Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
OSLO MASSACRE 22.07.2011
I'm writing this post to talk about a few things. As everyone knows, today Oslo and Utøya were victims of terrorist attacks. Not only was this a HUGE surprise to everyone in Norway, but to everyone around the world. Norway is seen as one of the most peaceful countries in the world and the people in the country even more peaceful.
I woke up this morning to my mother coming upstairs to wake me up to tell me that there was an explosion outside of the building containing the Prime Minister of Norway's office. I thought she was joking. The first words that came out of my mouth were, "Are you serious?!" The reports were all over the place, as they always are directly following something this huge, so my mother told me she thought it was a pipe leak that somehow exploded inside the building. She also said she had talked to Mari and Line on my computer and that Didrik was safe.
I immediately came downstairs onto my computer to look up everything I could on google news and turned on the tv to the different news channels trying to get any information I could about the bombing. Within the hour after I came downstairs, a newscaster online reported that there had been a shooting on the island called Utøya at a youth Labour party meeting. We got a call from Didrik saying that he and Cathrine were alright and I spent the next few hours checking everything out on facebook and trying to contact people and talking to various people online regarding the attacks.
I must have watched the news for three and a half hours today, switching between BBC on my computer to NRK to MSNBC on tv. Seeing the pictures of the debris all over the city was unreal. It wasn't calm Oslo anymore, but a scene right out of the middleeast. I also remember that right after Didrik left USA as an exchange student, 9/11 happened and, now, right after I left Norway, this tragedy happened. It feels as though a hole has been ripped in my heart. And it's very scary for my parents because I was just in Norway, in Oslo, eight days ago.
One thing I have noticed about this is that when I go back to Norway, it will not be the same country as when I left it. I remember after 9/11 the country was healing as a whole and more and more American flags were popping up around towns and cities. Now, today, just hours after this massacre in Oslo I noticed something. Norway has become very patriotic. I remember talking about how few Norwegian flags I saw out and around Norway throughout my year and how many we have around the states. But, we have also survived a giant terrorist attack in NYC and Washington D.C. ten years ago. Our country healed as a more friendly and community-based country. Now we all talk to each other in public places and are very friendly with one another. Norway, a country who has NEVER experienced an attack of this kind is bound to have changes in their culture.
The first thing I noticed was that virtually everyone who had ties to Norway or was Norwegian changed their profile pictures on facebook to a picture of them with a flag. I was also "invited" to three or four different events to light candles and keep the flag at half mass. This is a huge step for Norway in the healing process, and it has already begun. This is how I know Norway will be a different country when I come back to visit over the next few years.
After experiencing an attack at this scale, there is no way that the country can heal to the exact same way it was before. Now Norway will probably take many more measures regarding national and public security, just as we have in USA. I have also seen many pictures of Norwegians helping each other in the face of this tragedy, which is another big step. They may not have talked to each other at bus stops a week ago, but today they are helping each other out of burning buildings and cleaning each others' wounds.
Something that Meg sent me today was really powerful, but also reminded me of how USA healed: "Nå får mor Norge vise hva hun er laget av. Hold hodet kaldt og hjertet varmt." This means: "Now mother Norway get so show what she is made of. Keep a cool head and a warm heart." As everyone knows, terrorist acts are performed in an attempt of scaring people. We were told the same things; don't let them get to you, or they have already won.
Well Norway, this was a horrible day for you, but I know that the healing process will make this country even greater than it was before. I send out my prayers to all families and friends of those injured and those who have lost lives.
Hold deg sterk, Norge! Norge er i mitt hjerte for alltid <3
 |
| scoop.it |
I woke up this morning to my mother coming upstairs to wake me up to tell me that there was an explosion outside of the building containing the Prime Minister of Norway's office. I thought she was joking. The first words that came out of my mouth were, "Are you serious?!" The reports were all over the place, as they always are directly following something this huge, so my mother told me she thought it was a pipe leak that somehow exploded inside the building. She also said she had talked to Mari and Line on my computer and that Didrik was safe.
I immediately came downstairs onto my computer to look up everything I could on google news and turned on the tv to the different news channels trying to get any information I could about the bombing. Within the hour after I came downstairs, a newscaster online reported that there had been a shooting on the island called Utøya at a youth Labour party meeting. We got a call from Didrik saying that he and Cathrine were alright and I spent the next few hours checking everything out on facebook and trying to contact people and talking to various people online regarding the attacks.
