Øyarock

Last weekend there was another huge event at Hundvåg fritidsklubb. This is Cristina's club and it is on one of the islands. Means it belongs to Stavanger, but you have to cross two bridges across the fjord and two other islands before you arrive there. At least you don't have to take the ferry. Hundvåg is a district just like Tasta or Sunde, but the event was for the while town: Øyarock.

This is one of the biggest festivals for youngsters run by Ungdom og Fritid. Eight bands (including two from Tasta) played at the festival and all four of us worked as volunteers. Pavel helped with light and sound, Vincent visited the concert together with the youngsters from his youth club and Cristina, Elena and me were responsible for the kitchen.

We arrived at two o'clock and started immediately with cooking. The food for the bands and for selling had to be done until five. So 20 artists, the crew and approximately 150 guests had to fed. We made taco-, two noodle-, and couscous salad, hamburgers and veggie burgers, baked potatoes and bread. Three people, music, high motivation and high efficiency :D It was so much fun, I do not know if they could have given me any better task. Hard work, but great. When the concert started, we took turns in selling food and filming/ taking pictures of the concert. The bands played until 22:00, but afterwards we had to tidy up and put all the equipment (including light/ sound consoles, curtains and the whole stage)  back into trucks outside. So we worked until have past eleven. It was very intense, but the whole festival was such a huge success that we still managed to celebrate a bit afterwards.
The bands were really good, the audience happy and the food sold ;)

Spring vibes

Hey!

Okay, spring has come. Definitely. Not that anything would be green or the flowers in blossoms, but the weather is great. The sun was shining during the whole weekend, the wind was almost gone and somehow this city awakens from a long deep hibernation. At least 15 degrees on Sunday, biking tours and playing volleyball feels like spring. Or as the Norwegians would say: Summer has come: p

It started on Friday when there was a concert at Tasta Bydelshus of one of the bands, who rehearse there every other day: Novac. They play together with another young band from Bekafaret, the club where Pavel works. The concert was very nice and we had many new teenagers at the club, but still it felt more like another rehearsal for the big festival next week. It is called Øyarock and takes place at Hundvåg, Cristina`s workplace. Bands from all over Stavanger are going to play and we will work the whole day there, helping with the stage, in the kitchen (I have the glorious task to make vegetarian meals) and just try to create a nice event. It is usually pretty fun every year even though it is tough work and a long day. We are still looking forward to it.

During the breaks of the concert, the teenagers could go outside because it was still so warm and mild that suddenly a whole new atmosphere came up J After the concert Cristina and me went to the Motorpsycho concert at Folken, but went home afterwards because the next day the big cleaning called “vårdugnad” was waiting for us. All the volunteers working there were invited to help tidying the whole place up, clean it, throw out all the old things and afterwards eat pizza together. It was great!

The event started at 12 and when we arrived (by bike), we first helped working outside because of the beautiful weather. Then we cleaned the office of our group (SMF) and discovered a bunch of new secret rooms at Folken. Like the attic. We had two containers outside and one inside to fill with stuff we do not need anymore and I can tell you it was a lot! Totally worth it. Now Folken is a beautiful shiny place again J For metal standards of course.

After a long hard day of work, we finally ate our pizza in the evening and then headed to a birthday party of a friend.

On Sunday, we stayed almost the whole day outside because it was so warm and sunny. We jumped on the trampoline, drank tea and ate food in the garden, played football, read books or just relaxed in the sunshine. Around six o’clock we went to the Vaulen beaches to play Volleyball together with the Spanish guys. It is a beautiful place near the city center of Stavanger from where you have a view both over the fjord to the mountains on the other side and over the city along the coast. Such a nice way to end the weekend.

 

Easter activities

So, Easter has come and we were super busy doing way too many things. Or not. Depends on how you want to see it.
Vincent went on his second road trip to Sweden and Denmark while Cristina was going to Spain to visit her family and after going to London celebrating her birthday. Pavel and me stayed in Stavanger with a whole week of holidays ahead. But even though most people were on vacation, we still had some activities going on. The first event was the Easter workshop for children on the first Sunday of the Easter break. Whoever came to the weekly Sunday café could join and make some paper eggs with glue and scissors. Both Cristina and Pavel joined with helping the children, so all in all it was a huge success.

