#fhsliv

[skywatch3rs]

A jumbo post to wrap up what a normal week looks like as a student musher at a folk high school in Arctic Norway!

Friday 22.1.21 – Saturday 23.1.21

Friday is always a half day; because we have class on 2 out of every 3 Saturday mornings, we get Friday afternoon off. After the normal morning routine, we have another valfag (elective), which for me is Sami fabric crafts. Last semester we made a Luhkka, a Sami hooded cape made out of felted wool, which was incredibly fun. I hadn’t used a sewing machine in over a decade, and at every single stage of making my luhkka something went wrong and I had to do it over again, but that only made the finished product even more satisfying to wear!

I'm unlikely to find a career in either modelling or fashion design but I was wildly happy to have made a wearable garment!

This semester we’re going to be making a leather coffee bag, which I am planning to keep dog treats in, rather than coffee. The materials haven’t arrived yet, however, so today we all bring our various knitting projects, and I also darn a couple of holes in one of my wool tshirts– an occupational hazard of working with dogs is that wool is quite vulnerable to their claws! Spending time in the sewing room reminds me of hanging out in the art classroom all the time in high school, with people working on different projects and a warm, kind teacher available to help with anything, so Friday mornings are one of my favourite times of the week.

After lunch, we have a whole school meeting, where today we are electing the new student council president. Each dormitory has a student representative, one of whom will be president. We vote, then discuss some issues that haven’t been resolved from last semester, and then we’re done for the day, and, in fact, the week.

This weekend is one of our free ones, so with no class in the morning, some of my friends from the dog line and I are heading up to the school’s cabin at Ropelv for the night. We always have the opportunity to go to town on Friday afternoons for a couple of hours to shop or run errands, and Ropelv happens to be about 45 minutes north of Kirkenes, our nearest town, which itself is 30 minutes north of the school, at the coast. 10 of us load our backpacks into one of the minibuses, and head into town to collect and send various packages, and pick up snacks before our ‘hyttetur’ (cabin trip).

Warming up plates for our pizza in front of our best friend at Ropelv, the wood stove.

It is -15ºC outside, and the cabin at Ropelv is heated with just one wood stove, so it takes at least an hour for it to get warm enough for us to take our coats off once we’re inside– I climb inside my sleeping bag on the sofa to stay warm. We have running water here, which is a luxury, but it’s cold water only, and there’s also no phone signal, so it’s a really nice break from the “real world”. This trip is part a belated celebration of Amila’s birthday and part “yay we’re all back together after Christmas break and quarantine”, so once we warm up, we get into cosy clothes and start making the pizzas we’re going to have for dinner. There is a sauna at the cabin, but we don’t have enough wood to use it and keep the cabin warm enough overnight, so instead we play Politisk Ukortekt (basically Norwegian Cards Against Humanity), knit, eat pic’n’mix, and chat about everything and anything (but especially an in-depth discussion about Norwegian dialects). The last time I played PU was about 3 weeks into the school year, so it’s incredibly satisfying to actually be able to understand the game without google translating everything this time! Eventually we traipse off to bed around midnight, ready for a lie in the next morning.

Saturday rolls around, and we have a slow start with our breakfasts and coffee. One of the teachers is going to come and pick us up at 2pm so we can get back to school in time for dinner at 3, and we need to pack and clean, but since we’ve only been here one night there isn’t a lot to do. A few of us decide to go for a short walk up to a nearby viewpoint and try aking– basically tobogganing, but using large plastic bin bags, since we don’t have a togobban here at the cabin. Unfortunately there isn’t really enough ice on the roads, and there’s too much snow on the fields for it to work, but I get some hilarious videos of my friends trying to scoot down the road on their butts, sitting on a bin bag.

We tried some different aking techniques, but there just wasn't enough ice!

