lights out
Of all the nights I've spent here in Norway, tonight must have been the most wonderful. It started when the lights went out.
DAYTIME
It was a normal routine. I woke up at 6:45 in the morning, fixed myself and went upstairs to prepare breakfast. It was dark and cold as normal winter mornings are even if it wasn't snowing outside. It was just cold, like 3 degrees, which means everything outside was icy. I turned on the oven, made the table and took out the things I needed from the refrigerator (butter, cheese, brown cheese, baconpaste, ham, salami, mayonnaise, yoghurt, milk, fruits etc.). Minutes later Anne came down with Hebbe (the newest member of the family, a nine-month old kleiner munsterlander, yeas, a dog. a blck one with white tail). Hebbe has to go out to pee in the morning. We exchanged 'good mornings' and then Anne went upstairs to be with the kids. I then put the bread in the oven, prepared oatmeal for Kaspar, and sliced fruits. When everything was set except for the bread, I began making smoothie. For smoothie, I blended apple juice, banana, apple, frozen raspberries, blueberries and strawberries (strawberries are best), and vanilla yoghurt together and serevd them in four glasses (one with a straw for Kaspar) and put it in the table. After that, the bread was ready so I took them out, sliced them and put them in the bread basket. Everything was ready so I warmed the oatmeal in the microwave for three minutes and prepared for Kaspar's lunch box. It was usually bread with ketchup, pepperoni and cheese but for now, he just wanted cheese, so I prepared cheesebread. Two minutes before 7:30, they came down and then they ate breakfast.
Anne and Kaspar were the first ones to leave the house. Einar was home but he went for a conference at 9:30 and Ingrid went for school the same time because it's Wednesday. So by 9:30, it was just me and Hebbe.
I was asked to prepare dinner so I planned what to cook. I thought of something easy to make. And when I say easy, it means I've cooked it a hundred times already. hehe And I came up with spring rolls (lumpia) and meatballs in wok sauce. I went out in the morning to buy the things I need. And when I came home, I started making spring rolls. I also made the meatballs (it's just ground meat, flour, egg, salt and pepper brought to boil in a boullioned water). After that I went to Vinderen skole to pick up Kaspar. I brought along Hebbe with me. We met Ingrid at the highway and she took Hebbe. Kaspar had to attend to a birthday party so we need to get home early so he can have his homework done and prepare his present for Jon and Hermann. When we came at the house he started making his present, it was a ticket for Jon and Hermann for a Grimelund Cinema which is actually located at the basement of their house (beside my room), yeah, the cinema room. I think it was an awesome idea, a movie treat as a present with free popcorn and drinks. And then he made his homework and then we went down to Hermann's place. We were late actually.haha Kaspar was the last one to get in the car. But it was okay.
So now, the night starts.
NIGHTIME
I started cooking at four (16:00). Dinner's at five (17:00). Ingrid was there making her nails. She had a creative nail polish since it has the normal brush and the tip like that of a pen. So she can paint and draw in her nails and mix whatever color she likes. So I was cooking and we were talking. And then Anne came around . And she asked Ingrid, "Why are you not helping Frailyn, my dear?". And Ingrid answered something like, "We're talking. I'm entertaining her." Anne shook her head and asked what she could help. I just smiled and said I can manage. Of course, I can. I might be a bit nervous (everytime I'm cooking) but that was normal. I was in the middle of frying the spring rolls and sauteing the garlic for the wok when the lights suddenly went out. And we were all like 'Oh!'. That was strange. It rarely happens here. It has been a long long time since I experienced black out (or brown out as what we usually call it). And I find it quite amusing. Why? Everything in the house is run by electricity. Everything. What to do?
We hurriedly searched for flashlights and then Anne checked if something was wrong with the lines in the house but it was okay. When we looked outside, there was only one line of houses without lights and we belong to that line. We then tried to find some lights, lighted some candles and waited for the electricity to come back. It was nice with candle lights actually, especially those tea lights. It makes the house cozy. Einar arrived and said there's nothing we could do except to wait. Ingrid and I were left in the kitchen together with Hebbe. We talked like we haven't talked before. She was suddenly talkative and I was suddenly not shy. She asked about the weather in the Philippines and she laughed when I said that 18 degrees is cold already. Because that is hot already for them. We talked about experiences with black outs, like how we could hear the frogs and the insects and all those noises nature makes. And yes, at the back of my mind I missed home. Because when the lights are out (whether it's naturally black out or we didn't pay the electric bill), we all would gather together and Mama would start to tell us stories. A lot of them I could not remember but the feeling of great awe and excitement, I could still recall. And before I could get drowned to my own memories, I tried to focus on what Ingrid was saying. She showed me the recipes (in Norsk). So she kind of explained every food we see. And then she tried to teach me Norsk. She gave me English phrases and words I should translate. And I felt like my nose was bleeding. hahaha! I know a little Dansk and their language were almost the same so I got some words right like småkaker=cookies, pig=gris, Merry Christmas=God Jul, and a lot more that I wasn't able to answer. Later on, we played Si si si (Si si si, abogada si Lola Agueda. Kontravida sa Flordeluna... you know that song?) The first time I heard Ingrid singing that, I was amazed. She knows the whole song. It's the slang version but she knows it. haha! I kept saying she's very good. And she always say that she memorized it but she doesn't understand a word. I tried to translate and I realized that the meaning was almost nonsense.hehe My brain was bleeding. Then she played a song in her phone. I said that it was familiar. It was the new moon soundtrack! She's one of those addicted, too. And she thinks that Emmett is cute. I go for Jasper. :) She passed three songs to my cellphone. That was lovely! Then, we made fun of Hebbe, making him catch the laser light. And we were laughing so much everytime Hebbe tries to dive for the light.
