Kirsten in Norway

...2 months later

2010-04-19T00:41:00.001-07:00

so... hey. Clearly blogging just isn't my thing. However, mom has been descretely scolding me the past few emails so I though you all deserved a brief update.

Easter was a few weeks ago so we had a week-long Easter break. What this means for Norwegians is basically time to travel and watch/read crime series. Yeah, I know, crime series? Really? I was rather shocked when I walked into a Narvessen and saw a big cardboard cutout in bright yellow with a really bloody (and very realistic looking) Norwegian mitten printed on it. But I must say, this crime series thing rather grew on me.

And mom says to write about the ash cloud. Well, sorry to dissapoint but it isn't raining ash here. In fact quite the contrary. I see blue skies and the sun...ow. ok, note to self, don't look at sun. But I do know it's there, Oslo airport was closed for a while, I think it's re-opened for outgoing flights. Hopefully it will be open when I leaveon Thursday for Eurotour :D

Anyway, I feel like I owe everyone some pictures. So let's see if I can find some. I know I have some from Stockholm on my camera...I'll load those later...haha, how many times have you guys heard that from me?

This be me and Thor :D He's my friend :D

Umm there was ice on the fjord...I hadn't ever really seen anything like it before so I had to take a picture of course. Why I'm sharing it with you I don't actually know.

I was at Rotary wintercamp...well a long time ago. But still. We went on a long cross-country ski trip, this is a picture of (from left to right) Henry (Minnesota), Daniel (California), me.

I also have a great video of this picture. Jamie (Ohio) and Kate (Idaho)

This is Alex (Indiana). This is how much powder there was in places (Alpine skiing this time).

The lift ride up was rather boring. We had to find ways to entertain ourselves. There were several times I feared that Henry would fall off and takes us all down on the way.

At the top :D Left to right again, Allie (Canada), Henry, Alex, Sarah (USA, can't remember which state...) and me.

Umm I shall upload pictures from Stockholm and the Rotary Holmenkollen weekend later. Though prolly not before Eurtour starts, then most likely none of you will hear from me for about 2 weeks. so...bye then!

No worries, I'm still alive

2009-12-30T09:10:00.000-08:00

…hehe. Hi everyone. I realize it’s been a while since you’ve all last heard from me, I apologize. But I can assure you I’m fine, everything is going well etc etc. Quick update on some of the things I’ve been up to…

1. I saw Gerard Butler, he was in Oslo for the premier of his new movie, Law Abiding Citizen, and I just happened to pass by while he was going into the theater. I didn’t shake his hand or get an autograph or anything, I had to get somewhere, but still. I saw him. It was pretty cool.

2. Better than Gerard Butler. I saw President Obama. As I’m sure you all know, he was in Oslo for a couple days to receive his Nobel Peace Prize. I stood outside the Grand Hotel (behind a fence and several concrete barriers of course) until I saw him :D I was happy. Seriously though, there were snipers EVERYWHERE and it felt like the entire city had been blocked off. And they had to borrow police from Sweden. It was intense.

3. Ummmm oh yeah! I wrote a text in Norwegian. I’m so ridiculously proud of that. It was a whole 558 words long…I think.

4. And Christmas.

Christmas in Norway is very different…and yet it’s the same. Go to church on Christmas Eve, decorate a tree, presents, Christmas music everywhere, decorations, lights, family, food etc. So the church thing was pretty similar to what I’m used…except it wasn’t at midnight (wait…do I go to church on Christmas Eve anymore?) and there were no candles. And the tree was the same. Christmas ornaments and lights with a star at the top. Except the lights they used were waaaaaaaay more awesome than ours. Theirs are in the shape of candles. And they clip onto the tree branches. :O Oh. And the tree did not get put up until about December 23 I think. That was really strange for me. I’m used to seeing a decorated and lit Christmas tree for about the 3 weeks prior to Christmas with the pile of presents under it growing by the day…and of course Rocko hiding underneath. Presents didn’t appear under the tree here until right before they were to be opened.

