EASTER 1998

The Easter Holiday in Norway lasts for 11 days (for the schools), which gives people plenty of time to get together and have some fun. This year, I, Arnt Rune and Øyvind gathered at Odd Walter's place in Beiarn to spend a heavy guys-only weekend. Food, drink, games and skiing (quite a lot of all) were to be the key words for how we spent the days. Below, we see Arnt Rune, Øyvind and Odd Walter well into the drink and games stage.

Myself, I don't drink any alcohol, but enjoy watching pals get animated by it as much as they enjoy imbibing. Through some peculiar twists of fate, I'd come into possession of a bottle of Eritrean brandy brewed on anise. Don't ask me how, it's a looong story. This weekend, I thought, was the perfect opportunity to have it emptied. After Arnt Rune got introduced to it, it didn't take very long until everyone wondered why the bottle all of a sudden was empty... As the spirits in the bottle got lower, Arnt Rune's got higher...(below).

After the other three of us finally were admitted into the bathroom the morning after (Arnt Rune spent most of the night in there. Can't for the life of me think of why...), we left Arnt Rune to his own devices (none of them were working anyway), and succumbed to that Norwegian compulsion that always rears its ugly head during easter: Cross-country skiing in the mountains. Every Easter, thousands upon thousands of Norwegian kids are faced with the trauma of bitter cold, stinging snow, zero toilet facilities and endless car rides, all because Dad says that when it's Easter, everyone takes to the mountains, and there's no reason why we shouldn't. The biggest error all dads make, is that they never check the weather forecasts - to them, there's no such thing as bad weather during Easter. They always wear a happy face and tell their sons to wear a happy face no matter if their toes must be amputated because of frost sores. Anyway, with grey skies and snow in the air, me, Odd Walter and Øyvind set out to brave the white unknown.

There's a Norwegian proverb saying that every Norwegian is born with skis on their feet. That's a blatant lie. Norwegian kids nowadays can hardly ski at all, and recruits in the Norwegian army complain if they have to trek for more than 3 kms on skis. But, every Norwegian THINKS he/she can ski. Which causes a mulittude of search and rescue operations every Easter. Well, we weren't thinking of going very far anyway. Here's Odd Walter striding confidently uphill, while I'm using the opportunity to take a pic as an excuse to have a breather....Whew...

There's two things that's bound to be found in the rucksack of every Norwegian trekking the Mountains during Easter: Kvikk Lunsj (a chocolate with crunchy crackers in it) and bananas. As you can see, Odd Walter's proving what we've all been suspecting for a long time - that he's THE Missing Link.

And then, on the top of the mountain, we found ourselves in the traditional fix all Norwegians experience during Easter: rapidly deteriorating weather. Great. All that effort to get there, just to find out that as soon as you sit down to rest, the wind picks up and the snow starts falling... Best course of action: get the h*ll off that mountain before you catch anything serious, as a cold, pneumonia, death, whatever...

Well down from the mountain, and wouldn't you know it...the sun's all up and shining. Yep, just the way the world works during Easter.

And then, the oldest phenomenae of Norwegian Easter sets in: those endless, eternal hours with absolutely nothing to do... Odd Walter, Arnt Rune and Øyvind went to Trondheim, and I was set to return home, with 5 days remaining of the holidays. Then you realize what "holiday" really means: that absolutely nothing and nobody works. During Easter, you're bloody lucky to find anything or anybody working from Maundy Thursday throughout 2nd day Easter (the following monday). Everything stops. Everything closes. So, there I was, trapped in Beiarn, with no other company than a deck of cards and a TV. By some miracle, there WAS a bus leaving on Easter Eve, but that still meant I had to endure thursday and friday in total isolation. Below, you see me having fun all by myself... :)

So, a piece of advice for all you people wanting to visit Norway during Easter: bring a lot of food, a lot of dry clothes, absolutely no kids, and a LOT of patience. Ah, and just in case you get lucky - bring a lot of sunblock and a pair of sunglasses.