And Now, The Rest of The Story

In an earlier post, we mentioned the planned trip to the United States involving the Royal Couple from Norway. The latest Viking magazine has now published the itinerary of King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway as they tour the United States, helping Scandinavian-Americans celebrate 100 years of AFS's accomplishments. .

From Oct 11 to 22, Harald V and Queen Sonja will be visiting various colleges and locations in the Midwest.They will first visit Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, October 13th.

Luther was founded in 1861 by a group of Norwegian immigrants, some of which were educated in Oslo, Norway This year marks Luther College's 150th anniversary with the Norwegian royal couple in attendance. Luther is the oldest Scandinavian-American college in the US. After a visit to the famous Scandinavian Vesterheim Museum, it's on to the next site.

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Oct 14th, finds the king and queen in Northfield, Minnesota. St. Olaf College was named after King Olav II Haraldsson ,who ruled Norway from 1016-1030. St. Olaf has a long history of Norwegian royal visitors. At this one, the king and queen will be sitting in on a Norwegian language class. (A bit of pressure on the prof, maybe??)

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Then, it's on to Minneapolis. October 16th finds the visitors at Augsburg College. Augsburg was founded in 1869. The college's first two teachers were from Norway and designed courses to develope the school's mission as a seminary. after attending a worship service at Augsburg's Hoversten Chapel, the royal couple will hold a brief reception on campus.

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Then, it's north to Duluth, Minnesota. October 17th finds the travellers at a re-dedication ceremony as King Harald follows his father's footsteps in Northern Minnesota. Duluth is home to many Norwegian imigrants. In Duluth, they will help re-dedicate a five-story tower that was built overlooking Lake Superior . The tower was erected to honor the relationship between Duluth and Norway.

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Before leaving the Midwest, the king and queen will take part in the October 21st opening of an exhibition at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The exhibit honors the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his expedition to the South Pole. This is an "invitation only" event sponsored by The Sons of Norway to provide the king and queen an opportunity to interact with members.

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Then, it's off the the East Coast and New York City for the celebration. This year marks the centennial celebration of the American-Scandinavian foundation, an organization that promotes international and cultural exchanges for students and adults involving over 30,000 citizens in exchange programs.Representatives from all five Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland,Iceland and Sweden will join the Norwegian royal couple as they celebrate an elegant evening of dining and dancing.

" And The Emmy Goes To..."

The Herald Times Reporter, a Manitowoc daily newspaper, September 13th edition headlined an Emmy Award winner at their latest Los Angeles Award Ceremony. The front page story read: --------------------------------------------- SHINING MOMENT "Winning an Emmy- Quite a shock for Manitowoc native Garth Neustadter."

New Haven resident Garth Neustadter won an Emmy for his original musical score used in the American Masters documentary "John Muir in the New World" which was broadcast last spring on PBS on Earth Day.

---------This just goes to show that Lutefisk Lovers Have Good Taste!-----------

In early Vennskap Lutefisk dinners, outside entertainment was offered and enjoyed by lutefisk diners at our annual lutefisk dinners. At one of these events, a young boy by the the name of Neustadter, accompanied by his parents on background instruments, came to perform. Young Garth Neustadter entertained his audience with an excellent program of violin solos and various selections featuring his musical trio. Little did we know, his excellent talent would be heard later.

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Neustadter, 25, will graduate in 2012 with a Master's degree in composition, and hopes to continue at Yale in a doctorate program. He was chosen for the "Prime-Time Creative Arts" award over fellow nominees Ron Jones and Walter Murphy, each for an episode of "Family Guy"; Alf Clausen for an eposode of "The Simpsons" and Jeff Richmond for an episode of "30 Rock".

--------------------Lawrence Conservatory, located in Appleton, Wisconsin, founded in 1847, uniquely integrates a college of fine arts and sciences with a world-class conservatory of music. Neustadter has been recognized as a five-time Downbeat Magazine award-winner in the categories of composition, music arranging, classical violin performance and jazz performance as well as multiple awards from ASCAP and The National Federation of Music club.

