Home.

Well, I'm back in Canada, with my signed Norwegian flag hanging on the wall and everything unpacked. I flew from Bergen to Oslo, slept at Devin's counselor's house, then we flew out of Norway at 6:30 am on Friday. Flying out of Bergen was sad, but by the time I'd gotten to Oslo it felt like I was already out of the country.

"And it's..........over" were Devin and mine last words in Norway as the wheels lifted off the ground in Oslo. I had meant to buy a bunch of Norwegian magazines to read in the US (more in hopes that another Norwegian would see them and talk to me haha) but I forgot.

Evelyn (host grandma) made us waffles which we ate on the plane to Frankfurt. We were trying not to name too many "lasts" but "last public announcement in Norwegian" didn't go unnoticed. Being in Frankfurt and hearing the announcements in German was odd; I felt like I was back at the beginning of the year and understanding nothing. It's easy to forget how many other languages there are out there.

We got coffee and waited the two hours before my flight to Charlotte, North Carolina. I didn't understand the lady checking baggage passes and automatically asked her what she'd said in Norwegian.

She looked at my ticket, and asked where Oslo was. "Ohhh, Norway! so what do they speak there, umm....Norg...Norrss...Norrrr". That was where I realized I definitely wasn't in Norway anymore.

Devin and I went different directions at the gates in Frankfurt, and I sat down on the floor, ate some more waffles and waited for the plane. The first thing I noticed as I got on the plane was that the seatmates in front of me immediately shook hands and introduced eachother. And then the man sitting beside me did the same, asking if I was on my way home. 

It really hit me walking through the airport in Charlotte, my first time in North America in eleven months. I sat down at the gate and typed this really quickly before my laptop battery died:

• the toilets keep freaking out and automatically flushing, and they dont have dual flush. And you can see through the doors, they don’t go to the ground
• People talk just for the sake of talking, theyre ridiculously friendly. And just talk to people beside them on the plane
• Tried to buy a smoothie with a 5 dollar bill but oh heyy…tax isn’t included and I had to awkwardly use a 20 instead. Why is American money all the same colour?
• oh and noellen some random guy was playing piano man!!
• ....savner Norge allerede :(
• Everyone is dressed so....i dunno, just un-european
• Oh heyy it's almost midnight at home this is sososososososoo weird!

Interesting to compare this to what I wrote sitting in the Oslo airport for the first time. Pretty sure I mentioned that it was dead silent and that the bathrooms were weird.

Definitely what I noticed the most coming back to North America was that everyone was more talkative though.  Like just starting up conversation with people while waiting to get off the plane, or waiting in line. And even the people working in customs, like "how are you today sir, where are you headed". I don't remember noticing the reverse when i went to Norway, but it was really obvious coming back.

It finally got dark in Phoenix, after 22 hours of daytime for me, since we were following the sun ever since we drove to the airport in Oslo at 4 am the day before. Or I guess it was the same day? confusing.

We overnighted in Spokane, then drove back to Nelson on Saturday. Being back home feels so normal that it's weird; it takes a thought in Norwegian or a post on facebook to remind me I actually was gone for a year. 

But what a year! Thanks so much to everyone in Norway and Canada who made it possible for me; it couldn't have been better!

Thanks for reading this blog over the past 11 months and following along with all my ramblings! Since I'm home now and don't have much more to post about Norway, I guess this marks the end of this blog as well. It'll be great to look back on and remember everything in a way pictures alone couldn't manage.

Thanks for reading, and Norway, I'll be back someday!!