The deer have decimated our spinach and stripped most of the green beans from their stalks. Husband is losing his sense of humor over the situation---he really wanted those beans---but we’re trying to take it in stride and think of it as a learning experience, as in, next year we should build a fence. And anyway, I always worry about the deer during the winter (how do they survive? what do they eat?), so maybe this winter I can worry a tiny bit less, knowing we fed them well over the summer.

Today is back to school day for most school kids in Norway, a signal that summer is fading and the regularly scheduled program of fall, winter, and spring is soon to come. I’m not ready! But, ready or not, today is the first day of school and I’m packing up my books and lunch along with everybody else.

I am not, however, returning to my job at the kindergarten. I gave my notice to them before the school year ended in June, a decision that was difficult but necessary. As much as I liked that job---and I really did like it! I never realized how much I love being around kids, or how good I am at entertaining/teaching them, or how much they would like me in return---I soon learned that working in an English-language environment was destroying my ability to speak Norwegian, and that is completely unacceptable to me.

The whole language thing continues to vex me in a way that is kind of shocking. I’ve been in Norway for five years now, and have attended language classes of one kind or another for most of that time, but my Norwegian remains fairly basic. Okay, I guess “intermediate” is the better description, but that is still so far from where I imagined I’d be five years into living here. It could be depressing if I allowed it to be, but I’m super wary of going in that direction, so I try to think of it only as a challenge I’ve yet to meet.

I don’t know why it’s taking so long for me to be able to speak good Norwegian. Most foreigners I know here who have made a real effort to learn have been able to reach something close to fluency in a couple of years. Granted, most of them are younger than me, and many of them are married to Norwegians, which makes a huge difference. Husband and I try to speak norsk to one another every day but since neither of us is much good at it, we don’t really learn from each other. And I do think that learning a language in your 40s isn’t ideal; it can be done, but it takes a long time. A lot longer than I hoped!

So, I resigned from the English-language kindergarten and signed up for intermediate Norwegian class…again. I’ll go three days a week, three hours a day, plus another two hours one evening a week. As for work, I’ve gone back to cleaning offices. Sigh.

Again, this step backwards could be depressing but I refuse to go there. I’m so happy here now, I think of what’s happening as just a small price to pay to be able to live in such a beautiful, peaceful, and economically stable country. Must. Concentrate. On. That.