leaving Skien---leaving Norway.

It's been a pretty sweet last couple of weeks here in Skien. I must say I have not had much time to reflect on what has been happening to me...but I do believe that the finish I SO wanted to go WELL....has gone well. I left Skien yesterday morning. I don't know when I will go back there anytime soon. It was a bit strange and sad at the same time. I tried to muscle up some emotion as I left the office building, but since I never really loved being in the office.....no tears came. But as I said goodbye one by one to the people I have been spending all my time with here...I noticed how I was feeling......sort of speechless. How can I sum up a year? How can I say to my friends all they have meant to me?

The Wellspring's last group photo. Bye girls, I love you!!
Thank you Frøydis for letting me use the Methodist Church to play piano and just be. You are a great friend and I will miss you alot!
How can I even know what they have meant for me when I am not sure yet...because of not being able to reflect. I started to cry when I hugged Hild Mari. She has been a great friend this year and I will truly miss her talks. She would let me ask her any question I ever would want to ask. I mean....really....any question!! :) Remember Lyndee and Kristin?? But as I packed up my bedroom and walked my stuff to the base before our morning train I just wondered...hmmm what has God done here in Skien? I know it has been quite a lot. I know that it has been significant that is for sure. I don't think I know yet. I am okay with that.

Mom, Dad, & Christa came on Wednesday and were as you can see very excited to get to Skien.

And we were very excited to leave Skien. Bye Bye!!!

Yesterday the train stopped in Ål and we got out to meet my mom's cousin Patty running towards us on the train platform. She was the most excited person I have seen yet in Norway. I suppose it has something to do with the fact that she is part Dutch and she is not from Norway originally. We stayed with Patty and her daughter Julianne up in her lovely home on the side of the mountain. We ate Norwegian meatballs and drank boxed wine and Hollingdal's beer! I mean this was a party!! ha. It was relaxing and that is what I have needed for so long. Just a relaxed night. We went to a little town gathering they were having which included showing lots of farm equipment, selling waffles, and listening to various music groups. We saw some Norwegians dance the Hollingsdanse....the regional dance of Hollingdal in which a Norwegian boy kicks a hat off a stick that is held up high in the air. All the while I froze and demanded to stay in the sunlight or I should surely turn into an icicle. Will is wondering if I have actually stayed in Norway longer than what was good for me....now I have very poor circulation and body temperature regulation. hmm.


This is Will with all of HIS luggage! Gosh....
Ok...that was a lie (he was afraid that people would think it was all of his--it's not)

So we hurried down the hill this morning to the train station where we threw all of our things onboard and rode from Ål to Bergen. It was about a 5 hour train ride over the most beautiful scenery sights in Norway. We are lucky! I like to think that the best thing about this trip is that after every place we visit the luggage slowly gets smaller and smaller. This is for a number of reasons. One, I am trying to lighten the load by getting rid of things along the way.
Here I am on the train--throwing away my nasty 'indoor/outdoor socks' (thanks to everyone who encouraged me to do so) and some other items that I just 'left' on the train. I also got rid of the shirt I was wearing later that day.

Here we are unpacking everything and sifting it through the 'Will Strickland Save it or Lose it' Test. I got rid of a 7th round of clothes and things. I know I have to get survival clothes when I come to the states again. And I still have a LOT of luggage waiting for me to pack into our stuff already in Hamar (thank you Anne Randi). Reason two, mom and dad are giving gifts to everyone they have been planning to stay with. Reason three, someone could potentially lose a bag because there are like 10 now...and what is one less, really?
So some advice to you who are really planning on traveling to Europe and through this place....pack light. There is no need to pack a new outfit for everyday. There are things that can work out much better when the load is light and you can just enjoy the surroundings.

Now we are in Bergen with Ragnhild and her family. The train ride was beautiful. Unfortunately mom dropped the video camera and it is now unusable. It is a sad situation. I think that we have enough video taking machines with us that it really might not matter. The Ferstad family is so great. Tonight we ate reindeer stew and then had homemade apple cake. I think our time here in Bergen will be wonderful. Tomorrow we will drive down to the sea and have a picnic on an island. In the evening we will say goodbye to Will as he will go to Ålesund two days before us. Tuesday we might hike up a mountain and Wednesday we will head out to the city center for a tourist visit. This will be the hard part of the trip....well at least one more. I have to say goodbye to my roommates Helina and Ragnhild. That is not fun. I love them so much and will miss them terribly! oi.

i read today in Psalms about boys growing like plants and girls being like pillars of the temple. I like that. I thought that boys would be the strong ones....but in this moment I realized that boys think they are supposed to be strong so they don't grow in thier hearts....in turn not doing what God intends. Girls are supposed to be strong and build the house (so to speak)....and not grow? well.....ok....I am still just pondering it. I don't think it was a specific role here being defined...I just think it was an invitation for a broader perspective of a role in our walk with God. Any other ideas?

Tonight we will go to the Old Town Bergen. You know that silly sun just stays up so long that we don't go to bed until like 1:00am. Just wait until the North of norway.....the sun never goes down! amazing!!!

adios!