Concert Reviews

In Rauland we are home to one of the most active Folkemusikkscener (Folk Music Stages). This fall we have been more active than ever before and we have managed to have a concert almost every other week.

The school year started off with a concert by Ragnhild Furholt and Leiv Solberg. Their stage presence is highly entertaining, especially when joined by Ånon Egeland with a poly-rhythmic percussion solo played on the back of a ukulele. All three are instructors at the school and excellent musicians.

The following concert was the Fliflet/Hamre Kraftforening (Energy Association). These two play wild music on accordion and percussion with inspiration from modern and popular music to Norwegian and Hungarian folk. After the concert they explained to us some of their philosophies about playing music. Their goal is to be the host at a party with the audience as their guests; they hope to get us to laugh, relax, and have a good time while listening to them tell stories and play music.

Following Fliflet/Hamre was the moving music of Nils Økland. I wrote about his concert earlier, but I am still impressed by the music he created. It was soft and gentle and permeated the room; when it's empty, I think the walls probably play back his concert.

Moving right along, we were next treated to Kim Andre Rysstad, Lajla Renate Buer Storli, and Jon Ole Morken. They played from all three of their traditions (Setesdal, Hardanger, and Røros). They played solos, duets, and as a trio giving a varied texture to an excellent concert.

In the eyes of the traditionalists, nothing beats a concert of solo hardingfele. The house was packed two weeks ago when Valdres native Jan Beitohaugen Granli sailed in from a seminar in Oslo to share tunes and stories with us. The five time Landskappleiken winner kept us on the edge of our seats for nearly and hour. He entertained us with funny anecdotes about the music, instruments, and history and commanded our attention with his technical and musical expertise. Anyone who enjoys Valdres tunes or solo hardingfele should get a copy of his CD. To those on the fence about the potential for beauty in solo hardingfele, I also recommend giving his CD a listen.

Last night we took a tour to the land of springleik (or sprenglek). Going by the name Duo, Erlend Viken from Oppdal and Aslak Brimi from Lom are a powerful pair. The blend simple but elegant harmonies with phenomenal melodies (both well known and new) and impeccable dance pulse. Rivaling Jan Beitohaugen, their stories were personal and got us to laugh. As I listen to their CD now, I hope that everyone gets a chance to hear these two.

Kitchen activities

David is an excellent baker. Mostly he bakes bread, but sometimes we get carried away and make cakes and muffins. I have contributed (thanks to a shipment from Mom) to the baking of corn bread and corn bread muffins. Tonight I'm planning to try out chocoloate creamcheese muffins. Yum!

We have also experimented with sour dough. After a few false starts (involving a fair amount of mold) we got our culture in high gear. We made several loaves of rye sour dough bread and rye sour dough rolls before we moved on to wheat sour dough bread. That was good! It was an excellent compliment to either turkey or cream cheese with tomato slices and (home-grown) alfalfa sprouts.

I have made a large number of dinners that stretch to lunch for several days. After about a month of various combinations of canned corn, crushed tomatoes, kidney beans, onions, and ground beef, I moved on to more interesting food. We've have been eating pan-fried salmon, totally awesome orange chicken, various stir fry dishes, quiche, and last night was avgolimono soup.

Since we are both coffee connoisseurs, we made the decision at the beginning of the year (really over the summer) to grind our own beans. This takes time, but our coffee is definitely worth drinking, compared to pretty much everything else. Recently we received an order of loose-leaf tea and have been happily enjoying having options that suit all our warm beverage needs.

These culinary delights have led to a huge pile of dishes. Both of us are generally uninterested in washing them, so they stack up until we can't avoid them any longer. Our plan is to acquire a used dishwasher after the holidays to save us time and stress. I can't wait!

Work

I continue with my daily assignment at the Dentists' office. I wash the counters and floors, while David (my chauffeur) sits in the lobby and reads Science Illustrated. Occasionally I work a few hours at the Academy.

Things have started to pick up again at the hotel. I am one of two employees from last year that have stayed on in the restaurant. This makes for lots of training of new people and hoping that they stay more than one shift. This past Saturday, I working in the restaurant for three hours and then went downstairs and was the bartender for the next five hours. It was the first time I have been a bartender for a whole night and it went reasonable well. That is except for being completely exhausted on Sunday.

I'm off to the dentists' office now, future updates will include health, weather, and school!

Sweden in the fall

For our fall vacation, we headed to Sweden. This started and ended with late night bus/train trips. On the way to Sweden, we got a ride to Åmot at 2:30am, took the bus to Oslo and the train to Uppsala. On the way back, we took the afternoon train (filled with drunk Korean businessmen) to Oslo, the night bus to Åmot, and shared a taxi home with 5 other tired students.

We spent most of our week off hanging out in Uppsala. David's brother is spending a year in Australia, so this was our last chance to see him for a while. We also got haircuts; mine is shorter, but not short and David's is definitely short. We visited the yarn store and coffee shops and an electronics store. We made a brief appearance at IKEA. We watched TV and movies. I got a new backpack (at a really good price) and David found new boots to replace the pair that disappeared from school last spring.

While in Uppsala, I got confirmation from the UW that we could take our December exam at the Scandinavian Dept. This lead to me purchasing our tickets back to Seattle for a rockin' good price on IcelandAir. We will be in Seattle from December 12th to January 10th, playing at both the third and first Friday dances while we are there! Whoohoo! I'm really looking forward to this trip home!

After a week relaxing with David's family, we packed our things and headed to the Linköping Folkmusik Festival. This year's highlights included a workshop in Polsdans fra Finnskogen and a partner to take it with (yay David!), meeting up with Irene, and lots of good concerts, notably Ralf Novak-Rosengren who is really worth checking out on YouTube.

David and I had decided to stay in a hotel after our less than pleasant experience sleeping on the floor in Geilo. The hotel was as nice as I remembered it being - nothing beats a hotel breakfast while you're at a festival. The only downside was that the room we got was only sort-of a double room. There was one single bed and a hide-a-bed. We opted for sharing the (very comfortable) single bed. It was not exactly spacious, but we could have been on a classroom floor.

What happened to October?

Lots happened in October! Hopefully I will have time to write about it before too much of November slips away. I'm going to try to go with a thematic approach, rather than chronological, to see if that speeds up my output.

Starting with our last theme - the car. We waited with baited breath for the first three weeks of October to get a call from the guy in Rjukan saying he'd fixed the breaks and we could come pick it up. Eventually we gave in and David called him. Sadly, he reported the news to me that the guy was not going to fix the brakes. We opted out of buying it cheaply and fixing the brakes ourselves.

We continue to share a car with Sarah. This is working out much better than it did in the beginning, although it has some drawbacks. Mostly the car is too small to cram in four people plus instruments, so we will need to find another solution in February when our class goes on tour. As of the beginning of this month, Sarah does not have a valid driver's license in Norway; while she's working on that we get the car. We (that is David) also get to drive her places when she needs a ride. While not convenient, it's not nearly as inconvenient as it sounds.

Fall adventures

Yesterday we made the semi-spur-of-the-moment decision to drive back to Rjukan in search of our own vehicle. We had located a VW stationwagon for sale at a pretty good price and decided to go look at it in the hopes that we would then have a our own car in Sweden next week.

The drive to Rjukan was gorgeous. Here in Rauland we only have trees that turn yellow, maybe orange; between here and Rjukan are entire hillsides of red trees. The leaves on the birches are mostly falling off now (we had a big storm a couple days ago). We drove past the edge of Hardangervidda, the massive mountain plateau, where most of the trees had lost their leaves and the grasses were all various shades of brown and orange. The brown walls of the cabins blended in with the brown grass on their roofs and the surrounding landscape.

As we made our long descent into Rjukan, I was reminded of my thoughts from our previous trip. Rjukan is located at the bottom of a steep valley. The mountainsides have little vegetation but tons of waterfalls. Regardless of where you are in the town, you can hear running water from both the river and the waterfalls. It's pretty amazing.

We arrived at the car and checked out wheel that had been making noise. The man selling the car had determined that the brake cylinder was going bad and had a new one, but hadn't gotten around to fixing it. He put the wheel back on and we got in the car to go for a test drive. We made it about five feet before determining that the car had no brakes. We poured in brake fluid and watched as it came running out the back wheel. Sadly we were not able to head home with a new car, but hopefully we'll get to buy it soon after he gets the brakes replaced. Otherwise, the car was perfect - good engine, good tires, lots of cargo room, central locks, AC, four doors. I'm hoping it can get fixed soon!

Finally caught up!

Yesterday and today I have been enjoying working at the art gallery again. It is quiet and calm here. One of the new artists, Ary Ketting, has created granite pillows, a sandstone Prada (which diplays JADA on the label), and a sweater carved in birch that looks just like a sweater hanging on a hook! This job is great not only because it is much more refined than washing floors or rooms or serving, but it also gives me time to catch up on my blog! My apologies to everyone who is waiting to hear from me and checked back faithfully during this hiatus. I hope I will have more time to write in the near future.

Tonight I work at the hotel. Next week we will be playing concerts for the school children. After that, David and I are off to Sweden for a week to enjoy our fall vacation!

Forskningsdagane

Research Week is observed by all departments of Høgskolen i Telemark. Instructors and masters students present their recent research. Students have free from classes so we can listen to breaking news in our fields. The lectures tend to be very academic and intensly interesting - for those of us who are interested.

