I just got in contact with a girlfriend I had when I was 16-17 years old. Turns out she lived here in Norway for 14 years and has two kids who were born here. She’s back in Buffalo now. A part of me wished she still lived here. It would be nice to have more American friends to hang out with. 

I have been purposely staying away from politics lately. I don’t want to to know anything more until january 20th. Given the last 7 years and 10 months I dread to read what Bush will leave as a final fuck-you to the country. 

I also have been sleeping 16-17 hours a day. It is as if I have been switching to hibernation mode. Sleep, go to work, sleep… I am just going to let it keep happening. If the body speaks you gotta listen.

I think I have mentioned the air in Norway before. 

When Deb was pregnant with Natalie and she left Buffalo, for Norway, I came to visit a few times. Each time I came I lost weight. I also slept very deeply. It took me a few months to figure out it was the air. There is something about this place that makes the air like a drug. When I told my doctor that I lost weight when I visited, he said it was, partly, because I slept so well. 

I tried a little experiment a few weeks ago. I slept a whole week with the window shut. Then I slept a week with the window open a crack. I slept like a drugged baby when the window was open a crack. Needless to say, I leave it open a crack even when it is arctic cold outside. 

I have searched on for other people who have written about it. Nothing. 

Does anyone know anything about this?

I wrote a little ditty about what it is like to live in Norway and got over 3000 hits in one day. Pretty Cool.   Comments can be found here. 

About three days ago my neighbor gave us a Christmas tree. Well, he didn’t exactly hand it to me but pointed way down the small mountain/big hill we live on and said, “There’s your tree.” So I put on my boots and hiked down to get it. I then dragged it up to the house and set it in the living room. There was one problem though. The tree had a huge space in the middle. It also lacked a ‘side’.  There was no way we were going to use this as our tree. I mean, it gave new meaning to Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tree.    We smuggled a new one in yesterday. I hope they didn’t see us bring it in. Norwegians, like everyone else, ave their norms. I probably asked about 20 people at work if it would be considered rude to get a new one. One teacher suggested that, since the neighbors wouldn’t be in the house, we could say we wanted two trees.Works for me.

16 days off bitches! Happy Holidays. 

From Anchorman

 ”I’m Brick Tamland . People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks. Years later, a doctor will tell me that I have an I.Q. of 48 and am what some people call mentally retarded.” 

Who doesn’t love a nice pair of pants? 

I had family here for the last 7 days. It was real hard to say good-bye this morning. Then I brought Natalie, the girl-child, to a picnic/barbecue that my language school had. It was fun. We finally had a nice day. The sun was shining, the wind was minimal.. . It rained pretty much the whole time my family was here which kind of sucked. As for my brain, I am a little more relaxed. Deb and I have taken the advise of many and have really begun speaking Norwegian to each other. I have to say, I have learned a lot. There were students at this picnic that were in classes for 6 months or more. I’ve had a little over a month and I think I am doing pretty well. 

So count on me posting again regularly… Maybe even later today.

I am taking the advice of my friend Terje and changing the format of this place.  From now on you will get an abstract of each entry and you must click “read more” to see the rest of the entry.

I am taking the advice of my friend Terje and changing the format of this place. From now on you will get an abstract of each entry and you must click “read more” to see the rest of the entry. He suggested, and I agree, that it’s nice to see a little of the entry and then choose whether you wish to continue reading. Just a minor thing really.

Well, two weeks ago I had to leave our apartment in a hurry. To make a long story short, Deb’s Mom kicked me out, not for any rational reason. It had something to do with paranoia. So Deb, Natalie and I needed to find a place quickly. Why we had to get out so quickly is another sign of the irrationality of the situation. But I digress.

First, I contacted the police to see if she had the legal right to throw us out with 2 days notice. They didn’t know a thing. They gave me a number of a department that takes care of housing disputes. That department told us that we had every right to stay there and that to throw someone out requires papers to be submitted and a legal hearing that could take months.

In the meantime, Deb was upstairs just trying to convince her mother that we needed more than two days to find a place to live. Most apartments want 4 months rent to move in. That’s a lot of money. The reason being that it often takes so long to kick someone out that the owners want some security. I don’t blame them. But how were we going to come up with so much money when neither one of us are working yet. My work visa still isn’t ready yet.

Her mother wouldn’t budge. But, me being the fighter I am, knew that I had the law on my side. I said that she could do what she wanted, I wasn’t leaving. But Deb didn’t want the police there making a big scene. She insisted that we just leave to avoid a situation…. but where were we going to go? I conceded…even though it went against everything that I believe in. I don’t give up easy. But, out of respect for Deb, I gave up the fight to stay.

Our deadline was 6′clock, Tuesday. It was 3 o’clock Tuesday and still there was nowhere to go. I called my folks and talked to them. They suggested we call the church where Natalie was baptized. Then the visions began to come. I pictured us standing in the rain

We didn’t have anywhere to go until about 2 hours before the deadline. It turns out that a neighbor down the street, Elisabeth, said we could stay with her for a few weeks. Terje, also my neighbor, asked her for us. Now keep in mind, we barely new Elisabeth. We only met her at the street party awhile back.

Before Elisabeth

  My little family needs to find a new place to live quickly. We are all doing well, but need the time to get situated.  Discopants and Haircuts will be back in 2 to 3 weeks. I doubt I will be online very much until then. I look forward to talking again with everyone who comes and visits. 

  I hope to see you near the middle of August. 

Take Care, Have a fun summer, and Register to Vote!

Eric (Dr. Discopants) 

Ahh life in Norway…I knew it was to be a little difficult. ..but during the holiday season…I really miss my friends and family …I am what you call an “outsider” here. But before you start calling me PONYBOY let’s discuss..

Norway is a small country. The population here is roughly 5 million people which is less than New York City alone. So excuse me that I don’t f@#!! speak Norwegian …This is a huge problem because the Norwegians have a different word for everything!! That’s problem #1.
Number 2 is I can’t work yet! I have to wait six months for a visa..So that means my dinners often look like this or this . Yeah… but don’t feel bad for me..I volunteered.