A Rose By Any Other Name

I'm feeding Magnus yogurt for aftens (the 4th meal of the day).  He tells me he wants "corni."  I have no idea what corni is and he won't actually come get it, he'd rather give me directions to it.  I finally happen upon the dry cereal cupboard.

"Oh!  You want oatmeal in your yogurt," I say.

"No, corni."

The only other thing I can see that would work in yogurt is granola.  

"Granola?"

"No."

I wander over to the table with the oatmeal to see if I can just pass it by him.  Unfortunately he sees what I'm up to.

"No!!!" he exclaims as he pushes the container away.

"You're going to have to show me then," I tell him.

This time he gets up and goes to the dry goods cupboard.  He looks and looks for his corni.  

I show him the container of oatmeal one more time and ask, "Is this corni?"

"Yeah."

We wander back to the table and I put oatmeal on his yogurt.  Oatmeal apparently isn't oatmeal when it's put on yogurt.

The Rules of Imaginary Worlds

Magnus sometimes doesn't like to go to the toilet.  He'll ususally go if you tell him there's fish in the toilet, or spaghetti, or cars.  

He's in playschool, and he doesn't want to go.  I tell them there's fish in the toilet, he still won't go.  He asks if there's a helicopter in the toilet, and I tell him of course there is.  He happily goes to the bathroom, opens the toilet, looks in, looks at me and says, "There's no helicopter in here."

More Toddler Logic

Last night, Magnus wouldn't go to sleep.  His reason?  He was a big boy, five years old in fact, and didn't have to go to bed early.  Linda tried to get him to just play quietly in his bed, knowing he'd soon get tired.  He took this deal for a little bit, then he decided he didn't like it.  

He hollared from the top of the stairs, "I don't have to go to bed!  I'm a big boy!  I'm five!"  

Linda couldn't keep him in his bed for more than a few minutes.  He'd be up again and proclaiming that five- year- olds don't have to go to bed early.

Next it was time for Aurora to go to sleep.  She asked Linda to read her a story.  Pretty soon Linda hears feet on the floor and Magnus saying, "I'm coming, I'm coming.  Now I'm running."  

He stopped dead in his tracks as he entered Aurora's room and saw Linda.  He did a quick about face and ran back to his bed.

A few minutes later she heard the sound of feet again, "I'm coming, I'm coming.  Now I'm running."

Linda calls out, "I'm still in here."

He makes a last minute turn and goes into her room.  By the time she was done reading the story to Aurora, Magnus had fallen asleep on her bed.  

Toddler Logic

Magnus has recently had a step back in toilet training, so he's back in training pants.  Monday, however, he wanted to wear his Lightning McQueen underwear.  I explained to him that he couldn't, that he had to wear these.  

"But I peed in these."

Thinking this wasn't possible since he just got off the pot I say "No you didn't."

"Yes I did.  Look."

I look in his pull-ups and yes, he did.  He then says, "Now I can wear my Lightning underwear."

And he happily strips off his pull-ups chanting, "wet, wet, wet."  He rolls them up and throws them away, very proud that his plan worked.  

He wasn't very happy when I got out a new pair of pull-ups and asked him to put them on.  Curses! His brilliant plan was foiled!  

I explained that he had to not pee in his pull ups for several days before he could wear his Lightining underwear again.  Several days is roughly a year in toddler time, so this didn't smooth the situation over.  

Letting him wear two Lightning McQueen shirts, however, did.  

The Language Gap

Matthias has been learning English in school.  He recently brought home something I don't think he learned from the teacher.  He brought home the good ol' one finger salute.  He thinks the phrase "in your face" goes with it.  He happily flipped everyone off in the house including the baby, proud of his new knowledge.  

Flipping the bird doesn't have the same gravitas here as it does in the US.  I can just hope this is something he quickly discards.  I'm afraid that if I make too big a deal of it, it will only encourage the behaviour.

