Thanksgiving...in Norway!!? ;)

PICTURES FROM THANKSGIVING!

let me just give you guys a little back round on my amazing Thanksgiving. I thought I was going to make dinner, but seeing as though I FAIL as a cook, my amazing cook of a host dad made the BEST Thanksgiving dinner one could have asked for ;). However I DID make some pretty bangin' cookies with my grandma's Molassas Cookie recipe. lovelovelove. It was a really great night, I got to invite three friends over & I talked to my ENTIRE family via skype. (BTW- congrats on the hockey win, Jones boys. You're representing well. makin' me proud. well done.) Anyways it was certainly a different kind of Thanksgiving, but in the end it was really nice. Now I'm looking forward to a little Christmas! ;)

norsknorskengelsknorsk.

So, the rain is back. After a nice long break without it. It's come again--full throttle. :D love love love. Actually, it really isn't THAT bad, it is just getting VERY COLD. Hey now, I can't really say anything. I was warned before I got here. So the past few weeks haven't been super exciting. There haven't been any crazy parties or volleyball tournaments or insanely frustrating times where I cannot fathom what I have gotten myself into. It's just like home. Its comforting and not boring--yet. I think I've graduated from being "the foreign girl" to "Cassie from America" if that makes sense at all. STILL THOUGH, people don't just come up and talk to me. I don't understand the utter fear that some people have to speak English with me. I mean maybe its because I'm just so scary and intimidating ;). YEAH RIGHT. Its like that saying "its probably more scared of you than you are of it." Like when talking about spiders and such. In this case, I'm the spider and the Norwegians are the "you". Seriously, I don't think their English is bad AT ALL. My Norwegian is still VERY minimal & so I'm probably extremely more terrified. Actually, I KNOW I AM. Its probably my only frustration :) PLUS, they can speak norwegian with me now. I'm actually surprised at how much I can understand or can circulate through my mind to come up with the right translation, (or close to it). I don't want to be that weird girl that just goes up to them and talks, ya know? But hey, maybe I should try. I need to get rid of the epic plague of shy-ness. I regret that I have it & have not searched for the cure. Being shy isn't going to get me anywhere though.

Some exciting things that have happened include me seeing NEW MOON on the Norwegian premier date, 20th of November. IT WAS GREAT. I like the first one better, & no matter how many times Jacob takes his shirt off, I'm still an avid Edward fan. Sorry, hon, your abs can't give unconditional love like Edward can. HAHA, okay I'm done being one of THOSE obsessive Twilight girls. However, I have come to realize that the "Twilight craze" is not purely a weird cultural American thing. ITS ALL OVER THE WORLD. EVERYWHERE. You can't escape it. Thats what you get when you write about an insanely hot vampire falling in love with a regular girl. Cruel ;). The movie itself got REALLY bad reviews in Norway. One source rated it a 2 out of 5 while another rated it a 3 out of five. I doubt the critics read the books though, that's what made the movie ;). I went with a whole group of girls & the theatre was PACKED. sold out, of course. Mostly girls, although I know there are a few fans that are guys in my class that were there also ;). I should have counted the swoons or sighs when Jacob took off his shirt. But then again I should have counted how many times Jacob took off his shirt, haha. Unnecessary, but I'm not complaining...After the movie I slept over at Marte's and ate more candy than I needed too. I also vowed to excercise the next day...FAIL...instead I went into Førde (MET EVAN THERE! yay! be happy evan, you get a shout out.), met Synniva & Marte, then went to Synniva's house with Gunvor and Marte and made pancakes (HEALTHY ONES, MIND YOU) and I ate more candy. woo! Let's not discuss how I've gained weight since I have been here. But, blog readers, you'll be proud to know that I ran VERY far on monday (a nice hearty jog), and then today I went to the gym with Kristina. To say the least I AM trying to be an active exchange student. I'm trying not to stand out too much as the American by standing against the stereotype that ALL Americans are fat. Because we're not.

Other exciting things to come include THANKSGIVING ON THURSDAY! I am going to make dinner and have friends over. I'm really glad I get to do that, because I'm not sure that I'd be okay with not having a Thanksgiving...I love that holiday. I have been promised a family "skype" meeting. In which almost the entirety of my family is going to video chat with me. Which will make me nostalgic, I know it, but I'm happy I get to talk to them & be a part of it. (SIDE NOTE TO JONES FAM: JONES BOYS EMMALEAH AND UNCLE ANDY- KICK MY DAD AND UNCLE CHARLIE'S BUTT IN THE JONES HOCKEY CUP THIS YEAR! You guys MIGHT be okay without me ;). Please eat loads of pumpkin pie & keep the "president" tradition alive. Watch the parade & give me highlights. & ONE MORE THING: DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME, I'll be thinking about you guys!) Another thing is MY BIRTHDAY IS IN LIKE 2 and a half weeks! So exciting. Not sure what I'm doing yet. Nothing big, can't have a party because I don't really know that many people but probably with have some girl friends over & possibly dinner at the hotel with the fam and some friends! THAT will be so nice. :) I got a package today & MOST OF IT I COULDN'T OPEN BECAUSE MY MOM WRAPPED IT SAYING "DO NOT OPEN BEFORE DECEMBER 11TH". :) excited to open them, thanks mommy! (by the way, thanks mom for the copious amount of American Flags. Anyone reading this that goes to my school can have an American flag if they want one. Just shout out. haha ;). ) THEEEEN it is Christmas! yayayy. I love December. <3>

However, I gotta get through this week first. I had a student/teacher conference & we both decided that I am going to try harder in the subjects that I dubbed "impossible" before. For example in Norwegian, History, & Sociology I am going to attempt the work. Its important that I read and write in Norwegian, & TRY the difficult Norwegian. This friday I have to take the History test. Its not going to be the same as everyone else's but she asked that I try to write something (IN NORWEGIAN, MIND YOU) about the crusades. It won't be so difficult that I die from strain, but it will be hard and possibly stressful. I'm kinda excited though, to be able to participate. Maybe people will actually see that I can be a smart girl rather than the clue-less foreigner. YAY.

