Matvrakhelg!! og Eurotour!!

Here is just a little taste (hahaha pun!!) of the matvrak (crazy food people?) weekend I had with Tale--we made AMAZING food and taught her little brother to ride a bike :) This is curry chicken salad with homemade buns and a smoothie--YUM!!!

 Euro tour 2012
Okay so I just returned from what I would easily call two of the best weeks of my life—a trip around Europe with all other exchange students with Rotary from Norway and Iceland. I wish that I could go into a detailed description of all my experiences, but that would literally take days!! Instead, I decided to include photos and a bulleted list of things we did, experienced, and saw in each country. I should also probably stay that me and a few friends decided to run in every country at least once, so we’ve got photos of us running all over Europe!

The order here is a little off, the actual order we travelled was Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, France, and then England.

 Germany
Berlin:
• Running at six thirty in the morning with Imogene (California) and Angela (Taiwan)
• Fantastic tour guide from the US who had lived in Germany for a number of years and could speak German
• Three hour tour of the city with this guide with books, walking, and intense history lessons
• The Jewish Holocaust Memorial/Museum
• The Berlin Wall
• Hitler’s dying place
• Tons of famous buildings from World War II
Dresden:
• Difficult to hear the guide
• Beautiful buildings and statues
• Only had about an hour in the city before lunch

 Austria
Vienna:
• Evening run with “the letter game” with Imogene, Josh, and Jonathon
• Tour with a guide of some fantastic cathedrals and other areas
• Sitting at a café with a bunch of other exchange students, eating chicken and salad as usual
• Getting our extremely tiny coffees
• Seeing the house Mozart lived in when he died
• Dancing in the street with Duncan (Australia) along with another random dancing couple for fun
• Singing and dancing in the streets with the other exchange students
Salzburg:
• One of my favorite places
• Home of the Vann Trapp family
• Driving over the Alps and then singing “The Hills Are Alive” in the actual hills of Austria
• Discovering cool places at the old castles
• Drinking coffee at a café by the house where Mozart’s wife (or something, we don’t speak German) lived
• Discovering different trails in the area
• Everyone getting dressed up to go to “The Sounds of Salzburg” and taking photos
• “The Sounds of Salzburg” performance with Austrian folk songs and songs from The Sound of Music
• Running through gardens in the morning with lots of other exchange students, led by Morten from Tromsø

 The Czech Republic
Prague:
• Afternoon run around the city with Imogene and Josh (Australia)
• Evening in the outskirts, discovering the nearby ruins up on a hill overlooking the city
• Whole day in Prague with a guide with the green umbrella!!
• So many people in Prague
• Sexual Artifacts Museum with many friends—we were mature about it, don’t worry!!
• Seeing an Jewish Synagogue
• Taking a horse and carriage ride with Jonathon (Pennsylvania) and Calvin (Canada)
• Clock Tower views, seeing the clock tower go off
• Spending the evening on the outskirts of town while it rained

 Italy
• Swimming in the Mediterranean Sea!
• Wandering around the various Indian shops on the island? Why? I don’t know why there were so many Indian places
• Italian pizza!!
• The beach at night
• Running on the beach in the morning with Imogene and Josh and then swimming (skinny dipping) afterwards—not everyone can say they’ve done that!!)
Venice:
• Taking a boat ride across some of the “islands”
• Wandering our way back to lunch and discovering all the shops and gelato along the way
• Eating a “real Italian lunch” (they begin with pasta and THEN have the main meal)
• Going into mask shops
• Gondola ride along the river with a real Italian man standing and rowing the boat for us!
• Many restaurant musicians—listening to them with Ben (Argentina)

 France
Lyon:
• Just slept one night in Lyon
• Wandered around in the evening
• Ran up to a church in the morning and passed by some ruins they were fixing up with Imogene, Josh, and Morten
• Ate breakfast at a real French café—chocolate croissants! I ordered all in French AND the man who sold them to me was also lactose intolerant so he knew exactly what I could and couldn’t eat
Versailles:
• We were just here for a few hours, but we were at the Palace!
• I wandered around with Luiza (Brazil) and Jonathon inside the Palace, translated a few things for them
• We took pictures in the beautiful gardens
Paris:
• We wandered around that night trying to find L’Arc de Triumph and accidentally found the Louvre museum!!
• In the morning Josh, Kyle (Australia), Morten, and I took a run up to the central church in Paris—fantastic view of the city
• We walked up two levels of the Eiffel Tower and then took the elevator the rest of the way up—fantastic view
• We took a boat ride around to see all the different sites in Paris
• We split up and went to Les Champs Elyseés
• Went to the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa
• We went out to a restaurant to eat, and then headed back to the Eiffel Tower to see it at night
• We sat under the Eiffel Tower and had baguettes

 THAT'S THE MONA LISA!!!!

 England
London:
• We took the ferry over from France to England and saw the white cliffs along the shore!
• Everyone ate fish and chips (except me—I got chicken and salad!)
• We got a little time to shop and ate an awesome dinner
• We wandered around and discovered a park that we ran at the next morning (Imogene, Angela, and I)
• We got a guided tour of the city
• We found Big Ben and the London Eye to take photos
• Went to King’s Cross to take photos at platform 9 and 3/4
• Went to a London “haunted house” and got some crazy pictures of us in the “London Dungeons”
• Went to a billion tourist shops finding lots of things with British flags on them
• Found some very cool statues

 before changing of the guards in London at Buckingham Palace:

 Typical American photo with Imogene (my twin) holding the Norwegian flag.