Update the 3rd

I looked up the antibiotics I was perscribed.  It's a member of the penicillan family.  Yeah, this won't help.

My First UHC Experience (Pt 2)

My plan to arrive at urgent care a few minutes before they opened was a success.   I was in and out in no time at all.  My goodness my doctor was young.  I can safely say this is the first time in my life I've had a doctor who's younger than I am.  It was quick and relatively painless.  I only ended up paying $40 for the visit.  

It was interesting trying to explain my conditions with the language barrier.  Two were easy, the third...  I'm not someone to get embarassed about explaining medical conditions, but having to explain and eventualy write details down for half the clinic to try to translate left me very red in the face.

I was able to get a refill of one of my US medications.  I'm confused as to how future refills work.  I guess I'll find out when I see my PCP.  Lord, I hope they have refills here.  They must.  Right? 

I was unhappy to find out that one of the greatest medications ever invented is unavailable in Norway.  Even though it's insanely cheap in the US.  No Diflucan here.  Nevermind that the old fashion medication is almost triple the price.

This brings me to the topic of the pharmacy.  Firstly, I was delighted at how quickly pharmacies fill perscriptions.  With a cash only system, there's no need to wait for long periods of time for a perscription.  The meds are also all pre-packaged in blister packs which further streamlines the system.  I spend about $70 at the pharmacy for my three items.  This was expected.  Actually, my monthly perscription was cheaper than the gov't website said.  

After I got home, I noticed something about my monthly perscription.  I'm supposed to take half a pill twice a day.  But they didn't give me pills, they gave me capsules.  So, back I go to the pharmacy.  The pharmacist tells me I should open the pills, divide the contents in half with a knife and carefully swallow half the contents two times a day.  

Wat.  

This will be fun.  She then shows me the prices of the other drug strengths, and mentions that I might want to take two seperate pills in the future.  Two pills a day will be an insanely high price for no discernable reason.  One would think extended release would cost more, that's apparently not so.  One would also expect a smaller dose to cost a bit less, again not true.  Also, I found it interesting that the generic and the brand name were almost exactly the same price.  

She then goes on to tell me that I have to be very careful not to bite the contents because it's extended release.  Which was exactly what my doc didn't order for me.  I'm sure the extended release will work just fine, I'm calling my US doc to double check, especially since I recall her specifically saying she wasn't giving me the extended release.  This just seems like an accident waiting to happen,  I walked out of the pharmacy with a different percription than my doctor wrote for me.  No pharmacist came over to talk to me or double check the perscription.  The person helping me certainly wasn't a pharmacist.

You Too Can Have UHC!

My experience with universal healthcare thus far:

This is similar to an HMO, where you have a PCP that can't be easily changed.  I chose mine because she was the only female PCP and you don't have the option of seeing a seperate GYN for your female needs.  

I chose poorly.  

I've been needing to see a doctor since I got here.  I had to wait until Oct 1st for my docotr to be assigned.  That's irritating, but understandable.  Now that I have a PCP, one would think that I have access to healthcare.  

Last week:  Office was out all week.  It was fall vacation here, and Norwegians do take their vactation time seriously.  So whatever.  I can accept that.  

This week:  Monday:  Found out the hard way that there's very limited call in times.  The phones are on from 9:00 to 11:00 and 12:15 to 1:30.  Missed both windows.

Tuesday:  Held the line for an hour.  Finally gave up when I had to pick the kids up from school.

Wednesday:  Joy!  I got a hold of a real person!  They can even fit me in today.  Bad news is, I can't actually come in today.  I need an appointment for Thursday.  Can I make an appointment for tomorrow?  No.  I have to call back tomorrow if I want an appointment tomorrow.  Wat.

Thursday:  Only 28 min on hold.  But they're not sure if they can get me in to the doctor today.  Apparently my doctor only works 2-3 days a week so she's quite busy when she's  in.  Would have been nice to know this before I chose this doctor.  