But after Cristina had left, we had a rather quiet Monday including cooking with our friend Elena, an hour of excessive work out (it was not...just a bit hard for us) and relaxation. On Tuesday one of our most interesting activities of the year began: The first project of the organization "Open Hands for You", which consists of four or five volunteers, who want to organize events for and with refugees as voluntary integration work. They got in contact with the Frivilligsentral, where Jeanette and I work, quite early and since I was very interested in joining them, we planned the activities together. The Tuesday evening was a movie night for refugees between 18 and 25, all men. We rented Gausel Bydelshus, because it is close to the Stavanger refugee camp, where approximately 700 refugees live. After preparing everything around 55 people came and not only watched the movie, but also played games, ate popcorn and helped cleaning afterwards. They were really nice and you could talk to most of them in English or even Norwegian. They told us about their ways to Norway, the life at the "Asylmottak" and that there are not a lot of activities for them here in Stavanger. So we were very glad to have this shared evening while Aline, the head of Open Hand for You, was already planning the next event for this group.

But first we had another event on Saturday. We went to the Asylmottak, where we had a room for group activities on our own and started a similiar Easter workshop to the one on Sunday for children and their parents. Again they painted the eggs and put them up on the wall while the mothers made waffles for eating them later in the big entrance hall. It was a very big and lively event with way too many children running around and hopefully having fun ;)

Fur us it was great to see that you do not need a lot to do workshops and motivate other people doing activities. Sometimes it just helps to feel as a group and create a nice atmosphere. After this great week full of events we really deserved some days of holiday including hiking, doing nothing and for me also a few days in Germany. Now we have returned home and the last person to come back is Cristina tonight. Then we can say "Hi" to spring in Norway :)

The Midterm Seminar

As promised here comes an entry about the seminar we had in Oslo:
After Balestrand it was the second seminar we attended together with 40 other volunteers who have their EVS projects in Norway. While the main topic in Balestrand was to get to know each other, the Norwegian culture and create a feeling of being welcome, Oslo was all about reflecting about the time that has passed here, about the projects, work and our free time.
It started last Wednesday and we four went to the airport at seven, very tired after definitely not enough sleep. But when we arrived our flight was mentioned nowhere and when we asked for help the lady at the information desk told us that our flight was cancelled a few weeks ago and they re-booked it on the flight at eight, which we just had missed. Nobody had told us about that so we had to wait until the next flight at eleven and were late when we finally arrived at the youth hostel in Oslo.
But everybody was very welcoming and we were so happy to see the other volunteers again after such a long time. The German girls I spent New Years with were there, too.
The Wednseday program was all about introduction of some new volunteers who did not attend the seminar in Balestrand and socializing. There were some group tasks about taking pictures in the surrounding area, some first minor reflections about our projects and a human bingo in order to get to know each other better. In the evening we played games and talked about all the things we experienced here. On Thursday the group was separated into two smaller ones. The first group (in which I was) went on a sightseeing trip through Oslo and the other one stayed at the hostel in order to reflect about the EVS in depth. We were in the sightseeing group.
So the next morning started with a trip to the parliament in the city centre. And it was great! Not only to see the parliament, which is called "Stortinget", but also to be in a bigger city again. With trains and a tram and big houses. We did not really miss it in Stavanger, but we really appreciated this atmosphere even though Oslo is not really a huge capital.

After a guided tour through the parliament we visited the Nobel peace prize center, which has a very interesting exhibition about the current winner, the history of the prize and also one recent exhibition about how soldiers are trained to kill people. It was both inspiring and frightening. at one o clock we had a big lunch at Peppe's Pizza and continued to our third destination: The Folkemuseet. At that outdoor museum they show a lot of old buildings from the middle ages and how people used to live in Norway in previous times.

In the evening we had a very fancy dinner at a fish restaurant at the harbor.
Friday we spent with reflection sessions about our projects in Norway, what is good and what not, our daily life and how we can change certain things. It was very enriching to hear so many inspiring and interesting things from the other volunteers. In the end we all had the feeling to have learning a lot and were very sad that we had to say goodbye to each other.

