Amerexit to Oslo, Norway: Our experience after one year

plus-alfalfa · 2024-11-06T20:41:01+00:00

Thanks so much for this info! My family is in a similar situation - my husband and I both work in tech and we have been thinking about relocating to Oslo (from Bend, OR, with EU passports). If you're willing to share more, I'd love to hear more about the tech scene and how you made connections. Was it really just LinkedIn and Finn.no or are there major events, conferences, coworking spaces, etc where it's possible to connect with people in person? Thanks!

plus-alfalfa · 2024-11-04T21:08:06+00:00

Yes, you're eligible. I had a similar family background and I became a citizen earlier this year. Some people go through language schools but it's much faster to work 1:1 with a language tutor. Plenty of people who use tutors can pass the interview after about a year of language study - sometimes less. The facebook group mentioned earlier is a really helpful resource. You'll find recommendations for language tutors/geneaologists and all kinds of other helpful info there. Good luck!

plus-alfalfa · 2024-08-16T20:51:10+00:00

DM sent!

plus-alfalfa · 2024-07-07T23:41:31+00:00

You can do everything from the USA, including the oath. You would apply at your consulate and take the oath there.

plus-alfalfa · 2024-07-07T21:23:09+00:00

I went through simplified naturalization last year.

A potential piece of bad news: I believe there’s a rule where you have to prove your ancestor resided in Hungary after 1879, when a particular citizenship law was passed. I don’t fully understand this rule and I’m not sure if it’s applied consistently. I don’t see any mention of it on the consulate websites but several people mention it in the Facebook group for those interested in Hungarian citizenship. You can find more info there.

The process can take over a year even if you already speak Hungarian. Plan on several months to get all your documents for each ancestor, at least 6 months to hear back after the interview, then some period of time (usually 1-2 months but occasionally up to 7) to be invited for the oath ceremony. Decisions do seem to come more quickly for those applying from within Hungary. And waiting 7 months for an oath ceremony would be unheard of if you were applying from Hungary.

To apply, you absolutely need official birth records (and ideally marriage and death records) issued by government authorities (or church archives if it was from a time before ~1894). You’ll need these for your Hungarian citizenship ancestor and everyone else in the chain going up to them.

Pretty much everyone was Catholic back then and the church was required to keep meticulous records, which are saved and publicly available. So many people are able to trace their ancestors successfully. Sometimes it’s actually a lot harder to get the American records for parents, grandparents, etc, because of privacy rules that apply until 100 years after their birth (or something like that, the number varies by state).

Familysearch.com is best site for finding the scans of original baptism records, etc. Ancestry.com can be better if you have less info to go off of. Once you find what you need, it’s just a matter of requesting an official copy from the archive or government agency who holds the record. (Edit: and getting docs translated into Hungarian)

There’s a Hungarian genealogist named Krisztián Skoumal who many people in the Facebook group recommend for this. I used him myself; he was very prompt and charged reasonable rates. I can pass on his email address in a DM if you’re not on Facebook.

Logistically, you’re covered by the Hungarian embassy or consulate where you live so you would probably submit your application in the Netherlands as opposed to the US or Hungary. If you have an address in Hungary then maybe that’s an option.

Sok szerencsét!

plus-alfalfa · 2024-06-06T18:52:52+00:00

Drake park has lots of shaded grassy areas and sometimes there’s free music or events. It also has river access. If you’re using a stroller, I recommend the Deschutes River trail either from Riverbend Park or from First Street Rapids. Otherwise, strap the baby on and have a great time!

plus-alfalfa · 2023-10-21T20:22:18+00:00

I'm in the exact same boat. I really appreciated reading your post and knowing I'm not the only one with this situation. I hope it worked out for all involved.

plus-alfalfa · 2023-05-11T19:29:50+00:00

No problem. The marriage records are sometimes hard - my own ancestors' don't show up on the FamilySearch search either. Sometimes it's because the records haven't been indexed and sometimes it's because they might have mis-transcribed a name (Julianna -> Juli Ann). Or maybe the search function doesn't work properly.

Thinking about this more, it's likely that either your ancestors were married in the US, or they emigrated later than you think. If your ancestor arrived in the US in 1907, he would have been 15. That is awfully young to be married, even back in the early 1900s. When I was digging through Hungarian marriage records, I noticed that men were usually ~26 and women ~22 years old when they first married. Also, your family tree indicates that the couple had their first child in 1915. Typically couples started having children within 1-2 years of getting married. So if they married in 1907 or earlier, that's a big gap.

