Skipped breakfast and got up at 12:00 for our 12:30 lunch. (I had a late day interview scheduled.) I slept for ~9 hours and felt great, and quickly learned that the party last night went on until 6:45 AM for some folks, with a basement dance party keeping things going well into the night/morning. I will say the midnight sun certainly adds to the ease of going late into the night – tough to go to bed if you’re having a great time and the sun is still up!
Lunch was great, then after a brief break Sunniva gave me a ride to my interview location behind the fortress by the water. While waiting we had a great chat about her time in England for school – and upcoming plans to travel to NYC and then drive to LA/San Francisco. While you never see the crew on the show, getting to know them is an amazing part of the show – sure, the relationships with fellow cast members obviously develop and you become real close – but the crew is just as cool of a group – no doubt I’ll be lifelong friends with them as well.
The interview was really easy – being that I didn’t participate in the competitions there’s not as much for me to discuss. I did make sure to rock my Ballard Nordics shirt though – always try to give them a shout out when I can.
I came back, listened to a few podcasts – one of my favorite in quite some time – Debateable from RadioLab, and then grabbed dinner. At dinner I was informed that I’d be needed for tomorrow’s individual competition. I have no idea what that means. Will I be incorporated into the challenge, simply holding the fill, or what, but I’m excited nonetheless (even if it means waking up at 6:50 instead of 9:30.)
After dinner, Lauren and I walk on the other side of the river again, get some great shots, and make our way to the end of the island birding station. On our walk back to town, Lauren and I achieved our highest level of celebrity status of our lives! Two girls who played extras in the plague competition 2 days ago in Hamningberg saw us while they were driving around. They proceeded to follow up with a total of 7 drive-bys with cell phones out and incessant giggling. We decided to start posing and blowing kisses to fulfill their paparazzi dreams. I don’t think much goes on here in Vardø, so Alt For Norge in town is apparently a big deal – especially for teens. I may never have another stalker or “fan” driving around trying to snap pictures of me, but if this is the peak of my life’s celebrity status, it was a helluva lot of fun.
I’m now writing this journal entry under a beautiful midnight sun – excited for whatever tomorrow may hold, though it’ll be tough to lose another family member tomorrow afternoon.
Lars Phillips 