Anne has to leave for facial. And we were still waiting for the lights to come back. I asked Ingrid if we can go and knock at the neighbor and said, "Hi, can we cook some spring rolls here?" And she laughed. That would be very strange. The lights still didn't show up. It was beginning to get colder and colder. I had to put my hand above the lighted candle to get some warmth. Until 6:45. Lights on! We shouted "Yehey!"
Einar asked if I could make the dinner at eight so we could wait for Anne and eat together. It was no problem for me. Ingrid suggested that we bake christmas cookies. We were lucky to have all the ingredients we needed. I never enjoyed baking as much as I did that night. It was fun. Ingrid was fun to be with. We made brune pinner (brown sticks- it's with sugar, sugar syrup,vanilla sugar, egg, natron, flour and cinnamon) and berlinerkranser (it's with egg, sugar, butter and flour. and of all cookies, i like this best). The first one was good, more like a hard biscuit in flat sticks. The second one we tried to shape like knots but was impossible so we shaped into baking forms they had- christmas tree, snow, pig, car, man, ship, plane, etc. We had dinner at eight. Anne kept asking sorry because I had a long day but I assured her I'm enjoying. After we had dinner, we continued baking. We had some finished cookies and Einar kept coming to ask for something and Ingrid was like, "Papa!" turning to me saying "He's eating everything when we haven't even finished yet!" And I find it funny to look at them. And I felt wonderful. And grateful.
It was 11:25 when we finished. I didn't feel tired at all.
Before I closed my eyes that night, I realized one thing, I love my life :)
DAYTIME
It was a normal routine. I woke up at 6:45 in the morning, fixed myself and went upstairs to prepare breakfast. It was dark and cold as normal winter mornings are even if it wasn't snowing outside. It was just cold, like 3 degrees, which means everything outside was icy. I turned on the oven, made the table and took out the things I needed from the refrigerator (butter, cheese, brown cheese, baconpaste, ham, salami, mayonnaise, yoghurt, milk, fruits etc.). Minutes later Anne came down with Hebbe (the newest member of the family, a nine-month old kleiner munsterlander, yeas, a dog. a blck one with white tail). Hebbe has to go out to pee in the morning. We exchanged 'good mornings' and then Anne went upstairs to be with the kids. I then put the bread in the oven, prepared oatmeal for Kaspar, and sliced fruits. When everything was set except for the bread, I began making smoothie. For smoothie, I blended apple juice, banana, apple, frozen raspberries, blueberries and strawberries (strawberries are best), and vanilla yoghurt together and serevd them in four glasses (one with a straw for Kaspar) and put it in the table. After that, the bread was ready so I took them out, sliced them and put them in the bread basket. Everything was ready so I warmed the oatmeal in the microwave for three minutes and prepared for Kaspar's lunch box. It was usually bread with ketchup, pepperoni and cheese but for now, he just wanted cheese, so I prepared cheesebread. Two minutes before 7:30, they came down and then they ate breakfast.
Anne and Kaspar were the first ones to leave the house. Einar was home but he went for a conference at 9:30 and Ingrid went for school the same time because it's Wednesday. So by 9:30, it was just me and Hebbe.
I was asked to prepare dinner so I planned what to cook. I thought of something easy to make. And when I say easy, it means I've cooked it a hundred times already. hehe And I came up with spring rolls (lumpia) and meatballs in wok sauce. I went out in the morning to buy the things I need. And when I came home, I started making spring rolls. I also made the meatballs (it's just ground meat, flour, egg, salt and pepper brought to boil in a boullioned water). After that I went to Vinderen skole to pick up Kaspar. I brought along Hebbe with me. We met Ingrid at the highway and she took Hebbe. Kaspar had to attend to a birthday party so we need to get home early so he can have his homework done and prepare his present for Jon and Hermann. When we came at the house he started making his present, it was a ticket for Jon and Hermann for a Grimelund Cinema which is actually located at the basement of their house (beside my room), yeah, the cinema room. I think it was an awesome idea, a movie treat as a present with free popcorn and drinks. And then he made his homework and then we went down to Hermann's place. We were late actually.haha Kaspar was the last one to get in the car. But it was okay.
