What Norway Taught Me.

There are places in the world that shoot the Global Warming theory to bits. Yep, that's what I learned.
Now to tell you about my trip.

We began last week on Sunday with a long night in Copenhagen Airport. Our best option for a place to stay Sunday night didn't work out so we wound up bumming it in the terminal.

After a long day of flights we finally arrived in Tromsø. We had to rush out to our first activity, Dog Sledding! When we arrived we were ushered into a small wooden hut with a roaring fire and the smell of home cooking in the air.  We knew what was coming. Reindeer stew. Though I'm not a vegetarian, I was hesitant to taste the food. Especially after smelling the cup of soup. Almost got a gag out of me. But I muscled it down.

After dinner we went and got suited up in very large, puffy, warm snow suits.  They smelled like wet dog.

This was one of the more calm/less stinky dogs there.

                                                      Puppies!

The next day we checked out of our hotel and wandered Tromsø.  Tromsø is a quiet university town. Probably because it is the northernmost university town in the world.  This is the Arctic Cathedral, somewhat boring but cool architecture.

 While we wandered the streets we found the glass company of Tromsø.

Later that evening we boarded the M/S Lofoten. A traditional boat owned by the Hurtigruten company. It was a very tiny ship and of course the cheap missionaries got the cabins down in steerage.  The first night on the boat we saw nothing. It was a cloudy night with very rough seas.  It took us quite a few hours to fall asleep as we slid from one end of our beds to the other.

But at the sound of the ship's horn we awoke to clear skies and frigid temperatures. The boat was pulling into Honningsvag. The city (if it can be called a city) claims to be the northernmost city in the world. Located at the 70th Parallel, there isn't much there except snow.

 While we walked around Honningsvag we witnessed one of the most awesome modes of transportation I have ever seen. People young and old were riding these sleds. They had a seat in the front for apparently groceries or your small child. And in a city where there is no such thing as pavement, only ice and snow, they work perfectly for propelling ones self along the road.

Contrary to popular belief, not all oranges are 100% orange. This little sticker however, is assuring me that this particular orange is genuine.

 Ok I take it back, this is more awesome than the sleds. But I have a feeling this kind costs a bit more...

As we were ready to board our boat again we were greeted with the most glorious sunset.

That night was much better for viewing the Northern Lights.  A few hours after the sun set we went up on deck and witnessed a fantastic display of God's creation.  The heaven's do reflect His glory! Unfortunately it was also another rough night at sea, so the pictures I was hoping for didn't happen, but here is proof that I saw them. The pictures you see really can't describe how amazing it is to see this huge green, yellow, and red curtain stretch all the way across the sky. It was so close you felt you could reach out and touch it. It was a fantastic night, we didn't go to bed until around 3 am, when the lights decided they were done with the show.

The next day we pulled into Kirkenes. After checking into our hotel we went in search of the Snow Hotel we had heard so much about.  On our walk we discovered the Adventist church of Kirkenes, I wonder if this is the northernmost Adventist church?

 At least he doesn't drive it in this weather.

 After almost missing it we found the Snow Hotel. Isn't it fantastic! No, your right it's worthless. After seeing the pictures of the inside I guess I was expecting something a little more, elegant.  It is basically an igloo.  For a price I could have gone inside, but we decided it wasn't worth it, and we were all freezing. Elmer's toes were numb. And for good reason, it was -27º C with windchill.

After a long night of movies, searching for Northern Lights and a little sleep thrown in there, we woke up for the long return trip back to Denmark.  Even though something went wrong on every leg of that journey, it wasn't that bad. Our delays were actually welcomed because we were starving.
I am now back safe and sound in my home away from home, and all the snow here has melted. Not to say I'm ready for Spring, but I'M SO READY FOR SPRING!

Vi Ses :)

Tromsø, the land of...

