Britta currently lives in Tacoma, Washington with her husband and two kitties. In her free-time, you'll catch her reading, baking, or doing some kind of craft. Her newest hobby obsession is crochet! She also loves to spend time outside in the great outdoors, adventuring in the woods or mountains and embracing "friluftsliv". From ages 10-14, Britta lived with her family in Gvarv, a small town in Telemark, Norway. Here, she was given the opportunity to fully immerse herself in the Norwegian language and culture during her middle school years. This impactful experience abroad was a catalyst for Britta’s love of the Norwegian language and culture, and fostered deep connections with her Norwegian roots. Britta majored in the Norwegian language at St. Olaf College, studied for a summer at the Oslo at the International Summer School, and has remained involved with the language through the CLV language immersion programs both as a camper, counselor, credit teacher, and volunteer with adult programming. She currently works as a hospital chaplain.

Ethan “Esten” Bjelland began a love affair with Nordic languages and cultures at an early age. He started learning Norwegian when he was six years old at Skogfjorden, Concordia’s Norwegian Language Village. Growing up in Decorah, he was a Nordic folk dancer for 10 years, took figure carving and rosemaling classes, worked at Vesterheim Museum, and tutored and led Norwegian language lessons. After 10 years as a Skogfjorden villager and a few trips to Norway and Europe, he studied Russian and Norwegian at Luther College while still in high school. He received his B.A. in Theatre and Scandinavian Studies from Gustavus Adolphus College, adding Swedish conversation, Danish literature, and introductory Icelandic to his language arsenal. Professionally, Ethan has acted and performed with more than 30 companies, including a year and a half with Commonweal Theatre Company in Lanesboro, MN. He briefly managed one of the three US stores for Moods of Norway, a bright and splashy suiting brand from Norway. Today, he is the Director of Communications for Norway House, and he continues to teach adults and families with the Concordia Language Villages. Ethan lives in Loring Park with his husband, Jade, and their puppy, Ollie. His areas of cultural interest include Scandinavian pop and rap music, theatre in translation, Henrik Ibsen, Eurovision Song Contest, Queer representation, modernist poetry, and contemporary film/television.

Synneva Bratland is more or less a professional Norwegian American. In addition to teaching Norwegian classes for both children and adults, she also works in the office at Mindekirken. A long-time Skogfjorden camper and counselor, Synneva attended folkehøgskole outside of Oslo before receiving a dual degree in Norwegian and mathematics from St. Olaf College. She currently lives in St. Paul, where she can be found playing and dancing to Nordic folk music, going birding with her friends, and playing with her cats, Willet and Goose. 

Hilary is excited to be back at Mindekirken after a 13-year hiatus! She previously taught Norwegian at Mindekirken for 10 years, teaching everything from Beginning and Intermediate Norwegian to Advanced and Literature courses.

Hilary grew up in Duluth, Minnesota, and her love of Norway and the Norwegian language began early. As a high school student, she spent a year studying in Fredrikstad, Norway, and later returned to study statsvitenskap (Political Science) at the University of Trondheim. Her connection to Norway continues today—her family has a cabin in Hornindal, where she enjoys spending time during the summers.

Hilary graduated from Augsburg College with degrees in Norwegian and International Relations. A self-described “recovering attorney,” she also earned her law degree from William Mitchell College of Law and a master’s degree in Human Resources from the Carlson School of Management. It’s safe to say that Hilary loves learning—and she is thrilled to return to something else she loves: teaching Norwegian!

Professionally, Hilary owns Nordic Path Consulting, where she works with companies large and small on revenue growth, sales strategy, and business development.

When she isn’t working or teaching, Hilary loves traveling, working out, reading, spending time with her husband and two children, and attempting to manage a household that also includes four cats and one dog.

Hilary is especially excited to reconnect with the Mindekirken community and help a new group of students discover—or rediscover—the Norwegian language. Vi sees!

Hilary Crook Hilary gleder seg stort til å være tilbake på Mindekirken etter 13 års pause! Tidligere underviste hun i norsk ved Mindekirken i ti år, og hadde alt fra begynner- og mellomnivå til videregående kurs og litteraturkurs.

