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!
No comments:
Post a Comment