 "Anne and my bitches" crew in Berlin near the wall:

 Before "Sounds of Salzburg" the amazing musical dinner theater!! I love you, Marina!:

 Then we had to, unfortunately, say goodbye the next day. It is pretty incredible that we packed so much into just 13 days—I’m impressed, at least! I wish I could include ALL details from the trip but that would be so impossible, so these are the highlights of the highlights!!

Dresden, Germany--the loves of my life!!

Coming soon...we ran in every country, so of course we have running photos in every country!!!

Sverige, Besøk, og Påskeferie

I thought I would begin with a picture of the beautiful Oslofjord down by my house where I take my ice baths after running--completely amazing to do since I get really bad shin splints! Also, even though I don't have pictures on this computer because my other computer is currently on the fritz, I thought I would just tell a little bit about my winter break that I had in Sweden!! I don't think I have mentioned it yet, it was amazing to visit my wonderful host family from 8th grade and where I was two summers ago. Christine (my host sister) and I went up the Victoria Tower, went shopping in Stockholm, ate homemade sushi, baked, and met up with all the other kids from our exchange--it was really amazing and really cozy. Nice to get a vacation from school and Norway, but amazing as well, because I could actually UNDERSTAND and speak with Swedes--a pretty amazing feeling!

In March, we got a visit from the Serbian exchange students, and my friend Marte had been on that one week exchange in the fall, so we were together with her exchange student and went to the Hollmenkollen, KonTiki museum, and a few other cafes and places around Oslo. We also baked at Marte's house, and attempted Macarones, but that was a SERIOUS fail, so we will just have to try again another time!

For over one week in April, we had Easter break. My host family and I (me, my host dad and mom, my 12-year-old host brother, and my 18-year-old host sister) went to the cabin (2 days travel, 7 days at the cabin) in Vegglifjell. Let me tell you that this is a REAL Norwegian cabin. There was no power (a little solar power plus a gas line), an outhouse, and no running water! We took with us so much water we were going to use plus all the food, and melted snow to wash our hands with. They like to saw the wood themselves and it was a really fun experience. Every day we went hiking, one day to hønetoppen (there is a giant rock shaped like a chicken up there), ate LOTS of food, and played board games. I did homework and read lots of books, went running, and bathed in the icy water. And I mean icy!! There was ice on top!! One day we went to the church in Veggli on the night of the last supper to hear a sermon by a guy with an interesting dialect, and one day we went into Veggliby where we got groceries and played mini golf. We got påskeegg and påskegodt which is a big egg filled with candy you are expected to eat throughout Easter. It was really fun and we really got a lot closer as a family through the experience. We learned that my host dad is sometimes "årets mann," and that chocolate sauce goes good on EVERYTHING. Just a few tips :)

Another thing that was really fun was I was visited by my friend Tavia from back home. She is going to university in Switzerland, and her class took a trip to Denmark, so she just hopped over the border and paid me a visit! We went to Oslo two days and saw Vigelandsparken, Rådhuset, and the Operah House, along with going to Drammen for bowling and a movie night with my friends Frederik and Djani. She also came to school with me one day and saw how it was in a real Norwegian school--how exciting!

I've been up to quite a lot lately with friends and my host family, so here are just a few highlights! For example in the photo above you have a little taste of the cupcakes we made for our Star Wars marathon--my host sisters and their friends hadn't seen the films so we thought it was necessary to show them!

Another example: A recipe called "slutty brownies" that I got from a random website one time turned out FANTASTIC. My friends Tale, Vilde, and I made them and watched the film 500 Days of Summer among other films. These brownies consist of a cookie dough base, oreo cookies in-between, and brownies on top. Sinfully good!

On another note, I just thought I would talk a little about how it felt to be towards the end of my exchange. The Europe trip is coming up, my family is coming to visit, and school is ending soon! It is really sad but also really exciting considering I will be headed to university in the fall. I feel like an entirely different person than when I started the exchange in many good ways, and I can tell coming back will not be easy, but will show me TEN TIMES more how much I have learned in the past year--not to mention speaking English to people!! That is gonna be CRAZY!!

Well anyway, I just thought I would put some thoughts out there, and if you hadn't heard, I come home July 13th!

Alt som har skjed i det siste!!

Okay, I know it has been a long time since I have written anything, but that is because I have been SO busy!! But now I am going to take the time to sit down and record everything that has been going on lately so that not only you guys can read about it, but so that I actually remember it because time is seriously FLYING by!! It is not fair! So I guess I will begin with stories from wintercamp.

Here is a photo of a bunch of us exchange students outside of the dining hall in Nesbyen where we had our wintercamp. We all met on the train after a looooong time of not seeing each other, and were really excited to meet the new kids who had just come from Australia, Argentina, and Brazil. We also met one girl who isn't a youth exchange student through Rotary, but a work exchange student who got to come with us on our winter camp--she is from Chile and totally amazing! Te amo, Fran! Our first day we got fitted out for ski gear and went on a little ski tour to try out our skills and get started on learning how to cross-country ski! Then we all went sledding down the hill next to the dining hall. If I may say so myself, I was a pretty good driver! That's right mom and dad :) After that, we were split into groups mainly based off of geography since they figured we might be around the same level: North America, South America, and Australia(+France and Taiwan). We got quite a lot of free time every night that week, and we spent it cozy in the cabins playing cards, dancing, and reading old British Cosmo magazines.

