Made it into Sandefjord on Tuesday without a hitch. Got worried after researching (on Monday) the regulations for entering the country, which state that I technically needed a round-trip ticket. We all know who doesn’t have one of those, so I at least expected a hangup at security, but my longest wait was at the ticketing counter – security and passport checkpoints didn’t ask me no questions, so I told ‘em no lies.
Flight couldn’t have been better. Plane was the sweetest I’ve ever flown in (leave it to Scandinavian Airlines), which means I had my own personal entertainment console with a wide selection of movies, music and video games (complete with handheld controller). It even gave me different views out the plane and a continuous flight summary. The food was great (both dinner, which came with a free beer, and breakfast), and the entire crew was Scandinavian. The flight wasn’t full, so at one point I had an entire row to myself, and took advantage of it to sleep a bit. Never got to lay down in economy class before. Arrived in Copenhagen early, then caught my connecting flight into Norway.
Since then, I’ve been staying with my third cousins in Skien. Their names are Ida Sofie and Tor Martin, and they are two and a half and eighteen months, respectively. Their parents own the house, and their names are Runar and Tina. Tina is my father’s second cousin, and we met on my last visit to Skien in 2001. Their hospitality is amazing, especially considering the special attention needed by my third cousins. Tina made a wonderful traditional dinner tonight of meatballs, carrots and potatoes, for which we were joined by Tina’s sister Beate, her husband Petter, and their two boys Kristian and Anders.
Skien, by the way, is even better than I remembered. Tuesday was sunny, and today was cold and cloudy. The first dusting of snow was on the ground when we woke up this morning, so it looks like I got here just in time. We spent time in the city today, which is just a ten minute walk away through their adorable neighborhood. Adorable because I adore it.
Tomorrow I will spend some time looking around for a few of the essentials I had to wait until getting over here to buy, such as GPS maps and camp fuel. Made my first purchase today, though – a Lowe Alpine mountain cap from an outdoor store in one of Skien’s shopping centers. Will also probably purchase a train ticket for Oslo tomorrow, departing on Friday, where I hope to meet up with Bent (Tina and Beate’s father) and Kelley’s friend Liza.
My last few days in Seattle were more entertaining than the first. I saw a bunch of friends, joined Dan and Brittney at a Halloween costume party, and watched “Into the Wild” at the Neptune theater. I suggest this movie (and its soundtrack) for a taste of the spirit behind this blog. Pike recommended the book to me when he heard I was leaving, and after reading the book, I had to see the movie. I was not disappointed. Listen to what McCandless says to Ron on their way up the mountain… it was actually part of a letter he wrote to Ron, but I was glad they incorporated it into the screenplay.
