Dépaysement

Remember me? I’m sorry, I’m sorry. For a while there, I became so used to not really having much of a social life and now that I am making new friends, I’ve gotten so overwhelmed and caught up in it all! But at least I’m having a blast, right? I’ll never stop writing though, just maybe less frequently than before.

Here are the necessary tunes:

So, where to begin?! Much has happened but most of which is just common day nonsense that may not necessarily be worth “writing home about.” Hmm…okay, I’ll reflect in chronological order…

I really like salmon now. Like, super like. Even raw! I never thought I’d see the day I would try or enjoy real sushi, but I also never thought I’d see the day I’d live in Norway. I’ve recently eaten deer meat, and loved it. Aaaand reindeer meat!!! Not a big fan. It wasn’t too terrible until Cato told me that the wilder the animal, the more it smells like the fur…so then all I could taste was fur. Straight up nasty. Takk for det, Cato. (L-Magz’s “ex-boyfriend is a reindeer.” I hope she actually reads this to re-appreciate that little gem.)

I need some ideas for crafts! I was all about those strings of birds and now I’m looking for more. Am I becoming crafty? You bet your sweet buns, I am. Just the other day, I sat down and drew a picture, then handcrafted a couple cards, then cut my hair a bit. Artsyfartsycraftycreative Town, population: Emilita. But srsly, I could use come really creative suggestions. Home décor is probably preferred, like something along the lines of my dangling birds…cute stuff. And shippable ideas are best, because since I can’t really afford to buy things for people at home, I like the idea of making stuff for them!

Moving on.

I recently met up with Klara Jensen and Ian Plaine in Bergen! Such a good day. They were the first familiar faces I’ve seen in Norway and it was really, really nice. I admit, I even got a little teary-eyed as soon as I saw them walking towards me. It was a combination of the happiness of seeing a bit of home here, and the realization that I would not know them if it weren’t for my cousin Matt. Almost two years after his death and he’s still bringing people together. Anyway, that day was so very great. The weather was good so we went to the top of Floyen, walked around in the snow a bit, and then went to have the best risgrøt I’ve ever had. And then we just sat and talked and strolled around the city for hours – talking about life, Ian’s upcoming move to Norway (!!!!!), and such. It was definitely one of my happiest days I’ve had here.

A couple days later, I went to a Couch Surfing meeting with high hopes of meeting some new people, and that I did. I met people from all over the world, but especially bonded with 3 other Americans (the only three I’ve met since coming here). There’s Mariann from Tucson (but originally born here), Alex from an island near Seattle, and Eric from Washington D.C. (but has lived many places throughout his life). And we are just 4 peas in a pod. We all feel an automatic connection and a sense of familiarity despite being from all different parts of the US. Since meeting just over two weeks ago (has it really only been that long?!), we have hung out on multiple occasions.

First, Alex, Eric, two of Alex’s friends (from Slovenia and Italy) spent a day exploring Hardanger Fjord and visiting a famous waterfall. The same day, Eric, Mariann, and I went out to a bar for a 50’s and 60’s night and that was shenanigans – it was my first night out in Bergen! The following Tuesday night, Mariann, Alex, and I went to watch a Norwegian movie on the Uni. Bergen campus and the movie had Norwegian subtitles! I actually did surprisingly well…maybe I’m better at Norwegian than I thought.

Then just a couple nights later, us four Americans met up for a trivia night at an Irish pub in the city. It was in ENGLISH thankfully! And we didn’t do too badly! There was one particular question that was hilarious – they asked what the maximum potential height of an ostrich is…in centimeters…and we were allowed a +/- 10 cushion. Alex, being the brainiac he is, settled on 275 cm and he was EXACTLY RIGHT baaaahahaha we could not believe that! It was such a fun night and we are planning on making it a weekly event. And our team name is “Honeybadger don’t give a sh*t…” soooo our trivia team obviously rocks.

Since meeting, Mariann and I have hung out quite a bit. I introduced her to my favorite café recently and now it’s seems like it will become our meeting place. (By the way, I never thought I’d become a “regular” at a café but it’s haaapeningggg…maybe 2012 really will be the end of the world.) A few nights ago, we were watching Wasteland (excellent documentary, I highly recommend it) at her friends house when we saw the NORTHERN friggin’ LIGHTS. That is NOT normal for this far south so it was extra, extra exciting. Seeing the Northern Lights has been #1 on my bucket list for many moons now, so this was quite a special occasion for me. I kind of had one of those “wow, life is amazing” sort of moments.

