Today is Sunday, May 29th, 2011. On this day, I have been an exchange student for 290 days! I'm not sure if I have done anything else for that long consecutively... except maybe... being alive? Either way, this is a huge accomplishment! I am so proud of myself. Two hundred ninety-one days ago, I would have never been able to imagine this day. This may not be my favorite day of my whole exchange, as I'm spending it at home keeping it low-key, but this is something I'm going to miss in 46 days as I'm sitting on my Icelandair flight home.
At about the middle of my exchange, I started realizing that this amazing year that I have been looking forward to is on it's way out. When I signed up for this program almost two years ago, I understood that saying goodbye and the winding down of my year was going to be difficult, but it is almost impossible to understand the feeling without having experienced it. It was hard to say goodbye to my Italian host family in 2008 after spending four weeks with them, but I can tell that will never be as difficult as saying goodbye to my three host families, the rotarians and all of my friends after 48 weeks; that's 12 times as long!
Instead of thinking about the end of my year and how much I'm dreading it, I may as well think about what I have accomplished and the eclectic people I have met along the way.
I'll start this new way of thinking with a short blurb about my week -
I didn't have very much school this week because of exams, but one day I came to my classmates' exams and I was blown away. They had to perform between 15 to 20 minutes worth of music on their main instrument for an audience and for a judge. They held themselves really well on stage - alone and with some other classmates on certain songs. There were definitely a few times were my eyes felt moist because of the beauty of their music and beacuse of how proud I was of them, but I can't even imagine seeing it from their own point of views. They have all been together for three years and possibly more, so you can just imagine their reactions.
That same night was a Rotary night for me. The evening was actually quite funny. First, I thought we were supposed to leave at six o'clock, so I was already waiting downstairs at around 5:45, wondering where my host dad was. I finally called upstairs and he said we didn't have to be there until 6:30. Then we pulled up to the building and I had a bad feeling in the back of my head that we were at the wrong meeting, but I didn't say anything, because maybe I had my meetings mixed up. Then, as we got inside, I had been expecting to see Kristian (my first host father) and Helle (my second host mom), but instead I saw Merete (my first host mom) which meant we were at the Larvik Rotaryklubb meeting and not the Larvik Øst Rotaryklubb meeting. So, I visited with Merete and had planned to duck out and go walk into town to the correct meeting, but the Larvik meeting started before I could leave. Soon, my phone was ringing from Helle and I sent her a message saying that I was at the wrong meeting. As soon as there was a lull in the meeting, I quickly got out of my seat and called Helle back. As I called her, Eva (my counselor) walked through the door to fetch me and bring me to the correct meeting. The whole reason that I was going to this meeting was to meet some ladies from Memphis, TN who were on a group study exchange around Norway. And, of course, I accidentally spoke to them in Norwegian instead of English... And then I gave a presentation after then in English so that everyone could understand.
Yesterday I went with Line K to see her mom perform in a chorus at Bølgen which was fun, and I'm spending the rest of my day watching the house and walking the dog.
Something really cool that happened this week was that Sondre complimented me on my Norwegian!! I know that sounds silly, but it is almost impossible to get him to say anything except critical things about my progress haha. He's my own personal Norwegian teacher and I don't know what I would have done without him. He told me, "Jeg liker norsken din; den er ikke perfekt, men den er forståelig og morsom," which translates to, "I like your Norweigan; it's not perfect, but it's understandable and funny." I take what I can get! :D Thanks, Sondre!!
Here's a picture of Helle and me from the meeting on Wednesday:
The link above is a really cool website that demonstrates all of the different dialects in Norway. This was thanks to Lauren! She sent this to me!
Here's a few examples that I found interesting and here's how to find them:
Go to the website, click on one of the cities/counties and then click on the mp3 in the middle of the page to hear the different dialects! This is why it is pretty difficult for me to understand Bergen and Trondheim dialects and easier to undertand Oslo dialects. Each person talking is talking in the dialect but saying the same thing as all of the other dialects.
