{"id":1177,"date":"2011-08-25T18:00:22","date_gmt":"2011-08-25T18:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/?p=1177"},"modified":"2014-08-22T17:41:24","modified_gmt":"2014-08-22T17:41:24","slug":"skogfjorden-norwegian-language-village","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/skogfjorden-norwegian-language-village\/","title":{"rendered":"Skogfjorden Norwegian Language Village"},"content":{"rendered":"

Skogfjorden<\/strong> is one of the many Concordia Language Villages in northern MN. \u00a0I have, unfortunately never attended as a camper, nor as a counselor. \u00a0I did not know about the program until I attended St. Olaf College. \u00a0It’s such a pity that I wasn’t aware of CLV’s existence, because I certainly would have attended! \u00a0For this reason, I feel that it is very important that I do my part to spread the word. \u00a0I wrote a post a while back about Concordia Language Villages in general, but recently realized that I have not written one about the Norwegian Language Village, Skogfjorden<\/strong> (Forest Fjord) specifically.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Many of my friends and fellow St. Olaf Alumni attended the Village in their youth, and some still work there (I have a friend who attended every year until she was too old, became a counselor and now she returns every summer to be the Village nurse!) \u00a0I was reminded about Skogfjorden<\/strong> yesterday when I received the most recent Viking<\/em> magazine prepared by the Sons of Norway. \u00a0Tove Dahl, the Dean of Skogfjorden<\/strong>, has her very own page (page 38) titled “Enlightened Educator.” \u00a0I had the opportunity to meet Tove and spend some time with her when I lived in Troms\u00f8 last year-she is an incredible person who I admire greatly. \u00a0She has great ideas about teaching kids a foreign language and she has a wealth of knowledge and energy. \u00a0If you receive the Viking<\/em> publication, I would recommend reading the interview with Tove. \u00a0If you don’t receive it, perhaps you should subscribe! \u00a0There is also a lengthy, fantastic piece on Barnehage<\/strong> (Norwegian pre-school, one of CLVs programs in the Twin Cities area-see previous post on Barnehage), which I used to be involved in!<\/p>\n

Skogfjorden<\/strong> is located on Turtle River Lake near Bemidji, MN, roughly 4 hours north of the Twin Cities Metro Area. \u00a0 Northern MN is a beautiful place and I can only imagine how spectacular it is to be there with the mission of celebrating Norwegian language and culture with loads of other people who are interested in doing the same.<\/p>\n

The following was taken from the Skogfjorden website:<\/p>\n

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Skogfjorden<\/h1>\n
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What Can You Always Count On at\u00a0Skogfjorden<\/em>?<\/p>\n

\u00c5pningsdagen\u00a0<\/em>(Opening Day)<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

On the opening day of your session, we will be ready to welcome you between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m.\u00a0 Please adhere to these hours so that the staff has enough time to get ready for your arrival, time to get to know you during the afternoon activities and time to help you settle in before the evening meal.<\/p>\n

The goal of our first day together is to invite you across the border and get you involved in the vibrant life and traditions of our village.\u00a0 Like any border crossing, it involves meetings with \u201cofficials\u201d and then the excitement of settling in.\u00a0 Settling in takes a while and this is how your first hours in the village will work.\u00a0 If you want to check out what\u00a0Skogfjorden<\/em>\u00a0looks like, explore the\u00a0Skogfjorden<\/em>\u00a0Village Page and look around!<\/p>\n

On the day you come, as you drive up to the\u00a0Skogfjorden<\/em>\u00a0grense<\/em>\u00a0(border), have your passport ready.\u00a0 You will need to show it to the\u00a0tollvakt\u00a0<\/em>(border officials) before you go on.\u00a0 If you have any American food items with you, such as fruit, snacks, or the like, we ask you not to bring them into the program. Any open packages of food or snacks should be consumed before crossing the border, discarded, or sent home with your ride.\u00a0\u00a0 There are simply too many critters with a sweet tooth around the village for us to want to tempt them with goodies in our cabins.<\/p>\n