My class started the week off with a trip to Porsgrunn. We were to play two songs for the opening of Forskningsdagane down there. They paid for overnight accomodations and we paid for our gas. Not a bad deal. We drove down on Monday evening and arrived in Porsgrunn around 10:30, that is after all restaurants were closed. Starving, we reluctantly ate at the only convenience store that was open before we went to bed.

After breakfast, we navigated our way to the school. We parked about as far away from our destination as possible and trekked our instruments across campus. The performance itsself went well enough. We smiled and sang and played through our mistakes. Our contact seemed pleased with our performance, as did a good portion of the audience. Before we started home, we stopped for coffee and a quick visit to the local music store.

Wednesday was the start of presentations here in Rauland. First, Per Åsmund Omholt presented his Ph.D. thesis, which he completed last year. He analyzed 500 fiddle tunes in a variety of tunings and from different places throughout Norway. The paper focused on what defines dialects in Norwegian folk music. By classifying every note in the 500 tunes, he arrived at a number of interesting statistical conclusions regarding regional dialects in Norwegian music. He also very kindly presented them in a number of easy to read graphs and charts.

After Per Åsmund, Atle Lien Jenssen took the floor. He is in the process of a masters project relating to tungehorn. Tungehorn is an instrument made from the horn of (usually) a goat. It has three to seven finger holes and a reed fixed to the outside of the mouthpiece; the reed can be made of any number of materials from the traditional juniper to metal or even a yogurt lid! Atle's project is especially interesting because his research seems to indicate that this is an instrument that originated in Norway and spread outward, unlike most other instruments in Norway. Possible implications include that tungehorn is an ancestor of the modern clarinet.

The highlight of the presentations came Thursday morning when Mats Johansson present the doctoral thesis he has nearly finished (it's in the editing stage). The paper focuses on assymmetrical rhythm in pols and springar. What I found most fascinating was his presentation of the variation of lengths of beats. He showed that variation exists within a regional style, between fiddlers, from one performance to the next as played by the same fiddler, and (most interestingly) from one measure to the next in the same performance of the same tune based on the melodic context. He presented examples that some melodic elements (particularly decorative trills) occupy a fixed period of time (relative to the performer) and that other elements are shortened or lengthened based on their relation to the fixed elements and their function in the melody (e.g. a triplet can be shorter when it leads to a continuation of the melody in the next beat and longer when it leads to the conclusion of a melodic phrase).

Of course, research can also manifest in the form of performance, so we at Rauland are treated to a concert each year in connection with Forskningsdagane. This year Nils Økland played on a variety of violin-like instruments. In addition to a standard violin, he played hardingfele and viola d'amour (a massive instrument with seven melody strings and seven understrings, I think). I was most impressed by the first piece he played, inspired by darkness - it really sounded like moths fluttering around in the night. He also uses all gut strings and light weight baroque style bows. If only I had a pile of money to play with, I could have gut strings and new bows as well!

A free weekend!

David and I decided not to go to FolkeLarm this year. While the tickets to the festival were cheaper, hotel rooms, food, and travel are certainly not inexpensive. Plus we were exhausted from three weeks of constant rehearsing and travel. Finally, we had a weekend at home!

I had originally told all of my employers that I wasn't available and I stuck to that story. Instead of working like crazy and spending all of my free time at school or asleep, I got to relax at home with David. Friday we had free from school, so we cleaned the house and went for a walk to town. Saturday we got a last minute invitation to play at the gallery opening, so we used the afternoon to rehearse and then played that evening.

Saturday night we had time to visit with friends. First Marco and Victor came to us and then we went out to Victor's cabin. We drove there with the plan of walking home. Around 4am we were all tired enough to end the party so the three of us walked and arrived at our homes around 5. Marco and David kept the conversation going, mostly about all of the dangerous animals a person can meet in the dark on a road like the one we were walking on and what a person should do when one meets a bear or moose or beaver. When we were almost home, we ran into a few very drunk and entertaining locals; they figured that we must be from Oslo and were out on a training tour. As tired as we were, we managed to walk considerable faster then them!

Sunday we slept in late and walked back to the car in the afternoon. The road was much less terrifying in the daylight. The scenery was fantastic. Fall is making its brief appearance before winter sets in and the trees are displaying beautiful yellows and oranges. The conditions here aren't right to get red leaves, so the mountains are covered with tapestries of evergreens and golden birches.

That evening we made dinner and watched a movie. We went to sleep early in an attempt to start the next week well rested. We were headed into Research Week and even the most interesting lectures are difficult to stay awake through while suffering from sleep deprivation.

Dyrsku'n

Dyrsku'n is what Americans would recognize as a country fair. There are booths selling everything imaginable from wool socks, belts, and used household items to sausages and tea. They also have large things available for sale, such as home appliances and farm equipment.

Like Farsund, Dyrsku'n also involves a set of obligatory performances. The perks are: 1) the festival pays for our travel and parking, 2) we get food vouchers and 3) we are allowed to have a fiddle case open for donations. The downside is that we have to play outside in varied weather a program that is rather patched together for an audience that for the most part could care less about our music.

We were required to play with the two students taking the half year program. They are both very talented musicians, but it was a challenge to come up with a common repertoire in such a short time. Adding to the stress was the fact that three of us had rehearsals and the performance in Rjukan the previous weekend which cut into the available time to rehearse for Dyrsku'n.

In the end things went well. It was hot and sunny in the morning with more and more clouds as the day wore on. We played our last set just before it started to rain. Some of the audiences were more generous than others and we wound up with about $15 each to take home.

Our earnings from the day did not make it home in the form of cash, however. After we put our instruments back in the car, we had an hour to wander around the fair before we needed to leave. Somehow we managed to not spend all of our money; $15 doesn't last very long in Norway. Now, I have wool socks and David has a new belt; we also have fresh loose-leaf tea and a cast iron pan for small pancakes.

Rjukan

After Farsund, we unpacked our bags, washed our clothes, and packed again, this time for Rjukan. One of our classmates from last year had asked those of us who knew we were continuing to play for Kjerringsveiven. We had eagerly said yes to a paid gig.

On Thursday we packed everything we could into our little car and drove over the mountain to Rjukan. The car was never really built for four people plus all the instruments the can pack in the trunk and it wasn't really up to the task now that it's aged a good 15 years. We spent the car ride listening to esoteric recordings so we would be less aware of the noises the back wheels were making. It really sounded like they were going to fall off.

We arrived to Randi's house, unpacked, and relaxed. Her house is amazingly large. I think it was a duplex that has been remodeled to be one phenomenal house. Her boyfriend made us excellent food and there was plenty of candy to go around. We drank wine, told jokes, and laughed really hard.

The night was long and morning came a little too early. Even though we didn't get up until 10am. We ate a leisurely breakfast and started in on rehearsals. We worked hard finding arrangements to our list of forty tunes, selecting the best ones for the gig the next day, and then running through our final set list. By the time we crawled into bed Friday night, we had been practicing for 14 hours with two breaks.

We slept hard and fast and were on the road at 9am to the top of Gaustatoppen. On the way up we navigated narrow mountain trails through a herd of cows to the seter where we would play. We unpacked the instruments and assessed the stage (wooden pallets in the middle of a sheep pasture covered with a three sided tent). Our sound check was rather relaxed, but we managed to check all of the instruments and vocal mic's before the ladies started to arrive at noon.

Kjerringsveiven translates literally to 'The old ladies' swing' and the event is an organized march around the top of Gaustatoppen. About 2000 women came this year. The sporty ones and the early birds finish first. The one's who prefer to mosey and sleep in come a little later. They take buses from the town to the starting point and from the finish line back to town. We were playing at the finish line, where they also sell rømmegraut, sauplapper (buttermilk pancakes), and coffee/soda. The marchers tend to bring additional refreshments in the form of sandwhiches, fruit, and every kind of alcoholic beverage imaginable.

We played five forty minute sets over the course of five hours. The audience got more interested and more entertaining as time passed. In our third set they started singing along, one of them was even dancing in the mud. The fourth set was marked by the opening of a couple champagne bottles. The highlight of the last set was the 'chicken ladies'. At least twenty women had outfitted themselves with matching hats that looked like chicken.

Our music also got better as we played it more. We rearranged ourselves so we had shorter pauses and better communication. We learned which tunes worked and which ones didn't; the later it got, the more drinking songs we sang. The sound guy also got in on the act, throwing in all of the effects he had (reverb, echo, distortion), sometimes all at once!

We were happy and tired when we got back to Randi's. We relaxed, had dinner, and gingerly listened to the recording we had made. We discovered that it wasn't actually so bad! Those of us heading back to Rauland decided it would be a good idea to head home. The drive home was another hour of happy companionship, but we are all looking forward to sleeping in our own beds!

Farsund

The weather was not on our side this year. It rained pretty much constantly in Farsund. On Friday and Saturday nights the rain and wind reached impressive storm intensity.

As artists (and lowly student artists at that), the festival was not particularly well organized. We got conflicting messages about all of our concerts (time, location, what kind of concert). Other groups were also listed at the wrong time or wrong location in the official program. Still, it was a great time.

We drove out of Rauland on Thursday morning with a car packed full of instruments. Sveinung and I were bad passengers and slept almost the whole trip while David struggled to hold himself entertained in the driver's seat. We stopped in Evje and treated ourselves to espresso and pastries. After that we passengers did a better job of keeping the driver company; we worked on learning the rather complicated refrain to an entertaining mock ballad.

