My Norwegian Adventure
Monday we played dodgeball in gym class. It was really fun and I helped my team by catching a lot of balls. The rest of the day was normal. Tuesday I had a Norwegian test. We were given all day to work, but I finished early, so I was able to leave early. Wednesday I had my usual classes. I had a presentation in English which went well. In the evening I went with Roar and Torhild to a walk. It was 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). It started raining about halfway through, but it wasn't too bad to walk in the rain. When we finished we had waffles and I got a pin for completing the walk. Then we went home and warmed up with some soup for a late dinner. Thursday I had math fagdag; we worked on some individual tasks. In the afternoon I had Norwegian. Friday was my usual classes. In the evening, Roar's parents picked me up to spend the weekend with them again. Saturday we took the bus into the city and walked to a shopping center for lunch. Sunday we went for a walk along the fjord for lunch. Then they dropped me off at home in the evening since Roar and Torhild got home late.
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Saturday I went with Torhild and her friend to a flea market. We looked at all the different stuff there was, but didn't buy anything. Sunday was a walk that Roar and Torhild had organized with some of their friends. I helped with the lottery bit, mostly giving people their prizes if they won anything. It was really fun because all the people that came knew each other and were having fun. There was also a lot of good food! Monday and Tuesday I had my usual classes and nothing out of the ordinary happened in them. Wednesday there was no school so that the teachers could plan their lessons. I went to a Rotary meeting in the early afternoon. Thursday I had chemistry fagdag and we did a short lab. Friday afternoon I had a chemistry test that I think went okay. During the afternoon Torhild, Roar, and Rune went to Denmark, so after school Roar's parents picked me up and I spent the weekend with them. Friday night we watched a movie and some TV. Saturday we went into the city and I met with my friend Julie for a short while in the afternoon. Sunday we went for a walk in Bymarka and ate lunch at the cabin there. For dinner, one of Roar's nieces who is studying at the university in Trondheim came over for dinner. Then Roar, Torhild, and Rune came to get me and we went home.
After a weekend of relaxing, I was reluctant to wake up and go to school on Monday. I started the morning with gym class. We played several fun games: the first had the objective to steal as many "flags" from other people as possible. Our next game was a type of every-man-for-themself dodgeball. If you were hit by a ball you had to remember who had hit you and run laps around the gym until they were hit. We played a version of tag where, once you were tagged, you couldn't use the part of your body where you had been tagged (if they tagged your leg you either had to hop or sit). While dodging the people who were "it" you had to carry classmates who had been tagged to mats where they were able to start over. Our next game required you to run from one end of the gym to the other without being caught. If you were caught, you had to join hands with whoever had tagged you, forming one big chain of people across the middle of the gym. Our final game was regular tag with the catch that we were all scooting around on our butts. This actually looked pretty funny as no one moved particularly fast and there were several times where people were cornered and just gave up, only to pass the job of being "it" onto the person right next to them. All the games were a lot of fun to play. After lunch I had Psychology, and we worked individually on some tasks the teacher had assigned us. Then I had International English. Tuesday was the same as usual. In Spanish we started a movie. Wednesday we met our long-term English sub; he seems like a fun guy. My whole class was excited because our history sub was our old Norwegian teacher. In the evening I went to the post office and picked up a package from St. Peter's DRE, Eileen. So now I'm re-stocked on some of my favorite American treats, I have some more reading once I finish my current book and I have a pocket rosary to take with me when I travel. Thanks so much, Eileen! Thursday I had Psychology fagdag in the morning and Norwegian in the afternoon. Thursday we finished watching a movie in Spanish. We got our math tests back and I was surprised to see that I had done pretty well, and I had Chemistry after lunch. Today also marks only 75 more days before I leave Norway and am finished with my exchange year.
Tuesday, it was back to school. It was really difficult to get up early again and focus on schoolwork. Nothing special happened except that I met my new Norwegian teacher. She's technically the regular teacher, but she had been on maternity leave for the end of last year and the whole of this school year, so I hadn't had her before. She seems really nice and I think I'll get along with her. Wednesday was usual classes. In the evening I went with my host parents and Roar's niece to a hiking area and we walked up to a restaurant for dinner there. Thursday I had English fagdag, but my teacher was sick and the substitute wasn't able to come before 10, so I got to sleep in! I woke up at my usual time, and nothing feels better than knowing that you should be getting up, but that you don't have to. The rest of Thursday was normal though. I was glad for Friday. The beginning of the week had been pretty warm, but Thursday and Friday we got some snow, which no one was happy about. I spent the weekend relaxing; nothing special.