Other highlights of the past month:

-       A night out of dancing with Maria-Elena and some of her classmates and the DJ played a Bay Area song….I was elated! Such a fun night though. I love how people don’t go out until SO LATE in Europe – we didn’t even go to the club until about midnight. Hahhhh awesome.

-       Graduated Norskkurs 1-2 and have since started Norskkurs 3-4…bouts to be fluent!

-       Lastly, thanks for the card and pictures, Zia Fris! And for the postcard, Zia Anna and Uncle B! Receiving any type of mail is like Christmas.

-       Trivia night with Mariann and Alex last night….we are so bad, we are good. Creativity points are clutch for us!

Lowlight of my life:

-       I had to go into the city early before class this past Monday. It had recently snowed and was started to melt and get slushy. Now, they USUALLY have all of the main sidewalks mostly cleared by the time I come to class so it rarely matters what shoes I wear as long as I’m wearing wool socks (which, by the way, all have holes in the bottoms (except for the pair from Lenka and Howard, those ones are STURDY) because I’ve worn them all so much…hint, hint.) So the day I decide to wear my beat up old, holey Vans shoes the sidewalks were definitely not cleared…at all…and were slushy and terrible. I had to walk across the city to buy a book before class and about 3 minutes into my walk, my feet were completely soaked. Then I had 3.5 hours of class then met up with Mariann for warm beverages. By the time we made it to the café, I was literally worried for my toes. Luckily the café lady brought us blankets and told me it was absolutely okay to take off my warm shoes. But that really sucked. Norway is cold.

And now I must go. We are headed to Geilo for the weekend! Hopefully I’ll learn to ski.

Ending thought…imagine a world without fences. This has been in my head for many months now. Next time you’re on a walk, or driving around, just notice how many fences there are. The entire concept of private property would be changed. Domestication of animals could fall apart. Or maybe not. Hmm. Just a thought.

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

Just a Christmas blurb.

So I said I wouldn’t write for a while (as usual) but I wrote this bit in my head during church yesterday and figured I’d share it despite it’s lack of shenanigans and such.

And of course I’ve included background music for you:

Sitting in a church that is even older than my home country, listening to the hushed murmur of a thousand foreign voices, and the bells above me began to ring announcing the start of the Christmas Eve service. As much as I love the sound of church bells from afar, hearing them from within the church was a whole new experience entirely. Muffled, although closer than ever, echoing off the walls, making me feel as though the sounds were coming from within my own head. The bells clanged, the voices lowered to just a hum, and the organist began. As the priest began speaking, the sun shone through the antique window landing directly on my face like a blinding stage light. In that moment, I found myself questioning whether there may actually be a “God” and if they were recognizing my current discomfort, my heightened emotions, my lone American-ness, my doubt, and this light was meant to single me out and welcome me personally. It was just a passing thought, and although I remain unconvinced, in the moment I was calmed by the idea.

As brief and relatively uneventful this moment may have been, I’ll remember for quite a while. God jul!

Highway to Heaven

Again, it’s been a long time. Here are your prescribed background tunes:

Since I last wrote, I’ve had some really good times and experienced some old Norwegian traditions.

December 13^th was Santa Lucia Day. I’m not really sure why it is celebrated but all the kids get dressed up like angels and sing some songs at their schools. We celebrated in the evening by heading over to our neighbors’ house to make a type of bread/bun specific to the holiday. The buns have saffron in them so they turn out bright yellow. They are SO delicious. Little swirly buns of fluffy yellow heaven with raisins on top. Mmm.

The next day, in Norwegian class (norskkurs), my friend Vasilis thought it’d be a good idea to feed bread to the pigeons from our classroom window during our break. Eventually they started coming up onto the actual window and windowsill to get food. THENNN he decided it’d be a really, really good idea to catch one and bring it in the room! This story has no importance, I was just laughing hysterically for way too long. I’m even snickering just reflecting back on that day. Our class is all sorts of ridiculous.

And the day after that, on the 15^th, I celebrated my 1 year anniversary since knee surgery. My new ACL and I are still going steady. The nasty meniscus tries to make my life difficult sometimes, but so far so good. Although it was a majorly busy day, I made time to go on a run, since I figured that was the ultimate way to pay thanks to the modern medicine that made me mobile. (ßtoo many m’s right there? I think not.)

Nothing notable really happened for about a week there.

