My Norwegian Adventure
It's hard to believe I am about to return home to the US. This year has been an incredible experience and it feels like it's passed by in almost no time! I am excited to return home, but I also know I'm going to miss my wonderful Norwegian friends and families. I tried to do as much as possible in my final days and spend a lot of time with my friends.
Monday and Tuesday were the last days of school, though we had no regular classes. Monday we had a basketball tournament between the classes. Each class had a boys team and a girls team. The girls' teams all had a theme and my class' was Indian, so the players from our class dressed up like Indians. I wasn't playing, so I watched the 15-minute games with some of my classmates. We watched all three matches the girls played until they lost and were eliminated from the tournament, but we only watched one match the boys played. The girls played first against another class in the second grade, whose theme was the beach. The second match was against music students with the theme of ninjas, and the final round they played was against IB students who all wore neon reflex vests. The boys match that I watched was against the music students as well-who all dressed up for the match-and they won, but I'm not sure about their other games. The school also grilled lunch for everyone, so we had grilled hot dogs for lunch and then were able to go unless we wanted to stay and watch the final matches. I chose instead to spend some time in the city with friends and then went home to work more on packing my suitcases. Tuesday everyone first met and watched some performances from some of the music and dance students. The school's principle talked for a while and then we all met in our classes for a final party. A few people made cake and we watched a series of pictures of our class throughout the year. Then we said good-bye to everyone and were able to go. When Torhild and Roar got home from work we went into the city to do a few errands. We went to Nidar chocolate factory and bought some candy at the outlet store and then had dinner at Tyholt tower. The restaurant there is 74 meters high and the upper level rotates around so you get a panorama view of Trondheim while you eat. Wednesday was my last day in Norway and my first day of summer vacation. I finished the last of my packing and then went into the city. I had a few last-minute errands to do, but I mostly walked around the city, visiting some of my favorite spots, taking pictures, and soaking it all in. In the afternoon I met my friends Tonje, Sofie Eline, Kjersti, Susanne, and Ellen at Egon restaurant and we had lunch together. It was very hyggelig and I know I'm going to miss them all so much! They were truly the best friends I could have asked for this year and I'll never forget them. Afterwards I went home and sent off the last of the boxes I'm sending home. In the evening Roar, Torhild, and I picked up Roar's mom and we all went to the Rotary meeting. There weren't a lot of people there, but it was very nice. The Rotary club presented me with some Norwegian books and one of the club members gave me a print he had made. When we got back home I gave Roar and Torhild their gifts and we did a final weighing of my suitcases. I have an early flight tomorrow, so I won't be staying up much later. Right now I have a lot of conflicting emotions. I'm excited to see my friends and family again, but I'm sad to leave my Norwegian friends and families and I'm nervous for the time in between when I'm on my own. But, I know that God will take care of me as he always has.
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Sunday was my eighteenth birthday. As it was the last day of Norges Tur, it was full of sad good-byes, but I was grateful to be able to spend the day with friends and my exchange family. The morning overlaps with my previous post about Norges Tur, so I won't repeat that. In the afternoon Roar and Rune picked me up and we went home. I unpacked my bags and opened the package my mom had sent. In the evening we had a little birthday party for Rune, who's birthday was earlier in the week, and I. Torhild's sister Eli and her husband, Ole, came over. There was also Roar's parents, Inger Marie and Odd, two of Roar's brothers and his three nephews. We had a barbeque and watched the soccer (fotbal) game. Mom, Teresa, and Adam called, so I talked with them for a short while, but returned quickly to the party. I got a lot of really great gifts and I'm super grateful for all the thought and love that was put into them. Monday I had regular classes, but the muntlig (oral exam) trekk was at nine, so I went in early. For my class the muntlig trekk was for students that didn't come up in the skriftlig (written) exams. Usually students have to come up in at least one of the exams, but because I'm an exchange student it was unlikely that I would come up in my subjects. I was hoping I would come up in English because it's my easiest subject, but I was lucky and didn't come up in either skriftlig or muntlig exams!!! Then I had gym. Most of my class played basketball, but I went on a walk with two of my classmates. We had our whole lunch period free; normally on Mondays we have klassetid (sort of like homeroom), but we didn't have it this week. My