Jackie Kennedy in Birkenstocks

Following the NRK TV news report on Tuesday, May 26th, announcing that I had been approved to work as a midwife, and that SAK will now start using the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) to evaluate educations outside of the EU/EØS, our local newspaper in Lillehammer ran a very short article stating the same. We had been hoping it would get a little coverage, as I am repeatedly asked by strangers and acquaintances alike if anything has changed with my work situation. We thought that a little article in the paper would allow me to avoid explaining what has happened over and over again. The little article was short and succinct and we thought that was it. 

Then a journalist called me a few days later. She had written the very first news story about my situation, about 3.5 years ago. She wanted to do a more in-depth interview for the "portrait" portion of Saturday's paper (there is no Sunday paper) when they do a profile on a local resident who is doing something different. I quickly looked up the previous Saturday's profile: a 42 year old nationally renowned female artist, who has bought an old hotel and is using it as an artist's colony, has lived and trained in Iceland and Berlin, and has just opened a new art exhibit in a new gallery in town. 

And so it came to pass that I was interviewed for the local paper, and the following Saturday the following article, awkwardly translated with the help of Google Translate, was published: 

On the front page, with picture: "Approved and Ready. American Emily Stange has lived in Lillehammer for five years and has had to contend with bureaucracy. Read about the midwife who didn't give up in GD's Saturday's portrait/profile."*

Headline: "Midwife Emily: Emily Stange is experiencing a bit unfamiliar feeling. She is optimistic and looking forward to the future. This has not been so for the last five years.

The day is five years ago. In the delivery room at at hospital in New Hampshire a happy set of parents looks at their little daughter for the first time. The mother, a yoga teacher and former Olympic athlete for the USA in kayak, still has contact with the midwife on duty that day (they are friends on Facebook). Now sitting later in a red house in Søre Ål, she tells about the birth with stars in her eyes.

- “It was such a positive and inspiring experience of a natural birth without medication. The mother was a strong woman, who knew her body well. It is a great honor that this was the last birth I attended”, says Emily Stange. Unknown to the midwife at the time, there would be an involuntary break of many years until the next time she could assist at a birth.

It is not Jacqueline Kennedy that welcomes us in the door along with a wagging four legged American blend that answers to the the name Tika. But Emily’s classic good looks mean that she must endure the comparison, though jeans, striped cotton sweater and Birkenstock shoes certainly does not match the first lady's outfit.

None of this is why many people, both in Lillehammer and elsewhere in the country, recognize 40-year-old from Søre Ål.

Her status as a (minor) national celebrity is because she has fronted the fight against authorization authorities (SAK) for healthcare professionals with education done outside the EU / EEA can work in Norway. There have been many rounds of applications and rejections, with overwhelming support by professionals, politicians and, not least, Kari and Ola Nordmann**. Words such as abuse of power, uncultured and arrogance are used.

Last week came a "turning point", as it is called in main character's native language (a phrase I did not use in my interview, neither in my native or second language). The practice should and will be changed. Education will increasingly be assessed from the total number of credits and total study time rather than the number of teaching hours.

Thus can Emily Stange, who has a nursing degree and masters in midwifery and 12 years of practice, finally use her education to work in Norway.

Thus, one would think it is an exuberant and completely happy lady who has fired up the soapstone stove this rainy day and welcomes GD for an interview.

But it is not quite so. Emily Stange thinking about, sighs tiny bit when she answers this question about how she is now:

- “It's hard to explain. I am very relieved that we (husband Erik has also been involved) can put what happened behind us. It's good to think that all the energy and effort we have put down will open the doors for many other nurses and health care workers. Meanwhile, we had the feeling of being in a fight over the last four and a half years. Thus, it is difficult to feel completely satisfied and happy”, says Emily, who is quick to add how heartwarming it has been with all the support she has received from known and unknown.

On social media, people are overwhelmingly supportive, and people from  Lillehammer congratulated the woman behind the counter at Atelier Kakao*** and told that they supported and rejoice in the authorization, which Emily says is tremendously appreciated.

The reader must not understand us to mean that there is a sullen, moping American we have before us sitting in the unique rocking chair in the bright living room, where there is no doubt that toddlers also live.

