Harstad (Part 2)

         When we woke up Monday morning, we had our covid test results back--both negative--so that was a relief. Kristine's parents had to work, so we decided to go down to the city and check out the downtown and the malls. Like Rockport, there's a giant tree in the middle of town (but I'm pretty sure Santa doesn't come by boat to light it). There are also a few tree decorations made of lights around town, and those were very pretty! I tried to get a picture of the decorations on the streets, but I don't think my phone camera was liking the cold. 

        There are two malls that we went to, and I tagged along while Kristine finished up some Christmas shopping. Despite the test when we arrived, everything felt extremely normal, very different from back home I think. While we were in the second mall, it began to snow! I was excited, but Kristine had to drive so she wasn't thrilled. 

        We made it most of the way back to her house, but she lives at the top of a super steep hill, and after months at school without driving she wasn't comfortable driving up in the snow. We pulled over and called her dad who was on his way back from work, and he parked one car and started driving us up. There was one huge, slippery hill that had a line of cars at the bottom, all trying to get up. We watched as one after another they headed up the hill, then stopped, and reversed back down. 

        Our car did the same thing, so we turned around and went back to pick up Kristine's mom, and grabbed some hamburger takeout on the way. I'm not exactly sure what happened with all the cars, but Kristine and I were let out at the bottom of the hill to walk up, and I guess her parents parked the car somewhere for the night. We spent the rest of the afternoon making even more cookies--these ones are called hvite kakemenn, and they were delicious! Kristine and I also decorated the gingerbread from the day before. 

        Tuesday--my last full day in Harstad--was a lot of fun! Though it had only snowed a little, we decided to make the most of it, and went out in the morning to sled and make a snowman. We used up almost all of the snow in the yard! When we went back in, we drank some gløgg, and decorated a pepperkakehus. It was a nice and cozy winter day. 

        Each night, we had gone looking for the Northern Lights. I was pretty determined to see them, but they were being very shy. On the third night, we went up to a mountain where there wasn't as much light pollution from the city. There was a tiny line of something you could maybe call green in the sky, making a sort of rainbow arc. Kristine took some pictures, and on her new phone it actually looked like the Northern Lights, but wasn't quite satisfying. The next few nights the sky was empty, and on the last night her brother Andreas drove us up to the mountain again. 

        We stared and stared at the sky, but saw nothing beyond a murky cloud-like light. After a while, we drove down to the other side to see if it looked any better, but we couldn't see anything from there. We were driving back up when Kristine said that her brother's driving was making her feel sick, and she needed to get out. And there they were!! I think it's a really difficult thing to describe, because it was a really difficult thing to comprehend. I knew what I was looking at, but it was strange to mentally note the difference between clouds, light from the city, and something physical to the phenomenon that is the Northern Lights. It was incredible! The light would be there, and it would sort of pulse and move, and then a ripple would go through the sky. Kristine said she was dancing. 

        I had an extremely wonderful and memorable time in Harstad. While it felt like a vacation, it also really felt like home. On my last day, Kristine's mom knocked on my door early in the morning before work so she could give me a hug before I left. It's been really hard nearing the holidays without my family, but I've found a lot of love here in Norway, and I'm looking forward to Christmas at Aurebekk!