June 27
Another incredible summery day, too warm really. I'm sure that whenever I think of Norway in the future, I will remember this tropical place where finding a patch of shade was a relief, where men walk around without shirts & young children even more than half-naked, where you can hardly find a seat outside to recover with a cold beer.
Today we got a rather late start & then headed for The Island. In fact Oslo's harbour has a number of little islands all connected by small passenger ferries (no cars). The island we went to was the largest & best known because on it you can visit the remains of a monastery built in the 13th or 14th century. I wonder if all North Americans are as astounded by thousand-year-old ruins as I am? Canada's first peoples did not leave much in the way of stonework and so our continental history is visually kind of thin. To be able to crawl around, casually & unsupervised, on such an ancient monument is incredible.
Norway has many aspects that strike me as incredible. There are very few tourists & very little catering for the whims of tourists; this is an authentic sort of place. Even though it's so far north as to be an almost frontier kind of place, Norway can compete culturally with any other European nation. It is capable of hot summer weather. It truly does have a different feel from Sweden.
The young people are out on the town tonight & who knows when they'll be back... I am predicting an even later start to the day tomorrow.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Norway, Day 6
June 26
I suppose everybody who has maintained a blog or any kind of semi-public writing has run into the problem of how public it should be. On the one hand, you want to write personally in order to really connect with what you're writing about & have your best chance to make it interesting. On the other hand, you want to protect the privacy of those who share your story & also of yourself.
It's been a rather intense week, emotionally, with several personal events impacting my life but at the risk of sounding insipid, I will (for the reasons above) simply tell you about my day.
We headed into Oslo via a combination of buses and subway. The first place we visited was the statue park. The statue park (is that really its proper name?) is such a fantastic place I am amazed that I had never heard of it before. Apparently sculptor Gustav Vigeland was commissioned in the inter-war period to produce a series of statues for a park area near downtown Oslo. He produced a LOT of statues, perhaps a hundred? in bronze and concrete. I am not quite sure what his vision was: maybe he wanted to capture every human emotion or perhaps to portray human life at every stage of the life cycle. Certainly that's what you see on the surface. But there are also some strange sub-themes... I don't really know anything about sculpture but our hosts, Juan & Georgiana, agree that there is also a sort of celebration -- probably innocent -- of nordic-ness or even aryan-ness. The figures are all naked and are posed singly or in pairs, sturdy individuals with very north european features, women with braids. And babies, LOTS of babies! Curiously, it's mostly the men you see with babies. One sculpture is called something like 'man being attacked (or swarmed?) by babies, if that whets your curiousity. But the overall impression was about the power and mystery of emotions... something like that. Or perhaps that was simply the mood that I brought to it.
We spent most of the afternoon just wandering around the downtown, drifting in & out of shops, watching people, walking past the landmark buildings. Oslo has been burned down (mostly by accident) so many times over the years that what we see are mostly the newer (<150 years) buildings.
One can't help notice that, unlike Vigeland's statues, there are a lot of non-aryan people in Oslo. Georgiana says that 38% of the children in Oslo's school are not from Europe. Certainly the Middle Eastern & African residents stand out most but there are also many people from India, Pakistan, and Asia. It's especially interesting because according to Eivind immigration to Norway was essentially unheard of until about 25 years ago. At that time, the Norwegian immigration department (if there was one) allowed in one solitary immigrant from Lebanon (I think) on an experimental basis. But just to be on the safe side, they insisted that he remain in quarantine for a while to be sure that he did not immunulogically threaten the Norwegian people. So he had to live all by himself in some lonely cabin somewhere for a few months before joining the Norwegian milieu! My, how things have changed.
And now my feet are tired & it feels very good to lie down. More tomorrow.
I suppose everybody who has maintained a blog or any kind of semi-public writing has run into the problem of how public it should be. On the one hand, you want to write personally in order to really connect with what you're writing about & have your best chance to make it interesting. On the other hand, you want to protect the privacy of those who share your story & also of yourself.
It's been a rather intense week, emotionally, with several personal events impacting my life but at the risk of sounding insipid, I will (for the reasons above) simply tell you about my day.