Emma, Martine and I head up to the viewpoint, and as soon as we get off the trail, we realise we made a mistake: while it was a relatively mild -14ºC on the shelter of the road, the winds from Storm Frank mean there’s powder snow up to our knees, and the wind chill drops the temperature down to a frigid -27ºC. We so did not dress for this. Nevertheless, we drag ourselves up to the top, and the view is absolutely worth it, though if we were more than 20 minutes from a warm cabin it would have been a dangerous idea to let our hands and faces get this cold. Frostbite and hypothermia are no joke!

My 'I have to take a photo before Storm Frank freezes my ears off' face.

We clean up the cabin and drive back to school, and after dinner I decide to postpone the shower I am looking forward to, in order to go skiing again. It’s still windy and actively snowing, but I want to get in some more practice before our trip next week, so I put in my headphones with some pump up music, and head out. I’m still going around just the short 1.2km loop behind school, but for the first time I manage to get around without falling at all! I remember that listening to music helped when I was learning to ice skate, and I’m relieved to find that it still helps me find a rhythm with skiing 15 years later. The hot shower is even better and more satisfying knowing I’ve earned it by going out and doing cardio (shudder) in rubbish weather, so I absolutely revel in it. The rest of the afternoon and evening consists of more good food (Saturday supper is always something delicious) and watching a movie in the common room with friends, before heading to bed.

[brammariekart]

my contributions for the  #svettformenneskerett campaign that my school is running. couldn't decide which colors i liked the best, so i kept both

[kadaryanto97]

Semiotika untuk Teater, Tari, Film dan Wayang Purwa Penulis : Dr. Nur Sahid M.Hum Penerbit : Pustaka Pelajar ISBN : 978-623-2360-00-6 Halaman : viii + 192 hlm Ukuran : 15 x 23 cm Tahun : 2019 Original Harga Rp50.000 diskon 30% Rp35.000 Sinopsis Pertunjukan teater, tari, wayang purwa, film, dalam konteks semiotika adalah hamparan tanda-tanda, sehingga teks yang hadir dalam beberapa kesenian itu merupakan sekumpulan utuh tanda-tanda. Tubuh aktor, penari, boneka wayang merupakan tempat paling sentral dalam menciptakan sistem tanda, sebab terdapat 8 sistem sekaligus yang melekat pada diri aktor, yakni sistem tanda kata, mimik, make-up, tata rambut, dan kostum. Lima sistem tanda lainya ada di luar aktor, yakni sistem tanda setting, tata cahaya, musik, bunyi, dan prop (Tadeuz Kawzan). #teater #art #teaterindonesia #seni #theatre #drama #film #gskole #folkeh #sastra #theater #indonesia #music #budaya #puisi #musik #seniman #semiotika #fhsliv #kudus #harstadfolkeh #gskolelivet #harstadfhs #teaterlinjaharstadfhs #fasbuk #actor #instagram #tari #aktor #indostar_bookstore https://www.instagram.com/p/CABP9HChfuw/?igshid=1pjmp9v92cfg4

[kennysound]

Ten Sing Norway 17/18!!! 😍 This is gonna be amazing 😍😍 #tensingnorway #fhsliv #rønningenfhs (at Rønningen folkehøgskole)

[brammariek]

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A post shared by Bram (@bram_mariek)

Learning uncensored shanties on Statsraad Lehmkuhl #asanefhs #fhsliv

[magioghvitetekopper]

En liten og en stor 🦄 #fjordanefhs #fhsliv

[saraeggan-blog]

// Kamilla

Sogndal, 2017

[alidajustlife]

#NewYork var ganske ålreit #musikalnhfhs #nordhordlandfhs #nhfhs #fhsliv #BrooklynBridge #TheManhattanatTimesSquareHotel #FlatironBuilding #CentralPark #911Memorial #Juilliard #PhantomoftheOpera #Broadway (ved New York, New York)

[emilhagen]

School trip to a Winter wonderland 

[sma97]

Døgner da ☺☺😴😴😴😴😴😴#fhsliv #rønningenfhs (ved Rønningen folkehøgskole)

[skywatch3rs]

A Sunday mushing adventure

One of the first questions I got from friends about being at a folkehøgskole was what we do on a day off. Often I'll take the opportunity to sleep in; living with a chronic illness means I need to make the most of the time I can rest. However, sometimes I use a free day to go on an adventure!