Then a few days ago, it snowed. That wasn’t too notable in itself, but what blew me away was that the next morning, I wanted to throw a rock at a puddle in the front yard to see if I could break the ice…but I literally could not pry a pebble loose from the ground. It was THAT frozen! I was mighty impressed! I had to resort to using my heel to try to break through the deep little flooded crevasse puddle…epic fail because I then realized it was frozen all the way through. Then I was even more impressed!

The only real story I have to tell within this blog is about yesterday (22 December). It was the shortest day I will likely ever experience in my life. The technical sunrise and sunset times you can find online don’t seem very right because it feels like the sun makes it’s real appearance around 10:15 and set around 3:15. SO SHORT. Anyway, yesterday Cato, Maria-Elena, and I made the trek through the fjords and across the mountains to their small hometown of Kongsberg. The drive actually took longer than the sun shone so it felt like the drive took foreeever…but holy smokes it was beautiful!!! The drive was pitch black for the first two hours and when the sun finally came up it was still foggy and damp…until about halfway across the mountains, when it suddenly cleared. I couldn’t stop saying, “IT’S PERFECT” all throughout the drive. Sorry, Cato and Maria-Elena, for my annoying and repetitive comments. The road was terrifying in a few spots but the sights were crazy cool – along the very top, it was a semi-flat snow-covered plateau so it looked just like the arctic tundra. Also, the wind created the most amazing riffles as it blew loose snow along the top of the snowpack. I wish I were creative enough with words to portray this accurately since my camera also failed to capture worthy photographic documentation.

We finally made it to Kongsberg by about 4:30ish and we were all so tired. BUT, the 22^nd of December marks a very old tradition within this town, called Drekkedagsnatta. The translation is technically “drinking day night” and it’s a tradition dating back to the 1600s. The silver miners of Kongsberg would begin their short Christmas breaks starting on December 22^nd, and they would head down from the mines in the mountains carrying torches as they walked to the city center. They also received their salaries when they joined the rest of the townspeople in the city for the Christmas parade…so then they would celebrate! The tradition has evolved to all of the townspeople (“all” is an overstatement, mainly the younger generations with some rad older folk) head into the mountains near the mines and start lots and lots of bonfires, then groups of friends sit around, get drunk, sing Kongsberg songs, socialize, and have an excellent time. Also, many of the guys dress in traditional Kongsberg skiing attire which includes a very old style sweatshirt, capri-length poofy mounain pants (just found out they are called knikkers), and old looking socks knitted in very classic Norwegian prints. I really can’t describe this accurately….nor could I find a single picture combining all aspects of the guys’ outfits. Use your imagination, I guess.

Anyway, Maria-Elena brought me along, seeing as this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She introduced me to a big group of her friends and it was sø gøy!...So fun. I met so many incredibly nice people. Not to mention, Norwegian guys are wildly handsome. Whewwww, really though.…..moving on….so towards the end of the night, I managed to sit down next to the one person within the group who was not fluent in English…and since I’m terrible at Norwegian, you can imagine our hilarious attempt to converse. Despite the huge language barrier, we managed to talk for about 45 minutes! It was soo entertaining, we were both struggling but having a good time anyway. Norwegians may be rather reserved in day-to-day life, but they are FUN partiers.

So, my new plan in life: eventually, I want to marry a Kongsberg engineer (lots of engineers in this town) and live here. I love this place. Cato’s mom, Bjorg, has agreed to go in on a cookie bakery business with me. Set Town – population: me.

Some other news in my life: my mom is coming to visit in May! I’m kiiinda excited. The plan, as of now, is to meet some family in Italy, explore the Dolomites a little bit, then head back to Bergen to celebrate the 17^th of May, thennn go on a long cruise through the fjords. Yesss. Also, a dear friend of mine will be visiting me in March! I can’t wait!!! He doesn’t know it yet, but I’m planning on making him hike Troll’s Tongue with me. I think he’ll be game for it though…

And Christmas Eve is tomorrow! Christmas Eve in Norway is basically like our Christmas day in the US…kind of. We will have a big dinner then “Santa” will come and deliver the gifts, which are opened that night. Seems kinda weird to someone who has experienced a lifetime of Santa coming at night to deliver the gifts for Christmas morning. But this year, Santa will be making a legitimate guest appearance, and yes, I’m pretty sure we booked the REAL Santa for tomorrow’s visit. Anyway, I’m going to miss my family and our traditions, but this will be a good experience that I’ll always remember.

God Jul and I’ll probably write again after I return from New Year’s in Berlin with Lauren Magill! Wooooo life is good.

