The Grey Havens

Our last day in Norway was hard for all three of us to swallow. We were certainly not ready to leave yet, and were not looking forward to saying goodbye to our family and new friends. Luckily, we had a full day to keep our minds off our melancholic moods. We spent the afternoon on Uncle Mikal’s farm and got a tour of the pigs and cow that are raised and milked there. After attempting to get the pigs’ “special” smell off with a shower, we decided to head by train over to a mall near Stavanger. Mikal and Zac found a few things to take home to share with their families but I could not muster an impulse to buy anything. When we arrived back, we once again went over to Anders’ house and hung out for one last time. Our trip ended much like this last blog, abrupt and yet satisfying.

Land Of My Lineage

We woke up early this morning to help bring the tables and chairs from reunion at the school to another building. This caused us to have a little bit of a late start on our way to Ualand. Ualand is the home of the farm where my great-grandpa raised his family. The house where my grandpa and his siblings grew up is still standing and is in the care some of my relatives. Our visit included another terrific meal of Norwegian pancakes (sorry I still can’t get the real name right. I always say lempas but that is from Lord of the Rings). After this, we got a tour of the grounds including a look through the old house. Crossing the threshold into this place was a fantastic experience. We were given the opportunity to visualize the lives of our family from almost 100 years ago. For precious moments we were able to see our grandpa bossing around his younger siblings in their crowded upstairs bedroom. Able to see great grandma cooking in the kitchen while proudly watching great grandpa working on the farm. Able to see the entire family sit down at the table and dream about the great family that would one day spring from this small white house. After the tour, we were going to hike up the side of the hills and get some pictures of the whole farm, but it started to downpour and we left for Vigrestad. Later that evening, we drove down to Egersund to visit Marion, a friend of Alexander’s. On the way we stopped at the beach. After some volleyball and dune jumping we were on our way. At Marion’s house we hung out by a lake and sang worship songs and made S’mores on small disposable grill (apparently no bonfires in Norway). We then went into town and visited the harbor where the still, soothing waters were very conducive to conversation. Suddenly the cold night chill and body’s weariness told us it was time to head back to Vigrestad.

Preikestolen

Shhh don’t tell my mom about today’s adventure! One of the things I wanted to do while in Norway was to go on a hike and see some of Norway’s views. Peter suggested Preikestolen or Pulpit Rock as a place to get a great view. I’ll leave the words to Twain and Steinbeck and let my pictures describe this fantastic place, but it is basically a rock you can go out on and look over 2000 foot cliffs. I’ve seen this rock in movies and pictures and the real thing is very intense. The hike to the actual rock was very nice. Unlike monotonous switchbacks in the forest of hikes in Washington, this hike offered open view for the whole time. There were an incredible amount of people climbing the mountain, and I was amazed at how elderly people and children were climbing as it was quite difficult and pretty dangerous. When we got to the rock the tingle in the ankles immediately kicked in. We ate lunch first because we decided if we had to, we wanted to die on an empty stomach (just a joke mom). We then very carefully took our first peek over the edge by crawling on our bellies. The drop makes you feel sick instantly, and your whole body tingles. After many photos to prove our manliness, we were ready to head back down. The family was relieved when we finally arrived back at the house and we were quite ready for a delicious meal. We spent the rest of the evening at the house of Alexander’s friend who has a home theater. I am quite happy to be off the rock and sitting on the couch with a warm laptop on my legs.

2007 Vasshuas Reunion

We woke up to the fateful sound of rain on the panes by our bed. This unfortunatly meant that we could not have the family reunion outside Peter and Kjellaug’s house and would have to relocate to the middle school where Kjellaug works. We arrived there just in time to see the first guests drive in. As relatives poured in Mikal, Zac and I were barraged with delightful introductions. Some of the people we vaguely remembered from the 2000 visit, others were new faces. Having everyone talk to us and welcome us to Norway was a true blessing. There were a good amount of people from our generation and it was fun to talk to them and get to see their children. We also got to see the remaining siblings of our Bestefar, Aunt Anna, Uncle Magnus and Uncle Arnt. After dinner, we were honored to hear Uncle Arnt tell the emotional story of my Great Grandfather. It was a beautiful story and further tied the bond between all the people there that all owe their lives to the result of that story. What reunion would be complete without group portraits and the toil of the cameras to take them? We all piled into the gym and lined up for our family mug shots. We felt very welcomed into the family and are extremely thankful for the oppurtunity to have materialize and actualize this illusive thing that has always been in our minds, ‘our Norwegian family’. We aren’t entirely sure how God will use the ties and connections we have made but we are excited to find out.

Exploring Stavanger

Today we decided to travel to the second largest city in Norway, Stavanger. We started our tour of the city at a small park that had three giant swords sticking in the ground. They are supposed to be a monument to three warriors that fought in a battle near that location. Once in Stavanger we met a couple of Lisbeths friends, but by this time our stomachs were leading the way as well as most of the conversation. Zac, Alex, Mikal and I ate at a subway, Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki for those of you who were wondering, and Lisbeth ate a bagel shop next door. From here it was a short walk to a big church where Lisbeth was baptized as an infant. The interiour was very similar to other Catholic churches I have been to. We then went down to the harbor and bought some shrimp right off a boat that was docked. We did some shopping without the shopping part, which gave us a good chance to see the nice, expensive Norwegian products. Around the harbor was ‘Old Stavanger’ a part of the city with small cobble stone roads and beatiful, old houses. Oh yeah, and kitties, lots of cats. I tried to catch one but it was obviously used to the abuse of visitors. We ate that evening at a nice pizza restaurant called ‘Peppes Pizza’. The food was excellent but my Dutch father will disown me when he hears how much I paid for the pop I got there. We finished the evening by seeing Die Hard 4.0 in a theater near Stavanger. And as Bruce Willis always says in these movies, we had “another day in paradise”.

A day of rest

After such a busy schedule, Mikal, Zac and I were gracious to have a relaxing day at Alexander’s house. We woke up late, played Alexander’s new Playstation 3, played computer games, and watched Norske TV. In the afternoon we sat down and watched Catwoman. This movie has won several awards as the worst movie ever and we found that it was quite deserving of the title. In the evening, we got to hang out with some of Alexander’s friends. It was one of those days that slips by with out much incidence, yet,
can be every bit as memorable as the exciting ones.

…and back again—Vigrestad

For the trip back to Vigrestad from the cabin we had a choice between going back along the coast as we came, or we could go across the mainland of Norway and climb the mountains. In the words of Robert Frost, we “took the road less traveled by/ and it has made all the difference” (The Road Not Taken). Our mountainous journey allowed us to see more of the beauty that Norway has to offer. We visited a stave church that is the oldest wooden church in Norway. Eidsborg church was built in the 13th century and is set in a lush green valley. The rest of the trip we had our eyes glued to the window as the slim road wound through miles of mountains, lakes and a lot of green.