Tourist in Norway (Part One)

Camping In Norway

Troll Valley In Norefjell

My children and I took off on a 5 day road trip to explore some of Norway. My son who was visiting us from Denver Colorado wanted to see more Viking History, old Stave Churches and the Fjords. We packed up the car and the 4 of us headed up into the mountains. We called ourselves the Stave Church Hunters. In our pockets were plenty of coins, we had cooking equipment, our cooler was full of food and we had warm clothes…lots of warm clothes. If you are a tourist in Norway; coins, cooking equipment, cooler and warm clothes are important. That is if you are not rich, and have a gold card that lets you into hotels and eating establishments. 

Norway is one of the most expensive countries in the world to be a tourist in. For 60 dollars you get a little cabin with electricity, 2 bunk beds, a cooking plate and a fridge. You can walk to the shower and share it with others for 2 dollars of five minutes warm water. While you are on the road do not stop at the rest stops! They are free, but you might as well put your butt in a whole in the ground. Coins come once again handy because it costs around a dollar to use public restrooms. If you stop to eat a simple meal with a soda it will cost you around 30 dollars. I am talking hamburger and fries here. Museums, ferries, even churches have a large entrance fee. You got the point, so enough money talk. 

The scenery in Norway is beautiful, the history of Norwegian landscape breathtaking. Here is some of what saw, more of our adventures later. It was not always easy being a mom on a road trip, but it was a lot of fun! Have a great week-end!

 

Stave Church from 1100

Special Guest-Girl in a Red Cap

Today I have a very special guest on my blog. My daughter is taking time out from her busy student life to explain what it is like going to school in Norway and what it means to be a "Russ." 

It didn’t surprise me when my mom asked me to explain what a Russ is on her blog today. She does not get it, but I really can’t blame her because the school system in Norway is much different than in the states. I know this because my brother spent a year in a junior high school in the states a few years back. My parents sent him there to live with my aunt in Seattle for a while to “straighten him out”. I think that worked out well for everyone. He was an A student over there, but once he came home he barely passed most of his classes. My point is that you Americans have it easy at school. You get a bus to take you there, a cafeteria with hot meals, free books and a structured class room. When you graduate from high school you have one day to wear your graduation clothes, one ceremony and a party where you get lots of money. Am I right?

We walk to school, we take our lunches with us in a paper bag and until just recently, we paid for our school books after 9^th grade. When you are finished with 9^th grade you get the option to go to high school or vocation school. If you do go to high school the changes are huge! You have to know what you want to do with your life in order to pick the right classes or you are FU…..(mom edit) If you choose wrong you pretty much have to start over. That is what I had to do. I am 22 years old and just finished “High School”. We call it videregående skole, which means continued education. It took me 6 years of starting over again but I finally did it! I am starting college this August and hopefully when I am finished with that in three years,  I will be a high school history and english teacher. This year I am a Red Russ.

There are several kinds of Russ. There are black ones, blue ones and red ones each defining what you have studied. Each Russ has a different uniform that they have to wear every day in the month of May. I was thinking how to describe this and found this on Wikipedia: “The russefeiring ('russ celebration') is a traditional celebration for Norwegian high school students in their final spring semester. Students that take part in the celebrations are known as russ. The russefeiring traditionally starts on 1 May and ends on the 17th of May, the Norwegian national day. Participants wear colored overalls, drive matching cars, vans, or buses, and celebrate almost continually during this period. Promiscuous sex, drunkenness and public disturbance on a mass scale has been the most prominent impact of the celebration in recent decades.” That pretty much covers it. As you can see, even celebrating graduating high school is a lot of hard work. Here are some of the things we have to do: CLICK THIS LINK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russefeiring#.22St.C3.A5kuka.22

Oh yeah, and then there are the exams during the whole month. Both written and oral, you never know which classes you get for your final exams until shortly before. I ended up with written Norwegian and Print/Photography. Wish me luck!

Mom owes me big time for doing this so I hope you enjoyed it.

