I ordered good weather for you.
Trip Start
Aug 14, 2006
1
9
35
Trip End
Dec 11, 2006
Dokka, Norway
Saturday, September 9, 2006
I have not enjoyed a day so much. It was such a relaxed and glorious day. I went with the International Students to Dokka for the day. Dokka is a small farming town about an hour away from Hamar. Our friend Rita is from Dokka and she wanted to show us a bit of her life and home where she grew up.
My day started at 8:57 AM, not 9. We left for Dokka and our first stop was an outdoor museum. Here, we saw houses from all the different time periods and the differences in living standards. Most of the houses had been rebuilt or constructed according to how they would have been originally built. After we saw a few of the houses, we all gathered up for lunch. We had waffles with strawberry jam and sour cream. They were so good, but they were cold. But that doesn't really matter.
Once we finished with lunch, we walked down the one main road of Dokka, met up with the bus and we headed off to see a church that looks over the valley. It was the best view I have seen of Norway yet. The day could not have been more lovely. The receptionist at school found out we were headed to Dokka and she let us know that an order had been placed for good weather. We are planning on sending a thank you soon! We took a few pictures up there (However, I couldn't because my camera battery died...sad day.) Once we finished, we drove down to Rita's Aunt and Uncles farm. They were busy catching all of the sheep up in the hills for Fall, so we didn't meet them or get to help. But we did see some of the sheep and we got to feed them. It was really fun. I have a great pic of me on the way.
After that, we went to a popular part of the river (sadly, I don't know the name) and we sat around for an hour or so. It was so wonderful. I felt right back at home. The temperature was perfect, the sound of the river crashing into the rocks made me think of the Skagit. It was a lot of fun.
Next, we headed to Rita's house. The house was amazing. In the early 1900s, it was not just a farm, but a bed and breakfast as well. It had over 10 stoves to heat the house and tons of space and rooms upstairs. Rita even made a scrapbook of all the old photos showing what the house used to look like and what kind of people used to come and stay there (Usually, the guests were from Oslo, or bigger cities). We picked apple and plums and headed down to the river for dinner.
We grilled hot dogs and wrapped them in Lompa, a really yummy potato tortilla-ish flat bread. We even made our own grilling sticks from fresh branches and made the ends really sharp to spear the hot dogs on them. I think I ate three or so. The thing with the lompa is its really thin, so its not as filling to eat just one like you would in the States with a hot dog bun. It is one thing I am definantely going to miss when I get home. Rita's mom also made us chocolate cake for dessert. I indulged, four times. It was really good. Reminded me of the sheet cake my mom and I make at home. After that, we just hung out around the fire and our friend Adam, from Slovakia, played his guitar and sang. I went on a quick walk with a few people before we left and when we got back, the fire was out, the garbage was cleaned up and we were headed back to the bus to head home.
It was a really nice day. I am exhausted, not only from today but because of last night. Marie and I listened to a concert at the Hydranten. I actually met the band members too. Jon Chapman is the lead singer. He and his friend, who played electric guitar, are both from England. Their third band member, is a Norwegian Cellist and bass player. I was really excited when I saw the cello come out. Of course! He did a great job and it really flowed with the bands songs. But it was a pretty late concert, I think it finally started at about 11 and didn't get over until 1, then Marie and I started talking to our new boss, Ola (think hola) and we got into a big spill about Norwegian music and what we haven't heard and what we really need to hear. It was also nice to kind of be split up. Nat was working as a guard downstairs and Christy and Lauren were back home making scones for the morning.
I am really looking forward to helping out at Hydranten. I think I will meet a lot more people that I hopefully share a lot of interests with. I also think it will help me with my Norwegian. I really want to try and learn some. I miss French like crazy, but I'm in Norway, so I can't complain. I really hope that the friends we have made so far won't remain just acquaintances, but I have a feeling a few of them will be. Its been a huge adjustment here. Getting to know people is twice as hard, especially since my classes are so separate from the rest of the school. The fact that I don't speak Norwegian plays a huge role as well. At least to me. Its not impossible to communicate, but a lot of Norwgians don't like to speak English. I'm going to stay positive though, its only our third official week in Hamar. But on Tuesday, I will have been in Norway for one month. Holy cow! Thats exciting.
I'm headed North for the next week on Monday. Tomorrow will be spent washing our clothes and packing. I also will be doing some research on Bodo to see what all I want to do on our free day. It should be fun. To get to Bodo, you cross over the Arctice Circle, that is going to be cool. We have a lot of early days and lots of traveling, by train. I will be an experience train traveller by the end of this week. I can't wait to tell you all about it!
I think this is it for the weekend. Its only 11:15 PM, but I am exhausted. We are staying in tonight, so I have been on the computer since we got back from Dokka. I will probably go to bed early (gasp) and wake up in time to go on a run before everyone wakes up. Yay. Take Care, hope you are enjoying my random, yet oh so fun, adventures in Norway. Takk!