I must have watched the news for three and a half hours today, switching between BBC on my computer to NRK to MSNBC on tv. Seeing the pictures of the debris all over the city was unreal. It wasn't calm Oslo anymore, but a scene right out of the middleeast. I also remember that right after Didrik left USA as an exchange student, 9/11 happened and, now, right after I left Norway, this tragedy happened. It feels as though a hole has been ripped in my heart. And it's very scary for my parents because I was just in Norway, in Oslo, eight days ago.
One thing I have noticed about this is that when I go back to Norway, it will not be the same country as when I left it. I remember after 9/11 the country was healing as a whole and more and more American flags were popping up around towns and cities. Now, today, just hours after this massacre in Oslo I noticed something. Norway has become very patriotic. I remember talking about how few Norwegian flags I saw out and around Norway throughout my year and how many we have around the states. But, we have also survived a giant terrorist attack in NYC and Washington D.C. ten years ago. Our country healed as a more friendly and community-based country. Now we all talk to each other in public places and are very friendly with one another. Norway, a country who has NEVER experienced an attack of this kind is bound to have changes in their culture.
The first thing I noticed was that virtually everyone who had ties to Norway or was Norwegian changed their profile pictures on facebook to a picture of them with a flag. I was also "invited" to three or four different events to light candles and keep the flag at half mass. This is a huge step for Norway in the healing process, and it has already begun. This is how I know Norway will be a different country when I come back to visit over the next few years.
 |
| washington post |
Something that Meg sent me today was really powerful, but also reminded me of how USA healed: "Nå får mor Norge vise hva hun er laget av. Hold hodet kaldt og hjertet varmt." This means: "Now mother Norway get so show what she is made of. Keep a cool head and a warm heart." As everyone knows, terrorist acts are performed in an attempt of scaring people. We were told the same things; don't let them get to you, or they have already won.
Well Norway, this was a horrible day for you, but I know that the healing process will make this country even greater than it was before. I send out my prayers to all families and friends of those injured and those who have lost lives.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Home Again
Let's see... in the past week I have: flown 10 hours, driven back from Boston, seen friends almost everyday, had a goodbye and welcome home party, seen my dad for the first time in 11 months, dislocated my shoulder and been living it up.
The night I came home, Brittany and Rachel were at my house waiting for me and my brother had made signs welcoming me home... then suddenly while I was showing them a ton of my Norwegian stuff, Michelle, Kyle, Matt and Alyssa walked through the door. We ended up eating mac and cheese and s'mores out at the chimineah (sp) until 2 AM. As soon as my head hit the pillow when we went to the back bedroom, I was out. We also spent Sunday at Echo Lake and then to Kyles house with a campfire in the woods.
Here's a few pictures from my week. Savner alle dere i Norge sykt mye!
Coming back home is so strange. It is oddly normal. There is no other way to describe it. It feels almost as though nothing has changed. I'm happy to see my family and old friends, but it's just a strange feeling of wanting my "new norwegian life". Hopefully I'll get over that soon. It's been a lot of help to talk to everyone on facebook, msn and skype, though :D <3
Next on the list for me is college and then real life. It's hard to believe this year is over. Plutselig it's over. Now it's time to start LEARNING. But, I spent this year learning a different kind of curriculum than college. I learned how to effectively live in another culture and learn another language with a lot of help from my friends and host families. Those are things you can't learn in just one year in any other setting other than an exchange.
TUSEN TAKK TIL ALLE SAMMEN SOM HAR HJULPET MEG I ÅR MED NORSKEN MIN OG UTVEKSLINGSÅRET MITT!!!!! GLAD I DERE <3
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS HELPED ME THIS YEAR WITH MY NORWEGIAN AND MY EXCHANGE YEAR!!! LOVE YOU GUYS!!! <3
Snakkes ;)
The night I came home, Brittany and Rachel were at my house waiting for me and my brother had made signs welcoming me home... then suddenly while I was showing them a ton of my Norwegian stuff, Michelle, Kyle, Matt and Alyssa walked through the door. We ended up eating mac and cheese and s'mores out at the chimineah (sp) until 2 AM. As soon as my head hit the pillow when we went to the back bedroom, I was out. We also spent Sunday at Echo Lake and then to Kyles house with a campfire in the woods.
