new thread
I don't have as much to say for this update as I normally do. I just got back from a very long trip to Svalbard, Norway, and Sweden (almost two months!) and the only reason I have for posting an update at all is because my hair-type has changed. Maybe due to the climate? It's my first day back in Minnesota, so I'm not sure if it'll stick with me while I'm here.
First, a bit of a background story. I went tandem kayaking in Svalbard on what turned out to be the windiest day of the year. 4 kayaks out of the 5 ended up being stranded on another side of the island after the wind pushed them back, but I was lucky enough to have paired up with a very stubborn resident of Svalbard, and we were the only kayak to make it back across to Longyearbyen that evening! Unfortunately, in the 8 hours of constant paddling it took to get back, we flipped into the arctic ocean twice and had to do some wet exits. By the time I was back in Longyearbyen my hair had become one solid, salty, icy dreadlock. After washing my hair (it took a few tries), it was curly. Woo. I don't think my hair has felt that awful since getting it wet in the blue lagoon in Iceland. And that made it brittle for more than two weeks!
Anyways, here's a vile picture from the first cross off of Longyearbyen. I only post it because it looks absolutely ridiculous, and it's very easy to tell just from that what state my hair was in after only two hours. I hadn't even been submerged in the water yet!
Here's an "after" kayaking picture. It took me more than 45 minutes to unfreeze it and get it out of a bun. You'll notice I had to take a "mirror-shot" with my cell phone camera..the second wet exit didn't go so well and my camera decided to take that to an extreme. At least the CF card is working great. The rifle also made it out unscathed which was weird because it was the only thing not in a waterproof bag.
After wash!
I liked how that turned out.
The next two pictures are just pictures of the length. They were taken before the time in Svalbard, so I've got no curl to show. The first one I like a lot because my hair was blowing very nicely in the wind, but I have very embarrassing posture. That was the day when I had a lot of free drinks from the Mack's Brewery in Tromsø, and I was looking towards the Cathedral that was the original intended subject of the photo (Despite the midnight sun in Tromsø, it was actually only 3pm! I did very bad that day :))
Here's one I took in Sweden that I liked. Runestones, hoorah!!! I was on my way up to Dalarna. Some asshole backed into my rental car in the lot there and left without saying or doing anything. I was the only car in the lot, and I saw the bastard drive away. A lot of scratches I had to declare.
I think that's about it. For anyone interested in how those language studies are coming along etc etc - I've agreed to an apprenticeship in a wonderful town in Norway (Utne) for an undetermined amount of time. Free board and food for as long as I'm serving there. I won't be going for several more months though..his current apprentice isn't quite ready to leave yet. I'm doing pretty well with reading Swedish, I translated a few knyppling books for me mum, otherwise I still can't speak it worth a damn.
Apologies if anything seems offbeat here. I'm not even sure if the pictures will work. I've tried staying up to a normal time, but my body still thinks it's 6am.
Have a good week and stuff!
Some excellent photos, Gylfi! Man, you look like you had an awesome time (minus the rental car episode, of course). Interesting to hear about your hair changing, but perhaps it will go back to normal soon.
Glad to learn you're doing well and that your nordic languages are coming along nicely. I hope you enjoy your internship in Norway and that the jetlag doesn't last long. =)
-James
I managed to fix the jetlag already! It was a very awesome trip, I'm pretty sad to be back home. Can't wait to hear how that trip to Portugal goes for you.
Thanks, man. October 20th... =)
Welcome back! I was wondering if you had gone on your trip. Rest assured knowing that you missed some miserable, hot, sticky weather back in Minnesota. I thought today was gorgeous (in other words, cloudy and cool).
The kayaking trip sounds like quite an adventure! I've only kayaked on calm lakes and sheltered streams. Having one's hair frozen into an icy mass does NOT sound like my cup of tea. However, the curly look is good on you. That would make an interesting hair-care routine:
Person 1: "So how do you make your hair curly?"
Person 2: "Well, I got a perm at the salon."
Person 3: "I set mine with a damp braid."
Gylfi: "I dunk my head in really cold salt water and let it freeze into a solid lump. Then I wash and viola! curly hair."
Well, I'm glad you had an awesome trip. The pictures are all great, and your hair looks as fabulous as ever.
Mouse, you fellow Minnesotan who about roasted in July.
