norwaykate

Day 16- Monday May 9, 2016-Travel Day!

Not much to report today, we traveled by charter bus all day. We left around 10 AM and traveled by E6 highway. It was really neat to pass by Lillehammer! So many beautiful scenes to look at while we drive. I loved every minute of it. It was sunny all day to which just made everything more beautiful.

We stopped for lunch in Kvam which is north of Lillehammer on Highway E6. We traveled a few more hours up through the snowy tops of mountains which were beautiful and we had to travel through some pretty crazy tunnels. We had to slow down when we approach other cars and trucks since the lanes were so tight. We came out of the tunnels and went down this switch back road down to the fjord, it was so gorgeous! My battery on my camera was dead of course so I was bummed I didn’t get a picture on the way down. We ended up at a hotel called “facing fjords" in the town called Stryn. It’s cute and it was so nice and warm. We didn’t need to meet for dinner until 8 PM, so we went for a walk to the grocery store and get some beer and set along the water and talked. After dinner we had information meeting and I found out that I will be only in part of the episode 3 filming tomorrow. Everyone else was put into teams and given blue and red anorak jacket to wear for tomorrow’s competition. They were instructed to pack for two nights away. I was told that I wouldn’t be staying with everyone, but would be coming back to the hotel. So I did not need to pack like they had to pack. I have mixed feelings about this because I don’t want to miss out on any activity or information that could be needed later in the season or episodes. I want to experience it all, but since it is an “off” week this week with numbers, I won’t get to do it all. We meet tomorrow at 9am to find out more!

Day 17- Tuesday May 10, 2016 (Episode 3-day 1 filming)

Not much to report today since I'm really not in the episode at all!

We drove up to this beautiful mountain where we took up a sort of all-terrain tank to a snowy part of the mountain. There was a small ski house and a sort of TP tent set up. We had to go up higher into the snow we’re free to have skied up and we shot some scenes of us walking along the mountain. We all did some more walking shots and then to man came skiing over the hill and had a fake baby in their arms and a squirrel. I read the scroll and Lars took the baby. We read about the Birkebeiner and how they carried the baby prints for over 50 km to safety. The teams would be doing the first part of the competition by safely caring their “baby think it over” without getting any “penalties”. The second part of the competition is taking care of the baby all night and they will calculate all the penalties\score in the morning.

After a really delicious pasta lunch overlooking all the mountains, I jumped onto a sled being pulled by a snowmobile with Anne Charmaine and Fridtjof and we went back to the hotel. I spent the rest of the day walking around town. I managed to knock down an entire rack of socks at the Moods of Norway outlet store but I did find a cute hat there. I also found and vest at an outdoor store that is famous in the fjords and some other items at the grocery store.

I finish the day by reading in the sun on the front patio of our hotel, studying a bit, and dinner with the crew at 8:30 PM, so late! I will get to meet up with everyone tomorrow so I’m happy about that. I will miss hanging out with them tonight. Off on another adventure tomorrow.

Day 18- Wednesday May 11, 206 (day 2 filming episode 3)

Today I was to meet Brita in the lobby by 9:15 AM and I would travel up to the cabin with her and Fridtjof.

We drove a different way than yesterday and took those tank trucks back up the mountain. I was confined to sit behind the cabin until the results would be announced, but that wasn’t too bad since it was sunny and warm and I got to chat with the workers there who drove the tanks of red and Hilda. After talking about with Hilda, she had talked about her daughters and I shared about my mom and my girls and how I had been shopping for bunad shoes the day before but was unsure about any that I wanted to spend money on. She said that she had a pair I could have! I was floored at her generosity and kindness! She said she would bring them by the hotel tonight, so I hopefully will see them tomorrow when I return to the hotel since I’m not staying there tonight.

When it was time for results I was able to go and watch. Another intense moment. I don’t want anyone to go home so watching this was intense and challenging. Fridtjof announced that the red team won and that the blue team would be doing a competition on Friday. We didn’t get any clues as to what we thought it might be, but Britney took it the hardest it seemed. Next was a beautiful lunch overlooking the mountains and feeling the warm sun. More interviews then finally I get to be part of the show again.