So now, the night starts.
NIGHTIME
I started cooking at four (16:00). Dinner's at five (17:00). Ingrid was there making her nails. She had a creative nail polish since it has the normal brush and the tip like that of a pen. So she can paint and draw in her nails and mix whatever color she likes. So I was cooking and we were talking. And then Anne came around . And she asked Ingrid, "Why are you not helping Frailyn, my dear?". And Ingrid answered something like, "We're talking. I'm entertaining her." Anne shook her head and asked what she could help. I just smiled and said I can manage. Of course, I can. I might be a bit nervous (everytime I'm cooking) but that was normal. I was in the middle of frying the spring rolls and sauteing the garlic for the wok when the lights suddenly went out. And we were all like 'Oh!'. That was strange. It rarely happens here. It has been a long long time since I experienced black out (or brown out as what we usually call it). And I find it quite amusing. Why? Everything in the house is run by electricity. Everything. What to do?
We hurriedly searched for flashlights and then Anne checked if something was wrong with the lines in the house but it was okay. When we looked outside, there was only one line of houses without lights and we belong to that line. We then tried to find some lights, lighted some candles and waited for the electricity to come back. It was nice with candle lights actually, especially those tea lights. It makes the house cozy. Einar arrived and said there's nothing we could do except to wait. Ingrid and I were left in the kitchen together with Hebbe. We talked like we haven't talked before. She was suddenly talkative and I was suddenly not shy. She asked about the weather in the Philippines and she laughed when I said that 18 degrees is cold already. Because that is hot already for them. We talked about experiences with black outs, like how we could hear the frogs and the insects and all those noises nature makes. And yes, at the back of my mind I missed home. Because when the lights are out (whether it's naturally black out or we didn't pay the electric bill), we all would gather together and Mama would start to tell us stories. A lot of them I could not remember but the feeling of great awe and excitement, I could still recall. And before I could get drowned to my own memories, I tried to focus on what Ingrid was saying. She showed me the recipes (in Norsk). So she kind of explained every food we see. And then she tried to teach me Norsk. She gave me English phrases and words I should translate. And I felt like my nose was bleeding. hahaha! I know a little Dansk and their language were almost the same so I got some words right like småkaker=cookies, pig=gris, Merry Christmas=God Jul, and a lot more that I wasn't able to answer. Later on, we played Si si si (Si si si, abogada si Lola Agueda. Kontravida sa Flordeluna... you know that song?) The first time I heard Ingrid singing that, I was amazed. She knows the whole song. It's the slang version but she knows it. haha! I kept saying she's very good. And she always say that she memorized it but she doesn't understand a word. I tried to translate and I realized that the meaning was almost nonsense.hehe My brain was bleeding. Then she played a song in her phone. I said that it was familiar. It was the new moon soundtrack! She's one of those addicted, too. And she thinks that Emmett is cute. I go for Jasper. :) She passed three songs to my cellphone. That was lovely! Then, we made fun of Hebbe, making him catch the laser light. And we were laughing so much everytime Hebbe tries to dive for the light.
Anne has to leave for facial. And we were still waiting for the lights to come back. I asked Ingrid if we can go and knock at the neighbor and said, "Hi, can we cook some spring rolls here?" And she laughed. That would be very strange. The lights still didn't show up. It was beginning to get colder and colder. I had to put my hand above the lighted candle to get some warmth. Until 6:45. Lights on! We shouted "Yehey!"
Einar asked if I could make the dinner at eight so we could wait for Anne and eat together. It was no problem for me. Ingrid suggested that we bake christmas cookies. We were lucky to have all the ingredients we needed. I never enjoyed baking as much as I did that night. It was fun. Ingrid was fun to be with. We made brune pinner (brown sticks- it's with sugar, sugar syrup,vanilla sugar, egg, natron, flour and cinnamon) and berlinerkranser (it's with egg, sugar, butter and flour. and of all cookies, i like this best). The first one was good, more like a hard biscuit in flat sticks. The second one we tried to shape like knots but was impossible so we shaped into baking forms they had- christmas tree, snow, pig, car, man, ship, plane, etc. We had dinner at eight. Anne kept asking sorry because I had a long day but I assured her I'm enjoying. After we had dinner, we continued baking. We had some finished cookies and Einar kept coming to ask for something and Ingrid was like, "Papa!" turning to me saying "He's eating everything when we haven't even finished yet!" And I find it funny to look at them. And I felt wonderful. And grateful.
It was 11:25 when we finished. I didn't feel tired at all.
Before I closed my eyes that night, I realized one thing, I love my life :)
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