Half a year of living like a Norwegian, skiing and the return of the sun

The sun is coming back!

Walking to school last week looked like this:

It's getting lighter by about six minutes a day, so soon we'll be able to wake up in the light too. Can't wait! Then maybe I won't need three different alarms to get out of bed, even if that system still isn't very effective.

Yesterday I was supposed to give a presentation to my English class about Canada, right away in the first class, which starts at 8:05. I love waking up to an alarm and getting to go back to sleep, so I set one alarm for 4, one for 6:30 and one for 6:45. Yeah, I know the 4 o clock one is a bit strange. I vaguely remember turning one alarm off, but definitely not three. When I woke up it was light out, which is never a good sign on a school day! Apparently Jon had knocked on my door at 7:30 as well, but I was knocked out until 8. Not the best plan when you're supposed to give a presentation at 8:05. I was completely oblivious to three of the four attempts to wake me up.

Anyways, I did the presentation at the end of class, and I think it went alright. It was supposed to be on bilingualism in Canada, but it ended up being a bit broader. I think I learned more than my class from it, just from researching Canadian history and facts that I never knew about. Apparently instant mashed potatoes and zippers are Canadian inventions. It's also further across Canada than it is from the East coast of Canada to Norway.

On the topic of school, I'll give an introduction to the Norwegian school system:

Norwegian School system:


-School is divided into three levels, like at home. Barneskole, Ungdomsskole and Videregående. They start the year they turn six, so generally a year later than us.

-After Ungdomsskole, or middle school, they can specialize into different lines. A normal academic line is an option, but there's also health care lines, music, media, art and sports lines which combine these topics with academic subjects. There's also trades/work lines with apprenticeships and theory built in. This means that Norwegians have to choose a direction after middle school, although many seem to stay in the academic line to keep options open.

-I've noticed the classes to be less interactive than classes at home; lots of note taking and independant work. It depends a lot on the teacher though. I still find it strange that almost every class has a "smart board", but I've never seen them used. They just seem to be taking space away from the chalkboard teachers normally use.

-I'm in a line that combines general courses with design and art courses, which I really like. Today we finished illustrating some Norwegian texts, where we were given the writing and could interpret the pictures however. We then put the pictures and text together on the computer. I've learned a lot about photoshop since I've come here, which is a nice bonus. I can't get the entire project to upload, but here's the main character, Frøken Bisk Glefs, in action:

I guess those seem a little odd....but it makes a little more sense with text. Here's my favorite character, the poor little mouse:

After high school here, it seems pretty common to take a year off to travel and work. There's conscription into the military for men here, which some do after high school. Women can go in as well, but aren't required. I don't know exactly how it works but a certain percent of men have to serve. As a result you see the odd person in the mall or on the train dressed like this, and looking a bit out of place:

Since it's about a week and a half since I last updated, I don't remember what happened last week. I do know that I reached the six month mark in Norway, however. Every time a month goes by I write "wow, I can't believe I've been here THAT long", but the novelty of counting months is wearing off. Especially since weeks are flying by, and I no longer have an unending stretch of time ahead of me here. The next nineteen or so weeks are going to disappear like my rotary allowance does each month - in an instant.

I'm happy with my written and comprehension skills in Norwegian at this point, but sometimes it feels like I'll never really speak it. Today I was looking for paper for the photocopier at school, and asked a teacher I'd never talked to before where to find it. Apparently I can't pronounce the difference between "kaffemaskin" and "kopimaskin", because he asked me why on earth I wanted sheets of paper for the coffee machine. He asked me what my native language was, and I misunderstood and said "art class". Or maybe I said that I come from the "country of art class." Regardless, it was an awkward exchange. Once he figured out I was from Canada I was treated to a long explanation in english of the relatives he has in Manitoba, by which time someone else had found paper for the machine.

