Day 40

Day 40
(June 2)
Episode 7

This morning I drew Ehwaz; the horse.  As I sat looking at the rune an old saying associated with this rune came to me;  A well trained horse will keep you on the narrowest of pathways.  When things come to me like that I try to pay attention.  I need to really pay attention to myself this week, that is what it said to me.

It seems this time away from home is taking its toll on some of my fellow contestants.  There are some decisions being made I don't agree with, a little drama here and there.

Last night everyone went out to a dance club, Austin and I decided not to go.  Apparently there was some more drama at the club, people were going separate ways, some of them didn't get in until 0530.  Oh well, maybe that will give me some kind of advantage in  today's challenges?

I intend to win this week and be here for episode 8.  I intend to win the whole thing for the glory of my ancestors and meet my Norwegian family.  I just need to stay focused on why I am here.  We have been here for so long now it would be rather easy to lose sight of the prize.  Even though this show life is very different from our regular lives, it has now sort of become our regular life.  Traveling, challenges, being told what to wear and when to poop...it almost seems "normal" now.  But it isn't, and I am here for a very specific purpose.

WOW!  What a day!  Today we broke up in teams and went out in the street to talk with Norwegians about the relationship between Norway and Sweden.  It was pretty fun, met some really cool people.  Then for the team challenge we had to actually, physically round up as many Swedes as we could and bring them back to the park.  The team that rounded up the most Swedes would win....crazy!

I was on the red team with Todd and Jonathan.  We literally destroyed the blue team with 37 Swedes to the blue teams 17.

Then the production company arranged for us to have pizza and beer with the Swedes in the courtyard of the apartments we were staying in.  We did that, it was fun.  I had some really nice conversations with several of the Swedes, they were really great people, and the women were of course...gorgeous.  To our surprise, after the pizza party then we had to all go to a night club and "Party with the Swedes".  Because, apparently the Swedes in Norway have a reputation, or stereotype of being partiers.

We got to the club and everybody started drinking...because that's what you do at a club.  They filmed me dancing with a couple of the Swedish girls, they filmed all of us doing stuff like that.  They were all quite a bit younger than me of course, but I made some good connections with Swedes of both genders.  They were people I would have like to hang out with even if I wasn't on this show.  It was really, really fun.

What happens when you make Americans and Swedes party together and give them alcohol?  People get drunk.  Some drunker than others.  We were supposed to be back at our apartment by 0100, getting everybody into a cab was like herding cats...or monkeys, drunk monkeys.  Then once we all got back, some people left again into the night.  Who knows, if I was their age I might have done the same thing, but I was thinking about the competition tomorrow and I didn't want to take any chances with my abilities...I need to be prepared to do anything!!

Indeed, the well trained horse will keep you on the narrowest of pathways.

Day 39

Day 39
06 / 01 / 2012
(Day Off)

This morning I drew Raidho, the wagon, the journey.  Perhaps that means I should walk around and explore the city while I have a chance.?  Yes, I will do that as soon as I am done writing in my journal. 

So far today all I have done is eat frokost, and lay in bed doing absolutely nothing.  It is nice to have a break from the constant rhythm of the show and just be still.  I don't have a room mate and I have very much enjoyed the solitude and being with my own thoughts. 

I watched a Norwegian fishing show for about 30 minutes.  There were about 20 guys fishing on a river in drizzling rain.  During the entire time I was watching not one fish was caught...riveting television.  American fishing shows only show the parts where the fish are caught so it was quite a different thing.  I later found out that the cameras were on these guys for a full day, it's something they do every year.

I have been thinking a lot about being here, on this show.  I believe I have so far accomplished my goal of being myself; being true to who I am and what I believe in the big picture.  I am proud of that.

Sometimes I feel like an old man, hanging out with all these kids, but not too often.  Sometimes I feel like their older brother, or uncle, and sometimes I feel like their dad.  I keep up with them all physically...we just know the words to different songs.  I don't feel old most of the time...most of the time, I just feel like Alf.

Episode 7 starts tomorrow, it is here, in or around Oslo somewhere.  We have no idea what the theme is or what we will be doing.  What I do know, is that I need to prevail, Gods willing...that is my plan.

Sitting around here with nothing to do really gets my mind wandering.  I am very curious how I will be received by the Norwegian people when the show aires.  I honestly have no idea how it will go, and there is no way to speculate, I just have to wait and see.

I hope of course that I am received well, that people understand and like the person I am.  If it goes otherwise I will deal with it, but it would be unfortunate.  It would be really awesome if my popularity or celebrity status would do something beneficial for my life later on; like help me sell a book, or be on some talk shows or something, that would be pretty cool.  But, it's silly to think too much about that sort of thing.  I'll just keep on being myself and hope for the best.