I was keeping up with Minnesotan weather my entire stay there. Even on a great day it helped me feel better about my surroundings! Yesterday was definitely nice. The pilot announced on the airplane that it was 63 degrees in Minneapolis, and I thought "Oh god, I bet the house is on fire." because I had a harder time believing that he was speaking in Fahrenheit than I had believing that the entire city was in flames. I didn't have a single hot day while I was gone - even as south as Helsingborg and Malmö it was never above 72 (My ideal summertime temperature.) A woman told me that that was unusually cool for Malmö, though. In Svalbard I was told that the weather was unusually warm. The world was changing just for me!!! How nice of it to do so!! I didn't even have to mow the lawn when I got home because the sun killed my grass!
Believe me, I didn't like the kayak trip either. I was pretty miserable the entire trip to Longyearbyen because paddling nonstop for 8 hours defeats the point of a labor-manual ride, and it doesn't give you much time to look around! The blisters I got in my hands and knees were very raw after rubbing with all of that salt water, too. But, the satisfaction I got from making it back made it worth the time. It gave me a fun story. I'm used to kayaking streams, lakes, and whitewater. It was one of my first times using a sea kayak and maybe my last. They don't make sea kayaks big enough for me, so my knees rub against the plastic and I have to readjust my sitting position every time I use the rudder pedals, which is the only way to turn!
I think I'll enact your scenario the next time I'm asked about curls. I haven't had a wet braid this successful!
I hope you managed to stay cool for most of July. I heard we only had a quarter inch of rain to show for the whole month. I have no idea what I would have done if I were stuck there. I did get an emergency air conditioner a couple of months ago, though! Hopefully it'll work when it gets that hot.
Dear Gylfi,
Thank you very much for sharing with us your travel diary. I say its one of those rare stories where the beautiful long hair is the beautiful "leitmotif". Quite a Wagnerian landscape you encountered, yes? Beautifully musical indeed.
Looking forward to more,
Gandharva
Hey Gandharva, thank you for the reply! I don't recognize your handle, so I'll go right out and say that it's nice to see you here and you have a very admirable wave in your hair.
The landscape is very beautiful - I thought parts of Norway were even more beautiful than the best of Iceland. There is a fiddle that was invented in Norway called the Hardingfele, and one of the reasons I was in Setesdal and Hardanger was to have one built. When I drive through Hardanger and listen to the Hardingfele, one thing I'm always thinking is "wow, this sounds just like the landscape looks!" Does that count as beautifully musical??
Hello there, Gylfi! Nice to hear from you.
Oh, yes! You are indeed "listening" as one should. The marvelous thing about ethnic instruments is that they are infused with the spirit of their milieu. And you are most fortunate to be centered right there within the hardingfele's milieu. Your experiences have only deepened that true and majestic spiritual connection you describe as, "this sounds just like the landscape looks". Capture that energy and your music will sing, sing, sing. "Beautifully musical" no doubt. You are already a great musician.
All the best to you,
Gandharva
OK, well, besides the hair woes in the Ishavet, I don't even know where to start, this is just all so cool.
Maybe trying some sort of hot-oil conditioner might work towards getting your hair back to normal or even a clarifying shampoo or vinegar rinse. I bet washing it in Minnesota water and being in your own climate will get it back to normal. Water in different places contains different elements and such. That whole Mesabi Range under Minnesota with all that iron might even have a little influence. Din hår är skön desslikes!
OK, I had no idea that Svalbard was much of a destination for travellers. It's so exiting to know that you've gotten to visit these different places and see all these things. The runestone picture is super-cool, actually. Isn't it cool just to touch something like that?
How does one say:
"Some asshole backed into my rental car in the lot there and left without saying or doing anything. I was the only car in the lot, and I saw the bastard drive away."
in Swedish? HAHAHA! "NÃ¥gon asshole..." HAHA!
I thought about you the other day when I was looking at a website, wishing I possessed your knowledge. Thor Heyerdahl's grandson and crew made a journey across the Stillhavet in a boat called the Tangaroa...anyhow, long story short, the website about it all was in Norwegian only, and I really couldn't figure out but about five or six words. But the pictures were cool.
That's great that you got a good internship position there. I hope you enjoy it, and I bet hearing the languages day in and day out from associates, TV, and radio, etc, will have you speaking it very well. Good luck of course when you do go back. I think they have the internet there too, so you can still update...
Bragi
My hair actually feels great despite the treatment it's been subjected to! The minerals from the Blue Lagoon put me through a couple of weeks of trouble, but the salt and ice only gave me a day or two. I'd be a bit sad if the Minnesotan water changed it back, I was starting to like the curls.