You should have known

Theater is great motivation for finding oneself

So you are turning 24 and for 20 of those years you have wondered, “What’s wrong with me?” You can not concentrate, you have a bad temper, you get easily irritated, you do not function well in a team, your ego is misplaced in all the “politically correct” concepts that society puts you in. You are very smart but most everything bores you. You are not tolerant so when people tell you that you misbehave, it is always their fault that things go wrong. Your parents seek the help of doctors and one after one they come up with different solutions but never one that gives an answer. You drop out of school, start taking drugs, steal and basically let everyone down that you care about. You are marked as “Yeah, that guy, stay away from him!” 

Because you are “who you are” you do not give up hope for very long. You are an adult and know that you have to get your act together. Your parents have done all they can, and now you only have yourself, your tomorrow, your future. Finally a doctor diagnoses you with ADHD and you are put on medication. Your life changes, your goals become clear and you my friend have joined the human race. All excited, you want that education back, but the government says, “You should have known.” You give them the documents and still “they” shake their heads and say it is not good enough. You are too old to get back that education, so if you want it then you have to work extra hard to get it. Once again you fall into the group of “helpless cause.”

In Norway everyone is entitled to an education as long as you figure it out by the age of 16. There are exceptions to this rule.  If you are a foreigner Norwegian tax payers will help you, if you are in jail or are a danger to yourself or others, then rest assured you will get help. Help towards paying for your education, living expenses, even opening up your own business. A good example of that is Anders Brevik, the guy that killed all those young people on an Island in Norway. He is in a nice jail now, getting an education and with good behavior he will most likely get out as soon as he has his diploma in hand.

So who are you my friend? You, who tried to do everything right even after you knew you were sick. You keep on fighting don’t you? Who are you? You are my son and I could not be more proud of you. This little man in a big society keeps breaking all the rules, keeps fighting for his rights to be the person he knows society has ignored. Just goes to show you, that with the right diagnoses and medication anything is possible. 

Do you have a child that society has chosen to ignore? Maybe you were one yourself? Please share your thoughts.

Stop, Chocolate Thief!

One of the things that I have discovered recently is that chocolate can turn someone into a criminal. The postal service employees cannot be trusted when it comes to chocolate.  Sending gifts in the mail to my children overseas has always been expensive and difficult. Sometimes things have gotten broken or lost and maybe even stolen, but this time somewhere along the way from Norway to Denver a simple chocolate bar was cut out of the bottom of an envelope and all that remained was a birthday card. Since the envelope was marked with a toll sticker that stated the contents clearly, I can only assume that the thief had an incredible urge for chocolate. What has the world come to when the desire for chocolate outweighs a simple morality lesson that should have been installed at birth? Have you ever experienced problems with the postal service? I am looking forward to the day when we can transport merchandise instantly over the internet. Imagine if we could “Whisper” merchandise just like we can do on Amazon, and while sitting on Skype we can see that chocolate bar or whatever, suddenly appear in front of our intended receiver. I can dream can’t I?

Stop, Chocolate Thief!

One of the things that I have discovered recently is that chocolate can turn someone into a criminal. The postal service employees cannot be trusted when it comes to chocolate.  Sending gifts in the mail to my children overseas has always been expensive and difficult. Sometimes things have gotten broken or lost and maybe even stolen, but this time somewhere along the way from Norway to Denver a simple chocolate bar was cut out of the bottom of an envelope and all that remained was a birthday card. Since the envelope was marked with a toll sticker that stated the contents clearly, I can only assume that the thief had an incredible urge for chocolate. What has the world come to when the desire for chocolate outweighs a simple morality lesson that should have been installed at birth? 

Have you ever experienced problems with the postal service? I am looking forward to the day when we can transport merchandise instantly over the internet. Imagine if we could “Whisper” merchandise just like we can do on Amazon, and while sitting on Skype we can see that chocolate bar or whatever, suddenly appear in front of our intended receiver. I can dream can’t I?

Banzaicon-Long Live Japanese Festivals

Banzai which means "ten thousand years" originated in Asia as an expression used to wish long life to the Emperor, and is typically translated as "long live" in English. Banzaicon embraces this phrase as several hundred youth gather to celebrate Japanese pop-culture in Larvik for 3 nonstop days. Dressed in an exciting array of costumes they seem to come straight out of comic books and into an arena of Games, Anime, Sci-Fi and Internet Culture.

