There is so much to write about FolkeLarm I'm not sure where to begin, so I'll start at the beginning.
On Thursday we drove to Oslo. When we arrived we took the easiest, although perhaps least direct route to the house where we would be staying; that is to say we drove around almost all of Ring 2. Once we arrived we introduced ourselves, made a trip to the grocery store and the liqour store (good beer!), and made a couple pizzas. Then I headed back downtown.
Volunteers got free festival passes, so I volunteered! My first job was to sell tickets at a small cafe on Thursday night. I got to hear SYM, Svanvit, and the Gjermund Larsen trio. The were all great! Afterward, I wandered off to meet my friends and ran into most of the members of Sver on the way. I caught the last couple minutes of Unni Boksasp's performance before that venue closed and the party moved on to a new location at a club on the 11th floor of an office building.
The following evenings were similar; fabulous music (Sver, Vallravn, Storm Weather Shanty Choir, Valkyrien Allstars, Einar Olav Larsen trio, solo concerts, etc.), late nights and a city atmosphere. I had moved to a hotel downtown after the hour long walk home (the trains weren't running when we headed in) and sleeping on the floor. This made it that much easier to soak up the bands, the dancing, the coffee shops (I had four soy cappuccinos!), the shopping, and meeting people from all over the world interested in Norwegian folk music.
Saturday night was the Norwegian Folk Music Awards ceremony. Sunday night was the obligatory and beautiful church concert (Anne Hytta) followed by the folkmusikkpub 'for those who haven't gotten enough'. I hadn't gotten enough so I stayed for both! The jam on Sunday night was worth the whole weekend :)
I soaked up enough inspiration in Oslo to last for a good long while. It's easy to lose oneself in a practice room for hours if you set your goals high enough. Just to be sure that I stay inspired, I will be travelling to Linköping in two weeks for their folk music festival.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Fast Forward
It appears that since I found myself employment, I have also managed to be too busy to write much. I'm going to aim to mention all of the highlights, but there have been a lot of them!
On Wednesday the 17th we had a concert here in Rauland. It was a very classical representation of folk music. Most notable from that evening were the Israeli backpackers and the after-party which sparked my interest in the banjo. Yes, I said banjo.
The weather in Rauland (yes this is a highlight) was phenomenal that weekend. We had temperatures up to 30C in the sun. We had good weather all the way until the following Wednesday and that was pretty much the most exciting thing that happened here all week.
On Wednesday the 24th the school hosted a conference titled 'ancient techniques - new asthetics'. My class spent the day before with Tapani Varis, the Finnish munnharpa (amongst other instruments) player. His teaching and the lectures on Wednesday were thought provoking and interesting.
That evening we were treated to a concert of former masters students. Brit Pernille Frøholm presented contemporary hardingfele music. Øystein Sandbukt dazzled the crowd with tunes based in Nordmøre tradition laced with jazz tinged improvisation. Annette Thorsheim stole the show (in my opinion) with music from hardingfele tradition (springar and rull) played on torader. That was a concert!
On the way to the lake:
Totak!
More Totak:
On Wednesday the 17th we had a concert here in Rauland. It was a very classical representation of folk music. Most notable from that evening were the Israeli backpackers and the after-party which sparked my interest in the banjo. Yes, I said banjo.
The weather in Rauland (yes this is a highlight) was phenomenal that weekend. We had temperatures up to 30C in the sun. We had good weather all the way until the following Wednesday and that was pretty much the most exciting thing that happened here all week.
On Wednesday the 24th the school hosted a conference titled 'ancient techniques - new asthetics'. My class spent the day before with Tapani Varis, the Finnish munnharpa (amongst other instruments) player. His teaching and the lectures on Wednesday were thought provoking and interesting.
That evening we were treated to a concert of former masters students. Brit Pernille Frøholm presented contemporary hardingfele music. Øystein Sandbukt dazzled the crowd with tunes based in Nordmøre tradition laced with jazz tinged improvisation. Annette Thorsheim stole the show (in my opinion) with music from hardingfele tradition (springar and rull) played on torader. That was a concert!
On the way to the lake:
Totak!
More Totak:
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Happy Summer Birthdays!
I will write more soon. I just want to say, Happy Birthday Emily and Olav, we are celebrating in Rauland with 30 degree (C) weather. Also, Happy Belated Birthday to Josephine and Wes.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
You can't know everything about anything
Bergljot Roswick was my first dance, particularly song dance, instructor. When I was four years old and ran from the sidewalk into the parade to join the children's dance group, it was Bergljot who welcomed me (and my mother carrying my one year old sister) sight unseen. She wasn't young then and over twenty years have passed.
