I am really looking forward to answering the first Norwegian who asks what I did over Easter break. “Well,” I will say, “We trained up to Lillehammer and then flew up to the Lofotens, drove around all the islands, flew to Trondheim, trained to Røros, approached the Swedish border, trained back to Oslo to bus to Fagernes, drove around Valdres, and then returned to Oslo.” If you track that trip on a map of Norway you’ll see we more or less covered the entire country. Not bad for two weeks! On top of all that this has been an epic week for me personally. I was placed on the waitlist at MIT, which was moderately disappointing (but better than a rejection), and accepted at NYU Steinhardt. I was also interviewed twice by, and offered an internship with, PBS’s Arlington, Virginia headquarters (which pretty much means Washington DC) in “corporate communications.” I’ll be responsible for bringing in fresh ideas about media campaigns, web sites, recruiting viewers, and programs, among other things. It’d be a cool job anyway, but I think it’ll be especially exciting to be working with media in Washington on an election year like this one.

I guess I left off at Røros. Everything was closed on Monday for Second Easter, which was disappointing because we wanted to buy pretty copper bowls and other handicrafts. It was also very, very cold, and the train station was closed when we arrived. Oops. We walked to a nearby hotel and took shelter in their lobby. Dad and I looped through town until our noses fell off, but then we had to come back. The train ride was relatively uneventful. We spent the first leg in the quiet car (a sign implored us to “ikke snakk” — don’t talk, not don’t snack), which was totally peaceful and empty until one random stop in the middle when a dozen families poured in at the same time, from which point on it was chaos. Our second train, from Hamar to Oslo, was very nice. We upgraded to the deluxe cabin, so we had free coffee and power outlets and comfy chairs. That turned out to be a good move since the train had mechanical problems and was over an hour late bringing us home.

My crummy little dorm room never seemed so nice as it did that night. After squeezing into hotel rooms with my parents for a couple weeks it was pure luxury to sprawl on my bed with my computer volume way up. However, I almost became trapped there the next morning when I couldn’t find my key. I tore up the place searching frantically. It was in my door.

Our bus to Fagernes broke down so we had to transfer to a new one and arrived an hour late. We were getting worried that we wouldn’t know where to get off, but that was silly because the bus pulled into a big parking spot right in front of our hotel, a Quality Inn. The hotel was weird. For one, it was a massive yellow building. Huge. The first floor was a maze of parlors and dance floors and dining halls with room for thousands of people to congregate. But Fagernes is kind of far out there, and we were among maybe ten guests in the whole place? It was kind of eerie. Other than that it was the typical Norwegian hotel with dead stuffed bears guarding the main stairway and a generous breakfast buffet.

There was nothing to do in town. We got the dinner recommendations mixed up and ended up eating microwave meals at a cafeteria. My salmon-in-tinfoil was ok, but Mom had chicken and a wretched salad that combined raisins with green olives. Don’t ever do that. Mom and Dad went to the local folk museum where they hit the genealogical jackpot: a friendly old man with logbooks of all the local farms. He traced one of our relatives, Ola Ulven, to a farm about 20 minutes out of town, and Dad contacted the resident relative, Olaus. Unfortunately Olaus’ father Ola just passed away on Friday after breaking his leg and suffering a quick infection. Really awful. The family was very nice, though, and agreed to let us visit on Wednesday afternoon.

There was some difficulty arranging for a rental car, but when we finally located one (late in the afternoon, it had just driven here from Oslo) Dad found out that the Hertz guy lived right next to the Ulven farm. Following his instructions, we reached the farm around 3:30pm. It is now a dairy and potato farm, and the family that greeted us was exceedingly nice. There are two houses, one for the husband and wife and five children and one for the grandmother and, until recently, grandfather. They sat down with us for about an hour and traced our heritage through the books. The link was so far back that it was almost uncomfortable, we really felt like we were barging in to this family’s home, but they kept being nice and chatting. They brought out the atlas to show us where in Norway the wife was from and then flipped to the US to see where Oregon was. They invited us to stay for dinner, which was lamb and carrots and potatoes. My favorite part was watching the grandmother and the feisty littlest son (6 years old) interact. They would play little teasing batting games with their hands as they sat next to each other at the table and smile mischievously (the little one) and warmly (the grandmother) back and forth. It struck me that this woman who had worked hard on a farm her whole life and just lost a husband was still so full of life.

After leaving the Ulven’s we drove around a bit and photographed the local church, but the grave stones were buried in snow so there wasn’t much sleuthing to be done. The sun was setting and the ice was re-freezing on the roads, so we headed back to the hotel. Rather than spend another evening sitting around I took the 3-hour bus back to Oslo and was again able to enjoy the relative comfort of my own little dorm. Mom and Dad bussed back today and are off shopping. We will head out for dinner soon and run a few last errands before they leave for their hotel and fly out in the early, early morning. I’m already a little sad to see them go, but it’s not over yet. They just returned to the room so we’re off.