"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.

"If you feel homesick, get a new home."

Ooops, I lied, here's another blog about normal life! The music will make it better. Really.

There’s something so American about cooking with whiskey… Much of today has been spent cooking in preparation for tomorrow – we are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner (a couple days late, clearly, but Thanksgiving nonetheless)! Never have I ever cooked for Thanksgiving, so to do so for my first time whilst in Norway is something I’ll definitely remember forever. I’m pretty excited – everything is turning out okay so far.  Not only is this my first time cooking all of these dishes, but many of the ingredients are either improvised, slightly different, or also made from scratch themselves. I’ve been having quite a hard time at the grocery stores recently – many things that seem so basic to me are either totally unheard of or not commonly used enough to be carried in the stores. Such as cornmeal, Italian sausage, and canned broth. Pardon my French but sometimes shit’s rrrrough trying to cook foods that I’m familiar with from back in the good ole States.

Speaking of the Land of the Free, I’ve been listening to a lot of country lately. Not like home is much of a country sort of place, but it makes me nostalgic for the USA and rafting. By the way, KAT Country Radio does NOT let me listen online. Nor does Pandora.  People, please keep me posted on new music over yonder! Oh, and speaking of country, there is actually line dancing on Monday nights at the school on this island….as terrible as I am at any sort of grooving and/or staying in a line, I greatly look forward to experiencing Norwegian country line dancing sometime soon!

As I mentioned, today was mostly spent in preparation for tomorrow, but we also went and saw a very traditional Norwegian children’s Christmas play called Putti Plutti Pott. Of course I only understood a few words here and there so I was relatively lost throughout the whole thing, but there was this one part toward the end that included a very traditional Norwegian song accompanied by very, very traditional dance – fascinating! That was wildly entertaining for me. Also, this past week I got to see Solfrid’s bunad, which is the traditional dress worn for special occasions such as their big national holidays. Google “bunad.” They’re so pretty and interesting because they vary by region and are often handed down through generations. I love them.

Other notable highlights of the past week have included my 1-month anniversary of living here! Whoaaaa, time is flying. Real Thanksgiving was uneventful but made me realize that people on Facebook rrrreally annoy me…so many posts about being with family and eating a ton of food and watching football and yadda yadda and it just sorta irritated me to the core because maybe I wanted in on that? But at the same time, I can’t really complain, my life is pretty good right now. Then all the Black Friday posts?? Shhh. I get it, you were crazy enough to stand in huge lines and you got stuff for super cheap. Cool, bros. Not that I wanted in on any of THAT action, I think Black Friday is ludicrous. Actually, I went shopping on Black Friday, too, and it was pretty great. But here there aren’t even lines…or sales for that matter, but I’d prefer there be no insanity and no sales than insanity and sales. I ended up only spending 99Kr (like $17) for a sweet, bright pink, long underwear set. Which girl has two thumbs and isn’t going to freeze to death? This girl.

One other very notable moment in my week was trying caviar!!!! AHH. Did that really happen!!?!?! Yes. I was perusing the fish market with a girl from my Norwegian class and while she was befriending a fellow native Spanish speaker (she’s from Buenos Aires), I was gawking at the abundance of caviars at a particular booth. The sales guy asked me if I wanted to try some and I said “WHEN IN ROME!” I didn’t really say that, it was more of like a squeak and an “ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh errrrrrghhhjhgg….k.” At that moment, I was thinking about how much I really wanted to puke at the idea…yet knowing that it’s something I should probably experience while I’m here. So I was expecting like a cracker or something to put it on but no no noooono, he told me to stick out my hand then smeared that ish (actually the most expensive kind, I felt rather fancy) right on the back of my hand. I just about diiied. Hesitated for a few awkward moments. Then I just went for it. Didn’t even chase it with any beverage of sorts. Just boom. And you know what? Not even bad! It definitely wasn’t any taste I was used to – it was super salty with the essence of fish and embryos or something unidentifiable, but I didn’t pass out or anything. Victory!

So I’m settling in, life is beginning to establish a normalcy that is quite enjoyable because by building the base of my life here, I will feel more confident in branching out and developing a social life, or experiencing new adventures, and etc. I probably don’t make much sense….basically, in the beginning, I didn’t want to stretch myself too thin, I didn’t want to take any risks, or have my mind on too many things – but now that this is feeling more like home, I’m ready to get the rest of my life going. Maybe that cleared it up a bit?