She taught me so much, not just examples of songs and dances, but about the associated traditions and her personal history. Her passion and respect for Norwegian music and dance captivated me. I danced through middle school, high school, college and beyond. I'm studying folk music in Norway and plan to write my term paper on singing for dancing. There are countless individuals who have supported me throughout the years, but Bergljot's influence shaped the path that my life has taken.
She didn't have an easy life, but she lived it well. As a school girl, she and her classmates would dance in secret in the classroom while the teacher was out to lunch. As an adult she worked as a nurse, while teaching dozens of children and adults to dance. When I dance and play and especially when I sing, I hope that I am making her proud. This is the tradition that she shared with me and I will do my best to share and protect it.
She taught me so much, not just examples of songs and dances, but about the associated traditions and her personal history. Her passion and respect for Norwegian music and dance captivated me. I danced through middle school, high school, college and beyond. I'm studying folk music in Norway and plan to write my term paper on singing for dancing. There are countless individuals who have supported me throughout the years, but Bergljot's influence shaped the path that my life has taken.
She didn't have an easy life, but she lived it well. As a school girl, she and her classmates would dance in secret in the classroom while the teacher was out to lunch. As an adult she worked as a nurse, while teaching dozens of children and adults to dance. When I dance and play and especially when I sing, I hope that I am making her proud. This is the tradition that she shared with me and I will do my best to share and protect it.
Monday, September 15, 2008
So long as we're talking sheep
In the evenings, when it's really quite here, the only noise is the sound of the bells on the sheep as they make their way through the darkness.
Geitebondelag
I now have two jobs. The first, as I may have mentioned, is cleaning at the dentist's office. It is awesome. I walk across the street, take out the trash, clean the sinks and toilets, vacuum, mop, make sure things look clean, and I'm done. The second job is a little more intense.
Somehow I thought that 6.5 hours of work a week might not be enough, so maybe one more day a week wouldn't hurt. Anja had mentioned me to the head waiter at the Rauland Høgfjellshotell and that's about all it takes to get a job there. I hadn't exactly expected to be working as a waitress this year, but then again, I was hoping to not work at all!
The first few two days (last Thursday and Friday), went reasonably smoothly. Roughly five hours each of serving drinks and clearing plates and washing dishes. Saturday night, however, was a different story.
Let me start by saying we are massively understaffed. I'll continue with at dinner on Saturday night we had roughly 130 members of the Goat Farmers' Association (Geitebondelaget) in addition to an automobile club and other hotel guests. We served all of them a four course meal, and beverages. There were nine of us working in the entire restaurant. We managed to get everything cleaned and ready for breakfast by 1:45am. All of those salmon dinners and lodge bazaars paid off finally!
Since yesterday was Sunday, we had dancing in Rauland. Yay! A few more locals came. Perhaps in a few weeks we'll get to critical mass to have some real open dancing! This evening I taught a dance class with one of my classmates, Anna G. She's an exceptional dancer. We taught several of the other students Rørospols and then Anna shared a half hour of halling tricks.
Somehow I thought that 6.5 hours of work a week might not be enough, so maybe one more day a week wouldn't hurt. Anja had mentioned me to the head waiter at the Rauland Høgfjellshotell and that's about all it takes to get a job there. I hadn't exactly expected to be working as a waitress this year, but then again, I was hoping to not work at all!
The first few two days (last Thursday and Friday), went reasonably smoothly. Roughly five hours each of serving drinks and clearing plates and washing dishes. Saturday night, however, was a different story.
Let me start by saying we are massively understaffed. I'll continue with at dinner on Saturday night we had roughly 130 members of the Goat Farmers' Association (Geitebondelaget) in addition to an automobile club and other hotel guests. We served all of them a four course meal, and beverages. There were nine of us working in the entire restaurant. We managed to get everything cleaned and ready for breakfast by 1:45am. All of those salmon dinners and lodge bazaars paid off finally!
Since yesterday was Sunday, we had dancing in Rauland. Yay! A few more locals came. Perhaps in a few weeks we'll get to critical mass to have some real open dancing! This evening I taught a dance class with one of my classmates, Anna G. She's an exceptional dancer. We taught several of the other students Rørospols and then Anna shared a half hour of halling tricks.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
En liten tur på Falkeriset
Saturday September 6, 2008
Sonya's visit was again brief. She left in the morning in a Taxi to Åmot, since the bus doesn't run from Rauland on Saturday's and we didn't figure that out until too late on Friday night. It's really nice to have visitors, especially Sonya!
