Hyttetur!! (Weekend in the Mountains)

Gjesteinnlegg av LINE BERULFSEN!
Hei alle sammen. Nå er vinterferien over, og skolen har begynt igjen. I ferien var Noellen på hyttetur. Det vil si at hun dro på en hytte oppe på fjellet, og ferierte der.
Mange norske familier har hytter, og syns det er veldig koselig. Om vinteren drar mange opp på hyttene sine på fjellet og går på ski. Det er gøy. Så griller vi pølser og spiser kvikklunsj. Om kvelden fyrer vi i peisen på hytta, og koser oss. Hytter er hus som man ikke bor i fast. Hytte er et hus man besøker for å slappe av og feriere.
Takk for meg! (Jeg er veldig glad i Noellen)

Guest Post by LINE BERULFSEN!
Hi everyone.  Now winter vacation is over and school has begun again.  During vacation, Noellen was on a cabin trip.  It means that she went to a cabin up on the mountain and vacationed there.
Many Norwegian families have cabins and think it is very "cozy".  During the winter, many go up to their cabins on the mountain and go skiing.  It is fun.  Then we grill hot dogs and eat kvikklunsj (chocolate).  During the evening we make a fire in the fireplace and make ourselves cozy.  Cabins are houses where people don't actually live in.  A cabin is a house people visit to relax and vacation.
Thanks!  (I really love Noellen) (no perfect translation - in Norway they have two different words for love, one meaning to love your significant other with all of your heart, å elske, and one meaning to love your friends or family, glad)

This weekend, the final weekend of vinterferie, I went with Didrik and Cathrine to their cabin in the mountains!  I left on Thursday morning and arrived at Oslo S around 10:30 or so.  I had to meet up with Helle's oldest daughter, Cathrine, to give her a ticket to a concert that night.  Then I met up with Devin and we went on a GRAND ADVENTURE in Oslo.  We went looking for cafes... 

We ended up at his favorite cafe which is right next to The National Theater.  On the way there, we saw all of the snow sculptures that were made for the Oslo Ski-VM 2011 which is International this year (Rotary kids will all be there next weekend) and we saw the NEWLY OPENED BEN&JERRY'S icecream shop right in the middle of town!!!  That's exciting.  Score one for Vermont!!  We got a pair of Mocha Lattes and sat and talked in the cafe until it was time for Didrik to pick me up.  It was so great to see Devin again!  And we'll all be reunited this weekend at Holmenkollen :) 

Didrik picked me up at the National Theater and then we drove to pick up Cathrine and we were off to the mountains.  It took between two to three hours to get there and when we arrived a tthe base of the mountain, it looked like a slippery drive.  Norwegians are quite (very) good at driving on snow and I've become accustomed to it, so it was an easy drive up (besides when we had to stop because some people were in the road).  The farther we went up the mountain, the less maintained the roads were.  We got up without a problem :)

We had to carry everything about 300 m to the cabin through some deep snow which was entertaining.  Cathrine had some tall boots on but I had my hiking boots... we arrived at the cabin and started to heat it up right away.  It was warm in a matter of only a couple hours.  We ate some great dinner that Cathrine cooked and played some card games until late that night. 

The next morning was KOSELIG and had breakfast and went on a skitur!  We went cross-country skiing nearby, but it was really really foggy.  It was still a lot of fun :)  We went to this rest cabin on the way back and had kvikk lunsj and oranges.  There were a lot of other people there having pølser (hot dogs) among other things.  After we got back, we used the BB gun (which was so much fun!) on some targets and then had a quick nap.  We ended up playing lots of games like A-Å, UNO and some other card games.  We used the grill for dinner and exchanged stories about Rotary Exchange Program.  Then Didrik and I stayed up playing games on his iPhone for another hour or so. xD

The last morning we packed up and carried everything down to the car and left.  It was still foggy so I never got to see what the place actually looked like... But that's okay because next time will be in the summer with The Neisners! :):)  The ride back took significantly longer, but on the way we played lots of games and had more stories and I even made some plans with Lauren, who lives in Bergen (check out her blog, there's a link on the left hand side of the page) to go with her and her family to THEIR cabin and ski.  So I'm leaving in two hours on a train to Geilo, Norway (I'll arrive at about 3AM) and from there on Thursday I will be going from there to Oslo to VM Ski Finals! 

Takk for turen, Didrik og Cathrine :):) <3

København!