Here's a few pictures from my week. Savner alle dere i Norge sykt mye!
Coming back home is so strange. It is oddly normal. There is no other way to describe it. It feels almost as though nothing has changed. I'm happy to see my family and old friends, but it's just a strange feeling of wanting my "new norwegian life". Hopefully I'll get over that soon. It's been a lot of help to talk to everyone on facebook, msn and skype, though :D <3
Next on the list for me is college and then real life. It's hard to believe this year is over. Plutselig it's over. Now it's time to start LEARNING. But, I spent this year learning a different kind of curriculum than college. I learned how to effectively live in another culture and learn another language with a lot of help from my friends and host families. Those are things you can't learn in just one year in any other setting other than an exchange.
TUSEN TAKK TIL ALLE SAMMEN SOM HAR HJULPET MEG I ÅR MED NORSKEN MIN OG UTVEKSLINGSÅRET MITT!!!!! GLAD I DERE <3
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS HELPED ME THIS YEAR WITH MY NORWEGIAN AND MY EXCHANGE YEAR!!! LOVE YOU GUYS!!! <3
Snakkes ;)
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Final Post in Norway
denne har vært den BESTE siste dagen i norge!! ♥ jeg kommer til å savne norge og nordmenn SYKT mye!!!! jeg har fått så mange gode venner og en stor norsk familie.... jeg er så heldig!!! dette året har vært helt fantastisk og jeg gruer meg til å dra fra dette landet... men jeg veit at jeg kommer tilbake ganske snart! :D VI SEES, NORGE!!! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
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TAKK FOR I ÅR :D kommer til å savne alle sykt mye...
jeg MÅ legge meg!! jeg står opp i bare fire timer nå!!!
jeg MÅ legge meg!! jeg står opp i bare fire timer nå!!!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Final Days
Okay... so since the last time I posted, I haven't done too much. I went to Tønsberg to see Mari and Line :D We walked around town for a while and then went back to their house and watched a movie and then a couple of episodes of friends :D It was very koselig <3
Devin and Lauren have gone home now too. It is weird to think they're in a different time zone now, because we would talk until 3 AM a lot... It's also interesting to hear about how being home is like for them.
I also watched the quarterfinal women's soccer game - US against Brazil... I was so happy that US won after all of that bull! I haven't played soccer since coming to Norway, and I realized how much I missed it.
I spent one evening down by the sea and another day out side on the porch in the sun. I've been having a very relaxed vacation before I go home and try to work my butt off before school starts.
Tomorrow I am having a get together at my third host family's house before I'm back across the ocean on Thrusday night. I don't really feel like writing, seeing as I just finished packing and spent the day baking and writing letters, but I figured I'd just get a little bit down on "paper" now before I regret it later.
Snakkes
Devin and Lauren have gone home now too. It is weird to think they're in a different time zone now, because we would talk until 3 AM a lot... It's also interesting to hear about how being home is like for them.
I also watched the quarterfinal women's soccer game - US against Brazil... I was so happy that US won after all of that bull! I haven't played soccer since coming to Norway, and I realized how much I missed it.
I spent one evening down by the sea and another day out side on the porch in the sun. I've been having a very relaxed vacation before I go home and try to work my butt off before school starts.
Tomorrow I am having a get together at my third host family's house before I'm back across the ocean on Thrusday night. I don't really feel like writing, seeing as I just finished packing and spent the day baking and writing letters, but I figured I'd just get a little bit down on "paper" now before I regret it later.
Snakkes
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
One Week
I'm officially down to one week left in Norway. I am SO thankful for everything that has been offered to me this year and for all the people I have met and for everything I have had the chance to do in Norway. I have learned Norwegian. I have befriended an entire class. I have moved three times in eleven months. I have climbed high mountains and swum in frozen lakes. I have made a network of contacts here in Norway. I have made lifelong friends.
I just needed to write something nice because I've been feeling like-----honestly, I've been feeling like crap today. It's a scary thought that I won't be seeing these amazing people everyday like I have been for the past eleven months. But at the same time - as my mother keeps telling me to make me feel better - I have people in the states waiting for my return. I can't wait to see my American friends again, but it doesn't outweigh the goodbyes yet to be had with my Norwegian friends.
