Sunday, June 6, 2010

Ha det bra Norge!

When I first arrived in Norway, all I wanted to do is go home. For the longest time, or so it seemed, that is all I ever thought about. I was sitting in my room all day since I didn’t want to walk anywhere in the cold, I hardly ever saw any sun light and when I did it wasn’t for long because the sun was down by 3, and I didn't really know anyone. But as time went by, I slowly started going places; it just meant that I was wearing layers and layers of clothing. Once I started to get out of my room during the day, I was able to see the sun when it made its rare appearances. I was even making new friends among the international students. Still I missed my family and friends and I thought about going home more often than not.

January turned into February and it snowed all day, every day. It was hard not seeing the sun and having to trudge to school in crappy weather. So I spent a lot of my time reading and watching movies. On the occasional break from the snow I would go and walk down to the beach until all of my fingers and toes were numb. It was a nice break from all of the sitting and thinking about home.

Then came March out of nowhere. In March the snow turned to torrential down pours for a good two weeks. Then the sun came out! There were some really nice days where the sun shined all day long. It was still cold and there was snow and ice everywhere, but I started to stay outside more often to soak up some much needed sun. Some days it was even warm enough that I could walk around in a sweatshirt with a long sleeved shirt underneath. I still missed home, but it was getting easier to forget about going home for longer periods of time.

April came and I could feel the spring in the air. It didn’t rain as much and as hard as it did in March and it was starting to warm up enough for the snow and ice to start melting. I have been spending a lot of time outside at the beach and hanging out with my new friends. I was able to start counting down the days until I was able to go home and that gave me some comfort. By the end of April I was preparing for a busy May and rarely thought about home because I was excited to be done with school and I had a big trip to Italy coming up (a life goal was checked off!). I was to busy and excited to think about going home.

Then May came and went in a blink of an eye. I was finished with most of my classes and I spent 10 days in Italy. When I returned to Italy, I couldn't wait to go home, my Norwegian home that is. For the first time since I've been here, I thought of Norway as my home. I looked forward to coming home to my apartment, no matter how crappy and overpriced it is. I wanted to go back to something familiar, something that was mine. I was tired of living out of my suitcase in Italy, shuffling from one hotel to the next. I needed some stability in my life, and it was waiting for me in Norway.

So now that it is June, and I will be leaving tomorrow morning, I don’t want to leave Norway. I'm excited to see everyone, but I don't want to leave my home. I have enjoyed living in Norway, even though it was really hard at first. I don't like how I have to pick up my life again and start over. I have created my own home here and I don’t want to leave it all behind. It feels like I’m going to go to a foreign country all over again. The food is going to be different, I will be able to shop on Sundays, there is going to be a ton of car traffic instead of bike and people traffic, everyone is going to be in a hurry, and there will rarely be an afternoon where I can just go and lay in the sun reading a book and eating candy out of a paper bag.

Living in Norway has taught me many things, given me many memories, and has helped me grow as a person. I am going to miss a lot of things about my life here in Norway, but I am looking forward to starting a new life in America (once I get past all of the changes and culture shock that I am going to go through again). I just want to say thank you to everyone who supported and encouraged me to come here. It has meant a lot to me and has helped me deal with the cultural differences and get me though the times when all I wanted to do is come home. I also want to thank my friends that I have made in Norway, I don’t think that I could have gotten though it without you. You have helped me grow as a person and have given me many memories that I will always cherish.

I will come home a different person. I will have to adjust to American life again. I will have to start over again. But I know that I can do anything with my friends and family at my side.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Oh All The Things That We Think...

Okay I have recently been reading this blog about school lunches. At first I couldn't believe all the things that we feed our children! One of the most recent posts talked about what we say affects kids. For instance many commenters said that they overheard their parents talking about weight issues they might have had as a child and they grew up thinking they were fat. There was many tales such as this that I painfully read through.

Now I have never grown up thinking that I was fat, in fact it was just the opposite. I have been underweight my whole life, and most likely always will be. My mother has had four children and we weigh practically the same, we are not far off in our pant sizes, and we are about the same in height. Growing up I was never teased about being fat, but instead I would be teased about how skinny I was. My mom always told me to ignore them, for in just a few short years they would envy me, they would want to be skinny just like me. Well after those few short years, kids, mainly girls, did envy me. Not that I am self conceded, or at least I like to think that I am not, but I would overhear comments or people would just flat out tell me how skinny I was and how lucky that made me. Now of course, like any other teen trying to fit in and to be considered popular, it gave me a confidence boost. Someone wished that they could be more like me, or more so look like me and have my body. I want to put this out there, I was never popular and nor will I ever be popular.

