MAY IV

FIORDS! May 23rd, 2006
Today was another post port holiday, and our ship took a day trip through the second largest fiord in Norway, called the …. Fiord (I forget, oops!) I didn’t even know what a fiord was until getting on the Peaceboat voyage, and when I was first explained what they were I expected to see a lot of ice. The real fiords (of this season at least) aren’t very icy, but still beautiful. Some parts were very narrow, and once in awhile I saw a quaint little house or small village on the banks. It was soooo cold outside, but the teachers decided to warm themselves up with some hot cocoa and baileys. Perfect way to spend the day outside!


TAK May 22nd, 2006
In case you are wondering, “tak” means “thanks”, and is the only Norwegian word I remember from the one day I spent today in Bergen. I should start out by saying “tak” to my good friend Yumi, who traveled all the way from Oslo to hang out with me for the day. Yumi, who lived in the same Japanese town as me, moved to Norway about 2 weeks before I left on Peaceboat. Our meeting in Norway seemed almost surreal, like we had just had dinner together at Jonathons (our favorite Sengawa hangout) in Japan the other day or something. We met at the port, and spent the morning in a café before riding up the cable car to the top of Mount Floyen (pic of me and troll from taken on the top of the mountain) to see the whole of Bergen below. While walking downhill it started raining, which led us to her boyfriend’s mother’s house to enjoy the rest of the day indoors where it was nice and dry. The house was up in the hills, where the view of the port was amazing. Too bad it was raining or I would have insisted we eat our lunch/dinner outside on the veranda. Although I spent most of my time indoors, I still had a great time. Prices in Norway are mad expensive (Oslo was rated as the number one most expensive city this past year) so no purchasing of troll souvenirs or anything, but it was really great catching up with my friend. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way! I will definitely be visiting Norway and my dear friend again in the near future – so be ready Yumi. Looking forward to seeing you and the trolls! Tak!