psychology and English classes were cancelled because of the exams, but I spent some extra time with friends in the city. Tuesday and Wednesday I had no school because of the muntlig exams, so Tuesday I went into Trondheim and spent the day with friends. Wednesday I met another exchange friend and helped her pack a little. Wednesday evening I went to my host-Rotary club's president-change meeting. Thursday we started class late and had two presentations. The first presentation was about United Nations and the second was about the Norwegian Red Cross. I went with some friends to return our books at Thora Storm and then went home since we had nothing after lunch. Friday we met in our classes and were put in groups. Each group got a different route and we had to go through the city. After lunch we took a short quiz about things we saw on each route and the best group got to represent our class in a quiz with the whole grade. My group didn't win in our class, and our class didn't win in the grade quiz, but it was still a lot of fun. In the evening Roar, Torhild, Rune, Tone, and I drove to Savalen for Roar's family reunion. We were staying in a cabin there. It was in the mountains, so it was quite cold. After we arrived at our cabin, we walked down to the water-front and joined the people there. We grilled hot dogs and I introduced myself to a lot of people. Saturday the reunion officially started at lunch. The campsite we were staying at was also home to "Santa's house" so Torhild and I went there. In the afternoon there was a clue hunt for all the families at the reunion. Each clue provided a letter and there were quiz questions as well. We found out which team won the quiz at dinner and they got jackets with the family name on the back. After dinner there was another fun quiz that we did in large groups. It was a lot of fun. Sunday morning we ate breakfast and cleaned out the cabin. We went to say good-bye to everyone before we left and then we drove back to Trondheim. I then worked on packing on my suitcase.
June 2: Roar drove me to the airport, where I met Jose, another Rotary student. We flew together to Oslo for our last Rotary trip: the Norway tour (Norges tur). The trip actually began on June 3rd, but we wanted an extra day, so we arranged to come early and spend the night with a friend. We took the train from the airport to Oslo S where we had Ben and Jerry's for lunch-because it was too warm for anything but ice cream, and caught a train to Roa. From Roa train station we took a bus to the stop where we met the friend, Anna T, that we were staying with. I had stayed with Anna a few weeks ago while in the Oslo area with Roar and Torhild. We walked the rest of the way to Anna's house and relaxed until her host parents came home. We had dinner and then made some cookies for the trip. Later in the evening we took a walk and then went to bed. June 3: Around noon Anna's counselor picked us up and drove us to the train station and Jose, Anna, and I took the train to Oslo S. From there we needed to take a tram to the hostel we would be staying at. We bought tram tickets and took the tram. For the trip we needed all our stuff in large backpacks like you would use for camping, so we wanted to drop our stuff off at the hostel before returning to Oslo center for a bit of sight-seeing. We met one of the chaperons of the trip, Jutta. As we were returning to the tram we met Ariel and Julia, so we waited for them to drop off their bags and then we all went to Oslo together. We got food at McDonalds and walked around Oslo center. Later we went to Oslo S to meet Luiza, Anna B, Taylor, and Lily and help them find their way to the hostel. Everyone was excited at the hostel to see everyone else again. The other chaperon, Stein, lived not far from the hostel, so we walked to his house for dinner, which was barbeque. After dinner and dessert we returned to the hostel and had free time. We played cards and talked, catching up from the last time we had met. June 4: After breakfast we packed our things and loaded the bus, meeting the bus driver, Anders. Our first stop of the day was at Bjørnparken (the Bear Park). There we saw crocodiles, brown bears, hedgehogs, rådyr (fallow deer), elk, and fox. The park, which is similar to a zoo but with better care for the animals, advertises the ability to kiss a moose, but while we were there the elk and moose were shy so we didn't even get to see them. One of the brown bears, Nora, was very friendly and enjoyed posing for all our pictures. Our guide, who was named Bjørn (Bjørn means 'bear' in Norwegian) took us to where the bears hibernate in the winter. One of the large male bears scared us a bit by standing up and roaring. The guide told us about the individual bears while feeding one of them slices of apple. Later he took us all into the fox enclosure, where there were benches for tour groups. We all got a slice of apple to feed to the foxes. They were very comfortable with us, but were scared if we made any sudden movements. Feeding them also made me realize how similar to dogs they act. Our second stop was at Nystolen cafe in Nesbyen, the same place where we had had Winter camp. We had lunch there with some of the Rotarians we had met at Winter Camp. Our next stop was at a glacier called Hardangerjøkulen, the