The only parenting life hack is grandparents

We owe a debt of gratitude to my parents for helping facilitate this move. We stayed with them for two weeks before flying to Norway. They are keeping both our cars. And most recently, they came here for three weeks with my brother Andrew to help care for Annalise while Gavin was traveling with youths. […]

I’ve been traveling with youths

The US military works better when it works with other countries. So, the Naval Academy has a variety of different ways of exposing midshipmen to other countries and cultures. One of those mechanisms is the Languages, Regional Expertise, and Cultures (LREC) summer trips, where faculty members propose and lead trips for small numbers of students […]

URGENT UPDATE: The Ingebrigtsen brothers have dropped an Olympic banger

Loyal readers, influenced by our last blog introducing the Norwegian Olympic team, are no doubt eager to track the Olympic exploits of middle-distance runner and reality TV star Jakob Ingebrigtsen. As a soundtrack, we feel compelled to pass along the song he and his brothers have dropped in honor of these Olympic games. Enjoy, and […]

Here’s a likely inaccurate and certainly incomplete introduction to the Norwegian Olympic team

This year I want to improve my Norwegian. Thus far, I’ve been too tired for my Pimsleur lessons and too busy to attend a language course. Instead, I’ve been watching documentaries about Norwegian Olympic hopefuls on the national TV station, NRK. These shows are preferable to NRK’s primetime lineup, which seems no better than TV […]

We are out of ideas to entertain this child

Norway is on vacation. It’s likely that our American readers don’t really understand what this statement means. What we mean is, Norway is on vacation. The hospitality industry. The university. The immigration office. The police. The military. The landlords who could answer questions about our apartment. The administration who could fix our gym memberships. Customer […]

Norway’s taco shells, ranked

Disclaimer: Norway, we love you and hope this commentary is taken in the spirit of good-natured teasing that is intended. But, these taco shells are garbage 🙂 An unexpected cultural oddity is the role that the taco plays in Norwegian society. Tacos are based around the spices and produce available in a specific part of […]

Praise Odin, our daughter slept through the night

We are incredibly lucky that Annalise has always been an amazing sleeper. As early as two months old, she was regularly sleeping seven hours per night. I don’t think we can credit our superior parenting; she’s just that kind of kid, though we also give some credit to the SNOO smart bassinet. On a typical […]

Annalise reviews: the “Scandinavian sleep method”

This is the first in a series where Annalise reviews things about Norwegian life. Today, the “Scandinavian sleep method.” Apparently there is a viral trend on a social media platform we don’t use that was profiled in the Washington Post: the “Scandinavian sleep method.” The concept is that two people share a bed with no […]

The only people responding appropriately to air travel are the crying children

The part of this trip we most feared, by far, was the overnight flight with Annalise. Annalise has flown, but only on direct flights during the day. These flights went well, but involved us playing a lot of defense, as her radius of impact gradually grew to include more and more of our seat neighbors […]

What did we pack?

To make this trip, we each get two checked bags with which to make a life in a cold, rainy place where people love the outdoors. This is not easy! Every T-shirt must also be an undershirt. Every long-sleeved shirt must also be a layer. Anything more formal than jeans is brought regretfully, as it’ll […]