INSTALLMENT
#8
[Day 12 - Wednesday, July 5, 2000]
Peg & Keith
Wheeler's Norway trip report, Summer 2000
Stavanger
on July 5th - Emigration Center, Canning Museum, Old Town - Bus to Aksdal, Tysvær - "Reisen til Amerika"
Exhibit, Quaker Meeting House & "The Last Quaker,"*
Slogvik's, Hervik, Teacher Talk, Birthday Party (CAKES!!)
Wow!
Anything after yesterday HAD to be anticlimactic. We had a few hours before we had to leave Stavanger by bus for Aksdal and the Slogvik's. We finally got to visit the Emigration Center and see how they operate. We
joined the friendship society and made a few purchases through them. We were able to personally thank the ladies
for the fine job they had done the day before coordinating all the details of
the celebration and for inviting us to be part of the activities. ("Tak for sist." - as the
expression of "thanks for last night" goes.)
We
took a brief walk through the Canning
Museum where a group of tourists were trying their hands at threading the
little plastic sardines on rods for smoking and then packing sardine cans with
them. It looked like they were having
fun. For those not familiar with the
history of Stavanger, its major industry in years past was 
the sardine business. We took a nice walk through the old winding
streets of Gamle Stavanger (Old Town) which are the subjects of many photos of
tourist destinations. This part of the
city is quite picturesque with its cobblestone streets and very old, but well
kept, houses. A few shops and artists'
galleries added to the charm. As the
houses were quite close together there were usually no yards, but if there was
any space or a window box, bright flowers could always be seen.
< Street
scene from the old part of Stavanger.
Thinking
we had time for a "soft ice" (soft ice cream in a cone - a popular
treat in Norway), we relaxed over them just long enough to make ourselves nearly
late to catch the bus. The driver was
closing the luggage compartments as we ran up.
It was a comfortable ride through the outskirts of the city, over
bridges, through tunnels, across islands and one ferry ride to Aksdal where we
were to be met by Rotraud. One of the
two major tunnels that went under water (in place of bridges) was 6 kilometers
(almost 4 mi.) long and over 200 meters (over 650 ft.) below the surface of the
water, the second was 4 km (about 2 ½ mi.) long. Again, very nice scenery -- it is truly difficult to find an ugly
view in Norway -- actually we tried and failed to find any unpleasant
view.
Rotraud
Slogvik picked us up and there was time to visit the Tysvær kommune (municipal) library and the
adjacent exhibition of "Reisen til Amerika" (Going to America), which
chronicled the emigration story partly from one woman's diary. The exhibit, with many great old
photographs, was very nicely done. Back
in the library, Keith found Rosdail's Slooper book prominently displayed
and had Rotraud check it out so Keith could show Einar. We had a bit of coffee in the nearby
shopping center and then kept our appointment with "The Last Quaker."* Nils Stakland was at the historic Quaker
Meeting House at Stakland (north west of Slogvik) to greet us. (Here we use the common term
"Quaker" for the Society of Friends.)
This
small plain building was bought by the Quakers in 1867 and rebuilt for their
services. Of the several meeting houses
in Norway in the early days, this is the only one in its original shape and in
its original place. It is now being
preserved as an historical site. Nils
told us about how the early Quakers were persecuted by the State church and
local bishop. He was 
familiar with Keith's great
great uncle, Anders Slogvik, (Jacob's youngest brother who stayed in Norway
rather than emigrate) who was often in trouble the with law because of his
beliefs and religious practices.
Apparently Tysvær was a particularly difficult place to be a Quaker; the
bishop in Stavanger was somewhat more tolerant.
< In front of the old Quaker Meeting House stand Nils' daughter, granddaughter, Nils
Stakland, and Keith.
With
Nils was his daughter, Synnøve Stakland, and her niece (also Nils
granddaughter), Solveig Karin, who interpreted for us. The niece was
visiting her grandparents while on a break from boarding school at the United
World College and this bright young lady was an excellent interpreter and
showed great respect for her grandfather.
We were shown the meeting house and then the small stone-fenced grave
yard to the south where there is only one vacancy and it's awaiting Nils, the
last Quaker. He knew where everyone was
buried even though the small simple stones had no markings on them
anymore. He was able to tell Keith
where his great great Uncle Anders and his wife Brita were buried.
The discussion on the Quakers continues
as we leave the old Quaker graveyard.
The graveyard cat decided to leave too. >
There
was a wonderful gray cat there who posed for a picture and we adjourned to the
Stakland home where Cecilie, Nils wife, had prepared cakes and
coffee. Karin's younger sister, Laila,
also joined us. What genuinely friendly
people; what a lovely home. There were
examples of Nils wood working and many fine old photographs. The view from their living room window could
have inspired any artist. This couple
had just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. She, nor any other living member of the
family, had ever become a Quaker. This handsome 88 year old gentleman had an
ageless quality about him and perhaps we're projecting, but he also seemed at
peace with himself and his world. It
was quite clear that his family and the community held him in very high
esteem. We were deeply honored to have
met him and his family and to have been welcomed into his home.
Down
the road a piece, we stopped to see where Einar Slogvik was working with
his excavator. He was in the process of
ditching a bog to drain a field at a friend's place so that it could be used
for farmland. The workday was nearly at
a close, so Keith stayed to drive back with Einar in his large dump truck. Peg went ahead with Rotraud to begin
preparing the evening meal. After
dinner, we took a walk about the place checking the various farm buildings and
fields, and ending at the waterside.