On another note... I was interviewed by the newspaper the other day and here's the article from Østlands Posten:
....so that's where I'm at.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Fourth of July - Norway Style!
Yesterday I drove up to Oslo with my host parents and Toffee because in Vigeland Park was going to be a celebration for the Fourth of July. On the way there, we stopped at a rest area where there was a STAGE set up (weird, right?) and people were singing and playing instruments and if you waited at the gas station for an hour, you'd have a chance to win a car... That was something I have never seen or heard of before! We didn't wait at the station, just stopped for about twenty minutes and had boller and coffee and got back on the road.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Sommer
Mom and Bauer have left Norway a few days ago, after their flight was cancelled and rescheduled. We had a lot of fun together, I just wish we could have done more things.
Lauren was just here on a visit from Wednesday to Friday night. We spent a lot of time tanning and sleeping as well as cooking and baking. It was the perfect vacation. We ended up getting burned... but we baked pumpkin pie and brownies and made a lovely grandiosa/salad/pasta dinner.
I also lost my phone over the boat yesterday. I was trying to balance holding many things, my phone in my pocket, and I slipped, dropping a can of fish, and as I reached for it, I slipped again, and knocked my hip on the side of the boat right where my phone was in my pocket and it slipped over the side into the water. That SUCKS.
While my mom and brother were here visiting, my grandmother passed away. I love her very much, but know she's better off now.
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I can say this hasn't been the greatest summer of my life. I have not seen any friends from school in over two weeks now and the weather has been less than perfect. Not seeing my Norwegian friends gives me more time to think about going home, which I can't deny anymore - it's going to happen. I have been talking to a few friends at home and am now beginning to get excited to see all of them again. But, at the same time, it is going to be so difficult to leave all of my friends here.
When I left Boston on the Twelfth of August, 2010, I knew I wasn't saying "goodbye," but simply "see you next year." When I leave Oslo on July 14th, 2011, I don't know when I'll be back here, and I know that there are a lot of people I will never see again - so I can only say "see you" and hope that it's a true statement. For most exchange students that I have talked to, saying goodbye at the end of the exchange is much more difficult than saying goodbye at the beginning. Who knows when I'll be back here?
And of course I'll be back to Norway, but it will never be the same. I won't be the exchange student, I'll just be a visitor to Norway. It feels selfish to be thinking this way, but come on, I'm sure I'm not the only exchanger feeling like this!
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While my mom and brother were here, they brought two extra bags with them for me to fill with my stuff. I filled both of them up to the weight limit and have two empty bags here for me to bring everything else home in. It's amazing how much STUFF one person can obtain over the course of a year. When I arrived in Norway, I had two bags and a carry-on. Now I have sooo much more stuff, but, I will always have these things to remind me of my year in Norway - my troll, selbu votter, Holmenkollen bell.... etc.
<3
Lauren was just here on a visit from Wednesday to Friday night. We spent a lot of time tanning and sleeping as well as cooking and baking. It was the perfect vacation. We ended up getting burned... but we baked pumpkin pie and brownies and made a lovely grandiosa/salad/pasta dinner.
I also lost my phone over the boat yesterday. I was trying to balance holding many things, my phone in my pocket, and I slipped, dropping a can of fish, and as I reached for it, I slipped again, and knocked my hip on the side of the boat right where my phone was in my pocket and it slipped over the side into the water. That SUCKS.
While my mom and brother were here visiting, my grandmother passed away. I love her very much, but know she's better off now.
----------
I can say this hasn't been the greatest summer of my life. I have not seen any friends from school in over two weeks now and the weather has been less than perfect. Not seeing my Norwegian friends gives me more time to think about going home, which I can't deny anymore - it's going to happen. I have been talking to a few friends at home and am now beginning to get excited to see all of them again. But, at the same time, it is going to be so difficult to leave all of my friends here.
When I left Boston on the Twelfth of August, 2010, I knew I wasn't saying "goodbye," but simply "see you next year." When I leave Oslo on July 14th, 2011, I don't know when I'll be back here, and I know that there are a lot of people I will never see again - so I can only say "see you" and hope that it's a true statement. For most exchange students that I have talked to, saying goodbye at the end of the exchange is much more difficult than saying goodbye at the beginning. Who knows when I'll be back here?