I always took being able to pronounce words in English for granted, but I find it the hardest part of Norwegian. If all conversations were written, life would be much easier. There's so many subtle differences that are important, yet  so hard to say if you're not a native speaker. Thank god I'm not learning chinese or thai or something.  I definitely appreciate english more now, being able to say what I want in several different ways without thinking about it. It's really neat to look back on your own language from the perspective of another. Regardless of all the awkward exchanges and pronounciation difficulties, I think it's so much fun to use another language. I picked up a magazine while waiting for the train today, and flipped through several pages before I even noticed it was in Norwegian. Moments like that make it all worth it!

Last weekend I was in Geilo at my host families cabin again, and it was a gorgeous weekend full of chocolate, tacos, fuzzy socks, sun and skiing. I classicked both days, three hours on Saturday and about two hours on Sunday. I can really feel in my arms that I don't ski much anymore, but I still know how, and it was amazing! Some pictures:

 Jon and Inger

 Part of Geilo

 This needs no caption

 Thermometre with expressions for all the temperatures. 

 Someone is a little confused between helicopters and airplanes

Sunnnnnn <3

The nordic world ski championships are in Oslo in a couple weeks, and the presence of it is everywhere. From life size cutouts of cross country skiers in the shopping centre, to posters on the train, to sausage and brunost advertisments. That's one thing I would love to take home with me; the country's attitude towards cross country skiing, as well as hiking and being outdoors. It no longer surprises me to see a huge picture of Marit Bjørgen on a truck, or walk by a TV store and see xc skiing playing on the TV's inside.

The week after next is winter break, it's going to be a great week. We're going to Geilo on the Monday, then all the rotary students are meeting in Oslo for three days. So we'll get to be in Oslo for 3 days during the world championships. I'm not entirely sure what we're doing there, and which, if any, events we're going to, but seeing the exchange students after 5 months will be fun regardless!

Tommorow our art class is going into Bergen to visit an illustrator and an art school. Tommorow I'll have been going to Norwegian school for half a year, and while it's strange to go to high school when you're actually done with it, it's fun to have the totally different experience.

I'll leave you with another sunrise photo, and a view over Geilo. 

If anyone has any questions or suggestions of topics for me to write about, just say it in the comments below!

God natt 

=)

Checkout challenges, lots of nerdy language rambles, and a new house

It’s definitely a unique experience to be an English speaking exchange student in a country so proficient in English. It can seem almost impossible to gain a level of Norwegian high enough to override people’s tendencies to switch to English, especially when shopping and talking with strangers. In small exchanges, like waiting in line for the washroom at the shopping centre or the minibank, I can usually keep my cover. I just come across as slow and hard of hearing, as I’m always getting people to repeat themselves. 

My most impressive experience posing as a Norwegian came about two months ago, while I was out running. I ran by an old lady struggling to haul a backpack and several shopping bags up a set of stairs, and she asked if I could help. I took her backpack, and we walked together for about seven minutes to her house. She spewed Norwegian at me the entire time, full speed, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her I had no idea what she was saying, especially since she was of the older generation who likely wouldn’t speak much English.  I understood bits and pieces; the conversation seemed to switch from an account of all her medicines, to seasickness, to her grandchildren. I just followed her cues; laughed when she laughed, and gave sympathetic mhmm’s here and there, and prayed she wouldn’t stop talking. In that kind of situation you dig yourself into a hole with every minute that goes by to the point where you can’t admit you don’t understand without looking like an idiot. Thankfully we reached her house, she said thanks, I said you’re welcome, and I ran off.

When it comes to talking to salespeople in stores or the teller at the bank, however, this style of bluffing doesn’t work; nor would it be very effective. You can’t just sit down across the desk from the bank teller and let them talk; obviously you have to say why you’re there. While I’m at the point where I can generally get my point across in Norwegian; all it takes is my pronounciation for them to switch to English. 

The tipping point where it’s easier for both parties to converse in a foreign rather than native language is off balance when you’re an English speaker. It doesn’t matter if you know how to say what you want and could do it with only a couple mistakes; there’s no second chance once they realize you’re foreign. I can see their confusion when I say the wrong gender for a word, or pronounce something wrong; they can’t quite place me. I keep thinking about when I worked at Safeway, how if a customer came in with an accent it was irrelevant as long as I knew what they were saying. Not that my French is all that good, but I would never consider switching to French automatically if a customer was struggling with English.

