Wednesday 11.09
Walk to the camping site by the river, Check in at Karasjok Camping cabins
When we arrived at the Karasjok Campings site, Ellen told us that 4 students lived in a cabin. So Hyunyi Um, Linh Chi, Usha and me chose each other to be roommates. Maybe because our cabin is the biggest one, Ellen and Nina also joined us.
Our cabin is quite sweet, clean, and full equipped. There are three bedrooms, one bathroom, one kitchen, one living room with TV and even a sauna room. But unfortunately, we didn’t experience the sauna because we were so tired.
Hyunyi and me slept in a room. There is a wood bunk bed in our bedroom. I slept on the second floor. Actually I like to sleep on the the second floor.
When I walked to the riverside, I felt refreshed, relaxed and enjoyable with the colorful autumn vibe. The view by the river is so beautiful, which is a kind of typical Norwegian suburb scenery. So I caught the moment by my camera, edited it in my way and shared it with people.
Thursday 12.09
Breakfast in cabins, make “matpakke”
The day before we bought a lot of food for the breakfast and “matpakke”, such as breads, cherry tomatoes, avocados, meat, cheese and so on.
Nina, Ellen, Hyunyi Um, Linh Chi, Usha and me did the preparation work for the breakfast in our kitchen.
And then we invited classmates to come for enjoying breakfast. We just ate, told jokes and laughed to spend a good morning time together.
After that, we began to make our own “matpakkes”. “Matpakke” is a popular packed lunch in Norway for almost everyone. Actually, it is very easy to make and take away, even for children. It is also made up of vegetables, cheese, meat and so forth and wrapped by paper. “Matpakke” is a culture in Norway, and Norwegian people feel proud of it. Actually, “Matpakke” came from a government policy which devoted to provide free food with children from primary schools in the 1930s. In Norway, people only have 30 minutes for lunch break because of the shortest working hours in the world, and they need to rest efficiently during the 30 minutes. In addition, people don’t need to spend more time to make decisions about what they eat for lunch. So I think that’s why “Matpakke” is so popular in Norway.
Ellen showed us how to make cutest “matpakkes”.
In China, a lot of young people choose to bring lunch to schools and workplaces for healthy diet and saving money. But the Chinese packed lunch is very different from Norwegian. Normally, we put rice and some fried dishes in a lunch box, which I think is more complicated and various. And bringing packed lunch is also a kind of social behavior in China, people enjoy their packed lunch together and share food they make to make new friends. It is because we normally are given 1.5 hours for lunch break.
Lunch – eating the “matpakke” outdoors
After visiting the impressive Sámi Parliament, we seemed to feel hungry. Having our “matpakkes” and chatting with each other in a canteen really revived us. Thank you “matpakke”! Csenge, Harsh, Hyunyi and me just talked about travelling with nice free tea and coffee. Thank you The Sámi Parliament Canteen!
Reference list
Norwegian art of packed lunch
https://nation.com.pk/06-Jan-2019/norwegian-art-of-packed-lunch