Helle, Line and I spent the last few days in Copenhagen, Denmark!  Now I have been to almost all of the Scandinavian countries!  Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Denmark...

We left on Saturday morning to Gardemoen airport and took a plane out straight to Copenhagen.  Something special about the airports here (correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember seeing these in American airports) is that they have Tax-free/Duty free stores.  When you go to the international terminal in most airports, there is a special store that has "everything" (liquor, candy and makeup) without taxes, so they end up being a lot cheaper.  The best part about it is that you almost always HAVE to go through the Duty Free store because that's where the doors lead to the international terminal in the airport.  People load up these little carts with cheap booze and continue on to their destinations.  They also have these shops on ferries that go internationally...

We arrived in Copenhagen and took a taxi to our hotel: Kong Arthur Hotel.  When we got to our room we were very surprised because it was a suite!!  It seemed a little random because there was a TV above a desk that was facing the door to come in and a room with a sofa that looked outside as well as a lamp that was not plugged in because it wasn't near an electrical plug.. but it was fantastic anyway!

(The picutres aren't loading the way I want them to, so I'm just going to add them all at the end...)

We had a toast (skål!) with wine in plastic hotel cups and m&ms.  Soon after, Maja arrived with her roommate and we went out to see Copenhagen at night.  We went on a walk and found a restaurant and all ordered the same meal, but with different desserts.  We called it a night quite early and went back to the hotel.  Line and I had a bath and then we went to bed. 

The next morning we went down for breakfast and they had PANCAKES and MAPLE SYRUP!  I was in heaven.  From there we left to go see "The Little Mermaid" in town ("Den lille havfrue" - the little half woman).  And... it was... little!  The statue was very small and not what we imagined as the big tourist attraction in Copenhagen, but it was wonderful to see and reminded me of my mom and her mermaid collection in the kitchen at home :)

From there we walked around town and saw some more statues, churches and where Helle and Trond were married!  We also went to see where the king lived which was HUGE!  On our way to go shopping, we passed a BEN&JERRY'S ice cream shop.  I heard from Devin that Oslo is getting a Ben&Jerry's shop too!  Slowly but surely, Vermont will take over the world! (According to Julie...)  It's very neat to see some things that remind me of home, such as the pancakes or B&J's.  Another reminder of home was seeing a marching band go by while we walked to the mall.

After a bit of shopping (SCORE at ZARA and on makeup!) in the "cheap" market of Denmark, we went to get some lunch.  We found a make-your-own sandwich place and sat there.  I could understand the menu, but I thought there was an "and" instead of an "or" so when I ordered I was flustered and confused, but that's all of the experience, isn't it?  I even had my first ginger ale since I left for my exchange too. 

We went back to the hotel after shopping some more and took a short catnap.  Soon after, we left to go out for the night.  We ate tapas at a bar (the bartender didn't fail to meet my belief that all scandinavians are beautiful) and talked for a long time.  We tried to find a bar to go to afterward, but the one we ended up at had (I kid you not) naked butts and lots of dead fish and birds on the walls along with hanging lamps above the tables using beads and doll heads... So we decided it was best to call it a night. 

The next day (yesterday) we had another big breakfast, but went to the hotel SPA after.  We had massages and hung out in the steam rooms, sauna and hot tub for a while.  We took showers and went on our last walk around in Copenhagen.  The strange thing about Scandinavia is that a lot of the birds here don't migrate because (I'm assuming) the sea is always a bit warmer than the air.  Swans, ducks and pigeons were all hanging around in the water near the bridge in the unfrozen sections.  It was a special thing to see. 

We ate lunch, said goodbye to Maja and left for the airport.  We went through the taxfree store (found an American Cosmo mag and got some Starbucks!) again and arrived in Oslo when it was dark out.  We drove home and arrived around 9PM. 

Friday morning I am leaving for Oslo to meet up with Didrik and Cathrine to go to their cabin in the mountains!

For now I'm in Larvik, but the next few months are going to go by so fast because I'm going to be very busy from Lyden av Livet, to Rotary Eurotour to Russtid...

The College Search: American vs. Norwegian

Good Morning Norway!

If you live or have lived in Norway, you know what this picture means - THE DAYS ARE GETTING LONGER!  I took these pictures on Monday before I left for school.  This was around 8 o'clock in the morning.  By near mid-June we will have about four-hour-long "nights".  That will definitely make up for the long absence of sun during December...

