WG/Arbeidende gjest

Welcome to working guest´s world!

I am sitting in the train connecting Oslo and Roros and remember my family and friends in northen Norway, witch I left yesterday and I still cannot believe it. I can´t really imagine I will not go to pig house every morning, I will not go to feed sheeps, I will not see beautiful  blue ocean, snowy peaks and sun, whitch never sets. I will miss everything!

I spent nearly half year on Marisletta gard, small farm near big city- Tromso. I came on begining of January, it was polar night and it was quite big shock for me- I am from Czech republick, from Prague and I was student before I came here. And then, I had to learn so much new things and I had to work on the farm. It wasn´t easy on begining, of course, but then I fall in love with beautiful nature,  polar lights, animals and my new norwegian family.  And I wasn´t alone- there was another working guest with me- Lea from Germany (that´s she, who I am going to visit in Roros!), we worked together, made lot of trips, snowboarding, skiing, shoping and enjoyed fun.  It was very nice time! We became „Big farmers“, when our family went to holiday to Grant Canaria and we were two weeks at home alone!

I liked work, it was so big experience for me- for girl from big city and I lernt so many new things- feed pigs, sheeps and horses, help with borning piglets and lambs, driving tractor, work with young horses, help with carpenting in new stabel and much more what is nessesery to do at a farm.  In my free time I loved go hiking, cycling, skiing, horseriding or go to the city.

Winter was long and we were looking forward to the spring. It came on begining of May and it was beautiful! Sun was up all day and night, never set! Amazing! We were going to many trips watch midnight sun and going to night hiking, it was so perfect! Absolutely different between dark, cold winter!

My new adoptive family was always very nice and polite to me. I felt like I am fit there. I had two little sisters- Mie and Siss, we were playing and laughing together, baking cakes or watching tv, June was like my big friend and half mum, we worked with horses together, made a trips and enjoyed so much fun! Anders was the best workmate I ever had, he was smiling all the time, and  I was always sure I could ask him about everything and he will help me and make some joke. They always took me to family meeting or visiting friends, I felt like real part of family! I will miss them so much.

Now, I am at home again and I feel a bit strange. There is real night, no pigs or sheeps and no ocean. I miss my room, my norweigan friends and I am sad.  I met my old friends, it´s nice to see them after half year, but I would like to go back to Norway! See the most beautiful landscape I ever saw and eat diner with my norweigan family!

P. S. - I have blog from my staying on Marisletta, where is a lot of pictures and informations (unfortunately just in czech)- www.norskozevnitr.blogspot.com  or you can also ask me some more questions on my email- marketa.smolova@centrum.cz.

Life as a working guest on Marisletta

After Marketa I will also write a little bit about my stay on Marisletta farm.
I spent six months there (beginning of August until beginning of February) and I can really say that I enjoyed every single day.
When I arrived the midnight sun was already over but it still didn’t get completely dark at night and the days were quite some hours longer than in my hometown in Germany. The girl who worked on the farm at that time (Lisa from Austria) was very nice to me, showed and taught me a lot and we became good friends (I will soon visit her!!). It was, of course, not only Lisa who was welcoming me warm but also my lovely host family. It was easy to get to know them and I felt very comfortable with them from the very beginning on. Therefore it was even more fun to work there than anywhere else.
The work consisted of different tasks like building fences for horses and sheep, washing machinery with the heat washer, looking for the sheep in the mountains and taking them back to the farm, harvesting potatoes, feeding and cleaning in the pighouse every morning and evening, caring for the dogs and horses… During the winter months the daily routine work was more as the horse stables had to be mucked out every day and the sheep were finally inside and wanted to be fed twice a day, too. Moreover, we prepared the fences for the winter, placed some machines inside, clipped the sheep and pressed the hay to new bales. Every 7^th week about 6 mama pigs got their piglets which was also a nice and new experience for me.
In my free time I was hiking, one time camping and paddling a little bit, riding, sparking with our border collies, visiting the city and the shopping centre, exercising for the Polar Night race and finally participating in it (fantastic experience!), visiting Christmas markets, having fun with Stine, going fishing with Gunnar (the grandpa who lives on the farm as well), joining the moose hunting with Anders and his team, visiting the beautiful cabin of my host family and a lot more.
I saw reindeer, some moose, a whale, wild goose… and in the winter time as well some Northern Lights! They are simply amazing :-) Just like the countryside in wonderful Norway :-)
I’m so glad to have experienced the country this way: living and working with my lovely host family who made me really feel like a family member. Thank you for everything.

My six months on Marisletta : )
 
I arrived in Tromsø at the end of July and spend six months there until the beginning of February. The day I arrived at Marisletta the sun was shining and the first thing I saw were horses everywhere. Then I recognized the most beautiful nature, I have ever seen. The farm is located directly next to the sea. If you take a look around, you can see mountains, mountains, sea, green fields, forest and again, mountains. And the only thing I could think of was: “Wow, that´s simply amazing.” However not only the nature up there is amazing, but also the host family and the work. From the beginning, I felt like a part of the family. It was great to work together with Anders (only called the funny farmer), to bake cakes and cook together with June and to jump on the trampoline with the two kids Mie and Siss. It took me only a short time to feel at home. One day after I arrived, Bärbel (she stayed at Marisletta two years before me) came to Marisletta for six weeks. I had a great time with her and we became good friends : ) She showed me everything. The work, the nature and last but not least the city Tromsø. My working day always started with letting the dogs (three Border Collies) outside and giving them some food. Afterwards I took the horses out of the stable and fed them with hey. Then it was time for the pighouse. My favourite work : ) There we cleaned the cages, gave them dry food, took care of the piglets and so on. (Instead of the pighouse there is now a cat hotel. I think that’s a very nice and interesting work, too). After the work in the pighouse, we mucked out the horseboxes and filled up the hey and fresh water for the evening. During the day, we had different things to do. Things like building fences, washing machinery to place them inside during winter, finding the sheep in the hills and moving them back home to the farm, feeding the sheep while they stayed inside the sheephouse, grading their weight and shearing them. Moreover, we painted the sheephouse and the stairs in the Old – House (a house where tourists can spend their holidays). During wintertime, we built two sheds for the horses outside in their Paddocks. I loved the building work with Anders. It was always good fun. Our motto was: A day without construction work, is a day without meaning : ) The work with the sheds consisted of sawing, nailing and hammering. It was great to see how the sheds grew bigger and bigger and suddenly they were finished : ).   
In my free time I went hiking on a few of the many, many mountains up there, going for shopping trips to the big shopping centre in the city (be aware: it´s easy to get lost in there : ), paddling a little bit (the only problem was, that suddenly the low tide came and I had to pull the boat back to the beach → luckily I was wearing boots) and going to eat soft ice (in Norway you get the best soft ice in the world). In January, I did a whale-watching trip. We went on the sea by RIB boat and saw hundreds of killer whales and humpback whales. That was a great experience. As well, I made a dog sledging tour through the wonderful Norwegian nature. We were allowed to drive the dog sledge on our own! I can only recommend doing this two trips.  
The first Northern Lights I saw in September. They are impressive. It´s not possible to explain how beautiful they are. You have to see them yourself. They are kind of magic.   
Back home I sit here, writing this text and remember all the fantastic things I experienced in Norway. It was a great time. I hope I can visit my lovely host family soon again – I miss all of them.