Join our historical project near lakes and forests by the Sweden border in Kornsjø, Norway

Detalhes

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  Descrição

  Wonderful KORNSJØ awaits you!
  
  Welcome to what natives have named 'The Palace in the Forest', right on Norway's south-eastern border with Sweden - a fantastic railway station built for our last joint Swedish-Norwegian king in 1900, just before he was deposed by the Norwegians.
  
  For a century the building was the core of buzzling railway activities and communal life. It was abused by the German occupants and the SS during the war years 1940-45. This is one reason we are making it into a visitors' centre for a form of inoculation against authoritarianism, totalitarianism and indemocracy. Our main group of visitors will be secondary school pupils from all the Nordic countries. It will be completely non-profit.
  
  There is work to be done both in- and outdoors. You will be staying either in a lovely next-door 1890 wooden ex-hotel, or in a hostel nearby previously used by the State Railways Company. My wife and I spent our summer holidays here along with our baby children catering for and rehabilitating children from Chernobyl and Chechnya. This building has not been used for some years now, and needs electricity and water plus some tidying to be ready.
  
  For bigger projects, when demanded by the State Antiquarian or by safety considerations, I use hired labour.
  
  Working away here you will be doing something doubly historical which you will hopefully find as meaningful and inspiring as do we. I am Haakon, or transcribed into English to keep pronunciation right: Hawkon. I believe you will find a good culture guide and friend in me. I do cultural history, writing and publishing in Scandinavian, English and Russian. I teach Arabic at a university institute in Oslo.
  
  Meeting people from various cultures, I always find there's lots to talk about. Including on what makes us humans tick and cooperate.
  
  A nice little walk across the border bridge brings you to Pernilla's combined second hand and antiques shop, café and eatery. For our food supplies we go by car to the nearby towns of Ed or Halden. And right outside the station 'Palace' building and the hotel there is a bus stop to Halden.
  
  We have two canoes, and very close to the houses there are very nice places to go swimming and angling. If you enjoy fishing, bring along your tackle. The potential for drone flying is wonderful too, but please observe rules.
  
  Perhaps you might enjoy nighting in a nearby forest which is a government-protected nature reserve? There's a forest workers' hut there you can sleep in and a lovely little lake at its doorstep. We have sleeping bags that will keep you comfy. The only wild things around are wolves, lynxes, deer, boars, elks, eagles and - well, you name it. Plus of course our local trolls...
  
  If you don't fear trolls, I'll even show you where a couple of them live. The bus driver recently told me things about them I did not know...
  
  Welcome and cheers for you from Haakon

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  Tipos de ajuda e oportunidades de aprendizado

  Construção/faça você mesmo

  Manutenção geral
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  Oportunidades de intercâmbio cultural e aprendizado

  I know very well both local culture, Norwegian and Nordic culture, plus places of historical and cultural interest. I have worked with cultural studies all my professional life. I love interacting with and learning from others. Classical culture is my one specialty, another being the way our Nordic societies work. Probably one of my five kids will join in too, age 21. I am quite talkative and love chatting about culture while working and also on my free time.

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  Ajuda

  My experience is that people work and thrive best in pairs or more, not alone. We will be working together or (if you feel for it) individually, and socializing as it falls naturally, always respectful of each others' own time, tasks and needs.
  
  There will be light building work. If you have specific skills, please tell me.
  
  Examples of tasks:
  
  * Scraping paint
  * Sanding
  * Fairing
  * Painting
  * Tapestry
  * Carpentry
  * Masonry
  * Making models, sculpting
  * Light forestry
  * Various odd tasks
  
  Good skills for minimum one of the tasks listed is an advantage, but not a requirement. Training can or will be provided.
  
  If you are an artist, we offer you artistic challenges:
  
  Sketching and then painting a big mythological theme for the façade of the Hotel: The local RÅ goddess (pronounced Raw) out in the forest with her animal, the RÅ-DYR (whence the Norwegian name = in English, deer), our two local trolls and other beings, to be agreed on.
  
  Another artistic challenge is even more fun and demanding:
  Model 'live' historical figures, that would be nearly beyond our wildest dreams. Our wish is to make a full-size version inside the grand waiting hall of the railway station, of two or three historical persons, not as frozen 'copies', but with the mechanical ability to seemingly breathe and move slightly, even if possible to open and shut their eyes. One is the SS boss of the building, who was 2 meters tall, his uniform is in a Fredrikstad museum and we need a true copy.
  
  A third artistic challenge:
  Modelling the Oseberg Viking queen, buried in 834 and found with her wonderful ship and onboard riches in 1904 = the 'Tutankhamon' find of northern Europe. She has a special role connected to both our Norwegian town Halden and the nearby Swedish community of Ed.
  
  Our fourth challenge:
  Modelling the replica of a dead Viking in a fitting 'grave' already dug inside the waiting hall. Now how could any State Antiquarian accept that? Fun fact: The State Railways had hacked a bit of the floor to pieces in order to build some ghastly toilets before the buiding was listed. So when listing it, the State Antiquarian found that anything was better than these stinking toilets - and eagerly said yes to a nice and tidy little Viking grave here instead...
  
  A fifth possibility is to make miniature historical paintings on some of the walls inside the station building, since some of these walls are also not original and hence free from state protection. We have some ideas... and if you have the artistic acumen needed, plus even ideas of your own, well fine.
  
  Since the building is a protected cultural heritage site, the renovation is in part supported by The Norwegian State Antiquarian. Most of the work that has to be done is strictly regulated by this authority.

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  Idiomas

  Idiomas
  Árabe: Fluente
  Alemão: Fluente
  Inglês: Fluente
  Francês: Fluente
  Norwegian nynorsk: Fluente
  Russo: Fluente
  Persian (Farsi): Intermediário

  Este anfitrião oferece intercâmbio de idiomas
  I am eager to exchange words and phrases of the languages I know.
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  Acomodação

  Accommodation is provided in a flat or two in the Hotel, inside the 'Palace', or in the State Railways Welfare Hostel up the hill. The latter has 20 rooms of 11 m2 each with a separate shower and wash basin, toilets are in the corridor.
  
  I have my bunk inside the station building and when not at Kornsjø am available by phone 24/7.
  
  As for food, you simply tell me and I take my car, plus anyone interested in accompanying me, either to Halden 30 km northward or to Ed 22 km inside Sweden. We have cooking stoves, and assorted food is also provided in fridges and deep-freezers.

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  Algo mais...

  Nature here is wonderful and very close at hand, for hiking and angling, canoeing and swimming, photography, etc. It is truly a paradise for anybody passionate about pure nature.
  
  There is a bus service to and from Halden, and also to and from Ed, weekdays, mornings and afternoons. I also have a seven seat car, and you are always welcome to tag along on the ride.

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  Mais alguns detalhes

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    Acesso à internet

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    Acesso à internet limitado

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    Temos mascotes

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    Somos fumantes

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    Pode hospedar famílias

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  Pode hospedar nômades digitais

  Workawayers in need of extensive internet use should bring their own mobile internet, typically with free use within the EU.

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  Espaço para estacionar campervans

  Unlimited parking is available.

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  Pode aceitar animais

  A kind and house trained pet is very welcome. Workawayer is responsible for any damage caused by the pet.

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  Quantos Workawayers pode acomodar?

  Mais de 2

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  Horas previstas

  5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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