Uke fire i Norge!

As I am mid-way through my fourth week in Norway, I begin to write this blog. I'm not exactly sure what everyone is interested in hearing about specifically, so if you could let me know in the comments it would be greatly appreciated! My host sister would also like to make sure you all know how awesome Norway is because it is really really really really awesome here--just a side note! So this is my second week of school, and even though I still don't have a school computer, I am working on getting one very soon! I am finding that my Entreprenørskap class may be my most challenging subject, and the most fun. In this class we shall create a business and an object to sell, and then basically set up a mock business until May, according to all rules and regulations, and then we shall close down the business in May after some sort of presentation or competition thing. The best part about the class is that the teacher speaks fairly quickly, but I can understand her, and the students speak in all Norwegian almost all the time. I get no English feedback and it is left up to me to figure out what is going on--I LOVE THAT. My teachers are beginning to understand that I really do want to learn Norwegian, and I can understand a lot of what they say.

MacKenzie--the other exchange student from the U.S.--and I have Norwegian lessons from a retired teacher every Tuesday, and I find this very helpful also. We go over vocabulary, verb conjugation, Norsk regler, and just plain speaking Norwegian. We have also had a chance to talk about Norwegian culture and customs. This is a picture of my school from the street:

My host dad and I have been swimming in the ocean a lot lately, med brenmaneter (jellyfish), and I have been running as much as possible while the weather is still nice--and by nice I mean not snowing. It has been raining quite a lot lately, but today vær var så veldig fint! (the weather was awesome!). It was sunny and nearly hot around 4 o'clock!

So I am going to explain a random custom in Norway in my blogs if I have one to tell. The first one I shall talk about is the way one tells time in Norway. Although you can say 11:30, most people won't say it that way, they will say (in Norwegian) half twelve. If the time is 4:38, they will say eight after half before five, or åtte over halv fem. If the time is 9:15, you would say quarter after nine--kvart over ni. If the time is 6:21, you would say ni på halv syv. It is pretty simple but it definitely took me some time to figure out how it worked, and I am still learning.

I am coming along in Norwegian, but I learn new things every day, and I can tell it is going to take some hard work to be considered fluent in the language. However, I truly love the language as well, so I don't mind the challenge. Anyway, I'm not really sure what you are interested in hearing about (the four of you that are subscribed to my blog...lol), but let me know, and I can tell you more about things you may actually know nothing about. Oh and by the way, they have no mint oreos, no Rootbeer, and no Reeses here so....send gifts! Oh and spicy food is pretty irregular so send me some tapatio por favor!

Best cookie ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I miss it)

Signing off!

Posting from School

Some of you may ask: Anne, how is it that you can post from school in the middle of the day?

Here is my answer to this FAQ: I have randomly spaced open hours and everyone here has a computer at school provided BY the school. Public school, mind you.

So, I have begun school, and I am learning my way around the Norwegian school system. It was quite difficult to get all my classes lined up and I still have a few holes in my schedule, but they should hopefully all be worked out by next week! The Voldens have set me up with an old teacher who has tutored exchange students in the past to speak Norwegian--this will be very good with me! I am going with another exchange student from Washington State, her name is MacKenzie. There is another exchange student, Zordano, from Italy. Cool name, eh?

The subjects I am taking are R1 Math, Norwegian, History, Entrepreneurship, Advanced French, Sociology and Social Anthropology, and P.E. I have all of these classes 3-4 hours a week, and am really enjoying all of the ones I have had so far. My french teacher tried to make MacKenzie and I memorize everyone's name in the class...that didn't go so well. Norwegian names are not all common names we have in English. For example--I don't know how to spell this--but one kid's name was Jåkon (pronounced Ho-ah-kone) which is a typical Norwegian name.

Yesterday, or å går på Norsk, I was informed by Brede (a boy I know who lives in a town called Tøfte) that Buskerud, which is my Norwegian district, is the "ghetto" of Norway, with gangs and all that, and that his town is the "ghetto" of Buskerud, and Røyken Videregåndeskolen is the "ghetto school" of the "ghetto district." Simply put, Norway has REALLY nice ghettos.

I am meeting new people every day from all over the world and truly enjoying myself. I have been running on some of the trails around the house, and they are seriously gorgeous. I am AMAZED by the amount of trees in Norway. Seriously. It is insanity. Breathing is so easy! Well I'm sort of kidding--you wouldn't really notice the breathing...but the trees are seriously flourishing. They have these slugs here that are apparently really bad for the forest and have no natural enemies, so if you see one you are supposed to kill them. I saw my first one the other day. Let me tell you something. THEY ARE HUGE SLUGS. With fairly thick skin. So my advice? If you're going to kill it, don't stop on it. Get a large stick and stab it, then run away as fast as possible so you don't have to watch it die....it's pretty gross. Here's a photo of one!

I think that's one of them, anyway. They're seriously disgusting. I thought I was going to have nightmares after killing that first one. They're pretty gross. But in killing one, I have eliminated 400+ that would have been around next year!

But to end on a good note...here is a picture of the Norwegian Flag...go Norway!

Let it Begin!

The beautiful towns of Norway <33

So I arrived early Sunday and was greeted by an amazing host family, the Voldens. We first went into town to see about my Residency Permit and a bank account, both of which we are still working on. When I say we went into town, we went to Drammen, a nearby city. When I flew in, we drove through Oslo, though, which is a pretty cool city on its own.

Next, we went to the Volden's summerhouse--right by the ocean! It was SO gorgeous out there, really it's beautiful everywhere here! We sat around, played board games, swam in the sea with the brenmaneter(jellyfish), I didn't get stung! and my host sister, Karine, and I made kakke(cake). It really was so fun :) We went out on the boat one day and spent a "day at sea" climbing rocks and swimming on a rocky island somewhere in the middle of the Norwegian sea. It was truly pretty astounding--the scenery here is AWESOME.

I really love my family, the food, the activities, and am having so much fun! Just the other day, we went to Høyt og Lavt land which is called "high and low la

nd" where we climbed through the trees and ziplined through the forest VERY high above the ground! It was crazy fun :) We have been speaking quite a bit of Norwegian--what I can, anyway. I am learning a lot, though! I am definitely learning to GO WITH THE FLOW. Half the time I have NO idea what we are going to do and I just have to be independent and be ready for whatever may happen--it is an amazing feeling.

Anyway, I could write more, but I need to go back to being utvekslingsstudent! Best wishes to all and I miss you dearly as well, even though I am having the best time :) By the way, here is a cool picture--it is a Viking ship they are re-building for placement in a museum as an artifact. It is a replica.

Nærsnes, Norway

Hey Everyone!

So I set up this blog as an easy way for you all to follow me while I spend my year in Norway! I am doing a Rotary Yearlong Youth Exchange with Rotary 5440 in Steamboat Springs, and am headed out around 10 am this Saturday! My first destination is a language camp, and I will be living with my first host family in a suburb of Oslo called Nærsnes. According to my host sister, Karine, we are 200 meters from the freezing ocean, so that is pretty cool.

I am currently in the process of packing, and let me tell you, packing for a year abroad is REALLY difficult! Not to mention saying goodbye to everyone. It definitely is starting to set it that I'm leaving, and I am more than excited, but I really have no idea what to expect when I get to Norway, so we'll see!

Please feel free to comment as my year goes along, I would love to hear from you!

Ha det bra,

Anna