Archive for January, 2006

Who’s woods these are…

Wednesday, January 4th, 2006
Today we drove out to Terje’s families cabin. A drive from the OC is on 7 lane highways with freshly plowed roads. Well, Norway is a tad different. The drive to the cabin is roughly one and a half hours away. The last 45 minutes of the drive are on icy and narrow roads. Roads that I thought were one way only to be suprised when we saw oncoming traffic. We passed probably a total of 6 cars on that last 45 minutes.

Looking out the window you notice the beauty of winter. Norway has perfected winter. The mountainsides are beautifully covered with white snow. The rocks on the sides of the mountains have icecles that give the appearance of frozen waterfalls. The forests are full of a wide variety of trees including birch and pine. They are also sprinkled with a fresh layer of frost and snow. There is a frozen lake that peaks through on either side of the road periodicaly. And then scattered against a backdrop of white is the bright red cabins . These rustic retreats are literally miles apart.

While traveling down these roads Robert Frost’s, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, comes to mind. I have included it below, not by memory of course:

Whose woods these are I think I know,
His house is in the village though.
He will not see me stopping here,
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer,
To stop without a farmhouse near,
Between the woods and frozen lake,
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake,
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep,
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

-Robert Frost

We literally lived that poem today, a memory we will not soon forget.

Posted in Day Eight | 2 Comments »

Relaxing Day, Frozen Lake

Monday, January 2nd, 2006
Had a great sleep last night and Aimee woke up feeling much better. You know what that means…shopping. Aimee and Ann Ki went to go shopping at some of the stores here. She wanted to update her wardrobe with all the latest Norwegian fasions. So you know I steared clear of that like a tube of caviar, (they have that here you know). So what am I to do? All by myself. Hear that? Nothing. Big grin. Anyhow, I get suited up and head on out to the old frozen over lake. Yeah, they have several of those here in Norway and one that is walking distance from Ann Ki’s house. So I head up that way and took some pictures. I had never walked on water before, well there was that one time but I was being pulled by a boat, and it was very cool. There were at least 100 people out there today playing hockey, speed skating, and just having a good time. The sound that it makes when people are skating around is really pretty cool. I spent some time there and took some pictures. I SAW THE SUN TODAY!!! Very cool. I got several pictures of it.

The day was overall very relaxing. Not much to post about.

Posted in Day Seven | 5 Comments »

Driving and oh my goodness…

Monday, January 2nd, 2006
Brrrr…It was so cold this morning I think I heard a bird cuss. I don’t know the exact temperature but it was cold. We had a great time last night. I hope all your New Years Eve’s were grand. Godt NytÃ…r!  That is Happy New Year in Norwegian. So, we head out on the road at 9:15am to Kristiansand. Kristiansand is located on the lower east coast of Norway. It is about 185 miles away. Our first stop was a Shell gas station. We stop there for some bread and coffee. Quick note about coffee. Coffee has to be one of the most consumed liquid substance in Norway. Everywhere you go, would you like some coffee. Breakfast, coffee. Lunch, coffee. Dinner, coffee. They love the stuff. I was in a public restroom the other day and after I flushed the toilet I heard a cup drop and it started filling up with coffee. Where was I? Shell, breakfast, coffee, oh yeah. I noticed that at the Shell station they advertised a Coke and a hot dog for 39 Kroner. The wheels in my head started turning. I had to get one of those to represent the Wienershnitzel lunch crew. I won’t name the guys that I go with because Beth and Erin would kill me. Anyhow, on to the road we go. I fall asleep and every time I wake up we are pulling into a Shell station, each time this hot dog sign taunting me. Tejre tells me that the hot dog is wrapped in bacon. Hold the phone. The challenge had been made and the stakes were high. My wife offered to grab me one so I agreed. Let me tell you the mass of this dog. First of all it is not an ordinary hot dog. This thing was about 14 inches long and extended well beyond the bun. The bacon was like a cozy jacket on my soon to be eaten dog. My wife had loaded it up with all the trimmings. And bite. Magnifico! This dog was great! It was far superior to most of the dogs at Wienershnitzel. On par with even the mighty Pastrami Dog. Don’t worry guys I will bring you one back.