Upon arrival in Farsund, we found our hotel rooms, grabbed our instruments, and to the Reinlender Parade. Our first taste of the days to come was leading the reinlender parade, playing a tune we were supposed to be learning as we marched. This didn't really work very well since there was only one person who knew the tune and he was successfully drowned out by his drummer accompanist.

The parade ended in the public square with a festival showcase. We were asked to play a tune for the showcase a few minutes before we went on stage. Anna (who play two and one rowed accordions) hadn't been up to school yet and hadn't rehearsed with us all summer. Also, her accordion had some sticky keys. We played our safest tune. Needless to say, it didn't go as well as it could have.

That evening we rehearsed with the students from last year who had managed to get festival passes if they played parts of our concerts. It was here that the confusion began when we found out that our hour-long concert was actually a half hour, so we had to figure out what to cut of our largely unrehearsed program. In the end we divided our solo numbers between concerts and took the best of the group numbers.

Thursday night's party was short lived. We came late and had to get up early for Friday's concert. There were also not very many of us and we had a rather thin set of common tunes.

Friday we were scheduled to play in a Chinese restaurant. It was difficult to tell if the audience was interested in us, but eating their lunch, or not interested at all. We're going with the former because it makes us feel better. Later we went back to the restaurant since we got free lunch for playing; the food was pretty good, so I can understand if people we paying more attention to lunch than our music.

After Chinese food, we enjoyed a couple of concerts. The first was panel concert with a broad spectrum of the festival artists. From Kim Andre Rysstad (kveding) to Fosbrooks School (English music/step-dance - playing and dancing at the same time) the program was varied and entertaining.

We left early from that concert to get to Unni Boksasp and band. I think Unni is amazing, plus her band includes Ånon Egeland (my fiddle teacher and big name in Norwegian folk music) and Olav Mjelva. Her concert was a usual excellent. The only low point was a tune she composed about the woman who was her inspiration. I can forgive one tune in an otherwise fabulous hour long concert.

We went to bed early so we would be fresh and prepared for Saturday's concert. Saturday we got up early and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. Then we headed over to the other hotel where we would be playing. We had a successful soundcheck in spite of our ridiculous combination of intruments (enrader, torader, gitar, seljefløyte, sang, harpeleik, 2 fiddles, and nyckelharpa for four people). Anna made it from her other performance just in time for us all to go on stage together. I think we played pretty well considering we were quite nervous and it was a little difficult to hear each other on stage.

After our performance we wandered off to find lunch and relax, having fulfilled all of our obligations for the weekend. The only place we found to eat at was the local pub in the center of town. As we got closer we read on their announcement board "HiT Studenter", that is... us. We headed back to the car and got our instruments, put our heads together and came up with a new set list. 45 minutes after realizing we were supposed to play the concert we started. It turned out to be the best of our concerts that weekend. We were relaxed, the audience was engaged, and we had a lot of fun.

When we arrived back at the hotel, I got a message that a relative had called. I called him back and got to meet up with my 4th cousin who lives in Farsund. That was pretty exciting - I hadn't seen him in at least 15 years, so there was a fair amount of family updating to be had.

On Sunday we allowed ourselves to sleep in a little before climbing in the car for the long drive home. Sveinung entertained us by learning to play melodies on the harpeleik the whole ride home.

Back in the mountains

The week before school started was a hectic mess. I worked and unpacked and worked and unpacked. David spent his time unpacking. Surprisingly enough, we're still not really finished.

David has also been using his time to get familiar with the kitchen. He has baked all of the bread we've eaten in the past two weeks. In addition he has experimented with a couple cakes and a batch of muffins. Outside of the oven he has whipped several excellent meals including chicken soup, fried fish and mashed potatoes, and a hearty meat sauce. I always look forward to coming home after washing at the dentists' office to see what he has whipped up.

David has not been alone in the use of our kitchen. I have contributed with corn bread (thanks to a very expensive package from Mom containing corn meal) and corn bread muffins. My dinners have included lemon chicken, stir fry, fajitas, and delicious salads.

My job at the cafe has turned into a job at the Akademi. The Akademi work is very similar to working at the hotel, it just pays better and is closer to home. It also involves checking guests into their rooms. Since I'm there pretty much every day, they can ask me to work at a moments notice, whenever they need me. I have yet to hear from the hotel and, if it works out at the Akademi, I won't call to remind them that I can work...

So far our classes have consisted mostly of rehearsals. That is, we've had six days of rehearsals and two days of folkemusikkformidling (promotion and presentation of folk music) We're getting ready for a concert at the Nordsjøfestival in Farsund.

Last year the festival was a great way to kick off the year, with concerts and late nights. This year, we get to be one of the concerts! This festival is well organized with almost all of the concerts at the same hotel everyone stays at. There are also a number of concerts within easy walking distance and midday concerts in the public square. Last year we got to take a boat trip with our teacher; I'm hoping the weather holds out for a repeat!

Driving back to Rauland

Reasonably early on Friday morning (August 7), we piled into the van and headed west again. David and I promptly passed out in the passenger seats while his father drove. In Karlstad we stopped at Biltema, a hardware store with everything you could possibly need. Almost. We spent about an hour and half buying tools and equipment to help us make the apartment nice and keep David busy for hours.

We stopped for lunch at the Swedish equivalent of McDonalds, MAX hamburgare. This was at my request, having heard so much from visiting Swedes in Seattle about the superiority of MAX vs. any of the American hamburger chains. I would have to say that, while the hamburger itsself was better than one from a chain, and the free coffee was a nice touch, the fries left something to be desired (something like a lot of grease) and the hamburger was really anything special compared to a real burger from a quality establishment in the US.

We pressed further across the late summer landscape, stopping outside Oslo to stretch our legs and eat the remaining spanikopita. We switched drivers and I took the wheel. Things went reasonably smoothly. I choose the wrong road at the big traffic circle in Drammen, but that much a delay is hardly noticable.

The most exciting part of the journey came on the tiny road we drove on for the last 90 minutes. After a few cars passed me by, I took the signal to drive faster. That is 80km/hr roughly. Having not driven in a while and driving a much larger car, the twisting and turning on a narrow road at that speed was intense, to say the least. Not to mention the time we almost collided with another car on a one lane bridge. Thank goodness the van has good breaks!

We drove directly to our new apartment and started unpacking. Our landlady, Anne, came out and asked us if we wanted to join them for some fish soup on the patio. In the short time it took her to whip up the soup, we unpacked the van and stuffed the apartment full of things. After dinner we took a mini road trip to see the view from Vierli. Then it was coffee at my old apartment where Anders was sleeping and off to our first night in the new apartment.

Uppsala

Since David and I are moving into a mostly unfurnished apartment, we have been shopping here in Uppsala. That is, we have basically lived at IKEA. I'm pleased to report that the IKEA in Seattle is very much like the IKEA in Uppsala. The Seattle IKEA really needs to get the self-serve soft-serve because it is the coolest machine.

In addition to IKEA we spent an afternoon/evening with David's sister, husband, and three kids. They are currently living in San Francisco, but are in Sweden for the summer. The whole family was great, plus I got to play with the baby (totally cute at 11 months old)!

We spent a day wandering around town and met up with one of David's friends from school. She was a load of fun. We sat outside and ate ice cream while she told entertaining stories about what seems to be a rather thrilling life. Later we managed to buy new clothes for me and new shirts for David; it had been far too long since my last shopping excursion.

On our last night in Uppsala, David and I made dinner. That is, I made spanikopita and David helped. Turns out, you can get pretty decent phyllo dough in Sweden. The rest of the family enjoyed the spanikopita, which we served with rice and salad.

We also packed the car that evening, which was quite the experience. The car was actually a full size van with most of the rear seats removed. We stuffed it full of clothes and bookshelves, necessities from IKEA and instruments. Somehow we managed to find enough room for ourselves as well.

Silver lining

Last year's medal testing experience was a rush of sheer adrenaline. I didn't know what to expect. I had worked really hard to get there. I had spent a lot of money. I really had something to prove.

This year was less about the amount of training I had put into the three dances I had presented and more about the training I have built up during a lifetime of dancing and performing. Since Larry and I were on different continents until ten days before we tested, it was a little difficult to put a lot of time in prior to the big day. We worked hard at Furudal, but a week of rehearsal doesn't build the same hunger and sense of entitlement to pass as six months of rehearsing.

The dance floor in Orsa was slick. Like ice. Testing on Saturday gave us a little time to get used to it. The evening dances were really fun, although I left them all early because I was pretty tired. I did a fair amount of practicing with Larry, although I mostly danced with David. I did get to dance with David Eriksson, always nice.

After I danced on Saturday, I was fairly certain that things went well for me. We danced cleanly, if not perfectly and we got good music. Larry and Karlyn got difficult music, so their Saturday night was a little more nerve-wracking. To smooth things over, David and I made a chocolate cake.

On Sunday they started with the certificates; the tensest moment was waiting to hear Larry's name when they were calling people who in the process of earning the Big Silver. Even though I was the last one of the Seattle crew to get called, I was relaxed after Larry and Karlyn walked across the stage. I knew that if they had passed with the difficulties they had experienced, I had passed. The word on my certificate is 'gott' (good or well). Not quite as poetic as last year, but perhaps next year will be better.

Fun in Furudal

June 30, 2009

Generally, I prefer to be well prepared for any kind of exam. Seeing as how I haven't been in Seattle, it's been difficult to practice with Larry. The first day or so involved a lot of remembering how to dance, especially my dances (Storpolska fr. Vemdalen, Slängpolska fr Malung, Gammalvänster fr. Oviken). Things are going better now that we've been at it for a few days. Leif and Margareta are, as usual, full of gentle and constructive adjustments and, occasionally, a compliment.

