last week my school had a winter holiday, and i wen to Lillehammer, because i know someone from the states down there. i told some friends at this school and found out that one of them also lives in Lillehammer. i decided to go down with her, but took the bus, because it was much less than the train she was taking. unfortunately, my 23.00 bus was two and a half hours late, so my new 1.30 bus didn't get to Lillehammer until 7.20 or so the next morning. it was a very unpleasant ordeal, and very confusing, because they didn't post the delay anywhere. so, i had to run around hectically trying to figure out if i had stupidly missed my bus or if there was something else going on. well, i got to Lillehammer, and slept for a very long time at my friend's house. i woke up to find i was in the most delightful Norwegian family's house. i was only going to stay there for a couple of days, but i didn't have any other plans after visiting my other friend, so they invited me to stay with them for the entire break. very sweet.
we ate breakfast here (usually two pieces of bread with something on it, and maybe an orange) at about 9.30 every weekday. we had a snack here (same thing as breakfast, only perhaps on buns or with meat), and then we ate dessert here after dinner. this is the way it was everyday i was there, and i'm very sure it's the exact same when i'm not there. very systematic, and i liked it, except i felt like i was always eating. and we read the newspaper and watched the news here after each meal. always there.
this is the day room connected the the kitchen. very pleasant to sit at.
in their forier (sp?) sat a ancient table and ancient artifacts from when the house was just a place for the old people to liveing while the younger family on the farm lived in a much larger house 30 yards the the right. unfortunately the larger house has been left to decay, but the smaller house is what they now live in. thy have added onto it three times, and it just wonderful. and interesting fact: the house has not central heating system. they use two stove on the main floor in the two different living rooms, and for the other rooms they use portable radiator that you merely plug in and unplug when you don't need it. some of the rooms are just too cold to go into if a radiator or stove has not been on for a while, and in the morning you must walk around with a few layers on, but i'm sure it's so much cheaper and energy efficient than what the average American family uses.
Helga playing piano in her second, and more Norwegian, dining room.
me and Helga
my grotesque thumb with frostbite on the tip. this is what i have to remind my of that interrupted frilusliv snow hole hike. it looks even uglier now. the teachers examined it after the holiday and winced. then they sent me to the doctor again who told me, again, wait until the black part falls off. i have no infection, so all is good. i promise.
you see, i stayed also with a friend from the states in his apartment that he shared with four other people. i'm not entirely sure why i was so compelled to be the best house guest ever on his particular visit, but i made them all delicious alfredo pasta one night, and cleaned their incredibly dirty kitchen twice. this is me cleaning their kitchen. they told me not to, but being 20 years old themselves, they weren't that adamant.
the king turned 70 last Wednesday while i was at the Sørby's house. we joked around and the mother made a chocolate cake and put a little Norwegian flag and a little candle on it to celebrate.
the Norwegian cakes and brownies taste very different from American cakes and brownies.
the wonderful family took me to Oslo with them to visit their eldest daughter. on the first night we went out to eat and to see "Learned Ladies" by Mollier in Norwegian. this is The National Theater, but not where we saw the play.
the Oslo University's law building, or at least part of it. my friend's father is a prosecutor, so was of course interested in the building. also, her sister is studying law there right now.
very easily the best restaurant in Norway, well at least Oslo. i had the most delicious curry chicken pasta, and oh...it was just delicious.
on the last day i was in Lillehammer, we went to a place called Maihaugen. it is a collection of old houses from all over Norway that have been moved to one central location for renovation and to be observed and admired by the public. this picture is taken from right outside the park.
i liked the sign on this map, because it said that Maihaugen was a "free air museum". i never would have thought of Maihaugen as a museum if it weren't for that sign which i also like. the map also shows how surprisingly large the museum is.
one of the beautiful old buildings.
here we are making a jello castle. the castle part was half inspired by the kings birthday, half just a fun idea. we used three different colors of Jell-o, four different typed of sauce, lots of sprinkles, and a little bit of gel frosting.