The first day, the North Americans got to go downhill skiing in the morning. I thought it would be a lot more difficult, but it turns out after all these years that the rumors are true (in my opinion): skiing is a LOT easier than snowboarding. Not that I don't love snowboarding :) I mainly spent the day skiing with my Canadian buds, Calvin and Brock, doing all the possible runs on the mountain. They are pretty professional seeing as they are Canadian and all. After that, we went back to the main lodge and went out on a cross-country trip, but it was only five kilometers, and the guides said it was going to take us up to two hours. Calvin and I didn't believe that at all, so we did the round twice in about 45 minutes!! Go professional cross-countriers! After that, we were pretty tired, and then went and watched some of the South Americans snowboarding down the little hill. Pretty successful day :)

Day two: cross-country ski day! We pretty much had free-reign after we did our ski tour of the day in terms of if we wanted to snowboard, cross-country ski, etc. We began with our cross-country tour, and then I set out to the little slopes to teach Brock and some other kids how to snowboard--I've never tried to teach anyone before, and snowboarding is...pretty difficult, but they did really well and I was impressed!

Day three was another day of cross-country and snowboarding and sledding for us. Jonathan, an exchange student from Pennsylvania and I went on a fun excursion that was about 11 or 12 kilometers, and then came back and did another five with the group. We were "skikkelige friluftsfolk" that day!! Then we did a little snowboarding and a little relaxing. The only thing that was not so fun is that I got TERRIBLE blisters on the back of my feet--I had to stop wearing shoes, that wasn't any fun :(

Day four everyone was on the mountain going slalom or snowboarding!! It was so much fun--I went around and took some of the Australians around the mountain, and towards the end of the day, I found another group of kids who were doing some of the ski jumps in the park, so we have a video of me getting three jumps in a row!! It was really really fun and made for an awesome day :)

The last day before we went home again, we were supposed to do an 18-kilometer trip, but my sores on the back of my feet were so bad I couldn't get my shoes on, so I stayed back with some of the other kids who had other injuries and stuff and watched movies, which was fun, but a little sad because I REALLY wanted to go on that trip. That night, we all stayed up really late hanging out and talking--it was a really good time!! It was really hard to leave afterwards but we knew that we were going to see each other at the Hollmenkollen three weeks later, so it wasn't as sad as it could have been, and will be at the end of Eurotour :(

After this camp, I had one week home, and then went straight to Sweden on an eight hour bus to Stockholm to visit my old host family from 8th grade for the week because we had winter break!! The busride there was...not very eventful, but I knitted the whole way!! (a craftsmanship I learned from my friends the night before when we had a knitting evening and I made them macaroni and cheese and we ate hot dogs and made a really good dessert that we found on www.passionforbaking.com) So, in Sweden, I met my old family and stayed with them through the week :) I met with old friends from the exchange and we went out to dinner, to cafés, on walks (Sweden just got a new princess and she is living in this area where we went for a walk), and spoke quite a lot of Swedish (while I replied in Norwegian). It is pretty amazing how Scandinavian folk can just speak together without a translator in two different languages because they are so similar! We also decorated Easter eggs, had movie nights, and went up to the Victoria Tower, which had a really nice view of all of Sollentuna. We also went shopping in Stockholm, of course. All in all, it was a very fun trip, but the eight hour bus ride back was...well I slept most of the way so it went pretty fast.

The next thing I am going to talk about was the Holmenkollen weekend :) We got four days together with the exchange students at Sannvika storsenter and in Oslo. We stayed at a house called the Emma Gjestehus, and it was an old school converted to a sort of hotel. It was really nice! The first night we walked down to Sannvika storsenter and couldn't really do much shopping, but at least got to figure out where it was and have a good time together! The second day we went to a World War Two museum and the Nobel Peace Prize museum. There, my friend Duncan and I took a picture under this screen that was a project of one of this years' winners of the peace prize: she wanted us to write something on our hands that reminds of us peace or togetherness. We wrote this:

It means "cheers" in Norwegian, and in my opinion, is the most festive, and peaceful word there is! Here is a picture of my dear MacKenzie and I in front of the International Peace Prize museum:

Then, we got free time in Oslo, and me and a group of others went to Wayne's Coffee--the best coffee place!!--and shopped around. We went to the castle, parliament house, and many stores. My friend Calvin and I decided to get lost in some of the less-known areas (no ghettos, don't worry), and we found a really good Persian restaurant where we sat for a while, and a couple there who thought we were a couple sweetly asked us if we wanted a picture together, so that was nice!! Then, we made our way back to Sannvika to go bowling!! We went bowling and I...am not very good at bowling, but it was really fun!

The next day, we spent the day at the Holmenkollen ski jump hanging out and watching all the competition. This was awesome, because there were really not very many people there--much less than normal--and we got on the big TV dancing three times!! We all painted our faces and had crazy flags and were very good world-wide representatives. The Canadians had a jumper that they got his signature from :) Did I mention this was the day that Steambotian Bryan Fletcher won the nordic-combined competition?! All the Norwegians were pretty disappointed that it wasn't even a Norwegian that won...but GO STEAMBOAT!!!