THE COLLEGE SEARCH
This post is about "the college search" in Norway.  I have recently completed my college search "the American way" but have also talked with a college counselor at THVS and gone to Lillestrøm for a college fair.  First, let's talk about high school vs. videregående skole.

High School in USA is four (long) years - 9th to 12th grade/freshman year to senior year/ages 14 to 18.  In Norway, videregående skole is three years long, from age 16 to 19/1st to 3rd grade.  I remember the first day of ninth grade talking about "the importance of grades for college" and on that first day we were introduced to "the college search".  We met the high school counselors and were each assigned to one.  There were about 400 students each assigned one of three counselors.  At THVS, there is only one college counselor (that I have seen) who is in charge of almost 2,000 students.  The number of students in comparison to the number of counselors shows the differences between the college search in Norway and in USA.

Applying to college in USA is a long and tiring process.  Freshman and sophomore years are generally prep for the SATs.  This is a test that we have to take to get into most colleges which is scored in three different categories: writing, reading and math.  Each section is scored out of a possible 800 points and can take up to five or six hours including timed breaks between sections.  The test can be taken up to three times (schools taking the best scores of each section) or more with the scores averaged.  The test is normally taken in Junior year.  The next part of applying to college is the actual application.  This includes: personal information, parents' educations and jobs, letters of recommendation, essays, etc.  Most colleges require applications to be handed in by late January and students find out final decisions by April/May.  In Norway, we went to a college fair in Lillestrøm in late January.  Like I said, in USA we would have already sent in our test grades with our applications.  We had a talk with the college counselor in class this week too.  It's mid-February!  We discussed our options, major decisions and checked out some colleges in a booklet.  The application in Norway is almost purely grades and isn't due for another few months.  Another difference is that you have to go into college with a major whereas in USA you can go in as undecided.

COST
As we all know, school in USA is NOT free.  St. Louis University, the school which I will be attending next year (either for Meteorology or for Aeroscience... I have yet to decide), is about $32,000 (according to collegeboard.com).  I got the Dean's Scholarship of $12,000 per year, but 20 grand per year is still quite a bit more than it costs in Norway.  In Norway, people describe the cost of school as "free" but then add in government loans.  Either way, there was an article in the newspaper the other day saying how expensive it was to go to school at a private school but I did the math and it was a little less than $2,000 per year.  WHAT?

LIVING
In USA we have Dorms where students can stay at the school while they study and pay the school directly.  Also, at SLU (St. Louis University) students are required to be on a meal plan, so the school feeds them too.  In Norway, dorms don't exist.  You have to find your own place to live but normally students are grouped together in different areas of the cities where there are many apartment buildings, etc.  Of course, the cost of living in Norway is much, much higher than the cost in USA, so that's where your money goes. 

-----

I'm leaving with Line and Helle tomorrow morning to go to COPENHAGEN, DENMARK!  We come back Tuesday and on Friday I'm going to meet up with Didrik and Cathrine and spend a weekend with them at their cabin in the mountains :D 

Last night I went to a concert at the Sandefjord church (in Sandefjord) with Mari, Line and Alice and saw the music line's performance.  They performed "The Armed Man" in 13 movements with choir and orchestra.  It was truly an amazing performance.  It reminded me a bit of home when we were walking around in Sandefjord because we stopped in KIWI to get something to eat.  Kiwi  is a grocery store.  I have spent countless nights in Woostock, Leb and Rutland doing the same. 

I can't believe I have less than five months left in Norway.  :(

By the way!  It's 4 o'clock and SUNNY!  The days!  They're getting longer!  :D

Old pictures from visiting Sophie in OSLO

I don't have anything to update about, but here are a few pictures of when I visited Sophie when she was in Norway with one of her friends :) 

Peppe's Pizza!

Oslo S Tiger!



Kissing the tiger... bad idea (for Sophie).  Same reason as why you don't kiss a frozen telephone pole...just in tiger-form

 I am heading to Denmark (Copenhagen) for a few days with Line and Helle.  Then I'm off to the mountains with Cathrine and Didrik for a few days!

Uke 10 is coming up!  If you're in or near Larvik reading this -
http://uke10.blogspot.com/
Check us out!  Buy tickets and come support THVS music and dance lines!
LYDEN AV LIVET - på Bølgen Kulturhus; 10.mars kl 18.30, 11.mars kl 18.00 og kl 20.00: 150,-.

Den Amerikanske Mat Festen and Wintercamp 2011!!