So from a very young age we have either labeled ourselves as fat or skinny. We have drawn lines, put of barriers, and even made a checklist of what you need to be or have in order to be allowed to pass over to the most highly sought skinny side of the line. We have created programs to help us get there, we are constantly dieting, we are told we need to exercise more; we need to fit into a size 2 in order to be perfect, we need to take all of these pills, we need to stop eating. We are always told what we need to do in order to cross over and become one of those skinnys. Then we are told now that you have been allowed to come over on our side of the line, congrats by the way you are now a skinny!, there are more rules you have to follow. You need to constantly be dieting, exercise more, you’re not quite perfect, the size 2 is a bit snug dear, here are some pills to help with that, and ohh by the way that piece of celebratory cake was all you get for today, and since it was cake, I wouldn’t advise eating anything tomorrow.

Why do we do this to ourselves? Why are we constantly worrying about our weight, what size our dress sports, what others will think of us? Now I am not perfect in any shape or form, for I have done this myself. I just want to know why we feel the need to think this way? Is the media responsible? Yes, they media needs to take its fair share of blame, but is not the sole reason. Should we blame our parents? Sure, blame your parents for talking about your weight behind your back, which you happen to overhear and let it set the tone for how you think of yourself. Are we to blame? Yes, we let the media tell us what to do, how to think, how to behave. We let other people's opinion of us bring us down, or in some cases we let them go to our head.

In order to fix this ever present problem in our lives, I propose this:
1. Don't you dare step on that scale unless you happen to be in a doctor's office for your annual checkup!
2. Stop that crazy diet! It will never work! I said stop dieting! Start eating healthy instead, less processed and fast food. I will tell you like your mother used to: You are not allowed to leave the table unless you finished your vegetables! Smaller portions, smaller meals, no more super sizes. Try the half portions or buy a smaller plate. You don’t have to diet, count calories, or points. You just need to eat a variety of things and make sure you have food from the 5 food groups.
3. Don’t look at the size of your dress, in fact cut the tag out. Wear whatever fits you. By the way, dress sizes here in Europe are different, I happen to be a size 28-36 and in America I happen to be a size 4-8. I like to buy dresses that fit me and look good on me; I don’t buy dresses based on what is on that darn tag that happens to have a number on it. Try it sometime; you might get a pleasant surprise.
4. Exercise it important. I know that it is hard to fit it into our busy lives, so try parking in the furthest possible spot, so you have to walk, like what 30 feet at most? Please everyone can do simple things like that. Try doing something fun for a change, take a Latin dance class, join a pick-up basketball game, and play with your kids. You don’t have to hit the gym all the time to have an active lifestyle. Now for all of you who hate to exercise, try some fun things in order to be active. I hated to go to the gym; everyone seemed to think that they were better than me because they could bench four times the weight that I could. Here we are again getting caught up in numbers. Who the heck cares what you can bench? If you feel good about what you can bench then why would you let someone bring you down and make you feel like you suck? Don’t let them do that to you!
5. Cover up all of your mirrors, but leave enough room so you can make sure that your hair isn’t sticking up and that you can swipe on some mascara, with sheets, family pictures, positive sayings, Bible verses, old birthday cards, whatever you want. Stop looking in the mirror so damn much! All you ever do when you look in the mirror is pick apart yourself, find your faults, and compare yourself to others. Don’t even try denying it! When the heck was the last time you looked in the mirror and said "Hey, look at me! I am an amazing person! I love my legs, butt, hips, lips, eyes, or whatever" I bet that was never...yeah so stop saying that you don’t find your faults. Since we can’t say anything nice about ourselves then we shouldn’t look or say anything about ourselves at all!
6. Don't flip that page, click that mouse, or turn up the volume! Stop listening to the media tell you that you are too fat! Who the hell wants to listen to someone tell them that they are not good enough? I know I sure as hell don’t, so stop reading and listening to them! You shouldn’t worry about the latest diet, the hottest trends (for they are just trends and they do change, so by the time you get that new wardrobe you need a new one again!), or what you should act like. Start acting like you want to act, dress how you want to dress, and once again STOP THAT DIET! IT DOESNT WORK!

