Help around the house at a Gapme, Sami house in the village of Kjøpsvik, Norway

Details

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  Description

  In may-october: Working on a museum-farm, & misc. activities that pop up in this little village in a coastal region of Nordland (I sometimes: work on a camp site in the woods (a gapme), help on this farm, etc.)
  
  
  Update summer 2024:
  The work in the woods: The gapme (a sapmi/sami peat & earth building) is out 95 % finishesd on the exterior (the pipe is missing). After finished that, I basically abandoned the project. I have now used my free time on the museum farm or on helping out others or organisations etc. around. Everything from helping to restore old ditches, odd jobs on some houses in my family etc. There is also a lot of time to be social, and everyone wants to have a good time. we try to make it as plesant as possible, learn alot, etc.
  The museum work: We have an operation smithy, and a 95% operation water mill (you can make flour as it is - the "receiver" appartus is not restored, so you will have to hold the bag manually, or in another way). The work this year is restoring a stone fence (it is quite long and very nice), and painting - as it often is. There are also some boat that are restored, one of which is lacking a mast. We hope to consider a project another year to put them on water (the smaller boats are possible to do so with), we might have a chance this year of procuring a mast!
  
  Autumn 2024- onwards plan: I might start working on the gapme - or put up another structure around the same lot. Perhaps a sort of lavvo/tipi strucutre combined with a hut/wooden structure? I do not yet know, and will as of now continue with the above. - Rørvik, Storjord, 14.07.2024
  
  Hi, everyone! This summer me and my friends will do a bit of this and that. I will fix my house In KJøpsvik, Narvik, painting, a bit of fixing-up, so I can rent it out when I leave. Also, we will do a bit of volounteer work at an old farm.
  
  We are working together with those responsible, in order to make the farm as close to operational, at least in principle, to its state back in the days. My job is mostly to do light fixing on wood work, paint jobs etc. I will also fix a couple of old peat roofs, and some other projects. My girl and some other people will join me from time to time, + I know a lot of the locals.
  
  Lastly, we enjoy camping and staying in the woods. We have a camp ca. 20-40 minutes from the road, where Rørvik gård is located, and there me and some friends have built a pretty large gapme. Its very rudimentary, and somewhat ugly, but we think it's cool. We try to have a good time, do some hiking, some fishing, and work a bit on different projects. This year's project is fixing the gapme inside, putting in an oven; perhaps upgrading the camp outside with a better outside oven etc.
  We don't work too hard, but try to have a bit of fun on the way. Learning and trying new things are a bit of the thing. I am interested in history, old techniques, thinking and late night discussing, a little party in the woods mood is right. We have a lot of interesting people coming by, and we like to be social. We also have a bit going across the fjord; my house is on one side of the fjord, and the other stuff on the other; the shortest path is usually by boat.
  
  ::::Sleeping etc.:::
  In my house I have three bedrooms + a bed in the living room ("day bed", you can call it). When we stay up in the woods, or a the farm, we can stay in tents (I have a military tent + small tents, + a shed up in the woods). But usually, if the weather's bad, my father got a place not to far from it all, which I sometimes borrow. I have a car.
  
  Let me know if your interested! The whole project is a bit fluid, since the work is semi-weather dependent. Let me know your plans, and we work something out!
  
  Ps: Just ask, if it's anything.
  
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  Summary:
  
  Work:
  - Fixing/painting etc. a modern house.
  - Fixing an old farm.
  - Camping in the woods and fixing an gapme, inside work (the gapme is finished outside) (look at the pictures).
  
  Sleeping/etc.:
  Look above. Dogs, smoking, etc. is all okay for me. I have room for about 4 people. Ask if it's anything.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Charity Work

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Pre-2024: You will learn something about building stuff with whole wooden logs, and the stuff involved. You can even put up the whole structure without using a single nail, even though we didn't do that. I also know a bit about the process how the vikings put up their (similar) houses. I am mostly a historian, not a carpenter, but it`s a lot of fun facts.
  
  As I said, we to a great degree enjoy the social side of this. The work is rough, or tedious, so we even it out by laughter or having a good time. I am interested in all aspect of old times, norwegian and local history. There`s a lot of funny stories about how they used to do it in the old times around these parts, or around the viking age. E.g., did you know that the vikings try to make a kingdom outside Jerusalem? Or that one killed his friend, because "he had such a good angle for a chop." Etc etc.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  Kjøpsvik:
  Painting, carpentry, cooking, moving stuff around (I'm "redecorating", so to speak). Odd help, but a bit company and small tasks is very helpful as it's a lot of small help, too much for only one person.
  
  The gapme/the woods:
  See above.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  Norwegian: Fluent
  German: Intermediate

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  Accommodation

  See above. Life in the woods is not recommended unless you like to sleep a bit of rough and get your hands dirty etc. But we have a small hut (like, 2.4x2.4 m) which is good for people that don't like sleeping in the tents. Through the summer we might fix floor in the gapme and get some bunk beds up.
  
  Kjøpsvik: 3x beds (including mine) + a big sleeping sofa, though not very good. If there's many also my father has a house that is not in use!

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  What else ...

  Lots of mountains. Ocean and lakes with fish. We have boats both in lake and ocean (although, the one in the lake is damaged). The national mountain of Norway is here, STetind. We have some relics from the war, etc. Ask me!

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Space for parking camper vans

  Yeah, I guess. Not all places have electricity, but most have.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  I like pets! Don't care about hair etc., every house should have a dog or a cat! (I myself have none, as I move a lot about.)

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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