They're the Best Kind of Folks We Know!

Up With People.
Where do I start?
1979.
After my mother was an AFS exchange student in Norway for a year (yes, I am following in her foot steps), she traveled with a group called Up With People. They are a performing group made up of young adults from all over the world. They basically travel around and promote peace and understanding of other cultures. They do a lot of community service in the cities they visit all over the world.
Mom originally traveled with Cast A 79/80.

A few years after that Mom worked for Casts D, E and B in 84/85.
And that is where my story begins.
Up With People casts become families, so even as the years pass they stay in touch. My mom has been in contact with many former cast mates and I have met some of them and their families.
Now, for the first time in 15 years or something UWP came to Norway! I found out about the show a long time ago and really wanted to go but I was a little bit confused about dates and I thought it was during my Easter Break so I wouldn't be able to make the show. Three or four weeks ago Pappa and Annette (the woman who I did my work week with... read about it here! --> Drøbak, Oslo and Norefjell) surprised me with a plane ticket to Oslo and a ticket to the show!
Another surprise arrived Tuesday (April 10th) evening while Johan and I were cooking dinner... Meg! This was not the first time they have done that to me during my year! (Juletider, Bursdager og Meg)
We spent the evening together with my host grandparents. It was so cozy and I'm very glad I got the chance to introduce Meg to them. She adored them, just like I do.
Wednesday, April 11:
Wednesday morning, very early morning, Pappa drove us to the airport and Meg and I flew out.
We came close to missing our plane. The gate was closing as we were rushing through security, but we just made it.

There was a cat sitting in the seat behind me on the plane. I didn't realize it until we landed and it started meowing. I'm sure the bumpy landing was pretty terrifying for that little creature because we could hear it meowing as we were getting off the plane and while the owner was waiting to claim her bags. It was such an adorable cat though!
When we got into the Oslo airport we sat and ate a delicious sandwich together. I showed Meg the place in the airport where all of those terrified, excited and hope-filled teenagers had gathered and waited in August of last year on our very first day as exchange students in Norway.  After a little bit of food and a lot of nostalgia we took the train into the city. At the train station we found this poster and both thought it was brilliant.

It says "send me a text message" but we took it to mean "send Meg a text message".
I think it is impossible for the two of us to go anywhere without fully enjoying ourselves and laughing the whole time.
We took the trikk from the main station in Oslo... of course only after taking a few pictures.
My mom first met Meg on the train in Oslo... Two Vermont girls with a huge love for Norway. Meg was just starting her year in Norway and my mom was just ending hers. They took this picture together at the train station:

Since then a lot has happened and much has changed, including the name of the station, but that didn't stop Meg and I from recreating this picture!

What do you think? Like-mother, like-daughter?
Then we hopped a trikk to Annette's store. Walking the last block to the shop we came across this adorable mini-digger. We cracked up!

Walking into the store felt sort of like coming home for me (that is where I had spent my work week).

And I had sure missed my boss a whole lot!

Annette, Meg and I had a lovely tea break and then took a little walk.

After that Meg and I were set free to rediscover Oslo! We window shopped and wandered the streets.

Even the bikes wished us a good trip!
We ate Ben and Jerry's ice cream! (Of courseeee!)

Look mom! Something OTHER than Mint Chocolate Chunk (don't worry though... the MCC is down there, under the Phish Food).
Meg showed me where she stood when President Obama was on the balcony of a hotel in Oslo. We wandered around there for a while. I made some new friends (as always...)

Never just hand me a camera....

We went into a few stores and had some more fun photo shoots.

Getting ready for summer!

I got these.

What do you think... should I go back and buy it?

Eventually we bought some chicken from a store and went to sit in this very nice cafeteria area in a mall to eat. A woman came over to us and told us we couldn't sit there unless we had bought something from their café. I bought a coke from them and we were allowed to sit there.

Viking style!

After that we met up with Richard Andreas. On the way to meet them I made yet another friend:

Isn't he precious? 

Viking blood runs through my veins.

