Hello dear ones :-) As I'm currently a bit stressed, I can't keep up with my blog entries. But never mind - I have an hour now and I'll tell you about my experiences of the past few days, even though it's a bit late. & sorry the post is so long, but there's soooo much to tell!
On Wednesday morning (14.3) at 8.00 we drove from UCSYD (University) to Vejle, where the reconstructed Iron Age Village is located. We were allowed to bring a sleeping bag and warm clothing - nothing else. Mobile phones, watches, and all electronic devices (except cameras) had to be left at home. After all, these things didn't exist back then ;-)
In the bus, we all still felt warm and fresh - maybe we underestimated the coming days and didn't appreciate our well-being enough (at least I didn't).
After an hour's drive, we arrived in Vingsted and as soon as I stepped out of the bus, I immediately felt a little uncomfortable because that was supposed to be the last source of warmth for the next three days.
This was the entrance to the Iron Age Village. At the beginning, we got to know our instructors and got a guided tour of the various houses and the entire area.
There are a total of three residential houses - a big one and two smaller ones. The 'woodworkers' lived in one house, the 'blacksmiths' in another, and the 'wickerworkers' in the third house. So we were divided into three different families, depending on the craft. Oh, and there was no electricity/heating, etc. back then, which is why it was really dark and cold in these 'houses'. The photos were taken with flash - it wouldn't have been possible without it.
In this cute 'little house', I slept together with 8 other girls (at least the first night - I'll explain later what happened on the second night!)
This was the inside of our house. In the middle was a fireplace and for safety reasons, there was a steam exhaust above it. All around were our 'beds' consisting of sacks filled with hay and sheepskin on top. Even though it may not look so uncomfortable and cold - I can tell you, it was hell. The only source of light was the small window you can see in the back. Despite the cold, we had to open the window during the day, otherwise we wouldn't have seen anything. On our farm, there were also different animals that we had to take care of for the three days. There were sheep, goats, cows, chickens, and surely also mice and other pests. After our tour of the village, we stored our belongings in the houses and then had to start working immediately. The first task was to make a fire in the blacksmith's house (without matches/lighter), which was already the first challenge, as it was very cold in the house and the wood was very damp. Although we were three different families, our family (wickerwork) ate together with the second family (blacksmiths) because together we were just as many as the large third family.We also had to chop our own firewood to always have enough wood for the fire in the house. Since it was really cold, nobody objected to chopping wood. Everyone was more than happy about firewood, so nobody hesitated and chopped wood and brought it into the house little by little.After the fire was finally lit, we started preparing the lunch. In the photo, Christine is cutting vegetables, Katoo is trying to whip cream with wooden sticks (so exhausting!), and I'm crushing hazelnuts for our lunch (porridge).
Our first lunch was porridge with cream, warm berries, apples, and hazelnuts. Carrots were also offered as a snack. But first, we had to crush the oats. We did this on a stone slab on the ground by placing a handful of oats on the slab and crushing them with another stone.
Once we had enough, the crushed oats were put into a large clay pot with water and placed near the fireplace to heat up (which took ages with these pots!)
Oh, by the way, there was no running water in the Iron Age - we had to run to a water source with a jug whenever we needed water.
first LUNCH is ready!!
In between, Teresa, Fabienne, and I milked the cow. Usually, she would also live on our farm, but since it's still too cold at this time of year, she was allowed to stay in her stable a little further away from the farm, where there was also a calf and the chickens (our lunch for Friday).
After dinner, we played hide-and-seek (all three families together). In our version, one person hid, and everyone else had to find that person. Once the person was found, the seekers had to hide with that person. It was actually really fun. Since the area was very large, it wasn't easy to find a hiding spot.
Afterwards, we all gathered in the house of the woodworkers, played games by the campfire (Never have I ever; Two truths, one lie), and sang various songs. (Teresa had her guitar and songbooks with her, and Malte had his ukulele - thanks!)
Then we wanted to go to sleep at what felt like 22.30 - but it turned out to be only 20.15. You really lose all sense of time here! So we stayed up a bit longer and then went to sleep. Although calling it 'sleeping' is an exaggeration.
We slept with sleeping bags on the sheepskins and 3-4 people in one bed, because otherwise, it would have been too cold. Since we cooked in the other house, we were the only family who never had a fire in our house. (I never thought this would make such a difference, but it was really terrible!!!)
The first night was very restless, cold, and uncomfortable. Getting out of the sleeping bag in the morning was quite painful. We were woken up at 06.30 to cook breakfast for ourselves and the blacksmiths, so we had to get up immediately, go to the other house, and start cooking.