After crossing the border, your next stop will be in front of\u00a0Valhall<\/em>, the Village administration building\u00a0 (or\u00a0Utgard<\/em>, the larger building across the way, if it is bad weather).\u00a0 At this first stop, you will choose a\u00a0norsk navn<\/em>\u00a0(Norwegian name) and get a\u00a0navneskilt\u00a0<\/em>(nametag).<\/p>\n

Once you have been to all of the places just mentioned, you can take all your things back to your cabin area where you will meet people at\u00a0toll<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>(customs).\u00a0 There, they will check your luggage for contraband (see the\u00a0<\/em>Parent Handbook<\/a>\u00a0for the description of contraband).<\/p>\n

After going through\u00a0toll<\/em>, it is off to your\u00a0hytte<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>where you will be living for the session.\u00a0 Once there, you can pick a bed, unpack and settle in.\u00a0 You will probably meet some of your cabin mates there, too.\u00a0 The cabin assignments are made carefully in advance, so please respect your housing arrangements and have fun getting to know your new friends as soon as you arrive.\u00a0 How you greet your cabin mates is an important part of getting the session off to a great start!<\/p>\n

After settling in, the rest of the day will be spent exploring the village and taking care of your other official business of the day like opening your bank account at the\u00a0bank<\/em>, checking in at the\u00a0helsesenter<\/em>\u00a0for a brief health screening, confirming your future transportation arrangements home at the\u00a0reisebyr\u00e5,\u00a0<\/em>and personalizing your\u00a0navneskilt<\/em>.\u00a0 We\u2019ll give you a list to remind you of what all you have to take care of before the end of the day.\u00a0 You can do it in whatever order suits you.\u00a0 Just be sure to do them all and finish before\u00a0kl. 16.30<\/em>.<\/p>\n

When you set out on your official business, make sure you have all your American money for the\u00a0bank<\/em>, all your medications and health information for thehelsesenter<\/em>, and your travel information for the\u00a0reisebyr\u00e5.\u00a0<\/em>In order to make every stop official, you must also have your\u00a0navneskilt\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0pass<\/em>, so keep them handy, too.\u00a0<\/em>Through each of your stops, you will not only cross items off your official to-do list, you will also start getting to know the site and other\u00a0Skogfjorden<\/em>\u00a0folks better.\u00a0 Take your time to talk with people and enjoy it!<\/p>\n

At the\u00a0bank<\/em>\u00a0behind\u00a0Utgard<\/em>, you will deposit and change your American spending money into\u00a0norske kroner<\/em>.\u00a0 That is the currency we use in Norway and at the Village.\u00a0 There is a store at the Village where you can buy\u00a0godteri<\/em>\u00a0(treats) as well as a\u00a0butikk<\/em>\u00a0where you will find souvenirs from the Village.\u00a0 Both stores will be open all day during registration as well as once a day during the session.<\/p>\n

At the\u00a0helsesenter\u00a0<\/em>in the downstairs of\u00a0Valhall<\/em>,\u00a0<\/strong>you will meet our friendly health-care provider.\u00a0 Any medications (including vitamins and over the counter medications) will be put away there in a safe place.\u00a0 The healthcare provider will bring them for you to meals or make arrangements with you to get them other scheduled times when you may need them.<\/p>\n

At the\u00a0reisebyr\u00e5<\/em>\u00a0either by\u00a0Utgard<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0Gimle<\/em>, you will meet\u00a0ledere\u00a0<\/em>who will confirm who will pick you up and what your travel arrangements are to get home.\u00a0 They will also give you the symbol for your\u00a0navneskilt<\/em>\u00a0that you will need to travel through time and space at\u00a0Skogfjorden<\/em>\u00a0during\u00a0kretser<\/em>. \u00a0They will explain what that means when you get there!<\/p>\n