And of course I'll be back to Norway, but it will never be the same. I won't be the exchange student, I'll just be a visitor to Norway. It feels selfish to be thinking this way, but come on, I'm sure I'm not the only exchanger feeling like this!
--------------
While my mom and brother were here, they brought two extra bags with them for me to fill with my stuff. I filled both of them up to the weight limit and have two empty bags here for me to bring everything else home in. It's amazing how much STUFF one person can obtain over the course of a year. When I arrived in Norway, I had two bags and a carry-on. Now I have sooo much more stuff, but, I will always have these things to remind me of my year in Norway - my troll, selbu votter, Holmenkollen bell.... etc.
<3
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Another Short Update
Here's a recording of us performing Someone Like You by Adele at graduation.
Here's some pictures of what we've been up to this week!
fredrikstad and sarpsborg above
below oslo![]()
Avsluttning party
and Mølen
And please keep my grandmother in your prayers! Love you, Grandma!!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Visit in Norway
We have had such a great time so far. The plane was a little delayed on the arrival, but we got to Larvik and walked down to Boelgen and the beach. The next day we went and visited my school and saw a bunch of friends and some teachers and went to the avsluttning fest where I got the BEST T-SHIRT EVER that says "Titt Titt" on the front from some of my favorite people in the whole world - 3MD :)
We went to Fredrikstad yesterday with Didrik and Cathrine and saw Didrik's parents and where he grew up. Today we had a lovely dinner in Kjose. Tomorrow we're going to Oslo and meeting up with Devin.
I am just giving an update because we are SOOOO busy!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Vitnemålsutdeling - Graduation
Today is the day I take my first steps out into the world... I have completed 13 years of school and... WAIT! Haven't I felt like this before? OH YEAH! I graduated from Woodstock Union High School last year and have just "re-graduated" from Thor Heyerdahl Videregående Skole.
This past week has been spent practicing for the vitnemålsutdeling (literally "diploma ceremony") and I went and visited Miki in Sandefjord. We pretty much just shopped and ate at Micky D's.
Today was a really memorable day. Today was perfect. I don't want to forget today. Ever.
Today was graduation from videregående skole for all of the kids in Larvik who are in third grade (age 18). It is VERY different from graduation at home. There were no caps or gowns... There were no valedictorians or salutatorians... We didn't throw our hats into the air... And we didn't necessarily get diplomas.
Today started out like any other day thinking back to when I lived på Langestrand (I'm living here with my second host family while my mom and brother are here in Norway) - Helle drove me to school and I met up with my friends. But, instead of having class, we turned in our text books and all drove down to Farris Bad and bought some drinks at Meny and sat out on the beach at Langestrand. I rode with Line K and Sondre to the building of Studio Nille and we walked over to Meny where we met up with everyone else. We bought sodas/juice and snacks like potato chips and walked over to the becah. Mari and I ran down the beach with our bare feet splashing through the water, we all sat and talked and the boys and I used a volleyball in place of a soccer ball while we took in the fresh air. A little after 11, I got back into Line K's car and we went to Sondre's house to pick up some stuff he needed and then we came back down to Bølgen.
We did light and sound checks for what seemed like forever and rehearsed a little bit before going to Peppe's Pizza to have a lunch together. Linke did wonders with my hair... Alice took the most flattering pictures I have ever seen... Endre and I talked about Canada and if Peppe's Pizza was actually American or not... I taught everyone how to pop straws... We all reminisced... We laughed until we cried... (some of us...)
When we got back to Bølgen, I put on my "graduation dress" which was originally my confirmation dress (seems fitting, and I'll talk about that in a little while), did my makeup and Line K did my hair. The majority of girls who were graduating had their bunads on. I talked about this a lot in the May 17th post and it was mentioned other times, but it is pretty normal that kids get bunads for their confirmation in Norway. The fact that I wore the dress I got confirmed in like a lot of people had their bunads from confirmation on was just a coincidence.