I had plans to go on a little walk in the mountains. Since we don't all have bikes (and I can't ride one) we were going to walk to the base of the mountain (4km) on the road, then in and around a little way where we would find a trail up to a plateau. That was the plan according to Anja.
Just as we got to the turn-off, Marco pulled up in his car. He said he could join us, but we'd have to come back to his place first so he could change. This gave us the opportunity to meet his girlfriend, so we jumped on it!
Once we were on our way, we realized that it would have really been impossible for us to do all of the walking ourselves. Between where Marco picked us up and the trail head, it was an easy 12-15km. Then there was still the fun part!
We parked the car, put on warm clothes, and headed up the trail to Falkeriset. In places it was really muddy. Anja and I got our feet completely soaked. It was worth it though. By the time we got to the top, we'd eaten wild blueberries, seen fantastic sights, and made it over 1000 meters above sea level!
Sonya's second visit -and more!
Last Wednesday I came home from my trip into town to register with the police and apply for a work permit only to be scared half to death by my impish sister who was hiding in my bed. This was an awesome surprise, since I didn't really think she'd come back here. We are kind of in the middle of nowhere...
That evening we trekked out to Nesland, where half of the second year class is sharing a house. It's not really that far, but it takes about twenty-five minutes if you're enjoying the scenery or a beverage while you walk. We were there to celebrate the SVER concert that was going to take place that evening.
That's right, I said SVER. Norway's power band featuring, amongst others, Olav Mjelva, made a trip to Rauland the same day as Sonya! How perfect is that!? Their concert was unbelievable; it made some of the audience cry and everyone was tapping their toes.
After the concert it was open stage as usual. There was dancing and music and merriment. We were treated to a jam set by the members of SVER. Just before the end, I got to play a little with Olav - always a good time. Somehow the party found its way to the common area that Birgit and I share; I don't know when the last people left, but I went to sleep around 2am.
That evening we trekked out to Nesland, where half of the second year class is sharing a house. It's not really that far, but it takes about twenty-five minutes if you're enjoying the scenery or a beverage while you walk. We were there to celebrate the SVER concert that was going to take place that evening.
That's right, I said SVER. Norway's power band featuring, amongst others, Olav Mjelva, made a trip to Rauland the same day as Sonya! How perfect is that!? Their concert was unbelievable; it made some of the audience cry and everyone was tapping their toes.
After the concert it was open stage as usual. There was dancing and music and merriment. We were treated to a jam set by the members of SVER. Just before the end, I got to play a little with Olav - always a good time. Somehow the party found its way to the common area that Birgit and I share; I don't know when the last people left, but I went to sleep around 2am.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Farsund
From where we are (in the center of Norway) it takes 9 hours on the bus to get to Farsund where I was going to a music festival (Nordsjøfestivalen) with six of my classmates. We had a good time on the bus, but were really happy to finally get to Farsund. We were less happy when we started walking in the dark with our small orchestra of instruments the 2.5km to the hotel.
We arrived at the hotel and got our room assignments. All the girls (5 of us) in one room, and the boys in another. Fortunately, the hotel was really nice and there was plenty of room for five girls. We could also walk straight out of our rooms to the pier where some of us played music and some swam and some just got a head start on the party.
The second year students and instructors had some concerts. There were also concerts from bands around the North Sea. Really awesome bands. Lots of concerts! My recommendations for listening are Benedicte Maurseth for Norwegian and Fiddler's Bid for Shetland music. Of course, I've already made recommendations for Bruvoll/Halvorsen and RUSK. One of the better concerts was two of my instructors and titled 'songs they don't play on the radio'. Eight concerts in one day - and that was just one day!
I saw a several friends at the festival that I didn't realize would be there. The best surprise was Håvard. Even better was getting to listen to him play Saturday night during the buskspel! The evening parties were pretty fun. Hard to go wrong with friends and music!
The bus trip back was really long, but we made it. The worst was the train; I always feel ill on the train between Kristiansand and Bø. Luckily, we all got dropped off at our houses and no one had to schlep instruments too far. Man, was I happy to take a shower and crawl into my comfortable bed!
We arrived at the hotel and got our room assignments. All the girls (5 of us) in one room, and the boys in another. Fortunately, the hotel was really nice and there was plenty of room for five girls. We could also walk straight out of our rooms to the pier where some of us played music and some swam and some just got a head start on the party.
The second year students and instructors had some concerts. There were also concerts from bands around the North Sea. Really awesome bands. Lots of concerts! My recommendations for listening are Benedicte Maurseth for Norwegian and Fiddler's Bid for Shetland music. Of course, I've already made recommendations for Bruvoll/Halvorsen and RUSK. One of the better concerts was two of my instructors and titled 'songs they don't play on the radio'. Eight concerts in one day - and that was just one day!
