two posts in one day? what? ;)

heeellllo ;).

This is to make up for my lack of post-age. I know, I admit it... I really do suck at blogging, so I'm sorry. I'm not really sure how many times I've promised to "get better at it", so I'm just going to stop promising:), haha. First off I'd just like to share with you that the weather is god-awful right now. Its snowing some gross mixture of rain, snow and sleet & I don't really know how to handle it, haha. Never really had this kind of weather before. However, The bus was late this morning so I think I got to know it well enough...BUT HEY, on the bright side, its Wednesday night which means I only have two more days left until the weekend ;)! wooo!

Anyways, the reason for the second post is because I felt it necessary to split up my post about Christmas and December and my post about my current events now considering the fact that January is almost over and Christmas was well over a month ago, haha. So here it goes.

January's been a good month. Last week on the 21st was my half way mark, which means I've been here for five months and I leave in roughly five months and a couple of days. Honestly, its been an amazing 5 months and I'm pretty sure the next ones are going to be even better. So much has happened to me and I've experienced more than a lot of people back home will ever get to experience. I feel really lucky here and even luckier that its not over yet. I can't imagine being an exchange student for just a half a year. 5 months is too short. Just when you FINALLY mold, you gotta leave again so luckily thats NOT me. I already know its going to be the best 5 months everrr ;). I can't imagine leaving Førde, just because I love my friends, my school, my family that I'm really not sure how I'm going to handle packing everything up to go back to my "REAL LIFE". BAH, we've got 5 months to figure it out ;).

ANYWAYS, January has been kinda chill. No homesickness, no drama...I'm just really happy here :). I don't have any volleyball updates. I've just been going to practice almost every wednesday and thursday night (minus tonight, we don't have it). I haven't been in any games recently, just been going to practice

OTHER FUN JANUARY HAPPENINGS:

-SA UKA. Last week (18th-22nd) was SA Uka where each AFS student across Norway has to choose a place to work as a volunteer for an entire week. I chose to work at the local elementary school right near where I live (Slåtten Skule). I was assigned to work as a helper to the 3rd year (8 year olds), and I had the BEST time. The kids were absolutely adorable and I miss working with them! It was also nice to start and end my day a little earlier than normal. They were just a blast to be around. I helped the teachers of both classes with all different subjects and duties and stuff like that. The teachers were really nice too. Whats funny is that it REALLY helped with my Norwegian because I was forced to ONLY speak Norwegian for these kids are JUST beginning to learn English. I was so impressed with them, though! They were so well-behaved and so smart! I got along really well with the kids & I now have a collection of artwork from many of them hanging on my wall :). I'm definitely going to go back and visit them before I leave here.

-Hafstad VGS (My highschool) Nyttårsball was last Thursday (I know right? why Thursday? they even had school the next day.) & It was a REALLY good time ;). I gotta say, Norway knows how to have a dance. There was both live and recorded music plus EVERYONE was dancing. I had a really great time and it was fun to dress up. PLUS girls, Norwegian boys clean up good ;).

So thats January up to this point.

Okay so I came across this list of "You know you're an exchange student when..." on the internet and I found it HILARIOUS because some of them are actually true. SO here I'll share with you some of the ones that are frightningly true.

You know you're an exchange student when...

you spend a lot of time smiling, nodding, and pretending you understand what's going on.

you don't have preferences anymore, especially when it comes to food. Nothing tastes familiar, thats for sure.

you've called every person who says "hi" to you your friend... because you don't really have any yet. (....hahaha)

you've said something like 'oh yes' or 'not thanks' only to have everyone laugh because your answer made no sense compared to the question.

You ever got out of punishment of being yelled at, or gotten out of school work because you didn't understand the language or pretended that you didn't

you have gone in to greet someone with a shake of hands and find yourself being pulled into an awkward hug/double kiss on the cheek/handshake or the other way around.
You get letters and emails in a language that no one else back home can read. (...Sanne...)

Your excuse to watch really stupid programs (like Jerry Springer and curling competitions) is that they're subtitled/dubbed and thus it's all about learning more of the language, right?

It becomes habit to introduce yourself by saying 'I am from (country) and my name is (name)

You 'talk' to your pets when you phone home.

You can't imagine what life will be like without all the wonderful things you have experienced and friends you have made in your new country.

You can't remember the words for things so you make them up, and everyone understands exactly what you mean, or thinks that your word is cooler than the real word.

You can't walk through a public place (e.g. train station) without seeing someone you know.

you try to speak in the native language and everyone immediately knows "You're not from around here".

you are always counting the time difference between where you are and home.

You've got friends on more than two continents

You have trouble explaining to your host family why you celebrate certain holidays in your country.

'Good job! I understood you!' is a compliment.



Sorry if you didn't understand that, its just funny how true they all are ;).

LOVE YOU. UNTIL NEXT TIME.:)

I am a blogging failure...December in a nutshell.

HIIIIIIIIII. :)

sorry for being the world's WORST blogger. I haven't really found the time to just sit down and spill EVERYTHING that has happened within the last month AND a half. I have been hugely procrastinating because when I blog it takes me FOREVER so I have to find the right time to do it. like right now.