The best part about Christmas here though, is that-at least at the family I’m at-we all held hands on Christmas Eve and walked around the tree singing Christmas carols. It was ridiculously happy. Of course the songs were Norwegian Christmas Carols and so…yeah I basically just smiled. They did sing Silent Night in Norwegian, so I sang that one in English. I really don't know what else to say. Here’s some pictures… Maybe they can explain the Norwegian Christmas better. Ohhhhh something that I don’t have a picture of is Julemarizipan. A.K.A. Christmas marzipan. It’s yummy and in the shape of a pig haha. Somehow that makes it super fun to eat.

Umm sorry. Pit stop. I think it might be necessary to tell you all that as of November…11^th? I think. I have been living with a new family. And this new family is INSANELY musically talented. I can’t even clap on beat in church hahaha. So it’s definitely different, but SO much fun!!! The parents, Line and Truls, 2 dogs Seamus and Shannon, and 3 sons (although only the youngest 2 live at home) Thorvald, 13, Magnus, 17, and Eivind, 19. Ah and I should probably mention GK. She’s Eivind’s girlfriend and is super awesome! …I don’t have a picture of her quite yet but I’ll get one up soon J

So... These are my host brothers, from left to right Eivind (19), Thorvald (13), and Magnus (17)... yeah I don't know what Magnus is doing with his little finger either...

SHANNON!!! I'm sure everyone reading this knows I'm undoubtedly a cat person. But... she's just so CUTE!!!!!! <3 ...even if she looks slightly demonic in this picture.

My host dad, Truls :)

Eivind...again (he's a little crazy) Kidding. He plays the trumpet and is studying music...I think...I'll double check that.

Magnus. He's not actually a ninja. He just thinks he is. But he really isn't. Not even close. Me, on the other hand, I'm a ninja. He plays lots of guitars. Mostly bass. And the piano...

Seamus, the other dog, he's older than Shannon and very protective of the family.

And Thorvald. He plays the sax and we play wii together... he's definitely WAY better at me in boxing... of course all I do is flail around so..............yeah.

So that's the family.

Ok. This one is for Tjos. THEY'RE MINI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Haha. Ah. And for Caitlin too. (These horses are my neighbors^^)

This was the...alter thingy at the church we went to Christmas Eve, it was really pretty!!!

Here's the dinner table. I folded the napkins. The book in the front of the picture is their copy of the bible. My host dad read from it before we ate :)

Food. The thing in the middle is one of the typical types of Norwegian Christmas Dinners. It's rib...of something. I can't remember what. But it is a lot harder to eat than it looks. At least it was for me. And whenever I asked how my host brothers all responded with "Just put it in your mouth and chew!" Haha. Thanks guys. I couldn't figure that one out myself :)

Aw they actually had someone dress up as Santa for the little cousins. AWWWWWWWWWWW!!

This is my host dad and my host mom's sister (who was the one dressed up as Santa) right before we started opening presents :) OPening presents was a little different. Someone would start by getting a present (not to themself) the person who received it would open hug the sender and then go get another present. None of that "Hey! This one's for you!" and throwing the gift across the room.

Eivind and Magnus... during present opening. You can see how serious of a matter it is. (just kidding, I don't know why they're being so serious).

Thorvald. Aw!

This was the breakfast meat plate. I thought it was cute that there was a meat plate so I took a picture :)

Salmon ^^ ...and eggs... together? Eh?! Why...

The obligatory (except not) old-fashioned super amazingly awesome phone. This was taken at the house of my host mom's mother's house.

How the World Will End...I know it

2009-11-20T01:30:00.001-08:00

If Vikings conquer the sky...no place on earth will be safe from their madness. I bet this is what's going to happen in 2012.

About as random as can get...

2009-11-06T00:38:00.000-08:00

Ah blogs, blogs, blogs, blogs, blogs. Whenever I sit down to write, I can never quite seem to remember what I’ve done since the last blog. Thus I always end up writing about all the really random and obscure things I’ve done that honestly don’t even relate to Norway. But regardless…

The other day I was watching What I Like About You and this particular episode was about Val who is about to get married only the wedding, it turns out, is not star themed like she thought but Star Wars themed… The only thought I had during that entire show was ‘That would be kind of awesome’. Seriously. As long as Jabba the Hutt is nowhere in sight you’re golden and who wouldn’t want to be married by Darth Vader? The sad thing about this little spiel is I’m actually about 62% serious about this and only 38% sarcastic…But just so we’re all clear, I am not actually saying I want to have a Star Wars wedding. Because I don’t. If I went in the direction of really nerdy themes I could probably find something else… So. Now that all of you think I’m insane we can move back to Norway.

