Highlights from 2012
Some of the great conversations, unexpected appearances, and nice surprises from our 2012 experience.
- Selling the art shanty to a playful family hosting a very nice exchange student from Ålesund.
- Finding out that Peter Haakon Thompson, one of the founders of the Art Shanty Projects, did not one, but two artistic residencies in Norway.
- Visits from Capitol Hill shanty artists/politicians, including visits from Jens Stoltenberg and Michelle "Vilde" Bachmann.
- Having an amazing fellow show up to fill the position of Troll under the Bridge for hours at a time over a two day period. This man had troll in his blood and simply delighted hundreds of children.
- Staff-in-absentia sending their families to visit us at the Nordic Village Bridge.
- Getting visits from some of our Pre-K families, past and present!
- Learning about family genealogies as visitors pick out names for themselves based on names from their family tree.
- Opening the door to the goat shanty and discovering a group of visitors making up melodies to go along with Karius og Baktus.
- 54 exchange students from China making the Art Shanty Projects a stop on their first organized tour of the Twin Cities, thanks to Cathy Smith (Sen Lin Hu and Jardin de Niños).
- Two of (Skogfjorden counselor) Gorm's Norwegian students at Mindekirken dressing up as billy goats and planting a note for him!
- Dozens of visits from all ages of former alumni who looked up in surprise and said something like, "Wait?! Are you from the Language Villages? Ohmygosh - I (or my child) was a two-(four-six-eight) year villager five (ten-fifteen-twenty) years ago!!!! I still have my name tags!"
- Lots of visitors who said, "I still have my nametag from the Art Shanty Project two years ago. I'd like a new nametag, but I think I'll keep the same name."
- Exciting news from our next door neighbor Mina at the ICE-Cycles Shanty that her troll themed art car has found a home at the Troll Hole in Alliance, Ohio.
- Opening the door to the goat shanty and discovering visitors reminiscing about the kinds of afghans their Nordic grandmothers used to make.
- Odin marrying a couple on the bridge - on the date of their first wedding anniversary. How romantic..goat costumes and all:)
- Watching visitors really get into playing Kubb.
- Says a couple trying on the billy goat costumes, "Well, the kids are off to college, so this will have to be our Christmas photo for the year."
- The victorious celebration on top of the bridge the night we moved in!
- Finding out that tons and tons of visitors speak "a little" Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Spanish, German, Chinese, and French.
- Getting to work/play with staff from other villages, and with the ASI Cloudberries! And having multiple generations on the team!
An exchange on the troll bridge:
Troll: "What would you do if a troll came to live with you? Would you give it its own room?"
3 year old girl: NO! I'd kick it out.
Troll: Well, would you at least let the troll sleep in your garage?
Girl: NO!
Troll: How about in your car?
Girl: NO!
Troll: Would you at least call ahead to a hotel and make reservations for the troll?
Girl: NO!
Mother: Come on, honey? Where would the troll sleep?
Girl: It could sleep in the cat's mouth.
Troll: I like cats. That would probably be okay. Fine, I'll let you use my bridge. Go ahead.
Mother (as they walk away): But honey, we don't even have a cat.
Another conversation on the troll bridge:
Troll: Where do you think words come from?
3/4 year old boy: (silent - pondering)
Troll: Do they just grow in a garden and you pick them?
Boy: No.
Troll: Do they fall out of the sky like raindrops?
Boy: No.
Troll: Maybe they're under the water and you have to go fishing for them.
Boy: No.. You just learn them. You find the words in your brain.
Troll: So they were already in there? How did you find them?
Boy: Yeah. You just teach yourself.
Troll: Did someone else lose them in there and you just found them?
Boy: No. But sometimes you forget words and then you find them again.
At the name table:
Counselor: Would you be interested in picking out an alternative Norwegian identity for the day?
Grandfather: No, thank you. I'm happy with the identity I've got.
Grandson: Wait, what do we do here?
Counselor: You can pick out your very own Norwegian identity. Just think - you could be a Lars or an Anders for the rest of the day!
Grandson: So, I just pick a name. OHMYGOSH. THIS IS SOOO COOL! I'M GOING TO PICK NAMES FOR EVERYONE!!!! MOM, MOM! COME HERE! I'M PICKING OUT A NORWEGIAN NAME FOR YOU!! MOM, YOU'RE GOING TO BE CALLED 'INGEBORG' AND I'M PICKING OUT ONE FOR DAD TOO...WAIT..THIS IS AWESOME! DAD, DAD, YOU'RE MAGNUS. AND I'M PICKING ONE OUT FOR PETIE TOO...HE'S GOING TO BE AKSEL. AND ONE FOR DONALD. I'VE GOTTA PICK OUT A NAME FOR DONALD.