We headed into Oslo via a combination of buses and subway. The first place we visited was the statue park. The statue park (is that really its proper name?) is such a fantastic place I am amazed that I had never heard of it before. Apparently sculptor Gustav Vigeland was commissioned in the inter-war period to produce a series of statues for a park area near downtown Oslo. He produced a LOT of statues, perhaps a hundred? in bronze and concrete. I am not quite sure what his vision was: maybe he wanted to capture every human emotion or perhaps to portray human life at every stage of the life cycle. Certainly that's what you see on the surface. But there are also some strange sub-themes... I don't really know anything about sculpture but our hosts, Juan & Georgiana, agree that there is also a sort of celebration -- probably innocent -- of nordic-ness or even aryan-ness. The figures are all naked and are posed singly or in pairs, sturdy individuals with very north european features, women with braids. And babies, LOTS of babies! Curiously, it's mostly the men you see with babies. One sculpture is called something like 'man being attacked (or swarmed?) by babies, if that whets your curiousity. But the overall impression was about the power and mystery of emotions... something like that. Or perhaps that was simply the mood that I brought to it.
We spent most of the afternoon just wandering around the downtown, drifting in & out of shops, watching people, walking past the landmark buildings. Oslo has been burned down (mostly by accident) so many times over the years that what we see are mostly the newer (<150 years) buildings.
One can't help notice that, unlike Vigeland's statues, there are a lot of non-aryan people in Oslo. Georgiana says that 38% of the children in Oslo's school are not from Europe. Certainly the Middle Eastern & African residents stand out most but there are also many people from India, Pakistan, and Asia. It's especially interesting because according to Eivind immigration to Norway was essentially unheard of until about 25 years ago. At that time, the Norwegian immigration department (if there was one) allowed in one solitary immigrant from Lebanon (I think) on an experimental basis. But just to be on the safe side, they insisted that he remain in quarantine for a while to be sure that he did not immunulogically threaten the Norwegian people. So he had to live all by himself in some lonely cabin somewhere for a few months before joining the Norwegian milieu! My, how things have changed.
And now my feet are tired & it feels very good to lie down. More tomorrow.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Norway, Day 5
This post will be short because it really is very late. We spent most of the day being ready to leave Vidaråsen for Oslo. At first we were going to leave at 10 & then catch the train from Tønsberg; then leaving at 2; then someone would come to get us at 4... Finally we got away at 6 or so. And now we are spending the night with the people who came all the way from Oslo to pick us up, some friends of Eivind's, a couple who are a little younger than me & have 3 children of about Rhia & Eivind's age. The husband, Juan (I'm sure his name is not really spelled that way, he's Norwegian) is a filmmaker & the wife, Georgiana, is a professional storyteller. They are fascinating people & their house reflects many interests. I had not counted on being able to stay with friends! - this is a bonus.
This is my first glimpse of Oslo while being in a conscious state. Oslo is a big city of half a million people spread between city core & surrounding areas. The harbour is FULL of little boats, surely there must be one (maybe more) for every single citizen of Oslo. More interesting facts about Norway, learned on the trip from Vidaråsen: Norway has the second longest shoreline in the world (after Canada). The shoreline is so convoluted that there are little towns & valleys that were never occupied by the Germans because they never even knew the towns were there! Norway is the richest country in the world. Norway is the only Indo-European language that is tonal, like Chinese (I honestly thought I was told last year that Swedish is also tonal?) Norwegian has more unique composite sounds than all the dialects of English put together.
OK, that's more than enough for now. Tomorrow we do some sightseeing.
This is my first glimpse of Oslo while being in a conscious state. Oslo is a big city of half a million people spread between city core & surrounding areas. The harbour is FULL of little boats, surely there must be one (maybe more) for every single citizen of Oslo. More interesting facts about Norway, learned on the trip from Vidaråsen: Norway has the second longest shoreline in the world (after Canada). The shoreline is so convoluted that there are little towns & valleys that were never occupied by the Germans because they never even knew the towns were there! Norway is the richest country in the world. Norway is the only Indo-European language that is tonal, like Chinese (I honestly thought I was told last year that Swedish is also tonal?) Norwegian has more unique composite sounds than all the dialects of English put together.
OK, that's more than enough for now. Tomorrow we do some sightseeing.
Norway, Day 4
June 24
Today was another quintessential summer day, with sunlight so brilliant I can actually feel the tinge of a sunburn on my neck. No doubt the sun's effect was magnified by being on the water all day. This happy circumstance came about because Barnt -- who until recently worked at Camphill -- offered to take us out on his boat. I don't know what I expected; perhaps an hour or so of pleasuring about. But Barnt & his wife, Erika, had something more in mind.