The next day, we went to the Viking Ship Museum and the Fram Museum, which both had a lot of boats! The Fram boat is HUGE and you can go inside, and the Viking Ship museum was really interested--our guide told us about dead WOMEN buried in a boat like a tomb that they found!! Women!! Rich ones, too! They still don't know the whole story, but it was pretty interesting. This was also the day that we had breakfast with the mayor of Bærum, which is a municipality in the area. We ate and heard a presentation about some statistics in the area--definitely a little political luring towards the exchange students! But it was fun :) Then, we got driven home by MacKenzie's counselor, and it was very very sad :(

Here are Josh the Aussie and I in front of yet another naked statue in Oslo!! They like them some naked peeps!

Another quick thing I think is worth mentioning is that my entrepreneurship business has taken off! We had our first competition in Skien with our water bottle that filters dirty water, and even though we only have a prototype so far, we still got second place in "best regnskap," "IA rapporten," and won "mest innovative produkt"!! That got us 1,500 kroner and permission to go to the next level of competition which is national! Pretty cool, right? Here is our stand we used at competition: (we are really six people working on the business but we were pretty much everywhere that day!)

You THINK this is the end, but REALLY....I have a LOT more to write, but I am waiting until my next round of pictures on my camera are loaded up! If you want to see more pictures, by the way, check out Rotary's exchange student blog for district 5440 (Steamboat Springs). I uploaded quite a few different photos, and then you can see us with our faces painted at Holmenkollen!

The Big Move

I know that this entry should really be tribute to going home because that will really be the biggest move, and moving up the street doesn't really seem like that big of a deal, but it sort of feels that way. First, it is big because this is something we have talked about for months, and suddenly it is here, and I have a feeling that after I move, life is going to go into turbo motion and I will be back home in Steamboat before I know it. Second, this first host family I have lived with, the Voldens, have been so amazing I feel lucky that I got the chance to meet them. I expected living with a completely random family to be weird and awkward, but I was pleasantly surprised when I moved in here--I have 100% always felt completely comfortable here, and that is a pretty amazing thing! It is going to be really sad to leave, but I do have the solace of knowing that I live just up the street. I actually have known my next host family since I have lived in Norway, so they are definitely not completely strangers. My next host family is a dad, a mom, and four kids--I even get a little brother! I am very excited to experience some new things. I think that is part of the whole exchange experience--change and moving on from it, doing things on the spur of the moment, and finding yourself completely outside of your entire environment. Trust me, anyone who has ever been an exchange students has been faced with these things: it is a given in terms of exchanges.

Anyway! Enough of the sappy and sentimental. It is time for me to update you guys on what I have been up to! I have been doing a lot of activities with friends lately, and that has been really great :) I went sledding for the first time in Norway and saw the movie "Trolljegeren" or "The Troll Hunter." I have gone skiing multiple times--still pretty bad! A few of my friends have had birthdays and begun to turn 18!! That is pretty exciting for me--especially if they get their licenses :) one thing I have definitely been craving lately but haven't gotten to do yet is to swim in a swimming pool. I have always been kind of addicted to just going for a random swim--one thing I got to do a TON in the fall because the ocean is right there, but I'm not crazy enough to do that now!! That is wayyyyyy too cold if you ask me! So I am just craving a dip in a pool--I'm workin' on it! Trips in the making: Sweden, Trondheim, Tromsø, Bergen (with my school!!! So excited :D), Tønsberg, my new host family's hytta which I don't remember where it is but I'm excited!, Denmark (probably with my family), and just everywhere possible! Oh and don't forget winter camp and Europe trip! Ahhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay so I was going to upload some pictures, but apparently this website isn't really feeling the whole picture thing right now and won't let me. Anyway, it's okay because I have exciting news. Since I last saved this entry, I have MOVED!!! We had a really nice lunch with both my families with PIE!!!! last Saturday, and then they helped me move my MASSIVE amount of stuff that I have collected in the last few months up the street (very far) to my new host family! I have a reaaaaaally adorable room, and a fantastic family! They are two parents, three sisters (one lives in Oslo: I live in her room), one little brother(he's pretty awesome), and a dog!!! It is really exciting and a really lively household. They eat gluten free, and I eat lactose free, so we are basically just a big allergic family...cozy. Haha :) But anyway, I just thought I would let everyone know that the move went really well, and although my last host family was FANTASTIC as well, I am loving my new host family :) Oh, and they have been missionaries in Azabidjan (which I have no idea how to spell), so the parents and eldest daughter can speak Azabidjansk which is very close to Turkish, and then!! their oldest daughter can speak Russian! How cool is that?! Anyway, next week is winter camp--pictures and a blog entry coming soon!!!!

Det snøer AKKURAT nå!!

It is snowing right now! I thought I would make that the beginning of this blog entry since it is snowing right now! Anyway, I thought I would just make a to-do list of things that are yet to happen in my year so that you all know what to look forward to, and can remind me later about if I need it!

• Winter camp! February 11th-18th in Nesbyen
• Eurotour! Sometime in April allllllllllll over Europe!
• My family visiting at the end of May!
• Some friends and I possibly horseback riding in Hardanger in the Spring :)
• Winter Break (week 9)
• Easter Break (week around Easter)
• Switching host families!!!
• Amusement Park in Oslo!
• More amazing touristing and adventures!!!

Also, I gave my Rotary presentation about my life and Rotary in Steamboat two nights ago--it went really well! One guy in my Rotary, Ove, has a daughter that lives or has lived in Colorado and he has been all over, and to Moab, and all that--he was very enthusiastic about the whole thing--it was pretty great! Anyway, more updates coming later! Here's me being an advocat for how great Colorado is: :D

Godt Nyttår!!!!