Emily Stange laughs often and happily. She doesn’t give up and serves us coffee with great serenity, in large cups on the coffee table, neither of which are A4****. It's the fact that she at a college in Minnesota a handy guy, who crafted fine furniture to the couple's home in various states. They moved over the pond in 2010 and the furniture allows the family of four (plus Tika) to feel extra homey in the house they have spent years renovating in the south of Lillehammer.

- “Some day, I want to move back to Norway”, said Erik Stange to his girlfriend. The active skier was in the country for two years the mid-90s, partly as a student at Voss folk high school.

Emily thought it sounded exciting, but put Trondheim limit to how far north they could move. When a job as a researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) was in the bo for Erik, they moved on, satisfied with living in a city with ski trails and of Lillehammer size. For a nurse with many years of work experience to find a job would be the least of their problems. Or so they thought. . .

They could have moved back, something they have considered quite often as an alternative when everything around Emily's job situation was so difficult.

At the same time they felt that the time had not come to give up.

- “We have invested so much here. My husband has great job satisfaction. We thrive in Lillehammer. Kids have it well in daycare and school. We have friends, good neighbors, have renovated our home. . .”

Says Emily, and boy she completely voluntarily used the verb she hates. “Trives” (thrive)*****. Taking the short version is not easy when people ask if you thrive in Lillehammer.

- “The “Yes-we-thrive-here” version is not quite true. Mostly because of the job situation, which has been a huge financial and mental strain. But we could not stay here as long as we have if we did not enjoy it”, says Emily, and repeat the list from earlier with pluses for a good everyday life.

-“I can stand in my kitchen window***** and see my kids playing out in the garden and think about how lucky I am. Life is so good!”

Whoever is looking for a humorous and aptly satirical look at the life and realities here in the north, you can click onto lillestange.blogspot.no. Where describes Emily "The Lille-Stange’s" new life in Lillehammer, Norway. Here you can read, in detail (!), everything from Norwegian culture and daily life to Bergens language test and how to raise a Viking (series of pictures where her son Henrik is packed in layers into a "burrito-baby" to sleep outside). This is not easy to understand “over there”.

My poor blog, sighs Emily. It has not received much attention in recent years, largely because the writer thought the message became so negative about everything that happened on the job front.

- What has puzzled you most here in Norway?

Pause. Emily is among those who think about before answering.

“Russ” celebration is something she thinks is strange and not particularly positive.

- “I've also thought about Norwegians' relationship to summer vacation. Three weeks in the month of July which everyone has free and even entire departments of hospitals close. For me it's unbelievable. Meanwhile, it is also very positive that Norwegians are so protective of their free time.”

Where is home? There is uncertainty surrounding the response from the mother with two small children when we ask her to describe the feeling of having two countries.

- “We talk about “if” or “when” we will move back. But it is also a question of where home is in the USA, because we’ve lived so many different places. When we are in Minnesota, we miss Norway”, says Emily, telling that her daughter Greta on holiday in Italy missed Norwegian milk and wanted to go “home” to Lillehammer.

- “Although she was born in the United States, knows that she is American, has an American flag and cheers for the Americans in the Olympics, she is also very Norwegian. Henrik (two years), also has a US passport, but he is more Norwegian than all of us and will not recognize the United States as home. I think it is a little difficult. But it's also kind of cool. . . “

“I never liked children and babies ... “ The midwife has started to answer to why she chose this profession itself. GD journalist proposes an “always” rather “never”*******, to hearty laughter. “I always have liked children and babies, I mean!”

Actually, it's unfair to mention this little blunder, for Emily is good at speaking Norwegian. But it fosters interesting reflections on the experience of not being able to use one’s mother tongue.

- “The hardest part is that I know that I do not portray my real self. When you have to think so much to find the right words and still not be able to be precise, it is easy to feel a little silly. Besides humor difficult in another language. But it's getting better and better. Speaking Norwegian becomes easier and more natural”, says the one who is proud to have attended a parent meeting alone, almost without need for help in understanding what was happening.

Back to the question we started. What is it with the midwife profession and Emily?