It makes every trip into a store a linguistic adventure, which certainly keeps life interesting! An awkward touch-and-go territory is treaded into whenever a discussion with a salesperson goes further than the routine:

150 kr

Okei

Pose? (bag)

Nei, takk

Kvittering? (receipt)

Nei, takk

Hadet

Hadet

You could probably figure out that sequence without any translations, it’s pretty obvious.

Now that I can read most Norwegian, and understand a good amount, I tend to wonder what it used to look and sound like to me. I often look at paragraphs and wonder how much the average English speaker would pick out, just because of similar words.

“Plussgrader og regn gjør at isen på Haukelandsvatnet i Arna ikke lenger regnes som farbar, opplyser Bergen kommune tirsdag. Haukelandsvatnet er det eneste vannet i Arna kommunen sjekker isen på.”

Take this section from the local newspaper; so many words resemble English. I had to look up "farbar" (passable). Plussgrader: plus degrees. Regn: rain. Isen: Ice. Ikke lenger: no longer, etc. I'm not going to translate the whole thing; I've already gone way past my norwegian quota on this page for today. It's pretty clear what they're saying just from those few words, however. It  takes time to learn the vocabulary to understand the entire thing, and spoken norwegian is another story, but english speakers definitely have a head start here!

....I don't know where I'm actually going with this. One more nerd moment before I move on to other things. Remember the training exercise called "fartlek"? Where you alternate sprinting and easy running; the one whose name we all used to laugh at?

(The majority of people probably have no idea what I'm talking about....I'm setting new records for rambling in this post!)

Anyways, it literally translates to fart (speed) plus lek (play). I think it might be swedish, but close enough. I got way too excited when I noticed that. Not so much the translation, which is simple, but the fact that I could suddenly understand a word that used to be so foreign. These kind of epiphany's are rarely interesting to other people, so I apologize. Just thought I'd share anyways =)

Time for some observations, 5 months in:

-If you go to the bank, bus station, police, etc, and want to talk to someone who works there, you go to a little machine which spits out a number, then you wait until your number flashes up. It’s much more organized than just standing in line; but it would be confusing if you didn’t know about the machine. Since their place in line is irrelevant, people tend to just mill around the desks rather than forming any kind of pattern.

-Several times in school when the teacher is away, another teacher or the rector has come, told us what to work on, then left us alone for the rest of the class without checking up again. A bit of a jump in trust from school back home.

-That situation in history/philosophy class today led to me and Emma looking up random places on google street view. I showed her Nelson, and she commented that the cars looked different. I never really consciously noticed it, but I guess it’s true, there’s much less range of vehicles here. I rarely see pickup trucks, or hippie vans, or old beaters. There are less vans too. The majority of people seem to have expensive looking medium sized cars ( I say expensive looking because I know next to nothing about cars). The range of colour is less as well; the majority are dark.

-It seems to be more common not to have a dryer, and to let clothes air dry.

-You can get your driver's licence when you're 18, and there's no passenger restrictions like with the "N" in BC. It seems to be a lot more expensive, as you're required to take a certain amount of courses before the test.

That's all I can think of right now.

I switched host family's yesterday, and everything is going well. I'll finish this post with some pictures of my new house. 

My life, in a suitcase, three backpacks, a laptop bag and two extra shopping bags. And you can't even see the ski bag. I've acquired a fair bit of stuff since I came here!

 Off the deck of Jon and Inger's house

 Cosy new bedroom

 Out my bedroom window

 Kitchen

Living room

Congratulations on making it to the end of this one! (Or just skimming for pictures and not finding very many). 

5 months in Norway tommorow! Crazy how fast time is going

natta =)

Four months in Norway!

