Last Spring, before returning from Norway, I got started on a book that I had intended to read for some time. It had come along with me from the States, though I could have just as easily purchased a copy in the original language while abroad. When he published Sophie’s World in 1994, Jostein Gaarder, a former philosophy teacher, was already an award-winning Norwegian author. Since then, his book has been translated into over fifty languages, become a New York Times Bestseller, and achieved the top spot on bestseller lists throughout Europe.
The book is subtitled “A Novel About the History of Philosophy.” Oddly enough, the story takes place in a small Norwegian town and centers around the philosophical escapades of a young teenager named Sophie, who begins to question the nature of her existence when she receives an anonymous letter posing two questions: “Who are you?” and “Where does the world come from?” While it is difficult for Sophie to decide which is more mysterious – the unidentified sender or the questions themselves – she soon finds herself attempting to answer the age-old questions of the universe with the help of a new philosophy teacher.
Sophie and her teacher begin in the Garden of Eden and continue through the Norse myths until they meet the great philosophers of ancient Greece: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Next comes the clash of Hellenism with the rapid rise and radical propositions of Christianity, followed by the Middle Ages, the Rennaissance, and the Baroque periods. As they enter the Enlightenment, Romanticism, and the modern era, Sophie’s lessons become directly focused on thinkers of the day like Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Hume, Berkeley, Kant, Hegel, Kierkrgaard, Marx, Darwin, Freud, Nietzsche, and Sartre.
While interacting with her philosophy teacher, Sophie also starts to receive a series of curious postcards addressed to a girl named Hilde, whose existence increasingly seems to mirror her own in some sort of parallel universe. As Sophie applies her lessons in philosophy, she closes in on the true identity, not only of Hilde, but also herself and the world in which she lives.
Because I am a slow reader, what initially deterred me from reading the book was it’s sheer size: five hundred pages that lasted me through most of the Summer. But because Gaarder takes the brilliant approach of telling his story through the mind of a young student, the broad progression of philosophical thought is presented in a way that makes it both entertaining and easy to follow. Granted, I appreciate the novel’s setting more than the average reader and concede that a more academic survey of philosophy may harmlessly omit specific Scandinavian influences. As this is the limit to Gaarder’s personal bias, however, he is to be applauded. One notable exception is his assumption of evolutionary theory in the final chapters, but this is not enough to detract from the utility of his book as an accessible reference manual of philosophical history. In fact, I have already revisited chapters of the book to recall a particular subject, and I look forward to rereading Sophie’s World in full.
Just because it was the right decision to stay in Moscow for the Winter doesn’t mean I’ll miss Norway any less. If I had decided to return to work at the resort for a third season, this is about the time I would be shopping for a ticket, packing up and moving back into my old apartment at Kvitfjell. Thanks to temperatures that have been consistently low enough for artificial snow production, the mountain opened its first slopes last weekend, and this week they received an early dose of fresh powder. (Check out the photos of Scott and Marius.) Today, Kvitfjell Hotel is opening their doors for the season, and they have just added to their website a commercial (click on “Video”) that I filmed for them last March and edited over the Summer.
In case that weren’t enough to make me heartsick, last night we invited three high school exchange students to dinner at the Big Haus: Leo from Holland, Yeliz from Turkey, and Adina from Kristiansand, Norway. Adina and Yeliz had walked by the Haus a couple of weeks ago and spotted my flag, which made them curious enough to approach the front door and introduce themselves. They returned last night, where over a bonfire I got to brush up on my Norwegian, and for the first time since moving to Moscow, Adina heard more of her own language than a stereotypical “Uff da!”
A lot of people ask me what Norway is like. I tell them it is beautiful. It tell them it is secluded. I tell them it is my favorite place on earth. I tell them it is not Sweden. With respect to the economic crisis, I tell them Norway has hardly felt it. I also concede that it is expensive. The cost of living is high, but so is the quality of life, as confirmed by this article passed along by my father.
In less than two weeks, I will have a new brother-in-law. Until the ceremony, he is in California. I have finished a video of the couple from our one day together in Chicago earlier this Summer. Since I cannot show him in person, everyone gets to see it.
Happy birthday, Josh. I am looking forward to finally having a brother, even if I never imagined he would be so much older than me. Enjoy this small gift, though I may also have to get you one of those “old guys rule” t-shirts. Because you rule.
For years, I have been hearing about this place. When speaking of it, friends like Matt Barley would make it sound to my ears as though I would have to travel through both time and space to get there. It was mountain country, where men earned an honest wage by the work of their hands and the sweat of their brow. A loving community led a peaceful life in their beautiful and secluded piece of creation. Simple pleasures were celebrated to the glory of God, and the same was graciously offered to any visitor passing through.
I have known Henry for only a few years. In that short time, both of us have lived in Europe – myself as a ski bum in Norway, and Henry as a skateboarder in Barcelona. Both of us appreciate the nomadic lifestyle, which made it easy for us to hit it off after meeting in Moscow. In fact, prior to my departure in 2007, I spent several weeks sleeping on Henry’s couch.
