Making the Most of the Last Month
Hello everyone! I'm quite tired and sick right now, so I'm going to keep this post a little shorter than they usually are (well, I'm saying that now, we'll see if that's true soon). I had school on Tuesday, but that was a relatively normal day. Wednesday was also a normalish day, but the first two hours of school we went to an awards ceremony for the Holmboe prize, a prize given to a math teacher each year. The prize is named after a former teacher at Katta (long, long ago) and is therefore presented at our school even if the winner is not a teacher there. Some important people in the education department in Norway were there and had a lunch reception afterwards, so we played and sang for them during our lunch break.
Thursday morning we had our last geography test, meaning we only have one normal test left for the whole school year. It is possible that we'll have to take an oral exam, though. Friday was the Norwegian exam for all the students in their last year of school, and we couldn't be in the building because of it. Instead, the whole first year went on a geography field trip and spent the day walking along a geography trail to Sognsvann where we then did some more activities. The weather is still quite hot, and Friday was no exception, so eating ice cream afterwards was very much needed. Friday also marked the one month mark before going back to the US, an event that's coming at me faster every day.
This weekend I attended my very last YFU Norway orientation. As you can maybe tell, the period of "lasts" has begun, and I'm sure you'll only hear more about the last time I do certain things in these next few posts. This orientation was regional, meaning not everyone was there. Although we were missing a bunch of the students in Norway this year, we were joined by the Norwegians who will be leaving for their exchange year at the end of the summer. We spent the weekend mostly separated, us talking about going home and them preparing to leave, but we did spend a good amount of time together and got to share our experiences and advice with them. It's a little strange for me to think that I'm experienced enough to be giving them advice, but I guess that I have been on exchange now for 9.5 months. Overall it was just nice to see my friends again and be able to talk about the prospect of going home with people who understand what's going through my head.
If anyone remembers, in one of my very first posts I wrote about my own pre-departure orientation and a card game we played that was used to represent what it's like to go from one culture to another. We played that same game this weekend with the students who are leaving in the summer, and it was fun to play it on the other end of my exchange year. As cheesy as it may sound, I could really see a difference between those who had been on exchange and those who hadn't just by how they reacted to being placed in a group with different rules to the card game. Often, the ones who are already on exchange saw the new rules as a challenge that could be overcome while still having fun, while some of the students who haven't left yet just got stressed out. I know exactly how they feel, though, and am so excited for them to experience this whole crazy thing for themselves. Leaving the orientation today was especially hard, because it meant saying goodbye to a lot of the other exchange students. I'm not sure how many of them I'll see again, and I know for a fact that there are some I'm not going to see again before leaving. The first tears fell, but with high hopes for being able to see each other again soon, in some country.
NORWEGIAN AHEAD:
Siden jeg har mindre å skrive om i dag, tenkte jeg at jeg kunne skrive litt på norsk på slutten av innlegget. Jeg har ofte sagt at jeg har lyst til å skrive et innlegg eller en del av et innlegg på norsk, og jeg har innsett nå at tiden renner ut, og at om jeg skal gjøre det, så må jeg gjøre det snart. Jeg har ikke tenkt så mye på hva jeg egentlig skulle skrive om, men vi får se hva som kommer ut mens jeg taster. Norge har akseptert meg på en måte jeg ikke visste var mulig, og det er jo på grunn av den fantastiske familien og skolen jeg har kommet til. Spesielt siden 17. mai, har jeg følt meg egentlig mer norsk enn amerikansk, og det er litt tøft mentalt å ha den tanken i hodet. Det som forbinder meg til USA står fortsatt sterkt, men det som forbinder meg til Norge står enda sterkere. Om det er fordi jeg er i Norge akkurat nå vet jeg ikke, men det å vite at jeg må dra tilbake med en svakere amerikansk identitet er noe jeg sliter litt med. Jeg elsker at jeg føler meg så norsk, men til syvende og sist, er jeg fra USA og da mener jeg at USA burde være det landet som kommer først når jeg tenker på hvor jeg hører hjemme. Når Norge er da det første landet jeg tenker på, vet jeg ikke helt hvordan jeg bør føle om det. Hver dag tenker jeg mer og mer om å komme tilbake til Norge til slutt, men jeg vet at om jeg skal gjøre det, så må jeg kunne beholde den amerikanske delen av meg, altså den delen jeg levde som i 16 år. Den spilte selvfølgelig en viktig rolle i å bygge meg opp som person. Ja, jeg har jo lært utrolig mye om meg selv i år, men jeg ville ikke hatt noen ting å lære om jeg ikke hadde det grunnlaget fra de første 16 år som amerikaner. Det her ble litt mer filosofisk og trist enn jeg hadde tenkt, men den siden av meg forsvinner ikke bare fordi jeg skriver på norsk. Jeg vet at ikke alle kan forstå det jeg skrev her, så jeg skal nok snakke litt mer om det på engelsk en annen gang, men jeg vet også at det er flere som sikkert oversetter alt på google og kommer til å få med seg det viktigste:) Takk for å ha lest så langt, jeg håper det ikke er så mange grammatiske feil!
