Winter is Coming

Last week, a doctor from Fagernes came and did a full day seminar on first aid. There was a lot of information which we put to use the following day in practical exercises ranging from vehicle accidents to frost bite incidents. We practiced our knowledge in six different situations like these, all of which consisted of student actors playing dead, unconscious, or severely injured. However, most of the “unconscious” laughed, smiled, or cringed when we decided CPR was necessary.

Last year’s students held a reunion here last week. On Friday, we were locked in the cafeteria after kveldsmat (evening meal) for no apparent reason. Group by group, we were led outside by torch light at which point we discovered the reason for our imprisonment. We entered the old school building, and were welcomed by candles, cobwebs, and numerous ghosts- murdered by a student in 1929 immediately preceding her suicide (as the story goes). It was quite an impressive setup, consisting of ghosts springing down from the ceilings of bathroom stalls and pitch black tunnels, barely tall enough to crawl through, made interesting by countless hands reaching through the darkness to grab you. While two girls at the front of our group screamed and shrieked around every corner, I only jumped while stepping over a ghost twitching on the floor. With one leg over him, he sat up and grabbed me, nearly lifting me off the ground by my crotch! I never liked ghosts.

The quality, if not quantity, of my sleep here is normally quite good. Saturday night, though, at 1:30am, I was abruptly awoken by extremely loud music in the hall, of the Dr. Seuss genre. They marched up and down the hall harping on their noise-makers for a solid ten minutes in the middle of the night before continuing to disturb other victims. All we could do was laugh ourselves to sleep.
This is actually the second time I’ve been unceremoniously awoken in the wee hours of the morning. In a previous incident, I jumped with a start (almost right out of bed) when my ears perceived some extremely loud, sudden yelling six feet from my bed. The source of the noise turned out to be my room mate- struggling for air as two of our friends mercilessly used him and his bed as a trampoline. Once they’d had their fun, we were once again left alone to sleep peacefully.

Winter seems to be on its way. Temperatures are dropping and the snow is falling- just in time for my solo-trip. Each student in my class is hiking alone for three days. Not everyone is looking forward to it but I think it will be a relaxing and enjoyable excursion.
Yesterday, Olof and I ripped up some snowy singletrack. It was a great ride! Unfortunately, I didn’t think to take my camera along, but making the first tracks through the snow is always an irreplaceable experience. I hope to get another ride in before the snow accumulates too much.

If you read a particular blog of mine some time ago, you no doubt remember seeing the disastrous state of my room. I also mentioned that I posted the picture in the name of blogger transparency. I’ve been contemplating and I’ve decided that it would be healthy to abide by certain values outside of the blogging world as well. Please allow me this opportunity to show off my new lifestyle (even if temporary and infrequent).

Don’t miss your chance to win a Norwegian postcard! The deadline is approaching! Please refer to the previous post for contest details. E-mail your answers before the end of October!