If my exchange in Norway was a cake, I’d have eaten a serious chunk of it. Probably enough to be sick and not eat cake again for a few years. Actually, that’s not true. Especially if it was a brownie cake.  But Norway isn’t cake, and I’m definitely not sick of it. It’s hard to believe I’ve been here four months today. Four months since I flew across the ocean for the first time, four months since we touched down in the fog and rain into Oslo.

I’m sitting in Norwegian class, and we’re supposed to be answering questions about a movie we watched last class. I only saw the second half, and had no idea what was happening, especially since it was in Danish. The internet is blocked so I can’t look anything up, and I don’t really have to do it anyways. So I’m reading a section of the Norwegian textbook, and writing this blog post. With the balance seriously skewed towards writing the blog post.

I think it’s amazing how many more languages people are exposed to on a daily basis here. As I mentioned, we watched a movie in Danish last week. The next day, in history and philosophy, we watched a movie set in Iceland, with the text in gammelnorsk (old Norwegian) which I think is closer to Icelandic. The subtitles were in Swedish. I was partially able to follow along with the text, but understood only a few of the spoken words. We also have a French channel on TV here now; I watch it sometimes to try and retain a little bit of French. I was watching it the other night, and trying to decide if I understand the news better in Norwegian or French; I’m not really sure anymore. I think I still lean towards French, but the gap is shrinking. That being said, I don’t really feel like my Norwegian has improved much in the past couple months. I guess once you learn the basics it has to plateau, and I haven’t been doing much to actively learn the language anymore. Listening and reading seems to slowly and steadily improve, just from being surrounded by Norwegian. Speaking is harder though, and I still use a lot of English expressions and words, sometimes even when I know how to say it in Norwegian, but I’m not completely sure.

It’s a big leap to go from hearing a word or expression in conversation, and being confident enough to use it yourself. My speaking is definitely delayed in relation to comprehension, but I think this is fairly normal when learning a foreign language. I also tend to use English conversation fillers; I say things like “yeah” and “right”, even when speaking Norwegian. I guess that’s just a habit. 


Yayy for bear hugs and polar bears! (both real, of course...)

Sorry those were kinda out of context; they're Abby's pictures from Løten Lys back in October.  The part above I wrote in class, as you probably gathered. Then I took the bus in to the shopping centre to buy some pens and a glue stick. These took about five minutes to pick out and buy, leaving me with half an hour to kill before the next bus. So, I went into the grocery store and took stealthy pictures of random foods, mostly christmas themed, while trying to look like I was texting with my phone at a funny angle. Hence the bad quality pictures:

Christmas liver paste, and Christmas beet salad. I don't think they're actually any different than the normal products.

Nothing to do with Christmas...but lots of knekkebrød! :)

Julebrus: Pop that tastes like a mixture of cream soda and fruit punch. Yummm

Grandiosa pizza.....Christmasized

Christmas yogurt....they really go all out here

...and right beside the Christmas yogurt, random bins of bulk shrimp. 

Christmas sausage and Christmas beer...it's a little ridiculous

Brun ost <3

And the last one; packages of rømme grøt. I'm not really sure how this works, seeing as it seemed to consist mostly of sour cream when I had it. Maybe it's a thickening mixture? As i was taking this picture, a man came up from behind and took a package. My stealth camera skills clearly didn't work, because he asked jokingly if I buy food, or just take pictures of it. That was when I decided to stop wandering around aimlessly and leave to catch the bus home.

Hmm...what else do I have to say? I made buttertarts yesterday, and finished making the rest today. I think it's funny how I manage to break all the rules about pastry making: you're not supposed to work the dough too much; I ended up kneading it to make it stick together. You're supposed to use cold ingredients; I used hot water to smush up all the butter, which you're also not supposed to do. Not my proudest pie making experience, but I honestly don't taste a difference. So who cares! When I was looking for a recipe online, I found out they're actually Canadian, I didn't even know. So that makes it all the better to freeze them and have a little bit of Canada with a Norwegian Christmas. 