Svalbard is NOT much of a destination for travelers at all! The city is just a settlement and half of the 'establishments' are just military style tents. There are only 5 planes in and out of the island every week, and it is very expensive to get there and even more to stay there. The island is like an eco-museum - you aren't allowed to touch or pick anything no matter where you are. When you leave Longyearbyen you need to speak to the governor to get his permission. You're also required to carry a rifle because Polar bears like getting very close to the city. Residents aren't even allowed to give birth on the island because there are only two doctors living there. Svalbard isn't a place where people grow up; anyone who lives there lives there because they are very recreational and enjoy the challenge of just living there. Either that or they're scientists, a lot of very interesting fossils have been found just in the water by the city. Very rare dinosaur fossils, and preserved better than anything they've found before.
Of all the residents I talked to, ALL of them said they enjoyed the winter more. The summer gives you 24 hours of bright sunlight and it stays extremely cool, so you'd think that people would enjoy the summer more. But, most of the residents move back to the mainland in the summer and don't come back until winter. They enjoy the winter nights, when the Aurora lights up the city just from reflecting off the snow. Where the only way to get around is by Snowmobile, and polar bears are always crossing the city and leaving their traces (it doesn't happen a lot in the summer.) I think it was last winter where they counted 300 polar bears crossing the airport runway, hehe.
So needless to say, I'm going back to Svalbard in February, I've already planned a return trip :) No hotels are open, but I made a good friend there who's lending me his house, snowmobile, and even the sled dogs if I so-desired (hah!) It's the closest I'll ever get to living there, because the city doesn't have enough power resources to support an expansion of the settlement. I think it was only built to house 1000 people, and there are 1900 on the island at a time right now. (and 4500 polar bears!! Always have to say it.)
I could go on and on about Svalbard, but there is so much to say that my thoughts come out unorganized and turn into sludge on my keyboard.
The rune was very cool to touch. Those stones you see in the background are part of the ship graveyard. The reason I've got such a blank expression in the photo is because I was talking to the wonderful photographer and speculating on the whereabouts of the 4th ship-burial that was supposed to be around there somewhere, and I was in the middle of blinking! The big hill on the left is a burial mound. I think I've seen just about every discovered runestone in Sweden and Norway now.
I'm stuck on NÃ¥gon in your translation, too. Reading is the only thing I can do with ease right now! I'm turning into that Icelandic man I saw on TV speaking in English to the hosts interviewing him in Icelandic. My Swedish reading-literacy is very good right now: I have watched so many English shows while reading the subtitles in Swedish. It was extremely effective! But I can't transfer what I think into words! And whenever I speak Swedish, I get "hey, you are speaking with a Norwegian accent, stop that."
What's that website you were browsing? I haven't heard about it before, and it sounds like something I'd like to see.
The internet in Utne is better and cheaper than what I get here, and still it manages to keep all of its rural beauty. These pictures are taken about 10 minutes away from Utne. Utne is on a very thin strip along a fjord, so I couldn't get any good pictures of the actual city without an airplane. It's pretty much the same, though!
Thanks so much for all the information on this island of Svalbard that before had been kind of a mysterious place I'd just seen on maps. It actually sounds enjoyable as you describe, and seems you thought so too since you're going back. I guess in February it will be very cold, but then you get to enjoy all the extras that brings. But, also, it's good to hear that the icebears are not in peril there as the scientists say they are in Canada.
I think you will be fine soon when all the language gels together for you and with hearing it also more. Probably, when you have to speak it, it will come then naturally.
The two extra pictures you have included are great. That is beautiful scenery. The web site is from the Heyerdahl Institute. There is a page in there somewhere in English, but I never found it. It's a very interesting website. The Tangaroa was basically an updated version of Kon-Tiki.
Well, good luck on getting plans together again to return to Norway.
Hope all goes well, Bragi
There is a program on tv about the Tangaroa expedition tonight,but I dont think im going to see it.
a.
Wow, what an adventure (or misadventure) in the land of the Vikings! As to your hair, maybe you upset the Nordic gods resting in Valhalla, and they took their revenge on you. Ha! Maybe they envied your hair. Climate does do weird things to hair. Give it some TLC with some deep conditioing, and all will be well. Your hair looks good otherwise, fantastic length.
Carol
Thanks for the reply, Carol. Wouldn't that be something, if I had hair that the gods envied! I have quite a bit of length to achieve before I'm arrogant enough to begin to believe that one, though.
I've forgotten a lot of these terms - what's TLC again?
TLC = Tender Loving Care. :-)
Carol
Hey Gylfi, your hair looks lovely in this photo. It is getting quite long and suits you very well. Just lovely. Hopefully all that exposure to icy water and cold did not do any permanent damage.