Grøt! It is the Norwegian version of what I'm pretty sure is grits--sort of like rice oatmeal that they add sugar, cinnamon, and butter to and then eat at Christmas time. I thought I would start this entry out with something festive :)

MUN

So this was a while ago, but I forgot to blog about it. I was at a Model United Nations conference with my school a few months ago because my neighbor slash chemistry teacher at my school slash next host dad asked me if I was interested since the whole thing is done in English and he always tries to get some pull with the exchange students. A few of my other friends decided to do it too, and it was a really great experience! It was in Sandefjord and we took a mini bus there--it was probably only like a two hour drive tops, but once we were there it was really cool because we began the day with hearing all the opening speeches from all the countries--I was representing the disarmament committee of India. After that we split up into groups and began working on our resolutions and I ended up helping out with one about the Pirates in Somalia. It was really cool because there were a few kids working on it with me from an IB program in Norway, and I swear, their English was better than mine! It was a little scary. Plus, they had sooooo much knowledge about MUN because they have a course in school where they learn about it every day--it was pretty cool! The thing I really learned from it was how cool the United Nations really is--not only is it exciting to see countries interact with each other, but it is truly amazing to see some country such as Germany just stand up and say "Hey, I want to help out on this issue in Somalia, not because it is going to benefit me, but because I just know how to solve it." Once we got to actually debating the issues, it got REALLY exciting because the chair could just call on anyone if they felt the need on an issue and you had to have something ready to say! That was pretty nerve-wracking. Especially when you had only a little idea of what they were actually talking about. It was so fun though :) And I met a lot of really cool people! There were a few kids who were about 12 years old, and they were some of the best kids up

there! They weren't afraid to just go for it and let the world know they had something to say--needless to say it was pretty cool. After all that, we had the general assembly where the chairs chose one issue to debate from each country--this was really funny because in one of the committees, they actually had a serious debate submitted by the United Arab Emrates(is that how you spell it?) on how the world needed to dispose of all pork and alcohol products--sounds insane, but I read the resolution, and let me tell you...it was some serious but at the same time insane stuff! So at the general assembly we talked about all the issues, heard a few presentations, and the day came to a close. I can't believe I forgot to write about this!! The night after the first day of the MUN conference, we had dinner and "dancing" which was a really awkward dance party for everyone, but the dinner was really good :) Typical Norwegian food for sure. We had assigned seats which was really fun because we got to meet people from our committees that we had debated with that day--all in all it was a pretty incredible experience, and I feel like I have a much better idea of what MUN and UN are now since then! It was great especially since I am considering joining MUN in college.

Sverige(Harrytur!), IKEA, og KG Konserten

We took a trip to Sweden with my host family--that was awesome! Everything in Sweden is so cheap in comparison to Norway--I bought a few clothes, and we bought a TON of groceries--it's a Norwegian thing. We spent TONS of money, but probably like half as much as we would have paid in Norway. We actually ran into some family of the Volde

ns! It was only like an hour long drive, and we also found a MASSIVE candy store that makes me never want to look at candy again because there was SOOO much!

We also took a trip to IKEA the day after Sweden, and I got to see all the magic that has just hit Denver! The cool thing is they have all these models of rooms in h

ouses you can walk through that are all decorated! It is quite fun. Plus, IKEA is huge, and they have all sorts of pretty inexpensive stuff!

The other thing I have yet to write about is the KG concert that Karine was in with

her school--they all sang in the Norwegian national dress, and they are REALLY good! They had dancers, singers, and a bell choir! The soloists were incredible, and they sang English and Nor

wegian Christmas songs--Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer was quite the hit with an all-boys a Capella choir in Norwegian!! Also, my second host family had two daughters dance and sing in the show as well, so it was quite the fest!

Snø og Amerikaner!

We finally got snow! And I got pictures! Muahahaha! And, on the sa

me note, MacKenzie and I went into Oslo to celebrate snow and the fact that our country isn't "at war" although I'm sure the technicalities are not exactly that simple, and we got a "real American meal" at TGI Friday's! Truth be told, we were just craving a real burger--it wasn't QUITE the same as in the US, but it was pretty close! We got awesome milkshakes as well!

Siste skole dag før jul

The last school day before Christmas break! It was pretty fun :) In fact, the last whole week, all we ended up doing in classes for the most part was really having "kosetimen" which basically meant we were having a cozy class party. People brought in gingerbread and all different kinds of cake. Then, as I guess it is pretty common to do, we watched old Mickey Mouse Christmas videos dubbed to Norwegian. It was so much fun, and I finally did my presentation on the Vikings in History. It didn't go too badly, either! The last day of school

before Christmas, a bunch of the teachers met us outside of the school with candy and clementines in Santa outfits, or as it is called in Norwegian, Julenissen kostumer. They gave out Christmas hugs and candy, and the sidewalk was lined with candles--it was pretty festive considering how dark it gets in Norway--I understand why they love Christmas so much, now--it brings life and spirit in a time of darkness. Then we all met in the cantine and waited for someone to tell us what we were doing. We ended up in the Aula or Theater, I guess it is called that? And watched a few of our friends sing for us, and our teachers do some sort of crazy southern chicken dance. I'm not kidding, they were dressed up like chickens. Crazy Norwegians!! One of the kids that sang for us is called Per, and he was actually on Norway's "Idol," which is like American Idol for us in the US! He was a pretty good singer, I must say! Then, we headed back to our classrooms, and we watched old Mickey cartoons

