Ruth Kristin

This is my last evening here on Vannøya for a while, because tomorrow I'm moving to the city Tromsø. Now the summer is soon over, and on this special evening I want to look back at the summer and write a little summary about this memorable summer in the north...

For the first time in my life I've spent my whole summer holiday in the north of Norway and haven't put my feet in the south for one day. Usually I spend most time in the south, but this year I changed my plans and decided to only be here in the north and to be most of the time on the island that I still live on. It didn't sound so great or interesting in the beginning, because during the whole year I live here in the north and spend most of my time here on the island, so that's normal to me. But it has turned out that it was a good thing, because I've had a very nice and memorable summer here in the north. Now I'll mention some of the good things I've experienced this summer:

• I've tried working in the fish factory in Torsvåg, like I told earlier on. All in all I've worked there six days this summer, and that has been a very exciting, interesting and nice experience for me.
  
• I've attended a very good bible week in Harstad. There I had fellowship with many good men and women in God's family, got to know new people and met old friends, received brilliant teaching and had a very nice, relaxing time.
  
• I've got to know more people and made new friends here on Vannøya this summer, and that's one of the best things with staying here in the north this summer. If I had travelled to Bergen in the south like my original plan was, I wouldn't have met all these people and experienced all the things I now have. Now I have had a unique summer, experiencing many nice things and being blessed with getting to know more people and getting new friends.
  
• I've been blessed with lots of nice, sunny and warm summer weather, and I've experienced the nice, bright summer nights here in the north - the sun never goes down for two months. One of these evenings - it was a really nice summer weather that day - I used a bike and took a very long trip with it. I travelled all the way to the place I used to live in before, the little "village" called Vannvåg, to visit my good friend Karen. It was a very long bike trip - several kilometres - and at the same time it was a wonderful trip that evening and night. In the middle of the journey I stopped by at some friends' house to have a break and was invited to eat a nice fish meal with them - they had just started eating. And then I stayed there and enjoyed the nice meal and friendly conversations, before I after a very long break continued on my way to Vannvåg. And as I kept on cycling, it was so beautiful outside in the nature. The sun was shining on the quiet water, the grass on the island was very green and the mountains and the whole scenery just looked really wonderful. It was so nice to be outside cycling that evening! It was a special evening, a very nice evening. But actually it was past midnight when I had my last part of the journey. And it was completely light, and the air was fresh and full of different nice smells. I even saw a little "reindeer kid" that crossed the road, and I was "attacked" by some birds that flew over me and put their feet on my head - that was not so fun. All in all I really enjoyed the trip, and when I arrived in Vannvåg my friend Karen was very happy to see me and we had a wonderful time together. I stayed with her for three nights, and I then also got the chance to visit some other friends in the area. All in all a very nice weekend.
  
• Later in the summer I spent some days in the city, and that were some really nice and fun days. The best thing that happened for me this time was that I got a very nice apartment. I went to see two different apartments, and God blessed me and let me have the best one, the one I'm moving into tomorrow. It was a really nice and big flat, and I'm looking very much forward to moving into it.
  
• My friend Elisabeth joined me on my way home from the city and stayed with me some days here on Vannøya. That was a special and memorable time too. I was blessed and very happy to have Elisabeth visiting, and we really had a nice time and enjoyed our selves on the island. One evening we played volleyball on the beach with some young people, and that was good fun.
  
• Last week I was invited by someone to a place called Sandfjord. I went there in a boat with some friends, and we joined a bunch of people gathered there. It was a beautiful, special place on the far west coast of the island - where we could see into the horizon and actually see and feel that the earth is round. I really enjoyed spending the evening there, having a barbeque and talking with people out in the hot sun. Before we went home I picked up some nice stones from the shore, to bring with me for collection, and I also had my first bath in the see this year - it was a special, refreshing experience!
  

Now the time has gone and it's long past midnight. I have to end here and go to bed soon, because I've got a long day moving day ahead of me in some hours.

I have lived on the beautiful island Vannøya for two years now, and I can absolutely recommend this as a holiday island. I have really experienced that this summer. It's been very nice and fun to be on a holiday and sometimes be like a tourist here on my "own" island this summer. Now I don't only have memories from the normal work days here on Vannøya, but also from the nice and memorable summer time I've had here this year. All in all I've had two interesting and special years here on Vannøya, and there's so much that could've been said about those two years, but for now I will leave it with that. I just want to add that God has really been with me and helped me and blessed me through these years. God is so good, and He never forsakes me. He is always with me. He is always faithful. He is always good. Thank you, God!

Now I'm looking forward to moving to Tromsø and starting a new phase in my life.

Thank you for your attention, everyone, and have a blessed time in August!

Ruth Kristin, after the 12th of August - in the night