27th November was the 1st Sunday in Advent and this was when the Christmas Tree (Juletre) lights were switched on. Herøy would appear to have drawn the short straw this year so their lights were switched on in the middle of the day so I fear a certain magic was lost. Apparently it's an office tradition that shortly before this day, we head off into a bit of farmland that the church inherited choose a tree, saw it down, light a fire (not with that particular tree obviously), eat, drink and be merry. Alas I was up having adventures in Tromsø and missed it this year so fingers crossed for next year.
After the service in Herøy we (well, they) sang a Norwegian Carol around the tree and then we trooped across to the museum for Rømmegrøt and Kaffe. Grøt is made of sour cream, whole milk, wheat flour, butter and salt. Pretty much porridge. I had eaten it a previous event but this time I noticed the copious amount of sugar the person in front of me used so I followed suit. Very tasty. As part of the celebrations, Trine led us in the singing of a song by Alf Prøysen - Musevisa. A song about a family of mice with a rather catchy refrain.
Following this we had to traipse up to the other end of the islands for another service and the lighting of the Dønna Christmas Tree. By the end of the service it was 4pm and of course being so far north the lights on the Christmas tree looked fabulous and there was dancing and singing round the tree. You'll be unsurprised to know that your humble correspondent watched from a distance.
Monday morning is school time - not something I imagined I'd be writing when I was 53 but hey ho. The Norwegian government put these classes on for refugees who attend every day for at least a year whereas I only turn up for a few hours each Monday and have an hour chat with a teacher on a Tuesday.
The learning is through a variety of means, "normal" teaching, board games, matching games, and, another thing to add to the "things I didn't think I'd be doing in my fifties", rote singing Norwegian pop songs. Sitting at the back repeating "oh, oh, oooooh" to the teacher - much hilarity ensued. The particular song we were doing was a number called Elektrisk featuring Katastrofe. You'll not be surprised to know that this ensemble had not previous been on my radar. If I've picked it up correctly they may be involved in the Eurovision Song Contest. The song itself would appear to have been recorded when they were about 14. As we were parroting back the words I quickly did a google translate on one of the words which I was quite surprised to discover meant "big" and in the context of the chorus was very questionable. On closer examination however I noticed I'd used an "r" instead of a "t" and the word actually translated as "shocked" so moral panic over. Duolingo paid off in a big way when we were playing a version of Pictureka. I'm assured by Sigrid that I am the first person to have known the word for turtle in any class. Of course it's the only time I've actually been able to use the word, except when I regale people with that story.
I recently got hold of the work book that goes with the online course so have been doing lots of revision and doing the written tasks. This week I sat in a classroom as the teacher marked all my homework - another throwback to many years ago!
The day after the lighting of the Christmas Trees, was delighted to welcome Jen back for a return visit. This time she arrived at Sandnessjøen airport which is spectacularly convenient and the timings allowed us to spend a bit of time pottering around the town admiring the Christmas lights before the ferry over to Bjørn.
I did feel a bit bad about still having various work related things to do while she was here but we had a good time. It was during Jen's stay that I really properly noticed the shortness of the days. At one of rare moments in the staff meeting on Tuesday morning when I wasn't 100% focused on the discussion (just in case any of my colleagues are reading this) I remember thinking hmm, it's really quite dark for 10 am in the morning. The other time was when Jen and I were in Herøy. We pottered across the bridge to and from a funeral I was playing for - Jen has a fabulous eye for pictures and took some during both trips. It later occurred to us that the pictures on the way to the church were sunrise and the ones on the way back were sunset.
I think this time Jen met all my colleagues and got a chance to say hello again to people she met back in May.
It was also great to have a woman's eye to look over the layout of my apartment. With the benefit of female insight, Jen was able to come up with radical proposals such as "instead of having the suitcases dumped beside the sofa, why not put them under the bed?"; "with hundreds of cupboards in the kitchen, maybe not quite so much needs to be on display? etc. suffice to say, the place looks much better now :-)
Jen was also v kind in bringing out some necessities for me ie a book and some CDs. Very much appreciated.