Barnt & Erika picked us up after lunch in a boat which I think was called the Casseopeia. The boat wasn't awfully large, 7 m perhaps, a wooden lapstrake touring boat in a classy-but-in-need-of-repair condition. We spent a good hour motoring out to some small islets near the mouth of the fjord. The islets were amazing. There were perhaps 20 of them, rounded rocks rising like whales' backs out of the water. There was very little space between them -- maybe a couple of meters. However, the space was just enough for a small boat to slip through into the protected water. Lots of other boats were already nestled between the rocks and their passengers were spread out over the rocks with picnic chairs and portable barbeques and children in swimming suits. We cruised on a little further until we found an islet to ourselves, tied up, pulled out the barbeque, and made ourselves comfortable.
While Barnt fired up the barbeque & Rhia & Eivind worked up the courage to go swimming, I explored the islet. When a Canadian thinks of 'Norway' what do we think of? Fish, perhaps, & spectacular fjords with lots of fishing boats. I would never have imagined the delicate beauty of that islet. Although from the water it looked like a lump of rock, scrubbed smooth & clean by glaciers, it had a surprising interior. Wherever there was an indent or a cranny or a crack, a microenvironment had formed. The islet was dotted with tiny rock gardens dense with yellow, purple, white and pink flowers. There were rose bushes and tiny cherry trees, a miniature bog and 2 little lakes that looked like something out of a Japanese painting. Barnt said that long ago people even lived on the islets. I can understand the attraction but I do wonder how they handled such practicalities as drinking water, food, firewood, and cabin fever....
When I returned, the picnic was almost ready. We had potatoes and mackerel, tea and honey cake with butter. Rhia & Eivind did go swimming after all & said the water really wasn't all that cold -- apparently it gets heated up by the rocks all around.
We didn't get back on shore until 7:00 & not back at Camphill until after 9 but in spite of the tiredness & sunburn it was truly a great day.
Today was another quintessential summer day, with sunlight so brilliant I can actually feel the tinge of a sunburn on my neck. No doubt the sun's effect was magnified by being on the water all day. This happy circumstance came about because Barnt -- who until recently worked at Camphill -- offered to take us out on his boat. I don't know what I expected; perhaps an hour or so of pleasuring about. But Barnt & his wife, Erika, had something more in mind.
Barnt & Erika picked us up after lunch in a boat which I think was called the Casseopeia. The boat wasn't awfully large, 7 m perhaps, a wooden lapstrake touring boat in a classy-but-in-need-of-repair condition. We spent a good hour motoring out to some small islets near the mouth of the fjord. The islets were amazing. There were perhaps 20 of them, rounded rocks rising like whales' backs out of the water. There was very little space between them -- maybe a couple of meters. However, the space was just enough for a small boat to slip through into the protected water. Lots of other boats were already nestled between the rocks and their passengers were spread out over the rocks with picnic chairs and portable barbeques and children in swimming suits. We cruised on a little further until we found an islet to ourselves, tied up, pulled out the barbeque, and made ourselves comfortable.
While Barnt fired up the barbeque & Rhia & Eivind worked up the courage to go swimming, I explored the islet. When a Canadian thinks of 'Norway' what do we think of? Fish, perhaps, & spectacular fjords with lots of fishing boats. I would never have imagined the delicate beauty of that islet. Although from the water it looked like a lump of rock, scrubbed smooth & clean by glaciers, it had a surprising interior. Wherever there was an indent or a cranny or a crack, a microenvironment had formed. The islet was dotted with tiny rock gardens dense with yellow, purple, white and pink flowers. There were rose bushes and tiny cherry trees, a miniature bog and 2 little lakes that looked like something out of a Japanese painting. Barnt said that long ago people even lived on the islets. I can understand the attraction but I do wonder how they handled such practicalities as drinking water, food, firewood, and cabin fever....
When I returned, the picnic was almost ready. We had potatoes and mackerel, tea and honey cake with butter. Rhia & Eivind did go swimming after all & said the water really wasn't all that cold -- apparently it gets heated up by the rocks all around.
We didn't get back on shore until 7:00 & not back at Camphill until after 9 but in spite of the tiredness & sunburn it was truly a great day.