Mother: You're picking one out for the baby?
Grandson: OHMYGOSH! OHMYGOSH! HE'S GOING TO BE IVAR. DAD, DAD! WE'RE NAMING THE BABY 'IVAR'!
Grandmother: What's he doing?
Mother: He's picking out a Norwegian name for the baby. He already named me 'Ingeborg.'
Grandson: GRANDMA! GRANDMA! YOU'RE 'PERNILLE' - MAKE HER A NAMETAG THAT SAYS 'PERNILLE'!
Grandmother: Pernille, huh?
Counselor: Well, what about you? You've named your whole family. You should get a name too.
Grandson: WAIT! I'VE GOT TO PICK OUT A NAME FOR GRANDPA! GRANDPA! GRANDPA! I'M CALLING YOU 'OLE'!
Grandson runs to Grandfather and hangs the nametag around his neck. He lifts the nametag and examines it.
Grandfather (gruffly): Ole...Well, I guess I'm 'Ole' for today.
Grandson: MOM! MOM! NOW YOU PICK OUT ONE FOR ME!
Troll: "What would you do if a troll came to live with you? Would you give it its own room?"
3 year old girl: NO! I'd kick it out.
Troll: Well, would you at least let the troll sleep in your garage?
Girl: NO!
Troll: How about in your car?
Girl: NO!
Troll: Would you at least call ahead to a hotel and make reservations for the troll?
Girl: NO!
Mother: Come on, honey? Where would the troll sleep?
Girl: It could sleep in the cat's mouth.
Troll: I like cats. That would probably be okay. Fine, I'll let you use my bridge. Go ahead.
Mother (as they walk away): But honey, we don't even have a cat.
Another conversation on the troll bridge:
Troll: Where do you think words come from?
3/4 year old boy: (silent - pondering)
Troll: Do they just grow in a garden and you pick them?
Boy: No.
Troll: Do they fall out of the sky like raindrops?
Boy: No.
Troll: Maybe they're under the water and you have to go fishing for them.
Boy: No.. You just learn them. You find the words in your brain.
Troll: So they were already in there? How did you find them?
Boy: Yeah. You just teach yourself.
Troll: Did someone else lose them in there and you just found them?
Boy: No. But sometimes you forget words and then you find them again.
At the name table:
Counselor: Would you be interested in picking out an alternative Norwegian identity for the day?
Grandfather: No, thank you. I'm happy with the identity I've got.
Grandson: Wait, what do we do here?
Counselor: You can pick out your very own Norwegian identity. Just think - you could be a Lars or an Anders for the rest of the day!
Grandson: So, I just pick a name. OHMYGOSH. THIS IS SOOO COOL! I'M GOING TO PICK NAMES FOR EVERYONE!!!! MOM, MOM! COME HERE! I'M PICKING OUT A NORWEGIAN NAME FOR YOU!! MOM, YOU'RE GOING TO BE CALLED 'INGEBORG' AND I'M PICKING OUT ONE FOR DAD TOO...WAIT..THIS IS AWESOME! DAD, DAD, YOU'RE MAGNUS. AND I'M PICKING ONE OUT FOR PETIE TOO...HE'S GOING TO BE AKSEL. AND ONE FOR DONALD. I'VE GOTTA PICK OUT A NAME FOR DONALD.
Mother: You're picking one out for the baby?
Grandson: OHMYGOSH! OHMYGOSH! HE'S GOING TO BE IVAR. DAD, DAD! WE'RE NAMING THE BABY 'IVAR'!
Grandmother: What's he doing?
Mother: He's picking out a Norwegian name for the baby. He already named me 'Ingeborg.'
Grandson: GRANDMA! GRANDMA! YOU'RE 'PERNILLE' - MAKE HER A NAMETAG THAT SAYS 'PERNILLE'!
Grandmother: Pernille, huh?
Counselor: Well, what about you? You've named your whole family. You should get a name too.
Grandson: WAIT! I'VE GOT TO PICK OUT A NAME FOR GRANDPA! GRANDPA! GRANDPA! I'M CALLING YOU 'OLE'!
Grandson runs to Grandfather and hangs the nametag around his neck. He lifts the nametag and examines it.
Grandfather (gruffly): Ole...Well, I guess I'm 'Ole' for today.
Grandson: MOM! MOM! NOW YOU PICK OUT ONE FOR ME!