This week my little sister, Teresa, and my cousin, Declan, were on a school service-learning trip with other SHS Spanish students in Ecuador. I know they were both really excited for this trip and did a lot of really cool stuff. You can see pictures from their trip here: https://www.facebook.com/Slinger-High-School-Service-Learning-951330771611798/?fref=nf It's Påskeferie!!! Påske means Easter in Norwegian. The week before had been quite warm (4 degrees Celsius) and it seemed like spring had arrived, but Friday was much colder and in the evening it started to snow! Friday evening was just my host parents and I, relaxing and watching TV. I also started listening to the soundtrack of the new musical, Hamilton. It's absolutely amazing! Saturday, Roar, Torhild and I went into the city for a little bit. I got a small package from home for Easter. In the evening we went to the airport to pick up Tone, my older host sister. She's in the military, but is home for the holiday. Then we went by Torhild's sister for dinner. Sunday we just relaxed around the house. Monday afternoon we packed our stuff into the car and headed to the cabin. I stayed there until Friday afternoon. We mostly spent our time there relaxing; I got through a lot of books I had brought with me. Roar and Torhild's cabin was next to the cabin's of his brother and parents and Roar's parents and two of his brothers were there with their families. Wednesday Torhild's sister and husband joined us at the cabin. Thursday we had a "ski competition". It started with a small ski jump. Roar's nephews went down it several times, and even his brothers. Then there was a ski shooting with a short lap to ski. It was a lot of fun to watch. After all that we had a cookout and everyone got a prize. In the evening we got together and played Passport. Friday afternoon my host sister Tone and I went back to the house. Saturday we didn't do much and my host brother, Rune, returned from his trip to Miami, then went to the cabin. Sunday everyone came home from the cabin. I skyped with my mom and brother in Texas and also got to see my aunt Linda and my cousins Aubrey and Cadence. We went to Torhild's sister's for dinner. Monday was the last day of break, so I spent it getting my stuff ready for school and relaxing.
Tuesday, though I was extremely tired from my busy weekend, I went to school. Nothing exciting happened. In the evening Rune came with some of his friends. They stayed the night, but left early Wednesday morning to fly to Miami for a music concert. Wednesday was a bit more exciting at school. In Psykologi we watched an autobiographical film about a Norwegian film producer suffering depression. At first it was kind of boring, but it got more interesting at the end. In English, our teacher didn't come to class, so we were told to work on our projects, but that we didn't have to stay in the classroom, so everyone left. After lunch, I went to history class, but the classroom was being used for exams for the IB school. However, no one in my class knew this, so our teacher came and took us to another classroom for class. Wednesday evening I had a skype interview for the Honours Inc. scholarship. Thursday I had a math test in the morning. In the afternoon, it was my Norwegian teacher's last day teaching, so we had a party for him. We all signed a card and chipped in for flowers. Two of my classmates also brought cake. After that, we left school early and I went to Trondheim Torg with Kjersti and Tonje. Friday everyone was excited because it was the last day before Påskeferie, Easter break. I had Spanish in the morning, and following there was a school concert at Nidarosdommen. The music and dance students were fantastic! I spent lunch with Sofie Eline and Susanne. Then I had chemistry class before it was finally Påskeferie! God Påske alle sammen!!!
I had a busy and fun weekend. All the Rotary exchange students in Norway met in Sandvika for our last conference with everyone. Friday afternoon my host parents drove me to the airport and I flew to Oslo, then took the train to Sandvika. I was met by a Rotarian who drove me to Emma Gjesthus-where we stayed during our culture course in October. There were already a few people there and more came later in the evening. We didn't have anything planned for the evening, so we played some games and just hung out. We had been working on ordering sweatshirts for our whole group and after a lot of work, communication and some frustration and confusion, we finally got our sweatshirts and they looked great! They were super warm and everyone was excited to get theirs.
Saturday morning we went into Oslo to Akershus Festning, an old military fort along the Oslo fjord. Inside is the Resistance museum about the Norwegian resistance movement during WWII. It was really interesting to learn about everything that the Germans and Norwegians did in Norway at that time. We ate lunch and then went to the Nobel Peace Prize center. First in the tour was a photography exhibit titled "Targets". It was pictures of different targets for different militaries around the world and it was really interesting. Then we learned a little about this years Nobel Peace Prize lauriets and the history of the Tunisian democracy. My favorite part was the Peace Prize garden. It was a room full of lit-up tablets that had a little information about every winner of the Peace Prize. It was a really cool and interesting place to go and I would love to go back sometime. We had the rest of the afternoon free to do as we liked, so I went with a group to walk through Oslo and see some of the main sights. Our first stop was at the Norwegian Royal Palace and we were lucky enough to see the changing of the gaurd. We also took a picture with one of the gaurds, but we had to stay outside the half-circle he was standing in. We of course had to go to Vigeland Statue Park, otherwise known as the "Naked Statue Park". We took the long way there, by accident, but when we got there we took a break and took some pictures. We then walked back to the Royal Palace and walked down Karl Johans gate. We saw some of the skiing competition at Holmenkollen on a screen. We continued on to the Storting, the building where Norway's Parliament is. Meghan and Anna Thompson climbed on the lion statues in front and took pictures. After that we took the bus back to Sandvika and walked home to the guest house. For dinner we went bowling and had pizza. I won in my group and it was really fun all around. When we got back to the guest house we hung out some more until bed. Sunday morning our first stop was at the Holmenkollen ski arena. There was a biathlon competition there that day, but we didn't get to see it. We went up to the top of the ski tower, about 100 