Today we play & Back to Bø

August 21, 2008

The main focus of Thursday's classes was learning tunes and playing together. We did that all morning and part of the afternoon. Then we were assigned instructors and there was the optional class in beginning music theory. I took the music theory, mostly because I figured it would be helpful to know what everything was in Norwegian.

After class I got a ride to Bø from one of my instructors, Ragnhild Furholt. The drive takes an hour and a half and it is difficult to get there and back in one afternoon on the bus. I was really glad that she was willing to take me as a passenger. I tried to keep up conversation, but as we wound our way down the mountain, I began to feel more and more carsick and talking much just wasn't an option. It all worked out and we made it into town without any major catastrophes.

In Bø, I collected my suitcase. By that I mean, I walked into the basement of the student home that was the motel I'd stayed in during the Telemarkfestival, grabbed my suitcase, and walked out. It was that easy, and I'm glad no one else had done it! Then I waited at the bus stop for three hours and couldn't make phone calls because the phone card wasn't working. I did get to talk to a very nice lady who had had a rather irritating day travelling on the late Norwegian trains.

Back on the bus, I tried to sleep. That didn't exactly work since the lady behind me was talking incessantly in a very high-pitched whine. I was also worried about the connection in Åmot. I shouldn't have been.

We pulled into the bus station in Åmot and the only vehicles parked in the bus zone were a minivan and two SUV's. I was trying to decide if I should ask someone if the bus to Rauland had left, when the guy with the minivan asked where I was going. When I said Rauland, he pointed to the first of the two SUV's. It's a pretty smart system. In day time I haven't seen more than six people on the bus; why should they spend the gas on driving a whole bus up the mountain when they could just send a small vehicle? Needless to say, I was the only passenger heading to Rauland and I got delivered back to the dorm.

Once inside with my suitcase, I started unpacking. Suddenly, I have have doubled my wardrobe! It's like going shopping without spending money or trying things on! Plus, now I have batteries and chargers and dictionaries that I didn't have before. Hannukah in August!