When I left Portsmouth, I didn't realize how much I love that town. I took for granted my lifestyle, friends, family, school... the list goes on and on. I remember walking down the road one day this summer and thinking how incredibly happy I was and I started questioning why I was leaving. Portsmouth is an amazing town, maybe one of the best small towns in the US or even the world. The more I think about it, the more proud I am to have my roots there. Whenever I show my friends here pictures of it, my heart swells as they comment on its beauty. The water, the seasons, downtown, my perfect neighborhood... another infinite list. But whenever I get sad about the fact that I'm not in my beautiful town anymore, I remember that I wasn't leaving to get away from anything; I was leaving to go find something new. I wasn't trying to replace Portsmouth; I was just trying to find another place to add to my list of homes. And this week I began to feel like Oslo has made a place for itself on that list.
The happiness I felt that summer day was surpassed this week. Tuesday, to be exact. I was walking in the city with Evelina and she was showing me her school. We were in a part of the city I hadn't been in before and we decided to do a little exploring. We had nowhere to be, nothing we had to be doing and we took advantage of that. At each intersection we would take a random turn, hoping to get a little lost. We wound up in a neighborhood with colorful street art, cozy cafes, art galleries, twinkling lights over the alleys, and just the coolest vibe-- and all of this with one of Oslo's rivers running through it. I was in love. I'm not sure I can think anything that could have wiped off my smile. I loved being able to be at home but still be discovering something completely new. It reminded me of how little of this city I have actually seen and that put me in an even better mood. I have lived in the same house in Portsmouth for my entire life and know just about every corner of the town. After realizing how fun it was to discover new places in my own town, I feel like I know too much about Portsmouth. I'm hoping that after this year I'll be able to see Portsmouth with new eyes and rediscover it.
I'm finding it hard to describe the feeling of being so lost and so at home at the same time but, in one word, it's magical. The rest of this week (I was on vacation) involved doing some American and not-so-American cooking, relaxing, and being a tour guide for the weekend for another American exchange student who came up to visit and see the city. I have to say, it was weird to be speaking English for such an extended period again and I was actually excited to go back to Norwegian. I love listening to and speaking it, especially when I understand something I know I would not have been able to just a few weeks ago. Now it's time to hunker down and prepare myself for the long, dark stretch of school before our next vacation...
Word of the Post:
en genser = a sweater
Now for the very sad amount of pictures from this week, oops!
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| The lighting wasn't prime but here's a cool peacock on a wall! |
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| There are some food trucks down by the water so I decided to try one and was not disappointed! |
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| Always have to include the ice cream |
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| I have now introduced some Norwegians to the magic that is chicken pot pie :) |
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