Today, December 13th, is Luciadagen; I'm not entirely sure what that means. It's some kind of religious holiday, and involved little kids going door to door  dressed as angels and singing. Some people also make Lussekatter, yellow pastries. Agathe at track practice gave me one of hers, it was really good! I took a picture, but a) don't feel like going and getting the cord to upload one picture, and b) it doesn't look all that appetizing sitting half eaten on a bench in the change room. So, here's a more professional picture:

Yummm :D

We had a few days of snow, before the rain washed it away again. But here's a couple pictures to finish this post, back when it looked like winter, and not October:

I think I set a new record for percentage of a blog post devoted to food.

Natta   =)

Edit: I forgot I had a couple pictures on my camera:

Julekalender...isn't it cute? Since I'm the youngest in the house right now I get the little gifts each day, either lottery tickets or little chocolate snowmen. So far I've won 30 kr! :D

Advent candles

And to finish off this blog post in a really anticlimatic fashion: a Christmas themed milk carton.

Natta for real! Although I guess it's morning now   =)

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

A Trip WAYY up North, and a Giant Santa Claus

Morning in Lyngseidet, near Tromsø. Keep reading  (or at least scanning) to see a map of how crazy far north this is!

Somehow it's November already, not entirely sure how that happened. It feels like it's been 3 weeks, rather than nearly 3 months. The bruises on my knees are proof that it's no longer summer; our driveway is slick with ice and frozen snow. It's 4:15 pm now, and the sun is down, although it's still light out. The clock fell back an hour a couple weeks ago, so now it's light when I walk to school again. The past couple days I've left the house just at sunrise, and the entire sky was glowing pink and orange on my (very short) walk to school. It's colder than usual for here right now, and snowed over the weekend, so we've switched from soggy wet swamp to winter again.

...And that's the weather report, not a very exciting way to begin a blog post!

Two weekends ago Emma, Karoline, Tonje and I were going to go skating at a rink in the city, but when we got there (after sprinting after and missing the bus, and getting off at the wrong bybanen stop), it turned out there was hockey practice going on. So we went back to the sentrum, and went shopping instead, which was just as fun. I have two pictures to show from this adventure:

Florida bybanen stop, in Norway.  "Next stop, Florida"

I want this shirt! The ostehøvel, or cheese slicer, is apparently a Norwegian invention,as several people have proudly pointed out to me.

I tried out training with the track team here for the past two Mondays, which was a really good workout. It was confusing though, as the gym we were in looked just like central school, and everything felt like ski training a few years ago, besides the fact that it was in a different language, and I didn't really know anyone. I found it interesting that the people there only really spoke Norwegian to me, with very little English. I think if I was forced to use Norwegian like this more often, I would learn it quicker. I haven't decided if I'll continue with it or not; I'm not interested in competing, it's just nice to have an organized practice. Soccer is on the same days though, and right now I'm leaning towards that, but we'll see!

Back home I never appreciated how nice it is to understand what's going on around you. It's going to be a shock to come home and have the buzz of background noise become intelligible again, to hear English in the grocery store, to answer the phone without fearing the rush of Norwegian and awkward explanations that follow. It's frustrating to be in a group, understanding bits of the conversation, but not enough to join in. It's like a constant stream of sound that runs by, the challenge is to snag enough words to piece together an idea of what's going on. Answering is another story. As a result, I do a lot of listening.

I also find it frustrating how quick people can be to switch to English when I don't understand what they say the first time. Usually when I don't understand, it's because:

-It was too fast; people don't say "space" after each word, of course, and a simple sentence sounds complicated when it's said like a jumbled detveitikkjeeg, written (det vet ikke jeg, I don't know). I was trying to think of an example to use there, when Helene walked by and said that, so there you go, a real life example.

-I don't know one or a few of the words in the sentence; if someone says, say, "do your toes hurt", and you don't know the word for toes, there's no hope of understanding, unless they point to your feet at the same time. Even then, there's a lot of room for misinterpretation. I can't think of any situation where someone would ask you if your toes hurt, but still...

-Sometimes people will say something where I completely understand the language used in the sentence, but don't know what they mean by it, or what they're actually talking about. This can easily happen in English too; it isn't restricted to a foreign language.