Let's begin by saying that December was a pretty awesome month. A lot of good things happened, and has probably been my favorite here in Norway so far. The beginning of December marked some SERIOUSLY cold days like I'm talkin' in the teens (Farenheit) to single digits here...THAT is cold (its insanely freezing STILLL, btw). I've never worn so much clothing to school before. December is always my favorite month in the US because I've got my birthday, followed by Christmas, followed by New Years (threeee of my favorite holidays!). However being in Norway completely super-sized the fun-ness (?) of it all. All Norwegians get really into Christmas (Jule, in Norwegian). I learned all sorts of new traditions that I'm definitely going to take back with me to the US. For example they have Advent Calendars which is kinda like our Advent Calendars EXCEPT for not only do you get candy, you get PRESENTS too. Some families have it that you get one present a day leading up until Christmas AS WELL as the presents on Christmas. I feel a little spoiled. Not only did I get Christmas presents on actual Christmas, but I got presents on the Fridays and Saturdays leading up to it. December the first marked Christmas time for everyone as the Christmas shows started on TV and the grocery stores like completely overloaded with Christmas goods. ANNNNNNNDDDDDDD IT SNOWED! It was perfect, the first snow on the first of December. love it! So to say the least, December was already off to a good start.

THEEEEEN December 11th rolled around. Only the best day of the year, MY BIRTHDAY ;). Let me just say that it was one of the best birthdays that I have ever had. The only Debbie Downer of the day was that I had an exam that day in Sociology. It wasn't bad though, I did really well on it & I WROTE IT ALL IN NORWEGIAN. The topic was about criminal punishment in Norway versus criminal punishment in the US (I had to compare and contrast them). The teacher said I was really good in Norwegian and that he actually understood what I was saying. Now if I were giving an oral presentation, it would be a COMPLETELY different story (I'm still not very good at speaking). Then afterwards I went home to relax before the night's festivities;). I was actually really lucky because the night of the "end of term party" at the local club, Bada Bing was going on that night, so it was definitely a night to remember! The night's festivities began when my host parents took me, two friends, and Sanne to the hotel in Førde for a "julebord" (Christmas dinner). LOTSSS of Norwegian food and a plethora of nice desserts ;). Presents included some perfume, clothes, & LAST BUT NOT LEAST A TRIP TO LONDON! ahh I'm so excited, we're going in Winter Break (last weekend in February!). After dinner I went to a little get together at Bodil's (A girl from my class!) house before we went out to the party. The party at the club was pretty fun but my feet hurt like no other because of my shoes. All in all the night was great, met some new people, had a lot of fun, and wore my birthday crown that Marte made for me. The best part was that I was not homesick at all ;).

Christmas/New Years:

Christmas was really nice, especially with two weeks off from school, THAT was the best. I found that the season itself is extremely different here in Norway than it is back home... First off, people DON'T treat their lawns like department stores with copious amounts of cheezy blow-up decorations and so many multicolored lights that it could blind someone. It is definitely a formal and cozy holiday sone with a lot more grace than the American "over-pop-culturalized" culture (I'm not saying I didn't miss the American Christmas craze, because I kinda did, but it was really nice here too. The decorations are definitely more subtle and elegant, but every house has at least a little Christmas "trimming". The amount of Christmas shopping isn't any different though, WHICH SUCKED FOR ME BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS SO EXPENSIVE. But I love shopping for other people, so it was fun too :). (Opa if you're reading, I totally forgot to send the presents to you guys back with mom. MY BAD.) I gotta say that Christmas lasted a really long time here, and it was nice. I'm pretty sure I'll be celebrating the Norwegian way again:). New Years was the same as here. Lots of fireworks. Lots of parties. Lots of noise. Lots of champagne and kid champagne!

Highlights of a Norsk versus American Christmas:

-Norwegians ARE serious about their Christmas traditions. NO PEPPERKAKER (gingerbread), JULEBRUS (christmas soda), JULESANGER (christmas songs), JULE SKJOKOLADE (christmas chocolate?) BEFORE FIRST OF DECEMBER. <3
-tangerines are associated with Christmas
-they actually celebrate "Christmas", or open their presents the night of Christmas Eve, NOT early on Christmas day.
-Santa Claus does NOT bring the presents during the night...................:(........haah
-Christmas songs. I couldn't understand the ones here, I wish I could have sung along ;). they sound fun. I kinda missed the American ones though. They DID play on the radio, but only the ones from the pop-stars like Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas is you". There was no "Frosty the snowman" or "Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer" or "Santa Claus is comin' to town", but thats okay, I LIVED. ;)
-FOOD. They have this special meat on new years eve called "pinekjøtt", however I can't remember what kind of meat it is (really sorry), but its really special tasting. I haven't tasted anything like it before...It's definitely something that is only eaten at Christmas. everyone was really excited to have it, because it meant that it was "Jule" :). They also hae Svineribbe which is pork cooked so that the top is crunchy. I'm in love, its REALLY good. My host dad is also a BOSS at cooking.
-Christmas on TV: they had this "Jule Kalendar" on TV thats shown all throughout Norway. Every day from Dec. 1 up until the 24th they had a program on TV that counted down the days til Christmas :). It was cheesy and cute.
-Julenissen. small elf things. I still don't know what they are...

To say the least I loved my Norsk Jule and Nyttår! ;)