Hello!
Yesterday, Dad and I took an 8 hour train from Stavanger to Oslo, Norway's capital. During that time, I drew a picture, listened to Adventures in Odyssey (Yes. I'm almost 20, and I still enjoy it!), listened to Andy Stanley preach, and read almost an entire book (It's called Beloved Daughter and is about persecution in North Korea. I highly suggest it!). Here are some pictures from the lovely countryside:
After arriving, we walked to our hotel and searched for some food, to no avail. Norwegians like to eat dinner right after work, which is 4:30-5:00, and they eat a light snack at night, so their restaurants close around 6:00 pm. Our train arrived at 6:30, and it was 7:30 by the time we started searching, so you can imagine how hard it was to find a place to eat. I ended up buying a fruit smoothie, peanut butter, and potato chips at a minimart. Meh.
We tried to find a church to attend this morning, but we couldn't find anything, which saddens me. Oslo is such a sad, weary, and dark place. The people are in great need of Hope and Joy. I pray for an uprising in believers willing to venture to Europe to share truth. Places with money are not immune from brokenness.
While their website did not list a service, Salvation Army had a branch in Oslo, so we walked there hoping to find a service. The lights were off. However, we heard church bells ringing, so we decided to attend high church this morning! The service was unintelligible to us American folks, since everything was spoken in Norwegian and/or Latin. However, the music crossed language borders!
I'm used to reading words off of a powerpoint, but this church used masses in a hymnal. However, the masses were written as neumes. Weird! I guess it makes since, since Gregorian Chant was a sacred activity, but I have never seen anything like that used in "real life".
Here's a recording of the music.
After that, I went to a Seventh Day Adventist vegetarian buffet. It wasn't great, but I needed food. This city is so expensive! You can't get a meal for less than 85 kroner, and this buffet was 135 kroner: around $25! Man. My wallet hurts after that. We're eating only one meal out while in Norway.
For the rest of the day, we kind of wandered around the city. Nothing really significant happened, so I'm just going to share some pictures. :) We didn't really know what we were looking at, so forgive me if there's no caption. I'm still trying to figure out what everything is!
Tomorrow is my lesson with Frøydis! I am so excited!! Also, I received news from Tallinn: I am being granted an all-access media pass to the Song Festival, including pre-festival rehearsals. I think they are even giving me some type of tour guide/escort! This is a huge answer to prayer, as I thought they had forgotten about my email. The best part of this trip starts tomorrow!
I will try to blog tomorrow, but things start getting crazy, since we have to catch a train after my lesson.
Until sometime soon!
Amy
Yesterday, Dad and I took an 8 hour train from Stavanger to Oslo, Norway's capital. During that time, I drew a picture, listened to Adventures in Odyssey (Yes. I'm almost 20, and I still enjoy it!), listened to Andy Stanley preach, and read almost an entire book (It's called Beloved Daughter and is about persecution in North Korea. I highly suggest it!). Here are some pictures from the lovely countryside:
After arriving, we walked to our hotel and searched for some food, to no avail. Norwegians like to eat dinner right after work, which is 4:30-5:00, and they eat a light snack at night, so their restaurants close around 6:00 pm. Our train arrived at 6:30, and it was 7:30 by the time we started searching, so you can imagine how hard it was to find a place to eat. I ended up buying a fruit smoothie, peanut butter, and potato chips at a minimart. Meh.
We tried to find a church to attend this morning, but we couldn't find anything, which saddens me. Oslo is such a sad, weary, and dark place. The people are in great need of Hope and Joy. I pray for an uprising in believers willing to venture to Europe to share truth. Places with money are not immune from brokenness.
While their website did not list a service, Salvation Army had a branch in Oslo, so we walked there hoping to find a service. The lights were off. However, we heard church bells ringing, so we decided to attend high church this morning! The service was unintelligible to us American folks, since everything was spoken in Norwegian and/or Latin. However, the music crossed language borders!
I'm used to reading words off of a powerpoint, but this church used masses in a hymnal. However, the masses were written as neumes. Weird! I guess it makes since, since Gregorian Chant was a sacred activity, but I have never seen anything like that used in "real life".
Here's a recording of the music.
After that, I went to a Seventh Day Adventist vegetarian buffet. It wasn't great, but I needed food. This city is so expensive! You can't get a meal for less than 85 kroner, and this buffet was 135 kroner: around $25! Man. My wallet hurts after that. We're eating only one meal out while in Norway.
For the rest of the day, we kind of wandered around the city. Nothing really significant happened, so I'm just going to share some pictures. :) We didn't really know what we were looking at, so forgive me if there's no caption. I'm still trying to figure out what everything is!
The church we attended this morning.
Me in front of the King's Palace. (Yes, Norway has a royal family, as do many other European nations.) I don't look very happy. I think I was hungry or something...
The memorial to a musician I have never heard of.
Just catching up on the news.
The same ad as London! Apparently our friends in Stavanger have this coffee machine. I saw the coffee containers when I walked into their kitchen and immediately recognized them. Effective advertising, apparently!
Dad in front of pretty plants on a random street.
I think this is some type of governmental building, but I'm not sure.
So picturesque!
Beauty and the Beast in Norwegian!
Tomorrow is my lesson with Frøydis! I am so excited!! Also, I received news from Tallinn: I am being granted an all-access media pass to the Song Festival, including pre-festival rehearsals. I think they are even giving me some type of tour guide/escort! This is a huge answer to prayer, as I thought they had forgotten about my email. The best part of this trip starts tomorrow!
I will try to blog tomorrow, but things start getting crazy, since we have to catch a train after my lesson.
Until sometime soon!
Amy
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