 She describes the experience of being present and help when hours of pain and a lot of hard work is replaced by the joy of being able to see your baby in your arms for the first time.

- “Being able to be present at such a process is a rich moment”, she, who, trained as a nurse in Minnesota and had her first job at the neonatal intensive care at a large children's hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, explains. Then she worked on a maternity ward after a growing desire to have more contact with adults, and wanted to spend time talking with women, informing and answering the questions that arise during pregnancy.

- “The profession is an important part of my identity. It was impossible for me to think that I should start a new and higher education in Norway”.

The midwife has regained optimism, and finds it exciting to be on job hunt.

- Has it been worth the struggle for many years?

Thought.

- “We shall see. I think so, when I think of everything positive that has happened in the past four and a half years. We have bilingual children, I have learned to speak another language and I have learned how strong and resilient I am. Living in another country is incredibly exciting and rich”.

Emily Stange (40)

: Raised and educated as a midwife in the United States, residing in Lillehammer.

: Recently authorized as a midwife in Norway after nearly five years of struggle.

Married with Erik. Children Greta (7) and Henrik (2). Dog Tika.********

(end of article)

Footnotes:

 * Greta read this to me and said, "The midwife that didn't give up. When I read that I felt proud of you." To which I thought, "Ok, she's finally starting to get this."

**A Norwegian saying for “Jane and John Doe” or “the average Norwegian”.

*** The café where I’ve been working off and on since August.

**** A4 is the standard size of paper in Europe, so A4 is a Norwegian saying referring to “standard”. An A4 person is a average, standard, from the box person. People have sighed, hearing my situation as asked, “Why must bureaurcracies be so A4?” like everything has to fit neatly onto a standard form and they can’t think outside the box.

***** “Trives du her?” Norwegians ask me. “Do you thrive here?” I hate the question. Do you want the short answer? That depends on the day. On the weather. On how recently I’ve gotten a letter rejecting my education. On how empty my bank account is. On how many poopy diapers I’ve changed that day. On if I’ve been able to find quinoa at the grocery store or not. On how many days it’s rained in the past month. On how smiley my 7 year old is after spending the day outside. Or do you want the long answer?

****** The original article read that “I can stand inside and watch my kids play outside” and I thought it made me sounds like I was afraid to go out in the cold and play with my kids. Or I was this disengaged, distant mother. We specifically moved our kitchen from the front of the house to the back of the house, so that our kitchen sink looks out over our back yard. I can finish up the dishes and watch Greta and Henrik in the sandbox, sled down our little hill, pick berries, dig in the garden.

******* “Never” is aldri  “always” is alltid. So these words with complete opposite meanings can be pretty easily switched when one is not thinking and a little nervous.

******** Greta said this was her favorite line in the article.

GODKJENT! APPROVED!

I hope I haven't kept you in suspense for the last few weeks. As I wrote on the 19th of May,

Seeing is believing!
"Godkjenning autorisasjon"
Sykepleier og jordmor
until I'm 70 years old!

"all signs point to yes" and actually later that very afternoon my name appeared on the national registry of authorized health professionals, as a godkjent nurse and midwife. It was a little anti-climactic, following a week of suspicion and hope and signs in the right direction, to be notified via an online registry, of which I had been checking pretty obsessively all day long. Erik actually called me from Belgium to tell me he had seen my name. This was not the way I had imagined being notified.  

Fortunately, I would be able to reenact the way I had always imagined being notified, as NRK (Norwegian broadcasting news) wanted to film the opening of the official letters, which did not arrive for another three days. And since it was a long three day weekend, we actually delayed the opening of the letters--and the filming--until the following Tuesday (one week after we really knew), when the news crew arrived at our house at 9am. Talk about anti-climactic! That evening, the report aired on both the regional 7pm news and the national 9pm news! Erik had even done a kick-ass live interview on NRK radio talking about my case and what it means to many others (I declined to do any non-editable interviewing in Norwegian). So that evening, after sitting on this secret for a week, we decided it was high time we celebrate and invited friends and neighbors over, opened a few bottles of champagne, ate cake and watched the news together. 

