Day 5 - April 27, 2012 (Episode 1)

The cast at the Goteborg airport.  First time in Sweden!

In continuation of Day 4, we continued our travels through the night and morning.  We landed in Dusseldorf, Germany early in the morning, their time.  We then quickly ran to our next flight, which took us to Goteburg, Sweden.  That flight was about half-full, but I still ended up getting a seat-mate somehow.  He was a German man and was very nice, but it was still very weird trying to tell him who we were, but not giving specific details.  (At this point, I wasn't sure what we were allowed to say to the locals.  Later, I found out that we could simply say we were here for the show Alt for Norge, but couldn't give details about where we've been, how long we've been there, what we've done, or how many people are left.)  After a two hour flight and landing in Goteburg, we then took a three-hour bus ride all the way up to Nordby, Sweden, which apparently is right across from the Norwegian border.  We checked into a small motel, had lunch and then were asked to show up for a “fitting” around 3:00.  The only catch was that we were told not to sleep between then and our dinner at 6:00, which was pretty hard since I’ve only had one hour of sleep in the last day or so.



The Rasta Hotel in Nordby, Sweden!  A large mall was next door, which gave
us our first glimpse into how much these Scandinavians love their candy!
There was a medium-sized convenience store with nothing but candy!

Somehow, by spending my time studying Norwegian or walking over to the local mall, I was able to make it without sleeping.  The "fitting" turned out to be amazing!  We were asked to turn in our cell phones and any other devices with internet or calling capabilities, but in return, gave us a huge Helle Hansen bag filled with free stuff, including hats, gloves, clothes, boots, and jackets.  We would be prepared for any kind of weather.....maybe.  (Austin and I were able to price these things later and it was probably around $3,000 U.S.!)  Then, came dinner.  Several of the cast members chose to eat the “Tex-Mex Buffet” for their first full meal in Sweden!  Not sure why, but a choice that did not agree with them later that evening.  Something seemed wrong about a Swedish-Tex-Mex meal, so I opted for meatballs, mashed potatoes, and lingonberries.  A much more sound choice, which tasted pretty good too!

Both before dinner and during, the whole group hung out, which was lots of fun.  Even though it’s early, I really feel like we’re meshing well and everyone really seems to get along!

After dinner, Brita (or as we have started calling her, Mama Brita) gave us info on our next day.  Supposedly, it’s going to be long, but involves a boat ride on a fjord, a helicopter flying over to get a shot, some walking/hiking, and our first competition!!  Extremely nervous!  In fact, I was so nervous, I ran to the mall and bought flash cards.  Well everyone else is sleeping, I’m studying!



My hotel room for the night.  This would be one of the last
times that I would have a room to myself!

We’ll see how tomorrow goes.  Fingers crossed!  Oh, I forgot to mention that Austin had the group’s first phone-interview today!  Pretty cool and pretty funny since he came back saying that they were probably going to use “this one modeling photo where he’s all buff and stuff!  It’s probably going to suck because all these girls are going to hit him up on Facebook!”  Poor guy!

Okay, time for bed!  Gotta win that competition tomorrow!

Day 5 Over!


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