-----
I spent this weekend in Oslo with Didrik and Cathrine and met up with Devin. We had a lot of fun! We watched the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean, a couple episodes of The Office, made tacos, walked all around Oslo, ate lots of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream.. etc etc!
Here's Devin and me in front of the king's castle in Oslo! :D
In USA, Americans have a special day to celebrate the independence from Great Britian on the fourth of July. In Norway, Norwegians celebrate constitution day on the seventeenth of May. Both of which are national holidays and come with the same feeling of pride as one celebrates their country and what is has to offer, but are at the same time, very different. I was very lucky and got to experience the most festive type of 17. mai as a Russ.
In USA, Independence Day is a federal holiday that celebrates the adoption of the document called "The Declaration of Independence" which was used to gain independence from England. The actual "separation" of the original thirteen colonies from the Kingdom of Great Britian occured on July 2, 1776, but the document was revised and debated over by Congress and finally adopted on July 4, 1776. This day has great importance in the United States. The second sentence of the document serves as an outlook at individual human rights: "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." On this day, we Americans are reminded of our "unalienable Rights" and celebrate them.
In Norway, Constitution Day, the National Day, or best known simply as The Seventeenth of May (syttende mai) also celebrates the signing of a document; this one known as "The Constitution of Norway". This document declared Norway to be an independent nation. The Constitution of Norway was signed on May 17, 1814. During this time, Norway was under the ruling of Sweden and consequently, the King of Sweden was reluctant to allow celebrations of the day. As time has passed, the celebration of this day grew more and more and is now seen as a national celebration. Before 1814, Norway was known as The Kingdom of Norway and was even more formally part of The Kingdom of Denmark. Syttende mai is also celebrated in a few parts of the U.S. by Norwegian-Americans.
On the Fourth of July in the United States, Americans celebrate with fireworks, parades, picnics, concerts, barbeques, baseball games, political speeches, carnivals and many other things. It is also normal for people to wear clothes with red, white and blue (the colors of the flag). (When I think of the fourth of July, this is what I think of.) Where I come from (Killington, Vermont), we celebrate it in a very special way that only a small community like ours can pull off. Each year people gather in the morning along River Road to watch the community parade with consists of children and adults alike, showing off their decorated bikes or special talents like baton twirling or singing. We also have the volunteer fire department their for their barbeque of hamburgers and hot dogs and to continuously teach the community about fire safety. From the parade, everyone goes down to the pool and barbeque and eats, swims, talks, dances or takes a part in some of the contests held by the recreation center and local radio station. (Contests range from best belly flop and biggest splash to dance offs and races for children.)
On May Seventeenth in Norway, Norwegians celebrate in a different way. Although the day contains many of the same activities as parades, concerts, speeches, carnivals and barbeques, there are many cultural differences. At home, we don't have a national dress, but here in Norway it is a big part of the day. As I mentioned in my Christmas post, the national dress in Norway is called "bunad" (russ pants and hats are also well recognized on this day). Each region of Norway has a different bunad and as Norway has come to have more days on which the bunad is traditionally worn, I have come to recognize which bunad is from Vestfold. Also on this day it is normal to eat a lot of ice cream and watch many parades. Here in Larvik, Russ were in two different parades: Barnetoget and Russetoget. We walked at the end of the barnetog (children's parade) and had different themes for each section of the Russetog. This is the only time I have ever seen so many Norwegian flags up around town. Many marching bands go through town as well as themed parades all containing people holding numerous flags.
Here are a few similarities and differences between the cultures:
The President and first family wave from the White House while the King and Royal family wave from the balcony of the Castle.
"Normal" fourth of July clothes in USA in comparison to that of bunads in Norway on May 17th.
Here's Harald, me, Line, Mari and Charlotte (yesterday) on the seventeenth of May.
A parade in D.C. and a parade in Oslo.