Henry and I agreed over coffee outside of Bucer’s one Summer evening last year that neither of us were eager to get married, or even to start dating. That was before I moved to the Midwest to live with my cousin for the Fall. After I arrived in Wisconsin, I was surprised to hear from Henry, since he is not the type to call, even when he is supposed to, and certainly not out of the blue. Our running joke had been that Henry would never remember I existed until he saw me.
His call could only mean one thing. Henry wasted no time talking about the weather before telling me about his new romantic interest. What struck me at the time was not that Henry had a girlfriend, but how serious he sounded about her. Henry didn’t just tell me he was dating – he told me he had found “the one.” The relationship might have been easier for me to judge over the phone if I had known the girl, but I only recognized her last name from having met her two older brothers years ago. Their family was from Wallowa County.
The girl’s name was Änna. I learned that she grew up riding horses after being adopted into the Hostetter family as Henry would tell me about how he was talking to her father, visiting her family, and falling ever more in love. So it came as no surprise when I soon learned they were engaged, and at the wedding Pastor Tollefson highlighted their differences well: “Swiss-German meets Korean, skateboarder meets equestrian, wanderer meets small-town girl, tall meets… not tall. Opposites attract.”
Henry and Änna were married last Saturday, and the occasion provided the perfect excuse for me to finally visit Wallowa County for the first time. Though I had neither lodging nor transportation, a tent, sleeping bag, and spiffy new sleeping pad would suffice as long as I could find a ride there and back. Thanks to Caroline and Susanna, I did.
The wedding was held at the Hostetter’s Rim Rock Inn Restaurant overlooking Joseph Canyon. One can get an idea of how far removed the restaurant is by reading on its website, where the visitor is given directions not only by car and motorcycle, but also by plane and helicpoter. While it is located only a short sixty miles from Moscow as the crow flies, the two and a half hour drive consists almost entirely of winding roads up and down the Lewsiton and Rattlesnake grades crossing through Idaho, Washington, and Oregon.
The outdoor wedding was a success, despite some ominous storm clouds that constrained themselves to thunder and lightning until after dinner, when the sun had set and the rain began to fall. This didn’t put a damper on the festivities, though, as the band played on and the dance floor was grooving late into the evening with the help of the bride and groom. While the Rim Rock refers to itself as an “Inn,” its accommodations are limited to RV hookups and a trio of furnished tipis. Thankfully, I was able to avoid a soggy tent by crashing Susanna’s tipi, along with David Hoos, Katie Bauer, and the Stevensons.
We were woken up early Sunday morning by the sunlight filling our tipi. When we rolled out of our sleeping bags and opened the flap, we were greeted with an incredible view, complemented by a scrumptious breakfast of coffee and pie, courtesy of Rim Rock managers Otto and Bethany Nielson. The wedding party had dispersed, and we were left with plenty of time to conversate, rejuvinate, and contemplate the scenery before us.
Although our view of the sunrise over Joseph Canyon was a sight to behold, I had been disappointed to learn that the Rim Rock sits on the northern boundary of the county, and that the heart of Wallowa was another half hour down the road. My disappointment returned to expectation when I learned that we would be attending Pastor Tollefson’s Christ Covenant Church in Lostine, which would take us those few extra miles south.
We worshiped with many who had been at the wedding the night before, including Henry’s wonderful family, whom I have known over the years. Afterward, we were invited over for lunch by the Hostetters before hitting the road back to Moscow. Jordan’s invitation, followed by his parents’ incredible hospitality to a complete stranger (in their beautiful home) made me that much more pleased to see Henry and Änna starting a family of their own together.
My first visit to “the county” was a long time coming and over far too quickly. Like my trip to Chicago earlier this Summer, perhaps the only thing the two places share in common is that I left wanting more time to explore. Fortunatley, Wallowa is practically in my backyard, so I hope it will not be long before I return.
A few pictures from the weekend are up on Flickr.
Today – just over a year after my sisters spent ten days in Norway – I have uploaded the twelfth and final episode of Twidgets, a documentary of their trip. If this last installment doesn’t seem enough like a grand finale, then I will clue you into the fact that I am not exactly “done” with the project. Last year, I had hoped to have the series finished in time for Christmas. That obviously didn’t happen, but now I have enough time to play with the idea of releasing Twidgets on DVD this coming Christmas, complete with extra bonus material. Keep your fingers crossed. In the meantime, I am looping back around and starting to release the videos for public viewing. Until now, they have private for my contacts on Vimeo, but now you can feel free to pass along the links to anyone who might be interested in what the Hagen troublemakers have been up to. We’ll begin with part one, which can be found using the video widget to the left.