i know it doesn't look much like a castle, but we saw it in our minds before we got started, and couldn't stop even though we realized it wasn't quite going to work as planed. however, we would have had to spend a couple of days and lots of boxes Jell-o to actually make it come out. one of the best differences between Norway and America is that in Norway, people put vanilla sauce on the Jell-o, or rather, smothers the Jell-o with vanilla sauce. it is soooo much better than plain Jell-o
these are the only pictures i have now, because my camera kept on running out of batteries at the most in-opportune times. i will get more from Helga soon.
we ate breakfast here (usually two pieces of bread with something on it, and maybe an orange) at about 9.30 every weekday. we had a snack here (same thing as breakfast, only perhaps on buns or with meat), and then we ate dessert here after dinner. this is the way it was everyday i was there, and i'm very sure it's the exact same when i'm not there. very systematic, and i liked it, except i felt like i was always eating. and we read the newspaper and watched the news here after each meal. always there.
this is the day room connected the the kitchen. very pleasant to sit at.
in their forier (sp?) sat a ancient table and ancient artifacts from when the house was just a place for the old people to liveing while the younger family on the farm lived in a much larger house 30 yards the the right. unfortunately the larger house has been left to decay, but the smaller house is what they now live in. thy have added onto it three times, and it just wonderful. and interesting fact: the house has not central heating system. they use two stove on the main floor in the two different living rooms, and for the other rooms they use portable radiator that you merely plug in and unplug when you don't need it. some of the rooms are just too cold to go into if a radiator or stove has not been on for a while, and in the morning you must walk around with a few layers on, but i'm sure it's so much cheaper and energy efficient than what the average American family uses.
Helga playing piano in her second, and more Norwegian, dining room.
me and Helga
my grotesque thumb with frostbite on the tip. this is what i have to remind my of that interrupted frilusliv snow hole hike. it looks even uglier now. the teachers examined it after the holiday and winced. then they sent me to the doctor again who told me, again, wait until the black part falls off. i have no infection, so all is good. i promise.
you see, i stayed also with a friend from the states in his apartment that he shared with four other people. i'm not entirely sure why i was so compelled to be the best house guest ever on his particular visit, but i made them all delicious alfredo pasta one night, and cleaned their incredibly dirty kitchen twice. this is me cleaning their kitchen. they told me not to, but being 20 years old themselves, they weren't that adamant.
the king turned 70 last Wednesday while i was at the Sørby's house. we joked around and the mother made a chocolate cake and put a little Norwegian flag and a little candle on it to celebrate.
the Norwegian cakes and brownies taste very different from American cakes and brownies.
the wonderful family took me to Oslo with them to visit their eldest daughter. on the first night we went out to eat and to see "Learned Ladies" by Mollier in Norwegian. this is The National Theater, but not where we saw the play.
the Oslo University's law building, or at least part of it. my friend's father is a prosecutor, so was of course interested in the building. also, her sister is studying law there right now.
very easily the best restaurant in Norway, well at least Oslo. i had the most delicious curry chicken pasta, and oh...it was just delicious.
on the last day i was in Lillehammer, we went to a place called Maihaugen. it is a collection of old houses from all over Norway that have been moved to one central location for renovation and to be observed and admired by the public. this picture is taken from right outside the park.
i liked the sign on this map, because it said that Maihaugen was a "free air museum". i never would have thought of Maihaugen as a museum if it weren't for that sign which i also like. the map also shows how surprisingly large the museum is.
one of the beautiful old buildings.
here we are making a jello castle. the castle part was half inspired by the kings birthday, half just a fun idea. we used three different colors of Jell-o, four different typed of sauce, lots of sprinkles, and a little bit of gel frosting.
i know it doesn't look much like a castle, but we saw it in our minds before we got started, and couldn't stop even though we realized it wasn't quite going to work as planed. however, we would have had to spend a couple of days and lots of boxes Jell-o to actually make it come out. one of the best differences between Norway and America is that in Norway, people put vanilla sauce on the Jell-o, or rather, smothers the Jell-o with vanilla sauce. it is soooo much better than plain Jell-o
these are the only pictures i have now, because my camera kept on running out of batteries at the most in-opportune times. i will get more from Helga soon.
posted by Hannah @ 28.2.07
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