Declaration signing 1776, USA and Constitution signing 1814, Norway.
My 17th of May was very interesting! It started on the eve of the 17th with the last night of russefeiring. The sixteenth to seventeenth of May is always a huge party for Russ all over Norway. We all met up on lake Farris where the busses and cars were all parked and we cooked hot dogs and ate chips and partied all night. We "set up camp" near the ledge over looking Farris which was really beautiful. We danced and took more russeknuter all night. It didn't get totally dark until 11 PM which was SO WEIRD! Then, as we were leaving around 3 AM, it started getting light again! Line and Mari slept over at my house on Rekkevik and we got up and left again a few hours later for the barnetog (children's parade).
The Russ are at the end of the barnetog every year, so we were expected to be there after a full night out. As Harald drove us, we got stuck in traffic, so he told us to get out and walk there. We were going to be late. Then about two minutes after we got out of the car and started walking, the traffic totally cleared up. Our luck, right? So we kept walking and about halfway there with only ten minutes left to get there, a bus stopped on the other side of the road and the guy driving yelled over to us, "You going into town?" I guess he had been driving Russ around, but anyway, it was still a little sketchy to me because when we got on the giant bus, we were the only ones on it. He drove us all around town to the parade and blasted ABBA on the way. ^^ When we got to the children's parade, we were hounded, COMPLETELY HOUNDED by kids wanting our Russekort (russ cards) - kids were literally screaming and grabbing at our things trying to get them from us. I wouldn't be lying if I said I was a little frightened by Norwegian children during that walk down the parade to where are the Russ were waiting for the parade to start.
The barnetog finished up at Bøkeskogen (a city forest) so Line, Mari and I bought drinks and ice cream and sat down in the shade (it was really warm outside). I saw Eirik, Solfrid, Else Britt, Harald and Helle up at Bøkeskogen which was so great! Then we walked down to the Russetog! That was really cool because we had themed "floats". I was in a music group in which we played recorders, rain sticks, harmonicas, washboards and other "non-colloquial" instruments. Many Russ held up signs with either political, funny or random statements. At the end of the russetog, we did the Glow Dance and our Russ President addressed us.
Afterward, Alice, PH, Håvard and I went and got lunch at a Mexican restaurant in town. Then Alice, Thea and I watched another parade come through town and then went with some of their friends. We ended up playing basketball for a few hours and then I came home to a little gathering at my house here in Rekkevik. Else Britt and I finished the night with kransekake, ice cream and strawberries.
I won't lie - today felt a little weird to not have my russ pants on. Where did the feeling of great power go?? ;)
Yesterday we had a formal russelunsj (Russ Lunch) at school. We didn't have to go to the last block class and got to go without russebuksene for the day (if we wanted to). We had lasagna and salad and the principal talked to us. I met him on the first day of school, but haven't talked to him since then haha. It was a lot of fun.
Here's a little thing I found on youtube from Alt for Norge featuring Americans who want to meet their Norwegian families. They had to do a russ challenge, which was really cool to see from other Americans' point of views:
(if you skip to around 45 seconds, it has English for the non-Norwegian speakers)
EUROTOUR:
Salzburg:
Sound of Austria! We went to a show when we arrived in the city where five people sang and danced for us during dinner and one man played the piano for the music. It was really fun, as they invited us up on stage and we knew almost all of the songs because of the Sound of Music.
Venice:
We stayed in a hotel in Lido di Jesolo next to THE BEACH!
We stayed on the beach for a few hours before dinner the first day after the long drive...
The next day we were up early and went to VENICE! We had to get on a REALLY crowded bus to the boat, but it went well. On the boat we saw some exchange students on their Eurotour from France! That was really cool! We had a guided tour in the beginning of the day and the church was actually flooding while we were inside. I have been to Venice before because I was a short-term exchange student in Ferrara, Italy three years ago, but I loved it just as much again! I was going to meet up with my host brothers, but something happened so they couldn't come :(
Kate and I walked all around the city during our free time and saw the beautiful glass works and hidden sights of Venice.