Nothing. Granted we haven't been here very long, we have seen no lights. Well ok, I take that back. Last night we went dog sledding about 30 minutes outside of town. When we got there we had a dinner. Consisting of reindeer stew and bread. Except for the smell it wasn't too bad. Then we got outfitted for our dog sledding trip. While we were out in the field waiting for the first group to return we technically saw the Northern Lights. However it was still so bright that it looked more like a cloud than the extraordinary phenomenon I was expecting.
Dog sledding was fun though not as fast-pasted as I was expecting. I wanted to be a part of the Iditarod but that was far from the truth.

In a few hours we depart on the M/S Lofoten for ours two day cruise along the coast. Hopefully one of those nights we will have a front row seat to the Aurora.

The Trials of Travel

Don't get too excited, I'm not stranded, the airlines haven't lost my baggage, and I didn't miss any flights.  But I am sitting in Copenhagen airport waiting for my flight.  A couple of other missionaries and myself are headed even further north to hopefully get a glimpse of the miracle that is the Northern Lights.  This week is winter break for Vejlefjordskolen and we're going to Norway.  Our trip is a smorgasbord (which originates from Danish meaning bread and butter in case you were curious) of different travel opportunities.  We are flying to Tromsø, Norway where we will quickly depart on a dog sledding expedition.  Then after a day of exploring the world's northern-most university town, we will board a boat called the M/S Lofoten as we sail up the coast to Kirkenes.  Kirkenes is a small town at the very top of Norway right next to Russia and Sweden.  Here we have one more night to catch a glimpse of the elusive Aurora before we head back to the school.
The primary reason for this trip is to photograph the Northern Lights.  I have always wanted to see the Northern Lights and when I read that this is supposed to be the best year to see them in 30 years I couldn't pass the chance.  We will be living 300-400 km inside the arctic circle for the next week.  Over the past months we have all been collecting various item to keep us warm, including the cheapest boots we could find, hand warmers, and large, obnoxious wool scarves.  Though we will be headed much further north than we are now, the temperature difference won't be that great.  However, as I am planning on spending at least one night out waiting to snap some pictures, I figure it's best to be prepared.

Time to check bags and check out.

A Long Time Coming...

Honestly I feel bad. It has been entirely too long since I have written here. And for those of you waiting on the edge of your seat for a post, you can sit back and enjoy. Here it is.

Well this is awkward. I don't really have much to say... I want to update you, and I know you want to know what's going on here, but now that the year is in full swing, I don't have many updates.  I will tell you this, in about an hour I am going to meet with the eight other guys who live with me in this cozy little building called Udsigten.  Which to you looks like a jubilee of letters that shouldn't go together and to me says "the view."  I have decided that after almost six months, (has it been that long already!) I don't know the guys in my building well enough.  I want to start a time where we can frequently get together and get to know each other better.  Here is a picture of three of the guys that I know the best already.  From left they are Benjamin, Jonotan, and Benjamin.

This is a picture that they gave me for christmas along with some gag gifts. These are some pretty cool guys and hopefully I will have more pictures with the others soon. 

I know this was a tiny post, but something to keep you going :)

I'll in the middle of writing another deep, thoughtful something, and that should be up shortly.

Vi Ses!

Jeff

Christmas in the Land of the Danes

Well it has been a while since I have posted about my Life in Denmark. Today I am on duty with nothing to do so I figured I'd update you on the goings-on of my life.  Now that I have really settled into the routine here I can accurately describe to you what I do.

My only job is to connect with the kids here.  Sure I have "duties" but all of them are with kids allowing me to get closer to them and share whatever I can with them.  Since getting here I have gotten involved in a couple of extra things outside of my usual stuff. One of the things I have undertaken is a Bible study.  There is a lady in Daugård, the closest town, that cooks dinner for us every Tuesday night. There are regularly five or six students who come with me to her house.  We enjoy a nice homemade meal and then have a Bible study. Her husband is a pastor and regularly leads out.  I'm really glad that the kids have some time to escape from school and talk about whatever is on their minds. None of the kids that come are Adventist, though some are "Christian". I say "Christian" because a few are members of the state church (Lutheran) but here in Denmark that doesn't mean anything.  Children around the age of 14-15 are giving the option to be "confirmed" in the church.  Most children choose to be confirmed whether or not they actually believe or care because there is a big party involved (a little like a Bar Mitzvah) usually involving gifts and money adding up to about 10,000 Danish Krone or $2,000. As you can imagine most kids go for the money.  So back to Bible study. Having a safe place for these kids to leave campus and talk or ask questions is really important otherwise they will be sucked into the void that is Danish teenagers' spirituality.

