Friday was a day for rolling up my sleeves and going to work. The people with the good stories weren’t going to find themselves, so it was time to go on the hunt. I didn’t go to campus on Friday and instead walked into the city center in search of leads and contacts. One of the best parts is that I had a partner in crime. My new buddy, Leah LeFebvre, and I have research topics that are complimentary and we teamed up to hit the big city together. Here is a breakdown of the highlights of our adventure:
Tourist Information Center
This seems like the most logical starting point. I had been here previously when I was first getting oriented to my summer home. I had met a young woman, Kristina, working behind the counter. I told her about my research interests and she said that she thought I might be interested in talking to her father (See The Research Fellowship entry for more details). As soon as Leah and I started chatting with the young man behind the counter, Kristina popped out from the back room, having heard my voice. After a round of smiles, waves and “heys”, she told me that her father had said that he would love to talk to me and that she would send me an e-mail with details soon. After we peppered the guy behind the counter with a multitude of questions, we headed out to see the city.
Bodø Cathedral
Leah and I had talked about going to church services on Sundays in Bodø as a way to get to know the community, meet locals, and find possible interviewees. One of the most notable churches in the City Center is the Bodø Cathedral. The internet tells me that, “The Bodø cathedral was completed in 1956. A 12 metre stained glass window, 10 tapestries from Nordland, and a rose window decorate the beautiful interior. The cathedral is built as a basilica in the Gothic style. It was one of the first churches in Norway to have a detached steeple”. We arrived a few minutes before it was officially open, so we sat for a few minutes next to a memorial for the Norwegian military members lost in World War II.
Once it was time, we wandered inside hoping to find a church office with folks we could talk to. The sanctuary, in particular, was beautiful to walk through and see, but ultimately unstaffed. We were able to confirm that Sunday services started at 11 a.m and we decided that we would come back on the weekend.
Public Library
When looking for information, it only makes sense to go to the public library, or in this case the Bodø Bibliotek as it is more formally known. Located just down the street from the Cathedral, the library is a small 2-story building. The first thing we noticed as we walked in was a large blueprint of the planned new library, which will be built in 2014. Inside, the first floor was the children’s section. I was amused to see a sign next to the computers in this area that they are only for use by people who are 15 years old or younger. I like that the adults just need to keep on moving upstairs if they want to use a computer. After hovering for a bit and taking it in, we introduced ourselves and explained our interests to a woman who struck me as having a head-librarian-ish stature. She gave Leah a couple good leads, but my topic seemed to stump her. The one thing she did suggest was that I check out the local newspaper office. And so we were off…
Newspaper Office
Half a block down on the other side of street in the green building is the offices of the local newspaper. We showed up, but the offices were dark and no one appeared to be there. D’oh! We decided that the newspaper offices will need to wait until another day and, in the meantime, perhaps we can do a little poking around and find specific folks at the paper who would be a particularly relevant contact, given our specific interests.
The Nordland Museum
The next stop was The Nordland Museum. This is a fantastic museum on the history of Bodø that provided a rich context and background for the city where we are living this summer. We saw the Sami Exhibit, which shows the early way of life of the indigenous population. Also, exhibits about the overnight “explosion” of the herring industry—which seemed to me to be the fish equivalent of the California gold rush—that put Bodø on the map. One of the most compelling exhibits was about Bodø during World War II. In turning point of the Norwegian invasion by the Nazis, Bodø was bombed from the air. The majority of the town was leveled and people had to live in cellars and the remains of bombed-out buildings. It was not much longer before that when the German occupation force arrived and took control of the city. The residents of Bodø lived under Nazi occupation for a few years after that. One of our professors was explaining to us that his father was a young boy at this time and remembers the Nazis talking about not understanding why they were there and not wanting to be there. Although southern Norway was taken by surprise by the German invasion an fell rather quickly, by the time they reached the North, the residents had time to rally. For a time the radio station in Bodø was the source for Radio Free Norway. One Norwegian told me earlier that fighters lived in the hills and mountains and fought the Nazi occupation whenever and wherever they could and that it took eight Nazis for every Norwegian to hold the northern part of the country. One highlight of the tour was a 20-minute film covering the history of Bodø that was conveniently sub-titled in English.
When we first arrived at the Museum, be bought our tickets from Torunn Flaesen Oppegard. She is an extremely nice woman who got excited about our research work and gave us an impromptu / informal interview on the spot. For me, she also told me about her two grown children who have moved from the north to the south and who know other students who have moved as well. She gave me their contact information and before we left the museum, she e-mailed both of them telling them to expect to be contacted about doing an interview. At the end of our museum tour, Torunn also got us in to meet Helge Seim, the main curator (or Konservator) for the museum. We were able to engage him in a 30-minute interview.
Culture Center
Fortified by a great trip to the museum, a granola bar, and an apple—we decided to head to the Culture Center (a.k.a. the Bodø Kulturhaus) next. We weren’t sure of the function or purpose of the Culture Center, so we struck out in search of an answer. Turns out, it is a site for larger concerts and orchestral performances. We showed up around 4 p.m. and they closed at 3 p.m. Undeterred, we ventured deeper into the building until we found a set of administrative offices with one person, named Vidor, still working. We introduced ourselves and chatted for a bit. When I mentioned my topic of people who have moved from the north, Vidor lit up and said, “You’re describing me.” We exchanged contact information and made plans to set up an interview.
Apple Store / Glass House
The day was winding down. Offices were closing up. We began making our way back to the dorms. I had heard about, but hadn’t seen, a shopping mall called the Glass House. We walked through the mall and checked it out. A largely glass structure, the mall let in a tremendous amount of natural light and I was struck by the fact that there is a full-scale grocery store on the first floor, not something one would see in an American Mall. We also spotted and popped into an Apple store. Well, a certified reseller—so not a true apple store, but the store layout and décor made it clear that they were trying to emulate a true Apple store as much as possible.
It was a big day and a fresh set of follow-ups and to-dos. We spent more than 6 hours walking around and getting to know the city center. A very good Friday indeed.
Speaking of Nazi's in Norway, you should check out Dead Snow as part of your cultural research.
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