I invite you to take up this challenge with me. I will no longer worry about what I weigh, never again worry what eating a pie will do to me, care about the size of my dress, worry about not being able to get to the gym or not going to the gym, never evaluate myself in the mirror again, and I will stop letting people tell me what I need to look like. I like me for me. If you don’t like yourself, then maybe you should start changing the person inside, not the outside. Be happy with the way you look, for I will not judge someone by the way they look anymore.

I know this is asking a lot. I know that it won’t be easy. I know I will slip up many times. But I will never give up until I have created new healthy habits. I will not stop nor will I give up. I love me for me, I love you for you. I will stop all of this crap from taking over my life!

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Spring

Now that Spring is here...
There is no longer blizzards every day,
They have been replaced by torrential down pours.
There is no longer mountains of snow,
They have been replaced by mountains of mud with a river running through them.
There is no longer three inches of ice on the sidewalk,
They have been replaced with three inches of gravel and trash.
There is no longer snow outside of my window,
They have been replaced by gravel ridden grass and thorny bushes.
Even with all of the changes one thing remains the same...there is still no sun

Monday, March 22, 2010

VENTING.....

Okay this is me venting about some of my professors....

~You can not just all the sudden say hey i didnt get through everything today so i think we will have class on friday, ill post the room on frontier (blackboard) once i have it booked. No! we dont have class on friday and you cant create another day for class because you couldnt get through everything! that is not the way it works! i had plans for friday morning...sleeping until 2 or 3. getting up for a 9am lecture is not included in my plans!
~You cant cancel class because your sick and then say since i was sick we need to make up that lecture...how does 9am on friday work for you? good, ill get a room and let you know which one. NO IM NOT FREAKING AVAILABLE FOR A LECTURE AT 9am ON FRIDAY! ARE YOU INSANE?! it does not work that way, you were sick you cant make up that lecture, you need to combine it with the next one or cut a lecture out...you cant go and make it up another day, we do have lives and have better things to do than go to class and hear a lecture on educational research cases studies!
~There is no freaking way i can put together a 5 min presentation on a case study that im going to write when i have yet to conduct the study or observation! what am i supposed to talk about? hi im michaela mapes and im going to see what methods middle school teachers use in the math or science classrooms...except i dont know which one because i have yet to be assigned a school where i have to conduct like 20 hours of observations and the semester is already half way over! that concludes my presentation. you are freaking insane?!
~thank you for listening to my absolutely boring presentation on school boards in america that i happen to copy and paste to a powerpoint slide from my notes from last semester. i would also like to thank you for your feedback that you orally told me in front of the class...all of your likes and dislikes of my presentation. thank you for asking the one question i cant answer...no one can answer why rich people are on school boards. i dont know they got nominated and then appointed or voted on. how should i know im barely old enough to vote. i guess its because the poorer population doesnt turn out to vote or no one really gives a shit because either way the poorer schools are screwed and dont get the funding they need. does that answer your question? no, okay well that is all i have for you. and that concludes my presentation.
~it is not appropriate to talk about naked dancers at a school function. you just made every single student in the classroom feel very uncomfortable. if you are trying to relate to us...DONT! that was a horrible attempt and now everyone wishes that you would just leave them alone. BY THE WAY KELSEY AND I ARE NOT INTERESTED IN BEING THE CHAIRMAN OF THE POT-OF-LUCK DINNER PARTY THAT YOU WANT NAKED DANCERS AT! im still uncomfortable and wish i was at home or at least that you would stop staring at me. i understand what you are saying and no i do not want to be the chairman of your naked dancer party!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

To My Dearest Neighbors...

