OHHH WE'RE HALFWAY THERE

January 21, 2018

OHHH WE'RE HALFWAY THERE

...but unlike the song, I don't need any extra prayers. Through everything the first half of this year abroad has been unbelievably amazing and unforgettable. That doesn't mean I'm not grateful to have another 5 and a half months left though! Since August I've learned a ton about myself, become a part of my second family, met some of my best friends, and taken on a new language, culture, and city! I'm looking forward to the second half of this year to be able to appreciate all I worked hard for the first half. One of the perks of doing a year abroad instead of a semester is that you don't have to leave as soon as you get comfortable. While I've had only positive experiences with the people around me here, it took me about 4 1/2 months to make good friends and I'm so glad to have more time to get to know them even better and make memories with them. Although this week has been one of the most enjoyable of this whole year so far, there has been a bit of a shadow hanging over me as well. On Wednesday I found out that two students from my school in the US had been involved in a tubing accident that left one injured and the other dead. While I didn't know either of the boys personally, it was hard to have to watch my community struggle and mourn from afar, knowing there was little I could do. I send all my love to the family and friends of the boys and hope for the quickest of recoveries to the injured.

This week was a generally normal one, but it felt special at the same time knowing that after Tuesday, I have less time left in Norway than I have been here so far. Monday was normal school with a math test, and after school on Tuesday I went into the center with some friends to find a store that one of my friends had seen online and wanted to go into. Even though we are finished early on Tuesdays so it's naturally lighter, it being light that afternoon while we were walking around made it feel like the darker period is coming to a close (we still have a couple months, but it's getting lighter every day!). That evening I also finished reading my first Norwegian novel which was actually in nynorsk! I felt very accomplished at the end to say the least:) Wednesday was another pretty normal day with the addition of beginning a unit on the US in English class. It's interesting to see how the country is taught to international students and to see Trump referenced in our 2015 textbook as a millionaire and TV-show host. Those were the times... Thursday we started school even later than normal as our geography class was canceled so I was able to sleep in a ton and hang out for a while before heading to school and band practice. Friday was yet another normal school day but also Anne and Espen's (my host parents) 16 year anniversary! While the school week wasn't exactly the most eventful, school as a whole is becoming more enjoyable knowing I get to see my friends :)

This weekend brought a little more excitement than the rest of the week, starting with sledding down Korketrekkeren (the corkscrew)! It's a long sledding hill that goes around and around, hence the name, from the last stop of one t-bane line down to another stop a while down. It was absolutely packed, especially the second run, but because it's about 15 minutes to sled down after a 15 minute t-bane ride, people tend to only do a few runs. I'll link a video of someone sledding down the hill here as the GoPro is still in the US so I wasn't able to film the run. After Bjørn, Anne, and I were done, we came back home and relaxed for a little before preparing dinner for us, Anne's mom, and her partner Terje. We had an absolutely delicious meal with meat cooked in the sous-vide machine, homemade bearnaise sauce, sweet potato fries, a salad, and coconut lemon macaroons for dessert!

All week everyone had been looking forward to today because Janina was coming! Janina is a Finnish girl that my host family had hosted a few years ago. She was back visiting Oslo with some family and was going to spend today with us and get to see her second family! It was our first time meeting and I wasn't quite sure what to expect because in some ways I've taken her place both literally, I have her seat at the table and sleep in what was her room, and figuratively, but it was so nice to get to meet her and share the connection of both having the same host family as well as stories from our individual exchange years. We hung out at the house for a bit before going into the center for lunch. The weather today was absolutely beautiful: so sunny that in some places you could even say it was warm! It was almost a sign of spring which is both sad and happy as we got a ton of snow this week and I'm loving the winter-wonderlandness of Oslo, but warmer, sunnier days will also be appreciated (not that I can talk with the way the weather has been in Portsmouth).

Each week, these blog posts get a little harder to write as my English slips farther and farther and Norwegian expressions feel more and more fitting. Maybe it's time for an all-Norwegain post? In addition to a normal English one though; I know that majority of the people reading my blog don't speak much Norwegian. Next weekend I'm off to the midyear orientation so it's possible that the blog post will come on Monday, but it's coming, don't worry! Sending love to the north east, as well as some extra luck for finals week <3

Word of the Post:
et språk = a language

Last pictures from the first semester and the first pictures from the last semester!