I saw a several friends at the festival that I didn't realize would be there. The best surprise was Håvard. Even better was getting to listen to him play Saturday night during the buskspel! The evening parties were pretty fun. Hard to go wrong with friends and music!
The bus trip back was really long, but we made it. The worst was the train; I always feel ill on the train between Kristiansand and Bø. Luckily, we all got dropped off at our houses and no one had to schlep instruments too far. Man, was I happy to take a shower and crawl into my comfortable bed!
Sonya's visit II
Wednesday Sonya got to visit the dentist. This was after she came and had lunch with me at the school and met some of my classmates. I decided that more people need to meet Sonya, so I invited everyone over.
Later, I decided that we should have something vaguely American, but not to cheesy to share. What could be better than chocolate chip cookies!? Sonya and I walked to the store again for ingredients and proceded to bake several dozen cookies. My classmates and friends came over and we wound up singing until just after midnight. We also decided that we needed to start some kind of choir.
Thursday was a bit of a rush. Sonya and I were both leaving - Sonya for Oslo and me for Farsund. Neither of us packed the night before and we had laundry that needed to dry! Fortunately the laundry in the dryers was dry, so ours could go in. We had lunch and a few more good laughs before catching the bus and saying another hard goodbye.
Later, I decided that we should have something vaguely American, but not to cheesy to share. What could be better than chocolate chip cookies!? Sonya and I walked to the store again for ingredients and proceded to bake several dozen cookies. My classmates and friends came over and we wound up singing until just after midnight. We also decided that we needed to start some kind of choir.
Thursday was a bit of a rush. Sonya and I were both leaving - Sonya for Oslo and me for Farsund. Neither of us packed the night before and we had laundry that needed to dry! Fortunately the laundry in the dryers was dry, so ours could go in. We had lunch and a few more good laughs before catching the bus and saying another hard goodbye.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Sonya's visit I
Before I get to the main subject - I have been a little busy and I apologize for not updating for a whole week... Sorry. Now, back to what I've been busy with!
Monday was our first real day of class. We spent several hours learning about folk music in society. We talked about possibilities for our projects. Some of us took music theory. Then I had a few hours to stress about Sonya's arrival before my next distraction.
The next distraction was dinner with the international students from Notodden. After dinner, the second year students gave a concert for the visitors and we had a small party. I played some after the concert with some of my classmates. If I hadn't been worrying about Sonya, it would have been awesome.
I left the party at 9:45 to wait for Sonya. It was dark and cold and raining a little. I kept running up and down the stairs to see if she'd sent me an email. I saw the bus go by so I figured she would be here soon. After three minutes, I hadn't seen her yet, so I went upstairs again to see if she'd left a Facebook message. I was a little panicky. Then, I heard the gentle sound of small plastic wheels on pavement from the road below. She had arrived!
Right away, we made some food. I didn't exactly have tomato sauce for the spaghetti. It was more like stewed tomatoes. Cold. Plus some cheese. Good thing she was tired. Then I blew up the air mattress. And we went to bed.
The next day we tried to go for a walk to the lake. We didn't find the lake, but we did go on a lovely nature walk along the road heading toward Åmot. We saw some interesting mushrooms and a slightly squashed beetle.
Monday was our first real day of class. We spent several hours learning about folk music in society. We talked about possibilities for our projects. Some of us took music theory. Then I had a few hours to stress about Sonya's arrival before my next distraction.
The next distraction was dinner with the international students from Notodden. After dinner, the second year students gave a concert for the visitors and we had a small party. I played some after the concert with some of my classmates. If I hadn't been worrying about Sonya, it would have been awesome.
I left the party at 9:45 to wait for Sonya. It was dark and cold and raining a little. I kept running up and down the stairs to see if she'd sent me an email. I saw the bus go by so I figured she would be here soon. After three minutes, I hadn't seen her yet, so I went upstairs again to see if she'd left a Facebook message. I was a little panicky. Then, I heard the gentle sound of small plastic wheels on pavement from the road below. She had arrived!
Right away, we made some food. I didn't exactly have tomato sauce for the spaghetti. It was more like stewed tomatoes. Cold. Plus some cheese. Good thing she was tired. Then I blew up the air mattress. And we went to bed.
The next day we tried to go for a walk to the lake. We didn't find the lake, but we did go on a lovely nature walk along the road heading toward Åmot. We saw some interesting mushrooms and a slightly squashed beetle.
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