Norway: Day 3
June 23
Today we just hung out in Vidaråsen and enjoyed village life. Vidaråsen is a Camphill community, in which the entire village is structured to support adults with developmental delays and mental disabilities. And it really is a village: there are more than a dozen houses, a store, a home for seniors, a community hall, chapel, and countless outbuildings. At least a hundred people live here. On paper about half are identified as 'villagers' (those with the disabilities) while the other half are 'co-workers' (those providing the care and assistance). But in practice, the distinction is not nearly so clear, and according to those who have lived in a Camphill community some time, the distinction grows fuzzier as you get to know them better.
Most Camphill communities were developed with the ideal of providing meaningful, self-sufficiency work for all. Most include a farm plus workshops in which community members process the food and do a variety of handicrafts. Whatever is not consumed by the village is sold in the community store.
So after a leisurely breakfast (Rhia & Eivind are on holidays and so don't have to get up early to get villagers ready for the day) we went down to the barn to see the new calf & watch the cows getting milked. We visited the weavery workshop where Rhia assists during the week; watched the weaving projects underway & stayed for coffee break. We picked our salad ingredients fresh from the garden. After lunch we went for a long walk to a little lake (not yet warm enough to swim, not for me anyway!) Later there was a big picnic-barbeque to celebrate midsummer but by then we were too pooped to participate.
I have been acquainted with the Camphill movement for more than 30 years because Richard's sister has worked & lived in a Canadian Camphill community since the mid-70's. Village life sounds seductively idyllic & in some ways it is. It's interesting to hear the perspective of Rhia & the other young co-workers sharing tea around the table. They like the community, like the work for the most part, & love being with the villagers. But many of them long for more privacy & autonomy than the traditional Camphill lifestyle affords & they are more skeptical of the anthroposophical ideals that underlie village life. Why no TV, no microwave oven, no wireless internet? Some of the rules seem arbitrary and the decisions not consultative enough. The agricultural activity feels like an add-on in this post-agrarian world.
Still, they appreciate the opportunity to live & work in what has got to be one of the most interesting communities around. To keep the young co-workers coming Camphill will no doubt have to change a great deal over the next 10 years but for now, on a sunny Norwegian holiday it's hard to get too worked up about the issues.
Today we just hung out in Vidaråsen and enjoyed village life. Vidaråsen is a Camphill community, in which the entire village is structured to support adults with developmental delays and mental disabilities. And it really is a village: there are more than a dozen houses, a store, a home for seniors, a community hall, chapel, and countless outbuildings. At least a hundred people live here. On paper about half are identified as 'villagers' (those with the disabilities) while the other half are 'co-workers' (those providing the care and assistance). But in practice, the distinction is not nearly so clear, and according to those who have lived in a Camphill community some time, the distinction grows fuzzier as you get to know them better.
Most Camphill communities were developed with the ideal of providing meaningful, self-sufficiency work for all. Most include a farm plus workshops in which community members process the food and do a variety of handicrafts. Whatever is not consumed by the village is sold in the community store.
So after a leisurely breakfast (Rhia & Eivind are on holidays and so don't have to get up early to get villagers ready for the day) we went down to the barn to see the new calf & watch the cows getting milked. We visited the weavery workshop where Rhia assists during the week; watched the weaving projects underway & stayed for coffee break. We picked our salad ingredients fresh from the garden. After lunch we went for a long walk to a little lake (not yet warm enough to swim, not for me anyway!) Later there was a big picnic-barbeque to celebrate midsummer but by then we were too pooped to participate.
I have been acquainted with the Camphill movement for more than 30 years because Richard's sister has worked & lived in a Canadian Camphill community since the mid-70's. Village life sounds seductively idyllic & in some ways it is. It's interesting to hear the perspective of Rhia & the other young co-workers sharing tea around the table. They like the community, like the work for the most part, & love being with the villagers. But many of them long for more privacy & autonomy than the traditional Camphill lifestyle affords & they are more skeptical of the anthroposophical ideals that underlie village life. Why no TV, no microwave oven, no wireless internet? Some of the rules seem arbitrary and the decisions not consultative enough. The agricultural activity feels like an add-on in this post-agrarian world.