And the Coke. Strange thing about Norway is that they do not use one of their most abundant natural resources. Ice. Ice is so good in Coke, and other fine beverages. Please start using ice.

We arrived in Kristiansand about 1:30pm. We spent some time at Ann Ki and Terje’s home. About 3pm we left to go to an evening church service. Service starts today at 4:00pm and goes until a little after 6. I don’t think this is a normal time for the service but due to the holiday that is the time they had the service. We then went to Jon Henry’s home for some legendary Peppes Pizza. A note on Norwegians and Pizza. Norwegians claim that they are the largest consumer of frozen pizza and I believe it. It is not uncommon to have frozen pizza multiple times a week. Anyhow, Peppes Pizza is the favorite pizza of Norwegians. The price on these pies is about $35 each. They are very good pizzas.

Did some driving, ate some food, did some Bible and hit the hay. Like me and Dre, I’d have to say it was a good day.

Posted in Day Six | 1 Comment »

Welcome to Narnia and a beer commercial…

Monday, January 2nd, 2006
Welcome to Narnia! I hope I find you all in good health. I have pretty much fully recovered, and Aimee is on her way. Today was another beautiful day in Norway. A nice negative temperature outside with a fresh dusting of snow. It is New Years Eve and we are going to be spending time on “The Farm” tonight. Aimee lived on the farm for 3 months when she was on her missions trip in 99′. But first I decided to take a little walk, thats what people do here in Norway, they walk. So I get dressed and head on out. It feels good outside. I stand at the end of the driveway and look at all the houses, and this little dog is about 50 feet from me. I take a couple of pictures and look down and this little dog is at my feet. I give it a pet and start wallking up the street. This little dog kept following me. I get to the end of the street and the road ends, but a trail begins. Alas, Narnia! It looks like I have just walked through the wardrobe and entered the world of Narnia. I continue walking with my little dog friend following me. There is no one around. I have walked for maybe 15 minutes and you feel completely removed from civilization. I half expect to find a talking wolf. Anyhow, this little dog has followed me the whole time and I am beginning to wonder what to do about it. I can see the headlines already, “American Tourist Kidnaps local pet.” Anyway, I get on my way and eventually the dog turns around and goes home. Absolutely beautiful! So I get a good hour walk and a make it back to the house.

Aimee’s friend Ann Ki is going to be picking us up tonight and taking us to the farm for our New Years Eve party. Ann Ki and her husband Terje (pronounced Tadia) pick us up and we head over to the farm. Now I don’t know about you but when I think farm I think Old McDonald, tractors, cows, hay, etc. Our drive to the farm is only about 15 minutes. We pull off the main road and on to a one lane dirt road that is covered in snow. We pass a couple of beautiful snow covered homes. And then we start going up a hill. There a small logs on the side of the road that are burning, lighting the way to the farm. As we pull up the final drive there are beautiful Norwegian people outside laughing and sleding. Little kids are running around and playing in the snow. The farm does not look like a farm but a comfy bed and breakfast. The only way that I could describe the way it looks and feels is that of a beer commercial. The farm was built around 1650, you know 100 years before we were a country. We were directed to our room. The feeling walking through a building that is as old as it is is amazing. And we get to sleep here tonight! I went outside to join the fun. They were serving a drink called “Glog”. It is a warm drink with raisins and almonds. It was pretty good.

This was a formal affair, so the ladies were in dresses and the men were in suits. The meal itself was setup like a buffet with different kinds of meats, breads, and cheeses. We eat for a couple of hours and get to know a few people. At midnight we go outside for the firework show. In Norway just about every firework is legal. So my collection of snakes and snap n caps were not that impressive. It was like a war zone out there. For about 45 minutes the entire sky, no matter which direction you looked, was completely covered with explosions. It was incredible. And snowy. And cold.

We stayed up until about 2:30 and went to bed. We are going to head to Kristiansand tomorrow at 9:00. Till then.

Posted in Day Five | 2 Comments »