On the last Saturday of September, Silje, Eirik and I hopped into a car and drove on up to meet Jørgen and Lisbet at Einar and Mina’s home. For those of you who don’t have my family tree memorized…. Shame on you! ;) If you already know it or don’t care, you should skip over this paragraph as well as the next! Mina is the daughter of Eline. Eline was one of the sisters of Papa Sonny’s grandmother (and my great grandmother), who is also named Mina. Basically, two farm laborers, Karoline and Jørgen, married in the southern part of Norway (Løten) and gave birth to three daughters around 1885. Mina (my great grandmother) was the oldest, Eline (Silje and Eirik’s great grandmother) was the middle child, and Netta was the youngest. Mina elected to move to the US because she was very poor and food/opportunities were scarce in Norway at this time, (or more than likely, because she portended that she needed to move to the United States to ensure that her grandson, Robert would meet the beautiful and intelligent Diane: knowing that ultimately they would give birth to the next messiah *raises hand*…. oh and Hillary too). Eventually, she came back for her sisters, Eline and Netta, the 15 year old Netta went back with Mina, but Eline was too afraid of the unknown and decided she would rather remain indigent but familiar with her surroundings than embarking on the uncertain voyage to the United States. Thank god for that, because if she didn’t I would have no Norwegian relatives to lead me back to where the family originated!
In case you are still uncertain about the relation. Mina married another Norwegian (Hansen… although we have no idea what happened to them—and it would be a bit time consuming to track down every Hansen in Norway), and they gave birth to my grandfather, Arthur, who then married Dorothy Fancie Hansen (yes, that is where my cat’s name came from—I know you all care so much!) and then proceeded to have my aunts Joan and Linda, uncle Charlie and Papa Sonny…. and the rest is history!
Now that we’re all caught up, I will return to the story of my day in Løten. When we arrived at Einar and Mina’s home, the 92 years young Einar came bounding out of the house to greet me (with impressive speed and agility for a man of his age might I add… perhaps my genes aren’t doomed after all!) In contrast to the shyness I have repeatedly encountered when meeting most Norwegians, Einar surprised me by immediately pulling me into a hug and declaring “You’re finally home!” in slow and deliberate English. Let’s just all have a moment to say AWWWWWWWWWWW. It really was incredibly touching, so much so that it even managed to melt by black heart…. Which incidentally is made of stone. Feel free to take a breather and go get some Kleenex if you must!
Seriously though (I am doing my best to subvert my innate sarcasm because I truly do not want to belittle the significance of this experience), I immediately felt welcomed, comfortable, and like I was a part of this small community. I could not imagine living on a farm (although I’m sure you all will have fun attempting to imagine Samantha Hansen trying to survive such a hard-working lifestyle), but there really was this feeling like I belonged there. I don’t know how to describe it, and I really didn’t expect it, but I was just overjoyed to see exactly where I came from. I have such a closer relationship with my relatives here after experiencing it with them; I feel a much deeper connection with the family that links me to Jørgen, Lisbet, and Eirik, and a genuine sadness and sense of lost since I never had the opportunity to meet my great grandparents, or even my own grandparents. I felt a bit closer to them all just being there though, and I would like to think that my great grandmother Mina would be as happy to know that happy to know that two generations later, her old and new families would reconnect because of her legacy.
Here is a picture of me in front of Einar’s home, and below it the farm where Eline lived out her adult life.
After saying hello to Jørgen and Lisbet (who had taken a bus up the day before), we all walked over to the elderly care facility where Mina is currently residing. At 88 years old Mina is in great physical shape (just like her husband), but unfortunately her mind has betrayed her as it ages, and she is suffering from a very developed case of dementia. I was warned in advance of this, and we hoped that she would be having a good day so that she might be able to understand who I am a bit better. Thankfully, she was much sharper than anyone expected her to be that day, and as far as I know (she only speaks Norwegian, no English at all), she was thrilled to meet me. She kept hugging me and telling me that I had the most beautiful smile she had ever seen (thank you mommy!), and that she never wanted me to leave (translated from the other relatives). I would like to think that wasn’t the dementia talking. She stayed very close to me and pretty much stared at me the whole time and repeated that she couldn’t get enough of her newfound relative, which sounds awkward but it really wasn’t—I enjoy being doted upon… even in a foreign language! Of course there were moments when she got confused, such as when she would ask me what I wanted her to make me for dinner, but all in all I couldn’t have asked for it to go any better. Here is a picture of myself inbetween Mina and Einar, and below that 2 shots of the whole family (one with Silje and the other with Lisbet- they took turns taking pictures).
