Faxsen to Bliksvær

May 30, 2010
Today is our first day with a host family. For our first visit, Nicole and I have been placed with Majvi Schjødt Larsen (pronounced Moyri). She is in fact not a Rotarian but the niece of a Rotarian who was supposed to host us but is out of town on vacation to Stravbad. We are actually staying at Aud Schjødt Fredricksen’s house, which is a cute little old house built by her father in 1956. The house has stayed in the family through the years and her mother, the living matriarch of the family, lives in an apartment on the second floor. The house is divided into two apartments with two bedrooms and two bathrooms each. We are on the top floor of the house – which was fun to carry our heavy bags up the narrow spiral staircase – where there are two bedrooms and one toilet. The shower is on the ground floor and there is an additional shower-only bathroom in the basement for guests. The house can best be described as eclectic. Aud Schjødt Fredricksen is obviously a well-traveled woman who has collected souvenirs from around the world. She has crammed everything into her living room, so it feels homey but a bit like you are in a museum. Instead of a couch, she chose to buy six lounge chairs and then place them in a circle so all the guests can be comfortable and talk to one another face to face. It doesn’t look like she has any kids of her own, but her niece lives about 6 km away.

When we first got here, we spent an hour talking to Majvi about Norway and the United States. She wanted to hear about the problems we have in the States, saying that while Norway has its fair share of issues, it makes her feel better to hear about other people’s problems instead. We talked about everything from the prevalence of guns (there are none in Norway) to abortion and the death penalty, the healthcare reform and political divide within the country. In Norway, Majvi said the main problems are the education system and the fact that the students are not well-educated, that the jails are perhaps too lenient and that kids are a status symbol here but the parents are not raising them to be responsible, courteous and good. Interestingly, in Norway, the government gives each family a gift of 30,000 NOK for having a kid and then the mother is not allowed to work until the child is at least one year old. Instead, she is paid about 3,000 NOK a month as a salary. She can then choose to continue receiving this salary until the child is 2 years and 11 months old. Apparently, the more children you have in Norway the better status you have since the country needs more citizens and encourages the population to have children. Another interesting fact is that Norwegians do not carry guns unless they do hunt elk or moose in some parts. Even the police officers do not carry guns although they may have a gun locked in their vehicle in case it is needed. During our entire time in Bodø, we have actually not seen any police officers.

After settling into our rooms, which were as eclectic as the downstairs living room, we met up with the group for lunch before an afternoon hike. Many Norwegians hike during the summertime and today we decided to climb Keiservarden. Majvi actually lives at the base of the mountain and often times leaves her house to climb up to the top as her workout for the week. The climb up the mountain took about an hour, with stops along the way to see the city of Bodø and some surrounding towns. The top of the mountain is actually a popular spot for local residents since they occasionally host concerts up there. No concerts during our visit though! It was pretty chilly outside today, hard to believe this is their summer!

After a short break at home to change, it was time for our first boat ride and what better christening than aboard Faxsen, a boat that was born in 1916! Our captain for the evening is the grandson of the man who bought the boat and today, the restoration and maintenance is funded by a private foundation. Our trip today is to Bliksvær, a cluster of islands about an hour and half out to sea from Bodø. We boarded the ship at 8 pm and immediately started adding more layers of clothing. I was wearing a long sleeved shirt, a fleece, a vest and two jackets, plus gloves and a warm hat and freezing the entire time! The first leg of the trip was windy and a bit rough but it wasn't until we stopped outside of the islands to attempt to fish for cod that things got really rocky. The boat started swaying as the captain turned on the sonar to try and find a few schools of fish. We probably fished for 10 minutes but only managed to catch two cod fish. We then pulled into a dock under the "Welcommen to Bliksvær" sign, where our crew helped us disembark into what looked like an old empty barn. There, on two wooden picnic benches, we sat and waited for dinner.

Dinner was a bucket of shrimp! The crew threw three huge buckets of shrimp, three smaller trash buckets, loaves of bread, tubes of mayonnaise and some utensils, paper plates and napkins on the table. Immediately, the guests started digging in, grabbing handfuls of shrimp and starting to break off the head, peel back the skin and prepare their shrimp. Norwegians then explained that they take a piece of white bread, cover it with mayonnaise and add the shrimp on top. A final squirt of lemon finishes off the sandwich and then the process starts again. Each guests was also alloted two units of either beer, white wine or a non-alcoholic beverage. The meal ended up with one of the Swedes starting a chant and his friends cheering with their aquavit shot. "Skol!" Aquavit is a Norwegian liquor made out of potatoes and is very much an acquired taste.

After cleaning up, we started heading back and did indeed catch the Midnight Sun before it hid behind a looming cloud. We pulled up to the Bodø docks at 1:30 am and didn't waste any time walking home and climbing under the warm wool blankets in our beds!