Telemark skiing in Geilo

Hi everyone,

a quick update on what has happened since I wrote last.

It sounds like I am on a big holiday, but I also study... really!

Today is the first of April and spring officially started in Norway on March 20th when the day was exactly as long as the night, meaning 12hrs and since then the days are getting longer and nights shorter. Now, with the time change last weekend, the days are even longer and it is light at around 6am and dark again around 9pm and each day will still be 5min longer than the last. Pretty amazing as you can actually see the change every week! However, that's all we experience of it being spring as it rained the last 5 days and it is around 5 degrees celsius! It still feels like winter, also because the mountains surrounding Bergen are still snow capped. So, we are a little jealous of the spring temperatures in the Netherlands but still hoping for some sunny weather here in Norway anytime soon :))) This is kind of the basic essence of Norwegian lifestyle, dealing with the rain and cold but being sure that next week will be better and sunny! :))

A few weeks ago Richard finally came to visit me. I have been looking forward to him comming since I have been here and I planned all kinds of stuff to do, but you can already guess... yes, it rained the whole time that he was here!! Well, but that didn't keep us from exploring the city and going hiking, were we got soaking wet. At least he now experienced the true Norwegian lifestyle and hopefully when he comes back in April the weather will be better!! Looking forward to it again :))

Last weekend we went to Geilo for a weekend to go skiing and enjoy the snow one last time. Geilo is a small village about 3hrs by train east from Bergen. It actually has one of the largest skiresorts in Norway and is totally focused on wintersport as everything is still covered under at least a meter of snow. It is also really famous in Norway for its extensive cross country routes and the train was therefore packed again with skiing and cross country ski equipment. Geilo also has only a few hotels and otherwise only wooden cabins or appartments. This again is typical Norwegian as their perfect weekend would be staying in a cabin (maybe even with no hot water or electricity) and then go cross country skiing or hiking. The hotels are just for tourists.

Therefore, we also rented a cabin for our weekend and although it was pretty basic, we did have hot water and electricity, even a dish washer... pure luxury :)) And it was red, just as I think a Norwegian cabin has to be, we only missed the sauna! The group I went with consisted of three skiiers and three non-skiiers. They went dog sledding, snow sledding and hiking and we went skiing, but not normal skiing... no, telemark skiing!

The Norwegians invented telemark skiing as in the early days, before cars and trains, going with skis was the only way to go from A to B, and they did this on cross country skis (most Norwegians even today mean cross country skiing when they say they go skiing) and as they also had to go downhill on cross country skis, they invented the telemark turn, which todays ski jumpers use when landing after their jump. Telemark skiing then got replaced by alpine skiing but today it experiences a revival again and in Voss and Geilo you can see as many telemark skiiers as normal skiiers, however I haven't seen many yet in Austria.

Anyway, as this seems something typical Norwegian we of course had to try it and therefore rented the special skis and boots for the whole weekend. The boots are more flexible and are only connected to the front of the binding as you flex one of your knees when making a turn. The technique is quite different than alpine skiing and it took us some runs until we got the hang of it. But then it was just so much fun! However, it is really stressful for your knees, upper legs and ankles and we all were really beat at the end of the day! But I really loved it and I definitely want to do it again someday!

Next Friday I will be going to Stockholm for the weekend and from there depart on a 8-days trip going to Helsinki, Moscow, St Petersburg, Tallinn and back to Stockholm. This trip is being organized for all exchange students in Scandinavia and therefore we are a group of about 110 international students who now study in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Jankjööping, Helsinki and Bergen.

I know, when reading my blog entries it sounds like I am on a big holiday, but I also study... really! I have to read books, write term papers and do exams in May and June! So there is also some serious work being done here :)) I actually have to start and do some research for my Alternative Energy paper now!

Hope everything is well and talk to you soon!

Hilsen fra Bergen!

Christien