Rating: 
Summary: Island Soul : A memoir of Norway
Review: I loved the book! Reading it made me feel homesick for Norway and the years my family and I lived there. A must-read for any woman about to become an expat.
Rating: 
Summary: Toto I don't think we're in Texas anymore!
Review: I LOVED THIS BOOK! Imagine your husband coming home and saying "Honey, the company is moving us to Norway for three or four years." I'm afraid I might be tempted to say "see ya buddy." Thank God Patti Jones Morgan didn't stay behind. If she had, she would have deprived the rest of us of her delightful account of her time in Norway. Reading this book made me really stop and think about EVERYTHING that moving to a foreign country entails. While I felt her frustration as she tries to find her way in a new country, I was most impressed with the humor with which she deals with everyday life in an unfamiliar setting.Her survival in Norway hinged on her ability to communicate with the locals. I laughed out loud at some of the situations she found herself in. Imagine going to the doctor's office supposedly for a gynecological exam and having office personnel begin treating you before you have even been able to explain why you are there in the first place. She firmly decides that if they begin cutting on her for any reason, she can just scream NO! In order to get around she must be able to obtain a driver's license. Driving in a place like Norway can be a very challenging experience when you're used to driving in Houston, Texas where the temperature rarely drops below 60 degrees Farenheit even in the winter. Her account of a driving lesson learning to skid on slippery, frozen roads was hilarious. She tells the reader "I just wanted it all to be over without my killing anyone." After her test was complete, she couldn't understand why her husband and the instructor were shocked that she didn't want to ride along in the back seat while her husband took HIS test! This book is full of witty little rumblings. My favorite example is when, after anticipating the all important mail from home, she finds that someone has misdirected a brochure for those SIZE 14 and OVER to her! She imagines that U.S. clothiers had been spying on her. She remarks "cookie crumbs lay next to my coffee mug as a testament to their detective work." I'm looking forward to her next adventure! Mike -- where is the company taking you two next?
Rating:
Summary: A Stranger to Norway
Review: Island Soul captures the outsider experience with sensitivity and warmth. After moving to a Norwegian island community, Patti Jones Morgan tries to connect with her new neighbors but their natural reserve and her inability to use their language are barriers. Morgan struggles to learn Norwegian, taking the reader along as she gets to know students in the classes and gradually builds friendships with Norwegian children and adults. She conveys the isolation of a newcomer, an outsider, but also shares the scenes on her morning walks, the people she meets, and her eventual assimilation. It's a delight to read.
Rating:
Summary: Island Soul, A Memoir of Norway
Review: Island Soul will truly touch your soul. When forced to move to Norway, this American author from Texas undertook the huge challenge of learning the Norwegian language in an attempt to understand the culture and people of her new land. She writes of her neighbors, the merchants, the children, the fishermen, as well as the new who have emigrated to Norway from many parts of the world. Her anecdotes and characterizations are laced with humor, compassion and great insight. Her descriptions of her new surroundings are vivid and beautiful. Patti Jones Morgan is a master of the metaphor, as her essays are crafted with beauty and heart.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent read for anyone moving across cultures!
Review: Island Soul: A Memoir of Norway, by Patti Jones Morgan, is the delightful and poignant story of one woman's expatriate love affair with her host country. Relocating from Houston, Texas to Norway, the book evokes the phases of the transition experience and describes both the challenges of culture shock and the joys of cultural learning. Filled with insights for anyone relocating internationally, the book speaks especially to the importance of language study, to the role of animals and children as cultural bridges, and, most importantly, to the possibility of new relationships when hearts remain open. I recommend this book highly.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent read for anyone moving across cultures!
Review: Island Soul: A Memoir of Norway, by Patti Jones Morgan, is the delightful and poignant story of one woman's expatriate love affair with her host country. Relocating from Houston, Texas to Norway, the book evokes the phases of the transition experience and describes both the challenges of culture shock and the joys of cultural learning. Filled with insights for anyone relocating internationally, the book speaks especially to the importance of language study, to the role of animals and children as cultural bridges, and, most importantly, to the possibility of new relationships when hearts remain open. I recommend this book highly.
Rating:
Summary: An Island Soul in Massachusetts
Review: My admiration to Patti Jones Morgan for finding the soul, new and ancient, of the people " in a country where English is a second language". She writes with refreshing honesty about discovering a part of her own soul in the process. A colorful description of the people and nature on the island of Karmoy. I felt her struggles to fit in, cheered her on and found joy in her success! Thanks Patti Jones Morgan
Rating:
Summary: An Island Soul in Massachusetts
Review: My admiration to Patti Jones Morgan for finding the soul, new and ancient, of the people " in a country where English is a second language". She writes with refreshing honesty about discovering a part of her own soul in the process. A colorful description of the people and nature on the island of Karmoy. I felt her struggles to fit in, cheered her on and found joy in her success! Thanks Patti Jones Morgan
Rating:
Summary: Island Soul: A Memoir of Norway
Review: My admiration to Patti Jones Morgan for her sensitive and creative writings on how she came to find the ancient and new soul of the people in a "country where English is a second language". A colorful description of the rugged environment and the people of Karmoy who have their hearts and history tied to it. I felt her struggles to fit in, cheered her on and congtatulate her for her success. A warm and relaxing book.
Rating:
Summary: A great relaxing read!
Review: Patti Jones Morgan has captured that feeling that so many people, especially women, have felt as they have followed there spouses from one job sight to another. This beautifully written book gives an insight into how to survive those moves and how to grow from each new experience. I certainly came away with the feeling that Patti not only loves people but loves Norway as well.
| 