Banzaicon is an Anime Convention that is celebrating its third year here in Larvik, from April 13-15. Open for all ages, young and old, this is the place to be if you share a common interest in Japanese pop-culture. There are many young people today that are not involved in sports or other activities that will get them out of the house and into a safe environment. Socializing for them is done through the internet where gaming often becomes their reality and for many, avatars their best friends. The youth in Larvik took matters into their own hands and created a non-profit organization called Rounin Events, which was geared towards this group of young people. Rounin Events has 200 members and is responsible for organizing Cosplay, Concerts and a variety of other activities geared towards the youth in Larvik. 

Kristoffer Ottem and Martin Severin, both involved with Rounin Events are the lead organizers of Banzaicon, a role they inherited from its brainchild Martine Tufte, who left for Bergen to continue her education in Theater Arts. Martine, also known as the “Mother” of Banzaicon is still active as the main events planner. Interest in Banzaicon has grown beyond everyones expectations and the surprises just keep coming. All 500 tickets are sold out, and several international artists have shown interest in performing. Twin Foolz and Nova from Canadas Fighting Dreamers Production, are two world famous Cosplayers that will be performing at Banzaicon this year. Shookie Monster will be making his first appearance at Banzaicon, handing out cookies and keeping everyone “Nourished” as they game away in the retro gaming room or prepare for one of the many other events planned. 

One of the biggest attractions is the Cosplay competition with a 5000 kroner cash prize. With all this going on, Banzaicon is meant to create an Intimate atmosphere for youth to socialize in, at the same time there are strict rules against the use of drugs or alcohol. There are over 100 volunteers helping out this year, among them are 30 specially trained in Security, 8 trained medics and the Red Cross. Safety is an important priority when there are so many people attending. As the date approaches the crew leaders for activities, medics, guards, library, cafe, crew care, board games, extras, tech, and PR are working hard to make sure this is the best Banzaicon ever.

Banzaicon is self-funded but among the affiliates are: Fabrikken Youth Center, Farris Bad Spa Hotel, Service Grosissten and Larvik Sushi. Eirik Reiersen is the host and the face of Banzaicon this year and he is already gearing up to make things interesting. Learn more about the events for Banzaicon 3 Matsuri  HERE (You should be able to translate the page to english using Google Reader.)

Also you can check out the website at Banzaicon.net and visit the Facebook page where you can meet the mascot for Banzaicon “Kei.” This whimsy panda loves nothing better than making trouble and eating “pocky.” (Small Japanese crackers) What makes Banzaicon so special is the spirit of togetherness, friendship and sharing. Everyone attending the convention should feel as if they are an integrated part of the whole experience. Banzaicon 3-Matsuri, translates “Long Live Japanese Festivals” and there is no doubt that this one will be remembered.

 So are you asking yourself where I fit in amongst this environment of Japanese pop culture? As mother and friend, I have the honor of feeding these hungry volunteers. In other words, my motherly love has once again bitten off more than it bargained for, but at the end of the day I can once again say, “Been there, done that.” After all, isn’t that what life is all about? 

Have your children involved you in anything special lately?

What's New?

  

Forced out of hibernation, these next few weeks are going to be busy ones for me, as I help my son arrange a Banzai- con convention taking place here in Larvik during April.What is Banzai-con? I will get into the details at a later date, but basically it is a convention for those interested in Anime/Japanese Culture. The 500 tickets are sold out and there is a lot of work to be done. For me that means planing and feeding 120 volunteers, as well as several guest bands for an entire week-end. You should expect to hear a lot about that in my blog during March. Then as probably most of you know, there are many bloggers involved in the A-Z challenge for the month of April, myself included. 

Because of this busy schedule I will be re-posting some Norwegian Culture and Mythology starting off with our friend Thor. If you are a fan of the movie, then you should be excited to know that a sequel will be coming out soon. Also I plan on taking you on a small trip to TV land and "Lillyhammer," a new series starring ex-"Soprano" cast member and "E-Street Band" member Steve van Zandt. You can find this series on Netflix and I recommend  you to check it out if you can. 

So now that I have told you what is new in my world, tell me what is new in yours. For those of you that would like to get acquainted with a different side of Thor than the movie depicted, I hope you enjoy these next few posts of mine. In the mean time, have a great week-end!

