NO snow!

My grandpa asked me today on Skype if we still had snow. The answer is no, and here are some pictures around Kristiansand to prove it!

Stavanger

Well, I just got back from a trip to Stavanger...which is on the west coast, and a 3 hour train ride from Kristiansand. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't so great, but we (Alan and I) still had a great time! We stayed at this cute (and cheap) bed and breakfast (Stavanger Bed and Breakfast), and I highly recommend it! Good Norwegian breakfast and Norwegian waffles and coffee at 9pm. Awesome.

 We visited the Oil Museum, which was interesting, but didn't address any environmental issues at all, which was strange. We did have a really fun time going down the emergency evacuation slide though!

Located right next to the Oil Museum is a Geopark, which is a park for kids that is made of recycled materials.

 We also went to the sardine canning museum, which was really interesting! It is located in old Stavanger, which is really pretty.

Lastly, we took a 3 hour cruise in the Lysefjord today. The boat took us right under Preikestolen.

 The Goats we fed off the boat. They live on the side of a cliff.

Preikestolen (where Mom, Popsy, Aunt Diane, Alex and I will hike this summer!)

 Here I am drinking water that we collected from the waterfall (behind me in the picture)--tasted like bottled water!

 Here are just a few notable pictures from the rest of Stavanger

Notice the Snoop Dogg poster on the second white building from the left...he's coming on June 24th! Random!

One last important thing to note, the days are getting longer now...it was light until a little after 11pm yesterday! Summer is upon us!

Norway's new hot clothing item

Any guesses?

Did you guess this?! Kosedresser or onesies! Or as the Norwegians call them "onepiece". They are going for a whopping 899 Norwegian Kroners which is about $140. Now, would you buy one? Keep in mind, people wear these on the streets. Oh Norwegians, what will be next??

Au Pair?

What is an Au Pair? I've heard this question way too many times... so here I am to clarify.

First, a definition from Wikipedia:

"An au pair (plural: au pairs) is a foreign-national domestic assistant working for, and living as part of, a host family. Typically, au pairs take on a share of the family's responsibility for childcare as well as some housework, and receive a small monetary allowance for personal use.

The title comes from the French term au pair, meaning "on a par" or "equal to", indicating that the relationship is intended to be one of equals: the au pair is intended to become a member of the family, albeit a temporary one, rather than a domestic servant."

Basically I'm a nanny, but doesn't Au Pair sound so much more glamorous?

If you are wondering, here is a typical day at work. Actually I have two typical days, depending on the week.

Week 1's: (decided when the mom starts work at 5am) I start work at 8. I make sure the girl gets her diaper changed, eats and gets dressed. If it's Mon, Wed or Thurs, we head to barnehage (daycare-ish) at 9. At barnehage, we play with toys and other kids, sing and eat. If it's Tues or Fri, we go to the park or do something else outside. We then get picked up by the mom at 11:30, and the girl eats lunsj (lunch) and then she sleeps for a good 2-3 hours. By that time, it's 2pm, and my work day is over.

Week 2's: (decided when the mom starts work at 11am) I start at 8:30 on Mon, Wed, Thurs to bring the girl to barnehage or 10:30 if no barnehage. After barnehage or around 11:30, the girl goes to sleep for 2-3 hours. However, I work until 4pm these days, which means that I make supper for the three kids and the dad (who doesn't cook/can't cook) who all get home at 4.

Hope this clears up and gives you a little insight into my life here! When I'm not working I have the opportunity to do whatever I want, which is nice! On certain days, I take the girl to the city to meet friends or, like last Tuesday, to the zoo. Here are some of the pictures... which probably could be in an Au Pair magazine! ha.

Checking out the tigers!

A horse...

Lemurs...

Monkeys (top left corner)...

Just walking around...

and fish! (had to include one artsy picture!)

If you have other questions about becoming an Au Pair or have other questions, feel free to contact me. Otherwise, you can visit this website.

Out in the skog (woods)

Yesterday, my Polish friend, Jolanta, and I decided to take a hike in the woods behind my house. Thank god we brought a map! We were definitely hiking for a good 4 hours, up and down hills the whole way. Some highlights/lowlights (you can decide) were:

1. Both of us, at some point during the hike, talked on our cell phones.
2. Anna didn't bring water. Dumb. But she did bring a map!
3. We were on animal alert the whole time. Only thing we saw were birds. I was hoping for a moose!
4. We were the only people on the trail the entire 4 hours!

Here is some of what we saw.

A Norwegian wetland, just for mom!

Sign pointing towards a security post bunker from WWI. Who knew?

Bunker

Jolanta hugging a big rock. Not sure why!

The viewpoint we hiked for 2 hours to see...we think. There weren't many signs, so we figured this was it. If so, totally not worth it! :) But check out the ocean in the background, pretty!

Stay on the trail, follow the blue dots.

"I can see civilization!"