and played mind games and things like that while we ate cake AGAIN :) It was a really cozy and fun day :) When I got home, Karine and I decided to make a gingerbread house from the dough we bought at IKEA, and it turned out TOTALLY professional! The cool thing is, after Christmas, we smashed it with a hammer, as tradition says to, and then ate it! I was actually appalled at first that people actually eat gingerbread houses after they have been sitting around for a week or two, but it was GOOD!! And fun to smash things :) Not to mention, we had the whole family home for a few days before we left for Christmas, so it made life all the more festive! We were nine people for a while! My host parents, my host sister, both my host brothers and their girlfriends, and Joakim, my oldest host brother's dog. It was a really fun time!

Jul i Bergen!

Bergen! Okay so a day after I went on break from school, we heade

d out to Bergen. We took the train which took about six hours and was actually really fun because all my host brother Magnus and I did was make up stupid (or awesome--up to interpretation) dances, watch Spirited Away, and drink hot chocolate. We also opened some of the gifts from Joakim and Juli Anne which were homemade fudge and chocolate-covered marshmallows! That was really fun! Then, everyone except Magnus and I got off the train early to be picked up, and we took the train all the way to Bergen to be picked up there because it was easier with the rides and picking people up because we were so many people. This ended up with Magnus and I completely lost at not the biggest bus station in the world--still not sure how we managed to get so confused, but we didn't get to Britt's parents' house for quite some time! When we got there, however, it was really nice. They had soup out for us, and we sat around and watched some TV together, until Britt's mother and her dec

ided to go shopping, and Karine and I decided to go with them. We ended up going to a HUGE shopping mall--not as big as the one I live nearest to now, but still pretty big! Karine just needed to buy some tights and I just wanted to do something, so it turned out to be a pretty good outing. The day we got there was on the 23 of December, by the way. Then, we went home, ate dinner, and I met Astrid--I think she was Britt's Aunt maybe? I forget the family connection but she was really nice and fun :) We went to bed decently late as all family gatherings always end later than most due to the looking at family photographs and all that--so much dirt on my host brothers now!

The next day was the big day where everything happens--in Norway, they don't celebrate Christmas on the 25th, all the festivities are done on the 24th, and in REALLY nice clothing! We headed out for lunch with Britt's brother's family at their ho

use--we ate grøt (see the top of this blog entry if you forgot what that is), and just visited! Did I mention in Bergen they have a different dialect than in Oslo, so that was quite the challenge sometimes! They have this tradition in Norway with grøt where they slip a shaved almond into the pot of grøt, and whoever gets the almond gets a pig-shaped marzipan candy. Throughout the years they have begun to give out lots of different things, but traditionally, it should be a little marzipan pig. At that lunch, I believe it was my host siblings' cousin that got the "mandel" as it is called in Norwegian. I also got to meet Britt's brother Peter's penguin, which was apparently shot by Britt's father--I think it was her father...maybe her grandfather...and then stuffed, and gets passed down in the family ever since--pretty sad, but kind of cool to see a real penguin! After that, we opened some gifts with their family, they gave me a classic black scarf that I absolutely love and is so warm! Their family actually just left for a thr

ee-month adventure in Australia, New Zealand, Viet Nam, and some other places--exciting, right?? After their house, we went to the church service, which lasted for about an hour in a TOTALLY packed church. That was kind of cool because we sang Norwegian Christmas songs and just got to feel completely at home sitting in a church full of people because apparently EVERYONE goes to church on Christmas Eve just to sing and be merry! After that, we went home and changed for the formal part of the evening--Christmas Eve dinner. Right before dinner we watched a hilarious Christmas Eve special that has been on TV every year since God knows when in Europe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1v4BYV-YvA there's the link to watch it! I thought it was pretty hilarious myself--that classy British humor. Then, we sat down to a Christmas dinner of pinnekjøtt, which is lamb ribs--it was incredibly good! Then, for dessert, we ate something that was basically lemon mousse--so go

od! That also included an almond, and that time I believe it was Britt that got it! Then, we opened gifts :) Mine from the US hadn't come yet, so I couldn't give anything to the family--I made them homemade cookies, but we ended up doing their gifts later when we got back. With Britt's parents, my host parents, Magnus, Karine, Astrid, and I, we had quite a group! We opened gifts one or two at a time so that everyone could see what everyone else got--Britt got a book of 1000 places in the world to visit and CLARK, Colorado was one of them, but not Steamboat! Can you believe that?? I got an AMAZING Norwegian sweater from Britt's parents, a Norwegian book, a hair-straightener, and a table decoration. It was so cozy and nice, and we had cake that evening as well--they really enjoy their double desserts around Christmas time! We went to bed fat and happy after I skyped my family and watched them open the gifts I got them from Norway!!

The next day, we decided to take a trip into the city and see B

ergen. It is such a pretty place, so open. I took pictures all around the city, on statues and of historical monuments, learned about the time when the whole city of Bergen caught on fire during the war--it really is a place of fantastic history. We went through this gingerbread village set up every year with more gingerbread than I have ever seen in my life!