To my dearest neighbors who live above me,
I'll let you in on a little secrete, I do not have a 6 am wake up call. So could you please turn your alarm down. I'm glad that you get such an early start to the day, but could you please not listen to the radio or watch tv so loud at 8 am? Some people do try to sleep past 8. Also, do you mind not laughing at all of those funny jokes so late at night? I mean, I'm always up for a good knee-slapping-joke, but could you please keep you guffawing to an inside level? That would be graciously appreciated. Here is a tip for you, do not rearrange your furniture so often. It messes up the feng shui of your room, and I cant fall asleep when you do such activities in the middle of the night. It is also not good to drag your furniture, you really should pick it up, dragging it could make really loud noises. One last thing, has your mother or father ever told you that bouncing balls is an outside activity or should be done at the gym? Since I know there is no gym or court in your room (all rooms are the same, have not been in their room) you need to take it outside. I'm only telling you this because your mother is not here so I thought I should say what she would tell you...Your not the only one living in this building, and I really hope your not loud Americans, that just makes it all the worse! If you are American, you are the reason why Europeans hate Americans, you are to loud!
Signed your neighbor from down below

Monday, March 15, 2010

Papers in Norway

So in Norway teachers don't give you your papers back with comments, in fact most teachers don't even give you your paper back. You just receive a grade and then you have two weeks to make an appointment with whomever graded your paper. At this appointment the teacher or whomever graded your paper will give you a list of what they liked and didn't like about your paper. If you disagree with your grade you can "complain" about it. All you have to do is fill out a form and then someone new will grade your paper and whatever that new person gives you is what you get. They can give you a higher grade, same grade, or lower grade.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. In a way I like it, I have a say in my grade. But at the same time I feel like what the teacher says doesn't matter, its whatever the third party thinks. I think I'll just leave my grade up to my teacher, I don't think he's a hard grader, he is very lenient.

I only have to complain about the lack of direction the teacher gives you here. The only requirements for my papers is 10 pages, 12 pt font, 1.5 spacing, and then a broad topic such as it has to do with inclusion or comparing an aspect of two countries educational systems. I need a narrower topic range, where do you even begin? So for my inclusion paper I'm going to write about segregation in the OPS school district. For my comparison paper I'm going to us the US as one of my countries, but I think I'll narrow it down to Nebraska and then I guess I'll use Norway since it will be easy to get information about it. My only problem is what do I write about? I really don't know all that much about the Norwegian school systems. Ohh well I'll figure something out, most likely will do some making up on my part but thats okay.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Europeans...

Europeans do some really cute things that take me back to fifth grade...

*Pencil bags....everyone has one that they bring to class filled with pens, pencils, markers, rulers and so on. In fifth grade I had a Winnie the Pooh pencil bag.

*Sweaters....everyone wears sweaters not sweatshirts. Girls are always wearing cardigans and the boys like to wear v-necks or sweater vests. In fifth grade I wore a cardigan instead of a sweatshirt.

*Leggings...your not European unless you wear leggings at least once a week girls. They say its a trend coming back in and they aren't behind, like it came back in the US five years ago. I loved to wear leggings, bight bold colors and crazy patterns until the fifth grade.

*Reeboks with the strap...yes they wear Reeboks with the strap, high-tops, sneakers, crazy colors, bold patterns, they wear it all. I wore white Reeboks with the Reebok symbol in blue in the fifth grade.

*Purple...its a very popular color amongst the boys and girls here. The girls wear a lot of purple shirts and scarves, boys wear a lot of purple hats and jackets. In fifth grade I had a purple jacket with purple mittens.

So at the gym, they don't wear shorts they wear spandex or sweatpants. I just started wearing my running pants and leggings, I blend right in.

I have a sweater crush on this kid...hes so cute, he likes to wear sweater vests with a tie and collared shirts all the time. It is so cute!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Tea Party

Today I attended my very first tea party without stuffed animals and baby dolls. Kelsey, this american girl Kelsey (my roommate) and I met at the gym, invited us to her house for tea and then to church. So she picked us up in a tiny but very cute car and drove us to her and her husband's (famous soccer player) house. She had the cutest little tea party set up for us. We snacked on brie cheese with crackers and grapes, fresh cut fruit, homemade tortilla chips with tomato, mozzarella, and cilantro on them, and a salami salad that included black olives, red, green, and yellow peppers, onions, cheese, chick peas, and cheese with Italian dressing. All of it was delicious. She had a real teapot with matching cups for us. There was an assortment of tea for us to choose from and actual cups for milk and sugar. It reminded me of being little and setting out the tea party in the living room, where ours was held as well, and setting places up for my favorite stuffed animals or baby dolls. So we spent the next hour or so talking like old friends and laughing at each other's jokes and stories. We then proceeded to church where we were able to get headphones to listen to an English translation. The English translation wasn't the best and was really hard to follow but I was grateful nonetheless. Mass (if that is what you call it for a nondenominational ceremony) was nice and most of the songs they sang was in English, but I didn't know them. After our lovely afternoon, Kelsey dropped Kelsey and me back off at home, each of us promising to get together again soon.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

What I Know

~Hei! Hav heter du?
-Hallo! Jeg heter Kayla.
~Hvor kommer du fra?
-Jeg kommer fra USA.
~Hvordan gammel er du?
Jeg er tjue ar gammel.
Og nei, jeg shakker ikke Norsk!