sixth largest glacier in Norway. Hardangerjøkulen was the setting for the planet Hoth in Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back. Because the weather was quite nice, it wasn't too cold at the glacier. It was pretty cool to be able to touch it, and it was interesting to note that the ice looked like large chunks of crystal. After such a full day, we were relieved to arrive at our camping site. The camp site was almost empty because of a fire in a tunnel that was the main way of access to this area of Norway. We set our things in our cabins and then went for a walk to a huge waterfall nearby. The view was incredible and the waterfall was stunning. We grilled for dinner and then hung out for the rest of the evening. June 5: My school in the US, Slinger High School, had their graduation, so I was excited to finally be a high school graduate-even if I wasn't in school. Instead, I had a great day outdoors. We got an early start and drove down the mountain through spiralling tunnels. We drove across the Hardanger bridge-the longest suspension bridge in Norway. We stopped at another large waterfall (you're going to begin to notice a trend of mountains and waterfalls). The spray from it woke us all up, as the tunnels on the bus had put us all to sleep. There was also a beautiful rainbow. Once we were back on the bus we drove through a tunnel that was 11 km long! Then we arrived in a town called Flåm. Flåm was absolutely beautiful-the river going through it was a gorgeous green color and the mountains were spectacular. In Flåm there were a lot of Asian tourists, something we encountered several times on our trip. They took a lot, a lot of pictures of all kinds of things-even a few of us! We took the train to the top of the mountain near Flåm. On the way up we stopped and got off the train for a little while to see a nice waterfall. On one of the cliffs near the waterfall was a woman who sang and danced. The legend of the area goes that she used to sing to lure young men to their deaths. Then we got back on the train and continued to the top of the mountain. At the train station there we split up and five people rode the train back down with Jutta. The rest of us went to get bike rentals with Stein. The bike path was very tricky at the beginning-steep and filled with large, loose rocks. Those of us who were a little more cautious hung back and went slowly, walking our bikes down part of the way. Another girl from Minnesota and I both grew up on farms, so we were used to biking on farm paths similar to the path we took, but the catch was that this path had a lot of very sharp turns. After a while we got used to the steepness and the sharp corners and were able to speed up and spread out at our own speeds. Finally, the path leveled out so that it wasn't so steep, rocky, and there were fewer sharp turns. At that point the bike ride was quite fun and the scenery was breathtaking. I tried not to take too many pictures so I could bike more, but the pictures I did take don't do the views justice! I joked with a friend that I was too busy looking around that I nearly drove off the road (which was a cliff). Biking alongside the river was especially nice because there was a cooling breeze. After a while I caught up with two of the other girls. There was a tunnel we had to go through and one of the earlier groups had hidden inside to scare later groups, though they were gone when I went through (they told me when we were all finished). After that point we ended up grouped together with two more girls, but they left us later. Towards the end of the bike trip, I was with Anna Broll and we biked side-by-side and talked about different things. It was a very nice conversation, except for one point when Anna accidentally drove off the rode and fell (she wasn't hurt). We were close to the last ones to arrive back in Flåm, so we returned our bikes to the rental shop, bought some ice cream, and relaxed with the others that were finished. When the last people arrived we got back on the bus and went to visit a nearby stave church. The church was called Undredal and it was quite small, but still very nice. It was located near an amazing view, so we all took pictures there. Then we drove to our camping grounds. Before we had dinner we walked to the fjord and went 'swimming'. Everyone had on their swimsuits and was ready to dive in, but the water was way too cold, so most of us waded in a bit and then ran back out. A few people did dive all the way in though. Then we walked back to our cabins and got ready for dinner. On the way back to the camping grounds we found a spot with a cool wooden viking statue, so we stopped there for pictures. There was also a stockade, so of course we took pictures in the stocks. After dinner everyone was very tired, so we all went to bed quite early. June 6: The group I shared a cabin with was super proud that we were the first ones ready in the morning, so we went around and helped the other groups finish cleaning their cabins and taking their bags to the bus. Our first stop was at a large waterfall where most of us bought ice cream. We continued on and stopped for lunch in Dalekvam, outside the Dale of Norway factory. Dale of Norway is a Norwegian brand that makes wool sweaters. They create their own unique