Absalom
I haven't noticed any damage so far. I think my hair's got a relatively high tolerance for abuse, but it is almost time to get a trim because I'm noticing some bad splits.
hello
you have incredible hair , so nice looking !
the picts are awesomes, thanks for posting them
Cya
Thanks for the reply, Angel! I was actually thinking of one of your updates when I posted this, because you also went from that transformation from wavy hair to the very defined curls. Time constraints didn't give me enough time to post back then, but it was a very nice update!!
Hi Gylfi,
Welcome back, it is genuine pleasure to hear from you again. These pictures are outstanding, Scandinavia is such a fascinating place to visit, even if the weather is less than summer like in that part of the world. It sure beats the heat and humidity that is present even in Nova Scotia these days. It sure seems as though you had some real adventures, and will have some memories to cherish forever.
As for your hair, it looks fabulous as always. I was blown away by how curly your hair had become after "nature's curling" had done its thing, this is certainly a contrast from your much straighter hair than you had before your trip. I was wondering if it is still this curly, now that you have arrived back home in Minnesota?
I am sorry about that encounter with the hit and run driver you encountered with the rental car, people are just so rude these days.
My best to you in your future studies, I am sure you will have 100% succcess all the way.
Take care,
David
Thanks David! At least someone's sure, hehe. It definitely did beat the heat and humidity of Minnesota. I remember when Minnesota used to be that cool, too! Just in the last ten years the summers have turned very hot and very humid. Everytime I get back here from a trip in a nice climate, I can't help thinking about those humid little venus fly trap containers.
So far, my hair is still curly! I haven't washed it in Minnesota yet though. I'll give it a few more days.
Sounds like a grand adventure Gylfi!! Its' the travels that are filled with action and even misadventure that make for great story telling.
Your hair is looking great and seems to have survived the icicle braids. (another part of the interesting story)
Congratulations of the internship in Norway. Even though I don't speak the languages, I love listening to Norwegan, Swedish, and Finnish music and have some of Northside's cd's "Nordic Roots". Great folk music if your into it. I see on thier website that there is a music festival in September at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis. Should be some good music.
Good luck on your internship and stay warm!
Bruce
Ooh, you know about the Nordic Roots festival? I have made it every year. I like seeing Hoven Droven play - they are the last to play every year and the fusion is very good. I play a fusion of 'new' music and traditional folk music too, so I always make a point to see shows like that.
Ya, imagine that. I got turned on to Nordic music after hearing an interview with Wimme Sari on NPR radio. That lead me to thier web site where I learned of the other artists on thier label. I agree Hoven Droven is mesmerizing and I also enjoy Värttinä but I enjoy all thier artists' music. I think its' fantastic that we have so many talented artists on this board playing all genre of music. Which instrument(s) do you play? I unfortunately do not have that musical ability.
Bruce
looks like a cool trip..I have always wanted to see Nord-Norge(North Norway).
Hope your hair didnt take any damage from the salt and water.
Excellent update, man! I enjoyed the stories, particularly the part about the icy dreadlock (although I'm sure you didn't enjoy that part nearly as much :P). I don't know if it's the absurdity of the idea, but I wish you'd taken a picture of it, lol. Nevertheless, it's a good thing you got it out, and it's also good that the curls, while an interesting look for you, didn't last. The straight hair seems to suit you more.
Best of luck with the languages, and keep it growing! Thanks for sharing the pics; the runestones are amazing.
Peace
Hey Gylfi!
Amaaaaazing pictures! Thank you for posting! Whoa! That must've been an incredible vacation! And thank you for including the one with you right next to the Runestone (too bad that jerk banged into your rental, may karma catch up to him!) . . .
Attached here is a link to a website having to do with the resurgence of the Norse religion of the Vikings, apparently thriving in many diverse Kindreds all around the globe.
Enjoy, feast, marvel,
Quenyan
Thanks for sharing your exciting adventures in a lovely part of the world.
The upcoming apprenticeship also sounds like a once in a lifetime experience.
Congratulations ! And please keep us posted.
And of course, your hair looks great in all its various states !
WWT
Hi Gylfi, You hair looks superb in that picture where you sitting down. I'm sorry to hear the weather has mistreated your hair. Don't worry, I go through this EVERYDAY. Darn humidity in Florida. Great update gylfi, Good luck learning swedish and have fun!
Hi! The picture with your hair looking curly and wavy is awesome. I hope it comes out that way for you more often. I've always wanted to go to Scandinavia and your pictures are great. I'm sure that it will be an incredible experience living there. Best of Luck.
Del
Welcome back Gylfi, I am glad you enjoyed your vacation to Scandinavia. Cool pictures you posted with various moods, from roughing it to hanging out on a beautiful sunny day! Looking good Gylfi. Best of luck in studying the languages and culture of the North.