Meg went home with Annette while Andreas and I went to an UWP information meeting. We met a few of the cast members and clicked right away. They are all amazing people!
Everything they talked about is exactly what I want to do. They travel, they perform, they meet people, they help people....
They make a difference.
After that Andreas and I went home but the bus didn't leave for 40 minutes so we decided to go to a bar and have a beer together. The first place we went was a restaurant and they needed to see my passport to serve to me... conveniently I did not have it with me at the time... So we went to another place and asked if they would accept my Vermont ID. They said they accepted all forms of ID and I explained I just had to ask because some places don't accept my US ID. The bartender then said to me "Do you know why some places don't accept your ID?" and before I could answer he shouted "STUPIDITY!"
He was a pretty awesome dude.
When we finally got home Annette had bought Ben and Jerry's ice cream. They were hosting 3 girls from the cast: Irmeline from Sweden, Valentine from Belgium and Maddie from New Jersey! All three are awesome! It was very special for me to meet Maddie because she is the daughter of a woman named Jan.  My mom worked in Jan's cast for a half a year so mom, Jan, Maddie and I were all excited for Maddie and I to finally meet.  
We all ate ice cream and got to know each other. After talking for an hour or so I felt like I had known them for years! It got pretty late and we all had to go to bed. Meg and I got to "sleep in" until after 8:30 the next day. That was a lot of extra time compared to the others!


Thursday, April 12:
 We took the bus into Oslo around 9:30 or 10.
At 10:30 we went to Ben and Jerry's.

Best. Breakfast. EVER.

In front of the scoop shop there were workers planting flowers. We found their method quite amusing because they were kicking the trays around and would dig the holes with their boot heels. Watching young men plant flowers is a very amusing sight indeed.

After that we made our way to the Folketeateret a little before noon.

Found this window display on the way there.
I want.

Once we found the theater I met up with some of the kids I knew already and met so many more! It was great fun to hang out back stage with them. Maddie told me there was a boy from Vermont so I was on a quest to find him. We both freaked when we met... I mean, meeting another Vermonter randomly in Oslo? What are the chances? (Mom and Meg understand!) His name is Logan.

Logan and I :)

At noon I gave a presentation about AFS to most of the cast. 
I was so nervous!

Maddie lead me in front of the cast and wished me luck. ♥

I think the presentation went well... I kept it short and sweet. I introduced myself and told all the connections I have to this particular cast, which is a lot actually (more than just Maddie). Then I told a brief history of AFS and told them to recommend the program to anyone within the age restrictions (which is generally 15 to 18 but it depends on the country). 

I think people were interested in what I had to say...

And when I was finished:

I was privileged enough to hang out with the cast and got a chance to chat about a lot of different things.

Ben & Jerry's... Vermonters gotta represent!

Johan (Sweden), me and Logan (VT!),  Maddie (NJ)

They were all so awesome and easy to get along with! Just the type of people I want to be friends with!

I also got to explore back stage a little bit, just to see what it is like.

Then, at 1 o'clock I was brought downstairs for my interview!!
That's right, I applied to travel with Up With People.
One of the cast members (Oscar) interviewed me. Afterwards, other cast members asked me how my interview went and I told them they would have to talk to Oscar but regardless of if it was a good interview or not I had a really good time talking to him and it was fun.
Right after the interview was over there was this open house for prospective cast members. Andreas, a few other girls and I got a back stage tour from one of the staff members named Annie. My mother traveled with her father and attended her parents wedding, so it was pretty cool to meet her. Her brother Paul is on the staff too but he was very busy so I never really got the chance to talk to him.
We saw all the costumes, the lights, tech equipment and then were allowed to sit in the audience to watch their rehearsal. It was pretty cool because we got to see some people practicing songs but when we watched the performance, it was different people that sang those songs.
After a while watching, I decided to go find Meg because we were planning to grab some dinner before the show started.
We went to the mall that we ate at the day before. We made it back in time for Meg to go to the alumni VIP reception.
I slipped backstage again and hung out with the cast until it was nearly show time. 
I was about to go downstairs when someone asked if I was going to green room. I had no clue what they were talking about so I said I wasn't sure. 
I guess the whole cast always gathers together before the show in a meeting that they call green room. I'm not sure what this cast normally does but my mom told me a little about what her casts would do. They would have skits or last minute notes before the show and it was their way to just gather together as a cast and compose themselves before the show.
...and just like that I got whisked away with the cast to green room. Someone talked for a little bit and then asked if there were any guests. A few people introduced their family members and then Logan raised his hand and introduced me. All of us guests had to go into the middle of the circle and they sang a little song to us, told us to enjoy the show and sent us down. 
I found Annette and Meg but we couldn't find Andreas anywhere. It turned out that somehow he had gotten a seat in the second row with his friends and we were all the way up in the balcony. We still had an amazing view.
The show was absolutely amazing! I can't even describe how special it was. It made me cry, it made me laugh, it had me dancing and singing along... It inspired me.
At intermission I snuck backstage to tell my newly made friends how awesome they were doing.
They sang part of this song and I found it particularly catchy. I have basically listened to it non-stop since then:

So catchy. 
Anyways:
After the show Meg snapped a picture of me and it is perfect because it was the exact moment that I knew my life had been totally changed forever.

 We went down into the front hall and I took pictures with the cast members in their nice dresses!

Maddie! :)

Three of the loveliest people I know, inside and out!

All of us stayed together in Drøbak

I also was fortunate enough to meet two more of my mother's castmates. They thought that I look a lot like my mom.

Ann-Christin-Cast A

Grethe- Worked as PR staff with my mom

I went backstage again after the show and hung out up there with the cast. Some were cleaning up the stage but most everyone was upstairs. I enjoyed the last precious time I had with them and I literally stayed there until they kicked us all out.

I went and found some of the cast members that I had grown particularly fond of to say one last goodbye. I thanked Brad, the admissions officer and told him I hoped we would stay in touch and that I would be traveling soon. 

After a few last hugs the Drøbak crew slowly worked out way to the street. I don't think any of us really wanted to go... Well, I know at least I didn't... It had been such an amazing day! 

After we took this picture we wandered out into the street and then parted ways. Meg and I went to the airport hotel because my flight was really early the next morning and the rest of the crew went back to  Drøbak.

It was very late by the time we got to the hotel but I wasn't tired at all. I was so hyped up that I couldn't sleep right away. I skyped with mom for a while and spent a bit of time on the computer before I attempted to go to bed.

Winding down after a life-changing day.

It was a very nice hotel room and the bed was super comfortable, however, I barely slept at all. I lay awake thinking of how my cast will be and what my cast will do and where my cast will go and who will be in my cast. 

I like the sound of that:

My cast.

The next morning I flew out very early and arrived home just in time to be picked up from the airport and driven to school. It was a little bit bummed to go to school because of my lack of sleep the night before but I was still flying so high from the whole life-changing-experience thing that it didn't matter all that much anyways.
I wish there were better words to describe what this whole experience meant to me... the people; the show; the meaning behind it all... but I really can't come up with the right way to explain it so I'll just leave this here and maybe it will do the job itself:

Påskeferie

Easter Break
March 31st to April 9th.

We started Easter break by celebrating one of my cousin, Isabella's birthday.
Isabella was an exchange student in the USA  a few years ago. She and I have a very nice relationship because, especially at the beginning of the year, it was really great to have someone to talk to who understood everything from my perspective as well.
Her birthday was March 31st so a bunch of the family headed to Trondheim to celebrate. We had a nice family party then after a lot of the cousins stayed for the night. We had a really good time together, as we always do. We were going to go out to a club but since it was Easter break most of the clubs were closed... The only few that were open were 20 and up and I'm only 19 so we stayed home... We still had a ton of fun!

The beer was named after my USA cat! Chang!

The birthday girl! Someone ripped the tights
off one of her legs...

Pretty late in the night it started to snow... So me, being me, decided to go out and play in the snow. My sister Thea and my cousin Endre came outside as well. We built a snowman and I went on the swings. It was so much fun!

When we woke up the next morning....
Well I guess I should say "When we eventually woke up the next morning..."

Isabella and I had stayed up the latest (or earliest I guess). We were pretty tired. We gathered all our things and drove back to Hegra together.