Finally, your last stop of your official business will be to get your new village name and home woodburned into your\u00a0navneskilt<\/em>\u00a0in\u00a0Utgard<\/em>. Then it is truly official \u2013 you are now a full-fledged\u00a0Skogfjorden<\/em>\u00a0villager!<\/p>\n

You may also be especially eager to meet your\u00a0hytteledere\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>\u2013 they certainly will be eager to meet you, too! They will not all be back in the cabins until the end of the day since they want to be out in the program meeting you and your parents and getting you involved in the kinds of activities that will help you warm up to what the rest of the day and session will be about.\u00a0 You will find them in the main areas of the Village (Utgard, Soltun, Gimle<\/em>) making the activities and customs happen.\u00a0 The session is new for everyone, so getting out from your\u00a0hytte<\/em>\u00a0during the afternoon and joining in on the organized activities is the perfect way to get to know your new\u00a0ledere<\/em>\u00a0and fellow villagers.<\/p>\n

We have set aside time to do activities with everyone in the\u00a0hytte<\/em>\u00a0once\u00a0all<\/strong>\u00a0the villagers have arrived.\u00a0 Until then, do your official business and join in the all-village activities out in the program during the day.\u00a0 Checking in is intended to be an all-afternoon affair.\u00a0 That way, you have plenty of time to get to know the area and the people of\u00a0Skogfjorden<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Be set to go back to your\u00a0hytte<\/em>\u00a0for your first\u00a0hyttekos<\/em>\u00a0with your cabinmates andledere<\/em>\u00a0around 4:30 pm (kl. 16.30<\/em>\u00a0Skogfjorden<\/em>\u00a0time).\u00a0 By then, everyone should have arrived and your\u00a0ledere<\/em>\u00a0will be done with their registration activities for the day.<\/p>\n

Pakking<\/em>\u00a0(Packing)<\/p>\n

Now, before you leave to do all this, pack carefully like a good Norwegian.\u00a0Uansett v\u00e6r\u00a0<\/em>(no matter what the weather), Norwegians just love to enjoy the great outdoors, and so do we!\u00a0 In Norway they say that there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes.\u00a0 So, as a good Norwegian, you have to be sure you have clothes and shoes for all types of weather, including weather that is cold and wet.\u00a0 That way you can be comfortable with everyone else\u00a0uansett v\u00e6r<\/em>. You might want to bring an old shirt or other clothes to protect yourself when painting or doing craft and building projects, too.\u00a0 By all means bring a\u00a0bunad<\/em>\u00a0or native costume if you have one.\u00a0 We dress up at least once a session, and costumes really add panache to those events!<\/p>\n

Skogfjorden<\/em>\u00a0is quite a musical Village, so if you have a guitar, harmonica, spoons or some other instrument to play for others or sing along with, be sure to bring it along.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, don\u2019t forget your enthusiasm, curiosity and open-mindedness to try new experiences.<\/p>\n

Post<\/em>\u00a0(Mail)<\/p>\n

Because this is an immersion program that simulates a visit as an independent explorer in a new country, parents are discouraged from making non-emergency calls to you.\u00a0 However, your parents should feel free to call me with questions or concerns.\u00a0 I\u2019ll keep you posted if your parents want me to inform you of something.\u00a0 Better yet, remind all of your friends and family to write to you at the Village.\u00a0\u00a0Postutdeling<\/em>\u00a0(mail call) is definitely an important part of the day!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your address at the Village is:
\nYour name<\/strong>\u00a0(very important) and\u00a0your<\/strong>\u00a0cabin<\/strong>
\nSkogfjorden<\/em>
\n8607 Thorsonveien NE
\nBemidji, MN\u00a0 56601<\/p>\n

