Rotary World Service - District 5950 Group Study Exchange 2003

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Mike Morris
John Hobday
Margit Karkela
Lynn Keillor
Alanna Simone Tyler

THE TRIP
April 22-23 - Days 1-2
April 24 - Day 3
April 25 - Day 4
April 26 - Day 5
April 27 - Day 6
April 28 - Day 7
April 29 - Day 8
April 30 - Day 9
May 1 - Day 10
May 2 - Day 11
May 3 - Day 12
May 4 - Day 13
May 5 - Day 14
May 6 - Day 15
May 7 - Day 16
May 8 - Day 17
May 9 - Day 18
May 10 - Day 19
May 11 - Day 20
May 12 - Day 21
May 13 - Day 22
May 14 - Day 23
May 15 - Day 24
May 16 - Day 25
May 17 - Day 26
May 18 - Day 27
May 19 - Day 28
May 20 - Day 29

May 1, Thursday
Kongsberg
Lynn Keillor

As in most parts of the world, today was Labor Day in Norway. As far as I know, nobody in our group participated in any of the various political rallys around town. Alanna did see some “Liberate Iraq” banners here in town, and according to the evening news there were similar demonstrations in Oslo. In general, the Norwegians have not been in favor of the US actions in Iraq. According to polls, most thought that action should have been taken through the UN. The war approval ratings have gone up somewhat, though,  due in part to the quickness of the military actions. Personally, I was expecting to get a lot of questions about the US involvement in Iraq, but I have not had many at all.

Today was also designated as a “host family day” and we split up to do various activities. Mike split up literally, helping his host Olav Aanstad chop wood in preparation for our evening bonfire.

Alanna took the day to relax, accompanying her hosts to the driving range to whack a bucket of balls. She also made arrangements to meet with a local doctor, who is a friend of her colleague in Minneapolis.

Margit spent the day in Bø, a town in the Telemark region, where she visited her great-great grandparents farmstead and met relatives. I’ll let her tell the story of her visit, but I will tell you that she got cake and coffee at every stop!

John and I spent part of the day with my host Sigurd Friis, cross-country skiing high in the mountains. John and I were sceptical there would be snow, as there was none to speak of on the drive up. Sigurd promised snow, and as if a miracle, there was plenty at the end of the mountain road.

We let Sigurd apply ample quantities of klister wax to the skis (which he smoothed out with his hand), and made a 5km trek to a mountain restaurant. It was closed for the season, but that didn’t stop us from eating our own lunches. We felt very Norwegian, eating our goat-cheese open faced sandwiches and drinking hot tea. Other than two other skiers, we seemed to have the mountain to ourselves.

The restaurant is at the crossroads of five major skiing trails, and sometimes attracts 1,500 people on nice Easter vacation days. Once a year, a local brass band plays a concert there – and they all ski in with their instruments. I have to wonder how the tuba player manages! Restaurant supplies, though, are brought in by snowmobile. (Photo right: John now realizes Norwegians actually eat hot dogs wrapped in lefse!)

On our way back, Sigurd pointed out some black and grey flecks in the snow. “This is pollution from Germany and England,” he said. The amounts of pollution have decreased over the years, he said, but there’s still some tense talks taking place between Norway and England regarding this matter.

All team members and host families met up for a bonfire on Olav’s property this evening. The fire really got cranking just about the time it started to rain -  and I can’t say the rain put too much of a damper on the evening. Those of us with basic fire skills grilled hotdogs; the slightly more advanced cooked hotdogs with bacon wrapped around them. The highly skilled made pork chops and lamb cutlets on their sticks. I was in the first group. It’s common in Norway to eat hotdogs wrapped in lefse, so that’s what some of us did. Things got a big soggy toward the end of the evening, but nobody really seemed to mind.
(Photo Right: "Grillefest", or campfire picnic, with our hosts to celebrate May 1, international workers' day.)

Tomorrow is our designated free day, with a farewell party in the evening. I’m going to visit a local snowmobile dealership and the president of the area snowmobile club tomorrow, as well.