One Month In

Before I left, my grandma told me that I couldn't only write about the good times on this blog, I needed to cover the hard stuff too. I think that's only fair. If anyone is reading this who is considering going on exchange, it's important that they know that while this is the most amazing experience, it's not always easy. This week was one of those not-so-easy parts.

At all the various orientations I went to, the staff showed us graphs of how our happiness would fluctuate over the course of the year. They expect you to start off happy for a few weeks before falling into a state of culture shock around the one-month mark. When I first saw this graph I immediately dismissed it, assuming I would be extremely homesick the first few weeks then get better as I settled in. I was basing this assumption off a summer I spent in France when I was miserable the first week but fine the rest of the summer. It was pretty ignorant of me to try to compare a summer to a whole year, but in my eyes I was making assumptions because I thought I knew myself better than a bunch of volunteers from my program. In hindsight, I should not have dismissed that graph so soon; I should have considered the fact that these volunteers had been doing this for way longer than I had and probably knew a thing or two. I was surprised and a little confused when the first few weeks went so smoothly, and even more confused when this week I was hit with a wave of homesickness despite feeling like I really am settling in. I am almost an exact copy of the graph. Ironic.

So this week was tough. Waking up feeling disoriented then getting my feet soaked in the pouring rain on the way to school is not the best recipe for happiness. I'm lucky to have such a great class and great teachers, however, because once my classes start I can forget about missing things like apple picking and Happy Camper and remember that this is my life now. My really, really cool life. With new friends and new places and new food. And it's pretty hard to find brunost in the US :)

Maybe this week was not the most glamorous way to finish my first month here, but that does not change the fact that exactly one month ago I was stepping off a plane into my new life and that surviving one month is sort of a big milestone. It's proof that this year has really begun and proof to myself that I can do this for nine and a half more months, even when it gets tough. I was sitting with friends last night laughing harder than ever as I tried to play FIFA but couldn't even get my players to move. In that moment I realized that I have a family and friends here who are ready and willing to help me and, I have to say, that may be the most comforting feeling in the world. After one month I can finally say that I live here.

The point of this point is not to scare people back home or make anyone worry about me, but to show that even through the rough patches, this experience is still bringing me to smile bigger and laugh louder than before. That maybe not everything is perfect, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't a perfect month. My month was perfect because I found a new family, new friends, new activities, a new life. I am so grateful that my parents made this possible and that I am able to have this experience at all. I'll wrap up this post with a few highlights from this week :)

• Tuesday we had a sort of field day at Sognsvann. The weather was gray and wet and cold and we were supposed to be outside all day. The activities started with the whole school running or walking the 3.2 km around the lake. I haven't really run since last fall's crew season, but it felt surprisingly good to just run for a while. Afterwards, we had a relay race where 18 kids from each class ran back and forth down a soccer field, passing a baton between each runner. Our class didn't win but it's always fun to have a little competition! The weather was so gross that after the relay race they let us all go home instead of doing the rest of the activities which was music to my cold, wet ears!
• Thursday I had my second orchestra practice. We're learning Bohemian Rhapsody which is so much fun! I'm picking trumpet back up much faster than I anticipated and I probably have my years playing mellophone to thank for that, despite my irrational hate for that instrument :)
• Thursday evening I went for a walk with my host mom. We went for almost 5 miles around Bogstadvannet (a lake), past Bogstad Gård (the manor on the lake), through pastures with cows and horses, and through the woods. It was so nice to get out and see some more of the nature side to Oslo. This city really has everything!
• Friday night I went over to my friend Evelina's house for dinner. She is another YFU exchange student and although we live pretty close together, she goes to a different school so I don't see her very often. It was so nice to see her and chat about exchange student things like stressing out about not stressing about the stressful things all your friends back home are stressing out about. It makes sense in my head, I promise.
• Saturday evening I met four friends from my class and we went to a little teen music festival. One of my friends, Emma, knew a few of the kids who were playing and we watched three different performances. Everyone was so talented! After, we went back to Ingeborg's house where we ate delicious pizza her mom had made for us, ate lots of Norwegian candy, played FIFA, and watched High School Musical 2. It was such a fun night and it's really nice to get to know people better outside of school!

Here I was thinking this blog post wouldn't get too long but I guess that's a lost cause... I hope you don't mind reading these lengthy posts!! I also want to say thank you for all the great feedback I've gotten for this blog. It's so wonderful that people enjoy reading what I have to say and are interested in this adventure of mine :) If there's anything people would like me to write more about, please leave a comment!

Word of the post:

et samfunn = a society

Picture time!

Bogstadvannet

Bogstad Gård

Horsies!

The sign is pointing to a place where you can pick potatoes and there are cows in the background, all only a few metro stops from the city center. I love this city! Side note-- the fence behind me is electric and I did not realize and got shocked several seconds after this picture was taken :)

The Friday cake tradition continues!

Budding geologist at the Geology Day at the Botanical Gardens

Frysjastock indoors...

Frysjastock outdoors! This choir was AMAZING. I'll link their Facebook page here because everyone should listen to them no matter what type of music you're usually interested in!

These girls are the best-- here they're deciding which of the Norwegian candies I have to try :)

If you though Bugles were unhealthy, try dipping them in chocolate! These are so good I can't even explain.