Updates again soon.

One more thing: I want snow. please.

love you.

MISS YOU KAILEY, PUPPY DOG, POOPY:

Halloween. Norwegian Style.

:) Not much has been happening around here since I last updated; One thing that is new is that it is getting dark SUPER early. It starts getting dark at around 5, & it doesn't get light until like 8:30 A.M. It's also getting really really cold. Its kinda cozy though. I've always liked cold weather :), but I'm hoping for snow soon! One thing I find hilarious is the excitement for Christmas (Or, Jule) already. AND I THOUGHT AMERICA STARTED CHRISTMAS TOO EARLY, haha. However, Norway starts Christmas in October. They have special things associated with Christmas. For example they sell this thing called "Jule Brus" ("Christmas Soda") that has a picture of Santa Claus on the label. Theoretically, this drink is supposed to be drunk ONLY after December first, as a holiday kind of thing. HOWEVER, it hit stores about the first weekend in October & people are ALREADY drinking it. I have to admit that I cheated and I tried it last weekend. Its only sugar and red food coloring, but its really cute to see everyone all hyped up about it. They also have so many different foods that are associated with Christmas that are slowly popping up in the food store isles. I love it. One of the main questions I've gotten here in Norway is, "Are you excited for Christmas?". Honestly, I don't really know what it's going to be like. It's going to be WEIRD without my family or the traditions that we carry. I'll probably cry, haha, but with all the hype about Christmas here I'm starting to look forward to it. My friends have assured me that Christmas in Førde is very cozy :) & fun. We've already planned a cookie-making night/Christmas movie watching, which will be sooo great.

OKAY. SO one major thing that happened since I last updated was HALLOWEEN. ;). Let me just say that it was way more fun than I had planned it out to be. No one was really as excited for it as I was so I thought it would be just another Saturday night at home as I would think about all my friends at home eating TONS of candy & going to a few parties here or there. HOWEVER, when the day rolled around, I found that people actually DO celebrate. I mean, its not like in the US where EVERYONE celebrates it, but I actually did see a couple of groups of kids trick-or-treating. On the Friday of the Halloween weekend Marte invited me over to see "House of Wax" with a couple of friends, kind of kicking off Halloween! Anyways for the night of Halloween, I was invited to a party at Jessica's house (A new friend). Here at home, Sanne was also having some friends over for a Halloween get-together. I decorated our house with some Halloween goodies that Mama J sent me (THANKS MOM), & I MUST say it looked pretty good ;). I was a Cat this year. I'm just so creative, I know. As I was waiting to be picked up by Marte, Sanne's friends arrived and everyone was dressed up in an outfit (Let me say they were all better costumes than some that I have seen in the US, haha) & I was surprised at how people were actually into it. I feel like some teenagers in the US think they're too cool for Halloween so over the years it gets less and less fun until you hit college, but here people actually embrace it so it makes it super fun. The party that I went to was hilarious & a really good time. Costume choices included several draculas, a gladiator, the mask (jim carrey movie), the grudge girl, corpse brides, batman, and dead dolls. They were ALL way more creative than me, so sorry America, I didn't represent you well ;). I met some new people & just had a good time. It was nice to be able to just have a good time. To go to a party and just have fun. Loved it.

I know that I haven't been "up to date" with my blog, but nothing really SUPER exciting has happened here. I'm just fitting into the "swing of things", as the things I considered "new" or "exciting" before are becoming a part of my life and daily routine. I already know that it's gonna be weird to not have some of the things I have everyday here, because they just seem so routinely. For example, bread. HOW AM I GOING TO SURVIVE NEXT YEAR? haha, seriously though, it seems like a way of life now. Anyways, other than going about my daily routine, I've been playing volleyball & I even played in a tournament this weekend in Naustdal (a neighboring town)! We didn't win, haha, BUT its SO fun to play. The girls that I play with are all SUPER nice and hilarious & fun to be around. I'm so glad that I decided to play. Its also nice to have an activity outside of school so I can expand my social life outside of school boundaries, which is good. As for language updates, its going okay. I feel like I haven't really made a whole lot of progression since I last talked about it, but people are assuring me that I have. Thats a good sign, right? I told all my teachers at the beginning of the school year that I would be a lot better by Christmas, but now Christmas is coming fast and I feel like I'm not even close to where I need to be. I've become a little lazy with the learning, LETTING people talk English with me. I really shouldn't do that, but everyone wants to speak English with me. BAHH, its difficult, but I HAVE to learn.

All in all, it has been a great couple of weeks. I've started to let my guard down a bit, to start being myself in school, rather than being the shy American girl. Of course I'm still shy & terrified to talk to people, but with the people I know, I can be a little more loose & myself. Its really comforting to know that I'm beginning to strengthen friendships with people, to fit into the daily routine, & to be content everyday without feeling homesick at all. Its only going to get better, I know it. ;)

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