The weather here has been wet and mosquito filled. We have managed to have dry enough weather for the evening camp fires and hot-dog grilling. Friday night we took a little trip down to Boda to catch the Boda Spelmann playing on home turf. David was on his way up to visit from Uppsala and met us in Boda. It was great to see him and talk to him in person (Skype is nice, but it ain't the real thing). It was really great to dance with David.

The rest of the week progressed as to be expected. General drama unfolded that comes from being with the same people for too many days in a row. Mostly we worked on our dances, relaxed and grilled hot dogs. They way things are supposed to be at Furudal.

Our last night there was probably the best, in spite of its misadventures. After dinner, four of us from Seattle (me, Larry, Tom, and Karlyn) headed down to grill the last of our hot dogs. We tried to get Bonnie to join us, but it was pretty late already. We were the only ones who headed down that night and, while we had firewood, we were lacking anything to start a fire with. Instead of grilling hot dogs, we sat and enjoyed the view and each other's company, swapping stories until the mosquitos had sucked us dry.

Cold and not quite ready to say good-bye to Furudal we stayed up late watching TV. The rest of the gang bailed sometime during the Danish mystery program with Swedish subtitles. I sure slept well once I finally went to bed!

The road to Furudal

July 24, 2009

Larry and his mother picked me up in Rauland. They arrived several hours earlier than I was expecting them. I was mostly packed and the apartment was a rough approximation of clean. When I left Rauland, my bags were packed and the apartment was a little closer to presentable.

There was just barely enough room in the back seat of the rental car for me and the roads from Telemark weren't any friendlier than usual. At least I was in a car and not on the bus! By the time we arrived in Hokksund, I was slightly green. We spent a lovely evening with Chris and Terry-Anne, with a walk down to the river and songs late into the night.

We dragged ourselves out of bed early the next morning, Sweden bound! Karlyn called from the train station just as Larry had come down for breakfast, so he headed straight off to find her. We enjoyed our breakfast and coffee while Karlyn entertained us with her travel updates. We were on the road before 8am.

We drove through Oslo to Kongsvinger. We picked the most direct route, along the small roads through Finnskogen, Värmland, and Dalarna. We didn't see to many other cars, but we did hear shooting in the distance just after we crossed the border. We cruised Malung, got some groceries in Mora, zipped through Orsa, and happily arrived in Furudal in plenty of time to find our rooms, unpack the car, eat and get to the dance floor early. It was a long day for Larry who drove the whole way!

Summer routine

July 23, 2009

My summer routine involves lots of work and lots of relaxing. Since Geilo, I have had three days off. While I've been working pretty much every day, most days are pretty short, leaving plenty of time for summer lounging. The weather here reminds me of home, rain, chance of rain, sun breaks with rain, and a few really hot days.

I most prefer working at the art gallery; the people here are interesting and the work is not physically exhausting. When someone buys a painting or other piece of art, everyone is happy about it. The transaction, regardless of the amount, is considered a joyous event or at least a positive one by the gallery, the artists, and the purchasers.

It's a little different working at the cafe. People are always happy to get their food, but the stress begins when they pay. Then they stand there and watch while I (or one of my coworkers) engage in the mad rush to try to get all of the hot food hot and the cold food cold and onto the table at the same time. Meanwhile there tends to be a line forming of more people who want more food. Unless there is nothing happening at all in the cafe. And that's no fun either.

On Fridays and Saturdays we have free concerts at the cafe. Free in Norway equals chaos. Everyone wants there coffee and waffles right when the concert starts. This means that the concert starts late, which annoys the people who came twenty minutes early. Then the concert lasts for half an hour and everybody heads back out into the fresh air, leaving behind them a wake of coins (for the musicians), coffee cups, and crumbs. Fortunately, the concerts are pretty good otherwise it wouldn't be worth the exhaustion!

On sunny days, tourists stay outside. They do not visit art galleries and they do not visit cafes in dark timber buildings. As previously mentioned, we have not had so many sunny days, so we have had a lot of tourists. That has meant lots of work to do for those of us who wanted to work. Of course, you can only work so long before it's time for a vacation!

The delights of summer

Yesterday, between rain showers, I ate my lunch outside at the tables in front of the coffee shop. I had prepared for myself a salad teeming with the bounty of summer produce. While I sat on the mostly dry chair at a table that was definitely wet, eating my salad that seemed to increase in size as I ate it, I thought of the rainy summers in Seattle.

Perhaps it is global warming or my shady memory, but I don't remember summers in Seattle being long stretches of sunshine. I remember the comfortable rain. Perhaps it is more closely related to my summer habits of retreating into the cool dark basement with a special blend of Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips and walnuts in a Tupperware cup that someday would be taken to the beach and used as a digging implement losing its pleasantly smooth edge and becoming forever relegated to the back of the cupboard. In the hours while my parents were at work, I would watch tv mindlessly - making sure to follow the complicated system of turning on fans and closing hatches and windows to preserve the valued coolness of our stone house.

It must have been hot. It must have been hot because we went swimming in the sun. We all thought that swimming in the rain was the best, but swimming in the sun was necessary. When the weather was hot on the weekends we would pile in the Falcon and drive to Tacoma. Nana and Grandpa Arne always had fabulously delicious food (the broccoli chicken bake, salmon, potato salad, sour cream and onion potato chips, real sandwiches, PIE, ice cream in a variety of flavors, waffles with homemade jam for breakfast). The rest of the family tended to show up. Who wouldn't come for good food, swimming, and laughter?

Grandpa Arne's pool was the perfect place to play and get wet. It was a little short for laps that were more than recreational and diving was not allowed, but those limitations were not particularly bothersome. We floated, played games we'd made up (like Fox and the Eggs), and did tricks (mostly headstands and sommersaults). We'd get out when our fingers and toes looked like the prunes Grandpa and Nana ate every night before going to sleep and there were streaks of teal randomly distrubuted across out bodies where we had bumped into the walls of the pool, the aging paint had come off on our skin.

Sitting at a sidewalk cafe outside an art gallery, eating a bottomless salad, I started thinking about food as art in five dimentions. The fourth and fifth are clearly taste and time, but which is which? According to convention it is time that is the fourth dimention. But isn't taste more important? But perhaps the time to grow the ingredients and select them are as important as the art of the perfect composition of flavors. Taking time to taste the variety of ingredients is critical to the success of the piece. It also creates ample time to remember the delights of summers past.

Yesterday's Salad:

Iceberg lettuce (in Norway it still has a little green color)
Cabbage
Arugula
Onion
Carrot
Tomato
Avocado
Kidney Beans
Feta (marinated in olive oil and herbs)
Red wine vinegar
Oil and herbs from the feta

Chop the things that are choppable and mix together. Enjoy with friends or memories.

Det er kunst vi vil ha

We spent a long day on Sunday packing David's apartment. We didn't finish. He decided that it would be better to drive all day Tuesday and keep packing on Monday than stress to get it finished on Sunday night.This was fine with me. It was going to be hard to say good-bye and I was happy to put it off for another day.

Monday I also started working at the art gallery (www.raulandkunstforening.no). This is a perfect summer job. I am surrounded by art and people interested in art. We share the building with the local coffee shop. When we're not busy, I get to check the internet for exciting developments. Sometimes I even get to clean the floors, something which has come to give me great joy after a year of washing at the dentist's office. Mostly, the job gives me a purpose for five hours a day; I pendle between feeling incredibly useful and phenomenally ignorant. Fortunately, in those slow times, I get to read art catalogs and artists' websites to help me build a little knowledge.

On Tuesday, David tried to leave. Tried, as in he packed the car and drove off, but his brakes gave out an hour down the road. Working at the art gallery also affords me the luxury of being both conveniently located to the local gas station and the flexibility to run out the door when he called to ask them if they had time to check out his car. In the end he drove to another town, had the brakes checked and then back up here to have them fixed. We got our extra night after all!

On Wednesday he left for real, leaving me to entertain myself by waiting for text messages from the road and washing the enormous pile of dishes we had steadily ignored since returning from Geilo. My apartment seemed lonely and somehow empty without David, in spite of the impressive volume of things we had managed to pack into it. It's a good thing we have found a larger place to live in the fall, even if it's not that much larger.

Since Wednesday I have beat the heat by avoiding it. Mostly by sitting calmly in the art gallery, guiding visitors to the send floor exhibition and film room. Generally hoping that they would be inspired by the calmness in the gallery to purchase something off our walls. I've also spent a fair amount of time lounging on my couch, too hot to do anything but lay there and think about the boy who had driven off. He sends me beautiful messages and I reply haltingly; language barriers are no fun.

Even the weekend was dedicated to the kunstforening. My alternatives were cleaning the house, so it seemed like an obvious choice. On Sunday we got some rain and a little thunder storm. I took a walk up to our new apartment - only five more minutes up the hill! Before I slept, I was struck by the deliciousness of the cold water from the tap here in the mountains. Even in the hot summer months, it is crisp and sweet, like I remember the water in Seattle tasting when I was a child.

NM i folkemusikk og folkedans

We were sleeping in a classroom with eleven people, most of whom we'd never met before; that is, I'd met one of them before and David had never met any of them. Since we were the last two to show up, we got the spot right by the door and the sink that everyone had to walk by. Needless to say, it was not comfortable. Fortunately that was the only real downside the event.

