Tonight was the night: EuroVision. It was as cheesy and ridiculous as everyone warned me. The best way to describe it is the cheese of a Miss America Pageant combined with an Olympic version of Idol. 24 countries from Europe competed in the Finals and all of them perform a song written in their country. It ends up being basically 24 versions of love dance songs in English...often unique English combined with ridiculous dance numbers, wind machines, and costumes. There were some great anomalies though, including this year's winner: Finland! They had a monster rock band dressed in masks and make-up that looked like hideous monsters singing the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah." This masterpiece in song writing included lines like: The walls come down like thunder/ the rocks about to roll/ it's the arockalypse/ now bare your soul. The true believers/ thou shall be saved/ brothers and sisters keep strong in the faith/ on the day of rockoning/ it's who dares, wins/ you will see the jokers soon'll be the new kings. Poetic genius. What word play, what power. Just imagine monsters singing it, and it's so much more meaningful! Better yet, watch them do it here: Hard Rock Hallelujah
Well, Norway didn't do to well. We got 36 points I think. The way it works is that every European country has a call center where people from the country call in to. They cannot vote for their own country, but what happens is that the countries often vote for their neighbors. Sweden gave us a few points and Ireland gave the UK a few votes. Helping out the neighbors you know. Anyways, the top 10 get points and it's fun because they have the votes called in from the capitals around Europe and have a dramatic, pregnant pause as they announce who their great country voted for. Even Malta, at the very end of the night got one 10th place vote for their one and only point.
Well, beneath the complex voting system, dazzling costumes, cheesy music, and bad hosts, there was some entertainment value. I had fun eating shrimp sandwiches for three hours with a few Norwegian friends trying to find it.
(The view walking home at 12.30am. As I finish this blog I'm squinting at the sun coming through my window. Time for the curtains and some sleep.)
After having the best day of the year on the 17th, last night I enjoyed the best part of the year: Rachel and Danny's pizza fest! It was quite an event. There was over 40 people at the party, and it was the most diverse, interesting, fun, and beautiful group of Norwegian and international people assembled at a party this year.
The party started for me at 6pm when I went to help Rachel and Daniel, who is a Swedish friend who has worked as a baker, start preparing the pizzas. I brought my speakers and soon we were listening to "That's Amore" while we cut vegetables and starting making the dough from scratch. 
Danny was great at teaching us about making the dough and soon we had almost 2 kilos of dough rising. A little before 8pm our first guest arrived: another guy named Daniel who was appropriately enough from Italy! He told us what it would be like if we were making pizzas in Italy. He said we lacked underwear hanging from the balcony, noise in the streets, and the Napoli accent. But, we did have some great pizzas! Danny started making very thin, very Italian pizzas and soon people were streaming into the party and the queue was quickly formed for the pizzas which were made continuously for 4 straight hours.
I had a great time welcoming people, helping in the kitchen, and meeting lots of new people. It made me very excited to come back to Tromsø to get know all of my new acquaintances better next fall. 
The best part of the night was that I was on (or maybe it was when a Turkish guy's shirt caught on fire). It was one of those nights when I felt extremely social, comfortable, excited, energetic, flirtatious, and somehow nearly fluent in Norwegian...or at least I felt that way. The beer was tasting good, everyone was laughing, and the sun shined the entire night lighting up Rachel's flat.
After a while I was mixing gin and tonics and trying to learn how to open a bottle with a knife. (I was successful with the former and not the latter.) Eventually Rachel had to kick people out because of the apartment building's curfew, but I think everyone would have stayed all night (it felt like day!) if we could have.
We continued the party for a while at a bar, but soon I was headed open with the sun just behind the mountains. I had a smile thinking back on the evening. Great party, great pizza, great people.
When the moon (midnight sun) hits your eye like a big pizza pie that's amore!
I walked home from the town center, wearing a t-shirt and feeling a little cool as I walked to keep warm. Spring in Tromsø! I felt extra Norwegian as I carried my white plastic bag carrying 1 and a half kilos of shrimp for Stian and I to decapitate and eat tonight. It was such a picture perfect Tromsø day. The old lady near the soccer fields was sitting in a chair on her front steps to be in the sun while doing her Sudoko. Couples rode bikes and took their dogs for a walk. The even older lady four houses down from us was knitting in the sun while our neighbors were busy painting a new fence. I really enjoy my life here and am going to miss it when I leave Monday morning. Fortunately, I'll be back in the fall, ready to patiently wait for the sun to bring everyone outside again.
Yesterday was one of my favorite days I've had here in Norway: May 17th, the Norwegian Constitution Day known as Syttende Mai! It was great, a full day of fun with great friends, Norwegian traditions, lots of laughter, food, and parades a plenty.
The day started early. The night before the 17th is one of the biggest party days in Norway. We didn't put up a very good showing, but we did have fun watching drunk people walk by Rachel's Apartment late at night, getting caught in the courtyard outside her apartment building we aptly named the "Drunk Trap." We had a slumber party the night of the 16th and the next morning at 7am, the marching band started. Horns and drums woke everyone in the center up for the next two hours. We finally got up for good and walked over to a house near the center where a peace student from the second year class lives. There we had a great, traditional Norwegian 17th of May party! We started with coffee and rolls and all the Norwegians came in their traditional costumes called bunads. Almost all the Norwegians dress in their traditional clothing and everyone looks so regal and beautiful. 