Also, it was April Fool's Day! When we woke up there was a TON of snow! We all hoped it was just an April Fool's Joke but it actually stuck around for quite a while.
For the next couple of days we just hung out and spent time together. On Tuesday my cousins and I took a trip to Storlien, Sweden to buy soda and some candy.
On Wednesday Pappa and I took my little nephew (he is 3) to Trondheim to see a Lego festival at a kids museum. I think we were all really excited but when we got there the room with the Legos was pretty crowded and a little bit scary, so instead we wound up just going through the museum. It was really cool though! There were exhibits about water, electricity, air, sound and motion. We had a very nice day going around the museum and we finished with ice cream! What could get better than that?
On Friday I went on a hyttetur, which means a trip to a cabin. If you want to know what a Norwegian is doing over Easter break it is a very reasonable guess to say they are on a hyttetur and skiing with their family. It is hard-wired into Norwegian DNA to go skiing over Easter. Nearly the whole country shuts down for the week so everyone can go to their cabins.
My AFS contact family (the family I have basically as a back-up if things hadn't worked out with my host family) invited me and my family to their cabin. Johan didn't come but Mamma, Pappa and I went. We skied up to the cabin and found out that there was a very special event happening that day. Every year there is a competition that they hold. They set out little posts with questions and teams have to ski around and answer them.  The questions were about all different things... I wasn't able to be very helpful, but one post was about August, my "contact brother". It asked what sports he played (I knew one of the two was soccer) and a few other things. It asked how tall he was and I said 6'1". This was particularly amusing because in Norway, just like the rest of the world, they use the metric system so we were supposed to figure that out in centimeters. However, Inge (my contact-father) was an exchange student with AFS in the USA so we figured it would be OK to write the height in inches and feet.
The best part about this is I was less than half an inch off so we got the point!
Team Aarbu (that was us, for the record) did not come in last place like we thought we would! Instead we tied for 5th or 6th place... It was respectable. Everyone got little participation medals (made from yellow ribbon and wood) and the younger kids got candy. I got candy too.
After the competition we all grilled hot dogs over a fire. Before I came to Norway I really didn't like hot dogs, but now grilled pølse med brød (hot dog) is one of my favorite things.
After we were all full, Mamma invited August and I to go skiing on a little trip. We skied up a huge hill. It was so tiring but such a great feeling when we got to the top!

August is so good at skiing

We skied on a little more and eventually came to another cabin. Mamma and I met the man that lived there. He was preparing for a ski jumping event the next day. 

We skied home and everyone that had stayed at home had been drinking a bit so spirits were high. We enjoyed ourselves until the sun started to go down, then everyone slowly trickled out and we went inside to eat dinner. We had a delicious meal then August and I went and watched a movie.
The next day we went on a ski trip that was around 11 kilometers (which is almost 7 miles). They tried to teach me how to skate ski. I wasn't particularly good at it but I kept trying. Eventually I could go quite a while without falling. We skied out to some cabin and signed a guest book. Then August and I skied ahead of the adults (who did a little longer trip) and we went back to the cabin we had been at. We ate some food and watched some people trying to ski jump with cross country skis. Nearly everyone fell. August and I got really cold so only a few minutes after our parents arrived we skied back to their cabin.
The last two days of vacation we just relaxed up in Hegra. On the last day (Monday) Kristian was here and he, Johan, Kristoffer and I went sliding. After we built a snowman. I wanted to start it at the top of the hill and push it down. I pushed it for quite a while but then it started to get really big and Kristian had to help me. After a while Johan had to come and help the two of us as well.
This snow man was massive (and a little out of proportion).
We had to use a step ladder to build it.

Clyde is King of the hill!

Nearly the whole family :)

The builders

After our fantastic sledding trip and snowman construction we were all pretty hungry. We sat out on the deck, enjoyed the sun and grilled hot dogs.

Johan, Mamma og Pappa

Ragnhild!

Bonnie and Clyde enjoyed the nice day as well 

 The boys :)

The girls :)

It was a lovely way to end vacation.

And just to show you exactly how late I am with this blog post, here is a current picture of our beloved snowman:

Spring has finally arrived in Hegra!