A few student missionaries and myself have also decided to redecorate one of the common areas of the school. It's called the Pigernesdagligstue (The girls living room).  If you saw it, you wouldn't want to live there, much less just sit down for a movie.  It is very old, dirty, the sofas are falling apart, the walls look like a finger painting board at a preschool. Its extremely unattractive. So we have petitioned the school for some money to fix it up.  A motivator behind this renovation is something called Lighthouse.  This is an idea that I came up with for a place for kids to just come and talk about things.  Whatever is on their minds its talking to people their age aka student missionaries.  Whether it's friends, boy/girlfriends, sex, drugs, religion, school. Anything they want to talk about we are there to share any knowledge/ideas we may have to help them navigate their issues.  We make sure that there are no teachers or deans there so they can honestly open up about whatever they want to say. We have tried it a few times without too much of a turn out, but we are putting it on hold right now until we can get the dagligstue looking better.

Also, my parents are coming!!! As I write they are over the Atlantic. They are coming here for Christmas and we will go to København for Christmas then down to Berlin for the week before Nytår (New Years). I'm excited to have them here and show them around all the great places in Denmark.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving.

Well today is Thanksgiving.  Although this will be a very different Thanksgiving for me, since it is the first time I have been away from home or family, I have a family of a different kind this year.  One of the teachers here is American. So every year she invites the American student missionaries to her home for dinner.  And our boss, Flemming, is understanding of its importance so he gives the American's the night off (as long as we find someone to cover for us...).
This year I am so thankful that I have been plunged into the lives of these kids.  They have redefined mission work for me. I am thankful that I have the opportunity to come over here and share God's love with them.  I am thankful I have connected with the other missionaries so that we are our own family, especially during the holidays. I'm thankful that I have the opportunity to travel a little bit and see the rest of this amazing world that has been created just for us. And I'm thankful that I can feel the love from home in various packages and letters.
Last night we had Thanksgiving number one.  We decided that we were going to have a Thanksgiving dinner for the high school boys.  On Tuesday I spent about 6 hours planning out what we were going to make and how I was going to pull off enough turkey for 40 people...having never made turkey before in my life.  I figured out all the recipes and finally went to bed Tuesday night.  Wednesday morning I woke up at 9 and started the three 12lb. turkeys.  Now even though the school is ok with kids eating meat. They won't allow us to prepare it in the main kitchen, for understandable reasons.  So I had to use the teaching kitchen upstairs. But of course since this was a school day, that kitchen was being used.  So we had to defrost them in three different sinks of three different kitchens in two different buildings. So every 30 minutes I was running around changing the water on these turkeys.  At 1:30 we were allowed into the main kitchen to start our other dishes. At 2:15 the classes were finally done in the school kitchen. So I went up stuffed, seasoned and prepared the turkeys for roasting.  Dinner was at 6:00 and I lost all my missionary kitchen staff at 5:00 do to required chores they have to oversee every day here at school.  So I was running around like a headless chic...um...turkey trying to get everything done.  At a quarter to 6 the turkeys were done. And so was everything else, but in two different kitchens. So I was running back and for between the two, mashing potatoes, dishing out green beans, getting the rolls warmed, serving the vegetarian stuffing, and carving a turkey.  Luckily one of the other Danish missionaries who has at least carved a roast chicken came in to relieve me with that part...his half looked carved, my half looked murdered.  So I let him do the other two.  We served dinner to and desert to the guys a little late but it all came together wonderfully and they seemed to really appreciate being about to share in a big tradition of America.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Pictures

Some of you have had a problem getting to my pictures so this is what I have done. Some are here, and the rest are on another website called flickr.  Click here to see more pictures.