29.10.08

Snow home grandad



It's the final day of my father's 10-day visit during which he has terrorised the locals by taking walks and saying rude things like 'good morning' and 'great day' unprompted. One Irish friend even told me that she thought she had passed my dad on the road as some guy had said 'hello' to her so that by process of elimination it must have been a visiting, friendly Irishman on the loose. 

In honour of his return to the emerald isle, the Norwegian skies have opened up with snow. Luckily, my husband spent hours on sunday changing the car tyres but as you can see that other essential that marks the arrival of winter, the dismantling of the trampoline, is still on the 'to do' list. 

There was chaos on the roads this morning, as there always is on the first day of snow, with buses stuck and cars skidding all over. It happens every year as if no one here ever drove in snow before.

Aidan is staying home for quality time with grandad and because I couldn't face taking the car out again this morning lest I didn't make it back up the hill. When I suggested that the child might like to go out and play in the snow, my father said, 'you'd let him out in that' as if I had suggested sending the boy out on the trampoline buck naked. 

Yes it's time for grandad to go home to the country where a few flakes of snow have the power to shut down the country and where children only play outside in good weather, which is about 3 days a year.

10 comments:

The housewife said...

Bwahahaha - poor Norwegians having to put up with such politeness.

Bought myself a pair of boots today - thought of you. I actually made a point of putting my receipt in my purse this time....

Unknown said...

Ah poor you, thinking of me when shopping. I'm worryingly unperturbed by the arrival of ugly boot weather - I'm clearly not well!

Anonymous said...

the UK was hit with snow too! 1cm was enough to halt traffic... seriously! i was shocked, i haven't seen snow before december for years

dont norwegians like politeness? ill fit right in

Unknown said...

Samuel
It's not that Norwegians don't do politeness - they do - it's just that they consider ignoring each other to be the politest thing to do.

Victoria said...

Hello,
Just wanted to tell you that my husband and I visited Dublin last weekend and LOVED it. I mean absolutely loved it. The people were so friendly and welcoming. There was so much to do (at least compared to Stavanger). It was really wonderful.

Unknown said...

Oh that's lovely to hear, Victoria. We have been saying 'no' to moving to Stavanger for several months and my husband's boss has finally conceded that we can stay in Oslo. Nothing against Stavanger per se but if we have to up and leave, we'd prefer somewhere completely different rather than a smaller, wetter version of Oslo, with poorer access to Dublin. Did I mention before that my brother-in-law moved there from Copenhagen in August and loves it?

Unknown said...

Oh that's lovely to hear, Victoria. We have been saying 'no' to moving to Stavanger for several months and my husband's boss has finally conceded that we can stay in Oslo. Nothing against Stavanger per se but if we have to up and leave, we'd prefer somewhere completely different rather than a smaller, wetter version of Oslo, with poorer access to Dublin. Did I mention before that my brother-in-law moved there from Copenhagen in August and loves it?

Jo said...

Hysterical about the old man! We had Norwegian (family) visitors last weekend and when I went to meet them in the City they stood up and hugged me and gave me a peck on the cheek! I was quite taken back not expecting it of course. Why is this, I find them very friendly but do believe every word you say. Maybe they come out of their shells in Africa.

Unknown said...

Joanne
There is a big difference in how Norwegians greet friends and family (very warmly) and total strangers (ignoring them for the most part).

Victoria said...

There are definitely plenty of people that do enjoy Stavanger. Especially people with children, as its very child oriented and child friendly. I'm sure Oslo is too though.
I would personally be THRILLED to move tomorrow but that may have more to do with my own shortcomings rather than Norways. :-)