So yes my name is just Kayla not Michaela. I do come from the USA, and no I'm not from Oregon. Yes I am only 20 years old and no I can't legally drink in the USA. By the way I don't speak Norwegian and I have no idea what you are trying to tell me.

*Smoked Salmon tastes like raw fish.
*You are pegged as an American when you don't shower naked in the community showers.
*It's not easy making new friends when you don't speak the same language, but even harder when you have to figure out what they are saying when they are naked.
*Walking everywhere makes you realize how much you hate to leave the house and think twice about going anywhere that's not absolutely necessary.

*The Norwegians have strollers that are for off-roading or they just use sleds to tote their children about.
*Get all of your errands done Saturday morning so you can sit at home all day Sunday, just like the Norwegians do.
*Fruit in Norway tastes better than it does in Nebraska.
*They don't have canned soup, but bagged soup instead.
*If you want to shop, go to Denmark.
*Learn to appreciate things you had at home, such as a toaster, microwave, dishwasher, washers that hold more than two pairs of jeans, and dryers that actually dry your clothes.
*You don't have to wear real clothes in Norway, just leggings and an oversized t-shirt will do.
*Don't take Popsicles, hot dogs, and bottles on the bus, they are forbidden.
*Finally, nothing is instantaneous here like in America, so bring your patience.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Note to Self...

Note to self:
*When in Norway, get used to all of the nakedness, the more you try to be modest the more people stare at you so just walk around naked like everyone else.
*Norwegians don't shovel the side walk so prepare to go hiking when you need to run to the grocery store, slip on all of the ice and slush, and walk in the street because you don't know if your walking on the sidewalk or on someones lawn.
*Although most Norwegians will stop for you to cross the street, even when their light is green, not all do. Be aware of those who don't stop for you because they don't just keep going but they speed up and try to hit you.
*Caution, bicyclists are the most dangerous people on the street. They don't warn you that they are coming up behind you and are trying to pass you. Occasionally you get the nice bicyclist who will whistle or clear their throat for you otherwise the rest are all out to run you over.
*Just because most people speak English in Norway doesn't mean that the food in the grocery store will be in English or the instructions either, so make sure all you need to know is the temperature for the oven and how long it needs to cook. Otherwise I sure hope you have the time to translate.
*There are no water fountains! You must fill your bottle up out of the sink. In most of the class rooms at school there is a sink, if on the off chance there isn't, you can use the bathroom sink.
*There aren't very many bathrooms with stalls. Most bathrooms are just a toilet, sink, and dryer. So ladies don't wait in line for the girls bathroom, just use the guys.
*There is no such thing as a Walmart in Norway! Nothing even close so you must plan accordingly, such as what is perishable, how far you must go, and how much you can carry in one trip.
*All stores are closed on Sundays, except for the gas stations and a handful of restaurants downtown (at least a 45 min walk for me). Stores also close at 4 on Saturdays, so weekend shopping is not an option unless you get it all done early Saturday.
*You can only buy alcohol until 8 pm on weeknights and 6 pm on Saturday night so be prepared for the weekend and but on weekdays on your way home from school.
*Norwegian food has very little sugar compared to American food. So the jam actually tastes like fruit and the juice is just juice...weird I know.
*Wear your walking shoes! You have to walk everywhere because taxis are expensive and taking the bus requires you to know the stops are and what bus goes on what route.
* You don't have to wear pants! My dream come true! Girls don't wear pants here they only wear leggings or jeans that are painted on them, no real pants!

*ja is yes; ni is no; fiske is fish; takk is thank you; tusen takk is a thousand thanks; and that is all of the Norwegian I know!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

SURPRISE!!

