My new-since-the-end-of-August schedule of school and work has left me feeling overwhelmed. I go to Norwegian class four times a week and work four, sometimes five days a week. I feel rushed all the time; I wake up worrying I’m already late for something. Between school and work and homework and housework (isn’t it weird how similar those words are but how different the meanings?), I struggle to find time to keep in touch with friends and family or even just to sit down to read the newspaper. Clearly blogging has been relegated to the bottom of the to-do list!

But, really, these are such fine problems to have, right? To have work, school, friends, family, a house to clean, cats to play with, a husband to love. So, really, no complaining here, just stating the facts, ma’am. Too much to do and not enough time to do it has me feeling kind of stressed out.

This week, however, is høstferie (autumn holiday) and is a welcome break from school (not work, dammit!). I still like my new Norwegian class but am riding the familiar roller coaster of emotion with it---I like it, I can’t understand what people are saying, I’m tired of being constantly corrected, am I getting better?, I’ll never get better, I hate it, I quit, I can’t quit, blah, blah, blah. I really did need this week’s break!

I survive by reminding myself that the classes are good for me even if they are not a substitute for using the language on a daily basis with Norwegians. Unless I’m doing that, I won’t ever speak and understand Norwegian beyond my intermediate level. The key, therefore, is finding a job in a Norwegian-language environment and perhaps that will happen for me next year?

Quite a few people have suggested I look for work in a Norwegian barnehage (preschool), since I have experience and enjoyed the job at the English-language kindergarten. That is a very good suggestion….except for one thing: Norwegian barnehager are a very outdoor kind of thing. As in, the children and teachers are outside almost all the time. No matter the weather, no matter the time of year. Think about that. Imagine yourself on a playground with 20 toddlers playing in the snow (or horrors! the rain) for hours and hours and hours. Because they do that here!

I get how it’s a good thing, how it trains children who live in a Nordic climate how to deal with the challenging weather. I, however, did not grow up in such in an environment. I’m from the coast of California, dude. We do not ENDURE rain there; we AVOID it. When I went to school, we stayed inside when it rained. Outdoor PE was cancelled in favor of dodge ball or other activities in the gym. Do schools here even have gyms?

If you want to read an excellent description of a very outdoorsy Norwegian preschool, check out this post on The Lille-Stanges, a super blog written by American ex-pat Emily. I would last about one month as an assistant in that preschool.

So, the Norwegian barnehage is not on my list of possible job opportunities, although I’m sure I would learn lots and lots of Norwegian. We’ll see. I’m also coming to terms with the fact that I may never become more-than-adequate in Norwegian. And, really, is that such a bad thing? Sure, it’s not ideal, but at my age, learning a new language was always a long-shot. Anyway, adequate is better than inadequate. I’ll keep telling myself that.

In the meantime, it’s høstferie! Enjoy!