Day 2   The sea gives and it takes

I think there are better ways to feel Norway instead of gathering information from the beautifully-printed magazines. There are real people living in it from politicians, artists and musicians to small village fishermen. Yan Yinan continues to invite you to join her on her trip to Norway. Today she is taking us on a thrilling deep-sea rafting voyage, and you will be able to experience an average Norwegian fisherman's experience at sea.

For many Norwegians, the sea is their livelihood. The snapshot of a little fish market in Bergen painted a vivid picture of the thriving fish business in Norway. Aside from fishing, the ocean has provided people vast oil resources. As a Norwegian saying goes, "the sea gives and the sea takes."

Nature is never predictable, and I was told many fishermen die on the sea. Women therefore had to shoulder the burden of the entire family. That explains my curiosity as to why most Norwegian women are tough and independent.

As a Chinese woman I was lucky to witness both the beautiful and the dangerous side of the sea. Tourists were given various options to experience the grandeur of the sea. If one is tired of slow and long hurtigruten voyages, a full-speed rafting boat always feeds those with a hunger for taking risks.

And driving around the heart of the world-largest whirl-pool, the saltstraumen is one of the most breathtaking experiences I have had. It made me want to scream! Not because I was scared, believe me, I was just too excited and thrilled by the amazing skill the driver had. 

I cannot imagine what would have happened if the boat went directly into the whirl pool, Whew!!! That won't be a pretty picture. I am just as lucky as those Norwegian Sea eagles.

Even riskier than sailing over the saltstraumen was the deep sea rafting I experienced later. Even with a helmet and goggles on, my face was still painfully cut by the water brought by the strong winds above the sea. It was a breath taking experience!!! The big waves on the sea brought the boat up and down like a wild roller coaster ride. Remember this is no amusement park, and our boat was like a tiny cork flowing up and down in midst of the endless ocean. Such is a fisherman's life, a daily encounter with the roaring sea. Life has never been easy for those who depend heavily on the sea. This is the real picture, if not the entire one, of how many Norwegians have lived with nature. Just like the old captain on the ship said, "you got to play by the rules with the sea, never go against it." 

A woman in a local Bodo fishing town told us her story when we had our special stone-age Bon fire dinner together. 

Life has never been easy for fishermen, or for their families and wives. This has added to my respect and admiration for the tough and perseverant Norwegians and taken away from my individual pride. If we take a look at recent natural disasters, the hurricanes that destroyed lives of thousands of households in New Orleans, the tsunami on the Indian ocean that damaged ecosystem, and countless others, maybe it's time for us to think over who should be put to blame? When shall we learn that we are only part of our environment rather than the master of it?

It's a scary thought that if global warming created by irresponsible human behaviors continues the glaciers in the north will gradually melt, and Norway will disappear one day. What can we do about it?

Despite the extreme living environment, Norwegians have developed an imagination for fairytales and love for art. Tomorrow I will take you to a small artist village by the longest, deepest, and the widest Sognefjord, where you can feel the different atmosphere created by nature.

See you tomorrow! I am Yan Yinan.