So now I'm waiting for a return call from the nurse to see if I can be squeezed in.  Of course, I'm not holding my breath.  PCP docs get paid when you're well, not for office visits (ala HMO).

It's also $60/visit.  And I'll be paying more for my perscriptions here that I paid in the US with no insurance.

UPDATE:  So the doctor's office did call me back.  And it's urgent care or the ER for me.  Good times.  I did schedule an appt for 10/24, the soonest I could get in.  I've heard that the wait at urgent care or the ER is 4 hours minimum.  Urgent care opens at 2.  I think I'm going to go there at 1:30 and stand outside the door until they open.  

More Silly Norwegian Laws

You have to pay an annual licensing fee for the priveledge of owning a TV or VCR.  2,103.84 KR (roughly $400) a year.  This isn't for cable, nor does it matter if you have a VCR and no TV.  

...

Fall is Here!

The leaves are just starting to turn here.  It's incredible.

Interesting Graffiti

Definately someone inspired by Banksy.  I should also mention, Norwegians see graffiti a bit different than we do in the US.  There's actually been a pair of artists commissioned to paint on abandoned buildings here.  It's neat, it adds character to the landscape.

The Strangest Things Grease the Wheels of Cooperation

Sometimes the best way to get a kid to eat is to let them wear their shorts on their head.  Magnus is actually a good eater, he was just a bit cranky this particular morning.  He wanted to wear his Cars shorts,  and wasn't terribly interested in food until his clothing issues were sorted.  September in Norway is definately not shorts weather.  I told him he could wear his shorts for a hat if he ate breakfast.  This idea amused him so much that he instantly agreed.  

I also told him he could wear his shorts over a pair of sweats to kindergarten.  This quickly smoothed over the situation.  It might of looked a little strange to grown ups, but darned if he didn't think he was cool.

Another Advantage of Smart Cars

You don't actually have to learn to parallel park.

Tønsberg Slottsfjellet

I visited the Slottsfjellet (Castle Mountain) last week, and just now have the capabilities to post my pictures.  

This is a picture of a small harbor on the way to the castle.

This is the oldest settlement in Norway, and was in use from 871-1871.  

A picture out over the fjord.  In the very top right corner, trees conceal the runway of the dropzone.

Another picture of the fjord looking back toward town.

This is a view from the top of the tower.  This is another view of the town with the fjord in the back.  The large buildings in the center are the shopping center.

Another couple of views from the tower, this time of the ruins surrounding the castle.

My friend, Anna.

I love the rooftops here.  They're either covered in gorgeous shingles or plants and trees.

A view of the inside of the tower.  They renovated the buidling in 1971, that's why the brickwork looks relatively new.  I'm not sure if the cross was left over from viking days or not.  I didn't quite trust my Norwegian enough to ask an employee.

Gas Prices

13.21 kr/liter for unleaded and 12.93 kr/liter for diesel.  In American money at the current exchange rate it's $2.35/liter and $2.30/liter or $8.89/gal for unleaded and $8.71/gal for diesel.  Yeah....

A Vacation and a Head Cold

Due to internet problems, I haven't been able to post this past week.  I did get out today.  And I took some photos of more fine European footwear.  I'll post some pics of Tønsberg and some more stories soon, right now I'll leave you with the photos.

Gold soccer shoes by Nike.  For about $100 you can strut in style down the soccer field.  It won't make you faster or play better, but it will make everyone look at you.

Primary color high tops.  1995, here we come!

More gold and silver track shoes.  Totally hot.  And another glimpse of the awesome hightops.

These shoes are the ultimate cool.  First, there's the velcro.  For the child in all of us.  Available in either two-tone white or super shiny silver.

And finally.  These shoes are priceless.  Up top there's the shiny plastic Adidas.  Available in high top or low profile.  And down below we've got the best of the early 90's.  My favorite are the ones on the left.  DC has shown that one pattern will never go out of style: zebra print.