Hilary vokste opp i Duluth, Minnesota, og interessen for Norge og det norske språket begynte tidlig. Som utvekslingselev på videregående tilbrakte hun ett år i Fredrikstad, og senere vendte hun tilbake til Norge for å studere statsvitenskap ved Universitetet i Trondheim. Tilknytningen til Norge er fortsatt sterk – familien hennes har en hytte i Hornindal, hvor hun gjerne tilbringer deler av sommeren.

Hilary har en bachelorgrad fra Augsburg College med norsk og internasjonale relasjoner som hovedfag. Hun er også en selverklært «pensjonert advokat», med juridisk embetseksamen fra William Mitchell College of Law og en mastergrad i Human Resources fra Carlson School of Management. Det er trygt å si at Hilary er glad i å lære – og hun gleder seg til å vende tilbake til noe annet hun er veldig glad i: å undervise i norsk!

Til daglig driver Hilary sitt eget konsulentfirma, Nordic Path Consulting, hvor hun jobber med både store og små bedrifter innen salgsvekst, salgsstrategi og forretningsutvikling.

Når hun ikke jobber eller underviser, liker Hilary å reise, trene, lese og tilbringe tid med mannen sin og de to barna deres – samt å prøve å holde styr på en husholdning som også inkluderer fire katter og én hund.

Hilary gleder seg spesielt til å bli en del av Mindekirken-miljøet igjen og til å hjelpe en ny gruppe elever med å oppdage – eller gjenoppdage – det norske språket. Vi sees!

Eirill Alvilde Falck grew up in Oslo, Norway, and moved to the United States in her late teens. She is a writer and translator. Her work has appeared in The Kenyon Review and Poetry Magazine, and is forthcoming in the anthology Best Literary Translations 2024. She received an MFA in Creative Writing from the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan, where she was subsequently a Zell Fellow. She was a 2020-2022 Iowa Arts Fellow at the University of Iowa, where she completed an MFA in Literary Translation. While at the University of Iowa, she received the Stanley Award for International Research, for her work on translations of Edvard Munch’s literary journals. Eirill is the co-founder of MQR: Mixtape, an imprint of Michigan Quarterly Review.

Ingunn has a variety of interests that she pursues with enthusiasm, including gardening, most things Norwegian, pop culture, environmental issues, reading and small dogs. She was born in Bergen, Norway and arrived in the United States with her parents when she was 4. Every summer was spent in Norway and after graduating from high school, Ingunn worked for a year in her hometown of Bergen. After graduating from Smith College with a BA in Biology, Ingunn spent a year studying in Oslo, including her second summer at the International Summer School and then at the University of Oslo, focused on Environmental Science. Back in the US she earned an MS in Environmental Science through SUNY’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry & an MPA in Public Administration from Syracuse University. Fast forward through raising her daughter, Sonja (yes, she is fluent in Norwegian, Ingunn taught her that first!) and 15 years of teaching high school science and we arrive in 2018, when she established her own photography company, Spoonbill Studios. Ingunn began teaching through the MNCLP in 2019 and loves this role as it lets her combine her teaching experience with her enthusiasm for Norway and Norwegian. She loves getting to know her Norwegian students and sharing her experience with them.

Signe Ilstrup is passionate about reading, music (singing in choir), and travel. She is of Scandinavian descent on her dad's side of the family. When she was in college, the concert band took a tour to England and Norway. Signe thought it would be fun to learn some Norwegian before going, and it didn’t take long until she was hooked. Signe enjoys volunteer travel and has participated in trips through Global Volunteers to destinations such as Tanzania, Archaeology digs in the American Southwest and England, and whale watching in Andenes, Norway. A fun fact about Signe is that she is one of MNLCP’s original instructors who followed the program as it traveled from Sons of Norway in Uptown, to Augsburg College and eventually ending up at Mindekirken.

Alan “Gorm” Ingman enjoys cooking, music, art, graphic design, and playing guitar. His family has roots in both the Valdres region of Norway and the Lofoten islands. His mother grew up speaking Norwegian at home in Northwest Minnesota and encouraged Gorm and his brothers to study Norwegian at Concordia Language Villages as children. Gorm attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota where he earned a B.A. in Scandinavian Studies, Religion, and Philosophy. He worked at Skogfjorden, the Norwegian Language Village in Bemidji for 18 summers, including more than five years running their program for high school language credit. Gorm has traveled extensively in Norway--from Tromsø in the north to Kristiansand in the south. One of Gorm’s claims to fame is that he shook hands with Kong Harald V when he was a kid!

