had a nice trip to Trysil :)

Arrived back to Rykkinn from Trysil last night! We arrived at the cabin Thursday night, so we had 2 full days at least there. It takes about 4 hours to travel there and we made a pit-stop in Sweden to buy groceries, because it's cheaper than Norway. It wasn't just an ordinary "cabin" trip, as most Norwegians traditionally go on, because this cabin isn't modernized, while most cabins nowadays are. This cabin has been in Anders' family for a few generations and hasn't had much added to it, besides an extra room to allow a bigger sleeping area. The cabin is neither equipped with water, nor does it have electricity! If we needed to go to the bathroom, then we used an outhouse behind the cabin, in the woods. Since there isn't electricity, candles were our only option for light at night and the wood stove our only option for heat. We brought coolers to keep food cold as well as using the cold creek, from behind the cabin, to keep our beverages cold.

So much of Anders' family (mostly 3rd and distant cousins) still reside in Trysil and pretty much everybody knows everybody, because it being such a small town. The cabin wasn't in central Trysil, but some kilometers out in the woods, off a long, dirt road. There are other houses on the road and most have electricity and other ammenities.. except Fredrikstua (Anders' families' cabin name). Along with Anders and I, his father, uncle and cousin were with us as well and his cousin and I cheated a little bit and showered at a relative's house next to the cabin, half way through the trip ;)

I came to find out that Trysil is one of the most popular towns in all of Norway, when winter rolls around. The small, quaint town turns into a huge ski and snowboard town, attracting Norwegians from near and far. Trysil is home to the biggest ski and snowboard mountain; Trysilfjellet and it is very nice. The hotel that is situated on the mountain, along with the cabins that can be rented out, are very luxurious and also very expensive. This doesn't stop Norwegians though, because it's the best place in the entire country to go for a winter get-away. Anders' uncle may be buying a house on the street where the cabin lies sometime this fall, so if this happens then we'll be able to go back in the winter to go to Trysilfjellet!

Another thing I soon came to find out quickly in Trysil is that the people that live there take hospitality VERY seriously. You don't need to call to arrange visits in Trysil, you just go to someone's house and knock on their door! Since everybody knows everybody, visits from one neighbor to another is common. When you visit people in Trysil one of the things that they will ALWAYS offer guests is cake.. and more cake. They LOVE their cake, ha ha. They also offer coffee, soda, chips and other sweets: all things that are bad for you. We went on a handful of visits to various family members so we had to eat tons and tons of cakes and sweets.. my stomach still hurts today even thinking about it!! I had to have gained some weight from the weekend, it was outrageous how much we all ate! People are very persistant too and want you to eat more and more. They take it almost as being rude if you don't eat what they offer you, because they take a lot of pride in the food and drinks that they offer guests. It was definitely an experience for sure.

Besides eating.. we went fishing, both days, did some site seeing in Trysil and did a little berry picking. The weather was a little brisk and it drizzled a little bit. It would turn cold at night, so you would have to sleep in wool attire to keep warm. The cabin was cozy though, regardless of how simple it was structured. We all enjoyed ourselves and the company that we were with!!


Our pit-stop in Sweden!


Look what we found in the store in Sweden, ha ha!!


Inside the cabin at night.


Our "fridge" in the creek ;)


Our luxurious outhouse.


Anders & I


On our fishing trip!


Fresh, fried, Norwegian trout..


One out of the 2 fish that I caught.


Sunset in the woods.

Today I started my new Norwegian course.. we didn't do too much today though; just introducing ourselves and trying to weed out people that shouldn't be there. I was so impressed and proud of how much I understood and when we took a mini test at the end of class, I'm positive that I knew all the answers. I hope that I was put into the right class, because now in order for me to improve my skills I will have to be challenged. We'll see how it goes! I'm excited for it though. I also finally found out that I got a C on my Norwegian final exam (both oral & written) from my summer school at UiO.. not too shabby! I passed at least, so I am happy :)