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Neustadter's musical score from "John Muir in the New World" was performed by Lawrence Conservatory of Music students. Neustadter earned a Bachelor of Music degree summa cum laude in violin and voice performance from Lawrence University in 2010.

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In his interview, Neustadter told the reporter "Winning an Emmy---I think it's going to take a little while for it to sink in. It was quite a shock, quite a surprise to me. I was honored just to be there in the first place, and to actually win it, it's even more of an honor, it's icing on the cake."

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Stay tuned. I'm sure we will be hearing more about this talented local musician..

Look! There's a Moose!

Everyone who visits "The Old Country" watches out for the native moose. Behind only the buffalo, the moose is the second largest land animal in both North America and Europe. Moose warning signs have become popular souvenirs causing accidents for visiting motorists and causing so much expense that the triangular moose signs have been replaced with image-less generic warning signs in some areas.

The moose is a herbivore, consuming many types of plants and fruits. The average adult moose needs to consume 9770 calories every day to maintain its bodyweight. Some of these calories are found eating tree shoots such as willow and birch. Occasionally, a lucky moose will find an apple tree for a meal.

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It was a dark and stormy night when Per Johannson returned from work to his home in Saro, just south of Gothenburg, Sweden. Per said" It was raining really bad. In the wind, I heard something screaming" in his interview with CNN. He thought it was the neighbors, but hearing it again, he checked and found something really big up in a tree in the neighbor's yard..It was a moose in the tree! He said " It must have been drunk after eating fermented apples ,and as it was reaching for more fruit, it must have slipped and fallen into the tree."

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This inebriated animal had tried to grab an apple from a high branch, but its legs gave way and it got stuck! Cops say these animals often end up drunk after eating rotting fruit. Rescuers eventually freed the huge creature into the Swedish woods--and it lay down on the grass to sleep it off.

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On a personal note, every fall, robins gather in flocks to feast on our neighbor's fermenting-berry tree. They seem to gather the fermented fruit and fly over to my tree ( where my car is parked underneath!)..After they devour their meal, they fly away for more..after leaving their bird-droppings upon my car! I have always fumed at this action, but now give thanks that they are not moose!.

Back to School..Who's Your Teacher This Year?

Our youngsters are, once again, back at their studies furthering their education. This summer was filled with electronic inventions including smart phones and many I-products, all of which are well used and easily understood by these young minds. What else are they going to learn!? Perhaps they have something to teach us..If we're listening!

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A 13-yr old New York boy named Adan Dwyer was on a winter hike in the Catskills when he paused to look at the trees around him. All the leaves had long gone and he noticed that the branches seemed to have a spiral pattern.

He wondered if the pattern had anything to do with how tree-leaves collected sunlight, as sun is the key to the tree's survival. He did some research and came up with an interesting discovery.

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Man-made solar panels are always in a flat line ,while the tree branches are in a mathematical sequence!! In the year 1209, a mathematician named Fibonacci discovered a repeating pattern that is even seen in many trees. This was re-discovered by a naturalist in 1754. Young Dwyer had an idea!...

Dwyer constructed a tree with branches of "leaf solar panels" using this formula and begin measuring the sunlight with meters from October to December when the sun was at it's lowest. Comparing his findings with that of a typical flat "Man-made solar-system", he arranged his "leaf" panels in this spiral pattern and found his tree design increased efficiency from 20-50%. Shade and bad weather did not affect the tree-design efficiency as it did to the "Flat-array" design. The tree design would take less room and would be able to work in urban areas where the sunlight would be hard to find! Googling "FIBONACCI" reveals some very interesting facts! Flowers have specific numbers of petals ..The Nautilus Shell uses the Fibonacci formula.......

Young Dwyer took a lesson from Mother Nature.........................