So today I went to the gym. I lifted and then went swimming. So I hung my towel on the hooks in the girls locker room by the shower for when I got done. So I go swimming for 45 min and then go into the locker room and take a shower. I go to where I put my towel and find that its not there. So im wandering around looking for my towel when this naked lady starts talking to me in Norwegian and i was all like i speak english, trying not to stare at her. She asks me what i was looking for and i explain to her that i couldnt find my towel, all the while she is still standing there naked talking to me. She tells me to look in the sauna because there were some ladies in there and they might have taken my towel. So i open the sauna door and to my utter surprise there are three naked ladies with oil all on them, legs spread open for all to see. So i quickly drop my head and quietly ask if they have seen my towel. The first naked lady then comes up from behind me and tells them what im asking them in norwegian. Then one of the naked, oily ladies was all like yeah i think i do have your towel, you can have it back when im done. In the mean time you can use mine, its still clean. Still staring at the floor, i quickly mumble a thanks and retreat back to my locker. After she was all done with my towel, she kindly gave it back to me. I think i need a new towel, no amount of laundry soap will fix that.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

A Thank You Letter

Dear Santa,
Thank you Santa for the kitchen supplies you gave Kelsey! I really appreciate it, since Im the one who does all of the cooking. Im so excited! I cant wait to cook with all of my new supplies, especially the measuring cup, the strainer, and real dishes! Just so you know Santa, I can cook and I make sure Kelsey and I are eating from all of the food groups. Although we really enjoy their ice-cream and candy here in Norway, we still eat healthy and go to the gym most days. Thanks again Santa!

Love,
Kayla

Monday, January 11, 2010

Today...


Today I went to my first class only to find out it was canceled. The good news is it wasnt just me who thought we had class. The teacher didnt post anything on Frontier (BlackBoard) to say he wasnt starting class until next week for the other exchange students who havent arrived.


Once I left school I stopped at the gym and worked out (the fourth day in a row!) and then came home and took a nap. All of the walking and working out has tired me out.


I made homemade soup for dinner! Its really not a flavor, just veggies and noodles with chicken flavoring in it.


Watched Boondock Saints before my nap.


Read the rest of Of Mice and Men.


It was a good day today....SUNNY! all day long...until the sun went down at 4.


Ohh sun how I miss you....

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Sundays

I dont like Sundays here. Nothing is open...except for the gas station and the gym. So I did go to the gym today, but couldnt find a reason to go to the gas station. I miss doughnuts on Sunday mornings and basketball in the afternoons. No one does anything here.
I did do my laundry today and read half of Of Mice and Men.....

Saturday, January 9, 2010

The Norwegians

I dont know if its because Im at the gym or what but Im sick of seeing naked Norwegians. They dont have a care in the world about who see them naked. It doesnt matter if its in the gym locker room or the pool locker room, but they are always naked.

The girls dress either like they are straight out of the 80s or they paint their clothes on. Guys dress in either girl pants or sweaters...sometimes both.

Not everyone speaks English and they will talk to you in Norwegian first. So I wait patiently until they have said what they want to say and then I reply "I speak English"

Everything in the grocery store is in Norwegian....even the cooking directions...HELP!

When they say walking distance it means walking a marathon. A half hour walk is just a short 30 min walk to wherever...a stroll in the park

The Norwegians are a lot nicer than Americans...they are people pleasers for the most part

Game night?

So yesterday the ERASMUS students who are connected throughout Europe with foreign exchange students threw all of the foreign exchange students at UiA a game night party in one of the dorms. Lets just say its not exactly the kind of game night that one would expect from a school affiliation. It reminded me of high school where everyone brought their own beer or whatever you prefer and sat around and drank with some loud music playing. Then later on in the night the games were going to be drinking games. Kelsey, Rachel, and I left at 10 due to the fact that it was pointless to be there if you werent going to drink. We all thought it to be unwise to drink in a foreign country when you dont really know anyone there, you have to walk home from a place youve never been, and its freezing cold out. Its really funny how different it is here. At home we all would have gotten in trouble for drinking in the dorms, here its encouraged.
We stoped at the store on the way home and got ice-cream and watched the Notebook...now thats my kind of party!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Does the devil wear snowpants?


