Rogers Little Diary
4th to 10th October 2004
At some point this summer I was asked by Sigrid Smith-Tønnessen at the Norwegian NA if the Vesle Daniel project could host an EVS On Arrival training in Holmedal 4th to 10th October 2004. Of course I said yes. We were to have 12 to 14 volunteers, however I had said to Sigrid that I could take on some more, conveniently “forgot” about that, and went on to book the fantastically located cabins in Holmedal + planning the Training.
During Sunday the 3rd October I kept on checking the weather forecast, apparently the first autumn storm was coming in this week, and I was about to host 18 new volunteers and 5 staff for 1 week. We were to live in 3 cabins built for 6 persons each, all 24 of us. Rain and wind was the last thing that we needed.
On the Monday the local volunteers and staff started coming and we prepared as well as we could for the big afternoon rush, this was planned to start about 17.00 with 5 coming from Førde Airport by car, at 19.05 we expected 9 persons to come by boat from Bergen. Dinner is to be Fårikål and will be served 19.30.
On Monday morning the weather is great and we have all under control. I was optimistically thinking maybe the storm is not coming, oh boy was I wrong.
At about 15.00 the messages started coming, airplane from Gardermoen to Førde is cancelled, volunteers are coming on next flight in. The driver has already gone to Førde to pick them up and have to wait for three hours.
About 1 ½ hour later I am called up by Sigrid that the boat from Bergen have a motor failiure and they have to change boats, likely delay is between ½ to 1 hour. It is now blowing heavily and I have two volunteers expected to be arriving with kayak, of all things, any time. The Fårikål is cooking happily and dinner is postponed to 20.30, dessert is multekrem.
At 19.45 I am called by Sigrid, nine people have arrived in Askvoll and the big car is not back yet. The storm is on it’s maximum strength with 22 metres per second and the rain is pouring down (most is actually coming horizontally against you). Vestlandet is greeting the visitors in its most dramatic way and the big car is not back yet. Fortunately Sigrid and the volunteers can take refuge in the waiting room at the port. Another car is summoned and we drive back and forth three times to get everybody in place. After a slightly chaotic room distribution we are all gathered in the food cabin, waiting for the others to come. They arrive safe and sound and are soon dripping wet after the 20 metre walk from the car to the cabins.
At 21.00 the dinner is served and everybody is happy, but a little worried. The two main questions in everybody’s mind are: Will this weather continue for the expected three days? Where are we? We cannot see anything! Then suddenly the moon breaks through and we get a quick glance of the mountains and the fjord, excellent.
Since everyone was tired in the late evening we skipped all get to know games that were planned and did a short session on Hopes and Fears, for this training and their year as a volunteer. After reading through the Hopes and Fears I was optimistic about the training again, it seems to be a well motivated and lively group.
The following morning we have a quick language course at the breakfast table (Kan du sende meg smøret? Etc) and continue to a complete indoors day with some intercultural learning, lunch and NA information from Sigrid.
In the afternoon we start to make the dinner and the Norwegian lessons are started by Svein Erik Helle, a former volunteer in Greece. Everybody is introduced to the concept and vocabulary of rainclothes. Afterwards Svein Erik arranges for a walk to the little village Holmedal and the shop. It is pouring down.
During the afternoon everybody takes part in making the dinner, some wished to learn how to make pizza, some makes the salad and some makes dessert. All try to make a shopping list/recipe in Norwegian. Lise Alsted Henrichsen from Denmark is an ex volunteer and takes care of the pizzagroup, Margrete Reisæter from Frivilligsentralen i Dale takes care of the dessert group and Svein Erik Helle takes the salad group. I go to the kindergarten to pick up my son and Sigrid goes back to Oslo. In comes Tove Ragna from the Norwegian ex volunteer association (NEVO) that will have a short presentation.
The evening meal is great, but a little chaotic; we are now 26 persons eating in the space normally filled up by 10. Life is great and the rain is still pouring down.
In my experience I have never found a better teamworking / intercultural learning exercise 
than preparing and eating food together. The process involves the use of all senses and you need to establish a high level of communication + anybody has something self experienced to contribute with and, most importantly, it is a completely natural situation.
Judging from the faces that meet me around the breakfast table the Wednesday morning it has been a late night for almost everyone, breakfast at 0745 is completely new to many. However, there is a lot to do + the weather is clearing up.
We have a morning session on how to have a good time in Norway, focusing on both work and leisuretime and the importance of creating a functioning network + how to deal with conflicts, many interesting discussions come up. After a great lunch, with homemade bread, we continue the Norwegian lessons. Here we have also included a trip to the Helle knife factory were we hope to get sponsored with a knife each. And we get this, many thanks to Helle for this invaluable tool that most Norwegians get when they are 4 or 5 years old.
We then continue to the local kindergarten were we take a major part of the Dugnad to 
make an outdoors base for the children. The volunteers did an exellent job and learned words loke sag, spade, spett, kniv etc. It was an exellent time, we all needed to be outside a bit after being cooped up in the cabins for so long.
We return to find that Lise and Margrete have been cooking the dinner, baked Salmon, mmmm.
The evening is spent with socialising and getting to know each other better. Living so close together is a new experience for many, but it seems to me that everybody is handling it well
The next day the sun greets us in the east, there is hardly any clouds and we get a fantastic autumn weather, this will follow us throughout the week. Lise and Simon does a exellent workshop on Norway and Norwegians, the participants dramatise some of the things they have experienced, this especially concerns our famous high prices in the shops, Norwegian greetings and upbringing of children (with a knife in the hand). I am starting to wonder about us Norwegians, is this really how we are seen by the people visiting us, I have to answer yes I have thought the same things myself. It is a really funny and slightly ironic session were we all get a good laugh.
After lunch it is decided that a mountain trip is called for, so Juan and Vincent, both experienced outdoors people leads the way to the 600 metre tall mountain Dokka. 
The gang leaves at 14.00 and returns aching and sore at 19.00. Dinner will be a Thai buffet at 20.00, the food was somewhat delayed, but tasted delicious.
In the meantime Svein Erik have been lighting the fire for the big outdoors Bathtubs, the hope is that they will be warm at 22.00 so that everybody can relax there. 
Unfortunately 
they are not completely warm until 01.00, but those that stayed up had nothing but good to say about the experience of bathing in 35 degree water looking at the stars.
Friday morning there was a lot of fresh faces, the combination of fresh mountain-air, good food and a bath had sent many to the bed earlier than usual, we spent the morning clearing up the cabins and getting ready to leave for Bulandet for the weekend. Dinner was cod baked with vegetables on grill, a good team working effort, all the food disappeared.
Bulandet is a group of 365 islands just west of Askvoll, this weekend a Storm Gathering for kayakers was taking place and we were joining them.
On Saturday we only had time for a 2 ½ hour trip for each as we only had 14 spaces in the kayaks, the group that remained on land did some evaluation and had a chance to clean up for the evening party. We had Bacalao, and apple cake followed by a slideshow from climbing in Alaska, flame show by volunteers and ex. volunteers. A few of us had a bit too much to drink, adapting to the local Norwegian customs and traditions. The hole in the ground event performed by some of the other people there will be talked about for years.
All in all I believe that everybody had a great time and that we managed to give a training that will make the lives as EVS volunteers a little bit easier for everyone in the coming year. |
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