Erik testing the lighting in our kitchen before the filming

Yes,the footage you see is a bit staged. My reaction is a reflection of some good acting genes but probably more accurately finally living out the scene that I have played over and over again in my head for the last 4 years and 7 months, and some genuine emotion of finally seeing the words in print. 

We are repeatedly asked to comment on our reaction, something that we thankfully had a week to think about. We are grateful, of course, to have this nightmare behind us. I am optimistic about the future and finally being able to work in a field where I am trained to work. We are really proud of the fact that without our efforts, well, it probably would have happened eventually, but we know we were key players in getting the credit transfer system recognized. We are really pleased this will help many other health care professionals from outside of the EU work in Norway. But, I'll be honest, we are pissed as hell that this took 4 years and 7 months, cost us an unknown amount of money, and the amount of blood, sweat and tears it took--the first two mostly Erik's and the last mostly mine--to have people in places of power (politicians, academics, institutional leaders, journalists) recognize the wrongs and the see the need to right them. I know that wasn't a proper sentence, but I don't have the energy to make it into one. You get the point. So, to open a letter that says simply "Godkjent", after all that effort, time, energy, money. . . well, it's a little deflating. 

Congratulations from Erik's colleagues
"We say only CONGRATULATIONS WITH THE VICTORY!"

One of the nursing professors that has been such a strong and influential supporter called me to congratulate me (after sending me flowers!!!) and when I tried to express my weirdly ambivalent and not entirely happy feelings, she said, "It's like you've been sitting for exams for the last 4 years, using massive amounts of energy and adrenaline to prepare and prove yourself, and suddenly it's over." 

And so that's where I've been sitting for the last month: the fight is over. I'm approved to work. I can look for a job. It's time to move on.

Below I will provide a Google translated version of NRK's written online report.

Making the news again!
"Finally she is allowed to work"
Link to NRK news report

Finally she is allowed to work

"I am relieved and happy that I finally received authorization. Now I can finally work as a midwife here in Norway", says Emily Stange.

Waited nearly five years'

Sad for Norwegian health administration- On behalf of the family Stange I am now very happy, but on behalf of the Norwegian health administration I am sad. It has long established an uncultured in this management arm, says Kjenseth.

Nothing has changedLooking ahead

There have been many rounds of applications and discounts for Emily Stange and family. When they came to Lillehammer from Vermont in 2010, thought the job was the smallest problem.

Stange has a bachelor's degree in nursing from the American-Norwegian St. Olaf College, in addition to a master's degree in midwifery and 12 years of practice. She has also taught both nursing and medical students.

But none of the applications Emily has sent to the State Authorization for Health Personnel (SAK) has been approved. They have argued that rod education has not met the formal requirements of the law.

- Time The number of the applicant in her education, is far below the standard requirements of the EU. Long professional experience can not compensate for this, said Director of the Board, Øyvind Bernatek NRK one year ago.

But now Stange can work as a midwife in Norway anyway. SAK writes:

"After a new review of your education as a midwife, we consider that you meet the requirements for certification as a midwife pursuant to the Health § 48 subsection c)."

Several parliamentarians have taken up the cause to Stange. Ketil Kjenseth (V) sits in Health Care Committee and is disappointed over the process. 

THANK Emily's husband: Parliament Politicians Ketil Kjenseth (V) has been involved in Emily case and thanks her husband Erik Stange to have documented and fought against management practices in this matter.

He believes the problem is extensive and talks about a number of queries with similar experiences as Emily.

Also the Association of Norwegian foreign students ANSA react. They believe SAK wastes with high competence.

- I am very happy at Emily's behalf and for the authorization office has done that we have recommended for a long time, and now look at ECTS (credits) instead of number of hours. Now SAK should go through all similar refusal in recent years and treat them according to the same rules, says the president of ANSA, Madeleine Mowinckel.

Study and research director at the College of Gjøvik, Gunn Rognstad has supported Stange from the start. So has also has academic staff from colleges in Hedmark, Buskerud and Vestfold. "Authorization could just as easily gotten four years ago, after taking and passing a test in national health care. The main problem all the way to an unclear understanding of the calculation of the scope of the content of education between SAK, healthcare committee and health ministry about which rules should be applied to process applicants from abroad," says Rognstad.

