Thursday I packed my bags... I had a ton of stuff.
The list of things AFS always tells us to bring is super long. I needed indoor clothes, outdoor clothes, indoor/outdoor shoes, skis, sled, snacks, towels, sheets, sleeping bag etc...
Friday after school Mila (the Italian AFSer who goes to my school too) and I went to the bus station. The bus was supposed to come at 4. We got there a little before 4.
We waited...
and waited....
and waited.....
It was 4.
It was 4:05.
It was 4:15
4:30.
We were getting really nervous that we missed the bus because we didn't actually know if we were supposed to be taking a public bus or if AFS was sending a bus to pick us up.
Another Italian AFSer (Alessandro) who lives in a town somewhat near Stjørdal came and met us at the bus station. Mila and I were a bit stressed, but when Alessandro got there we felt better because his host mom is very involved with AFS so she could have helped us if we had missed the bus.Finally the bus arrived and it turns out that AFS had a bus for all of us, so when we put our stuff under the bus and got on everyone was there!! I was so excited to see everyone again.
The bus ride for me was less than 2 hours, but some people had been on the bus for over 10 hours!
When we finally got to the cabin we were staying at, we unloaded the bus and we all tumbled into the cabin, loaded down with our giant bags and our skis.
Tripping and sliding down the hallway we desperately checked the lists on the doors.. Who will I room with this time?!?!
I got to the very last two rooms in the hall.. Did I miss my name.. I looked to the right... Not my room. I looked to the left...
Finally found it!
Avery (USA), Sofia (Mexico), Michela (Italy) and Zeynep (Turkey).
What good room mates!
However, Zeynep and the other Sofia (USA) decided to switch rooms so our room became Avery, Michela and Sofia x2. It was almost a replay of last camp!
For dinner they served us very over cooked spaghetti. It was delicious.
We did a group activity where we had some candles on the table and for every good thing about Norway and our year so far we would light a candle, and for every bad thing we would blow one out. There always had to be one candle lit so if we made it down to just one, people had to say good things, and if all of them were lit then people had to say bad things. It was actually very cozy and a fun activity because we got to hear about how other peoples years were going.
On Saturday we went cross country skiing! It was a lot of fun! We went on a really long trip. I fell once going down a big hill and then one more time when I was working my way up a hill and stopped to rest. I was standing there and my legs just collapsed from under me and I fell in a heap on the trail. I cracked up... I wonder what the girl behind me was thinking...
Saturday night we had a birthday cake for one of the Italian boys, who was turning 18 that day (I feel soo old! I can't believe I will turn 20 this year! What?)
Anyways, it was great to finally see everyone again and have a chance to talk in person. I actually was able to talk with a few more people this time than before because they are shy about speaking English but now we can have a basic conversation in Norwegian!
Here: enjoy some awesome pictures of some awesome people!
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| Sliding down the hall! |
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| Can't have fun without chocolate! |
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| Kiwi |
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| Gotta love 'em |
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| Twinsies! |
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| ...? |
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| Hahahaha :) |
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| Kyss |
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| Ski trip! |
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| Region 4! |
This past weekend was pretty interesting also. Friday night I went to a birthday party for the boy who turned 18 over the AFS weekend. It was so much fun! there were 5 other AFSers there and a ton of his friends from school. I made so many new friends! It was great. We stayed up so late... or I should say we stayed up until it was disgustingly early. Saturday morning I took a train home early to get to school. Yup. You read that correct.
On Saturday I took the train home early to get to school.
Ole Vig (the high school I attend) has been under constructions since I got here. They were building a new gym and finally have finished! Saturday we had an open school so a lot of people from the community came to see the spiffy new gym and lunch room area. The gym is HUGE and extremely impressive (maybe 3 or 4 times the size of the Otter Valley gym). Even though it was really inconvenient to have to go on long detours just to go from class to class, I am very glad that I was here before they were finished with it. If the gym had been done when I first got here, that would just be normal for me... In my mind the school would always have been that way, but since I was here for all the construction I realize how amazing the new part is.
School wasn't that bad since classes were only 45 minutes each instead of the regular hour. We didn't really do much. Also, for the first time in a very long time I ate in the cafeteria (normally my friends and I eat in one of the various class rooms closer to where we have our classes).
Now let me tell you a little story:
When I was new to Norway, new to Ole Vig and couldn't speak the language yet, everything was a little bit overwhelming. I was getting used to my school schedule and I had a lot of free time. I had people I considered my friends, but let's be honest... I spent quite a bit of time by myself in those "early days". I didn't mind much because I could amuse myself by surfing the web on my computer. I would sit in the cafeteria between my classes. There are two banners that I noticed at the beginning of the year and I was really curious what they said. I thought I should ask someone but I only ever remembered when I was alone. My other option was to google-translate it and then a thought came to me... I can wait! When I can read them, I will know that I have a good handle on the language.
Then I forgot about my challenge to myself.
Well, like I said, on Saturday I sat in the cafeteria for the first time in a very long time. I looked up and all of a sudden I understood! I turned around to see the second banner and I understood that one too! I got so excited and told this to the girls I was sitting with.
The banners say that we all have to clean up our own trash and the other one asks if we remembered to clean up after ourselves.
Small victories.
I have also officially changed my facebook info to say that I know how to speak English and Norwegian.
Anyways, Saturday Mamma and Pappa came to see the new gym and when I was done with class I met them at Hos Oss.
Sunday was a very special day for two reasons. First, it was Morsdagen! Mother's Day!
Second, it was the one day of the year that Pappa's horse group all gets together and goes for a sleigh ride! We drove to one of the neighbor's houses at 10 and hooked up two sleighs: One for Pappa and I and one for the neighbor and his wife and Mamma. We set off to meet the larger group at another person's farm at 11. We were about five minutes late and the rest of the group had started off already. We followed their path up a hill and eventually we caught up because they had taken a little break. There were 10 horses total. We went for about an hour and a half. It had snowed on Friday night so there was a fresh blanket of snow covering everything. It was lovely!
I got to drive the sleigh for a little while! When we finally got to a little cabin up in the woods, we ate lunch. They had dug a fire pit in the snow with a bench around it made from snow. We took the furs from the sleighs and sat them on the snow and all snuggled in. We cooked hot dogs over the fire and ate some chocolate. After relaxing for a little while and looking in the nearly 200 year old cabin, we got back in the sleighs and went home. Going home took a considerably a shorter amount of time because the horses were all excited to be headed home. As we went, the group split every time we came to a fork in the road. Eventually it was just us again. When we got back the horses got some grain and we left.
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| Happy Mother's Day! |
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| 150 year old sleigh |
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| I got to control it all by my self! :) |
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| Norway is beautiful! |
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| Mamma with all the furs |
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| The fire pit a.k.a. where we cooked lunch |
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| Old cabin |
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We had sodd for dinner, which is a very Norwegian meal. It is a type of soup with meatballs in it. It was Mamma, Pappa, Kristian, Christine, Kristoffer, Louise and I. Thea would have come but she was working (she came later in the evening). After dinner we went up to visit Bestemor. When we got there onkel Egil was there. Thea came soon afterwards. We ate cake. Also I want to thank everyone that gave tulips online to my Mamma for mother's day to help show her how much I love her! We got well over 150 tulips!
Anyways, it was a very nice evening together.
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| Mamma, me, bestemor and Christine |
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| Mamma's cake |
This past week has flown by! I can't believe it is Friday already!
And you know what that means?
WINTER VACATION!
I am free from school for a full week!
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| Happy Mother's Day! I love my Mamma. |
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