Lastly, I made this mental list recently. I feel like I didn’t pack quite right for here…

Things I’m very glad I brought (the small list): lots of warm socks (no explanation needed) and my mini drybags (they provide me peace of mind for my phone and camera in the case of unexpected downpours).

Things I’m frustrated with myself for not bringing (the long list): warm scarves (my light cotton ones just don’t make sense here, I need some scarves with substance!), bright colors (whenever I went shopping this past summer, my sole focus was to buy bright colors…I thought I did…but apparently I didn’t pack ANY. I dress so boring.), feminine clothes (apparently I forgot all of those, too??? Every day when I get dressed, I take note that on most days, all of my clothes could be appropriately spotted on both guys and girls….which is totally fine sometimes, but I miss dressing like a girl! I clearly didn’t know how to shop for warmth while maintaining femininity.), and the last thing I’m pretty disappointed at myself for not bringing is the card with Matt’s picture on it from his memorial. I’ve had one of those on me since then, yet I managed to somehow not bring one to Norway?? Sorry for getting all sentimental, but November’s the hardest month – two years and just a couple says ago was the last time I saw him alive. I miss him. And I like to think that he would be proud of my decision to take on the challenge of living abroad, like he did. I know I don’t talk about emotional stuff very often, but Matt was a huge inspiration to me while he was alive, and perhaps even more so after his death. Chewball was just so dang cooool. I believe that he lived his life right. I feel the same about Brendo, too. Honestly, I didn’t know him as well as I knew Matt, but their similarities are striking. They both lived their lives so fully and were such genuine, good people. It’s so…frustrating? tragic? unfair?...that they both died so young yet I can take solace in knowing that they made excellent use of the time they were given here. On that note, keep your loved ones close…if not physically, at least emotionally. 

You could never reach the top of a mountain if both sides were smooth.

I want to start this entry by saying congratulations to my cousin, Liz, for doing exceptionally well on the LSATS! I also want to send my positive thoughts to my cousin, Erin, as she is currently in the hospital recovering from complications resulting from a recent surgery. Love to you both.

So, it has now been 3 weeks since I arrived here on the beautiful island of Bjørøy and 23 years since I arrived on earth. Crazy how time flies. Now here’s a tune to read to:

This past week has been interesting, challenging, and wonderful.

Last Thursday was probably my hardest day yet – the communication barrier lingers on and in times of uncooperativeness, the frustrations are amplified. I almost had a meltdown. I found myself sitting on the floor with a crying child in my arms who refused to get dressed as if putting clothes on would result certain death. In due time, everything was resolved and we were eventually out the door, but in the chaos of the moment, I just wanted to cry, too. It was THAT frustrating – I couldn’t say anything to fix the situation, I couldn’t understand what exactly was wrong. But looking back on it, whatevah. So it goes, that stuff happens. I’m still new to them; they are still new to me.

Friday marked my first real day alone with both kids. It was actually only from like 11:30 in the morning til 5:50 at night, but a lot managed to happen during those hours. Throughout the day, probably 8 or so kids from throughout the neighborhood came by, so I was not only looking after 2 kids, but many at a time! It was scary because I obviously couldn't communicate with any of them nor did I know which parents they belonged to in case something were to go wrong. It went okay though. We went on two walks around the neighborhood throughout the day, the second of which I didn’t even wear a jacket…the weather has been THAT nice. That day ended well enough, the biggest bummer was that when I finally had a chance to thoroughly investigate my sore throat; I found my tonsils enflamed and covered in white spots. Great.

Saturday morning began with the first frost of the season, BREATHTAKING! Because Norway is entirely saturated, everything was white. I am starting to realize that I’m in for quite a cold winter – pretty excited for that change/challenge. The rest of the day continued to be great. I made pizza inside of pitas for lunch and the kids loved them! Great success! Then Cato took the kids and me on a drive over some islands and to the North Sea. It was kind of a trippy moment to be looking at the actual North Sea. I’m definitely not in California anymore. It was such a nice ride though, he showed me a really interesting nearby island with a very dramatic, bare, and rocky landscape with lots of trails for me to explore on my own…perhaps this coming weekend. Later that night, Cato and I watched Step Brothers, ate ice cream, and drank a couple hard cranberry ciders. Although I was feeling pretty sick because of my throat, there is no denying that was a pretty good birthday eve!