Fridtjof Took us to a campfire and we made hotdogs. He tought us about tur, which means trip in Norwegian. There are apparently a lot of words with the name tur in them! Next we all got to cross country ski to a cabin at the base of the ski area! I only fell a few times but once I got the hang of it, it was awesome! I really loved it and can totally see myself wanting to try it again with Dan! We got to the bottom and were told about the cabin we be sleeping in! It was so cute and very clean. It had a lot of beds and I really loved it as soon as I was in the house Christian, our director, Told us to look for food to cook and we found a big box of chocolates first then we found a cupboard full of different food! I thought it would be nice to cook dinner for everyone since I missed out on all the fun, so I offered to cook dinner. Fiskeboller, some sort of meat ball things in sauce, and a stew thing too. I actually started cooking a whole bunch when Anna came and said she had stuff to make pasta and meat sauce! The cabin doesn’t have Ryan water so we had to be creative with washing dishes, but it was OK. I got the meat cooking, and on I got water for pasta. Lauren made the salad at me for no time we had a great “real” dinner ready for everyone. I enjoyed the evening on the porch watching the sun go down and talking with Johnny, Thomas, Derek, Ane, and Brittany.

We found out more info that we would be filming tomorrow only interviews, but Thomas would get to go to see his family’s farm first thing in the morning! I’m so excited for him! I’m looking forward to another day and strand and hopefully having those do not she is waiting for me! We had a beautiful hot sunny weather, but I heard tomorrow will get colder with rain maybe so we will see. Now off to bed at 11 PM and it’s light out still it looks like a PM on a summer night, so crazy!

Day 19- Thursday May 12, 2016 (Day 3 filming Episode 3)

Today was an interview days so we really didn’t do much other than sit in the cabinet and wait for our turn to interview. Because the cabin had no running water, Ane and I spent a big part of the morning getting water from the river and heating it and washing all the dishes. It actually was fun and made me feel a bit at home. There’s a little tension amongst blue team since they lost, and I can tell Brittany is trying to keep a positive attitude. Her and Jeff and Richard are still getting over having a cold so I really feel for them going into an individual competition tomorrow that we don’t know what it will be.

We travel back to the hotel and eat dinner all together with the crew. After dinner we all gathered in the lobby to watch Eurovision! Wow! I never knew this competition even existed and it was so fun. I will definitely be watching next year at home in the US. I’m feeling nervous for everyone who will be doing individual competition tomorrow.

Day 20- Friday May 13, 2016 (day 4 filming episode 2)

I try to get up early today to say goodbye to the blue team and wish everyone well be for their competition but I had just missed them. So I ate breakfast with some of the crew instead. After breakfast Johnny, Lars, and I went shopping in town. Since I had been to the Moods of Norway store I have course brought the boys. I bought a scarf that I had seen the day before and really wanted! When we were shopping there Johnny was like a kid in a candy store! He found a back room full of shoes that were on super sale and bought six pairs as well as Shirts and other items! The workers at the store took our picture when they found out we were on the show and asked if they could hang it up at the store. We met for lunch at 1 PM in town and I finally found a new curling iron since mine died after the first week here! Yuck though! It cost me $60 at least. We met later out near a fjord and learned that Jeff, Lauren, Brittany, Thomas, and Richard spent the morning rollerskating and competing with a quiz. Richard fell and really hurt his leg. Brittany unfortunately lost and was sent home from the show. I cried a lot and I felt so guilty and sad since I was safe this week and I really loved getting to know her. 

Fridtjof gave us oranges and Johnny got the spirit troll! He reenacted the sweet naked speedo ski postcard! We had a great dinner at the hotel and all went out with the crew to a local bar in Stryn! It was a lot of fun!

Day 21- Saturday May 14, 2016 (travel day)

Today was a really long travel day. We traveled by charter bus for nine hours south. It was so hot on the bus today I was super cranky when I finally got off. I sat next to Johnny for the bus ride which made it pretty fun. And he’s easy-going so when I was cranky he just laughed it off and started actingcranky back. We have arrived in a city called Ulefoss. We were shown to a really beautiful hotel resort type place. It seemed like maybe they might host events there. All of us were put into a sort of dormitory where we had a shared bathroom to one hall with many bedrooms. I have shared a room with Lauren again which made me happy because she’s a really easy roommate and a good friend. After getting hooked on Eurovision in Stryn we gather together to watch the finals. It was going on so late though that I could not stay awake to watch the end result. We will begin filming episode number four tomorrow.