Frank in Norway: To 1973 and BACK in Kvam, Part I

The Main House

First, some history: In June 1973 about two dozen students from the University of California system hopped on a charter flight at LAX destined for Brussels. Our final destination (but not until September) was the University of Bergen, Norway. Only one or two of us had any knowledge of the Norwegian language, so the rest of us had to take an intensive language course over the summer before classes started at university.

The first several weeks of the course were conducted at the University of Oslo. Then the group of Californians was divided in two. One group went to Mandal to a campground in Southern Norway. The other group went to a farm at Kvam in the Gudbrand Valley (Gudbrandsdalen) north of Lillehammer. After two weeks, the two groups switched locations.

Anders Fortun was the farmer who owned and ran the farm. While we were there, we lived and worked on the farm. One of our teachers was with us, so we continued language lessons, too. I helped Anders build temporary wire racks for drying hay. Then the hay was cut, and we hanged the hay on the racks. Once the hay was dry enough, we cut the wires that held the hay up, thus causing the hay to collapse to the ground. Then we used pitchforks to pitch the hay into a wagon which we unloaded into the barn. Here is what it looks like:

Hay drying not far from where we live in Trondheim

Until last weekend, I had not seen Anders since the summer of 1973. That changed because about a month ago, Hali Edison, one of the "Californians" and I received an email from Bruce Hultgren (another Californian) inviting us to the annual Christmas party for those of us who studied in Norway in '73. The party takes place in Napa.

Me to the left; Hali with her face blocked by Trent's beer. Nancy in foreground.

Bruce mentioned in the email that I was living in Norway. Hali immediately sent me an email to let me know that she had some businees to do in Oslo, Norway, and that perhaps we could meet (since neither of us could make the Christmas party). Once she learned that I was in Trondheim (far from Oslo) she suggested that maybe we could get together at the farm in Kvam.

To shorten an already long story, Hali gave me the contact info for Ander's son, Anders Jr. I wrote to Junior and he graciously invited me to spend the weekend when Hali would also be there. Anders Jr. was only a young boy in 1973. Now he runs the farm and a business that sells Merino Wool called Leine Merino.

So, last Saturday, I hopped on a bus to Kvam. The trip took around 4 hours. The bus has an upper cabin, so I sat in the very first seat up there. I had a fantastic view from up there through the windshield.

Upper deck of the bus.

Leaving town. Munkegata with the cathedral in the background.

Through the mountains to Gudbrandsdalen. This is the main road (E6) between Oslo and Trondheim.

The other side of the mountain range. It was raining.

Anders (Senior) and Hali picked me up at the bus stop. They both looked great, although Anders is pretty thin after battling a horrible virus this Spring. But, despite his weight loss, Anders is very healthy, energetic and sharp, sharp, sharp as a tack.

Hali and Anders in the Main House living room.

Ander's farm is way up from the narrow valley's floor, clinging to the hillside.

The view from the farm early Sunday morning.

The view later in the day.

Last June there was severe flooding here. Anders took me up to the "high farm" where they have a cabin and sauna. The high farm is much, much higher than the main farm. You can imagine it as the place to stay while the sheep graze on highland grasses during the summer. We had to take a long detour to get there because the main road had been totally oblitereated by flood waters. You could see the wide devastation caused by mud/rock slides all around the area. Anders Jr. told me that had he not been at the main farm when the flooding started, they might have lost all of their buildings. But, he wisely ordered a back-hoe or a bulldozer (I'm not sure which) to build a berm to channel the waters safely away from the buildings.