Beat for beat

I reported earlier that we had quite a bit of snow on Halloween.  The week following Halloween I flew up to Brønnøysund in Northern Norway to teach Business English to employees of Brønnøysundregistrene.  It was  my second time teaching up there.  This time, however, a storm with gale-force winds swept through the region the first night I was there and the howling winds and hail woke me up several times.  I enjoy going up there to teach, though.  My next trip to Brønnøysund will be in about two weeks.

I finished my other Fall teaching gig:  teaching English to 5 Angolan graduate students who need to pass the IELTS (International English Testing System) exam.  The Angolans speak Portuguese as their native language.  The students did not have a strong background in English and had already failed the exam once.  They took the course seriously, but I am not sure if they have developed sufficient skills to pass.  The university (NTNU) paid for them to take the course.  NTNU might pay for additional lessons.  I hope so!

Last Spring, I registered a business here in Norway called Nunes Business English.  It is registered as a sole proprietorship (Enkeltpersonforetak).  I have not done any marketing yet, but, notwithstanding, I got my first teaching "gig" under Nunes Business English.  I will be teaching 6 accounting professionals at Det Norske Oljeselskapet.  I start at the end of November.  It is a short course, but if I can teach 10 more short courses like this one, during the course of one year, I will be fully employed.

Skype is keeping Tove and I connected to our grandchildren.  What a wonderful system.  We tried for years to get my mom to use it.  She finally did at her last Christmas the year before she died and she loved it.

Mom "Skyping" with Marc and Irina, Christmas 2009. 

We have "Skyped" with Tove's kids with Tove's mom (Kitty) present so that Kitty could enjoy seeing her great-grandkids.  I really take delight in seeing Kitty talk to and have fun with her great-grandkids.

We celebrated Kitty's 95th birthday last month.  We had a big party.  I think we had 14 people here and we had catered food.  There was only one problem - Kitty could not make it!  She was in the hospital with back-pain and other ailments.  But since the food had already been ordered, paid for and prepared, Kitty implored us to have the party in her absence, which we did.

We have been quite busy this autumn helping Tove's older relatives.  Tante Gerd and Onkel Einar are really having a tough time.  Gerd suffers from Parkinson's and Einar is starting to have short-term memory problems.  Lately, Gerd has been in severe pain and has been hospitalized a couple of times without much success in terms of treatment.  Her doctor has recommended another hospitalization for a 3-week rehab, but thus far she has not admitted herself.  I think she worries about her husband's care should she be in the hospital.

Kitty is back in a convalescent hospital for 3 weeks.  It's the same place where she stayed when we went to the States this summer and she really likes it there.  It is bright and cheery, with a great staff.  She has mentioned that she might be ready to stay there permanently.

Today was picture postcard weather.  Clear, blue skies, no wind and 45 degrees.  We got Kitty out of the convalescent hospital and took her to Sponhuset for waffles and coffee.  I think that she really had a good time.

This blog entry is titled "Beat for beat".  I got sidetracked.  I planned on focusing on our Friday nights, here in Trondheim.  In the Fall, we like to eat a simple dinner, often in front of the TV.  We hardly watch any TV, but on Friday nights we watch three shows:  Beat for beat,  Nytt på nytt and Skavlan.  Beat for beat is a musical game show.  Nytt på nytt is a comedic review of news show and Skavlan is a talk show.

According to Wikipedia:  "The show [Beat for beat] is based upon Irish game show The Lyrics Board.

The show consists of two teams of two members (occasionally three or four), each with their own piano and pianist. The teams are then given clues and have to figure out what song the host is alluding to, in order to score points. The team with the most points in the end are the winners. The pianists, Trond Nagell Dahl and Gisle Børge Styve, have also been with the show since the start. .......

While the competitors are usually singers or musical artists, there have been several instances where the teams are made up of other Norwegian celebrities, such as comedians or TV personalities."

What I like about the show is that half the songs are in English.  I found some YouTube videos to give you an idea about the show.  I am amazed by how many talented singers there are in this little country of 5 million.

This first is by singer Reidun Sæther:

Next , from the comic group Raske Men



Finally from Heine Totland

The Last of Summer

OK, I've got to complete the tale of our summer trip before I entirely forget what happened.  I'm going to focus on family rather than nature, even though the trip up the NorCal and Oregon coasts was beautiful.  If you have not made that trip, I highly recommend it.

We took two days to get from Napa to Salem.  My brother, John, lives in a licensed (by the state of Oregon) board and care home in Dallas, Oregon.  Dallas is in the heart of the Oregon wine country.  Oregon produces some excellent wines from the pinot grape, the vaunted varietal that is used in the Burgundy region of France and featured in "Sideways".   The area around the small town of Dallas, Oregon, is comprised of rolling hills, stone fruit and nut orchards, grapes and dairies.

We picked John up and spent some days in Salem shopping for things John needed, watching family movies that I converted from 8mm to digital, reminiscing and visiting our mother's grave in Silverton.  John is afflicted by the terrible disease of paranoid schizophrenia.  He has not had hallucinations for over 20 years, but, in my opinion, the years of hallucinations, psychotropic medications, both appropriate and inappropriate, have dulled his brain.  In contrast to his behavior in his 20s and 30s, when he was angry and verbally abusive to everyone around him, John has become a gentle, loving and kind man.  And it's genuine; not like Jack Nicholson after the lobotomy in "One Flew over".

My brother John and I in Salem 

I enjoyed spending time with John.

After we took John back to the group home, we visited my uncle Bob and his wife Pat at their lovely home in Salem for lunch.  My aunt Karen and her husband Roger joined us, as did Bob's daughter Stephanie and her kids Olivia and Joe.  The weather was perfect.  It was an enjoyable afternoon.

Bob, Olivia, Stephanie, Pat, Karen Roger and Frank.  Tove took the pic.  

 Roger retired this year and he is really enjoying retirement.  He got a beautiful Camaro Super Sport with more horsepower than a freight-train locomotive.  Olivia presented the vehicle to the admiring crowd.

Roger had to give the young-uns a ride through the neighborhood.

Behind the car are Tove, Frank, Stephanie, Karen and Bob.  

The Monsons are a good-looking clan, aren't they?

Life is tough.   70 is the new 50.  

 

The next day we headed back down toward California.  Alice's brother Ed and his wife Cindy live in Monterey.  They invited us to stay on their boat in Monterey Harbor.  A note to my Norwegian friends:  if you visit California, you must spend some time on the Monterey Peninsula.  It is one of the most beautiful spots in California.

Ed and his gallery in Carmel.

Ed and Cindy.

Ed's vintage Chris Craft cabin cruiser is named Trixie.  

Ed has done a wonderful job of restoring the vintage boat

We took a little tour of the harbor in the dinghy "Flo".  I used the electric outboard motor to propel us.....

.....while Tove preferred to use the oars.

You can rent kayaks and take kayak lessons.

Pelicans are my favorite bird.  There are hundreds of them in Monterey.

Trixie's cabin.  We stayed here two nights.  It was great.

Maybe I should buy a boat.  People say that dog owners choose dogs that sort of look like them.   Does this apply to boats?