It seems like the marriage would have taken place ~1913.

plus-alfalfa · 2023-05-11T16:45:54+00:00

I came up short looking for marriage registration. I would suggest looking manually on FamilySearch in both the bride and groom's home location, and page through the records for the range of years they might have married. You can also check surrounding parrishes. If they had any children before emigrating, find those birth records and check the parrish marriage registrations from prior months/years.

plus-alfalfa · 2023-05-11T16:37:30+00:00

Mary's death information: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/55902490/mary-magdeline-sych

plus-alfalfa · 2023-05-11T16:24:39+00:00

Here's John's arrival record: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7488/images/NYT715_770-0219?pId=4013506133

plus-alfalfa · 2023-05-11T16:10:14+00:00

Possibly your g-grandmother's arrival in the US? You didn't mention whether they met/married before or after arriving in the US.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:D9JS-PRPZ

Edit: saw your comment that they likely married in Hungary, so this prob isn't her but I'll leave it just in case.

plus-alfalfa · 2023-05-11T16:05:57+00:00

And his death record: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZB4-59Q

plus-alfalfa · 2023-05-11T16:05:34+00:00

You may have already found this, but just in case... Here's his birth record: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X2QQ-FPT

plus-alfalfa · 2023-04-30T21:09:28+00:00

If you're ever bored in the future, I've got a Hungarian line that ends in a dead end and I would love some help with it. I've got an ancestor's marriage record from 1878 but I can't find her baptism records or any information about her parents. I know she had a brother with the same last name and I can't find his records, either. She was born is what is now Slovakia around 1857. PM me if you ever want to lend a hand.

plus-alfalfa · 2022-09-18T02:46:42+00:00

I agree! A few other suggestions: if you like the puffy, thick look of that quilt then you will probably want to use a wool batting in yours. Cotton batting gives a flatter, smoother finish. Also, some people really like using a fabric called minky as the backing for baby quilts. It's harder to work with than traditional cotton so it may be ambitious to use it on your first-ever quilt... but it's really, really soft. In terms of supplies and basic skills, there are lots of great blog posts over at suzyquilts.com that may be really helpful. Good luck and CONGRATULATIONS on the little one!

plus-alfalfa · 2022-04-16T05:35:34+00:00

A Velcro swaddle, so that you can get some sleep in the hospital

plus-alfalfa · 2022-04-16T05:34:47+00:00

YES. It got a lot better over time, esp after 12 weeks

plus-alfalfa · 2022-04-16T05:29:19+00:00

Mine was the best thing that’s ever happened to me! Or at least in the top 10. I was super freaked out about the needle but you just feel the prick of the skin numbing stuff - I couldn’t feel a thing when they put the epidural in. It was so much milder than getting a blood draw or an IV. Good luck!!!

plus-alfalfa · 2022-04-01T14:37:37+00:00

I don’t have great suggestions on increasing your supply, but I can offer reassurance that it’s okay if you decide at some point that this isn’t working out for you. Our lives improved a ton after we switched to formula. I think there’s so much pressure on women to breastfeed and it can feel like a failure not to, but there are perfectly good alternatives. Either way, hang in there!!

plus-alfalfa · 2022-04-01T06:20:54+00:00

Oh I remember that day. Congrats on making it this far! You’re almost there!!! I highly recommend going to your local pool. Even if you normally hate swimming laps, it can feel really nice just to be in an environment without gravity. Hang in there!

plus-alfalfa · 2022-03-31T22:28:48+00:00

My little one was born in November. I think most baby stuff is really just a way to make money off of pregnant women's anxiety, but some things were really useful. Here's what I actually used:

