DAY 7

(Apr. 30)

 

How do I describe yesterday?  It’s difficult because it seems like so much happened.  We did a little filming in the morning, a few interviews and whatnot.  Then we were marched to a place where there was a table waiting and set.  It had all manner of peculiar things on it; things I had never seen, and it was all edible supposedly; Caviar in a tube, Mackerel in a tube.  That’s right…a tube, like toothpaste.  You squirt it onto a cracker or something and eat it.  Apparently this is common Norwegian fare. 

Never having been accused of being a finicky eater I dove in, and I actually really liked 95% of this stuff.  Most everything on the table had something to do with fish, and I like fish so it worked out well.  Austin on the other hand seemed to hate every minute, and bite of it.

There was one thing there that I didn’t understand; it was the fish pudding.  First of all, I don’t know why it is called fish pudding because there is nothing puddingy about it.  It comes in a plastic wrap sort of like a summer sausage does, so it is more of a loaf than a pudding.  It is white in color, and to me it was absolutely odorless and tasteless, with the consistency of play-doh, sort of.  Since they call it fish pudding I assume it is made out of fish, or has fish in it…but I could not detect any fishiness at all.  As I was sitting there examining this substance I was struck by the fact that someone went through a lot of trouble to come up with the idea, and actually go through the process of making it…fascinating!  Not only that, but apparently there are enough people that actually buy it, so that someone else keeps on making it…Unbelievable!  I could understand if it at least tasted like something, anything…but it doesn’t.  Anyway, that is the only “food” I have ever encountered in which I didn’t understand anything about it.  Knowing my luck Norwegians will start sending it to me in the mail for a joke, because I wasn’t kind to the fish pudding industry on camera.  It should actually be called "nothing loaf", that would be more accurate.

Anyway, at the fortress they had announced we were in the area that Tara’s family had come from.  During frokost they took her away for her “special day” to learn more about her family.  While she did that we got ready to go on a picnic.  There is a Norwegian word for it…but it eludes me at the moment.

We went to a beautiful place, it was a saltwater beach with large rock formations in a quiet little cove.  We were all very taken with the beauty of it.  They had us doing beachy things; playing Frisbee, cooking hot dogs, wading around in the water.  It kind of reminded me of one of those old Franky Avalon movies with Anette Funechello.   They had us finding muscles, apparently we were collecting them for dinner.

I finally had an opportunity to share my mead with the other contestants.  I had brought three bottles of mead I made from home.  My thought was that it would be a good ice breaker when we all met and it would be nice to share it with them.  I didn’t get to do it in New York, so I brought it all the way to Norway.  Everyone seemed to like it a lot, and I was happy.

Mary Caryl screamed, she was stuck out in about 9 inches of water.  Apparently she had stepped on something…or something?  I asked her if she needed help, she said yes, so I put her over my shoulder and carried her in…like 15 feet.  It was not a big deal at all but I could tell the production crew was going to make something of it.

Then all of a sudden; whiz, bam, boom, we had to gather up all of our shit and get back on the bus.  That’s how it is sometimes in reality TV.

They took us back and told us to change into some nice clothes for dinner.  I chose the kilt ensemble, because my other good clothes were all wrinkled.  We went to where we were having dinner, then waited outside for 45 minutes, something I was to get very used to.  Eventually they let us in, they told me to sit in a certain place.

This chef guy came out and introduced himself as Ole Martin.  We didn’t know it at the time but he is like the top chef in Norway, like a cooking superstar of some kind.  He served us muscles.  I have never really cared for muscles, I’m more of a regular clam guy…but these were absolutely incredible!!  I mean I could have eaten my weight in them they were so good.  Then he brought out two more courses; the best salmon I have ever eaten, garnished with roe, and another fish, a relative of the halibut I think he called it a tibbut?  Unbelievable, all three of them.  In fact they could be the best three things I have ever eaten in my life, that’s how good they were.

Then Henriette came out and told us about the Norwegian spirit award.  It is a little troll, if you win it, you have immunity at the next elimination competition.  I had been wondering in the back of my mind if I would get it.  I hadn’t done anything spectacular, but then again neither had anyone else.  Well...I got it.

They talked about “rescuing” Mary Caryl, and sharing the mead, and really wanting to be here a lot.  My original strategy was to win the troll later on in the competition when things were more dicey, but I thought about the fact that I was now guaranteed to be there two more weeks, there was no way I could be the first one to go home…I decided I was happy to have the troll.

Now it is today…I’m a little off in my journal because I am writing about yesterday today.  But it is today now, and it is a day with the press, I am curious what that will be like, but I will probably write about it tomorrow.  Speaking of tomorrow, it is a day off, that will be kind of nice too.

I drew uruz this morning.  I am always happy to draw that.  I will be on the lookout for slag and impurities, I will capitalize on my primal nature and strength.