So Kelsey and I had to go to the police station to get our passports stamped in the immigration office, we had to wait 2 hours. During this lovely wait, this little boy was insane. He was flipping light switches on and off, pushing the button to take a number (i believe him and his mother had about 6 different numbers), running through the halls, you name it he did it. The whole time this is happening, his mother is on her phone playing some game or something. Then all of the sudden, the little boy comes up to Kelsey and just kicks her. It was so funny, I busted out laughing and the boy then kicked her some more. After he got tired of kicking Kelsey, he went and wheeled his stroller over to his mother wanting a snack. She started to peal an orange for him and he finished it. Once the orange was pealed, he started throwing the orange slices on the ground and then he went up and stomped on the one in front of me. Thankfully his mother took him into the waiting room and I didnt hear from him again. I couldnt believe his mother let him do that and did pay attention to what he was doing. He was hell on wheels!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

No confidence

Last night the fire alarm went off. At first I thought it was the doorbell and when it didnt stop I got up and asked my roommate what was going on. She told me it was the fire alarm and I could stay in my room. Against her advice I went downstairs and found out that the cause was burnt food. I stayed in the lobby of our building, not wanting to get a headache from the fire alarm and it took the landlords 20 min to shut it off. The fire department didnt even come. Hope theres never a real fire because we are all doomed if there is.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Ding Dong the Witch is Dead!

The wicked witch is leaving tomorrow at 6am for Romania and will be gone for 4 weeks!

Yes, let the joyous news be spread The wicked Old Witch at last is dead!

Walking...Walking...and more Walking


This morning I went downtown to register with the police, and it took me 30 minutes to walk to the police station. I don’t know if it’s just me, but it seems like it takes 30 minutes to walk everywhere from my house. It was really cold outside, and my nose was running (of course I didn’t have a tissue) when I finally got to the police office. The line was so long, I waited in it for half an hour and left, without getting my passport signed. On the way home I stopped at the grocery store for some real food. Not that I got much because I had no idea what half of the things were. The labels are in Norwegian for the most part and the store seemed to go in no particular order. So I only got some cereal that is like cocoa pebbles, milk that I believe is skim but have no clue, some sugarless apple juice, and fruit and veggies (I promise to eat veggies every day mommy). After walking for an hour in the freezing cold I dragged myself home and against my rule of no sleeping during the day to get on their time schedule, I took a nap. When I get home I’m going to be in really good shape!

Orientation

Today was orientation for school. We took a taxi there because it was too cold to walk in the morning. Note to self: don’t take a taxi to school unless it’s absolutely necessary, such as the bus is not running or my legs are broken because taking a taxi is expensive. But don’t worry we walked home, and it only takes 30 minutes. The university is small but has a ton of buildings and it seems that all of them are really spread out (Yay! more walking). The tap water tastes funny so I was really happy to have some juice (that has no sugar) to drink. The jelly also isn’t very sweet, but the good news is that I hear they have Oreos. I’ll have to go shopping tomorrow for some real food such as Oreos and juice. On the tour, they took us to one of the pubs in the school. Not only do they allow drinking but they encourage it. We were told the best place to go out to drink, where the closest place is to buy beer, and the cheapest. It is really different from the US. The ERAMUS students are throwing us a party on Friday night, it’s supposed to be a game night, but I think it’s going to be more of a party-party.

The Wicked Witch of the West

My roommate is a *****! and I dont even know her name. She told me the first night that I arrived, but I dont remember and nor do I care to know. She has her shit everywhere and made no effort to make room for me. I get one little cupboard in the bathroom and she gets the other cupboard, all of the hooks, and a shelving unit. In the kitchen I get two cupboards and two drawers and she gets the rest. In the refrigerator I only get two small shelves and one in the door. She gets the rest. She is rude beyond rude. She hand washes her clothes by hand and has a drying rack that she sets in the shower area to dry...for days! What is wrong with her room? When Kelsey knocks on our door she always tells Kelsey to find out for herself if Im home when she knows that I am. I really dont want to seem like I'm bitching to much but her and her boyfriend need to find a time when Im not home to do their activities...it really makes me want to throw up when I hear her bed banging into the wall.

Unpacking

After two days of traveling and going to bed at 1 in the morning Norwegian time, I oddly woke up at 9:30. I greatfully took a half hour shower and laid in bed and read my book. I took the time to unpack (which I didnt enjoy). I dont know how I got so much stuff inot my suitcases because I barely have enough room for everything.