I still had more gushing to do over the Lofotens, but after the past two days in Brekken I have even better adventures to report. Randi, the wife of a distant cousin Gunnar, picked us up yesterday at the Røros train station and ferried us first to our hotel then to her home where we enjoyed a wonderful dinner of Norwegian breads and treats including: curried mackerel, Waldorf salad, salmon, scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, cloud berries, cow berries, brie and blue cheese. We were introduced to the four rock deer that come to eat below the bird feeder in the back yard; photos of Randi and Gunnar’s new grandbabies; and the three violins that Gunnar has crafted by hand, which have been appraised as being worth between 70,000 and 150,000 Norwegian kroner each. We were also re-introduced to their sweet Irish setter Ami, who was just a puppy when we last visited and is now a mellow 10 1/2 years old. Randi drove us clear back to Røros, a 30-minute drive, and picked us up this morning for an even more eventful Easter.

We all went to Easter service together at the Brekken church. Brekken, a farming community of a few hundred people, was once its own kommune but is now a satellite of Røros. The church is a beautiful wooden building just a street down from Henningsgård (not a coincidence — our actual namesake). Henningsgård itself hasn’t been in family hands for a very long time, and is now split into three different clusters of buildings owned by different people. The church, which was recently re-painted by community volunteers, is full of beautiful hand-finished touches. The church ceiling is pale blue with white outlines of clouds painted on. The beams are elegantly beveled and there are beautifully carved wedges where they meet the walls. The pulpit sits to the left-front of the altar and is decorated simply and stylishly with panels featuring the disciples. The altar is round and the wall behind it is decorated with a painting of the babtism of Christ, which is surrounded by painted and carved woodwork. The windows are high with square white panes, except for the windows in the altar section, which have pastel panes. Communion is served in individual glass goblets. I’ll post pictures, but it was really nice.

Oh, have I mentioned that it was -30 degrees C last night? That’s -22 Fahrenheit.

Other than the cold, it has been beautiful and clear the whole time. The service was in Norwegian, but we sang to the best of our abilities (not great). After church Dad wanted to poke around the graveyard, but it was totally buried in snow. We went back to Randi and Gunnar’s where they showed us some of the artifacts they have salvaged from the old farm house (a tumbling yellow structure in their driveway in which my great-great grandmother was born). There were four old hand-made trundle beds and a dresser and some old hand-washing tools that looked like little pronged mallets.

Some friends came over and we all sat around drinking tea and coffee and eating treats Randi had made. There was some kind of cake with whipped cream frosting and berries, a rolled-up cake, and lefse. Kjell and his partner Ellen and Kari and Ørjan Skott were all there, and the chatting broke down into various combinations of groups. Kjell is an animated, funny guy (he tried to pass the rolled-up cake off as rullepolse), and he spoke almost exclusively in slow, generous Norwegian. It made me feel pretty bad for how lazy I’ve been about learning Norwegian this semester and how much more I should know. It didn’t help that I was wearing twelve too many layers, so I blushed uncontrollably whenever I tried to talk. After most of the desserts were consumed (nobody ate the last lefse, I guess the same hesitation about clearing a plate exists in Norway too) the men picked up the violins and played a whole string of folk songs. It was really great.

We went over to the Skott home for an hour to give Randi and Gunnar a break from our constant company. We had a great chat with them and their daughter Ida. They have a beautiful family farm with quite a few buildings and antiques. We all exchanged numbers, so hopefully will keep in touch. We went back to Randi & Gunnar’s for a dinner of moose roast and potatoes and beans with a fruit salad for dessert. Everything was so wonderful I nearly exploded. After dinner Randi shared a book with us that detailed the Røros winter market and the traditional trip that people make to come here. Traveling in horse-drawn sleighs over frozen rivers and lakes, some people bundle up in dog-fur parkas and trek for weeks. I think Mom and Dad were mildly horrified at the prospect of frozen mustaches and exposure to the elements, but it seemed like a lot of fun to me, especially the part where the crew gathers around fires at night to play music and dance. Plus, I imagine there is a pretty sizable celebration once the party actually arrives.

I’m sure I’m forgetting half a million details and misspelling a majority of the names, but that’s most of what’s happened here in Røros / Brekken. Mom and Dad wanted to shop, but I’m afraid everything will be closed tomorrow since it’s still the holidays. I feel like there are a number of things I told them ahead of time that they either assumed to be an exaggeration or promptly forgot (such as: the entire country will shut down for Easter or: everything costs four times more than you expect it to). While I do tend to exaggerate and I am moderately forgettable, in this case it has involved learning the hard way. I think it’s safe to say that Norway is a pretty unbelievable place, and it can go both ways. It’s hard to complain, though, this trip has been wonderful.

We headed out for our four-hour fishing tour at 11am. Our boat was pretty packed, but we were the only people in the front cabin — perhaps because it smelled pretty strongly of engine fumes. It was a beautiful morning with blue sky peeking through a few snow-spewing clouds. Very little wind. It was cold on the water, but warmer than it could have been. I could survive for up to 30 minutes above-board without any special gear beyond a few layers of fleece and my gray pea coat. We didn’t catch any fish but we did reel in some amazing photos. There wasn’t much biting, anyway, and we wouldn’t have known what to do with it if we caught them.