- "We do not want to express an opinion on individual cases, but may state that some applicants of SAK was considered to satisfy the conditions for authorization after carrying out a specified period of supervised practice", says Anne Harseth Barlow in SAK.

She says that Emily Stange recently took 12 credits in geriatrics, and that this was decisive that she was granted authorization.**

- "I'm really looking forward to working with what I can and hope the work we have done can help others to get authorization on a more timely basis", says Stange.

**I haven't blogged about my 12 credits/8 weeks of geriatric clinicals that I completed in February/March and how enlightening and educational they were to my ability to work as nurse. Perhaps I should do that someday. 

The nursing/midwife saga update

My blogging efforts of late have been pathetic. But, to cut to the chase, I feel I need to update those curious on the details of my continued quest to work in Norway as a midwife. I apologize if this seems really disjointed (and not at all funny). I have written it several times over in the last few weeks as information evolves.

In mid-February (2014), I posted on Facebook that my final appeal for a nursing license had been denied. At that time, I thought that was true, and believed it was as black and white as “go start your education over again”. The actual decision, which we learned a few days later once it finally arrived in the mail, was that I must repeat 6 months of clinical training in geriatrics, home health care and psychiatric nursing. Then I can be authorized as a nurse. Then I must work for one year as a nurse in Norway. Then I can re-apply for the fourth time as a midwife. . . wait 6 months for a decision. . . perhaps need to appeal. . . .perhaps need to re-train 6-12 months, as was once originally recommended. . . and then 2-3 years down the road I might be able to work as a midwife. But, no guarantee. ‘Cause I’m not going to get that answer for another 1.5 years.

In May 2012, the appeals board had upheld the recommendationof SAK (the Norwegian authorization board) that I begin my entire nursing education from the beginning. They suggested I contact a nursing school and that perhaps I could get credit for a few of my American nursing courses.

That’s what we did. And what we found when contacting Norwegian nursing schools and nursing educators is that they were overwhelmingly supportive of my education and, after doing thorough reviews of my coursework and job experience, maintained that I did not need to repeat any nursing education. 

By September of 2013, with the help of an attorney, we finally managed to send in the following information to the appeals board, demanding that they do what is essentially an appeal of the original appeal (an omgjøringsbejæring), something that we didn’t know was an option until we actually spoke with an attorney.

*A four-page letter from a former dean of a local nursing program that explains how the number of credit hours I have earned as a nursing student in the United States actually exceeds the Norwegian hours. She points out that although I have fewer clinical hours than Norwegian, my 12 years of work experience can compensate for this.

*A letter from the fiery PhD-educated Norwegian nurse educator, stating the above as well.

*A letter from a third nursing college educator, stating that he agreed with the other two evaluations, and recommends that I become authorized as a nurse.

*A letter from a midwife who started the first and only master’s degree program for midwives in Norway, (of note: I have my master’s degree, nearly all midwifery programs in the US are master’s programs, and many are becoming doctoral programs), stating that my midwifery education and work experience is equal to a Norwegian, and she believes I should be authorized as a nurse and midwife.

*A letter from the regional office of the Norsk Sykepleierforbund (the Norwegian nurses union/professional organization) stating that they support my authorization as a nurse and midwife.

*A letter from the Norsk jordmorforbund (Norwegian midwife organization/union) supporting my authorization as a nurse and midwife.

*A letter from the Norsk jordmorforening (a second Norwegian midwife organization/union) supporting my authorization as a nurse and midwife.

In November, we heard that the appeals board would review my case in December, but they were first sending my paperwork to two new nurse educator/experts to review my application. They were not given any of the three letters from their fellow nurse educators to review, contradict, argue against, or agree with. We felt this was not a fair or complete evaluation, but there was nothing we could do, even with an attorney helping us out.