Still, they appreciate the opportunity to live & work in what has got to be one of the most interesting communities around. To keep the young co-workers coming Camphill will no doubt have to change a great deal over the next 10 years but for now, on a sunny Norwegian holiday it's hard to get too worked up about the issues.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Norway: Day 2
June 22
Over tea this morning we made our plans. On Thursday we will head into Oslo and do some sightseeing. We will travel to a fiord somewhere. Then we will return to Oslo to look around some more before I head back to the airport on Tuesday. Activity-wise, it sounds reasonable. Financially-wise, it is perhaps a little ambitious: as Rhia put it, Norway is not a bargain-basement tourist destination. For example, we had lunch today at a nice but not-at-all pretensious sidewalk cafe. We each had a salad & a glass of beer. The cost? More than $80 CAN. Wow. No wonder there are no busloads of tourists seeing the sights.Nevertheless, we spent a very pleasant day touring Tønsberg, the nearest town. Tønsberg is not a big place - 10 000 perhaps - but it feels much more impressive than a town of similar size would in Canada. Maybe this is because the accumulated population is so much greater and the concomitant history adds to the impact. Tønsberg is the oldest city in Norway & celebrated its 1000th birthday not long ago! We climbed the hill (which contributes the 'berg' part of the city name) & walked all over the old walls as well as the foundations of the church, king's home, and guard buildings.
I still find it fascinating to be at such a latitude. We walked around all day in the brilliant sunshine - not a cloud all day. But even though we wore no sunscreen the entire day and even though Eivind is blonde Eivind & Rhia is a redhead, none of us perceptively deepened a tan. And here it is almost 11 pm again & I still don't need a light in my room.
I'm hoping if I can get a decent sleep tonight I can feel more or less at home in this timezone.
Norway, Day 1
June 21
It seems unnatural to be going to bed when it's still mostly broad daylight. But that's really what I must do. After all, it's 10:30 pm & I have been awake for 32 hours straight. The answer to my last question of yesterday is 5:30 pm: that's when I finally stumbled off the train in Tønsberg to see Rhia running towards the platform.
So what's Norway like, so far? I wish I could tell you more. Since touching down at Oslo's airport around 2:30 this afternoon, I've mostly been too stunned to notice much. There was a lot of hanging around the airport, waiting for the train and not surprisingly Gardermœn airport looks pretty much like any other airport. Once getting on the train I was able to get a bit of a view of the countryside around Oslo... for the most part, it appears beautiful with rolling hills, forests, & a lot of land under cultivation. It's a bit reminiscent of Nova Scotia only much more domesticated & brought into order.
It was wonderful to see Rhia again, looking well, speaking good Norwegian (!) and keen to show off all the summer plumage of this place. Tomorrow we three (Rhia, Eivind, me) will plan a strategy for spending our time together & making the most of the visit.
And what a treat -- to be at such a significantly northern latitude on the longest day of the year! -- not only that but under relatively clear skies too.
That's it; time to sleep.
Norway, Day 0
June 20
Well, that didn't take long. To become significantly late, that is. I arrived this morning at YVR & when I went to check in, I discovered that the departure time for the second leg of my flight -- from Toronto to Frankfurt -- would be delayed one hour. How can they know a delay so far ahead of time? Isn't is a contradiction in terms to have a planned delay... ? Of course, given the law of compounding lateness, this means I miss my connection from Frankfurt to Oslo & taking the following flight makes me three hours late. And now this will cause me to miss my train from Oslo to Tønsberg. Who knows when I will arrive at Andebu to connect with Rhia?
Well, that didn't take long. To become significantly late, that is. I arrived this morning at YVR & when I went to check in, I discovered that the departure time for the second leg of my flight -- from Toronto to Frankfurt -- would be delayed one hour. How can they know a delay so far ahead of time? Isn't is a contradiction in terms to have a planned delay... ? Of course, given the law of compounding lateness, this means I miss my connection from Frankfurt to Oslo & taking the following flight makes me three hours late. And now this will cause me to miss my train from Oslo to Tønsberg. Who knows when I will arrive at Andebu to connect with Rhia?
Norway, Day -1
I am just basking in the afterglow of the educational technology conference. What a pleasure it is to connect with new ideas, old friends, and familiar passions! The open education movement -- a topic always dear to my heart -- has obviously gained momentum over the past year.
And now I am decompressing, overnighting in the cheapest possible motel room in which one can still get a free shuttle ride to the airport in the morning. EARLY in the morning, when I will be beginning my trip to Norway.
[Note: photos for this blog are here.)
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