Thor-God of Thunder

Son of Odin and Jord, he's the famous Scandinavian God with Hammer, the burly red-bearded Lord of Thunderstorms. He rides through the storm clouds in a chariot pulled by goats and throws his hammer Mjollnir all over the place to create lightning.As perhaps you might expect, he's not terribly bright and Loki was always leading him astray. But they were  friends and was always ready to bash Lokis enemies with the  end of his hammer. Thor seems to have been the best loved and most worshiped of the Norse deities. He belonged to the common people, while Odin appealed to the learned and noble classes. A patron of farmers, Thor was associated with weather and crops. Although he could be fearsome, many myths portray him in a comic and affectionate way.


Thor appears throughout Norse Mythology as a huge, strongly built, red-bearded fellow with a huge appetite.  His wife was the beautiful goddess Sif, who seldom appears in myths and remains a somewhat mysterious figure. Generally good-natured, Thor had a hot temper, and his anger was dreadful to behold. He was a fierce enemy of the frost giants, the foes of the Norse gods. When people heard thunder and saw lightning in the sky, they knew that Thor was fighting evil giants.


The thunder god's chief weapon was his mighty hammer Mjollnir, or Crusher, which the dwarfs had forged for him. When he threw Mjollnir, it returned magically to his hand like a boomerang. Among Mjollnir's other powers was the gift of restoring life to the dead. The connection of Thor's hammer with life and fertility gave rise to the old Norse customs of placing a hammer in a bride's lap at her wedding and of raising it over a newborn child.

Thor's treasures also included a magical belt that doubled his strength whenever he wore it and a pair of goats, Tanngniost and Tanngrisni (both "Toothgnashers"), that pulled his chariot across the sky. Whenever he was overcome with hunger, Thor would devour his goats, only to return them to life with Mjollnir.


According to one well-known myth about Thor, Thrym, king of the giants, came into possession of Mjollnir and declared that he would give it back to Thor only if the beautiful goddess Freyja agreed to marry him. She angrily refused, and the trickster god Loki came up with a clever plan to recover Mjollnir. Using women's clothing and a bridal veil to disguise Thor as Freyja, Loki escorted "Freyja" to Jotunheim, the home of the giants. Thrym greeted his bride, though he was surprised at her appetite at the wedding feast. "Freyja" consumed an entire ox, three barrels of wine, and much more. Loki explained that she had been unable to eat for a week because of her excitement at marrying Thrym. The giant accepted this explanation, and the wedding proceeded. When the time came for a hammer to be placed in the bride's lap according to custom, Thor grabbed Mjollnir and threw off his disguise. Then he used the hammer to smash the giants and their hall.


More stories about Thor next week.

So This is Christmas?

Are you tired of being Santa Claus? Male or female, it does not matter. All year long you try to do the best to make everyone happy and on Christmas you put on a generic Santa mask and decorate a tree.  Christmas always comes to fast, at the last minute I find myself stressing, figuring out which credit card to use and saying to myself, “Why is it that we make this season so commercial?” It is totally amazing to me that people run around worried, looking for the best sales, the longest opening hours, and for one time of the year, decide to give.

In Norway we do not have Santas on every street corner, people do not decorate their houses in lights and fixtures for the holidays, artificial trees are for people that are allergic to pine and we do not have eggnog. We do however, wash the house, polish the silver, take out the fine china and gather around a nice table in our finest clothes, while we listen to the church bells ringing Christmas in. On Christmas Eve we call our family and friends, and we watch each other open presents one at a time. There is no Santa here. No Christmas morning. No stockings hanging on the fireplace. For small children Norwegians have someone they call “Nisse”, he comes on Christmas Eve and delivers presents for all the children that have been nice to strangers, animals, family and friends.

So, I asked you earlier, are you tired of being Santa Claus? Try this year to be a Nisse. Take you holiday spirit and give it away to someone who needs it. Santa Claus has become too commercial.  This year I have decided to do something nice for a stranger. The other day I was reading a personal newspaper ad in our local newspaper for a person looking for someone who wanted a grandparent. This is a lonely person. I know that you skeptical people out there are saying to yourselves, “This is a pervert”, but you know what? This is actually a lonely woman who sits in an old persons home and just wants to share her holidays and her life with someone who cares enough to spend time with her. Find someone like that. Put Santa on the shelf and let your “Nisse” find time to be nice to strangers, animals, family and friends.