My school in Norway is so big that we had to have two graduations so that parents could come to see, otherwise we would have taken up the big auditorium alone. The graduation started with us walking in to Mari (my piano teacher) playing the piano, then rektor (the principal) spoke to us and then my group played "Someone Like You" by Adele. The rest of the program was getting our diplomas (which were actually just report cards), various songs performed by other groups in music line and a dance from the dance line as well as some more speeches. Both went really well, except that I couldn't hear the drums to come in in the beginning of the first graduation.. but it sounded really good anyway!
I'm going to have to cut this short and go to bed because Kristian is picking me up at 9 AM tomorrow to go pick up MY MOM AND BROTHER FROM THE AIRPORT!!!
Here's just a cute little comparison picture ^^ neither graduation style is better than the other... But I just found the differences very amusing. :D
Today was a really memorable day. Today was perfect. I don't want to forget today. Ever.
Today was graduation from videregående skole for all of the kids in Larvik who are in third grade (age 18). It is VERY different from graduation at home. There were no caps or gowns... There were no valedictorians or salutatorians... We didn't throw our hats into the air... And we didn't necessarily get diplomas.
Today started out like any other day thinking back to when I lived på Langestrand (I'm living here with my second host family while my mom and brother are here in Norway) - Helle drove me to school and I met up with my friends. But, instead of having class, we turned in our text books and all drove down to Farris Bad and bought some drinks at Meny and sat out on the beach at Langestrand. I rode with Line K and Sondre to the building of Studio Nille and we walked over to Meny where we met up with everyone else. We bought sodas/juice and snacks like potato chips and walked over to the becah. Mari and I ran down the beach with our bare feet splashing through the water, we all sat and talked and the boys and I used a volleyball in place of a soccer ball while we took in the fresh air. A little after 11, I got back into Line K's car and we went to Sondre's house to pick up some stuff he needed and then we came back down to Bølgen.
 |
| Endre giving me my "diploma" |
I'm going to have to cut this short and go to bed because Kristian is picking me up at 9 AM tomorrow to go pick up MY MOM AND BROTHER FROM THE AIRPORT!!!
Friday, June 10, 2011
Nonsense post
I don't have much to write about, so I'll start off this post with a few videos. This one above is a guy in Sandefjord going for a little skate and a swim. I saw this way back in the beginning of my stay in Norway, even before I did the ice bath in Kjose. He's a little crazier than most Norwegians... I think...
This is just a silly video made by some girls demonstrating how Norwegian sounds. It would have been really interesting to me before I came to Norway, but now I find it really boring x)
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On Monday night I went to the movies with Eirik, Solfrid and Jon to see Hangover 2, which was pretty good.
Tuesday I skyped with Sherburne Elementary School, where I went to elementary school! It was very koselig. It was very cool to see my old teachers and hear the kids' questions about Norway and what I was doing.
Wednesday I decided to come into school to see everyone. A few of the kids were finishing up their oral exams in Norwegian. No one got below a 4 (the grades here are out of 6)!! Sykt kult! Then we all (Mari, Linke, Line K, PH, Dina, Karl Georg and me) went into town and got ice cream. Line K invited me over for dinner at her house, and we had a lot of fun :) We talked for hours, ate dinner with her family and watched a movie. Line is going to live in USA for a few months next year as an Au Pair in Grand Rapids!! :D
Yesterday we got to school at 8.30 because we had to practice for the graduation at Bølgen next week. My group is playing "Someone Like You" av Adele. I'm really excited about it! I think we sound really good. My group is me on piano, Line K singing, Line and Mari on violin, PH on drums and Håvard and Martine on bass. Here's the song sung by Adele:
Today I've been outside on a run with Toffee and just relaxing.
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Sorry I didn't have much to talk about this post x) I'll just have to go do something else extraordinary. :P
My mom and brother are coming in SIX DAYS! I can't believe that they're almost here... Yesterday was my five week mark until I leave... :(
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Here's a funny joke a found a few days back:
"A Norwegian, a Swede and a Dane made a bet about who could stay the longest in a stinky pig barn. They all went in at the same time. After only two minutes the Dane came running out. Five minutes later the Norwegian stumbled out the door. After ten minutes, all the pigs ran out." :P
<3
This is just a silly video made by some girls demonstrating how Norwegian sounds. It would have been really interesting to me before I came to Norway, but now I find it really boring x)
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On Monday night I went to the movies with Eirik, Solfrid and Jon to see Hangover 2, which was pretty good.