Sunday, November 13^th was my 23^rd anniversary with life, as well as my parent’s 97^th (give or take a few) wedding anniversary, baby Reagan’s baptism, AND Father’s Day (in Norway). What an important day in history! After breakfast, Cato and I washed a couple of the cars, which was odd because I’ve never washed a car while not wearing something along the lines of a swimsuit. Rather, I was wearing 2 layers for warmth and a shell jacket and pants. I was pretty sure I was going to get frostbite during the washing process, except for the fact that the hose spewed hot water! Ohhh that was a pleasant surprise. Then for lunch, we had the first cake of the day…and multiple pieces of it. Bad idea. We later went into the city and Cato showed me around a really old neighborhood of tiny cobbled alleys and creaky old buildings. This place is right out of a fairytale/history book (kind of the same in my mind...I love history); my heart was melting for this neighborhood. From there, we walked across the city center and had a delicious dinner followed by more cake. Mina told the waitress it was my birthday (of course I didn’t understand though) so she brought out my cake with what looked like a firecracker torch sparkler combo stuck into the top – while it was visually pleasing, I couldn’t help but question the safety of the erupting fire canon on my cheesecake. After dinner, we went to the airport to pick up Solfrid as she returned from a weekend adventure and I was starting to feel sick from toooo muchhh sugarrr.  Eugh, first sign of getting old = not being able to handle much sugar. So then we came home, I skyped with my lovely, beautiful parental units and our pooch, Charlie. He’s so ugly and weird that it’s actually cute (Charlie or my dad?).

And as the day came to an end, I decided I wanted to buy myself a birthday present. Hmm. How about 5 days in Berlin for New Year’s Weekend? Boom. Can’t wait to see Lauren Magill!

Monday – found out I wouldn’t be starting Norwegian class on Tuesday…rather I’d have to change into the M/W class and start a day late. Oiii.

So Wednesday was a different and good day! Woke up early to get ready for my first day of school and left for the city with Solfrid. We went out for “breakfast” and I learned that breakfast foods don’t really exist here…we had sandwiches…which were quite good, but in my mind it was like eating lunch at 9AM. Not going to lie, as a big fan of breakfast foods, I’m really going to miss omelets. Anyway, then she walked me to my class! I was so nervous.

As class began, I knew I was in for one heck of a course. Apparently everybody became fluent on the first day so I was so so very lost. I’m blatantly the worst in the class, but hey, my excuse is pretty valid. So, the class consists of 10 people (only two other girls besides myself) and a teacher who looks younger than half of the students. It’s really interesting though because it brings together 11 people from 10 different countries. I can’t remember where one of the girls is from, but the other students are from Lithuania, Poland (2), Paraguay, Philippines, Greece, Turkey, and Argentina. I’m the lone American and  it's kind of exciting – otherwise I probably would have bonded quickly with another American while there are so many new cultures to learn about! The class is really cool because it is taught in English AND Spanish because the guy from Paraguay only speaks Spanish, so not only will I learn Norwegian but also I’ll get to brush up on Spanish! My Spanish conversations with the Paraguay guy during lunch break were wildly entertaining; I think we will have fun talking with each other in Norwe-anish.

I especially loved the class because it was excellent to socialize with new people a bit. After class, the girl from Argentina, Magali, approached me and asked if I wanted to meet up after Monday’s class to hang out in the city and maybe practice a bit of Norwegian. YES! She’s very new here as well, so this will hopefully be great for both of us. After class, feeling happy and social, I decided to approach a couple of Mormon missionaries just to chat. They’re people, too, and they’re probably tired of being turned down or rejected all the time (Norway doesn’t seem to be much of a religious country), so I just decided to say hi. One was from Death Valley, CA and the other was from Utah. It was nice just to talk to other Americans for a brief moment and their surprise at being approached rather than being the one approaching was priceless.

Wednesday ended on a high note, as well. Solfrid, Cato, and I watched the last episode of the season of Ylvis, discussed fart humor, and played the Norwegian version of Yahtzee (very different scoring rules). Apparently the translation of some saying that basically means "you’re lucky" is that you “have golden hair in your butt.” Classic.

Good weekend, good week, good life. Not without it’s fair share of rough patches and loneliness, but things are lookin’ up. I'd like to end this entry with a bit of Arrested Development greatness....the falling sequence beginning around 5:00 resulted in me having a hard time catching my breath because I was laughing uncontrollably.

Ciao for now.

(Sidenote: As I start to get into a normal living routine, I will have less day-to-day documentation and I expect to shift the focus of these blogs more towards thoughts/ideas, feelings, and significant adventures. Because I’m boring myself with this type of blog rightmeow.)