“Eastern Norway – from mountains to coast”. With this as the theme – and geographical extent – young people from eight nations took part in the Rotary Summer Camp in District 2310.
From the arrival at Gardermoen it was straight to the Drammens region and then to Hallingdal, before they took Oslo by storm – at least with the extreme weather “Hans”.
The program items thus varied from visits to the manor house on Fossesholm to gap-hunting in Hallingdal’s deep forests – and from close contact with the ski-flying slope in Vikersund to polar night experiences in the Fram-skuta on Bygdøy.
And from pizza in a restaurant to culinary creations of the type of sour cream porridge out in the gapahuk – but both were accepted with open arms by the participants.
Both culture and nature in abundance, that is, but also time for city walks, bowling and simply to “hang out” with each other – and make friends with peers from other countries and foreign cultures.
The ten participants aged 17-20 – two unfortunately had to cancel at the last minute – came from Turkey, Lithuania, Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Italy, Taiwan and Israel.
The spread at the Summer Camps in three other Norwegian Rotary districts this summer was equally successful. Being a “host” requires effort and a lot of logistics from the host clubs. Not least for Oslo International RC, where the program had to be changed at short notice, due to the extreme weather – and where most of the members are working.
But the conclusion was clear, across the board: We would love to do this again!
The young “campers” were equally unanimous in their summary: Memorable August days with new experiences and new friends. In short, as a review remark during the summary: “a memory for a lifetime”.
And surely they didn’t also claim that Norwegians were neither cold nor reserved, but warm and pleasant…