My Norwegian Adventure
Last night I attended a traditional Norwegian rakfisk dinner with my Rotary club. Rakfisk is literally raw, rotten fish. The process of making it, as explained to me last night by a Rotarian, is that the trout is caught and immediately cleaned. Then it is salted and stacked in a bucket for several months until it is consumed. When Eli and I arrived, we stood around and talked with people for a while. A lot of people wanted to talk to me because they hadn't had the chance to before and they wanted to know more about me and how my exchange was going so far. Then came dinner. Most of the toppings for the rakfisk were on the table: sour cream, flat bread, potato tortillas, onions. Potatoes were passed around as well, along with smoked salmon for anyone who didn't want the rakfisk. Then, the rakfisk. Up close, it was somewhat smelly. It smelled pretty much as you would expect rotten fish to smell. It looked like raw fish. Following Eli's lead, I cut a small bit and tried it with a bite of potato and sour cream and onions. It had a slimy texture and a bitter, foul taste to it. Definitely not my favorite food, but I finished the small slice I had taken. As people started to finish eating, several Rotarians stood up to make a joke or a toast. After dinner, we went upstairs for cake and coffee-which was much better than the rakfisk! There was also a raffle for the gifts/wine that some of the Rotarians had brought. I got the job of delivering the prize to the winner, which was pretty fun! By the time Eli and I got home, it was 10:30! Still, I got up at my usual time of 7:00 this morning. Today is OD day (Operasjon dagsverk). So I get to stay home and do some housework to earn some money for this school fundraiser. Then, tonight, we're going to celebrate Sture's birthday one day late since he gets home from Stavanger tonight.
0 Comments
Yesterday I met up with some other exchange students from around Trondheim. We spent the afternoon walking around Trondheim, stopping at a cafe and doing a bit of shopping.
So today, I was surfin' the Net when I came across this lovely bit of literature that speaks to my soul.
Also, check out the Nite Crier's article about the Slinger-Allenton Rotary Club's 50th Anniversary! This is my sponsoring club and they're all very nice and supportive people.
http://www.shsnitecrier.blogspot.no/2015/10/slinger-allenton-rotary-club-celebrates.html I forgot to do this earlier, but back in September, my friend Kylie interviewed me via email for the Slinger High School Newspaper, the Nite Crier. Here's the link to their blog and the article about me:
http://www.shsnitecrier.blogspot.no/2015/10/slinger-senior-goes-abroad-emily-wolfs.html Also, if anyone's looking to contact me, whether it's with questions, or just to say hello, you can find me on Facebook (Emily Wolf) or you can email me at [email protected]. I'm also on Snapchat, Instagram, WhatsApp, Viber, and Skype. To contact me via any of those, I'd prefer you either comment your email, and I can give you my Norwegian phone number/usernames(s), or email me and I can respond. Tusen takk! I've had a pretty crazy week. It started on Monday, when we had class pictures (which overlapped with gym class!). My class chose the theme of Sims, so some people had funny, Sim-related costumes, but most of us were just dressed normally with the green diamond over our heads. Then, Tuesday, I left school early and caught the Airport Express bus. I flew to the Oslo airport and took the train to Sandvika where the Culture Course was being held in a place called Emma Hjorth Gjesthus. There, I finally reunited with Taylor (from my district) and Ariel (from Central States) and I also met the other Rotary exchange students in Norway. There were 11 Americans (Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Florida, California), 2 Argentinians, 2 Brazilians, 1 German, 1 Taiwanese, 1 Japanese, 1 La Reunion (ese?), and 1 Mexican. Wednesday and Thursday the culture course started at 9. We had an hour break for lunch, and several 10 minute breaks throughout the day until we finished around 4 pm. Wednesday night, we watched short puppet videos that told traditional Norwegian fairytales. Thursday night, we went bowling and had pizza for dinner. Friday, the culture course was only in the morning. After lunch most of us walked to Sandvika shopping center, which is the largest in Norway. When we returned to the gjesthus and met the exchange students who had arrived in January. There were 6 Australians and 1 more Argentinian. Friday evening we played some games and talked with each other. Saturday, we had to go to a Rotary conference, where we had to give an presentation. We started by everyone introducing themselves in Norwegian (name, home country/state, current city). Then we split into groups to give a demonstration of our home countries. The American group was first, but we also included the girls from Germany and Japan. We did "traditional" American dances consisting of the chicken dance, the macarena, the YMCA, the cha-cha slide, the cupid shuffle, and the whip. The Latin Americans read a poem and a song, and the girl from Taiwan sang a song about her country. She also did a Taiwanese dance with the help of the Latin Americans. Finally, the Australian group gave a presentation about their year, did a "Guess the Australian slang" session, and sang a song about Australia. After that, we stayed at the conference for a while, before returning to the Gjesthus, where we got to relax. Sunday morning, we packed and hung out at the Gjesthus until people had to leave. My trip home was tight on time, but I made it back to Trondheim alright. After Eli picked me up from the bus stop, we went to Sissel and Jose's house (my second host family and good friends of Eli and Sture) for dinner. I really like their family and can't wait to get to know them all better. When we finally got home, I watched Alt for Norge with Eli and Sture, then unpacked, showered, and went to bed. Alt for Norge is a Norwegian reality show where Americans with Norwegian heritage come to Norway and compete in Norwegian-themed challenges. Throughout the competition, they learn more of what it means to be Norwegian, and also more about their Norwegian ancestors. The winner gets to meet their Norwegian family. It's very popular and fun to watch, and it teaches me a bit more about Norwegian culture.
