Greetings from Norway! We made it! We are staying with old friends in Stavanger, Norway. I first met Mette and Petter and their kids in Kata Beach, Thailand in 2001 when John and I were there with two-year-old Koben. Our families were staying at the same hotel and had kids of similar ages so, of course, we talked and ended up spending some time together. We stayed in touch over the years, each visiting each other once. And now here we are again, fifteen years after the last time. This is probably my favorite thing about travel— it’s not the sights or the shopping — it’s meeting people, making friends, and learning all the many, many different ways there are of doing things in this beautiful world.
Today was mostly a rest and recovery day. I really enjoyed spending the morning with their daughter Elise and learning about the school system and Norway from a teenager’s perspective. I also learned about the Norwegian teen’s pre-graduation tradition of “russefeiring”. You’ve heard of Prom and Senior Ditch Day? Check out the link and see what they do here. Wow. Speechless. Apparently it’s mostly in good fun but some kids do get out of hand (big surprise) and have caused some problems recently with fighting and so on. It’ll be interesting to see how it evolves over time.
OK, that’s all for tonight. I think I’ll go check out the sauna in my bathroom. Yep. There’s a sauna in my bathroom. Norway!
Out ‘n About 