Im There in one piece

Finally we arrived in Copenhagen, and I was feeling really sick. Even though the first class ride was amazing, the motion sickness was really bad. To top it all off our plane landed late and we had less than an hour to go through customs, security, and passport verification! Kelsey and I sprinted across the Copenhagen airport scrambling to find the right terminal. My advice is to not fly into Copenhagen for a connecting flight. Choose a flight that will connect somewhere else, because some people missed their planes and had to spend the night in a hotel. Once we finally made it to our gate, just in time, I really felt like I was going to throw up in the plane. Thankfully they serve Sprite, which helped to settle my stomach. I sat next to this boy, who did speak English, who was from Estonia and was going to Oslo, Norway for a holiday (they don’t know what vacations are!). Once in Oslo, Kelsey and I walked through the “I don’t have anything to declare” doorway and rechecked our baggage. Kelsey and I were worried that we didn’t go through customs, but the check in lady assured us that we did, even though no one went through our baggage. We had a 5 hour layover in Oslo, which was good and sucked at the same time. I wanted to just get to Kristiansand and go to my dorm to sleep, but at the same time I was glad to have a break from flying. To pass the time Kelsey and I watched a movie, played cards, slept, and sat and sat and sat. The flight from Oslo and Kristiansand is a blur, I fell asleep before we took off and was woken up by the plane landing. I do remember trying to climb over this kid to get to my seat and he didn’t speak English and was trying to tell me to wait until he got up. Then when I sat down I used part of his seatbelt to buckle up. That poor kid probably thought I was insane. I of course profusely apologized and explained that I had a really long day. Of course he didn’t understand any of it because he didn’t speak English. Then I must have fallen asleep then. Once in Kristiansand, a super small airport, we didn’t get a gate we had to walk down the stairs that they put up next to the door. It was freezing cold outside and the airport had no heat! Then Kelsey and I had to wait for three hours in the freezing cold. We passed the time by sitting and trying to sleep. There was no one at the airport and most of the signs were in Norwegian. When fellow exchange students landed, we ended up taking a taxi with all of our luggage to the central city bus station. Dylan, Kelsey, and I crammed ourselves and our luggage into the world’s smallest car, sitting on top of each other, bags stuffed everywhere. Not that I didn’t feel sick enough from the 20 hours of plane travel, it was an experience that I won’t forget. Once we arrived at the bus station we had to wait for a half hour in the freezing cold until Maltz (don’t know if that is the correct spelling but it is pronounced like malt with an S on the end) came and got us. We then had to dodge traffic and cross the street, with all of my luggage mind you, to a waiting taxi. Now Maltz was sort of a gentleman and took one of Kelsey’s suitcases, but he took the smaller one. I struggled to make it across the snow and ice dragging my luggage to that stupid taxi that would cross the street for us. Once we finally made it to our dorms, Kelsey lucked out and got a room on the first floor. I on the other hand had to drag my luggage up three flights of stairs to the third floor. Thankfully Maltz took my big suitcase and I just had my duffle bag. Once I was safely in my dorm, I promptly unpacked my PJs, toothbrush, and sheets and went to bed. Thank God, some real sleep for the first time in two days!

I finally left


The flight from Omaha to Chicago was awful. It was a small regional plane that was full. It was really loud and bumpy, and to top it all off the lady in fromt of me got sick. SO needless to say I had motion sickness, which happened to stay with me the whole time. Once in Chicago, we had a hard time finding there we were supposed to go for our connecting flight to Copenhaagen. Kelsey and I just started wondering around and asking people, getting different answers each time. When we got on an elevator and these guys asked where we were headed and Kelsey told them we didnt know. Bless these gentelmen's hearts, they escorted us to the train and told us whent o get off and hwo to get to the terminal. Once we baorded our flight to Copenhagen, Kelsey and I were treated to first class for the 9 hour flight. It was amazing! We sat across from each other, by chance because Kelsey was originally in economy and someone needed her seat. When we walked in, we were offered champagne and orange juice (I chose orange juice mommy). We got to sit in reclining seats that had foot rests and everything. There was was a movie screen in the chair in front of us that you could use to listen to music, watch movies, play games, and get information about the airplane and flight. Once we took offf, we were given hot wash cloths to wash our hands (which I only know because the guy next to me told me). Then they gave us place mats and served us a 4 course meal! We had a choice of beef, fish, or ravioli for the main course and an assortment of bread to choose from. Then they offered us wine, beer, soda, and water. It was like being a princess for 9 hours. They got you blankets and tended to your every need. Then for breakfast they went throught the whole routine again. I'm in love with first class flying...Thanks Daddy!!