Peace, Love, and Lutefisk: Adventures i Norge

I’ve been a bit out of it the past few days battling a cold, and I think I know exactly the source of my problems…the reindeer rodeo!


That’s right. Last weekend I experienced one of the most random, hilarious events I have seen in Norway. It was Sami Weekend in Tromsø and to help celebrate the cultural heritage of the indigenous Sami people, who could be compared to the Inuits, (or Eskimos), in Alaska, there was a Sami market, Sami music, and the highlight: reindeer races. It was incredible. Storgata which is the main walking street in downtown Tromsø was lined with people three deep for 6 blocks along the race track. The reindeer started in a gate, much like in a horse race, but instead of having people riding them, they had a young Sami teenagers skiing behind them while holding on to their reins.

The reindeer were the most awkward things to see drag racing. Their tongues flailed to the side of their mouths while their eyes blinked and darted around like a cartoon character being electruocuted. Despite their odd looks, those babies could move! Supposedly they got up to over 100km/hr, and I believe it after standing on the sides watching the races only to see a blur and have to look to see what went by me.

There were lots of Sami people in their tradition bright blue and red clothing, and it was fun to see the city packed with people. It was unfortunate that it was absolutely freezing! It seemed the wind picked up and brought the cold temperatures from Kautokeino to Tromsø just for the races. I felt just like this little guy!After trying to stay warm during the reindeer rodeo, we finally gave up and went to a coffee shop for some hot chocolate.

Then, after warming up, we headed to our second Tromsø Storm game, and yet again we were disappointed. They were ahead the whole game, but somehow in the last 4 minutes were able to lose the game. The effects were still hilarious and the whole event, and weekend, was entertainment pure and simple.

Although the cartoon incident has only gotten worse here in the Eastern Hemisphere, we solved our little incident in our house. After coming home late on Saturday night, Stian took the initiative to tear down Igor’s racist posters. Igor responded in turn by taking down Stian’s Palestinian flag. Apparently they talked it over and made up. Igor agreed not to pust up the posters again and thus far Stian hasn’t put up the Palestinian flag. We’ll see if peace is maintained in the Peace House.

I'm now sitting in the Oslo Airport on my way to Bergen for a weekend correspondence course I am taking called Election Observation. Hopefully after 3 weekends in Bergen and weeks of reading on my own, I will be certified to travel to other countries and observe their election process to determine how democratic it is. Sounds interesting. I'm excited too because I'll be staying with my friend Andre who is also in the peace program with me. He is from Bergen, so I'll get to chill at his house with his mom, probably watching the Winter Olympics! Go Norge!