So, yeah, it's been a pretty busy week. Thursday morning, Eli, Sture, Ylva and I got in the car to go on a small Høstferie trip. Our first destination was Ålesund. After quite a bit of driving, we took a break while on the ferry. In the cafeteria, I tried svele, a Norwegian dish consisting of a pancake with butter and sugar on it. It was soooooo good! Our second break was at the Atlantic Ocean Road. We stopped on both sides of the breathtaking bridge. The landscape was spectacular and I took so many pictures. If you looked at the bridge from the right angle, it looked like the cars going over the bridge just fell off. After crossing the bridge twice, we continued on our way, getting another break at the second ferry. The Norwegian coastline is stunning and full of fjords and mountains. When driving, you can either cross the fjord in a ferry, or drive through the mountains, but the ferry is much quicker. Finally, in the evening, we arrived in Ålesund. In the early twentieth century, the entire city burnt, and it became a project to rebuild it. All the architects working on designing the buildings used the same style, art nouveau. After getting settled into our hotel rooms, we went out to dinner at a Japanese-styled sushi bar and grill. The food portions were incredibly small, but really, really good. After that, we relaxed in our hotel rooms until we went to sleep. The next morning, Eli, Ylva and I went to breakfast in the hotel. So many delicious options! We had some down time before heading out into the city. First, we went to the observation station above the city, where there was an amazing view of the city and all the islands in the fjord. Then we went back down into the city and looked in a few shops. We had a snackish-lunch before heading out again. This time our destination was for Geirganger. Only a few weeks into my exchange, Eli and Sture had taken me to see a movie called Bølgen, or The Wave. It was set in Geiranger and told the story of how someday, the unstable mountainside will fall into the fjord, creating a massive tidal wave that will destroy the town. It was a very good movie, but now we got to visit where it was set. We had to take one more ferry across the fjord, and the road into Geiranger was extremely winding and curvy. Rather than staying in a hotel, we rented a cabin for the night, and had to buy groceries for snacks and breakfast. We ate dinner at the Union Hotel. Then we relaxed at the cabin. Eli and Sture went to bed a few hours before Ylva and I did, so they were up before us as well. Once we had eaten breakfast, we packed the car and began our journey back home again. After about an hour of driving, we stopped for a small lunch at a town in the mountains. Later, we stopped at another spot called Dovre, where we hiked up the mountain. At various spots along the path, there were cement markers describing the evolution of human existence in the area, from the first humans hunting reindeer and musk ox, to the modern day observation center. We rested at the unique wooden observation center, and then hiked back down the mountain. After that, it we were homeward-bound! I slept part of the way, and window-watched the rest. Now we're back home, ready to rest and prepare for the rest of the week.
Just a moment ago, Eli came and told me that you could see the northern lights, so we went outside to look. They were absolutely enchanting. I've never seen them before because we so rarely are able to see them in Wisconsin. So magical. I didn't manangd to get any pictures on mu phone (I'll have to see if they showed up on my camera) but they looked exactly like the pictures we see.
Yesterday, I met with Caroline from Norwegian Course. She's a German exchange student (not through Rotary though). We walked through a few shops and bought a few things too. It's always nice to spend time with someone who understands what you're going through as we lamented the struggles of speaking/understanding Norwegian, forgetting words in our native language, and the high prices of Norwegian stores. In the evening, Ylva and her friend Isabel made dinner for both families. It took a long time for them to make, but when we finally got to eat, it was so delicious, it was well worth the wait. Today, I took a walk along the river and through town a little bit. I found a crafts store and decided to start crocheting again, so I bought some yarn and needles. Tomorrow I go to the police station to get my residence permit and I also give a presentation at the Rotary meeting. On Thursday, we're going to tour through Norway a bit more and visit a few other cities along the coast. |
|