We talked a lot and at about 10.30am made our way to the parade route. This was the barnetog which is the children's parade with kids marching along with their classmates, teachers, and some of the local politicians who lead the parade. There are also bands, baton twirlers, and other random groups. There is a sea of red Norwegian flags and everyone shout "Hip, Hip, Hurra!" 
It was very cute to see the little kids in their traditional costumes and see them so excited. The thing that stod out most to me was how many people are in the parade compared to the US. It seemed more like a protest march with a constant stream of people instead of floats. High on participation and energy.
After the first of many parades, we headed back to the house for a great meal of chicken soup (it warmed us up nicely from standing in the half snow, half sun weather), potatoes, salmon, eggs, and salad. The first round of desserts started after the meal and after digesting and chatting some more, we enjoyed a rousing round of national anthems! We had a very international crowd, so after singing all the verses of the Norwegian national anthem, we heard the anthems from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and the US. We couldn't convince Armenia to sing and Spain had the excuse that their anthem didn't have words. But, the score will be settled Saturday in the Eurovision song competition which is like Idol for all of Europe, except each country writes its own song and it is supposedly even cheesier than Idol and over 30 years old. ABBA even won it years ago with "Waterloo!" Well, after the singing we headed to Storgate for the Russtog, which is the parade of the 18 year old high schoolers. This one is much more vulgar with water guns. The kids like it because the Russ hand out personal cards with their photos to little kids. It was funny to see the 18-year old craziness. It's kind of like their coming out party, their transition from childhood to adulthood and it is the ending point of 17 days in May in which they dress in matching clothes and basically drink, do pranks, and are "rebellious." So, I was glad to see the end of parade and Russ craziness.
Rachel and I took a break after the Russ parade to watch a TV show that she was in! Two years ago at Luther a Norwegian film director made a movie about Norwegianism in the US and a lot of it took place in Decorah and at Luther. It was very funny to see the US version of 17th of May and how Norway portrayed Decorah. Lots of Vikings and trolls which we don't see here!
After the show, we headed back to the house for more cake and some fun games. We did the Potato Race where you have a potato on a spoon and have to run to the finish line without dropping it. 
I did the supersized version with an egg and won my heat! We had an added level of difficulty because we had been enjoying wine intermittenly throughout the day with all the cake we ate. It was great though to be outside once the sun came out for good and to see these Norwegians in these fancy clothes running with a potato on a spoon. The whole day was funny in a way. It really seemed like I could have been living in 1950 or maybe even 1850. 
The clothes were so traditional, the food, parade, and games were all like something out of Laura Ingels Wilder. Even the house we were in was an old tiny house with old furniture, old decorations, and traditional food. There is something very omforting and amazing to see traditions like this that are simple and powerful. Even though I'm not Norwegian, I felt a surge of Norwegian pride!
After the potato racing, I headed to Tove and Curt's house who are professors at the University and friends of Rachel and I. They made us a nice light dinner which was much appreciated after hours of eating cake and drinking glasses of coffee and wine. We had a great conversation, played some monopoly, and finally at 11pm Rachel and I walked home from the Southern tip of the island, almost a 50 min walk home. It was great though. It was as light as it had been all day and the mountains were covered in snow and people were still out walking around in their bunads enjoying the light and Norway. A great day and a great country. I will be sad to leave this summer and happy to return to great friends and a great location. Happy Syttende Mai! Heia Norge!
A couple of weeks ago a collection of three signs convinced me to apply for a job at the local barnehage (pre-school). First, Curt Rice, a professor at the University and friend encouraged me to apply as a great way to practice Norwegian and get paid just by playing with kids. Then, the next day I was on the bus when a group of 25 barnehage kids came on the bus going on some type of field trip. They were very energetic and their teacher was an outdoors, young, very good looking girl. I thought, yeah, maybe I should consider this! Then, the day after the bus sign, Kjersti told me about her great experience at a barnehage in her home town. After the cock crowed three times, I decided to believe and applied. The lady sounded very interested and told me to call her back when I returned in October.
Well, at 7.30am on the 16th, after going to bed at 2.30am, my phone rang. I woke up and answered it and was surprised to find out it was the barnhage calling and asking if I could come work at 8.30am that day! I said yes in a sleepy state and made my way over to the pre-school.
And it was great! Even though I was extremely tired, I had so much fun with the kids and was happy to feel like I was doing something that not only paid, but also paid off. There were lots of funny memories from my first day. I arrived and started playing with the kids who in our class were 3-6 years old, jumping in with what would be 7 and a half hours of Norwegian. Fun stuff! Well, I let the kids find out that I liked to wrestle and throw kids around a little too soon I think! After about an hour, I was the climbing tree and over half of the 15 kids there were climbing on me and pulling on every limb and hair follicle I have. It was great though, even though they won the fight, I put up a good match.