Tuesday I skyped with Sherburne Elementary School, where I went to elementary school! It was very koselig. It was very cool to see my old teachers and hear the kids' questions about Norway and what I was doing.
Wednesday I decided to come into school to see everyone. A few of the kids were finishing up their oral exams in Norwegian. No one got below a 4 (the grades here are out of 6)!! Sykt kult! Then we all (Mari, Linke, Line K, PH, Dina, Karl Georg and me) went into town and got ice cream. Line K invited me over for dinner at her house, and we had a lot of fun :) We talked for hours, ate dinner with her family and watched a movie. Line is going to live in USA for a few months next year as an Au Pair in Grand Rapids!! :D
Yesterday we got to school at 8.30 because we had to practice for the graduation at Bølgen next week. My group is playing "Someone Like You" av Adele. I'm really excited about it! I think we sound really good. My group is me on piano, Line K singing, Line and Mari on violin, PH on drums and Håvard and Martine on bass. Here's the song sung by Adele:
Today I've been outside on a run with Toffee and just relaxing.
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Sorry I didn't have much to talk about this post x) I'll just have to go do something else extraordinary. :P
My mom and brother are coming in SIX DAYS! I can't believe that they're almost here... Yesterday was my five week mark until I leave... :(
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Here's a funny joke a found a few days back:
"A Norwegian, a Swede and a Dane made a bet about who could stay the longest in a stinky pig barn. They all went in at the same time. After only two minutes the Dane came running out. Five minutes later the Norwegian stumbled out the door. After ten minutes, all the pigs ran out." :P
<3
Monday, June 6, 2011
Fantastisk Helg i Oslo
On Friday I took the train up to Oslo to spend a weekend with Didrik, Cathrine, Devin and other exchangers. When I got to Oslo S, I met up with Devin, although it was only for a half hour. We walked down Karl Johan and bought Ben & Jerry's, of course! Then I was picked up by Didrik at Oslo S.
We met up with Cathrine and a friend at an Italian restaurant. From there we walked around and got more ice cream! Then we finally made it up to the apartment and had a koselig evening with The Office, godteri and sørlands chips.
The next day was the Outbound Orientation for all the students in Norway who are going out with Rotary in August to be exchange students. Didrik and I got there a little early, so we walked over and up the Opera house. We were at the Thon Hotell for most of the day right next to the train station, but we were fed good food and dessert and we met some great people as well as saw Gunter, Morten, Tone, etc, again. After lunch, Connie and Sara showed up to join Devin, Nina and me in a presentation about being in Norway this year.
Didrik also gave a presenation right before us about what it was like to be in USA as an exchange student and what all the kids should do to make their year the best it can possibly be. He also mentioned that I was here in Norway ten years after I was his host sister down in a little town in Vermont called Killington. Afterward, I was told by a lot of outbound exchange students from Norway that they hoped they could have such a good relationship with their host family like we do.
Before we went up to talk, Devin, Connie, Nina, Sara and I went into a room to discuss and write down all of our options about what we could present. We had a long list by the time it was our turn to go up, but they had run out of time, so we only talked for about 10 minutes; we were supposed to have 30. Afterward, we had group meetings - America and Canada, Australia, Ecuador, etc... The inbound students (us), the rebound students (Didrik, and those who have been exchange students) talked with the outbound students with rotarians and without rotarians. I remember how helpful it was to ask the rebounds about certain things without adults in the room. I'm glad we did that here in Norway as well.
After the meeting was over, Connie, Sara, Devin and I (Nina took the train home) met up with Sara's host mom and sister, Francisco and another exchange student from his school. Francisco was leaving the next day to return to Ecuador after a year in Norway as a Rotary Exchange Student, so we all said goodbye to him after a half hour because he had to return home to pack and go to a final party. The rest of us walked over to Aker Brygge and walked through Karl Johan where there were tons of concerts and games going on (it was Musikkensdag in Oslo on Saturday).
As we were walking down Aker Brygge, I saw everyone moving out of the way for someone on the other side of the walkway... I thought it was really weird, so I wanted to see what was going on. A guy with a violin case over his shoulder and very fancy luggage was walking through the mobs of people...I realized right away that it was ALEXANDER RYBAK (see this post where I explain a little bit about him and why he's famous). I told Devin who told Sara and Connie who all didn't believe me... so we all ran down Aker Brygge looking for him, and finally spotted him getting on a ferry. We ran down and asked to take a picture with him. When Connie asked, he asked if we were Danish... nope!