Erm actually one more sidetrack. The premier of New Moon is coming up and sparknotes has offered some very good advice on what to do which I thought I would share with you.

"1. Buy tickets to the midnight showing, which is sure to be packed with die-hard fans, and dress up as Harry Potter.

Wave your wand at horrified onlookers while angrily rubbing your lightning scar. After you purchase your tub of popcorn, loudly explain to the crowd that Lord Voldemort has returned, and you will need their help to defeat him. To prove your wizarding powers and the earnestness of your cause, claim that you will make your tub of popcorn levitate across the room. Then hurl it across the room with all your might. If possible, his someone wearing a "BITE ME EDWARD" t-shirt right in the face. BOw grandly, then proceed to enter the theater. At the most suspensful, climactic moment in the movie, shout "SNAPE KILLED DUMBLEDORE. WE CANNOT LET THIS INJUSTICE GO UNPUNISHED." As you are dragged out by security, scream that everyone in the audience is a death eater and a traitor, and is responisble for the end of all that is good in the world.

3. Show up to the premier covered in garlic butter.

Wear a giant silver crucifix around your neck. And carry a cross bow stocked with silver-tipped arrows. If anyone asks your name, glower and respond, "Your Worst Nightmare.""

-Sparknotes

Brilliant? I should say so.

And now back to Norway.

The exchange students had another get together. This time in Gjøvik. It was pretty awesome…basically we just…I don’t really know. There was a fancy dinner with all these Rotary people (it was their big fall meeting I think). That was quite long… But they also took us ice skating which was entertaining to say the least. (The blades were very dull). Aside from that, they also took us to Hunderfossen Family Park where we got a private tour, it was very much awesome. Hunderfossen, for those of you who don’t know (I certainly had no idea what it was until I got there) is Norwegian Fairytale land. There is a statue of a giant Troll who, as our tour guide told us, was apparently turned to stone by the sun (at which point I shouted out “Like in The Hobbit!!!!!” …no one else seemed to get it). It’s such a cute place though I loved it! Perhaps I will make my family visit it with me when they come… Another thing they showed us in the park was a panoramic movie about Norway. Or actually the landscape of Norway. I wish I could see everything they showed us in real life, it’s all SOOOO beautiful!!!! So that was Gjøvik. Kind of. I left out the boring stuff…or most of it at least. Oh and afterwards I had one of the other exchange students from Wyoming come and stay a couple days with me, which was fun.

And let’s see… oh yes. Halloween (which, might I add, also happens to be dearest mother’s birthday-I love you mom!!!). Umm I’ll just put a picture up in my next blog, I’m not very adept at explaining costumes and I havent’s loaded the pictures onto the computer yet so… But besides dressing up we carved pumpkins at Maria’s house. And then watched the Blair Witch Project. Mom, Dad, I’m really sorry but I don’t think I will ever be able to go backpacking in the forest ever again. So scary… L

So…that’s really all I can think of for now. I will hopefully have more pictures up soon.

Actually, since I have no new pictures loaded on my computer, here are some I took from language camp :D

I ate one of these. I can show you a picture of my reaction in the next blog. It was great...

Here's my work...

Look closely, can you spot anything wrong with this picture??

This was one of the last days. You can see how out of it we were. Living off coffee and...well that was about it.

The fridge in our rooms didn't really work, this is how we kept the drinks cold.

...no comment

Jean-Baptiste, Henry, Kate :D

So this is what we did with our spare time...

And this is the result of no sleep whatsoever.

One last thing. Apparantly that time I said it was snowing, it was "sleet" (lies, it WAS snow) but regardless, it has since been snowing...just not sticking.

And Ariana...can I just ask, why do I need an umbrella from Norway??

HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA

2009-11-02T02:59:00.000-08:00

SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ...for like 2 seconds during school today. But still :D

Pictures anyone?

2009-10-15T23:14:00.000-07:00

Ok. So here's two months in a nutshell-excluding language camp, I'll put some of those up later. And you should know that just in case you want to see a picture larger, I think you can just click on it... I tried that with my math test picture and it got HUGE. Seriously Harry Potter was suddenly life size. Ok so it didn't get that big but still...