Following our Midwest vacation last month, my sister, Kristen, joined her boyfriend for a few days in Santa Cruz. Before they returned to Moscow, they were engaged to be married, and I couldn’t have been more pleased. Josh Davis is a great guy and an old friend of ours. In my humble opinion, they were meant to be. Last weekend, they gave me the honor of taking their engagement photos using Josh’s fancy Nikon D80. Since this was my first “shot” at legitimate photography, it is needless to say that I was a bit intimidated. Of course, with a couple this good-looking, it would have been a challenge to make them look bad. I have posted their favorites on Flickr and Facebook.
By the way, the latest TWO episodes of Twidgets are also up on Vimeo.
This Summer, I’ve been too busy filming to do much editing. That means I have several video projects in the works, but since this first week of August marks one year since my sisters visited Norway, I figure it’s about time I post another segment of Twidgets. Part five is now up for my Vimeo contacts, along with newly uploaded photos.
Filed under: Midwest
Summer has turned out to be a pretty quiet time for writing. In the 2+ months I have been home, there have been a variety of things keeping me busy. There is, of course, the engineering work at SEL, which has become more of a half-time rather than a full-time job. Outside of the office, this Summer kicked of with lots of yard work ahead of our family’s vacation to the Midwest earlier this month. Since returning, I have been busy sorting through pictures from the trip, the last of which I finally uploaded tonight. I came home with many good memories, but since I don’t anticipate enough time in the near future to share the stories, I’ll defer to the adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
I should note, however, that one of the reasons for our trip was to attend my cousin Kari’s wedding. Since I was carrying around a video camera that entire day, you will have to look elsewhere for wedding photos. (My links to Kari and her mother, Margarethe, are probably good places to start.) Now that I’m finished with my vacation photos, I hope to start digging into the wedding footage soon.
The following links are to public albums on Facebook. Pictures from the flights to the Midwest and back are up on Flickr.
Chicago, Knudson’s lake house, High Cliff State Park, Minnesota, Grandparents’ farm
Since 1536, Norway and its territories (Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands) had been under Danish rule. During the Napoleonic War, in the Treaty of Kiel, Denmark was forced to surrender Norway to Swedish rule (while retaining sovereignty over the Norwegian territories). Then Danish viceroy of Norway, Prince Christian Frederik saw this as an opportunity for Norwegian independence and led an insurrection that resulted in the signing of a constitution on May 16, 1814. The following day, the constitutional convention elected Frederik king, and this day has been celebrated as Constitution Day ever since.
Sweden refused to acknowledge Norwegian independence, and following the signing of their constitution, a brief war broke out with invading Swedish forces. A cease-fire was implemented on August 14 at the Convention of Moss. Despite the popular longing for sovereignty, King Frederik recognized that the political climates in Norway and abroad were not yet ripe for an independent Norway. On October 10, Christian Fredrik abdicated his claim to the Norwegian throne. Ten days later, the new Norwegian parliament voted to enter into a personal union with Sweden, who agreed to honor an amended Norwegian constitution.
Throughout the remainder of the 1800’s, Norwegian and Swedish relations became strained. In particular, Norwegians felt as though their interests abroad were not adequately represented by the Swedish ministry. Shortly after the turn of the century, Prime Minister Christian Michelsen led a movement in the Norwegian parliament to establish its own consular offices abroad. When Sweden’s King Oscar II refused to honor the movement, a de facto declaration of Norwegian Independence was issued on June 7, 1905, now considered the date of total independence.
That Summer, war nearly broke out again as Norway and Sweden negotiated the dissolution of their union. Whereas the Norwegian independence movement lacked adequate support in 1814, the political climate had now shifted in Norway’s favor. On October 26, in the interest of maintaining friendly ties with its “brother country,” Oscar II recognized Norway’s independence and renounced any claim to the Norwegian throne. In November, Norwegians voted to retain a constitutional monarchy instead of forming a republic, and they popularly elected to offer Prince Carl of Denmark a mandate to the throne. Prince Carl accepted and changed his name to King Haakon VII, and his son Alexander was renamed to Crown Prince Olav. On November 27, 1905, Haakon VII was sworn in as the first modern king of an independent Norway.
Thirty-five years later, following the invasion of Nazi forces, King Haakon VII led the Norwegian resistance movement from his exile in London. Norway was freed on May 8, 1945, and while that date is now observed as flag day, liberation added that much more significance to the celebration of Constitution Day on May 17. King Haakon VII and the royal family returned to cheering crowds in Oslo on the symbolic date of June 7, 1945.
Shortly after its struggle for political sovereignty, Norway achieved economic independence with the discovery of large oil deposits in the North and Norwegian Seas. During the second half of the twentieth century, what had long been a poor fishing country was transformed into one of the world’s wealthiest. That fact is emphasized by the current economic recession, which has affected Norway perhaps least of all, thanks to its government’s frugality. Today, with their flag-waving parades of singing school children, Norwegians celebrate not only their independence, but a modest way of life and a bright future for the next generation.