But even though the seminar was over, our time in Oslo was not. We stayed at Haraldsheimen (the hostel) until Saturday, from where we then moved to other volunteers' houses in the city. We visited the student district, the alternative markets and the best of all: The opera. We got student prices for the tickets and got to see "La Traviata", an opera I knew from before and which made us all cry in the end. Such a wonderful experience!

Sunday we had to say goodbye to Pavel, Cristina and Vincent, because they went back to Stavanger while the German girls and me were heading to Narvik on Monday morning. Narvik is a place far in the north close to the Lofoten islands, where four other volunteers live. But they went to Iceland, so we were allowed to live in their house, which is called "The Blue House" (it is blue - obviously) together with their flatmates, who provided us with blankets and pillows and let us sleep on the couches in the living room. Very very nice of them! Most them are former EVS volunteers as well, so we had a great feeling of comfort. The north of Norway is not only a great place to visit when it comes to watching the Northern lights or enjoying the nature, but also a very live place.
We watched the Northerln lights at night at the Fjord and it was fantastic! I've never seen anything like this before. Suddenly the sky starts dancing above you and you are overwhelmed by the beauty of the green lights. I cannot wait to experience this again!
Other than that we went on great hikes in the snowy mountains, walked through the small city of Narvik and spent the evenings knitting and chatting around the fireplace. What a cozy holiday!
But time passes fast when you have fun and on Thursday we flew back to Oslo, where we took our seperated planes to Bergem, Haugesund and Stavanger.
But we will see each other again soon!

Thank you for this amazing time!

Daily adventures

Hi!

It's been a while since we have posted the last entry. January is over and February started just like a normal February would start: Grey sky, cold, rain. We have had a lot of storms lately and all the snow has now turned into water flooding the field in front of our house and the rest of Stavanger, too.
But we are fine with it, because the busy atmosphere of this time caught us all. There are a lot of projects coming soon, in two weeks we're going to host UKM, the talent contest of Stavanger, Vincent is preparing his Parcour workshop and at Tasta we now have Bingo nights.
A few weeks ago Pavel and I joined the choir of Stavanger University, which is quite funny so far. But they all speak Norwegian (of course), so the challenge is on! Most important is certainly the upcoming Midterm seminar in two days!
Wednesday we are going to go to Oslo and stay there until Sunday - meeting all the other volunteers again and hopefully having a wonderful time. We cannot believe that time went by so fast! It is not really the midterm seminar for us since we are staying here for another 7 months, but most of the other projects end in June or July. Therefore we are all looking forward to seeing the other volunteers again - maybe some of them for the last time. After the seminar I'm gonna go to Narvik, a city far in the north of Norway, where the other German volunteers and me will try to experience the real Norwegain winter and maybe maybe maybe see some Northern Lights.
There will be a lot to tell afterwards! Other than that there is not much new here. Folken is back again and we finally know how to spend our weekends again (just kidding - usually there are more than enough parties or camping trips or Sushi Nights or whatever going on here- sometimes you just want to stay home all alone by yourself). But the outside life shrinks on running from somewhere to the bussstop or the other way around, because you really want to spend as few time as possible in the rain.
The nature is still beautiful, but as for now, you'll need a life west to experience it.

Next update after the seminar :)

Godt nytt år!

Back again!

After three of us went home for Christmas and only Vincent stayed in Stavanger (but don't worry - his mother visited him, so he was not alone) the house is now full again. Well, almost.
At least one has returned and now the French guy and the German girl are patiently waiting for the others to come back and revive the house with joy and liveliness. After 17 degrees in Germany (I know - climate change is crazy) and something like Christmas-in-New Zealand-mood, it was almost a shock to return and find Stavanger in deep winter: -2 degrees and frozen puddles everywhere! But very sunny and a clear sky! I am happy wear my skiing jacket anyways.
Actually I did not return to Stavanger immediately. The first stop was Bergen. There I celebrated New Year's together with other volunteers from Voss, Aksdal and Bergen. It was great! Although we had almost no daylight and forgot to buy enough food, we had a fantastic time and watched the big fireworks in town. Very nice way to begin the new year.