A day after the deadline for the new nurse experts to turn in their evaluations to the appeals board, one of them asked to see the “reading list” (essentially the syllabi) from my nursing classes at St. Olaf. This is despite the fact that she had detailed descriptions of every prerequisite class and every nursing class I took at St. Olaf. Needless to say, getting ahold of syllabi from 1995-97 was nearly impossible. The nursing department at St. Olaf bent over backwards trying to locate these, but were only able to find one

In mid-January we finally received the two reviews from appeals board’s experts. The first was completely in agreement with our four—that while Norwegian and American nursing education programs are different in their approach, if one looks at the entire content and the final result, combined with a decade of work experience—I should be granted authorization. The second evaluation—from the nurse educator who wanted the syllabi—focused on the number of hours that differed in our clinical training, and felt that if I did 24 weeks of supervised clinical training in geriatrics, home-health care and psychiatric nursing I could be authorized as a nurse.

The appeals board said they could not give any weight to the four evaluations that we had submitted, as they were “privately engaged” (even though they were supported by one of their own independent evaluations). And so they focused entirely on the evaluation that recommended I repeat 24 weeks of clinical training, and additionally took phrases out of context from the more favorable evaluation and used them to support the less favorable evaluation.  

The TV journalist who originally reported on my case back in November 2012 has been hot on this case. The nurses who wrote the independent positive evaluation have been interviewed, the midwives in charge of the midwife organizations and midwife education programs have been interviewed, as well as some of the members of the appeals board. Our house was full of four journalists a few days ago—TV journalist, print journalist for the online version, and two camera people—still and film, interviewing Erik and me, and capturing the darling American children speaking English and Norwegian. But I digress. . . The questions are, how can an appeals board of lawyers and judges, not one with an educational background, an only one nurse, feel that they are more qualified to evaluate a foreign nursing education than 6-10 nursing professionals? And how can they give so much weight to the most negative evaluation over the other 4-5 that are in agreement with one another?  

Erik and I don't know exactly where this is going. The report will likely air within the next few weeks, and it appears that it will be going national (writing that makes me sick to my stomach). Officially, we don't have any recourse in regards to the appeal aside from a lawsuit, which would cost us somewhere around $18,000 and another 9 months of waiting. That is not going to happen. But, there are enough very angry and powerful nursing professionals out there that, well, who knows what will happen. I am not alone in this fight--these nursing professionals are not fighting for my case alone--there have been dozens of other American-educated nurses turned away because of SAK's inability and unwillingness to recognize and understand the American credit system and acknowledge that there are other countries in the world that can adequately educated a nurse. What this case means for me, and for my fellow RNs. . . .? Only time will tell. 

And hopefully not too much time. To say that I am sick of waiting is the understatement of the century. I need a paycheck, like, yesterday. Those lawyer bills aren't going to pay themselves. 

Amerikansk jordmor får ikke jobbe (American midwife doesn't get to work)

The news report on my 2 year long battle with SAFH and Helsepersonnelnemd was finally aired last night, first on the Oppland and Hedmark district news on NRK1 at 18:40 and then later in the evening (or so I'm told) on the national news around 9pm. It was replayed the next morning on NRK2 and also apparently turned into a radio report! To watch my NRK news debut, you may click here!

I will try to write a transcript of the report, but in the meantime here is my translation of the article that is printed below the news report.
The little family came to Lillehammer and Norway and it was the child-friendliness, ski life and nature that brought them here.

Erik got his dream job as a bioloist while Emily, as an American midwife, was not good enough for Norway. Therefore she is working as a health care assistant.

“It’s not a bad job, and I know there are many people who would want it. I’m glad that I have a job, but this is not what I wanted to do. It is a little depressing, “ said Stange to NRK.

Has delivered several hundred babies

Her dream was to work as a midwife. She has a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the Norwegian-American St. Olaf college, and in addition she has a master’s degree as a midwife and 12 years of job experience.

Emily has also taught both nursing and medical students.

In addition to the formal education, which was approved by NOKUT () she has taught nursing and midwife subjects. She is also a member of the international honor society Sigma Theta Tau because she graduated with top grades.

In six of her 12 years of experience as a midwife, she worked in a hospital and delivered several hundred babies. But, that’s not enough to work as a midwife in Norway.

She wishes she had researched even better before her family decided to move to Norway. “I spoke with midwives, nurses, friends and every said that ‘Norway needs midwives!’ They said that a master’s degree from the United States is actualy more education than what Norwegian midwives have,” she said.

