Russeball and the week leading up

It's becoming harder and harder to keep up with the blog, seeing as everything is so normal to me now, that I don't think of much to write.  To all of you at home, many of the things I write about cultural differences will seem quite different, but now they are quite normal for me. 

SPECIAL NOTE: I've been here for a little over five months now and it doesn't feel like it!  But all at the same time, I feel like I could have lived here for years with the number of friends I have here and how close I am with my host families.  I am more than satisfied with this exchange so far. 

The past two Mondays I have had Mari's brother instead of her for my piano lessons.  It was neat to have him as my teacher because he is much more of  a jazz pianist than classical.  He also took my lessons in about 90% Norwegian which was pretty difficult for me to follow, but interesting to hear.  He taught me about a different way to perform which I like a lot: feeling the absolute silence before playing a single note and hearing perfection in my mind before laying a hand on the keys.  My work feels much more musical now.

I also finished my arrangement of "Moonlight in Vermont" for Musikk fordypning this week.  I am really proud of it.  There was one chord I couldn't get right in the song that was preventing me from finishing it, but thanks to Alice and Sondre it was fixed and finished.  In a few weeks, we're going to conduct a band in Stavern with our arrangements/compositions.  No more Sibelius-quality instruments!  I don't think I could have ever done all of that at home. 

Well, what I'm really here to talk about, is RUSSEBALL!!  It's a ball for all russ at THVS.  It was about 500 kr to go, along with costs of getting there and back and dress etc.  I actually came home from school about two weeks ago to a dress Helle borrowed from a store in town that was so beautiful and she bought it for me!  (TUSEN TAKK HELLE!)  I got my hair cut and styled yesterday morning.  It turned out really nice!  Also, it was my first haircut in FIVE MONTHS.  o.O  The girl who cut my hair talked a lot like Lauren (who is in Bergen).  She would say "kah" instead of "hva" for "what", etc.  At first it threw me off, but I realized right after that it was a very different dialekt.  All of the hairdressers there kept complimenting my hair color and curls.  Not many people here have curly hair, but many people get perms or curl their hair. 

Afterwards, I went to Andrea's house to get ready with Line and all of their friends.  This is another reason I like living with a girl my age: more people to meet and hang out with!  All of her friends are really nice and helpful, too.  More and more people showed up and we all got ready and took pictures with Helle. 

People here seem to be more keen on the idea of dressing up and going out, whereas at home the kids copmlain and the boys rarely get out of the house with a collared shirt on.  Not only do the boys not complain about wearing ties, they'll even DANCE when we get there!  It's like a parallel universe...

We piled into a taxivan to Sandefjord, where the ball was taking place.  We were all singing and taking pictures the whole way there.  When we arrived, everyone was at the coat check and taking pictures on the stairs.  When we went upstairs, we got a picture, handed our ticket to a lady and she exchanged it with champagne.  Let me tell you, I'm still not used to alcohol supplied at a high school event!  We all waited around and finally got to go into where we were dining.  There was a lot of entertainment, which included a comedian and musical performances by kids in the third grade.  For dinner, we were served roast beef, potatoes, carrots, asparagus, etc and for dessert we had icecream with berries.  It was PERFECT!  I sat with Dina and a bunch of new kids I had never met before.  After we ate, we went downstairs and danced.  The DJ was really good, but he played the same songs over and over...

We took a taxivan back to Larvik and were quiet for the first time that day, we were so tired.  Line and I got home, opened a package from my aunt (thanks Aunt Meleny!) and took out all 54 bobbypins from my hair.  Yes, 54. o.O

All in all, it was definitely better than any prom in the States could have been.  Not only was dinner included, but there was entertainment!  I'd never heard of a comedian at a prom, but here it was perfect! 

Also, our waiter was from Quebec, so he talked very, very simillarly to the way we talk back at home!  It was a little bit strange to hear my own dialekt, but at the same time, very cool!