 And when we had to say goodbye, we all were a bit sad, looking forward to seeing each other again in February at the midterm seminar in Oslo. I took the bus from Bergen to Stavanger, so I was able to see a fantastic landscape and the sun again. Also because the flight from Germany to Bergen was a catastrophe - a huge storm caused serious troubles, turbulence and the closing of Bergen airport right after our plane landed... Not the best day to travel.
The bus trip back to Stavanger was definitely more relaxed. Vincent and I had a lot to tell each other and of course we went to town in the evening to meet all the other people and catch up with what had happened during the Christmas break. On Monday our daily routine started again and we had our first days of work. And all our Coworkers seem to be in a very positive New Year's mood. Actually, it is way easier to start working that way:)
And the cold is slowly getting more intense: -6  degrees today and hopefully snow at the weekend! Just perfect for welcoming the others back home. All the lakes here are frozen now, the seagulls do not know where to take a bath anymore and we are waiting for polar bears to invade Stavanger.
Well, actually the temperatures are pretty normal for winters in Europe, are they not? And we were told that the temperatures are much lower in internal Norway. Or in the north, where they are currently having the eternal night.

So Vincent and I are glad to live in "the South", where we get at least the glimmering shine of the winter sun sometimes. Vincent even took a bath in the fjord on New Year's day! Together with some other crazy people he jumped into the ice cold water and did not even get sick. I am deeply impressed. It is crazy by the way how early school starts again here. They do not even have a holiday on the sixth of January. So for us the work
begins early, too. But unfortunately a lot of other institutions are still closed. This is the case with Folken and we already miss the Folken crowd. It is great to hang out with them, but at least most students are already back in Stavanger and soon Folken will open its doors again! And the language course is starting again... Good, because it is true: Our bosses and coworkers started talking in Norwegian :O
Much to learn, much to come in 2016! :)

December mood

Almost Christmas! We can hardly believe that three of us are about to leave this weekend! And when we return, one third of our time here will be over… But until then we will enjoy our life here;) Like we are doing now. The weather differs between warm, windy and rainy, but that cannot stop our Christmas mood. In the beginning of December we made an advent wreath on our own, took the Christmas decoration out of the basement and lit the first candle. And we are not the only ones. Especially in the center of our beautiful small city of Stavanger there are lovingly attached decorations. Stavanger does not really have Christmas markets as we might know them from Germany, but we do have a big Christmas tree in front of H&M. And you can here all the kitschy songs in the stores. Yey! 

We even went to the Christmas market in Egersund on Saturday, which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful markets in Norway, but to be honest: It was a bit disappointing. Not very big, crowded, ugly and not very nice things to buy. But maybe I am used to the German markets...

December also means a lot of work: Most of us have Christmas parties, concerts or workshops in the youth clubs, which means many extra hours of work for us. At Byhaugkaféen there is a Christmas workshop for primary school children. So Jeanette and I help them preparing some nice paper craft decorations for home. Quite exhausting, but really fun!

We also had the Julebord (Christmas party) of Ungdom og Fritid, our organization, last Wednesday. First a big dinner at Cradinal, a bar in the center, and then watching a play at the theatre: Femti flotte år med Frode Kommedal – in Norwegian of course. In the beginning it was very hard to understand – especially because of the dialect, but after some time we got most of what the actors said. And it was a good play, indeed! When it comes to theatre the culture in Stavanger is impressive. You cannot really say that about the opera, which does more like not exist here. Proud we made it, we returned to Cardinal after and spent there the rest of the night. The other Julebord we attended was the one of Folken. 150 people, music, speeches, Karaoke and a very long night full of joy was one of the highlights here so far!

To summarize you can say that we are having a very nice pre-Christmas time. It will be strange to return to our parents and friends for a while now and even more strange to come back afterwards. We are shocked, that the midterm seminar in Oslo will take place in February! So soon after our return here. But he have time J

Merry Christmas to all of you!

December light at Hålandsvatn, the lake close to our house