Kirsten Giftekniv

On Friday night, we went to a party at Brusveen (an old farm owned by Kevin's company, it is now used as a restaurant and inn). Brusveen is really beautiful and stately inside--even the king has stayed there a few times. The party was a farewell celebration for one of Kevin's coworkers, and wow, Norwegians really know how to send a guy off in style! Dinner was great, the wine and beer flowed freely, and the employees put together a cute song and dance number, a slide show and a really sweet scrapbook for their departing friend.

After dinner, everyone shoved that huge dining table to one end of the dining room and the dancing began. I openly admit that I am not a good dancer, and when sober, I generally refuse to go anywhere near the dance floor. But, as I said, the beer and wine were flowing freely, and I was not at all sober. I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but I now have a huge, throbbing bump on the bridge of my nose and two black eyes. My memory is a little fuzzy, but I think at one point in the evening, my dear husband elbowed me in the face as he enthusiastically started up a conga line. Um, ow!

In addition to the uncharacteristic dancing and the ability to take a punch in the nose and keep on shimmying, lots of wine makes me very chatty. I'm usually a little shy and hesitant about using my Norwegian with Kevin's coworkers, but I talked up a storm on Friday! Everyone was very complimentary about my progress, and even joked that since Kevin doesn't speak Norwegian, now I can tell all of them secrets about him right in front of him. Because I had been plied with wine, I decided to blurt out, "Kevin har lilla undertøy!" (Kevin has purple underwear.) He doesn't, but it made everyone laugh (and Kevin blush) so I guess I cracked my first successful Norwegian joke.

I also earned the nickname of "Kirsten Giftekniv", or a matchmaker. I googled the name but all the results were in Norwegian, so I'm still a little unclear on who Kirsten Giftekniv is...I think she is maybe a character in a play? Anyway, it all started because Kevin's coworked, Freddy, is single. That's him pictured above--the first picture is from Friday night, but it is a little blurry, so I also posted a picture of him with Kevin from another evening. Most of Freddy's coworkers are older than him, and already married with kids. Gjøvik is a small town without much nightlife, so poor Freddy hasn't gotten the opportunity to meet many people. I think he is the sweetest guy, so smart and nice and funny. He's 29, has a great job, is well travelled and well educated. But he's single--it boggles my mind! The more wine I drank, the more boggled my mind became, so I told him I would try to introduce him to a nice woman. Unfortunately, the only people I know are in my norskkurs and I think the majority of them are already married. (I'll have to investigate a little further in class tomorrow.) So, if anyone knows of any eligible bachelorettes, let me know...c'mon, it's fun to be a Kirsten Giftekniv!