Blåtur

On Friday Barbara, Oleksandr and I had the chance to go on the annual mystery tour for the school staff, not knowing what we were signing up for. It turned out to be a fun trip with people enjoying themselves and a good atmosphere.

At noon we met for lunch at the school, where all participants were split in six groups to play team games before we left. The tasks were first to make a specific knot in a long rope while the whole team had to hold on to it without letting it go (result: hilarious mess) and second to build a square out of cut parts. During the bus journey we continued with a quiz and guessing song titles as well as the corresponding interpret while one person out of each group had to sing it. Luckily I didn’t have to do that, because it was majoritarian in Norwegian, but still it was funny to listen – especially when the singers didn’t know the songs either :D

Finally we reached our first destination, “Bakketunet på Bjørke”. “At the innermost end of the magnificent Hjørundfjord, in the village of Bjørke, lies Bakketunet with its six listed buildings, the most ancient of which has timbers dating as far back as 1549. This makes it the oldest cluster farm in Sunnmøre still intact, including what is believed to be the oldest stave barn in Norway. You can imagine yourself transported back to the Middle Ages as you wander around this unique collection of historic buildings, where the dwelling house, barn, stabbur, byre, sheep shed and stable each had its own vital function. For over 400 years these buildings have housed man and livestock in the symbiosis that guarantees life and new generations.” (http://www.bakketunet.com/page/default/om_tunet)

On the farm we had the chance to taste some cider and experience an art exhibition about strong women (I really appreciated the topic and the paintings were stunning). These art exhibitions are integrated into the unique environment and every year the farm presents a new main exhibition as well as a few smaller ones, showing the work of artists and craftsmen. I really liked the place and could have stayed a bit longer, but we had to leave for the “JosyBuda”, a cozy little café which was turned into a restaurant for us.

There we had dinner (typical Scandinavian: potatoes, vegetables, brown sauce and some kind of meat) and continued or team games afterwards with building the highest tower out of spaghetti and marshmallows, moving smarties only with a drinking straw and playing golf. In the end my team narrowly missed the victory and we ranked 2nd. Still it was a lot of fun and I would have never expected to be so well-integrated in my team, but it wasn’t a problem at all. I actually talked to a lot of different people, of course only in Norwegian, and at the end of the evening I really struggled when people addressed me in English :D

Shortly before we drove home Barbara, Oleksandr and I performed “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver on stage (that was definitely a step out of my comfort zone) and everybody joined in, which caused kind of a melancholy parting mood and I became aware of how close my departure is once again. But I will take these memories with me and look back on them with pleasure :)

All in all it was a beautiful day, everybody was open and talkative (maybe due to the alcohol?), I felt comfortable talking in Norwegian to all these people and teaching them German in return (it is so funny when all at once want to prove what they have learned at school a long time ago). I hope more days like this are coming to enlarge my collection of good memories, but even if not, I already have plenty :)

Ha det bra,

Alisa