*** Sunday 17.1.21 – Sledding with Mailin

Sunday is always a free day, so we get to do whatever we want! Normally I have a long lie in, but one of my friends isn’t feeling well, so I’m taking his feeding shift today, so I’m up at 9 to get dressed and head to the dog yard. It’s a balmy -4ºC today, so I’m just wearing one layer of wool underwear under my thick hiking pants and wool sweater, snow boots, hat and gloves. Now that it’s too cold to leave water in the bowls all day, we feed the dogs a soup in the morning to make sure they stay hydrated enough; equal amounts of meat and kibble, mixed in with lots of warm water and left to soak for about 15 minutes while we scoop poop. Tequila and Tibia both pick the kibble out of their soup and then tip their bowls over, and spend the rest of the morning licking at the snow where the meat water spilled over (weirdos). Ami doesn’t like her soup, but happily chews on a ‘meatsicle’– the disk of now-frozen soup that was accidentally left in her bowl overnight.

After plenty of cuddles, the three of us who fed today head back to our dorms to change out of our “dog clothes” before breakfast. I realise this is possibly only the second time ever that I’ve been to breakfast on a Sunday! It’s 2 hours later than on a weekday, at 10am, and I am normally always either already out doing something or still asleep, depending on the weekend.

Today I’m heading over to my friend Mailin’s to run dogs with her at 11, so I change back into my dog clothes, putting on an extra layer of wool. Between the wind and the fact you’re mostly either sitting as a passenger or standing quite still on the runners, it’s always colder when you’re out mushing. For Christmas I got myself a new pair of felted wool boots and overshoes to wear when I mush, because my old snow boots weren’t warm enough for my feet– I have terrible circulation– so I’m excited to try them out for the first time! Mailin is a friend of a friend, and has become an unofficial mentor to me in the past few months. She’s a seasoned musher who lives directly across the road from the school, and most weekends and some weekday afternoons I go over to train the dogs with her. All of last semester we were using either her car or ATV because there wasn’t enough snow, so today is going to be my first sled trip with her! I’m also taking with me several bottles of coca cola and some chocolate, as a thank you for the four bags of mushing gear that no longer fits her that she gave me last week. There were some real gems in there, and I know she won’t accept any money for them, so payment in sugar it is.

Geizzi in her tshirt being used as a chin-rest by Uvja

This morning Mailin wants to take out the puppies on a run; she has 5 pups who are 10 months old now, so they can run shorter distances than the adult dogs. We harness up pups Rajapää and Sorbme along with adult dogs Geizzi, Uvja, Timo, Hulda and Lelu, and Mailin show’s me how to tie a slipknot– her way of securing the sled to a post before we start. At school we use a different system involving pulling a short, thick stick out of two interconnected loops, and I have to say I prefer the slipknot method. One of the incredibly valuable things about training with Mailin has been seeing alternative ways of doing things with the dogs, as it means I have some familiarity wider variety of techniques. Mailin trains her dogs to stay quiet while we harness them up, which means things take a little longer, as every time one of the puppies starts barking, we stop what we’re doing and wait for them to stop again before we continue. Once all the dogs have their harnesses on, we start bringing them up to the line, and that’s when the full force of excited barking is allowed to start. Even after 5 months of mushing, that sound still fills me with a rush of joy and adrenaline.