As a result of this project, the American Museum of Natural History has bestowed Adan Dwyers with a Young Naturalist Award. Perhaps, Mother Nature is still trying to tell us some of her secrets.. through a 13-yr old..If we're listening!!

Let's Go For A Walk

For a nice stroll in the fresh air, how about this hike up to Norway's "Preacher's Pulpit"?

Click on the link below and enjoy the view.

http://www.businessinsider.com/preikestolen-photos-2011-08#-1

It's a Girl! AND A Boy!

In a very few days, parents will be readying their children for school. Here in the U.S., we take this activity for granted. However, in Norway, this becomes a time of vital concern. In Norway, children born before September 1st are legally guaranteed a place at a local kindergarten for the next year. Those born after this date may have to wait two years before finding a place for their youngster..

Evidence increasingly suggests that Norwegian parents are planning pregnancies in order to qualify their children's school career. Officials from a number of urban hospitals confirm this pattern to Aftenposten.

Several large hospitals in Oslo and Bergen have had to send patients away to smaller hospitals in order to cope with maternity service demands. Bergen's Haukeland University Hostpital recorded 550 births in August 2010 compared to 436 on average during August over the last seven years..

------------------- Bergen's Haukeland University Hospital --------------------

The head of the women's clinic at Trondheim, Runa Heimstad stated that "We get the impression that parents try to plan when they will have children with a view to the kindergarten year."

Full coverage of kindergartens not only reassures working parents that their children will be receiving adequate care during the work day, it provides children under the compulsory school age with good opportunities for developement and activity.

Norway is striving to achieve full coverage of kindergartens. Such coverage is essential to the participation of parents of small children in working life, and helps to explain why Norway has one of the highest birth rates in Europe.

Norway Mourns

Somewhere in this world, good news is being heard. However, the latest news from here and abroad leaves much to be desired. The latest tragedy took part in Norway, as a lone, delusional gunman was able to detonate a bomb and quickly appear twenty miles away to kill people at his leisure.

At the latest report, a car-bomb was detonated in front of an Oslo, Norway government building causing several deaths and injuries creating chaos not unlike a normal military diversionary action. The gunman, somehow boarded a ferry ( which he later disabled) to a famous island that was well-known for a summer camp specially designed for families and their children for annual summer celebrations.

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This picturesque island is located in the Tyrifjorden fjord outside Oslo and owned by the AUF ( the Labour Party Youth) and the Labour Party, itself. The AUF is a multi-cultural organization with a clear stance against racism and xenophobia, and a buzzing melting-pot. These summer-camps at Utoeya generate massive media coverage and regularily set the national political agenda. A place where a delusional extremist can "make a statement". Over the past five decades, Utoeya has become a precious asset for the AUF and the Labour Party- socially and political. The current Norwegian Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg has spent parts of his summer holidays every year from the age of 14 attending activities at this site.

The AUF summer camp at Utoeya is the place that party leaders and other prominent political figures simply have to attend. Every summer, 70-1,000 Labour youths gather for political debate and seminars and classic summer fun.

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Prime Minister Stoltenberg spoke to the Norwegian people from Oslo's City Hall, July 26th. In portions of his address to Norwegian youth, he stated:

--------------Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg -----------------

Secondly, I want to say this to all the young people here. The massacre on Utøya was an attack against young people's dreams of being able to help to make the world a better place. Your dreams have been crushed, but your dreams can be fulfilled...You can make a difference....Get involved. Care. Take part in debates..Use your vote. Free elections are the jewel in the crown of democracy..."

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Nan Webster, a Vennskap member, has relatives living in Norway. Nan received a phonecall from Norway. Nan writes: " Our cousin Yngve Bjerke and his wife Gunn were on their way home from a mountain cabin and got caught in a traffic jam because of the terrorism. They didn't know what was happening at first, and then heard the screaming and shots. People who had boats were going out with their boats to save as many children as they could. It was terrible to say the least. Norway will NEVER be the same."

The violence was the deadliest in Norway since World War II.