In most of Norway, it is the practice to house cows an sheep inside the
barn during the entire winter. This
creates a marvelous supply of manure that is returned to the fields at the
proper time.
We
talked and visited well into the evening over the stacks and stacks of books
and research that Einar and Rotraud had been acquiring partly because of their
own interest in the farm's history and partly for our benefit. These volumes were a amazing testament and
tribute to the Norwegian penchant for recording details and honoring their
history. Adding to this material were
the maps and genealogy information that Keith brought as well as the Slooper
book. One end of their living room was
transformed into a research library for the rest of our stay. This was just the first of many evenings
that because of the combination of our jet lag and the late Norwegian sunlight,
we kept our hosts up late.
We
then retired to a comfortable upstairs bedroom from where even at this late
hour, we could enjoy the view of the fjord to the south.
Day 13,
Thursday, July 6, 2000
The
day begins with a now customary WONDERFUL breakfast of coffee, cheeses,
crackers, and vegetables. This is such
a terrific way to begin a day that we will probably continue the fare when we
get back to the US. Rotraud, our tour
director (a role she insisted she absolutely LOVES) had scheduled a morning
visit at the Hervik Konservering
(fruit jam and juice works) a world wide distributor of FINE gourmet jams and juices. It also enjoys considerable popularity in
the vicinity due to its quality product.
Hervik is located just a few minutes south of the Slogvik farm, also on
the shore of Hervikfjorden. We were
honored to be given a tour around the facility by the owner/manager, Tor
Romseland. They were between seasons
just then and the facility was undergoing cleaning and repainting, but it was
nonetheless fascinating to learn about the ingenious processing and packaging
methods they used. Tor also gave us a gift box of product samples which were
delicious. Check out their web site (in
Norwegian) at: http://www.hervik.com/
<
Scene of Hervik from the car
window.
The large gray Hervik fruit processing plant can
be seen to the left. >
We then
drove around the bay (or "vik") to
grocery store for some shopping.
That is always an insightful way to learn a bit about a culture and we
found many interesting things at the local Hervik supermarket.
Rotraud
had arranged for some lunch guests with whom Peg could "teacher talk." Apparently Keith had requested this unbeknownst to
Peg, so it was a little contrived at times, but nonetheless enjoyable and
informative. Annie was a high
school teacher from Oslo and Harold was a local principal. A very broad conclusion can be made that
most students are the same the world over and teaching is not terribly
different either. Peg's questions were
about the teaching of religion in Norwegian schools since there is a state
religion, and how Norway deals with students after they complete the mandatory
10th grade.
In
the late afternoon, we brought forth the several gifts we had brought from our
various friends and relatives in the US to give to the Slogviks. It was good to finally off load some of the large
supply of almonds we had brought from cousin Emma Roney of Chico,
California. The family completely
appreciated and enjoyed the items.
Almonds were a treat as they cannot be grown in Norway. Peg did a bit of spinning on Rotraud's wheel
while Keith, Einar, and Rotraud poured over the maps and research volumes about
the area identifying where ancestors' farms had been.
That
evening had been set aside for the 60th birthday of a close
neighbor. Giving us a chance to get
acquainted with more local folks, our transportation this evening was with
cousins and neighbors, Sjur and Berit Slogvik. Sjur is a math/science teacher in Haugesund, both spoke English
well, especially Berit, and Berit had a sister living in Canada. Einar and Rotraud drove separately. Arriving at the neighboring farm, we were
welcomed into the very nice home of this family (actually every home we had
visited or were to visit could easily be described as "very nice" as
all were in nice condition, nicely decorated and obviously well cared
for). By this time we were used to
taking off our shoes upon entering, something Peg was familiar with after her
visit to Japan, but still fairly new to Keith.
Rotraud warned us that there would be numerous cakes after we were
served tasty build-it-yourself open-faced sandwiches. Despite the warning, we were unprepared for 11 (count 'em -- eleven!) cakes for the about two dozen
friends and family gathered here. Each
cake was, in its way, more delicious than the others, and we had to try each of
them in turn as they were served.
Eleven pieces of cake! There
seems to be some kind of measurement of status associated with the number of
cakes at special parties and marking a 60th year was one such very
special occasion. Someone suggested
that this custom of serving multiple rich deserts came from earlier times when
people were poor but wanted to show they could still feed guests with an
impressive spread. Each cake this
evening was home made, very rich and truly elegant. Fortunately these were rather low cakes and not the tall
multi-layered cakes that we often have.
Of course along with the food there were numerous cups of delicious
strong coffee. (Sorry, we took no pictures this evening.)
The
party in general was a bit awkward at times, being unable to understand or
speak Norwegian, but people were patient and were interested in speaking
English for us. Many were interested in
our backgrounds and what we thought of Norway.
As the evening progressed we got acquainted with two ladies that do
volunteer work through the Red Cross.
They help with a telephone hot line in Haugesund for kids. They indicated that there was a growing
problem with some young people feeling they had no one to talk to. Apparently this was resulting from more
families where both parents work and have little time for their children. This was the first we heard of such social
problems. Soon it was time to leave and
catch a ride back with Sjur and Berit as Rotraud and Einar had already left.
Another fascinating day in this beautiful area of Norway.
*
UPDATE: We learned on our Dec. 2001 visit to Norway that Nils' family
found this term offensive - They prefer the term "the only
Quaker in Tysvær" at present.