After a relaxing morning, Anette and I made our way to the train station, but we had one important stop on the way. I promised to share the recipe and some of the dressing I made out of the oranges the chef gave me. It was to return the favor for receving a HUGE bag of oranges!
I said goodbye to Anette and loaded a train to head to another town called Lillistrom. One week before I arrivedto Norway a man named Steve emailed me through couchsurfing and he wanted to hang out with a Texan. Steve and his son have an odd fascination and love for Texas. In their Norwegian country home, they have Texas adorned on their walls and pictures of their visit to Dallas from many years ago. I met his family including his 9 year old son, 5 month old twins and his girlfriend. We went for a lovely walk and had coffee sitting in the sunshine. When our short visit ended, Inger Anne drove me back to the train station.
When I arrived a friend, Anne, from Ski For Light met me at the train station. She took me to a lovely restaurant and again I sat in the sun soaking in the warm rays. After eating a delightful seafood salad we loaded up the train to head to Anne's house. One of my favorite things about Europe in general is the culture of walking everywhere. They have many small grocery stores so on our way home we grabbed ingredients for the evening party. That evening was perhaps my highlight of the week in Norway. We loaded up firewood, a wok, food, extra layers and some libations.
We hiked into the woods and found her group of 8 friends and a small fire. It was a magnificant evening. We sat in the woods away from the hustle and bustle of Oslo and at the same time we had the best view of the entire city. Beyond the buildings the fjord glistened in the bright sun. The group of friends seemed shy to speak with me at first because of their intimidation with english. By about glass 2 of wine, most everyone freely spoke with me. I must say that if was not engaged 1:1 with someone, the group naturally spoke their native norwegian language and I did feel lost. It was a good excuse for some moments to not feel obligated to conversate. Norwegian words danced around me and I throughly enjoyed hearing the constant laughter and excitement as they told their stories of which I had no clue what they were talking about. Several times a couple of friends would say, "we are supposed to be speaking english!" It was far too kind of them to constantly try to meet my needs and speak a foreign language. It should be me who is trying to speak Norwegian, not the entire group speak english for one person in the group.
This attitude to attempt to include me is congruent with how I have been treated as a guest in their country. Everyone of my host has gone above and beyond to welcome me and ensure that I am having a pleasent visit.
The fire took us well into the morning hours. It was a blast of an evening and thankfully everyone was able to walk home so there was not dangerous driving.
I said goodbye to Anette and loaded a train to head to another town called Lillistrom. One week before I arrivedto Norway a man named Steve emailed me through couchsurfing and he wanted to hang out with a Texan. Steve and his son have an odd fascination and love for Texas. In their Norwegian country home, they have Texas adorned on their walls and pictures of their visit to Dallas from many years ago. I met his family including his 9 year old son, 5 month old twins and his girlfriend. We went for a lovely walk and had coffee sitting in the sunshine. When our short visit ended, Inger Anne drove me back to the train station.
When I arrived a friend, Anne, from Ski For Light met me at the train station. She took me to a lovely restaurant and again I sat in the sun soaking in the warm rays. After eating a delightful seafood salad we loaded up the train to head to Anne's house. One of my favorite things about Europe in general is the culture of walking everywhere. They have many small grocery stores so on our way home we grabbed ingredients for the evening party. That evening was perhaps my highlight of the week in Norway. We loaded up firewood, a wok, food, extra layers and some libations.
We hiked into the woods and found her group of 8 friends and a small fire. It was a magnificant evening. We sat in the woods away from the hustle and bustle of Oslo and at the same time we had the best view of the entire city. Beyond the buildings the fjord glistened in the bright sun. The group of friends seemed shy to speak with me at first because of their intimidation with english. By about glass 2 of wine, most everyone freely spoke with me. I must say that if was not engaged 1:1 with someone, the group naturally spoke their native norwegian language and I did feel lost. It was a good excuse for some moments to not feel obligated to conversate. Norwegian words danced around me and I throughly enjoyed hearing the constant laughter and excitement as they told their stories of which I had no clue what they were talking about. Several times a couple of friends would say, "we are supposed to be speaking english!" It was far too kind of them to constantly try to meet my needs and speak a foreign language. It should be me who is trying to speak Norwegian, not the entire group speak english for one person in the group.
This attitude to attempt to include me is congruent with how I have been treated as a guest in their country. Everyone of my host has gone above and beyond to welcome me and ensure that I am having a pleasent visit.
The fire took us well into the morning hours. It was a blast of an evening and thankfully everyone was able to walk home so there was not dangerous driving.
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