Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Trolling
Do trolls really exist? Um, yeah. In Norway, possibly.
Norwegian folklore is all about the trolls, whose portrayal ranges from supernatural mountain beings that don't like humans to silly, friendly little people (troll-folk) who help out regular humans.
We encountered friendly troll-folk, and while admittedly Doug and I found the whole experience a bit bizarre, if not also a charming nod to traditional Norway, Abby and Reese thoroughly enjoyed their antics while sledding and baking bread over an open fire with the entire troll family.
This particular troll family is an actual family residing in Geilo where Mama troll owns one of the main hotels catering to skiing families. They love kids, and so three days a week they all emerge from the woods near the ski slopes, to the delight of kids, performing tricks and offering up activities. Abby and Reese couldn't get enough.
Norwegian folklore is all about the trolls, whose portrayal ranges from supernatural mountain beings that don't like humans to silly, friendly little people (troll-folk) who help out regular humans.
We encountered friendly troll-folk, and while admittedly Doug and I found the whole experience a bit bizarre, if not also a charming nod to traditional Norway, Abby and Reese thoroughly enjoyed their antics while sledding and baking bread over an open fire with the entire troll family.
This particular troll family is an actual family residing in Geilo where Mama troll owns one of the main hotels catering to skiing families. They love kids, and so three days a week they all emerge from the woods near the ski slopes, to the delight of kids, performing tricks and offering up activities. Abby and Reese couldn't get enough.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Backcountry Norway
We're on a frozen lake in the backwoods of Norway.
It doesn't get much more amazingly peaceful than this.
It doesn't get much more amazingly peaceful than this.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Around the World With the Olympics
It's been fun and strange to experience the Olympics outside of our home country.
The coverage is so different from what we normally have access to in the US, and now having spent the first week of the Olympics in Amsterdam and the second week in Norway, we've watched more televised speed skating and cross country skiing than we've seen in our entire lives.
US coverage is often criticized for only showing a select set of sports and for over-highlighting the US competitors/competitions. However, it's not much different over here; we've been hard pressed to find anything but speed skating in the Netherlands, and cross country skiing here in Norway. For obvious reasons, coverage focuses on what most people want to see, and the broadcasters would be hard-pressed to air everything.
Anyway, it's been great fun to witness other countries get so excited about their national sports and, by chance, we've been hanging out in two countries that are HUGE medal contenders. Norway is racking up the gold medals, and both Norway and Netherlands are top five in overall count.
Medal Standings
The ski lodge where we stopped for lunch yesterday was absolutely quiet for twenty minutes, everyone glued to the television, as Norway went on to win another gold.
I had fun taking cross country ski lessons this week, which happened to take place in a quiet back field of the high school for elite Norwegian athletes.
This graphic covered a huge wall on the outside of the school and is a photo collage of all the students at the school who compteted in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Watching Olympic hockey in downtown Oslo, Norway v. Finland
The coverage is so different from what we normally have access to in the US, and now having spent the first week of the Olympics in Amsterdam and the second week in Norway, we've watched more televised speed skating and cross country skiing than we've seen in our entire lives.
US coverage is often criticized for only showing a select set of sports and for over-highlighting the US competitors/competitions. However, it's not much different over here; we've been hard pressed to find anything but speed skating in the Netherlands, and cross country skiing here in Norway. For obvious reasons, coverage focuses on what most people want to see, and the broadcasters would be hard-pressed to air everything.
Anyway, it's been great fun to witness other countries get so excited about their national sports and, by chance, we've been hanging out in two countries that are HUGE medal contenders. Norway is racking up the gold medals, and both Norway and Netherlands are top five in overall count.
Medal Standings
| Country |  |  |  |
Total
|
|---|
1
|  Norway |
10
|
4
|
8
|
22
|
2
|  Russia |
9
|
10
|
7
|
26
|
3
|  Canada |
9
|
10
|
5
|
24
|
4
|  United States |
9
|
7
|
11
|
27
|
5
|  Germany |
8
|
4
|
4
|
16
|
6
|  Netherlands |
6
|
7
|
9
|
22
|
7
|  Switzerland |
6
|
3
|
2
|
11
|
The ski lodge where we stopped for lunch yesterday was absolutely quiet for twenty minutes, everyone glued to the television, as Norway went on to win another gold.
I had fun taking cross country ski lessons this week, which happened to take place in a quiet back field of the high school for elite Norwegian athletes.
This graphic covered a huge wall on the outside of the school and is a photo collage of all the students at the school who compteted in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Watching Olympic hockey in downtown Oslo, Norway v. Finland
Friday, February 21, 2014
Snowballs and Snowmen
No slush here in the mountains of Norway! Lots of snow and sunshine during our first couple of days.
Abby and Reese loving their first experience skiing! First stop . . . ski school. For all of us.
Abby and Reese loving their first experience skiing! First stop . . . ski school. For all of us.
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