m up! Then we went to the ski museum, which was pretty interesting. We even found a "snowball" pit that several of us climbed in. We ate lunch in the lounge where the royal family watches ski competitions, but we had to leave before the king came. After we left we had about an hour of free time before we had to go to the next museum, so we broke off in groups again and walked along the harbor. We found an ice cream shop and several of us bought a cone. Then we went to the Astrup Fearnley museum of modern (and post-modern) art. I'm not particularly interested in that kind of art, so it was kind of boring for me, but others liked it. The first exhibit was a cow and calf cut in half so that you could see their insides. There was also a set of three skinned sheep that were crucified. There were some other works, including a porcelien statue of Michael Jackson and his monkey Bubbles. Then we went back to the guest house. We had dinner and a party for our last night all together. We had originally planned to play a game of Mafia, but instead ended up playing a lot of Just Dance (via Youtube). We even got two Rotarians to join in! It was so much fun and everyone had a great time. After that we ended up just hanging out in different rooms. I think everyone went to bed really late because we all wanted to make the most of our decreasing time together. Monday morning we got up early to pack and then went to the Bærum (the kommune we stayed in) town hall and had breakfast. After, we met with the mayor; she gave us a short presentation about the kommune (similar to a county) and then we had a discussion about school in Norway. Then we went to the viking ship museum. There were three actual viking ships there, as well as various artifacts from the viking age and even some skeletons! It was a really cool museum and as we were getting ready to leave we were surprised when we saw a Rotex from winter camp, Karl, come in with his class. We talked with him for a while, but then it was time to go. We ate lunch along the harbor and Emily Floyd, another American exchange student from Florida, had her sandwich stolen by a seagull! After lunch we went to the Fram museum, where we learned a lot about polar exploration. A Norwegian crew was the first to reach the South pole and there was a ship that nearly passed over the North pole. We got to go aboard the ship and the museum was actually really interesting. Our last stop of the day was at the train station. There were some tearful good-byes as not everyone is going on the Norway Summer tour. A few of them I will probably see again, either in Norway or in the US, but there were also a few friends I'll probably never see again, which is quite sad. A group of us took the train to the airport together and then bought dinner there. Mine was the first plane to leave and my host parents picked me up at the airport in Trondheim. I had a really great time there and was sad that it had to come to an end. Being done with this makes it seem like my exchange is nearly over (I have about 3 months left) and that's really sad to think about. I've had a great time, especially with this group of people, and I'm sad to think that we'll never all be together again. Sunday afternoon I went with my host family to a birthday party for Roar's nephew. Monday morning I had a norsk halvdags prøve. In the afternoon I had my usual classes; Psychology and English. Roar had hurt his back skiing Saturday, so he and Torhild stayed home, so Torhild drove me to school in the morning and they picked me up in the afternoon. Tuesday was also a pretty boring day, though I took the bus to and from school. I had taken the bus a few times before to and from the airport. In the evening I sent a package to my mom with extra stuff I don't need in Norway. My classes Wednesday morning were pretty typical. In English we're starting a paper about a specific global challenge; I'm writing mine about the lack of access to clean water to people around the world. In the afternoon I went to a Rotary meeting. There was a presentation about Rotary's actions to eliminate polio and then there was some more discussion about where and when the club will have their meetings since the hotel where they currently are at is closing down in the summer. Thursday I had Chemistry fagdag. In the afternoon I had a group presentation in Norwegian. When I got home, I packed to fly to Oslo on Friday.
I've moved again. I really enjoyed staying with my second host family; they were great people and I had so much fun with them. They were super supportive of me when I had to go back to the US and very understanding when I came back to Norway. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to work for me to stay with them anymore. There was no third host family lined up for me, so I'll be living with my counselor, Roar, and his wife Torhild.
This week had gone by super fast, so here's a quick re-cap. After such a great week and weekend, no one wanted to go back to school. Monday and Tuesday, it was hard to get up and focus on school, but it got easier. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were also pretty routine. Nothing special happened in school or at home. Friday afternoon I started packing and was once again shocked by how much stuff I have! I can only hope that when it's time for me to return to the US that I'll have a little more space that's currently being occupied by my school materials and winter clothes. I was surprised though to see that I didn't seem to have acquired too much more from the first time I moved. I suppose it also helps that I was able to take a good deal of stuff back to the US in January. I'm looking forward to settling in with my counselor and his wife. Hopefully this is the last time I have to move until I return to the US and I know I'm going to have a great time with them. If you want my address, you can either get it from my mom, or message me privately for it. What a weekend! Friday night I just relaxed an unpacked. Saturday afternoon I met another Rotary exchange student, Julie, in Trondheim. We wandered around the city for a few hours and then went to my house before she had to go. I spent Saturday night watching "Magic City" and "House of Cards" with my host parents. Sunday I met Julie again; this time we went to Rockheim, Trondheim's museum of Norwegian rock music. It's a pretty cool and interactive museum and we had a lot of fun there. First, the tour guide took us through the main exhibit. There's a different room for every decade, starting at the 1950s, all the way to the 2000s. After we looked through that, we tried a few instruments and some karaoke. Overall, a great day and a great weekend.
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