patterns for different winter sporting events and the sweaters are top quality and very expensive. After lunch we went into the factory and were given a tour. We learned the history of the brand and got to walk through the machines inside the factory. We also got to see samples of past sweater designs they made and a bit of the design process. At the end we were able to shop in the outlet store attached to the factory, where products were 50-70% discounted, though I didn't buy anything there! Our final stop of the day was in Bergen, Norway's second largest city. We stopped first at the hotel and got our room assignments. After putting our things in our rooms we met up again and were able to go individually into the city. I went with a group to the Brygge along the water. We went through some shops, including a year-round Christmas shop, and the fish market. Then we walked through the main city until we had to meet again for dinner. We ate at a really good Italian restaurant and then we had the evening free again. We met in one of the rooms and had a good time there, staying up until quite late. June 7: The hotel brought breakfast to our door, but it wasn't very good so Taylor and I bought yoghurt for our breakfast. The nice weather broke and it was cold and foggy, which is typical Bergen weather. We met with some Rotarians who took us up the Fløibanen, the tram line up the mountain. Normally there is a very nice view at the landing point, but because of the fog, we couldn't see anything. We walked through a 'troll forest' with lots of wooden troll statues and playground equipment. Then we began to walk down the mountain, stopping halfway down for lunch. When we got to the bottom of the mountain we went to the Brygge-the colorful, flat-front houses along the water-and looked at some historic areas there. We had a little free time then to buy souvenirs and ice cream (anytime after April/May is a good time for ice cream in Norway) before continuing to the Bergen fortress. The Bergen fortress has only ever been used in war once, in a battle between the English and Dutch, though it was after the actual war was finished. Next we walked to a church where local Rotarians drove us to the royal residence in Bergen. We had to split into two groups for a tour of the palace, which was incredibly beautiful and fancy. Our guide had really long hair, down to her knees (!) so I asked her how she managed to not get it tangled and shedding all over the place. We drove back to Bergen sentrum and ate dinner at a popular-and good-soup restaurant. Not all of us finished our soup, so we combined the same types and gave some cups to the people we found begging on the street. Then we bought candy for on the bus and went back to the hotel. Everyone was really tired, so we all took naps that turned into bedtime. June 8: We had a long day of driving-over seven hours! We got up early and were able to sleep on the bus. We could get out and walk around on the ferry we took, which gave us a nice view of the fjord we were on. We stopped for lunch in Førda, where we were met by a Rotarian guide. We went to the bank for lunch, which was tacos. Shortly after we resumed driving, we were pulled over for speeding, which was funny to all of us. Our Rotarian guide was spending the day with us, so he told us all about the area we were in. For a while we played a new game on the bus called Resistance (similar to Mafia). We stopped at a mountain called Briksdalen and hiked up to where another glacier was. A river of glacier water ran down the mountain and at the top was a large pond of glacier water. Two of the boys in our group went swimming in it, but they were the only ones crazy enough. The rest of us waded a bit, but the water was cold-though warmer than the fjord water from earlier on our trip. The water had a beautiful green color to it. There we met some more Asian tourists and they were excited when they saw that Rong, the girl in our group from Taiwan, had the Taiwan flag. A bunch of them took pictures using her flag. We went to our campsite and then went to a nearby cafe for dinner with the local Rotary club. At the campsite we played Sardines (where one person hides and everyone else has to look and hide with them) until we couldn't find Henry and gave up looking. We all laughed when we finally found out where he was hiding, after we called him to tell him we gave up. Then we played more Resistance in the cabins until we went to bed. June 9: Our first stop of the day was at Jostedalsbreen, which was the glacier that spans several mountain tops (the same one we hiked to yesterday). We watched a film about the glacier and how it was shrinking, then had some time to walk around. Then we drove to Dalsnibba, a tricky road high in the mountains overlooking Geiranger. There was still a lot of snow and ice there, so it was quite cold and there was a lot of fog, making it difficult to see the fjord below. Then we drove down to Geiranger and ate sandwiches in the town. This was my second time in Geiranger; the first was with my first host family in October. After lunch we took a boat trip across the fjord, which was a lot of fun. The view was unbeatable, though the boat ride was a bit cold and windy. Geiranger is a special town in Norway because a nearby cliff is going to fall