We also have a special e-mail option just for your family.\u00a0 They can just click\u00a0this link<\/a>\u00a0to send you a message (attachments are not possible).\u00a0 We will print the message and deliver it to you during\u00a0Postutdeling<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Note that there are plenty of treats to be found at the village, so encourage them to not send care packages with any consumables in them.\u00a0 If they can\u2019t resist, please have them get in touch with me first.\u00a0 Special arrangements may be made for unusual circumstances.\u00a0 Otherwise, for reasons related to allergies and the potential attraction of mice, consumables are highly discouraged.<\/p>\n

If your friends and family still want to send you something special, here are some other suggestions for them:\u00a0 photos from home, letter-writing material (a new funky pen, stamps, self-addressed envelopes) or books from or about Norway.\u00a0 Tell them they can even try their hand at writing in Norwegian, too.\u00a0 Just give them a copy of the\u00a0letter-writing basics<\/a>\u00a0that I am sending along with this letter.<\/p>\n

Typiske dager p\u00e5 Skogfjorden<\/em>\u00a0(Typical Days at the Village)<\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t already done it, I highly recommend that you check outwww.Skogfjorden.VillagePages.org<\/a>. There you will find information about a typical\u00a0Skogfjorden<\/em>\u00a0day.\u00a0 You will also find lots of photos from past summers.\u00a0 Our schedule is packed with varied activities, and we have a lot of fun while we are in them.\u00a0 We do our best to convey our experiences with photos and descriptions of what is going on while we are in session.\u00a0 As a matter of fact, your friends and family can follow along with how your session is going by checking into our web site while you are there.\u00a0 Be sure to give them web address so that they can tune in and\u00a0f\u00f8lge med<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Avslutningsdagen\u00a0<\/em>(Closing Day)<\/h2>\n

On Saturday, the last day of your session, we like to celebrate all your session accomplishments.\u00a0 There will be a program open to the public at 10:00 a.m. for just that purpose.\u00a0 Afterwards (and much sooner than you had imagined), it will be time to say\u00a0ha det<\/em>\u00a0and to cross the\u00a0grense<\/em>\u00a0with your\u00a0pass<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>handy once again.\u00a0 You can expect to be ready to go by 11:15 a.m., although the\u00a0butikk<\/em>,\u00a0kiosk<\/em>\u00a0andgrense\u00a0<\/em>will be open until noon if you would like to show your family and friends around the Village.\u00a0 Please remind your family to arrive between 9:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. for the closing program.\u00a0 You will be busy packing, cleaning and getting ready for the program before this time, so there is no need to be early.<\/p>\n

I hope that I have given you a good sense of what you will meet when you arrive in just a few short weeks.\u00a0 If you want to get into the groove of things before you come, I have a couple of ideas for you that would be fun for you and great for Skogfjorden!<\/p>\n

F\u00f8r du kommer\u00a0<\/em>(Before You Arrive)<\/p>\n

Look through these Internet activities.\u00a0 There are lots of things to look up there.<\/p>\n

Tell your friends about Norway and\u00a0Skogfjorden<\/em>.\u00a0 I have given you some fun facts that they may not know.\u00a0 Dazzle them with some interesting tidbits about Norway and see if you can\u2019t recruit a friend!<\/p>\n

Norway\u2019s constitution day is on\u00a0syttende mai<\/em>\u00a0(May 17th<\/sup>).\u00a0 It is celebrated in Norway, of course.\u00a0 It is also celebrated in many places in the US and Canada in special ways.\u00a0 See if there is a celebration near you and, by all means, celebrate!<\/p>\n