In all these cases, an English translation of the entire sentence doesn't teach me anything, and often all it takes is a slower repetition in Norwegian, or a rephrasing, to understand. This is something I need to remember to ask people to do, as I'm getting to the point where I'll understand the Norwegian, and maybe just need a few words translated, rather than the entire thing. I realize that when someone switches to English, they're just trying to help, so it's my responsibility to explain this. 

Everything is going well, although my mood tends to go up and down more dramatically and unexpectedly than at home. It can be hard starting off new in a different country, and there have definitely been times where I wondered what I got myself into. I have a great host family and rotary club though, and everyone at school is really nice, so I've been very lucky. There are times when I miss understanding and get frustrated, and times when I realize where I am, and that I'm learning a new language, and get ridiculously happy. The latter is way more common, and life is pretty much great! I manage to work through small problems by talking to other exchange students on facebook and skype, who can relate to everything, whether it's buying a scarf without speaking English, or comparing embarrassing moments and misunderstandings. 

I mentioned in my last post that I was going to Tromsø with my host family, and that's what I did this past weekend. We actually went to Lyngseidet, a little town about a 2 hour drive from Tromsø, near the Swedish and Finnish borders. Oh, and above the arctic circle! Being so close to Finland, and so far north, was really exciting, we were about as far north as Inuvik is in Canada! I think it's time for a map, so people from home can get a perspective on what Norway looks like, and where I've been. So, I made this:

Bergen is where I'm living, and WAYYY up there, is Tromsø. Sweden doesn't even go that high up!

We flew from Bergen to Oslo, then Oslo to Tromsø, where we met up with Torbjørn, my host parent's son, and his girlfriend, Camilla, who go to University in Trondheim. Tord's brother in law picked us up, and we drove about 2 hours to Lyngseidet. 

The weekend consisted of a lot of visiting, which for me meant listening to a ton of norwegian and trying to understand it. When there's three different conversations going on at once, and I don't know the people and events they're talking about anyways, it's pretty hard to follow. A couple hours of trying to understand can be pretty tiring! We also ate a lot of food, and drank a lot of coffee. I didn't know it was possible to eat pretty much 5 meals a day, plus snacks! 

All that food inspired me to go running, so I went for two gorgeous runs along the road at sunrise (which wasn't all that early, about 9:30 am). Picture time!

A snack in the grocery store, tørrefisk, crunchy dried fish

Food, accomodation, and.....roosters?

Apparently the world's largest and ugliest santa...I find the largest part a bit hard to believe, but who knows? My cell phone battery died before I could get a picture of the front

Morning run :)

Ferry on the way back to the Tromsø airport

On Saturday I played, guess what...scrabble of course! with Tord's brother in law and his 12 year old grand daughter. This time, for once, it was in English! It was also surprisingly harder than I thought; I would see Norwegian words before English ones. I managed to win, but not by much, the 12 year old girl was really good at english. It was really entertaining; trying to explain that "caked" really IS a word in english, that I didn't make it up, and that it isn't a verb for baking a cake. Tord's brother in law was really skeptical, so we had to look it up in the dictionary. It was set up for Norwegian though, so the proportions of letters and points was pretty weird. It's hard to find an english word when you're stuck with three K's and a J, whereas in norwegian there's plenty of possibilities, like "kjekk." That's one of the great things about learning a new language though, is that you learn about your own as well. I never realized how little we use the letter K compared to C, which there's only one of in Norwegian scrabble.

When I get home, the first things I'm going to buy are a waffle iron, and scrabble!

It was a very koselig weekend, and so neat to be SO far north. We saw a bit of northern lights one of the nights, a light green glow behind the mountains. We flew home on Sunday, and got home at 1 am Monday morning.

That brings me up to the present, and speaking of presents, I got the birthday package from you guys, mom and dad! I'll try and wait to the 25th to open it.

Happy November 9th from Norway! :)

I added a column on the side as a list of new things I've done here, some of which may be mundane, but as Robert Brault (whoever that is) says:


 "Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."