into the fjord at any time and create a huge wave that will destroy the town. There was a movie about it called 'Bølgen' (The Wave) that I saw with my first host parents. After the boat ride we said good-bye to our Rotarian guide and then continued on to our campsite. The showers there cost money, so some of the girls set up a salon to wash each others' hair in the sinks. We had dinner with another local Rotary club and they served us a local traditional dish called potetbol. It was a ball of potatoes and flour made into a paste with a bit of mutton in the middle. We ate it with mashed carrots and bacon, but I still didn't like it very much. We also met a girl there who wanted to do an exchange to South America, and she was originally from the Netherlands. In the evening the cabins were too small for everyone to be in one, so people moved from cabin to cabin to meet with different groups. June 10: We had to get up early again, so most of us fell asleep on the bus again. We got out for fresh air on the ferry across the Atlantic ocean (not the entire ocean, obviously, but a fjord). I had been on this ferry before with my first host family. We got off in Molde and then drove to Kristiansund. There we went to a vocational school that had classes for people looking to work in fields that don't require a college degree. The director of the school gave us a presentation about the school and then we got to go and play in a boat simulator. One of the school's programs is to train people who want to work in the maritime industry-usually on fishing boats. Of course when you put a group of exchange students in a boat simulator, we tried to crash the boat, though it proved harder than we anticipated. After we had been in there for a while, we were finished and we left the school. We got fish 'n' chips for lunch and then were able to walk around Kristiansund for a little before getting back on the bus. Leaving Kristiansund we drove through a tunnel that went 250 m under the sea. Then we drove to the Atlantic Ocean Road (Atlanterhavsveien). This was my second time there as well. We got out and walked around, taking pictures, then crossed the bridge and got out for some more pictures. We drove on for a bit and then stopped at a sea-side cafe. Some of the group got out and ran around, but I went and got ice cream with another group. We drove back to Molde and said good-bye to Anders, our bus driver. I had brought some thank-you cards along and everyone had signed one for him. We set our things in a hotel and walked around Molde. There was a European market that we visited and tried different food samples. We also walked along the water. The group I was with was surprised when we found jellyfish in the water because we didn't know they lived in Norway. We ate dinner at the hotel and then walked around more, getting ice cream on the way. We went to the local soccer stadium and went inside for a little bit to watch the local youth practice. Then we went to the harbor, then back to the hotel. At the hotel we played cards. At 10 pm the Hurtigruten-a Norwegian cruise ship that goes up and down the Norwegian coast-arrived in Molde, so we took our things and went on board. The other passengers were mostly older people, some were foreigners visiting Norway (and Hurtigruten is a good way to do it, as it covers all of Norway along the coast). Once the deck cleared of other passengers some of us set the couch cushions on the floor and lay out our sleeping bags. We all put on warm clothes since we would be sleeping out on the deck and chose a spot that was sheltered: under a roof with a wall on the side of us, so there was only one open wall. We all got snuggled in together and went to sleep, though it was difficult because the sun set for only a short while and the sky was light all night. June 11: When we woke up the glass wall and roof made our cozy sleeping spot quite hot. We had to get up then so that we weren't in the way of the other passengers. As we sat down for breakfast the boat pulled into Trondheim's port, our final destination. After breakfast we got off the boat and were met by Henry's host dad, who works in Trondheim (Henry lives in Vadsø, very far north and near the Finnish and Russian borders). He gave us all a backpack and some other small gifts from his workplace, which makes fish food for salmon farms. We were also met by a local Rotarian (not from my host club) who drove our luggage to the hostel we were staying at. There wasn't room for us, so we walked to the hostel. Our rooms weren't ready, so we went into the city. I took a group to Nidarosdommen and Gamle Bybroa. We bought lunch from the farmer's market in the city center and then went to the tourist information office to buy pins (Rotary exchange students are always on the hunt for pins to add to their blazers). We returned to the hostel and then took taxis to the Sverresborg folk museum, where I had been just two weeks earlier with Torhild. All the other exchange students were excited to see the house that inspired Frozen. Afterwards we walked back into the city and went to McDonalds for dinner. When we got back to the hostel everyone got ready for the party we were having later, since it was our last night all together. We had a nice party that was a lot of fun and then went to bed.
