"Only he who wanders, finds new paths."

Here I sit, late at night, ready to reflect on the past two weeks. It’s been a long time since I last blogged and things have been great.

Listen while reading, please:

Really though, things have been great. That Thanksgiving meal I was on the verge of making when we last talked….that went pretty dang well, if I do say so m’self. Not perfect, but considering I’ve never made any of those dishes before, I’m proud of myself. It’s safe to say Paula Deen would have been proud, too! And the turkey was possibly the best I’ve ever had (Sorry, Ma). I can’t wait to cook every Thanksgiving for the rest of my life and look back and say, “I remember the first time I cooked Thanksgiving…I was living in Norway….what a year….”

My Norwegian class has become wildly fun. Everyone is so unique and interesting and we all have a lot of fun together. I’m really happy to have the chance to meet so many people from so many corners of the globe. We are all so ridiculous together. This past Wednesday, for no clear reason, we started talking about wolves. Wolf is ‘ulv’ and howl is just ‘ul,’ so naturally I’d bust out an “ULLLLLLLLLL” every few minutes, just because. I can’t help myself sometimes.

I recently taught Emil how to play War, the card game. As my family may recall, back in the good ole days, I was quite the avid Warrior during vacations to the Brown Cabin in Arnold. He was quick to catch on, despite having no verbal explanation, and he is a whiz with numbers. For a few days there, he wanted to play allllll theeee tiiiime. And even though War takes no actual skill or strategy, he has won every game. I mean, I let him cheat a little bit and he insists on ALWAYS possessing the Ace of Clubs, but still, he’s been a lucky sonofagun so far.

I’ve been hanging out quite a bit with a new friend, Maria-Elena. Our first night of shenanigans, we were suckered into a sweet deal at the movie rental store – 3 for the price of 2 for an entire week! Only like 130Kr (like $20ish). We ended up with Bridesmaids, Harry Potter 7 Pt 2, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I cried like a baby in HP7PT2, again. Sorry I’m not sorry, that movie is so sad. We also went to one of the 40000 kebab shops in Bergen on our way home…which resulted in me accidentally inhaling a chunk of meat….not cool, it hurt. Speaking of graceful moments, I’ve had quite a few recently….slipping all over the mall, sliding down a muddy slope on my butt while out for a stroll by myself, waving a parking pass card all over the sensor like an idiot while a line of cars waited behind me (gave up after like 20 solid seconds of flailing, just ended up paying for the day), being stuck outside the grocery store during the biggest storm because I couldn’t seem to trigger the automatic doors (had to wait for the next person to come out like 2 minutes later), and lots of other stupid things. I feel so “American,” if ya know what I mean.

Anyway, in true Norwegian fashion, I must discuss the weather. The past two weeks have felt like one big storm. I’ve never before experienced such powerful wind, pelting rain, and trembling thunder. The rain and hail seem to come at you from all sides and the wind knocks you around pretty good, therefore umbrellas don’t stand a chance. I tried once, for about 3 minutes, then put my umbrella away for good. One night, the thunder/lightning storm was right outside my window. I stayed up from about 3 AM til 4 AM, just watching and recording videos. This storm is biiig even by Norwegian standards. The nearby lake even flooded over the top of the very old dam, THAT is how much water there has been.

We had our first real snow on December 6^th. I’ve experienced snowstorms before, but I never had the chance to drive in one. Since I’m living, not vacationing, in Norway, driving in snow is unavoidable. Without any introduction or lessons, I just took to the streets. Learn by doing - making Poly proud. Welp, that was the most stressful driving experience of my life. I just needed to go to the grocery store and it turned into an almost 3 hour ordeal of cement trucks putting on chains in the middle of our one-lane street, a truck repeatedly climbing up then sliding back down a small slope on the main road to the grocery store, followed by one icy turn that lodged two busses and a car into uncomfortable and seemingly inescapable positions. 3 hours of traffic, the inability to safely turn around and head home, no possible detours, running very low on gas, sliding on icy turns, and 6 or so attempts to make it up one icy slope in the neighborhood….what a fun day! A good learning experience nonetheless.

The following day was the most beautiful day of my life, I kid you not. The snow is different here. The dramatic Norwegian landscapes, even just alongside the freeway and the nearby roads, accentuated by a perfect layer of powdered sugar  and mist are mind-blowingly gorgeous. Multiple times during my drive to school and back, I had mental malfunctions because I could not mentally grasp so much beauty. Picture a perfect winter wonderland, a snowy Audubon picture, and a mythical land…roll that together and you’ve got yourself Norway. That night the kids skied around the front yard and I made a snow angel or two. Best day yet, for sure.

Then it rained, the snow melted, and left us with ice. NOT OKAY WITH ME. I thought it was a good idea to wear top-siders today because they’re generally quite traction-y and it wasn’t very cold (it was like 2.5-3 degrees Celsius)…yeah, I couldn’t even make it from a store, across the street, and to the bus stop….I had to go back to the car and just drive directly to the store in the city as to avoid all walking. I never tried ice-skating for a reason – I don’t like ice. I swear the locals can just stroll on over it, no problemo. Not this girl though. Old people often were little clamp-on spikes on their shoes – I’mma get me some of those ‘cause I just can’t hang.

The last of my updates for the past two weeks, is the spur of the moment decision to spend Saint Patrick’s Day in Ireland!!! One day it was just and idea, the next day the flight was purchased. Also, I might add, as I was about to book the flight, Solfrid purchased it for me as an early Christmas present from her and Cato….I literally rolled on the floor for a little bit, laughing in disbelief….THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU ahhhhh I cannot wait!!!

I’m a very lucky girl and I am very thankful for this life.

And big congratulations to Kristin Ciralli, Amanda Pellicani, and all my other friends who will be graduating from college today.

I miss you all. Smell ya later.