Smoking "room" ...I still don't really know what to say about it.

The Palace. And Astrid :)

K same thing but with me in the picture...

SKIING :D

Fortress thingy... I have yet to actually explore that....

You can see what I'm eating in the next Picture

Ok so I wasn't eating that exactly, but I was eating the... well, edible part of that...

Hehehehe I got to drive a 100 year old boat :D

So this house is on a little island. By itself. Not gonna lie that would kind of suck... You would have to row yourself to shore everyday... what if you have a fever and are too weak but you need to get medicine???

This is just a random picture of Norway from the boat trip I went on (that's when I ate the shrimp)

I have no idea what building this is... I just thought it looked cool.

The building with the ramp looking thing in front is the Opera. That place is seriously awesome.

Hahahahahaaaaaaaa :D

Stavern Pictures:

...a street. I don't know what else to say...

VIKINGS!!!! QUICK, QUICK EVERYONE RUN!!!!!! (In case you're wondering, we did escape...but just barely).

Stavern = Beautiful

Random.....

best portrayal of the Reign of Terror EVER. My history teacher is a genious.

This is what we eat. Bread with brown cheese, cream cheese, blood, bananas...you know, the basics :) ...I'm joking by the way.

This is my school. Note the windows. It has windows!!! And we even get to open them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Halleluja!

This is from the Opera. It's pretty awesome. I like the guy with his hand raised although I don't know if he's saying "f*** you, sun" or "I salute you, sun" ...and now that I look at it more it looks like he's doing that hitler thing... awkward silence... moving on.

Obama's face is on bags at the Nobel Peace building... I kind of found that hilarious. Our President is a celebrity (and I will be going to see him when he comes to Oslo)

So there's the outside of the building....

Taco Pizza = Best Pizza EVER!

So this is what I see from my bus stop.... I know you all wanted to know.

I forgot to mention. That time I got lost in Oslo, I managed to find the American Embassy. The place is seriously scary. It's very black. And it has bars all around it. I wanted to go ask them for directions but I was too scared!!!! :(

p.s. I will put pictures of my friends up later...after I've taken some pictures of my friends (and yes, I do have friends, I'm not making people up when I talk to you guys)

Home

2009-10-05T01:06:00.000-07:00

So...since I can't upload pictures of Norway for my American people, I decided to put up some of Wenatchee for my Norwegian people, just so they have an idea of where I'm from.
The red dot marks the area where Wenatchee is located (I think). Yes, in that brown, dry looking area.

Again, red dot is Wenatchee

Ok, the big bright, white thing with the red running track next to it is my former school, Wenatchee High School, the town on the far side of the river is East Wenatchee (Not as cool as Wenatchee) ...just kidding.

AWW

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

k...sorry about the last 3. I couldn't resist.

So...I got Lost.

2009-10-05T00:36:00.000-07:00

I remember my first couple days of school here in Norway, I remember thinking that everyone at school reminded me of someone back home. Now however, I look at people and think “oh, they look familiar…they look like…” And then I can never finish the sentence. And I realized today that the reason I can no longer finish it is because I have become so accustomed to these people, even the ones I have never spoken with are so familiar to me now and it’s strange. You would think that after 18 years of seeing the same people every day, it would take longer to get used to a situation like this. Somehow, I can no longer imagine what my life was like before I knew these people. I guess what I’m getting at is I really love it here, the kids, the teachers, everyone I’ve met has been so wonderful to me, a stranger, a person that perhaps shouldn’t even matter to them. It’s amazing.

Ok, sorry, I’ll stop with the emotional rant... Moving on.

Since coming to Norway I have discovered something about myself that I never knew. I am really, truly proud to be an American. I love my country. I know it has its faults but I love it regardless. No, I’m not trying to say “America is so much better than Norway” I am simply saying that…well…I don’t really know. Perhaps I’ve just started to see the better side of America, perhaps I’ve stopped focusing on all the negative aspects. I don’t really know…

Ok. That was kind of emotional too. Sorry, we’ll try on more time.

