Hyttetur

The nordmann tick-list has taken a battering over the last few weeks. 

Shortly after my last post, Stine, Hanne and I went to Terminalen, the local gig-place to see Greni. I had never heard of him, but he was part of a band called Big Bang, one of the Nordic superbands alongside A-Ha. The song I recognised from their back catalogue went "L-L-L-L-L-L-Loooooouuuudeeeer. L-L-L-L-L-L-loudEEEERRR". This guy, Greni, has gone solo and put on a decent show. It was all quiet at the beginning, people sitting down etc but by the end he had everyone going. 

Stine told me how sexy the dude playing guitar was - in a rare moment of jealousy, I instantly decided to have my guitar brought over from the UK next week when Matt and Mum visit... Stine also managed to drink wine at the same rate I was drinking bourbon and coke (great gig drink), which left her in a bit of a pickle shortly after it finished. I ended up in the cubical with her in the ladies. Some people may have thought something sexy was happening in there. It was not sexy. Burger King came to the rescue and she recovered like a trooper.

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Another tick was eating fresh fish as close to the water as possible. Lisa was celebrating her birthday with a cheeky meal at Zuuma, a seafood restaurant right by the harbour. The sushi was absolutely ridonkulous. Could've easily spent a months wages in there on all the combos but the favourite had to be the chili tempura something or other, washed down with a Kirin Ichiban pilsner. 

My lady, being the incredible person that she is, only went and got me a little anniversary present (4 years). Remember my incredible post about pålegg? Of course you do, an absolute classic. Well, Stine only went and got me a personalised liver-pate lid! Here it is in all it's glory:

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I had a great time covering at the International school - did some maths, language acquisition, support work and P.E teaching to kids from age 6 - 15. I've never worked at an international school before and it was awesome to work alongside people from so many different cultures and backgrounds (which are all respected and celebrated as part of the ethos). I managed to hone in some of my Norwegian skills and feel I built a good rapport with most of the kids. On my second week, I was asked if I could go to camp with one of the groups so I committed to a couple nights. 

The camp was in Valldal, a little town right next to a massive beautiful fjord. We stayed in proper hytter (cabins) and I had to share with four 13 year old boys - luckily my room was separate from their bunkbeds. The scenery was breathtaking, apart from the main road that went right past the site. 

Could do with some wood.

Some of the kids in the group are incredibly impressive. At the age of thirteen, some of these kids speak 3 languages fluently, can hold adult conversations and most importantly, cook. Staff-wise, we had to do very little - each meal was prepared by the kids, activities were planned and carried out by the kids, in fact the whole itinerary was sorted out by the kids. I thought that maybe I'll have to sort out all the arguments and drama etc, tie laces, sit up til 3am while the kids fucked around... Noooooo. None of that. I just enjoyed myself. We fished, played football, climbed the mountain and went for a swim in the fjord. I say swim, but I really mean jumped in once and realised how fecking cold it was and got straight out again. Still did it, so that counts as a tick. Both evenings, we rounded off the day by sitting round the table for a "boys night": snacks in bowls, bottle of drink (non alcoholic) on the table and a few games of cards. Being an absolute hero of a teacher, I let them stay up a little later than planned and, in return, they shut their faces when they went to bed, meaning I could get off to sleep at around 11. 

Forgot to take a picture of the 8 foot salmon I caught. 

View from the mountain. Average.

The mountain climb had to be the highlight - It was a good 3 hour climb, which was a bit too much for some of the kids, meaning that the other staff had to go back with them, leaving me with 10 students on a mountain by myself. Luckily, these dudes are so well equipped for these situations - proper shoes and everything - so I just had to keep an eye out and pray that no one fell off. Luckily, everything went swimmingly and I even got a few spells of 'me time' to sit and take in the views and listen to nature. 

#somefilters

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That pretty much brings you up to speed. Mum and Matt are coming for the weekend - this will be their first time in Norway so can't wait for them to experience this beautiful country. Oh, and we are getting a kitten!

Ha det!