Word of the Post:
utveksling = exchange (have I done that one before?? Sorry if I have!)
A few pictures, more from the orientation to come next week.
Thursday morning we had our last geography test, meaning we only have one normal test left for the whole school year. It is possible that we'll have to take an oral exam, though. Friday was the Norwegian exam for all the students in their last year of school, and we couldn't be in the building because of it. Instead, the whole first year went on a geography field trip and spent the day walking along a geography trail to Sognsvann where we then did some more activities. The weather is still quite hot, and Friday was no exception, so eating ice cream afterwards was very much needed. Friday also marked the one month mark before going back to the US, an event that's coming at me faster every day.
This weekend I attended my very last YFU Norway orientation. As you can maybe tell, the period of "lasts" has begun, and I'm sure you'll only hear more about the last time I do certain things in these next few posts. This orientation was regional, meaning not everyone was there. Although we were missing a bunch of the students in Norway this year, we were joined by the Norwegians who will be leaving for their exchange year at the end of the summer. We spent the weekend mostly separated, us talking about going home and them preparing to leave, but we did spend a good amount of time together and got to share our experiences and advice with them. It's a little strange for me to think that I'm experienced enough to be giving them advice, but I guess that I have been on exchange now for 9.5 months. Overall it was just nice to see my friends again and be able to talk about the prospect of going home with people who understand what's going through my head.
If anyone remembers, in one of my very first posts I wrote about my own pre-departure orientation and a card game we played that was used to represent what it's like to go from one culture to another. We played that same game this weekend with the students who are leaving in the summer, and it was fun to play it on the other end of my exchange year. As cheesy as it may sound, I could really see a difference between those who had been on exchange and those who hadn't just by how they reacted to being placed in a group with different rules to the card game. Often, the ones who are already on exchange saw the new rules as a challenge that could be overcome while still having fun, while some of the students who haven't left yet just got stressed out. I know exactly how they feel, though, and am so excited for them to experience this whole crazy thing for themselves. Leaving the orientation today was especially hard, because it meant saying goodbye to a lot of the other exchange students. I'm not sure how many of them I'll see again, and I know for a fact that there are some I'm not going to see again before leaving. The first tears fell, but with high hopes for being able to see each other again soon, in some country.
NORWEGIAN AHEAD:
Siden jeg har mindre å skrive om i dag, tenkte jeg at jeg kunne skrive litt på norsk på slutten av innlegget. Jeg har ofte sagt at jeg har lyst til å skrive et innlegg eller en del av et innlegg på norsk, og jeg har innsett nå at tiden renner ut, og at om jeg skal gjøre det, så må jeg gjøre det snart. Jeg har ikke tenkt så mye på hva jeg egentlig skulle skrive om, men vi får se hva som kommer ut mens jeg taster. Norge har akseptert meg på en måte jeg ikke visste var mulig, og det er jo på grunn av den fantastiske familien og skolen jeg har kommet til. Spesielt siden 17. mai, har jeg følt meg egentlig mer norsk enn amerikansk, og det er litt tøft mentalt å ha den tanken i hodet. Det som forbinder meg til USA står fortsatt sterkt, men det som forbinder meg til Norge står enda sterkere. Om det er fordi jeg er i Norge akkurat nå vet jeg ikke, men det å vite at jeg må dra tilbake med en svakere amerikansk identitet er noe jeg sliter litt med. Jeg elsker at jeg føler meg så norsk, men til syvende og sist, er jeg fra USA og da mener jeg at USA burde være det landet som kommer først når jeg tenker på hvor jeg hører hjemme. Når Norge er da det første landet jeg tenker på, vet jeg ikke helt hvordan jeg bør føle om det. Hver dag tenker jeg mer og mer om å komme tilbake til Norge til slutt, men jeg vet at om jeg skal gjøre det, så må jeg kunne beholde den amerikanske delen av meg, altså den delen jeg levde som i 16 år. Den spilte selvfølgelig en viktig rolle i å bygge meg opp som person. Ja, jeg har jo lært utrolig mye om meg selv i år, men jeg ville ikke hatt noen ting å lære om jeg ikke hadde det grunnlaget fra de første 16 år som amerikaner. Det her ble litt mer filosofisk og trist enn jeg hadde tenkt, men den siden av meg forsvinner ikke bare fordi jeg skriver på norsk. Jeg vet at ikke alle kan forstå det jeg skrev her, så jeg skal nok snakke litt mer om det på engelsk en annen gang, men jeg vet også at det er flere som sikkert oversetter alt på google og kommer til å få med seg det viktigste:) Takk for å ha lest så langt, jeg håper det ikke er så mange grammatiske feil!
Word of the Post:
utveksling = exchange (have I done that one before?? Sorry if I have!)
A few pictures, more from the orientation to come next week.
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| Ukulele concert with other exchange students! |
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| Marshmallows last night:) |
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| My favorite Chilean and I trying not to think about having to say goodbye only hours after this pic was taken... |
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