So this past week has been “høstferien” or Autumn holiday. In student terms, basically just a week off. Except it seems that people here don’t stay in town or even in country. Oh no. They go to Sweden (which really isn’t a big deal to people here, I think they were kind of confused as to why I thought it was so exciting), or Italy, I even had a friend go to America (She brought me back strawberry pop tarts, Christine you’re the BEST EVER!!!!!!!!!). My current host family in fact also went somewhere, they headed off to Greece for the week leaving me in the care of AnneLouise Hoen, a woman from the Oslo Rotary club. Before you start pitying me for not being able to go to Greece, let me assure you that I had an awesome week! I went shopping and sight-seeing and all that jazz but the highlight of my week was on Tuesday. Basically in an effort to get from Majorstue to National Theater by foot, I made a very, very wrong turn. Or actually several wrong turns. Basically I ended up wandering the streets of Oslo by myself for nearly 5 hours. Well done me. I’m sure you will all be happy to know however that the trip was not a lost cause. I got a really, really cute hat :D It has a bow on the side.

Let’s see…Oh! Language camp. That was about…one week ago? Basically it was 6 days and an accumulated 15 hours of sleep. Awesome. I think about 2/3 of the kids there were from the U.S. or Canada and regardless, everyone spoke English. But basically we got served really awesome food. I at an oyster, ummm…and we all practically lived off the free coffee. Also salty watermelon is kind of icky.

Also, the word "Marklar". That word is the devil. Which reminds me, mom I need you to send me my katana :D

I joke.

...but not really.

My mom told me that I needed to put up pictures so I promise the next post will be more of a picture blog of various things I’ve seen or done…however once again I am at school and my pictures or not on this computer.

sticky tape

2009-09-14T01:56:00.000-07:00

I went running the other day. One of those weird car things that paints the white dashed lines on the ground went past me painting white lines (obviously). I thought it would be cool to step in the white stuff and leave my footprint on the pavement...proof that Kirsten Valaas was in Norway and all. Did you know that stuff is sticky? I left my foot on it for a while, hopping that I would have maximum amount of paint on my shoes. Definitely could not pick my foot up when I tried. That stuff is like human sticky tape. Finally I managed to lift my foot up...only half of the white line peeled up with it. Yay me! Needless to say I avoided all other white lines on the rest of my run.

Sooo classes. Still don't understand much. Like in math for example. Supposedly a universal language. Well we had a test last week. The teacher wrote like 2 lines and a couple numbers on the board, rambled on for about five minutes in norwegan about what the task was and then everyone went to work. Kind of didn't understand the instructions. So....this was my answer:

Basically it says...

Given: heart=star+clover, and clover=rainbow(lightning cloud)

When: candle is cherry

Find: the integral of bomb to goldfish of harry potter(pinetree squared + cat)+2pie

Therefore: watermelon slice times the integral of cross + (norwegian flag + pineapple+ Leprechaun with pot of gold) - (triforce to the epona power + eiffel tower + viking)cubed

Final Answer: Gandalf the Grey w/ black hair

Update on strange things I've seen, heard, or done here... I've been asked some pretty strange questions in my stay here, but I think quite easily my favorite one has been "Do they have trees in America?" Hahahahaaaaa... My answer? "No. ...And we eat cars." (I want people to know that the person who asked this is the most awesome person in the world :) hun er superkul!) Also the other night My host dad made blood pudding. I think it took me about half an hour to get the courage to eat it. By the time I did, Leif and Anne-Beth had both finished.

I also recently was at språkkurs (I think that's how you spell it) until wednesday and I was able to meet a bunch of the other students. However as I am currently in class and I really need to get this health care essay done asap, I'll write about that at a later time.

Politics, Stavern, and the school library

2009-09-06T23:49:00.000-07:00

So know how WHS has a library where you can check out movies...but the only movies they have are like movie versions of famous books or historically important films? Right now I'm in the library of my new school looking at their movie selection which consists of Superbad, The Dark Knight, Casino Royale, Everything is Illuminated, The Ring, The Bourne Identity, and The Shinning...among others. And these are all free to borrow. AWESOME.

Apart from that I spent the weekend in Stavern. Can anyone say 'most beautiful place EVER'??? Leif took me to a park that I can't remember the name of.... But it had the most beautiful view of the ocean EVER and there were Viking graves. I got to stand on one :) I probably could have stayed there forever if we hadn't been having steak that night. ...ah steak.

