A Week in Norway!! July 24-28th 2007....

So I went to Porsgrunn Norway for a week with friends from Stockholm for a week long LDS Conference called Fest I Nord (Party in the Norty). It was about a 9 hour bus ride from Stockholm over.... but we had a few mishaps along the way....


He I am with what remains of one of the tires on our bus... I was trying to sleep when I heard a loud explosion right outside my window... I looked out just in time to see parts of tire go flying all over the street.....



So we had to wait for about an hour and a half in the middle of nowhere for a towtruck to come and lift the bus to change the tire. We must have rented the crappiest bus in all of Sweden....after we fixed the tire, the fender above the tire kept flying up like a wing and all the cars passing us were pointing and staring.. but after a bit of tape and some straps it was good as new I guess..haha...



Here are a bunch of us waiting for the tire to be changed.....



Here we are in the back of the bus after finally fixing the problems... All in all the ride went pretty well. We watched movies and hung out..It was good to see so many people that I hadn't seen in ages... Plus it was a beautiful drive. The mountains in Norway are beautiful... Every time I have been to Norway it seems like the mountains start the moment you cross the border...



So Fest I Nord has people that come from all over.. Mostly from Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. Some from Iceland too... and of course the occasional American like myself.. They usually rent out a school and have seminars and classes and sporting events all week.. Then there are dances every night.. The one downside is sleeping on the floor in some empty elementary school class room... Here is a picture of Johnnie, Maxemillian and Joel in our room...



Plus sometimes the food can be questionable... for the most part it was good.. but just a bit too much cafeteria style....



He I am in the photography class.. We learned a bit about digital photography, and then went to take photos of all the activities that were happening...



Here are my friends Mia Carin and Matilda in the photography class....



Here is a picture of the figure drawing class. They wanted me to model for them but I had to turn them down.. :P The guy they are drawing now is from Iceland..There were about 13 people from Iceland. They performed and amazing song for everyone in Icelandic... yes, Iceland is on my list of places to visit....



There was a soccer tournament between teams from the various areas and countries. here is a match between Finland (in blue) and I think Norway?.. The final came down to teams from Norway and Denmark.. so we didn't watch it...well that and it was raining when they played the final...




They also had a pretty mean volleyball tournament... the games lasted all day... I am not sure who the winner was there.. It was just mixed teams with people from all over...



My good friend Louise taking a break from Volleyball.......



There was a really great tennis hall there as well... Here is Richard after killing Johnnie in Tennis for about the 5th match.....



One of the days we took off to swim.... it was a perfect warm day. The water here is salt water even though we are quite far inland.. there are so many long inlets and fjords in Norway...



They had towers to hop from.. It sure looks a lot higher once you get up there....



Richard, Louise and Sophia at the swimming beach.. but it wasn't much of a beach.. mostly smooth rocks down to the water..with piers and towers to jump from...



Dances every night...good times if I do say so myself....



Richard and Johanna dancing at a slightly more dressy dance..... (According to Richard... Yellow Pants = Dressy).....



Cherina, Emma and Hanna at the semi-casual......



Here's trouble... Maz, Rickard and Johnnie.....all freinds from Stockholm...



More Trouble... Micke, Johnnie and Max....



Even more... Here we are heading to a dance... the guy with the tatoos is from Utah.. He actually comes from American Fork and we went to the same high school. I'm not sure how he ended up here in Norway... (left to right Rickard, Micke, Casey, Joel, me and Johnnie...)



Just out taking a break from a dance and enjoying the late Norwegian sun......



Everyone getting ready for the Ball on the last night....



They bussed us over to a different local for the Ball... Here are a bunch of us guys waiting for the girls to arrive.....



They are setting up the last preparations for the banquet before the ball......It was pretty amazing really.. great food, then they had a whole evening of entertainment and performances.. Then it went on into the night with live music and a dancing....



Hanging out with Martin before the ball... I met him about 10 years ago when I first came to Sweden. He is about to head out on a mission to Greece for two years...



Date to the ball.. Matilda and I just hanging out after the dinner....



Martin and his date Therese from Norway....



Everybody's dancin'....



My friend Marit (from Finland) and I saying goodbye on the last day...One of the best things about coming is seeing friends you haven't seen forever and of course making new ones...



Matilda and I on the last day....



Rickard and Sophia.....



Helle and Martin on the last day....



Rickard and Mia Carin on the last day... I have no Idea what they are doing... you tell me



Parting Shot: Even the crosswalk signs in Norway have style.. Check out that Hat! :)