Must begin her education from the beginning

In the course of the last two years Emily has been in contact with the Government authorization office for health care personnel to become authorized to work as a midwfe.

She appealed her case to the Government appeals board and a decision finally came before sommer: she must begin her nursing education from the beginning.

What did you think? “I didn’t think anything. I just cried,” she said.

In the decision from the appeals board they say that the American nursing education has too little theory and clinical practical training when compared to the Norwegian nursing education.

The director of the appeals board can’t comment on a specific case, but says they must take into account patient safety and that they handle all the cases the same.

“In this case our decision was completely in accordance with decisions we have made in similar cases. It does not stand out in any way,” says the director for the Government appeals board, Øyvind Bernatek.

According to statistics, Norway will be lacking 28,000 nurses and at least 200 midwives in the next 20 years. Elisabeth Hals, a midwife at the Lillehammer Hostpial, says the ned for temporary midwives is huge.

“Both with vacations and sick leaves. . . the need is big, “ she said to NRK.

Odd that she must do it all from the beginning

Emily Stange from the United States wonders if she should do more education (editors note: actually, I don’t wonder about this. I simply won’t do it.) She has contacted the College in Gjøvik where they educate nurses.

Study and research director Gunn Rognstad has seen the case and doesn’t understand why Emily doesn’t get authorized in Norway.

“The education she has from the US in case of academic level the same as a bachelor’s degree in Europe. It seems a little strange that she must begin everything from the beginning,” she said.

Rognstad has now sent a letter to the Appeals Board, in which she has asked how/what she can arrange for Emily.

For Emily and her family, their lives are put on hold. She has no desire to begin again with an education that she already has.

“If this doesn’t straighten itself out, and I have to begin my education from the beginning. . . we’ll move back to the US. I will not throw away 6 years of education and 12 years of work experience.”

NRK will follow the case further. 

Erik and I are quite pleased with the report and looking forward to the follow-up news report today and whatever else might come from this. Several people have contacted either me directly or the reporter to voice their support and frustration, or to share their own stories. It's lovely to have the support, but what we need now is someone willing to step up and take it one step further.

Say it!

The back page of the local Lillehammer paper is called “Say it!” or “Si det!” Along with the weather report, and sunrise/sunset time (currently at 9:25am and 3:24pm), there are letters from readers to other general readers, or perhaps a specific reader. It’s not the personal ads, no lonely bachelor Norwegian farmer looking for love. Instead they are little random thoughts, that someone either thought was so brilliant, or was so angered, or so touched by, that they just had to share with all the other readers of GD newspaper.

Often they are complaints about dogs barking in a particular neighborhood. These are often followed a day or two later with letters from the dog owners in those neighborhoods who say, “look, if you have a problem with my dog, please come talk to me personally!” Sometimes they are simple lost and found notices, usually for sleds and cell phones; the other day an old man told the story of how he and his wife were almost hit by a snowplow, had they not dived into their neighbors snowbank. I’ve mentioned the complaints of Halloween before. One of my favorites was someone suggesting printing stickers that say “Yes to dog poop!”. And you could put the sticker on your garbage can, indicating you’re OK with dog owners dumping their doggy-doo-doo bags in their garbage. Brilliant! One of the more random letters was someone complaining “why did the milk company stop printing the little arrows on the milk cartons? I’m having a hard time opening my milk!” I myself have been tempted to rant about the insanity of four-way intersections, and the lack of rules when four cars are at all four corners (it’s not a first come, first go), because no one seems to know what the hell to do. But I digress. . . .

Because these letters can be rather amusing, and because much of my blogging in the past few months has been house related, and not so much “life in Norway” related, I’m tempted to translate a few of the letters as a quick little insight into our life here in Lillehammer.

So without further ado, here was today’s winner: “Thanks to whoever took my jacket home with them by mistake from the two-days ball at Kvam city hall in the after Christmas-time. But it was delivered back newly washed the day after, with everything in place, even including a receipt from the Christmas dinner I had been to before Christmas. I really want to know what laundry detergent you used, because my jacket smells so good!” 

Butter

Have I mentioned that Norway has run out of butter? It's true!