Currently in Norway there is some sort of parliament election. Here in Norway politics are done quite differently. They have over ten major parties, for example. TEN!!! We only have two. So yeah. Election. Last week the school had one representative from each school come in to talk to us all at once and have a 'little' debate. It would have been really interesting if I could understand what the hell they were saying. Unfortunately, all I could understand was 'America', 'Afghanistan', and 'Taliban'. And occasionally someone would mention Obama. Today the school is holding what I think might be a mock election...maybe...not entirely sure. Maybe they are actually voting, I don't know.

And while we're on the topic of school...I get to write an essay on the American healthcare system and Obama's reform plan. This is for my Norwegian class and yes, it is in context...apparently. I also get to write an essay on the history of my family in Norway for, well, history class obviously. Both of these topics I actually find quite interesting...I'm just not looking forward to translating them to english.

In regards to the last post about the tarzan kid, I was in math yesterday, not sitting near the window this time, but I did hear a little kid scream or something...maybe they're going to recreate Lord of the Flies...sick. But in reality there probably is just a kindergarten near by...I swear the have them everywhere.

And now I have a question for all of you, what is the difference between a moose and an elk? The American ones I mean.

Skole

2009-09-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

First of all I would like to make this very, very clear. I will not be updating this often all the time. I just consider this very ehm...important. I was sitting in math class, bored out of my mind as usual so I thought 'why not stare out the window for a bit, that might entertain me.' As soon as I do this little kid comes running out of the bushes and trees next to the school. He looked around wildly before turning around and bolting back into the bushes.

...ummmmmm ok?

There are a million questions that could be asked in regards to this situation but I feel that the most important one is, 'why wasn't he dressed as Tarzan?'

Just so you know...

2009-09-01T01:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, as you all know, was the last day of August. August is summer. Summer is hot. Therefore August should be hot. Apparently not here. Yesterday felt like a day in late November. I don't think I'm going to survive this winter. Just thought you should know.

School, Food, and the "Three Fs"

2009-08-31T09:18:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I attended a family reunion of sorts. Reunions with your own family can sometimes prove a little awkward. Now imagine about 100 people that you don’t know all speaking Norwegian. Yeah. Thankfully I had my host sister with me. Seriously.

The food at this massive family gathering was pretty good, although I’m still not sure what I was eating the whole time. One dish in particular. I know what it was but I have yet to figure out who the hell thought of it. It consisted of clear, tasteless gelatin full of peas, carrots, corn, and shrimp. I took a tiny bit, figured I may as well try a little of everything…and then someone told me that the reason people made it was because it would last in the fridge for a year. Needless to say that part of my plate remained untouched (it was a very small portion, like two peas and a carrot). My favorite part about the gathering, (aside from discussing Norwegian and American cultural differences with Ingrid :D) was seeing all the different national costumes. It’s amazing how much they vary!

As for school, I still find it insanely confusing. Today for example. I arrived 15 minutes before the normal school start time of 8am only to discover that my first class wasn’t until 50 minutes after 8. …Really? At least on Thursday I get out at half past 10…I think. So every day I sit in class and make a very valiant attempt to figure out what is going. But after about 15 minutes of sitting and listening to someone ramble on in a foreign language from which you can only comprehend words like ‘and’, ‘source’, and ‘cheese hot dog’ (Ostepolse for those wondering, don’t lie I know you were) anyway moral of the story is I have spent the last week of school sitting in a chair for hours staring at walls and thinking about how all the people here remind me of someone back home. As for differences between the school here and WHS (which I actually kind of miss at this point) there are many, more than I expected at least. First of all, they have no clocks. I never ever know what time it is. Secondly, each student here gets their own personal laptop. This would be really cool if I knew how to use windows. Unfortunately…I don’t. But at least the fact that everyone is always on facebook (usually playing Farmville) during lectures makes me feel better about not understanding since they aren’t listening anyway. And finally (for now) the teachers. All my teachers in America would joke, laugh and generally have fun in class. The teachers here seem set on being really, really boring. They usually use some sort of powerpoint presentation and then talk for like 3 hours. It’s great fun. cough cough. And I know they aren’t boring people, I’ve talked to all of them outside of class and they all seem really nice and at least a little fun…but apparently fun and learning can’t go together. Mr . Benner I have never appreciated your in class activities more than now. Maybe it’s a blessing I can’t understand… The one class I can actually stay awake in is, unsurprisingly, my english lit class. It's taught completely in English.

