Too charged up to sleep.

Hi, I was electrocuted today. Oops. It felt so weird – I tingled all over for a few minutes. So, here’s mah blog.

Obligatory background tunes:

The ride home from Kongsberg proved to be quite an exciting excursion.  Firstly, before leaving Kongsberg, Cato and I went up to the silver mines and slid around on the ice in the parking lot for a few minutes. Nothing like a minivan doin’ donuts on ice…totally B.A. Anyway, the weather prevented the familiar mountain passes from opening for the day, so we took the Haukeli route. Over the mountains, underneath a glacier, through a waterfall, and across a fjord – this was easily the most beautiful drive of my life. As we headed west, the big storm pounded us with rain, which meant swollen waterfalls, which meant my kind of heaven. One along the edge of a fjord was even so enlarged that it was splashing onto the road in front of it and we could watch the forceful winds spraying the mist like craaazy. As we drove through this chaos, I took a video on my camera and Cato opened the window…hahhh it was fun. The storm also made for a wild ferry ride. As we waited for the ferry, we watch it rock back and forth as it attempted dock…I’m sure the captains are used to this type of intense weather, but I was borderline terrified. The winds were the strongest I’ve ever felt. Once on the ferry, we walked around a bit but the rocking made it look like I was majorly drunk…I even tried the “one foot in front of the other” walk to measure my “drunkenness.” Failed that test big time.  Cato and I then ventured up to the deck to feel the full force of the wind. Safe to say we were the only passengers who thought that was a good idea. The wind was CRRAAAZY though – we could lean into it and not fall over and the rain felt like pebbles being pelted at our faces. Not something that many Californians experience on a day-to-day basis. We eventually made it back home and that was that.

Just a couple days after that, I was off to Berlin to visit my fellow au pair friend, Lauren Magill, in Berlin. She’s actually the one who you can all blame for how much you miss me right now – she told me about the au pair website that lead me to this adventure! So, throughout my entire journey from Bergen to Berlin, my passport and ID were not checked AT ALL. Pretty scary! I could have been anybody and they would have let me on the plane! Hmm. Well, I made it there and then Lauren and I were at two separate gates so meeting up was pretty funny…took a while but we eventually found each other.

My time in Berlin was so very fun. We walked all around the city and I feel like I was able to get a good feel for what it would be like to live there rather than just be a tourist. We were able to visit the Eastside Gallery, which is a long and extravagantly decorated section of the Berlin Wall. Totes cool, I really loved all of the photo opps.

I was also in Berlin for New Year’s Eve. Now you may not know this, and I most certainly didn’t either until the day before, but Berlin hosts the world’s largest outdoor New Year’s Eve Party! What are the chances that the place I choose to spend NYE happens to be theee plaaaace to beeeee in the world? Bigger than Times Square, bigger than something that apparently goes on in London. And whoaaaa it was fun. We got to Brandenburg Gate around 10:30 and although we weren’t early enough to get inside, we were still surrounded by tons of cool people and had perfect view of the fireworks (we also happened to go to Brandenburg the night before and walked around the entire party zone and watched the bands do soundcheck). While standing outside the main party zone, we befriended a group from France and stuck with them for the rest of the night. They were SO FUN. Throughout the night, we also befriended two guys from Amsterdam, two guys from Serbia, and one guy from San Francisco. It was such an international event - it was magical. Right after midnight, the police let everybody into the main area so we were able to enjoy the party for a few more hours until we were literally shooed out at like 4:00 AM. It was the perfect Silvester in Berlin. I was having such a good time that I think I said “Happy New Year’s” to half of the people in the crowd, hugged half of those people, and did the European cheek kisses with a half of those people. I’ve learned the regional differences of one-kiss, two-kiss, and three-kiss. Americans usually stick with no-kiss so that was an entertaining lesson. Such a great night! Highlight – NEEEEEDING to pee so badly that Lauren and I accidentally barged in the exit of the porta-potty area and crammed into one together. We were pretty sure it was a bad idea because people were dancing on top of the flimsy porta-potties, but we had to pee bad enough that we were willing to risk being crushed. Good times.

My last night in Berlin was quite eventful as well. Although it was a Monday, we figured we’d give going out a shot. The first people we sat next to happened to be from California! Instant friends. We stuck with them the rest of the mellow night and had a blast despite the lack of crowds and shenanigans. It’s amazing how wonderful the people are that you meet while traveling.

The next day, I left. I had a great time staying with Lauren and the Risløv family and if they happen to read this, “Thaaank you!!!!” So I was headed back to Norway and during take off, we sped past a part of the Berlin airport that was on fire…not exactly what you want to see at the beginning of the flight. But we made it back and I was actually really happy to be back in Norway…it feels like home. J

Since returning, life has continued to be great. Being away for a while made me really realize how much I love it here. Oh and Cato recently bought a Wii! Cato, Maria-Elena, and I had a Wii Sports tournament the other night….as embarrassing as this is – I’m still sore. It got pretty intense. And school has started up again and I feel like there is hope for me to learn Norwegian! I wasn’t as rusty as I expected. Sadly, my classmate and friend, Magali, will be moving to Oslo as soon as our course is over next week and possibly moving back home to Argentina soon after that. Quite unfortunate but so it goes…

Lastly, I recently made a nice big display of all of the cards I’ve received from my going-away party and in the mail since moving here. All of the Christmas pictures from Crissy and Zia Anna, all of the notes from my mommasan, all of the cards from my AO loves, ALL of them! Yes, father, even the note you slipped in my bag before I left Martinez. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is thaaanks everyone and send me some pictures to add!

Check out this website and take it to heart before it’s too late:

http://www.empowernetwork.com/Caroline/nurse-reveals-the-top-5-regrets-people-make-on-their-deathbed/

Kthxbai