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Andoya Island...trip,June,1986
"my first trip overseas!!!!"
Andoya Island,{Andenes} Belonging to Norway.This was my first experience overseas and it was a long time ago but I thought it would be fun to place my trip in here. I was there for just over two weeks. Andoya Island is approx.300 miles north of the arctic circle{if I remember correctly!}It is located in the northern portion of Norway and off the mainland by a good distance.I think you could see the mainland on a clear day. It has a relatively small set of a few towns on it .Most but not all of the people there made their living by fishing ,raising goats ect...and i REALLY enjoyed the people there...once I got to know a few of them..I made some very good friends. At the time I was 20 years old and I had alot of fun meeting others my age.One thing I noticed right away was that they REALLY trusted one another much better than we did in the states... They rarely locked their doors at home{in fact,I don't even remember seeing any locks on them at all!!!!}...just some small things also that I noticed.I went to town one day and was looking for something cold to drink,I found what appeared to be a grocery store and saw a baby carriage sitting just outside the store,and sure enough, there was a baby boy in it!...His mother was inside shopping,picking up a few items but she wasn't in site of the child..Nothing was wrong,it was just very different than how we trust each other At home..{ I always admired them for that} My new Norwiegen friends explained to me that crime was EXTREMELY low.probably because of the severe punishment{I didn;t ask too much about this}..what a great feeling! I was there in June and there was no snow on the ground but my friends told me that the snow ,in the winter,can sometimes reach ten feet high!!!!! WOW. For this reason, they built their houses on an extended foundation.*As a side note:The temperatures in June were a bit chilly but not bad.*.I thought was interesting...back to the store expierience,I thought that surely since I managed to find a Norwiegen version of a sprite, shouldn't have any problem finding some ice for my soft drink...nope! They just didn't use ice in their drinks!!! There was only ONE place that you could get COLD BEER at a pizza /dance club.,however, the warm Norwiegen beer was VERY good tasting and easy to get used to drinking warm{Pilsner Ole and Dahls, come to mind. {Ole/Ule} meaning beer...and I my be mis-spelling Ole.....My newly made friends helped me learn also that they have roughly 6 months of darkness and 6 months of light..{TRULEY,LAND OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN}THAT, took some getting used to as the sun never went down {in the spring summer months{due to being so far north latitude} I learned that a short time period during spring and fall, there would be a twighlight time before the sun either went down below the hotizon/or vice verse/ I really wish i could have returned during this time as I think that would be very cool to see...while i was there,I tried to pay attention to the sun as it made it's way from what looked like 10 am or so through and to a point that looked like it was early afternoon /compared to Indiana/ then reverse and head back to the "AM" angle again....this,I thought, was pretty interesting....it took me a few days to get used to this as it was not only hard to sleep without putting some news papers on the windows..or anything I could find... but also because it would be 3 AM and as I returned to where I was staying ,from the dance club.ect..IT WAS STILL DAYLIGHT OUT!!!!!.. this was REAL strange!!!!!!....at least for me as I wan't used to that"Midnight sun"...I am searching for the pictures i took on the trip and will add to this story when i find them...This trip was a GREAT time for me as it was my first time being outside the US....even though it was a few days ago....I remember this trip very well and it made a lasting impression on me that i will never forget.
