.sophiagoestonorway.blogspot.com

Now we begin our life in Norway. And what an interesting life I think it will be! We'll be living aboard Sophia in Oslo. I'm certain that will provide much fodder for future posts. We'll also be exploring Norway and Norwegian culture. I'm also certain there'll be no shortage of humorous (at least in hindsight, I hope) experiences in our journey in the ways of Norge.

A new adventure story begins...