I settle myself in the sled– I’ve only driven one three times before, so I assume I’ll be a passenger today, though Mailin has said I might be able to drive in the future, which is an absolute honour, considering the standard she has for her dogs, and the trust involved. She pulls the rope to undo the slipknot, and we’re off! I always love training with her dogs, but it is vastly different being a passenger in the sled than sitting in her car with her as we trained the dogs last year. The trail out of her dog yard is bumpy and windy, including a part where we both have to lean as hard as we can to the left, to try not to tip the sled into a ditch as we go up a slope; she wanted to fill it in earlier in the season, but there hasn’t been enough snow to do so. We make it through the bend, and suddenly we are out on the frozen river which marks the border between Norway and Russia. The sun came back yesterday; it rose above the horizon for the first time since November, putting an end to ‘mørketid’ (dark time), and Mailin tells me it’s traditional to make a wish when you see the sun again for the first time. I wish I’d known that yesterday, I would have wished for more snow!

The stunning view from the sled, out on the Pasvik river

Mushing is always beautiful, but today is particularly gorgeous: the dogs running smoothly out on the frozen river, with the most spectacular sunrise/set happening in front of us. I honestly can’t believe this is my life now. Then, as if I wasn’t already feeling like the luckiest person in the world, Mailin asks me if I want to mush. I’m incredulous– she trusts me with this already?! But the trail is smooth and mostly straight, so it’s great for a relative beginner like me. I jump out of the sled, hop on the runners, and off we go again. Immediately, I’m struck by how much better my new boots are than my old ones: they’re wider, so I have more surface area to grip the runners, and thinner and more flexible in the soles, so I can feel what’s under my feet better. My toes stay toasty warm the whole four hours I’m out with Mailin, which is a record.

We mush down the river, past the house of the friend who introduced us, Anne. If I wasn’t terrified of letting go of the sled, I would have taken a picture to send to her, but I settle for just telling her later. Soon, we get to the point where we need to turn the team, which is where things get difficult. I assume Mailin will want to take over again, but she lets me keep driving. We are trying to get the dogs to turn to the left and loop around so we can go back, but our leaders, Geizzi and Uvja, are not having it. Tiny superstar Geizzi pushes Uvja over to the left when Mailin gives her ‘haw’ command, but Uvja just runs over to the next parallel trail, so I have to break, stop the team, and give the command again. We repeat this several times, until eventually Geizzi drags the team around by turning to the right– not what we wanted them to do, but at least we managed to turn the dogs finally! I then add to the slight chaos by not turning the sled fast enough– Mailin’s sled is longer than the ones we use at school– so I crash us into a tussock, and flip the sled for the first time. I’m mortified, both because I have tipped Mailin onto the ice, and because I instinctively let go of the sled when it tipped, something you should never ever do; if you’re alone and you let go, the team will just run off without you. Luckily everyone is fine, and Mailin doesn’t mind: “every musher tips the sled sometimes!”. I’m glad she is nonchalant about this, because a few kilometres later, as we head back towards her dog yard, I tip the sled again into the ditch she navigated so smoothly on the way out. Nevertheless, we make it back to the dog yard in one piece, and Mailin asks me if I want to go out again. I still have 2 hours until dinner, so obviously the answer is yes!

We unhook the dogs, take the two puppies out of their harnesses, and then harness up Roavvi and Koru. The third pup, Biekhan, and adults Toivo, Vandre and Storm had dog chiropractic sessions yesterday (yes, that is a thing!), so they aren’t going to run today, and neither is Ella, who is in heat. I wolf down a square of peanut butter flapjack and half a bottle of soda, then hop back into the sled to head back out onto the river. We take the same route out of the dog yard, and Mailin shows me up again by navigating the ditch perfectly, but she does have more than a decade of experience on me, so I don’t take it too hard. One we make it out onto the river, we turn left instead of right, taking the trail up towards where the river gets narrower, hugging the Norwegian edge of the ice. Just after the 5km turning point, Mailin lets me switch places and drive again, which results in me accidentally letting the team start before I have given them the command to; not a great habit for them to get into, but it is so beautiful out on the river that neither of us can be too annoyed. Mailin takes some pictures of me grinning like a loon while driving, and then I complete the hat trick of sled tips with a third and final plunge into that damned ditch. I really need to practice not letting go when I fall, which means I have to tip the sled more to practice, so at least today was a useful lesson in that!