The other downside was that I had too many friends competing at the same time. I managed to see very few of them dancing. I did however get to see and hear lots of very good competition. The results of the week's competition were exciting - especially in dance! As usual with such a competition, there is now some debate about the criteria the judges used, especially in the vocal categories. As a spectator, the event was a success - lots to see and hear during the day and lots to dance to in the evening. As usual in Norway, going to a dance with a steady partner is a lot more fun.

We left early to get back to Rauland in time for the opening of the summer art exhibition. We drove the short way over the mountains and took lots of photos from the car. We stopped at a mountain stream for lunch. David played on a rock out in the stream; I was too chicken to jump out there and the rocks were too slippery to wade out on. We made it home just in time to take a shower, eat dinner and drive to the gallery opening.

New beginnings

The night before our final concert, when most people were busy packing and saying goodbye, I took a deep breath and leapt down a new path. Having had my own heart broken more often than I'd like, I have a tendency to be overly cautious both with my own emotional well being and that of others. The feelings I'd been having for David (a classmate) kept getting stronger the more time I spent with him; the more I thought about it, the more sure I was that I wanted to spend even more time with him. We are both very aware of the potential for negative ramifications if things go poorly next year, however things are going very well and I haven't been happier in a very long time.

Our first adventure as a couple was a cross-country tour. We took off from Rauland on a Saturday afternoon by bus. The plan was to catch the night bus to Uppsala (yippee!), but that plan fell through when the bus was full. I called everyone we knew in Oslo. A classmate of ours came through with his mother's apartment in a very nice neighborhood in Oslo. His mother was moving so, we got the place to ourselves for the few hours we were there.

Early the next morning we found our way back out of the courtyard (we were very nearly locked in) and back to the bus station. After nine long hours on the bus, we arrived at the central station in Stockholm where we met David's mother, Nina. We were very happy that she was in the city and driving up to Uppsala, because we were very hungry and had run into some money trouble (my bank card had stopped working and David was broke). She made good time and we arrived at his home outside the city and met his brother, Thomas, and father, Anders. Everyone was very welcoming - it was fantastic to be home.

After dinner we went for a walk in the forest, then took a shower, and played some music. We were generally exhausted from our journey, but it was good to move, good to play, and phenomenal to be clean. I could have slept through the whole following day, but it was Thomas' birthday so we got up early and woke him up with cake, song, and presents. It was very festive.

In the afternoon, David took me on an Uppsala sightseeing tour. We met a couple friends of his for coffee and sat outside at a cafe in the almost too warm sunshine. We did some shopping (cough drops and a new tooth brush), visited David's high school, the cathedral, and the salvation army. Before leaving town we stopped at the concert hall, both to admire the building and the view from the top floor.

Hot and tired, we headed back to the cozy valley David grew up in, stopping only for Swedish summer essentials (soft serve and dill chips). Back at the Rönnlund ranch (which is not a ranch in the slightest), Anders was preparing Thomas' birthday dinner (steak!). The brothers worked together to produce homemade pasta. As if all that weren't enough, the meal was rounded out with a caprice salad and a second round of birthday cake. David took me sightseeing in the neighboring valley afterward; the pleasant drive and long walk gave us ample time to talk about all kinds of things - and test the temperature of the water. I ended the evening having a somewhat involved conversation with Nina about my thoughts on Judaism; her mother was jewish, so it was an interesting discussion for both of us.

The next day we packed Thomas' car with our things and headed back toward Norway. We spent the evening with Peter, David's uncle, in Karlstad. Well rested we took off toward Geilo and the first NM in folkemusikk (formerly Landskappleiken). Our journey was slowed by a very punctured tire that we limped along on from Kongsberg to Geilo; we filled it once with air and once with foam. Upon arriving in Geilo ten hours later, we changed to the mini tire to be certain that we could drive to the gas station in the morning. In the morning we found out that the tire had four holes in it and we didn't manage to leave before replacing two tires (they wouldn't let us fix just the one).

Avsluttning

Our last week of school was filled with playing exams, getting our final grades, and many hours of rehearsals for our final concert. My playing exams went as well as can be expected, that is poorly. I get so nervous playing for judges. They were very kind when they gave me their feedback; I have come to the conclusion that while Scandinavians are not particularly great at giving positive encouragement along the way, the are exceptionally talented in giving advice after the fact.

Our rehearsals for the final concert were long and exhausting. Ånon jumped in and helped us with arrangments and tune selection. He both gently and not-so-gently stripped away the parts that were unworkable and pointed us in the direction he thought would work. We didn't always agree with him, but we managed to make some good music. The concert itsself couldn't have gone better; we played our hearts out in the shadows of Dyre Vaa's enormous sculptures cast by the hot summer sun to an audience of locals and relatives. And then we were finished!

Catching up

Since we got back from Shetland things have been in fast forward. We had our last week of classes, followed by the Seventeenth of May, a visit from my mom, our written exam, lots of rehearsals, a few sunny days on the beach, fylkeskappleiken, and today I had my playing exam. Saturday is our final concert and then this crazy year winds to an end. It's hard to believe.

We celebrated 17. mai by sharing a long and delicious breakfast with our friends. We dressed up in bunad, sang songs, and watched the parades in other parts of the country on TV. Around noon, the local parade made it's way passed us. After cheering on the school children, we joined the end of the parade down to the school. There were games and a raffle, lots of food, speeches, and a short concert. In the evening we relaxed at home and watched the re-run of the Eurovision Song Contest Finals (which Norway had won the night before).

The next day, my mom came to visit for her birthday. It was really great to see her. We went for a walk down to the lake, which has been drained and now has at least a hundred feet of beautiful sandy beach. Mom was only here for a two days, so I didn't really get to spend much time with her, but I'm glad she made the effort to come all the way out here to the middle of Norway.

After Mom left I began studying for my final exam. This was interrupted by several opportunities to bbq and the fylkeskappleik. The fylkeskappleik itself was inspiring in that it made me feel more like I am part of this community and also helped boost my confidence in playing for judges. I'm still struggling with stage fright and nerves when playing for judges, but I'm hoping that will pass with time. The kappleik was held at the hotel; we danced teledans for hours and hours in the bar!

The next Tuesday we had our written exams. Six hours to answer questions ranging from, 'When was the first extant hardingfele built?' to, 'Discuss professionalism in folk music.' I was very happy with most of my answers and that's the best you can hope for on an exam like that. We get our grades tomorrow for the whole year.

Since the written exam we have had both really good weather (four days sun-bathing on our mountain beach) and heavy rain mixed with snow. We have spent a large part of our time rehearsing for the final concert that's coming on Saturday, and the rest of our time rehearsing for the playing exams. I've managed to squeeze in a few parties, cleaning at the dentist's office, and a hike up Falkeriset. I also helped out at the town bazaar yesterday - I sold pizza and hot dogs (including gluten free pizza and milk free hot dogs)!

The main topic of conversation these days revolves around who will be here next year and where we will live. I have wanted to live in the house in Nesland basically all year, but it wasn't a possibility until yesterday. I had in the meantime decided that I would really like to live alone, or rather that I thought it would be a bad idea to live with my classmates. I don't want to get sick of them, since they're the only people I see up here. Nesland is cheaper, but farther away; it would be with my classmates which means it would be more social, but there would be a greater opportunity to get tired of each other. What to do?!

Shetland!

I met my classmates at the ferry terminal. The months preceding this trip had been filled with stories of a week of phenomenal jam sessions starting with the party on the boat. The rest of the class was concerned that if they had too much fun on the boat, they might ruin the festival ahead. Some of them went to see the on-board movie theater. A few of us took our instruments to the party in the middle of the boat; it was clear that the jam sessions were friendly, but not very Nordic. We retreated to the front of the boat to wait until it was ok to sleep there.

While my companions passed out on the couches, I tried to catch up on my blogging. That's when Andy found me. Our conversation went something along the lines of:

Him: Hey, there's a party in the middle of the boat, you should come.
Me: But I'm supposed to be watching our stuff. (with a vague hand gesture toward at least three sleeping classmates and a pile of instruments, snacks, and luggage).
Him: Right, but there's a party.
Me: I know, but the stuff...
Me: Wait! I'm coming!

The party in the middle of the boat was definitely in full swing. The ferry we were on brings the majority of the artists to the festival. Members of Frigg, Zar, and Box Club were definitely involved in the jamming. I sat with my new friends and listened. After a while the group I was sitting with started playing. They were clearly not the folkie type that plays fiddles; a couple gitars, song, and harmonica were present as well as recognizable blues hits. I made several new friends that evening and well into the morning.

We stumbled off the boat when it arrived and took a cab to the Youth Hostel. Reception wasn't technically open yet, so we hung out and waited for them with visibly low energy levels. Once the warden arrived to check us in, we found out that girls wouldn't be able to get into our room for another couple hours. We went off in search of food, abandoning our luggage at the hostel.

We found both our classmates who had been in Shetland for several days and food at the community center next door. By the time we ate breakfast and caught up with everyone (including meeting some of the other students who were taking part in the Nordic Tone project) it was time to pick up our keys. We took some very cold showers and headed back out for some exploring before the concerts started. By chance we found the preview concert, which was totally packed. So, we hung around the door, sweltering and getting our first on-stage tastes of the concerts to come.

The concerts that week were great. Great! But they were only a tiny portion of the festival. The concerts are very social events and the audience tends to wander around (usually to and from the bar) through out the entire evening. Each concert has between three and five artists - pretty much all of them exceptionally talented.