In regards to food. I have now eaten liverpaste, reindeer (I haven't seen any yet Hannah, but eating one could kind of count...right?) and little shrimp with their heads and legs and tails still on which we had to remove-the worst part was their eyes, staring up at me as I broke off their heads...It was tough. My parents told me before I came here that I would be eating fish and potatoes every night. While it is true that I have eaten quite a bit of fish and potatoes, I would just like to mention that I have also eaten tacos, hamburgers, pizza, etc. It turns out American dishes are quite popular here. That said, I would also like to mention that if anyone has goldfish, strawberry pop-tarts, or funfetti cake mix that they don’t want, it would be greatly appreciated over here.

And before I forget. The bus system. I have started to realize that in America we take much for granted. Like dryers and the fact that pretty much everyone has their own cars. I have now missed the bus a total of 7 times. I'm sure most of you know I can never get anywhere on time so trying to catch a bus at 7:30 in the morning....so false. Quite possibly the worst bus experience I've had to date was last thursday. I fell asleep on the bus. And when I woke I had no idea where I was. So instead of staying on until the bus went back around like a smart person, I decided to get off at the next stop. I think I wandered around for about 2 hours until I found a familiar road...

Lucky

2009-08-20T04:27:00.000-07:00

Soooooo School. Yeah... Quite possibly the most insanely confusing situation I have ever been in. The building seems to have no practicale layout, all of it's staircases are styled differently and needless to say I have gotten quite lost on several occassions. Not to mention schedules are pure chaos. I don't think I'll ever fully understand this system... Also as most of you know, WHS has double doors. My new school here in Nesodden also appears to have double doors. Key word being appears. I have found out multiple times now that only one side opens. Meaning yes, I have walked into several doors/windows/walls. It's great. Aside from all of that school itself has been...well rather dull honestly. I can't understand the language yet so basically I just sit in rooms for a couple hours listening to people ramble in norwegian.

There is one class, however, that I find to be quite awesome. It is my English Literature class. And it's taught in English!!! YAY!!!!!!! I just hope we read in English... (And yes mom, I am doingmy best to learn the language, it's just nice to have something familiar in the place.) This is also the only class I have on Thursday from 8-10:30. Awesome.

The people I have met so far have all been really wonderful!!! They are the kindest most wonderful people ever!!! I'm positive that it's thanks to them that I haven't been feeling too homesick. So if any of my Norwegian friends are reading this, tusen takk!!! I love you guys!!!

In a lose situation

2009-08-16T05:51:00.000-07:00

Wow. I must say I'm a bit impressed. I haven't even posted anything yet and I already have 'followers'. Ah, I'm so popular! ...ees a joke...haha...anyway...

Now that I've finally gotten around to writing this bloggy thing...I'm not really sure what you all want to know so I'll just write some stuff and I guess you can just tell me what you find boring or interesting and whatnot.

Soooo Norway. I admit that Norway is not quite what I expected, but regardless I think It's wonderful! I've been here for four? Five? days...I've already lost count. It's like one of those movie scenes when the character has been drinking or doing too many drugs and the room starts spinning, that's kind of how I was/am...but without the drugs or alcohol.

A couple days ago Astrid, who will be leaving for canada soon, took me to Tusenfryd with a couple of her friends, Magnus and Bjørnar. Tusenfryd, if you don't want to look it up, is an amusement park, complete with rollercoasters, candy shops, the works. Anyway it was really fun, I forgot how much I love rollercoasters. Astrid has been really wonderful to me, showing me around Oslo and introducing me to people so I at least have acquantances when she leaves, which will be a very sad day for me.

When I came to Norway I thought it would pretty much be like America, just with people speaking Norwegian and better chocolate. That certainly isn't the case. The toilet for example. In order to flush it you have to pull up on this little nob on the top. It took me a really, really, really long time to figure that out.

Alright. That's all I'm writing about for now. But I start school on Wednesday so wish me luck!
(BTW this computer does not have automatic spellcheck so until I figure it out don't kill me for any spelling mistakes. Takk!)