Butter and Beef

  

What a strange country I am living in. We ran out of butter before Christmas and now we are running out of beef. Where I live, which is southern Norway; we get hail storms every day instead of snow. It starts to get light around 9 in the morning and dark at 3 pm. At least I am not living in Northern Norway because there it is dark all the time. I live in a stubborn country that refuses to join the European Union, where we have tons of oil but gas prices are sky high, not to mention housing, food and clothes. We pay a lot of taxes so that we can support our welfare and the unfortunate foreigners who "immigrate" here.  We also spend a lot of taxes on reforming criminals, you know, like the guy who shot all those kids last summer. He gets to spend time in a luxury facility where he can get parole after a few years. Yes we are paying our taxes to reform him, whether he likes it or not. The maximum penalty in Norway is 21 years.

Norway is rated as the 5^th most expensive place in the world to live. It is also rated as one of the best places in the world to live. I don’t get it. Most Norwegians go to Sweden to buy food and to smuggle what they can, we pay taxes so that the royal family can go on shopping sprees in Paris and travel around the world on their “So called missions.” Norwegians are proud and stubborn, they give but they take just as well. The homeless are not as visible, neither are the starving or the elderly whose pension barely covers their cost of living. Sure the health care is great, but the line to get the help you need is long and full of paperwork. There are a lot of unions here in Norway and one of them is always on strike. That is why we ran out of butter and are now running out of beef. Who knows what we will be running out of next, if it is oil we are in trouble, most likely it will not be fish. Like I said, I am living in a strange country.

Norwegian Catfish

King of the Road

When my son asked me if I wanted to go to work with him for a day I didn’t hesitate. He has a lonely job that requires an immense amount of concentration, steady nerves, and patience. He is “The King of the Road”, a truck driver who wheels his way through the tight streets of Oslo every day. 

King of the Road 4.10 meters high and 11 tons of steel

 

If you follow my blog you have heard me talk about him before.

My son who I call “The Actor” has a very busy life, so the chance to spend some time with him is something I treasure. His job as “King of the Road” makes for very long days but when he is finished with work he is involved in many projects. He is the leader for Rounen Events-Banzaicon, which is a convention for those interested in Asian pop culture. This year the convention in Larvik is expecting 500 guests and a crew of 100. He is also on the board of Larvik Theater and Utgard L.A.R.P. Live, responsible for technical support, lights and sound. He has worked several festivals and now he is joining a group of Renaissance musicians playing the Jews harp and guitar.

Climbing up a ladder into his truck, I fastened my seatbelt and waited in anticipation for him to turn the key. The sound of the engine was quieter than I expected but I could feel the power as we rolled our way out of the parking lot. We started the day picking up deliveries which consisted mostly of paper and organic products. His deliveries change every day so he never knows where he is going or what he is hauling. Sometimes his route is treacherous. The haul can be very heavy to handle and the roads can be very small and winding, with mountains on one side, and cliffs on the other. My daughter asked me while I was talking to her on the phone, “Has he scared you yet?” She had driven with him the week before and from what she told me, there were several times when she had to close her eyes and pray. I guess I got lucky that day because the only thing that made me nervous was that he would get a ticket for parking illegally while we went off to eat lunch in Oslo. Finding a parking place for a big truck is not an easy thing.

 

Trucker Momma for a day

At the end of the day, after all deliveries were made, I climbed out of the truck happy that I had spent the day with my son. When your children are little it is easy to take for granted the time you spend with them. I remember wondering if I would ever have any time to myself. Those years go by way too fast, and before you know it they have moved out, and the time you get to spend with them is limited. Time with your children is precious so grab it whenever you can.

What fun have you had with your child lately?

You Are The Voice

The human spirit never stops amazing me.

Are you proud of the country you live in? I miss the United States and a part of me will always call it home, but today I am proud to say that I am a Norwegian and Norway is my home.

