17 Highlights of 2017

January 01, 2018

17 Highlights of 2017

And in the blink of an eye, 2017 is over. Surely a relief to some, and a bit of a sad moment for others. For me, 2017 has been a bittersweet. While I personally had a lot of positive experiences and see the year as one of immense self-growth, it can be hard to look past all the moments of the world as a whole seemingly falling apart. One of the reasons for this exchange year was to discover another culture with the hope of being able to see humanity as one, instead of a collection of separated groups with no common thread. While you might be thinking that Norway maybe was not the best country to find a strong sense of being one while different (it is not, after all, notoriously diverse), I'd counter that statement by saying that living in a typically very uniform culture has shown me how, even at the extreme of non-diverse countries, people from all corners of the world can be accepted. If a country like Norway can welcome people of all ethnic and national backgrounds, why can't the United States, a country that claims to be proud of its melting pot of cultures, do the same? I do not know the exact number, but I would estimate that 1/3, if not 1/2, of my class does not have Norwegian as their mother tongue. From English to Icelandic to Arabic, our class has a hugely diverse composition, and is still one of the most inclusive environments I've encountered. I hope to be able to carry that feeling of inclusivity through my life and spread it to other people and groups. I'm not much of a person for New Year's resolutions, but this year I'm setting the spreading of acceptance as my goal. I'd encourage everyone to try this in some aspect or another in their life; the world could certainly use a little more inclusivity if we want to make 2018 better on that front than 2017.

With that mini-rant over, I'll get onto the main purpose of this post: 17 highlights from 2017. I'll try to keep them short, but I'd prepare yourself for a long post anyways; I still have this week's activities to cover! But with that, here are the top 17 moments of 2017!

Getting a host family! In some ways, this feels like just yesterday, but in others it feels like ages ago. I was lucky to get my host family in January, which is quite early compared to most exchange students.
A February ski trip to Utah. During our February break, my family along with two other families with which we are good friends went out to Utah to spend a week skiing out west. I fell in love with the fluffy snow and gorgeous mountains, as well as Utah in general. I hope to be able to go back some day!!
Joining the math team at my school and being part of the team that won the NH State Championship. You should know I'm a nerd by now;)
Quite possibly the best French class in the universe! Second semester third block with Madame Immaculée is unbeatable.
Getting my driver's license! One of the perks of being American is not having to wait till you're 18 to be able to drive. That was a pretty fantastic 16th birthday present, even though I'm not allowed to drive here in Norway.
Taking welding class at school. Whenever I talk about this in Norwegian, people seem to assume I've just made a translating mistake until they realize that I actually am talking about the thing with metal and lots of heat. Finishing the school year off with an hour and a half of welding each day was the most fun I've had in school probably ever! Would highly recommend it to anyone who has the opportunity.
A summer trip to Monhegan Island with my family. Although this summer was absolutely crazy busy, we were able to get away for a few days to the little island off the coast of Maine. The hiking was amazing and the views unbeatable, despite the camera not doing them any justice.
Visiting Yale and the Brain Function Laboratory. I've taken a bit of an obsession to neuroscience and am seriously considering it as a career for the future. I am so lucky to have people in my life with some seriously amazing connections, like Dr. Hirsch, who runs the lab. Getting a tour of the lab and what they do only inflamed my interest tenfold. Thanks, Moss!!!
Coming to Norway. After what simultaneously felt like seconds and years, August 9 finally arrived and the trip commenced. I was obviously aware how big of a deal that was, but I had no idea what was awaiting on the other side of the ocean and how much the next months would come to shape me.
Orientation at Haraldvangen and meeting so many other amazing exchange students, current and past! Exchange students are my new favorite type of person and the ones here in Norway with YFU this year top the list! I can't wait to see them all in a few weeks at our Midyear (midyear already?!?!?!) Orientation!!
Discovering a new city. In the first week I had a few days to explore Oslo, which, day by day, was becoming my new home. While I spent those first few days seeing the tourist sights, I've also spent time after school and on weekends walking around normal neighborhoods and trying to get a better feel for the city, despite my terrible sense of direction.
My first day at Oslo Katedralskole. Having only begun at new schools when switching to from elementary to middle and then to high school, all in the same town, this was a big one for me. While definitely one of the more nerve-inducing days of this year, it was also one of the best as I was able to get an idea of what this year would come to be.
Welcoming October with a weekend trip to Rondane. Getting to see another part of Norway was very exciting for me as I had really only been in Oslo before. That weekend offered me the Norwegian nature that I had looked so forward to getting to see.
Joining Kattastrofen, the school orchestra. It was definitely a step out of my comfort zone to ask around for information about how to join the group and then figuring out a way to get an instrument, but I am so glad I took the chance, especially because I was lucky enough to meet so many amazing people along the way. The past few weeks have been packed full with different rehearsals and events with the band and I feel like we've become a little family through the craziness. It seems like a no-brainer to find an activity you can devote your time to while you're on exchange, but I'm just here as one more person to encourage all exchange students to join a club or a sport or a music group!
Celebrating American Thanksgiving with my Norwegian family. Exchange is a two-way experience, with the exchange student learning about the host culture and host family and friends learning about the exchange student's culture. Being able to make the traditional meal and show that aspect of American culture to my host family was special for me, and I think helped them understand that one part of the US a little better!
Exploring Stockholm and its Christmas decorations! As fun as it is to see Norway, it's really cool to be able to take advantage of the easiness of country-hopping in Europe. Stockholm was one of the coolest cities I've been to in my life and I can't wait to go back some day to explore more.
Getting the Norwegian Christmas experience. The Norwegians really go all out with Christmas, and the festivities spanned the whole month of December, even a little of November. While it got a little exhausting at points, the whole shebang really was amazing. Hopefully I'll be able to transfer a few traditions back to my American life next year!