At the funeral Jen met Tina and I gather they had a lovely chat during the service. Like me, Jen had been desperate to see the Northern Lights and Tina came to the rescue on Thursday night. Our apps had said that the conditions were right but it had been v cloudy all day so our hopes were not high. I was being a magnificent host (ie had fallen asleep on the sofa) and had not noticed that Tina had texted to say that the lights were their full glory. When I hadn't responded to her message she v kindly followed it up with a call. Seeing "TINA" flashing up on the phone made me instantly think "oh no I must have done something very bad if she is phoning me at this time of night" but once connected she told us to get outside urgently.
It was a fabulous display as can be seen Jen's photos and we really didn't notice the cold as we watched the colours spinning around the sky. Definitely a highlight. The thought of course did cross my mind that I had spent a fortune the week before to see this and all Jen had to do was walk about 20 steps from my front door....
I also took advantage of ajen being here in doing some things that I had been putting off. Just having someone with me gave me that little extra boost of confidence - so library ticket has now been obtained, the second hand shop has been visited and the purchase of certain items which I should have got months ago eg kettle was completed.
Our last night was initially spent in Nordvik where there was "Lysmesse" - a lovely service with lots of candles. And it's always nice to have an idiot's guide to the service so I know exactly when to play. i do try and make my music as appropriate to the services as I can and it was lovely (well I thought it was!) to be able to play Parry's prelude based on the hymn tune "Dundee" (The people that in darkness sat...)
In the weeks leading up to Jen's visit we'd spent a bit of time deliberating whether to go to Mosjøen the night before her flight or in the morning. We'd eventually decided (because of the worries about ferries being cancelled because of inclement weather) to go through on the Friday night and that would give us a chance for a wee potter / trip to cafe in the morning before her flight. It was just as well we did as it then transpired that her flight was cancelled and she had to bus it to Mo i Rana and the bus was leaving about 3 hours before the flight. If we'd decided to get the morning ferry she'd have missed the flight.
Being back on the mainland you really notice the cold. At times the windscreen would instantly freeze over and your visibility would be greatly reduced. On the way back to Dønna I actually had to stop because it was so bad - literally couldn't see anything. A nice couple going in the opposite direction slowed to see if I needed any assistance but I smiled and waved them on their way.
It was very sad to see Jen go off so early as I had been looking forward to finding nice wee cafe for a final chat in English without the guilt but alas Wideroe had other ideas...
A great time had been had and although we hadnt been able to on any long adventures as we had in May we did manage to explore Sandnessjøen and the walks I've discovered over the summer.
As we approach Christmas the musician's life inevitably gets a bit busier. On Monday night I was playing in Solfjellsjøen for what I think was a concert put on by the local music teachers. I played with a v talented string ensemble led by Eva. A wide variety of music from jigs to the Arrival of the Queen of Sheba and, much to my excitement, a movement of my favourite Vivaldi concerto. I think we're playing the whole thing in January which I'm looking forward to.
The next night I was back in Solfjellsjøen for a "Thank you to all the volunteers" meal / ceremony. I wasn't being thanked but was there as part of the entertainment. Initially it was to be just one number but I ended up (hopefully welcomed) playing along side a cellist who was accompanying a lovely wee girl singing the Carol of the bells. No guesses who the star of the show was!
The snow arrived in spectacular fashion on Dønna this week - I v unscientifically measured the snow in the garden - 22cm. Took me an age to dig the car out and in my travels this week I've sent at least 1 bus and 1 lorry that have skidded off the road and I think to myself that these are the professionals... on the plus side driving slowly keeps the electricity going longer in my car so swings and roundabouts....
It was our last Andakt before Christmas Eve in Herøy Omsorgssenter at the end of the service Jörg and I were both presented with a rather fine selection of cold meats and fruit loaf. V chuffed :-)