Norwegian Soil

---"I have a message to those who attacked us, a message from the whole of Norway. You won’t destroy us. You won't destroy our democracy. We are a small but proud nation. No one can bomb us to silence. No one can scare us from being Norway. When tomorrow comes, let’s show the world that the Norwegian democracy still stands strong. The most important thing tonight is to take care of each other."--- Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg 

Oslo after bomb went off

Utøya Island-youth summer camp

Yesterday while many of you were still in bed sleeping I watched a piece of Norway fall down. Today there are many families that sit and wait for news of missing loved ones and others that sit in shock and disbelief. News unfolded slowly and speculations were inevitable. Who could do such a thing and why little Norway?

Norway is a nation better known for its active diplomacy and peacekeeping missions than as a target for extremists. 

Initial reports focused on the possibility of Islamic militants, in particular Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami, or Helpers of the Global Jihad. There was ample reason for concern that terrorists might be responsible. In 2004 and again in 2008, the No. 2 leader of Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahri, who took over after the death of Osama bin Laden, threatened Norway because of its support of the American-led NATO military operation in Afghanistan. Norway has over 500 soldiers and several medevac helicopters in northern Afghanistan. 

Well guess what? While there are still alot of unknown facts at this time, one man posted last Sunday, these words on Twitter: 

 

“One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests.” 

This 32 year old Norwegian political extremist confessed to bombing the government center, killing 7 people, before he headed over to an island summer camp for young members of the governing Labor Party and continued to kill over 80 people. This was the deadliest attack on Norwegian soil since World War 11, and it was a Norwegian man who did it. What kind of a message has he sent out to a confused nation and an astonished world? We are still waiting to hear, but one thing is perfectly clear. A terrorist can be found in anyones back yard and the color of his skin or religion has nothing to do with the weapons he bears.  



Yesterday I watched a piece of Norway fall down, but today I watch as it stands up again stronger then ever. Norway may have lost its innocence, but its heart is still strong.

 

For more of the story go here

Midsummer Night in Norway

It is midsummer night, a night of magick when fairies come out to play. The longest day of the year comes to Norway with the midnight sun. We celebrate this light of life by making bonfires, staying up all night and chasing after fairies. Well some of us do. Here in Larvik we live by the sea so like most small towns with a waterfront we light bonfires along the shore and party. For those that have a boat, they happily spend all night watching the bonfires from the water.

Tonight I watch the bonfires, maybe throw on some wood to feed the flame, and listen to some music. Later when just a small moment of time creates a blanket of semi darkness, I will find my quiet place and dance with the fairies.

So how are you spending your night?

The StoryTellers Asbjørnsen and Moe

The storytellers

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen was a Norwegian writer and scholar. He and Jørgen Moe were collectors of Norwegian folklore. They were so closely united in their lives' work that their folk tale collections are commonly mentioned only as "Asbjørnsen and Moe"

Asbjørnsen as early as 1832, in his twentieth year, began to collect and write down fairy tales and legends. He later walked on foot the length and breadth of Norway, adding to his stories. Moe first met Asbjørnsen when he was fourteen years old, while they were both attending high school at Norderhov rectory. They developed a life-long friendship. In 1834 Asbjørnsen discovered that Moe had started independently on a search for national folklore; the friends eagerly compared their results, and determined for the future to work together. Moe traveled almost every summer through the southern parts of Norway, collecting traditions and folklore in the mountains. Often Asbjørnsen and Moe traveled together. In 1842-1843 the first installment of their work appeared, under the title of Norske Folkeeventyr (Norwegian Folk Tales), which was received at once all over Europe as a most valuable contribution to comparative mythology as well as literature.  

Asbjørnsen, and Moe had an enormous impact on Norwegian culture. They became synonymous with traditional folk tales, the way the name Brothers Grimm is associated with German tales. Not only did they collect and secure parts of the wealth of Norwegian fairy tales and edit them for common readers, but in doing this, they also contributed to the development of the Norwegian language.

Tomorrow, I start telling their stories.

Magic of Norway

There is magic in Norway. Some say that it is in the water that trickles down from the mountains, and into the streams and forest lakes, until finally the magic rolls into the sea. You can feel the magic, taste it, see it, and hear it all around you. Sit back and let me show you some magic.

Hopefully this has put you in the mood for my next series on Norwegian Fairytales and Folklore. Hope you enjoy.