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.
Showing posts with label sightseeing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sightseeing. Show all posts
Thursday, July 2, 2009
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).
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).
Monday, May 18, 2009
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!
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!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Vinje Rundt
August 22, 2008
Today we (mainly the first year students) went on a bus tour of the county. My favorite fact is that there are approximately 1.2 people per km2. We stopped at Vinje, the place the county is named for, and got a history lesson and performance from Åsmund Nordstoga. Awesome. A little further up the road we stopped and looked at an exhibition of paintings from Draumkvedet and Sondre Bratland told us the story and sang a few verses. Again, awesome.
Vinje Kommune is attractive to artists both because there is such a rich history in the area and because there is a lot of open space. The open space happens to be stunningly beautiful. While a five hour bus tour may have been a little long, I can't choose anything I would have left out. I also spent an extra half hour looking at the sculpture museum that is about five minutes up the hill from the dorm, so I couldn't have been too burnt out!
In the evening, I made dinner and had some friends over. Then I went downstairs and played hardingfele. They taught me some easy tunes and then I taught them three Finnskogspols. They sound pretty good on hardingfele! We were joined by a ukulele and guitar and a small audience. It was really a good way to end the week.
Today we (mainly the first year students) went on a bus tour of the county. My favorite fact is that there are approximately 1.2 people per km2. We stopped at Vinje, the place the county is named for, and got a history lesson and performance from Åsmund Nordstoga. Awesome. A little further up the road we stopped and looked at an exhibition of paintings from Draumkvedet and Sondre Bratland told us the story and sang a few verses. Again, awesome.
Vinje Kommune is attractive to artists both because there is such a rich history in the area and because there is a lot of open space. The open space happens to be stunningly beautiful. While a five hour bus tour may have been a little long, I can't choose anything I would have left out. I also spent an extra half hour looking at the sculpture museum that is about five minutes up the hill from the dorm, so I couldn't have been too burnt out!
In the evening, I made dinner and had some friends over. Then I went downstairs and played hardingfele. They taught me some easy tunes and then I taught them three Finnskogspols. They sound pretty good on hardingfele! We were joined by a ukulele and guitar and a small audience. It was really a good way to end the week.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
A day without luggage, almost
August 19, 2008
The first stop today was back at the school. I got my invoice for my school fees (roughly $150 for the semester) and asked a bunch of questions I hadn't asked the day before. Then, I headed up the hill to Rauland Sentrum. Blink and you'd miss it, if you were driving. I did find a place with specialty coffee; we'll have to see how special it is since it cost a small fortune. I also found the grocery store and the ATM.
I took the bus back to Åmot to check in with the police department. The officer I need to talk with is out until possibly Monday, they'll leave a message at the school if and when I need to come back down. I bought a cell phone :D It should start working in a day or two. When I came out of the store, It was just after two o'clock. I had just missed the bus up the hill.
With the extra four hours I had in Åmot, I checked out the two grocery stores. I tried to pay the semester fees, but without enough cash or a Norwegian bank account, I was out of luck. I spent the remaining three hours waiting at the bus stop. At least I got a cup of coffee and some french fries while I waited!
On the bus ride back, I felt relaxed enough to look around at the scenery. Even in the drizzle increasing to downpour, the vistas around every corner are amazing. The road between Åmot and Rauland is not straight. It curves and curls and twists and turns in a northeast fashion for roughly 18 kilometers. Sometimes there are houses on the sides of the road, sometimes itæs just forest and rocks and lakes and rivers. All of it is beautiful.
There were four people on the bus on the way back. All of us were students, but only three of us were students here. The boy got off before we got to the school. The other girl was from Germany and had a fair amount of luggage. I offered to wait with her to make sure she made it to her room. The main doors were locked to the school, so we walked up to the studentheim where the vaktmester's phone number is posted on the wall. She knew her room number and we found one of the Norwegian students to help her call. It turned out that another student had the master key, so everything worked out just fine. Now, I think I'll practice for a while to settle my nerves.
The first stop today was back at the school. I got my invoice for my school fees (roughly $150 for the semester) and asked a bunch of questions I hadn't asked the day before. Then, I headed up the hill to Rauland Sentrum. Blink and you'd miss it, if you were driving. I did find a place with specialty coffee; we'll have to see how special it is since it cost a small fortune. I also found the grocery store and the ATM.
I took the bus back to Åmot to check in with the police department. The officer I need to talk with is out until possibly Monday, they'll leave a message at the school if and when I need to come back down. I bought a cell phone :D It should start working in a day or two. When I came out of the store, It was just after two o'clock. I had just missed the bus up the hill.
With the extra four hours I had in Åmot, I checked out the two grocery stores. I tried to pay the semester fees, but without enough cash or a Norwegian bank account, I was out of luck. I spent the remaining three hours waiting at the bus stop. At least I got a cup of coffee and some french fries while I waited!
On the bus ride back, I felt relaxed enough to look around at the scenery. Even in the drizzle increasing to downpour, the vistas around every corner are amazing. The road between Åmot and Rauland is not straight. It curves and curls and twists and turns in a northeast fashion for roughly 18 kilometers. Sometimes there are houses on the sides of the road, sometimes itæs just forest and rocks and lakes and rivers. All of it is beautiful.
There were four people on the bus on the way back. All of us were students, but only three of us were students here. The boy got off before we got to the school. The other girl was from Germany and had a fair amount of luggage. I offered to wait with her to make sure she made it to her room. The main doors were locked to the school, so we walked up to the studentheim where the vaktmester's phone number is posted on the wall. She knew her room number and we found one of the Norwegian students to help her call. It turned out that another student had the master key, so everything worked out just fine. Now, I think I'll practice for a while to settle my nerves.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Ørnes IV
Today was a little overcast in the morning. I tried to practice outside, but really it was too cold. So, I read the newspaper instead.
Around noon we left for Glomfjord (roughly 17 kilometers away). Roald had a physical therapy appointment and afterward we went on a driving tour of the area at the end of the fjord. The scenery here is really impressive. Somehow, they have managed to cram factories, churches, schools, and homes onto the steep slopes of the mountains that drop into the fjord.
The sun came out in the afternoon, so I found time to play on the porch. My vitamin D intake has really improved since I arrived in Ørnes. Dinner tonight was homemade fishcakes. They were so good I got the recipe!
I rounded out the evening by watching a Swedish movie, reading the subtitles most of the time. I find that amusing. The movie was good; a drama involving several murders and some cyber-terrorism. It was called Brannmur in Norwegian (Brandvägg in Swedish) - Firewall.
Around noon we left for Glomfjord (roughly 17 kilometers away). Roald had a physical therapy appointment and afterward we went on a driving tour of the area at the end of the fjord. The scenery here is really impressive. Somehow, they have managed to cram factories, churches, schools, and homes onto the steep slopes of the mountains that drop into the fjord.
The sun came out in the afternoon, so I found time to play on the porch. My vitamin D intake has really improved since I arrived in Ørnes. Dinner tonight was homemade fishcakes. They were so good I got the recipe!
I rounded out the evening by watching a Swedish movie, reading the subtitles most of the time. I find that amusing. The movie was good; a drama involving several murders and some cyber-terrorism. It was called Brannmur in Norwegian (Brandvägg in Swedish) - Firewall.
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