There were two other teachers there if you could call us that. They were very nice and helped me out. The first sign I was a newcomer was at lunch. I was responsible for cutting the bread for the sandwiches and made the cardinal sin of cutting the bread the wrong way! It reminded me of being in the States and eating a sandwich made by someone else who cut the bread differently. The kids all looked at it kind of confused. The other teacher told them that it was good to try new things and that it would taste the same. Finally, they gave in and started eating. I thought it was funny too because a lot of them commented on how the bread looked like a sail boat, not just any boat, but specifically a sail boat. A good reminder that I was indeed in a fishing, sea-loving community.
Another highlight was going outside. It was the 16th of May, but we were still in the midst of two days of snow. The snow was coming down in huge flakes and it was just like winter. So, I had the pleasure of bundling up the kids in their snow suits! First the wool long underwear, both pants and top. Then the waterproof snowpant-like overalls with the matching water proof coat. Then the big rubber boots, hats, and mittens. They waddled out to the playground for some outside time...and when I say some, I mean Norwegian some. We were outside playing in the snow from 1.30-4pm with a 20 min break to eat carrots as a snack! It was crazy. Fortunately for me, Norway treats their workers well, and I have a half hour lunch and two mandatory 15 min breaks. I got to warm up inside and realize that the more I work at the barnehage, the more I will be addicted to coffee, every drinks it during breaks and almost forces it down you!
I had fun outside in the May snow. It tastes better than February snow! I played games with kids. I made a basketball hoop that I held out of some string and had contests throwing snowballs at trees. Of course, all the games seemed to end up with all the kids throwing snowballs at me. It was fun though. They don't have very good aim, so I was able to survive without too many injuries.
Again this morning, the barnehage called, but I couldn't work today and was too wiped out from Norway's Constitution Day, Syttende Mai (more on that soon!), to substitute today. I am very excited though to continue working all next year. It's a great way to learn Norwegian, I get paid well (about 150 bucks for the day), and it's just plain fun. I'm going to have to work out over the summer though so I can throw the kids around!
I headed to the Tromsø football game yesterday against the hated Rosenburg club from Trondheim. They are like the New York Yankees of Norwegian football. 
The game was great, ending in a 1-1 tie, but the most shocking part was the weather: snow! Just when you thought it was safe to live above the Arctic Circle, you get snow...on May 14th! I am looking out the window right now as flurries* fall, somehow simultaneous with the sun shining. Not sure how it works, I just know that I'm staying inside.**
*Editor's note: I had to edit the blog because what was flurries are now near blizzard-like snow. What is going on?!
**Second Editor's Note: This picture was taken at 12.30am. Yes, the midnight sun (and snow?) is nearly upon us!
Last night I had a great adventure with my friends Rachel, Line, and Stian. We went on a mission to have a drink in all the pubs in Tromsø that we had never set foot in. We failed in the ultimate goal, but we had a great time and found a few interesting places.
The night started at Rachel's where we watched the Norwegian Idol. It is absolutely huge here and they are down to the final three. It must have been torch night because we heard Seal's "Kissed by a Rose," Sinead O'Conner's "Nothing Comes to You," and "No One Knows What It's Like" by a Creed-like band with a rough voice. Anyways, a good show with tension mounting for the final next week!
After hearing the art of Idol, we decided to make our first hop the Verdensteatre which is home to the old movie theatre in Tromsø. It is a beautiful old building and just this fall they added a bar on the bottom of the theatre that is very classy. They had fancy glasses, color changing table lights, and lots of 40 something artsy, smart people. Stian and I decided to talk about Nietzche, religion, and the difference between neo-liberal and Keynesian economic models in order to fit in with the crowd. A definite mac crowd, if only I would have had it I could have fit in.
We then headed to Le Mirage, which was like a more crowded, less modern Verdensteatre. Again, smart clientel and huge leather chairs. We continued our religion talk and Stian even had an "Old Danish," which is an old man's drink similar to Jægermeister.
From Le Mirage we headed to the most random stop of the night: G. The people there were all over 55 and all single. Kind of a weird mix. We sat in the corner and asked if they had a drink menu. Nope, only a couple types of beer and one type of wine. Well, at least the bathroom was clean. We sat in the corner and tried to avoid the waiter who was a little too anxious to speak English. A corona without lime and a 3 kroner water made this spot a "glad we've been there, not going back" type place.
Then to Meieriet, the best stop of the night. We'd been there before, but it was half price drinks and they have great strawberry daquiris as well as the best dj in Tromsø. The young crowd with students and young adults as well as dim lighting made it a fun spot to chat, dance, and people watch without getting caught. We stayed there for quite a while, maybe a little too long because afterwards we tried to go Solid, but didn't have the energy. Stian and I got distracted by a taxi with our name on it and went home, content with our night of adventure. Apparently Rachel tried to walk home and got distracted by a friend who "forced" her to continue hopping, so she represented for the peace kids in a few other pubs. I think we sufficiently left our mark on the night.
There are many more places to go in Tromsø. As the Lonely Planet says: "Simply put, Tromsø parties." Now I know how all the demographics of Tromsø party!