After the scheduled concerts people gather at the Festival Club to listen to more music (both unpublished performances by the main artists and other bands as well as jam sessions in every room and corner and stairwell). After the Festival Club closes at 5am (or a little before then) people wander off to house parties that tend to last until the restaurants open in the morning. The truly hardcore (not me) then go straight to the pub to continue playing after breakfast.



The festival planners don't schedule anything during the day. This leaves plenty of time for either sleeping during the day or sight-seeing. I did a reasonable amount of both. On Saturday, Birgit and I walked along the coastal path in search of seals. We did not find them, but we did get some good photos.

Sunday we went for a tour of South Mainland in less than inviting weather. It was windy and almost raining the whole time. We had with us our local guide, Cameron, whom I had met on the ferry and spent a fair amount of time hanging out with during the festival. A fan of music and Norwegian chocolate, he knew where to take us to squeeze the most out of our few tourist hours.

First stop - St. Ninian's Isle, connected to the mainland by the sand bar you see above.

Looking southward from St. Ninian's.


Next stop was Sumburgh, as far south as you can go on land in Shetland. The puffins just wait for you to take their photos. Below are a couple shots looking down from the point, next to the lighthouse.




After the final party on Monday (awesome music, but less fun due to the lack of a local guide), we scrambled to pack and get out of our rooms before check out. We went shopping in town. Some of us spent a few hours in the Shetland Museum; I recommend the museum as a stop at the beginning of the trip, if it's your first time to Shetland. Then we all piled in the hostel van and headed back to the ferry.

The boat ride back to Aberdeen was significantly less of a party, due mostly to the high waves we were sailing through. Nobody really wanted the festival to come to an end, but it's hard to play when the floor rolls out from under you. I slept happily under my new Shetland wool blanket, preparing for another day and a half of travel before finally arriving back in Rauland. I'm looking forward to next year's festival already!

A day in Aberdeen

I arrived in Aberdeen after flying from Seattle via Copenhagen. It was a long, long trip that was not made shorter by the fact that I had managed to dump most of a glass of wine on my lap in the early hours of the first flight. Having arrived in Scotland, I exchanged what was left of my US currency and hopped a bus to the Youth Hostel.

That sounds pretty good, except I didn't really know where I was or where I was going. At least not at the level that I like to know these things. The result was not catastrophic, but I did wind up getting off the bus about ten blocks early and hauling all of my luggage along the bus route to the Youth Hostel.

I got checked in, stashed my stuff (up three flights of stairs), and decided to go for a walk. Seeing as how I'd botched being prepared arriving in Aberdeen, I figured I might as well be prepared leaving the city. I walked through a long street of shops (stopping for coffee and a sandwich) and made a sharp right to the harbor. I had acquired a map, so I knew where I was headed.

I was headed to the ferry terminal. I wanted to know if there were luggage lockers that I could leave my bags in during the day, since check out was at 10am and the boat wasn't leaving until 5pm. What I could see through the tinted windows didn't indicate the presence of lockers, and I didn't really want to appear too suspicious on the deserted dock, so I started formulating a plan B. That consisted of 'there must be lockers at the train or bus station' which I had walked past on the way down.

I went grocery shopping and tried to refrain from purchasing the whole store. I only needed food for one day and I already had coffee. (I bought coffee and a travel mug/french press in Seattle) I found myself with cheese, crackers, smoothie, and a couple bottles of water. I'd been walking for a couple hours by the time I made it back to the hostel, ate, showered, and crashed.

In the morning, I got up, had breakfast, repacked, and checked out. I took a bus to the bus station and asked about luggage lockers; they directed me to the train station a bus away. At the train station I paid £4 to have my bags searched and stored while I wandered around. I figured both the search and the price were reasonable.

Freed from my burdens, I headed off to the art gallery. There I made a painstaking survey of everything (just about) on the first floor. Then it was lunch time (spicy carrot soup!) before almost the same consideration was given to the upper floor. There was a lot more to look at on the upper floor and I was getting tired so I didn't quite study everything. Also, there were a few rooms closed. I suppose I'll just have to go back if I want to really see everything!

Having exhausted the gallery, I headed into the toasty early afternoon sun. I read in the park for a while. I drank coffee in a shop where the Canadian barista asked if I was reading Swedish. I bought a pen to write postcards and then wrote them. Then, I reclaimed my bags and headed back to the ferry terminal. It was time for adventure.

Leave them wanting more

After three weeks in Seattle, I felt like I could really use another week there. I'd managed to see many of my friends and almost all of my family, but I would have liked to have spent more time with all of them. I managed to dance and fiddle, do my school work and relax. In three weeks, I slept in seven different locations, drank an ocean of coffee, and ate out an average of once a day.

Writing papers is a little like torture for me. It's not something I enjoy doing, even when the subject of the paper is something I absolutely love. Take for example the two papers I wrote while in Seattle - one on dance rhythms and one about singing for dancing Clearly these are topics that I enjoy talking about and have a strong interest in these activities themselves. I couldn't right the paper about singing until it was practically due.

(I was writing this on the boat to Shetland and at this point got coerced to the party in the middle of the boat. A story you will read later.)

I love Seattle. The people, the trees, the smell of the sea, the coffee shops, walks with the ladies, the weather (yes, really), everything except the traffic is great. December is a long ways away, but it will come and then I will be back home for another refill of life in the city. Until then, I have some good memories.

Staying with Warshaw family is always great. It is both relaxing and chaotic at the same time. I was fortunate enough to time my visit with passover, so I got to join them for their seder. Of course, my dad came too, and even on his best behavior (which he was on) he still manages to annoy me. Something about fathers and daughters, I suppose.

Springdans was fantastic! Lots of dancing, Norwegian and Swedish. It was fabulous to see folks I'd met in Sweden last summer. With a little bit of nudging we came to the conclusion that I can dance up again this summer, so I'm looking forward to that. Silver in Orsa, here I come! One of the highlights of the weekend was (after the traditional strip tease), of course, staying up really late playing music with Irene. She's just so much fun and so good! Not wanting the fun to end, I started scheming up a jam session for later in the week.

After camp, I spent a few productive days at Mom's. It was great to hang out with her, talking until late in the night drinking lambic and laughing. The second afternoon, Aunt Susie and Solvei came to visit. The weather was perfect and we crashed on the beach, watching the waves and talking about life. Those girls know how to have a good time. The sun went down, the beer was gone, and it was time for Susie and Solvei to head back to Poulsbo (Solvei had school the next day). Mom and I stayed up late again and I passed out after proclaiming that I wasn't tired.

I was woken up in the middle of the night by the feeling of a tail that was definitely not the cat's dragging across my foot. What followed was an hour long real-live cat and mouse game, essentially on the bed. I can't wait until Mom gets her cabin built. Of course, the cat (Finn the Hunter) won the game, with a satisfying, if revolting, crunch.

Back to Seattle for dinner in town with Mark A (way to represent!) and off to Anna's for a few days. If there's anyone who shares my love for chillin' like a villain, it's my best friend Anna. As an extra bonus it was her birthday, so we went out to as many meals as possible (not as easy as it sounds with a vegan). Then, to continue the Springdans fun, which Anna couldn't make it to due to work, we invited a star studded cast of the retired, self-employed, and unemployed to her house on Friday afternoon. It was a jam session for the record book and we could have kept going all night if we hadn't had to get over the the SCC to play the late night set at their happy hour.

Playing the happy hour is a very informal affair. You check with the Center to make sure you won't be conflicting with anyone and then you show up and play. The idea is to play for as long as people seem interested. After playing for 5 hours at Anna's, we played another two at the SCC. Almost all new tunes! What a day!

The rest of the weekend was paper writing crunch time and hanging out with the family. Both families really. I spent time with Sonya at the dental lab (holla!), had dinner with Mom in Ballard, one last night at the Warshaw's complete with Dad coming for dinner and the girls putting on a play. Perhaps a poor choice of pre-travel television, Mark and I watched 'Crashes that Changed Flight' until it was time to go to sleep. As much as I hate saying goodbye, setting off on the adventure to Shetland was exciting and I was really looking forward to getting back to Rauland.

Seattle Spring '09

I arrived in Seattle three weeks ago to warm sunshine and the usual family circus at the airport. Christa had been suffering an allergic reaction on the airplane for most of the trip and hurried off to her hotel. I was thrilled and surprised that the whole Warshaw family had made the trek to the aiport to meet me when I finally emerged from having all of my bags inspected. Dad still managed to not be at the airport waiting for me.

After a family dinner with Dad, Sonya, and her boyfriend at Dave's Diner, I decided to stay with Christa in the hotel. Both of us passed out pretty early. We both got up pretty early too. Dad came to pick me up around 8:30 and, in spite of my double checking the room, I managed to leave my broken by the inspection agent wallet in the room.The ensuing two day search of all of my belongings did end happily with the recovery of the errant wallet.

I spent a few mornings a Cafe Senso Unico. I love to sit there, drinking coffee and reading, watching the world I left behind scurry in and out between meetings. Of course, they are the home of the most amazing coffee, especially the soy cappuccino.

Preparing for Reentry

In contrast to the party I had on Sunday, the hotel party on Monday was a usual a drunken scene. I decided instead to dance like a fool, which was clearly the better choice. The plan had been to grill outside, but that plan was foiled by the weather (high winds are not ideal for BBQ). Instead we cooked in the kitchen and hung out in the lift house until 4am.