June 12: The last day of Norges Tur was also my eighteenth birthday. Even though it was sad to have to say good bye to some of my closest friends and exchange family, I was glad I got to spend my day with my good friends. It's still a little shocking to me that I may never see some of them again (though I hope to and will try my hardest to visit them or have them visit me), and that we will never all be together again. Because people had to leave at different times, we didn't have any plans. There were a few good-byes we had to say before breakfast, but then we had breakfast and finished packing. We hung out at the hostel and said good-bye to the groups that were leaving earlier. In the mid-morning those of us that were left took a walk to Gamle Bybroa and Bakklandet, just to enjoy the weather and the scenery. After the next group left, we went out again in search of food. I got ice cream from McDonalds with a small group and then we returned to the hostel. In the early afternoon everyone had to leave the hostel, so they split into two groups: one going to the bus to the airport and one to the train station. I said good-bye to all of them outside the hostel and then walked to the bus stop where I met Roar and Rune. Monday we played Ultimate Frisbee in gym which was a lot of fun. I didn't have psychology because of exams, but I had English as normal. Tuesday I had all my normal classes and they were pretty boring. In Spanish we started a movie about an Argentinian man with a champion show dog. Wednesday I had my normal morning classes and then went to the Rotary meeting in the afternoon. I gave my final presentation to my club about what I've done so far in the year and what I think of Norway. Everyone seemed really impressed with my presentation. Thursday was a math fagdag and Friday was classes as normal. It was really nice out Friday so everyone at school spent their free-time outside. We started watching "The Theory of Everything" in Math class. Saturday morning my host parents and I met Rune and then drove to Verdal. There was a march there that we did. The weather was great-sunshine and a bit of wind! After the march we ate lunch and then went to Stiklestad. There was an outdoor play there and one of Torhild's nephews was in it. The play was called "Emil i Lønneberga" and it was about a little boy that causes and gets into all kinds of trouble. It was really funny and very well done. Then we drove back home and Roar's brother and his girlfriend came for a visit. Sunday Torhild took me on a hike up a mountain called Gråkallen. There was an amazing view at the top!!! Then we went to the Trøndelag Folk museum in Sverresborg. There was an old village and several old buildings from the surrounding villages there. Sverresborg was the site of an old fortress for one of the viking kings. There was also a house that was the model for a building used in the Norwegian exhibit at Disney World (yay Frozen!!!). The museum was really interesting and a lot of fun. In the evening I went to the Catholic church here in Trondheim for the first time. The actual church is being built currently, so the service was in the basement, but it was very nice and I hope I can find time to go again before the end of my exchange year. On Monday we played beach volleyball in gym. It was really warm out, so the sand felt great and we all had so much fun we didn't want to stop. My psychology class was cancelled because of exams, so I sat outside until my english class, where we worked more on out projects. After school I met Torhild for dinner and then went with one of my Rotary counselors to a dairy farm near Trondheim. The farm was called Nord-Tiller and was run by a nice couple. They said they had 35-40 cows and 60-70 acres. They had one robotic milker and one barn for their livestock. Because of the nice weather, the most of the cows were out in the pasture. It was really nice to be able to see a typical Norwegian farm and see how similar it was to the farms in Wisconsin. Tuesday I didn't have school because the third grade had exams. I met a friend in the city for lunch and we enjoyed the nice weather. It was supposed to be really warm, but the morning looked like it wasn't going to be so nice. Later though, it got quite warm and sunny so I was able to enjoy my free day in the sun. Wednesday my psychology teacher had to leave class early, so we got to go early too. In English our usual teacher finally returned after ~2 months of absence because of a problem with her neck. We were all happy to see her again and we started preparing for the oral exams. In history we were given group tasks and worked on those for a while until we left early. In the evening I did another 10 km walk with Roar and Torhild before coming home to finish getting ready for Norway Tour.
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