Uff da! Lutefisk! – Yet Another Year of Insanity

Last night, members of my tour group met for an informal meet-and-greet session when every person had the opportunity to introduce themselves and to tell why they are on this trip.

Most of them were of Norwegian descent and were looking for family birthplaces or to meet relatives. Of course, it is obvious that I am not Norwegian but at least my husband had Scandinavian roots. I am also here to meet up with Sissel Irene Sødal, who was a chorister in our church choir while she was attending the University of Hawaii.

Our tour director, Lars Eirik Rønningen, formerly was a teacher and then became a school principal. Now he is retired from education and enjoys teaching about Norway to American tourists, and helping them discover their Norwegian roots.

Our tour director, Lars Eirik

Someone asked if the expression “uff da” was as common in Norway as it is among Scandinavian-Americans. I remember our business partner, composer Peter Hallock, using it as frequently as I say “Oh dear!” I also remember my mother-in-law, Inga-lill Seastrom Crosier Runquist, saying it from time to time in a moment of frustration.

Well, the answer is, no, Norwegians are more apt to say “oh s***,” rather than “uff da!” So I guess it is more of an American expression!

It was my late husband, Carl Crosier, who told me about lutefisk, a Norwegian delicacy of cod cured in lye. Whenever he described it, Carl made this retching sound, so he definitely had not acquired a taste for it! As a consequence, I have never tasted it.

One of the men of our group, Charles Hettling, from Minnesota, said there is an annual lutefisk contest in his area. There are three divisions: the Guppies (who never have eaten lutefisk) are given 1/4 lb. of fish, the Minnows (who somewhat like lutefisk) are given 1/2 lb. while the Sharks (those who LOVE lutefisk) are given 1 lb. of fish. He says you have 3 minutes to eat your portion of lutefisk then you can rest for 3 minutes. Then you have the next three minutes to eat another portion and so forth. Charles (in the Shark division, naturally) ate 6 pounds of lutefisk (!) to take second place only losing to the first place finisher who ate 8 pounds!

Once a man from Norway joined the competition and after two or three plates he was looking pretty green. Then people noticed he started turning the whole plate vertically, pretending to down the whole portion in one gulp. But then it was discovered that someone was underneath the table, vacuuming up all the lutefisk through the man’s pant legs!

In answer to the question about lutefisk, in Norway it is only eaten at Christmas. I have a feeling some American Scandinavians eat it a lot more frequently! Do you suppose they eat it at every Sons of Norway meeting?

Today after breakfast we took off for Voss where we visited a wool factory where the knitting for Norwegian sweaters is done—however all the assembly is done in Poland! The company was contracted to make the sweaters for the Winter Olympics.

Carl bought a sweater similar to this 25 years ago.

Just before lunch, Jo Ann Condry and I visited the Voss Church, which dates from the year 1277, but has a relatively new organ from Ryke & Berg from 2000.

We then took the bus directly onto the ferry to Balestrand where we checked into the beautiful Kvikne’s Hotel, right on the fjord. Look at the spectacular view from my hotel room!