On March 10^th, 2018 I joined my fellow classmates at Holmenkollen, an international ski jumping and cross-coutry skiing event in Oslo, Norway. This even attracts thousand of people from all around to cheer on the competitors. This year was one of the biggest years yet. There was lots of drinking, ski jumping, racing and lots of new friends.

The facility was expecting a lot of people to come and support the skiers. They prepared for around 100,000 people throughout the weekend to show up, but on Saturday alone there was that many people. Everyone was very enthusiastic about the ski events. My class mates and I sat in the forest and watched them zoom by. Whenever the skiers would come by the crowd would go wild with all kinds of chants. Throughout the day the Norwegians got really drunk, some started fights, some had to be carried out, and some were very generous with their alcohol. This event reminded me of tailgating at football games back home. Everyone bonds with each other because they are all there for the same reasons, the sport and drinking.

Before going to this event my plan was to enjoy the day watching the ski jumps and races then take the last train back to Olso to get a bus home to Kristiansand. As always, my plan didn’t work out the way it was supposed to. After the final race, everyone ran to the train stop to leave. After losing my friends in the crowd and being crushed between thousands of people for an hour, I finally got on. Trying to get as many people on the train as possible I was still being squished and was not able to move. I stood alone on the train between people speaking foreign languages for about forty minutes. The train was stopping and going until we came to a complete stop, then there was an announcement saying that there was an accident further down on the tracks and they would not be able to continue for a while. I had the options to stay on the train and hope it would start going towards Oslo soon, so I could catch my bus home, but after talking to some locals, I chose to get off in hopes to find another way. After wandering around the stop for a bit I turned on a corner and saw the ski jump. At this point I didn’t care about making my bus home, I just wanted to find people I knew. I was happy to see the jump because I thought I was farther away from the stadium and I knew my friends who were camping were near.

After finding my class mates in a warm heated tent they treated me greatly. I was not prepared to stay the night, but it was my only choice at this point. Everyone came together to make me comfortable, some gave me their extra dry socks, someone gave me pants with gators to wear, and some people even feed me. I was even lucky enough to be welcomed into a tent with people who were willing to share their sleeping bags and matts. I could not thank everyone enough for helping me out this night. This was one of the firs times I realized how good the class dynamic was, they were willing to each sacrifice a little for one person to be comfortable. If it wasn’t for the great cohesion a generosity of this group I wouldn’t have made it through the night.

This weekend was not what I expected it to be. The Norwegians here were crazier than I’ve ever seen them, a few even jumping on the train tracks to cause a delay. It was cool to see them get into the sport after skiing for the past couple months. I realized this day how important this sport is for this country and I am glad I got to see Norwegian’s come out of their shells. I’m also glad I have the classmates I do, they helped me in a time of need. If I am ever back in Norway during this even I would come prepared to camp all weekend and learn more about the ski jumps.