On Tuesday we set the program for our final concert in June and review masurka. I spent some time reading at the local cafe and then went to a friend's house for dinner. We wound up watching Finding Nemo in Swedish. It was great. I felt like I was in Sweden in the summer. That house is very cheery. I've got my fingers crossed that I can live there next year, or at least in the summer.

Wednesday was dance, first with the children (they are so cute) and then the adults. We have about ten kids coming to the children's group we started. I hope they keep dancing. The adults were visited by a couple very nice German tourists. I stayed up late packing and finished on Thursday morning.

On Thursday I took the long bus ride across Southern Norway to Oslo. Coming down from the mountains, the snow recedes and gives way to the grey brown gravel and mud underneath. Soon there will be leaves on the trees to hide the birds that are singing. When I return, it might even be Spring in Rauland!

A Weekend in Wonderland

After school on Friday we went on an adventure to Åmot. That is, we visited the liqour store. We knew we had a big weekend ahead of us, but managed to not buy the entire store. We headed home, made dinner and took naps. Around nine we called for a taxi up to the hotel.

I wanted to show my friends where I work. The hotel is decidedly more interesting than the dentist's office on a Friday night, but it still wasn't that busy. We hung out with the rest of the staff that had gotten off work, complained about the music, and looked at the paintings in the lobby. The crowd never reached critical mass to hit the dance floor, but that could have something to do with the music never being dance music. We took a taxi home and crawled into bed, happy and tired.

Saturday was loaded with potential. We started the day with mimosas (and mimosa floats) which may or may not have influenced the brilliant idea to build an igloo. Six hours later we had rolled some monster snow balls and formed them into the first two layers of a kids' igloo, right outside Åslaug's window. We were freezing, but I can't remember the last time I've had that much fun.

We went inside for some hot chocolate and wound up taking naps. We hadn't quite decided what we were doing with the evening, but we were certain that we weren't paying cab fare up to the hotel again and figured the local pub would be a good change of pace. We were right.

The bar was about half full. People looked at us like we were aliens. We acquired beverages and sat down. After about five minutes, a couple local guys (one in particular) decided that Rania and Christa were about the most interesting thing next to snow mobiles and started chatting them up. Rania, who is married, made a tactical bathroom break, putting Christa in the hot seat. Christa happens to be a pro at dealing with drunk small town boys.

They were about five minutes into conversation when he proposed marriage, which Christa declined. When the bar was closing, his friend wanted to head up to the hotel. We went with them, because that's where the rest of my friends were. We piled into the cab, the oil engineer, the factory manager, the fishmonger, the musician, and the law student, and headed off to breathe life into the the party at the hotel.

Christa's new best friend wasn't very exciting once we got up to the hotel. He mostly slept on the couch next to her. It gave me a chance to relax and talk to all of my friends, and there was definitely more dancing that evening! We waited for the bartender to give us a ride home, since he lives around the corner from me.

Sunday we had another long breakfast, this time without the champagne. We packed a lunch for Rania and took her down to the bus. She had to be back in London on Monday morning. Christa finished rolling snow balls for the igloo, while I cooked for the party I was hosting that evening. Åslaug came out to help us put the last layer on the igloo.

Christa and I managed to take a nap before my friends showed up for dinner. Usually, we don't get to enjoy dinner together at the hotel, so it was really nice that they could come down and spend time talking. The season ends while I'm in Seattle, so I won't see many of them again. It's a little sad, but a good excuse for a party.

Christa left on Monday for a business trip to Germany. I'll meet her again in Oslo on Saturday and then we'll fly back to Seattle together. It's crazy to think how soon I'll be home!

Visitors from abroad

Last weekend my wonderful friends Christa and Rania came to visit me in Rauland. Rania is studying in London right now and Christa made the trek all the way from Astoria. They had never met before, but the way the timing worked out, they were both available to visit me the same weekend.

Christa was scheduled to arrive from Sweden (where she had been visiting relatives) on Wednesday with the 6:20 bus. I went out to wait for it. A young man got off at the school, but I'd told her to get off at the student apartments, so I wasn't worried. I asked him if there were any girls still on the bus, and then if there was an American. He thought there was an American girl, so I went after the bus.

I walked up to the main road, thinking I might catch the bus there as it came back down from the rehabilitation center up the hill. When I didn't see it, I started walking toward the center of town. I walked on the road because I figured I would see the bus, and Christa, if it drove by me. It hadn't passed me by the time I got to the gas station, so I went in and asked if they'd seen the bus. After looking at me like I was crazy, they said no.

I headed back to my apartment. Slightly frantic, but telling myself the whole time that Christa is perfectly capable and it's not possible to get lost in Rauland. She must be coming on the next bus. I ate dinner and went to the evening concert. Not before considering calling or emailing Christa's company to see if they had heard anything from her...

The concert was Trio Nor, a star studded cast of Knut Hamre, Anders Bjernulf, and Arto Järvelä. As one can imagine, the concert was fabulous. They played individually and together. They played tunes that were related from each of their respective countries. They most certainly did not disappoint on the entertaining chatter.

After the concert, most of us were too shy to play solo. I had to run out to wait for Christa on the next bus, so I didn't get much time to dance. I headed back out into the cold mountain night with a glass of wine for company. Christa arrived at the student apartments shortly thereafter. I crammed some food into her and rushed her back down to the party.

Back in Årestoga, all of the students had started playing (strength in numbers), which left few people and not much space for dancing. That was fine, since I was excited to catch up with Christa. The jam session had taken an English turn, since we were also hosting a young English fiddler that week.

A tune came on that I really wanted to play. I had been talking to Anders Bjernulf and he said I could play his fiddle (mine was locked in the school). What a thrill! It is always a little awkward playing on an instrument you've never tried before, especially when it's such a nice fiddle. I must have looked terrified while I was playing!

On Thursday, Rania arrived on the 6:20 bus. She hadn't been stopped at the Swedish border like Christa, so she arrived on time! We had dinner with my roommate and one of the other art students. The art students had just finished all of their exams and were planning a party at my place that evening.

The party wound up being fairly low-key for once. A bunch of us sat in the kitchen talking and a bunch in Birgit's room listening to music. After a while, some more musicians (including the visiting Englishman) showed up and things got a little rowdy. Eventually though, it was time to go to sleep - especially since Rania had been travelling since 3am!

Weather update

After my last post we had roughly a week of early spring weather. Then the snow came again. Ten inches in two days. It covered the ugly brown snow that had started to pile up on the sides of the road and on the paths. It also covered the ice, which made it difficult to walk.

The new snow lasted for about three days before the melting resumed. This time it seems serious. People have stopped talking about 'spring' and have moved on to 'summer'. The sun is warm, but we still have two feet of hard packed snow standing pretty much everywhere and the temperatures never get above 40F. Last year there was a snow storm on the 17th of May.

I'm in Oslo now, looking out the window of my friends' apartment. All I see is a thick wall of fog; at first I wasn't sure if it was the building next to us it is so solid and white. I took the bus here yesterday and all the way from Telemark, the snow is showing signs of retreating. It will be Spring when I return!

Spring's first attempt!

While I have been particularly busy with school and work the past two weeks, not much of interest has really happened here. Last Sunday we were awarded 20cm of new snow over night. However, Spring is trying to let us know that it will come; we have had several days with temperatures over freezing which means melting snow. Right now it's even possible to see the pavement on the road!

The big news at work is that I've started learning how to tend bar. Friday night was looking pretty slow, so the bar manager told the guys they could go home (they just go downstairs, change clothes, and then sit on the other side of the bar) and I would practice pouring drinks. Almost as soon as they had started drinking (making them ineligible to help out), a whole crowd of locals came pouring into the bar. Trial by fire! Apparently, I passed the test. :)

At school we currently have about one assignment per week, which is a lot of reading and writing in Norwegian. On Friday we will discuss the various terms used in social anthropology. Monday we will be turning in a tune analysis. We are also working on our term papers that are due the end of April; mine is about tralling for dancing. It seems like I have a lot of work to do before I come home!

Return to the Regular Rhythm

Rauland seems so much emptier now that the festival is over. We have returned to watching the road for entertainment. Now that it's winter there are additional forms of transportation that might pass by - we have the usual cars, bikes and tractors, plus skis, sleds, sparks, and scooters.

It has been relatively warm here the past few weeks. This causes melting snow during the day and heavy accumulation at night. So far, we have been fortunate that we haven't returned to the icy phase.

The path between my building and the road gets no special treatment from the snow-scraping vehicles. It's getting to the point where we might not be able to jump up onto the path from the road because the snow is piled so high. On the other hand, the hill isn't so steep on the way down, since it's been filled in with snow.

The excitement this week has been ordering our tickets for the class trip to Shetland. After I leave Seattle, I'll be meeting my class at the Shetland Folk Festival. We're all looking forward to a week of concerts and culture outside of Rauland!

Rørosmartnan

To start with, Rørosmartnan is not just a folk dance and music festival. It is a full out market that takes over the town. There are craft booths and food booths and craft-food booths, guys selling fancy drills, lots of reindeer skins, and endless sausages, waffles, cocoa, and gløgg. Then there are concerts and dances on top of all that.

I arrived on Tuesday on the same train as Tom Sears who kindly pointed me up the hill to the cafe where my host was working that evening. I dragged my suitcase up past the church and met Sylvia. She gave me some cocoa and the directions to her house and off I went. I left my fiddle at the cafe because it was a long walk and I planned on heading out again.