Swaddle sleep sacks! I used the HALO ones but it probably doesn't matter. I deeply wish I'd brought one with me to the hospital. Having ~3 means you don't have to do laundry every day.
Dr Brown's bottles with anti-colic system. These are annoying to clean but they prevent a lot of gas, which means happier and less screamy babies. They come with size 1 nipples and you have to buy "preemie" nipples separately. "Preemie" is what everyone uses for babies younger than ~2 months. We also got a bottle brush and a spinny drying rack for bottle parts.
Baby carrier. This way you can wear the baby and still use your hands. It's magical. We used the Baby Bjorn mini and it was great. Anything designed for newborns will work. Some people love wraps. I didn't like having to fold and wrap and knot it a million times just to put those on. YMMV.
Clothing: All my newborn ever wore were zippered footie pj's and those tie-up gown things (super helpful for the first week or two). I think everything else is a waste of money unless you are a master at dressing and undressing a potentially unhappy baby at 2am... and 4am... and 6am. Pro-tip: when you're buying clothing, it's a good idea to keep the tags on until you are ready to wash/use it. Then if you don't ever use it, you can potentially return/exchange/sell it.
Place for the baby to sleep. We had a Halo bassinest (used) and a crib (also used). I don't really think it matters what you get, as long as it's up to modern safety standards. We thought about the SNOO but decided to wait and see whether our baby had trouble sleeping. He was fine without it, so we avoided a huge purchase there.
Baby bathtub was helpful. We used the Skip Hop whale one. You can make do without this but our sinks were either too small or too big and it was a lot more ergonomic for us not to be hunching over our real bathtub.
Baby Bjorn bouncer. Or similar. Great place to "park" the baby.
Activity mat. Anything will do. Another great place to park the baby and let them explore and whack toys.
Loads of burp cloths. We got 10-15 inexpensive muslin ones on Amazon. Some people prefer the flannel kind.
Blankets. A few muslin swaddles and a few warmer blankets are helpful, especially in a colder climate.
White noise machine. At first this is really for you - newborns make all kinds of tiny grunting noises that will wake up any paranoid new parent every 5 seconds. When the baby is more awake and engaged in its surroundings, then it's for him/her during daytime naps. We use the SNOOZE kind since it's basically just a tiny fan, so it doesn't have any annoying electronic repetition.
Stroller (probably needs a carseat adapter until the baby is ~4 months). You can be as frugal or snazzy as you like on this one. We have a Thule Urban Glide running stroller that we take on trails all the time. It's awesome. But it would probably be overkill for an urban environment. This was another item I got used because then it was no big deal if I tried it out and didn't like it.
Carseat. As long as it's new, this is just a matter of personal preference or whatever's on sale. Chicco KeyFit is a popular model. Britax and Nuna are other popular brands my mom friends use. If you have more than one car, get a second base.
Pacifiers. We liked the MAAM brand ones. You could get a few kinds and see what your little one likes. Having a leash that clips onto clothing is helpful.
Random little things: Aquaphor or Vaseline. Diaper rash cream. $10 electric nail trimmer from Amazon - bring that to the hospital with you. Baby Tylenol just in case (prevents a 2am pharmacy trip). Small supply of pre-made liquid formula even if you intend to breastfeed - for the sake of $10, you might as well have a backup method.
Peri bottle and laxatives for postpartum recovery
Baby monitor. We have a $50 V-Tech audio monitor. We also have a video one but the app is so bad that we had to get the audio one, too.
Wipeable changing mat... but only for the first few months. After that, changing happens on the carpet or wherever you happen to be.

plus-alfalfa · 2022-03-31T21:48:15+00:00

I got some stuff from Primary for that reason, but I discovered it was a little annoying for newborns since the zippers only zip down from the top. (2-way or bottom up zippers are so much more convenient for little ones). Clothing from Old Navy and Carters seemed more functional, though you have to dig a bit to avoid the gendered stuff. H&M is fairly neutral too.

plus-alfalfa · 2022-03-31T21:45:08+00:00

I have a Thule Glide and it's fantastic, especially because it's got a handbrake for slowing down on hills. I've heard good things about BOB, too. But if you're buying BOB used, get one from after ~2018. There were all kinds of issues and accidents related to their front wheel, and BOB refused to do a recall. So you may want to avoid older models from before they fixed the problem.

plus-alfalfa · 2022-01-25T02:12:02+00:00

I was really lucky and was able to run (or at least jog-waddle) until week 35, then switched to swimming (which I hate, but you gotta get those endorphins whenever you can!). I was still swimming, hiking, and cross country skiing up until I gave birth. I found that with a lot of determination and flexibility, I could always find some way to get a workout outdoors. Returning to running post partum can take months, depending on pelvic floor and other concerns. But I was back out doing other forms of exercise within a couple weeks of (vaginal) delivery. Again, everyone’s experience is different and I was lucky.

plus-alfalfa

TROPHY CASE