Now to talk about some of that Christmas madness! I won't go too into detail, this post is already longer than most, but enough to give you an idea of what Christmas in one Norwegian family looks like. Første juledag (the first day after Christmas Eve, or the 25th) entailed a Christmas lunch/dinner with Espen's side of the family. Lots of food and good company, which you will come to see is a trend in Norwegian Christmas. The 26th was supposed to be a Christmas open house at the house of the parent's of one of Anne's friends, but I was so worn out from all the people and food and fancy clothes the days before that I stayed back and got some rest. I can imagine it was full of people and food, however:) The next day it was dinner at Anne's mother's house. Food and company, you guessed it! Thursday was the real excitement (haha). I had been thinking that around Christmas I would watch SKAM (a Norwegian TV show about a group of friends the same age I am now) again, but this time without English subtitles, or any subtitles at all for that matter. That way I would be able to test my language skills, but of course it wouldn't hurt that I would get to see one of my favorite shows. So I invited a few friends over to have a SKAM marathon. We only watched one season which was only a few hours in total, but it was still a fun afternoon with lots of junk food. At that point, I had already eaten so much unhealthy food in the week that one day more didn't seem to matter. I'm already looking forward to the next round!

Friday brought the stomachache that I really should have seen coming after my food choices in the days before. I had a chill day, which I have to say was pretty nice. A few episodes of Suits, a few chapters of my book, and time to play around with the ukulele and guitar and by the next day, I was feeling much better. That was good because Saturday afternoon was a little concert and party for the school choir and orchestra, and former members that had already graduated were invited too. It was a really nice afternoon and evening filled with music and food and great conversations with both people I knew well and people I had never talked to before. The best part might have been when the entire room, maybe 75 people, all started singing Bohemian Rhapsody with 4-part harmonies and everything. So cool! Sunday was the last day of the year, which I started off right by sleeping in :P The rest of the day until the evening was pretty relaxing with some baking to have cookies to bring to the New Year's party I was going to with the girls in my class.

Later that afternoon, Espen's brother and his family came over for New Year's dinner. I ate a little, but saved most of my hunger for later, when I went to the party. We had a really nice dinner with sushi and pasta salad and pizza and, of course, various desserts afterwards. We played some games and listened to music while we waited for the clock to turn. In Norway, fireworks are only set off by individual people, not by the city or town like in the US. Some people began to set them off early, maybe 6 or 7 pm, but at midnight was when the real excitement began. We walked a few minutes to a place where we could look over the whole city and see everyone's fireworks. There was already some fog and, mixed with the smoke from the fireworks, the city was only visible through slightly darker silhouettes of the buildings against the gray sky. We lit sparklers and watched as people all across the city celebrated the arrival of the new year. Magical.

Word of the Post:
stjerneskudd = sparklers

My sad collection of pictures :/