Peace, Love, and Lutefisk: Adventures i Norge

Nothing brings out the important metaphysical questions like Halloween...how does a fork end up on a washing machine? How does an apple explode in a varmeskap? How long does it take to use 200 cups? How many people can sing Botan Anna at the same time?

These and many other important questions were brought up following the Peace House's Halloween Party on Saturday. We had over 50 people occupying all three floors of our house in a ridiculous collection of crazy and creative costumes. To understand the full extent of the Halloween Party, we have to start at the beginning...

I had my first guest come last week as Beth Borowski who went to Luther with me came for a short visit from the UK. We had a great week doing all Tromsø had to offer including bargain shopping, eating rømmegrøt, climbing a mountain, and getting ready for Halloween! Beth brought with her incredible expertise and we bought two pumpkins and Thursday night had a kørselig little party with a few friends. We did the whole works: carving the pumpkins, cooking the seeds, and even making pumpkin pie out of the left overs. It was so much fun! You can check out the pics here!

After a great night of halloween fun, Beth and I spent Friday climbing a mountain near Tromsø. We had a great view of the city, and we brought sleds with us so on the way down we were able to sled on some fast, bumpy, virgin trails. After a short night out with some random Norwegian course friends, Beth and I got ready for Saturday, the big day!

We spent the morning getting the house ready. Beth did a little more shopping with Marjaana while I got my costume from Silje. We decided to meet up at where else, but the Tromsø storm basketball game! We had a great time at the game laughing and enjoying the entertainment that is professional basketball in Tromsø. We walked home and Beth was getting frustrated that after being in Tromsø for multiple days that she had not seen the Northern Lights.

She didn't have to wait too long. We cooked a little dinner and finished up preparing. We had a game room complete with bobbing for apples, a jail, a feel this gross stuff that we're going to label as scary, and a seven minutes in heaven booth. We also had great American decorations all over with spider webs across the ceiling, Halloween candy throughout the house, our pumpkins out front and candles spread everywhere, and Ipods playing on all three floors. Beth threw together a good boyscout costume with Stian's clothes (which always seem to be picked when costumes are needed). The Dutch girls were the first to arrive to get their costumes ready and soon Rachel, Hanne, and Eleonor came to prepare. Finally, the clock struck 9pm and the party began with the Mosjøen Men, the guys from Stian's home town. The party continued to grow and I was truly amazed by the great costumes. I know I've said this before, but I always feel like Norwegians are not big on putting themselves out there, but on Saturday everyone did! It was great. I think the prize for the best costume would have to go to Line who was a hunchback, Silje who was a great witch, or maybe Eivind for his homemade robot costume!

In addition to the well decorated house, mother nature helped us by providing some amazing northern lights! It was such a beautiful night, but cold enough that everyone wanted to stay at our house instead of going out. The party lasted until 6am when I walked downstairs with a group of Spanish girls and was treated to a Saami Joik circle. There were four Saami people singing, which sounded somewhat similar to traditional Lakota singing. So I was hearing people talking in Spanish, people singing in Saami, and the whole time wondering how the night ended at this point. It was great!

Well, unfortunately the night didn't end there. There was one person who was asleep on our kitchen floor when I went to bed. I figured he would wake up and think, I gotta get home. Instead he thought, I gotta get up and take of my clothes. So he did. I got a call from my roommate Ida and had to go help the guy get dressed and get out the door. Then, I got to crash.

Beth and I enjoyed a quiet breakfast amidst empty bottles and trash. Along with Stian and Maaike, we managed to clean the house in two hours! We all picked up trash, and then I vacuumed while Stian washed the floor behind. At the same time, Maaike was washing dishes...every cup in our house (which has a lot of cups!) had been used. But now, the house looks better than before the party. Beth left Sunday afternoon, and I enjoyed a Tromsø football game in the snow.

So Halloween has already come and gone here in Tromsø...and it was great! I hope that anyone celebrating today has as much fun as we did here. Happy Halloween!