We also took a tram-type thing up to the top of one of the mountains around Bergen and saw the whole city from up top--that was pretty cool. After that, we went and saw Britt's brother one last time and his family, and had coffee with them. We had them over for dinner that night as well, so we saw them quite a lot! Then, we went home and had a cozy evening together before we left the next day. I can't remember which days, but a few times we went out and walked around and did some nature sightseeing--which was quite interesting because it was POURING rain, and Gunnar and I got soaking wet! Because the weather had been so bad and SOOO windy, the train on the way back was cancelled through some stretches, so we had to do some train to bus back to train hopping, but it was overall pretty fun, and I finally got to see The Shining and The Incredibles in Norwegian on the way back! When we got back, Joakim and Juli Anne were back from their trip to Narvik to visit her parents, and they had with them their dog, Copper (Kopper? Probably), and had some evening food set out for us, along with a bunch of homemade stuff from Juli Anne and her parents--they really like to make homemade stuff during the holidays, it was awesome! We all sat around and socialized and just had a really good time--the next day I finally got some gift packages from the USA and gave them to the family--they loved them! (I hope!)

Nyttårs

New Years is also a pretty big holiday in Norway. My family was having a party at their house for it, along with a bunch of my friends, so the other exchange student and I went first to our friend's party to actually bring in the New Year and see all the fireworks outside, and then caught a ride from my host dad back to the house, and cozied up to so yummy dessert while we talked to all my family friends. There isn't so much tradition surrounding New Years as there is Christmas here, but it was still fun, and there were still TONS of fireworks--weird to think I will be going home THIS year!! :( Two days after New Years I headed into Drammen to see a film with some friends--it was really fun! I'm exciting to go skiing soon, come on, snow!

Begynner av skolen igjen

So school has begun again, and it is really pretty exciting, just fun to see some friends again since I was travelling for most of the vacation. Winter camp with Rotary is approaching fast--I think it is in about six and a half weeks, and Eurotrip is this year as well! I still have quite a few things I want to experience in Norway. I can't believe i am moving families in less than two months! It is sad to think about because I really love my host family now, but my next family is just across the street and seem like really interesting people, so it should be really fun! I've still got tons of concerts, theme parks, horseback riding, and skiing to fit into my exchange, not to mention travel, so I had better get a move-on, I guess!

I've got more pictures to post but for some reason this website doesn't want me to right now--I will have to do it later! Bye for now!

Jul, Nisser, og Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving

So this year, I had two Thanksgivings:

Thanksgiving #1: On actual Thanksgiving Day

After school, I went over to MacKenzie's with her and our friend Martin, and we began to cook. We didn't have much to work with, but we made fried chicken, mashed potatoes (in a blender, it went well, actually), cookies (with ice cream), and stuffing that MacKenzie's family had sent her (those premade packages). Martin tried to make some sauce, but really it had wayyyy to much water and turned out a lot more like water--we never stopped making fun of him for that! Poor guy...Anyway, we ate together with MacKenzie's host dad and it was really nice and cozy. We played ping-pong and skyped with her family and just had a good time. I went home decently late and it was a good, cozy, small, low-key Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving #2: The weekend after Thanksgiving

My host family had the really great idea of having some Rotarians and friends over for Thanksgiving Dinner, and MacKenzie and I would make all the food for them. MacKenzie and I decided this was a great idea and so we decided to do it. I went shopping with my host dad in Oslo earlier in the week to find some strange things, for example, pumpkin for the pumpkin pie, because we decided to make it from scratch. We also ate sushi in the city which was really cozy and nice! Here was a little sneak peek of what our guest list looked like for the coming Sunday:

• My two host families
• MacKenzie's first two host families
• The teacher that MacKenzie and I have Norwegian lessons from each Tuesday
• Our Rotary President plus his wife
• MacKenzie's Rotary President plus his wife
• A few other random Rotarians
• My counselor and his wife
• MacKenzie's counselor and his wife

It ended up being about 25 people--WOW!! We thought that we needed to make a lot of food. Norwegians don't exactly understand the M.O. one must take to eating Thanksgiving dinner, but regardless, we knew we had to have A LOT of food. We started out Saturday morning by going shopping. §1300 later...we started cooking. We had (and homemade, mind you) stuffing, cornbread, devilled eggs, three apple pies, three pumpkin pies, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, gravy, rolls, artichoke dip, tittebær jam (the closest thing we could find to cranberry sauce), peas, corn, yams with marshmellows on top, THREE turkeys, asparagus, and from what I remember, MUCH more. We cooked for 11 hours on Saturday and eight on Sunday--MacKenzie, Britt, Gunnar, and I were serious troopers. We really killed it on the food making (in a good way). On Sunday, everyone came over and we had to MAKE them start eating--probably because everyone didn't know everyone and they felt awkward. We told them the story of how Thanksgiving started and the traditions that surround it. We also read them the poem I Ate Too Much and if don't know what I am talking about, it goes like this:

I ate too much Turkey, I ate too much corn,

I ate too much pudding and pie.

I'm stuffed up with muffins and too much stuffin'

I'm probably going to die.

I piled up my plate and I ate and I ate.

But I wish I had known when to stop,

For I'm so crammed with yams, sauces, gravies, and jams

That my buttons are starting to pop!

I'm full of tomatoes and french fried potatoes

My stomach is swollen and sore,

But there's still some dessert so I guess it won't hurt if

I eat just a little bit more!