Everything is closed for Easter, so we’re just wandering the deserted streets now. We found a cafe, but the kitchen is closed so we just had warm drinks. Dad and I are enjoying the Internet, but my battery is about to give out. Mom is rocking the iPod and being a pretty good sport, she must be bored out of her mind. Our dinner recommendations included a really expensive, probably mediocre restaurant nearby and a Chinese place. I think Mom is pulling for Chinese (knowing her).

I still need to upload pictures, but I have them backlogged all the way to Fulbright ski weekend, so the stunning Lofoten pics will take a while. Ugh this stupid battery, I was hoping to get more done while I had a signal. Not sure what we’re doing tonight. We only got halfway through “There Will Be Blood” last night, but it was pretty slow and I’m not sure any of us are set on finishing it. Tomorrow will be a HUGE travel day so we’ll need to rest up. If we miss a connection we’ll be in big trouble. Wish us luck!

Writing quickly on an extremely shaky internet connection at the local bar to report that the Lofotens are seriously incredible. When our tiny airplane touched down at sunset yesterday I thought I was soaking in the most striking icy watery mountainous scenery imaginable. That was just the beginning. We rented a car today and went for a drive down to a tiny fishing town called Sund. I felt bad for Dad driving because all he wanted to do was gape out the windows. That’s all you could do. Jagged snowy vertical peaks poke up everywhere, cradling sparkling blue fjords. Little villages with bright red and yellow houses cluster around cute local docks and rows upon rows of dessicating cod fill the air with a slightly repulsive (and almost hunger-inducing) tang.

We’re staying at the Svinøya Rorbuer, a cluster of fisherman cabins on an island next to Svolvaer. Everybody here has been so, so friendly. We ate at the complex’s restaurant last night, apparently the nicest in the city, and it was delightful except for the fact that there was a fake dead snake outside the window. It was intended to scare birds away, but it did a great job of making Mom squirm. Dad and I both had cod and a pleasant bottle of Italian wine. It felt kind of strange to be pairing fine wine with local delicacies so far north of the Arctic Circle. I don’t know why, it seems like things should be more primitive here.

It’s definitely not. The landscape is rich with trees and texture and at least four colors: white, blue, brown, and green. Walking back from dinner after chatting the spunky waitress up about the relative merits of fishing buoys we saw the northern lights. They flickered into view like wisps of smoke and twirled in a thin white band across the whole sky. I think we were pretty lucky; it was over after a couple minutes and we never caught sight of them again (Dad and I checked the windows throughout the night).

Dad is across from me trying to check email on his iPod and cursing every couple minutes. His Airport receiver must be weaker than mine, although I’ve lost the signal a few times, too. No World of Warcrafting from here, I guess (joke). I couldn’t play computer games if I wanted to. Even after spending the whole day driving and snapping pictures and staring out the window, it still feels like the views are painted on the windows. This landscape couldn’t possibly be real. You’ll see what I mean when I post the pictures.

Good and bad news to report. For one, Dad helped me fix my computer, so I have it here with me at the Oslo airport! This happened on Monday evening, but we’ve been solidly busy since then so I haven’t kicked back and enjoyed it. Or written. Will give a recap soon. The bad news is that the booking got screwed up for this morning’s flight to the Lofotens and we arrived at kind of the last minute so it didn’t get resolved before the plane took off. We’ve been hanging out for a couple hours waiting for our new 3:40pm flight. It’s disappointing — I was really looking forward to spending the afternoon touring the fishing village and snapping pictures of beautiful things — but we’re good sports and will get there eventually.

Monday was not terribly eventful. After we left the library we went back to the train station and sorted out our tickets. We have everything booked, but we couldn’t reserve seats on the Røros-Oslo leg because the train was too full so we might have to move from seat to seat between stops. I’m not really looking forward to that, but it should be fine if we spend a couple hours in the dining car or something. We grilled our own pølser (hot dogs) in the room and wrapped them in lompe and potato salad. First cheap thing of the whole trip.

We went up to Lillehammer for the day on Tuesday, and while it was fun I’m really glad we didn’t spend two nights there. The town is set on a steep hill, so while it was small it still involved quite a bit of hiking. We wandered in and out of the shops until our feet hurt, at which point we stopped and ate waffles and goulash. Consulting our map and guide book we set off for the Folk Museum, which was (I thought) cooler than Oslo’s. There were many more old buildings set into a scenic, lake-spotted landscape of forests, hills and pastures. There was a thick layer of snow on the ground and enough ice to cause problems on the more vertical paths. Aside from a small adventure that involved Dad skidding and flailing backwards down the hill on top of us (nobody actually ended up falling, so it counts as comedy) we handled the terrain quite well. We slid back down into town for dinner at a “cheap Norwegian-Mexican restaurant” (said the guide book) which was neither cheap nor particularly Norwegian OR Mexican. Go figure.

So now we’re here killing time in the airport. We found a couple electrical outlets, probably the only two in the entire place and are making good use of them. Only 1.5 hours to go at this point, even less until boarding. I’m getting excited (yet again, after the anticlimax) for heading into the arctic.