Alt for Norge Daily Journal: Day 62 - June 23, 2012 (Episode 10: The Finals!)

Today is going to be a weird day and difficult day. A few high points, but a lot of low ones.

Trying to keep things light, we all did the "C.J." as we said goodbye! It was
a rough morning and we all were in tears. Our time together was over.

We got started at 10:00 with a quick breakfast, but then we had to do something that none of us were looking forward to. It was time to say goodbye to Jessica, Johnathan, and C.J.. Everyone, both cast and crew, met out front of the hotel to say their goodbyes at 11:00. We tried to keep it as light as possible, but after spending 24 hours a day together for over two months, everyone was in tears. We said our goodbyes, had our hugs and then the three of them piled in a car with Mama Christine and headed back to Oslo. What a tough way to start the day! (Also, I found out later that their whole car was crying hysterically for the first 15 minutes of their car ride. Sad stuff.)

The remaining crew and I jumped on a bus at noon and headed back to the Oslo airport. That too was very strange. I was the only American left! I quickly realized how much I depended on having those other Americans around. I don’t think it had anything to do with them being American, but simply that we were incredibly tight and a support system for each other! That support system was now gone. Plus, the crew tends to speak Norske around each other, so most of the time I had no idea what people were talking about. There were a lot of uncomfortable moments. Strange.

A look out over Selbu! What a beautiful place!!

We ended up jumping on a plane to fly to Trondheim at 5:00. After a quick flight and an hour bus trip, we arrived in the city of Selbu, my Norwegian-home town! It was absolutely beautiful! Green, snow- capped mountains, large lakes and rolling hills everywhere. It truly looked like one of the most amazing places on Earth!

We went to our hotel, unpacked and then had dinner. After dinner, Mama Brita and I went back to my room for information about the next day. It was then that she broke the news. She said, “Good news. Your daughter’s passports were approved. Bad news, Megan’s doctor won’t let her fly.” I wouldn’t be seeing you tomorrow. I was devastated! That’s all I was envisioning and even was a large part of my motivation during the final challenges! It would have been the perfect ending, but apparently was not meant to be. Booooooo!! There couldn’t have been worse news! (Okay, there could definitely be worse news, but at the time, that was awful!)

Then, even though I wasn’t supposed to, they allowed me to make a quick call home. It was very nice talking to you, but I think it was definitely tough for both of us, knowing what could have been. After the conversation, she and I went down to watch the soccer match with a handful of other crew members. I was struggling not to cry in front of everyone, so at half time I excused myself and went back to my room. I spent about 10 minutes crying by myself and then decided it had to stop. In town that weekend was a big festival called the Summer Festival. All night, we could hear the music coming from it, so I knew it had to be close. I decided that it would be my best means of getting distracted. I put on my shoes and snuck out at 11:00 p.m.. A 3 kilometer or so walk later and I was there.

The Summer Festival that kept my mind distracted after today's bad news.

Turns out that music festivals are just like everything else in Norway and pretty expensive, with this on being about $100 to get in. I hesitated at first, but then said screw it! Let’s go! The place was crazy! Everyone was blitzed out of their minds and had all these tents and RV’s set up, many of them with disco balls, sound systems and dance areas. It looks like a really good time! I had a few beers and watched the last band perform. He was kind of like a Norwegian John Mellencamp and apparently is very famous in Norway! They performed for about 2 hours and when it was all over, I headed back, getting back in at about 2:45 in the morning. It was a very good distraction and exactly what I needed!

Day 62 Over!!