For breakfast, we had porridge again, just like yesterday (and yes, we had it again on Friday morning). This time, there was also apple compote :-)
Before we had to start cooking lunch, we were all asked to meet at the entrance of the village to prepare our dinner there.
... and yes, if you want to have dinner, you also have to prepare the fish yourself now. I never thought I would find it so easy.
Problem wur, the freezing cold temperature it was particularly bitter on that day. Because the fish had already been lying in ice water and it was also generally so cold, it was really hell for me. If you want to know more about disassembling the fish: We had to put two fingers into the gills to hold it properly. Then we were given a knife with which we had to find the hole on the 'belly' and cut from there to the head. Then we had to remove all the innards by simply tearing everything out by hand. It sounds easier than it actually was in the end. After we removed the innards and thoroughly cleaned the fish with cold water, we sprinkled salt on the inside and outside, and then it was ready for the oven.
After we had prepared our dinner, we had to start preparing our lunch for the last day. The menu included 'chicken', which we - of course - had to slaughter and cook ourselves as well. I was actually most afraid of this experience, although in the end, what frightened me more was the fish.
So we were given two chickens that we were supposed to slaughter with the help of an axe. Three people volunteered to slaughter the chicken. One person held the feet still, one person held the head with a string, and the third person chopped off the head with the axe. The first step was actually the most difficult, in which the chicken was knocked unconscious by banging its head against the wood. Then 'only' the head was chopped off, and that was it. Little blood, little excitement.
Afterwards, the chicken was hung next to the front door (great view ^^), the head was thrown away, and the feet were hung with the other feet already hanging on the wall (All the feet of the previously slaughtered chickens are collected and attached to the wall of the house as 'warders'. Takes some getting used to, but after a while, it's no longer noticeable.
We then had to cook lunch (again vegetable stew, bread, cheese, butter, etc. - so the same as the day before). What else could you cook with a campfire, stone slabs, and clay pots. Although I have to say that the food tasted sooooo good during those three days. But of course, I don't know if the food was really that good or if I was just really hungry ^^
After lunch, we finally got to switch and start our crafts, which means from now on, the blacksmiths cooked for us.
I was in the wickerwork group, where we wove a small basket with straw. We started with a wooden bottom. Then we had to take a few strands of hay and push them through a wooden tube. Then we started with the actual weaving. You always stick the straw into the upper hole and go through the lower hole from behind to the front. You do this twice and then move on to the next two holes, and so on - actually quite easy and also doable for children!
For dinner, we had our self-cleaned and smoked fish. It was by far the best fish I've ever eaten. It was SO good!! With the fish, we also had homemade bread, vegetable stew, cream cheese, butter, salt, etc. The food was really great. Since it was below freezing all day, we stayed inside and ate in the evening. We couldn't have stood the wind outside.
This time, the evening program was very limited. The Danish guys stayed in their own house and all the Erasmus students gathered with the last two remaining Danish students. (About 8 others actually left during the day because it was too cold or whatever). We then told traditional fairy tales, played the guitar a bit, and sang songs. Then the girls from our house (wickerwork) split up and went to the other two houses because there was enough space and it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cold. Unbearable!!! Since we never had a fire in our house, we wouldn't have been able to sleep there. So I took my things and went up to the big house and shared a bed with Emily, Mai-Ly, and Romain. It was so much better that night than the night before, although it was still very, very cold.
The next day, we finished our handicrafts, and since I was quite fast, I also quickly carved a wooden spoon.
This time, all three families had lunch together in the big house. Again, there was vegetable stew and this time, the self-slaughtered chicken was also served. Of course, there was bread, cheese, butter, salt, and smoked fish from the night before. After lunch, we packed our things, had to 'clean' the houses (remove the ceiling covers, remove the sheepskins from the houses, etc.), and then we started our journey back home.
When I got home, I had the best shower of my life. It was so nice to finally be able to wash with warm water after three exhausting, freezing, dirty, and smelly days.
Conclusion: Although it was incredibly cold (a horror!), it was one of the most instructive and best experiences I have ever had. I'm really thrilled and wouldn't want to miss a second of it! One more thing I forgot to mention: Fortunately, we had a 'normal' toilet where we could change and brush our teeth in the evening. That would have been a step too far for me if there hadn't been a normal facility.
And here's a toilet selfie!
Okay, that's really enough (or too much ^^) from my text here. I'll write about my weekend in the next few days, and then we won't hear from each other until the beginning of April. On Thursday, A. is coming to visit me and then I'll be in Stockholm, Helsinki, and St. Petersburg until 02.04!