Christine is trained as a cultural anthropologist which officially allows her to be curious about everything! She likes studying and living with creatures, human and otherwise. Christine loves to sing, swim and be out in natural settings. She also loves to read; novels, ethnographies, science, poetry. She is close to her two daughters and their husbands and loves being a mormor. Christine is of Norwegian ancestry and has lived and studied in Norway. When she returned from Norway, Christine taught Norwegian while receiving a Master's Degree in Scandinavian Language and Literature from the University of Minnesota. Christine has taught Norwegian to learners of all age levels--including barnehage to adults. She taught for 20 years at the Concordia Language Villages - Adult Norwegian Programs in the Fall and Spring. As a teacher, Christine does not teach only language, but also includes a good deal of cultural content and encouragement to explore all things Norwegian and Norwegian-American.

Erik 'David' Moe is a second year Master's student at the University of Washington- Seattle. He began learning Norwegian from his dad and grandpa, both heritage Norwegian speakers from Sunburg, Minnesota, before spending 12 marvelous summers at Skogfjorden, Concordia's Norwegian Language Village, building a love for everything norsk. Based on his love of Skogfjorden and Norwegian, Erik received his undergraduate degree from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, majoring in Norwegian and Political Science, along with being a member and president of the St. Olaf Norwegian House. This is Erik's second session teaching at Mindekirken, and is extremely excited to introduce more people to the wonderful world of norsk!!!

Kathleen Maris Paltrineri is a poet and translator from Iowa. Her translations of Norwegian poet Kristin Berget have appeared in Guernica, Circumference Magazine, Brink, and Poetry in Action. Paltrineri’s poetry has recently appeared in Bennington Review, CALYX, and jubilat. She holds an MFA in Poetry from the University of New Hampshire and an MFA in Literary Translation from the University of Iowa.

Rachel “Rikke” Peterson enjoys being together with family and friends, spending time outdoors, listening to and creating music, doing leatherwork, baking and children and youth rights/advocacy. She studied Norwegian as a villager at Skogfjorden and then spent her senior year of high school an AFS exchange student in Alta, Norway. She later went back to Norway where she earned her Master's Degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Tromsø.

Nick Rogness began learning Norwegian on a whim in his first term at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa; he decided to take an introductory Norwegian course to fulfill his language requirement, and from that point on he was hooked. After completing all of the Norwegian classes at Luther and taking an intensive Norwegian course at the University of Oslo, he graduated from Luther with a degree in Nordic Studies, Data Science, and Mathematics. Nick has taught Norwegian in a variety of different settings, and he is excited to start his first year instructing at Mindekirken!

Krista “Huldra” Schweppe is an educator who is passionate about language and learning. Her curiosity for Norway piqued at a young age as she developed connections to Norwegian friends and family. After high school Krista spent a gap year at Sagavoll folkehøgskole in Gvarv, Telemark. This experience was formative in many ways and later led to her spending seven years living and working in Oslo where she earned her BA in Cultural Studies at the University of Oslo. Integral in her own language learning journey were the many summers Krista spent in the northwoods of Minnesota at Skogfjorden, Concordia’s Norwegian Language Village where she further deepened her connections to norsk and Norge. Krista began teaching Norwegian through Mindekirken’s Norwegian Language and Culture Program in 2004 and shortly thereafter became the Program Coordinator for MNLCP. Her love of language learning inspired Krista to pursue a K-12 teaching license and MA in English as a Second Language at Hamline University. She feels privileged to spend her days teaching extraordinary immigrants & refugee high school students, many of which are just beginning their journeys in the United States.

David M. Smith grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and lived in Bergen for several years as an adult, where he learned to speak Norwegian. He has advanced degrees in Literary Translation (University of Iowa) and Scandinavian Studies (University of Wisconsin–Madison). He is the translator of several books by Norwegian authors like Tarjei Vesaas, Thure Erik Lund, Leif Høghaug, and Johan Harstad. Today he lives in Dubuque, Iowa, where he enjoys meditating, shopping for old books, and cheering for the Atlanta Falcons in his free time.