After that, I was informed that Einar had written to the mayor in advance to let her know that an American was gracing the municipality that Løten is a part of with my highly revered presence, and that apparently this was a big enough deal for her to take the 40 minute trip into Løten on her day off to meet with me, show me around the town hall where local politics are conducted, and to answer any questions I may have about Norwegian politics. Mayors are a much bigger deal here in Norway than they are in the United States (they are in charge of larger areas and have more responsibilities… local govt. is responsible for far more decisions than it is back in the US), so everyone was really excited that she had agreed to come meet me. I started to get really nervous, because even Jørgen (who is a journalist) emphasized that he had never had the opportunity to meet a mayor before, and this one is especially well known in Norway because she was the youngest mayor in the history of the country. Luckily, she was surprisingly friendly and incredibly nice and open to all of the questions I asked. She even asked me a bit about how things run in the United States, talked about Obama with me (Norwegians LOOOOOOOVE Obama), and asked me about my family and my ties to Løten. She explained the history of the municipality, and gave me a book that is all about Løten and its famous akkavit. She also explained Løten’s coat of arms, which is a drinking horn. Not because they are alcoholics necessarily (although I like that explanation better), but because it represents the history of growing wheat, and also since the town’s creation its politicians engaged in a consensus government, where drinking from the horn served as a yes-vote. Here are pictures of me with the mayor in the town hall. (Coat of arms pictured as well)
After meeting the mayor and feeling like a VIP in Løten (you know you’re jealous!), we all headed out to dinner, and then Silkje, Eirik, and Einar brought me in the car to drive me around to all of the different Løten “sights”. This is the farm where my great great grandparents Karoline and Jørgen worked.
There was something significant about this bell, but I can't remember :/
This is the farm where Mina (my great grandmother…. I know the two Mina’s are a bit confusing) was born.
This is the farm where Eline was born.
This is the farm where Netta was born (not on the wheelbarrow itself... I think).
I’m still not entirely clear on why they were all born in different places? Whatever, I just took pictures at every place my tour guides instructed me to. Here they are waiting back at the car for me.
After heading back to Einar’s to say goodbye, Silje, Eirik and I abandoned our farming roots and headed back to our lives in the city. It was a wonderful trip, perhaps I’ll even have a chance to visit again before I return to the states.
Other than my Løten trip, there really isn’t anything worth talking about here. My Norwegian is finally starting to improve a bit (although I can really only read and write it, the speaking/understanding it aloud is still an issue), I’ve become very close with certain friends and have just recently made a bunch of new ones as well, and it’s safe to say that I am going to be completely devastated when I have to come back to the United States. I am completely in love with this country… to the point where I’m hesitant to go travel to nearby countries anymore because I just don’t want to waste a second of my time here in Norway.
Don’t worry, I will be back, for it has finally started to get cold (by a Californian’s standards, not a Norwegian’s). About a week ago I had been frolicking about, enjoying the fact that all through September the temperature averaged about 61 degrees and was mostly sunny. I started to think Norwegian winters were an urban myth. Then one day, out of no where, I walked outside and almost had a heart attack! The temperature dropped from 63 degrees F the day before to 34 degrees F in ONE DAY. Since then it has bounced between 32 degrees and 43, and everyone around me responds to my whimpers by reminding me that I ain’t seen nothing yet! =( So basically, I will be more then ready to return to California come December, I am sure! Well, my dad just logged onto Skype, and he demands all of my attention, so I must end this blog now. As always, here are some bonus skype shots, this time our dear Marisa Harrison and Pepper make cameos (whereas Hillary, aware of my tricky photo taking, maintained this creepy smile the entire time in preparation for the moment I would snap a secret shot)!
yay Pepper!!!! How old is that dog now? Like 20??
ReplyDeletehahaha love pepper! so cute
ReplyDeletealso i can't understand a thing you say because all your O's have lines through them.