Last Friday I had all of the kids over from my class to enjoy "American food"!  We had a lot of fun baking and cooking and eating together :)  The food was: pancakes, Ben & Jerry's, hamburgers/cheeseburgers, chocolate chip cookies, and pumpkin pie.  Here are some pictures:



The next morning, I was off to Nesbyen on a train at kl 9.00!  The week in Nesbyen is quite like the Killington Ski Weekend, but with cross country skiing added. 

When I caught my connection train in Drammen, I met up on the train with Abby and a few others.  I didn't feel very bad when I saw that they had big bags too.  Here's a picture from the train ride up:

When we arrived at the train station, we wanted to go into town because we didn't see any Rotary people, so we were heading towards the town when a guy yelled to us and we saw the minibus that was supposed to pick us up.  There was a man videotaping us (which reminded me of Bob's videotaping back in our district at home in USA) as we walked over and we didn't know what to do so we just kept laughing. 

We arrived up at the cabins at Nystølen where we were split up into different cabins; ours was called Hellebu.  Jessica and Kate arrived later in the day and they were staying in my cabin with me.  We had a "cafeteria" (literally translated) a short walk from the cabin through the trees and deep snow.  We ate breakfast and dinner there and sometimes lunch (unless we were skiing with matpakker - Norwegian equivalent of a packed lunch).  The first night, Kate and I slept in the room with bunk beds but when we woke up, we decided we would switch to the room with the giant bed because neither of us had a good night of sleep. 

 

hole in the floor?

We got our cross country ski legs on first after breakfast and went on a short skitur.  We also met the new Aussies and Argentinians after our skitur!  There are two girls from Argentina and three girls and one boy from Australia (as well as another girl or two from Australia that we'll meet at Holmenkollen in week nine).  We were split up into three groups as well: North America, South America/Japan and Australia.  This meant that one group would go to the downhill ski area while the rest would hang out and cross country ski for the day at Nystølen.  We gained three more girls in our cabin: Victoria and Rocio from Argentina and Jourdy from Australia. 

Jørn from language camp stopped by to say hello...

NEWSFLASH: I'm now officially an "oldie" in Norway.  I think it's a good and bad thing.  I remember being amazed at what our old-oldies (old Aussies and Argentinian) could understand when I was a "newbie" and these kids are now in awe of what we understand.  It shows I have learned a lot, but at the same time it shows that I only have five months left here.  Tomorrow is the sixth month anniversary in Norway for me.

The next day, we had breakfast and made our matpakker and hit the slopes.  We went to a downhill ski area with only two T-bars (my father will be proud to hear about those): one one-seater and one two-seater.  We started off at the bunny-hill to see how everyone was and we were finally let to go on the bigger-hill.  Almost everyone had skied before!  It was really a fun day.  We had our matpakker inside and went back out for a few hours in the afternoon as well.  That night we went up to the other girls' cabin and danced and sang for most of the night. 

Another day we went on a 12 km skitur.  Our Rotarian guide was 73!  He did a great job showing us the trails and leading us.  Kudos to him :)

We had a movie night in Kate and my bed one night and accidentally broke it! 

I guess we really do gain a bit of weight on exchange... ;)  Or maybe it was just because the bed is meant for two people... oh well... either way, the bed broke again this morning at around 7AM so I wasn't a happy camper...

The next day, we went cross country skiing again and then went on a moose sighting ride with Jan.  We didn't see any moose at first when we got out of the minibus...

But then Alyssa screamed "MOOSE" (which freaked us all out at first) and had found two up the hill during our drive to the Rotary meeting.

At the Rotary meeting, we learned about Holmenkollen weekend in March and gave our little "presentations" about our countries by singing the national anthem of our countries or talking about differences... etc..

Connie's birthday was on Wednesday and we had a dance party in the other girls' room.  They bought Hello Kitty cups and napkins and cheese puffs.  It was a fun night :) 

The rest of the week was full of skiing and bonding with the kids.  We had tons of movie nights and dance nights and bonding nights.  The last night we had cake for Connie's birthday and watched TV in the cafeteria where we found out that "Presidenten går av" "the president goes off" in Egypt and where we also had seen the double world record breaking in ski jumping by a Norwegian ski jumper. 

Here are a few more pictures from this week:

The next time we'll all see each other is in less than three weeks at Holmenkollen!  We're watching the international ski jumping finals!  Lucky us :):)

I'll probably update more, but I am quite tired so I'm leaving you with this for now...