We all had a really good time together and it was really nice, but afterwards, we had to CLEAN UP which of course was just one big party, you know. It wasn't nearly as bad as I expected, however, so that was good. I had a TERRIBLE stomach ache for days because of eating so much dairy, though, so that was also fun. Anyway, getting away from my digestive problems...It was overall VERY successful and everyone was thoroughly impressed with our spread and the weird food we made. Everyone was super skeptical about the yams and marshmellows but are now in love so...go USA I guess! The one thing everyone told us was they did NOT understand how we could eat so much. And by we I mean MacKenzie and I. I'm just saying. We did America proud.

Jul

Jul i Norge! Christmas time here is a very special time of the year, as it is in most places. We have a quiz each day that the librarians send out about Christmas that everyone competes for, special TV programs like "Jul i Blåfjell" and "The Julekalender" that are cheesy Norwegian children shows--they are the best! And so funny :) Every night at six o'clock, everyone sits around and cozies up to watch Blåfjell and drink coffee :) My Rotary threw a holiday party where we ate Rakfisk with potatoes, lefse, beets, and drank coffee. Rakfisk is fish that has been buried in the ground and fermented, and then dug up again, but don't judge it by the sound, it is reaaaally good!

There is a Norwegian word: Koselig, and it translates to something like "cozy," but not quite. It is the feeling of an atmosphere where you are with really good people, just having a good time, or baking cookies all day, or sitting by a fire with wool socks and a cup of hot cocoa--that is koselig--not really sure how else to describe it. I would say Christmas in Norway is really "koselig." Everyone bakes gingerbread and just has a really good time together--Norway has a LOT of special Christmas food--maybe they just missed out on Thanksgiving :) No but they eat a lot more fish, which is GREAT because the fish here is incredible. But but enough about fish. Nom: :)

But every year in the U.S., my mom (and sometimes friends), and I set up a little village with figurines and buildings and that is really cozy as well. I remember every year we put little "gnomes" in the "forest" area, but this year, I found out these "gnomes" were actually Norwegian "Nisser"! The TV program "Jul i Blåfjel" is a show ALL about them! Here, my entire childhood tradition and I have only found out NOW where they come from! Here are the Blåfjell Nisser:

I'll keep you all posted on the Christmas thing because it is still happening, but we are travelling to Bergen next week for Christmas with the Grandparents, so I am excited! Som vi sier på Norsk, jeg gleder meg!

Museet

So my host mom and I took a little trip to Folkemuseet near Oslo and just walked around for like four hours--it was pretty incredible! There are just so many things to see! It is an outdoor museum where they have moved a bunch of old buildings from all over Norway to one place to accurately show how things were back in that time.

Each building has a little history chart about where it originally was, how old it was, and what it was used for. It looked like the Norway in DisneyWorld! Although everything here sort of looks like that, I must say. They had a huge market where everyone sold their own handmade items--people were weaving and knitting and creating their own wool string to make clothing with--it was pretty incredible!

They even had a little church-type house where everyone could join in and sing Christmas carols :) There was also a section devoted to show how the Samis live way in the North. If anyone doesn't know who the Samis are, they are the native peoples of Norway. I have a nice picture of the cool houses they lived in here! :

I bought a bunch of gifts here at this museum, so go ahead and ask my family after Christmas what they got if you are curious :)

Oslo

I was in Oslo with all the other exchange students the other weekend, which was incredibly fun, I might add. We went to Vigelandsparken in Oslo, and ate sushi at a random sushi shop--it was really good!

Vigelandsparken:

We also walked around Oslo and were just together. That is the amazing part about exchange students--when there is nothing to do, we FIND something, and we always have a good time together: ) For example, we find random things like "ghetto" bathrooms to find entertaining:

We also saw the Rådhus which was really cool with really cool Norwegian artwork which is quite unique, if I do say so myself. Here is a little sample:

Sverige

So last Saturday my host family and I went to Sweden and shopped--not an uncommon thing for Norwegians to do because everything in Sweden is WAY cheaper than Norway! Sad, right? Well, anyway, we went and bought MASSIVE amounts of groceries, I got a few clothes, and my host sister and I got our candy fix and THEN some. I did send about half of it back home, but I think I may still be set until the end of my exchange, AT LEAST, and it cost me virtually nothing! Sweden is a wonderful magical land of cheap but still delicious candy. When we got home from a WHOLE day in Sweden (the border is only about an hour and a half away from our house, so we didn't really go that far, and no one at the border check anything, mind you), I got home to my friends Marte and Tale, and we baked Swedish Kladdkaka, so it was a veryyyy Swedish day! We also watched a few episodes of Epic Mealtime on youtube, and then discovered Average Swedish Mealtime which is possibly even funnier!!!!!!!!!! Check it out if you are interested :)

IKEA

A little later in the day this past Sunday, my host parents asked if I wanted to take a trip to IKEA, which if you didn't know, is a giant store that has EVERYTHING. The best part, though was that since they were just shopping for curtains, I just went around and looked at everything, and they have these sample premade rooms such as a model kitchen or something that are so cool because they are themed and have all the things a normal kitchen would have and are modeled like a kitchen that people were just recently baking in or something, and it is just so cool and cute and fun! I heard we got one in Denver so maybe it isn't so special, but I thought it was!

Well I hadn't written anything in quite some time, so I filled everyone in on the highlights, but I hope it was a good fulfilling issue of my life! Haha. Well. By the way. Did anyone hear about Norway running out of butter?!!!!!!!!! Because it happened!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! We bought some in Sweden so it is okay but seriously! How does a country run out of butter! We had to borrow from Denmark!