It`s the same big dipper in Canada and Norway...

Just a random picture of the welcoming committee when you enter Tord and Helene's house. I figured some kind of picture was necessary before the writing begins :D

Well, its 12:35 on a Friday morning, and i should really go to sleep. But I’m in a writing mood, and it’s this time of day when I write best. Either that, or I’m just too tired to recognize when my writing more resembles a bunch of letters and words drawn out of a hat than coherent sentences and paragraphs. Regardless, I’m going to keep writing. That way I can almost guarantee I’ll be late for school tomorrow, despite only having a three minute walk. My cell phone has one alarm set for 6:35, and one for 6:47. As a result, I wake up to the first, and turn it off. Wake up what feels like three seconds later to the next, and here is the mistake: turn this one off as well. My reasoning is usually something along the lines of “well, it’s not even seven yet, and I don’t have to leave til eight. Therefore I can sleep for a couple more minutes”. You probably know where this is going; “a couple more minutes” doesn't exist. I don’t think it’s possible to fall asleep at 6:48 am, and wake up at 6:50. Or 7:00. Or even 7:15. Especially when it’s dark outside, and the house is quiet. So I wake up, thinking nooo not AGAIN, this morning it was around 8:15. Makes getting to school on time a bit difficult, seeing as school starts at 8:05. Until they invent time machines, I’m out of luck.

Today I woke up, went upstairs, and made knekkebrød with liver paste and jarlsberg cheese for lunch. All the cheeseknives were in the dishwasher, so I was left with potato peelers to use. Didn’t work so well; the cheese just curls up into the slicer and the slicer steers itself off the block of cheese. Leaving awkward tracks that look like someone tried to slice cheese with their fingernails, not to mention I’m left with scrawny little bits of cheese on my sandwiches for lunch. This process didn’t help me get to school any earlier. Oh, and did I mention I put liver paste on them? Voluntarily? My food tastes have definitely broadened since I left home.

Random little thought, but I tried to write liver paste as one word, and spell check wasn’t impressed. In Norwegian, though, it would be leverpostei. In English, we tend to use the space bar on the keyboard regularly. Not so with Norwegian; the language is full of ridiculously long words that are hard to pronounce. By the time you reach the end of the word, you’ve forgotten the beginning! This makes for some awkward pronounciations. Try: “menneskerettighetsorganisasjonene” – the human rights organizations. No space bar required; you never have to lift your pen from the paper!

I love how it’s always the little details that surprise me the most, and are so fascinating. I was running with Tonje this evening, and it was clear and cold out. We both noticed the constellation in front of us, and I pointed and mentioned it was the big dipper. In my English-centric view of the world, I never imagined it could be called anything else. It shouldn’t shock me; of course they wouldn’t name the constellations the same. But it’s the same big dipper as in Canada, so it never occurred to me that it could have another name! I learned that in Norwegian, it’s “karlsvognen”. 

With some miming and discussion about shopping carts and trailers, she decided the best English translation would be Karl’s wagon. Google translate says Karl’s cart. This probably isn't a very exciting observation for most people, but I like any excuse to draw bad pictures in paint, so here are my interpretations :)

Well, those were my ramblings from a few days ago. Now I'm going to be even more confusing, and jump back in time again. 

Last week I started volunteering with the after school program here for elementary school kids. I basically spent an hour playing tag, soccer, and piggy in the middle with 6 and 7 year olds, who were really cute. It was good for my norwegian, to try and talk with people who can't say more than "my name is" in english, or at least don't let on that they can. It also made it hard to communicate; one girl asked me about 6 times who I wanted on my team for soccer, but I didn't know the word for team (lag). It sounded to me like she was asking who I wanted to be on my log...I thought maybe she wanted to pretend to be frogs? Needless to say I didn't understand. Another little girl was quizzing me by pointing to things in the gym, and getting me to say the english word, and she pointed to the climbing bars over to the side. I answered that we don't really have a specific word, but I would call them climbing bars or something like that. She looked at me and said "I thought you spoke english, but you don't because you don't know the word!" She finally concluded that I don't actually speak any language at all. Sometimes I feel like I agree with her. 

Last Sunday Jens, Margaret and Liv came for dinner, and we had Komle, what seems to be a traditional norwegian dish. It's the second time I've had it here. I think it's amazing how many unique meals norwegians have, for such a small country! When I think of Canada, I think poutine, which I rarely get the chance to eat, and maple syrup, which isn't exactly a meal. Maybe because Canada is more a mix of different immigrant and native groups, rather than a more homogeneous country like Norway? Anyways, back to dinner...

I like the mix of facial expressions here

My attempted description of this picture:

1. Kohlrabi stuff...at least thats what they called it, I'm going to have to google kohlrabi to find out what it actually is. The first time we had it I thought it was cauliflower
2. Komle - boiled thick potato balls, with bacon in the middle
3. Lamb? I don't actually know what kind of meat this is
4. Pølse (sausage)
5. A drink that tastes like buttermilk, but is thicker.
6. Bacon: tastes different from bacon at home though, less, well....baconey. Not exactly the best description....

Overall it's a pretty different meal than what I'm used to; the komle are really rich and filling. I wouldn't say it's my favorite thing I've tried here; I think it's more something you grow up with; Liv can down five komle when I'm full after one. Regardless, it's neat to try new things, and still a good meal!

So now it's a week from last Sunday; yesterday I did some shopping and went to a party. Today I slept in, and have spent the day watching cross country skiing on TV (cause it's ALWAYS on, it's crazy!), playing the piano, and being lazy. I've been trying to teach myself to play the piano again, after 3 years without taking lessons. I can play some of the songs in my Coldplay book again, and printed off some more to learn. 

I got the birthday and Christmas cards Grandma! Thank you soo much! I haven't opened yours yet Mom and Dad, but Grandma's didn't say anything about waiting! :D

New boots: early birthday present from my host family! Tusen takk :D I`m so lucky

Well, I think that`s all I have to write for now. Life is good on this side of the ocean, hope everything`s well back home! Last blog post as a 17 year old, and a month and four days til Christmas.

Hadet bra fra Norge <3