For some reason, Mailin insisted on hiding under the sled bag while taking a photo of me driving the team

Back at the dog yard, we unharness the puppies, and move the adults back to their houses for a brief snack break of some tasty frozen horse meat. Mailin is going to take the adults out again for another 30km or so after she has a quick lunch, to try and get them up to about 60km today. If she was racing this year she would be doing 300km over the weekend, but with so many young dogs, and no Finnmarksløpet ambitions until 2022, a short 60km is just fine for today. After giving the dogs one last cuddle, we head into the garage for Mailin to find her old mountain skis, which I’m going to borrow for the next couple of months, since skis are so expensive to buy new, and she doesn’t use hers very often. Norwegians don’t really do politeness in the same way Brits do, so I try to reel in my instinct to offer profuse thanks, and just say one short sincere thank you instead.

Skis in hand, I walk back across the road to school, change back into normal clothes, and head to dinner. We have 4 meals a day at school: breakfast, lunch at 11:30, middag (a hot dinner) at 3pm, and kveldsmat (supper) at 7:30. I got used to it last semester, but now that I’ve been back in the UK for Christmas, it feels weird to be eating the biggest meal of the day in the middle of the afternoon. Food at school can be a bit hit and miss, but today it is finbif, one of my favourites! I have kitchen duty this week, so after dinner I head into the kitchen to help with the dishes, which takes me right back to working as a waitress. Finally I have a couple of hours of down time before I need to feed the dogs in the evening, so I re-shave my undercut, shower, call my grandma, and chill out with a book for a bit. Then it’s back to the dog yard, where we feed with just meat in the evening. It snows a little bit, which is sorely needed, as it’s been a bad winter so far. I go back to my dorm, change, head to dinner, do my kitchen duty, and collapse into bed to watch the US men’s nationals figure skating with a couple of friends before I head to sleep, ready for my first normal school day back after Christmas tomorrow!

[anettsperre]

Fjærland

#fhsliv

[fakegeekguycosplay]

Tried out the Finn wig with my old Link hat, some spiking and I think it'll do, but I gotta make a new hat for him since this one is too tight and oddly shaped.. 😂😂 . But still a great concept! 😏😏💚 . #cosplay #cosplayers #cosplaylife #cosplayer #nerd #nerdy #nerdfashion #boy #dork #dorky #geek #geeky #design #sexy #hot #model #malecosplayer #gamer #gaming #sexycosplay #cosplaying #dork #workshop #fabrics #cosplaylife #fhsliv #gaming #game #link #zelda #legendofzelda #thelegendofzelda #dying #sewing #twilightprincess #hyrule #gamer #geek #nerd @nintendo @legendofzelda (at Bergen, Hordaland) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwfAOHqDiyf/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=leexgsi4jc1g

[kennysound]

Even though i started out scared AF, we had a very nice hike down Table Mountain ⛰️ ⬆️🇿🇦 . . . . . . . . . . #capetown #tablemountain #southafrica #heights #hike #scary #fun #nature #adventure #fhsliv #tsn1718 #tsn (at Table Mountain Capetown)

[brammariek]

Going on a trip to Shetland with Statsråd Lehmkuhl, an old sailboat from 1914 and I'm honestly sitting bricks. Not overly fun of the open sea. Like I love watching documentaries about marine life and so on, but I feel a lot safer on land, or in a plane. I've had nightmares about drowning all night. Which is kinda funny ironic since I'm literally born under the sea sea level. Hopefully I won't fall overboard... #asanefhs #fhsliv

[alidajustlife]

(Love)birds on #Valentinesday ~ sometimes you just have to fall #nhfhs #nordhordlandfhs #musikalnhfhs #NewYork #newyorkpubliclibrary #fhsliv (ved New York Public Library and Bryant Park)