Peace, Love, and Lutefisk: Adventures i Norge

I just said goodbye to my dad and brother after a fantastic weekend with them. They arrived Thursday night and we have covered almost everything in Tromsø, save the cable car because the weather was a constant mix of rain and snow. We had a great time and it was such a pleasure to show off my home and show them my life. (You can also be shown a little bit with pictures! Click on the link on the right.)

Thursday night they came to a choir rehearsal I had literally off the plane followed by the first of many visits to a bar/cafe.

Friday I showed off the University and my peace people as well as taking them to a couple more cafes. We ate waffles, chatted with international students, went to the Polar Museum which taught us how to kill baby seals, and showed off the Peace House! We ate whale that night and did our best not to break our necks as we climbed the hill to their hotel.

Saturday we hit up the Tromsø Museum and visited the Ice Cathedral, a first for me. It was great. The Ice Cathedral is a modern looking church overlooking the fjord that was built to look kind of like an iceberg. We walked in and were greeted by a choir and organ rehearsing. The huge organ shook the whole building and it was great to see the church in action! We made it back to the island and had a Peace Pizza Party! It was so much fun! We had 16 people, almost our entire class, gathered around tables in the local pizza place called Yonus. My dad and brother got to meet everyone and begin to see the friends, and characters, in my life. 5 large pizzas later, we were all filled with food and laughter. I learned what my last name meant in German, I learned why Iran should have nuclear power, and I got to hear my dad explain what "Pardon my French" means. A very educational and fun evening. AFter the meal, the majority of the class mobilized to Driv, the local student pub. There we continued having great conversations and some how I managed to beat the semi-professional pool player, Tsevtan from Bulgaria, twice in pool. We also played a game called passport, which is a world geography trivia game. It was a blast to play a game with questions in Norwegian translated by Bulgarians, Chadians, Ghanians, and Americans into English and then to see what people know. We represented the continents pretty well, but our knowledge of Oceania was a bit lacking. We'll work on that.

Finally, today was probably the highlight for me. After a lackluster Norwegian church service, we were picked up by my two Rotary contacts, Petter Drecker and Sissel Diffelson. They gave us a very extensive tour of the area. Both Tromsø island where I live and the island next to us called Kvals Island. We saw the ocean, the fjords, a near blizzard, old churches, new churches, and finally we arrived at Petter's house. There we were treated to some great Norwegian hospitality. His wife prepared a fresh apple pie along side of a chocolate cake and a cheese cake. Lots of cake and coffee were consumed while we communicated in a mix of German, Norwegian, and English. It was great fun and so great to experience a "real life" in Tromsø. They had a beautiful house full of wood and glass overlooking the fjord. As the afternoon came to a close, Petter busted out the cognac as a way for my dad and I to stay warm as we left his house. Needless to say, pictures were taken.

From Petter's house we headed to a hilarious, over stimulating event: the Tromsø Storm Basketball Game! This was like going to a division three basketball game with NBA type effects. They had fireworks and lights flashing everywhere as the players came on the court. Before each quarter "Let's Get Ready to Rumble" came blasting over the speakers, and after point there was some random American rap song that came on. The Norwegians next to us shouted defense the whole game while waving a noise crank and playing a bongo drum. The funniest part however were the "Arctic Girls." That would be the 16 year old girls who came out during every time out and did some kind of hip hop/cheerleader type dance. I laughed out loud at the total Americanization of the whole place and the way they tried just a little bit too hard. There were definitely Norwegian touches however like selling waffles at the concession stands and having a game after halftime in which they have a number appear on the scoreboard and the first person to dial the number on the cell phone gets...another cell phone! Oh fun! It was a great event and even though Tromsø lost, I think I am quickly becoming a Tromsø Storm fan, or at least anthropological admirer!

After a gracious ride from Tove and Curt, my dad, Paul, and I ate a great meal of reindeer at the Beef House. It was a perfect meal to end a great weekend with. As we walked back to their hotel, the snow continued to fall and even though the clouds blocked any chance of seeing the Northern Lights, it was a beautiful Tromsø night!

We did a lot and had a ton of fun. I felt so proud of my city and am so excited that they can understand a little bit more of what I do here. Now it's back to the books. I think it will be a while before I have reindeer and cognac again!