Have just gotten rid of a week's worth of soot
I've returned from Norway! I've also realized I never said what I was going to be doing there.
There is this school; Fosen Folkehøgskole, located a bit north of Trondheim. They do a lot of weird, fun and interesting stuff. A lot of old traditional crafts, farming, building boats and stuff. Once a year they have a project week when the students get to focus on a subject of their own choice. Like blacksmithing. :D
Yep, I've been an assisting teacher for a week. And I must say that I was seriously impressed by our students. For instance; save for the first and last day, the weather was absolute shit. We're talking windy as hell, with rain and snow and hail. What can I say, Norway has strange weather.
But! Some of the students, who found it much too crowded to remain by the forges indoors went out in that weather, with only two portable forges and physical work to keep them warm.
I would not have done that.
Also, class was officially from eight-thirty to four, but some started at six-thirty in the morning and continued to close to midnight, pausing only for lunch and dinner. Sometimes not even that.
So, yeah, gonna try to keep in touch with the students. Got most of them to write down their e-mails, so we're gonna contact them if we're up to general mischief that could interest them.
Also met some interesting people amongst the other students and teachers. One of them, Lena , I've met before, down at the sailing seminar in Roskilde. So she had us up to her room one evening for an ice cream feast. Five people managed to get through five liters, along with a bottle of chocolate sauce, cloudberry jam, and other tasty things. Soooo good.
Another one, who was just there for the project week like we were, was another fun and rather strange one. He was from the Netherlands, but lived way up north and spoke a clear Norwegian with a northern accent. No-one would believe him when he said where he was from at first. Me, I just had a hell of a time trying to guess his age. It could be anything from 40 to sixty, I though, and eventually guessed 45. And then I heard something like 65, and immediately thought that that guy will live until he's 120.
He invited all of us smithing teachers to visit him up in the land of midnight sun and endless nights. Lofoten. Oi...
Now, sometime early tomorrow morning we head towards Gothenburg for viking geekery. Hopefully back home in my own bed on Monday or Tuesday.
There is this school; Fosen Folkehøgskole, located a bit north of Trondheim. They do a lot of weird, fun and interesting stuff. A lot of old traditional crafts, farming, building boats and stuff. Once a year they have a project week when the students get to focus on a subject of their own choice. Like blacksmithing. :D
Yep, I've been an assisting teacher for a week. And I must say that I was seriously impressed by our students. For instance; save for the first and last day, the weather was absolute shit. We're talking windy as hell, with rain and snow and hail. What can I say, Norway has strange weather.
But! Some of the students, who found it much too crowded to remain by the forges indoors went out in that weather, with only two portable forges and physical work to keep them warm.
I would not have done that.
Also, class was officially from eight-thirty to four, but some started at six-thirty in the morning and continued to close to midnight, pausing only for lunch and dinner. Sometimes not even that.
So, yeah, gonna try to keep in touch with the students. Got most of them to write down their e-mails, so we're gonna contact them if we're up to general mischief that could interest them.
Also met some interesting people amongst the other students and teachers. One of them, Lena , I've met before, down at the sailing seminar in Roskilde. So she had us up to her room one evening for an ice cream feast. Five people managed to get through five liters, along with a bottle of chocolate sauce, cloudberry jam, and other tasty things. Soooo good.
Another one, who was just there for the project week like we were, was another fun and rather strange one. He was from the Netherlands, but lived way up north and spoke a clear Norwegian with a northern accent. No-one would believe him when he said where he was from at first. Me, I just had a hell of a time trying to guess his age. It could be anything from 40 to sixty, I though, and eventually guessed 45. And then I heard something like 65, and immediately thought that that guy will live until he's 120.
He invited all of us smithing teachers to visit him up in the land of midnight sun and endless nights. Lofoten. Oi...
Now, sometime early tomorrow morning we head towards Gothenburg for viking geekery. Hopefully back home in my own bed on Monday or Tuesday.