Soon after, Devin and I said goodbye to them, bought some Grandiosa frozen pizza, some pizza bites, Sørlands Chips and Coca Cola and went up to Didrik and Cathrine's apartment. They were out watching Seinfeld at Telenor Arena, so we just fixed dinner and watched some TV. Then Håvard was in Oslo because he had a bunch of concerts this weekend, so he came out to Grunerlokka and watched Austin Powers with us. Didrik and Cathrine came back around 1:30 AM and we Skyped with my mom around 2 AM.
The next day, we had a late start. Devin and I met up around 2:45 PM and we went to Frogner's Park for Hafslunds Miljøfestival, which was a festival for kids to learn about conserving energy and a big music festival. Did I mention that Håvard's band, Mhoo, was playing there as well as huge names in Norway like Erik og Kriss and the CC Cowboys? Mhoo var utrolig fantastisk! We also got to see these really famous artists and Stian B. Simonsen who was in all of our history class films this year and is a well known host around Norway. All in all.. it was a pretty good day ;)
I said goodbye to Devin as we left from Oslo S and Didrik and Cathrine drove me to the train station again, where I ran to catch the train, and just made it, although because I didn't buy a ticket beforehand, I had to pay 20 kr. extra -.-" oh well! At least I made it! :D
I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but in Norway, it was really weird if someone talks to you at a buss stop or on a train... One time earlier this week, I was getting ready to take the bus to school and a girl at the bus stop started talking to me, and it was really uncomfortable, whereas, if I was in USA; I would gladly talk to the person next to me. When I first arrived in Norway, it was very strange for me that people didn't talk to each other in line or at the bus stop, but it's been that way for so long now, that when that girl started talking to me, I just wanted to stand there in silence. Yesterday on the train ride back, I had to call people in Larvik to make sure someone could pick me up from the train station, and the guy sitting across from me heard my American accent and started talking to me. Again, I just didn't want to talk to him and I thought he was really weird for wanting to talk to me. Then I realized after talking to him for a few minutes, that he had been to the states before, so he understood our culture that we talk to each other in public even if we don't know each other, so he figured that, becuase I was American, I wouldn't find it weird. ... He thought wrong! I was weirded out! Jeg har blitt norsk!!! To stop talking to him, I turned on my computer and talked to Line for the rest of the train ride HAHAHA. It's weird to think that I was trying to talk to people on the elevator in school just a few months ago and now I find it weird if someone is talking to me on a public train!
Håper at dere har hatt en fin helg! :D <3
MOMMY AND BAUER COME TO NORWAY IN TEN DAYS!!!! JEG GLEDER MEG!!!!!!
We met up with Cathrine and a friend at an Italian restaurant. From there we walked around and got more ice cream! Then we finally made it up to the apartment and had a koselig evening with The Office, godteri and sørlands chips.
After the meeting was over, Connie, Sara, Devin and I (Nina took the train home) met up with Sara's host mom and sister, Francisco and another exchange student from his school. Francisco was leaving the next day to return to Ecuador after a year in Norway as a Rotary Exchange Student, so we all said goodbye to him after a half hour because he had to return home to pack and go to a final party. The rest of us walked over to Aker Brygge and walked through Karl Johan where there were tons of concerts and games going on (it was Musikkensdag in Oslo on Saturday). 
The next day, we had a late start. Devin and I met up around 2:45 PM and we went to Frogner's Park for Hafslunds Miljøfestival, which was a festival for kids to learn about conserving energy and a big music festival. Did I mention that Håvard's band, Mhoo, was playing there as well as huge names in Norway like Erik og Kriss and the CC Cowboys? Mhoo var utrolig fantastisk! We also got to see these really famous artists and Stian B. Simonsen who was in all of our history class films this year and is a well known host around Norway. All in all.. it was a pretty good day ;)
Håper at dere har hatt en fin helg! :D <3
MOMMY AND BAUER COME TO NORWAY IN TEN DAYS!!!! JEG GLEDER MEG!!!!!!
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