Syttende mai<\/em>\u00a0celebrations especially focus on children in Norway. It is a day when kids dress up and walk in\u00a0barnetoget<\/em>\u00a0(the children\u2019s parade) in the mid-morning and when they are allowed to eat all the\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0(ice cream) and\u00a0p\u00f8lser<\/em>\u00a0(hot dogs) they want.\u00a0 There are often other parades, too, such as\u00a0speidertoget<\/em>\u00a0with scouts who wake up their hometowns with music first thing in the morning,russetoget<\/em>\u00a0with all graduating high school seniors dressed in their personalizedrussedress<\/em>\u00a0graduation suits handing out their humorously personalized\u00a0russekort<\/em>business cards, and there is also\u00a0borgertoget,\u00a0<\/em>yet another parade, with members of various organizations and clubs showing their activities and wares.\u00a0 Find a parade or eat some ice cream, and check out via the various webcams all over Norway how it is being celebrated in the hours before you. You\u2019ll have to get up early, though. You can catch many parades around the country already around 10 am Norwegian time (you can figure out what time that means for you fromhere<\/a>).\u00a0 They are not yet posted on-line, but my guess is that there will be broadcasts available to watch at\u00a0www.nrk.no<\/a>\u00a0or at\u00a0www.tv2.no<\/a>.\u00a0 Check them out when you wake up on May 17th<\/sup>!<\/p>\n

Finally, how about exploring Norway on other days, too?\u00a0 If you go towww.webcamsinnorway.com<\/a>, you can find views of Norway from all over the country and see what the people in various cities are up to.\u00a0 If you click on \u201cTroms\u00f8 \u2013 Balsfjord<\/em>\u201d and then follow the island in front of you to the very end ahead of you, you can imagine where I am writing this letter from \u2013 a house on the very southern tip of the island of\u00a0Troms\u00f8ya<\/em>.\u00a0 You can get to my house onStrandvegen<\/em>, the road that you see from the view of \u201cTroms\u00f8<\/em>: from the county office\u201d.\u00a0 Just keep following it straight (and beyond) to the very end of the island and you\u2019ll find where Espen and Curt and I live in the second to the last house on the right hand side of the road!<\/p>\n

Another fun way to travel around Norway is via\u00a0www.finn.no\/kart\/<\/a>\u00a0where you can get a birds-eye view of any place you would like in Norway by clicking on the map of Norway and zooming in and out \u2013 either looking at maps (kart<\/em>) or satellite pictures (satelitt<\/em>)\u00a0<\/em>of the places the maps represent.\u00a0 Perhaps you would like to begin by checking out the cities we name our cabins after.\u00a0 Go ahead and try finding Hamar, Oslo, Kristiansand, Stavanger, Bergen, Molde, Trondheim, Bod\u00f8 and Troms\u00f8 (in Troms\u00f8, see what you find when you type in the address Lanesvegen 19, 9006).\u00a0\u00a0Lykke til og god tur!<\/em><\/p>\n

Sp\u00f8rsm\u00e5l\u00a0<\/em>(Questions)?<\/p>\n

Well, I have told you a lot.\u00a0 Still, if you or your parents have any questions that I have not answered, check the\u00a0Parent Handbook<\/a>\u00a0or contact the Language Villages office in Moorhead, Minnesota for more information.<\/p>\n

We look forward to seeing you and having a great experience together.\u00a0\u00a0Vi sees<\/em>!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Beste hilsen,<\/em><\/p>\n

Tove Dahl
\nDean of\u00a0Skogfjorden<\/em><\/p>\n

Enroll in Skogfjorden<\/strong> for next year. \u00a0Do it for me!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Skogfjorden is one of the many Concordia Language Villages in northern MN. \u00a0I have, unfortunately never attended as a camper, nor as a counselor. \u00a0I did not know about the program until I attended St. Olaf College. \u00a0It’s such a pity that I wasn’t aware of CLV’s existence, because I certainly would have attended! \u00a0For…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":1178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,3668],"tags":[101285,100846,101603,101094,100459,101748],"class_list":["post-1177","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-norway-and-the-world","tag-bemidji","tag-concordia-language-villages","tag-mn","tag-norwegian-language-and-culture","tag-skogfjorde","tag-tove-dahl"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1177"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1882,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177\/revisions\/1882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}