A few weeks ago, a bunch of friends and I went to the FIS World Cup of nordic skiing up at Holmenkollen. There were cross country ski races in the morning and ski jump competitions in the afternoon. I know I say this a lot, but this had to have been one of the best days I’ve had here. Norway is just a magical place full of fun and wonderful things.
The day started out pretty eh and I wasn’t even particularly excited about the event. However, as soon as I met up with my friends on the metro, I got excited. Like, really excited. The metro cars were PACKED with ski fans from all over the world, but mostly Norwegians. My friend Grant and I got super excited when we saw a small American flag peaking out of one man’s backpack.
Once we arrived at the stop for Holmenkollen, my excitement grew. There was a little souvenir cabin set up right up the hill from the stop selling scarves and giant flags and Norwegian cow bells etc. It was the one time in Norway when I said to myself “Ok I’m going to spend money on something overpriced and unnecessary.” I was so prepared to buy a Norwegian flag. Unfortunately, I notoriously never have cash on me and the souvenir seller didn’t take credit cards. I was CRUSHED. My emotions really went through the ringer that day for no apparent reason.
My friends and I began our ascent up the winding hill that leads to another hill that has a giant ski jump on top. On our way, there was a man on the side of the road with a bunch of Norwegian flags and cow bells. He had a sign in the snow that said he accepted credit cards. I was over the moon. His flag was bigger and 30NOK cheaper than the woman’s back at the cabin. Score! I excitedly handed over my card and anxiously awaited that one word I had quickly come to learn in Norwegian- Godkjent. But no, no approval for me. See my card doesn’t have this little chip in it (THANKS AMERICA) that most European cards have. So it generally only works at larger stores that still accept all cards. This guy couldn’t take my silly American chip-less card. I was so sad. Two attempts in five minutes, neither of which ended with me clutching a Norwegian flag. Then he said the nicest thing I have heard since being here: just keep it. I was flabbergasted. Excuse me? I was so confused by what he was saying to me because for some reason that flag held way more value to me than to him. He told me to keep the flag and if I ever saw him in town, I could pay him then. If not, he told me I should pay it forward and remember to do something nice for someone else. I couldn’t believe it. Guys, I literally cried. It was so dramatic. I was so overly happy I cried. I couldn’t thank him enough as my friends started laughing and pointing out the fact that I was crying from happiness.
^That’s right before he told me America isn’t valid in Norway. So much happy.
Let’s just say the day was on the up and up from then on out. We met the winners of the cutest-couple-award-in-my-heart-forever: a woman with the BEST sweater I have ever seen, not too mention the most Norwegian, and her husband, who just so happened to own a mini replica of the Holmenkollen ski jump in hat form.
The rest of the day was super awesome: I received a bunch of free trail mix from a man with a super beard; wandered around the spectator camp and saw a giant troll statue (oh Norway); witnessed adorable older Norwegians dancing in traditional dress and being too cute for words; and found the ice sculpture of Holmenkollen meant for children to slide down and proceeded to slide down myself. Before climbing the ice block (literally this thing was complete and total ice, I don’t know how the kids weren’t slipping all over the place like I was) I asked one of the fathers watching his children slide down if it was ok for me to go up. He smiled at me and said it was only for kids and then asked “are you a kid at heart?” BEST RESPONSE EVER. Obviously, I smiled big and ran up to the ice hill immediately. I kind of sort of accidentally slipped at the top and fell more than slid down the slide and almost crashed into a child, but still a super cute, super fun experience :]
My friends and I finally sat down to watch the women’s ski jump competition. I happily ate the cold chili I had packed and sipped cocoa from my favorite “ikkje få panikk” thermos. We stayed at the competition until about 4:30 in the afternoon. In the women’s ski jump, AMERICA won which was super cool because we didn’t even know the US was competing initially. It was so fun to be some of the only Americans there and super live up to the stereotypes- yelling our country’s name every time a US competitor came up, obnoxiously proclaiming that America always wins, even in Nordic ski competitions, etc. So much fun to be those people for the day :p
All in all, fantastic fun was had all around, and the FIS World Cup will be a fond memory I hold in my heart forever <3