Evelyn's Year in Norway

            On Sunday, Alina and I woke up to the sounds of the beautiful Aurebekk waterfall, and trekked up the hill to Anne Tone's for breakfast. The plan for the day was to see almost all of the family, and have a picnic at the new Gapahuk up at Aurebekksvannet. We got ready with our tur pants and wool sweaters, and walked with the girls up to the lake. The gapahuk, which was built by a bunch of Gunlaug's kids (they'd been slicing wood when we were there over Easter), looked amazing! It was such a nice day out, that we stayed for hours--eating, talking, playing with the children, and just hanging out. Here are some photos of our wonderful day! The Mill at Aurebekk. The Gapahuk! It was very cozy and had tables and other places for everyone to sit. Alina and I in our hiking pants--have to dress the part when you gå på tur! There was so much food! We cooked hot dogs, hamburgers, and they even cooked a bunch of vegetables in the fire for Alina. Plus lots of coffee and diet c

          Though college and homework and exams have been suuuuuper fun, I've been itching for the opportunity to travel back to Norway, visit my friends, and see our old Folkehøgskole. I've been in touch with Alina, who is currently a student in Germany, and we realized that we were both free the week of my Spring Break. We rather spontaneously booked tickets and planned our visit to Kristiansand, and a few weeks later I was on a plane to Norway! Alina met me at the airport, and we spent the first night at our friend Valeria's place. When we told her we were coming, she was so sweet and immediately asked if we needed a place to stay. She is currently working in Kristiansand, and lives in an apartment with a few other girls.            Eric is living in the area as well, so he came over after we got dinner, and we all hung out Friday night. It felt as though no time had passed at all! The next morning, Valeria surprised us with a french toast, bacon and fruit breakfast--it

           Each year, the Global class holds a school wide fundraiser for the charity they support in Mali. Usually, they would have traveled there, but of course this year that was impossible. This charity--that recycles littered plastics to create school desks--is very important to their class, so they went all out raising money by holding a Sponsorløp, or charity run. Everyone at school made an account that others could send donations to --either as a one time payment, or a pledge to give a certain amount for every loop the student made around the 1 km trail. Big shoutout to Valeria's dad for sponsoring both of us! :)          Before the event started, we all gathered down at the lake. Nearly everyone from school was participating, teachers included, and we kicked it off with a warm up dance to YMCA.  Part of the fun of the day was that people were encouraged to wear crazy costumes, and their friends could donate to their cause if they accepted certain dares. Eric biked around i

           Before Christmas, the Mariannes--our Marianne and the art teacher Marianne--arranged a Night in Nature seminar where a bunch of students spent the night sleeping outside in hammocks and gapahuks at Helleviga. I didn't attend, but because it was such a hit, they arranged another one for the spring. Unfortunately, due to weather and other circumstances, it kept getting delayed. Instead of returning to Helleviga, it was decided that the second Natt i Naturen would be held on the school lawn.           Around that time, students who wished to return to AFHS in the fall had just submitted their Stipendiat  applications. As a result, they were all trying to kiss up to the staff, so Marianne made sure to utilize the help. (The teachers got to vote on the future stipps and Marianne is very influential).  Some of my friends who had applied spent the day before carrying supplies down to the yard, setting up the lavvos--tepee type tents--and arranging everything.           I wasn&#

           One of our last trips together was to Stavanger with the Art Class. We left on a Thursday morning, with plans to return Saturday. It was a bit of a stressful time because a number of the NLC (and a few international Art students) were taking the Norwegian speaking exam on Friday. There are two tests, spoken and written. Due to covid, the first exam was taken over zoom instead of in person in Stavanger, but we'd already planned our trip so we decided to go anyway!          It was about a three hour drive, and we stopped partway for a bathroom break at a rest stop. While we were there another bus pulled up, and out streamed a mass of children. You'd think we'd entered a zombie apocalypse with how quickly we got back into our bus. Coming from around the world and facing the travel and quarantine, the NLC students had always been a bit more aware of the pandemic than the Norwegians.            When I arrived in Norway, I still remember seeing on the news that a man i