And got gelato, of course! ;)
On the way back we were soooo tired!
That night we went to the beach for a while and a couple others met up with the other exchange students who were in a hotel on the same street as us!
Lyon - Paris:
We were pretty much only in Lyon to sleep, so there's not much to say about it.
Castle of Versailles:
Walking around the castle was a lot of fun. We didn't have a tour, but it was really neat to see everything. I loved walking around and speaking Norweigan because no one could understand us... xD
After Versailles, we drove into Paris to our hotel! Our hotel was just off of a street where we could see the Louvre. Great placing! The first night, a couple of kids and I walked all the way to the Eiffel Tower and back which took between 2-3 hours.
It was totally worth the walk, no doubt!
On the way back, I got a nosebleed. I know that if I don't mention this, someone who was on the walk will, so I'll just say it. We didn't have anything to stop it with (I had been having bad allergies since arriving in France, so it was bound to happen), so I had to use a recipt. Then - if anyone has seen She's the Man with Amanda Bynes, you'll understand the true meaning of what happened next - I used a tampon to stop it. One of the most embarrassing moments of my life. Here's a grusome picture of the turnout of that night:
The next day we drove to L'Arc de Triomph and then went up the Eiffel Tower! I have also been to Paris before, when I was eight years old (ten years ago - exactly), but I have never been up inside of the Eiffel Tower before! When we were standing in line, Artur and I thought it would be funny if he spoke to the people walking around selling Eiffel Tower keychains in Norwegian because it would throw them off. It was hilarious! They didn't know what to do!
We took a boat ride on the Seine, where Kate and I both ended up falling asleep. We did see a bit more of Paris, but it wasn't very interesting, and we couldn't see much of the buildings the robot voice on the boat was explaining.
After that, we had the rest of the day free! We ate lunch near the Notre Dame and then I met up with SOPHIE!!! I'm so lucky, I've seen her TWICE during my Norwegian exchange! What are the odds of that??
We went to the Louvre, where I got to see the Mona Lisa for the second time in my life. I never thought that would happen more than once! Sophie brought her Brazillian exchange student along as well! His name is Jonas and he was so funny and cool! We had so much fun!
We ended the day with a french dinner and went out on the park in front of the Louvre and kos'd us for the night.
London:
We left for London early the following day. We took a ferry to London, but before that, we had to go through customs, using our passports for the first time. That was long and boring, but the ferry was quite fun! While Artur and I were in line at the DutyFree, we were talking about how cheap candy is in Sweden, and the people in front of us were Swedish! They were buying candy that was about four times as expensive as back home for them! hahaha You'll understand if you're Norwegian... ;)
It was so strange to hear so much English! Everytime someone spoke loud in English, I turned my head and thought, "Wow! Where are they from? ...Oh wait... English-speaking country.. riiiight..."
We had a guided tour the next day where we saw the Big Ben, the church where the marriage was, the changing of the guards and many other things:
The rest of the day was free, so we went to the Canadian/Australian/New Zealand/South African store! I bought Kool-Aid packets, canned pumpkin (I've been so lucky with that) and "REAL" chocolate pudding from a Jell-o box. ;)
^^Last dinner together.
That night we also dyed Kate's hair and attempted an all-nighter, but I fell asleep around 2 AM and we woke up again around 4 AM to go to the airport.
Oslo:
Arrving in that airport again was bittersweet. I was excited to get back to Larvik, but very sad to say goodbye to everyone. I was overtired and overemotional as were others, so a lot of tears were shed saying goodbye. Nina, Miki, Victoria and I took the same train back home, ending the trip the same way it started, except with goodbyes.
^^ Remember, the first day of eurotour was also the second day of Russetid for me... ;)
A parade in D.C. and a parade in Oslo.