I made it Sylvia's house, figured out which mattress on the floor was designated for me (she had eight people staying there) and headed back into the snowy evening. I walked past the cafe on my way to the hotel, so I picked up my fiddle, just in case. I was on my way to hear SVER play for dancing! I got to the hotel before they started and happened across them sitting in the lobby bar discussing their set list. I sat with the guys for a few minutes while I thawed and they got organized.

Playing for dancing at a hotel is not really very easy. First, they were playing in the bar, so most of the audience was sloshed. Then there was the large pillar in the middle of the dance floor which cuts down on maneuverability. Third is the floor itself was a typical concrete/tile job, so there weren't very many serious folk dancers taking part in the evening's festivities. I stayed content with listening to them play and taking a few photos. I was also exhausted and left when they took their break.

The next day, and every day, the middagsdans (mid-day dance) began at noon in Sangarhuset. Anyone who's been dancing in Norway knows that it's difficult to get a dance partner if you don't know anyone. Dance etiquette in Norway also indicates that once you're one the floor with someone it's polite to keep dancing with that person four or five dances (more if you're really enjoying it) and then suggest that you take a break after the next dance (or if a waltz or polka is being played). Fortunately, I knew two or three people that first day and that was enough to keep me moving most of the time.

Even if you're not dancing, in Røros it's fascinating just to watch the dancers on the floor. People come from all over Norway and Sweden (and we're a few Americans) to dance pols to the best Røros bands; you probably own their CD's - Glåmos spelmannslag, Småviltlaget, Brekken spelmannslag, Dalakopa. Sitting on the sidelines, you can see variations in all parts of the dance - and in four days of dancing there's plenty of variation to watch.

It's hard to choose what the most exciting part of dancing in Røros is. Is it the extremely high level of dance skill that almost everyone has? Dancing primarily pols for four days? Swirling around the dance floor like a school of sardines? The fabulous music? Dancing with friends? Dancing with friends you didn't expect to see? Dancing seven to ten hours a day without getting tired?

For me, the best experiences are those shared with people. That's one of the reasons I think dancing is so fantastic. One evening I was dancing with my friend Bjørn Sverre, who is a fabulous dancer with a lot of bounce in his style. I so admire his dancing that it was thrilling just do dance with him. But why was it so wonderful? One of my greatest joys is trusting the person I'm dancing with enough to give in completely and follow him (and the music) all over the dance floor. Bjørn Sverre commands this kind of respect and has earned my trust. He also leads so well that I find myself learning from him while we dance. There are so many ingredients that go in to making dance-magic!

The museum holds mid-day concerts. I went to 'Olav Mjelva and friends' which was of course excellent. And Bjørn Sverre gave a tour of Norway's bunads (he is fantastic to listen to, as well). I also saw SVER play packed into a tiny cafe with tons of fans; naturally jamming broke out afterward.

One evening I found myself in Kaffistuggu, thanks to Bjørn Sverre and an abundance of time. Kaffistuggu is an institution in Røros. It is a two story cafe with food and beer and lots of small spaces for musicians to play. And that is what happens during Martnan. The line can stretch for hours while people wait for enough space to get in. People packed close together, jam sessions pressing against one another like a car full of balloons. Walking through (if possible) one hears music on all kinds of instruments from accordion to hardingfele, played by everyone from local heroes to Swedens biggest stars.

The evening dances in Sangarhuset were essentially a continuation of the midday dances. On Friday night the evening was allowed to stretch until 4am with the much anticipated nattdans (night dance). Saturday's final dance was held at the high school gym, which has much less atmosphere and twice as much (or more) dance floor. It was strange to dance with so much space between the couples after dancing so close together all week. I guess it was a way to start saying good-bye.

When I got home from the dance that night, I fired up the wood stove. The girls I lived with were planning to have a little party to celebrate surviving Martnan - they had worked the whole week. When they got back we grilled hot dogs on the fire and ate candy and chatted. I got the distinct impression of a pack of cats lounging in the sun as we all sat there, exhausted and happy. One by one we started falling asleep and went to bed.

The real end of my Rørosmartnan story is the race to find a place on the train Sunday morning. Several hundred people line up on the platform waiting for the train to arrive and when it does, it is total chaos trying to get luggage and instruments and people onto the waiting train cars as fast as possible. The girls I was travelling home with and I all managed to get seats on the same car, which was a small miracle. Eleven hours later and very tired, we were home in Rauland.

Vinterfestivalen

This past week the school organized and hosted the Rauland internasjonale vinterfestival (vinterkappleiken.com). We had the opportunity to take part in music and art classes, Norsk folkemusikklag seminars, concerts and parties. My class also organized a kappleik (traditional music competition) on Saturday.

I can say with absolute certainty that I have never partied so hard, worked so hard, and learned so much in one week. Especially not all at once. My current level of exhaustion is extreme, but I wouldn't have missed a second of it. In fact, if I could have figured out a way to sleep less, I would have.

The festival got started when the students (and teachers) from Nitra, Slovakia arrived on Monday night. We joined them at at the school for a welcome jam session that lasted until the small hours of the morning. I managed to catch Slovak fever, the cure for which is more Slovakian music and brennevin.

Tuesday was our day to prepare for the kappleik, before the festival really got started. We found the sound equipment and the stage decorations. We made sure we would have enough change in the cash boxes and money for the kappleik prizes. We had time for a walk through of the Saturday events. Then we met the Slovak group for a couple of hours of fiddle exchange before dinner.

After dinner, some of the Slovak students met some of us at Anja's house for tea. Eventually things drifted to her room where the instruments were. Anja jammed with the Slovakians while the rest of us listened and then we drifted back to the living room for another cup of tea. It was time to let Anja sleep, so we headed back to the party at the school, which hadn't quite managed to get off the ground until we showed up.

There were some Norwegians there, including my friend Olav who was teaching one of the music workshops during the festival. He passed his hardingfele around to the other Norwegians and there was lots of nasjonalspel and dancing in the lunchroom. This was clearly not the first time and nor would it be the last. After my stomach gave me a sign that it was time to go to sleep, I dragged myself away from the party and back to bed.

The festival started Wednesday with Olav's workshop. Not very many people showed up, which meant that I had time to attempt to learn the tunes he was teaching. In the afternoon, I took a singing workshop with Hill Romtveit, a local kvedar with an interesting repertoire and a great singing style. The evening event was a concert by the Slovakian and Romanian guest musicians at the local pub. After the concert, they sat in the corner and played and played and played. They played until the pub closed, and we headed back to the school to finish the evenings festivities properly.

On Thursday, I listened to the seminars given for members of the Norsk Folkemusikklag. The theme was 'Toward a common Nordic sound style?' The various lecturers had different opinions with regard to defining the cultural region in reference and the existence or source of a common sound ideal. The day ended with a lecture about dance in The North with respect to the topic at hand and was really quite interesting.

After the lectures and dinner, we all headed back to the pub for another folk music concert. This time with a North Sea focus, Gabriel Fliflet and friends played a whole range of instruments and a variety of styles. After the concert, I found my way into the little room with the Slovakian students and listened to complex ornamentation and rich, full harmony for hours. Occasionally, I dragged Lucia out of our little world and danced while Per Gudmundson played the seductive Swedish pulse of polska on the dance floor behind us. Naturally the party continued long after we got sent home.

Friday morning, bright and early, we tuned our fiddles again for a workshop in music from Shetland. We raced through a pile of tunes with shivers and burls. The afternoon workshop was back to Sweden with Per Gudmundson, followed by a dance workshop taught by Mats Nilsson. I didn't make it to the evening concert (it was the only nap I took all week), but I did manage to get my eyes back open and my dance shoes on in time to dance all evening.

All evening that is, until we closed the school and the teachers wanted us to go home so we could go to sleep. Stine said we could move the party to her place, so we did. Almost the entire festival showed up and crowded into her tiny kitchen and room (it's the same size as mine). Before I even managed to get in the door, there were fiddles out and people were jamming. All of the chairs had been removed because there wasn't room for them. It is so cold here right now, that I'd broken a string on the way up from the school. Fortunately I had an extra and threw myself into the fiddling. When the tunes moved to Shetland, I passed my fiddle off to one of the experts for a while; I got it back when the jam returned to Swedish music. It was a brilliant party, that ended with a lot of drunks, but fortunately, I had gone to sleep before it lost it's shine.

Saturday morning came a little too soon, but it was time for my class to put on a competition, so off I went. There was a lot of running back and forth in the beginning, but on the whole, we managed to pull off what looked like a reasonably organized competition. The judges were happy with our system; the competitors seemed at ease or at least not put out by our level of planning. We managed to finish early enough that the judges had time for an hour break before the concert and we were able to announce the winners and finalists in good time before the concert began. I didn't get to hear all of the concert, because I was busy making sure things would be ready for the final prize announcement. I did manage to hear Olav play (magical) and the see the first half of the Slovakians (they played and danced this time!).

After the concert there was dancing. It was easily the best dancing I've done in Norway. Ever. I was completely worn out, but managed to find the energy for terrific teledans, great gammaldans, and perfect polskor. I didn't stay until the end of the night, because I was so tired. I wasn't surprised later when the party came up to my house and I got out of bed to join the fun. Fortunately, it wasn't that much fun and I went back to sleep after about an hour.

We still have to tie up some loose ends, but all in all things went pretty well. On Sunday we cleaned the school. Afterward we had dinner with the remaining guest artists. That party wore long into the evening as well, but was much more relaxing and a perfect way to end a wonderful week.